“The city’s having some leaking issues according to one of the Gray Vests. Nothing to worry about. Says the ship’ll stabilize and they’ll need to do some repairs.”

  “I think we should grab the kids and get to the docks near the stern before it gets any worse. I hear they’re already evacuating some of the more paranoid crew.”

  Dylan found the stairs and pattered her way up. There was a crowd gathered around Brandt’s office. They wanted answers, but knew better than to knock the door down. They gladly moved aside to let Dylan into the office.

  She found Brandt sitting at his desk, frustrated and impatient. He seemed glad when Dylan returned.

  Dylan took a breath. “I went down to the lower decks.”

  “I know you did, that’s where I sent you. What did Boone have to say?”

  “I didn’t speak to Boone.”

  “What do you mean? Who did you speak with?”

  “I tried to get to engine, but I only made it to the second deck.”

  “You had better start making sense.”

  “The second deck is underwater.”

  Brandt paused for a second. “Underwater? You’re saying that the Cobalt is sinking?”

  “I don’t know if we’re sinking. I heard some Blue Vest’s whispering that it might stabilize.

  He slammed his hands on the desk. “Damn it!”

  Dylan flinched, but kept her posture. “Are we going to sink?”

  Brandt stood up. He grabbed a strapless bag and packed his important belongings. Papers, ink, flasks of water and photographs.

  “Why are you packing?” Dylan asked. She knew the answer, but it barely registered in her mind.

  “If the Cobalt is sinking, then the important Cobalts need to escape. There are ships in the dock near the stern. And if we’re sinking by the stern we have very little time.”

  Dylan nodded and followed Brandt to the door. He stopped her.

  “What are you doing?” Brandt asked.

  “Following you,” Dylan said. She knew what was coming, but didn’t want it to be true.

  “You’re not coming,” he said. “You’re to stay on the ship.”

  “I’ll drown if I stay here.”

  “So will all the other Gray Vests. Even a few Cobalts will drown along with you,” he said and reached for the door.

  “I’m not like them,” Dylan said.

  Brandt stopped.

  “I’m better than they are. Don’t pretend you don’t see how the Gray Vests look at me. The same fear and the same hatred that they show any Blue Vest. I have authority and power that they don’t. I can go up to any Blue Vest with any demand and they’ll do it because they fear me.”

  Brandt took a step towards her. “They don’t fear you,” he said. “They don’t respect you. You’re nothing but a pathetic Gray Vest hiding behind a name.”

  “You’re wrong! I’m better than them! If you gave me a Blue Vest I’d show them all just who I rea-”

  Brandt struck her in the side of the jaw. Dylan let out a grunt and step back a pace. It didn’t break skin, nor would it leave a mark, but it hurt.

  “You’re not better than anyone,” he said, “And you’ll die just the same.”

  She didn’t open her eyes until he was already out of the room. It was the first time she was ever truly alone.

  Chapter 8

  One hand at a time, Echo climbed her way across the hall. Her fingers dug into the grate along the ceiling and the thin wires cut into her nails. She was crawling blind. The ship was a maze and she couldn’t remember how far away the stairs were.

  Her lungs burned and her eyes stung from the salt. The water current dulled as the deck flooded and Echo could crawl easier. She could barely see what was ahead of her. The hallway was a tunnel of light that vanished into the distance. She knew that the Gray Vest had to be next to her, but couldn’t see her through the thickness of the water.

  The burning strengthened with each pull forward. Air bubbles flowed from her nose as she struggled to hold her breath. You can survive a surprising amount of time on a lung-full of air, but take in water and you only have seconds.

  From the corner of her eye there was a bright light. It could have been anything, but Echo took the chance it was a stairway.

  She braced herself, taking a moment to calm her body before launching towards the light.

  The second her hands let go, she was caught in the current. The sudden shift in momentum threw her off guard. Echo let out a cry and lost half a lungful of air. She felt herself being sucked down the hallway, but caught the corner of the stairway at the last second. Her arms strained to hold on as she hoisted herself around the corner.

  She swam as fast as she could, fighting against her bulky clothes. She had nothing to hold onto, relying on her arm strength to swim up the stairs. Her vision was slipping. Every burned and her lungs felt like they were about to collapse.

  Her hands broke the surface tension of the water. Her feet touched down, and she pulled her head out of the water. Echo let out the air from her lungs, trembling during the instant before inhaling. Her body laid against the stairs with her legs still in the water. She was panting and feeling her strength return with each breath. Her clothes were heavy. They sunk against her body and drooled water onto the steps.

  It didn’t take long before she had enough of her strength back to stand. The water was inching its way up and Echo needed to get moving. She looked around, trying to spot the Gray Vest girl. She wasn’t there. Echo knew there was no chance the girl made it, but she waited a few minutes regardless. The girl never came and Echo ran up the stairs.

  The deck was quiet, making the occasional groan from the ship’s hull that much louder. A door opened behind her and a Cobalt stepped out. His stance was tall, but his body was thin. He looked much younger and more fragile than Echo.

  She stopped and approached him. “Hey, where’s everyone gone?”

  “Where’s your master?” he asked, locking his cabin door out of instinct. “He should have told you where you need to go.”

  “June sent me on an errand when it happened and the deck’s under water now,” Echo said, stepping into character. “I’m lost an I’m just trying to find her. Please.”

  “I’m sorry, but everyone on this deck’s gone to the stern,” he said and started to walk away from Echo. “If June didn’t look for you then you should just stay put!”

  His voice trailed as he ran back towards the stairwell that Echo came from. She knew he wasn’t going to get far, but she didn’t stop him. It wasn’t her job to save him.

  After walking a few minutes, she found what she was looking for. Echo stopped in front of the metal door with the horizontal slit that let her see outside. She had a way off the Cobalt.

  Echo walked out the door and onto the small dock sticking out from the ship. The stern had sunken deep into the ocean and lifted the bow above water.

  The anchor was where she left it. Tied to the dock and hanging off. It disappeared into the water, but she knew that it led to her ship. She couldn’t see through the thick morning fog, but knew it was there.

  Her hands touched the anchor. She was about to drop it into the ocean when she stopped herself.

  When you break free, find me and take me with you to your ship.

  The little girl. Dylan. Echo remembered her.

  The anchor shook in her hands. She wanted to drop it and follow it to her ship.

  “I don’t owe her anything,” Echo said. “I promised nothing and she gave me nothing in return.”

  Echo cursed and locked the anchor back in place. This is insane, she thought and ran back into the Cobalt.

  She found the lobby and ran up the flight of stairs she had jumped off of the day before. There weren’t any Cobalts this time around. The ship was empty and silent.

  Every twist and turn she took led to more hallways and more sets of doors. Echo thought she was going in the right direction, but everything looked too similar to tell.

  If only there was a Blue Vest around, I could squeeze some directions out of him.

  The ground lurched and angled further. A deep groan filled the halls and the flights flickered. The Cobalt was dying.

  She turned a corner and saw it. The bronze door of Brandt’s office. Dylan better be in there, she thought as she approached the office. Echo pushed the door open and stepped inside.

  Dylan was sitting in her master’s chair. She was wearing the blue vest that June had given to Echo. It was a few sizes too big for her and looked more like a short dress than a vest. Her gray vest was on the floor in front of her. She had cut it up with a knife.

  “Dylan?” Echo said.

  This got Dylan’s attention. “You came back for me.”

  Echo smiled. “You told me to.”

  “I didn’t think you would,” Dylan said with a huff of breath. “He told me to stay here.”

  “Who did?”

  “Brandt.”

  “If you stay here you’ll drown. Most of this ship’s under already.”

  “I told him I didn’t want to drown,” Dylan said, “But he didn’t care. Said I’d die with the other Gray Vests.”

  “Did you think that putting on a blue vest on would make him come back for you?”

  Dylan smiled. “It’s not that. Wearing it makes me think I’m a real Cobalt. In some stupid little way. I’ve always wanted to be a real Cobalt. Now no one is around to say I’m not.”

  Echo wanted to tell her that being a Cobalt was nothing to be proud of, but she let the girl keep her pleasant thought. “Do you know how to get out of here?”

  “Of course,” Dylan said. “Master Brandt had me running errands a lot. I had to know where everything is.”

  “Then let’s get out of here,” Echo said a put her hand on the door.

  “He said to stay.”

  “Well, I’m telling you not to.”

  Dylan opened her mouth but nothing came out.

  “Dylan, he’s not coming back for you.”

  “I know he’s not coming back for me!” Dylan cried. Her fists were tight and her teeth clenched.

  Echo took her hand off the door. “Listen,” she said, “You asked me to come back for you once I escape. I came back for you.”

  “I know.”

  “If you wanted to stay, why did you ask me that.”

  “I don’t know.”

  Echo felt the ship rumbling beneath her. There wasn’t much time. “Have you been off of the ship?”

  “Off the Cobalt?”

  “Have you?”

  “I can’t remember.”

  “There’s an Isle where I used to live. It’s a city of metal, like this one, but you can always see the sky. People walk on the roads between buildings. They trade goods with foreigners and drifters. You can see history on every house. There are no Gray Vests, or Blue Vests. People of all colors and backgrounds. It’s a beautiful world out there, Dylan. I’ve seen a lot of it. The world is better than this ship. No one deserves to die in a place like this. Especially if this is the only place you’ve ever know.”

  Silence lingered in the room. Dylan was crying. “Will you take me to that place?”

  “To the Isle?”

  “Yes,” Dylan said, “I want to go there.”

  Echo grabbed her hand. “Then we need to get off this ship.”

  Chapter 9

  The ship listed further during their conversation, and the hull strained against the water pressure several decks under.

  Echo let Dylan take the lead. They didn’t have time to spare, and Dylan knew the quickest way to the lobby. The ship seemed less confusing to Echo with Dylan leading the way.

  The made it to the lobby in record time, despite the sever angle of the ship. Water was already touching the stairs. Echo felt her stomach drop as she saw that the hallway they needed to get to was underwater. The lights flickered. They were left in complete darkness for a moment before they struggled back to life.

  “It’s too far to swim,” Echo said.

  “Is your ship underwater?”

  “I had it anchored, but the anchor line is long enough that the Cobalt would have to sink all the way to bring it down.”

  “The Cobalt’s sinking fast though,” Dylan said. The water was already climbing up the steps.

  “Is there another way off the ship?”

  Dylan grabbed Echo’s hand and tugged her the way they came. The light were flickering and straining to keep lit. The list was making it difficult to run, forcing the two into an awkward march as they walked uphill.

  “Near the front of the city, there’s a door that leads outside,” Dylan said as they reached a staircase.

  Echo looked down, seeing water at the bottom. “The door’s down there?”

  Dylan shook her head. “The door’s on this level. We need to go down two levels first, then take another set of stairs up.”

  “Great,” Echo said and started down the steps.

  The floor was already taking on water. Echo and Dylan were up to their ankles the moment they touched down. The ship let out a straining creek and the ground trembled. There was a loud snapping through the halls and the ship lurched forward, the tilt lessening as it sank deeper into the ocean.

  The water rushed forward and swept the two up and pushed them down the hallway. Echo tried to grab hold of Dylan, but the two lost each other in the rush of water.

  Echo hit a wall chest first. The pressure of the flood crushed against her back. To her left she glimpsed a stairwell before the water lifted her into the ceiling. She could taste salt water as she caught one last breath before the deck flooded.

  Her vision was clouded, but she could make out a vague shape of a person to her right. She turned away from the girl, knowing she had only enough breath to make it to the stairs. Echo stopped herself. She could make it to the stairs and save herself. There was no problem. But then Dylan would die.

  You don’t need to save her.

  Echo spun around and swam back. She grabbed Dylan by the vest and held her tight. Echo saw that Dylan was holding her breath. You can survive a surprising amount of time on a lung-full of air, but take in water and you only have seconds. Echo put her hand to the girl’s face and held her nose and mouth shut. This way, Dylan couldn’t breathe in water.

  Echo kicked her feet and swam as fast as she could without using her arms. Dylan started squirming halfway there and Echo had to hold the girl tight to keep her from moving. Echo’s lungs burned and her body begged for a breath. Dylan’s instinct kicked in and she tried to breath, but Echo’s hand blocked her.

  The stairs were right there.

  Echo threw everything into the last few kicks. Her feet touched down on the steps and she started walking, trying to get above the water. She couldn’t hold it. Her mouth opened and she took a breath. Nothing but water rushed into her lungs. She almost fell forward, but powered through the last few steps and broke the surface tension.

  She threw Dylan on the floor. The girl let out the stale breath she’d been forced to hold, and took in a fresh one.

  Echo collapsed, violently coughing water. Her lungs were on fire and her mouth was dry and sore from the salt. She felt Dylan’s hand on her back as she vomited water.

  “Are you going to be okay, Echo?” Dylan asked.

  Echo nodded, having cleared most of the water out of her. “I’ll be fine,” she said between coughs. “We have to keep going.”

  Dylan helped Echo to her feet. “It’s not that far.”

  “Good to know,” Echo said.

  The ship had stabilized during their walk and the angle lessened as water flooded the lower decks of the ship and pulled the Cobalt down evenly. The hall ended with an archway that led to an open room. Echo noticed the Cobalts before they noticed her.

  “Dylan, we might have some trouble,” Echo whispered.

  Dylan noticed the Cobalts. “Are you going to kill them?”

  “If I have to,” Echo said. “You’re wearing blue, so they might think you’re one of them and I’m your Gray Vest. If they do that, then just run with it.”

  There were five Cobalts in the room. Some sat against the wall and others paced around. Echo was sure to stay a step behind Dylan as they entered the room.

  “Look,” one of the Blue Vests said, “Someone brought their Gray Vest along.”

  “Hundreds of our people die and this bitch survives,” another said. “Ain’t fair.”

  Dylan grabbed Echo’s wrist. “Dad told her to take care of me while he went below decks,” she said. Echo wanted to smile at Dylan’s bluff, but kept it off her face.

  “Well, sit around and join the party,” one of the woman said. “We’ll all be under water in a half hour. Should be fun.”

  “We’re going for the cargo doors,” Dylan said.

  Echo panicked. She was saying too much. They needed to get past, but telling them they needed out off the ship raised too many questions.

  “Why?” another asked. “You’re so desperate to get to the cargo doors. Why is that?”

  There was a long silence. Neither Echo, nor Dylan, could come up with a response.

  “You have a ship, don’t you?” the woman asked, peaking the interest of everyone in the room. Dylan’s eyes went wide for a second. The woman caught it. “You do. You have one.”

  One of the men jumped up and approached the two, Echo instinctively stepped ahead of Dylan to protect her.

  The man glared at Dylan. “Look, kid, just leave the Gray Vest and take us on your ship.”

  “She comes with us,” Dylan said.

  “What’s with you and your Gray Vest?” the woman asked. “Some kind of love affair going on?”

  Echo reached for the knife on her belt. She pushed Dylan back and readying herself. Three she could manage, but trying to fight five was something she’d never done.

  “We’re just looking to leave,” Echo said with her hand on her blade. “No one needs to die.”

  “But aren’t we all dead if we stay here?” the woman said, her hand on her own knife. “All the ships are gone now, and your little master’s ship is all that’s left.”

  “Just let us through,” Echo said and took the knife from her belt, holding it in front of her.

 

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