A soft ping—like a tiny bell rung near her ear.

After a while, she started to believe she'd made the sound up, but there it was again. And again. This time, she recognized the sound: sonar, like from her escape pod. It was getting louder.

For a heart-stopping second, she thought her own system had restarted itself, but the display was still dark. Another pod, then. But if Stepmother had stayed the course, she'd be rising towards the surface by now—too far for Maya to hear clearly, and certainly not coming closer.

Unless Stepmother hadn't stayed the course.

A detour was dangerous enough given the limited fuel at their disposal, but on top of that, with that thing nearby... well, if Maya could hear the sonar, so could the monster. What is she thinking? She needs to get out of here! 

Stepmother was so close now, Maya could hear her engines buzzing. The other pod's pings reverberated off her own and faded back into the distance. Each one was like an unwanted broadcast: I'm here! Come eat me!

She couldn't stop picturing those long, sharp teeth closing around Stepmother's pod, puncturing its hull. Her chest clenched up in horrible anticipation.

"Stop!" She banged on the inside of her hull. "Turn it off! Turn it off!"

A tide rocked her pod, shutting her up; the monster had heard her.

She knew what would come next. Would the teeth or the ocean kill her first? She could only hope it would give Stepmother a chance to realize her mistake and escape. Maya pulled her knees up to her chest and braced herself for another hit.

It never came.

Stepmother's engines kept buzzing, her sonar kept pinging, and nothing happened. If anything, the pings got louder and longer even as the engines faded away. She rubbed her arms, which were prickly with goosebumps.

Now Maya was really confused. Why would Stepmother waste fuel coming towards her only to turn back again? And why turn up the magnitude on her sonar? Did she need to see farther? She had definitely been close enough to detect Maya, so the only explanation was that Stepmother was searching for something else.

A growl—so deep and close that the sound physically shook her. The emergency rations rattled in the storage hatch.

Her heart pounded. She gripped her seat until she lost feeling in her fingers. How long had the monster been right under her? Is that why Stepmother had turned around? Maya could still hear her, although she could tell they were far away from each other now. She could also tell Stepmother wasn't fast enough.

Unless Maya gave her a fighting chance. Maybe if she made enough noise, she could distract the monster. I'm dead anyway, she told herself, but Stepmother still has a chance. Her finger hovered over the "start engine" button.

An unearthly shriek pierced the waters, followed by the sound of crunching metal. Her breath caught.

The pinging had stopped. Stepmother was gone.

Maya's hand curled back into a fist. She should have just gone for it. She hadn't been brave enough to do it. But, she realized, Stepmother had. She'd lead the monster away, probably on purpose. Echoes of the monster's cry rang in Maya's ears. She felt hollow inside.

She didn't dare move until the water died down and the ocean was silent. Even then, she waited, stunned, unable to think much at all.

A light flashed on the control dock. The fuel gauge had sunk dangerously close to the level required to reach the surface. She had no idea how long she'd been waiting. Her eyes were still puffy from crying, but the tears had dried on her cheeks.

Maybe the monster was waiting, too. She couldn't let herself worry about that; if she didn't restart the pod now, she'd be dead either way.

She powered the engines. They buzzed harder at first and then settled into a steady hum as the pod started to rise. Arms still wrapped around herself, Maya sank into exhausted sleep.

Gentle beeping woke her. Her stomach was uneasy. The pod bobbed forcefully. She'd surfaced. Every muscle felt stiff as she unfolded herself.

Remembering her instructions, she pushed the blue signal button. She was supposed to wait a few hours for the researchers. It would probably be longer since she'd drifted off-course.

She'd always been told it was Stepmother who would come get her, but now... she knew she'd never see Stepmother again. A day ago, she wouldn't have been sad about it. Now, the thought made her feel like a hand was wringing out her heart.

The beeping continued. She looked to the source and saw a little yellow light: low oxygen. She unbuckled the seat belts. She could almost stand straight, but the top of her head grazed the ceiling. She pulled the lever for the hatch. It hissed and then opened, filling the pod with strange air, and with it, an even stranger warmth.

For the first time, Maya felt sunlight.