The following afternoon:
Ben Urich followed his guide down the narrow sidewalk beside the channel of water. Each man carried a flashlight; Trent Archer also carried a map. Archer had turned out to be a lean, hard-faced man with unruly dark hair. He had introduced himself, and had then led the way through the pump station down into the sewer tunnels below.
"Through the first part of the trip, the tunnels are high enough to walk upright," he'd said as they stepped onto the concrete walkway and closed the staircase's door. "Lots of pipe and equipment that needs regular checking. Further out, where it's just water flowing, the tunnel ceilings get lower, the lights get further apart, and it's harder to get around. We're gonna hafta go to one of the less-used parts of the tunnels to see what you're looking for."
Now the two men moved along a much narrower walkway; to their left ran a shallow trough of water (" 'Bout chest deep here," Archer had said). The surface of the water was only a hand's span lower than the walkway. The lights were indeed further apart, and both men had their flashlights on.
"Okay, right down there was the sighting," Archer said, pointing to a spot several yards down the tunnel.
Urich moved ahead and swept the flashlight beam back and forth over the area, which looked no different than any other part of the tunnels he seen that afternoon. "Which sighting?"
"Huh?"
"Which sighting?" Urich asked over his shoulder. "There were three."
"Oh, yeah. This's the first one."
"Okay. Where exactly does this tunnel lead?"
"The ocean."
"Uh, huh. And in the other direction?"
"Sewage treatment plant."
"Which one? There are eleven in the system." Urich fumbled in a pocket for his reading glasses.
"The closest one."
Urich stopped, glasses in hand, and peered at him thoughtfully. "Oh-kay." He gestured down the tunnel with the flashlight. "Do any other tunnels intercept—"
Something hissed softly in the darkness. Urich paused. "Did you hear that?" He pointed the flashlight beam ahead along the water channel.
"Probably just a steam pipe," Archer remarked.
" 'Probably'?" Urich repeated, turning the beam on his guide. "You don't—" He broke off at the sight of the knife in Archer's hand. A smile spread crept across Archer's face.
"Yeah, probably. But it ain't gonna matter pretty soon, pal."
Urich took a step back, eyes still on the knife. "I — I don't understand..."
"Well, it's pretty simple." Archer advanced a step. The pipe hissed again. "This is one of the simplest jobs I've ever had. I mean, you walk right down here for me, nice and polite, no one around to see what happens, so I don't hafta worry about witnesses."
The hissing sounded again, closer this time. Urich took another step back, his breath coming in gasps. Archer was between him and the exit, along the only stretch of tunnel that was even remotely familiar. Behind him was the dark unknown.
"So you just disappear," Archer was saying, advancing slowly with the knife. "And—"
Something screeched, the cry echoing off the walls of the tunnel. A small dark shape burst out of the water behind Archer and leaped onto the walkway, charging between Archer's legs and over Urich's shoes. Both the reporter and his assailant shouted. Urich jumped back and slammed against the tunnel wall; the jolt knocked his glasses from his hand and into the water. Archer staggered back a step, his flashlight clattered to the floor.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Urich bolted forward into the darkness.
The hissing came again, directly behind Archer. Urich risked a glance over his shoulder. Archer sprang forward to snatch up his flashlight. A sinuous form the size of a grown man reared up out of the water behind him. The hiss became a roar. Urich caught a glimpse of pointed teeth in a long muzzle as clawed feet propelled the thing onto the walkway.
He could hear the staccato slaps of Archer's boots behind him and the scrabble of claws on concrete. Suddenly Archer grunted and the boot steps became irregular. Urich heard him gasping; there were no further sounds of a running man now. The reporter half-turned, sidestepping down the tunnel, peering back into the dimness for Archer's form.
Archer stood at bay, the reptilian thing weaving back and forth before him. He slashed at the creature's head with the knife. The monster jerked back, then flowed forward, jaws open, striking at Archer as his swipe left him vulnerable. A glint of metal spun to one side and into the water. Archer staggered backward in Urich's direction, flashlight beam playing wildly against the far wall.
The thing charged forward. Urich fled. Behind him he could hear the clatter of Archer's boots against the concrete floor. Archer gasped; the reporter could hear the scrape of claws on stone over the other's panting. A moment later Archer shouted, then suddenly began screaming. Something heavy hit the concrete with a wet slap. The creature snarled in the sudden darkness behind Urich. Archer's screams cut off abruptly.
Urich ran, the rumbling of the monster fading behind him. There were no sounds of further pursuit.
Exhaustion and a cramp in his side brought Urich to a halt an indefinite amount of time later. He collapsed to his knees on the walkway, gasping, free hand clutching at the wall. Other than his breathing, the only sound was the flow and dripping of water. Behind him stretched the tunnel. Ahead — he flashed the beam of light forward — stretched more tunnel.
"Terrific," Urich muttered, resting his forehead against the wall. "There has got to be a ladder or exit along here somewhere—"
Something croaked behind him. Urich jumped, stumbling half to his feet and sweeping the flashlight beam back the way he had come. A black lump about the size of a large housecat crouched on the walkway. As the beam passed over it, the lump suddenly squawked and heaved upward. A pair of clawed hands shot upward to shield what were probably the thing's eyes. The creature wheeled away and scuttled down the walkway, seeking the darkness outside the flashlight beam.
That's either the world's biggest mutant rat, or the smallest monster on Earth, Urich thought, staring after it. For a moment he debated following it; then he remembered the much larger thing that had pounced on Archer and thought the better of it. No. Not without a few security guards. Or better yet, the National Guard. Find a ladder or exit first. Then convince the police or someone to come back down here and look for those things.
Urich pulled himself to his feet and began to walk down the tunnel. Got to be a way out— On impulse, he swung around. The flashlight beam caught the smaller creature again in the middle of the walkway. It hissed and scuttled back again, but this time the hiss was answered by something in the water. At the edge of the light, a second small dark shape scrambled out of the water and crouched on the walkway. Urich swallowed suddenly. My God. How many of these things are there? He turned and moved away at a trot, the two creatures hissing and croaking behind him.
Fifteen minutes later, the only thing keeping Urich from running was the thought that what lay ahead might be worse than what seemed to be following him. The last time he had flashed the light over the walkway behind him, there had been three of the black things padding along behind him. Worse, there were disquieting sounds coming from the tunnel ahead of him. Something seemed to be humming. If the humming had been that of machinery, it would have been a comforting sound. But the humming had been an intermittent noise, and in the last couple of minutes it had been punctuated with a sort of trilling.
Sweat ran down Urich's face and neck. He kept moving forward only because nothing solid had appeared in the tunnel ahead of him, and it still seemed a better option than turning back.
He had seen no ladders, doors, or any indications of exits from the tunnel. The smell of the air had changed as well — considerably less like sewage and more like some sort of chemicals. Maybe I'm finally getting near a treatment facility.
Any hope of a way out shattered as something dark loomed at the edge of the flashlight's beam in front of him. Urich uttered a small gasp of fear and froze. A dim, man-sized shape stood on the walkway, and a second materialized out of the darkness beside it. Swinging the flashlight beam behind him, Urich realized he was surrounded — looming behind the small creatures that had been following him, there were now two of the larger things behind them. He backed up against the wall. The water was ahead of him. Swimming wasn't the best option, but right now it appeared to be the only option.
A dark shape broke the surface of the water, gliding towards him. The water option had just vanished.
The creatures on the walkway stopped. The figure in the water reached the edge of the canal and placed both hands on the edge of the concrete, pulling itself out of the water. It moved slowly forward into the light, walking upright on its hind legs.
Urich clutched the flashlight and his breathing quickened. If a moray eel had grown arms and legs and learned to walk, it might have resembled the creature before him. A short, spiny fin began at the crest of the head and appeared to run the length of the creature's back. The eyes, set more in the side of the head than the front, were completely black and unblinking. The teeth, thin and needle-sharp, sprouted from both its upper and lower jaws, making it impossible for the creature to completely close its mouth. Its fingers and toes all sported claws, and a tail trailed behind it. Its skin was smooth and dark.
As the creature straightened, it rose to a height slightly taller than Urich himself. The rest of its companions formed a loose semi-circle around it, just outside the halo of the flashlight beam.
A second of the larger creatures moved forward. As it drew abreast of the first one, the first raised its left hand to chest level and slowly stretched its arm out toward Urich. The only sound in the tunnel was the flow of water, Urich's ragged breathing, and the soft slithering hiss the creatures made, which sounded like a small rockslide. The creature turned its fist over and opened its hand. Clawed fingers parted.
In the hollow of its palm lay Urich's neatly folded reading glasses.
For a moment, no one moved. Urich stared at the sight of his glasses nestled in a monster's hand.
The second creature turned slightly toward its companion. It pointed to the glasses, then formed a circle with the thumb and forefinger of its right hand, mirroring the motion with its left hand. It held the circles to its eyes as though looking through binoculars. Then it dropped the right hand and pointed to Urich with its left.
The human stood frozen. The creature repeated the gestures and waited.
Finally Urich stretched a trembling hand out and gingerly lifted his glasses out of the first creature's hand. The momentary touch of its palm was damp and smooth.
"Thank you," Urich told it, his voice little more than a whisper.
The creature that had held the glasses responded by touching the tips of its fingers to its mouth, then pushing them away, almost as though it was blowing a kiss. Then it turned its gaze to the second creature and waited.
The leader placed its left palm against its chest, where a human heart would be. Its right hand came up with the palm turned toward its companion, its thumb tucked into the palm. The creature tapped the side of its right hand against the back of its left, twice.
Urich's mouth fell open. Like many people, he was familiar with at least a few of the finger spellings of American Sign Language. The creature's right hand appeared to be making the letter "B". The creature repeated the gesture, tapping the sign for "B" against its chest.
"Sign Language," Urich said suddenly. "You speak in Sign Language?"
The creature nodded twice, slowly and deliberately.
"Do you understand English?" Urich asked. Again the creature nodded.
This can't be happening. Urich sank back against the wall. This is unbelievable...
The trilling sound began again to his left. Urich shone the flashlight in the direction from which he'd come. By now there were half a dozen of the large creatures; four of them had picked the smaller creatures up and stood with their foreheads pressed against the smaller ones' faces. The large creatures began humming. The smaller creatures had fallen silent.
"Babies," Urich said aloud. The creature in front of him cocked its head and nodded. "Those are your children." He suddenly tucked the flashlight under his arm and began patting his pockets, searching for his notebook and pen. "There's a whole colony of you down here?"
The creature nodded. Then it made a gesture with its hand, as though it were working a hand puppet. Its fingers formed a "beak", and made a signal that obviously meant "talk". "You want to talk to me?" Urich asked.
The creature pointed to its forehead, then made the "talk" sign again, and then pointed to Urich's forehead. The reporter's eyes darted to the four creatures communing with the smaller ones. "Talk with your mind?" Damn, I know there's a word for that... Peter would have known it, or Carstairs, the guy who wrote the science articles. "Yeah, I, uh, I don't remember what it's called." He stopped. The idea of having one of these things actually rummaging around in his thoughts... He shuddered. "Uh, look, uh, humans don't talk that way, okay? I, uh, need to get out of here and come back with a translator — someone who speaks Sign Language, okay?"
This time the creature distinctly shook its head. "Does—does that mean 'no, I can't leave', or 'no, I can't have a translator', or what?"
The creature shook its head again, and then repeated its mind/talk/mind gesture.
"Don't any of you speak English?" The idea of having these... things in his head wasn't terribly appealing.
The creature shook its head again, tapped its teeth with one finger, then gestured with its hands. The gesture was probably a word or phrase, but Urich had pretty much exhausted his knowledge of sign language. On the other hand, they hadn't attacked him yet, so perhaps... He stepped to one side, away from the creature. "Look, I'd really feel more comfortable with a translator. Humans don't talk with our minds." Well, except for some of the mutants, of course, but that's not the case here. "Believe me, I'll be back as soon as I find someone—"
The creature reached out with one hand and caught Urich's shoulder, claws digging into the fabric of his jacket. Two of the other creatures moved forward to block Urich's retreat, although neither of them touched him. Their meaning was clear; Urich wasn't leaving.
"Let me explain this. I absolutely want to talk to you," Urich said, trying another tactic. "An interview like this is — is a once in a career opportunity. No journalist would turn it down, believe me. But you can't speak to me, and I can't, can't — whatever the word is for talking mind to mind. I need someone who speaks sign language."
This time the creature made a show of shaking its head slowly and deliberately. It pointed to Urich, then held its hand up and pushed it toward him, palm first. Its meaning was clear: You stay. Then it repeated the mind/talk/mind gesture. Getting no response from Urich, it folded its arms in a surprisingly human gesture and waited.
The reporter glanced around at the rest of the creatures, who watched him, unblinking. I guess if I want the interview, I'll have to do it this way. He eyed the first creature warily. "I, uh, i-is this going to hurt?"
The creature shook its head.
"This—you aren't going to end up taking over my mind, are you?" Urich pressed back against the wall again.
The creature shook its head again and waited.
Urich closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. "O-okay. Just...okay. Go, uh, go ahead."
The creature stepped forward cautiously, lowering its head to peer into Urich's eyes. Then it moved in closer, its needle-like teeth brushing the reporter's temple as it pressed the side of its face against his. Urich's body jerked once at the contact, his eyes closed, and everything was swallowed up in a burst of white static.