by P. R. Adams
The pseudo’s description of the dramas felt like artillery rounds striking too close to a position. Why would there be a need for fiction when mercenary teams already had so much drama? They were real people, after all. It was painful to even think about the concept.
There was always annoyance when the team made fun of Riyun about his lack of interest in pop culture, but hearing about this incomprehensible nonsense of reality entertainment… “I don’t think it’s very likely that Beraga is going to expend resources on creating a world that mirrors our own.”
“It does seem inefficient. And the point of these reality experiences is still a matter of escapism.”
Meaning the people who watched these shows lived even more miserable lives. Why else would they want to live vicariously through someone who killed for a living? “You talked to Naru about this, too?”
“We have discussed a few different possibilities. Really, if Tarlayn is aware of how this—”
“If I could ask Tarlayn about all of this, I would.”
Quil’s head rocked back as he realized what was being said. “You fear that you will alienate her.”
“How would you like to have someone tell you that you were created for someone else’s entertainment?”
The pseudo rubbed his armor where it covered his umbilical scar.
Riyun winced. “Sorry, Quil. Bad example. In her case, it’s a matter of an entire world—everything she knows—being a fiction.”
“The same applies to a pseudo. We grow up with only the training that has been approved for our role.”
“Yeah. What’s been done to you and your kind…it’s all wrong. If there were anything I could do—”
“You have already done more than anyone I have ever met or heard of.”
“And it isn’t enough. Not yet.”
“It is appreciated nonetheless.”
Someone whistled, and Riyun looked up in time to see Javika sprinting from the shadow of a distant outcropping. She slowed as she jogged toward them and about a hundred feet out pointed back the way she had come.
She came to a stop and after catching her breath turned back toward the outcropping. “It is there. Beyond that rise of rocks, not even a mile. Do you feel it?”
Riyun was unsure what he was supposed to feel.
But it rapidly sank in: The sense of annoyance and threat that had been bothering him since she’d jogged off earlier… It was this thing she was asking about. He was breathing it in, feeling it in his bones. “This power emanates? You can see it?”
“Feel it. Like a rash on the skin. Like a whisper in your ear.”
Then it was what he was feeling. “You’re sure this is the abyss?”
“I have seen it. And what is within, once close to it, you cannot escape the awareness.”
Was that what Tarlayn felt? Maybe what set a wizard apart from others was the way they perceived this sensation. “We’ve still got daylight. I’ll get the others moving.”
Only Tarlayn protested over hurrying, but even she acquiesced soon enough. Riyun joined Javika ahead of the column, no longer worried about ambush. The sky was clear, and there were no living things in the area but them. He wasn’t surprised when he passed through the shadow of the outcropping and felt a chill rather than a small difference in heat the shade should have provided.
This was magic. This was what created this world and made it unique.
This was chaos.
The land grew even more unpredictable the closer they came to the crater. That’s what it seemed like to Riyun: a deep and wide gouge in the earth, as if something had plunged from the heavens and blasted a hole in the ground. At least a mile across, perfectly circular, and flat at the bottom. It would certainly explain all the rocks and the almost ripple-like nature of the high hills they crossed approaching the hole. And that hole was surrounded by a raised lip, as if energy and heat had expelled liquefied rock.
Just as Tarlayn had said, the walls of this pit were scarred and cracked. No water or wind had smoothed the surface. Or perhaps the surface couldn’t be smoothed. Maybe the desolation of the land surrounding it was the result of a constant eruption of energy from within.
Riyun scolded himself. He was letting Naru and Quil’s excessive caution override the sort of risk-taking that was called for in such a situation.
Toward the bottom, on the north side of the abyss, brilliant sapphire lights flashed just outside the wide mouth of a cave.
He turned to Tarlayn. “Is that the entry?” It was a stupid question but necessary. There were no other openings.
She nodded, eyes locked on the lights.
Javika signaled that she would scout the north wall, then jogged away. They were losing light quickly, but Riyun was confident they could make the cave before nightfall. The walls offered plenty of hand and foot holds, and everyone looked ready.
It didn’t take long to find an ideal path down. Javika went first, then Lonar, then Quil. Hirvok helped Symbra down, tying his cable to her waist after she had a scare.
Tawod shook his head as he stared into the pit. “We shouldn’t be going down there.”
The demolitions expert was obviously worried about Naru. She chewed her lip as the others picked their way down.
Riyun nodded toward Tarlayn, who had already secured her staff to her back and begun the descent herself. “You have any idea how old she is? And she’s suffered some pretty nasty wounds in her time. You can do this.”
The young woman nodded. “I-I know.”
The tension in Tawod’s face became more pronounced. “You said we were going to look, then make a run for some place that might get us out.”
Far below, the bright lights flared. Riyun wasn’t sure if the lights were gas being ignited by something, or if they really were some sort of magic, but they definitely were hypnotic. “I said we would give this a look, and I mean to.”
“Can’t you feel it? Can’t you see how dangerous this is?”
The energy thrummed in Riyun’s head. There was no denying the sensation. “It could be dangerous to us, but it could also be dangerous to Meriscoya.”
“I don’t care about him, and you shouldn’t either. We’re your squad.”
“You are. And I intend to get you home. But you have to follow my orders.”
Naru squeezed the demolitions expert’s arm. “The lieutenant’s right. It makes sense that that’s the way out. Even if it’s not, it’s what feeds power to this place. If we can figure out how that works, it could change everything.”
Tawod nodded, then tied his cable around her waist and helped her over the edge, then descended after her. He stayed close, and he constantly called out reassurances to her.
Guilt gnawed at Riyun’s certainty. The two of them had become close in a short period of time. It was like Quil’s description of the reality entertainment—foolish relationships forming in a combat team. Morale and sharpness would suffer. People caught up in relationships worried more about each other than about the team and the mission. In combat, decisions had to be made instantaneously. It was hard to trust that a commander wouldn’t focus on a loved one rather than on the well-being of the whole squad.
Riyun was going to have to pull the two of them aside when he had time. They had to understand the value of discipline.
It was dark by the time they reached the bottom. Riyun had miscalculated how quickly the sun was setting. In the glow of flashlights, the sheen of sweat made everyone look waxy. Still, they were enthusiastic and excited.
He took the lead, moving a few feet ahead of Javika. The opening led into a cave about thirty feet deep and half as wide. It was maybe eight feet high, but the ceiling quickly curved lower toward the back, where the cave turned into a narrow tunnel. The flashlight revealed more of the black rock, and the strange flashes of sapphire light that had disappeared as they reached the bottom of the pit now danced deep inside the tunnel.
“More of those dancing lights.” He turned and cocked an eyebrow at Jav
ika. “Any idea what they are?”
The Biwali warrior shook her head. “No smell of sulfur or methane or anything unexpected.”
She was right. The cave, the tunnel—it all just smelled like…rock. And ozone. Like a lightning strike. It was cooler inside, too. Not just the onset of the night, not just being inside of a cave.
It was almost cold.
Riyun headed down the tunnel, promising himself he would stop if things became any weirder. Tarlayn had described what they would find: a cave, tunnels, a large cavern, and then more ways to descend deeper into the abyss. And the power that ran through the place…
It could erupt at any time. It could blast new tunnels or caverns, or it could close them.
Tawod’s admonishment rang in Riyun’s thoughts. He should be concerned with his squad. He should be concerned with getting them home alive, and that meant taking the fewest chances.
But didn’t every day in this game mean another set of terrible risks?
They had to check this place out. There wasn’t a viable alternative.
He led them through the cavern and tunnels that had been described and mapped by the wizard, then came to a stop when he reached the opening to another cavern. This one was huge, the ceiling barely visible in his flashlight beam. Tunnels ran off in several directions, but opposite the entry was a large opening low in the wall, limned with a sapphire glow.
While the others took up positions along the back of the cavern, staying close to the entry, he edged toward the glow. He stopped a few feet away, struggling to breathe. He was sure the rock would give way beneath him and he’d plunge far down into the depths of this crazy world. Finally, he reached the end of the cavern floor and glanced down.
The opening was actually a broad chute that dropped sixty feet or more. The wall angled much less severely, ending at a vertical face quite some distance out. Both the chute and sloping wall appeared to be smoother than the pit walls. Reflections from sapphire lights lit what must have been another cavern far below.
He returned to the others. “There’s another way down.”
Hirvok’s eyes shot to the tunnels around them. “There’s also something else down here besides us.”
Riyun glanced at Javika, who nodded. She’d seen something, too. “All right. Did you get a good look at it?”
“Something low to the ground. Gray. Big.”
“But it didn’t come in here.”
“Maybe it wants us to go down…” Hirvok pointed toward the chute.
The others looked concerned. Getting them to follow was just a matter of giving orders. A good leader didn’t have to give orders when there were other options. “I’ll check it out.”
Javika trailed him by a few steps. “You are going into each tunnel?”
“I figure, you’ve seen one tunnel, you’ve seen them all.”
“You think whatever watches will be the same.”
“I’m sure there’s some sort of diversity of life down here, but if Hirvok only saw something big and gray and low to the ground, then maybe we can find one of these things and figure it out.”
She drew her sword. “Figure it out. You have a strange way of seeing things, Riyun.”
A shiver ran down his spine. It was different hearing her call him by his name like that. Her voice had a surprising intimacy, even in scolding. She was being affected by the subterranean oddness, same as him. Realizing that sent another shiver down his spine.
The Biwali warrior wasn’t supposed to be affected by anything.
He stopped at the mouth of the nearest tunnel and let out a held-in breath. The walls were slick and shiny in the flashlight beam. Human-sized worms—white, ribbed, tipped with small black domes—writhed and wiggled about twenty feet in. Beyond the worms were bones. Big bones. Maybe dragon bones. Beyond them were clear, cracked shells.
Worm husks.
Whatever was inside the white forms, it must evolve and escape at some point.
Could that kill a dragon?
Javika squeezed into the opening, shoulder pressed against his chest. “What are they?”
“Larva.” The realization was like waking from a long sleep. “They’re some sort of spawning mechanism. I bet if we searched around, we’d find eggs somewhere.”
“Eggs must be laid by something.” She stepped back and glanced at the other tunnels. “What is down here?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think we want to find out.”
“Then we leave?”
“No. But we have to move quickly if we want to avoid…” He nodded toward the worms and bones.
She grunted, then sheathed her sword and followed at his side as he returned to the others. Her discomfort with his decision was palpable, but she didn’t challenge. There was an admirable level of loyalty with her, something that went beyond even the legendary Biwali faithfulness.
While Riyun appreciated it, he began to wonder if perhaps what he needed right then was someone who would challenge him. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was making a terrible mistake.
29
With the angle and the smoothness of the slope, it was going to be hard climbing back up the tube. Riyun tried to comfort himself in knowing that at least going down was easy. At the bottom, the tunnel was narrow and dark, creating disconcerting echoes from even the slightest scrape. He followed the reflected sapphire flares but kept his eyes moving for any hint that the shadows hid threats. The sulfur-like stench grew strong enough that he put his helmet on and activated the air filtration system. After a moment, he switched over to the helmet’s optics and turned off his flashlight. The beams from those behind him winked out one by one as they did the same.
Seen through infrared and ultraviolet, the wispy flashes of light took on a different aspect. They seemed to pulse in time with the chill—cool, cold, cool, cold—that grew stronger the deeper in they went.
His radio hissed, then the signal indicator showed that Hirvok was connected. “Go ahead, Hirvok.”
The hiss continued, growing in volume.
“Hirvok? Do you copy?”
Riyun held a hand up to signal a stop, scanned the tunnel ahead again, then turned around. Javika was about twenty feet back, head twisting, slowly backing up to a wall. Confused.
He connected to the team. “Does anyone have eyes on Hirvok?”
Javika’s head shot up to the ceiling before returning to her quick horizontal scans. Beyond her, Lonar was doing the same. Riyun couldn’t see past the big man, but it was the way the squad operated in such a situation—everyone wanted to know what was going on.
Finally, Tawod’s microphone activated. “H-he was at the rear. He said he saw something.”
“When? How long ago?” It wasn’t like Hirvok to wander off on his own.
“I—I don’t know. Ten seconds ago?”
As distracted as the demolitions expert was when he got caught up in flirting with Naru, ten seconds could have been a minute. Riyun hurried back to the end of the line, hoping Hirvok would break into the connection at any moment. There was no sign of him at the back, and no indication of how far he could’ve gone.
Riyun tensed, ready to sprint back down the tunnel, to leave Tawod and Naru to their foolish chatter. “Did he say what he heard?”
Naru pulled her helmet off and coughed when she caught a whiff of the pungent air. “Scratching. I think.”
Scratching. On rock. “Naru, you and Symbra are with me. Tawod, get that drone of yours assembled. Lonar, keep an eye on the tunnel ahead and on Tarlayn.”
The clatter of the big man’s heavy weapon being repositioned came over his mic. “Got it!”
Naru slid her helmet on as Symbra squeezed past. The Onath’s head was on a swivel; she was alert.
He led them out at a jog, even though he wanted to run pell-mell. What threats were there in a place like this? The thing that had laid the eggs, maybe things that fed on those eggs, and maybe worse things. Why would an experienced mercenary abandon his position over an
imagined sound?
Scratching.
About fifty feet later, Riyun’s boot almost went out from under him. He halted, barely avoiding sliding on the stone.
It had been smooth before, but now it was…slick?
He squatted and ran gloved fingers along the stone. A viscous gel came away, strands stretching from the floor to one of his fingers before tearing with a soft pop. Upon closer examination, the goo coated the entire tunnel as far back as he could see. More importantly, Riyun thought he could make out two parallel, shallow troughs in the gel.
Like someone’s boots might make if they were dragged.
Symbra knelt close behind him. “What…is that?”
“Something took Hirvok. Looks like it moves on some sort of—”
Naru groaned softly. “Lubricant.”
That’s what it looked like. Why hadn’t they seen it before? “It filled the tunnel, so it’s big. Switch to explosive-tipped ammo.”
As Symbra swapped in a fresh magazine, she opened a private connection. “Won’t it be risky?”
“The explosive rounds? If he’s still alive, his armor should handle it.”
“You don’t think he’s alive?”
“He would’ve radioed by now.”
The goo thickened as they ran through it, and Riyun began to wonder if it might completely soak into the rock or possibly turn into a powder. He’d preferred the idea that not seeing tracks or indications of the goo before might mean whatever had attacked was rare and didn’t come into the tunnels much. If its lubricant simply disappeared over time, that might mean the entire underground complex was its domain. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant thought, but he set it aside and concentrated on the remaining trail. That trail ended where the tube met the tunnel.
