Made a decision yesterday which resulted in the rewrite of a few paragraphs, about three segments from now. I now am much more comfortable with where Alicia is going. And that means *yeah!* back to daily updates, by and large. It also helps to put pressure onto me to say ahead of things rather than sitting about drinking Manhattans and not moving the story forward.

My editing of all this: people, dates, ages, locations, maps, is going to rival what I had to do for the American Imperium trilogy. And this is just a little girl lost down a hole. And, admittedly, I’m getting a “Moria” vibe, not “Wonderland.”

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All of their kind very good at dead reckoning, so it was just over a kilometer later when, after chewing on some hard cheese from her other pouch, she realized the faint glimmer ahead was not a reflection of her light.  Alicia turned it off and hooked it back onto her belt.  Standing perfectly still to listen, she also removed her noseline, to sniff the air.

That was her first surprise.  “The air is maybe nineteen percent oh-two; not enough for a human but I can manage,” she said, tabbing off her air feed.

The second surprise was also from her nose.  And from the skin of her face.  “Moisture.  A lot of water is ahead.”  That made sense:  the Second Inundation was largely from the quarter trillion tons of water trapped underground.  This must just be more of it.

Hearing nothing, and now with no light for her feet, Alicia moved on carefully.  The glimmer increased only a small amount but enough to see the end of the tunnel open into another chamber.  Another stop to listen.  Nothing.  She walked to the mouth of the tunnel.

That was her third surprise.

“Oh, my.”

The glow came from the lake.  A lake in a cavern whose roof she could not see.  Narrow where she stood in the tunnel, it opened rapidly and went far beyond her field of vision.

“If that is bioluminescence, that means the water is oxygenated,” Alicia said to herself.  “And, it might have its own ecosystem, even way down here.”

She descended the gentle slope, a few meters drop over ten long, to the edge of the water, her eyes adjusting to the silver glow.  Pausing at the water’s side, she looked up.  Another surprise.

Across the water, at this point maybe fifty meters away, was a building carved out of the stone of the cavern’s wall.  A series of squat, square openings every so often at ground level with some slits – windows? – at irregular intervals higher up.  This unit seemed about forty meters tall and stretched off to her right for perhaps five hundred.

“Reminds me of the pictures I saw about Mesa Verde, in Texas’ Colorado Province,” she said.  “But with no erosion, these are in much better condition.  One of cousin Sky’s ancestors told stories about them, I think.  Never did read them.”

Not knowing how deep the water might be, or what might be in it, she stripped off her gloves, pushed them into her belt, and knelt.  One finger into the water.  Up to her nose.  Seems okay.  Then a drop onto her tongue.  Salty?  But sodium or potassium?  Not like our Great Ocean and I have only heard of the oceans of Old Home.

Looking about, Alicia picked up a rock which just fit into her hand.  She stood and lobbed it about half the distance, twenty-five meters.  The ploonk it made indicated some depth.

She stood still and waited.  Both to watch the ripple pattern and to see if she attracted any attention.  The ripples move off to my right, so there is some flow here.  Perhaps the water comes from an even deeper spring at this point and makes its way [north]? 

To her left she could just barely see where the lake ended.  There was no path around it, but it might be shallower.  I want to see what is in that building, if anything.  I don’t think this is reckless behavior that mom and dad will punish me for.  Making her way there, she paused again at the water’s edge to put her line back to her nose and turn the feed back on, in case she suddenly found herself underwater.  Alicia cautiously stepped out into the water.

And immediately stopped.  She bent down and picked up a rock.  Moss, but I cannot tell what color, and I’m not about to use my light.  Rock replaced, she took even more care with her steps. 

Halfway across, she was thigh deep and only moving one careful step at a time.  She paused when the next step had the water to her waist.  It’s only another fifteen meters.  I can swim that if I have to.  Three more steps had it no deeper and after she quickly ascended.  She once again became motionless to look and listen, checking if she had attracted attention.

Nothing.  She took her noseline out.  Now, let’s go see what’s here!