She walked over to the nearest pool, which also happened to be the
largest one, and stared into the water. In the glare of Dox’s light,
wisps of steam could be seen rising above the surface. True knelt
near the edge, careful not to get too close in case it should give
way. Reaching down, she brushed the tips of her fingers over the
water.
“Oh, wow. That’s
warm.” She was faintly surprised. She’d halfway expected these baths
to be cold, the same temperature as the water running through the
apartment. “I bet it feels heavenly. Is the pool very deep?”
“To me, yes.” He
chuckled. “You, too.”
“I can’t wait to
be able to swim in it.” She turned to him. “Kelen’s supposed to
leave me a spare uniform so I can wash this one. Do you use any kind
of soap or cleansing agent?”
“No soap. Just
water.”
“That’s okay. It’s
better than nothing.” She dipped her hand in up to the wrist, and
sighed. “I bet it’s relaxing as hell.” She noticed a deeper darkness
further in the rear of the cave. “What’s back there?”
“More tunnels. Not
explored much. Not yet mapped.”
The admission
didn’t surprise her. They’d barely explored one percent, maybe two
at the most, of this world. Thank goodness they had the monitors and
mosaic map in the pink room as a guide on what to expect.
“Calling all crew.
Attention, all crew.” Cooter’s distinctive accent came over the
communications devices clipped to their clothes. The call
reverberated within the hollow interior. “Return posthaste to main
meeting area. Return immediately to main meeting area. Over and
out.”
Wordlessly, she
and Dox hurried out of the cavern and down the tunnel, emerging into
the enormous lake area. For the first time, True noticed a hint of
grayness coming from the upper portion of the cavern roof, and she
came to an abrupt stop.
“Dox, is that
daylight? Is that the view outside of the planet?”
“Yes. Dawn coming.
We must go.”
She hurried to
catch up with him, when she caught sight of something rising behind
him like an enormous black shadow.
“Dox!”
He automatically
dropped to the ground as the creature continued to rise, until its
head nearly brushed the cavern roof. Taking his cue, she prostrated
herself in the mud. Water sluiced off the monstrosity, splashing her
and Dox, as well as the towers and transport rock.
She’d
instinctively pulled her blaster, but she knew it wouldn’t do any
good if she fired. Considering the sheer size of the thing, it would
be like trying to throw a rock at a mountain.
Terror froze her
in place. Dox lay perfectly still, but she could tell he was closely
watching the creature. Waiting to see what it would do next. Hoping,
like her, that it would slip back underwater without any
confrontation.
“Calling all crew.
Get to the main meeting area as soon as poss—”
She reached up to
shut off the communication device, but it was too late. The sound
reverberated through the cavern, alerting the lake monster. It
howled, opening its maw to reveal a pure white throat that could
easily swallow her and Dox with one gulp. She barely heard Dox yell,
“Lake monster!” when he jumped to his feet. He grabbed her by the
arm when he reached her, nearly pulling it out of the socket as he
jerked her to her feet.
Together they ran
toward the baths. They could hear the monstrosity closing in behind
them, despite their mad dash. She chanced a backward glance to see
where the thing was, and nearly stumbled.
“Dox! It’s gaining
on us!”
“What?”
He stopped at the
door leading into the tunnel and turned to look for himself. His
face went white with fear, his green eyes widening. With a hard
shove, he forced her inside and slammed the door shut just as a
tentacle or appendage banged against the portal behind them.
They were both
breathing heavily as they listened to the monster caterwauling in
frustration. Only then did True catch the frantic yelling coming
from Dox’s communicator.
“Dox!
Dox! Damn it, man! Answer us!
We’re on our way!”
He hit the
responder. “Lake monster out of water! Danger! Lake monster out of
water!” |