"Is this really the end?" William slapped the bulging rock blocking the passage ahead, his face a mixture of disbelief and despair.
He ran a hand over the knobby, folded rock formations. They protruded from the cave walls and converged in the middle, like the marks left by a scoop dragged across ice cream. The Excavator's trail ended here, but it was clearly no ordinary cave-in.
"You don't have to look so surprised." After all the abnormal things he'd experienced in the Deep Layer, an uninterrupted passage would have been more surprising. Kraft realized he was getting used to it. Unexpected things no longer surprised him as much.
"Believe it or not, you can always find something unreasonable down here."
"Is there space above us?"
"No. It's solid rock." Kraft tried briefly. The corresponding spot in the Present World was still part of an intact mountainside.
William sat down beside the nearest fold of rock, looking utterly dejected. He reached for his hip, where only an empty sheath remained. He'd probably dropped the knife and never picked it up.
There was no way they could fight their way back now. He pressed his head against the cold rock and let it cool his burning forehead, hoping it might help him think. "You said this place is like the layer of paper underneath?"
"Right."
Captain William was used to handling all kinds of emergencies. He wasn't stiff or stupid. Beneath his rugged exterior was a remarkably flexible mind, and it had helped him survive this long.
As his body rested, his mind got to work trying to understand their situation. Unlike someone capable of taking on that thing, William much preferred keeping his distance.
"Actually, we don't necessarily have to go back to the sheet of paper above us. If we