The wild power shocked Hailie. Blue twisted her upside down as bubbles attacked her face. Hailie couldn't see anything and she felt heavier in water than in space. Aquamarine forces rolled her under the weight of a wave. In the galaxy, every movement had a reaction; a step off of an asteroid could float her miles if she allowed inertia to flow. But here, all her movements did nothing; they had no effect. She was completely out of control, at the mercy of the ocean.

Eventually, the rage settled and she floated to the surface. Removing her scuba mask, she took in the world. The cerulean expanse reached all directions, there was no horizon, only eternal blue. The constant bobbing of waves made Hailie sick. Is Astrid even alive here? How could anything survive in such a saline environment? She looked down below and could just make out the twinkling of stars beneath the waves.

A flash of yellow more vibrant than Venus caught her eye. It was a fish. Its flat, bright body swam about her feet. It was so fast. She had never seen a Tang before because the National Aquarium was thousands of miles away from her modest Floridian home, but she knew the explorers who brought back these creatures to earth talked of entire schools of them, hundreds of star-flecked beings orbiting each other in a bait ball. The fish swam away into the blue.

In the distance, a shape drifted with the current. It seemed to float upon the sea, relinquishing itself to timeless wandering. Hailie swam toward it, its shape gradually becoming clearer. It was a mat of reeds. The sky was only water, but here was proof of land. A reflected beam of light blinded her from among the flotsam. It was Astrid's bracelet.

To be continued.