The open ocean wasn’t safe for anyone. Including merfolks. Above or below the waters it was a long stretch of nothing for miles. Even if you managed to survive, the creatures that hunted there would make short work of you. So why was Orion Watercrest swimming towards such dangers?

Curiosity.

Around fifteen hundred hours yesterday, a large metallic object crashed into the ocean. Normally such an event would raise any alarms. Things crashed into the ocean so often merfolk around the globe had built their livelihood around it. Be it plane or ocean liner, if it dipped under the water it belonged to that territory now.

Communicator snug on his ear fin the merman clocked in at a comfortable speed towards the drop sight. Skimming under the waves he heard a pod of whales in the distance. Visibility was excellent today. So why wasn’t he seeing anything? This was the drop sight.

Pressing on Orion flared his ear fins to see if he could hear anything, like the sound of air escaping from a sinking ship. Seconds later the sound shut off. Stopping short, Orion thought he went deaf. Reaching up he tapped his ear to test it.

No. They were working fine. Looking down into the abyss he tried to see anything. Searching was cut short when he ran into something solid. Gritting his teeth through the pain he reached out to feel what he hit. Under his grip, he felt the solid object ripple. Pulling back he managed to blink the pain back enough to focus his eyes. There was nothing there and then the light shimmered to reveal a dull grey ship. At least, Orion thought it was a ship. Perhaps it was an aircraft of some sort.     

A burst of bubbles erupted from below. Whatever it was, it was sinking faster now. Diving down Orion tried to find an opening. If there were someone trapped inside they probably needed his help.

Along the smooth surface of the craft, the merman found an opening. Slipping inside he looked around to get his bearings. Inside was well lit without having a source. It was as if the walls themselves were producing light. Looking down he saw a closed door. 

Looking up appeared to be leading towards an open area. Swimming upward he came out onto the main control room.

A large window pointed skyward. There were two seats in front of what appeared to be a control panel. Orion gasped as he spotted someone was still strapped into one of the seats. The water had flooded just behind the seats allowing Orion easy access to the unmoving...Gremlin? It had a face like an insect but the small lizard-like body of a Gremlin. 

Looking over the green-grey being the ship groaned. Snapping back to the seriousness of the situation Orion reached out to rouse the being.

“Sir. Um, ma’am?” He shook the being’s shoulder praying he wasn’t looking at a dead body. Three shakes caused the being to begin thrashing about. It gave a garbled noise punctuated with the clicking from its mandibles.

“Easy, you're going to hurt yourself.” Orion managed to swim out of striking range as the ship gave a violent shutter. A cracking noise was barely audible of the panicked pilot. Looking up Orion saw the ship had sunk enough for water to begin pressing on the glass. The crash must’ve weakened it. All he could do was watch as the cracks got worse.

The entire window gave way, hitting them like a waterfall. Orion was slammed into a wall knocking him unconscious.

Orion groaned as he woke to pressure on his neck. Blinking, he remembered what had happened. Looking around he realized the craft was now completely submerged. He touched the object on his neck as he looked around for the other being.

“Don’t mess with it.” a voice chided. It was the bug-faced lizard person.

“What did you do to me?”

“I thought it would help us communicate. Also, I thought you were going to drown.”

“I’m a merperson.” Orion motioned towards his tail.

“Ok. This is my first time on this planet. You were breathing the gas atmosphere so I was worried you couldn’t breathe the liquid ice.” The stranger waved his three-fingered claw.

Head still throbbing, Orion didn’t feel up to making sense of what was happening.

“Planet? What?”

“Guess your planet is a Three-me Type.” Muttered the other being.

“Listen, all I want is to report I found the ship...thing and go home.” Orion was now resting on the wall-turned floor. Looking around he noticed he could see sunlight anymore.

“I don’t think your species can survive this far down. Then again, what do I know?”

“What?” Filled with a sudden burst of energy Orion swam up to peek out the broken window. It was black in all directions.

“We are Zepta Cerals down.”

Groaning Orion allowed himself to slip back into the craft. He landed on a chair allowing him to stare up into the abyss. They were at the bottom of the ocean. Miles from help.

“Since we’re down here. Mind helping?” Asked the insect man from below. Looking behind him Orion saw a thin metallic cylinder pinched in the insect’s three claws. Thinking upon it, the merman looked back into the abyss. A small stream of bubbles floated by to disappear into the dark. Well, if he was going to die down here might as well make the best of it.

Sighing heavily Orion held out his hand to take the object.

Soon they were tethered to each other making their way out of the craft. Eyeing the insect portions of the other being’s body the merman doubted the other’s swimming capability. Still, Orion followed after as they exited the craft.

“We’re in luck.” Annoyed the small being. “The main center is nearby. Soon I’ll be on my way and out of your…” It motioned towards the top of Orion’s head. 

“Tendrils?”

“Hair. Merfolks have hair.”

“Merfolks. So that's what you are.” 

“Merfolk. And since we’re on the subject, what are you exactly?”

“Technically I’m a Marinier. But, since I am not from this world, ‘alien’ would suffice. Or Lamire works too.”

“Right...Lamire.” An awkward silence settled between them as Lamire led the way. Glancing behind them the ship had disappeared into the void. No turning back now. The silence was as oppressive as the darkness pressing in on them.

“So. Why exactly are you here? This isn’t a take-me-to-your-leader kind of situation.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Lamire gave a noise that Orion decided to interpret as a chuckle.

"Nothing so macabre. I'm here to salvage something that was lost eons ago." That caught Orion's attention. Movies and books had told him that aliens were conquers bent on world domination. All the species set aside their differences to fight back against a common foe.

This was more like an odd couple road trip than anything. Albeit the universe’s slowest one. His companion apparently couldn’t as he was hopping along the bottom of the ocean floor. Not only was it tedious to watch but the amount of silt being disturbed was beginning to worry Orion. At this rate, their lights would be useless. Taking the initiative Orion swam to proceed next to Lamire.

“So how exactly do you know where you are going?” Orion asked. He was swimming next to the struggling alien.

“With this.” Lamire lifted his left arm to indicate a thin band there. He pointed his claw to the space above the band as he spoke. “See. It says here that the control center is that way.”

“I don't see anything,” Orion admitted. The alien looked back and forth between his band and the merman.

“Right. Well anyway, it's about half a ceral that way.” He pointed straight ahead of him.

“That way you say?” Orion pointed his finger in the same direction. Lamire rolled his head as an answer.   

“Works for me,” Orion said. He then in a flash got behind Lamire to grab him under his arms. “Hang on.” Was the only warning he gave before lifting the alien up to carry him.

The alien’s weight barely slowed Orion’s pace as he swam.

“SLOW DOWN!” Lamire shouted.

“WHY? WE’RE MAKING GREAT TIME!” 

“WE’RE GOING TO HIT THE-LOOK OUT!” Lamire screamed as they almost ran into a large object.

“Whoa.” Breathed Orion managing to stop before slamming into the object face first. “I didn’t even hear it.”

“How can you ‘hear’ an object? They don’t make noise.” Chided Lamire wriggling out of Orion’s grasp. He then proceeded to mess with the object just out of sight.

“Well no. But sound bounces off stuff.” Orion tried to explain. While he tried to find a simple way to explain echolocation, part of the object slid open. The inside walls glowed softly, reminding Orion of the inside of Lamire’s craft.  

It had a soft warmth that had him following the alien inside the unknown craft without a thought. Looking around he noticed the walls were smooth without any markings.

A loud gong sound rattled through Orion’s head knocking him on his tail. Flattening his ears he had forgotten he had them on high alert this whole time.

“Loud. So loud.” Orion protested weakly while lying on the surprisingly clean floor. After not feeling/hearing anything substantial for so long the noise rattled him down to even his small fins.

“Ori-o. You're going to get lost.”

“That's not my name.” The merman managed to say finally feeling somewhat normal. He pushed himself up, grateful the corridors were just spacious enough to swim comfortably in. Trying to focus on anything else than the headache he was forming, Orion used the walls to keep himself from rising too high.

Inside Lamire had guided him through a straight hallway with no markings on the walls. As they pressed on Lamire used the bracelet to make the gong noise every so often. Ready for it now Orion had flattened his ears down to help block out the noise. The alien stopped at what appeared to be a random stretch of wall.

There was a lighter tone but nothing happened.

"Looks like we have to pry it open." Lamire scraped his claws along the wall until they caught on something. He pried the door enough Orion was able to get his more stubby webbed hands into the crack in the wall. With some wiggling, the two of them were able to make a rectangular hole for them to fit through into a dark shaft.

" Alright, now let's pray the lift isn't in the way." Orion barely had time to cover his ear fins as the gong sound echoed throughout the shaft. Even with his ear fins flattened to his scalp he still heard it through his hands. Judging by the echoes it went down fairly far.

"We need to rappel down four stories then.” The alien motioned vaguely.

“I can take us down, but don’t use that thing.” Orion motioned to the bracelet. With a nod of the two descended. The shaft was large and the echoes were messing with Orion’s ear fins.

Lamire agreed and they descended the shaft without issue. Knowing what he was looking for, the alien found the opening to pry open. Once safely inside Orion let Lamire down to work.

This room was square with the same style of wall like the others. In the center of the room was a pair of spikes protruding towards each other from the ceiling and floor. Adorning the walls were mirror-like circles. Approaching them Orion noticed they appeared to be more like tinted windows than anything. Behind him, there was an ascending sound. Like a large shipping barge turning on.

Looking behind him Lamire was standing near the spikes. The alien was watching as two new yellow and orange orbs were circling the spikes on their own. Transfigured the orbs began to circle faster and faster as a faint light began to glow between the spikes. Soon the light began to be too bright to look at.

A few seconds later the entire room shook. Once the shaking stopped the walls stopped glowing. Blinking Orion’s eyes were adjusting to the light coming from the spiked area.

“What's going on?”

“The ship is diverting all power to the engine. Relax, as soon as we surface all this will drain out.” Lamire waved to the water surrounding them.

Instead of putting him at ease, this caused Orion to panic.

“We need to go. NOW!” Orion swam to the still-open door to peer out into the shaft they came down. The walls were reflective enough for the light in the room to be of any help.   

“If you're worried about the change in pressure the survival rings will take care of that.” Orion had looked over his shoulder to see Lamire tapping the black ring around his neck.

“And does it help with a million gallons of water-bearing down on you trying to force you through a two-inch hole?”

“I don’t...I don’t think so.” The alien replied weakly. At that moment the entire ship shuttered. “The ship is breaking free from the sand.” He announced with a noticeable fear in his voice.

Instincts kicking in Orion grabbed the alien to leave the lightroom. The dark was absolute. With no time to fuss with the lighting, Orion perked up his ears to hear the echoes around them. Lamire was yelling in panic which was helping. Not wanting to lose the momentum he swam as hard as he could using the screeching of Lamire as a guide. Natural light was pouring out into the corridor signaling the exit.

They burst out into the open ocean. Orion was given a break as the water surrounding them was being pushed around as the craft was still ascending upwards. In two breaths the ship broke free from the water. Panting heavily all Orion could do was rest.

The wind was whistling as the ship kept ascending. Exhausted and helpless all he could do was see Lamire making his way away from him. Then everything stopped.

Orion sighed in relief. For a moment he thought he would be carried off into space. For a moment all he could hear was the sound of water rushing back towards the ocean. Then everything was quiet.

Gathering enough strength Orion got on his forearms to drag himself back towards the ocean. He got three-arm pulls when the ship shuttered again.

“Now what?” Groaned the merman. As if answering the ship began to tilt. To his horror, the ship had tilted to a point where he could see how far up he was. No matter how he landed, it was going to hurt.

Scrabbling to find something to hold onto the ship kept turning. Between the smooth surface and the water, Orion was sliding fast towards the edge. Then he was airborne.

All he could do was stare up at the sky as the wind whipped around him as he fell.

His back slammed into something solid much sooner than he was expecting. Groaning in pain he rolled on his side. Orion took a few breaths when he realized he was still out of the water.

“I was aiming for you to land in the chair but that works too,” Lamire commented. Opening his eyes Orion saw he was back in Lamire’s ship. “Are you alright?”

“I think I bruised my dorsal.” Complained the merman palpating his backside.

“Your what?”

Orion did not feel up to explaining anatomy at that moment.

“Look, just drop me off at the shore. I can manage from there.”

As the words left his mouth the ship made a trilling noise.

“That's never good.” Orion was going to hear that noise in his nightmares he was sure. He managed to sit up to see Lamire clawing the front structure in what appeared to be a purposeful manner. After a few claws and a few jabs, the alien gave a noise that did not translate.         

“Everything is on autopilot. Looks like we’re stuck until we can get my ship repaired.”

“I don't know what you are saying,” Orion admitted managing to drag himself to the chair next to Lamire’s. Anything was better for his fin than the icy hard floor.

“This-” Lamire motioned to the pyramid-like structure they had just activated. It was copper-colored, metallic, and smooth all over. Some tiers led up to a peak the size of the ship they were sitting in. “Is a repair station. Since my ship is broken it's automatically going to seek out the closest repair station.”

“Oh no.”

“Yeah. We’re going to be here a while.”

“Is there any possible way we can get down?”

“The emergency pod in the back. It's got a food converter in it in case of inhospitable landing.” 

“Great let's go.” Orion only understood half of what Lamire said but he wasn’t about to be stuck on a ship floating hundreds of feet in the air with no supplies. Without water, he was forced to use his arms to drag himself after Lamire.

The alien watched him go two feet before picking Orion up. Thankfully the alien didn’t throw him over his shoulder like a sack. His more delicate underbelly would probably not withstand the alien’s lizard-like scales.

“Your scales are softer than I thought they’d be.” Commented Lamire as he made his way towards the back of the ship.

“Thanks.” Grunted Orion not sure what to make of that comment. Soon they were strapping into the emergency pod. Like in all the space travel movies there were blinking lights, seatbelts, and random panels.

“Cross your…fins.” Warned the alien after strapping himself into his spot. Not bothering to correct him, Orion crossed his arms over his chest like Lamire was doing. There was a noise of depressurization and then the entire pod was launched. Spinning erratically just as he was about to pass out when everything stopped.

“I think I’m going to be.” Lamire unstrapped himself to kneel on the floor. Orion couldn’t bring himself to move. He found a spot above him to focus on instead. As they tried to get back their equilibrium Orion noticed there the vessel was bobbing.

“I hate your planet,” Lamire complained, curling into himself slightly. Feeling nauseous himself, Orion tried to find the exit. Sensing this Lamire was reaching up to undo the hatch.

With a flash of his grey-green tail, Orion was safely back in the ocean where he belonged. He savored the familiar pressures around him before going back up towards the surface.

He found Lamire resting his insect arms on the lip of the hatch. His neck was staring upward as he watched the repair station keep going into the clouds. Both Beings were silent as the station disappeared into space.

“Now what?” Lamire asked, slumping over. Treading water Orion thought for a second.

“Are you any good with electrical repairs?”

Lamire looked from his sulking to stare at Orion with a look he assumed was confused.

“We’ll get you set up. Hold on, this might be a bumpy ride.” Orion warned before diving under to push from below. Instantly he was bombarded with radio chatter. Having not heard from him in hours his family was frantically calling out to him. 

Taking a steading intake of sea water Orion braced for the onslaught of questions coming their way.