On the Hunt - Page 55

“You won’t need to worry about that. One of my companies made it. Let’s get going.”

Kira was surprised how quickly Mack jumped from the barge onto his sled. He didn’t seem at all panicked, registering only mild interest as she and Harlan slid into the water and donned their electronic masks. They moved their arms into the sleds’ control gloves and motored away from the barge with Mack floating just a few feet behind them. The dog wagged his tail excitedly.

“See?” Harlan spoke through the radio transmitter in his mask. “He likes it.”

As Kira and Harlan submerged, she turned just in time to see Mack lie down on his belly. Kira laughed. “He’s just treating it as another adventure. It’s like he’s been doing this his entire life. I love it!”

Harlan nodded. “I put a microphone module on his sled. We’ll hear it through our earpieces if he starts barking.”

“Or snoring.”

“That too.”

She gasped as they passed through a school of sunfish and beheld a valley of orange coral and a multicolored explosion of undersea life.

“It’s stunning,” she said.

“But you’ve seen it before, right?”

“Not like this. These sleds are wonderful. I almost feel like we’re flying.” She banked left to get a closer look at a crop of red flora. “I want to use these to explore every inch of this place.”

“Next time. We’re on a mission, remember?”

“If you insist.” She focused her eyes on a spot ahead and tapped her forefingers to her thumbs inside the control glove. Her sled sped ahead, smoothly increasing velocity in a way that continued the sensation of flight. Harlan kept pace with her, and she looked up to see that Mack’s sled was still overhead, perfectly tracking her.

“Are we getting close?” Harlan asked.

“Yes. See all that orange up ahead?”

“Hard to miss it. It looks like the entire ocean floor is lined with it.”

“That’s one of the largest coral reefs in this hemisphere. We’re going to move through it in a way that a boat never could.”

“That will take us to the cave system you’ve been talking about?”

“Yes. It’s kind of a maze at first, but we’ll surface in a cave system. Are you sure Mack’s sled will keep up?”

“Positive. Where we go, he goes.”

She put on an extra burst of speed. “Then let’s hit it.”

They moved through the orange coral, dodging and weaving amid the ridges with amazing precision. A far cry from the last time she’d visited the area, when it had taken hours to cautiously plot her journey past the sharp coral outcroppings.

She spotted something in the corner of her eye. “Wait, we just passed it.”

“I didn’t see anything.”

“That’s why I’m here.” She turned around and moved back a few yards until she floated in front of a narrow crevice that was almost invisible from any other angle. “This way. It should be just wide enough for us to make it through.”

“What about Mack’s sled on the surface?”

“He can go part of the way up there, but after about fifty yards he’ll hit a wall. I have an idea for what happens after that. Follow me.”

She steered into the crevice and led Harlan—and up above, Mack—through a series of narrow passages until they found themselves in a large opening. They climbed to the surface until they reached a massive cavern. Kira and Harlan steered their sleds onto a stone beach, worn smooth by centuries of erosion.

Kira pulled off her oxygen face mask, stood up from her sled, and stepped over a pile of rocks. She turned around to get her bearings. “Mack! Mack!”

“You really think he can hear you?”