SIREN

Chapter Nineteen

'So what do you think is going on up there?'

'Could be something that's been left on. Could be a communication system of some kind.'

Sam said, 'could be,' and pumped a little gas through his jetpack to put himself in front of me. 'Could also be something alive.'

'If it is, we have to play nice. We can't kill it.'

'And what if it tries to kill us?'

'We run.'

'Just like how we ran last time?'

'Last time was an accident.'

I dropped my chest and moved my feet. Doing my best to look stern, I said, 'was it? Why did you bring that bag onto the Martini? Surely that was too much to bring? We just needed the saw, right?'

'Are you saying I wanted to blow something up? Is that what you're saying?'

'I know you, Sam. I know you love a good bit of action.'

He ducked and copied my pose. 'So you're saying I purposely left my rucksack behind? I bet you think I detonated it all, too!'

'Anything's possible,' I said, shrugging. I knew that the chance of Sam causing that calibre of havoc was small, but it wasn't impossible. Back on Earth, Sam had been known to be a little reckless on his time off. Once he stepped off the firing range, his disciplined demeanour would dissolve away and he'd set up the odd practical joke.

Sam poked the middle of my chest with his finger. 'Watch it.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' I pushed his digit away.

'It means you should think with this,' he pointed at his head, 'before opening this,' he aimed at his lips.

'Oh? And this is coming from the guy who—!'

'Who what? Saved your life back there? Taught you all you know about shooting?' Sam moved his head inches from mine, 'I didn't make that bag blow up on purpose, but I wish I did. That fungus would've killed me, and you, and I bet it would've tried its best to get to the Pangaea, too. We dealt with something dangerous there, Teabags, don't act like it was in its right mind.'

'What about this place? What about that knocking? Are you going to kill whatever's up there?'

'If I need to protect you, if I need to protect the rest of the crew, then yeah, I will,' he put his hand on the front of my suit and pushed me. The piercing clink of my jetpack meeting the cold metal walls echoed around the room.

'But--!'

A strip of lights above my head turned on. Where there had once been nothing but steel, there were now bright white holes shooting out beams of incandescence. Sam and me watched as the rest of the corridor was gradually brightened and all the shadows were blasted away.

Sam let go of me. He retreated and aimed his gun at the end of the room. A set of double doors, shaped like two halves of a circle, had been coated with something that looked like black paint. One of the round doors was ajar. The lights, however, hadn't activated in there.

'What is that stuff?' I gasped, pushing my body off the wall.

'Get your gun,' Sam replied. 'On my mark.'

I looked at my pistol. 'Wait, what?'

'We're moving in.' Sam dived and advanced to the doorway. He brought up his left hand and gestured for me to follow.

The drumming got louder. Every tap and thump made me flinch and reach for the trigger, but I somehow kept my cool and didn't fire a shot. Through the opening, I could make out something round and shiny. The top layer of the object shimmered like sunlight dancing on water.