Jarvis and Horton stared at her.
“I’m screwing with you,” she said. “Just trying to pass the time.”
The two men fell back into silence. Infinity shifted her position and put her hand to Tequila’s forehead. His skin was clammy.
She gently pushed his head back and forth. “Tequila, time to wake up again.”
He opened his eyes halfway and mumbled something about letting him sleep.
“Just checking on you.” She held up four fingers. “How many fingers?”
He lifted a hand and held up his middle finger. “You tell me.”
She shook her head. “I guess you’re fine.”
A few minutes passed with no sounds other than the river’s gentle gurgling.
Eventually, Jarvis spoke up. “Do you mind if I ask about the story behind that tattoo on your chest?”
Infinity glanced down at the painted bunting and wiped away some of the mud smeared on it. The ink’s colors were slightly less brilliant than before, as the bridging process had caused some fading. “It’s just a bird,” she said. She wasn’t in the mood to explain.
Horton said, “While we’re asking personal questions, can I ask one?”
Infinity squinted to see through the cage slats. It was probably mid-afternoon. They had at least three hours until bridge-back. She gritted her teeth and said, “Sure, why not.”
“This is your first bridging excursion, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you think it will be your last?”
Infinity turned to him, surprised.
Horton continued. “I mean, this has been one hell of a first excursion, right? Jarvis and I had planned on making at least five excursions for our research. But now… I don’t know.”
Tequila spoke up. “Obviously I won’t be bridging again. But you know what? If I could, I would. I’d do it again just to prove I’ve got what it takes.”
Horton gazed at Jarvis for a moment and then turned back to Infinity. “The reason I ask is, if we decide to continue our study, I’d feel better if you were our bridger.”
Infinity looked down at her knees, which were smeared with dirt and dried blood.
Tequila put one of his puncture-riddled hands on her forearm. “Don’t let my sorry ass affect your decision, Passie. But you should know, now that I can’t be a bridger, I want it more than ever.”
Infinity stared at her friend’s pale face. He looked like he was in agony. She now realized that only part of his agony was from the burns and bites on his body.
Suddenly, she felt the need to talk, to release all the shit swirling around in her head.
“I’m afraid,” she blurted out.
Everyone fell silent for several seconds.
“You haven’t acted like someone who’s afraid,” Jarvis said.
She shook her head. “Not like that—I don’t mean I’m afraid of otters or coyotes. I’m afraid of other things—of failing, of giving up. Tequila, you didn’t fail. You got injured. You have a damn good reason to quit bridging and go back to Phoenix. If I go back, I’ll just be giving up. That’s what I’m afraid of. I’m afraid of living my whole life without being a part of something important. I used to be a fighter, but how important is that? It didn’t help anybody. It was just what I knew how to do.”
Infinity noticed the others were watching her intently, even Tequila. She wiped at the dirt and blood on her knee. “And because of what has happened on this excursion, I don’t know if I’ll get to bridge again. So, yeah… I’m afraid.”
“Damn,” Tequila said. “Never heard you say so many words at once before.”
She shook her head slightly. “Let’s just focus on making it to bridge-back. Can’t be too much longer.”
The next few hours passed slowly, with minimal conversation. Everything worth saying had already been said, and avoiding the discomfort of sitting on driftwood logs was becoming an all-consuming task. Another otter came onto the island and approached the cage but then turned around and slid back into the river. Perhaps it had actually been one of the otters from earlier and had learned that getting too close to the cage would only result in pain.
As Infinity became increasingly certain that the 7:00 PM bridge-back had to be close, time seemed to slow down. She decided it might help to finally close her eyes and get some rest, perhaps even sleep.
She closed her eyes for what felt like a few seconds and then awoke to Horton saying, “Here comes another one.”
“That is definitely not an otter,” Jarvis said.
Instantly alert, Infinity sat up and scanned the water. She spotted the creature and felt adrenaline surge through her body. A brown head was moving forcefully across the channel toward the island. It was too large to belong to an otter—much too large.
The creature reached the shallows and began wading inland. Its back breached the surface, and then the rest of its body emerged.
“Good God in heaven,” Horton whispered.
“Shut up and hold still,” Infinity hissed.
The creature looked like a bear, but its head was disproportionately massive. Infinity had never seen an actual bear, but she was sure they didn’t grow this large. Not even close. This creature was more than twice the size of a horse, probably weighing more than two thousand pounds, maybe three thousand. The beast walked up onto the grass and stopped, only forty yards away. It shook itself vigorously, flinging water drops in a ten-yard sphere around itself.
“Short-faced bear,” Jarvis said softly. “It has to be. Or something similar.”
The creature raised its head and sniffed. Infinity could hear its cavernous nostrils sucking in air even from this distance. The bear turned its head and stared toward the driftwood cage.
“No,” Infinity mouthed silently. “You don’t want to come over here.”
The creature started walking closer, still sniffing the air.
Infinity glanced to the west and checked the sun’s position above the hilltops. Bridge-back could happen at any time. But that wouldn't matter if the bear decided to attack first, since it could probably tear the cage to woodchips.
Tequila grunted as Infinity grabbed him under his arms and pulled him back from the cage’s wall.
The bear kept coming, closing the last ten feet in only a few steps. The monster stood only six feet tall at its shoulders, but it was as wide as a small car, with legs thicker than Infinity’s waist. It stopped and nudged the cage with its nose.
Infinity held her breath.
The bear sniffed. It let out a long ruumph and then hefted itself onto its hind legs. It raised its forepaws and then brought them crashing down on top of the cage. Infinity was amazed the structure didn’t collapse. The monster began sniffing the cage’s roof.
Infinity considered grabbing one of the sharpened weapons and ramming it into the bear’s snout, but she was afraid this would only enrage the creature.
It let out a roorph and settled back onto all fours.
Infinity closed her eyes and silently willed the creature to turn away and wander off. She suddenly felt herself being lifted off the ground. Her eyes flew open, and she realized the bear had pushed its nose under the cage and was lifting the entire structure with everyone in it.
As the cage’s floor continued tipping higher, Infinity turned to the anthropologists with her finger to her lips, pleading with them to keep quiet.
The bear heaved its shoulders and rolled the cage over like a plaything. Infinity tumbled and crashed into the anthropologists. Tequila thrashed and cried out in pain. His ankle stump had become wedged between two slats, and he was hanging upside down from what was now the top of the cage. He twisted there for a moment and then dropped onto his head beside Infinity.
The bear froze, staring at the cage with black eyes, which seemed tiny compared to its massive head. It emitted another ruumph and shoved the cage with its snout. The cage rolled over again, the humans tumbling like rag dolls until it came to a stop amidst the rocks at the riv
er’s edge.
Infinity untangled herself from the mass of arms and legs. She located one of the sharpened weapons. The other two were nowhere to be seen, apparently having fallen out between the slats. With one knee on Horton’s chest and the other wedged painfully between two pieces of driftwood, she readied the weapon to jab at the bear.
The creature was now circling the cage, puzzled but unwilling to give up. It rose onto its hind legs and slammed its forepaws onto the structure. Its belly pressed against the side, and Infinity saw her chance. She gritted her teeth and positioned the sharpened end between two slats.
“Do it,” Horton said, still stuck beneath her.
She hesitated. Stabbing the bear might startle it into running off, but she was still worried that angering it might make things worse.
Horton shifted his weight, trying to free himself. “What are you waiting for?”
“Don’t, Passie,” Tequila said, quietly but firmly.
Infinity glanced down at her partner. He was curled up on his side, gripping his ankle stump. The crude tourniquet had been ripped off. In spite of this, he was gazing back at her with cool certainty. She nodded and pulled her weapon back. She couldn’t risk enraging the bear.
The creature started chewing on one of the ceiling slats. Woodchips and saliva rained down on the humans.
Horton finally got to his knees. He slammed his hand against the ceiling and screamed, “Get out of here! Leave us alone!”
The bear dropped to all fours and backed off a few steps.
Infinity realized Horton’s tactic might actually work. “Get the hell out of here!” she shouted.
The others joined in, creating an impressively loud racket. The bear backed up a few more steps, which emboldened the humans to begin shouting even louder.
Something about the bear’s posture made Infinity stop yelling. “Wait—”
The creature suddenly charged. It rammed the cage with over a ton of muscle and fury. The domed shelter rolled into the river, the humans inside crashing into each other. Jarvis let out a scream. His arm had slipped out between two of the slats and was now pinned between the driftwood framework and one of the rocks that lined the river bed. The bottom of the cage was now submerged in about a foot of water.
Infinity started to get to her knees, but the bear slammed into the cage again, rolling it farther into the river. She tumbled, and her head went underwater. When she came up, the bear had Jarvis’s arm in its jaws. The creature pulled back, slamming the anthropologist’s head and shoulder into the framework as it tried to extract him through the slats.
Infinity threw her arms around Jarvis’s legs, braced her feet against the wall, and pulled back.
As she did this, the bear opened its mouth and lunged forward, apparently trying to get a bigger mouthful. Its head broke several slats and came through the wall, and Infinity and Jarvis fell back into the water and onto Tequila and Horton.
The bear pushed its head farther into the cage, snapping more driftwood slats. Its mouth, wide enough to engulf a human head, gaped and gnashed only a few feet from Infinity’s face. It lunged forward again, forcing its way deeper into the cage.
Abruptly, Infinity was submerged completely, and she realized the bear was pushing the cage deeper into the river channel. Someone’s thrashing leg or arm struck her face, nearly causing her to suck in a lungful of water.
For a moment, she wasn’t sure which way was up, but then her head broke the surface. She started to take a deep breath, but the driftwood framework struck her forehead and she was forced under again. The cage was being rolled downstream by the river’s current.
Someone’s limb caught her in the face again, this time smashing her nose. Her head resurfaced, and Infinity found herself staring for a long second at the bear’s snout, only inches from her face. The goddamn beast was swimming alongside the cage, trying to get a grip on it with its teeth.
Infinity was pushed under yet again, tumbling around in the shelter, which had now become a deathtrap. The cage struck something solid, and her back slammed against the framework. Even from underwater, she could hear wood splintering. She tried to pull herself to the surface, but pieces of the now-collapsed cage were pinning her in place. She twisted around and managed to get her knee against the boulder that had stalled the cage. She pushed upward with every ounce of strength she had left, forcing the broken framework toward the surface. Then she ducked down and swam to the side, until she had found her way out of the cage.
She finally surfaced and gasped for air. She spun around, frantically looking in every direction, but Tequila and the clients were nowhere to be seen—they were still trapped below the surface. The bear was treading water ten feet away, turning in circles, no doubt looking for the humans. It would spot Infinity within a couple of seconds.
Infinity dove under and started swimming against the current. She found the driftwood framework still wedged against the boulder. She held onto one of the slats with one hand and thrust the other into the cage. She felt skin—an arm. Whoever it belonged to gripped her wrist and pulled, trying desperately to get free. Infinity pulled on the framework, trying to dislodge it, but the current was holding it firmly to the boulder. She needed to get her feet against the rock for leverage, but her lungs were already screaming for air. She was pretty sure that if she could take one good breath, then she would be able to pry the cage loose.
She yanked free from the grasping hand and shot to the surface. As she sucked in air, the bear spotted her and began swimming toward her with frightening speed.
She filled her lungs and dove back under. One of the bear’s paws brushed against her foot as she grabbed ahold of the framework. The creature would undoubtedly clamp its teeth into her flesh within seconds. That would be okay with her, as long as she could free Tequila and the clients first. She pulled herself downward, trying to get purchase on the boulder with her feet.
A clawed paw struck her shoulder, breaking her grip on the cage and knocking her to the side. She turned and thrust out her arms defensively. Her right hand pressed against something solid—the bear’s massive snout. Its nostrils blasted bubbles through her fingers as she pushed against its nose, trying to distance herself from its teeth.
Infinity felt a prickling sensation spread across her skin. She became weightless for a split second, and then she slammed against something smooth. She opened her eyes and saw a stark, white ceiling and walls.
20
Return
Infinity rolled onto her side and retched. Then she pushed herself up onto her knees and shouted, “We need med techs, now!”
Jarvis and Horton were lying on their sides, coughing and spitting. Tequila was lying motionless next to a pile of Striker's body parts and liquified flesh.
“Scottie!” She scrambled to his side, rolled him onto his stomach, and pressed down on his back with most of her weight. She expected water to pour from his mouth but heard only a gust of air. Of course—the foreign water had been removed during bridging. She rolled him to his back and started rhythmic chest compressions.
A hand gripped her shoulder firmly. “We’ve got this, ma’am.”
She moved aside, and two med techs in bio-suits kneeled beside Tequila.
“We were under water,” Infinity said. “He was drowning.”
One of the med techs pressed some kind of small, black instrument to Tequila’s chest. A few seconds later he said, “I’ve got a heartbeat.” He then took over the compressions while the other tech placed a resuscitation mask over Tequila’s face and began squeezing the connected bag.
A third med tech took Infinity by the arm. “Can you stand?”
She pulled her arm away. “Not now!” She stared at Tequila. “Come on, partner, breathe.”
From the other side of the chamber she heard someone say, “It’s mostly my arm—Jesus, it’s a mess.” She turned to see two med techs inspecting the anthropologists. Another two were lifting a wheeled gurney through the airlock hatch. Infinity ca
ught a glimpse of Jarvis’s arm as the techs lifted him onto the gurney. The arm was bloody but still attached and mostly intact.
“He's conscious,” said the med tech with the resuscitation bag. “Give him some room.”
Infinity turned back to Tequila. His eyes were open wide, darting around in confusion.
“We had a tourniquet on him,” Infinity said, pointing to Tequila’s ankle. “Now he’s bleeding again.” She expected the floor to be covered in his blood, but only a small puddle had formed next to his stump.
One of the med techs leaned in close to Tequila’s face. “We’re going to lift you onto a gurney now, sir. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Tequila turned his eyes to the tech’s face, but otherwise he didn’t respond.
“Okay,” said the med tech. “One, two, three, lift.”
The doctors moved him onto the gurney and raised it to its full height. They then wheeled Tequila to the hatch and carefully lifted him through.
“Infinity, can you stand?" asked the same med tech who had spoken to her earlier.
Infinity looked up. Behind the med tech's face plate, she saw a young-looking woman gazing back at her.
“Infinity, my name is Poppy. I've been assigned as your personal physician. Your excursion is over, and you’re safe now. The other surviving members of your team are in very good hands. I’d like to take you to the med lab now. Is that okay?”
Infinity suddenly felt overwhelmed by exhaustion. She nodded and got to her feet. Poppy and another doctor grabbed hold of her arms, but Infinity shook them off. “I can walk.” She took one last look at Striker’s remains and then left the bridging chamber.
The med lab was chaotic. A half dozen med techs were gathered around Tequila and the two clients, and a small army of bridging technicians were darting back and forth between the lab and the bridging chamber, some of them carrying portions of Striker’s remains in sealed plastic bags. Everyone was in bio-suits except Infinity, Tequila, and the anthropologists.
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