Connie nervously.
“The wind’s behind it,” observed Johnny.
“And we’re gaining on it,” offered Alex. “I don’t like this. We should stick to the mission. Anyone for a dive, dive, dive, before we have a mid-air collision?”
“I’m wondering about the dart birds,” said Mary.
By Alex’s estimate the balloon thing was dead in front of them and closing fast. “Johnny! Should I repeat the question?”
“By all means, dive,” answered the Professor.
“Maybe we should climb,” said Tsu, glancing at Sciarra. “Have you located a target?”
“Dive, Tsu,” said Johnny firmly.
Tsu pushed the drive stick forward. A few seconds later they were in the clouds.
Something thumped against the hull. A moment later, another. This time Mary’s keen eye caught the moment when a black cable was snapped by the ship’s leading edge. “We just freed a gas bag,” she said.
They continued their quick descent into the ever darkening mist. Suddenly there was a peachy flash of brilliant light, followed by a spattering of liquid on the windshield that vanished almost immediately.
Connie kept her hand locked solidly on the stick while she watched the instruments. Alex noticed a look of disappointment on her face. “Flyin’ blind takes some getting used to,” he said sympathetically.
“No problem,” Tsu grunted, not looking at him.
Alex knew there was a fine line between encouraging and patronizing someone, so he decided to ignore Tsu for a while. “Any blips yet, Tony?” he asked, looking back over his left shoulder.
“Only lightning.”
Tsu kept Diver’s diving angle at a steady 15 degrees. While a fairly steep angle, it still allowed the ship to level off quickly.
They were quiet for some time as the darkness outside deepened to charcoal and then to pitch black. Occasionally a glow from faraway lightning illuminated the darkened cabin. They all knew that the reef, or the top layer of it, was about thirty kilometers below them. They could have easily made the trip in only a few minutes, but they hadn’t yet determined where they wanted to go. That was Tony’s job.
“Something coming up,” said Tony. “A thousand meters.”
“Not the reef, I assume,” the Professor commented. “Not this high up.”
Diver had broken into a clear space, a gap between the layers in the clouds. Because it was pitch black outside, no one knew it at first, except possibly Mary who’d noticed a subtle change in the light.
“Whatever it is, we’re in it,” said Tony. “There’s a bank of some kind ahead.”
“I didn’t want to use the doppler, but perhaps I should,” said the Professor.
Alex switched on the outside lights and saw, only for a moment, a ceiling of cloud fade into the darkness above the ship. “Clear space,” he said. “We’re under the top deck.”
Lightning stabbed through the darkness, revealing, for only a moment, a vast empty space stretching all around them as far as they could see. The cobweb of light jumped from cloud to cloud in the deck above and revealed a floor to this cavern in the clouds, perhaps a kilometer away. Alex realized they’d stumbled into a river of air dividing the clouds, but before he could say so Diver suddenly pitched to the left. Mary’s cat let out a shriek as she stepped on its tail to avoid being hurled from her seat. Inky jumped away toward the back of the cabin.
At the same time another flash of lighting illuminated the clouds again, this time much farther away. The moment of brightness revealed with awesome clarity the enormity of their surroundings.
“Good God!” cried Tsu. “Look at that.”
Alex smiled. “You guys watching from the Cornwall missed a lot of firsthand fun, eh, Tsu?”
“Jeanne Warren should be here to see this,” said Tsu. “She wanted it more.”
“She’s on the Goddard , right?”
Tsu nodded. “Probably listening to us right now.”
Connie had easily stabilized the ship, keeping them headed downward precisely on
“The wind’s behind it,” observed Johnny.
“And we’re gaining on it,” offered Alex. “I don’t like this. We should stick to the mission. Anyone for a dive, dive, dive, before we have a mid-air collision?”
“I’m wondering about the dart birds,” said Mary.
By Alex’s estimate the balloon thing was dead in front of them and closing fast. “Johnny! Should I repeat the question?”
“By all means, dive,” answered the Professor.
“Maybe we should climb,” said Tsu, glancing at Sciarra. “Have you located a target?”
“Dive, Tsu,” said Johnny firmly.
Tsu pushed the drive stick forward. A few seconds later they were in the clouds.
Something thumped against the hull. A moment later, another. This time Mary’s keen eye caught the moment when a black cable was snapped by the ship’s leading edge. “We just freed a gas bag,” she said.
They continued their quick descent into the ever darkening mist. Suddenly there was a peachy flash of brilliant light, followed by a spattering of liquid on the windshield that vanished almost immediately.
Connie kept her hand locked solidly on the stick while she watched the instruments. Alex noticed a look of disappointment on her face. “Flyin’ blind takes some getting used to,” he said sympathetically.
“No problem,” Tsu grunted, not looking at him.
Alex knew there was a fine line between encouraging and patronizing someone, so he decided to ignore Tsu for a while. “Any blips yet, Tony?” he asked, looking back over his left shoulder.
“Only lightning.”
Tsu kept Diver’s diving angle at a steady 15 degrees. While a fairly steep angle, it still allowed the ship to level off quickly.
They were quiet for some time as the darkness outside deepened to charcoal and then to pitch black. Occasionally a glow from faraway lightning illuminated the darkened cabin. They all knew that the reef, or the top layer of it, was about thirty kilometers below them. They could have easily made the trip in only a few minutes, but they hadn’t yet determined where they wanted to go. That was Tony’s job.
“Something coming up,” said Tony. “A thousand meters.”
“Not the reef, I assume,” the Professor commented. “Not this high up.”
Diver had broken into a clear space, a gap between the layers in the clouds. Because it was pitch black outside, no one knew it at first, except possibly Mary who’d noticed a subtle change in the light.
“Whatever it is, we’re in it,” said Tony. “There’s a bank of some kind ahead.”
“I didn’t want to use the doppler, but perhaps I should,” said the Professor.
Alex switched on the outside lights and saw, only for a moment, a ceiling of cloud fade into the darkness above the ship. “Clear space,” he said. “We’re under the top deck.”
Lightning stabbed through the darkness, revealing, for only a moment, a vast empty space stretching all around them as far as they could see. The cobweb of light jumped from cloud to cloud in the deck above and revealed a floor to this cavern in the clouds, perhaps a kilometer away. Alex realized they’d stumbled into a river of air dividing the clouds, but before he could say so Diver suddenly pitched to the left. Mary’s cat let out a shriek as she stepped on its tail to avoid being hurled from her seat. Inky jumped away toward the back of the cabin.
At the same time another flash of lighting illuminated the clouds again, this time much farther away. The moment of brightness revealed with awesome clarity the enormity of their surroundings.
“Good God!” cried Tsu. “Look at that.”
Alex smiled. “You guys watching from the Cornwall missed a lot of firsthand fun, eh, Tsu?”
“Jeanne Warren should be here to see this,” said Tsu. “She wanted it more.”
“She’s on the Goddard , right?”
Tsu nodded. “Probably listening to us right now.”
Connie had easily stabilized the ship, keeping them headed downward precisely on
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