"If I were to guess, I would suggest the beast thought the opening door was a threat to its young," Ravindra said.
"Makes sense." Partridge sucked in deep breaths. "Hopefully, it thinks it's won and will go away."
"Where are we?" Partridge asked.
"We're still underwater," Morgan said. "Let's hope this is like your cavern, and not like an airlock on a spaceship." At least there was a chance the systems were operational; otherwise the sea gate wouldn't have raised at all.
"I want to know who you are." Eastly growled the words, standing in front of her with his hands on his hips. "You seem to know an awful lot about this ship, about this place. How? Why?"
Ravindra closed the space between them in a stride. Eastly blinked and took a half pace back. "It's a legitimate question. She's done things with this sub I didn't know you could do and I've done the training course."
Oh, she could do without this crap. "I'm a particularly skilled engineer. It's just another system, just another vehicle."
"Sure. And what about that sea gate? How did you find that?" He glared at her. "And more to the point, how did you get it open?"
Morgan sighed. "It was designed to open, just like your sea gate at your house. The sensors found the data ports and I sent a succession of impulses, looking for the right sequence. As for knowing the place was there—I explained that. The data looked to me as if something was being hidden, so I deliberately went looking for a data port."
"That lasted millennia?"
"Does that surprise you?" Ravindra spoke softly. "It shouldn't. Not so very long ago, we encountered information systems that had lasted for thousands of years. One of them led us here." He meant the secret room in the archaeological dig on Krystor, where they'd found images of the people who'd built the long-ruined manor.
Eastly still regarded her through narrowed eyes. Not convinced.
"In the right environment, information systems can last for ages," she said.
"We're underwater."
"Sure. But if this place is like an airlock on a spaceship, then the controls are inside, protected from the elements."
Partridge put a hand on Eastly's arm. "Let it go, Brent. We wouldn't be here without them and I want to know what's here. Don't you?"
Eastly rubbed his fist over his mouth. "Yes. All right." He sagged, the tension draining away. "What now?"
"Now I'll have to go out and look around," Morgan said. "The sensors haven't detected anything out there, but there has to be some way to seal up and get the water out. Or something. Do you have diving equipment? Oxygen extractors and masks?"
"We have. Go and fetch the suits, Brent." Partridge made the words an instruction.
Eastly disappeared through the rear hatch which led to the store rooms and the engine compartment. He returned in moments, his arms laden with dangling silver suits and a box from which bright yellow fins protruded. He tossed the fins on the floor and lifted out helmets with transparent face plates and a thick ridge around the back of the neck.
"That's the re-breather," he said. "Have you used these before?"
"No," Morgan said. "Not these. I did some diving in my youth and the equipment's not so different from a space suit."
Eastly grunted. "Space is a vacuum. Here the pressure is huge."
"How many suits?" Ravindra asked.
"We have six, enough so that if the sub is damaged, we at least have one means of escape," Eastly said.
"Then I will go with Marion into the water."
Eastly straightened. "And leave us here?"
"Until we know what's going on. Then we move on. It would be stupid for us all to go."
"Then I'll go with Marion. I've used this gear before and I've dived at depth. Have you?" Eastly demanded.
Ravindra's eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared.
Oh, don't tell me he's going to do the big macho thing. "It makes sense, Ashkar," Morgan said, and added in Manesai, "Now is a good time to be an admiral."
Ravindra swallowed. He wasn't happy, Morgan could read the expression on his face. Something else was going on, too. She wished she knew what. The submarine? Being underwater?
"No. I'm going with you."
Eastly spluttered. "Don't be—"
Ravindra whirled on him, the full authority of his rank visible on his face, in his body language. "I am bigger and stronger than you and I have worked with her in these situations before. I will go." While Eastly blanched, Ravindra turned on Morgan. Speaking in Manesai, he snarled, "Do not argue. This is like the power source on Artemis. I will not let you go without me."
Morgan nodded. It was all she could manage. Wow. This was one of those times you didn't argue with Ravindra. She'd needed his strength back there on Artemis. Without his help, she couldn't have sabotaged the ship.
"I'm going, too, Brent." Partridge spoke firmly, his chin raised. "Please don't argue. This is my family history. Someone has to stay with the sub, and that has to be you."
"Bullshit. Nothing will happen to the sub here. Nothing can get into this cavern, anything that was here must be long dead. I'm coming, too. So that makes all of us. Better find yourself a suit."
Morgan rummaged through the pile to find the suit which would fit her best, then peeled off her outer garments. That didn't please Ravindra, either, despite the fact that he and Partridge were busy doing the same thing while Eastly collected hand tools and a crowbar, oblivious to her state of undress. As a matter of fact, Partridge had cast an admiring glance at Ravindra's half-naked body, and Eastly hadn't liked that at all.
Morgan slipped the helmet over her head and fitted the seals. Yes, very like a space suit, but this equipment broke the water down into its molecular structure, expelled the hydrogen and left the oxygen to mix with nitrogen in the suit. The carbon dioxide she produced was broken down, and the carbon expelled. Based on air supply, she could stay underwater for many hours. Her heart raced. Like space, only different. And just as in the caves on Krystor, here a mountain reared above her head. She'd faced that fear, had thought she'd banished the childhood terrors, but even so, a vestige remained, a darkness lurking just beyond her consciousness.
Partridge brought her a utility belt. "It has some cord and a hand pick."
Morgan fastened it around her waist. "Phew. Does it have to be so heavy?"
"It has to balance your weight in the water so you don't float." Partridge checked the weight ratio and slipped out three sachets. "That should be about right. It's heavy out here but in the water you'll have zero buoyancy."
While the archaeologist went away to adjust Ravindra's suit, Morgan wriggled, settling the belt where she wanted it. Another difference between water and space. For now, the weight pulled down on her hips.
Ravindra made a final check of her helmet and gauges, going over the suit with care even though Partridge had already done so. He made a fist, raised so she could see, the Manesai signal for 'good to go'. "Take care," he said softly. His voice sounded metallic in the suit's headphones.
Carrying his fins, he turned and moved in Eastly's wake, picking his feet up in the heavy suit so he looked like he was wading. Morgan followed him into the air lock, with Partridge a step behind. The door clanged shut and the seals hissed tight. Following Eastly's example, Morgan pulled her fins on over light, flexible shoes as the water rose from the floor. At first the cold was obvious but the suit adjusted quickly. She glanced at Ravindra and was pleased to see he was nervous, too, his lips pressed together too tightly. Partridge seemed elated rather than nervous, his eyes sparkling with anticipation. Eastly appeared to be resolute, doing what had to be done. The water level rose past her shoulders and up over the face plate, half water, half air. If she put her head down, she could see Ravindra's torso, magnified and distorted. When she lifted her head, he looked normal.
Ravindra turned on the helmet mike. "Okay?"
"Fine." She wished she was as calm as her voice.
The hatch loosened above their heads. "You're free to g
o," the IS said.
Eastly went first, dragging his body up before he flipped his fins to finish. Morgan followed, easing herself out above the sub's hull. Blackness. Blacker than space, with no reassuring starlight, although her headlamp cut a laser beam of brightness through the dark water. Just like in the cave under the mountain. Her pulse accelerated. She augmented her vision but the silt in the water got in the way. She had to stay calm: stay calm. Particles danced and swirled, reflecting the brilliance of the light. Morgan's heartbeat slowed from breakneck to a hammer. She floated out and to the side, while Ravindra and Partridge came up beside her. Their four beams of light searched the cave.
The submarine had struck what had been a padded bulkhead. She would have expected to see a wharf, like in the dock at Partridge's house. The sub hung in the water, between the cave's ceiling and the sea bed. An even stone ledge ran the length of the cave, over to the right.
Partridge pointed up. "What's that?"
A bulky object, straight and even, floated above their heads, apparently moored to the stone ledge by a ladder, or ramp.
She pushed off from the hull and glided up to what proved to be a ramp. Whitish particles drifted away when she ran a gloved hand over the edges, revealing black material that seemed to be in surprisingly good condition. "A mooring dock? Set up to vary height with the tide, so the sub would've come up into air."
"Excellent," Eastly said. "That's a dock which would have been in the air, just like the one back home. There must be doors out of here. Let's take a look." He flipped the long fins once and glided down to the stone ledge.
Ravindra ranged alongside Morgan. "Are you all right?"
She managed a smile. "Yes. I don't like it here much, but I guess it's like space, isn't it?"
His eyebrows jerked. "Except for the pressure."
He wouldn't say more, it wasn't his style. In fact, she couldn't remember another time when he'd admitted any kind of weakness. Eastly and Partridge had drawn a little way ahead and down, and now they searched along a wall with gloved hands.
Eastly headed for a building set against the wall at the end of the dock, his headlamp barely serving to illuminate the area right in front of him. The scattered light dissipated quickly into the murk stirred up by their activity. Morgan couldn't see the edges of the building. Her mind conjured up a many-tentacled thing lurking in the darkness. Stupid. Like Eastly said, nothing large could have survived here.
Partridge stopped, floating in front of a panel. "This looks like it might have been a lift panel."
Morgan joined him, searching the panel with her mind. No murmur of data. If there had been a control there, it was long gone.
Ravindra ran his hands over what she assumed was the door for the lift. "If we can open this, we should be able to swim up to the upper levels. We need that crowbar."
Eastly stuck the flat edge of the crowbar into the gap between the door and the wall and heaved. Nothing happened. He shifted position, gripping the lever in both hands while he forced his body back with the long fins, the exertion evident in his grimace, even through the face plate. He let go, panting. "No dice."
"Let me try." Ravindra stood next to the doorway, gripped the lever and heaved. More silt spiraled into the water. Tiny white creatures scuttled away. A gap appeared, the merest slit. Ravindra straightened, took a few deep breaths, and tried again.
Partridge slowly clapped his hands.
"I must have loosened it," Eastly said.
"Finish then," Ravindra said, drifting away.
In the end Ravindra came back to help, forcing the door open enough for them to fit through one at a time. Eastly peered through the gap. "The car is down here."
"Can we break through the top?" Ravindra asked.
"I expect you could." Partridge said, handing the crowbar to Ravindra.
"And then I could always use the laser-lance." Eastly lifted the item, not much more than a tubular handle with a trigger, from his belt.
Morgan stood aside. The testosterone flowing around here was amazing. And all for what?
The laser-lance ignited, a short, bright blue beam. Eastly eased himself into the lift car and began to cut. The half-open gap glowed blue like a doorway into another dimension. The blue light disappeared and Eastly turned around, a wide grin on his face. "Done. I'll take a look up the shaft. The depth gauge says seven meters so a dry floor shouldn't be far away."
"And if the water is not as high as the next doors?" Ravindra said.
She hadn't thought of that. "I don't know. I guess we'll have to improvise."
"We could be lucky," Partridge said.
Morgan shivered. Even inside the warmed suit, she felt the cold of the water. If you didn't drown, you'd die of hypothermia. Fuck, what a thought, floating down here until the end of time. Maybe those little white critters would edge their way into the suit and eat the flesh off your bones. She wished she was somewhere else.
Ravindra leaned against the wall, motionless. She glanced past him, enough to glimpse the expression on his face without him noticing. No expression. This place must be rattling him as much as it rattled her. In a silly sort of way, the thought gave her some comfort.
Growing light in the shaft heralded Eastly's return. "The water is a good two meters below the next door. I don't know how we'll get it open."
"Is there a cable in the lift shaft?" Ravindra asked.
"Of course there is," Eastly said.
"You're going to climb the cable, aren't you?" Morgan said in Manesai.
"What I do when I get there I can't be sure. With the laser-lance perhaps I can break through."
"I might be able to get a response." She wished she could see his face properly but the light was diffuse and the face plate got in the way.
"Together, then."
"I wish you guys wouldn't keep breaking out into foreign," snapped Eastly.
Amusement bubbled through Ravindra's voice. "Just discussing tactics. We've done something like this before. We'll open your door for you."
Partridge put a hand on Eastly's arm.
Ravindra squeezed his bulk through the gap into the car. When his light disappeared, Morgan followed, swallowing to keep her nerves under control. Her headlamp's light bounced off the walls. Steady, Morgan. You've done this sort of thing in space. Remember getting off Artemis? True. It wasn't very different.
"Are you coming?" Ravindra's voice came from above her. He looked down at her through the uneven hole in the car's roof.
"Yes. Just fighting down the panic." She floated up, following the swish of his fins. The cable hung beside her, swaying like seaweed in the wake of their passage. Just a few meters more and her head broke the surface. She angled the light up the wall of the shaft into shadowy distance. This lift must go a long way. The door Eastly had mentioned was above her head, on the right.
"Can you sense anything?" Ravindra asked.
She concentrated. Yes. She punched the air. "It's very faint. Probably in standby. Give me a minute." She sank into the water and flipped her legs a few times, trying to force herself higher above the water. This wasn't any good. She flailed around for the cable, but Ravindra put his arm around her.
"Do what you have to do. I'll hold you up."
Elation felt like a warm current through her body. The data port waited, bright as a beacon, for a connection. Her previous brief poll had been enough. The bits flowed. Close the circuit here to open, there to close. Open. The door slid aside. She let go and it slid back. Fuck. There had to be a 'stay open' status. She followed the logic. Yes. This gate. Open, then stay open. She withdrew. "Good to go, Srimana."
"Hold onto the cable."
Ravindra slipped off his fins, tucked them under her arm, then started up the cable, sure and powerful, pulling himself up with his hands, steadying the dangling part with his feet. In a few moments, he'd thrown himself over the edge of the doorway, into the building.
He reappeared, unclipped the rope from his utility belt and lowered it d
own to her. "Tie the fins to this."
When he pulled the fins up, he dropped the rope down again. "Tie this to your belt and I'll pull you up."
She wound the line through the belt a few times, and nodded, her hands on the cable. Ravindra took the weight and drew her up, with her helping as much as she could, walking up the side of the shaft. Fuck, this suit was heavy out of water. It would be much easier if she could leave the weights behind, but they'd need them for getting back. He reached out and grasped one arm, then the other and she sprawled face down onto a tiled surface.
Chapter 18
Ravindra helped Morgan to sit up, and slid back her helmet's face plate. The air felt cool and dry, perhaps a little musty. She handed him her belt and he tossed it next to the wall, beside his own belt and their fins.
"Man, that's better," she said, clambering to her feet. "I feel ten centimeters taller."
A voice rose from the lift shaft. "Hey! Are you ready?"
Ravindra let down the rope for Partridge, who helped him get Eastly up.
Morgan stared around, enhancing her eyesight so she could see properly. Lights had come on as soon as Ravindra entered the room, but the illumination was diffuse, enough to get around but not bright enough for serious work.
"Looks like a laboratory," Morgan said.
Two long benches, both fitted with sinks, almost filled the room. Cabinets lined the walls. Stools were parked beside the benches. Everything looked neat, as if the place had been shut down while the workers went on holiday.
"Can you sense anything?" Ravindra asked her in Manesai.
"I think there's an information system here, but I can't connect to it. This other stuff with the lift, that's just basic infrastructure. We're going to have to go looking."
"Something you want to share?" Eastly stood toe to toe with Ravindra, nostrils flared, bristling aggression. "I'm tired of you two nattering in a foreign language. If you've got something to say, we all want to hear."
Uh-oh. Ravindra wasn't going to like that. Morgan stepped forward to intervene but the admiral simply turned away.
Eastly grabbed Ravindra arm. "Hey. I'm talking to you."
Before she could reach the two men, Ravindra shrugged Eastly off, adding a little push that had the fellow staggering. Partridge rushed in to help his secretary.
Morgan's Return Page 15