The two of us stood there for a moment, not knowing who would make the next move. And that's when I heard it. It was a far-off sound and hard to make out. But it was definitely a sound I had heard before. It was a faint whistling sound. It was coming closer, too. Fast. Where had I heard it before? It took me exactly two seconds to remember.

I turned to Spader and shouted, "Incoming!"

I grabbed him and dove down onto the deck. An instant later the submarine was rocked by an explosion. The control tower was. .h.i.t by a water missile - just like the ones that Saint Dane had launched on Grallion. The sound I heard was that of an incoming bomb.

Boom, boom!Two more missiles. .h.i.t the control tower and the submarine rocked in the water. But where was this attack coming from?

"Look!" shouted Spader, pointing off the port side of the sub. I looked and saw such a wonderful sight, for a moment I thought I was dreaming. But it was no dream. It was a fleet of speeder boats full of aquaneers, and they were attacking.

"Hobey, Pendragon! It's Yenza," Spader laughed. "She was a step ahead of us."

That had to be the answer. When we didn't resurface, Wu Yenza must have gone to get her rescue team. And they were coming in full force. Some of the speeders looked more like gun ships. They weren't as big as the battle cruiser, but they would definitely stand up to this submarine.

There was frantic activity on the deck of the submarine.

"Dive!" shouted Saint Dane. "Get us below!"

A raider shouted, "Sir, we can't!" He pointed to the control tower and sure enough, the first few missiles from Yenza's aquaneers had blown a hole in the skin of the tower. If they tried to dive, they'd sink. Saint Dane looked at the damage, then spun to look back at the approaching fleet. He looked angry. I liked that. When he got angry, it meant things weren't going his way, and that didn't happen too often.

"The guns!" he commanded. "We'll fight them off."

He then ran along the deck and disappeared into the control tower. Spader and I were left flat out on the deck. Saint Dane no longer cared about us. And why should he? We were targets too.

"Time to go, mate," said Spader. "Let's slip over the side and we'll swim for it."

Three more missiles struck near the sub, sending up waves of water that splashed over us. The raiders were now on the guns and firing back. This was going to be a fierce battle - a natty-do, as Spader would put it - and I didn't want to be floating in the water in the middle of it.

"I have a better idea," I said. I got up and ran back toward the control tower. Two more shots. .h.i.t the hull, rocking the sub and nearly knocking me off. But Spader caught me and kept me going.

"No place to run, Pendragon," he said.

"Sure there is," I answered.

I ran inside the control tower. Spader was right after me.

We had to push past a bunch of raiders who were scrambling to get to their battle stations. They didn't care about us anymore. Remember, they were raiders. They knew nothing of Saint Dane's grand plan to conquer all the territories and control Halla. All they knew was that they were being attacked.

Even Saint Dane wanted a fight. He stood at his station, barking orders, turning the submarine so it wouldn't be such a wide target. If there were ever a time to get out of there, it was now.

I led Spader back the way we came, down the ladder into the hull of the ship and back toward the water tank we arrived in. I figured there was only one way we could get off this sub and survive in open water. We had to get to the hijacked hauler.

As we ran through the submarine we kept getting knocked around by the force of the missiles that were hitting the hull. Yenza was really pouring it on. That was cool, as long as Spader and I were off by the time she sent it to the bottom the same way she had the battle cruiser.

Luckily it's kind of hard to get lost in a submarine, so we found the tank chamber pretty easily. When I threw the door open and we saw the hauler, Spader smiled.

"Why didn't I think of this?" he laughed with surprise.

"You know how it works?" I asked.

"Pendragon, if it moves in the water, I can drive it."

"Okay," I said. "But can you get it out of here?" Spader gave me a "don't ask dumb questions" look, and ran for the hauler.

"Get our gear, then go over to those levers," he instructed as he climbed up onto the bubble.

As Spader lowered himself into the bubble, I ran to get our air globes and water sleds. I grabbed them all, then threw each up to Spader, who stood with half of his body out of the top of the bubble.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Four levers," he said. "One floods the chamber, another empties it, third opens the hatch, fourth closes the hatch. We don't have to flood the chamber because we're already on top of water. The pressure keeps the water out. All we have to do is open the hatch, and we're gone."

"Okay, which lever opens the hatch?"

"Hobey, Pendragon. I don't knoweverything!'

He then slipped into the bubble and started powering up. This was the old Spader, the one I knew before his father was killed. It felt good.

I went to the four levers. None of them were marked. There was only one way to figure out which was the right one. I had to call upon all my Traveler experience and special powers to figure it out. It's calleda "Eenie, meenie, mineyamoI pulled on "mo" and with a grinding screech, the floor began to move. The hatch door was sliding open! Go, mo! Unfortunately, as soon as the hatch began to open, it set off an alarm. A shrill, blaring horn blew, which said only one thing: "Someone is trying to escape in the hauler." My guess was at least one of the raiders would come to find out who it was.

"Better hop in," Spader shouted.

I ran across the moving floor and leaped on to the bubble craft. I dangled my legs down into the c.o.c.kpit and was just about to drop in when Spader said, "Hold on, mate. We gotta release first."

He was right. The floor hatch was now all the way open, but the hauler wasn't free. The craft was suspended from two hooks that kept us dangling over the water below.

"So how do we release?" I asked.

"I'd say you should swing that lever right there."

Sure enough, there was a lever right over my head. I grabbed it, pulled it toward me and - whoa! The hauler fell free and splashed down in the water. I lost my balance and fell into the globe, right in Spader's lap.

"Thanks for droppin' in, mate," Spader said. "Close *er up, please."

I stood up and pulled the bubble closed over us. With Spader in the left pilot's seat and me in the right, we were ready to go.

That's when the door to the chamber flew open and two raiders jumped in with guns.

"Dive, please," I said.

"Right!"

Spader hit four toggle switches, air bubbles hissed through the water around us and we began to sink. The raiders shouldered their rifles and took aim. All I could hope was that the bubble on this hauler was strong enough to take a direct shot from a water rifle. I didn't have long to wonder. The raiders opened fire on us. I ducked, expecting the bubble to shatter to pieces. But it didn't. Their water bullets splattered against the clear shield without leaving so much as a scratch. Score another one for the genius of the people from Faar.

We were now almost submerged. The raiders had stopped firing and watched us helplessly as we sank below the surface. Then, just before the water closed over us, someone else entered the tank room. It was Saint Dane. For an instant I actually thought I saw a look of worry on his face. That's the last image I saw of him, then we slipped underwater.

Spader took control of the vehicle like he had been a hauler pilot his whole life. We descended well below the submarine, then he hit the throttle and we left the dark shadow behind.

"What about the big guns?" I asked. "The ones they used on Faar. They can blow Yenza's boats out of the water."

"They can, but they won't," Spader answered. "They only fire when it's submerged. Yenza knows what she's doing, all right. She nailed that control tower so they can't submerge again. Saint Dane made a big mistake. On the surface, he's no match for my mates. There's only one problem."

"What's that?"

"It's going to be over too fast. I want to join up with them and take a couple of shots at Saint Dane myself before the natty-do's all done!"

I looked back at the dark submarine. If Spader was right, the battle above was as good as over. Yenza would handle the raiders, and with a little luck, Saint Dane would go down with his ship. I was no longer worried about what was happening up there. My thoughts were elsewhere entirely. So I reached forward and killed the engines.

"Hobey, mate, what're you doing?"

"You really know how to pilot this thing?" I asked seriously. "Don't get all macho aquaneer on me. I want the truth."

"This is a fine piece of machinery," he said, looking around. "It's way more advanced than anything I've ever seen. But that just makes it easier. All modesty aside, I can move this little beauty through a mile of kelp and not break a single leaf." My mind was working hard, figuring the possibilities.

"What are you thinking, Pendragon?" Spader asked. "You think we should start dumping this cargo over some of the farms?"

"Good idea, but no," I said. "We can do that later. Right now, I got something else in mind."

"What?"

"I want to go after Uncle Press."

Spader's eyes opened wide with surprise. He hadn't expected me to say that.

"Hobey, mate!" he said in awe. "Do you know how dangerous that would be? You're talking about finding our way down through that submerged city; poking through who knows what that's floating around in there waiting to get us all tangled up and trapped. Then if we're lucky enough to make it to the bottom we'd have to dig through the pile of rubble that's covering the door with a mechanical arm we've never used before and for all we know can't even lift that kind of weight. And it's all on the chance that Press and the others are still alive down there. Do you know that's what you're asking?"

"Uha yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

"You're crazy!" he said. A moment later, he smiled. "I like that."

"Then why are we still here?"

Spader fired the engines back up, banked hard to the right, dipped the nose, and we were on our way back toward the coral reef for one last visit to the city of Faar.

CLORAL.

Descending into Faar wasn't exactly like diving into the unknown. We had just come from there. But to say that things had changed a little would be a major understatement. We sort of knew the geography of the place, but now that it was underwater it would be like traveling through the dangerous insides of a giant sunken ship. The whole s.p.a.ce would be filled with water and that meant stuff would be floating all around.

Still, I didn't think we had a choice. There were a dozen Faarians down there who could still be alive, and Uncle Press was with them. We had to give it a try.

Spader drove the hauler back toward the coral reef that was the dome over Faar. He kept making slight maneuvers he didn't need to so he could get used to the controls of the hauler. Smart idea. Better to get totally familiar with the craft out here in open water than down in the murky depths.

As we approached the coral reef, I looked for the hole that Saint Dane had blown open. It would be our doorway into Faar. It wasn't hard to find. There were long, parallel lines dug into the reef that must have been caused by the huge volume of water that was pulled across it as it was sucked toward the hole. It was like a road map. All we had to do was follow it.

A few moments later we both saw our goal. The huge, jagged hole stood out like a black scar on the reef. It looked even bigger up close than it had from down below. Spader stopped the hauler just shy of the edge and we hovered there, looking at the damage in silence. A moment later something floated up from down below. It was a white tunic, the kind the people of Faar always wore. The piece of clothing rippled and moved in the current. It looked like a lonely spirit leaving the city forever.

"Pendragon, I want to get *em out as bad as you do," Spader said. "But we have to be smart. If it's a tum-tigger down there, we'll have to pull out."

"I understand," I said.

Spader then pushed the little sub forward and soon we were hovering directly over the middle of the black hole. He looked to me. I nodded.

"Let's give it a go," he said.

He toggled a switch on the control panel and we began to sink straight down. We pa.s.sed the jagged edge of the hole, dropping from the bright blue-green of the ocean into the dark tomb of the sunken city. We first traveled through a debris field of clothes, books, and memories. Everything on Faar that wasn't attached was free to float around. There were constant bangs and thumps against the bubble of the hauler as we knocked into all this lost junk. I hate to call it junk though, because not long ago these were important possessions. We pa.s.sed lots of clothing and dishes and we even saw a small doll that a child must have left behind. That one was tough. It made me think of my little sister, Shannon.

Soon it got so dark I lost all sense of direction. I couldn't tell up from down or if we were even moving.

"Must be some lights on this beauty," Spader said.

That was important. We had to descend quite a ways before we reached the peak of Faar's mountain, but before we got there we needed some kind of light to guide us or we'd surely crash into it. Spader scanned the control panel and chose a switch.

"Let's try this one."

He toggled the switch and instantly a series of lights sprang to life below the bubble. They weren't headlights, but they sent out a bright coc.o.o.n that allowed us to see a few yards in every direction. It wasn't much, but at least now we would know if we were about to hit something. I looked to my right and - "Ahhh!" I screamed, and nearly jumped into Spader's lap.

It was one of the portraits from the corridor leading to the Council Circle of Faar. I was staring out at a stern-looking guy who gazed right back at me with a sour puss.

"It's like diving through an underwater junkyard," Spader said.

"Orgraveyard,"I added.

The portrait floated away and I got my nerves back under control. Spader tried another switch and this time another light kicked on. This one was attached outside of the bubble on my side. It was the headlight we were looking for. Excellent.

"Try that k.n.o.b there," Spader instructed.

Next to my right arm were two controllers that looked like video game joysticks. I grabbed the smaller of the two and moved it. Sure enough, the searchlight outside moved too. We had found our eyes! "Let's see where we're going, then," instructed Spader.

We could only see what the headlight was shining on. Everything beyond fell off into darkness. I directed the light forward and we got our first view of the top of Faar's mountain. It appeared out of the distance like a ghost. It was an incredibly eerie sight. Luckily the water was pretty clear. I expected there to be sand kicked up and floating around, but it wasn't too bad. Also, the layer of junk seemed to have thinned out. Most everything that could float was headed to the surface. We were now traveling below the debris field.

"Let's get moving," said Spader, and we plunged deeper.

The best thing about having the lights was that we could navigate. Spader dropped the nose of the hauler so we weren't sinking blindly anymore. We had to descend in circles, like a corkscrew, so that we could drop as straight down as possible.

"I want to see something," I said and pointed to our left.

Spader directed the hauler to where I pointed and soon our headlight was moving across the platform that had held the Council Circle. As I described before, the marble roof had been knocked off when the water began to flood through the dome. It was on its side now, half covering the platform. The round symbol of Faar had broken off and it lay on the platform, cracked in two pieces. How's that for symbolism? Most of the marble pillars still ringed the platform, but they no longer had anything to hold up. A few had tumbled over, and now crisscrossed on top of one another.

"Closer," I asked, and Spader dropped us in for a better look.

We were now hovering only a few feet above the platform. I played the light over the wrecked surface until I saw exactly what I was looking for, but hoped I wouldn't find. The podium that held the four crystal controls had been knocked over. It was still functioning because the yellow crystal continued to blink. Even now it was sounding the alarm to evacuate Faar. But that's not what I was looking for.

"Oh, no," Spader said sadly. He had just seen it too.

From beneath the toppled ceiling, an arm was reaching out. There was no doubt in my mind that it was Abador. He had stayed at his post until the end and was killed when the marble dome crashed down. It seemed as though in his last moments he was reaching for the control podium in the desperate attempt to transpire. He had failed. Of course it was tragedy enough that this brave man had died, but I hated to think that he died knowing he had failed. I could only hope that he knew that Faar had been safely evacuated.

"Let's move on," Spader said with respect.

I nodded and he steered the hauler away so we could continue our descent into Faar. All the way down I kept the headlight trained in front of us, looking for any danger in our way. We pa.s.sed by some familiar sights. We saw the pathways we had walked along. We saw the entrance to our escape tunnel and all the smaller entrances that led deep into Faar's mountain. As of now the crushing water hadn't done any major damage to the city. The buildings seemed intact and the paths weren't washed away. This was great news because if some of these big marble buildings had fallen down and piled on top of the hauler hangar, this rescue would be over before it got going.