Nerida Quickwave's Arc

Chapter 8 of 12

Inside the dome, Nerida traced the bond pattern for the third hour. Then she felt the slate go cold under her hand. A pull. The current in the ravine had shifted. Water now ran from her hiding spot up toward the rusted tanks where the pair rested. She twisted and saw the cause. A long shelf of mossy stone split the ravine floor, funneling water through a tight notch. The notch aimed straight at the platform. Worse, her pack pressed against the dome's vent seam. The alien pouch inside leaked a faint haze of spores through the porous weave. Her scent rode the current now, climbing toward the beast. She could not stop the current. She could not reseal the pouch. So she cut it free, tied a stone to it, and shoved it down the ravine the other way, deep into the dark cut beneath the seabed. The spore haze drifted off, away from the tanks, painting a false trail along the lower channel. She pressed flat under the dome and held still. Above, an arm lifted from the rusted works and stretched toward the lower ravine. The beast followed the false scent. Her hiding spot held. But her pouch was gone, her trail now lived in the water, and the beast was moving — not toward her, yet, but searching with purpose.