These were the things he told himself because it was easier to chew these things over in his mind than think about the real ramifications of not completing the mission. There were very bad things waiting in the wings if they were not successful. Maybe the file in his safe did not spell them out exactly, but there was no doubt of it in his mind.

Goddammit, they had to find the anomaly. Their lives depended on it.

On the screen, the divers were pushing deeper into the tunnel. Sonar was telling them there was a very large chamber on the other side. This was it. Orr knew it and so did they. This was what they had been looking for.

“Sir?” Anderson said. “It’s the Neptune.”

Orr punched up the channel. “What do you got, Javy?”

“It’s Hubbs.”

“What about him?”

“I’ve been calling all over the habitat for him. He isn’t answering…”

“And?”

“Sir, he put the winch on auto and went out in his suit. Lights came on my board. By the time I got to Entry Lock, he was already out there.”

“Shit,” Orr said under his breath.

“Got him on the external cameras, sir,” she said.

The image came over the screen. Hubbs was standing there on the baseplate. On the very edge of it, right where the lights began to fade and things started getting very dark.

“What the hell is he doing?” Orr said. “Hail him, Javy!”

“Have, sir. He’s not responding. I think he shut down communications.”

Orr tried himself. “Hubbs! Hubbs! Hubbs, you goddamn moron, what the hell are you doing out there? You know rules, you know regs…get your ass back in the lock!”

Anderson shook his head. “No dice, sir. Javy’s right: he’s shut down his network. He’s not hearing you.”

Orr watched him standing there on the edge of the baseplate. Without warning, he was suddenly propelled out into the darkness. Gone. And the unsettling part was that Orr could not be sure if he propelled himself or something else just grabbed him and yanked him away.

“Sir!” Javonivic said. “No bio-signs! Nothing from the hardsuit!”

“Dead here, too,” Anderson said. “No telemetry.”

“Should I go after him?” Javonivic wanted to know.

“Negative on that, Javy. Stay on that board. Nobody goes out alone. That’s the regs. Hubbs knew that. He’s on his own now.”

She switched the video feed back to what the suits were seeing. The tunnel was opening now like the mouth of a funnel. Ahead there was blackness, the beams of the lights spearing into it.

“All right,” Orr said. “Now we’re going to see what the hell this is about.”

32
GHOST TOWN