Under the Eye of God Read Online Free PDF

perspective. Having a psychotic worm the size of a trawler sitting outside your front door does slow down the unwanted visitor.”
    â€œYou can’t control it,” argued Sawyer. “And you still haven’t licked the maintenance problem. What do you do when it gets hungry? Even a—you should pardon the expression— sane worm consumes its own weight in organic matter every day. Where do you get the biomass? Think about it. What do you feed a tunnel worm—?”
    â€œMurdock.”
    â€œUh-uh. Even a tunnel worm has some taste.”
    â€œI didn’t mean it that way. I meant, if Murdock wanted to guard her base with a tunnel worm, then she’d also find a way to keep it fed.”
    â€œToo expensive,” muttered Sawyer.
    â€œNot for Murdock,” said Finn. “Not for what she needs to protect.”
    Sawyer didn’t answer. He couldn’t win this argument. Finn didn’t hear logic, not about tunnel worms—not after that escapade on Lorca IV. They continued on downward. This endless descending tunnel didn’t seem to have a bottom.
    â€œSoy—?” Finn stopped his brother again.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œNotice anything else?”
    Sawyer looked. “No more scratches?”
    â€œNo more footprints.”
    Sawyer looked again. He turned and looked back up the way they’d come. He frowned, thoughtfully. “We know she came down this way. . . .”
    â€œWe missed something.”
    â€œYou think—?”
    Finn nodded. “I think we should get out of here.” He waited for Sawyer’s agreement.
    Sawyer hesitated. “I really hate quitting.”
    â€œConsider the alternative,” Finn reminded him. “I really hate dying.”
    â€œHow would you know? You’ve never died.”
    â€œGood point. But I don’t want to try it tonight. Maybe some other time.”
    â€œWait,” said Sawyer. “I want to try one thing more.” He readjusted his earphones again. He turned back and forth, listening. Abruptly, he shook his head. “Nope. Nothing. I think she’s blanked the whole tunnel.”
    â€œNobody spends that much money casually. I think we’ve finally found her base.”
    Reluctantly, Sawyer nodded. “All right. You win. Let’s get out of here. We’ll have to come back with the tank.”
    They turned and started back up the tunnel, back up toward the memory of light.
    Up ahead, far above them, something opened its smoldering eyes—something big. It squatted in the darkness, a heavy black shape. They could see its glowing orange eyes burning like the embers of two dead moons. It moaned hungrily. It blinked— sput-phwut —and started down the tunnel toward them.
    â€œUh-oh. . . .” said Sawyer. “I think I finally have a bad feeling.”
    â€œI love your timing,” said Finn.
    â€œFight?” asked Sawyer. “I’ve got grenades.”
    â€œThey didn’t work the last time, did they?”
    Sawyer shook his head. “They only made it angry—”
    Finn unshouldered his rocket-launcher.
    â€œBad idea,” said Sawyer. “You’ll trigger a cave-in.”
    â€œDo you prefer the alternative?”
    Sawyer shook his head. “No.”
    â€œWell, you have all the brains in the family,” Finn accused. “Make a suggestion.”
    â€œWe do Plan B.”
    â€œPlan B?”
    Sawyer shrugged. “We go down—”
    â€œWe don’t seem to have a lot of choice,” Finn agreed, reshouldering his weapon. “We go down.”
    High above them, the worm moaned again.
    As one, they turned back down the tunnel and started moving as fast as they could, running, skidding, slipping and sliding over the flash-polished descent. The beams of their hand-torches bobbed crazily, hurling wild sprays of light down the deepening abyss before them. Behind them, the moan increased to a howl.
    â€œThis