Foundry of the Gods (Corrosive Knights Book 6)

by E. R. Torre

  She slowly removed her goggles and frowned. Now that she was so near to the tent, she realized there was something about it that didn’t look right.

  The tent was ripped and faded by the desert sun. The shifting sands buried her base and were crawling her sides. Another thick layer of sand covered her roof and threatened to collapse the structure.

  “Hello?” Laverna said.

  She waited a few seconds and, when an answer didn’t come, got off her hovercycle. She approached the tent.

  “Carson?” she repeated for what felt like the fiftieth time. “It’s me, Laverna.”

  She stopped a few feet from the tent and, being so close, realized how worn it was. So worn it was on the verge of collapsing. It certainly wasn’t a place anyone –other than the very desperate– would live.

  Laverna felt foolish standing still before it.

  You’ll feel a lot more foolish with a knife in your side.

  “I came by because I wanted to thank you for the gear,” Laverna said. “I know I said so already, but…”

  She heard a noise coming from her side and spun around.

  A ginibol, a small desert insect, burrowed out of the sand. It was as surprised by the person standing near it as was her observer. It quickly crawled away, its slick black shell and legs clicking as she moved.

  Laverna shook her head.

  This is ridiculous.

  “Look, you were right about contacting my mother,” Laverna said. “There’s no reason not to.”

  Laverna moved. She was only a couple of feet from the tent and her arms remained at her side.

  A reflected light coming from the side of the tent caught her attention and she looked at it. It was from the tent’s solar array. The laminate glass surface was corroded and its inner coils fused.

  “What the…?” she muttered.

  It would take a very long time for such corrosion to take hold of a cell. Even the most minimal care ensured such a device would last. It appeared this one was abandoned many years before.

  Laverna examined the array’s panels and found they too were corroded. Several of them were completely burnt out. Like the tent, they too were covered in sand.

  What’s going on here? she thought.

  Her attention returned to the tent. One of its sides, toward the rear, was collapsing under the weight of accumulated sand.

  “Carson?”

  Laverna reached for the tent’s entry flap. Ever so slowly she pulled at it.

  “Carson…?”

  Laverna abruptly stopped talking.

  The interior of the tent was twice as large as Laverna’s. It was also completely empty. The floor was covered in desert sand, sand which seeped in through the tent’s many small tears and rips and accumulated over a period of years. There was no cot, no heater, and no refrigeration unit. There was no water filter nor storage compartments. There was no clothing or equipment.

  The sand within the tent was smooth and undisturbed. There were no signs of footprints.

  Maybe he doesn’t live here?

  On the surface and given the high price of these tents, the idea was ridiculous. Yet using a tent to lure would be attackers from your real home was not a bad idea.

  But which scavenger had the money to spend on two tents and let one of them and its costly solar array rot away?

  Laverna let the entry flap drop and walked around the campground. She then climbed the rocky outcrop that offered shade to the rotted tent. From that modest height she had a better look around. Desert sand surrounded her while in the far distance lay the mesas. There was no sign of a second camp nor was there evidence of some other place Carson might have used.

  Laverna shook her head.

  She slid down the outcrop and returned to her hovercycle.

  After taking one last look at the tent, she started her vehicle up and drove off to the caravan meeting place.

  28

  The caravan’s meeting place for this day was at the base of Reverie Mesa.

  By the time Laverna arrived, there was still one hour left before departure time. The time was determined, along with the exact meeting place, the day before and sent via scrambled code through Bordertown radio frequencies. Keeping the caravan’s departure secret for as long as possible diminished the ability of both Demons and pirates from planning ambushes.

  Laverna was the only one at the meeting place. She sat on her hovercycle and removed her jacket, gloves and helmet. In this heat, she was willing to strip naked. She didn’t, and instead waited for others to arrive. She searched the horizon and, now and again, impatiently gazed at her watch. The minutes ticked by one after the other as the time of departure approached.

  Still no one came.

  Laverna paced before her hovercycle and checked the equipment she was taking to Bordertown. She also checked her hovercycle’s power cell and found it was a little over three quarters full. If the cell was working properly, the morning sun would have already charged it. As it was, she’d have to make the trip to Bordertown on this power and, given the distance and extra weight from Carson’s gear, she’d be near empty by the time she reached her destination.

  “If anyone shows up,” Laverna muttered.

  She checked her watch yet again. It was nearly time for the caravan to leave and still there was no one here.

  Did they leave early?

  Caravans often left late but Laverna couldn’t remember a single time one left early. She nonetheless walked around the meeting place and looked for any signs the scavengers had already met and departed. She could find no tracks, discarded trash, or fuel stains. Other than her own footprints, there was no evidence anyone had been here.

  Something’s wrong, Laverna thought.

  The departure hour came and went and still no one showed up.

  They must have left early, Laverna thought.

  If the caravan was on its way, Laverna might still be able to catch up to it.

  If I can find any tracks, she thought. Otherwise, I take the straight path.

  It was a terrifying thought but Laverna had to go. She needed to trade in Carson’s gear. She needed to call her mother. She needed to see Carson one last time.

  Laverna mounted her cycle and put on her gear before kicking its thrusters on.

  She rode off.

  Sand blasted away as Laverna’s hovercycle sped forward. She kept her eyes on her surroundings and used the enhanced magnification in her helmet to look several miles ahead.

  In her first hour of travel, she spotted no sign of the caravan or any others.

  The trail she followed was smooth and there was also no sign of wheeled vehicles having passed.

  They took another route.

  Laverna poured on the speed and kept her senses alert.

  She was too far out to turn back.

  Three hours later Laverna flipped the turbines off and her hovercycle came to sudden, violent stop.

  Her teeth grinded as she added magnification to her helmet’s glasses display.

  The gnarled shadows ahead of her were unmistakable.

  Demons.

  It was a large group. They had five heavy machines and another dozen smaller ones. They were, for the moment, still and likely camping out.

  Laverna fought a growing panic.

  Have they seen me?

  She couldn’t be sure and considered her options. There were only two:

  If they hadn’t seen her, she could take a long, circular route around them. The problem in doing so was that it would drain her power cell all the more. On the other hand, if they had seen her, her only choice was to pour on the speed and drive straight ahead. Doing so would also tax her already taxed power cell.

  Either way, I use up the damn power cell.

  She looked down at Carson’s gear.

  There is a third option. You could leave the supplies behind. It’ll save energy and you’ll move much quicker.

  Laverna angrily shook her head. Leaving behind Carson’s gear went ag
ainst everything a scavenger stood for.

  Might as well deliver it gift-wrapped to them.

  She bit her upper lip, eyed the sands, and considered her course.

  Fast and quick, she decided. In the end, there was no other choice.

  Laverna pressed down hard on the throttle and the hovercycle’s turbines roared.

  The machine shot forward.

  Laverna kept one eye on the road and the other on the Demons’ vehicles.

  She couldn’t believe her luck. Despite the telltale plume of desert sand emerging from behind her, the Demons’ vehicles remained where they were and there was no sign of movement around the camp.

  They had to have seen me by now, she thought.

  Yet the Demon’s vehicles remained where they were and she could not see a single person moving among them.

  Laverna frowned. She was parallel to the group and at least a mile away. It wouldn’t be long before she passed directly to their east and still there was no movement.

  It was as if…

  The frown on Laverna’s face deepened.

  She slowed the hovercycle while cursing herself for doing so.

  You’re getting away clean and you’re slowing to investigate? Do you have a fucking death wish?

  Something was very wrong.

  She slowed the hovercycle even more and told herself she did so because she could afford to. The Demon camp still showed no movement.

  Accelerate. Get away.

  She again used the magnification on her helmet’s goggles to get a better look at the Demons’ camp. The rusty bodies vehicles with the jagged metal spikes remained dead still, their treads dug deep into the sands.

  There was more.

  Sand not only climbed the rusty vehicle’s treads, but also their sides. The desert was in the process of eating them up.

  Incredibly, there was not a single living person to be seen.

  Laverna slowed the hovercycle and turned it toward the Demons’ vehicles.

  Something was very wrong and she had to see what it was.

  Laverna made a careful diagonal approach and came closer to the Demons’ camp.

  What if they’re playing dead and drawing you in?

  Laverna shook her head. That made almost as little sense as her current actions. She kept her magnified view on and carefully examined each and every one of the vehicles. The ones toward the front of the group were even more buried in the sands. It was as if they had been abandoned a very long time before.

  That can’t be, Laverna thought.

  Yet that’s what appeared to have happened.

  Every one of the vehicles, both large and small, were dead still and in the process of being consumed by the shifting sands.

  Laverna’s senses were in overdrive.

  Had someone attacked this group?

  She saw no evidence of violence or carnage. The vehicles, rusted though they were, appeared intact. Abandoned.

  That’s ridiculous. The Demons didn’t abandon the vehicles and simply walk away. Even they can’t survive on foot around these parts.

  “So what happened?” Laverna said aloud.

  She was less than a hundred yards from them when her bravery –or perhaps foolishness– finally reached its limits. She abruptly pulled at the handlebar and turned her vehicle away.

  “It has to be an ambush,” she said. “It has to be.”

  Laverna pressed down on the throttle and the hovercycle kicked up the sand behind her.

  Laverna expected the still group of Demon vehicles to finally start up and give chase.

  They didn’t.

  She moved farther and farther away from the group while their vehicles remained exactly where they were.

  When she was far enough away, Laverna looked back. With her magnification at maximum she had her first clear view of the cabins of the first three vehicles.

  There was no sign of any drivers within and the drifting sands settled on each vehicles’ hood.

  She looked on, amazed and confused by the sight. In that moment, she saw the vehicles as abstract shapes. They were metallic structures that poked through the sands but extended far below, continuing down and down for many miles…

  Laverna felt a shiver and shook her head.

  The vision was strong and hard to ignore but for now, the silent sands could keep their mystery.

  29

  It took Laverna another five hours to reach the outer edges of Bordertown.

  For the entire day she suffered the steady heat of the sun and the continued fear of running into Demons or pirates. Now, finally, her suffering was about to end.

  The shanties just outside Bordertown appeared in the near distance. They were where the desperately poor lived and survived. Laverna expected to find groups of children and elderly begging for handouts but found none.

  Today, the roads were empty.

  Laverna sped by the cardboard villages and, much like the Demon caravan she spotted hours before, saw no one. It didn’t entirely surprise her as the desperately poor often showed up for the caravans rather than single riders.

  But even then, she expected to see someone.

  What looked like a child sat at the side of one of the shacks. Laverna slowed. The child was bent over, as if in the process of falling. Her dress was tattered and grimy, something sadly common to find here.

  Laverna slowed her hovercycle even more but, upon nearing the child, realized it was a large doll. Its rubber skin was cracked and peeling and its eyes stared at the dirt floor.

  Laverna came to a stop and her hovercycle settled on the sandy road. She set her left leg on the ground while looking around. Wind whistled through the tattered buildings but otherwise all was silent.

  “Hello?” Laverna said.

  Thanks to Carson, she could afford to be generous to those who needed help more than she did.

  Laverna waited for anyone to emerge from their homes. As she did, she checked the cycle’s power cell charge. It was just below a quarter capacity and enough to get her into Bordertown and the fueling station but not nearly enough to take her back to camp afterwards.

  Laverna looked away from the hovercycle’s dashboard and at the slum. No one emerged from the decrepit buildings around her.

  “Anyone there?” she yelled out.

  She received no answer.

  Laverna’s eyes turned from the buildings and to the desert road before her. The sand was smooth. There was no sign of any passing vehicles.

  Laverna frowned. After all these hours of travel, she hadn’t found any evidence of the caravan she was pursuing. Was it possible the trip was cancelled? If so, could Carson still be in the desert? Was this entire made in vain?

  Laverna heard a creak and spun around in her seat.

  The door leading into one of the shanty homes swung open.

  Laverna saw darkness within.

  She suppressed a chill and pressed her hovercycle’s ignition switch.

  She moved on.

  In minutes Laverna passed the desert trail and was on tarmac.

  Bordertown’s west end buildings appeared in the near distance. None were taller than five stories high and all lined the Main Street entering town.

  Beyond and looming higher than the buildings was Bordertown’s Starport. It rose twice as high as the tallest of Bordertown’s buildings and contained a large, elevated platform capable of parking dozens of shuttle craft. Despite its size, like most of the structures within Bordertown the Starport was rarely used. At one point Bordertown was a prime port for cargo. Perhaps there were great riches mined in the deserts but that was a very long time ago.

  With her destination in sight, Laverna eased back.

  It was late afternoon when she rode through the city’s high perimeter walls. Behind them she found hundreds of ragged tents. They were worn with age and housed elderly scavengers who were too old or infirm to continue searching for treasures and too poor to buy passage on a shuttle. Because of the inhabitants’ age and infirm
ities, each year the tent city grew smaller and smaller.

  The sun was well on its way to descending into the western horizon and its dying light turned the buildings around Laverna blood red.

  All was quiet. Quiet and still.

  Laverna’s hovercycle rode past the dying town in this dying world and headed to the Starport.

  Just outside it was an equally large –and equally unnecessary– parking lot. Laverna searched for Carson’s hovercycle among the spaces though she suspected the scavenger would sell the vehicle rather than abandon it. She found several broken down movers, almost all of which had been stripped for parts, but was unable to find Carson’s hovercycle.

  Laverna shook her head and checked her watch.

  The caravan should be here by now.

  She parked and looked back toward Bordertown’s entrance. Though it lay a good distance away, she saw no evidence of sand plumes or any other evidence of a nearing caravan.

  Laverna got off her hovercycle, removed her riding gear, and activated its security system before heading into the Starport building.

  Though large, the Starport looked even more enormous because of how empty it was.

  Its ceiling was seven stories above and large monitors, few of them actually working, took up much of that empty space. At one time these monitors listed information on incoming and outgoing shuttle craft while thousands of passengers made their way through the Starport’s terminals.

  The Starport’s floor was covered in a thin layer of desert sand and two pairs of footprints disturbed the otherwise smooth surface. Whoever created the footprints headed off to the north and Laverna followed them. She eventually spotted a smaller information terminal. Unlike most of the overhead units, this one’s panel worked and on it was a list of shuttle schedules.

  Laverna read the information and was disappointed to find it hadn’t been updated in many months. Toward the bottom of the list was a single shuttle scheduled to departure within the next hour. It was in Terminal MN5. This terminal lay in the direction of the footprints she followed.