“We have nets, so we use them,” Tuar says. “And we have an Animal Handler in our midst to help.”
I think about the kinds of nets that I have packed away here in my bag. One comes to mind—the lightweight, very closely woven viatoios armor net that Oalla gave me, called a shielded cloak-net, that can withstand the impact of firearms. And then I remember the other. The one with a wider mesh that’s razor-sharp and can cut both ways unless you wear gloves. . . .
I happen to have viatoios gloves in my bag.
And now I have an idea.
I tell my teammates what I have in mind. “On Earth, people swim with sharks for entertainment—while enclosed in a safety cage. You get inside a cage, and they lower the cage in the ocean. The sharks swim around you but can’t harm you.”
Brie watches me speak. “Right, okay, so?”
“So, we make a cage. We use our various armor nets, connect them together to create an enclosed space.”
Lolu wrinkles her forehead. “Interesting. But, how exactly?”
I reach inside my bag and take out several coiled spools of cords and my two armored nets. “Use the cords as you would use thread—to ‘sew’ the nets together through the mesh links.” I point to the razor net. “Careful, this net is very sharp, and it’s probably best that it’s used on the bottom to keep the tif-nu-sha from swimming upward and biting our feet. . . .”
Then I point to their own bags. “Let’s see how many nets you all have. We just need a minimum of four nets to form a triangular cage or, better yet, five nets to make a square one—one on the bottom and the rest for the sides. The top can be uncovered since we’ll be swimming on the surface as opposed to underwater, and will only need protection below and around us.”
“Good, this is good,” Kateb says. “How does this cage retain its shape?”
“And how does it move? Do we drag it with us?” Tuar adds.
“Ah,” Chihar says with a smile of insight. “We levitate it!”
I smile back at him. “Exactly! We attach our equipment bags to each of the four top corners, and voice-command them to hover and move forward. And we can weigh down and expand the bottom net with some heavy items to make it sink below our feet and keep the tif-nu-sha away.”
“This plan? It’s crazy and I like it,” Brie says.
And so we get out our nets and cords and get to work. I find my gloves and lay out the razor-sharp net on the floor, holding up one side at a time for the others to sew together with one of the sides of their own nets. Lolu gets one side, Kateb, Kokayi, and Tuar the others. Their nets are of various styles and quality, but none are dangerously sharp like mine. We work quickly, tying off the cords, then attach four of our equipment bags to the upper corners. Zaap, Brie, and Chihar watch.
When the whole thing is done, I voice-key all four bags then direct them to rise, lifting up the square net contraption.
“Put something heavy on the bottom, in all four corners and the middle,” Chihar says.
“I would say shoes,” Kokayi mutters, “but they will float.”
Tuar takes out a compact axe weapon. “This is the heaviest item I have.”
Lolu digs in her bag and finds some kind of ball-shaped throw-weapon while Kateb offers a bludgeon stick. I look in mine and recall my own uas-uas pair of club sticks. No one else seems to have anything sufficiently heavy that will sink and not float.
“Four items should work,” I say.
And so we weigh down the bottom. Now it’s time to test our cage and lower it into the water.
“Ready?” I say. “As soon as it’s submerged up to the top edge, we jump in.”
“No jumping,” Chihar says wisely. “If you jump in, the weight of your body falling could make you sink too deep and you might rip the bottom net off as you go down. Instead, enter the water gently.”
“Okay.” I sing the command to advance the four hovering corner bags forward, stopping them at the edge of the water. Next, I sing the lowering command to submerge the cage into the water.
As the nets sink in the dark liquid, my teammates and I pause and look at each other. Then Kokayi nods bravely and slips into the water from a sitting position, making no splash. “Come, amrevet!” he says to me.
I sit down at the edge with my feet in the water, barely touching the side of the net, and very carefully lower myself all the way. The black water is cool but not uncomfortable. However, it feels creepy as hell to be in it. . . .
One by one the others get in, with Chihar being last.
“Ready to start moving?” I ask. And then I sing the command to make the bags advance forward at a gentle pace.
We start swimming in the water, keeping to the cage center. There are eight of us in a confined space, and we swim slowly so as not to agitate the water too much, at the same time keeping pace with the movement of the cage.
A few seconds in, we see gray sleek bodies moving all around the cage, and several fins cutting the water. They bump the sides of the nets but, so far, it seems sufficient to keep them away.
“Slowly, slowly, everyone,” Tuar says, swimming with regular confident breast strokes near the front of the cage.
“Try to ignore them,” Kateb adds, spitting out water, after yet another shark bumps the netted side nearest him, sending a hard splash in his face.
We continue swimming for what feels like an eternity until the next land ring shore is just a few meters away.
That’s when Lolu makes a short scream and splashes frantically because a dead body of a Red Contender rises up directly at us from the black water. As the corpse bumps the side of the net cage, it’s revealed to be a mangled torso, missing part of its head and several limbs. . . .
Brie curses, sputtering the black water out of her mouth and splashing in startled reflex.
We cross the final stretch of water in a hurry. And, as soon as the front net side touches the shore, we get the hell out of that nasty swamp. . . .
“Okay . . . three swims down, two to go.” I pant for a few moments, lying on my belly on the sun-warmed surface of land ring six, and regaining my breath. Then I sit up and begin dismantling the net cage together with Lolu and Kateb. We can always re-create the contraption, if necessary, but for now it’s best to have our individual net weapons and equipment back.
After looking around, it’s clear that there are only a few other Contenders already here on this land ring with us. Meanwhile, water ring six before us is full of clear water and unknown danger.
“The hazard sensors mostly activate when you reach the midpoint of the crossing,” Chihar says tiredly staring at the expanse. “We should send a hovering bag ahead of us to the middle and see if it triggers anything.”
“Agreed,” I say.
“I’ll do it,” Brie says unexpectedly. “Need the practice.” And she sings the voice command sending her bag on a recon mission into the next water ring.
We observe as Brie’s equipment bag soars forward. When it reaches the midpoint nothing happens, so it keeps going, and the water continues to be unaffected.
“Maybe it has to be a person to trigger the sensors?” Brie says, after calling her bag to return to her.
I bite my lip, thinking.
Meanwhile Lolu sits cross-legged at the edge and carefully submerges one finger into the water. “Cold,” she says. “Seems to be very cold.”
At once Chihar comes alive and gets out his thermometer. “Correct,” he says after dunking the gadget in the liquid. “This is colder than normal. I will keep measuring.”
We watch and wait as the fierce sun beats down upon us. Even as Chihar continues taking regular temperature measurements, we can see a physical change taking place before our eyes. The surface of the water ring starts to frost over in small patches and soon the entirety of it is covered with a crust of real ice.
At first the ice is fine and brittle, and easy to crush—as Kateb discovers, striking the flimsy surface and causing cracks and then a hole to open up. But only a few minute
s later the ice layer thickens, and it’s no longer possible to break the ice with a simple blow.
Tuar uses his axe to break through after many hard strikes, chipping away and reaching a thick sludge layer about a foot underneath the solid top layer.
“Right now, we can walk across,” he announces with confidence. “As long as it remains this thick, it’s safe to walk on.”
“We don’t know for how long it will last before it begins to melt,” Chihar says. “Permit me to finish observing the cycle. I will find the optimal time for us to walk.”
And so we wait for twenty minutes, watching the surface as it loses its ice covering and turns to pure liquid.
Once the cycle begins again, Chihar gives a signal and we step onto the ice.
“We have six minutes before it becomes unstable and a few more before it melts,” Chihar tells us.
“Not a problem. Just an ice rink in hell. Who knew?” Brie snorts and is the first of us to walk on the frozen surface, trying not to slip.
I step forward carefully, balancing with my arms outspread, knowing well the consequences of moving too fast on slippery ice. Unfortunately, this ice is of the worst kind, due to the artificially quick freeze cycle. Its surface is pristine and smooth, having had no time to develop surface abrasion or gather dust. It’s like walking on oiled glass. . . .
Steady and even, keep moving, I tell myself when I’m halfway across. Don’t think about the fact that it can melt at any moment. . . .
I turn around and see Kateb and Chihar behind me, taking slow measured steps. Meanwhile the others have gone far ahead of us. The acrobat Kokayi is once again the first across and at the other shore, followed by Zaap and Lolu who is light on her feet.
“Move!” Tuar calls back to those of us who have fallen behind. Despite his muscled bulk he is moving lightly at a good pace, using the soles of his shoes to slide forward with each step like a speed skater. “Two more minutes and the ice will crack! Move along!”
A few feet ahead of me Brie starts to copy Tuar’s slip and sliding movement. At once she picks up her pace.
I glance behind me and see Chihar is really struggling, taking small careful steps and flailing his arms. It occurs to me, the fact that he is older than most of us is taking its toll on him.
Kateb is not doing that well either, seeming unable to find the right balance without slipping. He maintains his cool but curses in Atlanteo periodically—a sure indicator he’s having difficulty.
“Hey, you slowpokes! Move it!” Brie’s voice calls out. “Don’t try to walk! Slide like you’re skating!”
I pause about two-thirds of the way across, panting slightly, and wait for Kateb and Chihar to catch up with me.
“Lark! What the hell are you doing?” Brie cries. “Keep going! One minute left!”
But I ignore her and instead move a few precarious steps back to meet up with Kateb and Chihar. Kateb nears me first and looks at me curiously. I put up my hand for him to stop. A few seconds later, Chihar reaches us also, panting slightly with the effort of staying upright.
“Give me your hand,” I say to Chihar. “And you too, Kateb.”
They stare at me curiously, but don’t protest. I firmly grasp Chihar’s hand on one side and Kateb’s on the other, standing between them. “Now we move forward, together, for balance.”
I start counting to establish a pace, and we begin the sliding motions, as quickly as possible, relying on each other for balance. In just a few seconds we reach the shore, barely making it, as the ice cracks slightly at our last few steps.
“That was way too close,” Brie says to me seriously as we step onto land ring seven. She then adds quietly, “You cannot afford it. . . . Next time, leave the goons behind.”
I bite my lip and say nothing to her, turning away with a stab of anger.
“Thank you for your assistance, Imperial Lady Gwen.” Chihar looks at me with his tired but composed expression.
Kateb nods his thanks also. “I appreciate the help.”
“We’re a team,” I say softly, then turn my attention to the others. “So, what’s next?”
And then I see the gruesome expanse of red water before us and regret having asked.
Brie goes into a tirade of curses and holds her forehead. “What . . . is . . . that? Okay . . . I can’t even . . . just—just what is that red crap?”
Chihar frowns. Tuar and Kateb stand still, looking uncertain.
But Zaap bends down and scoops up a handful of the red water. He lets it run through his fingers and, as the liquid spills away, the red residue in his palm seethes and wiggles in place. “These are baby choonu,” he says calmly. “They are like your Earth leeches when this size—” and he glances at Brie. “In larvae form they eat anything that has blood. When they outgrow this form they become harmless fish, but now they are very hungry.”
Brie looks at Zaap and shakes her head slowly. “You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“No,” Zaap says with a frown. “Why would I enjoy choonu? You are crazy.”
Brie rolls her eyes.
I sigh. “We have four more water rings including this one. And we have to swim two of them.”
“No problem,” Zaap says. “We can swim this one. The choonu will bite but it takes a long time before they eat through skin and enter your meat. So if we swim quickly, we live. And once out of the water, they will die and fall away.”
“In that case, we go,” Tuar says. And he jumps into the red water. When he comes up, spitting, there are red tiny things all over his face and hair. He spits again and grimaces, squinting.
“How is it?” Lolu asks with a grimace of her own.
“Not too bad . . . they sting,” Tuar manages to say. “Just keep your eyes closed as much as you can. Keep your face above water.”
And without another word he starts swimming with rapid powerful strokes to the next shore.
Lord help me. . . . I sit down on the edge and slowly lower myself into the red water.
Tuar was right, it stings! Oh, yes, it stings! The water is barely cool, but the next moment it feels like a hive of mosquitoes is attacking my skin.
I try not to think, try to bury all my squeamishness deep inside me as I keep my mouth closed, squint my eyes, and start stroking through the water as fast as I can, all while splashing pink handfuls of liquid full of squirming choonu.
Ugh!
We cross this water ring as fast as possible and scramble onto land ring eight. Once out of the water, we stomp and try to wipe ourselves off, while pink puddles start forming at our feet. . . . They are filled with the vicious little red things. For once I’m grateful for the cool strong ocean wind that begins to dry us quickly as we move in place. With the wind, the stinging pain diminishes as the creatures die and drop off. I actually feel sorry for them. . . .
I look around at my teammates and we’re a sorry mess, covered with red filth. Brie spits and curses every moment, dancing in place to shake away the micro-nasties. Lolu and Kokayi have taken their shoes off and are dumping their contents on the floor. Chihar has rolled up his uniform sleeves and is scraping off the choonu from his arms, with a resigned, long-suffering expression.
It doesn’t help that the distant audience has picked up the chant “De-neb! De-neb!” Apparently Team Gratu has already crossed all ten water rings and reached the central island with the Green Grail.
Hearing his former team mentioned, Kateb scowls and says something unrepeatable in Atlanteo.
Meanwhile only three more rings remain to us, their dangerous contents unknown.
And we absolutely have to swim one of them or be disqualified.
Chapter 76
I stand facing water ring eight and it looks clear. The ocean water laps gently at the edge. It seems almost inviting after the disgusting red mess of the previous one.
“All right,” I whisper to the transparent water. “What’s wrong with you?”
“It won’t answer, Lark, it won’t answer,”
Brie drawls with sarcasm. “So—send out a reconnaissance bag?”
I nod.
“I’ll send mine,” Lolu says. “I have a surveyor gadget that I want to attach and test.”
In that moment from the distance comes the Games choir of voices singing the now familiar hymn indicating the start of Noon Ghost Time.
“As of now we have half a day left to complete the daily task.” Kateb stands next to me, staring at the water while Lolu fiddles with her bag.
In moments the sky is dotted with airborne Games staff arriving on hoverboards and hover platforms to collect the dead and injured from the Game Zone. We watch them descend everywhere, and the cleanup happens as we wait.
“Might as well get some rest,” Brie mumbles, lying down on the dry floor next to a drying pink puddle of soon-to-be-dead choonu. She puts her bag underneath her head and closes her eyes in exhaustion.
I follow suit, finding a dry spot, and stretch out on the matte brick-colored surface of the land ring beneath me. . . . Closing my eyes, I listen to the wind, the lapping water all around us, and the distant swells of audience noise. Things get a little hazy as I seem to doze off for a few moments . . . and then I come to, because the final acapella notes of the Games hymn are echoing into silence. Noon Ghost Time is over, and Kokayi is leaning over me, tapping my shoulder gently.
“My apologies, amrevet, but you must wake up! You need to see this!”
I sit up with a jolt of adrenaline, and stare at the water ring before us. I blink, rub my eyes, trying to understand what it is I’m seeing.
“It started when my equipment bag reached the middle,” Lolu says, pointing with agitation. There’s a pained look on her face and her great kohl-rimmed eyes are wide open.
Out in the distance of about fifty meters from shore, in the middle of the water ring, stands a wall of roaring fire.
I stare at the wall of flames that has to be at least ten feet tall. “Okay . . .” I say.
Win Page 86