Chapter 7

“Shall we go down and assess the damage?” Jasper was at my elbow, a gentle hand on my arm to steady me.

Perhaps you would like to loosen my stays?I nodded my head and made for the service ladder that would allow for the easiest decent. The height of the ladder above the ground required that I jump a distance of approximately a meter from the Spider-mole to the cavern floor. My boots hit solidly against stone and I kicked at a few pebbles, listening to the scattering sound echo from the cavern walls.

With a soft grunt of impact, Jasper landed on his feet at my side. “Let’s see what a mess we’ve got.” He strode in the direction of the vessel’s stern and I followed at a close clip.

My gaze wandered over the hull of my wonderful Spider-mole, rue to see that three of its eight legs were bent at varying angles in the segments between joints, and that two of the legs had been torn away from the vessel entirely. “Where is the eighth appendage?” I wondered aloud.