The city center was just as it had been described centuries before by explorers. The labyrinth of narrow streets flowed like a series of tributaries to a large courtyard. Three concentric circles of massive ivory colored stone pillars topped with onyx-like slabs bordered the focal point of the open yard. Saka smiled as she imagined the cobbled streets filled with open market carts and the pillars festooned with brightly colored flags in ready for some annual celebration. At the center of it all was a sight that made Saka's already jackhammering pulse quicken a new; an enormous ray of blue light shot up from a well in the square's cobbled footway.

Swimming over, Saka peered cautiously over the well's lip. The blue light was blindingly bright, causing her to retreat and rethink her strategy.

"Glad to see you waited for me sugar." Flyboy appeared calm and predatory as he advanced.

Saka gasped and kicked backward a few feet. This reaction seemed to embolden flyboy, and he quickened his pace. "Now, now sugar, I didn't mean to frighten you." Saka moved her head from side to side, looking for an escape route. Finding none, she fixed her gaze on flyboys approaching figure and trembled slightly. She could hear his mouth pull into a smile over the comm.

"What happened to your buddy?" She moved backward another foot.

"He ran into a little trouble. Graciously gave me his breather. Good guy."

"You've got a great set of lungs. You surprised me. I thought for sure you would pass out back there." Another kick, another foot.

"I was a big swimmer as a kid. All-star three years running in the long dive. At my best, I could hold my breath for almost ten minutes before I needed to even think about coming up for air. Almost made it to the galaxy championship, but I got into a little trouble with the law. Did you know having a record disqualifies one from competing?"

Saka shook her head. Another foot backward. By now, only six or so feet separated them. Saka's backward movements had placed the blazing blue beam between them.

"So this is what we've come all this way for?" He closed the distance to the well and peered cautiously in. "Damn that's bright," he gasped, snapping his eyes shut and turning his head away.

Reaching quickly over her shoulder, Saka removed the spear gun and took aim. Knowing his temporary blindness wouldn't last long, she pulled the trigger. The multi-barbed steel spear rocketed towards flyboy, piercing him squarely in the right shoulder. The force was such that he was propelled backward into one of the nearby stone pillars. Here, the tip lodged into the smooth stone, pinning him like a butterfly to a corkboard in a lepidopterist's collection.

"Huh," Saka watched as the pillar rocked on its foundation slightly, but managed to find its balance again, settling without a fuss. "Well, that was lucky. Imagine if all of these had dominoed down around us? Now that would have been a real bitch."

Flyboy cursed and rallied against the spear, screaming as he tried to pull himself free. Saka swam up to him and removed the key from the pouch on his right cuff as his arm dangled uselessly at his side. "Thanks, sugar," Saka replied, imitating flyboy's drawl, "You're right. That old toothless guy did have some good tech. I'll be sure to thank him for both of us," and swam back over to the shaft of blue light. Placing a hand cautiously into the luminous flood, she felt around.

The well was about twelve inches deep with a convex bottom. The surface was rough to the touch, giving Saka the impression of roughly carved stone. In the center was a depression she recognized as being the same shape and size of the key. Giving a cursory glance over her shoulder at flyboy, she found him staring intently at her, waiting. A steady trickle of blood plumed up from his wound like smoke from a chimney. Satisfied that he was still secure, she placed the key into the well.

It took her a few tries to get it into the right position, but after a bit, she managed it. The key sunk into the depression, temporarily cutting off the light source. A full thirty seconds went by with no change. Saka was about to peek inside the well when a loud clunk sounded from below the square, followed by a mechanical ratcheting of gears.

Slowly the light returned from the well, first as a sliver which rapidly grew. Saka reached into the depression once more to find the convex bottom had opened to reveal a multifaceted glass-like surface of a well-cut gem. Pulling a black neoprene satchel from her hip, Saka reached into the well, eyes closed, and removed the gem. She placed the light source into the pouch and cinched the mouth closed with a pull string. With the radiant blue light safely stowed, Saka opened her eyes. She was met with the pitch darkness of the ocean floor. Turning on her headlamp once again, she swam over to where flyboy remained pinned.

"Now what to do with you," Saka tapped her lower lip thoughtfully.

"Now sugar—" flyboy began.

"Shh," Saka placed a finger over her breather to quiet him. "You're a real asshole, you know that?" Not waiting for an answer, she continued. "I don't like assholes. I mean, if you have a reason, sure, but you're just an asshole for asshole's sake." She wiggled the spear in his shoulder, sending a fresh plume of blood and screams into the water. He tried to reach for her with his good arm, but she dodged him easily. "From your little monologue earlier, sounds like you had a pretty cushy life. A life you threw away like so many rich boys I've known over the years." Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle. More blood and curses. "And for the record, my name is not sugar." Shooting out her hand, she yanked the breather from his face. A start of surprise emerged from him in the form of bubbles.

Swimming back a few paces, Saka dropped the aqua breather just out of his reach. "This is really much kinder. You'll die in a few minutes as opposed to a few days. Now when the critters come to eat you, you won't feel it." With that, Saka turned off her headlamp, and slowly began to swim for the surface in complete darkness. Once her head crested the water's surface, she called for Boadicea who remotely flew to her, and picked her and the gem up.

Once they were safely away through the watery planet's atmosphere, Saka tapped in a set of coordinates that would take her to a buyer. She then stripped off her wetsuit and donned a fluffy white bathrobe with matching slippers, something she won in a high stakes game of strip poker, opened a can of quick heating cocoa, and thought about the look on flyboys face when she ripped his mask off. The image brought a smile to her face.