One of the lights out there exploded with a flash of blue light. The ROV was thrown from its cradle, splashing into the lake, the waters of which seemed to be boiling, hissing with plumes of steam and rolling clouds of dirty mist. A winch made a shrill squealing sound and broke free of its stanchions, crashing to the deck. A high-voltage line exploded and began to burn.

Enough.

Goddamn enough.

Leaving Anderson, he dashed into the command room and activated the cable car. The readouts told him that it was beginning its descent.

Anderson let out a cry and Orr ran back out there. He saw what paralyzed the boy with fear—something was rising from the water in a flurry of bubbles.

37
BORN AGAIN

Far below, the Neptune not only shook, it vibrated.

It trembled.

It began to roll first one way, then the other as if it was hit by a seismic wave. Javonivic was tossed to the floor, thrown across the room. The habitat groaned and creaked. One of the hardsuits fell from its bracket. The propane tank rolled passed her and dropped into the moon pool. Warning lights were flashing. Sirens shrilling. The lights flickered, went out, plunging her into absolute blackness. Then the back-ups came on. The integrity of the structure had been weakened. The passage between the Main and Entry Locks was sealed off with a hiss of air.

Entry Lock was losing compression.

Water was spraying everywhere now from burst seams and popped rivets. It was like a dozen showerheads were turned on full blast. There were clouds of moisture and steam in the air.

Javy scrambled to her feet.

(I AM HERE ALICE)

She would not listen. She would not hear the voice. If she listened, she would go mad. Utterly and completely mad.

The computer terminals were dead. The moon pool was gushing and bubbling as the water level rose, the air leaking away. Through one of the tiny viewports, she could see a flurry of rising bubbles. She raced over to the life-support controls, trying to override the emergency procedures that had sealed off the passage. She had to get back into the Main Lock, one way or another.

She had but minutes and she knew it.

No dice. Life-support computers had discovered a breach in Entry Lock’s hull causing loss of compression and they did what they were designed to do: contain the atmosphere in Main Lock. It was either climb into one of the Exosuits and take a chance or open the emergency crawlway between the locks. She had less than five minutes to do so before it, too, was permanently sealed off.

Panicking, she stood there precious seconds, frightened, confused.

If she escaped into the Main Lock, she was trapped until life support ran out. But if she clambered into one of the suits and got trapped in the Entry Lock, she would die there, too.