by William Wood
“Nils,” Freks said loudly, his voice echoed all around. “Look over here.”
On a wall, on the back of the room, was a small opening. Freks had gone in and came out with a small silver metal object on a leather cord. On the wall was a small sign which read, “Security section seven. Issue one per worker.”
“What’s that?” Calvin asked. Dev waved his scanner over it.
“I don’t know,” Dev admitted.
“It’s a security station,” Astra said. “It looks like a key.”
“There’s enough in there for everyone to take one.” Freks said. Calvin gave Astra a questioning look.
“Might as well,” she said. “Who knows, we might need them up ahead.”
Each person filed into the small room, took one, and hung it around their neck. Nils walked to the ropes which were around the metal wheel. He began to turn the wheel. It took a long time. Each person took turns of about fifteen minutes each. When Calvin took his turn, he was surprised at how hard it was to pull the wheel. There was an oily smell coming from the rope and wheel.
“Are you sure there’s something on the end of this rope?” Dev asked. An hour had passed, and it was his turn at the wheel.
“Oh, for sure,” Wexton said. “I can tell there is. You can feel it when you turn the wheel. Hopefully it doesn’t have sharp teeth. Oh well, we’ll find out when we get it here.”
Dev stopped turning the wheel and stepped back, as if it could suddenly spring and bite him.
Wexton started laughing.
“Hey,” Dev said with an embarrassed smile. “OK, very funny.”
After two hours of pulling on the rope, a large flat wooden boat came into view. They pulled it until it bumped up against the wooden dock. Everyone got on the boat. There was room for all and there would have been room for about fifty, Calvin guessed.
When everyone was on with their gear, they began the journey to the other side. It took much longer going back. The boat was heavier with all of the people in it. There was another metal wheel in the boat that the rope passed through. As before, they took turns. The ceiling above them varied in height. For most of the trip across the underground lake it was high above them. At other times it was closer; just above their heads. The sound of the boat moving through the water was not loud, but echoed around them. The rock ceiling provided light all the way across.
Calvin and Astra sat on the side of the boat, legs dangled over the side and feet just inches above the water. Scribbles sat behind Astra, away from the water.
Wexton sat down next to Calvin.
“So what is it you do, normally, when you’re not running away from the Goremog, or stuck on a planet that is about to blow up?” He asked. “Are you in the military?”
The question surprised Calvin. “Yes, as a matter of fact I am. I’m a lieutenant in the Space Force of my planet.”
“I could tell,” Wexton said. “Something about your manner, the way you deal with people. I’m glad. These people need help. I like Nils, but he’s not much of a leader. I think he’s too emotional.”
“Maybe,” Calvin said. “What I see when I look around, and not just at Nils, is that people want to give up. They miss the village and they want to go home. We can’t give up, Wex. We can get out of this, but we have to be strong for them, right?” He was talking as much to himself as to Wexton.
“Yes sir.”
Suddenly a loud rumble filled the air, ripples spread out across the dark water. Astra grabbed onto Calvin’s arm and held on tightly. Calvin fought the urge to panic, and quickly pulled his feet up into the boat. Astra moved away from the edge.
“This has to be the worst place to get caught in an earthquake,” Dev complained. The waves grew larger and slapped the side of the boat. But fortunately the shaking stopped, and the waves slowly subsided, much to everyone’s relief.
It took another hour to reach the other side. Wexton was taking his turn at the wheel, and pulled it until the boat came to rest up against another wooden dock. They gathered all their gear and climbed off single file. They followed a well-worn path up towards the surface. Unlike the walls on the other side of the lake, the walls here did not glow brightly; they emitted a soft glow that was hard to see. They had to use their lights. The air was stale and thick with a moldy smell. Within twenty minutes the cave ended at a concrete stairwell. The stairs were cracked and broken; water leaked through and roots grew out of control. It took a long time because the ground was wet and they had to climb over a great deal of debris. Wexton carried Scribbles on his back. When Calvin caught a hint of fresh air, he knew they were close.
The stairs led them up to the surface in the middle of a broken, worn down foundation. It was night time and a vast canopy of stars stretched out across the sky.
It was late and they were all tired, so they decided to camp under a ring of trees that had grown in the middle of the foundation, next to the spring that ran down the stairs. There was a chill in the air. The temperature had dropped rapidly while they were underground. Calvin thought of Nil’s words of two days before; that the planet had been going through strange temperate changes. They were experiencing that phenomenon more dramatically.
Calvin found a soft spot on the ground, near a broken wall, and laid out their bed rolls. Wexton made a large fire, and they all gathered around and ate dinner. There was a lot of wood lying around on the ground, and he kept the fire burning until late in the evening. The first day of the hike was over. Dev guessed the trip would take six more days.
They went to sleep under a clear sky, full of bright stars. The horizon was dark red. Calvin knew it was not from the sunset.
Calvin lay on his back, and stared up at the stars and dreamed of flying through space.
He drifted off; so tired he had no trouble sleeping that night.
Loud birds in the trees woke Calvin early the next morning. It was still dark and the sun was just starting to light up the horizon. Nobody else was awake yet. He lay still, trying to decide whether to go back to sleep or not. He realized after a little while that he was not going to be able to; he was too hungry. He got up and took some food out of his backpack. He was trying to be quiet, and thought he was doing good job, but when he turned to look at Astra, he saw that she was sitting up, fully awake.
“I’m sorry, did I wake you up?”
“It was either you or the birds,” she said. “What’s for breakfast?”
“We have some dried meat, and the last of the fruit you like.”
“Oh good,” Astra said. “But I’m sad it’s gone.”
“Here, you can have mine. I like the meat and cheese."
“Ok," Astra said. "But I'm not sure that's cheese."
"All right," Calvin shook his head. "I don't want to know. I choose to remain ignorant."
They ate breakfast and watched the sun rise over the mountain. After everyone was awake and had something to eat, they packed up and began the second day of their journey towards the space port. The next four hours were very easy. They followed the path along a grassy ridge, between the decayed ruins of a set of train tracks. The sun was high in the cloudless sky, beating down on them without mercy. The air felt thicker, and it was a little harder to breathe. The only thing that made it more tolerable was the wind blowing on them. On one hand it cooled them down, on the other hand it felt like they were fighting an invisible hand that was pushing them backwards. They had to stop a few times to rest, but Calvin kept them going. He didn’t want to get caught on the ridge when the sun went down. There was no place to set up camp. When they stopped for lunch, they had to be careful not to lose anything because the wind was blowing so hard. Petori lost one of his smaller bags. The wind took it and it was gone before anyone could grab it.
The path crested at the top of a big hill and gave them an amazing view of the inside of another massive crater. This one was not empty; all around the inside were remains of dozens of buildings, but more disturbing was a small red lake in the bottom.
Calvin stared at it. She was right, and it was rising fast. The rest of the group had already moved off. Calvin wanted to know what made the crater in the first place. He was about to turn back when he spotted something lying on the ground, just off the path on the edge of the drop off.
“Astra look,” Calvin said, and pointed.
“Oh no,” Astra whispered. “There’s another one.”
“What are you looking at?” Dev asked, approaching them.
Calvin’s heart started to beat faster when he realized what it was; part of a leg with decaying flesh on the outside and a metal rod on the inside. It was unmistakable.
“A Terror!” Dev exclaimed. “Out here?”
“Are you sure the rising lava is the worst thing?” Wexton asked.
“Not anymore,” Calvin said.
“What does it mean?” Wexton asked.
“It means some of them either escaped or were released on purpose, because I doubt they could have made it all the way out here in the time the force field went down. Even if they were running at full speed directly here there’s no way.”
They turned, and hurried after the others. The lava continued to rise, but they didn’t wait to see what it would do.
Three more hours of walking, and the path led them down off of the ridge and into a sparse forest, with small short trees. The wind lessened, and felt more like a gentle breeze. Calvin was happy to be out of the wind. It felt like his face was burned, and he was very tired from walking into the wind all day. The trees grew larger as they walked on. When it was time to stop for dinner and make camp for the night, they found a stream of water and stopped. It was a perfect place to stop for the night.
Calvin took off his boots, and put his feet in the water. Scribbles seemed much more relaxed and sat down next to him. Astra joined them by the stream, and put her feet in the water too.
His feet were hot and tired, and the cool water felt very good. After dinner, they all went to sleep. Calvin was so tired, he fell asleep very quickly.
Sometime during the night, deep in his sleep, Calvin heard a distant sound that made his blood freeze. It wasn’t loud, it sounded far away, but there was no mistaking what it was. It was the sound of a Terror screaming. It echoed over the hills.
Calvin lay still, afraid to move. Did it know they were there? Was it coming to get them?
Day three of the journey to the mountain started just like the one before. Calvin woke up earlier than he would have liked. He sat up on his bed roll and rubbed his legs. They felt very sore from yesterday’s walking, but he thought he was getting used to it. He looked down and saw Scribbles sleeping on the end of his bed roll. Maybe sleeping wasn’t the right word, but she shut down, conserving energy. Why not call it sleeping?
Then suddenly he remembered hearing the scream the night before. Was it a dream? Did he really hear it? He wasn’t sure. It must have just been in his dream.
“Ti Nay Carnan,” Scribbles said happily, sitting up. She rubbed her eyes.
“Good morning Scribbles.” Calvin said quietly. “How are you?”
“Yi ti,” Scribbles said, walking to where Astra was still sleeping. She sat down on the end of Astra’s bed, and curled up behind her legs. Astra yawned and sat up. She looked down at Scribbles.
“Is she ok?” Calvin asked. The robot wasn’t moving.
Astra gently touched her. “I don’t know. She’s been acting tired and worn out ever since we left the prison.”
“She misses the hot food,” Calvin said, speaking for himself. “Is she running low on energy?”
“I don’t know,” Astra said. “But if she were, it would explain a few things.”
Astra gently rolled Scribbles over. When she did, the robot made a soft humming noise that sounded like a moan. Astra examined a small computer screen on Scribble’s back.
“You were right. The power readings are low. We need to plug her into a generator. I wish we had one.”
“Maybe when we get to one of the space ships there will be something for us to plug her into.” Calvin suggested.
After breakfast Calvin put on his backpack. With Astra’s help they made a space for Scribbles to fit between his back and the pack. When they were ready to walk, Astra looked at Scribbles. The robot’s eyes were only cracked open.
“Close your eyes, Scribbles. Conserve your energy.” Astra
pressed gently on the robot’s eyes.
Scribbles seemed to understand and shut her eyes. During the day, Calvin, Dev and Wexton took turns carrying the robot. The best part was that Scribbles was very light and easy to carry. In fact, when it was his turn, Calvin forgot he was carrying her.
The first half of the day was very pleasant. The heat was the only problem, but fortunately there were enough trees along the path to provide them with shade. They only stopped once during the day for a short lunch break.
“Is that what I think it is?” Dev asked, pointing back the way they had come. Calvin looked, and saw a large plume of black smoke rising into the sky.
“The lava,” Astra said. “It’s spreading. The trees are on fire.”
“Better keep moving,” Calvin said.
They climbed down a steep hill, into a swampy mess of pools and mud. There was a slightly elevated dirt path that they were able to follow and stay dry. The path twisted its way through the swamp for two miserable hours. In several places they had to jump over gaps, and more than once Calvin landed in the water. It was hot, humid and bugs were out in clouds. They weren’t just little passive bugs, flying around in circles and occasionally flying in their eyes. No, these were aggressive bugs, which were trying to get into their eyes and ears. Fortunately for them, the clothing they wore covered their arms and legs, and although they had to swipe at the bugs constantly, they only had to worry about their hands and faces.
Calvin was highly annoyed by them, and was glad when the path led to a wide mouthed cave. For a reason none of them knew, none of the bugs followed them into the cave. Instead, they stayed at the entrance, a great giant cloud of them.
The cave was big inside, with room for dozens of people. The walls were wet, and the only light available seemed to be coming from outside.
“Over here,” Nils said.
A row of lockers stood along one of the walls. Nils tried to open one, but it was locked. Dev and Wexton walked down the row of lockers, trying to open them all. All of them were locked. Calvin walked closer to one and examined it. There was a strange lock built into the door, and had a shape that looked familiar to him. Suddenly it hit him, and he pulled out the medallion from around his neck, the one they had got in the first cave.
“What’s up Calvin?” Dev asked, walking over to Calvin.
“I have an idea,” Calvin said. He put the medallion into the lock. It fit perfectly. There was a soft click, and the door opened a fraction. Calvin pulled it open the rest of way.
Inside was a long black flashlight. Calvin took it out of what could only have been a charger, and turned it on. A bright light filled the cave. It was surprisingly bright for something so small. Everyone had been watching him, and each took a locker. They all opened a locker with their medallions and took a flashlight.
“Wow,” Wexton said. “Is this a sign of things to come?”
“What do you mean?” Dev asked.
“The flashlights,” Wexton said, holding his up. “I guess that means it’s going to be very dark where we are going, and the walls probably don’t glow.”
“That’s probably a good guess.” Dev said. “Are you afraid of the dark?”
“No,” Wexton said. “I’m just not a very big fan of it.”
“I know how you feel,” Calvin said. He never cared for the dark either, but it only scared him when he was alone.
Everyone took a flashlight and proceeded down a tunnel. After two minutes they passed under a large round computer device,
embedded in the ceiling. Multi-colored lights flashed and flickered as each person passed under it. They walked through without comment. Calvin assumed they were being scanned.
It turned out that Wexton had been correct; the walls did not glow and it got very, very dark. They had to use the flashlights to see. They also discovered something very interesting about the lights. At first they decided they would be smart about it and conserve the flashlights and only have a few of the lights on at a time. But it turned out, that for some strange reason, when they picked up a flashlight, it integrated to the user’s eyes, and only that person could see the light coming out of it. So they all had to use their lights, and they could not share with anyone else.
The tunnel was narrow with featureless rock walls and ceiling, with a hard dirt floor. It led them downwards for several hours. After what felt like forever, the tunnel leveled out and continued for several more hours. They took short breaks, sitting on the ground. They drank water and ate a little bit of food.
Calvin was relieved the tunnel ended abruptly and they found themselves on the edge of a giant canyon. A long metal bridge stretched out ahead of them. Calvin led the way across the bridge, with Astra and Scribbles close behind him. Astra held his hand.
A strong cold wind blasted them with a force they weren’t prepared for as they stepped out on to the bridge, causing them to halt for a second to regain their balance. They all blinked in the sunlight, having not seen it in hours. Calvin looked down. The canyon was deep, so deep they could not see the bottom. Up above, he could see a dozen bridges stretching across at various heights. There were obviously many paths that crossed over the canyon. There were no bridges below, only the remains of a bridge that looked like it had been destroyed a long time ago.
Suddenly something caught Calvin’s eye. He saw something run across one of the bridges far above them. He decided not to say anything, he didn’t want to scare Astra, but he could have sworn it was a Dark Terror. His fears were confirmed when he heard a muffled scream. The scream ended suddenly. Fear gripped his heart.