Pendergast smiled thinly. “It isn’t that, Doctor. It’s the inclement weather. You know how the subbasement floods during rainy spells. I heard someone on the police radio saying the rain outside has been approaching monsoon strength for the last hour. When I was sprinkling those fibers into the subbasement, I noticed the water was at least two feet deep and flowing quickly eastward. That would imply drainage from the river. We couldn’t get down there now even if we wanted to.” Pendergast raised his eyebrows. “If D’Agosta isn’t out by now—well, his chances are marginal, at best.”
He turned toward Margo. “Perhaps the best thing would be for you two to stay here, inside the Secure Area. We know the creature can’t get past this reinforced door. Within a couple of hours, they are sure to restore power. I believe there are several men still trapped in Security Command and the Computer Room. They may be vulnerable. You’ve taught me a lot about this creature. We know its weaknesses, and we know its strengths. Those areas are near a long, unobstructed hallway. With you two safe in here, I can hunt it for a change.”
“No,” said Margo. “You can’t do it by yourself.”
“Perhaps not, Ms. Green, but I plan on making a fairly good imitation of it.”
“I’m coming with you,” she said resolutely.
“Sorry.” Pendergast stood by the open door to the Secure Area expectantly.
“That thing is highly intelligent,” she said. I don’t think you can go up against it alone. If you think that because I’m a woman—”
Pendergast looked astonished. “Ms. Green, I’m shocked you would have such a low opinion of me. The fact is, you’ve never been in this kind of situation before. Without a gun, you can’t do anything.”
Margo looked at him combatively. “I saved your ass back there when I told you to switch on your lamp,” she challenged.
He raised an eyebrow.
From the darkness, Frock said, “Pendergast, don’t be a Southern gentleman fool. Take her.”
Pendergast turned to Frock. “Are you sure you’ll be all right on your own, Doctor?” he asked. “We’ll need to take both the flashlight and the miner’s lamp if we’re to have any chance of success.”
“Of course!” Frock said with a dismissive wave. “I could use a bit of rest after all this excitement.”
Pendergast hesitated a moment longer, then looked bemused. “Very well,” he said. “Margo, lock the doctor inside the Secure Area, get his keys and what’s left of my suit jacket, and let’s go.”
Smithback gave the flashlight a savage shake. The light flickered, grew brighter for a moment, then dimmed again.
“If that light goes out,” D’Agosta said, “we’re fucked. Turn it off; we’ll switch it on now and then to check our progress.”
They moved through the darkness, the sound of rushing water filling the close air. Smithback led; behind him came D’Agosta, grasping the journalist’s hand—which, like the rest of him, had grown almost entirely numb.
Suddenly, Smithback pricked up his ears. In the dark, he gradually became aware of a new sound.
“You hear that?” Smithback asked.
D’Agosta listened. “I hear something,” he answered.
“It sounds to me like—” Smithback fell silent.
“A waterfall,” D’Agosta said with finality. “But whatever it is must be a ways off. Sounds carry in this tunnel. Keep it to yourself.”
The group slogged on in silence.
“Light,” said D’Agosta.
Smithback turned it on, played it down the empty hall in front of them, then switched it off again. The sound was louder now; quite a bit louder, in fact. He felt a surge in the water.
“Shit!” said D’Agosta.
There was a sudden commotion behind them.
“Help!” came a feminine voice. “I’ve slipped! Don’t let go!”
“Grab her, somebody!” the Mayor shouted.
Smithback snapped on the light and angled it quickly backward. A middle-aged woman was thrashing about in the water, her long evening dress billowing out across the inky surface.
“Stand up!” the Mayor was shouting. “Anchor your feet!”
“Help me!” she screamed.
Smithback shoved the flashlight into his pocket and braced himself against the current. The woman was floating directly toward him. He saw her arm lash out and felt it wrap around his thigh in a viselike grip. He felt himself slipping.
“Wait!” he cried. “Stop struggling! I’ve got you!”
Her legs kicked out and wrapped around his knees. Smithback lost his grip on D’Agosta and staggered forward, marveling at her strength even as he was pulled off balance.
“You’re dragging me under!” he said, toppling to his chest in the water and feeling the current sucking him downward. Out of the corner of his eye he saw D’Agosta wading in his direction. The woman clambered onto him in a blind panic, forcing his head under water. He rose up under her damp gown, and then it was clinging to his nose and chin, disorienting him, suffocating him. A great lassitude began to sweep over him. He went under a second time, a strange, hollow roaring in his ears.
Suddenly he was above the water again, choking and coughing. A dreadful shrieking was coming from the tunnel ahead of them. He was held in a powerful grip. D’Agosta’s grip.
“We lost the woman,” D’Agosta said. “Come on.”