abruptly, panic washing through her. Raphael caught up to her, wrapping his arms around her.
Just breathe.
I can’t. I can’t do this. I have to go back.
You can. You’ve done it before.
I’m ... scared.
I know. It’ll be all right.
Despite his soothing words, Victoria struggled against his hold, becoming more and more desperate to retreat to the habitat. Finally, when she found she couldn’t shake his hold, and she couldn’t hold her breath any longer, she breathed. The sensation was indescribable and her panic only escalated for several moments before she finally filtered enough air through her prosthesis that her panic began to subside. She clung to Raphael then, where before she’d fought to free herself from him, finding comfort as she slowly adjusted to the artificial gills.
Finally, she pulled away self-consciously and looked around.
The miners nearest where they were looked away, allowing her the comfort of some doubt as to whether or not they’d witnessed her display of weakness.
Embarrassed as she was, when she looked around and found that two of the miners were holding Roach down while he fought them like a madman, her discomfiture subsided fractionally with the knowledge that she wasn’t the only one who’d had difficulty with the transition. Perhaps, she’d handled it a little better as well.
She saw that Raphael was smiling at her. What?
For an air breather, you handled it very well. I have to confess we felt more than a little panic when we found ourselves breathing air for the first time.
Victoria smiled back at him but shook her head. I don’t believe you. You’re just saying that to make me feel better.
I said it because it was true. I had to be manful about it because you were watching, otherwise ...
Victoria burst out laughing. Liar! You were so pissed off because Kichens fired on you, you forgot all about the transition. The thought of Kichens sobered her, and she changed the subject abruptly. Let’s have a look at the mine shaft.
Roach, she saw, had recovered sufficiently from his distress to assume the cockiness that was his trademark once more. They left him tallying the ore and complaining that there wasn’t more of it, and swam toward the opening in the floor of the sea bed.
The mouth of the shaft was huge, perhaps thirty feet by twenty. It began to narrow, however, as they swam deeper, traveling straight down for almost forty feet before branching out in every direction into shafts that ran horizontal to the ocean bed. Long before they reached the branch, Victoria became aware of the fact that she was not equipped to handle the increase in pressure for any length of time. Her chest and head began to feel as if a band cinched them, tightening as she swam deeper.
This is where we found the obstruction.
Victoria tread water and looked around. Just above the branch tunnels?
Yes. It’s why I needed you to come out with me, to look at it yourself so you could get a better picture of the situation. And also because I didn’t want to discuss this on the habitat where we might be overheard—it doesn’t look like a cave in. It looks like they deliberately sealed the shafts.
Victoria glanced at him. Any guesses as to why?
He shrugged. Just a feeling ... up until yesterday. Nothing to substantiate it, which is one of the reasons I didn’t mention it before.
And the other was?
We didn’t uncover anything that even looked like evidence until we finished clearing the last shaft late yesterday. Rubble had been piled in all four tunnels. These two, he pointed, were obviously speculative ... no sign of the ore, and no indication that any had been pulled from either one. Most of the ore came from a vein we located in this shaft. The other, apparently, yielded some, but petered out. The blockages were specific to these shaft openings, however, after we got the main tunnel cleared enough to come in for a look. I thought at the time that it was a peculiar circumstance that all
Just breathe.
I can’t. I can’t do this. I have to go back.
You can. You’ve done it before.
I’m ... scared.
I know. It’ll be all right.
Despite his soothing words, Victoria struggled against his hold, becoming more and more desperate to retreat to the habitat. Finally, when she found she couldn’t shake his hold, and she couldn’t hold her breath any longer, she breathed. The sensation was indescribable and her panic only escalated for several moments before she finally filtered enough air through her prosthesis that her panic began to subside. She clung to Raphael then, where before she’d fought to free herself from him, finding comfort as she slowly adjusted to the artificial gills.
Finally, she pulled away self-consciously and looked around.
The miners nearest where they were looked away, allowing her the comfort of some doubt as to whether or not they’d witnessed her display of weakness.
Embarrassed as she was, when she looked around and found that two of the miners were holding Roach down while he fought them like a madman, her discomfiture subsided fractionally with the knowledge that she wasn’t the only one who’d had difficulty with the transition. Perhaps, she’d handled it a little better as well.
She saw that Raphael was smiling at her. What?
For an air breather, you handled it very well. I have to confess we felt more than a little panic when we found ourselves breathing air for the first time.
Victoria smiled back at him but shook her head. I don’t believe you. You’re just saying that to make me feel better.
I said it because it was true. I had to be manful about it because you were watching, otherwise ...
Victoria burst out laughing. Liar! You were so pissed off because Kichens fired on you, you forgot all about the transition. The thought of Kichens sobered her, and she changed the subject abruptly. Let’s have a look at the mine shaft.
Roach, she saw, had recovered sufficiently from his distress to assume the cockiness that was his trademark once more. They left him tallying the ore and complaining that there wasn’t more of it, and swam toward the opening in the floor of the sea bed.
The mouth of the shaft was huge, perhaps thirty feet by twenty. It began to narrow, however, as they swam deeper, traveling straight down for almost forty feet before branching out in every direction into shafts that ran horizontal to the ocean bed. Long before they reached the branch, Victoria became aware of the fact that she was not equipped to handle the increase in pressure for any length of time. Her chest and head began to feel as if a band cinched them, tightening as she swam deeper.
This is where we found the obstruction.
Victoria tread water and looked around. Just above the branch tunnels?
Yes. It’s why I needed you to come out with me, to look at it yourself so you could get a better picture of the situation. And also because I didn’t want to discuss this on the habitat where we might be overheard—it doesn’t look like a cave in. It looks like they deliberately sealed the shafts.
Victoria glanced at him. Any guesses as to why?
He shrugged. Just a feeling ... up until yesterday. Nothing to substantiate it, which is one of the reasons I didn’t mention it before.
And the other was?
We didn’t uncover anything that even looked like evidence until we finished clearing the last shaft late yesterday. Rubble had been piled in all four tunnels. These two, he pointed, were obviously speculative ... no sign of the ore, and no indication that any had been pulled from either one. Most of the ore came from a vein we located in this shaft. The other, apparently, yielded some, but petered out. The blockages were specific to these shaft openings, however, after we got the main tunnel cleared enough to come in for a look. I thought at the time that it was a peculiar circumstance that all
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