“My father has shown me many times,” Triltan replied. “And I’ve experienced many hours in the simulator.”
“I’m really worried about Merlin,” Gwen said sombrely. “What can we do?”
“I don’t know,” Lance replied.
“There are many people who can help, back on Teela,” Triltan offered. “As soon as we return, I’m sure they’d be more than happy to do what they can.”
“It’d make us all feel better to know someone was going to take a look at him,” Arthur said. “Do you think they will?”
“Of course,” Triltan replied. “They’ll find it fascinating from an archaeological perspective if nothing else.”
“Don’t tell him that!” Lance interrupted. “He’s sensitive about his age.”
“When he’s not using it as an excuse to insist we follow his advice,” Gwen added with a smile.
“In my day,” Arthur began, mimicking Merlin’s voice, but he quickly lost the sense of fun and joviality. Merlin was his friend, and there was something wrong with him, something he didn’t understand and didn’t know how to help. Maybe Triltan was right, maybe the scientists back on Teela could help him, but until then he felt uncomfortable making fun of his friend.
“He’ll be okay,” Gwen said softly, noticing the sense of sadness as it appeared on Arthur’s face. “Triltan’s right. The Teleri are so advanced, there’s no reason they won’t be able to help him.”
“I hope so,” Arthur replied, brightening a little at the soothing smile on Gwen’s face. She had a way about her that always bolstered his spirits and helped him see past the darkness and into the light. “Let’s go find these scientists.”
Triltan informed them that the lift was still deep beneath the surface, within the caves that Silan Daltas and her team had found. She used one of the overturned computers to call it back, watching as the holographic display showed a dot moving from inside the planet and back towards the surface. There were no cables or wires, only the open mouth of the tunnel and the impenetrable darkness a few hundred metres from the edge.
The lift took almost an hour to arrive. As the blinking dot got closer, each of them felt their anxiety building, their apprehension rising. What would they find when the lift arrived? Would it be empty, or full of whatever creatures had scratched the ice and left the trail of Teleri blood? As the distant hum of the engine made itself heard, Arthur found his hand on the hilt of Excalibur, his knuckles white as his grip tightened.
A sudden rush of air announced the lift’s arrival, blowing against them as they gathered around the entrance to the tunnel. It took Arthur a moment to realise he had drawn his sword, holding it in a two-handed grip as he held his breath and waited for the inevitable. He wasn’t alone; Gwen was holding Andraste before her while Lance had his plasma pistol drawn and aimed at the lift. Even Triltan was fumbling with her rifle, trying to point it towards the lift despite her shaking hands.
The lift was not what they expected. It looked nothing like the lifts on the hive ship, instead looking more like a small space craft or shuttle. It was white and cylindrical, with windows at chest level wrapping all around it. There was no obvious engine or method of propulsion, and no wheels or cables to move it up or down the shaft. Instead, it just hovered before them, half a metre above the ice.
“Stand down,” Arthur instructed as he peered in through the windows. The inside of the lift was empty, the lines of chairs unoccupied. “Triltan, can you open the doors?”
Triltan stepped forwards and tapped icons on the small panel. Just like the larger vessel, a portion of the side of the lift flowed away like liquid, leaving behind a large rectangular opening. Beyond that were five rows of chairs, three to a row. Everything looked normal.
“Okay, everyone inside,” Arthur continued, stepping across the threshold and into the lift. He moved to the front and sat in the middle chair, Excalibur placed across his lap.
“Make sure you strap yourself in,” Triltan said from behind him. “Once it gets going, we’ll be moving very quickly.”
Arthur pulled the four-point harness across his chest and just about managed to snap the buckles together. It was a tight fit, especially with the armour, but with some work he managed to fasten it securely.
Once they were all strapped in, Triltan closed the door and the lift began to move forwards. It was slow at first as it crossed over the lip of the tunnel and angled downwards. Arthur was surprised when his seat tilted below him, keeping him upright regardless of the angle of descent. A light shone from the front of the lift, illuminating the icy tunnel before him, but soon they were travelling far too fast to make out any details. The walls sped by in a blur, and when the ice became silicate and then rock, he was barely able to notice the difference. They seemed to drop forever, his stomach rolling and his head pounding as the air pressure slowly increased around them. Just when he thought he could take it no more, the lift began to slow, changing its angle until it emerged from the shaft and touched down inside an enormous natural cave.
“Are you all okay?” Triltan asked as she unfastened her harness.
“I will be,” Arthur said. “Once my head stops pounding.”
“That’s the increase in air pressure,” Triltan explained. “The lift is already adapting, and I expect Daltas will have dispatched automated pressure regulators down here before she allowed any of her team to descend. We Teleri have adapted to higher pressures over the years, living underground as we do, but this is much deeper than even our largest cities.”
“It’s okay,” Arthur continued. “I’m already starting to feel better.”
Lance seemed unaffected by the increase in pressure and rose first from his chair, returning Arondight to the bracket on the back of his armour. The lift cast a wide cone of light around itself, illuminating the cave network. The walls sparkled, glittering as something in them reflected the light back towards him. There was a large white machine some two hundred metres away from the lift, the pressure regulator he assumed, but nothing else to see. There were no Teleri and, more importantly, no creatures around.
“Gwen, how are you?” Arthur asked as he got unsteadily to his feet. The pressure was upsetting his sense of balance, but just like the headache it was slowly improving.
“I’ll be okay,” Gwen replied as she rubbed at her temples.
They waited until they felt better before stepping from the lift and into the cave. They all drew their weapons, Arthur and Gwen favoured their swords while Lance preferred his pistol, while Triltan followed cautiously behind them. The ground felt solid underfoot and the air felt normal as they breathed, though a lingering taste reminded them that it was artificial. Every footstep seemed to echo back and forth around them, disorientating them as they took their first cautious steps away from the lift.
“Okay, Triltan, which way do you want to go?” Arthur asked.
Triltan removed a device from one of the pockets on her armour, the same device the guards had used on the scout ship Arthur noticed. She held it out in front of her, the faint light sweeping left and right around the cavern. She turned in a circle, once, twice and then froze suddenly, staring intently at the readout.
“This way!” Triltan said excitedly. “Teleri life signs! They’re weak, but they’re definitely there! Come on!”
Triltan was about to start running when Arthur placed a hand upon her shoulder, holding her in place. “Hold on,” he said authoritatively. “How far away are they? There’s plenty of light here, around the lift, but we don’t know what we’ll be running into out there. Maybe you should wait here at the lift?”
“No, I’ve got to find them,” Triltan insisted. “Please, we’ve come this far, you have to let me carry on?”
Arthur looked to Gwen, who nodded, and Lance, who shrugged. “Okay,” Arthur said. “But I don’t like it. Any sign of trouble, we head straight for the lift, no excuses.”
“Of course,” Triltan agreed, but she was already walking in the direction indicated on
the scanner.
*****
The cone of light from the lift disappeared behind them as Triltan led them from the cavern and into a tall, narrow tunnel. Arthur returned Excalibur to his back and used the torch on his plasma pistol to light the way. The tight beam lit the path ahead of him, but cast the rest of the space into shadow, his mind imagining countless creatures just outside the area illuminated by his light.
They had seen no signs of whatever had ascended the shaft and killed the Teleri scientist. The rock showed some of the scratches he’d seen on the ice, but there were no sounds or smells to suggest any creatures nearby. Something had killed the scientist though, and there was a reason why Silan Daltas and her team were nowhere to be found, regardless of what the scanner had detected.
“We’re getting closer,” Triltan announced, her voice impossibly loud in the quiet beneath the surface. “I’m picking up four different Teleri signatures.”
“Only four?” Lance asked. “What happened to the others?”
“They might be deeper within the cave network,” Triltan said hopefully, though her voice betrayed the truth of what she was thinking.
“Any other life signs?” Gwen asked. “Heat signatures? Anything?”
“No, nothing,” Triltan replied.
“Okay, just stay alert,” Arthur said, sweeping his pistol left and right, illuminating as much of the tunnel as he could.
As they exited the tunnel and emerged into another enormous cavern, Lance thought he could detect something just at the edge of his hearing. “Stop a moment,” he whispered. “Listen.”
They did as he asked, Gwen closing her eyes to focus on any sounds. There was something there, a clicking, tapping sound, but the reverberation within the tunnels and caves made pinpointing its location impossible.
“Triltan?” Arthur asked, his breath quickening as the sound grew slowly louder.
“There’s nothing on the scan-, wait,” Triltan replied, turning in slow circles with the scanner held out in front of her. “Behind us, its difficult to make out. Almost like life signs, but not life signs too. The scanner can’t make it out.”
The sound was getting steadily louder, impossible not to hear, a definite clacking as of hundreds of tiny claws hitting and scraping against the surface of the caves.
“Move!” Arthur ordered. “It’s behind us, there’s no way back to the lift. Triltan, take us to the Teleri life signs you found. Come on, get going!”
Triltan began to run, the scanner held before her like a weapon. The sound was all around them, moving back and forth throughout the cavern, enveloping them. Lance stayed close to Triltan, shining his light ahead of her, while Arthur and Gwen walked backwards as quickly as they could, holding their weapons before them as they tried to catch sight of whatever was pursuing them.
“There!” Gwen screamed, her finger pulling the trigger before she realised, the bolts of plasma tearing through something high up on the wall of the cavern.
Arthur aimed right and up, his light picking out the creatures on the walls, floor and ceiling. They were moving quickly, a large round body on eight long, thin legs. They were covered in a crab-like shell and had no eyes but a wide, open maw with pincers which moved constantly around it.
“Run!” Arthur screamed, turning and sprinting towards Lance’s beam of light. He fired blindly over his shoulder, over and over, hoping to hit something. Gwen was at his side doing the same, the blasts from their pistols drowned out by the deafening clickety-clack of the approaching hoard.
Lance held Triltan’s arm as she struggled to keep up, the light from his pistol weaving left and right as he sprinted as fast as he could. He wasn’t sure if he was imagining it, but he thought he could make out a faint glow ahead of him, something separate from the reflections and shadows cast by the illumination from his weapon.
“This way,” Lance yelled, pulling Triltan with him. The scanner flew from her grip, falling away into the darkness. The glow was brighter now, blue and curved with movement behind it. He thought he could make out four figures, their arms above their heads, waving at him.
Their lungs burned, legs ached; they pressed on for all they were worth as Arthur and Gwen continued to fire blindly behind them. They had no idea if they hit anything but it didn’t matter. Their only hope was to reach the blue light where the four Teleri were screaming at them, “Run, run faster, they’re right behind you.”
The blue light vanished a second before they reached it, Lance and Triltan slumping to the floor before a large terminal, barely able to catch their breath. Arthur and Gwen made it a fraction of a second later, just as the Teleri pressed a button and the shield dome reappeared. The creatures crashed against it, the dome cutting off limbs as it formed, detached legs raining down around them, still moving despite their lack of body.
The sound was deafening, the pincers chittering and the clawed legs clickety-clacking against the walls of the cavern as the creatures surrounded the shield dome and fought to get in. The four of them breathed heavily, their hearts pounding against their chests as they struggled to get their fear under control.
“It’s okay,” a voice said to Arthur’s left. “You’re safe now, safer, anyway.”
Arthur looked up and found himself looking into the wide, black almond eyes of Silan Daltas.
*****
The crab like creatures began to edge away from the shield dome, retreating into the darkness at the edge of the blue light. Arthur couldn’t tell how far they went, the click-clacking of their limbs fading but never disappearing completely. They could be just at the edge of his vision, he reasoned, lying in wait for a chance to attack.
“Daltas!” Triltan exclaimed, wrapping her arms around the older woman. “I knew you were okay!”
“Triltan?” Silan Daltas said sweetly. “Did your father send you? Is he in orbit?”
Triltan stepped back from Silan Daltas and looked down towards her feet. “He tried,” she said, “but the Assembly, they refused. Fortunately, Arthur here agreed to help me find you.”
Silan Daltas turned back to Arthur and helped him to his feet. “Are you human?” she asked. “I didn’t think there were any of your species left?”
“It’s a long story,” Arthur said with a smile. “Once we’re out of these caves, I’ll be happy to share it with you.”
Silan Daltas smiled and turned back towards Triltan to find Lance towering above her. “And you?” she said, fascinated. “You’re not human, are you?”
“No,” Triltan interrupted before Lance could reply. “This is Lance and he’s a Drogan.”
“Dorgan,” Lance corrected, though his eyes showed his disappointment that Triltan had misnamed his species. They had spent a lot of time together on the journey from Teela and he thought they’d come to know each other quite well.
“Dorgan,” Silan Daltas mused, looking Lance up and down. “I don’t recall any details of your species in the records. You are remarkable though, aren’t you? Much closer to your aquatic ancestry I suspect, closer than the humans anyway. Do you know much about your evolutionary development?”
Lance laughed. “Until last year I believed I’d been created by the Mori,” he said. “Before that? Only Orlac and Ulis know the truth of our beginnings.”
Silan Daltas looked confused until Arthur said, “Like I said, it’s long story, but now’s not the time. We need to get you out of here and back to your ship.”
“Oh no,” Silan Daltas replied. “No, we can’t, not yet. We’re so close!”
“Close to what?” Lance exclaimed. “Didn’t you see those things? They almost killed us!”
“Quite wonderful creatures though, aren’t they?” Silan Daltas remarked. “I believe they spend most of their lives dormant-”
“Please,” Gwen interrupted. “We can discuss it when we get back to the surface.”
“No, you don’t understand,” Silan Daltas persisted, becoming more animated as she continued. “We’ve almost found it. It’s near, I kno
w it is!”
“Daltas,” Triltan said, placing a hand on the older woman’s shoulder. “Just start from the beginning.”
“This planet,” Silan Daltas began. “It shouldn’t exist, not anymore. Every orbit takes it between two stars-”
“We’ve seen your logs,” Arthur interrupted. “The element, the one you think holds the planet together somehow?”
“Ah, yes, exactly!” Silan Daltas continued. “We found traces of it in the walls of these caves, but not really in the walls, do you see?”
Lance and Arthur exchanged confused looks before Arthur said, “No, not really.”
“These creatures, these remarkable, wonderful creatures,” Silan Daltas said. “Their claws, so sharp, they actually pierce the rock and allow them to walk on the walls, the ceiling, all over. That’s where the element is to be found, within the scratches and fissures on the surface of these caves. You’ve seen it, yes? Sparkling, as it reflects back the light?”
“We’ve seen the walls, the way they seem to glitter,” Lance agreed.
“So you see?” Silan Daltas said decisively. “You see the problem!”
“I’m sorry, “Arthur said sympathetically. “I don’t know what you’re trying to tell us, but we need to get out of here before those things come back. The lift, it’s not too far. If we can move the shield with us, we can hold them at bay until we’re safely inside?”
“No, you’re not listening,” Silan Daltas objected. “The super-heavy element, we need it or Teela will tear itself apart.”
“Oh no,” Triltan said at last. “I think I finally understand. The element we need, there isn’t enough of it in the walls of these caves? We’ll need more of it, yes?” Silan Daltas smiled enthusiastically.
“So where do we find it?” Lance asked.
“Oh no,” Gwen replied. “I understand now. We’ll find it wherever these creatures call home.”
Chapter 7
Gilbert and Sullivan
X-Calibur: The Descent Page 9