“Explain yourself,” Celeste said, trying to contain her anger. The two stood in their room on the bottom floor. Celeste was standing with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. She tapped her foot anxiously as she waited for James to respond. James knew he should have been more concerned at his current predicament, but the feeling of nervousness and anxiety that he should be feeling simply didn’t rise within him.

“Tomorrow, I am descending beneath the clouds,” he said.

“And why, may I ask, are you doing a stupid thing like that?” Her foot was beginning to tap faster.

“Nobody may believe me, but I know what I saw. There is life down there, and the Divers need to know.” Celeste’s eyes narrowed, but James continued speaking. “And if there is life beneath the clouds, then maybe father is still alive.”

“That’s assuming…” Celeste said in a growl. “…that he made it down the ladder.” James sighed. He knew the likelihood of his father being alive was close to nil, but the thought that he might be down there roaming the planet to this day had always haunted him. He had to try.

“I won’t claim that you’re wrong. The chances of him being alive are small, but the importance of this information extends past him. Imagine being able to land the ships, to run on the ground beneath the clouds. I’ve heard rumors of bodies of water that could flip the horizon we see every day.” James pointed out the window where the line that transitioned from white to blue sat fixed on the farthest points of their view. “Bron said I have a lot of mother’s personality, but maybe I have a lot of dad’s as well. I’ve decided that I’m doing this, so you can either support me or report me to the regulators.”

Celeste’s foot tapping reached a furious pace. In a different situation, James would have been impressed. Suddenly, the foot tapping stopped. She let out a very long sigh. James relaxed. At the very least, she wouldn’t report him to the regulators.

“So, will you support me?” he asked.

“Absolutely not! But I know that conventional forms of convincing don’t work on you. So, you’re going to tell me how you plan to do this, then I’m going to tell you why your plan is stupid and won’t work. Sound good?” she asked in a voice of mock peppiness. Now, it was James’s turn to sigh. “So, how do you plan to descend the ladder? It is usually under watch, and the only time it is unraveled to the ground is when the divers are descending.” Celeste pulled the chair out from under the table and sat in it, crossing her legs. James scratched his head sheepishly. He knew she wasn’t going to like this part.

“I’m not going to use the ladder,” he said. Celeste tilted her head, quizzically.

“Then what will you use?” she asked.

James motioned for her to follow him up the stairs. A minute or so later, Celeste was looking at James’s sleeping platform. She had rarely seen it up close. There was simply no reason to go up to his. She watched as he undid the strap that locked his chest and lifted the lid. Inside, a very long tangle of skinny rope crisscrossed about itself, nearly overflowing from the top. Celeste rolled her eyes.

“You must be kidding. This is your plan?” Celeste reached in and grabbed a handful of rope. “It’s not even one single piece.” She turned to him. “Where did you get this anyway?” she asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“I was exploring one of the ships a while back—vessel seventeen I think—and I found a corridor near the bottom of the ship that looked like it hadn’t been touched in ages. Dust lined the walls and there wasn’t a single person around. Most of the rooms in the corridor were empty, but one of them had a giant spool of thin rope. It was too much to carry at once, which is why it’s split into pieces. After searching the same places in some of the other ships, I found other spools just like it. Over the last year or so, I’ve been slicing off pieces and bringing them here.” James gave a mischievous grin. “You nearly caught me a couple times.” Celeste groaned audibly.

“Regardless, this isn’t enough rope. It’ll never reach the clouds, let alone the ground.” Celeste said, a note of triumph in her voice. James scurried over to his bed, reaching underneath and dragging out another tangle of rope, nearly twice the size of the first.

“And the biggest spool is sitting a couple floors below us,” he said, pointing down. Celeste bit the inside of her cheek. It was a habit of hers. She did it every time she was angry but needed to keep it in check.

“Very well,” she said, stifling a groan. “Then let’s practice.” James took a step away from her.

“W-what do you mean?” James asked. Celeste seemed pleased that James was finally showing some amount of fear. She pointed to one of the chains that kept the platform in the air.

“We’ll tie the rope to that, and you’ll descend to the bottom. Should be easy, compared to the real thing,” Celeste said.

James knew what she was doing and hated that it was working. Truthfully, James didn’t fare well with heights. The only reason he thought he could descend to the ground was because of the false security that the clouds provided. James leaned over the edge, holding onto the chain for support. At the end of the day, Celeste was right. If he wanted to reach the ground, then he needed to be able to do this.

“Fine,” he said, his voice a little shaky. Celeste perked up. She had clearly thought that James wouldn’t go along with the idea. Regardless, she wasn’t about to back down. This could be the only thing to convince him of how stupid he was being.

Together, the two began tying the rope around the chain. Celeste looked like she hated herself for bringing this idea up, and James’s hands were shaking noticeably. Still, the two worked to tie the rope into a sturdy knot that wouldn’t slip. Once they were finished, James grabbed the entire pile of rope and threw it over the edge. He watched as it hit the ground with a thud. The two looked at the rope uncertainly, and then at each other.

“I suppose I should get on with it,” James said in a resigned voice. He took a step towards the rope, but Celeste grabbed his arm.

“I… don’t think this is a good idea,” she said. James turned to her. For some reason her anxious expression gave him a sense of calm, as if it was only okay for one of them to be worried at a given time.

“You’re right. This is a terrible idea.” And with that, he grabbed the rope and lowered himself over the side. He heard Celeste curse from the platform above him. The first thing he did was look down. That was a mistake. He kicked himself internally. Had he forgotten everything he had taught himself during his constant climbs on the metal ladder below? James suddenly became conscious of how sweaty his hands were and how difficult it was just to get his limbs to move. It felt like the fear had locked them all in place. It was a feeling he had felt before on his first descent down the metal ladder at the bottom of the ship. James closed his eyes and focused on breathing. He could feel himself swaying slightly as the rope wriggled about, but he didn’t let it scare him. It was a rope; it was built to bend and twist. Although he hadn’t intended it, the knots that occupied the rope from where he had tied them together served as good foot and handholds for quick rests.

After calming his racing heart, James began his slow descent. Though his limbs still felt like they were made of rusted metal, he was at least able to use them. Foot after foot, hand after hand, James made his descent. After a while, it became a repetitious, almost soothing, action. Despite his own mental warnings, he was beginning to relax. That is, until he spotted a knot directly in front of his face that was beginning to loosen. He froze, fearing his movement would cause the two pieces of rope to detach from each other. A few seconds passed, in which he could hear Celeste shouting at him from the stairs. He was too preoccupied with the knot to listen. A jolt went through the rope and he dropped a few inches. It’s not going to hold, James thought to himself. Cautiously, he reached for the piece of rope above the knot and used it to hoist himself back up the rope. Once his entire body was above the slipping knot, he reached down and brought it up to eye level. Holding his full weight with his feet, he used his hands to secure the knot. Once he thought it was tied tightly enough, he let it drop back below him. He descended, eyeing it cautiously as he passed it. The knot did not slip as he passed it this time.

James felt a wave of relief when his feet finally hit the floor, or at least what he thought was the floor. The incessant tapping on his leg told him otherwise. James looked down to find that he was standing on top of the table. Celeste stood next to it, her hands clenched at her sides. Needless to say, she was not happy. He climbed down to the floor.

“You could have died!” she yelled. James looked up at the rope and back at her.

“But I didn’t,” James said with a smile.

Truth be told, he should have been more frightened of Celeste than he was. In any other scenario, he would have been, but the relief from finishing the descent calmed his nerves, perhaps more than was good for him.

Celeste puffed up to the point that James thought she might explode. He braced himself for what was to come, but instead of releasing an onslaught of angry criticism, Celeste deflated. She let out a small, almost sorrowful, sigh and left the room, leaving James alone with his rope and his thoughts. The action was clear. She wouldn’t tell the regulators of his plan, but she wasn’t going to support him either. James understood, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. He knew he would probably be alone in this from the start, but the confirmation left him doubting himself. Perhaps that was her goal.

James collected the rope and stashed it back in its hiding place. His stomach rumbled as he latched his chest shut. He looked out the window, judging the time by the placement of the sun. They had clocks on the ship, but Celeste and James had never had one in their room. James groaned internally. It was lunchtime. He had been hoping that the events of the day had carried him closer to dinnertime. Today was beginning to feel like a time killing exercise with added anxiety. He just wanted tomorrow to come. With nothing left to do, he decided to get some food. It would, at the very least, distract him for a short amount of time.