I couldn’t see, and I couldn’t breathe, but I was able to keep the canoe from tipping as Khanna rushed into my arms. She was holding my head to her chest.

  “Sid Marshall! What sorcery is this? Why are you crying out? Is it the evil tower? Is it the spirit in your head? Oh, please, Sid Marshall, talk to Khanna!”

  I’d never seen her so upset.

  I eased her back, even while it felt like steak knives in my respiratory system. “It’s okay, Khanna. I’m just preparing to dive down there to get the crystal. I’m okay.”

  Her face was so bleary, I could hardly see it. But with every blink my vision got clearer and clearer, until, finally, thankfully, it was back to normal. My breathing also straightened itself out. I felt a little cramping, but not much.

  Luckily, this optimization hadn’t taken very long. A message appeared in my vision.

  <<<>>>

  Processing complete. HOSTNAME: Sid Marshall optimized to 57%. Ready for underwater activities. Paraxen survival suit will adjust automatically in the water.

  Optimization cost analyzed and confirmed. Current charge is 59% of full. This unit is 41% away from optimal functionality. Please charge to 100%.

  <<<>>>

  It took forty points of charge to give me another optimization, but if I could breathe underwater, it would be worth it. I’d done a little competitive swimming in elementary school and loved it. Sixth grad was a long time ago, but swimming with fins had to be like riding a bike.

  No use hanging out at 59%, I used my supply of crystals to get back to 99%. I was fully loaded and ready to go.

  “Opal, let’s make sure we’re on the same page. I’m going to grab the 10X crystal, but I don’t want to absorb it. I want to take it back to Fodoron Island.

  Affirmative. This unit will configure your survival suit to accommodate the crystal.

  I turned to the huntress. “Okay, Khanna, I’ll be right back. If there’s any trouble, don’t come into the water, okay? I mean it. I’m going to be fine. But I’m worried about you.”

  She sat in the bow, with an arrow knocked. “Khanna listen. Khanna obey.”

  But the fear in her eyes told a different story—she would die to protect me. The thought put a lump in my throat. I couldn’t let things come to that.

  I kissed her, and then I transformed Betsy into my trusty spear.

  Slipping overboard, I sank down into the water.

  I felt a slight itch in my eyes, and then, after blinking a few times, my vision cleared. I could see perfectly, and the saltwater didn’t sting my eyes. Opal had come through. I could see really well underwater!

  I was about twenty feet above the 10X crystal, half-buried in a sand bar. The glowing gem was surrounded by a thick kelp forest. Dark shapes darted through the shadowy plants that swayed with the current.

  Puff Otters detected in kelp. No danger detected.

  No, the real danger were the shapes in the distance, white shark-shaped men who were butchering a dead whale on top of what looked like a semi-truck and trailer. How the big rig had gotten into the Marusian Ocean was anyone’s guess.

  Not my circus. Not my Mack truck.

  I’d been holding my breath, but I needed to breathe, so it was time to try out my new lungs. Wincing, I inhaled a little.

  Water gushed into my nose, and my first instinct was to cough. I fought the urge, and soon the cold water filled my lungs. It felt so fucking weird. However, I exhaled like I normally would, and soon I was breathing seawater. The boots of my survival suit had turned into my fins.

  I dove down to the bottom. The pressure started hurting my ears, but a second later, it cleared on its own, and I felt fine.

  I reached the big 10X crystal, pulled it out of the sand. My fingers tingled. The big hunk of crystal radiated energy like nothing I’d ever felt before.

  Survival suit configured to accommodate the crystal.

  I slipped the crystal into a little pouch Opal had created on my back.

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  I turned around to swim back up. If I could get back into the canoe without a fight, I’d be glad.

  Then a shape came zooming out of the kelp.

  I had my spear, and I almost stabbed it, until I saw it was one of the otters, only this one was easily as big as I was. No, it was a little bigger. I’d seen sea elephants that large but not a dog-faced otter with curious eyes. While I couldn’t be sure, I thought it was a female.

  She zoomed around and around me.

  By this time, I’d settled on the ocean floor, hidden from the shark men by the swaying kelp.

  The otter then swam close, working her back feet flippers. Her neck puffed out a bit, helping her stay buoyant. She held her hands like she was praying.

  I smiled at her. She was mostly black, but she had a splotch of bright white hair on her head.

  Her name came to me…Grandma Otter. I wanted to talk to her, but while most of my body had adjusted to the water, I wasn’t sure my voice box would work.

  Other otters came around, but they were more fearful than curious.

  It wasn’t long before I felt like I was on display. There had to be a couple dozen of the cute creatures—like underwater dogs. So furry and cute, I loved their whiskered faces.

  I knew why Opal had called them puff otters. They were so puffy!

  I swam close to Grandma Otter and put out a hand. She came close, and before I knew it, she was touching my hand and my arm. She was being gentle, so I didn’t worry. She pushed her face into my arm, so I just had to pet her fur, which was surprisingly soft and so very thick. She swam back so I could caress her head. I scratched under her chin, and she let out a high-pitched yeep sound. She seemed to like it.

  A second later, Opal’s voice erupted in my head.

  Uknown giant shark entity approaching. Harnesses detected. Six shark humanoids are attached to the harness. Incoming. In five, four, three…

  Harness? What the fuck?

  While it had been fun to play with the otters, the big crowd had drawn an unwelcome presence.

  A giant prehistoric shark swam overhead before diving down. Blinders made out of woven kelp covered the monster’s eyes. A seaweed harness was strapped to its body, and gripping the harness were six giant shark men. The classic Great White shark fin stuck out of their backs. They all had giant shark heads with rows upon rows of teeth. And like their shark bus, they had seaweed harnesses, which held a variety of tools, including their coral knives. One had a net, holding a bunch of power crystals, radiating with Inferna energy.

  All their black eyes were on me, greedy for the 10X crystal on my back.

  I dove past Grandma Otter and worked my fins, hoping the otters would bolt for safety. I was ready with my spear because there was no way I was getting out of there without a fight.

  The shark men left their bus, tails swishing as they swam toward me. My leg muscles glowed as I darted up to meet them.

  One of the shark men outpaced the other, a jagged coral blade in his fist.

  My optimized reflexes kicked in, and I drove my spear into his chest. Fighting underwater wasn’t easy, but I had the raw strength to impale that fucker.

  He thrashed around, filling the ocean with blood.

  Another shark man came forward, trying to bite me. I swam over him, spun, and stabbed him in the back. I felt something hit my shoulder, and I figured it was a knife, but my survival suit held.

  Motion from the side caught my eye.

  The shark bus had sensed the blood, and it had swam down, mouth wide open, coming at me from the side. Suddenly, all I saw has a horizon of teeth and the darkness of death. I was going to end up eaten, chewed up and swallowed.

  The shark men had stopped their attack, probably because they wanted to see me get gulped down.

  If it ate me, I was going to use my spear to give it a bad case of indigestion.

  Before it could snap me up like a jalapeno popper, Grandma Otter swam and grabbed me. The otter then puffed itself up so much with air that we zoomed toward the surface. Around me were other otters, fattening themselves up to be as buoyant as possible.

  Everything was a blur, we were going so fast, and then, we were up and out of the water. It took me a second to realize that we were floating above the ocean.

  I tried to take a breath, but there was a ton of fluid in my lungs.

  Warning! Expelling water. There might be some discomfort.

  No shit. I started coughing, wheezing, and even puking out water. Finally, after clearing my lungs, I could breathe normally again. That’s when I realized that Grandma Otter and I were flying.

  Was I dreaming? No, there were a dozen other puff waters drifting through the air above the ocean.

  The four surviving shark men were near the surface, glaring at us. Below them, their bus shark had devoured one of the fuckers I’d killed and was chewing on the other. I took some grim satisfaction in that.

  I called down to Khanna, in our little canoe. She was staring up at me with wide disbelieving eyes. “Start rowing toward Fodoron Island, Khanna. I’m okay for now.”

  Khanna sat blinking, looking overwhelmed. Yeah, flying otters will do that to a person. Then she got to rowing again. I didn’t think the shark men would go after her, since she didn’t have a power crystal.

  Grandma Otter let out a yip, and then in a weird series of wiggles flew us away from the shark men. All the other otters yipped in response, and it almost sounded like a language.

  Grandma Otter wiggly flight wasn’t very pretty or elegant, but her puff power kept us out of the water and the threat there. The other otters followed us for a while before unpuffing and dropping down into the ocean with a splash. Once in the water, they zoomed away easily from the threat.

  As for me and Granda Otter, we drifted over to Khanna. Grandma put me in the boat before unpuffing herself. Then she splashed down into the water, swam back up, and then lay on her back. She yipped some more. It was like she was warning us about the shark men.

  “Yeah, Grandma, I understand. We’ll be safe. You should get out of here, though. Thanks so much!”

  She yipped more, gave me a happy otter grin, and then went swimming away.

  Khanna’s smile was almost as beautiful. “Sid Marshall has a new lover. Should Khanna be jealous?”

  “Uh, no. I don’t like my women that hairy. Besides, I prefer to stay within my own species, no offense to the furries.”

  We paddled our canoe toward Fodoron Island with my chest, shoulder, and back muscles glowing.

  We were about ten feet from the island when Opal gave me a warning.

  HOSTNAME: Sid Marshall! Incoming attacker detected. Take precautions!

  Our best bet was to get to the island. We were so close!

  We didn’t make it. Something struck our canoe. Khanna went into the water, and I followed her. I didn’t fill my lungs with ocean because we weren’t going to be in the sea that long. I was going to fucking kill the shark men and then find out what was inside the Fodoron Obelisk.

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