Into the Abyss (Dark Prospects Book 2)

by Xu, Lei

  When I thought about it, however, I realized the situation wasn't so simple. Although the lights were off, I didn't know how long the poison would remain in the air. And while the spy's wounds might be serious, but they weren't immediately fatal. Yuan Xile just wasn't strong enough. Not enough time had passed. They spy was sure to be somewhere nearby. But wherever he was, he had to be hurting. Still, if he wasn't dying, then Yuan Xile and I were in extreme danger. We'd defeated him last time only by catching him off-guard. Now the tables had turned. Now it was he who was crouched somewhere in the darkness, waiting for us. We were flirting with disaster no matter what we did. With my flashlight off, we'd be lost in the dark. With it on, we'd be asking him to come and slit our throats. I could only hope the bastard was dead.

  Worse than all this, I had no idea where to go. Even with the flashlight on, we might never find the exit. Previously, the spy had had an objective, and that objective had become his weakness. Now our roles were reversed. It occurred to me that as long as a person desires something, he becomes weak. I shivered involuntarily. I suddenly understood that the three of us had begun a deadly game of hide-and-seek, and there was no telling how long it would last.

  Taking a step back, I appraised our situation. I have never been a strategist or a schemer—designing that ambush had already taxed my intellect to the limit. The joy I'd felt only moments before was gone. I sunk into a deep gloom. With my head in my hands, I tried to suppress my frustration. We'd been so close to succeeding, but I had failed. Now we were right back where we'd started. How could I have been so stupid? If I had just grabbed the son of a bitch, everything would have been fine. So close. We had been so close!

  But that single screw-up made all the difference. All the while Yuan Xile never let go of me. She was sitting next to me on the bed, her arms wrapped around me. Taking a deep breath, I slowly began to relax. Staying in this stinking, soaking, pitch-black room was no picnic. I was lucky not to be alone. So lucky. Once the poison outside had dispersed, we could probably find somewhere drier to stay.

  We waited there one more night, though I barely slept. I just lay there staring at the black entryway, unable to shake the feeling that, as soon as I closed my eyes, something bad would happen. Of course I knew that with all of the lights off it would be close to impossible for the spy to find us. He might know these corridors, but he didn't know everything. Yuan Xile was lying on my chest as usual. It had become the only way she could fall asleep, but tonight she too was having trouble staying under. I watched as she moved restlessly about. Perhaps she was afraid that I would steal off sometime in the night.

  I knew that searching aimlessly in the dark for a way out was no kind of plan, but if I wanted to switch the lights back on, I'd have to leave Yuan Xile here by herself. And, to be honest, I was scared of the poison. At least the darkness was safe. Anyway, I told myself, the spy had probably destroyed the master switch after using it. Thankfully I still had the map. Once I figured out where we were, we could begin hunting for an exit. I smiled to myself. Things weren't so bad. We just had to watch out for the spy, that was all. As I pictured us wandering through the dark corridors, I suddenly remembered when we'd found Yuan Xile down here. She'd been climbing into one of the boarded-up rooms. Wait a second, I thought. She knew the way in here. Had she been on her way out? Excitement lit up in me. The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became. I might not know how to get there, but at least I knew what I was looking for. And once we were close enough, Yuan Xile would probably be able to show me the way.

  I suddenly felt light and carefree and I nearly roused Yuan Xile at once, but I controlled myself. She was asleep, if only lightly. I could feel her hair fluttering against my chin in time with my breath. Shifting to a more comfortable position, I inhaled the scent of her body. I rested my cheek on her forehead and closed my eyes. As I did so, I felt her move. I sensed she was looking up at me. Her nose brushed against my chin. I felt her moist lips and the warmth of her breath on my face. I went stiff and a hot feeling spread throughout my body. My heart began to beat faster. Pulling her closer, I suppressed the strange excitement building inside of me. She moaned softly. Her chin traced a slow, intimate line down my cheek. I was overcome with the scent of her breath and her body. My mind emptied out. Unable to help myself, I kissed her. For a moment I forgot we were in a stinking, flooded room 3,600 feet below the surface, forgot that some unknown poison filled the corridors just beyond, forgot everything that wasn't perfect and divine.

  All that was left was Yuan Xile, her lips and mine, her hot skin pressed against my body. In the whole world, nothing could compare to her.

  CHAPTER

  19

  Risking It

  Most nights you never remember. Some you never forget, like they were written onto your bones. Often you might think a situation has changed, when in fact, it only looks different. And sometimes you might think nothing has changed at all when you have been transformed.

  From then on, that's how it was for me. I woke the next morning to see Yuan Xile lying on top of me, still fast asleep. Images from the night before flashed through my mind. I'd never been with a woman before, never even seen one naked. As I thought about what had happened, I was filled with both embarrassment and crackling desire. Maybe it had all been a dream? But when she awoke there was something a little awkward about her expression. The look in her eyes was profoundly complex. It gave me a marvelous feeling, as if this were to be a secret known only to us.

  After taking a moment to compose myself, I packed up our belongings and led Yuan Xile out of the room. Before long we'd left the flooded corridor far behind. Although the air seemed superficially unchanged, I no longer felt any of the debilitating effects of the poison. We proceeded with the utmost caution, her hand held tightly in mine. This is not just any hand you're holding, I told myself. This is the hand you must protect at all costs. That might sound a little ridiculous, but I knew I would sacrifice anything for the owner of that hand and never feel even a hint of regret.

  Little by little we advanced, sticking close to the walls and guided by nothing but my intuition. Every so often I would stop and listen for sounds of movement, but our surroundings were utterly silent. Where was the spy? Already dead? Perhaps, but perhaps he was just lying low. We reached a fork. As I hesitated, Yuan Xile grabbed my hand and placed it against the wall to my right. Three deep notches were cut where the wall rounded the bend. Suddenly it all made sense. These marks were deep enough that even someone groping along blindly could find them. No wonder Yuan Xile had been able to essentially sprint to the safe room through total darkness, making no wrong turns along the way. I took her hand and we continued in the direction indicated by the scratches. Soon we reached another fork. Sure enough, three deep notches had been cut into the corner to my left. I smiled to myself. We were on the right track. Without Yuan Xile pointing out the marks, I never would have noticed them.

  We finally reached a boarded-up room. Even with my flashlight off, I could tell this was where we'd found Yuan Xile. We removed some of the boards and revealed a black crawlspace. Although seemingly fit for a dog, it was big enough for a man. I relaxed, though only slightly. I hadn't expected everything to go this smoothly. At the same time I couldn't help but feel suspicious. Why had nothing happened? I stopped and listened. We were surrounded by silence. The spy must have heard us fumbling along in the dark, and yet he'd done nothing to stop us. It made no sense. What was he waiting for? Was he really dead? Fear gripped my heart. There was another possibility. Perhaps he was doing just what I'd done: lying in wait in the one place he knew we'd have to go.

  Yuan Xile was about to climb into the room when I stopped her, led her back a few steps and crouched down. At last the way out was right in front of us, yet I hung back. Was this where the spy had set his trap? He had to know about this exit. So why aimlessly hunt us all over the map when he could wait right here? For a moment I was stunned. If the situation weren't so serious, I might even h
ave applauded. I had pulled this very trick on the spy yesterday; now it was I who was facing probable ambush, but unable to turn back. Still, there was no other way out.

  The rest of the wooden boards were nailed securely across the entryway. Without Wang Sichuan's iron club, it would be impossible to enlarge the opening. My only choice was to crawl inside, though that was like handing anyone waiting on me my life on a silver platter. The world went gray as I prepared to die.

  I strapped my pack across my chest, then scurried through the opening, triangular blade in hand. Once inside, I sprang to my feet, arms out in front for protection. I could almost see him flying at me from out of the darkness. But no one was there. I swung around, blade at the ready. All was silent. I couldn't believe it.

  I cautiously switched on my flashlight and shined it around the room. The place was empty. Then I saw something. High on the wall, above one of the beds, was a ventilation shaft, its cover already removed. I scanned the room once more. All at once I wanted to laugh. Goddamn, it had all been in my head.

  I called for Yuan Xile to come inside. Then I watched as, with practiced ease, she climbed up the bed and shimmied into the vent. I followed after her. The shaft was similar to the one we'd crawled through earlier, though I doubted they were connected. An opening soon appeared before us and out we went. We emerged in an unfamiliar place, so I shined our surroundings. A gigantic pool of water was just below our feet. Rust-covered iron walls and a ceiling rose 20 feet overhead. Stagnant, rust-brown water filled the pool. It was impossible to tell its depth. The openings to countless ventilation shafts pockmarked the walls just above the water. An elevated walkway encircled the room, level with the openings. It appeared to be the dam's atmospheric purification room. All of the air in the ventilation system would be piped in here, cleaned, then re-circulated throughout the base. My flashlight beam lit upon a door. It was just off the walkway on the opposite side of the room.

  Yuan Xile smiled. She ran over and tried to pull the door open. It wouldn't budge. Her expression fell. She clearly couldn't believe it could be locked. We tried pulling together, but it was no use. I banged on it with all my might. This had to be the work of the spy. What else had the bastard arranged for us?

  I looked at the other ventilation shafts, wondering where they led. Then I remembered: the blueprints! I plucked them from my bag and began searching for the room we were in. I found it, but there was no sign of what I was really after: the ventilation system. I should have expected this. These shafts ran throughout the base and they could easily be used for infiltration and sabotage. Their locations would be a closely guarded secret. Within the stagnant pool, however, was a tunnel that connected to the underground river beyond. The swim couldn't be more than 150 feet, but at the end of the tunnel was a sluice gate for letting in fresh water from the river. If the gate was closed there would be no way out. I remembered having seen its control switch back in the command center. No way were we returning all the way there.

  Lucky for us, I knew my way around an electrical system. Electrical cables emerged from all of the air vents, crowding the room, but it was easy to locate what I was after. Only a single cable ran underwater. I took off my coat and wrapped it around my hands, then used my blade to slice open the cable's rubber sheath. I looked around and found an electrified cable of approximately the same thickness. After cutting it open, I brought the two cables together. Sparks flew in all directions. A spiraling vortex formed in the center of the pool; the sluice gate had opened. As the dirty water drained out, fresh river water rushed in to replace it. Soon it was clean enough to see through. Yuan Xile and I exchanged a glance. Then I hugged her and we leapt into the water.

  My flashlight died moments after we went under, but I had already spotted the entrance to the tunnel. We swam toward it through the blackness. To some, 150 feet underwater would be a hard swim, to others a piece of cake. I didn't know how skilled a swimmer Yuan Xile was, nor did I wish to test her limits. I pressed on as fast as I could, keeping one eye on her and one hand overhead, feeling for the opening at the top of the tunnel. Before long I was out of breath. No opening had appeared. Should I go back and look at the map? I wondered. I knew that if I was wrong, both of us were going to drown. I hesitated. My hands and feet slowed. All the air seemed to evacuate my lungs and my chest began to burn. I wanted to breathe so badly. I knew that if I didn't turn around right away, I would soon be choking on water. Just as I turned to head back, Yuan Xile pushed me onwards. With no air left, I began to panic, but she grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight. I could feel her determination. I swam after her, barely aware of what I was doing. Several long seconds passed, then the tunnel ceiling was suddenly gone and we began to float upwards. Countless lights appeared from above, blinding me. How strange, I thought.

  Then someone grabbed hold of me. I was lifted out of the water and onto a raft.

  CHAPTER

  20

  Change of Plans

  I watched as Yuan Xile was hauled dripping from the water. A cold wind blew across the underground river, chilling me to my bones and bringing me back to reality. I was surrounded by soldiers from the Chinese engineering corps. There were at least a hundred of them, their rafts packed full of supplies. Large, bright gas lamps flickered above the water nearby, illuminating a barebones encampment. We paddled over to a sprawling network of iron platforms built atop the river. Yuan Xile and I were helped from the rafts as a crowd formed around us. I was barely able to stand. Several soldiers rushed forward to give us a hand.

  "What's going on?" I asked, but the men supporting me made no response.

  The crowd parted and an officer stepped to the fore. He gave a crisp salute and motioned for us to follow him. Two soldiers helped me stumble behind the officer as he threaded his way through the camp. All around us a legion of engineers was busy fixing up the place. Arrayed among the tents were the pieces of high-tech Russian equipment we'd seen on the surface. At last we reached an open-air supply depot where a second officer stood waiting for us. I recognized this man. To everyone he was simply Commander Cheng, leader of West China's famous Twenty-Fourth Battalion. Although he wasn't part of the engineering corps, his battalion was responsible for accompanying all geological teams operating in the Northwest. All security and secrecy measures relating to those teams fell under his purview. I had met him during my time in Karamay. Anyone traveling near Xinjiang in those years would have heard of the Twenty-Fourth, but that was on the opposite side of the country. I couldn't imagine what he was doing here. In Karamay he'd shown my team great courtesy, but I knew he was a taciturn and serious man—the consummate professional soldier.

  He strode over at once. Seeing we had no energy to speak, he turned to the soldiers supporting us and said, "Bring them to the medical camp. I'll be there soon."

  With that we were off. I recognized the head doctor when we got there. He'd been at headquarters on the surface. As soon as he and the other doctors and nurses saw us, they rushed over to help. I was still holding Yuan Xile's hand. When they tried to separate us, she gripped me tighter and refused to let go. I looked into her eyes, no less unwilling, but as I saw all the people swarming around us, I hesitated and relaxed my grip. In an instant they'd pulled her away. She didn't resist, just watched me. I waved at her, wanting to tell her not to be afraid, that I would be right here, but she was already gone, swallowed by the mass of people ferrying her into the next tent. It suddenly felt as if a black divide had opened between us. I could almost see it, an ill omen, but then the sensation vanished, and I was rushed inside another tent.

  I asked one of the doctors what was going on and why had the whole operation suddenly been moved down here. At first he didn't reply, just regarded me with an inscrutable look. Then he told me not to ask so many questions. I would soon know everything I needed to know. The most important thing now was to rest.

  After removing my clothes, they began my examination. As I watched the stone-faced doctors and nurses, I became incre
asingly uneasy. What could have happened to justify a move like this of so many?

  Such questions soon fled from my mind. When I lay down, my forgotten exhaustion swept over me like the ocean tide. A nurse hooked me up to the intravenous drip, and I gradually fell into a bottomless sleep. Lost to the world, I dreamed not a single dream.

  ***

  When I awoke, two days had passed. My body must have gone through some bone-rattling torment. I ached all over. Even my toenails hurt. When I tried to get out of bed, the doctor made me stay put. He instructed the nurses to give me some liquid food and told me to keep resting.

  When I asked how Yuan Xile was doing, he smiled ambiguously and said, "About the same as you."

  I didn't know what this meant and his smile made me extremely uneasy. Although I tried time and time again to slip away and see her, I was still too weak. The moment I left the bed, I’d fall to the floor. Eventually one of the nurses scolded me, saying she was yelled at each time I fell. If I did it again she'd be written up. After that I stayed in bed.