Caretaker

by Josi Russell

  “Come this way.”

  He heard the small voice ahead of him in the darkness and followed it, crawling on his elbows. A pang of regret hit him as he realized how alike this was to the tunnels on the ship where he’d followed Kaia.

  Before he knew it, the bottom of the cabinet gave way and he felt himself falling. Sliding, more accurately, down a long slope. As he cleared what he now realized was a trapdoor, the bottom of the cabinet sprung closed again above him and latched with a click as he continued to slide. A light grew brighter ahead, and he fell out at the bottom of the slope into a cozy room lit all around with tiny lanterns, some perched on a pile of rubble where the opposite side of the room had caved in.

  A table near the rubble was heaped high with food that Ethan recognized from the cottage. He sat up and turned to look at the little being who had led him here.

  “Your name, please,” Tesuu said apologetically.

  “Ethan Bryant.” He took in the details of the little room, feeling somehow secure here. “What is this place?”

  “A refuge. I believe it was created by one of the races brought to this planet for experiments. There are many such rooms, but most are in ruins. And those who built them are all gone.” The creature looked away, and deep sorrow radiated from him.

  “What about your race?” Ethan asked and was immediately sorry.

  “Gone. All that came here with me. We do not belong here, either. We are of a different world, called Entewn One.”

  Involuntarily, Ethan leaned closer. He sensed the story to come was a terrible one, and he tried to send support to Tesuu, who trembled as he spoke.

  “We came, as you did, as prisoners. The beasts brought us here and imprisoned us in a network of warrens below the ground where the dwellings I first met you in now stand.”

  “Warrens?”

  “Tunnels. Chambers. Much smaller than this room. Just large enough for us. They were homes like we had back on Entewn One. They were all connected. The beasts constructed them to be identical to the burrows we lived in on our home planet. But as you’ve seen, they were not like home.”

  “You’re right. There is something wrong about the cottages they built for us, too.”

  “Perhaps because they are built on a graveyard.” Tesuu spit vehemently.

  “A graveyard?”

  “All my fellow prisoners are buried below your cottages.”

  Ethan felt a wave of horror. “What?”

  Tesuu slumped into his scales, leaning back and closing his eyes. His small, fine face was a mask of pain. “When we came, the beasts began their experiments. They started at one end of the warren and took those who were unfortunate enough to be housed there to the labs. My mate and I were in the far end, and she grieved as she learned how few were coming back from the labs. The beasts were discovering that our race did not serve their purpose. She was so afraid that she would never see our children again back on Entewn One. We had hidden them with relatives when the beasts came to take us, and she hoped to return to them. We both did.

  “And then they came to our home. They took us to the labs.” He stopped, and Ethan saw that he was not trembling. He was deathly still and silent. His silence stretched on.

  Ethan knew that pain. He shifted his gaze to the dirt-covered floor and waited. His eyes had adjusted to the lantern light, and he watched a flame dance until he heard the little creature’s voice again.

  “Their experiments endowed me with some unique abilities,” Tesuu said. “Now I can slip in and out of almost anywhere in the city, though I cannot seem to go farther than the city walls.”

  “Why didn’t you escape the warren?” Ethan asked gently.

  “I couldn’t leave. My mate was not as fortunate as I. She could not escape. She was crippled by the experiments and stayed in the warren day and night. Every night I slipped out of the warren and found things to cheer her. Bright rocks, leaves, whatever I thought would bring her some small joy. She decorated our burrow with them, exclaiming over each one and taking delight in that one bright thing amidst all the horror.”

  Tesuu’s voice grew fainter, and he closed his eyes again. “But the Zumiin were not what the beasts were looking for. We did not respond to the experiments as they had hoped.” Tesuu drew in a ragged breath, and a tremor ran through him. He did not open his eyes as he continued. “And then one night, while I was out collecting stones, the beasts came and sealed up the warren. They—” The little creature was crying quietly. “Filled it with poison gas. Everyone gone. But me.”

  “I’m sorry, Tesuu.” It was all Ethan could think of to say.

  Tesuu opened his eyes, and understanding passed between them. He shook himself, his scales making a soft hushing sound as they slid across one another. “I’m sorry for you, too, Ethan Bryant.” He grimaced. “I’ve seen your kind massacred too. After the Zumiin were lost, I hid myself and watched as the beasts created the dwellings for your kind, and I saw the first humans come and die in the labs. But apparently there was more promise in your race, because they continued to bring specimens, and they very much want you back.”

  For a moment, Ethan became afraid that his trust in this little being was misplaced. Might Tesuu turn him in? But one look at the yellow eyes, brimming with compassion and pain, reassured him.

  “How did you get here?” Ethan asked.

  “I found a tiny glitch in the electronic field around the dwelling area, and I made my way into the city. I explored the vast tunnels under the city and burrowed through where I thought I could create a sanctuary. I found this old room and made my home here. I slipped in and out of the dwellings and stole food from the tables of the other humans, and I stored it here as long as I could. I have refilled my supply from your table. I hope you’ll forgive me and that you’ll eat, too, while you’re here.”

  “Nothing to forgive.” Ethan said, taking a hunk of bread from the table and biting into it. “You can have it all. I don’t plan on going back.”

  Tesuu looked at him. “Don’t you? Where else will you go? A creature my size may survive in the city for a while, but not a creature so easily seen as you.”

  Ethan nodded and swallowed. “I’m getting off the planet.”

  “How? There are no ships.”

  “I have a ship.” Ethan said.

  Tesuu brightened. “Can I come with you? Can you take me home?”

  Ethan’s eyebrows drew together. “You can come with me and we’ll find a way for you to get home. But I can’t take you to your planet in my ship.”

  “Why not?” Tesuu’s ears drooped slightly.

  “Because it’s a stasis ship. It has to go directly to its destination in order to keep all the passengers safe.”

  “I understand. I’ll go with you. I must get off of this planet.”

  Ethan ate a piece of cheese. “You said this room connects to the tunnels. Can I take the tunnels to Traxoram’s estate?”

  Tesuu shook his head. “I’m afraid not. Most of the tunnels have collapsed inward. There are none remaining that go to the estate. I can get you closer through the tunnels, but then you’ll have to go above ground.”

  Ethan slumped and breathed in the musty smell of the little room. Tesuu’s story, the impenetrability of the tunnels between him and the statehouse, and the cool darkness of the underground made him doubt that this could work. The last he’d seen of the true Alorans had not been good. They were being overtaken even as he and Kaia ran away. Who knew if they had made it to their goals?

  There were six strategic points throughout the city. The Alorans had told Ethan that if they made it to those points, the outside of the statehouse would be secured. The Others would most likely flee back into the large estate that surrounded the statehouse at the center of the circular city. Once inside, they could defend the statehouse indefinitely, as it was also protected by one-way pulse circuits.

  That’s where Ethan and Kaia came in. If they could breach the walls of the estate and make an entrance for the Alorans, there
might be a chance.

  But now Kaia was gone, and so was her laser. He had no idea how he was ever going to breach the exterior wall of the estate now. He ate slowly, his earlier agitation gone. It was replaced with a deep discouragement that seemed to seep into his very soul. What was the point? Why should he bother standing and going out into the street to be captured again? He pondered briefly the possibility of living here with Tesuu.

  The little creature’s mind touched his. “It would never work, my friend,” Tesuu thought softly. “I am small and well acquainted with tight spaces. Some I’ve been forced into have been too tight even for my comfort. There is no way you could escape them forever. This is only a resting place in your journey.”

  Ethan shifted. “Okay then,” he said aloud, still unnerved by the feeling of hearing someone else’s thoughts in his own mind. “What do you think I should do?” His voice was hostile, he knew, but what point was there in all this?

  Tesuu switched tactics. “Tell me about her,” he said. “Tell me about the one you are trying so desperately to get to.”

  Ethan’s eyes closed involuntarily, and he leaned his head back against the dirt wall. A picture of Aria formed in his mind. Not as he’d seen her last, but as he had known her before. Smiling, laughing, sleeping.

  “I miss most the way she made me feel,” he said quietly, “like we were on some grand adventure together. Whether we were going to the store or . . . or going to another planet, everything was new and fun when she was around. I miss the moments of complete contentment: reading the morning screens together over breakfast, fixing our leaky old heating reactor, sitting together in a hovercab on our way home. Just being there with her, knowing that she would be next to me. I miss that. I miss having her input on things. I’d ask her what she would do, and she’d tell me something I never thought of myself. I miss fighting with her and loving her and planning all our days ahead. I miss the baby and what it means for our future together.”

  A wave of empathy washed through his mind and he knew that Tesuu’s loss was as great as his. Greater.

  Ethan sat up. “I’m sorry, Tesuu. You—you—” He couldn’t think what to say that wouldn’t bring more grief to his friend.

  “I know how you feel,” Tesuu said softly. “It’s all right.” He twitched his long tail. “But I’ll tell you—if I could go back, if I could get to the warren that night, I would waste no time feeling sorry for myself.”

  Ethan knew he was right. As Tesuu’s words sunk in, he felt ashamed and desperate. “I need to go.” He stood, his head barely clearing the low ceiling of the place.

  “We need to go,” Tesuu said decisively. “Follow me.” And he set off at a quick pace through a gap in the caved-in rubble.

  Ethan wedged himself into the gap and wriggled through it. On the other side, the tunnel stretched ahead, and he heard Tesuu’s feet scratching along. He followed the sound. Ethan felt his way along the tunnel wall. He learned to step high and anticipate an uneven path under his feet. The smooth dirt sides of the wall were broken by very few roots, and he wondered if anything living grew above.

  Soon, the scratching in front of him halted, and he caught up to Tesuu standing in the pale glow of his little lantern. The tunnel ended abruptly in another massive pile of rubble. This was the end of the underground route.

  Tesuu pointed upwards. There, a cleft in the ceiling showed the ragged moon outside, remarkably larger than it had been before. Ethan realized that night was fleeing. He would have to move quickly to get into the estate before daybreak.

  He reached up to the hole. It was not big enough for him to squeeze through, but the edges came away with some digging. He began to pull the crumbling earth away, feeling it rain down on his face and arms. When he had moved enough of it, Tesuu scampered up the wall and through the hole, and he stood waiting on the other side. Ethan reached through the hole, took hold of some of the street stones beside it, and then pulled himself up and out.

  The feeling of the city stretching around him was doubly unnerving after coming from the coziness of the tunnels. It seemed that every shadow, every corner, held danger. He kept low. They were in an alley, different from the others in that the buildings around them were all dark. Not even blinking lights broke the black forms. A quick glance above showed none of the Others atop the buildings.

  “What’s this? Where are we?” Ethan asked, feeling a chill in his spine.

  Tesuu nodded. “This is the only way to get near the estate. These three blocks are deserted.”

  “What? Why?”

  A strange look crossed the little Zumiin’s face. “The testing here. It went wrong. Some of the byproducts leaked. They caused mutations and lameness in the beasts, so they barricaded this area and refuse to set foot here again. They are, in their ways, very superstitious.”

  “Is it dangerous to other species?”

  Tesuu shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s never affected me, but we should probably keep moving unless you’d like to find out.”

  Ethan nodded grimly, and they set off through the eerily deserted streets. The outer wall of the statehouse loomed before them, its translucence making the grounds beyond seem wavy and ethereal. A wide lawn stretched away from them, dark red like all the vegetation here, making the grounds look like they were bathed in blood. Ethan tried not to think of what might be happening to Kaia, forcing himself to focus on the obstacle of the statehouse wall as each step drew him closer to her.

  Finally, they reached the wall. Shadowy figures moved through the grounds on the other side. The waviness of the wall made it hard to be sure exactly how far away they were. He crouched next to Tesuu, extending his hand. Tesuu reached back, and as their hands touched, Ethan felt in his mind the presence of the little creature.

  “What now?” he thought.

  “I can slip in through a chink in the wall down there,” Tesuu responded. He gestured with a small paw. “But you can’t get in that way.” He surveyed the wall.

  “Go,” Ethan thought to him. He wanted someone to be with Kaia as soon as possible to make sure she was okay. So she wasn’t alone. “I’ll find a way in. I’ll meet you at the statehouse. On the side away from the moonlight, where it is darkest.”

  Tesuu hesitated, then, feeling Ethan’s urgency, consented and nodded before scampering away.

  As he disappeared, Ethan caught a whisper. “Good luck, Caretaker.”

  Chapter 31

  The night was quiet in this part of the city. No glowing labs or clanking machinery, just the high silent wall and the faint sound of movement inside.

  Ethan remembered Sylliban’s description of the estate. The one good thing about the estate was that its wall was not shielded by the energy pulses of the city’s outer wall. Inside it lay a wide expanse of manicured lawns and fountains. There would be little cover except for a few small groves of trees. He wasn’t sure where they were in relation to where he was now, but he had to try to find one. They were his only chance at getting close to the statehouse without being seen.

  He pressed close to the wall and crept along slowly, listening. He needed to know where the guards were stationed. At this time of night, he could only hope that they were chatting in order to keep themselves awake.

  He smiled slightly as he heard rough voices on the other side of the wall.

  “I was on the main gate when they brought them in.”

  “When will it happen?”

  “Daybreak. The next guard should get here just in time for us to get over there to see it.”

  The second guard laughed, a grating rumble that hurt Ethan’s ears.

  He moved on. As the voices began to fade behind him, he glanced up to see the branches of a tree just grazing the top of the wall. This was his chance. Reaching high, he grasped the edge of the wall and pulled himself up and over. He felt so vulnerable atop the wall that he scrambled down and fell harder than he meant to. The thump was loud enough to stop the faint voices off to his left . . . and, he realized, to his ri
ght. He must be close to the next guard post.

  The guards were moving toward him rapidly. He was briefly grateful that the Others moved so noisily as he slipped between the trees and ran toward the statehouse.

  He heard them crashing behind him. “Someone was here!” They were spreading out, calling for reinforcements.

  He kept running. Behind him, voices and lights were approaching. He looked around frantically. Off to his right was a dense bush. He thought he saw, inside it, a hint of space. He dove for it. He felt the limbs rake his arms and face, but he landed in a small opening near the roots, and the limbs sprung back to cover his entrance. All his weight was on his right elbow, but he didn’t dare move as the creatures crashed into view outside his hiding spot.

  “I heard something over here,” one growled, and Ethan saw the elephantine feet stop just an arm’s length from where he lay.

  He tried to ease his feet a little closer to his body, hardly daring to breathe. He focused his attention on shielding his mind, allowing no stray thought to escape and give him away.

  There were several creatures now, some pushing roughly through the bushes and some just standing still, listening. Ethan’s heartbeats ebbed in his ears. It was only a matter of time. Perhaps he should just walk out now and give himself up. That was, he supposed, one way to get to Traxoram. But they would have him in shackles then, and he would lose the element of surprise, which was key to the success of the mission. If he could not penetrate the defenses of the statehouse without the Others knowing, the true Alorans would have little hope of getting in. Still, it was beginning to look like he may not have a choice. They would find him any moment.

  The dull ache in his elbow had grown to a sharp pain, and he had to shift again.

  “Hey,” one of the creatures growled, “I heard something over here.” He was peering at the bush, his pig-like eyes squinting as he leaned closer. Ethan froze.

  Suddenly, a crashing came from the bushes off to Ethan’s right. A loud crashing. Ethan didn’t dare move to see what was there, but all the creatures straightened and took off in pursuit. He heard them yelling, “Over here!”