The Prize: Book One

by Rob Buckman

  “Whoa! Crispy critters.” Penn laughed and lay back in the water.

  “How did you know?” Ellis asked in a shaky voice, eyeing the smoldering remains of the spider and its offspring.

  “I didn't for sure, but back on Earth, spider webs do that.”

  “You think they are all dead?” Ellis asked as she looked around the fire-blasted cavern. She couldn't see much in the dying light of the flare.

  “I'm not going to stick around to find out. Let's make like the good shepherd and get the flock out of here.”

  Penn quickly found the way out, and they put as much distance between them and the spider cavern as they could. So far, none of the creatures they'd run into had followed them, and they both hoped their luck would hold. Neither wanted to think about giant spiders tracking them through this terrifying maze. After several hours of wandering, they ended up on a smooth floor of a huge rocky shaft that disappearing into the gloom above their heads. As usual, the portal closed behind them the moment they entered, cutting off their way back, or up in this case, was a wide rock ledge that spiraled its way around, and up around the shaft. Both were beyond surprise, or comment, at this point and simply dropped their packs and took a rest to eat before starting off again, as there was no telling when they’d be able to eat again. Penn took the lead, feeling a slight updraft coming and going, almost as if the mountainous building was breathing. Gradually the ledge got steeper and steeper, and they realized that the higher they climbed, the narrower the ledge, and the shaft became. Soon, they had to crawl on their hands and knees, pushing their precious packs ahead of them. Eventually, they were simply crawling around the circumstance of what amounted to a huge chimney. As they got higher, the slight updraft at the bottom steadily became stronger as the chimney narrowed until it became a howling gale, alternately rushing up or down the shaft. At times the wind threatened to blow, or suck them off the ledge, but thankfully, the wind roaring up and down drafts lasted just a few minutes before dying away. During those times, they lay flat on the ledge and just hung on, and scrambling forward as fast as they could during the lull. It was also the one time they could speak, after their ear adjusted to the pressure change.

  “What a relief,” Ellis called out, but it wasn't long before the updraft started again.

  Just when they thought it was impossible to go any further, the ledge ended, widening as they reached an opening in the rock wall. Penn threw his backpack inside, and reached back for Ellis's hand, quickly helping her into the tunnel before the wind pulled her off the ledge. Getting to their feet inside the tunnel, they stood for a moment, hugging each other, panting in relief. Penn adjusted his eye to the dim light inside the cave, or tunnel, and began a carefully examined, but to his surprise, it didn't go anywhere. It was a dead end. It simply ended some ten feet back from the entrance in a blank rock wall. Penn explored every square inch of the surface, and all of the rock on either side between the end wall and the entrance. For once, it wasn't an illusion but solid rock. Penn needed to be sure his mind wasn't falling victim to the pyramid's tricks, so once again, he blindfolded himself, cleared his mind, and walked toward the wall. All he got for his trouble was as a knot on his head after walking into solid rock. Frustrated and angry, he walked back to the entrance, leaning out during a lull in the wind and looked up at the top of the chimney, some hundred feet overhead, not liking what he saw.

  There were no openings, hand holds, and no way to climb the rest of the way up the smooth black rock. The top of the chimney itself, was just twenty feet or so wide at this point, which increase the wind's velocity for the last few feet. Even if he could climb up, there was no way he could do it before the gale force wind reached its peak, and blew him off. Ellis leaned back against the wall, slowly sinking to her butt on the floor, exhausted, and watched him work. In the end, Penn did the same and sat down beside her, pulling out two of the fruits he had picked in the grotto and handed her one. They sat there munching in silence, each occupied with their own thoughts. Ellis worried they would have to take the gut wrenching trip back down the ledge to the lower tunnel, and find another way up, and said so.

  “There isn't another way around, at least as far back as the grotto.”

  “So what are our options?”

  “Damned if I know.”

  Wind eddies pulled at their hair and clothes. The discomforting shriek was so loud it was almost impossible to think. In anger, Penn picked up a chunk of rock and hurled it out the entrance, glad that Ellis hadn't heard him swear. Much to his surprise, the rock went out about three feet from the edge, and shot straight up. A few seconds later, the wind died and the rock dropped past the opening. Penn sat there, frozen. Ellis grabbed him by the shoulder.

  “Penn! Are you all right?”

  “I am now!” A grin threatened to split his face in half. “I have an idea.” Penn pulled his pack back on, cinching the waist, chest, and crotch straps tight, then led Ellis to the far end of the tunnel. “You’re going to love this.”

  “Put your pack on. I know how to get out of here.” Ellis put her pack on, looking puzzled. He checked her straps, pulling the waist and chest a little tighter. He turned her so her back was toward the opening and looked her in the eye. Out of the wind, it was easier to talk.

  “Do you trust me?” Ellis looking into his golden eyes for a moment, thinking about all the things they'd been through so far.

  “Yes, of course I do.” She said at last.

  “I mean, do you really trust me?”

  “That's a silly question, Penn. You don't have to ask. Of course I do.”

  “Good. Kiss me.” He said, counting in his head.

  She put her arms around his neck, and he hugged her close to him, a little awkward because of their packs. She kissed him, felt his grip on her belt as he lifted her off the floor, hugging her close. She screamed into his mouth as he took off running, straight for the opening. Instantly she knew what he was going to do, but she was powerless to stop him. Penn launched them both out into the shaft just as the wind began to howl. Ellis held on for dear life, swearing that if they survived, she was going to kill him. The wind shrieked in her ears as they started to drop. She forced her eyes open and saw the rock walls of the shaft flash pass as they tumbled in the air. She couldn't tell if they were going up, or plunging to their deaths. The wind stopped, and for a breathless heartbeat they hung, suspended between heaven and Earth, and she knew she was about to die. They started to fall, and Ellis screamed in his ear, until they landing after a drop of ten foot drop, cutting off her scream with a loud “Ooofff’. Of course, Ellis landed on top of Penn, breaking most of her fall. She opened her eyes, sobbing with relief, and looked around, seeing they were some twenty feet from the edge of the shaft, on a wide rocky outcrop. She disentangled herself from his embrace and struggled to her feet. As Penn stood, Ellis began beating him on his chest.

  “Damn you, Penn! You're a frigging maniac… you're fucking insane.” She didn't know what to feel. Anger, fear, and relief were warring inside her.

  "I should kill you… no! That's too good for you. I should stomp you into the ground, then kill you. NO! Better still I should stomp you into the ground, set your rotten stinking ass on fire to you, shoot you, and then throw your rotten stinking carcass over the edge of that shaft! Damn it! You almost got us killed!" Her shaking hand made it look like she had palsy.

  “So, you're not going to give me a kiss for figuring this out?” He let out a groan as he arched his back, wondering if he'd broken something.

  “Kiss you! Kiss you!...” She spluttered. ”I should….” She let out a growl, lost for words. She took her pack off and sat down, shaking, too emotional too even think right then.

  “What do you mean, figure it out?” She asked at last. Pen shucked his pack and stretched to get the kinks out of his body. His back, had taken the brunt of the impact, even with his pack as a cushion.

  “This building, it's like a giant puzzle. It gives you whatever you are thi
nking about, like dying is some horrible way, but maybe like I said, it gives you what you want the most, like conjuring up and secluded grotto for us to rest in.”

  “So? I just want to get the hell out of here, or find the damn control room, but I don't see it giving us either of those. But what has that got to do with you leaping off a ledge to nowhere?”

  “That's just it. It wasn't just a ledge to nowhere. You could jump off the ledge, and survive, if you figured it out that the wind was cyclic, and had sufficient force to lift you those last few feet. And had the nerve.”

  “You've got that right!”

  “Before we reached the top, the wind wasn't strong enough to lift us. Once we did, it was.”

  “God! That diabolical.”

  “Exactly. This building is setting puzzles for the people seeking the Prize to solve, and you can bet some of them will blow your mind. It's a question of finding the solution, and having the guts to trust yourself. If you do, you get to go on.”

  “And if you don't?”

  “Then you die.”

  “Sheesh! What a choice. Jump off the ledge and die, or do nothing and die.”

  “Hell of a system.”

  “But how do you know if the alternative it offers you is the right one?”

  “You don't. That's the key. It's a question of trusting your judgment.”

  “Good God. You'd better have a lot of faith in yourself, or you're dead.”

  “Precisely.”

  “All right Gunga Din, where to now?”

  “My guess is that opening over there.”

  “You sure?”

  “Well, I don’t see any other way to go,” he laughed, "unless of course, you want to jump off the ledge, and go back down?”

  “Funny man.” She gave him one of those looks that woman give when they can’t think of anything else to say.

  CHAPTER - TWENTY SEVEN: Truth and Consequence

  Penn and Ellis followed the passageways, this way, and that for hours with getting anywhere. Inevitably, they reach a blank wall at the end of a long straight tunnel, their legs weary, and their concentration fading fast. A portal open, and they cautiously stepped into an odd-shaped room dominated by giant cube shaped blocks and squares marked out on the floor. Reluctantly they stepped inside as going back wasn't an option, and as expected, the portal closed silently behind then.

  “What now?” Ellis asked the room at large, eyeing the blocks.

  They spent three hours moving the blocks from one square to the other, testing patterns and shapes, but nothing happened. They spent another hour sitting on their butts just looking at the blocks, complete frustrated. In the end, they eat and rested for a while, but even a partial sleep did little to help solve the puzzle.

  “Any ideas?” Penn asked.

  “Obviously there has to be an answer.” Penn knew they couldn't just sit here, but unless they came up with the answer, they weren't going anywhere.

  Ellis eyed the walls and ceiling, her brow pulling into a puzzled frown. Neither of them had noticed before, but sitting in the center of the ceiling above their heads was a large blue ball.

  “What are you thinking, Ellis?”

  “I'm not sure, but I think that ball has something to do with getting out of this room.” To Ellis, the melon-sized ball seemed out of place, and had no earthly reason to be there, and was somehow connected to the cubes on the floor.

  Ellis stood and walked around the room, looking at it from every angle, but it didn't help. Even standing on one of the cubes, she couldn't reach blue ball. They tried stacking one cube on top of the other, and although the blacks moved easily across the floor, it was impossible to lift one. Ellis stood there, one foot tapping the floor in frustration.

  “I could try snagging it with a rope,” Penn offered. Pulling the coil out of his pack, Penn made a noose, but after several ties had no luck in snagging it.

  “Here, let me try.” Ellis remade the noose into a slipknot, and in true western system slowly built a loop and launched it at the ball. Much to Penn's utter amazement, it hooked on her first try.

  “Oh yeah!” Ellis laughed, seeing the look on his face. Shuffling her feet, she wiggled her hips in a sort of dance. ”Who's the man!” She whooped.

  “Yeah, yeah. Okay Jane Wayne, so what now?” Ellis stuck her tongue out at him and gently pulled on the rope. Much too both their surprise she managed to pull the ball down about a foot when the noose slipped. The ball bounced a couple of times, and then rolled a few feet across the ceiling before coming to a stop.

  “What the hell…” Penn muttered.

  “Shit!” Was Ellis's contribution to the conversation, and storming across the room she lay down on the floor as if she were about to have a temper tantrum. Wiggling her butt, she placed both feel at the foot of the wall, and taking a deep breath started walking up it.

  “Well I'll be go to hell!” Penn laughed. Ellis turned and looked down at him, grinning from ear to ear.

  “I knew that damn ball has something to do with getting out of this room.” She chuckled in delight. Reaching the junction between the wall and the 'ceiling', she again laid down, now upside down to Penn, and did the same thing again, this time walking across the ceiling over Penn's head.

  “I'll be dammed,” she stood there looking down at him, shaking her head.

  “What do you see?”

  “I can see a pattern on the top of the cubes, and matching patterns on the floor. Penn, move that block you're standing next to three squares to your left, and one that way,” she pointed. “No, your other left!” Ellis snapped. Penn shot her a nasty look, but did as she ordered, muttering something to himself under his breath.

  “What did you say?”

  “Nothing, just commenting on the weather, that's all.”

  One by one, Ellis directed Penn to move the block to the correct positions, and as the last piece moved into place, a section of the wall opened. While Ellis negotiated her way back down, Penn packed everything and prepared to move out.

  "Damn! That one must be a bitch if you're on your own,” Ellis said as she picked up her pack.

  "But if you're by yourself, you might not reach that particular room.”

  "Good point.”

  “I'm not sure I see the point of that puzzle.”

  “That's easy,” she said. ”The room presented you with what seemed like an unsolvable puzzle, and it was unsolvable, until you learned to look at it from a different perspective.”

  “Like upside down.”

  “Exactly. Mostly we get stuck on looking at problem the same way and can't see a solution.”

  “So I guess it's a question of turning the problem around in your mind's eye, like the wind shaft. You then have to make a choice, and live with it.” The revelation didn't give Ellis any great comfort. She'd long ago realized that choices in this life often came down to bad, worse, or just plain impossible. When faced with capture, agonizing torture, or death, which do you take?

  Several hours later, they reached a darker section of the tunnel. Up until now, the ever-present pearlescent light had illuminated their way to one degree or another, but here, the tunnel gradually darkened. The further they moved away from the light, the more menacing the tunnel felt, as if some nameless horror lived down there, waiting patiently for its next unsuspecting victim to walk in. Some sort of thick, black slimy substance coated the walls, and a nauseating stench made Penn gag. For some unknown reason the stink didn't affect Ellis and she hardly noticed it. They splashed their way through ankle deep scummy liquid, and Ellis noticed Penn's steps had begun to drag uncharacteristically, and he was sweating profusely.

  "You okay, Penn?"

  "Yeah, I'm good, it's just…” He stopped. ”Hey, let's go back and see if we can find another way around this.”

  "What's wrong Penn? This isn't like you.” Ellis brow pulled into a deep frown.

  "I know! It's just this damn tunnel. It doesn't feel right.”

  "Talk to me. What
's wrong?"

  "I… I don't know. Something is down there, something that could hurt us…” he caught himself. “I mean you.”

  Penn backed himself up against the slime-covered wall, his knife out. His eyes flicked from side to side, beads of sweat running down his pale skin. His face didn’t look boyish any more, as it pulled into snarl of hatred, and flushed in the dim light. In the end, Ellis pulled Penn back up the tunnel to a brighter, drier section. A hundred feet later, Penn stopped again, slipping his knife back into its scabbard, leaning against the wall, bent over, and taking deep breaths to calm himself. She had never seen him like this.

  "You want to tell me about it?"

  "No!” He snapped.

  "Come on, Penn. What's down there?"

  "I… I don't know. Didn't you feel it?"