362 | John W. Warner IV Alice said: Well, its emerald green all right, but it aint Ireland old girl. Bea slowed to 25 kph. I dont understand…its another cavern? Bernie paced. But I do. Those two pale monkey-boys are not to be trusted or dealt with in any manner. Does everyone understand clearly? Gerlach put his hands on the forward windows. A whole new world awaits us. We must be at eighty kilometers depth or so. Bernie checked the television rear monitor. A fuzzy but recognizable wide- angle image of the stern came up. One, two, three, fouryou idiot, Bea! Theres got to be nine tunnels behind us. Which one did we enter from? The temperature has dropped considerably, said Shafer. I say we keep going ahead. Going back is useless. Why those lying, lecherous, boil-sucking demons…Im-pulling over by the side of the road, said Bea. All stop. Alice wound the camera and pointed. Over there by those long vines, move near them, I want to take a snap of them. Bea maneuvered dead slow among the five-meter-thick vines that hung from somewhere above the light fog. They look as if someone wound them together like rope. Birds flew by, a flock of grey-looking seagulls with very long beaks; one of them relieved itself atop the canopy; white streaks and drips. Well, thats not very polite. Beatrice, pull over to that outcrop, I want a sample of that green ice, said Shafer. He and Geer walked down to the cargo bay and opened a hatchway to the outside, icy-cold air met them and their breath froze. With a pick axe on the extendable platform, Shafer cut off a sizeable chunk of around five kilos. Risky, but its worth it, said Schafer. Back inside, Geer examined it on a pull-out workbench with gloves and a pencil. It looks almost like frozen algae, or some kind of microscopic plant life. Its melting… a gelatinous matrix of some type, thick like treacle. What about the white parts? Unknown, a mineral vein of some kind. How can an entire cavern and mountains be made of this? Shafer pulled at his beard. We must explore further. Take chances in the name of science. Porsche and Alice stood by the forward windows. She took two photos. Almost