Riptide by Douglas J. Preston & Lincoln Child

Author:Douglas J. Preston & Lincoln Child [Preston, Douglas J. & Child, Lincoln]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Suspense, Thrillers, Treasure troves, Treasure-trove, Maine
ISBN: 9780446607179
Google: hz8Q3RnLLywC
Amazon: 0446607177
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Published: 1998-07-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 29

Hatch was the last to set foot on the ladder. The others were already stretched out for twenty feet below him. The lights on their helmets played through the murk as they descended hand over hand. A sense of vertigo passed over him, and he looked up, grabbing at the rung. The ladder was rock solid, he knew; even if he fell, the lifeline would keep him from tumbling far.

As they went deeper, a curious hush fell over the team and among the Orthanc crew, monitoring the mission over the live channel. The incessant sounds of the settling Pit, the soft creakings and tickings, filled the air like the whispered teeming of invisible sea creatures. Hatch passed the first cluster of terminal hubs, electrical outlets, and cable jacks that had been set into the ladder at fifteen-foot intervals.

"Everyone all right?" came Neidelman's low voice over the intercom. Positive responses came back, one by one.

"Dr. Magnusen?" Neidelman asked.

"Instruments normal," came the voice from inside Orthanc. "All boards are green."

"Dr. Rankin?"

"Scopes inactive, Captain. No sign of any seismic disturbances or magnetic anomalies."

"Mr. Streeter?"

"All systems on the array are nominal," the laconic voice replied.

"Very well," Neidelman said. "We'll continue descending to the fifty-foot platform, placing sensors as necessary, then stop for a breather. Be careful not to catch your lifelines on any beams. Dr. Bonterre, Dr. Hatch, Mr. Wopner, keep your eyes open. If you see anything strange, I want to know."

"You kidding?" came Wopner's voice. "The whole place is strange."

As he followed the group, Hatch felt almost as if he was sinking into a deep pool of brackish water. The air was clammy and cold, redolent of decay. Each exhalation condensed into a cloud of vapor that hung in the supersaturated air, refusing to dissipate. He looked about, the light on his helmet swiveling with his head. They were now in the tidal zone of the Pit, where the water had formerly risen and fallen twice a day. He was surprised to see the same bands of life he'd observed countless times among rocks and tidal pools at the sea edge: first barnacles, then seaweed, then mussels and limpets; followed by a band of starfish; next, sea cucumbers, periwinkles, sea urchins, and anemones. As he continued to descend, he passed strata of coral and seaweed. Hundreds of whelks still clung pitifully to the walls and beams, hoping in vain for a return of the tide. Now and then a whelk would at last lose its grip and fall into the echoing vastness.

Though an immense amount of flotsam and jetsam had already been removed from the drained Pit, an obstacle course of ancient junk remained. The ladder array had been deftly threaded through rotting beams, tangles of metal, and discarded pieces of drilling apparatus. The team stopped as Neidelman tapped a sensor into a small opening on one side of the Pit. As they waited for Wopner to calibrate the sensor, Hatch found his spirits beginning to flag in the mephitic atmosphere.

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