***

The next day went back to normal, or at least as normal as it could be given the circumstances. She woke with the sunrise and ascended the steps. Everything was quiet, peaceful, unlike what was happening inside of her.

The mist was a dark grey cloud, but it was light enough to know that Kepler's sun would soon be above the horizon. The chilly morning air filled her lungs and chased the tired from her limbs.

She heard the slap of hands slamming against metal, the hollow sound wet and ringing as it sailed over her ears. Rylie took a deep breath and didn’t turn around. She wouldn’t be able to see Netto through the fog, anyway. Instead, she powered up the watership and began the day.

The ship rocked and the normalcy of it soothed her nerves. She could almost pretend that it was any morning at sea and she was alone. But the calm feeling didn’t last long as heavy footsteps drew near, as did the sound of water hitting the floor.

The holo-screens brightened her periphery as her ship connected to the satellites in space. It took all of several seconds to download the night time stats.

Rylie pretended to be absorbed in reading them, though her fists clenched on her lap, her nails biting into her palm. He hadn't moved away and the longer he stood behind her, the harder it was for her to ignore him.

Go away, go away, go away. Don't make me look at you.

“Head southeast,” he said low enough for only her to hear. Netto moved away and the door to the interior of the ship screeched as it opened and closed. Rylie sagged in her seat, immediately relieved. She wiped her hands on her shirt and changed the course of the ship.

The wind whistled in and blew overhead. The ship turned and jerked before it headed southeast.

The day went on as any other and she busied herself within the bridge. The Cyborgs remained up on the top deck and left her and her family alone. The only stops they made that morning were for the Cyborgs to jump overboard and scout the water, checking for a break in the shields, a break in the noise the modules emitted.

They continued southeast until Zeph told her to go due east.

Thoughts of the evening before consumed her. Whenever Netto walked past her or said something to the others, it made her want to stand up and rage at him, to demand answers. But she remained silent and convinced herself that it would be best to act as though the situation had never happened, and limit the time spent between them until she could get away.

But she continuously pressed her fingers to her mouth. Rylie could still feel the phantom touch of his lips over hers and taste the salt of him. It had been her first. It would be her worst.

Her body shivered whenever Netto was nearby.

The image of him on her bed thrusting into his hand with his head bent low over her pillow haunted her. Rylie crossed her legs and hated herself for it. She hated that she ached. Hated that her body reacted despite his words.

She fantasized that things had gone differently. That she had stood there in the hallway, silent, as he masturbated just out of her sight, and fled before seeing him. Before he saw her.

She also pictured herself stepping into the room and closing the door behind her, stopping him right before he finished on her bedding, and making him finish inside her, instead.

Her sex tightened and the emptiness inside of her grew. She was fighting a losing war. What she wanted no longer coincided with what she had.

Rylie's eyes zeroed in on the controls but she didn't see them. The size of his manhood had made her breathless with fear and excitement. Netto was larger than she thought possible for a man. The club between his legs only stoked her sexual frustration into a blazing inferno. It was infatuation at its most primal.

I don't want to die a virgin!

What’s wrong with me? Rylie refused to look at herself. It plagued her and she bit back tears. She closed her eyes again and gritted her teeth when her sister laughed with Zeph.

“I was right.”

Netto. Her back stiffened. Please go away.

“About what?” she asked numbly without turning around.

What could he be right about? She licked her lips, secretly hoping he would apologize. That he would throw her over his shoulder and finish what they had started last night.

“There's a break in the seawall.”

Rylie tried not to let the disappointment show. She faced him.

“Is that a good thing? Did you figure out what happened? If the break came about three years ago, then at least we could know whether or not it has something to do with the crops.”

“It's a good thing.” He looked as if he didn't want to say more...but lost the battle. “It could be... the catalyst.” His jaw ticked. “The waters are different since the last time I was here when the modules had yet to be placed.”

“So even if we fix it, it may not fix everything else?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” she sighed.

“We’ll be there soon.”

“How soon?”

“Two hours, fourteen minutes, approximately,” he answered. Rylie swallowed.

“Okay...” She glanced up at the sky. “Maybe we should wait?” It would almost be evening by then. The thought of being so close, so stranded, so helpless, next to the broken barrier didn't help the myriad of emotions inside her.

Netto remained unmoving before her, his head slanted to keep her in his sight. He towered over her and blocked out any chance of escape. The protective barrier that he was didn't help settle the unease in her belly. It only made her sad.

Rylie didn't want to look up into his eyes, knowing that she would once again be pinned and helpless. That he had complete control over her. That he was a prick. She attempted to ignore the fact that her eyes were level with his dick, and even in her periphery, she could see the hard outline of it straining against his wetsuit. She turned her back on him and took a deep breath. Please just go away.

“The sooner it's fixed...”

Rylie gritted her teeth.

“...the sooner this is behind us,” she snapped.

The pressure of confinement lifted away as his heavy steps receded. She pressed forward and killed the butterflies in her stomach.

The next two hours passed quickly and without incident. The Cyborgs had prepped some of the equipment they brought on board and her da helped them. Janet was nowhere to be seen. When the two hours were out, Netto yelled for her to stop the boat.

Rylie found the nerve to leave the helm and joined everyone on the bow. She stopped as they came into view; both Cyborgs wore skin-tight full body suits. The material molded to their bodies, displaying every dip and crevice of the muscles beneath. They were two perfect Grecian gods wearing buckles and clips filled with tools and tech that she had never seen before.

A bracket of metal shielded most of Netto’s back. Long wires and pipes, directly attached to the suit, hung off its sides. He was the only one kitted out. Zeph had buckles on but little else.

“You going down there alone?” she asked, moving closer to the group. Her da was admiring several of the guns the Cyborgs had brought on board. Their cases lay open and unlocked on the table before him.

“He’s the only one that can, sweetheart,” Zeph answered. Netto stopped what he was doing.

“Why can't you?” Rylie asked. She refused to look at Netto.

“I'm a saltwater crocodile,” Zeph said with a shrug. “I'm not built to withstand the pressure that Netto can. It would be quicker if the two of us were down there, but then where would that leave you?” Zeph's lips twisted up into a devilish smile.

“Back away from my daughter,” Da warned, releasing a clip from one of the guns. “She's the best shot in the homestead, and if there was a standoff between the two of you, I’d place my bets on her.” He slid a new clip into the gun. “That's if I don't kill you first.”

Zeph laughed and winked at her before he turned away. She snuck a glance at Netto who remained motionless. He stared at Zeph with a look she had never seen on a man before. He looked hungry, with eyes that flashed silver and teeth that could be seen between the crack of his lips. Rylie wrapped her arms around her middle, feeling unsettled.

“You're a shark. He told me. Sharks can withstand the abyss?”

Netto turned toward her and his hungry anger melted away. She exhaled. The look was for Zeph, not her.

“Some.”

Netto picked up one of the wires and pressed into the back of his hand, his skin opened up but she couldn't see what was there.

Rylie took a step closer as the wire plugged into him and the skin sealed over it. Netto stilled. They were suddenly standing far too close.

“Does that hurt?” she asked relieved her voice remained indifferent.

“No.”

“Will you be able to stand the pressure?” She refused to look away from the back of his hand. Netto sat on the edge of a seat and began to spear wires into his feet.

“Yes.”

Rylie frowned. She ran her fingers through her hair and sat down a little ways away from him. Before she lost her courage and the images came back from the night before, she looked down at her hands.

“Please be careful down there. It will be night soon,” she said. Even though she was mad at him, confused, her wants a jumbled mess in her mind, she didn’t want to see him get hurt.

His hand lifted and clasped the back of hers. Rylie shivered from the contact.

“I'll be fine.” Netto gently squeezed her hand. “I'll be in communication with Zeph.” He let go of her and stood, adjusted his belt buckle, and moved to the side of the ship.

“It's time.”

Zeph sat back with a large rifle over his lap. Da set down the one he’d been holding and nodded.

“You know what you're doing?”

“Yes.”

“We’ll be here when you get back,” Da said.

Netto looked at Zeph and the two shared a wordless look. Rylie wondered what it would be like to speak into someone else's mind.

“Keep the lights off.”

“Go, Shark, before I change my mind.” Zeph laughed but she knew it for a warning.

Rylie hoped that Netto would look her way, but instead, he turned and lowered himself into the sea. He was gone the next second, and she immediately regretted that she hadn’t said more.

Rylie dropped her eyes and caught Zeph staring at her.

What the hell is wrong with me?

***

NETTO POWERED THROUGH the gloom, pushing himself down into the black water to inspect the relay station.

One of the early colonial efforts he had a hand in was to install sensor relays that would monitor currents, ocean temperatures, and seismic activity, with the goal of predicting weather patterns and natural disasters. The relays he placed were hundreds of miles from the shore and designed to give enough warning to the colonists if evacuation efforts were needed.

Every couple of days, the network would report large shifts in current activity, which should have been impossible. Usually, it was localized to one relay at a time but would move from one sensor array to the next down the line. Due to the depth, the arrays had no cameras of their own as visibility was close to zero, and the flood lamps needed to see if anything would attract the interest of larger sea creatures.

Without his recommendation, the EPED had deemed the planet habitable without doing a full oceanic survey.

Netto felt around the malfunctioning sensor array and found several broken sonar emitters. They all faced the same direction, deeper out in the ocean, away from the shoreline. He reoriented himself. He couldn’t open his eyelids, his eyeballs to weak to withstand the water pressure.

He messaged Zeph at the surface.

Netto unfastened the emitter modules. At least they’re replaceable. There was nothing he hated more than underwater welding. Anytime he turned the plasma torch on, it boiled the water around it and made a noise he could feel under his skin.

His fingers brushed around the array, feeling for damage, finding grooves carved into the side of the metal. What could have done this?

Netto scanned his vicinity. Creatures lurked around him, displacing the water.

He gritted his teeth and replaced the emitters he could get out easily.

Something huge shifted at the periphery of Netto’s senses. It felt like a mountain was plowing through the water. The relay cycled the new emitter modules, bringing them on at full power and blasting the area with a sonar noise he couldn’t hear. Whatever roamed out there did not seem to appreciate the sound.

Netto pushed every one of his systems into overdrive, hoping to get anything on the creature before it left his bubble of awareness. Half of his tech didn’t even work down in the abyss. He hissed through his teeth in frustration as all he could image was the tail of the creature.

He didn’t dare chase after it, because if it got away, he’d never hear the end of it from Zeph. A job unfinished and a creature escaped? Unacceptable. Worse, he had no idea of its capabilities, and the boat was right above him.

Netto turned back to the job at hand and finished repairing the module. The signal it released continued to strengthen as he set it to match the others. When it was done, he connected to the tech and checked for updates, and when none appeared, he ran a full series of diagnostics.

Something appeared in his bubble again. Netto flushed the module with power, draining his own personal resources, in hopes of completing it faster.

If he had to pull away because something attacked him, or worse, attacked the scow above, he could potentially break the sensory device, and he and Zeph would be back to square one, but this time without the tools or the tech on hand.

The pressure built until he powered down his hearing devices, he didn’t want his personal technology erupting from the sound.

76% complete, 77% complete... Something thrashed nearby and it sent him and the tech flying back in the water. He strengthened his grip on the long, corded chains.

‘There’s something down here,’ he sent the message to Zeph, hoping it would reach him despite their almost non-existent connection.

79%.

‘We know.’ The message popped up in his head. Netto held himself back from destroying the machine under his hands. He registered movement around him, frenetic movement, but he focused on Zeph’s words.

A hundred things came to mind, a thousand ways to respond. ‘Is she okay?’

84%. Zeph didn't answer immediately and every minute he remained down below was another minute out of his control.

‘Yes.’ He barely got the message, the wireless connection between them repeatedly losing and regaining signal. Netto agonized over every millisecond as his mind whirred through multiple worst-case scenarios. 90%.

The surrounding area cleared before the module regained complete strength. The lesser creatures that flitted around the periphery moved farther away. Netto knew this break in the armored belt meant that creatures could have gone beyond the barrier. Some of those creatures were predators to the very marrow of their bones. 96%.

At least he could stop any new ones from getting through. The sea monsters continued to flee.

100%.

Netto disengaged himself with one last feel of the tech, running his hands over the thick grooves along its outer casing. Whatever creature destroyed it wasn’t bothered by the powerful sonic waves and those waves even bothered Cyborgs. They could rattle everything loose, including his mind. The wires strummed as he focused on them.

He made sure to memorize them. Once he had the image branded under his fingers and blueprinted in his head, he released some of the oxygen in his suit and shot to the surface.

He had been down there for hours, first to adjust his system to the increased pressure, then to discover what had really happened to the tech. Netto kept his eyes closed as he swam out of the abyss and into the dark zone, constantly equalizing the pressure throughout his system.

Serpents swam around him. He was still too deep to open his eyes. He had seen true blackness before and there was nothing comforting about it.

The creatures that hadn't made it out of the signal circle before it connected were thrashing. The chaos built. Now, no matter which direction they swam, they were stuck within the sound where they would eventually die from the exertion or beach themselves to get out of the water.

Netto shifted when he approached the surface, powering through the few yards that separated him from Rylie, and was met with the blaring echo of gunfire.

He unsheathed his knife and gripped it between his teeth, pushing himself against the current toward the watership.

“Netto, move your ass!” Zeph yelled at him somewhere off in the dark.

Netto grabbed his knife and stuck it skyward as a limb crashed into him from above. The blade pierced through the slimy skin before he was knocked away. He took ahold of the incoming appendage and held on, sinking his teeth into it and tearing chunks of thick flesh away. He stabbed it from the other side.

More gunfire pierced the air and into the creature to which he was attached.

“Stop shooting! You’ll hit him!” Rylie screamed.

Netto sucked in a breath before crushing through bones that splintered between his teeth. Nothing could withstand the sharp edges of his maw.

He tore through it in under a minute. His ears filled with the sounds of crashing waves and the whip of the wind as the beast thrashed in an attempt to dislodge him. Scraps of flesh hung from the monster, the remnants of Netto’s grisly feast.

The smell of fresh blood and rank fish filled his nose. He crashed into the water and let go of the creature.

Netto swam to the ship, following the homing signal, and used the spotlight as a beacon. When he looked up, all he could see was a grey milky film that had just begun to curdle and rot.

He grabbed the side of the watership and pulled himself up only to find that the shields had risen.

The door flung open beside him and Zeph reached out. Netto grabbed his arm to drag himself onto the ship. The metal pack on his back ripped from him, too large for the small space, and fell back into the water. The boat rocked beneath him and ocean water dripped from his body, infused with blood.

Something crashed overhead, sinking the ship under the surface, and Zeph whipped the door closed behind them, but not before a gush of water filled the boat. They were pushed below only to bob right back up. It happened again.

Zeph grabbed Janet and clasped her into his chest. Netto held on as he looked frantically at Rylie, who struggled at the helm. Before he reached her she lunged and wrapped her arms around him. He pulled her close and re-sheathed his knife.

“I'm glad you're okay,” she said, her voice high with fear. Everyone held on as they were hit again from the side, knocking them into the wall.

“We need to get out of here!” Netto roared.

Montihan yelled from the bridge, “I'm already on it. Everybody hold on.”

Netto looked over to see Montihan buckled into his seat, pressing a series of buttons. Zeph buckled Janet into the seat next to her dad and Netto followed behind him after retrieving one of the guns.

“It took you long enough to get back. Fuck, man, I thought we would be out of here hours ago. What happened?”

Rylie had her head buried in her hands as Netto held her against him and burrowed his face into her hair. The water sluiced around their feet. He picked her up and fastened her into a nearby seat and looked her in the eye.

“I heard your voice. Are you okay?” He felt the ship power to life and everything went dark for just a moment as the spotlight flickered off. Everything went black.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Get us out of here, Montihan! What’s it going to take?”

They were lifted into a void, the only sounds were the turbulent waves caused by the movement below. The interior lights flickered on.

The ship shot forward before diving below the waves. It leapt upward as something jostled them again, but they had gotten out of the radius of the giant beast that had attacked them.

“What the... look at the radar. What did you do down there?” Montihan yelled.

“Watch out!” Netto bellowed too late as Montihan crashed into another monster. The ship rounded on its side.

Creatures appeared and disappeared as they retreated from the barrier. They zigzagged through the chaos. Montihan maneuvered the watership, as well as any Cyborg could, a testament to their host’s talent, but it did not make a smooth ride.

The glass overhead splintered and stopped everyone in their tracks. Even Montihan swiveled around and looked up.

“That’s not good,” Zeph grumbled.

Netto rushed out and found a loose towel, half soaked, and threw it over Rylie and Janet. “Stay here. Stay under it.”

“The glass is breaking, it’ll crush us,” Janet shouted. “We need to move!” A chunk fell and shattered at their feet.

Netto gritted his teeth as the ship plummeted back below the waterline. He shielded the girls from the water that rushed in. Glass continued to fall. He pressed a quick kiss to the top of Rylie’s head as he moved away and the ship popped back up.

“Not before you go overboard, sweetheart...” Zeph responded with dry humor.

“What’re you going to do?” Rylie called after him.

“Get us out of here.” Netto headed for the bow with Zeph close behind. They unlocked their gun cases and strapped up.

They were hit by another large tentacle from out of nowhere. Netto glanced up and frowned as a large streak of blood smeared over the top glass. It was the limb he had bitten through. That’s not possible. The ship picked up speed. The sound of a gun clip being rammed home filled his ears.

Netto picked up his own and called out to Montihan, “Open the front and turn the spotlight back on!”

A short time later the squelch of moving glass filled his ears. The panels slipped slowly into the sides but stopped halfway, halted to give them a barricade that was safer than the railing.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Zeph said.

Together, they climbed to the top and braced themselves on the ceiling of the bridge. Netto could just make out Montihan through the closed cracks below. He took a hold of the spotlight and spun it in a half-circle, squinting his eyes and peering through the murky gloom.

Zeph took aim at the beasts that moved within the illumination on either side of the ship. Netto ignored the small fry, festering in an endless frenzy, and searched for the leviathan: the serpent whose blood was still in his mouth and whose flesh between his teeth. It didn’t reappear, and as the seconds ticked by, the waters smoothed out and the watership stopped dipping.

They flew from the scene as the sun crested and the night fog shifted into a charcoal dawn.

“Oh, what the hell!” Zeph shouted. Netto looked away from the ocean and followed his partner’s gaze. He moved the light with him.

His fingers dug into the gun at his side.

A shadow eclipsed the early morning light.

Netto rose to his feet as his throat closed up at the sight before him. It was a behemoth. A giant. A creature he had never seen the likes of before and which he hoped to never see again. It came out of the mist with long spindly arms that drifted deep within the water around it. He had to look up and strain his neck to see the head of the beast.

“So that's what’s on the other side,” Zeph choked out next to him.

“Yes,” Netto said with awe.

“Could’ve given me a heads up.”

But the beast grew smaller as they made their escape.

“I didn't know,” he said. “I've never seen anything like this before.” He had seen giants in the water on Kepler, the leviathans that the locals spoke of. This was different; this was hellish. The wind blew around them but the constant spray of water kept him from getting dry.

“I think we should kill it,” Zeph laughed. “Kinda want to take back a trophy.” His partner jumped down before Netto could say anything and yelled out to Montihan below. “Stop the boat!”

“Are you serious? We just got away from the thing!” Janet's voice was shrill with terror. But the bow came to a stop anyway.

Netto ran his tongue across his teeth, releasing his blood, and jumped into the ocean, but not before he saw the sea behemoth flail out in a rage and the serpents fly around it in untempered fury. As the mist cleared, the ocean vanished and all that remained were the bodies of the aquatic life swimming atop each other.

Netto looked away to see Rylie standing below. He joined her on the bow.

“Are you okay?” Rylie gasped out with a shiver, her hair and clothes drenched around her slight frame.

“Yes, are you?”

He took her in his arms, hoping to warm her.

Zeph opened a case that housed one of their strongest weapons. Netto glanced over Rylie's head and watched his partner assemble the ion launcher.

“I'm okay now,” she said. “You guys can't possibly take that thing out. You'll die trying.”

“No shit!” Janet erupted, joining them. “We barely got away with our lives and if that thing hits the boat one more time—”

“The glass shielding will shatter. We won't be able to replace it,” Rylie said, drawing out of his arms. Netto searched her face and saw her brave mask harden. “If we get attacked again we’d be at a disadvantage.”

“Not to mention, for star's sake, the majority of people on this boat are not Cyborgs!”

Netto bit down on his tongue as he looked at those around him, only to turn and face the large creature in the distance. He hadn’t been fully paying attention, but he was certain that it had come closer. He turned toward the stairwell and shouted down to Montihan.

“Continue driving,” he roared, afraid for the module he had just fixed. “We need to lead it away.”

He turned back as Zeph clamped the last part of the weapon together and they shared a grim look. The boat started up again underneath them. Out of the corner of his eye, Netto noticed Zeph giving Janet a lingering kiss.

Netto prepared his own gun. He turned to Rylie who was climbing to the top of the boat and he grabbed her leg, stopping her. “What are you doing? It's not safe.”

She tugged free of his hold. “Helping.”

She held a link of bullets around her arm. He lifted up to join her. She popped open a panel on the roof and a mounted gun appeared.

Her lip between her teeth, Rylie loaded the gun and aimed it at the beast.

Its arm slammed into the water several yards away from them, knocking the bow on its side before it dipped back up. He went to grab Rylie only to find that she had belted herself to the gun.

The creature followed and it was close, too close for his liking. Zeph joined them and let loose the ion.

Netto chanted in his head over and over that Rylie was safe, she was flanked on either side by Cyborgs.

The bomb landed with precision at the center of the beast and the sparkling blue fire of vengeance exploded across the horizon. It sucked up whatever was left of the fog, the heat of it flushed out across the ocean. It was a sight to behold, but it did not last long. Chunks of visceral sailed through the air and pieces landed on the ship. The leviathan roared but didn’t fall.

Netto drew his own gun and shot red-hot beams at the monster. The constant hammering of the turret echoed his rhythm. Zeph ducked away and reloaded his weapon. Janet was behind them, still on the top deck, handing them whatever they needed.

The watership continued to sail away. Montihan was keeping them right outside the beast’s reach.

“I don't know why you have to do you this!” Janet screamed.

“It's on the wrong side of the wall!” Rylie yelled back, letting her terror cool down before she sprayed the monster with another round of fire. “It can’t get back across without us dropping the whole grid. It’ll go mad on this side.”

The creature roared. They all stopped. The sun had begun to ascend into the sky, haloing the monster with her bright white illumination. Zeph prepped the second ion bomb.

A dozen massive arms lifted up and smashed on the water. It looked as if it was walking toward them—which he thought had to be impossible. If it were walking it would mean the beast was big enough to stand on the bottom of the abyss. Nothing was that big.

Zeph shot the second bomb, and the whiz died in the wind as it hit the same place as the first one had.

They watched with bated breath, hoping that it was enough to split the beast in half. The explosion gave off a huge shockwave. They had to turn away from the blinding light while getting showered with water. The bomb had also failed and only enraged the monster more. A tentacle smashed down from above, too quickly for them to drive out of its range.

The remaining glass shattered under the pressure just as Netto covered Rylie. The ship sank under the water line only to reemerge a moment later. The wind filled with screams.

Zeph was nowhere in sight. The ship continued to move away.

Rylie sputtered water and Netto moved off her. She repositioned the turret and the barrage of gunfire once again filled his ears.

She impressed him but he had little time to show it as he aimed his gun again and fired a few more shots. Netto looked around. Both Zeph and Janet were gone.

“You have to go after them!” she yelled over the rush of water. He turned to Rylie.

She blinked and took a hold of his weapon in one hand, peeling it from his grip.

“Bring them back alive!” she screamed without looking at him. Netto stared at her for a second longer, willing this moment to last, but he dove into the ocean, threading out his signal to realign itself with Zeph.

The watership was gone within an instant of his landing. He registered the lack of its electricity before he was able to shift into a shark. All he knew was that Rylie was safe. The Montihans would provide cover fire and lead the behemoth away from the Cyborgs and Janet. He gritted his teeth and looked for Rylie’s sister.