The Orphaned Worlds (56 page)

In one smooth movement Rosa retrieved the dripping cylinder and attached the lid with an audible click. At the same time Robert heard a thrumming rushing coming through the pale forest.

‘Time we were leaving,’ he said.

GO AROUND THE POOL AND THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FOREST
CROSS THE WATER AND GO TO THE NARROW END OF THE GREAT CAVE
AT THE HEAD OF THE DESCENDING STAIRS THERE, CLIMB ON THE STONE LEDGE
BEHIND THE PILLAR ON THE LEFT IS A DOORWAY
GO THROUGH AND FOLLOW THE PASSAGE DOWN

They followed the Zyradin’s instructions to the letter and, sure enough, the hidden doorway was where it said it was. Cradling the Zyradin’s cylinder, Rosa hefted her flechette carbine in her other hand and stepped through. Robert paused to peer back at the lake and its forest island. The dense, pale tangles seemed to have lost some of their spectral lustre. The luminescence was dimmed and the shadows were taller and darker. As he watched, a few Achorga emerged from the vegetation. Quickly he withdrew behind the pillar and went after Rosa.

Stone stairs descended the sides of a square shaft, the steps deep yet worn and rounded. Every footfall raised a puff of dust and every cold breath was tainted by the smell of ancient decay. Had the original civilisation of this world built all these subsur-face areas, and if so why? Occasionally he slowed to peer over the brink but there was only an impenetrable darkness that gave no sense of depth. What, he wondered, would drive a society to burrow down so far?

Red lamplight revealed no patterns or lettering, no marks or decoration of any kind, which was somewhat atypical. After nearly twenty minutes he was starting to question inwardly how this escape route could possibly lead back to the surface. He was about to voice his doubts when Rosa stopped and turned, eyes wide.

‘Quiet,’ she said.

For a moment, nothing. Then a sharp ticking and clicking far above, swiftly growing louder. Then a rushing sound and a dark shadowy form that fell past them. In the red gloom few details were apparent but a glimpse of thrashing insectoid limbs told them all they needed to know. A few seconds later they heard an echoing thud.

‘They’ve found the concealed door,’ Robert said.

NOW YOU MUST HURRY
THERE ARE NINE MORE FLIGHTS TO GO