by Linda Mooney
“Very tough. Superb warriors and survivors.”
“Yet they were unable to survive here.”
“Kelen, we do not know enough to come to any sort of conclusion about Hoov and its kind. The Adajuss may have been too injured. The food below, if there is food below, may not have sustained them. There may have been something in the water that affected them. There are too many unknown variables for us to conclude why the Adajuss died.”
“You’re right, but I can’t help this feeling I get when I’m around that thing. Did you catch Dox’s reaction? He’s terrified of it.”
Kyber squeezed her arm. “Vigilance, my one. It has gotten us this far. That and patience.”
Kelen made a face but didn’t reply. He was right. All they could do now was watch and wait, and not lower their guard for a single instant.
Chapter 7
Ice
Kelen soon noticed the further Hoov led them down the tunnel, the slower everyone moved. It wasn’t because they were being cautious. It was because they were all past the point of exhaustion. With all they had been through these past few weeks, their stamina was shot. Old wounds hadn’t had the chance to heal before new ones were incurred. Worse, their senses were overloaded from constantly trying to keep themselves alert and attentive to their surroundings.
Thankfully, Fullgrath called a halt to give them a chance to rest. Kelen dropped to the ground next to Kyber and rested her head against his arm.
“Where’s Cooter?”
She opened her eyes to see Jules standing over her.
“He went back to retrieve some of the kill Hoov left behind,” Kyber answered.
“What? He did what?” Fullgrath strode toward them.
“He wants Sandow to test the creature Hoov killed, to see if it might be edible for us,” Kelen added.
“How long ago did he leave?”
She barely managed to shrug. “I have no idea. I’ve lost all track of time.” She peered up at Jules. “How far have we come?”
“According to this, a little over two kilometers.”
“How much further do we have to go? Do we know?” Kyber inquired, weariness evident in his voice. She glanced down at the bandage Sandow had wrapped around her husband’s waist and hip to hold the healing patches in place. Blood had seeped through the cloth, but it appeared to have dried. There were no fresh blossoms as far as she could tell.
Jules sighed loudly and voiced what they already knew. “I have no idea.”
A ratcheting sound drew their attention to the head of the line. Hoov made its way toward them, backing up as there wasn’t enough room for it to turn its long body around. It stopped near Massapa and Tojun, who moved out of its way. Kelen made a mental note of the incident. It seemed all of the Seneecians were leery of their host.
“Go.” The creature made a motion with one appendage, as if to wave them on.
“How much further, Hoov?” Fullgrath asked.
“Soon.”
“You said that two kilometers ago,” Jules snapped back.
Hoov turned its eyes on the ex-navigator. “Soon. Go.”
“We’re not like you, Hoov,” Kelen ventured to say. “We’re not as strong as you are. We’ve been injured, and we need to rest. We need food and water. Will there be food and water where you’re taking us?”
The creature ignored her questions as it continued forward. Resigned, they picked up their parcels and followed, hoping to reach their destination before too long.
She pressed a hand to her abdomen and tried to prevent Kyber from noticing her discomfort. These familiar cramps told her she was overdue for her six month contraceptive shot, and she bet those medications were not among those that had been extracted from their recent run to the crashed ship. When Hoov declared blood when it sniffed her, she knew it wasn’t because of her leg. She dreaded what the coming hours might bring. Fortunately, Kyber took her distress as reactions to her wounded leg.
“Let me know when you are unable to continue and I will carry you.”
“Nonsense,” she abruptly told him. “You haven’t the strength.”
A partial grin lifted one corner of his mouth. “That is true. Then I will have someone else carry you.”
She snorted and gave his arm a squeeze. He was trying to keep her spirits up, for which she was grateful.
They had gone several meters when she saw Mellori take the tablet from Jules and begin working on something. Kelen tried to keep an eye on the bright screen, but their movements kept her from getting a clear view. When they reached a bend in the corridor, Mellori halted and did a three-sixty sweep of the area. By the light coming off the equipment, she saw his perplexed expression as he grunted.
“What’s wrong?”
He looked up at her, then at the others who’d noticed he’d stopped and came back to investigate. “I’ve calibrated this to track our movements, then juxtapose our location according to the map on the panel we discovered in the temple.” He tilted the tablet so they could see it and pointed to a tiny yellow pulsing light. “That’s us.”
Kelen stared at the map. “According to this, we’re standing in the middle of nowhere.”
“Yes, but you have to remember the lights indicate where the panels say they are. The nonagons below the other temple were not where the teleportation rocks were located. I bet if we’d tracked this over at the other place, we’d find ourselves smack in the middle of nowhere, too.”
Kyber pointed to the pulse point. “Something about this disturbs me.” He started to say more when he stopped. Instantly, he dropped into a crouch, his lips lifted in a silent growl.
“Ky—”
“Shh!”
Massapa rushed over. “Do you hear it?”
“Hear what?” Jules asked.
“Shh!” Kyber raised a hand for silence. Everyone froze to listen.
In the distance, a rumbling sound, almost too quiet to hear.
Kyber glanced down at his bare feet. “The ground…”
“Hey! Hoov!” Fullgrath shouted at the creature, which suddenly took off down the tunnel. “Hoov, what the hell is going on?”
“Ice.” The thing’s response was nearly swallowed up by the rising sound of thunder filling the corridor.
“Go! Run!” Kyber shoved Kelen ahead of him.
“What’s going on?” Jules hollered. He stumbled ahead of them as they noticed the first wave of vibrations washing through the rock. “What is it?”
“The ground is moving!” Kleesod cried out. “Everyone run!”
The rumbling rose to a low roar. The tunnel began to shake. Dust and debris rained down on them. Their panic gave them the energy to make a mad dash down the corridor. Hoov disappeared into the darkness, leaving them behind.
Without warning, the world around them violently jerked. The rock walls exploded as the tunnel broke apart. Gaveer shouted as he dropped out of sight in front of them, disappearing into a wide crack that had opened up in the floor.
Massapa yelled and fell to the ground. Everyone skidded to a stop, barely avoiding crashing into each other and sending someone else plummeting into the crevasse.
Tojun, Kleesod, and Fullgrath got down on their bellies and crawled to the edge of the pit, next to where Massapa lay. The ground continued to heave as smaller rocks pelted them from above.
“Grab onto this!” Fullgrath screamed. Kelen tried to watch, but Kyber shoved her against the wall and held her there, keeping her firmly in place with his body to protect her. She heard grunting, then Kyber let out a huge sigh of relief.
“He is safe,” he told her over his shoulder.
“Thank God.”
Around them, walls gradually ceased shaking. The floor settled. The rumbling sound quieted.
“Do you think it’s over?” Jules whispered.
“If it was an avalanche, perhaps,” Sandow answered.
“Hoov said it was ice,” Mellori reminded them. “It could have been a floe breaking apart. However, if it was an earthqu
ake, there will be aftershocks. Remember, we saw mountains in the distance when we arrived. There could be continuing volcanic action in this area.”
“Is everyone okay? How are you doing?” Kelen reached out and grasped Massapa’s leg. She realized it was the first time she’d touched the Seneecian, who remained sprawled on the ground as he recovered, heaving for breath.
Massapa swallowed hard, his face pale after his brush with death. “I am fine.”
“How are we going to cross this?” Jules stood by the chasm and shone a tube light over the hole.
Kelen eyed the crack in the floor. It looked to be a good three to four meters across. “There is no way any of us can jump that.”
“Yeah. This way is a wash.” Jules flashed the light down the tunnel. “Guess we’ve been abandoned. Anyone want to place bets that Hoov comes back for us? Or doesn’t?”
“If we cannot go forward, we will need to go back. Find another route,” Tojun stated what they all already knew.
“I noticed we passed an air duct about half a kilometer ago,” Gaveer informed them. “It should lead us to one of those hidden tunnels.”
“But we have no idea where that other way leads,” Fullgrath said.
“Do we have any other choice?” Kelen asked.
Jules took one more glance at the hole, shook his head, and started back down the tunnel the way they’d come as Fullgrath took the lead.
They’d barely taken a dozen steps when the rumbling began again, rolling toward them like an invisible monster.
Chapter 8
Concern
They ran. Behind them, the oncoming quake advanced at an inconceivable rate of speed. There was no way they could outrun it. It would reach them and seize them in its destructive grip within seconds.
As they rounded a small curve, Mellori stumbled to a halt. “We won’t make it! Flatten yourself against the walls!”
They could barely hear him above the growing roar, like nearing thunder. Already the tunnel was visibly quaking. The air filled with dust, making it difficult to breathe. Kelen covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve. Her eyes burned from the roiling dirt and grit, warm tears rolling down her face.
Kyber grabbed her arm and pushed her against the wall, using his body to block the rocks and debris from hitting her. He lowered his face and tried to breathe. Everyone coughed from the pollution.
She had no idea how long it lasted. When the ground finally settled, they looked around to see if everyone was all right. Once reassured, they picked up their bundles of supplies and resumed backtracking to the next hidden corridor.
Massapa located the air vent and disguised connecting tunnel. Kelen was grateful to see the row of glowing glyphs lining the bottom of the walls and throwing out a pale luminescence to light the way. They continued to follow the corridor as it swerved and turned. Cracks in the walls, ceiling, and floor evidenced that the corridor had suffered significant damage during the upheaval.
They had gone nearly a hundred meters when Fullgrath, in the lead, let out an expletive. They continued forward until they caught up with him. Seeing what lay ahead, Mellori echoed the curse word.
“Anybody got a crowbar?” Jules quipped.
Kelen eyed the collapsed tunnel and the pile of rock and rubble that filled the narrow space. “We can’t dig through that, even if we had the tools,” she mentioned aloud.
“If Cooter was here, he could blast through it,” Mellori noted.
“But he is not here.” Kyber let out a loud sigh. “Unless we can find another alternate route, there is only one way left for us to go.”
“You mean, back up to the temple?” Jules shook his head. “It’s gotta be dark by now. Too dangerous.”
“He is right,” Gaveer intervened. “Perhaps it would be wiser if we stayed here for the night.”
“I agree,” Sandow chimed in. “I can tell by just looking at all of you that we’re at the end of what little endurance we had left. We need to rest. Tomorrow we can make the trek back up top to the temple.”
“What if another one of those ground shakers occurs?” Tojun questioned. “Could we not be buried further underground?”
At the thought, Kelen shuddered. She forced herself not to imagine being trapped kilometers beneath the planet’s surface, their air slowly depleting long before their food ran out.
“What about Cooter?” Jules asked. “He could pass us by without knowing we’re in here.”
“He will not get far,” Kyber reassured him. “He will return to search for us once he discovers the chasm.”
“But he won’t know if we made it to the other side before the ground gave way,” she pointed out.
Sandow nodded. “She’s got a point. Still, he’s a big boy. He’s gone off on his own before. Remember, he deserted us soon after we arrived at the other temple. He’ll eventually find us, one way or another.”
“Cooter’s the best damn tracker and hunter I’ve ever known,” Fullgrath informed them.
“I suggest we go back to where this tunnel intersects with the main corridor,” Gaveer noted. “That way, if the ground rumbles again, at least we’ll have some option as to which way to flee.”
They unanimously agreed and once more backtracked. When they reached the junction, Massapa started a small fire and Mellori passed out more food packets.
“We’ll need to find another food source soon,” he informed them. “If we keep to two meals a day, we’ll run out in three days.”
Kelen glanced over to where Dox sat with his back propped against the wall. The young man had been unusually quiet during their trek below. But as she observed him more closely, she got the impression he was more at ease. Maybe the drugs Sandow gave him were helping. Or maybe he was able to relax because Hoov was no longer among them.
As the men continued to discuss their possibilities come morning, she watched as he worked on several small devices at once. He dealt with them systematically, in an assembly line fashion. Making an adjustment on one, putting it down, picking up the next one, making the same sort of adjustment before putting it down and reaching for the next. Methodical, identical movements. She counted the number of objects lying in a neat row before him. Twelve. Automatically, she did a quick head count of everyone present. Eleven. And Cooter makes an even dozen.
She scooted closer to him. “Hey, Dox. What are you making?”
He continued to work, absorbed in his task. She almost thought he hadn’t heard her when he responded. “Communicators.”
She resisted the urge to reach over and pick one up to examine it. Doing so would throw a kink in Dox’s thought process. Instead, she continued to watch him build each individual device from scratch.
“How long before you’re finished?”
“Don’t know. Depends.”
Kelen kept her smile to herself and moved away to give him room. She knew if she continued to hang over him and ask him questions, it would distract him from his work. When Dox involved himself in a project, he normally isolated himself where no one and no sound could interrupt him. In their current situation, because he couldn’t shut himself up in a room, the best he could hope for was to get as far away as he safely could and tune everyone out.
She checked to see if he’d eaten. Spotting the empty meal packet, she picked it up and took it over to add to the fire.
Kyber remained in deep conversation with Fullgrath and the other Seneecians. The men were bent over Jules and his tablet, discussing strategy. Mellori took inventory on their supplies, and Sandow checked the medications. Biting her lower lip, she limped over to the physician. He glanced up at her, flashed her a smile, and she saw his professional demeanor slip into place.
“What can I help you with?” He dropped his eyes to her leg, which she was obviously favoring.
She kept her voice low. “It’s not my leg. It’s my…period.”
He stared at her for two seconds, then nodded. “I knew it was inevitable. Unfortunately, contraceptives were not among the s
upplies Mellori brought back from the ship. And to be honest, if I had gone, I don’t think I would have thought to pack any. I’m sorry. How are you coping?”
“Right now I’m okay, but I have a history of having heavy flows, and I’m worried what might happen when I start.”
Sandow grimaced. “I recall that note on your medical history.” He glanced over her shoulder and she knew who he was looking at. When he returned to her, he slowly shook his head. She spoke before he could.
“Making love to my husband is not what I’m worried about.”
“Still, because you’re no longer protected, you’re at your highest risk of pregnancy.” He gave her a wry smile. “I’m going out on a short limb here and assuming he’s not using a Seneecian condom, or any other form of contraceptive.” Seeing her facial response, he sighed. “I thought not.”
“A possible pregnancy is not what’s at the top of my list.”
“It’s the bleeding,” he bluntly remarked.
Kelen gave him a helpless smile. “Remember when Hoov smelled me and said blood? I don’t think he smelled my leg.”
“After what you’ve just told me, you could be right.”
“I’m afraid if I start, the scent might attract other creatures.”
He rubbed his chin. “It’s possible.”
“Doc, is there anything you can give me to stop me from menstruating?”
Sandow bowed his head as he thought. Frowning, he gave her an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Kelen. Short of giving you a complete hysterectomy, which is impossible given our current situation, I have no medications I can give you, and nothing I can mix that’ll act as a contraceptive.”
“What about the plant life here? Maybe there’s a bush with some chemical components you could use to fabricate one?”
“If we were at the other temple, I could pull some samples from the garden to test, but I didn’t bring any with us. I’m sorry, Kelen. You’ll have to suffer through it.” He added a wan smile. “Fortunately, we have enough rags you can utilize.”