Page 658 - Enders_Game_Full_Book

"There aren't any lights down in the tunnels," Ender said. "She'll direct me. You'll have to hold onto each other's hands. Valentine, you go last, all right?"
"Can we go down standing up?" asked Miro. The question clearly mattered.
"Yes," said Ender. "That's why she chose this entrance."
They joined hands, Plikt holding Ender's hand, Miro between the two women. Ender led them a few steps down the slope into the tunnel. It was steep, and the utter blackness ahead was daunting. But Ender stopped before the darkness became absolute.
"What are we waiting for?" asked Valentine.
"Our guide," said Ender.
At that moment, the guide arrived. In the darkness, Valentine could barely see the black-reed arm with a single finger and thumb as it nudged Ender's hand. Immediately Ender enclosed the finger within his left hand; the black thumb closed like a pincer over his hand. Looking up the arm, Valentine tried to see the bugger it belonged to. All she could actually make out, though, was a child-size shadow, and perhaps a slight gleam of reflection off a carapace.
Her imagination supplied all that was missing, and against her will she shuddered.
Miro muttered something in Portuguese. So he, too, was affected by the presence of the bugger. Plikt, however, remained silent, and Valentine couldn't tell whether she trembled or remained entirely unaffected. Then Miro took a shuffling forward step, pulling on Valentine's hand, leading her forward into the darkness.
Ender knew how hard this passage would be for the others. So far only he, Novinha, and Ela had ever visited the hive queen, and Novinha had come only the once. The darkness was too unnerving, to move endlessly downward without help of eyes, knowing from small sounds that there was life and movement, invisible but nearby.
"Can we talk?" asked Valentine. Her voice sounded very small.
"It's a good idea," said Ender. "You won't bother them. They don't take much notice of sound."
Miro said something. Without being able to see his lips move, Ender found it harder to understand Miro's speech.
"What?" asked Ender.
"We both want to know how far it is," Valentine said.