The girl put a finger to her lips. "Almost there. Quiet now."
She steered straight for the house. There was no one in sight, either about the house itself or about those in its immediate vicinity. A moment more and the boat slid beneath the building into semi‑darkness.
Anina shut the power off and stood up. The floor of the house was just above her head. In front of her, near the center of the building, she saw the side walls of an inner inclosure some twenty feet square. These walls came down to the surface, making a room like a basement to the dwelling. A broad doorway, with a sliding door that now stood open, gave ingress.
The boat had now almost lost headway. Anina nosed its bow into this doorway, and grasping one of the pilings near at hand, brought it to rest.
Mercer, at a signal from her, climbed cautiously to his feet, still holding the little light‑ray cylinder in his hand.
"What's that in there?" he whispered.
Beyond the doorway, through which the bow of the boat projected, there was complete darkness.
"Lower room," Anina whispered back. "Store things in there. And boat landing, too."
"Let's go in and see."
Mercer started toward the bow of the boat. Six feet or more of it was inside the doorway. He made his way carefully into the bow, and found himself inside the basement of the house.