Terra

by Robert Turnbull

  Gina laughed and playfully slugged Harry as she jumped out of the small boat and her feet squished as she hit the muddy beach where the water lapped the shore.

  “No tracks, might be clear.” she scanned overhead “No fliers, even this far down the river…that’s good.”

  Hans tied off the boat between several large rocks and tossed the packs to the rest before joining them on the beach…such as it was. They were amazed at the height of this rocky prominence and it ran for nearly a mile. With huge house sized boulders scattered about, they doubted that anything could get to them, including the smaller raptors.

  Once out of the watery part of the shore, the mud vanished and small rocks replaced the slope with hard to walk on, ankle twisting, jagged rocks that caused them to slip and stumble. Hans looked worried, one slip now and a broken bone would mean the barge would have to return to Wheel 7.

  Tom noticed the split seemed like it was just too perfectly placed and held the small party up.

  “Hans and I will go check out the crevasse, the rest of you keep watch and be prepared to run if something comes out of the damned crack.” he slowly shook his head “Jesus guys, if we have to run on this shit, half of us won’t make it. The rest of you head back to the boat and…”

  Gina pushed past Tom with a snort “Quit yer damned whining and let’s go see what’s in there that you’re so afraid of.” she winked at Hans and with a wry grin added “Come on guys let’s protect our fearless leader.”

  Tom frowned and started to say something, but Gina just tossed her head and as Tom watched her long white ‘towhead’ colored hair flip over her shoulders, she made sure that she strode long graceful strides so that he’d noticed her long tapered legs and her much too short, shorts. Gina had had a serious thing for Tom for as long as she could remember. Even when the three, Tom, Sky, and Dar, always hung out together she always pretended that she was one of their group. Gina was six years younger than Tom and every grade heard stories of how well he did this, or how much he excelled at that, and watched him from afar as her heart skipped a beat every time he came within ten yards of her.

  Ten years had passed and at times she tried to console him over losing Sky, he’d have none of it. Then he spent all his time making secret plans to go find his sister and Gina managed to wiggle her way into Hans’s confidence as well as the others that wanted to help with his secret project. Hans was fooled for about a week, but after watching her watch Tom, he told her that he knew why she was helping. Hans took her in to his home that he shared with his older brother and his sister-in-law. She was there when Hans’s girlfriend broke up with him, when he told her he was going with Tom, and whenever he needed help. Gina then confessed that she had planned all along to leave the barge with Tom when it got to the point they had to head inland and the barge had to turn back.

  It was then that Hans told her that he too planned the same thing. Of course neither told the rest of those helping and especially Tom. Tom didn’t know about the barge until later, it seemed that everyone was tricking everyone else just to help Tom. This man that could have been their leader, this man that gave it all up for a small hope of finding his sister…this was the stock of the man that she loved. If anything was going to jump out of that black maw and eat someone, it was going to be her and not her love. Her bravado waned, as did her long stepping stride as she neared the crack in the rock face. Somehow it looked darker than dark, it was as if it would swallow her if she touched it. Gina slowly rotated her flashlight and clicked it on. Her hand slowly crept toward the maw as wind made it howl with soft moans. Her hand trembled but she was not to be deterred.

  “Hey!” Tom laid his hand on her shoulder and Gina not only came close to wetting herself, but swallowed so hard that she didn’t even get the gasp of terror in her throat out.

  She spun around and glared at him “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU…” Tom held his finger to his lips “doing, you fucking idiot? Christ, you just took twenty years off my life you son of a bitch!” Gina rolled her fingers into a fist and slugged the man she loved so hard that she hurt her hand on his rippling abs. She felt her wrist bend backward “FUCK!” she violently shook her hand to get feeling back into it.

  Tom laughed “Well anything in there now knows that we’re coming.” never once taking his eyes off the entrance.

  As the rest peered into the crack to find it was indeed a cave Gina’s face reddened. The man she loved was staring at her as her red face peered out from under her white curled locks.

  “Oh…God…I’m, uh, sorry…I…” what could she say, she had just shown him her temper.

  “Geezzz, you’re cute when you’re angry.” he grinned and walked past her to follow the guys into the darkness “Just don’t be so rash next time, rash gets you eaten around here…remember.”

  Gina had sworn up a storm, she had hit him…not that it had hurt him, she had acted rash. All that Gina heard was “Geezzz, you’re cute when you’re angry.” and that was enough for her as she followed him into the ghostly cave…and this time she wasn’t afraid.

  Chapter 16.

  The crevasse wound around for a good fifty yards and then began to open out into a cavern that was so wide that their beams were swallowed up by the blackness. As they all swung their beams to one side it was Gina that noticed something almost at eye level…and distant.

  “Is that a glow?” she asked as she flicked off her light and the rest followed suit to see somewhat better.

  “It is.” Hans slowly replied “What the…?”

  Tom stepped up and put his arm in front of everyone “Easy guys there have been reports of dinosaurs that had the ability to give off light…like the fire beetles that cover the summer plains.” He looked at Gina and smiled as he flicked his light back on “Cautiously this time…right?”

  The towhead smiled and nodded that she understood, and slipped directly in behind the man she dreamed of nearly every night. If something got them, she was going to be there to die with her man…now if she could only garner the courage to tell him how she felt. She cursed at her fear of rejection.

  “Think it’s closer than we think.” Harry muttered as he peered out into the darkness “I think there is something that appears to be sucking up light.”

  Tom stepped forward, but Gina grabbed him and pulled him back with one hand as the other flashed the light downward to reveal a drop off. Moving slowly forward they saw steps heading downward and a sudden end to them after only seven of the wide dark steps. At the top step the light clearly revealed each of the seven steps, but at the last step the light’s beam vanished. As it moved upward…it vanished.

  “Holy crap guys, will ya look at that? The beam is…being swallowed up…by what?” he stepped down to the bottom step and held out his hand in the light, it brightly reflected the light from his powerful flashlight beam.”

  “So?” Hans shrugged and looked strangely at his friend from the top stair “The light just goes out and…”

  “My hand is on some warm feeling stone…or something.” Tom muttered back almost as puzzled as the rest. One by one they joined him on the bottom landing or whatever it was as he flashed his light around. It flashed on the darkened ceiling, and walls on either side of this obsidian rock-like surface, but not once could the wall in front of them be seen in the beam.

  “Just absorbs the light guys, see? Now guess we should be asking ourselves, what the hell this is.”

  “And why the steps end here?” Gina asked softly “I mean these are steps, these sure as hell aren’t natural, which would mean someone cut them here in the cave floor…right up to this.” She ran her hand over the sandpaper-like surface and then abruptly stopped and moved her face closer to the black stone surface.

  “Jesus, there it is again…a glow, looks like it’s right through the…”

  There was a heavy rumble and the section Gina was standing in front of slid to the left and vanished into the wall. As it slid open it revealed an inside that was so dimly lit that th
ey had to keep their lights on. They cautiously stepped in and it was obvious this was an ancient structure of some kind. There were more stairs that spiraled upward and out of sight as it was hidden by a huge center pillar of more of the light absorbing black stone.

  Harry slid up and in between the rest. “Ok guys…maybe it’s just me, but anyone else getting the creeps?”

  Tom nodded upward and clicked off his light “There’s light up there…I think. Quiet and no noise, I have a need to see what the hell this is.” He stopped and turned to the rest as his face glowed in the beams of their flashlights.

  “Lights off…” and as soon as all the lights were off the stairs up could be seen to give off a faint glow. As they looked upward it seemed that the outer walls surrounding the stairs, did in fact reflect some light, from whatever was above them.

  As they reached the top Hans softly whispered “Sixty seven stairs.”

  “Really?” Gina whispered back “We’re walking into God knows what and you’re counting stairs?”

  Hans smiled in the dim, but much more pronounced light that now enveloped them.

  “I meant that each stair is about eight inches high, I figured that we’ve spiraled upward high enough so that we should have been on top of that cliff we entered through.”

  Tom nodded “Hans is right guys, yet we’re still in some sort of structure…and that hallway leads into light.”

  Harry snorted “Light and God knows what else,” he looked at Tom and shrugged “lights on or off boss?”

  “We have enough light to see and whatever is ahead is more than ample to see by, save ‘em.” He shoved his flashlight into his pocket and pulled out his pistol as he sighed warily “As this isn’t natural light guys, be prepared for anything…including running back the way we just came.” Everyone acknowledged to Tom with a nod, that they had heard as they slowly crept into the dimly lit area single file with Harry bringing up the rear. He kept watching behind them to protect their rear and nearly was left behind twice until Han’s hand should out of the dark and pulled back to the group.

  “Watch our backs, just don’t lag behind.” Hans whispered.

  The room at the end of the small chamber was poorly lit, as if it had dimmed as they got nearer. At various points this light absorbing material actually let light through, but did not reflect it. Once they figured that much out it gave them an idea as to what was ahead…but not all was nearly as dark. They entered the room at the end of the long corridor.

  All over there were flashing lights of many colors, some dimmer than others, but it was Hans that froze and held his arms out to stop everyone else.

  “Something just crossed in front of that bank of lights over there.” he whispered.

  “I fear that I’ve been discovered my friends.” a voice resounded from the much darker corner on the far side of the room. They had all jumped at the first sound, but once the initial shock waned the soft soothing sounds of what was obviously a female voice eased their fears by adding “I mean you no harm…” the shadow moved across another bank of glowing lights “please come in and I will introduce myself.”

  Gina and Hans stayed near the doorway so they could keep watch on the small room they had just left, yet still keep an eye on what was behind them. Harry and Tom entered into the long rectangular room and stopped midway.

  “I do not want my appearance to startle you, so I turned the lighting in here lower.”

  Tom lowered his pistol and shoved it into his holster “Understood, but please understand this…if we cannot see you clearly then we have to consider you a threat.”

  He smiled a wide nervous smile “After all seems like everything has been trying to eat us since our ancestors came to this planet. I’m guessing that you are a survivor from one of the other wheels?”

  There was a soft musical laugh “Hardly, but I should have realized that you might see the darkness as a threat, I am sorry. I must warn you that even though I am humanoid, I am not what you think.” The lights slowly brightened so their eyes could adjust to the new brightness levels.

  Once the lights were at full levels, including the banks of now visible consoles that lined both sides of the room, all eyes moved toward the figure that seemed to gracefully glide across the room toward the two men standing there with their mouths open. Gina turned and walked into the room as she stammered “My God…you…you’re beautiful.”

  The female stopped several yards from the group as not to alarm them. She wasn’t nearly as tall as the six foot Tom, and indeed humanoid, but that was where the similarities stopped. Her skin was a very light gray and opalescent and it seemed to shimmer as she moved. Smooth like a porpoise’s skin and seemed slightly translucent for several layers and in between the layers that beautiful opalescence. Her hair, was shoulder length, but was in fact a long feathery, white down that flowed like hair. It swirled about her neck as she did a slow turn to show that she was unarmed. Her knee length greenish gown sparkled with flecks of gold and was slit to the thigh and tied with a golden cord of sorts that revealed near human-like legs. Her hands were long and slender, but appeared to have an extra knuckle. She was ever so graceful as her tapered fingers danced over the controls and the light increased slightly more. The only noticeable difference was her nails on her fingers and toes…they were well manicured talons, short but obviously round to which Gina likened to thick fingernails.

  “As you can see we evolved nearly parallel to that of your world.” She stopped her second slow spin and smiled at the humans. “I know you have many questions as do I, so let me tell you this much.”

  The reptilian woman glided to the four that were now standing in the middle of the room and extended her hand that was cool to the touch.

  “My name is Lilra and I am N’rog. That is to say, my race is called N’rog. As you may have guessed we have descended from the dinosaurs that roam this planet…” she laughed softly “well not these dinosaurs, but earlier versions. The ones you see now are in various stages of evolution and we observe rather than to interfere.”

  Gina looked at her gown and smiled “Your gown is beautiful, God I’d kill for...I mean not kill, but…”

  Lilra chuckled “I’m aware of many of your euphuisms and I understand that you like my attire.”

  Harry did a slow walk around the drop-dead gorgeous reptilian woman and Tom reached out to stop him from a second turn.

  “Excuse my friend here Lilra, but he’s just…uncouth.” Again she laughed in her musical tone.

  “It is quite understandable, I too have been uhhh…checking you out?” Tom nodded that she had the term right.

  “This is the first time since our ancestors found one of your wheels on the other side of our world that we have seen any of your kind close up…” she smiled “as I mentioned, we observe.”

  Hans shook her hand and smiled back “Observe?”

  “Long ago our race evolved and we lived in harmony with our world, unlike what your history records show us. Over the eons we moved to areas where we could observe other species as they too evolved, knowing that someday new species would evolve and most likely replace us.”

  “Replace?” Gina asked as she kept looking at Lilra’s gown.

  “Why we would assume so. You see we flourished for nearly eighty-thousands of your years as a civilization.” she waved her hand around the room “All this was build a millennia ago. We use deep underground transportation and travel to places like this, places our ancestors built to observe the other species of our world. When one of your wheels crashed on the far side of our planet, we tried to save those that we could. Fortunately for us mammals never evolved on our world, so unfortunately our technology and medicine wound up killing many of the humans we tried to save. After that we were seen as the enemy, and although there were those among our race that demanded that we kill all of the survivors, our consul members voted to just leave your race to whatever their fate would be.”

  “There were survivors?” Tom asked “On th
e other side of this planet?”

  Lilra nodded “Yes…then, but not now.” there was genuine sadness in her voice “From our history, your people had only a dozen survivors, but after our people tried to save a few of the badly injured ones and failed, your people massacred those of us that were there trying to help. Of course then we didn’t know your language…”

  “Yeah, we tend to do that.” Gina snorted “Kill what we don’t understand.”

  Harry nodded “And this expedition was supposed to be a new start. So we start out killing…Jesus!” he leaned against a wall and frowned as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

  “Our race has been slowly dying out so our numbers are few…worldwide less than a few million. So it took us nearly one hundred years before we found this wheel that you call ‘7’. We used this old terminal as a base to study you, and even with our people learning your language and traits. We studied your old records and other things that you brought with you. Sadly it took us so long to develop means that were compatible with your technology,” she sighed “you see we gave up on so much of our technology…is gone…” her voice trailed off

  “So you are basically taking classes in humanology?” Tom grinned “Guess that would be a word for the lack of a better one.”

  “Correct Tom, we do. You see there are many of us, a few thousand or so, that have been preparing for the day that your race and ours met again. However, when we found your wheel we were amazed that your people have learned to live with nature as we do.”

  “We have,” Tom muttered “the best way to survive in a strange new environment is to learn to live with it rather than fight it. Hell Lilra; that was the creed of the original founders of this mission." he looked sadly at the lovely female “but we did kill off the fliers because there was no way to keep them from attacking us from the air. Guess they mostly learned to stay away from our area.”