Deluge
- Автор: Маккефри Энн, Скарборо Элизабет
- Серия: The Twins of Petaybee #3
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Научная фантастика
Электронная книга - «Deluge». Краткое содержание книги:
Meanwhile, the powerful and avaricious Company is making another attempt to take over the world of Petaybee for its resources, and the twins parents, Yana and Sean, along with the entire planet, must fight for the independence of their sentient world once and for all...
You may have to move again quickly, Murel said. It looks like the volcano is about to blow.
Yes, it is providing the most magnificent power surges, the squid replied cheerfully as the pair swam away.
At least somebody is pleased about it, Murel said grumpily.
They entered the city through the transparent dome. The entire metropolis was brightly lit from its own lights and from the glow of the vent throbbing up through the floor. It was a wonder the place wasn’t too hot for any life-form, but this race had somehow overcome that problem. Other creatures lived outside the dome and thrived on the heat and the acidic gases that Ronan and Murel had to avoid. As at the city’s preferred docking vent on Petaybee, the scent of sulfur was almost overpowering to the seals’ sensitive noses.
Kushtaka seemed to be busy elsewhere, but the twins located Mraka and Puk, who were tinkering with the fishing ray mechanisms. All around them lay dead fish, which were less than fresh.
What happened here? Ronan asked.
The fish are arriving dead. Something’s wrong with the calibration, Mraka said.
It has calibration? Murel asked, trying to peer over his front leg to see the bit he held in his otter paw.
Yes, but it is incorrect now. Too powerful, I think. As you can see, the fish do not survive being caught.
Could it be that they were killed by the force of the waterspout and you’re catching dead ones because that’s all there are? Ronan asked.
Oh, do you think that could be it?
Yes. You really do have to find a mode of travel that’s easier on the things around you. Speaking of which, the people who didn’t drown on the island are about to be incinerated by the volcano. I know you can’t take them in here, but your people were native to this planet. Do you have any suggestions for something they can do to protect themselves? Anything at all?
No, Puk said, looking at her blankly. Now about these dead fish- Just no? Murel demanded indignantly. They’re going to die- We wouldn’t, Mraka told her. So it has never been considered a problem for us. Perhaps, given enough time, we could find a way to build a bubble like this one over them, but it is held in place and sustained by our atmosphere, and humans unadapted for the sea cannot live in that either. So I don’t think we can help you with this one.
The fish, however -Puk continued, picking one up with a worried frown.
Throw them out, Ronan said sharply. Isn’t there any sort of lifeboat or anything we could use to help our friends?
What is a lifeboat? the alien engineers asked in unison.
WITHIN A FEW hours, shortly after the alien city-ship whirled into the waters of Gwinnet’s dead sea, several ships apparently friendly to one another and belonging to the Intergal Company and the Federation entered Gwinnet’s outer atmosphere. Some of them prepared to orbit. One, the George Armstrong Custer, landed and docked, only to be swept from its moorings by the waves generated by the alien ship’s waterspout-borne departure to shallower waters.
The hijacked troop ship from Petaybee was the third vessel to approach the planet to land. Initially, the crew was anxious to arrive before the Custer, but had orders from its official escort to wait.
“The port authorities aren’t responding, Johnny,” Pet Chan told the captain.
“You think they’ve made us?” Raj Norman asked.
“Do you mean do they realize we are not the authorized crew?” Rick O’Shay asked. “The Custer can’t know that we’re anybody but who our registration number says we are. As we’ve had no unsolicited contact since Versailles Station, unless there’s been a leak in very high places, I don’t see how anybody could know we are other than what we appear to be. As of our last com from Petaybee, the original crew is still enjoying its arctic holiday, dogsledding, snocling, possibly even skiing and ice skating, admiring the aurora, and no doubt holding marathon poker tournaments.”
Pet ignored his attempt at humor. She could be very single-minded when she was concerned about something. “We’re not even getting an autoresponse,” she said. Her mouth had a grim set to it. “We’re about to enter atmo, however. Your call, Captain.”
Johnny shrugged. “I’d say silence confers consent. Can you get a visual? It would be good to know if they were launching missiles or gunships our way.”
At first all they saw was a partially obscured pattern of swirling staticky snow filling the screen, but then that receded and revealed a sea and landscape quite different from the one their charts had led them to expect. Huge waves broke over the octopus-shaped, flat-roofed prison building. Loops and curls of water tangled the remains of the docking bay gantries. The Custer listed half out of its bay while the crew trickled out from a hatch near the nose. Shuttle craft bobbed upside down on the swells. As Pet watched, one was dashed to pieces against the prison wall. The wall appeared to be holding, but the water breaking over it had made a moat of the prison yard. People were pouring onto the roof. Pet saw a lot of uniforms and no prison fatigues among those taking the high ground.
“That does not look promising,” Johnny agreed. “No missiles, but also no place to land. Back into orbit, then, and any rescuing that gets done will have to be done by shuttle.”
Ascending, they caught sight of the island in the distance, along with the waterspout and the waves.
They were in orbit, and in conference, when the volcano began to grumble.
THIS HULA WAS not going well. Pele and Kai did their best, but there were simply too many factions represented among the survivors to be unified in their purpose. As geysers of lava sprayed upward from the cone and rivers of lava flowed down its sides and burned through the jungle, many fled to the sea.
The Kanaka kids stood-or rather, danced-their ground, and Rory, Marmie, and Adrienne joined in, but Zuzu sat at the edge of the water and kept glancing back and forth between it and the shore, while Sky chittered at her in what was meant to be a reassuring tone.
Ronan and Murel did not join in the dance but swam offshore, watching, waiting. Those who had already entered the water were still fresh, but soon they would begin to tire. They had made rafts of debris left behind by the waves, and the water was warm, but when the lava boiled into the water, it would heat up even more.
This could be it, you know, Murel said. The end. We could all die.
Well, you and I could take refuge in the city, of course.
I’m not doing that! I’m going to stay out here and help the swimmers as long as I can.
Me too, of course, Ronan replied. And Kushtaka’s people promised to help as long as they could.
But the water may get too hot for us, Mur. And there’s still maybe sixty people left-we can’t keep juggling them indefinitely. The volcano could blow and keep blowing for weeks, even months.
We can probably keep most people alive with the help of the aliens, until rescue arrives anyway.
You saw what that mess was like on the mainland, Ronan scoffed. How long do you think it’s going to take them to notice what’s happening over here and divert some attention to us? And when they do, we’ll be right back where we started-worse even. They’ll round everyone up and take the kids to prison too, and they’ll know then that we’re selkies and- Stop it, laddie. You’re borrowing trouble. Let’s just do what we can do when it needs doing and keep going till we can’t anymore. Then, if we can, we’ll figure out what else to do. Deal?
All of that goes without saying. Just trying to think ahead, he said.
Well, don’t. It’s depressing.
On shore, Kai ignored everyone else while she danced and sang with more energy than she had shown since the twins first met her. Pele and the other kids were sweating as they danced. The adults looked exhausted, quivering with the effort of maintaining the beat set by Kai’s chant. Kai was growing hoarse.