Dark Life: Rip Tide Read Free Page A

windows are the stripes of the shell. Theflexiglass dome in front”—I pointed to the sloping section that ended in a point—“makes up the tentacles.”
    “How do you see tentacles?”
    “They’re bunched together.” I dropped back into the pilot seat. “Ready?”
    Her nod was hesitant at best, but I went ahead and steered the cruiser alongside the township’s bumper. Then I turned on the autopilot and climbed out of the sub. The computer would keep her alongside the township. “I’m just going in for a moment. And I won’t touch anything. The Seaguard will want to see it as is.”
    Gemma nodded. “I’ll help you open the hatch.”
    It didn’t take long to cut through the chain that was strung from the wheel to a handgrip on the hull. But as I pulled open the hatch, I had the distinct feeling we were opening a tomb. Cold air hissed out of the air lock. Under other circumstances, I’d have welcomed the relief from the heat, but this chill settled into my gut. With one breath, I knew the oxygen was thin. Rather than risk getting dizzy, I inhaled Liquigen into my lungs.
    Gemma scrambled back, her face pale under her freckles. “You’re sure about this?”
    With a nod, I ventured into the air lock.
    “I’ll be right here, guarding the cruiser,” she called after me.
    The rear door of the air lock stood ajar, and I stepped through to find myself in a big open area. Probably the townsquare. With the algae and sea life coating the flexidome, the sunlight that filtered through had a greenish tinge, which gave the space an eerie feel. Or maybe the twitchy sensation inside me wasn’t caused by the dim light, but by the sight of people curled up on the floor and bundled in blankets. I was glad for the Liquigen in my lungs that kept me from calling out “hello,” knowing that the reply would be icy silence.
    Moving closer, I saw that under the blankets, they were wearing life preservers—had been waiting for a rescue that never came. I swallowed, trying to lose the feeling of something wedged in my windpipe, and turned away, wanting to leave before I got a look at any one person. I didn’t want to see that some were little kids, even though the logical part of my brain already knew it.
    Shifting my gaze upward, I noticed that the flexidome folded down in layers, like a series of tentacles, which would open the town square to the sky. Not that the control panel would be working.
    Careful to disturb nothing, I circled to the shallow pool that dominated the middle of the square. There was no water in it, only gleaming white crystals that encrusted the sides and bottom. Too chunky to be ice. I broke off a single crystal and tasted it. Salt.
    A narrow channel fed into the pool, which I followed to where it spiraled up the township’s center, running alongside curving stairs. Most of the doors to the living quarters on the next level stood open, but I didn’t climbthe staircase. I didn’t need to look further. No one could have survived the deep freeze that had gripped this town and choked the life out of it.
    I made my way back to the town square and found Gemma studying the empty pool in the center. She met my eyes. “No one?”
    With both of the air lock’s hatches open, enough oxygen must have seeped in from outside. I inhaled to make the Liquigen in my lungs evaporate. “I don’t think so.”
    She shivered slightly. After a moment she bent and touched the crystals in the pool. She seemed surprised at how easily a chunk broke off in her hand. When she held it up to catch the light, I realized the crystal reminded me of the shapes tattooed on the dead boy’s face.
    “What is it?” Gemma asked.
    “Nomad was a salt farm.”
The thin air must be dulling my senses,
I thought. Instead of horror or outrage, I felt only a creeping numbness.
    “Nomad?”
    I pointed to the word painted above the square. “The township’s name.”
    “Why would someone do this to them?”
    I shook my head, having no answer as