S. Welles - To Ocean's End

“Everyone who’s going, head on up. Everyone who’s staying, sit tight. Give us no more than eight hours. If we don’t return by then, assume the worst and sail away. I’ll find my ship sooner or later and return with whomever I’m able to keep alive.”

The crew woodenly left the table and filed onto the deck. Ed, Ted, Jessie, Mido, and Jacobi gathered before Dyne at the stern. Sauna wanted to come but he had to stay behind since he was the least-skilled fighter of the three techies. His duty was to keep the engine running. Scully wanted to come but his face was still healing, and he was out of shape after all that bed rest. Cancer stayed behind to keep his medical skills at the ready. Rammus and Sam stayed behind to help guard the Pertinacious .

“Alright, listen up,” Dyne said. Jessie and the others formed a semi-circle and gave him their full attention. “There will be either a little bit or a lot a bit of talking between her and I. Just pick a spot to stand or sit and don’t move from it. And do not talk unless she prompts you to. Otherwise just stay there and be ready to run at a moment’s notice. Got it?”

They all said they got it, then Ed said, “So why exactly are you letting us tag along?”

“You don’t have to come but you all insisted on not letting Jessie and I go by ourselves. If you’re having second thoughts, I won’t look down on any of you for staying.”

“I’m still going. I just wanted to know if we could be helpful in more ways than staying quiet.”

Dyne gave him a measuring look. “Help me maintain a link to the rest of humanity.” Ed blinked. “Even right now she’s subtly pressing me to transform. The effort’s halfhearted but she’ll keep pressing harder the longer this visit lasts. Having all of you around gives me motivation to resist. If I went alone, I’d probably give in within minutes. You’re all my morale support.”

“Is that why she’s killed others who’ve gone with you in the past?”

“No.” His gaze fell to the deck. “She’s the sea. She takes lives as she sees fit. This is your last chance to stay.” He looked at each of them in turn. None of them moved. He nodded, an act full of relief and gratitude. “Let’s go.”

They descended the stern ladder to the kernels, one at a time, then pushed away and headed for the giant dome of a rock several hundred yards out to sea. The swells helped pull them closer and the water stayed shallow enough to see the sandy bottom all the way to the rock. They circumvented it until they found a gaping opening leading them in. They motored up close to ankle-deep water, then dragged the kernels onto the rock and washed-up sand.

The cave entrance looked like it should’ve had thousands of bats flying and hanging around, but no guano blanketed the floor. Fish bones and crustacean shells littered tide pools, and there was a smooth path wide enough for them to walk single file deeper inside. A battery-powered lantern in hand, Dyne led the way with Jessie right behind him. Mido followed her with Ed and Ted behind him, and Jacobi bringing up the rear with a second lantern, all of them unarmed. Not even sparring gloves. Jessie felt a bit vulnerable without them but what weapon could any of them use to fight the wrath of the sea?

They’d helped train and condition Jessie between deliveries, once they were all healed up enough. She’d tried the sword but it just wouldn’t click. On top of that, it made her wrist incredibly sore. Instead they focused on making her fists deadly, which felt like second nature. She began to hold her own against most of them. She often got trumped by their brute strength, but she slowly learned their fighting styles, except Jacobi’s, and began sneaking inside their defenses more and more often.

Jacobi refused to fight her, much less talk to her. He’d explained to Captain that he’d rather have nothing to do with her if he needed to tolerate her company on board indefinitely. That was perfectly fine with her. He didn’t insult or threaten her; however, she could see it in his pale eyes that he wanted to. So long as he kept his thoughts to himself, she wasn’t gonna complain.

The cave ceiling lowered and the walls gradually closed in as they wended farther inside, making the passage claustrophobic. Dyne walked on unfazed, even when he had to sidestep to squeeze through a bottleneck. Jessie’s breasts brushed the wall when she passed through. Mido, Ed, and Ted squeezed through with just a few small scratches. Jacobi contemplated the bottleneck, then he pivoted his broad frame, sucked in his breath, and inched through like he was trying to not touch he walls, then got stuck halfway through. He puffed up his sculpted chest as he groped for a handhold, but his torso moved as much as a bolted down skipper chair. He tried pushing himself in reverse.

“Captain, I’m stuck!” Jacobi went wild-eyed as he used all four limbs to try and free himself. His face reddened.

Dyne calmly turned around and walked up to him. “Ed. Ted. Grab his arm.” The two techies came over and wrapped their hands around his forearm. Jacobi clutched Ted’s forearm. The captain said, “You: exhale, stupid.”

Jacobi continued to take in shallow gulps of air. He stopped struggling and focused on his breathing, then shook his head. “Captain, I can’t—”

“Just do it!” Jacobi tried to protest. “Shut up. Inhale. Hold your breath a sec, then exhale and hold it again.” Dyne backed up a bit, giving the techies more room in the modestly wider portion of the bottleneck.

Jacobi panted and writhed, then finally took a shallow breath, held it, then exhaled. Ed and Ted yanked, and his broad chest popped free. The three of them staggered and almost fell but caught their balance after Dyne sidestepped out of the way.

Dyne waved for the techies to give Jacobi space, who lifted his shirt, revealing a collection of horizontal scratches all over his chest and abs. The captain shoved his hands in his pockets. “Get your head back on straight. I’ll dismiss you to the ship right now if you can’t keep your cool just trying to get through a narrow passage.”

Jacobi lowered his shirt and patted down his front. “Sorry, Captain.”

“It better not happen again.”

“It won’t.”

Dyne studied Jacobi as his cargo pusher worked on getting his breathing under control. “Is your head back on straight now?”

“Yes, Captain. I’m good.”

“I hope so.” He took the lead and resumed walking. “We’re all about to face scarier things than a little claustrophobia. You’re gonna die if you’re that jumpy.”

They resumed following Captain, their footsteps echoing off the walls, which began to grow covered in beads of sweat. The smell of salt water dominated the musty air and the whole energy of the cave shifted from mundane to tense. Something about the cave felt alive and aware, as if the walls were grinning where their lantern light didn’t touch. The cave felt dangerous, like the time Jessie had snuck into the lockdown container. And just like before, she felt powerless to steer away from danger. She felt a desire to walk right into it.

“Does anyone else feel that?” Ted said.

“The shift in the cave’s atmosphere?” Ed said.

“Yeah.”

“Every time we turn a corner, I keep expecting something to jump out at us.”

“Me, too,” Mido said, eyeing the shadowy walls.

“That’s normal,” Dyne said.

“I feel like it would be smarter to turn back,” Ed said, “but I can’t seem to help but want to go forward.”

“I’m not backing out after coming this far,” Jacobi said.

“Oh, neither are we,” Ted said. “Ed was just saying.”

“Yeah,” Ed said. “I just wanted to know if I wasn’t the only one.”