Free The Caverns of Mare Cetus by Jim Erjavec Page A

her shoulder. "Look. I just have to clear my head, okay?"
       "You know how I feel about this place…" Garrett's voice faded. "But you're a big girl. Just play it smart, okay?"
       "Of course I will," she said as her eyes became fixed on Devon.
       Devon's eyes darted several times between the ground and Renata's face. "Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?"
       "No," said Renata. "I'll be fine." She scratched her shoulder again, then began kneading it with her fingers.
       "I'd feel better if you took this." Garrett pulled an electra from his pocket. "I always carry a backup."
       "I really don't need that," she said, but Garrett's eyes seemed to be begging her to take it. She reluctantly took the electra and placed it in her jacket pocket. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I promise."
       "And don't worry about that idiot. We'll take care of him. I promise."
       She gave him a halfhearted smile, taking notice of Devon, whose eyes seemed to be looking through her, as if Devon was deep in thought. Renata turned and headed toward a side passage.
       "Remember to use your brains, Rene," Garrett's voice rang out as she entered the passage.
       As Renata continued along the straight, narrow passage for a while, her thoughts were consumed by painful embarrassment and gloomy contemplation. "Too bad scheming and revenge aren't your strong points," she mumbled when she finally took notice of the passage walls, which were made up of thick layers of grungy gray limestone that sandwiched thin, wavy pockets of cream-colored gypsum. She stopped, took a gander at a lens-shaped pocket of gypsum, then began walking again, scrutinizing each step as she avoided sporadic groups of sharp, angular rocks that were protruding from beneath the mud-choked floor. After she had gone a distance more, the passage widened and ran into a broad elliptical spring.
       She sat by the edge of the spring and moved her hand over the misty grayish-green water, gauging its temperature. After running a quick Vimap scan on the spring's properties—it was as hot as bathwater, about seven meters deep and basically just water—she sat silently for a while, dancing her fingers through the water. Then she gave her shoulder a hard massage, trying to dislodge what now felt like a numbing sensation. At once she let go of her shoulder and anxiously looked back into the passage, fearing Ramon's loathsome face would pop out from behind the rocks and shatter her peaceful refuge. It didn't. She turned back to the serenity of the spring and stared at her reflection in the pool but was disturbed by the dark circles beneath her eyes. She waggled her fingers in the water, distorting her unbecoming image.
       She took off her boots and socks, rolled up her slacks, and dangled her legs in the water. She sighed. It felt great. "That jerk," she muttered. She looked at her thin legs as she stretched them out just at the waterline. "You may not have Ari's body, but you're no damn ice cavern." As she began bobbing her legs in the water, she felt the urge to go for a swim, as crazy as that sounded, the spring seeming to get only more inviting as she savored its warmth against her skin. She pulled her legs up on the rocks and after glancing around the chamber, she removed her jacket and slacks. She unfastened the symotes from her jacket, turned off their sensors, and set them on the ground so they cast their light across the pool. It was then she noticed another passage leading away from the pool on its opposite end. She removed her bright yellow T-shirt and panties and placed all of her clothing in a neat pile next to the lamps.
       She slipped into the pool and began treading water. The glistening reflections in the water bringing back memories of an isolated lake resort on Novia, she swam lazily along the length of the pool several times, moving in and out of the light of the lamps.
       Still, she couldn't help but notice her eyes