The Caverns of Mare Cetus by Jim Erjavec Page B

know my quals, Hunter. I'm not a kid. I'm twenty-four years old."
       Ramon chuckled. "Sorry, sister. You are a kid."
       "Sister?" Devon appeared perturbed. "Don't ever call me that."
       "Okay," said Arielle, sighing. "I'll take the damn bonus. But if there's been one more deception, I'm going to cut out your tongue…"
       Ramon clasped his hand over Arielle's mouth, muffling her, but she bit his hand. He cried out and shook his hand in pain.
       Hunter stepped up to Devon. "Listen, Iob. Just keep your distance, and I know things will mellow out. I have read your BioForm—now."
       "Good, good," she said. "But could you please stop calling me that?"
       "Your BioForm says you're experienced, but I have yet to see it down here. You need to show me that you can make the grade."
       She frowned, then flashed him a wide, Cheshire cat grin.
       He motioned for the others to follow as he started down the passage. "Come on. The excitement's this way."
       After the group had hiked for a while, Renata moved up beside Hunter. She began talking in a whisper. "A 30X bonus? That much is unheard of. Who authorized it? Abby? Last time I heard, it was only 5X for this mission."
       "Well, it is 30X," he said, a bit unnerved by her questions.
       She hesitated in her response as if in thought. "I'm tired of being kept in the dark—like with the Iob and now a 30X bonus. Am I SC or not?"
       Renata was right. The bonus was a total fabrication. He had no idea how Abby Kensington was going to react to his lie, but he was certain she "was" going to react. He could only hope she had meant it when she told him—" Do whatever it takes—don't fail me." He wiped the sweat from his brow with his hand. "Of course you are, Renata. I value your judgement. Tell me—Garrett—what do you think about his misfire? If you ask me, he's hiding something."
       "Everyone's hiding something. What are you hiding?"
       Hunter nearly choked on her words. "N-n-nothing. Nothing at all."
       "I see," she said. "No motives. No agendas. Not even for Sid?"
       Hunter didn't answer her.
       "Well," she said after a moment, "since you asked for my advice, we have to call Garrett on the misfire. But let's do it later—together. Right now I need to do some waffling of my own." She slowed her pace, dropping back.
       Hunter gulped hard. A typical conversation with Renata—short, sweet, and calculated. She was smart, way too smart. How did she know about his plans to vindicate Sid? She knew them though—she had to. He wondered if he couldn't use that to his advantage. Renata would see his point, maybe join him in his quest. And with her brilliant logic, they would surely resolve Sid's death.
       After several hours of generally silent hiking, the wide passage they were following began to curve gently to the left and to rapidly narrow. Soon they were hiking in single file, the sloping passage jogging back and forth, its ceiling high above them. Abruptly the seesaw passage opened up into a colossal canyon-like room. Lighthearted chatter sprang from the party, and Hunter listened as Isis and Arielle discussed how such a room could have formed and the types of geologic features they might find. Arielle postulated the room had once been an underground lake as she pointed to sandy and muddy, laminated deposits that were widely scattered across the cavern floor.
       "Sulfur!" exclaimed Arielle. "I smell sulfur. Is there a spring nearby? Rene, what do the Kalo maps indicate for this area?"
       Renata took out her Vimap and studied it. "Kalo Three mapped a slight rise in hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide in this area. Its map shows the source of the gases as coming through a narrow passage off to the right. There's a large chamber at the end of the passage, but the Kalo didn't note a spring. Odd."
       Richelle stepped up to Hunter, a timid smile creeping across her lips. "C-c-can we check it