Aurora Dawson's Arc

Chapter 3 of 7

Aurora filled two jars with seawater while Dominic wrapped the deep-sea plants in cloth. Her gliding creature watched from the rock, tail curled. The sun dropped toward the water. She wanted to stay, but they needed answers first. "If it's food," Dominic said, "we bring back more than a story." They climbed off the rocks and started the long walk back to the shelter. The diamond-shaped shelter sat quiet when they arrived. Four round modules wrapped a small courtyard. Aurora carried the plants straight to the lab module. Dr. Giovanni stood over a bench, sleeves pushed up, testing a soil sample. She was the biologist tasked with feeding the whole colony. When Aurora set the wet bundle down, Giovanni looked up and went still. "Where did these grow?" she asked. She was already reaching for gloves. "The seafloor," Aurora said. "The sea creatures dove for them. We just carried them home." Giovanni pressed a plant flat and slid it under her scope. She said nothing for a long time. Aurora and Dominic waited by the door. Aurora's boots still dripped salt water on the floor. "These are dense with nutrients," Giovanni finally said. "Protein. Minerals. Everything a person needs." She looked up, and her tired face broke into a smile. "They're safe. This could feed everyone." Dominic laughed and clapped Aurora on the shoulder. Aurora grinned, but her eyes stayed on the jars of seawater. "What about the water?" she asked. Giovanni ran a strip through one jar. "Salty, but I can purify it," she said. "Clean drinking water, in volume." She set the strip down. "One thing. The plants taste flat. Bitter, even. For real meals, for morale, you'll want something sweet." She thought a moment. "Those red-and-green trees near the ridge carry purple fruit. If those are safe, we'd have both." So it was settled. The plants were food. The water was drinkable. The problem that sent them east was solved. But Aurora barely heard the last part. She stood at the lab window and looked toward the dark line of the sea. She thought of the sealed pods on the creatures' backs. She thought of the deep water closing over them, and everything down there no one had seen. "Aurora," Dominic said. He knew that look. "You want to go back." "I want to go down," she said. "Not just watch them dive. I want to see the seafloor myself." Giovanni frowned. "We don't have diving gear. Nothing rated for that." "The creatures have gear," Aurora said. "They ride down in those pods and come up dry." She turned from the window. "Tomorrow we go back to the beach. We bring the gliding creatures. And this time I find a way into the water with them." Dominic held her gaze, then nodded. "Then we're diving." Aurora looked at the wet jars, the safe plants, the closed problem. It was done. The next one already pulled at her, out under the waves.