The Fall of the Sky Lords by John Brosnan

Author:John Brosnan [Brosnan, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780575094802
Publisher: Orion Publishing Group
Published: 2013-02-24T22:00:00+00:00

He smiled down at the dazed Shan. Perhaps he would break his arm.…

“Milo …”

“Not now, Ashley, I’m busy.”

“This is important. We’ve found Shangri La.”

Chapter Eighteen

Ayla retracted the articulated grappling arm as far as possible, turned it and closed its pincer round the creature just below the shoulder. The pincer dug deep and the creature reacted as hoped; it released its grip on the submersible and kicked itself away. It was powerful and almost managed to tear its arm loose from the metal pincer but failed. Ayla let the arm extend to its full length and then activated the other arm, which contained the arc-welding unit. It was all over very quickly. She released the dead creature and it slowly began to sink. At the same time, the sub began to rise, but the sound of tearing metal above them indicated that another of the things was still with them.

“Look,” said Jean-Paul, pointing over her shoulder. “More of them!” He could see at least a dozen of the creatures coming across the reef. Ayla turned the submersible around and gave the thrusters full power. “What the hell are they?”

“I don’t know … genetically created sea people like Tiger’s people but a different breed, or design, genegineered by a different corporation. Or maybe they’ve mutated. That’s what Tiger was trying to warn me about, where those scars he had came from. His territory was being invaded by these things. Maybe they came from deeper waters. That’s why he wanted weapons … and I let him down.”

“You weren’t to know.”

“But I knew something was very wrong. I should have tried harder to convince Dad and Lyle. And Kell would still be alive. …”

He was about to say that she shouldn’t blame herself when there was a cacophony from above. “Still got company up there,” he muttered when the noise had died down. “What do you think? Are we going to make it?”

“Depends on how much more of the sub our passenger wrecks. We’ve still got power, but if he gets to work on the cables from the batteries then we are … sunk.”

More sounds of angry destruction and Jean-Paul felt the sub lurch. Ayla glanced at the instrument panel. “Another buoyancy tank flooded. We can’t maintain negative buoyancy. I’ll have to switch over to the treads.…”

The submersible touched bottom again. A few moments later it began to move slowly forward as Ayla engaged the sub’s caterpillar treads. “This is going to eat up our power but we have no choice.”

“How far to the outer gate?” he asked.

She threw a switch. A loud beeping noise filled the cabin. “That’s the gate’s transponder signal, loud and strong. It’s dead ahead. Less than a hundred yards.”

“And what happens when we reach it?”

“What do you mean? We go through it, of course.”

“Yeah, and what about our friend on top? And the ones following us? They’re probably right behind us by now.”

She turned and stared at him. “You’re right. I’m just not thinking straight.”

“Perfectly understandable. I’m not flying level myself right now.

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