Planet Walkers

by A. V. Shackleton

  “I am half archangel,” Casco said.

  “And look how they treated you!”

  Casco sighed. It was true that things were difficult for half-breeds, especially on Giahn, the Tiamäti homeworld. Angels and archangels – both races looked down on him. But off-world with the Uri’madu such bias no longer applied.

  “The prejudice comes from both sides, Lind, but not here, and definitely not from Lady Andel. Both of my parents were honorable people.”

  “I’ve seen how she looks at you,” Lind snapped.

  “She’s curious, is all,” said Casco. “You underestimate her.”

  “Oh – and she’s pretty. You should look at her with your eyes for a change!”

  Ah, Casco thought to himself. Here is the heart of the matter.

  Lind looked away. “She’s a phony, stuck-up little … You’d think she was royalty the way she goes on. Did you see her in the scrub? First sign of trouble, she’ll cave.”

  “Don’t think I don’t see you, Lind,” he said gently. “I know what the problem really is. You can’t force someone to love you – it’s there or it’s not. It’s nobody’s fault.”

  Lind fiddled with the edge of her blanket and would not look at him. He suspected her eyes might hold unshed tears.

  “Try and keep an open mind about her; that’s all I ask,” he said. “I think she’ll surprise you.”

  Andel’s soft snore was broken as she muttered in her sleep. She turned over and snored again. In the silence, it seemed over-loud. Lind looked at him, a plea for understanding.

  Casco shook his head. “What, that little whimper? That’s not snoring! Now, when Gento gets going …!” He smiled. “You’re looking for things to dislike, but we’re a team, Lind, like it or not. Negativity won’t help. She may be inexperienced, but she’s doing her best. You should respect that … and keep an eye out. We don’t want her to end up like poor Joumelät. Now, go to sleep. Another long trek tomorrow.”

  He pulled his bedding over his shoulders and settled down to sleep. A distant chorus of cheeps and rattles emanated from the swamp far below. He could feel Lind’s continued attention in the prickle of his neck hairs.

  “Casco?”

  “Hmm?”

  “I didn’t mean to disrespect your parents.”

  He rolled over. “Well, think before you put the words – or the thoughts – out there.”

  Lind’s attention withdrew. He hoped she was considering his advice. The calls of nocturnal creatures merged with the crackle of the fire and the keen of wind in the tent’s rigging, sounds that sang to him of a safety he would always treasure.

  THE LAHAR

  After a full day’s climb, frozen snow blasted against Andel’s waterproof jacket and congealed in the fur lining that edged her hood. Tired from the long ascent, she paused and gazed up at the looming conical summit held fast in its carapace of ice and snow. The thin plume of vapor they had noted when the climb began was invisible now from the mountain’s flank. Sunset glints dulled and faded into deep blue shadows. A tremor juddered her legs. In the distance the ongoing crash and crumple of an avalanche generated a storm of low frequency rumbles. Snow crunched underfoot as she resumed her climb.

  Step by step, Cobar led them up a snaking ridgeline to the lee of a curving outcrop, where they pitched camp. Gradually the tent warmed, but the rock beneath them groaned and shuddered with alarming regularity and the team huddled in their bedrolls, unable to sleep.

  “Can you do your assessment now, Tsemkarun Andel?” Casco’s voice was hushed, as if any sound might wake the slumbering peak. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

  Or the feel, Lind added.

  Andel nodded and pushed herself upright. With little further preparation, she began to push her senses downward. Beneath layers of pumice and ash sandwiched between contorted beds of solidified lava, she discovered a volcanic chamber with welling magma on the rise.

  Heat shimmered through her senses. Molten rock roiled and popped. Her mind tasted the oily stench of sulfur dioxide and seething gouts of super-heated steam. The eruption would be explosive. Peripheral vents were already unstable, and she sensed multiple fine fractures in the rock-face to the north-west.

  When she returned to herself, three sets of eyes fixed on hers.

  “We have to leave here soon,” she said.

  “How soon?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  So, it’s imminent then?

  “I think so.” Andel shrugged self-consciously, aware of the inadequacy of her reply. “Volcanoes are like the Breath of a planet,” she said. “The only rules they follow are their own. However, whether the volcano blows or not, the ice above us may be ready to slump. We’re too tired tonight, Casco, but in the morning we should link to examine the mountains around us. Ponds may be forming in the ice. You and I are strongest in farsight, and together we can achieve this more quickly.”

  Casco nodded, but his eyebrows knit.

  “I suggest we leave as soon as our survey is complete,” Andel continued. “Lind, we’ll need a high-energy breakfast in the morning, please.”

  The wiry Lethian seemed on the verge of a retort, but Casco silenced her with a look. “High energy breakfast it is.” He hesitated, as if trying to frame his words. “Lady Andel, you are Trianogi, and your House is often gifted with foresight. Is this true of you? Can you see a safe path?”

  “Lies and illusions,” Lind growled. “Superstition and a glib tongue. Trianogi can no more see the future than I can!”

  “That’s not true,” Andel replied sharply. “My mother is a gifted foreteller but she can’t choose what she sees, only as the Breath allows.”

  “Convenient –”

  Lind! That’s enough! Casco barked.

  “Why do you dislike me so?” Andel cried. “I have done nothing to you!”

  “We are all tired, Lady Andel,” Casco said. “If you do see something, could you please let us know?”

  “Of course,” she answered, proud of the steady calm she projected once more, but on the inside, her heart beat high in her chest. She took regular breaths and hoped her hands would stop shaking before anyone noticed.

  Casco glared at Lind. “You and Cobar take down the tent after breakfast. Be ready to leave as soon as we’re done with the survey.”

  Cobar nodded and without a word, rolled over and returned to sleep.

  Casco and Lind soon followed suit, but Andel stayed awake listening to the mountain for long into the night. Every time the ground beneath them shook, or a giant hammer pounded in a distant, volcanic forge, her hand strayed to her brother’s gift – and when at last she dreamed, it was of a strange mish-mash of fiery rings and a baby, her baby, hidden and crying in the darkness.

  __________

  The team woke early and ate quickly. As soon as they were finished, Andel asked Casco to join her outside the tent. She held out her hand. “Take it, Casco. It will make our meeting easier.”

  She closed her eyes and waited.

  Casco hesitated. It was not that he was afraid, but to touch someone skin to skin, to invite them into your inner self, these were privileges he had seldom granted.

  Come, she smiled, I won’t bite, I promise.

  Her hand felt small in his, fine textured and sensitive. He let his mind flow through but steered clear of her inner self. Although it was well screened, the only archangel he had ever worked with in a similar way was Huldar, and he wasn’t sure how close he could come without causing offense.

  He returned her smile as naturally as he could and tried to relax. As their minds swirled together, he quickly recognized her ability for farsight vastly outstripped Huldar’s and made even his own seem work-a-day.

  Your power … he said. Are you sure this isn’t ziquarra? Why didn’t you say something?

  It is not much really, she said. Like all abilities, it’s strengthened with use, but I’m usually looking downward into rock, not searching out terrain. This is new for me, and with your he
lp, I think I might enjoy it! A bit like flying must be.

  Well, I’ll let you direct us, he said, and with a nod they were on their way.

  Before long, Casco was sure he would never look at simple rocks in the same light again. I’m used to finding paths, he said. I don’t really understand the way you see these things. All a bit geological – beyond my simple mind.

  She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. I don’t believe that for a moment, Casco. You’ve a fine mind. You just need more practice, that’s all.

  Lady Andel admired him? He paused for a moment to digest this. It was difficult to lie when inner veils were relaxed. Now it was his turn to blush.

  After some time wandering, she directed his attention to the southern face of an alpine peak.

  Can you see that? she asked.

  He strained his mind to focus. A dark space amid the shadows of a snow-covered hillside revealed itself to be a cavern of some sort. What is it?

  An ancient lava tunnel, she said. There’s quite a few of them scattered about. Must be like honeycomb in there.

  Casco blinked. Part of him could still see Cobar and Lind. The campsite had been dismantled as requested and they sat in the shelter of the snaking ridgeline, waiting. Andel stood beside him, holding his hand. With the other she pointed as if it would help him see, although the space they were looking at – the lava tunnel – was well beyond anything they could view unaided.

  Interesting, he said, but I think we should go back.

  He shared an image of the ponds they had found in the mountains surrounding them, a growing volume of volcanic melt-water held back by ice dams. At any moment one, in particular, might shatter and send a deluge surging through the gullies and ravines. He had scouted a return path of high ground and ridges, but they would not be completely safe until they were back at base-camp, two full days away.

  I’ll forget where I was, Andel protested.

  A shame, Casco agreed. Have you seen enough?

  Yes …well, no! She smiled. There can never be enough!

  This was something Huldar might have said, and Casco returned her smile. He sensed in her a fierce exultation in this use of her power, and a longing to know all the answers – but despite this, she was ready to take his advice. The self-contained Trianogi was different from any other diviner they had had on the team … more present, but her spirit somehow more elusive.

  They relinquished their farsight and he let go of her hand. The ground rumbled again. Fresh snowflakes caught on Andel’s lashes. Her gaze turned eastward. From where they stood that most precarious dam appeared to be no more than another blue-white ridgeline.

  “So you’re back,” Lind said. “About time. The tremors are getting worse.”

  “Casco, could you show Cobar the path you’ve decided on?” Andel said. “It makes sense to stay out of harm’s way if we can.”

  “What path?” said Lind. “Shouldn’t you show it to me too?”

  “I’m sure lady Andel intends you to see it as well,” Casco said.

  Andel took a soft breath. “Casco assures me you have sharp eyes, Lind.” She pointed to the east. “Watch that ridge for us, please. There’s water behind it – a kind of igneous slurry. If you see any changes, let us know immediately.”

  Igneous? Lind rolled her eyes. “I can’t walk and watch,” she said. “The going is too rough!”

  “Try, please,” Casco said.

  “I’ll be watching it as well,” Andel added, “but these two will be occupied with guiding us down.”

  I don’t care whether you like her or not. Casco said to Lind’s mind alone. Do as she says.

  Lind didn’t answer.

  C’mon, Cobar. He put one hand on the burly Rukh’s shoulder. Let’s get us down from here and home safe.

  They wound gradually downward via the ridge-tops until they came to a steep-sided gully lined with a carpet of snow. Casco didn’t like it, but this was the quickest route back to higher ground. While he searched the terrain with his mind to sense the stability of the descent, a vigorous tremor shook them and he was dismayed to see stones moving freely beneath the snow.

  Lind scowled. “Why’ve we stopped?”

  “I don’t like the look of that,” Casco said.

  “The look of what?”

  Casco ignored her. “Can you see beneath the snow, Lady Andel?” he asked.

  Andel closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she looked worried. “A moraine … and before you ask, Lind, it’s a slide of loose rocks dumped there by a glacier.”

  Lind sneered. “Then why not just call it that? A rock slide!”

  Andel’s reply was cut short by a fresh quake. Cobar pointed to the scree.

  Casco nodded sharply at something Cobar had shared. “We’ll need ropes.”

  A deep crack reverberated down the length of the gully, as if something distant had broken.

  “The ridge has given way!” Lind cried.

  A low rumble came up through their feet. Casco felt his reflexes sharpen, his mind step up a gear. It was no good going back the way they’d come, and they couldn’t afford to wait for the flood to pass – it could be days before the path was clear again, or longer.

  “Quickly! We have to cross. Ropes, Cobar!”

  Stones began to jitter. Cobar uncoiled a length of rope.

  “It’s coming,” Lind said. “I can hear it! Can’t we just cross?”

  “No! Wait until we can rig a safety line. Cobar, quick as you can – see that rock on the other side there? To the left? Anchor it there.”

  “Hurry!” said Lind.

  Cobar tossed the rope end to Casco. “I’ll go first. Make sure the others are ready.”

  Casco turned to Andel, “Hold on to this!” but she was standing unnaturally still. Her eyes were closed and she seemed not to have heard him.

  “Look at her,” Lind said. “I told you this would happen!”

  Casco studied her for a moment, unwilling to believe Lind was correct or that he would have to physically carry her to safety – then he noticed something else.

  “Her Mark!” he said. “It’s glowing!”

  “I can hold the path stable,” Andel said evenly. It was as if she forced words from her mouth. “I’ve got it! Just go!”

  Lind tested the gravel with her foot then scrambled across without incident. From the opposite ridge-top she craned her neck, searching for signs that the water was coming. Cobar followed at a run.

  The rumble became a low roar, filling their ears. Casco hesitated.

  What about you? he said to Andel.

  “Throw me the rope!” Andel muttered. The formation of words seemed difficult.

  “Hurry!” Lind cried. “It’s coming!” She shared an image of the lahar snaking down the valley, thickened by rocks and mud scoured from its channel.

  With movements rapid and sure, Casco tied the rope around Andel’s waist. Are you ready?

  She squeezed her eyes more tightly shut. “Go!” she breathed. Just go!

  He paid out the rope as he ran. When he reached solid rock he turned.

  Now! he cried.

  Andel’s Mark dimmed as her mind released its grip on the shingle. Casco kept tension on the rope, and as she started down to the shaking floor of the gully he willed her to keep balance. The roar of the approaching waters grew deafening. Air stirred, pushed before the flood. The rope jerked as icy pebbles rolled beneath her tread. There was no time!

  Give me the rope! Cobar called.

  In an instant, he saw what Cobar intended. Hold on! he yelled to Andel, then the two ran away from the gully in tandem, towing her behind them.

  Andel scrambled as a black wall of water filled the gully, eating everything in its path.

  Lind screamed.

  Casco ran as he had never thought he could, but the rope jerked taut: Andel was caught in the deluge. He braced himself as the powerful current tore at his arms. His feet skidded against the stony ground. Then came a jolt from behind him as
Cobar wedged himself against an outcrop. Time slowed. His thoughts raced. How could she survive? Archangels were tough, but the diviner was small and slightly built. He fished for her mind in the maelstrom. They had been close during the survey – they had held hands – that must count for something …

  There she was! He didn’t know if she felt his presence – her awareness was focused solely on survival. Somehow she’d had the presence of mind to push a bubble of energy between herself and the onslaught, enough to keep her limbs from being broken. She held the rope in a death-grip. Her need to breathe gripped Casco’s lungs as if it was his own. Hold on! he cried. She must not pass out. He willed her to survive. Her strength and bravery had saved them from the lahar. Surely she would not lose her life because of it!

  PULL! he shouted to Cobar. PULL!

  The rope slewed toward the mountainside and at last Andel’s head broke the surface. She rolled and gasped for air but was unable to find her footing. Then as suddenly as it had arrived, the flood passed. Andel was left like a stranded fish, still holding tight to her lifeline. Casco threw himself back the way he’d come and slipped and skidded to her.

  Andel! Lady Andel! he cried, and swept her semi-conscious form into his arms.

  Snow fell on her face. She shivered with cold. He stabbed his forefinger toward a small plateau above them.

  Tent! he yelled. Fire!

  He wrapped her in a blanket and held her while the shelter went up and the fire was lit.

  Huldar! We need help! he called, but their leader was absorbed in Qalān and unable to hear him.

  Once inside the tent he laid her on a rug as close to the flames as he dared.

  Let me see! Lind pushed him aside. She’s in shock. Get her something to drink. Tea – not too hot. Quickly!

  She closed her eyes and hugged Andel close. Warmth emanated from her body as she activated her healing talent. “Andel, Lady Andel,” she murmured. “Stay with me.”

  Casco blinked, but obediently prepared a mug of honeyed kanth and held it in readiness while he and Cobar anxiously looked on.

  Andel’s eyelids fluttered. He held his breath until her eyes slowly opened. “Lind?” She focused on the face above her, then her brows drew together as she looked around. “I survived?”