Savage Earth / Season 1, Episode 10
Fracture Point
Episode 10: Fracture Point The pod shuddered, a bone-deep rattle that Torren felt in his chest as it broke through the last veil of dark water into blinding light. His eyes squinted against the glare, the viewport a searing rectangle of white after hours of abyss. The surface. They’d made it. But the pod didn’t stop its ascent, didn’t slow. It surged upward, breaching with a violent lurch, water sheeting off the hull in a roar that drowned out Mira’s sharp gasp. For a moment, they were weightless, the craft suspended in midair before gravity yanked it back down. The impact slammed Torren into his harness, air punching out of his lungs, the taste of salt and metal on his tongue as he bit down hard. “Brace!” Mira barked, too late, her hands flying across the control panel, fingers slick with sweat. The pod rocked, tilting hard to port, and through the viewport, Torren caught fractured glimpses of the world above—gray sky, churning waves, a horizon jagged with something that wasn’t just water. Land? Debris? His mind couldn’t parse it fast enough. The hull groaned, a low, wounded sound, and warning lights bloomed red across the dash. “Hull’s at 68%,” Mira snapped, her voice tight, fraying at the edges. “We’ve got leaks. Starboard side. I’m rerouting power to the seals,...