Lucas, what was that? Emma sat up straight on the soft white sofa, her voice slicing through the cacophony of sirens. Emma's senses ignited, and her heart hammered against her chest.
Already on his feet, Lucas stood with his black eyes burning under the harsh emergency lights that flashed across the penthouse walls. Someone's compromised the security system—several failsafes bypassed. Tessa, tell me!
Emma's phone, resting on the coffee table, picked up the crackling sound of his voice. With trembling hands, she picked it up.
Tessa (Comm) They've blocked the frequency. I'm following it now. It's coming from below—under the bay. I have plans for an ancient research lab, specifically a subaquatic facility.
Emma gasped. Underwater, subaquatic? Lucas, that's... below water!
He struck the smooth glass table with his hand. "They're using a secondary destabilizer, flooding the city by activating the underwater valves. We have just minutes.
A loud clang echoed across the floor. In the corridor, glass broke. Emma turned as tactical gear-clad masked agents with guns drawn stormed into the living area.
Get down! Lucas shouted, shoving Emma behind an end table. His gun broke twice, killing one invader. Gunfire and shouts broke out in the entryway.
Emma's heart raced. Fingers grazing the chilly metal of her weapon, she rushed for the duffel bag at the entrance. What should we do?
Lucas scanned the room. "Find Tessa's frequency; secure the communications. I will maintain a safe distance.
She tucked her gun into her belt and gulped. I cannot abandon you.
His jaw became tense. You will. We had to leave for the helipad. I will catch up.
Emma's breath hitched, but she nodded, heart ripping as Lucas pivoted to meet four operatives rushing through the smashed front door. Bullets chipped the concrete walls as she raced down the corridor.
Emma dashed for the service elevator and onto the balcony as rain pounded the glass. The lobby was pandemonium—smoke curling from ripped electrical panels, guards rushing to control the breach. Her hands trembling, she stabbed the call button.
Above her, the faraway thrum of rotors announced the extraction helicopter coming onto the rooftop helipad. Descending, Emma's thoughts raced with terror as her hold on the elevator rail tightened. Should Lucas not survive...
The elevator dinged, doors opening onto a tight staircase. Each thumping footstep reverberating in her head, she raced down the stairs two at a time. As she reached the garage level, the facility's automatic lockdown alarm sounded, sending a deep, expectant scream reverberating through her bones.
A team of agents blocked the garage exit, their shadows as threatening as the sonar pings of the approaching helicopter. Emma stood still.
From her comms: Tessa: The breach leads back to the old Bayview lab under Pier 12. They have a prepared diving rig. We must stop that machine before it triggers the flood valves.
Emma gulped. No option. She ran to her vehicle, pulled open the passenger door, and flung herself inside. Gunfire erupted as the operatives recognized her flight. As she pulled away, the engine roared to life and tires squealed.
Sirens screaming behind her, Emma drove along the rain-slicked streets past concrete barriers flying by. Through the glass, the city lights were a jumble of neon signs and slick asphalt shining like oil.
She took a chance to look at her phone. Critical flood time: 12:30 minutes.
Emma's heart raced. Emma had just twelve minutes to avert a flood that could potentially submerge half the city. Narrowly missing a cab that fishtailed in the rain, she swerved through traffic.
Rusted cranes towered at Pier 12 against the turbulent sky. Spotlights on a waiting landing ship lit the lab entrance—an old steel hatch set into the dock—halfway open.
Emma screeched to a stop, turned off the motor, and sprang out, rain drenching her hair and clothing in seconds. Adrenaline pumping in her veins, she dashed across the pier. The motor of the landing craft buzzed as scuba-equipped workers boarded, its ramp dropping.
Drawing her handgun, she avoided container boxes and forklifts. "Hey!" she shouted, firing a warning shot that sent three agents scurrying for cover. Emma sprang up the rig's ramp and dashed into the dark interior of the ship as the others wheeled with weapons ready.
Inside, green-lit control panels and rows of diving tanks occupied the cramped space. With rifles aimed, two operatives blocked her path. Sliding under an upturned box, Emma dived to the side.
"Hostile!" one operator shouted at the container. Sparks flew as bullets tore through its metal. Emma slid free, sprang to her feet, and attacked him from behind. In a tangle of limbs, they fell to the deck.
Emma kicked the barrel, pulling the second operator down just as he lifted his gun. As she fought for control, her elbow hit his jaw.
Above the clamor of battle, Lucas's words crackled in her ear: Get to the flood valves. Backup's on the way.
Adrenaline pumping, Emma nodded to herself. She kicked the gun from his hands, pushed him against the wall, and pulled the operative off her back. The gun clattered across the deck.
Then she ran for the back hatch, using the rifle butt to knock him unconscious. Opening it exposed a ladder falling into darkness; wind and precipitation blasted her.
With her heart in her throat, Emma put on a mask and dive tank from the gear rack. Below the hatch was a lengthy, cylindrical conduit battered by waves slamming above: the underwater access tunnel. Flipping the airlock lever allowed water to stream in, filling the room.
As the hatch closed, Lucas's voice rang out, "Stay safe."
Emma breathed out, the puffs of air hazy in her mask. Kicking off her boots and locking her fins, she plunged into the muddy water. Every nerve on fire, the cold surrounded her. The hatch led her into the tunnel, where emergency lights lit the dripping metal walls as she swam through.
Bubbles billowing behind her, she pushed ahead as her fins kicked in quick strokes. The passageway sloped down, the pressure rising with every meter. Emma concentrated on the lights—green and flashing—a lighthouse guiding the way.
Her comm buzzed weakly all of a sudden. "Emma, to your left—valve station in 50 meters," said Lucas through the underwater mic.
Counting the lights, she turned down a side corridor, heart racing. Thirty... forty... suddenly the valve room appeared, a gigantic hall with huge pipes branching in every direction, valves like wheels ready to be spun.
Kicking toward the control panel—a bank of levers marked for each district's floodgates—Emma's breath caught. Reaching the first lever, she pulled it, but an explosion from above shook the room. A flood of water gushing from a broken pipe sent Emma rolling over the metal floor.
"Damn it!" she exclaimed, rushing to her feet as the water level started to rise. The break was deliberate; someone had booby-trapped the valves to rise with her.
She shot her handgun into the sensor array of the airlock. Sparks flashed, and a group of emergency lights turned on, illuminating two armed divers who were rushing in from an upper entrance.
Emma pushed off the floor and backward into shelter behind the control panel. As she fired back, bullets pinged off the valves. She struck one of the divers in the arm; air bubbles sprang from his broken tank. Struggling to keep equilibrium, he thrashed.
The other diver circled with weapon drawn. Emma rolled over the increasing water, her mask stuck with her hair. Grabbing a wrench from the tool rack, she pulled off her gloves and threw it like a javelin. It hit the rifle of the second diver, distorting the barrel. He let go of the gun; Emma kicked him forcefully in the chest. He went under the increasing water.
She looked at the first diver, who was gasping for oxygen and slumped against the wall. Emma grabbed him by the collar, pulled him up, and checked his oxygen gauge; the display showed empty.
Panic in his eyes, he thrashed. Emma let go of him after hitting him once, hard. He dropped slowly, eyes glazed.
Water reached Emma's chest, and blood throbbed in her ears. Trembling hands pulled the last levers into the "closed" position. Alarms in the control room above became silent; lights changed from red to green. The valves of the flood closed.
Emma swam back to the hatch; the weight of her tank hindered her. Exhaustion came in waves. She pushed the hatch open and released it. Two of Lucas's agents plunged in, spotlights cutting through the gloom.
"Emma!" shouted one, bringing her up through the water and grasping her forearm. Weakly she kicked, allowing them to lead her.
With weapons pointed at the hatch, Lucas and two others waited as Emma stumbled onto the deck of the landing ship. He rushed to her side and lowered his gun. Emma, are you alright?
With water pouring from her wetsuit, she fell into his arms. "I shut the valves. They're locked.
Lucas's arms clamped down on her. You are wonderful. His lips grazed her temple, a warm anchor in the cold night.
The adrenaline was finally fading, so Emma trembled. Looking at Lucas, she felt dread, relief, and desire all mixed in her heart. She halted her thoughts.
He nodded and wiped her face with water. You put a stop to it.
Stolen Time in the Dark
The extraction chopper's roar thundered above, silencing them once again. Lucas covered Emma in his coat as he led her to the ramp. As they boarded, wind and precipitation blasted about them.
Emma slid onto a seat, trembling internally as the rotors whirled her away from the flaming facility. Lucas knelt next to her and drew her near. "I promise, Emma, we'll protect this—whatever 'this' is—beneath the surface," he said softly, his voice laden with feeling.
Her damp hair stuck to her face as she curled into his arms. "I'm scared," she said quietly. Scared I can't rescue the world while feeling this way—doing this.
Lucas swept a lock of hair aside from her face. You are not alone with yourself.
Their eyes met—storm and quiet, dread and hope, all reflected in one another's sight. Their illicit bond blazing hotter than any flood, they experienced a brief moment of serenity against the roar of the chopper's engines.
The bay's waves below them calmed, the concealed threat suppressed. Above them, the city lights spread out—a promise of normality and the fights yet to come.
Emma and Lucas huddled together, the tempest within them at last at bay, if only for a short moment.