Read Rusch, Kristine Kathryn - Diving Universe SS3 for Free Online Page A

angry.
    He was a slight, precise man. He wore casual clothes—a shirt and light pants with some slipper-like shoes. The clothes themselves looked pressed, and his hair was so manicured it looked like it had been glued to his head.
    “You might want to see this,” he said without greeting her.
    He moved in front of her to the in-room control panel. He saved her work, moved the holomap to one side, and then did some light touchwork on the panel.
    She looked at the translation running across the screen in front of her. “You broke the Scholars’ encryption,” she said.
    “This wasn't Scholars,” he said. “It came from outside their system. The request is direct from the folks in the City of Denon.”
    She read the request twice. Her heart was pounding. “They want divers?”
    “Not any divers,” he said. “Cave divers.”
    “You're sure this isn't a translation error?” she asked. “They don't want spelunkers? They want divers? People who'll go into water in darkness, in caves?”
    “Divers,” he said.
    She let out a small breath. This opened up a wealth of possibilities. It meant that caves and water existed below the ancient city. Maybe a river. Which would explain how the ancients lived there through countless sieges without massive deaths.
    It also gave her a lot of opportunities. If she had the right equipment, she might be able to map the caves using sensors on the ground.
    The Unified Governments of Amnthra expected sensors from above, but did they expect them from ground level? Probably not. And then there was the other possibility.
    She looked at Roye, her eyes shining. “Did you bring our diving equipment?”
    He grinned. “I'm prepared for any emergency, my friend.”
    She grinned in response.
    “This isn't an emergency, Roye,” she said. “This is an opportunity.”
    “One of the best we've ever had,” he said.
    * * * *

8
    Meklos sat on the hard floor of his tent. The tent was elaborate—nicer, in fact, than the way the academics were living in the city below. His tent had three separate rooms—the main room, where he was now and where he often held meetings; a smaller room to the side that he used as a bedroom; and a fully functional bathroom, complete with sonic or water shower depending on the conditions on the ground.
    He had opted for a sonic shower, since it looked like water was scarce here. But no one on the academic team acted like water was scarce, so he might have to reassess that opinion.
    He had sent Phineas to get maps from Dr. Reese's assistant, and to remain until he had the latest maps of all the areas, complete with the listings of treasures and protected items. Meklos had a hunch Phin might be gone for a while.
    Meklos knew that Dr. Reese was holding something back from him. He just couldn't figure out what it was.
    At least she had finally told him what she needed—protection against thieves, just like he had suspected. Now that the city of Denon was mostly dug out, the academics would set about finding the valuable items, marking them, and figuring out what to do with them. Amnthra had no laws protecting individual artifacts, meaning the kind that could be moved from one place to another. The Monuments Protection Arm of the Unified Governments of Amnthra hadn't been formed that long ago, and so far, it only applied to things that were defined as part of the land of Amnthra. Their legislation did specifically mention the Spires of Denon and the City of Denon as protected. But the word “city” wasn't really defined, and that already presented a problem, at least to Meklos. Because the definition of city in most Amnthran languages was the same as it was in Meklos's language—a densely populated center.
    Which meant that the City of Denon wasn't a city at all. If someone tried to get picky about the legal definitions, he had a hunch they would be able to argue that the City of Denon, as a location, was protected, but movable items within that city, like paintings or