I shifted my body in time to catch a glimpse of Ari swimming toward her boat. “What does she think she’s doing?”
“The uniforms are gone.” Catita tapped my shoulder and pointed at Lady Sonja’s unit in the distance. “Let’s go get Ari. Who the hell knows what Lady Sonja did to the boat?”
I dove into the water and swam as fast as I could to catch up to Ari. She had a good minute head start. When I came up for a breath, three detonations exploded in succession. Ari’s ship blew up into chunks that landed not far from Catita and me. I inhaled and went under. Heat gnawed at my back and arms as I kicked my feet to go deeper and get away from the flames on the surface.
I waited until my lungs burned for air, then went looking for Ari. I found her drifting close to what looked like half of the poop deck of her boat. She floated several feet under water, unconscious with her arms extended and hair hovering around her face. This could not be happening. I swam to her, hooked my arm around her waist, and pulled. I tugged again, and again, but we only sunk farther down. Black spots flashed in front of me, and the burn in my lungs intensified.
“I wish for all of us to make a long trip to Mars,” she had said, blowing out the candles on her sixteenth birthday cake.
I laughed at her outlandish birthday wish. “Well, if the Martians ever decide to let anyone in, it’d be you. I’m sure.”
Ari was strong, and in spite of the cancer-like disease that’d been eating at her since she turned fourteen, she was full of life, determined to live every moment she had to the fullest. Her biggest flaw was her irrational belief in me. She’d taken her boat out today, trusting I’d come save her if she ran into trouble. I couldn’t fail her like I did Mom.
The water near the surface sparkled under the sunrays, clear blue in some spots, bright green in the distance. But below us, the Genie headed for a dark abyss. I shook Ari to get her to wake up, to help me.
Waves sloshed overhead, and I wanted nothing more than a breath of air to ease the pain in my chest. But I couldn’t bring myself to let her go. Her body jerked, and bubbles came out of her mouth. I didn’t want to think about what would happen if I didn’t get her breathing soon.
Catita’s face appeared out of nowhere. Pinching Ari’s nose, she pressed her mouth to Ari’s and breathed for her. I released my sister’s hand and kicked my legs, letting my body rise to the surface. Air rushed to my lungs and brought everything around me into focus.
When I returned, the debris had shifted. Catita pointed at Ari’s foot, where it was trapped at an odd angle in the curve of the handrail, which was still attached to part of the poop deck and sinking slowly. After all she’d been through, she couldn’t die like this. It wasn’t fair. Pushing her toes forward until it felt as if the top of her foot would snap in half, I pulled at her ankle with my right hand and freed her. I kicked hard and got us back up to the surface.
“Ari?” I squeezed just below the rib cage to get her to breathe, while the waves tossed us around among the wreckage.
Her head bobbed, then fell limp to the side. I placed a trembling hand over her mouth. When a warm breath left her, I exhaled and hugged her tight. I didn’t know how, but we were still alive.
“You’re stronger than this. Come on.” I did two more compresses against her chest.
I needed to get Ari to inhale. If I waited until we got to shore to do proper CPR, it might be too late for her. I kept pressing while the rip current continued to drag us away.
“Keep trying.” Catita treaded water, eyes shifting from one end of the horizon to the other.
I wanted to assure her we weren’t lost yet, but I didn’t have time to waste. I squeezed just below Ari’s ribs and counted to three. This time she came to, coughing and arms flailing as if she were drowning. In the process, she kicked my shin hard. At least that meant she was still strong enough to swim on her own.
“Calm down.” We both submerged for a moment, then came back up. “I won’t let you go, but you need to help me.”
She nodded, and an immediate relief flushed through my left arm. Resting against my chest, she paddled with her feet in tandem with mine, and that was all the help I needed. I scoured the horizon for a point of reference, until the top part of the Blue appeared to our right.
“We’re fine.” A chuckle of relief escaped my lips.
“Let’s get the hell out of here.” Catita gasped for air.
I nodded and swam back toward my boat, slowing down every few strokes to make sure Ari was right behind me. As it always happened after the effects of the Ukruum wafers wore off, she looked pale and moved at a denser pace.
“I’m so sorry, Tek.” Ari let me help her up the side ladder to my ship.
“You have to stop doing this.” I grabbed my clothes off the deck. “It won’t bring mom back or change a thing.”
“I know.” She wrapped her arms around my waist and pressed her cheek to my chest. “Sometimes, I can’t control this anger.”
“Ari,” I said under my breath, meeting Catita’s gaze as she donned her military uniform. She furrowed her brows as if she truly felt Ari’s pain.
“Dad says he’s found a way to get the cure.” Ari wiped her eyes with both hands.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to send you
