11: Sphere, 1

daunt
1. to overcome with fear; intimidate: "to daunt one's adversaries."
2. to lessen the courage of; dishearten: "Don't be daunted by the amount of work still to be done."

Kailey fluttered her arms in the water, head shaking nervously. "Mark, I don't want to. It's too deep."

Mark smiled at her from atop a couple of wooden planks lashed to some tires. He was a stiff, muscled character just shorter than her and just blonder. His hair clung to his face like seaweed, while beads of water winked at her from his chest and shoulders. She looked away, paddling a few feet from the raft, and tried to find some excuse for embarrassing herself in front of fresh meat. Suddenly her breasts felt small and she wished she had makeup.

But he was gentle about it. "It's only a few meters, Kail," he coaxed. "No need to be scared."

You bastard, she thought. If you want to get laid, don't make this worse than it is. It made her feel a little better to imagine she could turn him down.

Kailey had hated deep water for as long as she could remember. It was intrusive. It felt like it was climbing into her through her pores, filling every vein and artery with its chill. Beneath her, the Sphere was a thick, inky unknown, glimmering with starlight that seemed brighter and closer here than on any other orbital. As if the universe had given its full attention to a talent show act who'd made it through the audition on caffeine and her teacher's warm encouragement.

Mark dove off the platform with a flourish. He glided beneath the surface to Kailey's side, where he broke the still water just as irreverently a second time, his face alight with brazen, impudent youth. "Don't be scared," he repeated. She felt his warm breath on her neck, all too enticing. The cold water provided emphasis.

Maybe it isn't that far, she hoped.

"Just hold your breath and dive straight down," Mark cooed. "It'll be hard for the first little bit while your air buoys you up, but once you get past the halfway mark the pressure will ease up and it'll be a cakewalk from there."

Kailey's lips pressed into a thin line. "Yeah, and if I run out of breath after the sinker line, I won't float back up either," she retorted. "I'm already panicked stupid, and I haven't even dipped under yet. If I freak out down there - "

"I'll be right beside you."

Her sentence caught in her throat. You cruel, cruel boy...

"Just try it," he urged. "I'll see you down there with the others." He pinched her stomach, sending an uncomfortably good feeling through her body, and disappeared into the darkness. But for the small waves spreading from her arms, the air and water around Kailey fell still and vacant. The pinpoints in the sky waited to see what she would do.

Sphere, 2