New Tales of The Cthulhu Mythos by Ramsey Campbell

Author:Ramsey Campbell [Campbell, Ramsey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-08-10T02:19:01+00:00

'This thing has been with me for a long time. I know exactly what I'm saying. And I am choosing my words with care.'

Driscoll kept his bleak gaze fully ahead of him, not seeing Wainewright for the moment. His brain was heavy with dark thoughts.'Go on.'

Wainewright made a pathetic little flourishing movement with his hands.

'Did you know, for instance, that there have been breaks in the tunnel? Water in the shafts and, as I said, rust on the valves?'

'I find that difficult to believe.'

His voice sounded a little unsteady, even to himself. Wainewright permitted himself a shy, hesitant smile.

He stirred uneasily, his eyes searching Driscoll's face. 'You will not find it in the records. But he knew.' Driscoll's senses must have been a little dulled this afternoon. He looked blankly at Wainewright, the bland, smooth lighting of the room beating down on them, turning their figures to a pale butter yellow.

'Deems, of course,' Wainewright went on, as though a flood of emotion had been released from him.

'He was determined to know. He confided in me. The thing had been on his mind for some time. He was convinced there was something in the shafts. And Shaft Number 247 was the obvious...'

'Why obvious?' Driscoll interrupted.

Wainewright passed a bluish tongue across dry lips. 'Surely you must know that. It is the largest. It was the inspection tunnel years ago. When people went Out There to check on conditions.'

Driscoll was slightly irritated with himself; he put his hands round his kneecap again and rocked to and fro. Of course; he remembered now. He smiled confidently at his companion.

'The shaft with the inspection capsule? Is it still there?'

Wainewright shook his head.

'The authorities had it taken out. But the chamber still exists. And it would be no great thing to undo the bolts of the hatch.'

Driscoll was startled; he sat, his strong face immobile as he stared at Wainewright.

'Why would anyone want to do that?' Wainewright shrugged.

'Why would Deems want to go there? To find out. To increase the sum of human knowledge, of course. The movement in the shafts...'

Despite himself a slight chill had spread over Driscoll. He looked at the indicator on the bulkhead near where he sat, wondering if the temperature of the chamber had been altered. But it was quite normal.

His tone of voice was absolutely level when he spoke. 'What do you think is there, Wainewright?'

The watery blue eyes had a strange filmy expression in them.

'There is something... animate, shall we say. Something that wants to get in touch with us. Why should Shaft Number 247 leak, for example? The situation is almost unprecedented.'

Driscoll leaned forward, his eyes intent on the other's face.

'Why does Shaft Number 247 leak?'

Wainewright licked his lips again, and his eyes were dark and haunted as he stared back.

'Because something is turning the bolts from the other side,' he said simply.

'I think you had better tell me how Deems died,' said Driscoll quietly.

There was a sulphurous silence in the room now. Wainewright's eyes were like pale blue holes in the blankness of his face.

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