was afraid I’d have to ride off with Val, then sneak out on my own. This will be far more convenient. Think you can distract her up above?”
“Sure,” I said.
“For a second,” Megan added, “I thought you were going to be forced into the bathroom there with me. Too bad. It would have been amusing to watch you squirm.”
I left the wetsuit unzipped, grabbed my rifle and the box with the spyril, then gave Megan a glare. She didn’t seem the least bit concerned.
She’s not trapped in our base any longer, I thought. Here there’s only Val to worry about. Megan seemed confident she could deal with that, should it become a problem. She was probably right.
I hiked up the ladder and undid the latch, then set the spyril on the top of the sub before climbing out. I wore the rifle slung across my back, its straps pulled tight. It wouldn’t be easily accessible, but I wouldn’t have to worry about losing it in the water.
Val stood, back to the hatch, watching the city. I walked over to her, then pointed to the unzipped back of my suit. “Little help, please?”
I made sure to keep her positioned away from the opening into the sub. Once zipped, I didn’t look to see if Megan had escaped, but instead put on the spyril. “I have a lot of work to do,” Val said as she passed me and climbed down the hatch. “I’ll be at it for a few hours, at least. So if you finish before then, find a way to entertain yourself. I’ll let you know when I’m ready for you.”
I activated the spyril and jumped out into the water. I didn’t need to worry about my rifle; it would work fine after being submerged.
Val climbed back inside and locked the hatch. I treaded water there for a moment until the sub lowered into the ocean, revealing Megan in the water on the other side, looking wet and miserable.
“N-nice night,” she said, shivering.
“It’s not even that cold,” I said.
“Says the guy in the wetsuit.” She looked around. “Think there are sharks in here?”
“That’s what I keep wondering!”
“I’ve never trusted water in the darkness.” She paused. “Well, I don’t really care for it at all.”
“Didn’t you grow up in Portland?” I asked.
“Yeah, so?”
“So … it’s like a port, right? So didn’t you ever go swimming there?”
“In the Willamette?”
“Uh … yeah?”
“Um, let’s just say no. I did not.” She glanced toward one of the distant buildings. “Sparks. If I get eaten because of you, Knees, I’m never going to let you hear the end of it.”
“At least you’d come back from being eaten,” I said.
“Doesn’t make me eager to try the experience.” She sighed. “So we swim?”
“Not exactly,” I said. I swam over to her and held out my arm. “Grab hold of me.” She hesitantly wrapped her arms around my chest just under my arms.
With Megan holding on tightly, I pointed the streambeam into the ocean, then engaged the spyril. We rose on jets of water, a good thirty feet in the air. The black, glassy surface of the sea stretched out around us, the towers of submerged Manhattan rising beyond like neon sentries.
Megan breathed out softly, still holding on to me. “Not bad.”
“You haven’t seen the spyril in action?”
She shook her head.
“Then might I suggest you hang on?” I said.
She complied, pulling herself tight against me, which was a not-unpleasant situation. Next, I attempted something I’d been practicing. I leaned forward, turning the jets on my feet backward at an angle, then pushed my hand downward—not the one with the streambeam, but the one with the smaller handjet for maneuvering.
This kept us from toppling down into the water, the handjet giving thrust upward, the ones on my feet thrusting backward. The result was that we shot across the water, the jet on my hand lending us just enough lift to stay aloft. Twenty-seven and a half times in fifty-four, this stunt ended with me crashing face-first into the water. This time, blessedly, I managed it without such indignity.
Wind whipped at my face, the spray of water cold on my skin. I grinned, flying us toward one of the rooftops. Once there, I gave us a burst from below and used the guiding jet on my hand to slow our momentum forward. We shot high into the air, and another spurt of water from my hand nudged us over the lip of the roof, where we landed.
I stood triumphantly, putting