Explorer Academy Book 5: The Tiger’s Nest

Explorer Academy Book 5: The Tiger’s Nest — page 7
up out of the waves Jaz expertly maneuvered the vehicle to within a few feet of Orion’s back deck making it easy for Cruz to jump to the sub’s ladder Scampering up the rungs he dropped through the top hatch she’d opened for him Emmett Lani Bryndis Sailor and Dugan were seated in a semicircle around a woman in the pilot’s seat Jaz had olive skin and wide dark gray eyes rimmed in purplish black eyeliner She’d twisted her long black hair into a side ponytail and a gold hoop earring was caught in her thick hair Welcome aboard Thanks for doing a U-turn No problem Cruz moved past Bryndis to sit at the end of the bench Her fair hair was braided into two loose pigtails Pale blue eyes glanced up at Cruz She smiled He melted And stumbled Emmett caught him before he did a face-plant Sailor put a hand to her mouth but it did little to mute her snort Jaz nodded to the empty seat next to her You can sit here if you want That’s perfect exclaimed Lani Jaz Cruz is a sub pilot too Not officially corrected Cruz He slid into the copilot’s seat I went through all the training though I uh never actually took Ridley out of Orion’s docking bay But hey I’m a great pilot on land That got a laugh A joystick in each hand Jaz backed the sub away from the Orion Once they were about 20 feet from the ship Jaz tapped her computer screen and they heard a whirring noise The ballast tanks on each side of the vehicle began venting Cruz knew the tanks were used for buoyancy buoyancy They released air allowing the sub to sink To rise the pilot filled the tanks with air from the compressor The submarine slowly descended beneath the choppy waves Ridley to Orion We are good to dive dive dive Jaz said into her headset The sub glided through the turquoise waters at a downward angle Jaz flipped on the headlights Hundreds of silvery blue fish parted half 10