Page 12 of Spectral Seas (Spectral Worlds #2)

A HALF HOUR passed before Abby and Leta were fully suited and ready to leave the habitat. But as their escort led them across the stone floor of the great hall, much of the stability they’d regained after the gas attack was lost. The antidote had cleared Abby’s lungs, but the residual poison was still taking a toll. His fingers and toes tingled, his limbs ached, and his breathing was labored so that the rhythm of the suit’s ventilator aggravated his already sore chest. From the discomfort on Leta’s face, he figured she was feeling the same constraint. Fleeting dizziness and muscle weakness periodically struck him. More than once, Abby caught himself from stumbling toward the wavering walls, particularly as they passed through narrow halls.

It wasn’t until they entered the lift that Abby allowed himself to rest and lean against a wall. His breathing soothed to a slow rhythm in time with his suit. But the sense of relief proved temporary. As the floor of the elevator rapidly dropped down into the bowels of Ghrauk, his stomach spun, and he had to swallow back the vomit that kept fighting to come up .

“Are you going to make it?” chin-chipped Leta.

“Don’t worry about me,” he managed to reply. “This isn’t my first rodeo.”

“Rodeo?”

“Not important,” he said, too focused on keeping the earlier dinner in his gut than to explain the phrase. But he did manage to ask, “How about you?”

“No better, I suppose.”

Several floors of lights raced by before the wall to the front of the lift disappeared altogether, replaced by a cavernous, brightly lit hangar. The open space countered the confides of the suits, and as the lift slowed its descent, Abby’s stomach stopped fighting him.

“Would you look at that,” said Leta.

“Impressive, isn’t it?”

On the deck to one side of the hangar was fleet of small craft. Rows of single rider craft bordered columns of vehicles similar to the sub that the two had arrived in while lined up behind those were other ships double in size. On the other side of the deck were five massive, manta-ray shaped vessels, huge discs with twenty-meter triangular pectoral fins along the sides and, where the dorsal fin would be, transparent elliptical canopies two-decks high. One of the canopies was lit and inside, manning stations and moving about, were at least twenty Viridians.

When the lift finally came to rest on the hangar floor, Abby found Uhggwa waiting on the loading platform beneath the same lit manta-ray craft.

The Viridian waved them over.

He tilted his head, side-to-side, as they approached. “I’m pleased you have regained your strength,” he said. “The ship is ready for departure.”

“Yes,” said Abby as he and Leta stepped onto the platform beside him. “A slight inconvenience at best.”

With a tap to a panel, Uhggwa engaged the platform, raising them up into the hold of hull. The lift platform clicked into place with a slight jolt. A hiss signaled the pressurizing of the cabin.

“This way,” said Uhggwa. He led them up a spiral staircase to the canopy then to an elevated platform at its center.

A Viridian wearing a version of the trident insignia as a badge met them at the top, saluting Uhggwa with his fist to his chest.

Uhggwa returned the salute. “Admiral Zhggla,” he said. “May I present the Benediximus Abernathy Squire and his colleague Captain Leta Serene.”

The admiral’s translator spoke with the same digitized tone. “Welcome aboard the Urlk, Abernathy Squire and Captain Leta Serene.”

“Thank you for having us,” said Abby.

“I’m pleased that you are able to make your journey after this evening’s events.”

“His highness told you about this evening’s occurrence?” asked Abby.

“I was there,” said the admiral.

“You were there?” asked Leta.

“Yes. At the dinner.”

“Admiral Zhggla,” said Uhggwa, “was representing the naval contingent.”

“And I’m pleased to personally escort you in my own flag ship. Here,” he said, gesturing to a row of seats behind the captain’s chair. “Sit by my side. We’re set to be underway.”

From their elevated seats, the pair had a three-hundred and sixty-degree view of the bridge. The elliptical bubble was in the same design as the small transport vehicle they’d arrived in, simply larger, scaled to accommodate several rows of seats, most of which were already taken by Viridian Guard in military fatigues.

Uhggwa sat beside them and gurgled to the pilot. The manta-ray began to purr, rose from the flight deck, then slipped forward toward the end of the hangar. Two massive doors separated and slid to the sides to reveal a huge tunnel lit with rows of brilliant lemon-yellow lights. Upon entering the tube, the manta’s massive jet engines — reverberating off the walls went from a soft purr to a deep, full rumble. The lemon-yellow LEDs spaced along the tunnel sides passed by faster and faster, the space between them decreasing until they blurred to a constant line. The rumble of the accelerating manta-ray grew to a roar. Far to the front, a small black hole came into view. As they raced forward, the resonance of the engines raised to a cacophony and the distant black dot grew to a gaping maw. The aqua jets were at their loudest when they met the darkness, but when the ship pierced the protective shield and entered the watery abyss, they dropped to a silence, the deafening roar absorbed by the dark green spectral sea.

~*~