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Paul Bowman, who almost always did it missionary style.
"There," she yelled, looking over at Herzer who was in much the same position
but facing down and about five meters away and above her. "Are you satisfied?"
* * *
"Eminently," Herzer yelled, grinning playfully. "Nice freefall we're having,
don't you think?"
They'd drifted away from the ship about fifty meters, but it was still far
too close. And at the speed they were falling, hitting the water would be
terminal.
"Megan," Herzer said. "You have to speed us up. Make us fallfaster ."
"Are you crazy?" Megan shouted back.
"No, I'm not," Herzer said, tracking over to hover by her. "We need to get
down fast, then slow us just before we hit the water. We need to hit the
waterbefore the ship, or we'll lose power."
"You're right," Megan shouted. "Again. Hold on."
Herzer suddenly felt as if an enormous hand had gripped him, pulling him down
and to the side. The ship flashed by, seeming to climb upwards like a rocket.
Even with the field around him, the wind whipped into his eyes to the point
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that he had to close them. But through his slitted lids he could see the ocean
approaching at blinding speeds.
"How long are you going to hold this?" Herzer asked. He couldn't even
maneuver with the field that was gripping him. He was completely in Megan's
hands.
"Until we're right down to water level," Megan shouted. "And I'm steering
towards the islands to the north. We'll still be about sixty klicks out. But
that's better than right by the ship when it crashes!"
The blue water came up fast and Herzer recognized the area as somewhere
around the Jama island chain. He could see a volcanic island to the north, but
sixty klicks... wasn't going to be a survivable swim. Not with his prosthetic.
And the minute the ship hit, all Megan's extra power was going to go away.
"Slowing down...now," Megan shouted as the water approached like an oncoming
train.
Herzer again felt that magic hand and they slowed to a near stop, no more
than a hundred meters of the water. He looked up and the shattered ship was
still a few thousand meters above them, twisting as it fell through the
atmosphere.
"Going down," Megan said, floating over to face him as they began to gently
drift towards the water. "Like a flower pet..." she stopped and blanched as
they suddenly sped up.
"The fusion plants just cascade failed!" she shouted. "Lost all power! Hold
your nose!"
* * *
"It's a good thing my dad taught me to swim, or you'd have drowned," Megan
said, breast stroking to the north. They didn't have anything for flotation;
it was impossible to get the suits off with the waves from the ship still
lapping over them. So they were trying toswim to the islands. And not doing
too well.
"Very funny," Herzer replied, tiredly. Swimming with only one hand, wearing a
suit that was not particularly buoyant, was difficult to say the least.
"Did I just see a dolphin?" Megan gasped, spitting out a mouthful of water.
She kicked up to look around and slid under the water for her troubles.
"Maybe," Herzer replied. "But wild dolphins usually ignore swimmers."
"Maybe they're delphino," the keyholder said, hopefully.
Herzer looked around at the vast empty sea and shrugged.
"What's the chance of that?" he said. He felt something brush his leg and
decided not to mention it to Megan. He'd hated sharks ever since a bullshark
had nearly made him a part of the food chain in Bimi. There was another brush
and then a head covered by black hair popped up out of the waves.
Mer Captain Elayna Blackbeard flipped her hair back, took a breath of air and
blasted the water out of the slits in the side of her lungs creating a cloud
of bubbles.
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"I told you to stick with me," she said, grabbing both of the failing
swimmers, her powerful mermaid tail sculling back and forth lightly to support
them. "You get involved with strange women and bad things happen."
"Another old girlfriend?" Megan said, laughing in relief. "How manyare
there?"
"How'd you find us?" Herzer asked, ignoring the jibe.
"Queen Sheida called me just before the Net crashed," Elayna said. "And I
hurried over as fast as I could. Of course, I didn't know exactlywhere you
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