by Dan Thomas
Max’s mind raced for a solution. “I can just change back to Holic now, though. He’s not in the Ravagers’ Crew, so I’ll be safe. I’ll have to ask ShadowHog to watch them for us, or just make do with what we know.”
Jag shook his head. “You’re an anomaly here, Max. Each headset is only supposed to support one player and one account. Because yours has two accounts tied to the same console, even if you change back to Holic, Murf will still lead them to you, because he’s been in their Crew.”
“What if you just, I don’t know, erased our details? Just removed our online presence. That way the Ravagers, or anyone supporting them won’t be able to find us.”
Jag gave a wry smile. “I’m not a miracle worker, Max.”
“I thought Sam said you could do that kind of thing.”
Jag uttered a low laugh. “I may have embellished a little there.”
Max smirked nervously. “You’re a brave man,” Max then sighed and looked past Jag to the damaged wall. “We just report them otherwise. Terra Verse company won’t stand for this, or we could go to the police even, this has got to be a crime.”
“The hack so far is untraceable, everything people know about it is still rumors. And the organization running Terra Verse? This is above their pay grade.”
Max had to stop his jaw from dropping as he composed himself. “So, our only options are to fight them?”
“And soon.” Jag put a hand on Max’s shoulder. “The Ravagers haven’t had access to the hack for long—they’re still building their confidence. They’re not invulnerable, but you can’t wait much longer. You guys know enough about the game to beat them. Even if your levels don’t show it, you four are some of the better players even I know. You just get distracted so easily.”
Max looked down at the low-level character he was wearing and laughed weakly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Hm,” Jag stepped back into the shadows, and looked down at a small device he grabbed from inside his coat. “Listen, I don’t have much time either. I need the box.”
“I don’t have it on me. I hid it back at base, so I didn’t risk losing it.”
“Shit.” Jag winced.
“It’ll be easy to find, I hid it underneath the Kousa tree, the one we cut branches off for handles by the dried river, you can get it without anyone seeing,” Max said.
Jag shook his head. “I don’t think I’ll be able to make it. I’m working on a tight deadline here.” He scratched his chin. “When the fight with the Ravagers is over, and you’re back as Holic, I need you to keep it on you. I’m not sure when I’ll see you next, but you need to keep hold of that box, no matter what. No matter what, all right? Do not leave it in the base, or anywhere else. It stays with you wherever you go.”
Max was taken aback by his friend’s intensity. “I can do that. If I get into any danger, I’ll have to stash it, but I’ll keep track of it.”
“I’ll trust your judgment, but do not lose it.”
“How are you involved in all this? I know you’re into cybersecurity, but still...” Max trailed off.
Jag looked out into the night. “I’m not sure myself yet. I have to go now. I’m not sure when I’ll next speak to you but stay safe, and good luck. Oh, one last thing, take this.” Jag pulled something out of his coat and handed it to Max. “There’s a new battery for your gun. I figured it’d be dead by now. I’ve also brought you some failed plasma rounds. If you trigger them in this world, they’ll explode. There’s a detonator with them.”
Max took the small package. “Thanks. And you stay safe as well, Jag.”
“I’ll try to.” Jag flashed him one last grin before turning and melding with the night.
Max sat down on the cool grass, staying in silence for a few minutes while he went back over the surprise conversation he had just had with his old friend. He was still uncertain whether to take Jag’s advice with a grain of salt, but despite his eccentricity, Jag had always pulled through for the Coprolite Crew. Regardless, the ordeal had left Max unsettled.
All he knew was that he needed to find out what they were up against. He needed to get into that command tower.
Max’s nerves were still a little frayed as he pushed himself to his feet. He took one last look up at the wall. No one seemed to have noticed the conversation, and Max trusted that Jag wouldn’t have come if there was any risk.
He then pushed himself up and set off down the hill, breaking into a jog toward the jungle as he hit the flat ground.
The cool night air was sweet as he ran, and he felt a few stray droplets of rain fall onto his body as he neared the tree line.
He kept up the pace as he passed the first line of trees, turning to follow the edge of the plains as he aimed for where he had first picked up the track. Everything looked different in the dark, but Max was confident that he’d be able to find the same spot he was at earlier that day and was soon heading deeper into the jungle. He was also confident that the Ravagers had done a good job of keeping their area clear of hostile dinos since Max was yet to run into any threats while traveling near to the hill. However, he didn’t lull himself into a false sense of security and kept his senses alert as he traveled, aware of how little he could see, and how dangerous nighttime usually was.
Recognizing a stand of trees and the several mounds of dirt rising out of the foliage, Max slowed to a walk.
He was close, but he couldn’t see the vine-covered mound that hid the tunnel. He began walking around the area, checking any tangle of vines or ivy to see if they concealed an entrance behind.
“I can’t see a thing.” He stopped walking and turned in a circle, looking for the tree with an elbow bend in its branch. Nothing. He took a couple of steps forward and looked again. There. He had managed to come from a different angle than he thought he had.
He froze at the sound of rustling, crouching low. The movement passed after just a couple of seconds. It was probably just a little herbivore rummaging for a midnight snack. He couldn’t imagine that there would be a presence of the nocturnal Dilongs around the base with how well they kept it clear of predators normally.
Max headed left of the bent tree, keeping a low profile. While the base had been quiet, he couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t encounter anyone here. If the Ravagers were smuggling goods in and out of the base, it was possible that they’d do it during the night using either this tunnel or perhaps another, if there were any others. Max wanted to limit his chance of another surprise encounter during his night.
He approached the wall of vines that he was sure hid the tunnel, putting an arm out to pull a few vines aside.
“Fuck.” He pulled back, lifting his hands up as a root snagged on the arm of his armor. He took a deep breath. He needed to chill, but Jag had shaken him up.
Max pulled out the flint knife he wore at his hip as he slipped into the tunnel, telling himself that it was him being prepared, but knowing full well that it was to ease his feelings of paranoia somewhat.
The ground beneath his feet changed from soft dirt to hard stone, the light lowering to almost total darkness as the vine curtain swung closed behind him.
He was going to get to the end of this tunnel tonight even if it was going to be the last thing Murf did.
Chapter Forty-Nine
He took a couple of steps forward, giving himself time to let his eyes adjust to the dark. He didn’t want to light his torch so close to the entrance, even with the vines hanging down, it might be seen from outside.
Listening intently, he walked with his hands out in front of him. Just a little farther. The gradient of the tunnel floor led him down a short slope before it flattened out. Somewhere close was the moving rock and he didn’t want to encounter that in the dark.
Casting a nervous glance behind him, all he could see was the same black that was in front of him. No light filtered through the vines this far into the tunnel. Time to light the torch.
Grabbing the torch from his bag, he used his flin
t and steel to light it. It flared into life, leaving Murf blinking rapidly as the dancing flame illuminated the underground world around him.
Max waved the torch around as he examined the tunnel walls. Dry dirt crumbled as he ran his fingers along the mixture of dirt and stone, laced with tree roots from the plants growing above his head. He figured it was the roots that held the tunnel together and stopped the sides from caving in.
Taking a couple of steps forward, his eyes adjusted to the torchlight, he was intrigued by the large lump of rock that sat in the hole, which stretched the whole width of the tunnel and maybe six or eight feet in front of him. There was no way to pass around it, he had to go over it.
Max figured it had been placed here to block the tunnel, but for some reason it was malfunctioning. Perhaps the gravity on Primeva was different from that on Aerium.
Gaining confidence as he walked forward, he only hesitated for a breath before he placed his right foot on the floating rock. Immediately his newfound confidence shattered as the ground beneath his foot dropped away suddenly like an elevator in free fall.
He squealed as his stomach dropped into his fur-lined boots. Transferring his weight onto his back foot, he fell backward and sprawled across the floor of the tunnel. Somehow, Max managed to hold onto the torch as he kicked his feet, propelling himself backward as if he were trying to escape an alligator. But there was no alligator, there was no living thing at all, only the rock and probably a fall to his death.
Twisting around, he crawled forward on all fours until he reached the edge of the hole surrounding the floating rock, which had bobbed back up to the level of the tunnel floor. So, this was their defense. This was how they stopped other players who might find the entrance to the tunnel from going any farther.
Standing up, he leaned forward, peering into the light created by the torch. Max tried to figure out just how far the Aerium stone stretched out in front of him. If he gauged it right, it might be possible to leap over the rock and land safely on the other side. If his jump didn’t take him far enough, he would put one foot on the top of the floating rock and immediately jump forward onto solid ground.
Max was certain that he’d get to the other side. Even if he had to hang onto the edge of the hole and claw his way out. As long as there was nothing else waiting for him on the other side.
“Nothing ventured.” Max took five steps back, then another for good luck. Swinging his arms and taking big breaths, he got ready to run at the hole. Mentally counting himself down, he dug his right toe into the dirt and then sprinted forward activating Dash.
Holding the flaming torch in his right hand, he leaped up and forward, his feet pumping as if he was running through the air. He kept his focus on the other side of the floating rock as if he could will his body to make it that far. However, his trajectory dipped, and he flailed his arms and legs as he came down a couple of feet away from the edge of the rock. Almost immediately, the rock dropped beneath him, once more taking his stomach with it. Max threw the torch onto the ground on the other side of the rock, bent his knees, and launched himself into the air. His fingers dug into the dirt on the edge of the hole as he clung to the rock as it bobbed back up. Bending his knees, he drew his legs up under him, waited for the rock to touch his feet, and then pushed down real hard.
The rock dropped below him, but he gained enough momentum to spring up the side of the hole and scrambled onto solid ground.
He’d done it.
Not pausing to congratulate himself, he ran forward, grabbed the torch off the ground, and carried on down the tunnel, keeping his pace slow, not because he was worried about his stamina, but because he had no idea what else to expect. If the Ravagers used floating islands, there was no telling what other off-world items they might have used to deter intruders.
The tunnel dipped down farther and the light from the torch lit up sections where the walls had crumbled in. There were no longer tree roots holding the tunnel together. Max must have passed under the dense clump of trees and was now crossing underneath the open ground between the trees and the base. He hurried on, weaving through lumps of fallen dirt which were now littered with large rocks. Maybe the Ravagers didn’t use this tunnel often. They certainly didn’t bring supplies through here, it was too small and uneven for anything of size to pass easily.
“What the hell!” Max ducked and rolled instinctively as an arrow whizzed past his cheek. But as he rolled forward, another arrow was set loose, this time aimed low. Max pushed down hard on the balls of his feet and sprang into the air as a volley of arrows flew at him, missing him narrowly before embedding themselves in the ground. “Shit.”
Max ducked down behind a waist-high boulder as more arrows clattered off the hard stone surface. Breathing heavily, Max waited until no more arrows flew his way before he raised his head and looked around. The arrows must have been set off by a pressure pad since he couldn’t see anyone else in the tunnel. So, the Ravagers were protecting the tunnel with more than flying rocks. They were using flying arrows, too.
Sliding out from behind his cover, Max kept the torch held high as he crept along the tunnel, his back bent and his head down ready to roll to the side should any more arrows come his way. Tension built in his body. Did the pressure point also send a signal to the command tower telling them there was an intruder in the tunnel?
Max looked over his shoulder at the blackness beyond the light of the torch. He could simply turn around and go back. They could still attack without getting access to the command tower.
“Damn it, I’ve come this far.” He swung around and set off down the tunnel. There were no more arrows, but the tunnel was narrower here and dirt trickled down from the walls in sandy rivulets with each step he took. It didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel safe.
Max stopped. There was a glow up ahead. If he hadn’t had the torch lit, he would’ve seen it sooner. Lowering the torch, he peered into the gloom. Was that the end of the tunnel? Had he reached the base of the command tower?
Being underground made it difficult to judge how far he’d come.
Max proceeded with caution. Nothing seemed right about this tunnel. He certainly couldn’t imagine the Ravagers used it regularly, not when it looked as if it would cave in around him at any minute.
As he walked toward the glow, he kept his elbows tucked in, afraid that if he nudged the soft walls, he’d be buried alive. The voice in his head screamed at him to turn around and get out of there but he couldn’t leave, not when he was so close.
One slow step after another, barely daring to breathe, he drew closer to the light. It wasn’t the same reddish light of the torch in his hand, it was paler, more ethereal, as if moonlight penetrated the ground above his head and shone down into the tunnel. However, Max knew that was impossible, so it must be something else.
Perhaps technology from Gyromeda or a magic spell from Mythia.
Or a glowing rock.
As Max finally caught sight of the source of the glow, he stopped walking and stared at the fist-sized Illumine Crystals sitting upon a large boulder. He had reached the end of the tunnel. But it was a dead end.
“Damn it.” His curse caused a fresh trickle of stones and dirt to cascade down the walls.
This was a trap. The worst kind of trap. One where he’d be buried alive and have no chance to retrieve his stuff. Not that Murf possessed much. But he didn’t want to part with the laser gun and the new ammo Jag had just given him.
Turning around very carefully, he hardly dared breathe as he retraced his steps back along the tunnel. This was a dummy tunnel. The floating rock, the arrows, all of it was here to make him think he was heading toward the Ravagers’ base when all he was doing was heading toward death.
Max stopped as a rush of air swept over him and the ground began to shake. The tunnel was caving in. He ran.
Arms pumping, legs working hard to propel him forward out of danger, Murf ran toward the entrance as a cloud of dust enveloped him. He felt his stamina di
p at the sudden burst of speed, but he kept running.
He passed the section of the tunnel where the arrows had been shot out of the walls and ran toward the floating rock. Taking a run at it, he prepared to jump, but his foot snagged on a boulder and he sprawled across the ground.
Or, across the floating rock. Which didn’t float for very long.
With a stomach-churning jolt, the ground fell away from under him. Murf instinctively gripped the edge of the rock as it hurtled down to the ground.
As the sides of the hole rose around him, there was no way out. All he could do was lie on the floating rock and prepare to meet his doom.
Which didn’t seem to come even after a twenty-foot drop.
“What the hell?” Max lifted his head as the floating chunk of rock slowed its descent and came to a halt in another tunnel that ran parallel to the one that had just caved in.
His respect for the Ravagers inched up a notch. A dummy tunnel was a great idea. One Max had fallen for completely. One that had nearly cost Murf his life.
Crawling off the floating rock, he placed his feet firmly on the ground before letting the rock go. As it slid upward out of reach, Max wondered how he was supposed to get back out of there. However, the rattle of chains soon made it clear. The floating rock was tethered to the ground by a thick chain that was sunk into the ground, the end on a thick handle coming out of a hole in the wall. He suspected it was just long enough to allow the rock to float up level with the tunnel above.
Next to the chain was a button made of different-colored stone set into the solid rock.
Grabbing the metal handle of the chain, Max pulled and saw the chain become taut. Hand over hand, he reeled the chain out of the wall toward him, and before long saw the Aerium rock lower back down into the cavity.