Chapter four
An Ocean World
In the late nineties, before the Little War, the big problem was food. People had too many children. They lived too long. The great green earth could not fill their Stomachs, and became tired and dry. Millions suffered and died. So people went into Space but the worlds there were, cold, with strange, dangerous gases.
Then there were the oceans. Beautiful blue water, wild in places, bringing happiness and life. But below this... far below... there was another world, a dark ocean world. This was where people built their new city of steel and glass. They called this new world Molly, the queen of the oceans. She covered hundreds of kilometers. She took years to build. She gave work and homes to twenty thousand scientists and their families. She gave food and electricity to the world. Until 6:03 P.M. on March 6, 2033. Then a small movement in the earth cracked Molly's steel. Water came through, destroying more than a thousand buildings in minutes. Fourteen thousand men, women, and children were killed. This was the beginning of Molly's long war with the ocean. The Maze car arrived at Molly and the seats unlocked.
"Exit, please. " Jessica looked up out of the car with wide eyes. She followed Logan onto Molly's platform without a word. The great Pacific pushed against the plastiglass all around them. The air smelled old. There were strange sounds like small explosions.
Why are we here? Under the ocean? thought Logan. As Jessica's surprise left her, he saw the hate return to her eyes. "Yes, I've got a gun," he said. "And back in my room there's a black Sandman's coat. But now I'm a runner, like you. " "Sandmen don't run," she said. "And Sandmen don't eat. And Sandmen don't get tired. Well, I'm tired and hungry... and hated. " She looked at him coldly. "You're a murderer! You've chased and killed people like my brother. They were good people. They only wanted to live. " "I didn't kill your brother," Logan said. "Maybe not, but you wanted to. That's your job, isn't it?" He had no answer.
"I hate you! I hate all of you!" she shouted. "You Sandmen live by pain. You never think about how wrong your job is! You love using your guns to burn people! You and your world are sick and I...
Her words cut him like knives. Logan hit her hard across the face.
She put up a shaking hand to stop the blood. Her flower was black.
"It's changed," said Logan. "You're on black" Without thinking, he reached for his gun. Jessica's face showed that she was terrified. He stopped. He didn't know what to do. He was a runner but he was a Sandman, too. In that second Jessica ran off down the platform.
"Jessica! " he shouted after her.
The girl ran. Up stairs... hundreds of metal stairs... along glass tunnels with all kinds of ocean swimming around them. At the end of one tunnel there was a large steel door. She threw herself at it and tried to open it.
The sound of a gun stopped her. A loud voice shouted.
"You! Stop! If you open that door, the ocean will take us both! " She turned. Standing in front of her was... what? A man? He was huge. His head touched the top of the tunnel His face was like a moon, with two small eyes pushed into the fat. His mouth was large and blood red... and his body...
He stood there, holding his gun. This was Whale.
"Look behind you!" Jessica pointed down the tunnel.
Logan was running toward them.
When Whale saw Logan's gun, his face went red with anger. "What this? I thought that two runners were coming. Runners don't chase runners. " "He's a Sandman!" shouted Jessica.
Whale stopped to think. There was another small explosion. Another part of Molly was falling into the ocean.
"I'm a runner," said Logan. "I've tried to tell her but she doesn't believe me. " "So why should I?" Whale asked.
He lifted his hand and opened his thick fingers. Logan could see the black of his flower. Whale pointed his gun at Logan.
"Now, put your gun on the floor," he said. Logan slowly and carefully did what Whale asked.
"OK, now let's take a little tour of Molly, Whale said. He took them back down the tunnel. "You drylanders don't know about Molly. She's a real fighter. She's; like me. She doesn't die easily. " They moved slowly through glass tunnels and along moving walkways. They saw the cracks in the steel, with the water slowly coming in. How much time did Molly have? Whale took them farther and farther down. The water inside was getting deeper. It was halfway up their bodies now. They came to another heavy, steel door. Whale slowly pulled it open and pushed Logan into a small, dark room.
"Molly's sick down here. And fighting hard," he said. "This wall's going to break soon." He put his hand against it. "You've seen hard times, girl. But I've brought you help." He turned to Logan. "If you want to live, you'll help Molly fight. Keep your body against this wall. Give us all some more time. When it goes, you'll go with it. " "Wait! You're not leaving him here?" shouted Jessica.
"Molly needs him," Whale said. "But you're as bad as he is! You're a killer' "A man kills to save himself. " Whale pushed past her and closed and locked the heavy door. Outside, he gave her a key.
"Use this at ten forty for your next car," he said. "Hurry now. You know where the platform is." Jessica looked at him, white-faced. "Molly's calling. I have work to do. " He turned, moved back along the tunnel, and disappeared.
Logan stood in the wet, dark space. His last hope was gone. He was a dead man. Now he knew how runners felt. He knew their fear. He moved slowly along the walls in the dark and tried to find the door. He couldn't find a way out. Maybe this is my punishment, he thought. For all the pain I've brought. He could feel the Pacific pushing against the wall. Suddenly the door opened. Jessica! "Quick!" she said.
"There isn't much time!" They ran.
"Sanctuary" they said to the Maze car. But it didn't take them to Sanctuary. It took them to Hell.
