Morgan's Return (40 page)

"Looks like we'll have to find another way out." Gazing at him, she pulled at her bottom lip with her teeth. "Okay, Admiral?"

"Proceed, madam," he said with mock solemnity. "We have a job to do." In a lab filled with CO
2
.

They moved through the tunnel on half power. If crossing the open sea had been scary, this was the difference between a dream, and a nightmare. Fanciful it might have been, but he felt like he was swimming up an artery in some gigantic body, or maybe a sewer. That might be better. He couldn't wait to reach the dock where they'd left the sub.

He almost cried with relief when the tunnel's roof and walls suddenly disappeared.

"We're in the docking bay," Morgan said.

Obviously. He didn't bother to answer. She was only showing concern. "So the lifts are that way?" He pointed.

"Yep."

Ravindra remembered the long stone dock, the drowned buildings. And there was the lift well. They swam up the same way they had before, until they surfaced with the doors above their heads.

"Let's hope it opens," Morgan said.

Let's hope indeed. If it didn't.
No. Don't even think about it until you have to
.

The door opened. Morgan crowed with delight.

He swarmed up the lift cable and swung himself into the darkness. Lights flickered on as he removed the jetpack. They might need it later, but not for now. He let a rope down to Morgan, and helped her up. She dropped her jetpack and gazed around her.

"Yep. Full of carbon dioxide. At least we have plenty of air. More than three hours."

"All we need is a way out."

"Let's get this done first. Can you hear the hum?"

Now she mentioned it, he could, just on the edge of his hearing. The sound grew as they walked through the apartment to the laboratory. Flashes of light flared and flickered, mainly red. It couldn't be fire, not a normal one, anyway.

The console was lit up like an advertising sign. Morgan walked over, and examined the array of buttons and gauges. Several red lights blinked on and off above gauges reading maximum plus. He'd never seen her perplexed before. She chewed on her lip, looking but not touching. What might be happening inside her head he had no idea.

Muttering to herself, she tried to finger her chin, but her hand hit the helmet.

"What, Morgan?"

Her head snapped around as if she'd only just remembered he was there. "Resonance. This thing is sending out a very low frequency signal. What you can hear is the top of the range." The tiny missile she'd built to destroy the model ship out there wherever it was lay in her hand. "So I put this in there, and then I send it where the little ship went."

"Mmm. It bothers me, though," he said.

She raised her eyebrows. "As in?"

"We don't know what's there, and we don't know what, if anything, we'll be destroying. A portal, maybe, or a rift, or who knows what. Is there any way we can find out?"

"Oh, a bit of Supertech magic?" Pulling her long-suffering face, Morgan waved the hand holding the missile. "Simsalabim." She shrugged. "Let me see."

She turned back to the console, adopting that still pose which meant she was in her 'machine' mode. When she turned around again, a quizzical half-smile lingered around her lips. "Maybe."

Ravindra jerked his head, giving her permission to speak.

"This is a directional signal. I think I can read where that signal is going." She turned and pointed to a row of dials. "These haven't moved. They are a set of coordinates."

It was a start, but only a start. "Can you translate that into something we can understand?"

"As it happens, yes. Partridge's grandmother's notes. Remember them? They contained some star charts, constellations visible from here, and there were coordinates like these written beside them." She was grinning.

"Ah. Known values."

"Yep. I expect they were messing about, trying to decide on a good location for their grand experiment."

"So we can find this place? Where the model ship is?"

"I reckon we can."

Oh, she was wonderful. "It sounds good, but space is a very big place, and a model ship is a very small object. Will it have moved from those coordinates?"

She considered for a moment. "I doubt it. Let's just say if this was my setup, I'd be wanting to bring the model home so I wouldn't want it to move."

"So we leave this running?"

Morgan tried to run a hand though her hair and scowled when her hand hit the helmet. "I'm not sure."

"What are you thinking?"

"This is a directional signal. Our alien friends might have followed it down here. What happens if I turn it off? Are they trapped, can't get back?"

"In that case, with enough firepower, we can destroy one ship. We don't want more of them."

"No."

"Destroy it, Morgan."

She winced. "I'd rather just switch it off. I'd like a much more detailed look at this technology. Too often we destroy what we don't understand. Why don't I just turn off the power source?" She started rummaging around the unit.

Ravindra wondered where the exit to this place was. If there was one, other than the dock. At the very least there would have to be some source of ventilation to let air in, and heat out. Even if they had been blocked for the fire emergency. They would just have to hope the ventilation shafts were wide enough for people.

He gazed up at the solid rock, letting his helmet lamp play over the surface. This place had been a natural cave but the marks of stone cutters were evident, shallow grooves in parallel lines smoothing out the contours. What was that? Straight edges, like a box, up in the left hand corner. It looked like a grid. Hope soared.

Something else had changed, something subtle. The hum had gone, replaced with the sound of his own breathing. "You've switched it off?"

"Yes. Have you seen something?" Morgan asked, coming to join him.

"Yes. What's that?" Ravindra pointed at the corner in the ceiling.

"Excellent. That looks promising. A metal grid, I'd say, but closed off behind."

"There's no layout diagram for this place?"

She shook her head. "Not an obvious one. But of course, I can't read their systems." Regret shone in her eyes as she gazed back at the console. "It'll be interesting to learn about everything in here."

"Right now, I'm more interested in getting out. Can you open that vent?"

"System-wise? No. But we could blow it out if we can get some explosive up there. Then we have to get us up there. And hope we can get out."

He smiled at her. "Don't be so pessimistic. It doesn't suit you. How much explosive do you think it would need?"

She waggled her hand. "Hard to tell without looking at it, knowing what's there. We don't what to bring it down."

She didn't say the rest. Trapped at both ends. Not a good idea. So. Get up there and look.

"You could use the grapple gun," she said.

Ravindra unslung the weapon, examined the short barbs designed to hook around a projection. "No. It isn't going to work. It needs something to grip, and with the vent blocked…" He lifted a shoulder.

Morgan frowned.

What else could he do? "What about the jetpacks?" he asked. "Would they operate in here?"

She raised her eyebrows. "I can't see why not. You mean for getting up there?"

"Yes. If I can use the jetpack to get me up there, I can see what I can do with this." Ravindra unclipped the laser cutter. "Better stand aside."

Her eyes widened but all Morgan said as she stepped away was, "Be careful, and be quick. The jetpack wasn't designed to support weight. It won't last more than a few minutes at most."

Applying the throttle gently, he lifted off the floor. Wrong angle. Juggling the jets he rose higher, aiming for the corner. Timing was the thing now. With his right hand he swung the laser-lance, slicing through the vent's bars like butter. The jets spluttered before he could set the corplast, lowering him to the floor.

Morgan sighed, and went to fetch the second jetpack. "I hope we won't have to do any more swimming," she said, handing him the device.

This time, the ascent was easier. As he reached the level of the vent, he let go of the left hand control and readied the corplast. The jetpack would slew sideways, he knew. With one swift thrust he shoved the explosive into the hole. Done. As the jetpack slipped, he grabbed the controls again. His body jolted up, causing his helmet to bounce on the ceiling, then the jets shut down. He flexed his body as he fell, ready to roll as soon as his feet hit the ground. Taking the momentum on his shoulder, he ended up lying on his back, panting. He was getting far too old for this.

"Ashkar." Morgan rushed forward and knelt beside him. "Are you all right?"

He sat up. "Fine." His arms and shoulder throbbed but he'd live. "I've put in the corplast."

A moment later the explosion blew out the vent, sending it clattering to the floor in a cloud of debris.

"Can you see anything up there?" he asked, rising to his feet.

She looked up. "There's space behind the grid. And certainly the analysis says the CO2 level is decreasing."

He hefted the grapple gun. "Let's see how I go with this." Hopefully the expanding grapples would catch on what was left in the vent, and hold his weight.

She held out a hand. "Let me. I can be absolutely accurate."

He handed her the gun. "The grapple needs to catch on something substantial without blocking the entrance."

Morgan stared at the opening for a moment, and then fired. With a soft phut the arrow-shaped grapple shot up into the gap, a cable trailing in its wake. Now the cable hung down, swinging gently.

Ravindra pulled the cable hard, lifting his feet off the ground to test its strength.

"Looks okay," Morgan said.

The opening seemed a long way away, looking up at it from here. Not so far, really. Twice his height, maybe a little more. The wall wasn't smooth, so he could find toe holds. One more deep breath and he began pulling himself up the rope with his hands, finding footholds on the rock. His shoulder ached, and his muscles burned.

One last surge, and he had his head in the hole, his shoulders dragging on the edge. The filling material broke away, falling into the cavity. He wriggled, forcing himself inside, then reached up with his fingers, and found a ledge. Holding tight, he dragged himself up. Now the other hand. His foot scrabbled for purchase, bore his weight. At last, he tilted his head to look above him. The helmet lamp's light beam lanced through the dark of a soaring space. A cave. The sensors on his suit indicated this was breathable atmosphere. He slid back the helmet. The air was cold, tasting of salt and sea and something else, something fetid.

Her voice drifted up to him. "Ashkar?"

He pulled his body out of the tunnel and turned. "I'm okay, the air is breathable. There's a short shaft from the room into a cavern. I'll toss down the rope." He accompanied the words with the action.

"Ready," she called up to him.

Wishing he was a decade younger, Ravindra pulled her up.

When her fingers grasped the remains of the ledge, he gripped her under her arms, and drew her into the cave.

She slid back the helmet. Her forehead glistening, her chest heaving, she sat beside him. "At least we know there's a way out of here."

"You're sure?"

"Oh yes. Whatever caused those," she pointed at detritus at the base of the cave, "must be able to get in and out."

Ravindra looked where she'd indicated. "Droppings. That explains the smell."

She nodded. "Probably from those."

His heart missed a beat. Eyes reflected the soft light of the helmet lamp. Dark creatures hung down from the roof. "What are they?"

"No idea. But they're pretty big, so where they get out must be, too. Turn your lamp off."

The darkness became absolute. He couldn't see Morgan, couldn't see his own hand. But he heard the stealthy sound of something moving. Hoping Morgan had had enough time to use her enhanced vision, he turned the light back on. A dark creature, half his height, and solid, blinked at him from less than a body-length away. It backed off, its pointed head lowered.

"Oh, fuck." Morgan's lips twisted. "Leave the lights on."

A soft plop behind the beast was quickly followed by another thud.

Ravindra lifted the laser-lance, and switched it on. The closest creature shrank back. "I think it's getting reinforcements. Do you know where to go?"

"This way." Morgan scrambled off sideways. "There's light coming around this corner. Her laser-lance flared blue in the dark. More eyes stared down at them from the invisible ceiling.

Ravindra stumbled over an outcrop and just managed to right himself. Falling over wasn't going to be a good move, neither was losing the lights. They could end up as dinner. Or at least, dead.

"There's a corner here." Morgan put a hand on his arm. "Around to your left."