Tidal Forces

Chapter 04: Infiltration

A dozen smaller pipes fed into the main line Adrianna traversed. Too small for her to enter, she ignored them and continued forward. The main pipe was a long, straight line, so she'd no concern about getting lost.

Up ahead, she noticed a glimmer of light. Adrianna approached carefully, taking out her pressure launcher and readying it for firing. The pipe forked, heading in two different directions. Light was clearly visible in both, so she picked the right hand passage and edged toward the light.

Although the pipe continued forward, a vertical shaft opened up into a square water tank. Swimming upward, Adrianna let her eyes and launcher breach the surface but nothing else. She scanned the surrounding area, turning slowly in place to avoid sloshing the water noisily.

The room was full of pipes and large metal tanks covered in rivets and round gauges with occasionally flickering indicator needles. The small pool in which she floated was one of four within the room. Pipes from the facility extended out over the edges and into the water like the roots of a tree growing by a riverbank. A single light bulb hung down on a cable over each pool, but the brightness they each provided was minimal, leaving most of the room drenched in shadows. Taking out her goggles, Adrianna strapped them over her eyes as she expected the light intensity could be increased if any humans entered the room.

The next part of her mission was the most dangerous as it would leave her vulnerable for a time. Swimming over between two closely positioned pipes, she placed a hand on each and hoisted herself out of the water. The pipes were old and rusty, coating her hands in reddish-brown dust. Ignoring the filth, she swung her tail out of the water and dropped to the floor beside the pool she'd emerged from.

Taking out the container of enhanced salt from her pack, she dumped half of it onto her tail and spread it out with her hands to cover as much of her scales as possible. The altered material did its work, rapidly absorbing all the moisture from her tail fin and causing the scales to shrink away while changing color to match her skin. In a matter of moments, her tail had transformed into a pair of human legs.

Brushing away the salt, Adrianna opened her pack and removed the final pieces of crag-fish scale armor, strapping them on her legs for protection. Reaching back into the pool to wash off the salt and rust from her hands, Adrianna cleaned up before picking up her pressure launcher as she didn't want anything to interfere with her grip on the weapon; lifting it into a ready position, she headed for the nearest door. Having heard the two humans talk about smashing her sister's necklace, Adrianna knew she'd get no further use from the tracer and would have to search the facility room by room to find Nileah.

The door was an old style hatch with a wheel crank in the center. Keeping a hold of her pressure launcher in one hand, she turned the wheel slowly. Like the rest of the room she was in, the door had long been out of use, and the metal squealed in protest when the wheel turned. Adrianna crouched down in the open hatchway, her eyes searching the darkened tunnel ahead for the approach of enemies coming to investigate the noise. When no one appeared after several minutes, and no alarms sounded, she breathed easier and continued on.

The facility was old and clearly had been designed for a purpose other than the one the scientists were currently employing. Fortunately, many of the unused rooms on the lower level had large windows; although covered in dust and grime, enough transparency remained for her to see inside without having to open the noisy doors. Her sister wasn't to be found on the lower level, so Adrianna glided stealthily toward the stairs.

The stairwell door was in much better condition and opened without noise; the light here was also much more intense, but the goggles automatically tightened the iris over her lenses, protecting her from the brightness. She moved in a half crouch, her senses straining to detect the slightest sound or vibration from the floor to indicate someone coming.

A door on the left side of the hallway, five feet from her position, clicked before it slid open; the scientist who emerged was draped in a long coat of flawless white and held a clipboard in his hand. He was facing away from her, so she had a clear shot at his back, but Adrianna held motionless. A moment later, a second man stepped out, following his partner.

"It's too bad they're making us wait until the thing is transferred before we can start experimenting," one of the men remarked.

"You're telling me," the other agreed. "I want to see where the fish ends and the person begins. How much overlap do you think there is between the organs?"

"They're probably mixed if she can see and breathe underwater," the first replied. "We'll find out eventually."

The two men vanished through the far hatch, but Adrianna moved over to the door they'd exited. She'd refrained from firing on the chance the two men might be missed and an alert sounded as a result. Additionally, it would take time to hide the bodies where they wouldn't be found. Her time was far better spent looking for her sister.

The door opened when she pressed the control beside it, and she slipped inside before it shut again. The room she'd entered was spacious, and centered in it was a cylindrical water tank. Through the glass on the side of the tank, Adrianna clearly saw the blonde hair and iridescent blue scales of her sister, Nileah.

Kneeling down on a metal scaffold beside the tank was a scientist. He had one arm down in the water, and Nileah was using the arm for leverage to pull herself out of the tank and onto the scaffold beside the man.

"I didn't know what they were planning when I brought you here," the man told Nileah. "But no matter what, I won't let them hurt you."

"That's good to hear," Adrianna said as she marched toward the scientist, her rifle aimed squarely at him.