by Linda Mooney
“Please tell me I didn’t just eat that thing I’d killed.”
Five chirped in answer, whatever that meant, and pushed the plate away. She watched the fuzzy continue to guide the dish toward one of the yellow cubes where they both vanished inside the square-ish object.
A soft whine came from beside her. Kelen looked down to find a different fuzzy. This one had distinctive silver tips to its mustard-yellow fur. It also had a cloudy eye. She wondered if it was caused by a cataract. She mentally dubbed it Grandpa, assuming the silvery highlights and eye were due to old age.
Grandpa reached over to pat the toe of her boot. It didn’t appear to be afraid of her. Or maybe the little thing’s bravery was due to the fact that it was along in age and was willing to sacrifice itself in the event she tried to retaliate.
Or maybe it’s just a friendly little dude.
There’s also the chance that it’s the elder, and its job is to try to make contact with you, her inner voice remarked.
Or it could have drawn the short straw, she countered.
Grandpa touched her boot again. Kelen smiled. “Thank you for the food and water, and for keeping me warm. I wish there was a way I could make you understand my gratitude.”
At the mention of warmth, she shivered. She wrapped her arms around herself. “I wish there was a way I could repay you. I’d be dead by now if you hadn’t intervened.”
Something clicked, followed by a familiar whine. Kelen whirled around, her nerves fired to nervous alertness. A couple of meters away a fuzzy stood atop her blaster. It appeared to be studying the pistol. Experimenting with the various dials and switches on it. The creature had either inadvertently or deliberately changed the setting on it, and the weapon was getting ready to fire.
She shouted out a warning and threw herself toward it. Swinging her arm, she knocked the fuzzy off the blaster. Her action caused the weapon to swivel several degrees before it fired, blowing a hole in the side of the wall twenty meters away.
The fuzzies screeched and took off in all directions, disappearing from sight. All except for Grandpa, who remained near her leg. Kelen lay on her belly, gasping for air after the sudden expenditure of energy. She felt drained and her muscles felt rubbery. Rotating her head, she stared at the little creature who appeared to be petrified with fear.
“Until you learn how to work a blaster, I strongly advise to keep clear of it. You don’t walk on it, and you don’t fiddle with the settings. Got that?” She kept her voice low, soft, and steady. Although she knew the creature couldn’t understand her, at least she hoped it would be reassured by her tone that she meant them no harm.
After a few seconds, Grandpa cheeped again and patted her foot. She had no idea what it said or meant by the gesture, but she took it for a good sign. At least he seemed less fearful of her. And he hadn’t tried to bite her or retaliate for the incident.
Chapter 6
Discovery
When she awoke again, the call of nature was fierce. On top of that, she now had two furry guards watching over her. A quick check confirmed the blaster remained exactly where she’d last seen it, meaning it had not been touched since it discharged. That was enough to make her sigh with relief.
But it didn’t solve her current problem.
“Umm, hi? My name is Kelen.” She pointed to herself and repeated herself. “Kelen. Ke-len. You’ve probably already guessed I’m not one of Hoov’s people.”
One of the furries trotted away to vanish inside one of the golden cubes. She took that moment to try and sit up, astonishing herself when she was able to accomplish that small task without difficulty. In addition, her head no longer ached. Neither did her leg. Her hand continued to feel as if it was no longer attached to her wrist.
Kelen noticed what appeared to be a fresh wrapping around her limb. She checked the bandage and tried to figure out what the creatures had used to bind her wounds. It looked to be made of the same kind of plant-like material as the bandaging on her hand, but that made no sense to her. Where would plants grow on this desolate side of the planet?
The sound of scraping alerted her to the fact that another plate of black lumps was being delivered. She was happy to see Five scooting the platter her way.
“Hello! It’s nice to know I didn’t scare you away permanently.”
The fuzzy stopped a foot away and stepped back. As they had before, the lumps steamed in the cold air. Kelen reached to take one of them when her eyes were drawn to the far side of the room. The side where the enormous hole had been ripped open in the wall by the ice quake. The side where she’d landed on snow drifts after falling God knew how far from the upper temple.
The hole had been covered, or was being covered, by a pale yellow material that appeared to be made of the same substance as her bandage.
She stared at it. The covering was enormous. If she didn’t know any better, she’d swear it was all one piece. One single sheet—
Kelen blinked. A mental image of the lower lakes on the garden side of the planet came to mind. Of the underground falls where twin towers rose hundreds of meters into the air. And colossal sails were attached to those towers to catch the falling water that ran from one lake to the next one, thus generating the power everyone assumed kept the machines and other equipment running, even though the people who’d created these marvels were long dead.
Or so we thought.
Peering at Five, she pointed to the covering. “Did your people do that?”
Five turned to see what she was pointing, then looked back at her and cheeped. It then tapped the plate.
She picked up one of the lumps and on a hunch held it out to the furry, gesturing with the food for the creature to also take a bite. When Five continued to gaze up at her with apparent confusion, she broke off a little piece and held it out to the fuzzy. Five cocked its head to one side before finally and somewhat reluctantly taking the tidbit from her. Holding it between its two upper arms, it nibbled on the food as Kelen ate the rest.
While she consumed her meal, she examined the area around her. Other than the sail cloth, or whatever it was that now blocked out the worst of the cold, there was nothing else different in the cavern. Her attention returned to the enormous sheet. Curiosity made her want to go over and examine how it had been adhered to the walls, floor, and ceiling. If she’d been capable of getting to her feet, she would have.
A pang in her lower abdomen reminded her she still needed to pee, and she addressed the little critter. “Listen, I need to urinate. You know, urinate?” Of course, neither Five nor the guarding furry appeared to understand what she was saying, which left her with little choice.
Slowly, she managed to half-slide, half-crawl over the smooth floor toward the nearest wall, to an open area furthest away from those yellow cubes. The guard furry and Five didn’t move or follow. Instead, they remained watching her.
Undoing her pants, she slid them off far enough to allow her to relieve herself in the corner. The two furries immediately reacted with little squeaks. Five galloped into a nearby cube, returning seconds later with what looked like a roll of wadding. It reached her by the time she finished and went directly to the puddle she’d left behind. Kelen watched the creature open the wad much in the same way she would unfold and throw open a blanket. The wadding settled over the moisture, absorbing it.
Kelen checked her padding. There was some spotting, but nothing so bad she felt she had to replace it. “I’m sorry,” she apologized to the fuzzy. “I tried to tell you.”
Five didn’t remark nor chastise her for the act. Instead, it returned to stand next to the guarding furry as Kelen scooted back to her spot on the floor. Readjusting her bad leg, her eyes fell on the blaster lying nearby. She glanced at the furries and pointed to the weapon. “May I go get that? I can turn it off so it won’t fire again. You know, off?” She made a clicking noise, then the descending sound of a whine. The furries didn’t move, but she got the impression her request set them on edge.
S
ighing, she slowly reached over to grab the weapon, all the while keeping one eye on the creatures in case they tried to stop her. They didn’t, yet she paused with her hand on the grip. Bracing herself with both hands, her body stretched across the floor, she flipped the safety on, and the weapon let out the distinctive whirr of the gun powering down. When it was done, she returned to her sitting position but left the gun out in the open to where the furries could see it with the barrel facing the rear wall.
The sneeze caught her unaware. Oddly enough, the two fuzzies didn’t react. Kelen apologized and reached inside her pockets, looking for some of the extra scrap material she was using as menstrual padding. Anything she could blow her nose on. Her fingers brushed across something hard.
She pulled out the object and stared at it. It was the device Dox had planted on her. It was meant to be for communications, but he hadn’t had enough time to finish all the inner workings before Hoov’s people attacked.
She turned it over. Jules had said he could track everyone from this piece of equipment. Was it possible he had already pinpointed her location, and they were on their way to try to find her?
Kelen paused as another possibility struck her. But if they think I’m dead, they may not come looking for me.
You don’t really believe that, do you? the little voice inside her head chided. Remember how Kyber and the others went out of their way to retrieve Tojun’s body in order to give him a proper ceremony? Do you honestly think they wouldn’t come for you if they were able to track down your location?
The little voice made sense. It also gave her a small spark of hope, until Mr. Mean Voice cut in.
The reason they haven’t found you yet could be because you fell out of range. You don’t know what the range is on that thing.
Screw you, Mr. Mean.
Be that way, Chambliss, but you know there’s that possibility. That, or they could be dead.
Sharp pain lanced through her chest. Pressing a fist between her breasts, she gasped for breath. No. No, they’re not dead. They can’t be. We’ve survived so much already.
A soft chirp interrupted her thoughts. She opened her eyes to find Five standing beside her. The creature placed a paw on her knee as it chirped again.
“I’m all right, little one. Thanks for your concern.”
Taking a deep breath, she studied the object in her palm. There was no way she could tell if the device was working, or even if it was still functional. It could have been damaged during her fall.
Holding it closer to her face, she examined it more closely. There was no button, no toggle, or switch that she could find. Nothing but a miniscule depression on the underside. Experimentally, she placed her finger on the concave surface.
The device beeped, and a tiny light started flashing on the surface.
Chapter 7
Signal
The moment they entered the tunnel, it was evident lava had advanced into the corridor. As it had in the main area of the temple and the ledge, the molten rock had long ago cooled and solidified. But the resulting layers of hardened pumice resulted in making the tunnel more cramped, and walking more treacherous.
The further they descended deeper into the lower recesses, the easier it got to breathe fresher and slightly cooler air, thanks to the ducts which seemed to be unaffected. This was due mostly because the ducts were located near the ceiling and not the floor.
Unfortunately, they had yet to find food or water. Kelen had taken their water bags to refill when the ice quake had occurred. Her loss had devastated them, and they hadn’t thought to retrieve the bags until after they’d arrived at the fire temple, as they now referred to this location.
“How much further?”
Jules paused and turned around to face Kyber. “Not far. Another kilometer perhaps.”
“This place is like a sauna,” Cooter remarked. “Makes me wish we were back at the ice temple.”
“Yeah, and face those Hoov things again?” Fullgrath grunted. “No thanks.”
“Unless we find water, we won’t last much longer under these conditions,” Sandow stated. “At least back there we could melt the ice and snow to get something to drink.”
“We also knew who the enemy was over at the other two temples,” Gaveer informed them. “We have yet to discover who will try to kill us down here.”
“Thanks for that day brightener,” Fullgrath grumped.
Kyber lifted his face and sniffed. “I detect another air duct. This would be a good time to stop and rest for a few minutes.”
Massapa quickly seconded his suggestion. “How far back is the magma? Jules, do you know?”
Jules shook his head. “I have no way of tracking without knowing how fast the flow is moving. But off the top of my head, and given the fact that we’ve been descending a six percent slope at approximately—”
“Jules, hey, man, give us the abbreviated version. That shit will get here by the time you finish explaining it,” Cooter groused.
“Three to four hours if the flow remains constant.”
Sandow stomped on the ground, then eyed the roof overhead. “I’m guesstimating past flows have reduced the size of this tunnel by about twenty centimeters. Eventually repeated eruptions will plug up this tunnel. Between that and the broken transportation panel up in the temple, that will leave only one other route between the surface and underground chambers, wherever that’s located.”
“Which could also become plugged up, if it isn’t already,” Jules added.
“How long do you think these eruptions have been going on?” Kleesod wondered aloud. “Can you tell from the amount of stuff on the floor?”
Mellori shook his head. “Impossible. There’s no way of knowing how much lava flowed this way, or how often.”
“Actually…” Jules raised a hand for their attention. “Actually there is a way, but it will take time, and we’d have to find a way to probe down through this hardened rock to the original base to find out.”
“And we have neither,” Kyber informed them. Getting stiffly to his feet, he proceeded to continue down the tunnel without further word. Fullgrath resumed point.
Walking hunched over quickly sapped their strength. After another hour, Kyber realized he was no longer sweating although the temperature remained sweltering. His body couldn’t emit enough moisture to help cool him. He’d noticed Fullgrath had stopped wiping his brow some time ago, which meant he and everyone else was tottering on the edge of heat exhaustion. Placing one foot in front of the other was becoming a major effort. In addition, he felt light-headed, and his eyes were having difficulty remaining focused. The others appeared to be having similar problems.
It was with great relief when a reddish glow gradually appeared in front of them. If they could have run to the chamber, they would have. It wasn’t just a panel they were looking for. If there was any kind of water, or a food that would provide them with liquid, they could at least assuage the burning in their throats.
The light was the entrance to an orange room. Kyber groaned with relief to see that the lava flow had reached this far, but had stopped less than a meter past the entrance, meaning the machinery should basically be intact. Except for whatever damage the quakes caused by the volcanic eruptions, they should be able to find some sustenance.
Jules pointed to one side of the chamber. “The panel is over there.”
“Screw the panel. Find us something to drink,” Mellori rasped.
“Already on it.” Sandow pulled out his little scanner and began checking the cylindrical objects along the walls. Almost immediately he stopped in front of one. “Got one! Not pure water. I’m finding other elements. I’m going out on a limb here and saying this more than likely contains a broth or soup.”
Fullgrath holstered his blaster and marched up to the container. “I don’t care if that limb has poisonous thorns, or houses fog monsters. Can someone offer a hand here?”
Kyber and Kleesod joined him. Together they managed to pull the canister
down to where Sandow could plunge his knife into one end and test the contents directly.
“Soup. Good. No sign of contamination. I can’t vouch for the taste—”
“Fuck the taste,” Fullgrath grumbled and tilted the canister. They clustered around the makeshift spigot, cupping their hands underneath the thin, blueish flow. Each handful was enough for two gulps. The taste wasn’t pleasant, Kyber acknowledged, but it was wet. Warm and gratefully wet.
They continued to drink, taking turns to empty the canister. Holding their cupped hands underneath the man filling his to prevent losing any of the precious liquid. When they were done, Kyber licked his palms and glanced around at where everyone was sitting or lying. They were done with. They had no more energy to give. The only reason they were still alive was because of sheer will. That and their dominating instinct for survival.
Kyber laid on the tepid floor and stared up at the cavern’s ceiling. He didn’t have to search the interior to find signs of damage. It was predominant everywhere he looked. He also spotted other evidence.
“This place was abandoned.”
Kyber turned his head to find Mellori pointing off to the side. Following the man’s direction, he noticed more machinery which clearly appeared not to have been used in a very long time.
“Unlike the ice temple and the garden temple?”
“I think this part of the planet was abandoned first, and everyone retreated to the other two areas,” the ex-engineer suggested.
“Think it was because of those active volcanos?” Cooter questioned.
“It makes one wonder,” Gaveer began.
Fullgrath sat up. “Wonder about what?”
“Which occurred first. This temple would not have been built with that volcano spewing like that. Which is why I wonder if the volcanoes became active after this world was carved in half. Or if the seismic activity may have contributed to this world breaking apart.”
The Seneecian’s comment was met with silence as everyone pondered over the observance. After a while, Massapa groaned and rose unsteadily to his feet. Bending over, he picked up the portion of the panel they’d brought down from the surface with them. “We should continue. I for one will be happy to experience the ice planet again, if that is where we end up. At least we know we can find food and water there.”
