Lords of the Deep
then just hung there, defying gravity. He crushed the food he had in his hand and then turned to stare at it as if he had no idea how it had gotten there.
    Angie, after looking around a little hopefully for something to mop off with, got up and went into the bathroom to wash off. Since her clothing, such as it was, was dry, she put that on when she’d cleaned up and dried off.
    Damien was gone when she got back.
    Feeling oddly let down, she finally shrugged. Moving to the bed, she brushed a few stray crumbs off and climbed on the mattress again, picking up the recorder.
    “It’s almost bizarre that everything they have is actually very similar to things we have, and yet I suppose that’s just narrow minded thinking on my part. It’s actually logical that it would be so similar since it was designed by and for beings so similar to us. They would have pretty much the same needs and requirements as we would have. Then, too, it can’t be dismissed that so many inventions we have were being developed by scientists all over the world at the same time even in the days before worldwide communications like we have now—by people who had no idea that someone else was working on the same thing.
    “The artistic aspects aren’t like anything I’ve ever seen and the materials they’ve used are different, but the construction and use of everything is very similar—close enough that I don’t think I’d have much trouble with anything—haven’t so far.”
    Tiring of the recordings after a while, particularly once she’d run dry of anything that seemed the least bit interesting to comment on, she set it down and moved to what appeared to be a window, or porthole. After studying the covering for a few minutes and the surface of the wall around it, she finally found a button. She hesitated, abruptly fearful that it would open the entire thing and water would flood in, but she finally decided that probably wasn’t likely.
    She still tensed, ready to run if she discovered she was wrong.
    Relieved when she’d pressed it and discovered it simply opened the shutter covering the window as she’d thought, she moved closer to peer out. The accelerated rhythm of her heart from the scare didn’t diminish with the view she took in. It was still dark so far under the sea, but far lighter than when she’d looked out before—light enough she could see the city in the distance.
    A sense of awe filled her. It looked like something out of a science fiction movie. There was nothing even remotely ugly or clunky about it. A graceful dome covered the center, but it looked as if the city had grown over time and smaller, varying sized domes had been connected as the city spread out. She couldn’t tell much more about it from such a distance, unfortunately. The domes seemed to be constructed primarily of some kind of translucent material, though, probably the same thing as the window she was looking out—which might or might not be glass. She could see outlines of what appeared to be buildings of varying heights, though, and lights everywhere, giving off a faint blue-green glow, although she supposed they could be yellow or white lights and simply had that effect filtered through the water.
    She stared at it for a very long time, trying to see more, but finally gave up. It was just too far away, she thought in disappointment. As she redirected her attention, she noticed spoke-like things radiating outward from the city domes. She studied those a while and finally discovered that she could see movement. People going in and out? Maybe. It was too far to be sure, but she decided that must be what it was. There would have to ways in and out—quite a few if it was a city filled with people since there was bound to be a lot of traffic.
    Widening her search after several minutes, she discovered that the city was set in a broad valley. Mountains ringed it and she could see what looked like small domes dotting the area around—houses—farm houses, at

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