Arrows of Time - Kim Falconer [39]
‘That’s the strange part. I didn’t recognise it. But the good thing is, the pool’s fed by a short inlet; just a few strong kicks and it opens into a canopy of rock over a stream. Plenty of air, though I don’t know how he’s going to go.’ Shane tilted his head towards her temple cat.
‘How far up did you swim?’
‘Far enough to see daylight. It’s not a dead end.’
‘Can we walk once…’
‘No.’ He interrupted her with a wave of his hand. ‘It’s a swim, the whole way.’
Rosette started unbuttoning her leather vest. ‘Let’s do it before another shaker comes and we have to discover it all over again.’
‘What makes you think this is the first time?’
She pulled her top off over her head. He glanced away. ‘You think it isn’t?’
He let his exhale turn to a whistle. ‘I think I’d remember if it was.’
‘Now you’re being cryptic.’
He bundled his clothes together and stuffed them into his pack. He slipped it on, his sword in his left hand. ‘Are you ready?’ he asked.
‘Almost. Dray? Do you understand what we have to do?’
Swim under?
‘Have you ever done that before?’
There was the shipwreck, of course. We were under for a long time. I hated that. I don’t like the salt water.
‘This is fresh water, warm and clean. It’s a short swim under. Can you picture it?’
Her temple cat stood at the edge of the pool, staring into the dark water.
Swimming like a platypus.
‘That’s right. You don’t breathe while you’re under. You hold your breath in.’
I got it, Maudi.
Rosette bundled her clothes and boots and tied them to her pack. She slid her sword out of its sheath a short distance, checking for rust. It was perfect, though what this underwater journey would do to the metal she knew too well. She hoped there would be time to treat it properly on the other side. As she lowered herself into the water, Drayco splashed in beside her, dog paddling in circles. The cave fish disappeared into the rocky crags. Rosette wondered what else lurked in the nooks and cracks. ‘Lead the way,’ she said to Shane. ‘Before…’ A tremor rolled through the water and the walls of the cavern began to shake. ‘Go!’ she shouted.
Gulping in a deep breath, she followed Shane, her familiar swimming beside her.
EARTH—TIME: BACKWARD
CHAPTER 10
Everett lowered the window and stuck his head out, checking the sky. He knew he wouldn’t see any stars. Those could only be viewed in planetariums or computer simulations, but he stared up through the glaring streetlight anyway, the muddy vault impenetrable. This must be where the saying ‘clear as mud’ comes from. At least the rain had stopped.
The air burned his lungs, the smell of wet asphalt and insecticide filling the car. Rubbish compactors were working this time of night, the drone of the engines and the scrape of bins crashing in the background as dinosaur-size machines stomped people’s waste into thin sheets of amalgam. He wrinkled his nose and quickly closed the window.
He’d planned to duck home for a few hours’ sleep, but when his hand touched the ignition, he hesitated. He let go of the keys and they swung like a pendulum, slower and slower until they stopped. Plastic scrunched as he tried to get comfortable. He couldn’t decide what to do—he couldn’t stay and couldn’t go. His thoughts paralysed him.
An ambulance whined in the distance, the sound releasing adrenaline like a shot of strong coffee on an empty stomach. It was coming this way. More work. More lives to save. There wasn’t much point in going home, though he knew the night shift could cover it. The chief resident was on call. She could handle anything with her hands tied. Go home, old man, and get some rest.
Who was he kidding? His sleeps were fitful at best, leaving him more exhausted than if he worked through the night. He watched the flashing beacons of a jet descend towards the east. The red and green lights blinked, candy drops in a brown bowl. He closed his eyes and shuddered, Jane Doe’s comatose face appearing in his mind. Why does she want to die?
He forced himself to dismiss the vision before he could ponder it, but even as he did