Beloved Stranger: Gaian Series, Book 5 (26 page)

She could see in Allan’s eyes how he felt about Suna even though he’d met her just this afternoon. He was willing to give up everything he had on Ares Five to go with her.

Sonja sighed and grew silent. If only her own husband was as willing to do the same for her.

Chapter Twenty-Four

For a long time they cruised without talking. Sonja felt the weight of the darkness around them and the oppressiveness of being so far underground. She was used to open sky or the metal and plastisteel walls of spaceships, not the solidity of rock around her. She wanted to reach out to Roan and break the silence but didn’t know how. Sonja wasn’t used to feeling so helpless.

But then Roan twisted in his seat to listen to the darkness behind them. He stopped the motor and leaned forward to her to whisper, “Turn off the lamp.”

She switched it off, and as she did she saw Roan touch something behind his ear and whisper, “silent and dark”. Immediately the lamp in the boat ahead blinked out and the motor silenced.

The resulting dark and quiet were almost overwhelming. Sonja stifled her panic, forcing herself to listen to what sounds she could hear. There was the soft lap of the water against the sides of the tunnel and the occasional splash as a drop of liquid fell from the ceiling into the underground river.

But then in the distance she heard another sound, something that was not natural. Roan shifted in his seat behind her and she knew he heard it too. It was the sound of an engine, much louder than the quiet electric motors Roan and Allan were using, and it was growing louder with every moment.

Roan leaned forward. “Turn the lamp back on.”

She did and blinked in the sudden brightness. Roan touched his earpiece again. “From behind us. Move to the next left and go silent. We’ll lead them off.”

He listened for a second. “No, stay dark until they’re past you. Our light should be enough for now, and they’ll think there is only one boat.”

The boat in front started up again, and Roan followed. One lamp wasn’t much light, but after they’d gone another fifty meters it was enough illumination to show where the main tunnel split into two branches. The boat ahead took the left branch and moved deep into the darkness. By the time Roan and Sonja passed the spot, the other boat had disappeared from view. Roan drove their boat down the right branch, and after another fifty meters again silenced the motor.

The sound of the other engine was easy to hear now, and it was growing louder. From behind them came a glimmer of light, much brighter than the small lamps they were using.

“A spotlight,” Roan said quietly. He then touched his earpiece. “Are they past you?” He smiled grimly. “Okay. See you at the ship.”

He leaned over to Sonja. “Better hold on. This could get bumpy.”

Roan gunned their motor, and with a roar the small boat sprang down the tunnel, water rising in a plume behind them. Caught off guard, Sonja grabbed the edge next to her as the boat’s speed increased.

Apparently this boat could go a lot faster than she’d given it credit for. The reason they’d been moving so slowly was to stay as silent as possible, but now Roan seemed to want the noise to better lead off their pursuers. They tore down the tunnel, the front of the boat parting the black water and the walls streaming by. The boat bounced as their speed increased, and Sonja realized why Roan had warned her to hold on tight.

He leaned forward. “I’m afraid this boat isn’t meant to go this fast,” he said, confirming her suspicions. Sonja was holding on too hard to answer him. They reached another branching and Roan took the side tunnel, making the turn at a speed that turned the boat on a steep angle. Sonja let out a shriek but kept her grip.

From behind them came the steady drone of a more powerful engine. Sonja risked a glance behind and saw a flash of light from the boat following them. It looked larger and more streamlined and was definitely catching up to them.

Every time she looked back it seemed closer and the engine louder. Roan made another turn down a tunnel, then another one, until Sonja wasn’t sure even he knew where he was anymore.

But while he was tense there wasn’t any grimness in his face. If anything he looked like he was enjoying being chased.

Roan really needed a better way of getting excitement.

With each tight turn, the boat went closer to being on its side. Sonja clung tighter to the side, but it was getting harder for her to keep her grip. Finally Roan went around one corner a little too fast and her hand slipped, leaving her leaning too far into the turn.

The change in weight made the boat tip farther, and she lost her balance. For a moment she teetered on the edge, then with a sharp cry Sonja went over the side.

Just as she was falling she heard Roan shout something. But then she was in the water, and the cold hit her chest, making her gasp in a mouthful of water. From behind her she heard the boat zip by.

She sank, for a moment too shocked to do anything. But then she struggled against the water, fighting to get to the surface. Her head reached the air just in time to see another boat approaching, moving fast. Coughing and spluttering, she took a deep breath, then let herself sink again. The forward wave from the boat hit her and she was pushed towards the side of the tunnel. The other boat tore past her, after Roan.

Sonja pushed against the water with her arms and legs and managed to get her head to the surface again. She hadn’t exaggerated her tendency to sink, but motivation was a great teacher. No way was she going to die of drowning. Remembering how Roan used his arms and legs to move through the water, she tried to copy him. Swimming looked easy when Roan did it, but she was awkward trying to duplicate his fluid movements.

After the pursuing boat turned a corner, there wasn’t any light. Relying on her memory of where the side of the tunnel was, she managed to splash her way in the direction of the rock wall. It seemed to take several long minutes, but when her hand hit something hard she clutched the rough surface gratefully. At least here she would be able to rest without sinking.

She found some outcroppings big enough to cling to and managed to pull herself partially out of the water and onto what felt like a narrow ledge. She sat there in the dark, cold, wet and shocked.

Shocked because Roan hadn’t stopped for her. The sounds of both boats faded off in the distance. He’d abandoned her and left her alone in the dark, surrounded by water.

Her chest heaved, and Sonja felt the sting of tears in her eyes. For the first time in all the long years since she’d began searching for her sisters, Sonja lowered her head into her hands and cried.

Desperately, Roan had grabbed for Sonja when he saw her start to go over the side, and cursed when he missed. She hit the surface and sank beneath the water. He killed the motor, but the boat’s momentum kept it moving.

What to do? If he stopped, they’d be captured. He could go until he lost the other boat then double back to find her, but that would take so long. Too long to leave her alone in the water.

And then he remembered that Sonja couldn’t swim and nearly panicked. He had to get to her before she drowned.

Roan started the motor back up and used a cord to fix the handle so it would head in a straight line. Then he grabbed a small backpack that was at his feet and slipped overboard into the water.

His boat continued down the tunnel at a good pace. He felt a small pang of regret because it had been the first boat he’d found and rebuilt. While this was one of the longer straight sections of tunnel in the complex, the boat would only run until it hit a wall or was overtaken by their pursuers. Either way he’d probably never see it again.

But losing a boat was such a small thing next to losing his wife. He had to find her.

He barely had time to swim to the side of the tunnel when he heard the boat chasing them approach. It was coming fast, the light on the front brighter than he remembered. Roan ducked beneath the water’s surface as it sped towards him, avoiding being seen. Once he heard it pass he began swimming fast, back to the place where Sonja had fallen overboard.

Roan tried to contain his panic as he swam along the wall of the tunnel. It was significant that the other boat hadn’t stopped. They must not have seen Sonja splashing in the water, and that either meant she’d been able to stay hidden or she was underwater.

Sonja might not be able to swim, but he knew she wouldn’t just give up when she hit the water. She would have fought to stay afloat. Even so, the other boat might have run over her if they hadn’t seen her. She might have been hit in the head and be floating unconscious.

He’d find her. He had to. The water here wasn’t that deep and the tunnel only twenty meters across. She could have struggled to the side and be clinging to the rocks.

Roan stopped to listen. With the sound of the other boat fading into the background, the natural sound of the tunnels came to him. The slow drip of water from the roof, the lapping of the water against the side of the tunnel.

And a sound that was not natural, the soft sobbing of someone crying.

Sonja crying?
Relief warred with concern. Why would his fierce little hawk be crying? The sound led him down the cavern wall until he realized she was on the other side of the tunnel.

“Sonja?” he whispered across the water.

The sobs quieted. “Roan?” The tentativeness in her voice nearly broke his heart.

“I’m here. Hold on, I’ll come to you.”

“Where’s the boat?”

“Leading whoever was chasing us away from here.” He spoke calmly as he began swimming across the tunnel with long, sure strokes. He needed to get to her and hold her in his arms, reassure himself she was all right. “Are you hurt?”

“No. I don’t think so. But I’m w-w-wet and it’s so c-cold.”

“I know, sweetheart. Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan.”

“Don’t you always?” She laughed and the sound was a balm to his nerves. If Sonja could laugh, then whatever was wrong couldn’t be that bad.

He reached the other side and found her, a bundle of wet clothes pressed against the wall. She’d managed to find a ledge and crawl out of the water onto it. Excellent, since it would help keep her body from losing more heat to the water.

There wasn’t enough room on the ledge for him as well. He couldn’t hold her so he contented himself with finding her hand. “What was so wrong that you were crying?”

“I—I thought you’d left me.”

Like that would have happened. “No, it just took a few moments for me to find a way to lead them off. I’m sorry you were frightened.”

She shivered under his hand. They had to get out of here. He did have a plan, but it required getting Sonja back into the water. “We have to move.”

“Move where?”

“Just down the tunnel a little way.” He tugged on her hand. “Come on, sweetheart. Trust me.”

“I still can’t swim, Roan.”

“It’ll be all right,” he assured as he assisted her back into the water. “I’ll help you.”

She almost felt warm in his arms as he pulled her along behind him. He remembered this section of the tunnels as having several access points, places where there were passageways with ladders that led to the higher unflooded levels of the mine.

It was down one of these passageways that he’d come nearly nine years ago, while exploring the underground world he knew was going to be his home for so long. He’d found the underground waterways and been enchanted by them. After that he’d spent most of his free time investigating the tunnels and creating his maps, physical and mental.

The fact he’d done so much exploring of this underground world was going to pay off. He’d find one of those passages to the upper level and help Sonja up the ladder to safety.

It seemed to take a long time, though. Mostly she moved on her own, and he was glad for that. The more she moved, the warmer she would stay. But the water was too cold to stay in it long. Fortunately, he felt a draft coming from ahead of him and soon the draft was right next to him, a break in the rock that led into a small hollow in the wall.

The wall became too smooth to cling to. Roan tugged Sonja into his arms and swam with her into the hollow and up to where there was a set of metal rungs, rusty from the constant damp leading into the water. He pushed Sonja onto the ladder.

“Can you climb it by yourself?”

She clung to it, gasping for breath, but when she spoke he heard certainty in her voice. “I’ll make it.”

Sonja moved slowly upwards, but she did it on her own, and Roan let her. He knew she would be feeling helpless after being in the water. He wanted to protect her and wanted her to know she could rely on him, but he also knew she needed to help herself. He climbed after her, ready to steady her if she slipped.

Finally she stopped moving. “There isn’t any more ladder.”

“Then we’re at the entrance to one of the upper mining tunnels.” He reached over to the left and his hand met only rock. On the right side, though, was the smooth metal of a door. “On the right. There should be a handle to push down on.”

He heard her fumbling and then there was a harsh cry of corroded metal against metal. A rush of air told him the door was open even though the other tunnel was unlit. That was a good sign. “Through there.”