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Austin saw that the cable splice was unraveling

“Just keep hauling,” he said

He gritted his teeth as if he could lift the B3 through sheer willpower The bathysphere remained where it was The cable unraveled some more

“Move, damnit!” he yelled

Plumes of mud billowed around the bathysphere Then the sphere pulled free, popping frohted itself A thick cloud of silt hid the sphere for an instant before it rose into the glare of the Hardsuit’s searchlights

Austin’s triuh the ship’s public-address system

The B3 was ten feet fro off its sides, then twenty feet, and still there was no sign of air-bag deploy for? Maybe the flotation doors were clogged with mud

Austin kept pace, rising sloith the bathysphere, his eyes glued to the hook and cable

As the last strand of cable splice gave way, doors along the sides of the sphere suddenly blew open and six air bags blossomed and rapidly filled The bathysphere rocked back and forth, stabilized, then began to ascend

Austin watched the B3 until it was out of sight

“They’re on their way,” he notified Gannon

“You’re next,” the captain said “How are you?”

“I’ll be a lot better topside”

Austin steadied the thrusters so that he was in a more or less vertical position, and was ready when the Hardsuit jerked at the end of the cable As the suit began its long trip, Austin turned off his lights and saw that he was not alone

The blackness was speckled with dozens of constellations He was surrounded by lu in place like stars Occasionally, he saw soht sky Then his eye caught movemen