El Finito Book 1

by M. E. Thorne

  It was distant and muffled. An arrhythmic vibration, like someone a great distance away banging away at a pipe. Every time I closed my eyes and listened, trying to determine where it was coming from, the sound died away. I spent hours trying to figure out if it was real or in my imagination.

  Gnasher came up and shook me to switch shifts. I had practically fallen into a daze, trying to hear the noise again. I wearily thanked her for switching with me and advised her about the sound I thought I had heard. Her ears swiveled on her head, and she promised to listen for it as well.

  Dragging myself to the spot she had been using. I pulled out my bedroll and survival blanket, tucked it under my head, and tried to get a few hours of sleep.

  We awoke early the next day. After eating, we cleared away our shelter and started down the highway again.

  “I heard something last night too,” Gnasher announced. We explained to Gloria and Spinny about the banging noise that had bothered us during the night.

  “I think it was someone, or something, digging,” Gnasher offered. “It was very far away, but I think they were using heavy, industrial equipment, that’s why we could hear them. The sound traveled through the rock and concrete.”

  “Is that what that banging was?” Gloria complained, stretching her wings languidly. “I could hear it all night. I had a nightmare that a giant, mechanical rat was trying to eat me.”

  I tried to think if I had heard of any delver or builder jobs this far north, but I struck a blank. Who the hell is out here so far? Could the Bluehorns have sent another team via an alternate route?

  I asked Gloria about that idea, but she confessed to having no clue. “I promise, if I knew something, I’d tell you.”

  Just to be on the safe side we all agreed to keep up a watch during the night, and if any member of our party heard or saw anything unusual to alert the others immediately.

  Checking the map, the shortest route had us continuing to follow the abandoned highway for several more kilometers.

  If our luck holds, we’ll reach the perimeter of the laboratory before nightfall, I stupidly thought.

  Gloria detected the chasm first.

  “There’s a big gap or something up ahead,” she said, her ears twitching.

  “I can hear the wind blowing,” Gnasher closed her eyes, focusing.

  Checking the sniffers, we cautiously made our way forward. The roadway abruptly ended, as if the earth had been sheared away by a massive blade. Inky darkness stretched in every direction, like a giant slash across the entire planet.

  Probing with our lights, I couldn’t even see the bottom or the other side.

  “What the fuck happened here?" I ran a hand along the tunnel’s edge; the cut was smooth as glass.

  “Orbital laser bombardment,” Spinny guessed, as she experimentally put a leg out and was satisfied to see she could still manage to stick to the wall. “My sisters and I saw similar damage after the war. Space ships equipped with extremely powerful laser weapons could cut right through The Stacks, either destroying their target or opening up breaches for assault landings.”

  I aimed my lantern up but saw nothing. “You mean this goes all the way to the surface?”

  “No,” answered Gloria, her eyes closed in concentration as she used her echolocation. “I think the top is buried by debris." She looked across the chasm. “I think I can detect the highway tunnel continuing on the other side. Want me to fly over and check?”

  At that moment, I felt extremely grateful that Noctis had insisted that we bring her along and guilty about my previous annoyment.

  “Please,” I nodded. “As long as you think you can get there and back safely.”

  Handing me her rucksack, she took a running start before extending her wings and jumping into the chasm. My heart skipped a beat as she hung over the abyss before she flapped her wings and disappeared into the dark.

  We shut off our lights, so we wouldn’t blind her upon her return, and stood nervously in the dark. I was relieved when Gloria came back a few minutes later.

  “Yup, it’s there, about forty meters away,” she confirmed, looking pleased with herself. “The chasm is huge though, it extends for kilometers in both directions.”

  “How far down is the bottom?” I asked.

  “You don’t want to know,” was her response. She looked to the right. “Worse, I heard more of that digging noise, in that direction. I think someone is trying to break through to the chasm from a different tunnel.”

  None of us were happy to hear that.

  “Is it possible someone else is looking for the lab?” Gnasher’s fur bristled.

  “I don’t know,” Gloria dejectedly answered. “The Bluehorns didn’t send anyone else, I swear. But remember, we told the State about this place, we even mounted two earlier trips. It’s possible someone squealed. There’s plenty of people who’d love to get to that lab and ransack the place.”

  “We have to hurry then,” Spinny announced. She looked over the chasm, evidently doing some mental calculations. “Gloria, could you carry a ball of thread to the other side?”

  Our team worked with admirable coordination. Spinny produced a thin, durable thread which I coiled up for her, and Gloria checked the far side for an anchor point we could attach it to. Gnasher stood at the lip of the chasm, trying to listen for the rival diggers.

  Spinny finished the thread, then produced an orb of silk, which she affixed to the end. She carefully passed the rope to Gloria, who clutched it with one of her hind claws.

  “Be careful not to touch the orb,” the Arachne warned. “It’s covered with one of my most powerful adhesives. Just stick it to the anchor and tug on the thread when you’re done. We’ll do the same on this side.”

  We picked the remains of a massive tank to be the anchor on our side. It had been severed in half by whatever beam had created the chasm, the interior reduced to melted slag.

  Gloria took off and a minute later the thread vibrated, indicating she had secured it successfully. Spinny experimentally tested the thread, then danced out upon its length.

  I was utterly amazed. Despite her size and bulk, she can move on a thread no thicker than my finger like a woman on a ballroom floor.

  She disappeared into the dark but quickly came back, carefully weaving two parallel threads as she moved. Attaching them to the anchor, she formed three ropes that spanned the chasm. Spinny spun further threads, binding all three together, creating a narrow web.

  Afterward, she looked utterly spent. “It should carry our weight, plus our supplies,” she stated, taking a moment to eat and drink.

  “How long will it last for?” I asked, thinking of our return trip.

  “Provided there are no strong updrafts? Probably a week.” Spinny plucked at the nearest thread with a foreleg. “I didn’t use my long-lasting thread, that would have taken too long.”

  We all agreed to hurry across.

  “I’ll take the packs,” Gnasher offered. “You’re too tired, Spinny. Head across and rest on the other side. Once I carry everything over Locke can join us.”

  I was about to protest, then I realized I would be the only member of the team that might have difficulty crossing. Gloria could fly, and Spinny and Gnasher were well used to traversing the Arachne’s webs.

  I, on the other hand, am going to have to crawl across.

  It’s not that I was afraid of heights. You can’t be if you’re in the Delvers’ Guild; crossing bottomless pits is an everyday part of life when venturing into The Stacks. I just really hated the experience.

  Spinny went first. Gnasher then nimbly made it across, practically sprinting across the web bridge. Once she was clear, she flashed her lantern twice indicating it was safe for me to cross. Getting down on all fours, I closed my eyes and began crawling across the span.

  The wind hit me first. I hadn’t noticed it from the safety of the tunnel, but a cold, blustery gust rose from the depths. The bridge swayed lightly. Remembering what Spinny said about a s
tronger updraft destroying her work, I clenched my eyes tight and fought off the sense of vertigo as I pushed myself forward.

  I made it about half-way across before the explosion rocked the chasm.

  Far to my right, part of the chasm wall burst apart in a massive, fiery detonation. Rock and dust flew everywhere as my ears rang painfully. The bridge rocked and bucked, forcing me to hang on for dear life.

  Distantly, I could hear Gnasher scream. “Locke, hurry!”

  I willed my eyes open. Spinny and Gnasher were holding onto the bridge, trying to keep it from swinging any further. They were calling to me, begging me to get up and keep moving.

  Abandoning my crawl, I desperately began to run on all fours, fumbling for a grip as I tried to keep my balance. Darkness yawned to my left and right, but I did my best to block out my fear.

  Just one step after another. I fearfully repeated this mantra, even as I swayed over the void.

  Tripping at the last step, I almost pitched into the chasm before Gnasher grabbed me by the collar of my shirt.

  Thank goodness Spinny gave this to me, I randomly thought as my feet dangled over the edge.

  Gnasher hauled me up and over, the two of us tumbling into a heap.

  Hyperventilating, I panted, “What the fuck was that?”

  Gloria stood at the edge of the chasm, looking at the explosion’s origin. Bright, stabbing beams of light jabbed out of the ragged hole that had been torn into the far wall.

  “The stupid bastards!” Gnasher bared her teeth as we untangled ourselves. “They could have killed us, or brought the whole chasm down!”

  “They aren’t delvers,” I responded, clutching a hand over my chest as my pulse finally began to slow down. “Nobody in the Guild would be dumb or reckless enough to use that amount of explosives this far down in The Stacks.”

  Gloria shivered. “Who are they, then?”

  Spinny got up and produced another ball of silk, which she hurled out towards the middle of her bridge. Upon contact, her webs began to dissolve. The bridge was gone in a blink of an eye.

  “We have to cover our tracks, we can’t go back this way,” she said. “We have to reach the lab first, no matter what.”

  We pushed ourselves hard for the rest of the day. We no longer stopped for breaks and we didn’t dare leave any glyphs. Spinny appeared tired from the effort it took to create the bridge but she refused to slow down. We stubbornly marched on, putting as many kilometers as possible between us and the rival diggers.

  Gnasher helped Gloria along. The young bat-girl had been instrumental in crossing the chasm, but her endurance wasn’t as high as ours. My girlfriend offered her small words of encouragement and urged her to keep up. I couldn’t help but notice and be annoyed by the occasional nuzzle and the shared, quiet laughs between the two of them.

  I’m being stupid, I groused to myself.

  The highway tunnel appeared much the same as it had before the chasm. We took turns running a sniffer, but the sensors didn’t detect anything unusual. Just more wrecks, more skeletons.

  Spinny kept an eye out but said that nothing looked familiar to her.

  “The directions get pretty vague from here,” I said, as I looked at the map. “Once we get off the turnpike, we’ll hopefully find something for Spinny to help orient herself.”

  Giggling at something Gnasher had whispered to her, Gloria said, “The first expedition took a different route, higher up in The Stacks. They never mentioned the chasm, but I think they got turned around and lost before they made it this far.”

  “Good to know,” I said, my voice surprisingly tight. I felt like an idiot.

  We didn’t hear anything else from the rival team for the rest of the day.

  “Apparently they aren’t lucky enough to have an expert bridge-builder with them,” Gnasher said, giving Spinny a quick kiss.

  “Hopefully they’ll either get stuck and give up, or have to find an alternate route,” Spinny added.

  We ended up stopping earlier than any of us were happy with, but Spinny was just too tired to continue. She was trembling by the time Gnasher insisted we stop and rest for the evening.

  Using the map, we found a space to camp about a quarter-kilometer off the turnpike. My best guess was that it had been some kind of utility room; it was crammed with pipes, pumps, gauges, and ruined generators.

  “We’ll have to mark this spot and come back here later for salvage,” I observed as I moved my lantern along the ceiling. “There’s a mint worth of machine parts in here.”

  Spinny didn’t have the strength to make a shelter for us, so we picked a spot in the far corner of the room, sheltered by the pipes. She put up a simple web in the corner and laid down to rest.

  After eating, Gnasher spoke to her quietly, then came over and sat next to me.

  “She’ll be okay,” she said, “she just wants to rest. I think this trip is taking a lot more out of her than she expected. Physically and emotionally.”

  I nodded, glancing over at Gloria on the other side of the room. She was making mooneyes at Gnasher.

  My girlfriend’s tail flicked against my side, “I think Gloria and I are going to do some scouting, see if we can find some signs of the lab or if we can hear anything from the diggers.”

  She sat for a moment, running a hand along my arm before asking, “Do you mind if Gloria and I fuck around a little bit? She’s been driving me crazy all day.”

  I was proud that I was able to repress the shudder of unhappiness that ran through me. I nodded and smiled, “Sure, have some fun.”

  Gnasher gave me and Spinny kisses before grabbing the Hatuibwari girl and dashing off into the dark. I angrily set out my bedroll, rustled my blanket, and tried to get comfortable.

  “You're jealous,” Spinny observed sleepily.

  “I’m fine,” I grumbled, turning onto my side.

  “Twinges of jealousy are normal,” she continued, “but they say a lot more about you than your partner.”

  I rolled over and faced her. “I just feel stupid. I slept with Gloria, and with Gnasher’s permission. I don’t know why seeing them together upsets me like this.”

  “Uncertainty, insecurity,” Spinny said. “It can be a bit upsetting when your lover brings a new lover around, especially if this is your first time in a non-monogamous relationship." She leaned forward and whispered, “You know, even though this isn’t my first time being part of a polyamorous relationship, I still felt a bit jealous when Gnasher brought you home.”

  I was genuinely surprised, “Really?”

  “Sure,” she answered. “Gnasher isn’t capable of hoarding or dividing her love, and I knew her loving you didn’t make her love me any less, but it still bothered me just the same.”

  I thought about this a bit. “What did you do?”

  “We talked about it, I explained my feelings, even though I knew they were silly and irrational. Gnasher might not always act like it, but she is a very emotionally mature person. She understood, and I felt a lot better afterward. Naming and discussing your fears help strip them of a lot of their power." Spinny reached over and tapped me on the shoulder with one of her forelegs. “Ask her for a few minutes when she gets back.”

  “Thanks, Spinny." And I meant it.

  She chuckled, then closed her eyes and fell asleep.

  Chapter 8