"Ooh...that hurts..." Kin opened his eyes blearily and peered into the oppressive darkness that coated himself like a thick blanket. "Mion...Mion...where are you?"

"Wake up, wake up...oh."

Kin tried to sit up, but there was something heavy pressing down onto his body. "What's this?"

"Kin, keep calm. I'm going to tell you something that you won't like."

"Okay."

"Remember, calm."

"I'm calm, I'm calm, just spit it out!"

"Okay." Mion paused. "The exosuit's broken and we can't fix it."

"The suit's what?!" Kin tried to move, thrashing and writhing, but he couldn't do much except flail his arms and legs.

"You are personifying the epitome of not calm right now, Kin."

"That's because I'm going to die!"

For some reason, although tge prospect of dying down in this freezing hell terrified Kin to the core, he didn't cry. Just struggled vainly and yelled a lot.

Facing death down multiple times had its benefits.

"Kin, listen. The suit is pulled by a pressure current against a hole. You can't get it out. Also, don't panic, we have an hour before the suit breaks and water enters. I think."

Kin thought for a moment, calming down impressively in the next few moments. "So I have to leave the suit. Can I do that without dying?"

"Yes. The water pressure here can crush steel, but the pod," the lump of misshapen metal lit up on Kin's cranial dome, " has a skinsuit that will insulate you and provide just enough protection to keep you alive. The downside is that you can't go anywhere. We're stuck here until we find something better."

Kin almost cried, but he stopped himself. "H-how do we get the suit here then?"

"Good question. You have an hour to find out. Think, Kin, think!"

Thinking is especially hard when you're terrified, but Kin, commendably, managed to hold his terror in. He would have made a mess if he didn't, and there was enough water in this place anyway.

"Mion...we're held here by pressure, right? So see, we can make a hole next to us, and the wave will suck the pod towards us."

"That may not work. Do you want to risk it?"

"There's nothing else left."

"Point. We have to anchor ourselves though."

"I think the pre-evac manual in the outpost said something about a grappling hook."

"Yeah, button's near your right thumb. Rough and square."

"Found it."

"OK. Now aim your right hand somewhere." Kin selected a sturdy looking strut on the same wall as him, aimed, and pushed the button.

Fwoom! A whoosh of bubble followed the grey blur as the hook launched out, catching onto the metal leg and holding it tight. Kin reeled the strong nanofilament wire in until it was taut, quivering in the air. Activating his pressure-blade, he sliced, slowly and deliberately, a large half-ellipsoid on his left side.

Kkkkkrraaaakkk

With a loud screech, the severed piece crumpled in on itself and was sucked into the hole. Tiny motes of sea-dust swirled into the gaping, deadly crack. Kin felt himself being pulled towards the yawning maw and reeled the cable more.

"Hell no!"

And the pod, slowly, infinitesimally, began to move.

It wasn't the only thing to give in the the call of the pressure wave. The strut that Kin hung onto for dear life began to bend to, waning and cracking.

The race was on.

Kin used all his strength and dug his legs into the ground, leaving deep indents. The pod, meanwhile, bound by its weight, was slowly dragged towards Kin and Mion.

"Hurry up...hurry up..."

The strut jerked and Kin hurriedly reeled the wire in some more.

Finally, the pod reached within arm's length of Kin. "Great!" Kin reached towards that life-saving pile, and, at the same time, the wire snapped.

"Aaah!" Kin dug his legs deeper, determined not the block the lethal but vital vacuum. "Just a little more..."

At the same time Kin list his foothold, the pod lifted, drawn too close at last, and slammed into the crack, cutting the wave and sealing it forever.

"OK, Kin. I'll transfer my data core into a console you can carry around later. "For now, just reach over and grab the suit. Lower compartment, left partition."

"Done."

"Put it in your suit via the air-lock."

Kin shoved the rubbery sheet into his suit's tummy

"Put it on." It took ten minutes and a scraped knee, but the suit went on.

"The cowl goes over your head. Yep, just like that. Now, the rebreather's in a pocket. You have five in total. My console's at the back of the exosuit, in the lower spine."

Kin yanked the cranial dome and received a faceful of water. He then swam out. Kin removed the console, a small black tablet with a screen on it, and it lit up blue.

"OK, Kin. You can't stay here forever. Now go, into the pod. There's shelter there so the pressure won't be so great. Hurry!"

Kin, bearing the weight of millions of atmospheres on him for the first time, managed to swim the half meter to the pod in fifteen minutes. As he collapsed into the metallic cradle, the only thought in his mind was: I did it. I really did it.