by J. N. Chaney
He took a step forward, but as his foot touched the floor, I felt a quake beneath us. I watched Allan fall down into the layer below us, reaching out my hand to try and grab him. It was too late, and I felt my foot slip a second later.
We tumbled into the darkness below, disappearing with the stones as they fell.
6
I awoke to the sound of a raging battle. Blasts echoed in the cavern, cut with shouts and the roars of the Boneclaw.
Had Karin and Nell come to help us? Groaning, I tried to sit up and was treated to instant pain at the back of my skull. My hand came away bloody and I groaned.
Must’ve cracked my head pretty hard.
My vision was a little hazy and I shook my head to clear it. I scrambled to my feet. The walls of the crude pit curved up around me to meet at the small hole I’d fallen through, too high to reach, even if I jumped. I found a few good handholds but once I’d climbed high beyond a certain height, gravity won, and my fingertips couldn’t hang on.
In the back of my mind, I knew that the situation was all kinds of wrong. The Boneclaws had set a trap, and we had walked right into it. It shouldn’t have been possible. I shoved the thought away to deal with the immediate problem of being stuck at the bottom of the pit.
Voices rang out somewhere out of sight and it finally clicked that they didn’t sound like Karin or Nell. Before I could process that, twin roars erupted, one closer than the other.
Shit. Another Boneclaw had arrived.
The ground shook and I grabbed my spear as one of them came near. Its white fur, streaked with dirt, came into view first, followed by claws that scraped at the ground. It paused at the edge of the hole and drool dripped from the corner of its mouth. I didn’t move as it sniffed the air, presumably trying to figure out if anyone was near.
It leaned in and I backed up a step, which turned out to be a mistake. My foot caught on the uneven ground and I stumbled back.
The Boneclaw stiffened at the sound and growled deep in its throat before swiping out with one of its powerful arms. I leapt back to avoid the razor-sharp claws and ran into the back of the pit.
With nowhere to go, I did the only thing I could think of in the face of certain death.
Spear lifted above my head, I let out a battle cry and charged forward, leaping up and slashing at its face. The creature yowled and jerked back, but the damage was minimal.
From the sound that came out of it next, I’d only angered it more. The beast pounded the ground with both fists and moved closer to the edge as if it would climb down.
I was done if it did that.
My heart sank as it gripped the edge and began to lower itself. Gritting my teeth, I lifted the spear again.
“Lucia! Take my hand!” a familiar voice yelled from behind me.
“Dad!”
He hung over the edge above and extended his hand down into the pit.
A quick glance told me that the Boneclaw was almost fully into the pit and I crossed the few meters back to my father’s hand in bare seconds. Pushing off the balls of my feet, I jumped as high as I could and managed to connect. He pulled me up and over as the monster landed at the bottom.
“Now!” he ordered.
Hunters circled around the trap and took aim. Rifle blasts rang out and found their marks, pelting into the Boneclaw’s thick hide. It screamed in pain as its fur went dark, stained with blood from the multitude of rounds it had taken.
It chuffed a few times, then groaned and fell forward in a heap.
“Gods, Lucia.” My father wrapped his big arms around me and squeezed before letting me go and inspecting me for injury. “Are you hurt?”
“Not really, just hit my head when I fell in.” I frowned as I gestured to the trap, then remembered why I’d fallen to begin with. “Nero and Allan—”
“Are safe,” he finished for me. “Along with Karin and Nell, thanks to Mark.”
“That’s where he went,” I muttered.
“Yes,” he said darkly. “And you kids are damn lucky he did. What were you thinking?”
I didn’t get the chance to answer. One of the hunters stepped forward and spoke.
“Cyril, there are more headed this way. About three kilometers away.”
My father sighed and nodded. “Let’s move out before they get here. We’ll finish our conversation at home,” he said to me, eyes ripe with meaning.
I was in deep shit.
Nero stomped up to where we were standing, his face contorted in anger.
“We can’t just leave!” he shouted.
Cyril turned a stony look in the young man’s direction. “Yes, we can,” he said in a low voice, drawing himself to his full height. “And we will. That’s an order from your leader, Prospus Costas. Abide it or you will be removed from Selection.”
Nero balled his fists at his side and a muscle ticked in his jaw, but he nodded.
With that, my father signaled for everyone to move out. I stole a glance at Nero and didn’t like what I saw there. Rage showed in every feature and hate burned in his eyes.
Then I was being urged along and herded back to the compound. Questions swirled in my mind about what had just happened. What did this mean? Why did the Boneclaws suddenly decide to start strategizing against us? How, for that matter? As far as I knew, they’d never exhibited this level of intelligence.
By the time we returned to the compound, I hadn’t come up with any answers, just more questions. I had to stow them for later because our collective parents waited inside the common room inside the facility.
My mother didn’t look as anxious as I’d expected, probably due to the message we’d sent once back in transmission range, but I saw the raw fear hiding behind the anger, mixed with relief.
It wasn’t an emotion I was used to seeing in either of them, and guilt stabbed through me for having caused it.
Like my father had, she pulled me into a tight embrace before leaning back and giving me a stern look. “Young lady, you are in so much trouble.”
I sighed. “I know. Sorry for making you worry.”
She blew out a breath and hugged me again. “When Mark told us what you all did, I almost came after you myself. Your father stopped me. Barely.”
The man in question laid a hand on her shoulder and slated a glance at me before addressing the room.
“As you’re all okay, the Primes want a word,” he said ominously.
Big trouble turned out to be kitchen duty for a whole week. Nero had been right, surprisingly. The Primes couldn’t take us all out of Selection or there wouldn’t be any candidates left.
They did postpone the ceremony until our punishment was up. I had a feeling this was also to give Mario time to come back.
Nero grew more agitated each day and I wondered if he’d be focused enough to go through Selection. A small part of me hoped so, but the better part wanted to beat him at full strength. Otherwise, it wouldn’t feel like a true win.
The day of the ceremony came without further incident and I found myself standing with the other prospus after the first aptitude test.
It had been completed on our datapads and was supposed to be the easiest part of Selection. I’d studied hard in preparation, but it hadn’t seemed easy. No one looked particularly confident, with the exception of Mark, who’d probably aced it.
The test only accounted for part of the score awarded by the Primes. We still had four more to go.
The door opened and the Computing and Information Prime, Keyan Lambert, stepped into the room. On Selection day, all the Primes wore more formal attire in the form of a black jacket over the standard jumpsuit. A silver pin, shaped like a heart, was fastened over the right side of his chest as it always was. Lambert’s hooded eyes searched the group until they landed on me. He smiled kindly and gestured me in.
My stomach twisted into knots despite his friendly demeanor as I followed him into his office. It would serve as the testing area and was, before today, a comfortable space I’d been to a f
ew times before. The nature of this visit made it feel somehow foreign.
“Have a seat, Ms. Visaro,” he said, motioning to one of the two chairs in the middle of the room.
They were old and showed their age with the many cracks and repairs that had been done over the years. Still, I sank into the deep cushion and tried to relax.
Lambert sat opposite me and pulled his datapad out to study it. After a few moments, he placed it on a small table next to the chair and folded his hands in his lap.
“No need to be nervous, Lucia. This is just a simple interview.” He looked pointedly at my hands.
I’d been unconsciously twisting them, so I forced them to be still and nodded. “I’m ready, Prime Lambert.”
“Very good. We will begin, then. How do you feel about completing tasks beneath that of the Director?”
My brow wrinkled in confusion at the question. “I don’t know that any work in the facility is beneath anyone.”
Lambert smiled and I realized that must have been the answer he wanted. “That seems to be in line with reports. I’m told you frequently help others with a variety of tasks and have a generally friendly attitude. That’s a good quality in a leader, don’t you think?”
I nodded. “Yes, I do. A leader should be willing to do what they ask of anyone else.”
“Does that include following orders?”
He slid the question in so smoothly I almost spoke without considering meaning behind it.
“I try my best,” I said carefully, “though at times have made the mistake of not using my better judgment.”
“Such as the other night? When you and the other prospus entered the caves?”
“Yes,” I agreed. “Like that.”
“The archive records showed that you recently accessed footage of the early Boneclaw experiments. Tell me, why was that?”
His question took me by surprise, and I had to work to remain at ease. Did he know about my misgivings?
“The Boneclaws that attacked during my last hunt exhibited unusual behavior,” I said, deciding to go with a half-truth. “I wanted to make sure that I understood their behavior so as to be a better hunter.”
Prime Lambert regarded me for a moment but seemed to accept the answer.
“Janus and Apprentice Braid speak highly of you. A number of others have come forward to express similar sentiments. Only a small number of complaints, though I can’t share specifics.”
“It’s not always possible to make everyone happy,” I admitted. I wanted to know who had complained, but he obviously wasn’t going to give that up.
“That’s true. Well, that’s all for this portion, Ms. Visaro.” Lambert stood and picked up his datapad. “I wish you luck on the rest of your tests.”
“Thank you, Prime Lambert.” I completed the interview with a small ceremonial bow and exited the room.
My weapon was under scrutiny from the Engineering Prime Elias Doyle. It was only part of the assessment, though. If they didn’t work, a prospus wouldn’t be able to enter the caves. It passed muster, but I hadn’t expected any problems. All of my trials had been successful since I’d gotten past the coding hurdle.
Now all that remained was to retrieve our fusion cores. They would be the ultimate test of our bravery, tracking skills, and teamwork. Once we found them, they would be brought back to the Primes and inserted into our weapons to complete the ceremony.
Then the Primes would choose the next Director.
“You have each been given coordinates. These are not the exact locations of the cores, but a general location. Once inside that radius, you will need to use the skills you’ve acquired to locate them. In light of recent events”—my father cast a meaningful look at us— “you’ll go in groups of three instead of pairs.”
He stood flanked by the Primes, along with Alma and another senior hunter, at the main cave entrance. As was customary, none of our parents were there to see us off. As the Director, my father was the exception to that rule. They had wished us luck at the start of the day and would be there for the final ceremony, but for now, we were on our own.
Alma stepped forward. “Prospus Nagata, Visaro, and Riddell. You’re with me.”
“You have three hours. Good luck, Prospus.” With a final grand sweep of his arm, we were motioned forward. Though my father couldn’t say anything, pride shone on his face when we walked by.
Then we were through the door and in the dank darkness of the cave.
7
“Remember, I’m here for evaluation and emergencies. You can’t ask me for help,” said Alma. “Treat me like I’m not here.”
Taking her words to heart, I pulled out my datapad and turned to Karin and Mark without responding. It was reminiscent of our situation only a week ago, but the circumstances were much different this time. Even though our last excursion had nearly ended in disaster, the stakes seemed higher now.
“There’s wolf activity here and here.” I pointed to the markers lit in blue. “One is inside the radius. I say we go around and enter from the north. That way, we don’t run into them unless we have to.”
I was careful to sound confident without taking charge. We needed to work as a team, but at the same time, we each needed to prove our ability to lead.
“It’s a smart idea,” agreed Karin. “Mark?”
“Yes, that should work,” he said, then tightened his grip on the weapon in his hands. “We’ll have the rifles if we run into any of them, but I’d rather not.”
I knew the other prospus was incredibly smart and had been chosen for a reason, but sometimes I wondered if he would be a good leader. The guy seemed scared of almost everything. Then again, he’d come through the caves alone and brought back help. We almost certainly would have been killed otherwise.
“Okay, ready when you are,” I said.
The other two nodded and we started walking, Alma following a short distance behind. The older woman moved quietly, and it was easy to pretend she wasn’t there.
We wound through the labyrinth of destroyed and abandoned rooms, pausing only to check our location. Evidence of our ancestors was everywhere, most of it trash. Our people had picked through most of the items long ago and now scavenging teams poked through unexplored areas in search of anything usable.
It was easy to discern areas that hadn’t been searched. If they had, the teams cleaned up as they went, creating neat little piles and paths through the rubble.
Our little trio stopped in a large chamber that forked off into two separate paths. One led to Facility 1 and the other looped back around and eventually led to Facility 3.
The devastation seemed to be concentrated here. The archives showed that the facility’s security team attempted to detain the escaped Boneclaws here, but what followed had been destruction on a critical level.
Parts of the wall were still pocked and scarred with black from what must have been a terrifying battle. Twisted pieces of metal had been pushed and piled along the walls in heaps, along with the charred remains of unrecognizable debris.
A loud thump sounded from somewhere deep in the cave system, although it was impossible to know where.
We all froze, straining our ears, but it didn’t happen again.
Mark swallowed audibly from my right. “Wh-what was that?”
“Something far away,” Karin reassured him.
“Let’s keep moving,” I said. “It’s already been forty-five minutes and we haven’t even started looking. Besides, I don’t want to stick around and find out if whatever that was is headed our way. If we go through there, it should take us to a corridor that will run into the radius of the cores.” I pointed to the path that went left.
“Sounds good to me,” Mark whispered, as though someone were listening in.
I started to move but stopped when Karin didn’t. “Karin, everything okay?”
She nodded but stopped halfway and shook her head. “I… I don’t know if I want to go through with this.”
My mout
h dropped open and I stared at my friend in disbelief. “What are you talking about?”
“Look, I never wanted to be a prospus, okay? Someone nominated me and I couldn’t back out. But after last week, I just know this isn’t for me.”
“Okay,” I said, trying to think fast. “Okay. You don’t have to be leader, but we need you to come with us.”
“Why? You’re all but guaranteed to be the next Director. Mark is absurdly smart. You don’t need me.”
Another thump reverberated through the large space and Karin jumped.
“That’s why. If you stay here, we’ll be worrying about you and that will make us vulnerable. Besides, remember what you said? Safety in numbers.” I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and met her eyes. “I need you.”
She held my gaze for a moment, then nodded. “Alright. I’m with you.”
We entered Facility 1 to find more of the same damage and disarray. I kept an eye on Karin, but she seemed to be holding it together after my little pep talk. Mark looked nervous as usual but seemed determined to see the last test out and stayed quiet.
As soon as the datapad indicated we were in the radius of the fusion cores, we started working our way through the empty rooms and labs.
“If we keep going like this, we’re going to run out of time,” Mark said, annoyed. “There has to be a better way.”
“I’m all ears,” I said, equally frustrated.
We’d been at it for some time but had barely covered a quarter of the possible locations.
He groaned and slapped a hand to his forehead. “I’m so stupid! The fusion cores emit radiation. We should be able to detect it.”
Mark pulled out his datapad and began working it furiously, his fingers flying over the screen as he typed. We let him work in silence until he smiled and held it up triumphantly.
“Got it. Each of the facilities is tied into Janus’ main network. I was able to access a few working scanners and narrow down the location.”
“Lead the way,” I said in relief.
The discovery seemed to have bolstered his confidence and Mark strode away without any of his usual hesitation. Karin, too, had lost most of the trepidation that had been dogging her and I felt a surge of hope. We might just make it after all.
