Facsimile by Vicki Weavil Read Free Book Online Page A

At least I won’t suffocate, although that might be preferable to being lost in a cavern with no food and little water.
    Water. That’s what I hear. Waves lapping against a shore. I shake my head. I’ve only heard such sounds on holodiscs. I must be imagining things.
    I turn another corner and almost drop my flashlight. I’ve stepped into a large cavern, its domed rock roof pierced with air shafts that channel rays of light. The light pinpoints rough ledges and paths, and water—a still, clear body of water like a small underground lake. I’m standing at the top of a steeply inclined path leading down to the water and a rocky shore.
    Dace is kneeling upon that shore, holding another monitoring device over the water.
    “Mierda!” I make my way down to him, keeping a hand on the stone wall that edges one side of the path. “Just wander off and expect me to follow? You could’ve been killed instantly in a rock slide, you moron.”
    Dace looks up at me. There isn’t even a flicker of contrition in his eyes. “But I wasn’t.” He holds up the monitoring device as I approach. “There are living creatures in this water, Ann. Did your colony know anything about that?”
    “No.” I stride over to him. “We knew there was water, of course. But creatures? How could that be?”
    “Air, water, some form of food chain. Why not?” Dace pushes back the dark hair falling into his eyes. “I’m picking up traces of vegetation too. Water-based, but plants for sure. Not here, but drifting in from somewhere else.” His eyes narrow as he examines the other side of the chamber, where the lake touches a stone wall. “I wonder … ”
    “Don’t even think about getting in that water.” I grab Dace’s shoulder. “You’ve already pulled several idiotic stunts today. No more.”
    Dace yanks free of my grip. “You have no scientific curiosity.”
    “I have an instinct for self-preservation.” I kneel beside him. “You seem to be lacking that gene.” I stare into the lake. It appears dark, but only because I can see straight to the smooth black stones that line the bottom. “Your device must be malfunctioning. Nothing could live down here. It looks dead, and cold.”
    “It isn’t.” Dace leans forward and dabbles his fingers in the water. “Tepid, which is also strange.” His gaze focuses on the opposite wall. “I’m betting there’s more to see, behind that barrier. This is just a small overflow or outlet or something.”
    I extend one finger and touch the surface of the lake. It’s much warmer than it looks. Not hot, but comfortable, like a cool bath. Sitting back on my heels, I stare at the tip of my finger, half-expecting some type of skin reaction. But the single drop of liquid glistens innocently.
    “It’s perfectly harmless,” says Dace. He picks up a small fragment of rock from the shore and stuffs it in his pocket before rising to his feet. “I don’t get it. No one’s ever explored these caverns before? In all the time you’ve lived here, I’d have thought someone would’ve been curious.”
    I stand, shaking the dampness from the bottom of my jeans. “Curiosity gets people killed. My grandparents, for example. My mother’s parents,” I add, noting Dace’s puzzled expression. “They were geologists, so of course they were interested in exploring the rock hills. But after they were killed in a slide no one else wanted to attempt it. I mean, we knew there was more water, but we had enough for our uses from the compound’s wells. And after the terraforming went bust … ” I shrug. “What was the point?”
    “Exploration. Discovery.” Dace fiddles with his gadget. “So I guess that wasn’t high on the list of the colony’s concerns.”
    “No, survival was more important. And my grandparents … ” I shine the flashlight at the lake. “Well, they didn’t die instantly, you see. They were trapped. For days and days. Trapped, injured, and suffocating. They recorded it all—for