Infinity Beach - Jack McDevitt [80]
At first the water was relatively calm. She moved out away from the wall, trying to keep contact with the bottom. She worked her way past debris, drowned trees, pieces of machinery, concrete chunks. The rush of water pushed her one way and then another, then bore down on her until she lost all track of direction.
But it didn’t matter. Solly had both the diver and the target blip on his screen. “Drifting right,” he told her.
The current kept getting stronger. She had to use a burst from the jets to compensate. Dangerous, that, when she couldn’t see.
“Drifting right again. Eight meters dead ahead.”
Another burst carried her forward. The river tore at her, tried to carry her away. She anchored herself to an engine housing and caught her breath.
“How’s your visibility, Kim?”
“A half meter.”
“Okay. You should be right on top of it.”
The lamp was no more than a soggy glow. “I don’t see anything.”
“It’s right there.”
“It could be buried.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me. Why don’t you come up? We’ll get a team and the right equipment and come back tomorrow.”
The light reflected against something. Off to her right. Reluctantly, she dug in her heels, let go of the shrubbery, and crawled forward.
It was a piece of plastic. Sticking out of the muck. “We might have something, Solly.”
“What is it? What do you see?”
Inside the plastic. “A shoe.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
She pulled at it. “Solly, it’s a foot.”
“Okay. Go easy.”
“It’s somebody.”
“You can see a corpse?”
“I think so.”
“Man or woman?”
“Are you serious? I’ve got a leg. That’s all.”
“Okay. You all right?”
She knew what he was thinking. “I’m fine.”
“What’s it look like?” All business again.
“It’s small. I guess it is a woman. Or a child.” She removed a line from her belt to fasten it to the plastic. But she lost her balance and the river caught her and sent her tumbling.
Solly’s voice stayed calm. “Status, Kim? What’s going on?”
She crashed against something hard, but found a handhold.
“Kim?”
“Current caught me.” She was hanging onto a tree branch.
“You want me to come down?”
“No,” she said. “My God, no.”
The current tried to jerk her mask off. She grabbed hold of it, got it back in place, and listened to herself breathe.
“I think this would be a good time to come up, Kim. We can alert the authorities in the morning and let them do the rest.”
“Which way’s up?” she demanded. The question wasn’t entirely facetious. She needed guidance getting back so she didn’t pop out of the water at the wrong place and get sucked through the dam.
“You need to go about six meters right. Do that and you’ll come up directly in front of me. Calmest water in the area.”
Which wasn’t saying much.
But it was hard to follow directions in the river. And she was getting tired. How long had she been down?
She used the jets to move right.
“Hold it,” said Solly, alarmed. “You’re going the wrong way.”
But the river caught her. She seized something, a piece of iron, and hung on. “What’s happening, Kim?”
She knew immediately. Communication breakdown: her right wasn’t his right.
“I’m sorry,” he said, figuring it out. “My fault. You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t have to worry about going anywhere you don’t want to. I’ve got the line.”
Her shoulders ached. She’d drifted into an eddy and she took advantage of it to rest for a moment and let the river carry her forward. The current seemed to be getting stronger and suddenly she was tumbling and being swept along. She banged into something. Lights flashed behind her eyes and the tether yanked at her hip. The river rushed past her, dragged her mask up onto her forehead. She swallowed water and slammed into a tangle of branches. Pieces of iron or wood stabbed at her belly and the river tried to drag her clear but she hung on.
The torrent roared in her ears. It pounded her and pressed the breath out of her.
She got the mask back on and used the purge valve to clear the water. But it wasn’t happening fast enough so she blew it out herself. The mask immediately began to fill up again.
“Kim!” Solly sounded far away. “Are you