Rising Tide by Rajan Khanna

if I succeed. She would have survived, too, if I didn’t try to convince Mal. But, what if there are other possibilities? Maybe I can slip Mal’s people, get free, come back to get Miranda.
    Or maybe you get yourself killed and you both die , the voice in my head says.
    Too late now , I think. And it is. Mal now has a chance. With me. And he will hold me to it.
    â€œTake me to Miranda,” I say.

    Miranda starts saying my name when she sees me, but it gets lost in this rush of blood in my head, and before I know it I’m moving forward and pulling her close to me and holding her tight. The scent of her hair fills my head and some tension in me uncoils and some hope for the future returns.
    She holds me back, her arms tight before she pulls away. “You’re cold and wet,” she says.
    â€œLong story,” I say. I’m glad to be out of the water and not freezing, but I feel like shit.
    â€œLet me look at you,” she says. She pulls back my shirt and inspects the bullet wound from however many days ago. Then she feels my forehead and then my wrist, quickly finding my pulse. “Well, your wound seems okay. I did a good job patching you up.”
    â€œYeah,” I say. “Thank you for that.” And she did. I mean I still feel some pain—hell, I was shot and stabbed and all that—but I’m feeling a lot better. Aside from the freezing and the head blow.
    â€œI think you should hire me to protect you,” Miranda says with a smile.
    â€œI think you might be right.”
    I spend a moment to take her in. Her dark, wavy hair is tied back in a loose, messy ponytail, and her glasses still perch on her nose. Good. I was worried she might lose them in the fall from the Cherub. Her light-brown skin looks paler than usual, and she looks tired, but otherwise she seems to be in good health. Fed, at least.
    I lose some time staring into her light-brown eyes. She places a calloused hand on my cheek.
    â€œWe don’t have a lot of time,” I say.
    â€œWhy not?”
    I shake my head. “The ship. It’s sinking.”
    â€œI know,” she says.
    â€œWell . . . I convinced Mal that I could find a way to fix it.”
    â€œWhat?” She looks at me, incredulous. “Can you?”
    â€œI think so.”
    â€œHow?”
    â€œI have to leave the ship,” I say. “Go see someone. See if I can find a replacement for his pumps.”
    â€œYou’re leaving?” One hand is on her hip. The other pushes back a tangle of hair from her face.
    â€œIt was all I could think of,” I say. “He was going to let me sink with the ship.”
    Miranda exhales noisily and shakes her head. “What did you do to him, Ben?”
    â€œThat’s not important. I’ll tell you all about it later.” I put my hands on her shoulders. “But you need to know—he’s letting me go, but . . .”
    â€œBut what?” I hear the edge in her voice, the familiar sound of her realizing that this isn’t going to be good for her.
    â€œHe’s using you as leverage.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œHe’s going to put you down below. Where the water is coming in. Incentive for me to come back. Quickly.”
    â€œBen!”
    â€œI know, I’m sorry. I never expected that. If I knew that’s what he was going to say, I never would have proposed it. But it’s too late now. He wants to make sure I’ll come back, and he’ll use you to make that happen.”
    â€œBen . . .” I hear the anger in her voice, and she turns away from me.
    â€œI’ll come back for you,” I say. “I promise. I’m not going to abandon you.”
    â€œBen—”
    â€œMiranda . . .”
    She turns back to me. Her jaw is set. “I know, you plan to come back. To get me. But there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to do that. And I was working on a way to get