They encountered no other humans and Myka concluded that the island was uninhabited. They also found driftwood which they collected so that they could make a fire when the sun went down. They cooked the animal they killed which was large enough to feed twice their number. It was a sweet meat, more tender than antrops, and a pleasurable change from their recent diet of fish.
After the meal, they built up the fire, which they had lit on the edge of the beach not far from where they’d tied off their raft. Myka hadn’t realised how much he missed the simple pleasure of a campfire at night. The smell of smoke, the many coloured flames, some of them even blue at their base, and the sparks that escaped into the night like spirits being released when he stirred the coals. There was a sense of solace around a fire that could not be replaced even by the caves where he’d spent most of the nights of his youth.
They both retreated into their thoughts with the meditative effect that fires have. Myka had heard that some Elders would see visions in the flames or more commonly in dreams after they had inhaled the smoke. But he knew that in those cases they put special leaves on the fire to create an hallucinatory state.
He had only ever been present at one of these and that was before he and Sendra had left their home. Neither he nor Sendra had been allowed to partake, but they had sat away from the fire while others inhaled the smoke. No one told them what the visionary saw, but only that they could leave. It was believed by his people that if you told someone their future, their knowledge of it would interfere with the destiny spelt out by the spirits, who may trick you or punish you for seeking such knowledge.
He looked across at Sendra who was staring at the fire like someone hypnotised. Myka couldn’t help feeling responsible for him but he dared not say as much. When Sendra looked across to him, he mentally changed the subject.
‘What are you thinking about?’ Sendra asked.
‘I’m thinking that tomorrow I would like to climb the ridge and look for the homes of the presperas.’
‘Do you think they’re edible?’ Sendra asked, his mind still on the meal they’d just eaten.
‘Perhaps, but it’s more out of curiosity. Besides if we reach the top, we might be able to see what’s on the other side.’
Sendra returned his stare to the fire. Myka knew that company, even silent company, was part of the mystique that campfires were able to conjure. Of course, Myka didn’t know that campfires were probably the first socialising activity in all of human culture, but if asked, he would have said that there was something about them that defined humanity, or at least the humanity that he knew.
His thoughts drifted to the campfires he’d shared with Elvene; especially the first one and the magic that it had wrought. He found it hard to believe that she could now be amongst the stars above his head and automatically looked overhead.
‘You’re thinking of her, aren’t you?’ Sendra asked, reading his thoughts.
He looked at Sendra, almost guiltily, then relaxed. ‘Yes.’ But that was all he said and all he wanted to say.
Elvene trod water and waited for the sounds around her to diminish. Her armoured suit was designed for positive buoyancy in water, and even her rappelling gun would float if she didn’t have it strapped to her back. Once again she could see the blue-green glow on the walls above her. It was difficult to make out how far above her the roof of the cavern was, or even if it had other outlets apart from the one she had fallen through. She knew that if it was the only one, then her chances of survival were virtually nil. Even if the water was fed from somewhere above ground, she did not have the equipment needed to swim long distances underwater to find its source. She switched on a lamp above her visor that allowed her to see, but even with this aid she could barely make out the roof of the chamber, let alone judge its height. Even the glowing rocks were little help in determining distances.
It would not be possible to contact Alfa from down here, and even if she could, he could not help her. In less than three days time he would arise from the watery grave where she had left him, and unable to contact her, he would leave the planet, never to return. She had to get above ground within those three days or else she was lost to all humanity. She was confident that the marauders would leave immediately, believing that they’d achieved their mission. Whilst they didn’t have a body, their probability algorithms would have told them that her chances of survival were so insignificantly small, that they could be ignored.
Elvene swam over to the edge where the water met the rocky wall. She swam along it looking for a place to climb out. She still had her rappelling gun on her back, and if she couldn’t find a purchase, then she would be forced to use it. She hadn’t panicked at this stage, and she took her time, assessing all her options, although they appeared severely limited. Elvene had always had this tendency to look at herself from the outside when she was in a difficult situation. She knew that above all else, she had to maintain a sense of hope. Without hope, a person easily lost the will to live.
She swam right around the perimeter of the pool, orienting herself by the pattern of glowing rocks above her. In the end she swam back to its centre and shot her gun directly upwards, hoping the roof was within its range. It was. The end of the line had a pencil-like implement that entered the rock then immediately expanded. Providing the rock itself was strong enough, it could support her weight. Elvene hauled herself up till she was roughly in the middle of the chamber; she now had a better perspective for viewing her surroundings.
On one side she was now able to make out a ledge, though whether it led to an opening was not so apparent. She attached the line to her belt, which freed the rappelling gun to fire another line above the ledge. By this method she could rappel across the chamber onto the ledge. By reattaching the line to the gun she could send a signal to the end of the line to collapse its point and free it from the rock. The ledge was narrow, but it was at least a place where she could rest and collect her thoughts.
From this vantage point, she could now see the opening through which she had fallen. She hadn’t expected it to be still there. She wondered if the chamber from where she’d fled was still intact or if it had collapsed in the explosion. She had little doubt that the marauders would have sealed off the entrance, but if there was an underwater reservoir then perhaps there were other tunnels that led to the outside world.
With renewed hope she fired her gun at the gaping hole. After the line lodged itself she swung herself out once more and let the gun haul her up. She knew it was going to be tricky, because the hole was nearly vertical, but her very survival depended on her being able to scale it. Her main fear was that it might be plugged from above but she had to find out. She used the same method as before, using one line as an anchor while firing a second one above her. By this means, she was able to reach the chamber where she’d had the showdown with the marauder.
It was so small compared to where she’d just come from, and now it was half filled with debris, all but covering the brain-dead marauder she had left behind. The tunnel through which she had originally entered was completely blocked, as she had expected. They would have used two missiles: one to detonate in the chamber and one to close the entrance. She looked about her; there was one other tunnel that was almost blocked but there appeared to be just enough room for her to crawl through. It appeared on first appraisal to be long and straight. She reassessed the layout of the chamber, remembering where she’d positioned herself when she had lured the marauder to its end. In effect it was a room with one entrance and two exits.
It had been a lottery. She had taken the tunnel on the right because the marauder had entered from her left, and that had led her to the water, where she survived the explosion. The tunnel on the left, however, she now realised was horizontal for a considerable distance rather than down. Both tunnels, of course, vented the explosion, but the one on the left would have killed her, whereas the one on the right allowed her to live. She would remind herself of that in the days to come. For now she wa
s hoping that the one on the left would lead her to her freedom.
Myka found it more difficult to sleep than his friend because he was used to spending his nights awake. Amongst other concerns he was unsure how safe it was here, but he knew that if he kept the fire alight it was less of a problem. He automatically looked to the stars as if he was still aboard his craft and needed to orient himself.
For the most part he had kept thoughts of Elvene at bay, but without the responsibility of navigation overriding his thoughts, he found the memories impossible to placate. He also knew that it was because he had come to a stop, and that once he started again, the memories would be overtaken by new events. But it is always the nighttime that the body longs for contact and the pleasures that such contact can promise. This was all new to him and he was at an age when pleasure withheld can so easily turn to pain within.
Some time before dawn he fell asleep and was saved from the added pain of dreams. When he awoke, Sendra had resurrected the fire and was cooking the shelled seafood they had caught the day before. They put some of the fruit they’d picked in a carry bag that Sendra slung over his shoulder, and after dousing the fire with dirt, they set off early for the mountain ridge above them while the sun was still behind it
Myka knew it was a risk to leave the raft where it was, but felt it was better for them to be together then apart. Besides if the raft was stolen, it meant there were others on the island, and one way or another, they would have to deal with that anyway.
It promised to be a beautiful warm day, though there were signs of early morning mist above them. The climb was going to take them most of the morning so they took both food and water as well as their spears. In fact, it felt just like a hunting trip back home. Even though the sun was climbing in the sky, they were still in its shadow and the air was becoming colder as they literally climbed towards the clouds above them.
It was not long before they had gained considerable height, and they could see their raft now far below them. To Myka it was no bigger than the spear head he held in his right hand. Not long after, they entered the cloud which was an abrupt layer and within a few steps obstructed their view below; it was like they had just entered another world. Myka realised that unless it cleared they would see nothing on the other side, even if they did reach the top of the ridge. It reminded him of the day that he and Elvene had scaled the ridge on his homeland, but the terrain here was distinctly different.
The vegetation was dense, with a canopy overhead, and the ground itself was rocky and covered with moss. Though the climb had started quite steeply, once they entered the clouds it became less so, which surprised them; it was the opposite of what they had expected. They still hadn’t seen any sign of the presperas they had seen at sea and this intrigued Myka. He wondered if they lived above the canopy. He was certain that the sun had risen quite high by this stage but with the combination of a canopy and the persistent mist, there were no shadows being cast.
Eventually they stopped and had some lunch. There didn’t appear to be any game at this height; they had seen no sign of the animal species that they had caught and eaten the previous day. Sendra seemed to read his mind.
‘Don’t you think it strange there aren’t any animals up here?’
‘You mean like the one you killed yesterday?’
‘Yes.’
‘Maybe it’s too cold for them,’ Myka suggested.
‘There are no amplet trees up here, either.’
‘That’s true.’
Myka looked at the trees around him and stood up as if he had made a decision.
‘I’m going to see if I can climb above the canopy.’
‘Okay, I’ll wait down here.’
Myka found it very easy to climb, using the vines that surrounded the trunks of the trees. It wasn’t long before he was surrounded by mist and couldn’t see Sendra at all. It was a strange sensation. Nothing isolates you quite as insidiously as fog, Myka thought. Even night can be penetrated by a fire from a distant hilltop, but fog can cut you off in daylight as abruptly as a curtain.
He continued to climb, wondering if he could get above the cloud, but he couldn’t even see the sun. The tree spread out when he got near its crown and seemed to be joined to those around it. He realised that they didn’t have vegetation like this at all on his homeland, and he found it strange that there were no animals about, considering how easy it would be to move from tree to tree. Then the tree itself did a very strange thing; it started to grow leaves that were both broad and long. They stretched out on either side of the limbs, which were broad enough for him to walk on, providing he kept his balance.
Somehow he found this manifestation very ominous and for the first time since they had landed, he had a genuine sense of dread, not unlike the day he met the igram. His first thought was to warn Sendra not to climb the tree as he knew he would if he didn’t return. But before he could call out, he heard the familiar sound of a presperas, a high-pitched screech that sounded like an alarm in the fog. When it appeared, it wheeled in and out just like the one he’d seen that day with Elvene. But what surprised him more was that it was completely alone and appeared to have come from nowhere. It flew around him in a circle and he understood it was warning him not to move.
It flew right past his ear so that the air from its wings lifted the hair on his head, then it dived right in front of him and clipped one of the leaves with its wing tip. The reaction was instantaneous as the leaf whipped up and tried to catch the creature mid flight, but it executed a perfect barrel roll and nimbly escaped.
He now realised that if he fell he would be caught by one of the leaves and trapped; they were certainly big enough and no doubt strong enough, as well, but his new companion was warning him that even if he moved he would be caught. Myka realised that his hands were sweating and if he wasn’t careful he might start to shake. He looked around him and saw the only possible means of escape.
As he leapt into mid air, a giant leaf tried to catch him but missed; the presperas let out a voluminous screech that would have woken the dead, but Myka caught hold of the vine he had seen and held it tight. To his relief, it held his weight, he swung across to another one and then slid down it till he landed on the ground in a jumbled heap of arms and legs.
Sendra ran over to him, and he couldn’t hide his anxiety. ‘What happened? What was that noise?’
Myka looked up into the canopy and fog for any sign of the presperas, but he could already sense that it had gone. He was genuinely puzzled as to why it had even made an appearance; it was almost as if it had come looking for him, knowing he was in trouble. And then he thought of all the times he’d been able to communicate; it had always been when he was in danger, though until today, the danger had come from the animal itself.
He looked at Sendra and saw the concern on his face. At first he didn’t know what to say to him. ‘I’m all right.’
But Sendra was no less anxious.
‘These trees are carnivorous, I was lucky to escape.’
‘I thought you had been attacked by a presperas.’
‘No, it came to warn me.’
‘Warn you?’
Myka was on his feet again, checking that he had done no serious damage to himself. ‘I mean it was almost caught by the tree itself, so in that way it warned me.’
‘Oh.’
‘Sendra, I don’t think we should stay here any longer. We’ll spend another night on the beach then leave tomorrow morning.’
Sendra was in no frame of mind to argue, and he followed Myka back down the slope. He knew Myka wasn’t telling him everything that had happened, but he also realised that he had been genuinely scared and under those circumstances he didn’t have to tell him.
Elvene followed the tunnel for about a hundred metres before it entered another chamber. This one was quite large, almost as large as the cavern that she had fallen into, only there was no water here. There was a path that led down into it, and when she got to the bottom, it passed thro
ugh another opening and continued to descend. Once again there was the incandescent glow on the walls, sometimes like veins in the rock, and sometimes like splotches of colour, as if someone had thrown them on as paint. When she examined them closely though, they were more like crystals in the rock. In fact they reminded her of quartz crystals; she wondered if they were radioactive, but according to her diagnostic kit they were no greater than background and certainly not a source of harm to her.
It bothered her that her path was leading down rather than up; according to her compass and her memory of the external terrain, she was heading into a mountain, which made finding an opening more remote. She examined the roof above her to see if there were any vertical shafts, but she couldn’t see any. The quality of the air was okay so far and she could only hope that it would remain that way. She had a sensor that would alarm her if the air became dangerous but there was little she could do about it, even if it did.
The situation was becoming more serious for her. She knew that if there had been any other openings nearby, the marauders would have searched for them and sealed them off. She hadn’t heard any activity to suggest that, so the openings probably didn’t exist. Her only chance for survival then seemed to depend on this labyrinth going right through the mountain and coming out the other side, but there was no guarantee that it would, and even if it did, it may not be passable for any number of reasons.
There was no distinction between night and day down here and she hadn’t slept in over thirty hours. If she could find somewhere to rest she would. She needed sleep to think properly. There was no sign of anything edible in this environment either, but she had some high energy rations that would at least keep her going for a few days, even if she couldn’t find water, which she was confident she could. It wasn’t like she could put herself into hibernation until someone came and rescued her. She wondered, not for the first time, at the wisdom of her deliberate isolation from Alfa, but she could see no other solution in dealing with the marauders. She had led them on a merry chase and finally succeeded at losing them, but if she didn’t escape from this natural dungeon, it would be a Pyrrhic victory indeed.
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