“What is it?” he asked.
“The floor. It’s spotless.”
“So what? The building is sealed.”
I shook my head. “It’s too old. If it’s been here for hundreds or thousands of years like this, there’s no way it’s so tidy. No structure is impenetrable. Water and dirt always find a way inside. It’s a fact.” I glanced around. There was a circular light powered off on the ceiling, and a flat table near the far wall. Otherwise, it was empty. Nothing to show what the Grinlo were like.
Slate was about to speak, when we heard the noise from down the hallway. He advanced to the exit and almost banged his head on the low doorway. He ducked through, sending a beam of light through the corridor.
I saw the shadow before Slate.
____________
“What do you think, Patty?” Jules asked her friend.
Patty glowed, her smile infectious. “I love it here.”
“The Shimmal really know how to do it right.” Dean walked around her personal residence, picking up a tablet and returning it to her desk. The walls were painted with Patty’s favorite colors, pink and coral. The lights were calming, the bed soft and luxurious.
“This is nothing like the dorms Papa told me about when he went to school. He said he practically got kicked out for hiding a hot plate under his bed. His roommate was a real narc. Whatever that means.” Jules sat on the bed, admiring the plush duvet. She fell back, almost wishing she could stay. It felt… safe.
“I’ll be sure to cook my mac and cheese in the cafeteria like all the other aliens.” Patty rolled her eyes and dropped to the mattress beside Jules. They stared at the ceiling, laughing at her joke.
“I’m going to miss you, Patty.”
“You too, Ju. Make sure you visit. If you don’t hear from me for a while, it’s only because I’ll be face-first into my studies. Poke me any time, okay?” Patty grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly.
“Let me know when the chick fest is over so we can go grab something to eat,” Dean said from the desk chair, and Patty sat up, tossing a pillow at him.
“Thank you,” she said, losing her grin.
“For what?” Jules leaned against the wall, stretching her legs out.
“For giving me a second chance, and for showing me I deserved love and my own life. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you two.” Patty had really changed, and Jules liked this new version of her friend.
“No prob, sis. That’s what family’s for.”
“Speaking of. How are you doing with Magnus?” Patty asked Dean, and Jules tried to inch her way off the bed to give them space, but realized she had nowhere to go.
“Me? Good. He’s fine.”
“Fine?”
“You know what I mean. He’s not Dad, if that’s what you’re asking. It’s so weird being around him. It’s like he looks like Dad, sounds like Dad, but doesn’t smell like him. Doesn’t act like him. It’s like we live with a ghost, if that makes sense.” Dean swiveled in the chair, and Jules could tell he was perturbed.
“I totally get it,” Patty said. “Even his hug is strange. He said goodbye and pulled me into the world’s most awkward embrace. His laugh is different too.” She glanced at Jules, her smile returning. “Still… I’m glad you helped him. I think we all need each other, even if we don’t see it now.”
Jules warmed at the sentiment. “I think so too.” Dean tossed the pillow onto the bed, and Jules climbed off, heading for the door. “How about we find some dinner?”
They ate at the medical school’s cafeteria, which was partially staffed for the early arrivals. The food was beyond what Jules had expected, with an assortment of options from most of the Alliance of Worlds’ menus, offering something for each different race coming to the school. Jules tried a little of everything, and Dean wolfed down so much food, she thought he might explode. Patty ate a few bites of food, but pushed her plate away within minutes. Jules could tell she was nervous but remained composed.
When they were done, Patty said how tired she was, and they said their goodbyes. Jules and Dean were scheduled to leave first thing in the morning, and Patty had prep classes. Only the pair wasn’t quite ready to go to bed.
They were given rooms at the end of the dorm, basically as nice as Patty’s, and they made for Dean’s, where the Locator was tucked away.
Once the door was closed and locked, they sat on the bed, and Dean pulled the stolen device from his pack. “This will show us if there’s anyone like Slate on Shimmal.”
“Anyone like Slate? There’s no one like Uncle Zeke, but if we can find another match, we might be able to help him and Papa in their quest.” Jules hated sneaking around behind her dad’s back, but it felt like the best solution. If two heads were better than one, four had to be better than two.
The object was round and fit perfectly into Dean’s palm. Jules reached for it, but he held on. “Do you mind if I do it?” he asked.
“Of course not.”
Dean powered it up and used the programmed DNA sequencer to scan Shimmal. The world had billions of lifeforms, and just when Jules was preparing for disappointment, the map zoomed out, giving them a hit.
Dean’s eyes sprang open, a grin emerging on his face. “We did it. There’s one here.”
“So the marker isn’t just on humans.” It seemed every match Papa had on New Spero, Earth, and Haven was human. This was different, more important, because it meant the extent of whatever had infected Slate was farther reaching than she’d suspected—unless there was a human in the middle of nowhere on Shimmal.
“Maybe we should contact your dad. Tell him what we found.” Dean was losing his nerve, and Jules understood why. She was devoid of her powers, and rushing into danger wasn’t ever going to be the same again.
“No.” She was determined to prove something to herself. She was a Gatekeeper, and the daughter of Dean and Mary Parker. She didn’t need to be a Deity to accomplish big things in her life, and now was the beginning of her journey as a human girl—no, a human woman. “We’re ready now.” She shoved his pack at him and stood. “Where’s the target?”
Dean checked the map. “It’s pretty remote. Never heard of the place before. Ceniro. It’s an ice continent.”
Jules ran to her room, gathering her belongings, and used her tablet to scope out their destination. Ceniro was as Dean had said. The only people remaining were researchers and environmentalists. The use for ice cap watches on Shimmal had decreased since global temperature regulations became automated by weather system software, but a few old buildings still existed, with a handful of government-paid employees monitoring the machines
Upon closer inspection, the site of the red dot was what they called a Sub-Base. “This should be interesting,” Dean said.
“Maybe they’ve isolated themselves.”
“More likely they’re dead. The Locator showed Carolyn’s location, even though she was a pile of bones.” Dean ran a hand through his hair, and Jules stared at him with lovestruck eyes. He was so…
She didn’t have time for that, not now. “Okay, we’ll take a shuttle and investigate. I should have clearance.”
“Sarlun is going to be furious if he finds out,” Dean said.
She thought about Dean’s dad’s old saying and blurted it out. “Better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Let’s go.”
They started down the halls, leaving the comfort of the residence, and stepped into the cool night air.
Eleven
Slate almost fired at the shape, and I pushed his arm as I saw who our friend was. The robot rolled along the floor, waist high and squat. A wet streak trailed behind the robot, and it didn’t even notice our presence as it continued past us, cleaning the floors.
“I guess we know why the place is so pristine,” Slate whispered. “How are they powered up after all this time?”
“Perpetual motion chargers? Central solar station might be operational, and all the bots return to charging ports when they’re low? Could be anythin
g.” I stared after it as it trundled farther in the dark.
“Should we hide out until morning?” Slate asked, seeking my direction.
I considered it, but the active robot piqued my interest. “Let’s explore a bit. See what this place is all about.”
We knew next to nothing about the Grinlo. Regnig’s details had been sparse, but he’d somehow found a passing reference to them storing one of the alien abductors’ ships. It was all we had to go on, but maybe this city held more clues. Plus the Gatekeeper in me wanted to see why this world was blacklisted without details.
“I’m with you. First things first. I think we should learn how deep this goes. If we’re inside a forty-story high-rise, it may be impossible to find the ship we’re seeking tomorrow.”
“Good point. Let’s see if we can locate a stairwell or elevator.” I scanned in either direction, trying to determine the best path, and an idea struck me. “Slate, if the robots have power, maybe we can bring the lights on. Computer systems?”
“Maybe we can learn about the Grinlo in their hard drives. Worth a shot.” Slate pulled a tool from his pack and passed it to me. “You use the energy meter, and I’ll cover you.” He held the pulse rifle up as we started to walk to the right. The meter searched for any power source, and our own equipment was already removed from the parameters.
The halls were empty, the walls bare and whitewashed. We stopped at a few rooms, finding more desks and clean floors. The rectangular meter buzzed in my grip, indicating a power source higher than nominal two hundred yards away. One fifty. One hundred. Slate aimed the gun, and lowered it when another robot rolled by. It might have been the same one as before.
We walked on until we found the end of a passageway. So far, there hadn’t been a single door, with each room having an open entrance. It was locked, with no visible handle, but the energy meter was picking up activity inside.
“Shall we?” Slate asked, and I gave him a nod. He stuck the explosives along either side of the panel, hoping to blow out the hinges and latch at the same time.
We backtracked, ducking behind a corner as he detonated the device, and we returned to see the door in pieces. The meter began buzzing and beeping rapidly, and I saw three incoming power users.
The robots arrived promptly and began to clean up the mess, using artificial arms to pick up the debris. “These bots aren’t messing around.”
“They’ve been waiting a long time for a real challenge,” I kidded, and bypassed the busy robots.
A shiny black tube stood upright in the middle of the room, and Slate went to it. His movement caused an opening to appear. “Is this an elevator tube?”
“Only one way to find out,” I said. The tube was floor to ceiling, and just wide enough to accommodate the two of us. We were pressed shoulder to shoulder, and Slate’s rifle pointed upwards.
“How do we operate it?” Slate waved his free hand, and a screen appeared a foot below our eye level. It was completely foreign, with unique and elaborate shapes encompassing the rounded menu. I used my wrist computer to change my HUD settings to translate.
“Anything?” Slate asked, his finger lingering over the alien control panel.
“We don’t have an exact match, but…” The shapes and symbols intersected with English words in my visor, and I tried to decipher them. “The squiggly thing indicates down… I think. And the crooked triangle is up. The other mark, with the blurry steam or whatever that is, is translating as ‘Danger.’ Don’t press it.”
“Wait, which one is blurry steam?” Slate leaned forward, his helmet knocking into the glass tube. His gun fell from his grip, and he tried to catch it, fumbling with his left hand. I saw it, almost as if it was in slow motion: his gloved knuckle tapped the curved screen right in the one spot I’d said not to touch.
“Slate, that’s the…!” My words were cut off as the floor gave way under us. Gravity took over, sending us flying downwards. Slate shouted in panic beside me, and I tried to remain calm despite the fact that my eyes were rolling into the sockets at the pressure.
The rooted screen stayed fixed on the tube before me, and I searched the symbols, trying to focus enough to read the translation. A marking, six inches below the up and down buttons, said Emergency. I had no idea if that meant it created one or stopped one, but I had no choice. I pressed it, and our rapid descent decelerated, like an invisible brake had been applied to the tube. The floor returned under our feet, and the tube continued to lower us and eventually stopped.
Slate waved a hand, and it opened, spilling me out onto the floor. Slate followed and tripped on me, his gun somehow firing at the tube behind us. It cracked the glass, and a red light pulsed inside. “Sorry. Was that me?”
I sat up, surveying the damage. “I think it’s busted.”
“Good. I don’t want to set foot in another one of those rollercoaster rides anyway.” Slate dusted off his suit and helped me up.
“Where are we?” I asked, noticing a symbol by an opening in the wall. My HUD translator was still on, and it suggested a numeric system. This was the equivalent of our number two. I told Slate as much, and he shrugged.
“Who’s to say that one is under two? We don’t know anything about these guys.”
“I did a paper on the value zero once in college. Almost every human culture had a value for zero, building up from it in remarkably similar fashions. Math is the one universal language, so my money is on the fact that we’re on level two, with the main floor below us,” I said.
“How many floors do you think we fell?”
I tried to determine it but had no real clue. “Thirty, at least. Sound about right?”
“I was too busy trying not to puke to count. Let’s guess thirty.” Slate gave me a grim smile as we gathered our stuff and walked toward the exit. More robots strolled the halls, cleaning up after nobody, and we eventually found another tube like the first, at the far end of the floor.
“Shall we?” I asked.
“Didn’t I just say…”
“I don’t think we have a choice. It doesn’t look like these guys used stairwells. Unless…”
Slate stared at me, moving forward with his pulse rifle. “Sometimes you have to use your imagination. Get creative.” Slate pulled the trigger once, twice, three times, and cut a hole into the floor.
“The robots will have a heyday with this mess,” I said with a laugh.
“Consider it job creation in a struggling economy.” Slate clipped his rifle to his suit and climbed into the shorn metal cavity, careful to avoid the sharp protrusions. I bent over the opening, my lights giving him sightlines, and he landed with a thud. The drop wasn’t too bad, and I copied his efforts, landing beside him a moment later.
“Floor one. I hope we don’t need to climb back up,” I admitted.
“I don’t think we’ll have to.” His voice was a whisper, and I followed his gaze to see why. I pulled the energy reader again, and it was going ballistic. This was the building’s power core.
“If we can get this running, we’ll be able to see and maybe tap into…”
“That’s not even what I was talking about.” Slate stepped away, and I saw it. There was a corridor leaving the building’s front entrance. We were inside a lobby of sorts, and the pedway went on for as long as our beams of light could reach.
“They had a pedway system connecting their city,” I murmured.
“Which means we might be able to walk to our target ship under the surface, rather than above.” Slate and I marched side by side, exiting through the open doors and entering the corridor.
It was clear, but years of debris, rock, and dirt were piled high. If we were thirty floors below the surface above, that meant we were around one hundred and thirty meters underground. The thought of so much weight overtop, threatening to crush us at any moment, made each step cumbersome and hesitant. Slate didn’t seem to mind one bit. He trudged into the glass corridor without a care in the world. I tried to adopt his energy and jogged afte
r him.
“I wonder why they connected the buildings along the ground. Usually, pedways are used on higher levels,” Slate pondered.
“Maybe they were protecting themselves from the elements. This planet isn’t the most inviting place we’ve ever encountered.” I ignored the cracks in the glass walls and kept walking, one foot in front of the next.
“What if they weren’t shielding themselves from the planet?”
“Then what?” I asked.
“You saw those creatures. Maybe they’re the reason these people went extinct. It’s happened throughout history. I even heard a theory that dinosaurs weren’t killed by an asteroid. They were killed off by a now extinct predator, even faster and meaner than they were.”
“Not all dinosaurs were mean. Most…”
“Dean, you know what I’m saying.”
“And all these years later, these monsters continue to be the top of the food chain? From what I know about this kind of thing, they would have run out of a food source a long time ago if they were the dominant animal when the Grinlo were here.”
“Maybe they’re hungry. You saw them. They were desperate,” Slate said.
I heard something behind us and guessed it was a robot trying to fix the mess Slate had made with his pulse rifle.
“I think we’re reading too much into a glass-encased pedway. Maybe that’s how the Grinlo operated. We don’t have any idea how they lived.” I glanced up, seeing another expansive crack in the ceiling, a pile of dirt seeping through onto the floor.
“It appears this is outside the cleaning bots’ jurisdiction,” Slate said jokingly.
More noise carried through the hall, the same one I’d thought was the robot a minute ago. If they didn’t come into these corridors, it wasn’t a robot. I lifted a hand, silencing Slate. There it was again. It sounded lopsided, like something dragging on the floor. I zoomed with my HUD, shutting the lights off. I urged Slate to do the same and flicked to night vision.
The giant creature crawled on all fours in the cramped space. His neck nearly touched the glass ceiling as he wound his way after us. “Slate… run!”
The Survivors | Book 15 | New Beginning Page 11