The Forgotten Shrine

by Monica Tesler

  Once I’m reasonably full, I round up my pod mates. “Ready?”

  “I’m just thinking,” Lucy says. “Should we tell Gedney? He’s always been in our corner.”

  “No way,” Marco says. “When it came time to stick with the admiral or join Waters on Gulaga, Gedney made his choice. So even if he seems to bend the rules for us, he’s the admiral’s man when it counts. We can’t risk him selling us out.”

  “Are you saying we’re like Waters?” Cole asks, his head starting to shake again. “Because what Waters did was definitely at odds with Earth Force. He was talking to the Youli behind the admiral’s back!”

  Geez. Why did Marco plant that seed? It could totally derail us.

  Lucy glares at Marco, then brushes her hand down Cole’s arm. “Oh, no, not at all, sweetie, we’re nothing like Waters. Marco’s just saying we need to stick with the plan.”

  Before Cole can change his mind, Lucy hurries us over to Gedney to ask about heading off on our own. Once Gedney finishes explaining to Orla and Aela how important it is not to switch gloves, he turns to talk to us.

  “Gedney,” Lucy says. “This room is so overcrowded, and our pod is . . . well . . . how do I put this delicately . . . a bit more advanced than the others. We’d like some space to stretch out and practice our bounding skills. Do you think we could go to the VR gym? We’ll be back by lunch. Then we can practice with the juniors all afternoon, before it’s time to head back on the Frogs.”

  Before Gedney has a chance to answer, Desmond tugs at his sleeve and starts firing questions about how blast packs fit into the occupational safety provisions of the Earth Force regulations. Behind Desmond, the twins are fighting again. This time they’re hurling empty crates at each other. Gedney ducks as one narrowly misses his head.

  “Please, Gedney, can we go?” Lucy asks.

  Gedney waves his hand. “Be back like you said.”

  We don’t wait around for him to change his mind, although I doubt he would. He has his hands full with the juniors.

  We duck low and sprint down the lit hallway. When we make the first turn, we stop to regroup.

  “Should we bound to the generator room?” I ask. “We’re outside of the tether range.”

  “No,” Marco says. “Let’s walk.”

  “Why?” Cole asks.

  Marco doesn’t answer; he just keeps heading down the lit path.

  “Seriously, why not bound?” I ask. “We don’t have a ton of time, and I hate walking all hunched over!”

  “We can’t all bound, that’s why,” Marco mumbles.

  “What do you mean—” I start. Then I hear footsteps in the hall behind us. “Someone’s coming!” I’m about to search for a hiding spot when I hear my sister’s voice.

  “Wait up!” Addy calls. When she catches us, she slides in next to Marco and bumps him with her hip.

  “What are you doing here, Addy?” I ask.

  “Same as you,” she says.

  “You most certainly are not,” Lucy says. “This is pod only.”

  “How did you know where we were going?” I ask.

  “I told her,” Marco says.

  “You what?” Lucy says.

  “She wanted to know what happened last night, so I told her. And I said she could come along today.”

  “It wasn’t hard to sneak away,” Addy says. “Gedney was a bit occupied with Desmond and the twins.”

  “I don’t care if it was hard to sneak away or not,” I say. “You weren’t invited, and you’re not coming.”

  “I told you I invited her,” Marco says. “You don’t have a say in what your sister chooses to do.”

  “Actually, he does,” Lucy says, “and I do, too. This is a pod activity, Marco. If you wanted to include Addy, you should have asked us. And I, for one, would have said no.”

  “Of course you would say no,” Addy says to Lucy, “because you’ve had it out for me since day one. I mean, God forbid anyone step on your toes as pod prima donna. Don’t worry, I don’t have any interest in taking over as Drama Queen.”

  “How dare you!” Lucy says, taking a step toward my sister.

  Terrific. Now I’m caught in the middle between my pod mates and my sister. What am I supposed to do?

  “No fights!” Cole says. “We have less than an hour. We need to go!”

  Cole’s words settle everyone down, probably because he’s right. If we don’t get going, this whole plan is a bust.

  Addy’s eyes drill into me. In fact, everyone is looking at me. Why is this my call?

  I shake my head and let out a sigh. “You’re here, Addy, so you might as well come along.”

  “What?” Lucy says.

  Mira grabs Lucy’s hand and gives it a tug. At first I think Lucy is going to hold her ground and argue, but then she spins around and runs up the hall with Mira.

  Cole and I follow.

  Addy and Marco take up the rear, whispering and laughing the whole way.

  Once we reach the generator room, we follow the hallways on either side, trying every door we pass for a stairwell or some way to descend to the lower levels. All we find are locked doors and dead ends.

  “How are we doing on time?” I ask Cole.

  He checks his tablet. “Only thirty minutes left.”

  “I can’t believe I’m suggesting this,” Marco says, “but I know a way.”

  “Right,” Lucy says. “You’re filled with bright ideas today.”

  Marco ignores her and keeps talking. “Serena is always going on about descending, and coming from the depths, and stuff like that. I bet that hole she comes from leads down to the lower levels.”

  “Or maybe Serena meant that figuratively,” I say. “Or, even more likely, maybe she’s a little bit crazy.”

  “Serena?” Addy asks. “You mean that giant snake you told me about?”

  “Are you actually suggesting we crawl through a snake hole to reach the lower levels?” I ask.

  “Yes, Adeline,” Marco says. “And Jasper, it’s not any old snake hole. It’s Serena’s. So it’s like a high-class, educated snake hole.”

  “I thought you were afraid of snakes,” Lucy says.

  “For the millionth time, I’m not afraid of snakes. I hate snakes, or at least most snakes. I don’t hate Serena.”

  Cole takes off up the hallway.

  “Where are you going?” Lucy calls after him.

  “To the shrine,” he says. “I haven’t heard any other ideas, and we’re just wasting time standing around talking about it.”

  We crawl through the narrow doorway into the Shrine of Remembrance. Just like the times before, once we’re in, the domed ceiling flickers to life and fills with the image of old Alkalinia.

  “What is this place?” Addy asks.

  “It’s their shrine,” I say. “Serena’s the guardian.”

  “Serena, the giant snake,” Addy says. “Got it. But what about the pictures?” Up above, the image rotates around the planet and dives beneath the atmosphere, revealing the rocky shore and turquoise sea.

  “That’s Alkalinia,” Marco says. “Or, I should say, it used to be Alkalinia. According to Serena, their planet was destroyed in an intragalactic war.”

  “What planet are we on if it’s not Alkalinia?” Addy asks.

  “I’m pretty sure the Alks are squatters here,” I say.

  “We need to move,” Cole says. “We’re short on time. And the longer we linger in the shrine, the more likely the sensor will alert Serena to visitors. I’d rather not run into her in the hole.”

  “Good thinking, Wiki,” Marco says. “Plus, if I wait any longer, I might chicken out.”

  We crawl to the corner of the shrine and find the hole. Lucy peers inside, then waves her hand, indicating for me to head in.

  “Ladies first.” I smile at Lucy and nod at the dark hole.

  “I insist,” Lucy says.

  “For goodness’ sake,” Cole says, “get out of the way.” He fires up his tablet to cast some ligh
t and creeps into the hole.

  I head in after Cole. It’s slow going because Cole has to hold his tablet while he crawls. Not to mention, the hole is narrow. It was definitely not meant for humans. We ease forward. The hole bends down, hopefully leading us to the lower levels of the habitat.

  “This is bringing back some really awful memories,” Lucy says behind me.

  “Trash worm?” Marco calls out.

  “What’s a trash worm?” Addy asks.

  Marco distracts us with a dramatic retelling of our journey through the trash tunnel on Gulaga. At the time it wasn’t funny at all, but as he explains what happened to Addy, we’re all cracking up. I’m laughing so hard I can barely keep crawling. I mean, whoever heard of using a worm for trash removal?

  “So you had to climb a mountain of trash?” Addy asks.

  “It was the only way through the tunnel!” Marco replies.

  “And this worm almost ate you?” Addy asks.

  “Technically, it did eat us,” Cole says. “Mira and I were inside the worm. We’re lucky we didn’t drown in its digestive juices.”

  “That’s disgusting,” she says.

  “Actually, it was heroic,” Lucy says, “a word you clearly don’t understand, because your idea of an adventure is tagging along with your big brother.”

  “That’s a bit harsh,” I say. I’m not really sure why Lucy has it out for Addy.

  Marco ignores Lucy’s attempt to sidetrack things. “The funniest part is that we totally reeked. No one in Gulaga would get within a five-meter radius of us once we left the tunnel because we smelled so bad. We couldn’t figure out what the problem was. We’d been in that gross tunnel for so long we thought things smelled pretty good once we got out.”

  That was so funny. The Gulagans thought it all made sense once we told them Neeka was our junior ambassador. I guess getting trapped in the trash tunnel wasn’t that big a stretch when it came to Neeka. She was kind of trouble prone, after all.

  “Then we got sent to these Gulagan baths where these huge Tunnelers pummeled our backs with karate chops,” I tell Addy.

  “And then we found the Nest,” Lucy adds.

  “You know, it’s kind of strange,” I say. “Our quarters here are awesome. They have everything we could possibly dream of wanting. But they’re not nearly as cool as the Nest or even the pod room at the space station.”

  “That’s because they’re not real,” Marco says.

  “Quiet!” Cole says. “I hear something.”

  The sound of swishing and hissing swells from up ahead.

  “Whatever that is,” I say, “it’s definitely real.”

  “Maybe it’s Serena,” Lucy says.

  “That’s an awful lot of noise for Serena,” I say.

  “I thought this place was abandoned,” Lucy says. “If it’s not Serena, who’s here?”

  “Just keep going,” Marco says.

  The tunnel grows colder and damper as we crawl. With every meter we cover, winding farther down the hole, the swishing grows louder. It sounds like live fish slapping against the side of a boat, and that doesn’t include all the hissing. It’s way too much noise for one snake. I’m not looking forward to finding the source of that sound, particularly not while I’m crawling on my hands and knees through a dark tunnel without any room to turn around.

  Fortunately, the hole starts to widen, and we soon find ourselves in a large room with a low roof and a cold stone floor like the shrine. Serena is coiled in the corner.

  We pile into the room and look at one another.

  Lucy steps forward. “Hi, Serena!”

  When the words leave Lucy’s lips, Serena rises up and rears back like she’s about to strike. Her tongue flicks. Then the tension slowly leaves her body. She lays her head on the floor and glides in our direction, unwinding as she goes.

  Cole activates the voice box and sets it on the ground. Serena positions her head above it and hisses. “Young ones? Why are you here?”

  Lucy kneels in front of the voice box. “We’re looking for something, and we needed to get to the lower levels. So we thought we’d ask you for help.”

  That’s not exactly our plan, but it’s probably a pretty good answer right about now.

  Serena makes her way to a screen on the other side of the room. It shows a camera view of the shrine. She waves her little arms over a sensor and checks something on the screen. Then she returns to the voice box.

  “I didn’t know you were coming.” She must be wondering why the sensor didn’t alert her.

  The swishing noise is louder than ever. It sounds like it’s coming from the other side of the room. Part of me really wants to know what’s making all that noise. Another part says that I definitely don’t want to know.

  “Can you help us?” Lucy asks.

  Serena rises up and flicks her tongue. She glides by each of us, until her black marble eyes focus on Addy. “Who is the new one?”

  My sister swallows and presses her shoulders back. “I’m Addy.”

  “She’s my sister,” I say.

  Serena smiles, or at least it’s pretty close to a smile for a snake. “Sister? How nice. Family is so important. Come and meet my babies.”

  23

  SERENA SLIDES ACROSS THE FLOOR to the other side of the room. I can’t tell what’s over there. It looks like the room drops off. A hundred meters away there’s another wall. But what’s between here and there?

  We follow Serena, who glides to the very edge. The swishing swells like it might swallow us with its deafening hum.

  I step next to Serena and look down. A humongous pit opens in front of us.

  The floor below is an iridescent ebony with flecks of green and yellow. And it appears to be moving.

  Wait . . . that’s no floor. Those are snakes.

  I blink and try to focus, but it’s hard to process what I’m seeing. The floor is covered with thousands of small, writhing, hissing snakes.

  “Oh my God!” Lucy says. “Are those—”

  “They’re snakes,” Marco whispers. He grabs on to Addy. “I hate snakes.”

  Serena hisses into the voice box. “I don’t know what snakes are, but these are my babies.”

  “You’re their mother?” Addy asks.

  “Yes. Come. They’d love to meet you.” A ramp descends from the side of the room into the pit. Serena glides over and leads us down.

  I can’t believe how many snakes are down there. Serena has fifty times as many babies as Alks we’ve seen the entire time we’ve been here.

  “We’re really going to do this?” Marco asks.

  “I thought you weren’t afraid of snakes,” Lucy taunts.

  “Ignore her,” Addy says. “I’ve got you.” She takes his hand and coaxes him toward the ramp.

  As we travel deeper into the pit, I see that each baby snake is anchored in place by a small loop around its head. A cord comes up from the floor and circles the little snake’s neck like a collar. The end of the cord fits inside the snake’s mouth.

  “Why are they tied up?” Lucy asks.

  “I’m all for that,” Marco says.

  When we reach the floor, Serena raises her head and looks out across the pit. The little snakes seem to get excited. Their bodies shimmy faster. Their little necks pull against the collars like puppies against leashes.

  Serena waves to us with her tiny arms.

  We gather around, and Cole presents the voice box. Serena proudly hisses into the box. “These are my children. They’re busy now. It’s milking time. But they’re very glad to see you. They so rarely get visitors.”

  I look out across the sea of snakes. Thousands of them are hooked up with the small collars. The cords attach to tiny tubes in the floor that stretch the length of the pit. I trace their path to the far end. They feed into a large cylinder topped with a pumping mechanism that is rhythmically driving up and down.

  The tubes connect the snakes to the pump.

  “Serena,” I ask. “What do you mea
n, ‘it’s milking time’?”

  “My babies are giving their venom.”

  “Oh my God!” Marco flattens himself against the far wall of the pit. “They’re poisonous? I’ve got to get out of here!”

  Wait a second . . . these baby snakes are venomous?

  “This is great!” Cole says.

  “It is?” Lucy’s pressed up against the wall like Marco, as far from the snake pit as possible, which unfortunately is not that far.

  “Yes! It means we must be near the other side of the tube!” Cole lowers his mouth to the voice box. “Serena, we’re looking for the venom tube that runs along the seabed. Does it connect over here?”

  Just then a loud beep signals the shutdown of the pump. The collars disengage from the little snakes, and they’re no longer restricted. Dozens of them rush toward us.

  Lucy screams and jumps behind me. Marco’s mouth hangs open, and his face glistens with sweat. Addy steps in front of him. What do we do? Will they bite us? Should we run up the ramp?

  Serena slides her long body out to greet her babies. They glide around her, lifting their tiny heads to rub against hers, darting their tongues at her thick black skin. She glances back at us and waves her head.

  Behind her, the snakes part, leaving a narrow path.

  “I think she wants us to follow her,” Cole says.

  “No way,” Marco says.

  “Come on,” I say. “It may be the only way to the venom tube.”

  Marco looks at Addy. She puts her arm around his back and guides him forward.

  We follow Serena into the pit. The tiny snakes roil around us, leaving us a small path but dashing and diving between our legs. Their skin feels smooth and muscular, like Serena’s. They must know we’re friends, because none of them show any hostility.

  But nothing can erase the reality that we’re wading through a den of snakes. I don’t know if Marco will survive this. He’s practically hyperventilating. The only thing that seems to anchor him is my sister’s hand, which he’s now clutching so hard his knuckles are white.

  “If one of us has to come back here,” Marco says. “I nominate you, Ace. Or Wiki.”