Subterranean Quotes
"This place is insane. Damned blizzard up top and hotter than a hooker’s snatch down here."
"Ahh! Leaning his head back, he savored the smoke deep in his chest."
"Just what I need. How’s Jason handling it? Over."
"This solo venturing is going to get you killed someday."
"Damned if she was going to allow some overgrown boys to bring weapons into her home."
"The big boys are playing with you, and they have a tendency to roll over the little people."
"The sultry music just made her feel that much lonelier."
"You seem to have an amazing ability to ferret out new discoveries in otherwise heavily researched sites."
"Partly to keep an eye on Harry. But also, as I said, our family farm’s just outside North Platte. And North Platte is just outside of nowhere."
"No warning signs. No lipstick on a collar. No blond hair on his jacket. Nothing."
"Losing the child had almost destroyed her. Only Jason, then seven years old, had kept her sane."
"Even though years had passed, a part of her ached when she remembered how much she had lost."
"To steal someone’s coat is a hanging offense here."
"I’ve been caving for two decades. This is my first chance to scoop booty on a new system."
"The first man who stepped on the moon. ‘One giant step for mankind.’"
"Don’t worry, son, everyone knows Sung’s an asshole."
"The first researchers only discovered a handful of broken tools and crude stone bowls. Usually these primitive home sites are brimming with artifacts. But here … nothing."
"So we’ve done step one and determined that the water is alive."
"You’re my responsibility until your mother gets back."
"Hey, buddy, don’t knock it. If the lights go out, you can still see what you’re eating."
"This is the only significant artifact in the dig. It must have once had great importance to the culture here."
"Over the past few days, we’ve all had a lot thrown at us. And I think we’re all feeling trampled on, but tomorrow we embark on a trip where the success of our mission will depend on our ability to work as a team."
"Caverns breathe in and out, a response to changes in barometric pressure."
"We might need everyone’s expertise to find the other team."
"The decisions of the past are moot. What we have to decide now is where we go from here."
"Without light, you can’t see what you’re shooting at and no radio in the world is going to guide your ass out of a hole."
"Sometimes I get so fixated on the details that I miss the bigger picture."
"If it’s wider than your boot, through there one can scoot."
"We’ve come too far. We’ve all got to stick together."
"Be that as it may, your team’s evening report is only an hour late. I think calling this red alert was premature."
"You jackasses planned this all along, didn’t you? You never had any intention of keeping this a civilian project."
"I need to get you somewhere safe. I should never have allowed you to come down here."
"Just as his fingers slipped in place, the beast shook him like a dog with a rag doll."
"A tidal wave of blackness washed over him, drowning him."
"Fuckin’ monster. He raised his rifle and zeroed his sights on its butt-ugly face. Smiling grimly, he pulled the trigger."
"Careful, she thought. Don’t draw its attention."
"He tried to grin. Twin trails of blood seeped out of his broken nose."
"We’re all getting out of this fucking cavern. Every one of us."
"A shadow suddenly popped between two boulders just a few feet in front of him. Startled, Michaelson jerked his trigger finger."
""So it’s some sort of marsupial? How could that be?""
""This summer sucks," he said, shifting the gym bag in his lap."
"It was like returning to your hometown after being gone for decades."
"Explosions of colors flashed before his eyes."
"Taking a handful of steps, he found himself standing before the wall, a soft muskiness enveloping him."
"Of course, he was dreaming—but it seemed so real."
"He swooned to his knees, fighting to stay conscious, but his vision swirled in fantastic eddies of colors and textures."
"A voice arose from beside him. 'Benny-boy, enough of that bloody crap.'"
"With each wave, the swirls of colors were wiped away, as if erased by the passing of the leaf."
"‘Bout time you got your bloody arse down here."
"How he managed to turn dehydrated eggs into a damned close approximation of a Denver omelet was a mystery that would baffle Betty Crocker."
"I always wanted to be served breakfast in bed."
"She crossed to the bag that held the first-aid kit, shaking out three aspirin from a small plastic bottle."
"Our options are to go back and try to make it through monster alley back there; stay here and hope that after a period of time the lack of radio contact may generate a search party; or push forward and try to find an alternate route up, knowing that there may be other nasties awaiting us."
"If you lovebirds are done, I could use a hand."
"Sometime we’re going to have to try this when we’re not rock climbing."
"It’s supposed to work. We just did it wrong."
"We’ve got to turn around and get the motor going!"
"Luckily for us, the years of running water have polished these walls."
"We could hang over the cliff edge. Wait for it to leave."
"Who says it ends in a chamber? It may just peter out."
"The mold will allow us to conserve batteries. We still don’t know how far we have to travel before we find our way out of this hellhole, so we better think conservation. Try to stick to lighted passage-ways as much as possible. Besides, the more light around us, the safer I feel."
"As much as it grated on him, her assessment of the situation was sound."
"Quit pushing yourself. We’re not in a race. Careful progress is what will get us out of here."
"I won’t allow my injuries to get us all killed."
"I know you’re keen on this suicide mission. Kamikaze and all that. But up five yards ahead is a small alcove with a tiny pool of water. It’s large enough to hide three Marines in there. I suggest you hole up. It’ll be a secure spot to keep out of sight and offers good coverage if you need to shoot."
"Dennis, be careful. Don’t do anything stupid."
"We’ve yet to cross a single side passage in this chute. It would be easy to get pinned down in here. No escape routes."
"It’s like a slide. Let’s see those bastards catch us now!"
"Listen, we’ll figure that out later. Right now we need to find out what they intend to do with us."
"Death approaches. Survive and live. One way out. Prove your blood."
"You may need it. Besides, using nontraditional weapons lessens our chance to gain il’jann from the kill."
"I could spend a lifetime just studying this single trait’s effect on a population. It will turn the field of anthropology on its ear."
"Something doesn’t make sense. If you’re so damned important to the tribe, why did they try to kill you?"
"Alpha Base. It’s been destroyed. Overrun by those dinosaur things."
"I’m sure at the first sign of trouble, Blakely would have whisked him out of harm’s way."
"Trouble is too mild a word. They’ve decided that you two are still to die."
"With joy there is also sorrow. How many widows now wail?"
"Ever since they arrived and desecrated this world, we began to die."
"I think it more than chance that when we finally decide to destroy the demons, a new heri’huti should suddenly appear. I say it’s a sign from the gods."
"The child is heri’huti. It bears the trait of seeing and speaking with the mind."
"I name this child Tu’shama. The One Who Sees Our Future."
"We must not. Just as they need us to survive, we need them."
"It is not their evil that is harming us. Only their ignorance."
"Blundering is a process of learning. These newcomers are learning too. We must teach them, not destroy them."
"The key word in our law is responsible. I did not say these newcomers were responsible. I said they were to blame."
"Our esteemed Sin’jari states that our laws are clear in this matter. And again I must bow to the expertise of our colleague here. He is right."
"The balance can only be achieved by returning ohna to her proper place."
"This society is very open to free expression. A shunning is a major punishment."
"I promise you. We’ll get through this. Together."
"One thing I’ve learned when things look fine—shit happens!"
"What if the noise attracted something other than Ben?"
"They attacked so suddenly. There was no time."
"Then I’ve got to find some way to let the village know about Sin’jari."
"The silence." She looked up at him, shaking. "I thought I was the last one left."
"Bastard, you just bit off more than you can chew."
"When we get out of this, I’m buying you a pair of suspenders. No more belts."
"Keep an eye out for any of those crak’an," Ben yelled above the engine noise. "Those nasties are creeping all over the cavern."
"You just keep this bike aiming straight toward the base. I don’t care what gets in the way. Run over it."