Uni's Unicorn

Chapter 12 - Out in Deep Waters

Uni looked around her thinking, 'I could stay out here on the waters forever. This is the best part of the nightmare... I just need to get away from this barge as quickly as I can...'

Sinking back, below the water, she swam away from the opening, out into the ocean. With no idea as to her direction, she swam down, then outwards...

Believing herself to be out of sight of the vessel, she opened her eyes, slowly blowing out the air from her lungs and stomach, watching small bubbles rising. Pushing back, she relaxed her body, moving her arms outward, closing her eyes, feeling as though she were in some kind of Utopia...

I should head home and I'll need to go up for air before I do...

Opening her eyes again, she saw the dark form of the side of the Barassic about a hundred meters away from her. Kicking with her feet, she turned and dived, wanting to go deeper and swim towards shore before very much longer. 

But which way was the shore?

A round light appeared from a distance, growing brighter by the second; it frightened her. It seemed to be some kind of spaceship, but underwater. She remembered the pretender father saying he was going in a diving orb. Could that be the orb? Could he be in it? 

It loomed larger, and larger. 

Uni turned and dived deeper, down, down, down. 

Remembering the direction of the Barassic, she swam fast turning on her back, using backstroke until she saw the dark bottom of the barge-like vessel some distance above her.

Turning over, she used breast-stroke now, pulling with her arms and kicking from her knees, hoping she was going beneath the vessel and could swim fast enough to leave it behind on the other side she hoped. 

When she felt as though her lungs would burst, she pulled upwards...

Up, up, up...

Surfacing too fast, she felt herself lift out of the water before plopping back down into it.

Looking around her and knowing that it must be near or past midday as the sun looked to be almost overhead. Shading her eyes and looking upwards again, she realised it was slightly to the left of overhead. Remembering that the sun was only directly overhead in the middle of the summer months, she calculated that north would be the way of the more open ocean. If she could calculate where south was and head that way, perhaps more to the west, she might be able to get to her home before sunset. 

Or, she thought, I might be headed in entirely the opposite direction to Cape Runaway... oh, please, God, please show me the way home, or help Tyson to come...

She couldn't sure about anything out here. If it was nighttime and the stars were visible, then the Southern Cross would guide her home. But she was in bright sunlight. The only cloud she could discern now, was in the far distance. Remembering the origin of the country where she lived and that it had been called 'The Land of the Long White Cloud', she decided she would head that way, to that cloud and hope it would take her home. 

Doubt filled her again. She could be in any ocean, in any sea, anywhere in the world. There was no memory in her mind of how long it had taken them to transport her to the Barassic. She could only try and recall at what time of day they had left the cave. It had to be almost a day ago if noon-time was over already. How long had they been up on deck. She gave up trying to work it out. 

Hadn't someone said something about being out from the horizon near Otarawhata Island? She was sure of this. That cloud could be near the island at the North-east of her home country.

Turning her eyes back to the waters of the vast ocean, there was no land in sight, just that white cloud, far away. Turning in a full circle, she saw the Barassic. It was some fifty yards away now. It was larger from here than she had imagined. It was moving towards her; that was the bow she could see. 

She could see men around the top deck. An alarm sounded and she felt unsure. Could they have seen her? Technology would suggest that they could find her on radar. Of course, they would also be using it to look for Tyson's body. They might think she was he.

No, they'll find that aid, soon, 'Aidie', then they'll know I'm out here... 

The towel-wrap had been large enough to wrap around her body twice and came down past her knees. Being only fastened at the top, it was loose lower down. Lifting the lower edge of the opening up, she squeezed it and used it to blot her ears, calling, "Tyson; Tyson! Can you hear me?"

There was no reply. She called again, and waited. Still no reply.

"If you do hear me, I'm out on the ocean and will be heading back home..." she waited, then said, "No, you're not hearing me I guess. I'm on my own."

Determining that if Tyson could hear her speaking before, surely he could hear her now. She called, "Tyson, can you hear me?"

There was no answer. "You might be able to hear me. I don't know where I am. It's somewhere in deep waters with no land in sight. Horizons are all around me as far as I can see. The sun is not quite overhead but I don't know which is left, or which is right. Please come and find me. I'm going to head for the white cloud as I think it might be where home is."

The waters parted ten yards away from Uni. The diving orb surfaced and kept moving up until it was out of the water, floating above it. A lower skirt made of a flapping rubbery material spoke of it being able to move like a hovercraft.

Uni didn't wait to discern just who was behind the tinted glass of the large orb. She dived down, down, down, before heading off as fast as she could, going the direction of the white cloud, hoping she was heading home.