by Tony Healey
Kort gripped Max's hand. "Don't worry about me. It's painful, but not as serious as it looks. You two are our best hope of getting out."
"He's right, flyboy," Delta said. "He'll never make it on that bum leg."
"I . . . can't." Max said.
"Max, you can, and you must." Kort squeezed Max's hand. "And the sooner the better, because I'm in a great deal of pain here."
Max tried to fight back the laughter, but it snuck out, prompting the same response from Kort and Delta.
"Ow, don't make me laugh, kid," Kort said.
Max looked back at Karr's body. "What do we do about him?"
"I've got an idea." Delta set down the hunk of stone and unholstered her blaster. "Been waiting a long time to deliver this receipt."
"Wait." Kort coughed. "You can't kill him – not yet."
"Why not?" Delta said. "He's the last tie to my past. With him out of the picture, I'll finally be free."
"I know, and he deserves it for the pain he's caused you," Kort said. "But he's the Demon of Sohlm, and that's one hell of a bargaining chip to the right player, if you catch my drift."
Delta clenched her jaw, and put away her blaster.
"Max, leave your rifle here with me – just in case," Kort said. "You can bind him with some Kevlar cabling from my pack."
Delta arched an eyebrow. "You just happen to have Kevlar cabling in your pack?"
"Hon, in my experience, you come prepared for any scenario." Kort winked.
___***___
Max and Delta stood together under a man-made archway carved out from the rock. Behind them, an injured teammate and a captive adversary. In front of them, uncharted territory. A combination of excitement and fear coursed through Max's limbs. The idea of not knowing who or what had created such intricate masonry intrigued him, and yet he wasn't positive he wanted to find out.
"You sure knocked Karr for a loop with that thing," Max said. "Where'd you get it?"
"Oh, this?" Delta rotated the shiny, onyx stone in her palm. Bespeckled turquoise and gold minerals sparkled in the torchlight. "There's tons of it down here, all different shapes and sizes. Might be remnants of an old mansion or something."
"A mansion? Down here?"
Delta smacked Max's arm. "I said or something. Hell, I don't know. It's not like I'm an expert on architecture or anything."
Max rubbed his stinging skin. "So . . . what's the deal with this relic, anyway? What is it? Why is it so valuable?"
"Depends on who you ask, I guess."
"Well, I'm asking you," Max said.
Delta leaned against the cavern wall. "It's something of a legend among relic hunters. Some say it contains the secrets of those who came before, while others say it's the catalyst to our inevitable destruction. No one knows for sure, Max. For a while, I even stopped believing it existed."
"What changed your mind?"
"I mean, look at this place." Delta wiped dirt and grime away from a section of rock beside her, revealing carved rows of strange symbols. "I've never seen anything comparable topside, but it's all over the place down here."
Max leaned in to inspect the markings, but couldn't make anything of it. A few symbols appeared precursors to modern alphabet characters, while others appeared to depict common objects, though not all were discernible. "What do you think it says?"
"No clue, but it all aligns with the research Tanzin and I put together before that bastard Karr stole it all," Delta said. "The relic is supposed to be real old – like, older than Kort old."
Max snickered.
"Tanzin and I didn't go back into history far enough, though." Delta folded her arms. "We studied all known empires, dynasties, regimes, and everything else in-between – exhausted them all – still never found anything that put us any closer to the relic."
"But Karr did?"
"Well, let's not give him too much credit," Delta said. "After all, Tanzin and I did most of the heavy lifting. All that was left to investigate were the ancients, but every race in the galaxy has had its fair share of sovereign nations throughout time. Talk about your proverbial snowball in a star field. We didn't know where to even start."
"Hmm . . ." Max squinted an eye. "I wonder how Karr found out."
"No idea. I may hate the guy, but even I have to give him a tip of the ol' relic hunter's cap. He bested Tanzin and I, and that’s no easy feat."
Max ran his fingers along the carvings.
"Hey . . ." Delta looked at her feet. "Back there . . . I didn't get a chance to say thanks for – you know – coming after me. Not sure what would've happened to me if you hadn't."
"Don't mention it," Max said. "You're my friend, and I'd make the same decision every time."
"I . . . I would've never shot you . . . just so you know."
"I know." Max smiled. "I trust you."
Delta puffed an exhale of air through pursed lips. "Which makes what I'm about to ask you all the more difficult."
"What is it?"
"We need to find the relic," Delta said. "Karr will come back for it, and if not him, someone else. We can't risk letting it fall into the wrong hands, and I don't know if I can do it alone. Will you come with me?"
"But . . ."
"I know." Delta looked down at her feet. "I don't want to leave Kort here any longer than necessary either, but . . . we'll hurry, okay? Nothing changes. We'll get the relic and go, just as planned." She offered her hand.
Max already felt guilty leaving Kort behind, and the thought of delaying their departure twisted his stomach in knots. However, he considered the bigger picture. They didn't know what power the relic possessed, or what Karr planned to do with that power. The consequences of leaving without the relic were too great to ignore.
He looked at Delta's face, detecting the subtle upturned corners of her mouth. As much as he wanted to believe her intentions to be pure, he couldn't quell the part of his brain that pondered whether or not this was an attempt to get the relic for herself. By her own admission, retiring filthy rich was the dream of every relic hunter. Did those fires still burn within her? Would she run away again once she had what she'd come for?
No, he thought. Friends always have each other's back.
Max accepted her hand, each of them gripping the other high up on the wrist. "Let's do this."
22
The serpentine path wound them deeper into the Hailstone Caves. Delta's torch gave light to the navy blue stone walls, a shade Max had never seen rocks turn on the surface. He wondered what type of geological phenomenon could cause it.
Is this some kind of rare mineral only found on Quaris? he thought.
Max reached into the pack on his belt and retrieved a sonic chisel. It wasn't the type of tool he normally took with him, but Kort had warned him to ‘prepare for anything,' an ominous statement that Max typically rolled his eyes at. However, on this occasion he was glad he'd listened.
With the press of a button, the chisel vibrated and hummed. Max found an optimal spot in the craggy surface and applied gentle pressure. The chisel whirred like a dentist's drill. Small cracks spread out from the point of impact and broke the rock into chunks. Max collected a few shards in the palm of his hand.
"You some kind of geologist now, flyboy?" Delta said.
"Hardy har-har." Max smiled. "Can you bring that light over here?"
Delta held the torch above Max's work area. Crystal veins in the stone sparkled under the flame. "What are you doing?"
"I've never seen this before," Max said. "It may be nothing, but I figure it can't hurt to take a sample for Kirby to analyze."
Max turned one of the larger specimens over, noting the unique coloring and smooth texture. He'd owned a rock polishing kit as a child, and produced some attractive results he later turned into jewelry for his mother, but the stone quality beneath Quaris put that all to shame.
Max rifled through his pack until he found a handkerchief. After returning the chisel, he laid out the opened cloth across his palm and fille
d it with rock samples. Next, he folded two diagonal corners of the handkerchief over till they met, and tied them together, creating a secure pouch. He jostled the makeshift sack for good measure. Content when nothing spilled out, he stashed the pouch at the bottom of his pack.
"Mind if we move this along, or do you want to write your name on the wall before we go?" Delta flipped her hair, turned, and walked away.
Max rolled his eyes and dashed to catch up with her. "Hey, wait up."
___***___
Finally, the Hailstone Caves' descent came to an end. They'd arrived at an open area with a flat, steady elevation. Their boots sank into a soft, sand-like substance. The texture reminded Max of walking along Aquine's coastline, something he would’ve never expected to experience underground. He knelt down and dipped his fingers beneath the surface, scooping up grains of chalky powder, and letting it slip through his fingers.
"Let me guess," Delta said. "You need some of this, too, yeah?"
Max ignored her, raking his fingertips through the sand to find solid ground more than two feet below. He inspected the residue on his hands. Grey clumps resided under his fingernails. He sniffed the sand, noting a strong scent of char.
"I think it's ash," Max said.
"Ash would imply that something's been burned, and I doubt someone accomplished such a feat with all this ice down here." Delta shivered. "Speaking of which, it's getting colder. Let's hurry."
Not far in front of them lie a monstrous chasm. Max stood at the edge and peered down into a bottomless sea of darkness. A narrow bridge made from rope and wood planks provided the only option for passage. Max reached for the threaded handrail.
Delta clutched his wrist hard before he touched the rope. "Wait!"
"Ow!" Max rubbed his wrist and scowled. "What was that for?"
"Stand back, okay?"
Max backed away from the ledge and watched Delta pace at the end of the bridge. "What's wrong?"
"If there's one thing I've learned down here, it's that if something looks too good to be true, it probably is." Delta dropped to a knee and discovered a metal contraption hidden underneath the planks. "Ah ha! I knew I'd find you down there. Let's get a look under the hood, shall we?" She removed a trio of thin, metallic tools from her kit and used them to pry open the device. "Hmm . . ."
"Something wrong?"
"Maybe." Delta tapped the hook end of a tool against her chin. "I've been disarming booby traps all day – real basic stuff – but this one's different. The wiring is more intricate, like, the person who built the other ones got good at it quickly. Real good."
"So, you can't disarm it?"
Delta smirked. "Relax, flyboy. No one's made a booby trap yet that I can't defeat." She frowned.
"Now what?" Max asked.
"Nothing, it's just . . . I mean, that's why Karr tricked me into coming here," Delta replied. "I spent years perfecting my craft, aspiring to be the best at what I do. I knew full well the risks involved with the choices I made, and I was fine with it, but . . . I never imagined it would lead to this. What good is being the best if it puts those you care about in harm's way, you know?"
Max did know. All his life he'd excelled in engineering. Put anything in front of him with a circuit board and a soldering iron, and he'd have it up and running again in no time. After a while, that became all too easy, and he began building complex devices from scratch without the aid of a blueprint.
He rebuilt K1R-B – a near-sentient droid – with components he'd found around the house and garage. He rebuilt a Skimmer Class starship out of scraps, which even without a Jump Drive, made the journey to Quaris without a single mechanical failure. He was good – maybe even great – but that hubris did nothing to stop Silas Doum from destroying his home world.
Max tried not to, but a nagging part of him blamed himself for what happened on Aquine. Wishing he could've done something more to save his mother would always plague his heart, but he knew that to move forward, he'd have to make peace with that tragic day; he'd have to forgive himself. He wondered if perhaps Delta shouldered similar guilt for Tanzin's fate. Perhaps she, too, needed to forgive herself for tragedy beyond her control.
We survived, but they didn't, he thought. Lost, but never forgotten.
"Delta, I – "
"Got it!" Delta snipped a wire nestled beneath a false bottom. "Tricky, tricky, but I still got ya." She dangled the severed wire in front of her face with a grin. "Okay, we can cross now."
"You're sure?"
Delta clenched her jaw. "Yeah, I'm sure." She went first, stepping onto the planks and waving him forward.
Max grabbed on to the handrails and followed her across. The rickety boards cracked and popped under his feet. The bridge swayed from side-to-side. Max closed his eyes and took deep breaths to settle his nerves.
Don't look down, he thought. Don't look down.
When he opened his eyes, he'd reached the halfway point across. Delta neared the other end, about to step off when she stopped short.
"Max, don't move."
Max followed her instruction.
"Another booby trap; same as the last one, but a bit harder to reach." Delta leaned over the side. "I'm going to need your help."
"Uh . . . how exactly am I going to help you?"
Delta crouched and snaked her way between the ropes.
Max gasped. "What are you doing?"
"Relax," Delta said. "I can't reach the trap from here, so you need to hold my legs while I curl under the bridge to disarm it."
Max palmed his face. "You can't be serious."
"We're sort of out of options here, flyboy. Either we do this, or we keep going, trigger the booby trap, and fall to our deaths. I know which way I’m voting."
Going back was also an option, but since she didn't mention it. She was determined to continue regardless of the risk. Max admired her courage, but wasn't sold on the plan. Supporting Delta's weight wasn't the problem, it was not being able to calculate the intangibles. He'd already imagined several scenarios in which Delta, he, or perhaps both of them would plummet to their deaths.
What if the bridge toppled? What if she didn't have enough light to find the right wire and cut the wrong one? What if, heaven forbid, she slipped out of her pants? The least likely scenario, but still a possibility.
"I know that look, Max," Delta said. "You can analyze the situation till you're blue in the face, or you can trust me to do this. What's it going to be?"
Once Delta used the ‘T' word, Max couldn't turn back. He'd already assured her that he had complete faith in her, and he wasn't about to go back on that. If she said she could do this, he believed in her.
"Okay, but be careful."
"Gee, why didn't I think of that?" Delta chuckled. "Now, grab on to my ankles, and don't let go no matter what. Also, don't pull me back up until I give you the signal. These booby traps are nasty business, so one false move and ‘boom'."
"Boom?"
"Well, I don't actually know what these things will do if triggered, but I'm assuming it's bad if they went to the trouble of setting up so many." Delta curved her upper body under the bridge and went to work on the trap. "No sweat, Max. It's the same design as the first. I got this."
Max focused on nothing but his grip around her ankles. He felt every move she made – every muscle twitch – and adjusted to compensate for the redistribution of weight. In reality, she'd only been down there a few seconds, but it felt like hours to him. He couldn't imagine how she stayed so calm dangling above the abyss. One false move and she'd be done for.
In that moment he realized the answer. She accomplished this by returning the trust that he'd shown her. She didn't fear falling because she had faith he wouldn't allow her to.
"Aaaaaand . . ." Click. Delta severed a wire. "Done! Okay, bring me up."
Max wasted little time, clamping his arms like a vise around her legs and pulling her back to safety.
"Nice work, flyboy." Delta tousled Max's hair. He swatted h
er hand away, trying desperately to fight back a smile.
___***___
Another stone-carved archway awaited them on the other side of the ravine. Delta held her torch out, illuminating more symbols scrawled into the rock. In retrospect, Max wished he'd brought K1R-B along to analyze the markings and attempt to translate. He only second-guessed his decision for a moment before a solution occurred to him.
Since Kirby can’t be here to read them, I’ll bring them to him.
"Hey, does your EPD work down here?" Max asked.
Delta rolled up her sleeve. The glow of the device bathed her face in amber light. "All but telecommunication functions. We're too far out of satellite range."
"Yeah, I figured as much," Max said. "Actually, I wanted to ask if you'd take some scans of these symbols. Maybe Kirby will be able to make something out."
"Good idea." Delta positioned the pin-sized camera lens over the markings and captured several panoramic images. "Just don't be too disappointed if it all winds up being an elaborate take-out menu or something."
"Ever the optimist, aren't you, Delta?"
Delta stuck her thumb up. "Hey, it's what I do."
"Okay, so what do you make of that?" Max pointed behind her.
"So help me, Max, if there's a drooling monster of some kind behind me, I'm taking you down first before it eats me." Delta turned around, quick to notice the pillar-shaped obelisk Max was referring to.
The towering obelisk stood at least twelve feet tall, and six feet around. A pointed tip reached toward the ceiling, but did not touch it. Etched symbols surrounded the base.
"I think we found where your club came from," Max said.
Delta examined the blunt instrument in her hand. The polished black stone with sparkling turquoise and gold flecks matched the obelisk to a tee. Most impressive, it didn't show a single imperfection after being cracked against Karr's skull. "A perfect match. So much for my theory about a mansion." She approached the sculpture.
"Didn't you say this stuff was all over down here?" Max walked behind her.