Father Corman, who had apparently exhausted his supply of healing prayers, now joined Kalam and Boris in combat. The melee was amazingly even. Megan saw Haas’s longbow where she had dropped it on the main deck. If she could lend Kalam some fire support...
She almost made a dash for the bow.
Almost.
Don’t leave, Haas had told her.
By now, Megan knew that the ranger did not make any statements lightly. He was doing something up at the bow but she could not see what. Then, when Haas stepped away from the railing and raised his sword, everything started coming together.
Haas had tied the halyard to the anchor. Megan watched as his Gaussian blade cut the anchor line in a single, smooth swing, releasing the anchor into the water with a great splash. The short remnants of the anchor line went into the water with it—along with the halyard, which in turn instantly hoisted the foresail to its full height.
The schooner began to accelerate immediately. Haas tied off the halyard and then cut the rest of the anchor away so that it did not impede their movement. Megan focused her attention on steering. They were only underway a few seconds when another flaming catapult missile tore into the water—right where the schooner had been moments before. It would have been a direct hit if Haas had not raised the sail.
Now they were approaching the end of the jetties and the harbor walls. Megan could make out some curious guards on the end towers watching them. She ignored them. They had to outrun the next catapult volley.
Then they were clear.
The harbor towers began to recede behind them. Since Megan had no navigational skill, she kept them on a heading out into the open water and hoped that was good enough. She noticed for the first time that Kalam and Boris had won their fight and were helping Haas to raise the remaining mainsail. They were using a winch now. Smart.
When all the sails were up, Boris came over to Megan and gave her a big hug.
“Good job, sweetie.”
“Sweetie?” Megan asked.
“Hey, the fact that we’re not dead right now? You’re a sweetie.”
“You should hug Haas,” Megan replied. “He’s the one that got the sails up.”
“Yeah, no thanks. Don’t think he is the hugging kind.”
Megan laughed, and smiled at Boris. He smiled back.
They were underway. Apparently, the great adventure would continue.
18
The passage of time became indeterminate as the party sailed south. The days offered only endless water in all directions; the nights left Megan gazing silently at the stars. Occasionally Haas, Kalam, and Sameer would convene over the map and argue. Megan mostly just skulked over her continued lack of income. All she had to show for her time so far was the locked Haas had given her, but it wasn’t like that could be cashed out while in the middle of the ocean. How ironic, to be illiquid while surrounded by water.
There was only one redeeming factor to being stuck on a ship with no money coming. Boris.
He came to her the first night onboard. His voice had been unsteady as he apologized for threatening her—it was just nerves, he explained, and the possibility of their quest ending so abruptly. He said he was intimidated by her—intimidated by her?—and that it had gotten the best of him. Megan was happy to forgive him and move on. And with so much time sitting around while they sailed, she was beginning to realize that she kind of liked him—or more specifically, the boy behind him. As much as he liked to stay in character, Boris began to share some of the details of his life in the real world. He was twenty-six. He traveled a lot for work. He didn’t have a girlfriend. He got lonely, which is why he played Safari so much. And he was really funny and playful. Megan was beginning to see the allure of being part of a team. She could even imagine friendship beyond what was occurring through the computer screen. Maybe, in Boris’s case, more than friendship.
Was that ludicrous, or what?
Not as crazy as when Sameer started laughing from atop the mast one day.
“What is it?” cried Kalam. “Are you okay?”
“I see it! ‘Land ho,’ so they say? I see it!”
Megan jumped up and scampered to the bow. “You see land? Where?”
Sameer peered down at the thief. “That way, to the left.”
“Port,” shouted Haas from the helm. “Not left.”
“I mean port, yes, left!”
Megan squinted at the pixels on her screen. “I don’t see anything but sky and water.”
“Oh,” Sameer said. “Well, I’m using magic to see farther than you. But it is there!”
As the schooner turned into a close reach and spray cascaded over the rail, Megan felt relief for the first time in a long while. Maybe this was actually going to work. Yet at the same time, she found Kalam’s behavior a bit odd. Something was bothering him. The tone of his voice, the distraction in his eyes—it was obvious he used Gaming Glasses, all the nuances came through—he seemed more worried than reassured. Perhaps it was just anticipation. Nonetheless, Megan watched as Kalam stared into the distance, deep in thought and oblivious to her attempts to study him for clues.
The coast of the newly found terra incognita was comprised of tall, chalky cliffs that came right up to the water and extended a hundred feet up into the air. They all watched in silence as the ship glided past this impenetrable wall. There was no use in launching a landing party if there was no way to land. What if it was somehow sealed off to outsiders? The only way that Megan and the others would know would be to invest time, more precious time, to coastal exploration.
For three days Megan watched the unchanging shore. The coastline was impregnable. What was more, there were no shore birds flying about, no fish for them to catch for dinner. This land was somehow, for lack of a better word, dead. The only sound was from the splashing of the schooner as it cut through the water.
And then they found it. The cliffs shrunk. The coast turned away into a semicircular arc where vegetation replaced the sharp, rocky edge. The water changed colors from the deep grey-blue of the ocean to a gentle turquoise closer inland.
A beach. They had found a way in.
Boris was screeching before anyone else. “Hell yeah!”
“Drop the mainsail,” Haas commanded. The canvas came down, and the ship drifted in from momentum only.
The ranger tied off the ship’s wheel and strode down to the main deck. “We should anchor here, Kalam. No sense in taking this ship closer in where the tide could beach her.”
“I thought you cut the anchor?” Megan asked.
Haas’s eyes bored into her. “There are two.”
“Oh.”
Kalam nodded. “We’ll take the longboat. Boris, would you get it ready? Everyone else should ready his or her gear. Our quest has returned to land.”
Megan traveled light, so after she was finished she went to help Boris. The longboat was essentially a long, wide canoe with a collapsible mast in the center. They stuffed supplies into wherever they would fit and then Boris hoisted the longboat into the air with the yardarm.
“Jeez, you’re strong,” Megan cooed. “Lifting an entire longboat by yourself.”
Boris flexed into a muscular pose for her. “And you’re pretty cute, batting your eyelashes all by yourself.”
“Only the best that nVidia has to offer.”
When everything was ready, Kalam laid out the plan. “Sameer and I have been examining the river that leads away from the beach over there. We will take the longboat upstream as far as we can to haul our supplies. After that we’ll probably be hoofing it. Stay on your toes—our lives may depend on it. Any questions?”
There were none.
The party set out immediately. Megan was exhilarated. They had come this far mainly on faith, worried about whether this quest was really just a fool’s errand, but now were at last standing on a continent that should not have existed. That enthusiasm started to wane as they trudged upstream, however. It was not easy going. Impenetrable rapids
eventually halted the journey by water, and trudging now on foot was difficult through dense jungle foliage that grew to within mere feet of the river’s edge. Even Boris, the strongest character in their group, had his frustration on full display. The barbarian was hauling the party’s supplies on a sledge over the ragged undergrowth, and it was taking his full attention to avoid being left behind.
The party left the riverbank on the fourth day. A gap in the thick vegetation had opened up to the side and Kalam curtly declared that this was where they needed to go. Megan was skeptical—it just looked like more jungle to her. They spent hours hiking to a higher elevation until they came upon an overlook and could see what lay before them. The green of the jungle was vast and spread in all directions. Waterfalls carved into the volcanic faces of the cliffs rumbled faintly in the distance. It was a beautiful and overwhelming vista for a girl who only knew the snowy reaches of the Haagenan.
Boris came up next to Megan as she took it all in. “Hey, cutie. Tell me we’re there.”
Kalam overheard him. “No. We keep marching,” he barked before storming off.
“Wasn’t talking to him. What’s up with that?”
“I don’t know,” Megan said. “I think he’s been getting worse ever since we left the river.”
“Yeah, no kidding. And he’s not even hauling this stupid sledge.”
Megan continued to observe the bald warrior as they hiked. Kalam definitely seemed off, almost as if a different person was behind the controls. The hubris was gone. He was apprehensive and answered questions defensively—if he spoke at all. When the party broke for the night, it was an inevitable topic of conversation as Megan and Boris stayed logged on to flirt.
“So. What do you think of Kalam’s attitude?” Megan asked softly.
“I don’t know. He’s become pretty rude, hasn’t he?”
“Yeah. He practically bit Sameer’s head off this afternoon when he was joking about buying a car.”
The barbarian nodded. “Father Corman wanted to know why the fortress would be hidden so remotely if it was built during Beta. Isn’t the point of Beta to test how things work? You know—assault a stronghold, take it, lose it, take it again. Wouldn’t hiding it make it harder to do that? Anyway, Corman starts talking and Kalam totally overreacts. He was just mean. We’re all risking our lives to go after this thing together. I would think we’d get a little more respect than that, you know?”
“Why do you think he’s acting this way? You said you’ve adventured with him before.”
“A few times. But I’ve never seen him act like this.” Boris shook his head. “What do you think?”
“I live with three other girls in real life, Boris. I promise you that when answers to questions get really short, it means trouble. I feel like he’s hiding something.” Megan chewed on her fingernails. “You don’t think he’ll try to betray us, do you?”
The barbarian pondered the suggestion. “I don’t think so. Getting back is going to be difficult enough, and he made such a big point about not ratting out on each other when we did that contract. Yeah, I don’t think he’d do that. To me it feels more as if he’s afraid of something. Maybe it’s the apprehension around being so close to so much money. Success or failure is kind of on him. He organized this expedition after all, right? This is a business venture. It’s not just an escapist fantasy for a few hours.”
That made the most sense. Megan was tired, and decided she would accept that explanation for the time being. She curled up beside Boris.
“Oh. Hello,” he said in surprise.
Megan smiled and stroked his arm. “Am I just an escapist fantasy?”
“Uh, no,” Boris said, embarrassed. “I mean... I’m here, aren’t I? Talking with you, instead of sleeping?”
Megan smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m not a commitment psycho. I’m glad we are doing this together, though. This is the first quest I’ve ever done that wasn’t by myself. You know what? I like it. I like you. I like Kalam. Jeez, I even like Haas—he’s impossible to have a conversation with, but he put his own life at risk to save mine.”
“Ah. So we have a very important insight here.”
“What?”
“That you like me.”
“No, I take it back. You’re a dick.”
“Ugh,” Boris groaned. Megan patted him sympathetically on his chest.
They were quiet for a while and stared into the fire. At midnight, they decided it was finally time to get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be another long day.
Megan started to get up, but Boris grabbed her suddenly and pulled her down on top of him. They stared at each other for what seemed like an exceptionally long moment. Then, awkwardly, they kissed.
A few seconds went by and their lips finally parted.
Megan smiled a foolish smile.
“Well, I can’t say I’ve ever done that before in Safari.”
Boris grinned sheepishly. “Neither can I. Man. What a bunch of dorks we are, making out in a video game.”
They said good night. Megan the Thief went over to her pack to settle in. But Megan the Student was awake a long time, alternately contemplating both her growing crush on Boris, and the increasingly sharp behavior from the leader of their expedition. Both relationships were with people she knew only through a computer.
The party broke camp with the rising sun. Megan couldn’t help but watch Kalam’s nervous behavior—the furtive glances over his shoulder, the fidgeting with his weapons. Did he suspect an ambush? Was it caution around a potential betrayal? She eventually got the sense that he knew something they didn’t, that they were somehow headed into danger and he had to keep quiet in order to keep the rest of them in line. It all boiled down into one of the simplest, most powerful emotions that anyone, virtual or real, would have to wrestle with.
He was afraid.
Why?
It made Megan nervous herself. As a precaution, she rearranged her belt purse so that her Potion of Invisibility was easily accessible.
Things were uneventful until they reached a plateau at the edge of a deep gorge. That’s when they saw the rope bridge.
Fasted at either end with sturdy log pilings, the bridge spanned a hundred feet of open air before fading into the jungle on the far side. Straight down—a thousand feet down—was the faint blue mist of a river. Massive, sharp rocks stretched upward like the fingers of some giant buried hand.
Kalam and the ranger were deep in discussion.
“How much weight will it hold, do you think?”
“Maybe two or three at a time,” Haas replied. “Or, maybe it’ll break apart with the first stress placed on it.” He glanced over at Megan. “Perhaps the thief should test it for us.”
Megan arched her eyebrow unappreciatively. “Gee, thanks for volunteering me to potential death.”
“Not necessary,” Kalam said abruptly. “We might as well start with a bang since the bridge will have to support a lot of treasure going across. Boris!”
“What?” said an annoyed voice from the rear of the marching line.
“Come up here.”
It took a few long moments before the great barbarian skulked into view. “We better be under attack, mate,” he growled.
“We need you to go across this bridge and make sure it’s safe to cross.”
Boris looked at the flimsy structure. He started laughing hysterically.
“I’m serious,” Kalam said. “We’ll tie a rope to you in case the bridge fails. But we need to test the bridge’s strength, and we need to do it with some real weight, or else we’re seriously up the creek.”
“Why don’t you do it, then? You’re heavy.”
“You’re heavier.”
The two giant warriors stared at each other in silence. Then Boris rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Fine. Tie me up.”
After a few minutes of preparation, Boris mounted the end of the suspension bridge. He started forward. The ropes of the bridge creaked in immediate protest and Boris gl
ared at Kalam before continuing. At the middle, a gust of wind blew through the gorge and swayed the entire bridge back and forth. The barbarian clutched at the ropes and froze. Sameer and Father Corman began debating who would have the appropriate magic to raise a man from the dead after plummeting a thousand feet. Haas was studying the vibration of the bridge. Kalam simply stood at the edge of the cliff and watched.
When the breeze finally stopped, Boris continued his movement. Soon he was standing in the far clearing, pumping his fist in triumph.
After Megan crossed, she saw that the clearing extended perhaps fifty feet from edge to edge. Haas stood near a path that led off into the brush.
“Did you hack a path for us already?” Megan asked.
“No. This was here. Man-made.”
She took a deep breath. “We really have found something, then. Maybe this will pay off after all.”
“We’ll see.” The ranger’s voice was low, his icy eyes locked on Megan’s.
The party continued with weapons drawn. The path on which Haas led them descended downward into a valley covered in vegetation so thick it was like a green fog hugging their bodies. Visibility disappeared and wild birds screamed at the intruders proceeding single-file. The environment was uncomfortable. When Megan passed a giant toucan resting on a dead tree branch about twenty feet above her, its giant squawk made her jump. Nobody laughed. Every single one of her party members was as tense as she was.
An hour went by as they marched. Megan the Student felt the sweat running down her back. She wondered if anyone else was as freaked out as she felt. It was exhausting. Megan was thinking it was about time for a break when the foliage opened up into a large clearing.
Directly before them was a stone pyramid that extended two hundred feet into the air.
“Good holy shit!” exclaimed Boris when he saw the monument. Kalam and Haas spread out to the left and right with weapons ready.
Megan went from misery to full attentiveness. The pyramid was made of massive black blocks that formed concentric square rings. It made Megan think of the ancient Mayan temples where each layer of stone became smaller in size as the height increased. There were no visible openings and no apparent signs of life. The structure was solemn and foreboding. It towered over them.
Armchair Safari (A Cybercrime Technothriller) Page 18