528 The Flood, Ch. 40


Chapter Forty

A seagull took off from the floor above, the first couple flaps barely audible, and then silence.

Below, waves crashed into the building, reverberating through the structure.

My pulse throbbed through my head.

But I heard no one else. No footsteps on the stairs, no crunching through the broken glass, no debris being knocked into. I was alone.

So I got back to work.

Sure enough, the switch room looked almost exactly like one of ours, thank you industrial espionage, and I was able to pick out a couple good candidates for salvage. 

---

Hauling the gear down to the water level took a couple trips. I piled it up on the stairs above where the dinghy was tied, and returned for more. But when I came back, my first carry was gone.

I looked in the dinghy, just to make sure I hadn't put it there. Nope. 

Scanning all around me and sensing nothing, nobody, I did some quick calculations in my head. If the machine I was holding worked, that was all I really needed. So I pulled the dinghy close, slipped the gear inside, and-

Never saw the blow coming. The back of my head stung, but not as bad as my nose hurt when it bashed against the gunwale, and then I was in the water.

But not sinking. It was only a couple of feet deep on this floor, and on my knees, I ducked down as I spun around to face my attacker.






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