by J. N. Chaney
“Are you sure about this?” whispered Mark, looking anxious.
“Put a sock in it, Nagata.” Even though Allan spoke in a low undertone, his voice seemed to carry in the room. Unlike Nero, he didn’t pause. “We’re already here. You can go back if you’re going to be a coward. The rest of us are leaving.”
With that, he brushed past him and stood next to Nero. One by one, we followed suit until Mark was alone. He glanced furtively at the way we’d come then scurried to catch up once we’d started to leave.
Nero led the way in silence, traversing the pathways that had been constructed to near geometric perfection by our ancestors. I’d been in sections of the caves that hadn’t been touched and it was a shock how different they were.
Here, the walls were smooth and etched with lines in a design that showed up in all of the facilities. The original parts were rough and bumpy, uncut and wild-looking.
As we moved farther away from our starting point, the scents began to change too. The air had a dank quality, but it wasn’t altogether unpleasant. It was different from the unchanging smells of the compound and made me think of the outdoors.
It was mostly quiet, except for our movements as we made our way through the wide passages. Once or twice, I thought I heard a thumping sound, but no one else said anything and I ignored it.
Our location dot moved past the blue lights demarcating the transmission signal limit on the map. I tried not to think about what could happen if we got into trouble. No one had wanted to look for information on the tunnel in case Janus noticed and logged the search. We’d be traveling blind soon.
When we passed the final transmission marker, the datapads stopped tracking our location, unable to connect to a signal. I’d anticipated this and suggested that everyone bring something to help us mark our way.
The best we’d been able to come up with was infrared reactive paint. If a Boneclaw did tunnel through the rock wall, it was highly unlikely that they’d taken the time to create false trails or passes that branched off from the main one enough for us to get lost. Still, when our group reached the entrance made by the Boneclaw, I made the first mark.
Our plan was to make a mark every ten meters.
Nell stepped forward and studied the two-meter-wide opening with a handheld flashlight. It didn’t take her long to inspect both sides, and soon she was turning around and nodding.
“Definitely a BC,” she murmured. “You guys ready?”
When she had our collective acknowledgement, she moved quietly into the tunnel.
“Engineers, the Boneclaws are not,” muttered Allan.
“Really, Allan?” Karin snorted.
“Sorry, it just looks so…” His voice trailed off as he tried to find the right word.
“Uncivilized?” I offered.
“Yeah, that.”
Nell turned and glared at us. “Will you guys shut up? Kind of hunting something that wants to rip us to shreds and eat us for a snack.”
We stopped talking and continued to follow her through the crude passage. She paused every so often to inspect a wall or mark on the ground then would continue on.
After we’d been inside for a little while, my pad buzzed. I pulled it out and saw that the alarm I’d set had gone off.
“Guys,” I whispered, trying not to be louder than I had to. “We’ve got an hour before curfew.”
Nero looked at everyone with a pensive expression. “I say we follow it to the end.”
Allan nodded almost instantly.
Nell shrugged. “None of these tracks look new. I see one set going in and one going back. It’s like they dug until they were inside then walked back out.”
Karin and Mark looked nervous but didn’t say anything.
“If we don’t go back now, we’re probably going to get caught,” I warned. “Is it worth it if we find nothing?”
Nero focused on me with a piercing gaze. “We won’t know unless we keep—”
At that moment, a loud thump sounded. It was impossible to tell which direction it came from because the acoustics in the tunnel distorted the noise. We all froze and looked at each other.
Before anyone could speak, Nero took off down the passage on the path we’d been heading. Nell and Allan joined him, jogging to catch up. Not wanting to be left behind, I gestured for Karin and Mark to follow.
They did so reluctantly, both of them wide-eyed and unsure.
“It will be better if we stay together,” I reminded them. “Safety in numbers.”
Karin nodded. Mark didn’t seem convinced but followed anyway. I doubted he wanted to stay by himself in a dark tunnel made by a Boneclaw.
Nero and the others had disappeared around a bend and we had to jog to catch up. The thumping grew louder with each step and I felt the fear give way to a hunter’s mentality now that the threat had been realized. Anticipation was always the worst part.
I came to an abrupt halt when the tunnel veered sharply to the left and barely stopped short of running into Allan’s broad back. He, Nell, and Nero stood perfectly still, staring down the tunnel.
Their stances put me on high alert and I instinctively lifted a fist to halt Karin and Mark. I edged around Allan’s wide frame to see an adult Boneclaw baring its teeth at us. I unslung the spear I’d brought and readied myself, expecting the Boneclaw to charge, but it didn’t.
Instead, it backed away in a slow movement, swinging its head from side to side.
I looked at Nell, who shrugged. She had to be thinking the same thing as me. Boneclaws never retreated.
“What’s it doing?” asked Karin under her breath, voicing what we all seemed to be wondering.
“Can it tell how many of us there are? Maybe it doesn’t think it can take us all on,” whispered Nero.
“Have you even been studying?” I hissed. “The gene manipulation? Heightened aggression?”
Nero stared at me blankly.
“There could be a hundred of us and it would keep coming,” I explained in an exasperated tone. “It’s wired to kill.”
“She’s right,” said Mark. “There would need to be a stimulation that overpowers the instinct to attack.”
“So, what’s causing this?” growled Allan.
No one had an answer for that.
“I say we follow it,” Nero announced.
“That’s not a good idea,” whispered Nell. “We have no idea where it’s going. For all we know, it’s got a nest nearby. If we get too close, it’ll go berserk.”
“I’m with Nell on this,” I inserted. “I say we go back and report what we’ve found.”
“No,” said Nero fiercely. “If those things killed my dad… I just need to know where it’s going.”
Before we could object, he took off again.
Allan sighed. “He’ll get himself killed if he’s alone. I’m going with him. You coming, Nell?”
For the first time since we’d left, she didn’t look so confident. Her brow creased with uncertainty and she chewed on her bottom lip.
“I… I don’t think so.”
“Figures,” snorted Allan. “What about you guys?”
Karin shook her head and turned to look at Mark, but he wasn’t there.
“Where did Nagata go?” I asked, whipping my head around, but I didn’t see him.
“Probably off wetting his pants,” sneered Allan. “Whatever, I’m not letting one of our friends go after that monster alone.”
Friend is a bit strong, I thought as he turned to leave. He might be a jerk, but Nero was still one of us and we couldn’t just leave him alone.
“Fine, I’ll go with you,” I said.
“Lucia—”
I held up a hand to stop Karin from protesting further. “Hang back here for five minutes. If we don’t come back, go for help.”
Without waiting for a response, I tore off after Nero. Allan’s clomping feet pounded the cave floor next to mine, bouncing off the rough walls and echoing like rifle blasts through the passageway, but we
weren’t worried about making noise anymore.
A roar echoed from somewhere up ahead and a scream followed. It had to be Nero. Allan and I exchanged a look, nodded, then dug in and went into a full run.
The tunnel widened into a cavern and a blast of icy wind hit us, blowing in from the entrance. The Boneclaw stood at its full height near the opening, surrounded by weak light, but I didn’t see Nero anywhere.
As soon as we stopped running, the Boneclaw let out an ear-splitting scream that shook me to the core. Not wanting to drop the spear, I cupped one hand over my right ear in an attempt to dampen some of the noise.
When it stopped, a muffled yell came from the center of the cave. It took me a moment, but I was certain it was Nero.
“There,” I said, pointing. “Do you hear it? Listen.”
There was silence, followed by Nero shouting. We couldn’t understand what he was saying, but I was certain it was him.
“I’ll go,” said Allan.
Not arguing, I nodded. “Okay. I’ll go around the far wall and distract the BC.”
I moved away from Allan and started stomping to attract the Boneclaw’s attention. Its ears perked at the racket, and I started yelling. “Over here, you overgrown hairy icicle!”
The Boneclaw didn’t come, though, but only stood there.
“Why isn’t it charging?” I muttered, looking quickly behind me to find Allan.
“That’s weird,” he said. “Is it hurt? What do you think it—”
He took a step forward, but as his foot touched the floor, I felt a quake beneath us. I watched Allan fall down into the layer below us, reaching out my hand to try and grab him. It was too late, and I felt my foot slip a second later.
We tumbled into the darkness below, disappearing with the stones as they fell.
6
I awoke to the sound of a raging battle. Blasts echoed in the cavern, cut with shouts and the roars of the Boneclaw.
Had Karin and Nell come to help us? Groaning, I tried to sit up and was treated to instant pain at the back of my skull. My hand came away bloody and I groaned.
Must’ve cracked my head pretty hard.
My vision was a little hazy and I shook my head to clear it. I scrambled to my feet. The walls of the crude pit curved up around me to meet at the small hole I’d fallen through, too high to reach, even if I jumped. I found a few good handholds but once I’d climbed high beyond a certain height, gravity won, and my fingertips couldn’t hang on.
In the back of my mind, I knew that the situation was all kinds of wrong. The Boneclaws had set a trap, and we had walked right into it. It shouldn’t have been possible. I shoved the thought away to deal with the immediate problem of being stuck at the bottom of the pit.
Voices rang out somewhere out of sight and it finally clicked that they didn’t sound like Karin or Nell. Before I could process that, twin roars erupted, one closer than the other.
Shit. Another Boneclaw had arrived.
The ground shook and I grabbed my spear as one of them came near. Its white fur, streaked with dirt, came into view first, followed by claws that scraped at the ground. It paused at the edge of the hole and drool dripped from the corner of its mouth. I didn’t move as it sniffed the air, presumably trying to figure out if anyone was near.
It leaned in and I backed up a step, which turned out to be a mistake. My foot caught on the uneven ground and I stumbled back.
The Boneclaw stiffened at the sound and growled deep in its throat before swiping out with one of its powerful arms. I leapt back to avoid the razor-sharp claws and ran into the back of the pit.
With nowhere to go, I did the only thing I could think of in the face of certain death.
Spear lifted above my head, I let out a battle cry and charged forward, leaping up and slashing at its face. The creature yowled and jerked back, but the damage was minimal.
From the sound that came out of it next, I’d only angered it more. The beast pounded the ground with both fists and moved closer to the edge as if it would climb down.
I was done if it did that.
My heart sank as it gripped the edge and began to lower itself. Gritting my teeth, I lifted the spear again.
“Lucia! Take my hand!” a familiar voice yelled from behind me.
“Dad!”
He hung over the edge above and extended his hand down into the pit.
A quick glance told me that the Boneclaw was almost fully into the pit and I crossed the few meters back to my father’s hand in bare seconds. Pushing off the balls of my feet, I jumped as high as I could and managed to connect. He pulled me up and over as the monster landed at the bottom.
“Now!” he ordered.
Hunters circled around the trap and took aim. Rifle blasts rang out and found their marks, pelting into the Boneclaw’s thick hide. It screamed in pain as its fur went dark, stained with blood from the multitude of rounds it had taken.
It chuffed a few times, then groaned and fell forward in a heap.
“Gods, Lucia.” My father wrapped his big arms around me and squeezed before letting me go and inspecting me for injury. “Are you hurt?”
“Not really, just hit my head when I fell in.” I frowned as I gestured to the trap, then remembered why I’d fallen to begin with. “Nero and Allan—”
“Are safe,” he finished for me. “Along with Karin and Nell, thanks to Mark.”
“That’s where he went,” I muttered.
“Yes,” he said darkly. “And you kids are damn lucky he did. What were you thinking?”
I didn’t get the chance to answer. One of the hunters stepped forward and spoke.
“Cyril, there are more headed this way. About three kilometers away.”
My father sighed and nodded. “Let’s move out before they get here. We’ll finish our conversation at home,” he said to me, eyes ripe with meaning.
I was in deep shit.
Nero stomped up to where we were standing, his face contorted in anger.
“We can’t just leave!” he shouted.
Cyril turned a stony look in the young man’s direction. “Yes, we can,” he said in a low voice, drawing himself to his full height. “And we will. That’s an order from your leader, Prospus Costas. Abide it or you will be removed from Selection.”
Nero balled his fists at his side and a muscle ticked in his jaw, but he nodded.
With that, my father signaled for everyone to move out. I stole a glance at Nero and didn’t like what I saw there. Rage showed in every feature and hate burned in his eyes.
Then I was being urged along and herded back to the compound. Questions swirled in my mind about what had just happened. What did this mean? Why did the Boneclaws suddenly decide to start strategizing against us? How, for that matter? As far as I knew, they’d never exhibited this level of intelligence.
By the time we returned to the compound, I hadn’t come up with any answers, just more questions. I had to stow them for later because our collective parents waited inside the common room inside the facility.
My mother didn’t look as anxious as I’d expected, probably due to the message we’d sent once back in transmission range, but I saw the raw fear hiding behind the anger, mixed with relief.
It wasn’t an emotion I was used to seeing in either of them, and guilt stabbed through me for having caused it.
Like my father had, she pulled me into a tight embrace before leaning back and giving me a stern look. “Young lady, you are in so much trouble.”
I sighed. “I know. Sorry for making you worry.”
She blew out a breath and hugged me again. “When Mark told us what you all did, I almost came after you myself. Your father stopped me. Barely.”
The man in question laid a hand on her shoulder and slated a glance at me before addressing the room.
“As you’re all okay, the Primes want a word,” he said ominously.
Big trouble turned out to be kitchen duty for a whole week. Nero had been right, surprisingly. The P
rimes couldn’t take us all out of Selection or there wouldn’t be any candidates left.
They did postpone the ceremony until our punishment was up. I had a feeling this was also to give Mario time to come back.
Nero grew more agitated each day and I wondered if he’d be focused enough to go through Selection. A small part of me hoped so, but the better part wanted to beat him at full strength. Otherwise, it wouldn’t feel like a true win.
The day of the ceremony came without further incident and I found myself standing with the other prospus after the first aptitude test.
It had been completed on our datapads and was supposed to be the easiest part of Selection. I’d studied hard in preparation, but it hadn’t seemed easy. No one looked particularly confident, with the exception of Mark, who’d probably aced it.
The test only accounted for part of the score awarded by the Primes. We still had four more to go.
The door opened and the Computing and Information Prime, Keyan Lambert, stepped into the room. On Selection day, all the Primes wore more formal attire in the form of a black jacket over the standard jumpsuit. A silver pin, shaped like a heart, was fastened over the right side of his chest as it always was. Lambert’s hooded eyes searched the group until they landed on me. He smiled kindly and gestured me in.
My stomach twisted into knots despite his friendly demeanor as I followed him into his office. It would serve as the testing area and was, before today, a comfortable space I’d been to a few times before. The nature of this visit made it feel somehow foreign.
“Have a seat, Ms. Visaro,” he said, motioning to one of the two chairs in the middle of the room.
They were old and showed their age with the many cracks and repairs that had been done over the years. Still, I sank into the deep cushion and tried to relax.
Lambert sat opposite me and pulled his datapad out to study it. After a few moments, he put it placed it on a small table next to the chair and folded his hands in his lap.