Marshal Cole walked forward and as he did the light where he stood went out and a light where he went turned on. It was disorienting. He could no longer see the hatch from where he'd entered the cavernous room from. His terminal was useless as it could not connect to anything outside the room. His internal AI could count the steps he took but couldn't situate him any better without points of reference.
The flashlight he had was swallowed up in the blackness of the room. Had he stuck along the wall, he would have at least had that as a tactile guide but what would have been the point? He was called to this place for a reason. It had obvious advantages in terms of a rendezvous in that it was private and likely had an egress for the one that called the meeting.
Having one's sight taken away certainly heightened every other sense. Cole reached out and listened, breathed in and felt through his skin. While there were no obvious signs, he knew somehow what direction to take. As he moved, a light would shine down on him wherever he walked and shutoff wherever he just left. He heard the hum of the light as one light switched on as well tonal differences of the light that switched off.
The white noise could not hide the sound of dripping water. Cole strained to hear and at first, it sounded like it was echoing everywhere. However, when he listened closer, he discerned a direction in which to walk. A distinctive smell grew with every step. Then suddenly, he was in a puddle. He shined his flashlight down and sure enough was feet deep in a very shallow puddle. It was not overlapping his shoes but it was a bit of a surprise to find. He knelt down and touched the water and brought it up to his face, inhaled and rubbed his fingers on it and felt the grittiness.
"Salt water," he said under his breath while shaking his head. "I'm inside an empty aquarium."
"Very good, Marshal," said a young girl's voice calling out from the blackness. "It took me forever to figure what this room was."
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Star Law: A Marshal Cole Series
Science FictionA murder mystery in space, a frontier marshal investigating and a young girl who is the key to it all. Highest rating in sci-fi: #2!
