Roderick Gordon by Deeper (;Brian Williams) Tunnels 02

Author:Deeper (;Brian Williams) Tunnels 02 [Tunnels 02, Deeper (;Brian Williams)]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-10-28T16:06:49+00:00

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They trekked along the lava tube, pausing briefly in the golden cavern to protect their gear in a small waterproof satchel Elliott was carrying before they swam through the sump. Once on the other side, they stopped again to get themselves organized.

"Can I give you a piece of advice?" she asked as he was tying the pad of stove guns back onto his thigh.

"Sure. What?" he replied, not knowing what was coming next.

"It's the way you move. When you tread, you're like the others -- even Drake. Try to use the ball of your foot... stay up on your toes longer, before you lower onto your heel. Watch me through the scope."

He did as she told him, observing how she took each step, moving like a cat sneaking up on its prey. Through the scope, her pants and boots, drenched from the water of the sump, glimmered with a shifting green of pale yellow light.

"It cuts down on the noise and even the tracks you leave, a little."

Will watched her legs as she demonstrated, marveling at what seemed to be second nature to her.

"And you'll need to learn about foraging," she said suddenly, noticing something on the rock wall beside her. "There's plenty of food around if you know where to look. Like this, a cave oyster."

She went over to what he thought was merely a piece of rock jutting from the wall. With the blade of her knife, she began to pry around it. Then she resheathed the knife and put on a pair of gloves.

"The edges are sharp," she explained, tucking her fingers into the gap she had made. Bracing herself, she pulled with both hands and, with a slow sucking noise, the rock gradually came away from the wall. With a final sound like an egg being cracked open, it suddenly came free and she staggered back a couple of paces.

"There!" she said triumphantly and held it up so he could see. It was roughly the size of half a football, and as she flipped it over, Will recoiled. The underside was leathery and pulpy, with a band of small filaments rippling at its circumference. It was an animal of some kind.

"What the heck is it?" he said. "A giant limpet or something?"

"I told you -- it's a cave oyster. They feed on the cinder algae around water holes. It tastes disgusting raw, but it's OK boiled." As she poked her thumb into the middle of the pulpy mass, it heaved and the animal began to extend a large, fleshy trunk, like the foot of a snail but many times bigger. Elliott stooped to carefully prop the animal upside down on its shell between two stones. "Should keep it from straying until we get back."

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