They were ganging up for a rush, wheeling and sideslipping in the spate of black water. Lundy got two more, and then one blaster charge fizzled out, and right after it the other one became dull.
Lundy stood alone on his broken tower and watched death sweep in around him. And the sweet elfin voice spoke out of the net:
Let me free. Let me free!
Lundy set his jaw tight and did the only thing he could think of. He deflated his vac-suit and jumped, plunging down into the black depths of the ruined building.
The kelp-things folded their leaves back like the wings of a diving bird and came down after him, using their tails for power.
Fitful flares of light came through broken walls and window openings. Lundy went down a long way. He didn't have to bother about stairs. The quakes had knocked most of the floors out.
The kelp-things followed him. Their long sinuous bodies were maneuverable as a shark's, and they were fast.
And all the time the little voice cried in his mind, asking for freedom.
Lundy hit bottom.
The walls were fairly solid down here, and it was dark, and the place was choked with rubble. Things got a little confused. Lundy's helmet light was shot, and he wouldn't have used it anyway because it would have guided the hunters.