by Danny
Danny Hearn:
I take off my shoes, leaving them arranged neatly by the river.
"Hal, how about some fins?" I say out loud.
Within seconds, my fingers and toes extend. Webbing grows between them.
"Gills?"
I feel slits opening up in my neck. It's a strange feeling. They begin to expand and contract, struggling for air. Although, not being in water, they're not finding any.
"That feels damn weird. Anyway, it's probably pretty cold in that river. Anything you can do about that?"
"How about whale blubber?" Hal suggests.
"Sounds good."
I take my shirt off. I feel my body expand as a thin layer of blubber covers me to shield my body from the freezing temperatures of the underground river. I try not to think about what I look like. The startled expression on Pete Glover's face says it all.
"You're actually goin' in that river?" Pete asks.
"Yeah. Gonna swim downstream a bit, see if I can find Sam. If the theory holds, there's an underground civilization somewhere along this river."
"An' that might be where they took Sam?"
"Exactly."
Pete nods slowly, taking this all in. "Okay. So, what ya want me t' do?" he asks.
"Just stay here for the moment. Hopefully, the guys will be coming through any second now. And keep the cat safe." Li'l Jo purrs, rubbing up against Pete's leg.
It occurs to me that I have no idea what the time is. "Hey, Pete, do you know what the time is?"
"Nope... sorry, bud," he answers.
Damn. And, with that, I dive into the river.
I'm breathing easily. I'm kept warm. And my fins are keeping me swimming at a great pace. My powers rock sometimes. I can't see a thing, though. But that's not important. If there is some sort of village down here, I doubt it would be underwater.
I decide to pop my head out of the river every now and then, to look at the shorelines running across it. After about ten minutes of swimming, I see it -- an underground village.
Holy shit. This is like something out of a bad sci-fi novel.
The cavern is huge, the biggest open space I've seen while down here below the surface. It's probably about the size of a football field, with the height of a two-storey house.
Recesses are carved into its walls all along the length of it, presumably for various living areas and so forth. Fires are lit all around the place, lighting the whole area and keeping it relatively warm.
And the people. The people are sitting clumped around the fires in groups. They're warming themselves. Some are cooking meat over the fires. I try not to think about what the meat might be. They're all incredibly pale. I guess a lifetime without sunlight will do that to a person.
I take all this in within seconds. And I'm instantly terrified by the whole thing.
Wait... is that...? Shit. It's Sam. He's being led into one of the caves. In seconds, he's gone, disappeared into the inky blackness of one of the village's many caves.
All sorts of heroic plans of action run through my head. I could charge up there, grow myself something... I dunno, something powerful... take on dozens upon dozens of savage cannibals myself.
No. This isn't going to work. I'd most likely be killed before I even got anywhere near Sam. Damn. I'll have to go back and get the rest of the guys. I hope they've dug through that rock wall by now.
I duck my head underwater and head back the way I came.