Life Support
He’s trapped in the crushing dark with two hours of air; she’s the voice in his ear keeping him alive.
Ryker 'Fuse' O'Shea is the DSS Leviathan’s best underwater welder and its biggest liability. Known for his death-wish antics, he’s hiding a dark secret: he isn't the one who caused the accident that killed his best friend two years ago. He took the blame to save a grieving family, and now he works the saturation rotation in a pressurized chamber, avoiding the one woman he’s secretly loved for years.
Tessa Monroe is the 'Voice of God.' From her control panel, she monitors the divers' every breath with clinical precision, using rigid protocol to mask her grief. When a routine dive is sabotaged and Ryker’s diving bell is severed, plummeting 400 feet into an abyssal trench, Tessa becomes his only lifeline to the surface. Cut off from the world, they are locked in a desperate auditory intimacy as oxygen and heat begin to fail.
As nitrogen narcosis sets in and the cold becomes lethal, the barriers between them crumble. Through a distorted helium-scrambled connection, Ryker finally confesses the truth that tore them apart. Topside, a hunt for a corporate saboteur intensifies, but for Ryker and Tessa, the only thing that matters is the voice on the other end of the line—and the hope of a second chance if they can survive the pressure.
The Blurb
Ryker 'Fuse' O'Shea is the DSS Leviathan’s best underwater welder and its biggest liability. Known for his death-wish antics, he’s hiding a dark secret: he isn't the one who caused the accident that killed his best friend two years ago. He took the blame to save a grieving family, and now he works the saturation rotation in a pressurized chamber, avoiding the one woman he’s secretly loved for years.
Tessa Monroe is the 'Voice of God.' From her control panel, she monitors the divers' every breath with clinical precision, using rigid protocol to mask her grief. When a routine dive is sabotaged and Ryker’s diving bell is severed, plummeting 400 feet into an abyssal trench, Tessa becomes his only lifeline to the surface. Cut off from the world, they are locked in a desperate auditory intimacy as oxygen and heat begin to fail.
As nitrogen narcosis sets in and the cold becomes lethal, the barriers between them crumble. Through a distorted helium-scrambled connection, Ryker finally confesses the truth that tore them apart. Topside, a hunt for a corporate saboteur intensifies, but for Ryker and Tessa, the only thing that matters is the voice on the other end of the line—and the hope of a second chance if they can survive the pressure.
"The 'Helium Barrier' was a stroke of genius. I never thought a character sounding like a cartoon character while confessing his love would make me sob, but Sterling pulled it off. Intense, claustrophobic, and incredibly romantic."— Maritime Reads