By Patrick M. Fitzgerald
Aphrodite drifted in its orbit like a polished gem, the vibrant blue of the planet-wide ocean striated with wispy white clouds.
“I can see why everyone vacations there,” Tetsuo said as he gazed into the viewscreen. “It’s beautiful.”
“Eh… that color kind of gives me a headache.” Zach slipped on his orange sunglasses and took a closer look. Without the glaring blue, the grayscale sphere shimmered like a pearl set in onyx. “It’s still nice, though.”
Tetsuo turned to him. “It’s better to accept things as they are than to try to adjust them to your liking.”
Zach groaned and rolled his eyes. “As much as I appreciate your adages, my family wouldn’t have been able to live on Titan without habitation domes and artificial gravity.”
Tetsuo turned back to the controls to pilot the Pegasus into orbit. “I see your point, but still…”
The Harmonia resort colony was easy enough to find, there being few land masses large enough for habitation. The glittering city stood at the center of an island with shoals stretching out like a starfish floating atop the fathomless ocean. An ocean hiding equally fathomless mysteries.
A concierge party in brightly colored attire and myriad strands of beaded necklaces met Zach and Tetsuo as soon as they stepped out of the ship. “Fair greetings, travelers!” The two in front each removed a necklace and presented them to the Peacekeepers.
“Fair greetings to you as well.” Zach bowed slightly and donned the necklace. If the pearls were genuine, these welcome tokens could buy a house back on Titan.
“Excuse me, please,” said an elderly man in a blue velvet uniform with a silver sash. He waved a dismissal to the welcome party. “Fair greetings, Peacekeepers. I’m Safety Administrator Philomon. Thank you for coming. Fifteen missing divers in one year is not good for our image. Especially after that nasty tidal wave.”
“Fifteen?” Zach exchanged a glance with Tetsuo. “I thought it was twelve?”
The man held up his hands. “We sent a search party. They never returned either.”
“Did they all disappear in the same area?” Zach displayed a map of the colony on his wrist computer.
“Mm-hmm.” Philomon leaned over and pointed. “Anteros Bay.”
Zach nodded at Tetsuo. “We’ll take a look.”
Zach double-checked the settings on the evo-suits as Tetsuo brought the Pegasus to a hover over Anteros Bay.
“I could swim better without this,” Tetsuo said as he squeezed into the bulky plasteel.
“Not at the depths we need to go.” Zach snapped on the helmet and checked the radio. “These maintain a constant pressure inside, and”—Zach grinned as he tapped the modular components on his chest—“this releases an electric pulse, which should stun anything within a hundred meters that’s not protected.”
Tetsuo did a few stretches in the gear. “It’ll be more like a spacewalk, then.”
“Sure…” Zach bit his lip as he looked down at the sapphire blue sea below. “Just like a spacewalk,” he said with a tight grimace. Attaching the dropline from the ship, he held his breath and dove in.
It was several meters before he slowly exhaled.
Tetsuo laughed. “You held your breath too?”
“Natural reaction, I guess.” Zach tapped the thruster control and headed deeper into the bay.
Tetsuo maneuvered beside him, sweeping the suit’s floodlights along the mollusk-packed seabed. “Look at all those clams…”
“I guess pearls aren’t that valuable when they’re so plentiful.” As they descended, the shells grew larger. As would the pearls inside. “I wonder if that’s what the divers were after?”
Suspended in the depths of an alien ocean with nothing but blue all around him gave Zach pause. Only a layer of plasteel protected him from the crushing weight of the water. It was like his first spacewalk, but the color’s audacity made his skin crawl.
“Computer, visor tint orange.” And with that, the ocean became a comfortable gray.
“Z! There’s a trench over here,” Tetsuo said, breaking Zach’s reverie.
A jagged chasm cut across the ocean floor. Streams of air bubbles rose from deep inside, illuminated by a faint glow that pulsed rhythmically.
“That must be what caused the tidal wave.” Zach dove to the edge of the trench.
“Whoa!” Tetsuo’s eyes widened as he peered down. “Check out what’s under that blue stuff!”
Seaweed reached up from the depths, swaying rhythmically. Their vibrant glow was reflected below by orbs nearly a meter in diameter.
Zach tapped his wrist computer to take a recording. The giant pearls weren’t nearly as interesting as the spectral analysis. The pattern of fluctuation between blue and ultraviolet seemed almost… musical.
“Wish granting pearls… of the sacred dragons… anything a person… if I had one, I could…” Tetsuo trailed off incoherently as he dove deeper.
As Zach pursued him, it became apparent that the tendrils were actually coming from inside the shells. “Stop, T! That’s not seaweed!”
“They’re so… beautiful…” Tetsuo whispered.
Zach grabbed Tetsuo’s leg just as two of the tentacles swiped for him. Those cursed blue hypnotic things. I knew that color was trouble.
Tetsuo knocked him back with a wild look in his eyes. “No! They’re mine!”
Zach dove under him, and with a burst from his thrusters, pressed Tetsuo upward.
The more athletic Tetsuo could have easily overpowered him, but Zach’s experience in the evo-suit equalized their agility.
Their droplines tangled as they continued to fight. Zach pressed Tetsuo against the side of the trench. Glaring at the angry blue tentacles, he punched the controls on his chest to activate the electric pulse.
With a whoosh, the shells snapped closed in unison, sending up a wave that buffeted the Peacekeepers away from the trench.
“Sorry, I…” Tetsuo stammered.
“Not your fault.” Zach patted him on the shoulder. “If I hadn’t adjusted the color, we’d probably both be down there.”
“With the divers,” Tetsuo whispered. “At least now we know what happened to them.”
Zach tapped his orange-tinted visor. “And how to protect them in the future.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
a fascinating world…
Thank you!
I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of this one.
Interesting concept of exploring underwater as being like a spacewalk.
It’s always struck me as a parallel.
There was also the odd realization that someone who’s used to exploring space would actually be more frightened by the idea of exploring underwater.
That’s such an interesting idea! I’m curious which one would be more terrifying because they both sound scary to me haha
Great story!
Good descriptions.
Clever foreshadowing.
I was annoyed by Zach’s lack of appreciation for the beautiful colors
Until I realized his sensitivity to light was actually beneficial.
Thank you much!
As always, thank you for reading!
It would have to be annoying from his perspective as well, considering he can’t really enjoy a color most other people can, due to his photosensitivity.
A perceived shortcoming can always be beneficial, though, because it grants a new perspective.
Very creative! I had a feeling that blue would cause trouble.
A colour both wondrous and foreboding, that one is! ;)
Wonderful story.
It is a good thing that Zach adjusted the color and was able to send out the electrical pulse. Otherwise it might have been the last story with Tetsuo and Zach. It will be nice to read more about them.
I loved it! What a great story, and my thoughts wandered to other possibilities with the things you left unsaid. Are the pearls actually infants of the giant orb creatures that they’re trying to protect? Or the orbs are vehicles of a deep sea civilization and these pearls are their gardens? Oh, you could go so many places with this!