Deep Ark 6 Chapter Five

                                                            CHAPTER FIVE                

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                                                            CHAPTER FIVE                

    Pg 54

As I drive down the tunnel, the overhead lights flicker once, then go out altogether. I switch on the headlights. Is it a power failure or has someone deliberately cut the power? In the yellow beams of the headlights, I see something — water! The tunnel road is awash with swiftly flowing water.

The tunnel was as dry as a bone before. Where is the water coming from?

With one hand on the wheel, I fumble around in the glove compartment and pull out a torch. The water is rising, sloshing around the jeep floor. I can feel my boots getting wet.

I don't dare stop ... I've got to keep moving. I can't afford to be stranded in the middle of a flooded tunnel.

                                     

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Shining the torch on the passing walls, I can see where the water is coming from. Cracks have appeared in the riveted steel walls and water is pouring through. There's only one possible explanation. Deep Ark 6 must've been hit by the earthquake after all.

That might explain why the place is like a ghost town. It might also explain why the lab is such a mess. Maybe the evacuation alarm sounded and the staff grabbed whatever they could and bolted for the exits.

But that doesn't explain why Dad left his precious antivenoms lying in the back of a jeep. I know he would never do that. Not if he had a choice. That box contains his life's work.

So where does that leave me? And where is my father?

I reach the first security gate, stop the jeep and jump out into water that almost reaches my knees. With all my strength, I swing the metal gate closed and seal it shut manually. If the tunnel beyond floods, it won't breach the sealed gate. I'm safe for the time being.

Unless the rest of DA6 is leaking, too. In which

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case, I have just sealed my only escape exit.

I speed past the second barbed wire gate and pull up outside the Hub. The headlights pick out the smashed door and the debris within. At least I can't see any water. But there is movement. Lots of it.

The whole floor of the Hub is swarming with snakes.

From the safety of the jeep, I swing the torch beam over the walls. Spiders! Big, black, hairy brutes, crawling over each other in a frenzy.

I shudder inside my protective suit. There is no way I'm going into that room.

Throwing the jeep into reverse, I back up.

The wheels crunch over something brittle. It sounds like feet stepping on eggshells. I don't hang around to find out what it is.

Eight black tunnels lead away from the Hub. Seven of them run the length of DA6, past the reptile and arachnid enclosures. I do not want to go down any of those.

I choose the last tunnel: tunnel eight. I know this leads to DA6's power station. If the power has been manually turned off, then someone

                             Pg 57

must still be here. Maybe my dad.

It's a slim chance, but it's all I have.

Besides, I need to get the power back on somehow — and fast. I can't rely on my torch batteries lasting forever and I'm certainly not going down any of those other tunnels without the lights on full.

Then something else hits me. With the power off, the air supply generator has stopped. Soon DA6 will start running out of air. I can already feel it thinning as I suck it in through my laminated face mask.

The power station squats in the darkness at the end of tunnel eight as I pull to a halt. I step out of the jeep cautiously.

"Dad! Are you in there? It's me, Rom!"

There's no answer. I can't see any snakes but, just to be sure, I stuff Hammerhead's flare gun in the pocket of my protective suit. Then, torch in hand, I approach the door to the power station.

                     

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It's locked. I check the outside of the building. There's no other way in. The power station has no windows or back entries.

Time is running out. The air is noticeably harder to breathe. I have to make a decision.

Sitting on the bonnet of the jeep, my mind racing, I run over the options. I could assume that Dad and tho others have evacuated safely. That would mean I need to head back to the Sea Slug before the exit tunnel is totally flooded — and before the air runs out.

Or, I could assume that he's still here, somewhere in DA6. In which case, he's probably in need of my help. That would mean a longer search. And that would mean I'd need to get the power back on.

In the end, there's no choice. Taking the flare gun from my pocket, I hold it in both hands, aim it at the locked door and pull the trigger.

The air fills with smoke and noise and the power of the exploding flare sends me flying backwards. When I stagger to my feet, the lock is shattered and the power station door is open. I feel like a gunslinger: Rom the Kid! I swing the

                      Pg 59

heavy flare gun on my gloved finger and slide it back into my pocket.

Inside, the power station is dark and creepy. The huge generator looms up in my torch beam like some kind of Frankenstein's monster. Coils of wire spill out like guts from its metal belly. I sweep the beam over the floor and the ceiling. No creepy-crawlies.

At the base of the massive generator is some sort of control panel covered with switches, knobs and dials. I'm desperately trying to figure out what each switch does when suddenly my torch flickers and dies.

I shake it frantically. Don't give up on me now!

The yellow light glows again, but only dully.

Now I'm really freaking out. Without light I'm helpless, blind. I scan the control panel with rising panic.

The torch beam falls on a large red switch

with the label WARNING! Master Auxiliary. I've got nothing to lose, so I switch it on. For a second, nothing happens. Then the glorious roar of whirring motors and whining

                                    Pg 60

generators fills the room. The lights flick on and I can feel the sweet flow of fresh air.

It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness. That's when I see the panel of switches to the left of the control panel, marked DA6 Security. The switches are labelled with the names and numbers of the main security gates and all the reptile and arachnid cages. Above each switch are two lights: green to indicate Gate Closed, red for Gate Open.

All the lights glow red.

Someone has deliberately opened all the security gates. All, that is, except the door to the power station. Why?

Because they don't want anyone to be able to switch the power back on.

Yet there was power when Old Joe and I first arrived at DA6. So the generator was switched off only a short while ago ... Which means that whoever was responsible is still nearby.

I whirl around, expecting to see someone standing behind me. But there is no one, just the whirr of the generator and the harsh, bright light.

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"I'm starting to imagine things," I say, thinking aloud.

All of a sudden, I hear a metallic clang, and it isn't my imagination playing tricks.

"Who's there?" I shout.

There is silence, then the sound of footsteps. Fast, thudding steps.

Someone is running down one of the shadowy corridors at the back of the huge generator.

I begin to sprint after them. The heavy protective suit isn't made for speed and I'm soon gasping for breath. I yank off the face mask for a minute and listen.

The footsteps have stopped.

"My name is Rom!" I call out. "I'm Dr Buller's son. I'm looking for my dad!"

The footsteps sound again — this time heading back towards the control panel. I'm about to give chase when the lights black out and the generator whirrs into silence.

Now I'm fumbling in complete darkness. I whack my shins on a metal lever and fall to my knees in pain. I hear the door of the power station creak open, then slam shut. Then, to my

                                          Pg 62

horror, I hear the sound of my jeep starting up and powering off!

Whoever it is has escaped, leaving me stranded in the dark with no wheels. I crawl along in the blackness until I finally feel the familiar switches of the control panel. Moments later, the generator whirrs back to life and the lights flicker on.

Slumped on the floor against the panel, knees up to my chin, I feel an icy wave of loneliness wash over me. For all I know, I'm trapped here forever. My home, Basin City, is flooded, my friends evacuated to who knows where.

And my dad? I pray that he is still alive somewhere.

On top of all that, some crazy person is on the loose in my jeep. Where are they headed?

I feel a sudden lurch in my gut. Of course! They'll be headed for the only way out of this snake zoo — the docking bay and the Sea Slug. And here I am, powerless to stop them. I can't even warn Old Joe and Hammerhead.

I get up and thump the control panel in frustration.

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The control panel! Why didn't I think of it before?

I have the whole of DA6 at my fingertips. Whoever is in that jeep is about to have the tables turned on them.

I find the switch for the exit tunnel gate and flick it off. The green light glows. Now the gate is sealed and locked.

"Trapped like a rat, my sneaky friend!" I say, as I head out towards tunnel eight.

Twenty minutes later, I see the Hub glowing up ahead. With any luck, my stolen jeep has passed this point before the gates snapped closed. That would place it between the flooded section and the Hub — trapped. All the same, I approach the brilliantly lit building cautiously.

I don't see the jeep. Just the dud one with the dead battery.

I'm determined to continue searching for Dad. Which means getting past the Hub to the other tunnels, the ones that lead down to the

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reptiles cage.  And that means entering a world of creepy-crawlies.

I can see movement, lots of it, by the shattered door. Snakes of every hue and shade slither and coil there. The car park looks pretty clear. Just a dozen or so  snakes lurking in the shadow of the dud jeep. They're silvery-scaled, with patches of pale brown running up their backs. My mind races, trying to remember where I've seen them before.

Then it comes to me in a flash. The bookshelf at home. Dad had proudly placed the skin of one of those critters on the top shelf.

"They shed their skin four times a year, Rom," he told me. "It's called sloughing."

I'd tried to show some interest. "What's that one called then?"

"This is the skin of a North American sidewinder. Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Does it bite?" I'd asked

Dad had just laughed and replied, "They all bite, son. But this is just its skin, so I reckon you'll be okay"

At the time, I'd thought it was pretty

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disgusting having a snake skin lying around my living room. Now there are a dozen live ones not more than a metre away.

Well, here goes.

Pressing myself against the steel wall of the tunnel, I slowly inch across the car park. The snakes follow my progress with their horrible, lidless eyes.

My eyes are so fixed on them that I'm not paying attention to the tunnel wall itself. Suddenly, my gloved hand feels something spongy. I recoil in horror.

The whole wall is crawling with spiders!

Most are as big as my hand — some are even bigger. Their bodies are orange, with long, spindly legs, like knitting needles, dotted at the joints with yellow. I don't need to pick my brain for the name of these monsters. They are golden silk orb-weavers — big enough to prey on birds and other small animals.

I swat a huge one off the back of my neck and another from my shoulder. They skid under the jeep, where the startled sidewinders make short work of them.

                                   Pg 66

While the snakes are distracted, I make a break for the tunnels, shedding orb-weavers as I run. I can feel them crunching under my boots.

The exit tunnel is locked, of course. I'd made sure of that. I hurriedly scan the others. Tunnels two to four hold the smaller variety of snake; five and six house the big ones, like the boa and anaconda. That leaves tunnel seven —the spiders.

Which one to go down?

The sidewinders have finished their spider snacks and are on the move, headed my way. I feel a strong impulse to go down tunnel seven.

With no time to reflect on my decision, I race headlong towards it.

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