by Lori Beery
Once he was gone, I focused on devouring my breakfast. When I was sated and the food was gone, I got myself ready to leave. This meant I was dressed, wearing my arm guard and finger tabs, and equipped with six knives, a slingshot with a pouch of stones, and two extra bow strings. I slung my empty backpack over my left shoulder and hung my quiver over my right shoulder. I carefully grasped my bow in my left hand. On my way to the lift seat, I snatched up my empty dishes. I carefully balanced my dishes on my lap and slid the bow onto my right shoulder so I could strap myself into the lift chair. I lowered myself to the cook ledge and dropped off my dishes before making my way the cliff’s base.
As I headed towards the knot of guards, I noticed the group breaking up. Marta and Marc moved toward the group of scientists. Carl approached me, signaling for my backpack. As I gave it to him, he indicated he would stock it for me. I smiled my thanks.
“Ky, join us,” called X-tee, waving me towards himself and John.
“What’s up?” I asked concernedly, gesturing to my departing fellow guards.
“We’re getting ready to head out,” he told me matter-of-factly. “Before we leave, I want to know about your ‘whacky dream’.”
After I told them, both men stared at me for a moment, concern evident in their eyes. They exchanged a look and then stared back at me.
“You reached the bird and had a mental conversation,” stated John, shaking his head in shocked surprise.
“Does that mean the bird is in the vicinity?” X-tee asked before I could comment.
“I’m not sure I reached it. I think it reached me and, yes, it is in the area,” I told them. “I learned it is able to identify individuals.” I sighed. “It knows that prolonged mental contact causes headaches because it suggested we stop to prevent it from happening.”
Again, the two men exchanged looks. “Do you suppose the headaches go away with continued contact sessions?” John inquired.
“I think it’s likely, at least with its offspring,” I said. “It seems to be a learned skill.”
“Are you willing to keep communicating?” X-tee asked.
“I am if you’re willing to help me deal with the headaches,” I responded honestly.
“We are,” X-tee told me as he indicated John and himself. “But it will need to be after hours since we all have a job to do already.”
Just as he finished his statement, Marta ran up and informed us the scientists were ready to go. He nodded at her and sent me to get my backpack from Carl. By the time I had settled my backpack on my back and arranged my other gear, X-tee started us on our trek to the tree-dweller cave. I got to join Marc as rear guard. Our charges from yesterday walked in front of us.
It was a pleasant day, warm and sunny. The sky was a beautiful blue without a cloud in sight. There was a cooling breeze that came from the North. It was an ideal day for a hike.
Chapter 17
We arrived at the tree-dweller cave by mid-morning. This time, the rocky porch of the cave was empty. No sound came from the cave, at least not that we could hear.
X-tee led Marta and me into the cave. All three of us wore headlamps. Not only did the gear permit us to see in the dark interior, it allowed us to have our weapons at the ready. We didn’t expect the hominoid creatures to attack, but we were ready for the worst. Or so we thought.
Not too far inside, the entrance cave’s roof became so low it forced X-tee and Marta to stoop almost in half. I carefully maneuvered into the lead. I also had to stoop a bit, but not enough to obstruct my sight or ability to use my weapon. After a meter, I adopted a low lunge walk, which got me low enough to keep my back straight and nearly halved my height.
As I progressed, I found sections of the cave littered with broken branches. It was evident they had been snapped in the cave. After passing two more distinct areas of wood debris, the cave opened into a big, domed chamber. The floor abruptly ended a meter into the chamber. It stretched off to the left into a jumbled slope that descended about seven meters to another relatively flat area. To the right, the floor dropped into nothingness.
I moved cautiously toward the drop off. Straight down, an abyss yawned, and its depths became lost beyond the light of my headlamp. I lifted my gaze to the flat-ish area across the chasm. The far wall rose in a sheer cliff of rock with multiple ledges visible. The left edge of the wall had a much gentler slope.
It was then that I noticed a dark, glistening substance smearing the surface of the rock leading to many of the ledges and at the base of the wall. I turned stiffly toward X-tee and Marta. They were to my left, examining the ground.
X-tee activated his comm. “Marc, would you and Dr. Aspen, please join us?” he asked in a firm voice. I knew that whatever he and Marta were looking at had disturbed him.
I pressed my lips together and cleared my throat. “I assume you found signs of swarming lizards,” I stated. My voice sounded close to tears in my ears.
“Yes, how did you know?” asked Marta as she turned to look at me. When she saw my face, she paled.
“What did you find?” demanded X-tee as he joined me.
I turned, so my light hit the dark, glistening substance on the rock. Both of them blanched.
“The poor little buggers,” muttered X-tee.
A sound behind us turned all three of us to the entrance cave. Marc and Dr. Aspen entered the chamber. The excitement drained from their faces when they saw us.
“What is it?” asked Dr. Aspen.
“It looks like the swarming lizards wiped them out, at least, in this chamber,” reported X-tee.
“Such a shame,” said Dr. Aspen, bowing his head. “But perhaps their tragedy can help us understand both species.”
“What are you proposing, Dr. Aspen?” asked X-tee.
“Please, call me Ezra,” he said, “no need for such formality.” After X-tee nodded, Ezra continued, “let the lot of us come in and see what we can learn before we must leave for the safety of our camp.”
“It appears the lizards are gone,” X-tee announced. “I’ll allow four hours for us to check it out. After four hours, we depart.”
“Understood,” consented Ezra.
X-tee tapped his comm. “John, let everyone come in. It looks like the swarming lizards got the tree-dwellers. Ezra thinks there is something to be learned here about both species. I’m allowing four hours from my mark.” He paused. While he did, Marc, Marta, and I checked our watches. “Mark.” My watch displayed eleven o’clock.
I touched X-tee’s shoulder. “Do you mind if Marta and I look for connecting caves?” I asked quietly.
“Yes, but be very careful,” he said. “Keep alert and keep in contact.” He indicated his comm badge as he finished his last comment.
“We will,” Marta and I promised.
Before everyone made it inside, we began our exploration. I carried my bow with an arrow notched in my left hand while Marta used her staff as a walking stick. We moved out, walking side by side. We followed the chamber wall to the right of the entrance cave. I took the lead in an attempt not to disturb the sandy floor Marta and X-tee had been examining earlier. Continuing to watch the walls, we noticed they were pitted, rough, and folded, but they didn’t open into a passageway. That is until we reached the beginning of the slope leading down to the lower level.
Curiously separate from the rock wall rose a roughly rectangular block of stone. It was about three meters tall, two meters wide, and a meter thick. It stood half a meter away from the wall of the chamber. Its sides were sheer.
After taking in the short distance between the block and the chamber wall, I turned to Marta. “Think we can climb up?” I asked.
“Won’t know until we try,” she informed me.
I stepped between the block and the chamber wall. I found easy hand and foot niches in the wall’s surface and began climbing up. As I moved, I pressed my back against the block. Before too long, I sat upon the block. I scooched backward and pulled my legs up. Then, I pushed myself up into a
standing position. Marta soon joined me on top of the block.
Facing the chamber wall, we studied it. There appeared to be a passageway up and to the right of where we stood. Getting to it would require a leap to a ledge about a meter away and slightly up to the right. Once on it, we should be able to walk to the passage entrance.
We looked at each other. Marta made an after-you gesture. So, I backed up to the far corner of the block, hoping to give myself a running start across the hypotenuse. Walking the length gave me two good steps. I paused to figure out my timing. Then, I ran the two steps and jumped. As my feet left the block, I added a hard-upward swing of my arms. My momentum landed me above the ledge and into the wall. The impact drove the air out of me. I felt myself slide down the wall until my toes brought me to a halt on the ledge. I remained leaning against the wall until I got my breathing under control.
“Ky, are you ok?” asked Marta.
“I think so,” I managed to gasp out. “I hope I only knocked the air out of myself.”
“Can you give me room to join you?” she asked.
Instead of speaking, I sidled along the ledge toward the passage entrance. Almost instantly, Marta stood beside me. She looked me over to include my hands, arms, face, and chest.
“I’m happy to report that you are not bleeding,” she told me seriously. “But you’re going to have quite a few bruises on your face, hands, and chest. Do you hurt anywhere else?”
“No, I don’t think so,” I told her.
“Good,” she said. “I’m ready to move on or turn back when you are.”
“Well, we’re here now,” I responded. “Let’s see where the passage goes.”
“Let’s check in first,” she suggested.
“Please, do the honors,” I agreed.
While she reported in, I edged further into the passage. My light revealed that the tunnel was narrower and taller than the entrance cave. It appeared that Marta would be able to walk through it without stooping, at least as far as I could see.
Marta joined me in the cave. “The captain is not pleased that you injured yourself. He wants you to stop taking such risks,” she whispered.
“Did he order us back?” I asked quietly.
“No,” she chuckled faintly. “He told us to look since we were already here.”
I nodded and continued moving down the tunnel. We went as quietly as we could. About five meters in, the passage took a jog to the right around an outcropping. The extension forced us to move sideways to get around it. When we cleared it, we realized we didn’t need our headlamps. We looked at each other and froze. There was a noise coming from the end of the passage. It sounded like a child sobbing.
We switched off our lamps and proceeded along the passage. The sobbing sound grew louder, as did some shushing noises. It seemed that two youngsters were trying to quiet a younger child.
We crept to the end of the tunnel and peeked out. Before us, a roughly circular chasm stretched ten meters into darkness. We couldn’t see the bottom; it lay lost to darkness. The sunlight streaming in through a ragged hole in the far side of the ceiling some twenty meters above penetrated only about thirty meters down. There was no floor to be seen. A narrow ledge, roughly twenty centimeters wide, connected the passage’s opening with a series of staggered outcroppings a third of the way around the chasm. On the topmost ledge crouched the three, tree-dweller youths we had seen playing yesterday. The two older ones locked their eyes on us and went both still and silent. The littlest one turned toward the wall, muffling its sobs with its hands.
Marta and I exchange a look. It seemed obvious that the sobbing one was hurt. But, neither of us could tell anything about its injury. It was too well shielded by the other two. When we turned our attention to the guardians, we couldn’t discern their physical condition either. We saw nothing obvious like matted fur or twisted limbs.
“Too risky?” I whispered to Marta indicating the ledge leading to the tree-dwellers.
“Oh, yes,” she confirmed emphatically.
We backed as far as we could from the edge of the chasm. Then, without a word, Marta and I simultaneously knelt and sat back on our heels. I carefully laid my bow and arrow beside me but within easy reach. I slowly removed my backpack and held it on my thighs. While I moved, I felt the young tree-dwellers’ regard.
“Care for some chocolate?” I asked Marta in a whisper.
“Of course,” she assured me as she set her staff on the other side of herself.
After rummaging in my pack for a moment, I located a chocolate bar. I unwrapped it and split it in half. I dropped the wrapper into the pack and handed Marta her half.
“Why thank you,” she said, taking her share.
“You’re welcome,” I replied.
“I think they finally got the recipe perfected,” she commented as she nibbled away.
“Yes, finally,” I confirmed.
While we happily munched our chocolate bar, the two older tree-dweller youths shifted their stance from a crouch to a hunched four-footed stand. We easily heard deep, sniffing sounds. The middle youth moved onto a ledge nearer to us.
“It appears they may be hungry,” observed Marta.
“Think they’d like some chocolate?” I asked.
“We could see,” she suggested grudgingly. “Are you willing to sacrifice one of your bars for the cause?” Her voice held a note of challenge.
I frowned at her as I fished out another bar. After unwrapping and breaking it in half, I further divided one of the halves into little pieces. Carefully getting to my feet, I inched toward the ledge. When I did, the middle youth froze. The oldest one let out a cry and made a ‘come back’ gesture with its arm. The middle one scurried back to the others. Then, they watched every move I made.
Letting out a sigh, I slowly crouched and distributed the pieces into three separate piles. Then, I carefully returned to my spot next to Marta. We waited, trying to nibble our chocolate quietly.
After five minutes or so, the oldest one made its way along the ledge toward us. It came cautiously, pausing every so often like it was making sure we hadn’t moved. As it approached, I didn’t note any injuries. It wasn’t limping or dragging a foot. It traveled along the ledge very easily.
When the chocolate piles were within reach, it stopped short and regarded us. After a moment of intense scrutiny accompanied by lots of sniffing, it reached out and seized a piece of the bar. It tossed the piece into its mouth and went rigid. It seemed to be moving the chocolate around its mouth with its tongue. Its eyes opened wide, and the irises shifted from side to side. It appeared the creature liked the chocolate but couldn’t decide what the taste resembled. In a blindingly fast series of movements, it snapped up all the chocolate and retreated to the ledge where the other two waited anxiously. There it shared its bounty with them.
“What do we do if they want more?” I whispered.
“Give them the other half?” she replied with a shrug of her shoulders.
That seemed like good advice. I broke up the rest of the half into little pieces and divided it among three piles, just like before. When I resumed my place, I resettled my backpack on my back and stuck my last bite of chocolate into my mouth.
Just as the trio started to make their way towards us, our comms received X-tee’s command to return the main cave. His voice boomed into the silence of the chasm. The three tree-dwellers froze in place along the stone shelf that led to us. They retreated as Marta and I picked up our weapons and got to our feet.
“On our way,” I spoke into the comm.
“Copy that,” came his stern response.
Marta and I shared a look. X-tee’s tone suggested an unfortunate event. Hoping everyone was ok, we exited the passage.
It was much easier to jump down to the block. We made good time climbing down to the upper level of the main cave. Having taken a few steps back towards the entrance tunnel, a soft sound turned us back toward the passage to the chasm. The oldest tree-dweller youth stood fra
med in the opening. I waved at it and just before I turned away, the creature returned my wave. Cool!
Chapter 18
When we got about ten meters away from the entrance cave, we were able to see that everyone except X-tee was gone. All the gear was missing as well. X-tee paced along the entrance passage with his muscular arms crossed over his chest. He did not look happy.
“Hey Captain, what’s going on?” I asked. “We’ve still got forty-five minutes before bug out time.”
“There’s been a change of plans,” he growled. “It appears those lizards are still lurking about.”
“Was anyone hurt?” I inquired.
“I’ll tell you outside.” He gestured for us to precede him through the entrance cave.
Once outside on the rocky porch, the smell of food filled my nose. My stomach reminded me that we had missed lunch. I spotted Ross, Marc, and Lloyd using a flat rock to the left of the cave mouth as a table. They were obviously cooking. A smile touched my lips; we would be eating soon.
Another group was sitting on a rock further down the porch beyond the chefs. I saw that John was bandaging Joshua’s ankle. It looked like Paul had already received medical attention. His arm was in a sling. Over Paul’s shoulder, I could see the top of Carl’s head. He seemed to be kneeling in front of Paul. I figured he was aiding John in treating the injuries.
So, what happened?” I asked, turning back to X-tee and Marta.
“About two hours after ‘mark’, Joshua and Paul were looking for lizard signs around the chasm lip on the lower level,” he told us. “They discovered the entire rim was all churned up, but they didn’t notice any clear tracks. Thinking they might be missing something, they went to get an image recorder and image the lip.
“They were in the middle of doing that when Joshua screamed. A swarming lizard, a really big one, had clamped onto his ankle and started dragging him into the chasm. His cry alerted everybody. Paul caught hold of Joshua’s hand and kept him from going over the edge. Carl sank three arrows into the lizard before it finally let go of Joshua.