by A M Russell
‘The natives. After the gas has rendered us unconscious.’ Jared seemed worried now. He looked from one entrance to the other. ‘Either could be a way down, and therefore out of the vapour eventually. But then it would be nearer to danger.’
‘This path is slightly more level. I think we stand a better chance of finding a night’s camp this way.’ Oliver said. He looked as if he’d had too many drinks and needed to go home and sleep it off. We all probably looked the same.
Jared moved suddenly. We took the right hand path. It did indeed continue level for about thirty feet. Then it went up by a set of steps. They were obviously man made, cut into the rock to give a firm foot hold. I felt his was a bad move. But Jared seemed to think this was the right direction to go in. And, on a closer scrutiny of the steps they appeared to have been cut with ancient tools and were lacerated with many chisel marks. Then, just I was beginning to have it in mind to suggest we stopped where we stood, the whole thing opened out into a sizable cavern, in which our lights seemed like small stars in a night sky. We crept along the wall using our torch lights. There were several smaller caves cut into the sides. We found one that suited our needs. We went in and Jared set his torch down on a largish boulder. Wearily we found the tunnel seal und unfurled it. Marcia set the thing and it inflated to cut us off from the night. I realised with a start that it never got light down here. Even if we waited to the ends of the earth, we would never see the sun in this place.
‘How do we know that were not going to be knocked unconscious the minute we disrobe?’ Oliver certainly knew how to state the true problem in that lilting accent that made you think of tea at the Vicarage after the garden party. It was my turn to be stupid… but before I could open my mouth. Jared pointed at me and said: ‘Davey you’re the guinea pig.’
‘What?’
‘If you can’t be woken up we can still get you back to the Buggy.’ said Marcia, ‘You’re not as heavy as these two lumps.’ Marcia looked as though she was ok again, but it was hard to tell. They all stood around me while I unclipped my mask and started to breathe outside of the contained filtration.
After five minutes I was still awake. I felt tired and hungry and felt it was enough.
‘I think I’m ok.’ I said.
‘We’ll wait five more.’ said Jared, ‘If you haven’t succumbed by then it’s probably safe.’
‘Ok….’ I turned to unfasten my pack.
‘Just wait five more minutes.’ said Jared.
I sat down bored with the inactivity. I yawned. They were all watching me. There was no funny smell this time but I was damn tired all the same.
Marcia unclipped her mask; ‘Let’s get some supper.’ She turned to her pack and started getting out the small pans. ‘Come on boys give me a hand.’
Jared let his mask fall to one side. I could see his face. He was so torn between being dutiful and being exhausted. He sat down suddenly on the rocky floor. Oliver helped Marcia. I sorted out the sleep mats and unrolled everything.
Later, Jared leaned back against the rock and shut his eyes. Marcia nudged him. We had hot cocoa. It didn’t taste the same as I remembered.
‘This is some rescue mission.’ said Oliver.
Jared just smiled and drank from the mug.
‘What time is it?’ Marcia asked again.
‘Don’t we all have a watch?’ I gave her the empty.
‘We’ll find Jules first.’ said Jared softly, ‘Then we will extract the young Lady. And, if he doesn’t make too much fuss; I might just get Hanson as well.’ he smiled at Marcia who shrugged.
‘You ready to be up bright and early?’ said Oliver to Me.
‘What is early?’
‘Up at six.’ said Jared.
‘That’s five hours away.’ I said.
‘Better get your head down then.’ Jared turned to Marcia then and lowered his voice. I climbed into my sleeping bag. I heard him say ‘Not too long now. Just a little while, and it will all be alright.’
I thought she said something back, but I couldn’t decipher it. Oliver winked at me, ‘Sleepy time Milly.’ I guess they’d all worked out they could insult me as much as they liked and I’d just take it quite calmly. I reckon Alex had trained me well.
*****
Fifteen
My head was a boiled egg in a jam jar. We crept along having removed our outer suits. I watched Marcia’s hair flex and bounce as she moved. This deserted place was seriously creeping me out. Then, suddenly as we turned a corner, a light flickered in the distance. Jared froze into total immobility and clicked off his torch. If someone hadn’t known that he was there, they could have walked straight into him. He indicated with his hand. We backed up. Oliver and I pressed flat against the wall as Marcia and Jared stared into the dimness. There it was again!
Five minutes of creeping later we’d found the light source. In a chimney-like cave there was a trickling rill of water into a mossy well. It reflected the lights of thousands of phosphorescent tendrils. It was a sublime sight.
‘I wonder how long this stuff takes to grow.’ Oliver took a sample.
‘It the water I’m interested in.’ said Jared, ‘Water means the people. If there are any, they won’t be far away.’
‘Is it coming out of the lake?’ I said.
‘No… It appears to be an underground spring.’ Jared used a small metal whiskey cup from his pocket and dipped it in the glassy liquid.
‘Don’t you think we ought to test it first?’ said Marcia with a slight note of strain. I thought she was annoyed that Jared was being unscientific.
Oliver stuck his finger in and slurped some. ‘Not bad.’ he declared in an appraising tone.
Jared took a sip and nodded. ‘Needs a twist of lime and a double of good gin.’ He wiped the cup, refilled it, and passed it to me. I tasted it cautiously with Marcia looking at me disapprovingly. ‘Guinea Pig.’ I said and swigged it. It had a strong mineral flavour and was extremely refreshing. I felt quite invigorated.
‘I take it that you expect me to try some of this….water.’ Marcia was trying to look petulant. Jared smiled broadly. ‘My dear! You need a dose of salts and I recommend this particular vintage.’
‘Ok.’ she held out her hand.
Jared gave her another of his little steel tots. She tasted it. ‘It’s alright.’ she said, ‘If it was boiled I’d declare it totally safe.’
‘Well whatever else happens; we’re not going to be thirsty.’ I said.
‘If we get captured and they put us in their cooking pot I’ll remind you what you said.’ Jared laughed.
We moved on, still moving downwards. The patches of glowing fungus became more and more frequent. Eventually the cave widened and we were walking down an avenue of columns and twisted contortions of crystals and jewels all illuminated with a myriad of colours from palest violet to the gentle primrose of a flower in a meadow. The lights blended to give a soft white light that was criminal to compare to daylight. So lush, so rich, so subtle. We no longer needed our torches. We walked amidst caves and galleries of glittering joy; Royal chambers for some elemental Queen. The floor here became softer and more powdery, until it was dusted with the finest sand. I then saw then most amazing thing. We walked forward from this galleried space into a vast amphitheatre of lights and colours with a pool of the deepest azure blue. And into this tumbled, like wine from an amphora, a smooth waterfall, that foamed a little as it met the rippling surface beneath.
‘Do you see that?’ I said in a hushed tone.
We all stood quite still. I felt then as I did later, that in all my travels this was one of the things that made everything else that came after just that little more bearable. We passed round the edge just a short distance; and then at once we found another one of the tags. This was half buried in the sand. Marcia picked it up.
‘Whose is it?’ I asked.
‘Not sure.’ Marcia handed it to Jared.
‘There’s no inscription on this one.’ Jared turned it over. ‘
This has been altered in some way.’
‘The question is. Why have them dropped anyway? And what happened to the original owner? Whoever that was.’ Oliver seemed annoyed at this ill logic.
‘No... no.’ said Jared, ‘It does make sense. I’m not sure yet. But I think we will find out pretty soon why these tags have been left for us to find.’
Marcia and I gave each other a look, but neither dared to say what we both knew the other was thinking.
‘Have they been activated?’ I asked.
‘No.’ said Jared.
‘Could they be?’ Oliver looked like one who had a niggling idea and was trying to make sense of it.
‘I think,’ said Jared, ‘that would be a bad idea; always supposing that these were dropped here for a reason. It would seem the most natural thing in the world to activate the signal beacon. But it can’t work down her. We’d be wasting the battery.’
I felt that spark, as if Jared had just said something really significant but I couldn’t work out what.
‘Could a signal from any one of these be used to activate another of these?’ I asked.
‘Yes. Yes I believe it could. What are you thinking?’ said Jared.
‘We are assuming that these are bugged or tuned into, yes?’ I suggested, ‘we need to get them somewhere that gains for us advantage. The signal can’t reach the outside. But it could reach anything in a reasonable range in here. Right?’
‘I think I see what you’re getting at,’ said Marcia, ‘We can adjust our own tags to give us proximity on the ones that the others still might be wearing. Even if they are not, it will give us an early warning of the tribes’ people.’
‘If we set the range so low,’ said Jared, ‘they can’t be used to make a SOS signal if we hit the surface.’
‘In the scheme of things,’ said Marcia, ‘do you really think that the company are going to come and rescue us? Considering the state of the weather and the null in the expedition.’
‘We don’t have the samples.’ I said.
‘This may be a way of getting them back too.’ she said, ‘and keeping our reputations intact.’
I could not see if she was smiling or not. Oliver looked thoughtful. Jared: puzzled.
‘There’s only one risk to this. If we get separated. Someone who has a switched tag, needs to be with another person who carrys one virgin to our scientific hammer and chisel.’
‘George will be lecturing us for sure when he finds out.’ I said.
‘Indeed. Oliver? Can we switch them?’
‘Yeah. That easy. We just hold all the buttons down at once.’
‘And to change it back?’
‘Same again. Or each one in the right order.’
‘Do we have buttons on these things?’ I asked
‘Tiny ones.’ said Oliver, ‘Tip of a pen or pencil will depress the buttons.’
‘How do they switch them at Base?’ I asked.
‘A clamp with special prongs.’ said Oliver, ‘We’ll have to improvise.’
‘What about the sequence?’ said Marcia
‘I don’t know what that is.’ said Oliver.
Jared was silent and deep in thought. ‘I think I do.’ he said eventually.
‘What?’ Oliver was frowning, ‘No one knows that.’
‘Yes. We do. But it’s different for each one. There is a Base override pass code but if certain conditions aren’t met it doesn’t work. But the individual ones are the same as the name.’
‘Huh?’ He’d lost me again.
‘Like a telephone… or a mobile. Each letter also has a corresponding number. You just tap it in until it switches.’
‘How do we know it’s done that?’ I asked
‘You really need to stop pretending to read the manuals, and actually read them.’ said Jared. ‘The light lights up for two seconds. If it’s amber it means it’s short range. If it’s green it means it’s longer range.’
‘And what about red?’
‘Imminent danger of the battery inside running out.’
‘Oh.’ I felt stupid again, ‘....So we could test the batteries on our captured ones first to see if they’re live.’ I said.
‘Yes. Good point. I may also tell us how old they are. It’s not exact, but for a rough good guess it is a start.’ Jared seemed perplexed, 'It's really daft. There isn't a quick way to do this.'
'I think I may be able to speed up the button pressing.' Marcia held up a bunch of hairpins, double pronged and quite long.
'Mmm.... If we bend these two and use that for a frame...' Jared took of the mask clip and started to bend it into a square, '... If it doesn't work; I'll spend the rest of the trip fastening the mouthpiece with a pink ribbon.'
Marcia smiled slyly, 'I told you never to mention Angelica.'
'Who is Angelica?' I said watching Jared skilfully twist the metal round
'Pliers!' Jared elbowed me, 'They are in my big pocket.' I pulled the folding multi tool out and opened it into the right position.
Marcia and Oliver had got the sample scoops out and took some sand, water and small rock pieces. I looked about as Jared fashioned the prong. This place was fantastical. The mineral content of the water in the pool gave it a glassy richness with the clarity of Gin poured over ice. The subtle shimmer of as yet unidentified veins of rocky riches mocked my attempts to remember the basics on classification.
'I'll need your help now Milnes!' Jared jerked my attention back to his handmade contraption. He made me sit down and hold the thing with my back against a small smooth boulder.
Marcia took out the other Tag from Oliver's pack. She had a funny look on her face. I knew that look.
'Ok.' said Jared, 'We'll try that one first. It does make sense. We know the passcode to switch it off completely if trouble comes our way.'
'Oh! Yes... But of course I must know.' Marcia seemed grimly determined. Jared hugged her briefly. 'Alright.' he said, 'We do it. It's a good idea. But afterwards we head for those rocks over there.’ We all nodded in agreement.
'Hold still! Brace it well. We need a solid force on all the buttons at once' Jared lined it up and shoved in a way that made me feel like my chest was being collapsed. I didn't complain. Oliver was looking a bit too interested. I thought he might want to do the other one.
'What's it doing?'
'Shh!' Jared was in that perfectly still state of concentration that I admired, ....like a trainee Buddhist monk (if there is such a thing). He tilted his head slightly and peered at it for about 30 seconds. He straightened up and exhaled.
'Another try.' he said and seemed amused. I realised Oliver and Marcia were both smirking at me. I must have been pulling some funny faces.
'Hold it steady this time Milnes.' Oliver snorted.
I tried to look annoyed and failed. I found I was giggling instead.
'Oh really!' Jared glared. I shut up instantly. Marcia and Oliver turned to put their samples away.
Another unpleasant chest compression later I stood to check along with Jared what the "Ellis" Tag was doing. He was again utterly motionless. I stared at it too. I realised my eyes were watering, and turning away rubbing them just at the moment Jared softly whistled meaning I had missed the moment the light began to glow.
'What is it doing?'
'Shh!'
I realised Marcia was at my elbow. She seemed shocked as if she just seen someone raised from the dead.
The light had glowed red for a few seconds. Blinked out and came back on to Amber and remained steady. Jared still stood with it cradled in his palm.
'Marcia!' Jared said sharply, 'Come here.'
She obeyed. Her face struggled to express some inner fight between different emotions. I noticed more and more this tendency towards anxiety and anger in her. But then it was true of all of us. I suddenly thought, with a shock of realisation that no one in our team was trained in dealing with the mental aspects of our journey. Those inevitable barriers through one's own will and desire that must be crossed in t
he course of the expedition as a whole. In fact I remembered that the letter specified that the caretaking for our mental wellbeing would be assigned to one of the team. But I had forgotten this detail from my original letter until now. Then I remembered something else....one of the Manuals that I did read. There was a whole section in it on "Wellbeing and the mind". I'd read it because I was bored, and as a smart attempt to learn a few phrases that I could use on Alex next time I saw him. I'd treated it like a bit of a joke.... Just something to idle away some time before....
My train of thought was rudely interrupted by Oliver who was dragging me roughly by my left arm down behind some large boulders. I was too surprised to argue. Marcia was next to me panting in a choked way. Jared stood up very slowly to peek over the smooth yellow-grey rock. Slowly and smoothly he returned to a crouching position next to Marcia.
‘How many?’ said Oliver.
‘At least thirty.’ Jared said in a flat tone.
‘What now?’ my mouth was dry. I tried to work my jaw to get more moisture circulating but it just made me feel nauseous.
‘We may have to split up.’ whispered Jared.
Oliver slowly nodded. I saw Marcia swallow and murmur something non-committal.
‘Ok.’ said Oliver softly, ‘if it comes to it, Millie and I will look for Janey. You & Marcia try to find Hanson. We’ll pick up Jules as well… If they haven’t moved him that is.’
‘Once you find the cells switch your tag to the emergency signal,’ said Jared, ‘then make for the tunnel. We can all meet at that intersection. You remember the one we got to when we went down the first small tunnel.’
‘Alright. But what time do we allow?’ Oliver glanced upwards momentarily.
‘24 hours from now. You take the activated tag. If you think it is drawing them to you, dump it. It should flash on and off when you get near to Janey’s Tag.’
‘That’s why it was “underneath”.…’ I said a little too loudly. Oliver clamped his hand over my mouth, with the grip I remembered from Joe’s Medic bay.
‘Quiet now.’ Oliver’s breathy drawl felt menacing in the vast silence punctuated only by some soft shuffling noises from those others; the ones who could be our enemies, or at least not our friends.