Hamish X Goes to Providence Rhode Island by Sean Cullen Page A

impressive— until the slice ground to a halt when the opening was only a metre wide.
    â€œHow embarrassing!” Xnasos groaned, kicking the dome in frustration. “It’s stuck! Oh, what a piece of rubbish!”

    â€œI’m surprised it opened at all,” Xnasha said, exasperated. “We haven’t any idea how any of our technology really works. Everything was built centuries ago and we’ve lost the manuals. Even if we had them, we probably wouldn’t be able to read the ancient language, so it’s hard to do routine maintenance. We’ll have to squeeze!” Xnasha shook her head and squeezed through the opening. Once through, she stuck her head back into the gap. “Come on. It’s a tight fit, but you’ll manage.” With that, she disappeared into the luminous dome.
    Mimi shared a nervous glance with Cara, who shrugged and said, “Scared?”
    Mimi scowled and stepped through the gap.
    She found herself at the top of a wide stairway made of the weird glowing material. The stairway was long, leading down farther than Mimi could see. The walls and ceiling joined overhead in a smooth arch of the same stuff. The light was bright but not painful to look at. Xnasha stood on the steps below, beckoning and smiling. Mimi started down after her.
    Mimi walked carefully down the stairs and found herself in a wide corridor. The floor was paved with huge pink flag-stones covered with carvings of tiny shelled sea creatures, sea horses, and fish. On closer examination, the creatures weren’t carved into the rock but actually embedded in it, fossils of ancient living things entombed forever in the stone.
    â€œSo beautiful,” Mimi whispered. She’d seen fossils before, but never so many in one place. She looked to either side and saw that the walls were made of the same material. Mimi traced the curling tail of a crablike creature, her mouth hanging open in wonder.
    â€œYou’re easily impressed,” Xnasha laughed. “Wait until you see the city!” The Atlantean reached out her gnarled hand and grasped Mimi’s elbow. “Come! It isn’t far!”

    Mimi looked behind her up the stair to make sure the others were following. Mrs. Francis was having difficulty negotiating the narrow opening. One Atlantean gently tugged her arm while another pushed firmly from the other side.
    â€œReally,” Mrs. Francis fumed.
    Mimi couldn’t help but laugh despite the housekeeper’s obvious discomfort. Leaving Mrs. Francis in the care of the Atlanteans, Mimi let Xnasha pull her along.
    The passage led on for the better part of a kilometre, slanting ever so slightly downward. The air was surprisingly fresh with a salty tang, more wholesome than she had expected any underground passage to be. Xnasha pointed at fossils as they went along, keeping up a running commentary. “Those are trilobites. They’ve been stuck in the rock for millions of years … there’s a sardine. Oh, and that one just became extinct a couple of decades ago. What a shame!” Mimi took the time to examine her companion more closely.
    Xnasha was female, although her short, stocky frame was anything but feminine. Her nose was thick and bony, but it gave strength to her face. Her mouth was wide and thin, and her eyes were a very pale blue with flecks of green. Her pale hair, more white than blonde, was worn long, and wound in its tresses were fragments of coral, shark teeth, and shells.
    â€œThis is the Hall of Entry,” Xnasha said, running her hand along the cool pink surface of the stone as they followed the corridor. “Down this hall, kings of the surface would come to ask our advice, beg for our help, ask us for trade.” Xnasha smiled sadly and let her hand drop. “A long time ago. Now I doubt that anyone knows we exist or thinks we’re anything more than a legend.” Her eyes brightened. “Ah, we’re here.”

    The corridor