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Back The Abyss Surrounds Us Save as PDF
Chapters (37)
  1. Dedication
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. Acknowledgments
  37. About the Author

And Bao’s giving it all he has. As the blood in the water clears, I see that he’s managed to rend the cephalopoid nearly in half. The squid beast still flails, but it’s mostly trying to get away from Bao’s snapping jaws, which slice into its tender flesh like it’s nothing. A twinge of pity rattles my bones as I think of all of the pups I’ve raised, of the sucker scars on my ankle, of how much pain the Reckoner is in.

Then Bao lunges forward and ends it.

But there’s no relief, no time to catch a breath as the cetoid rockets out of the murk. Its flukes pump furiously and it slams into Bao, sending me flying to the end of my lines again. There’s a horrible, muted scraping noise as somewhere its teeth rake along Bao’s keratin plates, and he convulses underneath me, his forelegs flailing as he tries to kick the cetoid away.

I yank myself against his hide, close my eyes, and wait.

This, I imagine, is what a cow that’s been sucked up by a tornado feels like. I can’t cut myself loose, and even if I could somehow unlatch the line-hooks, it’d only increase my chances of being crushed to a pulp by one of the beasts. The tendons in my hand creak as Bao swings his head from side to side, but I keep my eyes squeezed shut. I don’t want to know what he’s doing. I don’t want to know if the cetoid’s made it through his shell, if Bao’s gotten his razor-sharp claws into the whale beast’s tough hide, if they’ve managed to tear each other’s throats out in the same instant.

No matter what, it’s beyond my control. All I can do is pray.

When stillness finally comes, my eyes drift open. I see the pieces. The two-pronged fluke of the cetoid looming out of the shadows above me. The meaty, pulpy mass of the cephalopoid’s head to my left. My breath catches in my throat as I watch them sink past us. And beneath me, Bao’s as alive as ever.

He did it.

A glow of pride warms through me, and I can’t help but grin against the respirator. “Varma, you there? The Reckoners and one of the boats are down.”

But the piece in my ear only crackles in reply. The Minnow’s out of range.

Which means the boats might be on its tail again.

Which means Santa Elena has a gun to Swift’s head.

33

33

I pull the Otachi triggers, and my stomach lurches as Bao raises his head to follow the projections. A familiar stabbing pain shoots through my ribs. I get my feet underneath me and lash the line-hooks tighter, fingers fumbling over the cables. No matter what, I can’t let those boats catch up.