Tides of Maritinia by Warren Hammond

Author:Warren Hammond
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2014-11-30T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

“Right and wrongg, why must one alwys bleed into teh other?”

–JAKOB BRYCE

I exited the air lock and dropped the octopus in its tank before sneaking down the corridor. I was cold, chilled by deep water, and doubly chilled by my second pass through the underwater graveyard.

Nearing the end of the corridor, I pressed up to a steel wall that felt like ice against my wet skin. I inched my face toward the bulkhead and edged an eye past the corner.

Clear.

To avoid tracking bloody footprints, I walked with my right foot wrapped in my bag. My left foot, I’d had to bundle it in my waistwrap. Which left the rest of me naked. I clenched my teeth to keep them from chattering and peeked into the stone-­carved waiting room outside the massage cave.

Clear.

Shivering, I entered the saunalike room and luxuriated in the warm glow of relief. I’d made it back unseen. Whatever came next, this phase of my mission was complete.

I ducked behind a shower curtain to wash the salt off my skin and out of my hair. I rinsed my bag, same with the waistwrap.

“Colonel!” The voice echoed from the rock tunnel leading to the baths. “Colonel!”

I poked my head over the curtain and saw the flicker of shadows coming down the tunnel before Dugu burst into the room. “Colonel,” he said. “You must come quickly. There’s been an explosion.”

“What kind of explosion?”

“The missile system. It’s gone.”

“Gone?” I asked, feigning a mix of shock and outrage. “How can that be?”

I told him to wait outside until I dressed. I quickly dried, using a coarse mammoth-­wool towel before slipping back into my uniform. Ignoring the pain, I crammed my wounded feet into socks and boots.

I met Dugu outside the baths and hustled to keep step with his double-­timing pace. “Don’t ask,” he said before I could speak. “It’s best you see for yourself.”

We journeyed down one empty corridor after another. Other than the guards outside Mmirehl’s torture chamber, we didn’t pass a single soul until we reached a somber crowd outside the main control room. We forced our way through the soldiers and black sashes packing the entryway. Inside, Kwuba technicians huddled over terminals and stared at the wall of video screens. With hushed voices and wringing hands, they shook their heads in confusion and disbelief. How could such a thing happen?

Afraid of the carnage I might see on the video screens, I kept marching, eyes straight ahead. Exiting the other side of the dome, I let Dugu lead me through ankle-­high floodwater toward the long staircase that led topside. I didn’t want to go up. Didn’t want to know the extent of the damage. Didn’t want to know how many I’d killed.

I told myself to stay strong. I’d done my job. A job that had to be done. Mnai and Mmirehl had to be overthrown.

Starting up the staircase, I concentrated on steeling my thoughts. We passed the first bulkhead and continued upward, my feet falling into the rhythm of the stairs, my mind fully focused.

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