He shivered. “Okay. I’m with you.”
“Now hold on to me.”
Awkwardly, he stepped up and placed his right arm around her waist. To his surprise he found that her suit’s exoskeleton was soft to the touch.
“Hold on tight,” she said, unfazed at the closeness of their bodies, then lowered herself backwards over the precipice without hesitation. Like a spider spinning a web, her suit paid out the silk-like rope as they went, and she expertly rappelled down the rock toward the cave entrance. The thought entered Cris’ mind that he might be too heavy for her to carry, but she seemed to be having no trouble whatsoever.
She lowered Cris safely inside the cave mouth, then hurled herself forward and landed on her feet. As she did so, the suit disconnected itself from the line, and the wrist outlet retracted in on itself automatically.
“That’s an impressive suit you’re wearing,” was all he thought to say.
“It is called a Rãvier,” she told him. “It enhances my body with increased strength, agility, and protection, with some additional advantages.”
Impressed, Cris followed her into the depths of the cave. The cave interior smelled more strongly of sulphur than the air outside. The walls were slightly damp, water running in rivulets through the contours of the rock. Bioluminescent algae were growing from the ceiling, lighting the way in a shade of emerald green. It was quiet, the only sound coming from their footsteps, and the panting of their breathing.
“We should be quite safe down here,” Chen said, her voice echoing against the walls. “For now.”
The passageway twisted and turned, boring its way deeper into the earth for some distance. They passed multiple forks in the tunnel, and Cris was sure that they were getting lost, until eventually Chen stopped by a running stream of water.
“Pa-fet,” she whispered, then turned to him. “We will rest here a while.”
Cris took a long drink of water from the stream. It was fresh and sweet. Then he groaned and slumped unceremoniously to a smooth dip in the rocky floor, exhausted beyond measure.
“Sleep,” Chen said. “You will feel much better afterward. Your body has been through much stress.”
He shook his head. “No. Not yet. I can’t. I… I need to know what happened first. What happened to the world… to the people…”
Chen nodded. She could see that it was important to him. “Very well.” She sat down opposite him, looking into his eyes. She took a deep breath. “You come from an Age when the earth was fertile, when mankind’s dominion over nature knew no bounds.” She shook her head. “That was such a long time ago now. After the Day of Judgement… the Apo’calupsis… the world was changed forever.”
“Day of Judgement?” Cris said.
“About three-hundred-and-fifty years ago,” she said, “there was an… event… a cosmic event… that caused a mass extinction of plant and animal life on a global scale. Around eighty percent of all species on this world were wiped out, and the atmosphere was poisoned for many generations. Even now we are still experiencing its effects, with sulphur dioxide in the air and droplets of sulphuric acid in the rain. For people such as myself who believe in the teachings of the Holy Scriptures, this event was the Apocalypse, the End of the World. The coming of the New Messiah.”
Cris frowned. “Mass extinction? Some kind of asteroid? Like what killed the dinosaurs?”
Chen took a deep breath. “Yes. The impact site is said to be somewhere far in the lands beyond the Silver City, but I have not seen it myself. Regardless, the event saw the end of your Cenozoic Era of geological history, and the beginning of the Neozoic.”
“So what happened to human civilisation?” Cris asked, a hint of desperation in his voice.
“Billions died,” she said bluntly. She reached into her bag, pulling out two dull-coloured sticks of what looked like an unappetising, processed dried fruit. She tossed one to him. “Here. Eat this.”
He caught it in mid air, brought it to his nose and sniffed it. It smelled vile. “What is it?” he asked, screwing his face up, unsure if he’d ever smelt anything quite like it before.
“Food,” she said, with a tone of voice that implied she would not elaborate on it any further. She started chewing hers in earnest. “Nutritionally complete. You won’t need to eat again for days.”
Now that he thought about it, he was feeling ravenously hungry. Reluctantly, he bit down on the thing and grinded a piece between his teeth. It didn’t taste as bad as he’d imagined. Had he heard her right? Billions? Dead?
Chen swallowed a piece of her food thoughtfully. “Nobody really knows how it happened exactly, but within twenty years of the Apo’calupsis, human civilisation had vanished completely. Most likely it resulted from the intense firestorms, and severe breakup of the earth’s crust that followed the catastrophe. What followed was a new Dark Age of human history, from which no historical records survive.”
Cris licked his lips and stared down at his hands. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling at this moment. A mixture of both fear and revulsion flooded his system as he realised that everything he had ever known had been lost. But at the same time he felt a sensation of perverse excitement at the idea.
“The survivors went underground,” Chen continued. “It was the only way to survive. Eventually, some semblance of civilised society re-emerged, after the coming of Damarus.”
Cris blinked. “Who?”
“A Prophet of the Lord,” she said. “Damarus was sent by God to lead mankind out of the darkness, into a new age. He wrote the Books of the Third Testament. He is generally credited with saving our race from becoming extinct ourselves, by teaching us to live harmoniously with the world around us, both culturally and technologically.”
This was a little too much for him to believe. He was not a religious man, but he did remember attending enforced Sunday School when he was a kid. “Third Testament?” he said, unable to hide the sarcasm in his voice. “I thought the Holy Bible was only divided into two parts: the Old and the New.”
She simply shook her head. “There are now three accepted divisions. A religious war was fought two centuries ago over the authenticity of Damarus’ works. But that is all history now. The Lord Damarus Bible is the version I was taught as a child.”
“Okay, I get it. I’ve been out of the picture for a long time. Clearly, a lot more has changed here than I first bargained for. I have a lot of catch-up learning to do.”
She smiled. “Don’t worry. It’s perfectly understandable.”
He continued eating his food stick. “So what year is it now, anyway?”
“The current year is 192 of the New Dominion. On your Gregorian calendar, that equates to AD 2488.”
Cris took a deep breath and let it out wearily. “Wow,” was all he could say. He shook his head, then looked at her questioningly. “So what’s your story?” he asked, genuinely interested. “I know nothing about you, other than your name. And what’s that language I’ve heard you speaking?”
She smiled. “Actually, it’s English. The language has evolved somewhat over the past four centuries. You’re just lucky I’ve studied archaic dialects in the past.”
“Makes sense.” He laughed out loud. “I feel like I should be in a museum.”
“Maybe you should,” she said, toying with him. Then her smile dropped. “I was born in the city of Einek of the Seventh Faction, one of the twelve major human settlements, many miles from here. I lived there my whole life, a student of science and history, until…” She broke off.
“Until what?”
She averted his gaze, slightly flustered. “Let’s just say I ran into some troubles I don’t feel comfortable discussing. I left Einek on a self-imposed exile, and I have lived a nomadic existence ever since. I have been travelling northwest for two years. My goal is to reach the Silver City.”
Cris raised his eyebrows. “No cars in the twenty-fifth century? No airplanes? No rocket ships?”
She frowned. “We abandoned that
kind of vulgar, polluting technology centuries ago. Vehicular transportation exists in the form of organic bioships today, but those are few and far between. Only the most important figures would own such an exquisite craft. I rely on my feet alone.”
“And your suit,” he observed.
“Yes.”
“So how did you find me?”
“By chance, actually. I was passing through the area when I spotted the avalanche. I noticed something strange about it, so I decided to investigate. When I found you, I could see you wouldn’t survive much longer in there, another year or two at most. Rather than leave you be, my curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to revive you. And here we are.”
Cris nodded. Everything was starting to make sense now. If only he could remember more about his own life. “I just wish my memory didn’t have this gaping hole in it. There’s so much I still can’t remember.”
“It will return, in time,” she said. “Get some sleep, Cris. Perhaps you will remember more when you awaken.”
3
Cris awoke several hours later feeling stiff as a board. The muscles in his back and along his left side ached like all Hell from laying on solid rock, but he felt rested all the same. His mind felt calmer, more balanced than it had earlier. He sat up and stretched, his eyes scanning the darkness of the small irregular room, searching for the woman who’d brought him here.
He saw Lorelei Chen laying on the ground nearby, sleeping quietly on her back with one arm tucked beneath her head. He got to his feet and took a few steps toward her. Her slim, athletic body appealed to him; even with the exoskeleton suit she wore, it was clear this woman was a model specimen, with curves in all the right places. He guessed she was somewhere in her mid-to-late twenties. Her face was pretty, a mixture of Oriental and Caucasian features, nice lips, high cheekbones. Clearly, she came from good stock.
Chen stirred, and blinked her eyes open. She looked at him. “Like what you see?” she asked, not moving.
Cris blushed slightly. “I… I just woke up. Feeling much better now, actually.”
“Good.” Chen pulled herself into a sitting position and took a deep breath. “You’re going to need your strength. We’re many miles into the Shadowlands, and it will take three days to reach the nearest human settlement on foot.”
Cris winced. The idea that he’d be walking that far in just his bare feet was unthinkable. “I’m going to need a pair of shoes, or something.”
She nodded. “We’ll find something you can use. You’re going to need a change of clothes at some point, too. Those four-hundred-year-old rags won’t last much longer in the heat of the desert.”
He licked his lips, feeling very vulnerable. “So where are we going? Your home town? Eidon, was it?”
“The City of Einek,” she corrected him. “And no, we aren’t going there. Like I told you earlier, I’ve exiled myself from that place. I would not go back.”
He studied her body language. He could tell from the way she held herself, by the way her gaze kept falling, that she was almost frightened by the suggestion. “You’re running away from something, aren’t you?” he said.
She swallowed, and averted his gaze. “You’re very perceptive, Cris.”
He nodded. “I thought so. Running from what, exactly?”
“That’s none of your business,” she snapped suddenly, and got to her feet. She took some unused food sticks from the floor and began stuffing them in her bag. “Speak no more of it. I will be taking you to the closest settlement from here – the City of Lahmia of the Fifth Faction. I visited there when I was a child and have not returned since, but from what I remember of it, it is a place of great scientific achievement and knowledge. The people there will welcome you with open arms, I’m sure.”
Cris watched her for a moment. She wasn’t going to let her guard down. He wanted to know what she was running away from, but sensed if he tried probing any further, she’d probably snap. He decided to let it rest for the time being. “Okay. Lahmia it is. Do you think the people there will be able to help me?”
She sighed. “I would think so. The Fifth Faction are a benevolent people. They have vast libraries, so you could study the past four centuries of history if you wanted to catch up. They are also experts in human biology. Perhaps they can help with your memory difficulties, too. Are you ready?”
He shrugged. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” They started to walk back through the winding tunnels of the cave, retracing their steps. When they neared the cave mouth, Cris observed, “It’s night outside.”
Chen nodded, whispering into the arm of her suit, preparing another line of spider-silk for their ascent to the surface. “Yes. Like I said, the journey is long, and we are in the middle of a vast desert. Do you feel like travelling only beneath the rays of the sun?”
The woman had a point. Then he said curiously, “I noticed you mentioned factions occupying the cities. The Fifth Faction. The Seventh Faction. How many factions are there?”
“Twelve,” she said, concentrating on the task at hand. “Occupying each of the twelve major human settlements. I was born of the Seventh Faction, occupying Einek. Of course, humans do exist outside the cities, but those nomads are a little less civilised, choosing to live a more… feral… existence. Hold on.”
Again, Cris placed his right arm around her waist, bringing himself up against her. Briefly, they made eye contact, and he saw something lustful going on behind her deep emerald-green eyes. Then the moment was over. She blinked, and looked away.
“TakAn-zA ‘oop,” she whispered to her suit, and they were swept up into the desert night.
“I have to say, Cris, that you’re handling this a lot better than I expected.”
They were walking side-by-side across the desert plain, sand blowing at their faces in the strong wind. Rocks and boulders of varying sizes were spread out across the landscape, and large dunes crested every mile or so, with no sign of any kind of life in the starlit blackness.
Cris shrugged. “I’m actually okay, to tell you the truth. I’m a little upset that the land I grew up in, America, has long gone, but…” he trailed off, shaking his head. “Maybe if I could remember something about my life a little more recently, something precious to me, perhaps, I’d be affected more. Childhood memories is all I’m getting for now. Fragmented ones, at best.”
Chen glanced at him. She had no idea of who this man was during his life in the early twenty-first century, but she was pretty sure that once he remembered, it was going to hit him – and hard. She decided to change the subject. “By sunrise, we should reach the Hebes Chasma, a large enclosed valley formed by lava flows during the Apo’calupsis. It will lead us north to the City of Lahmia after two days.”
“You seem to know this area well,” Cris said.
“Yes,” she nodded. “I have been exploring here for some weeks. The Shadowlands are notoriously rich with archaeological relics of the Old World. I’ve found a few items myself – plastics, manufactured products, old roads. But you, my friend, are above and beyond what I ever expected to find here. A living artefact, in a way. A fascinating one, at that.”
“Thankyou,” he said after a while. “For helping me, I mean. You could just as easily have left me back there, in cryofreeze.”
She smiled. “Where would the fun be in that? Just don’t make me regret it.”
Cris wasn’t sure if she was joking, or serious. After a while, he said, “I think I’m getting blisters on my feet.”
She frowned. “Don’t worry. You’ll have footwear soon enough.”
By the time the light of the sun had started to peer over the horizon, painting the area a deep ambient orange, they reached the edge of the desert plain just as Chen had promised, and entered into a more rocky, mountainous area. Before them was a spectacular sight: a huge valley carved into the desert floor, its walls easily a couple of kilometres high, sloping inward slightly, creating the illusion of a vast triangular-shaped tunnel. Large mesas rose from the
centre, almost as high as the surrounding terrain. The floor was forever shaded, giving the valley an almost foreboding appearance. Chen led the way through without hesitating, her senses on high alert.
“This is the Hebes Chasma,” she said, speaking almost in a whisper. “The quickest route to Lahmia by far, but also very dangerous. It is not uncommon for both Cerberus Dogs and Ghar’na Beasts to roam the valley, and also some of the more… unsavoury humans of this world. We must be cautious.”
The valley floor dipped at a considerable angle for some time, before eventually opening out into a much wider area populated by dry grasses and small, spiny plants. They covered half a mile, and Cris noted that the flora seemed to be increasing the further they progressed down the valley. It was reassuring to him that somewhere in this desolate place, life still flourished. After another dozen yards or so, he heard the sound of flies coming from beyond the next mesa.
Chen motioned for him to stop, and he did. “He-l’Aw?” she called, just in case.
Cris waited patiently, growing anxious. The flies sounded like bees, but otherwise there was no response. Chen continued to lead the way, more slowly this time, and he followed hesitantly. He was unarmed and completely defenceless, and as far as he knew, Chen didn’t carry a weapon either. If something dangerous lurked around the next corner, they were going to have to run again, a prospect that Cris did not find particularly attractive.
A light breeze nudged him from behind, and he froze with horror. His left hand clamped instantly to his stomach.
“Ma’at Gorg ‘ban mercutan!” Chen whispered.
There were hundreds of them, and they lay face down, arms and legs spread, unnaturally twisted. Flies crawled in disgusting waves over them, thick and black, drifting into the air and drifting down again. Not five feet away, a buzzard watched, its wings flexing slowly. It snapped its beak once.
Cris spun round and bent over, hands on his knees, eyes shut and stomach lurching, his throat working hard to keep the bile from rising. He knew the bodies were human, but only by their shape. Even with the flies, it was clear they had been brutally skinned. “What happened to them?” he choked between breaths.
The Complete New Dominion Trilogy Page 2