Page 77 of Through Uncharted Space

Dakota gasped.

“Now the depths of the Abyss will be your grave.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Dare slammed his hands down on the controls. What. The. Hell?

Now, they were just floating aimlessly. Nothing more than sitting ducks for the tortuga sharks, and whatever other nasty creatures were lurking around.

“We protect our heritage,” Olok said. “The very existence of the Maronian culture is all thanks to Captain Fisher and the crew of the Southwind.”

Aw, fuck. The Maronians had known about the Southwind all along. Dare thumped the controls again. They’d been played.

“Fisher was the guardian of the Atocha Treasure. A treasure from the deep. All Maronians are its guardians now.”

Dakota had frozen as she listened to Olok. “Not a single person on this damn planet has been telling us the truth.” She shook her head. “They conned me, and I never saw it coming.”

“You shouldn’t sound proud of them.”

“Well, you have to admit they did a pretty good job. We’re lost at the bottom of a giant ocean trench with no power.”

“We venerate the treasure,” Olok continued. “We built the temple shrine for it, to ensure no one would desecrate it.”

Dakota touched the controls. “Olok, we don’t intend to ruin the treasure. We didn’t realize it was this important to your people.”

“Well, you do now.”

Lights appeared through the viewscreen. Dare’s pulse leaped. Maybe it was his brothers.

But as the sub approached, he saw Olok’s large figure in the bubble. Apparently, the bastard could maneuver here just fine.

The sub came straight at them.

“He’s going to ram us,” Dakota shouted.

The larger sub slammed into them, with a sickening crunch and groan. She was tossed against Dare, and he threw an arm across her chest. Their smaller craft spun in a sickening circle.

Through the viewscreen, Dare watched as the larger sub turned and disappeared into the darkness.

“No.” He slammed a closed fist onto the console.

They were all alone.

“How much air do we have?” she asked quietly.

That was Dakota. Straight to the point and facing the facts, no matter how grim.

“We should have several hours.” He moved his hands over the controls to check. “Hopefully, we can make contact with Justyn and Rynan before we run out.”

“If Olok hasn’t sabotaged their sub, as well.”

Shit, he hoped not. He tried to contact his brothers. There was no response.

Suddenly, there was a creak of metal, and then he heard a trickling sound.

“Oh, no,” Dakota muttered.

They both looked up.