Silent City by G R Matthews

Author:G R Matthews [Matthews, G R]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: G R Matthews
Published: 2015-04-12T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

The water in the lava tube was clear and the light showed the rippling mirror surface of the water above me. As I fell, I watched Keller’s sub rise.

His sub broke the surface and the water foamed. I hit the base of the tube at the same moment and bounced a little. There was no need to engage any motors or attempt to swim. For the moment, I was content to stay at the bottom, hidden from the lights in the shadow of the sub.

The thrumming of his engines changed pitch for the last time and were silent. In their absence, other sounds could be heard. The creak of the sub hull as the lesser pressure let it expand ever so slightly, back into its original shape. The patter of water droplets falling from the side of the sub, reminiscent of the showers in the arboretum, where the last remnants of terrestrial plants were cared for. Beeps and warning noises from the sub as its power unit shut down and the hatch opened. A rhythmic series of metallic clangs from the hull. Then nothing.

I waited in the shadow. One minute. Five. Ten. Fifteen. I had time. The city was destroyed, everyone on it was dead, and the only link to why, and coincidentally my only way back to Base 1 or even my own city, was up in whatever base the sub had brought me to. Somewhere up there was Keller. Once the city’s foreman and forever its destroyer. He and I were due a conversation which, I hoped, would be short and mostly communicated through body language. The universal method of conversation, my fists in his face, and he was going to do most of the listening.

After twenty minutes, I rose towards the surface, coming up under Keller’s sub, edging around, and peering through the strange refraction of the water’s surface. The roof was high, domed and strung with lights. The sub itself was nestled up against the rock and ropes tied it to the dock. I would have to pull myself out of the water to get a good look at the land beyond. Once I did, I was going to be noticed.

No one is graceful, out of the water, in a Fish-Suit and the last thing I needed was for Keller to find me still wearing it. Another disadvantage of being out of the water in a Fish-Suit is the almost total lack of hearing. Sound waves in the sea propagated easily through the Oxyquid and into my ears. Not necessarily understandable or clearly, but I could hear. Out of the water they acted the exact opposite.

No sense putting off the inevitable any longer. Head above water, I pulled myself around the sub to the rock ledge that served as a dock. Through the Oxyquid, another view from a refracting medium, the area looked clear. There was a bulkhead door in the wall, a bank of computers and screens, and a set of gas canisters which were likely there to keep the atmosphere in the base, mine, whatever, breathable.

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