The Final Six (The Final Six #1) - Alexandra Monir Page 0,53

ocean using water electrolysis—and where you will be safe from the radiation and drastic temperatures, thanks to the ice shield overhead. And that is where you will plant your flag and establish our new human colony.” He pauses. “That’s our holy grail.”

As I picture it in my mind, I feel a rush of certainty that this will be my legacy. This has to be the reason I survived the flood—to lead us to the next world.

“Now, finding and building up this section of land will involve many back-and-forth trips in the submersibles, particularly for whoever is the designated underwater specialist. That’s why today you’ll be getting a crash course in how to drive these vehicles—and how to escape in an emergency.”

We watch as the lieutenant demonstrates the challenge before us, diving into the water and swimming down to the submersible. He unlatches the glass dome and climbs into the driver’s seat before deploying the thrusters and using the foot pedals to fly across the pool floor, hands-free. As he reaches the opposite end of the pool, through the transparent window of the glass dome we can see him fiddling with a gear box—and then the submersible shoots up through the water like a miniature rocket, breaking the surface of the pool. He climbs out of the vehicle to the sound of our applause.

“You’ll perform the challenge one at a time, starting with a dive down to the submersible at the blow of my whistle,” he directs us. “Entering the vehicle, you’ll find a touch screen that controls the power, thrust, speed, and emergency functions. I’ve programmed the submersible so that after you complete a set of driving laps around the pool, an alarm will go off, requiring you to use the emergency thrust-booster technology to propel up to the surface. I’ll be timing each of you to see who can complete this drill in under five minutes.

“To cap off the challenge, once you emerge from the submersible, you will swim just below the surface and attempt to hold your breath underwater for a full two minutes. It may seem counterintuitive to all the equipment you’re learning to use, but astronauts must be prepared for anything—including the unlikely event of a systems failure in Europa’s waters. In a rare case like that, the ability to hold your breath until you can reach the surface would mean the difference between life and death.”

Lieutenant Barnes passes out wet suits, and the five of us peel off our uniforms down to the bathing suits we’re wearing underneath. At the sight of Naomi in her one-piece, my skin turns hot. I look away quickly.

“When I call your name, line up at the diving board. This will be the order you’ll complete the challenge in.”

My name comes last, and I watch from the end of the line as my teammates dive into the pool one by one. Naomi struggles with the submersible, but Asher and Katerina get the hang of it after a couple minutes of fumbling. To my chagrin, only Beckett achieves the one-two punch of successfully working the submersible on his first try and holding his breath the full two minutes. And then it’s my turn.

I step up to the tallest springboard, conscious of all eyes on me as I dive off the edge. And as soon as my skin touches the water, it’s like a key clicking into place. I gasp as an electric current courses through my veins, turning my arms and legs into vibrating, tingling energy—a sensation I’ve never felt before. All I know is that my body is clamoring to move, and I follow its order, tearing into a freestyle stroke. My body zooms through the pool like a cartoon in fast-forward, and I know without seeing a stopwatch that I’m crushing all my previous times. How am I doing this? I’ve always been fast, but this is speed on another level. It’s as though my limbs are made of jets.

In a matter of seconds, I’m in front of the submersible, lifting the lid on the glass dome and climbing inside the compact driver’s seat. A touch screen blinks from the inside of my glass window, and I reach for the Power button, pushing the foot pedal. And then the vehicle hurtles forward, zipping through the water like a thrill ride, and I laugh out loud from the sheer joy of it.

A high-pitched alarm blares inside my driver’s seat compartment, while the touch screen lights up with urgent red letters: