Spray from the whitecaps coated Carlin’s visor as she approached the enemy base.

 

She neared her target, her skimmer vibrating, struggling to reach maximum velocity. The skimmer’s aluminum radome punched through the waves. With each successive impact her head and body lurched forward. Her grip tightened and teeth clenched preparing for the next in an endless barrage.

 

Carlin stared into the waters. Are there sicari down there? Or something worse? I hate the water. Her body tensed, anticipating unseen danger. A wave crashing across the bow shook the skimmer and brought her back to the present.

 

Seven times squadron attacks on the Iminicus base had failed. The base had retreated each time in an eruption of sea foam as the skimmers approached. This time Carlin advanced alone, a callow young volunteer focused on justice.

 

With the sun at her back and the bright rays warming her nape, a memory flashed: her father and early mornings atop the canopy of her forest home. Her father taught her to use her tail and hinds to steady herself while watching for Iminican intruders. There’s no hiding this time. It’s just you and me.

 

She wiped sea spray from her visor and the tears from her eyes. I see them now, Atta. I see them now.

 

“Bear, proceed direct North 345°/ImBase,” instructed the voice in her headset.

 

“Proceeding direct North 345°/ImBase, Bear,” replied Carlin. The enemy base came into full view, peaking over the intermittent swells emerging from the Northern horizon.

 

The spires of the base reflected the sunlight towards Carlin. She squinted and smiled, remembering the beauty of her home city before the war. The towers of glass and colored steel rising from the forest where her father worked the day of the attack. Now your towers will burn. She pushed forward, determined to replace the sunlight on these spires with flames and smoke.

 

“Bear, entering launch sector NW637/ImBase,” said the controller.

 

“Entering launch sector NW637/ImBase, Bear,” said Carlin.

 

Carlin tightened her grip on the throttle with her foot; her speed increased. She fumbled with the launch controls and codes located on her port side display. They definitely didn’t have me in mind when they made this thing. This would be much easier with my hinds. Oh, here we go. Her tail came forward and entered the final code on the panel. The first torpedo was away.

 

Carlin pulled to starboard to avoid the crest of the next wave. She watched the progress of the primary torpedo over each successive swell. Turning the vessel to port she aligned its trajectory with the base and prepared to launch the second torpedo.

 

Carlin’s tail remained at the display, twitching, starting the sequence again. A smirk appeared under her whiskers as she entered the adjusted codes. Let’s finish this. Working fast while the swells rocked the skimmer, she finished the launch codes for the second torpedo.

 

Her view of the screen vanished in the bright light of the blaster shot from the nearest spire and the skimmer lurched to starboard. The attack dislodged Carlin from her seat before the torpedo could be deployed.

 

The dark encompassed her. Cold water trickled into her suit through gaps at her neck and limbs. Her chest tightened from the cold and her breath pushed at her throat, trying to escape. Through the darkness, the orange glow of her burning skimmer became her guide.

 

She surfaced and opened her eyes. The cold penetrated her body. Hyperventilating, she struggled to orient herself and locate her skimmer. Smoke poured from its reactor and rose over the swells several metrum away. Her tail swirled while her legs kicked, pushing her towards the damaged vehicle.

 

Carlin looked over the next swell and watched sections of the base explode as the first torpedo hit. Although heavily damaged, it failed to descend into the sea. She swam to her skimmer, climbed onto the seat, and entered the activation code for the second torpedo. It's time to end this.

 

The torpedo didn’t launch.

 

She looked back with wide eyes scanning the side of the skimmer. A metal shard blocked the opening of the launch tube. Damn it! Carlin leaned down and pulled at the metal piece.

 

A second blaster shot impacted the water a few meters from her vessel. Water from the hit covered her. New plan. She sat up and frantically set coordinates for the base, engaged the autopilot, and bailed into the water.

 

The skimmer lunged forward, limped over swells, and impacted the base in a spectacular explosion. The base listed and spires snapped and, like great misguided harpoons, plunged into the sea.

 

Tears gathered on her cheeks. Carlin turned her head from the destruction. She thought she was serving the dead but she had only added to them.

 

Carlin removed her helmet and surrendered it to the sea. Hearing the rescue skimmer approach, cutting through the whitecaps, she swam away from the base. In that moment she sensed a great life rising from the depths. It moved her with its form and wake. Sacari?

 

She peered into the water for the beast. Carlin saw only her reflection.