by Linda Mooney
Kyber clarified. “We are able to arrive, but not to transport up to the temple, or continue onward to another location. Because we were concerned there would be more of you arriving at the lakes behind us, we stepped off the platform and were not able to test our theory that the returning mechanisms still worked.”
“And I didn’t realize the panel had been vandalized when I initially arrived at the temple,” Cooter confessed. “I was too concerned with making sure the area was clear of clickers and such to notice until Jules showed up. He was the one who discovered that the panel had been smashed.”
“Which leaves the question, who destroyed it?” Kleesod spoke up. “For that matter, was it the same person who tried to destroy all of the panels?”
“Chalk up another question we may never find the answer to,” Massapa commented.
“Hello! Speaking of questions, what do we have here?” Jules moved closer to where Five was sitting and enjoying his meal. The ex-navigator took several pictures of the furry. Five watched him with obvious wariness but didn’t bare his teeth or show any aggression.
“His name is Ikko, but we’ve been calling him Five. He’s a Jeef. He and his kind saved my life,” Kelen told them.
“What is he eating?” Sandow held out his scanner, making a face. “Whatever it is, it appears safe for human consumption.”
“It is,” she confirmed. “He’s eating an eye worm.”
The others blinked in surprise.
“That he killed himself,” Kelen continued, smiling. “He let us have a piece after he cooked it. It was pretty good. Odd tasting, but not bad at all.”
“He also told us clickers taste better than eye worms,” Kyber included.
“Well!” Sandow took a seat next to Kelen. Or rather, his legs went out from under him before his butt hit the ground. “That’s good to know. Here, let me inspect that hand while I have the chance.”
She held it out to him and the physician unwrapped it. Checking it closely, he ordered her to move her fingers, then make a fist. She managed the first but not the second. Sandow nodded and rewrapped it. “Looks like your furry friends have some remarkable medicine. It appears to be healing well.”
“But I can barely move it,” she admitted.
“Don’t worry. It’ll take time, but I think you’ll regain most if not all use of it.” He gave her a smile.
“Thanks to Five and his kind. I would have died of exposure if not for them.”
“Five, eh?” Fullgrath bent down to study the furry more closely. “How’d you lose that limb, little guy?”
“Born that way,” Dox answered.
Kleesod held out his hands to the fire. “I am beat. We have been tracking your signals for the past day and a half. If no one minds, I am going to try to get some sleep.” Not waiting for anyone to respond, the Seneecian parked his bulk against one wall and curled up, presenting his back to them and the fire.
“We encountered a bunch of those eye worms when we reached the garden,” Mellori told them. The man parked his feet at the edge of the fire pit.
“We never saw your signal move,” Jules explained. “So we figured you were staying put to give us the chance to catch up with you.”
“You figured correctly,” Kyber acknowledged.
Fullgrath groaned as he found a spot to stretch out. “Okay. Now that we’re all one big happy family again, what’s our next plan of action? Where do we go from here? We’ve checked out all three areas of this planet, although you and me, and everyone else in this room know that we probably haven’t seen but a hundredth of a hundredth of a percent of this world.”
“Minus half,” Jules drily inserted.
“That makes for a very interesting theory,” Gaveer interjected.
“Which is?” Fullgrath drawled.
“If there were three more temples on the portion of the world that is no longer here.”
“Hell, if you want to throw out a hypothesis, try this one,” Mellori called out. “What if the other half of this world is floating around out there in space, and we just haven’t spotted it?”
“Screw theory,” Cooter groused. “I wanna know what our next plan of action is, Kyber.”
They were interrupted by a movement in front of the fire pit. Kelen smiled as Five twisted one of the eye worm’s legs off the body and sucked the contents from the inside. When he was done, he placed the tubular appendage parallel to his mouth and blew across the opening, making a bright whistle-like squeak. Five paused, gave what sounded like a giggle, and blew on it again. The furry’s obvious happiness at playing the detached limb made Kelen and several others laugh along with the little creature. After a few more peeps, Five tossed the limb into the fire and resumed eating.
Jules held up a hand. “I have a suggestion. Why don’t we go back to the nonagon and make that our home?”
“I already brought it up,” Kelen told him. “Kyber believes we’d be better off here.”
Their discussion was interrupted when Five, now finished with his meal, resumed his seat next to Dox. The two of them bowed their heads over the pieces of technology Dox had spread out in front of him, and resumed their back-and-forth chatter.
Fullgrath threw a thumb over his shoulder at the twosome. “Are they for real? They’re really talking to each other without a translation device?”
Kelen chuckled. “Seeing is believing, Sid.”
“How the hell is he able to do that?”
“Trinary diction,” Dox spoke up. “Trinary, not binary.”
Fullgrath didn’t try to hide his flabbergasted expression, which caused the rest of them to laugh. The comradery felt good.
They all spent another couple of minutes watching the couple working together on the objects, until Sandow brought their attention back to their original topic of conversation.
“Kyber, why do you believe we’d be better off remaining here and not at the nonagon?”
“A fresh food supply at hand, mainly. And access to water.”
“There’s food and water in the nonagon,” Mellori countered.
“For how long? Sandow can verify the food is going bad in those containers in the orange room, if that is where the food is processed once it leaves the garden,” Kyber stated. “At least here there is ample food in the lakes.”
“And some big-ass monsters to go with it,” Cooter muttered.
Kyber gave the man a nod. “No matter where we go on this planet, we will face adversity and danger. If we need other foods, we can make excursions to the garden, unless Dox and Five are able to get the panel back in working order again.”
Kelen listened with half an ear. An idea, another theory per se, had developed in her mind while the men discussed Kyber’s decision. As the thought grew more substantial, she raised a hand. They quieted to give her the opportunity to speak.
“Listen, I’ve been thinking. Don’t you find it odd that there was no panel at the nonagon, but the rest of the chamber followed the rule of three like everything else on this planet?”
“Except for those little square-headed people, yeah,” Jules reminded her.
“Five told us those people were crash survivors like us,” Kyber informed them. “He said they perished of starvation.”
“It could be their bodies couldn’t absorb any nutrition from the food here. Does he know who piled the bodies up?” Sandow inquired.
“Yes. He and the other Jeef did.”
“My point being,” Kelen continued. “Every chamber we’ve encountered so far has had a transportation panel. Every chamber, except for the nonagon. Don’t you find that odd, especially since the nonagon does follow the rule of three? I mean, after all, it took us a while to understand there were three doors to every apartment.”
“So what are you thinking, Kel? That there is a transportation panel in the nonagons?” Jules queried. He pointed to his tablet. “Those nonagons aren’t even shown on the main panels.”
Kelen tapped her mouth with a finger. “I think I know
the reason why.”
“Why?” both Cooter and Massapa chorused.
She smiled. “Dox, ask Five about the nonagons. The apartments. Ask him where the transporter is located.”
The exchanged between the little man and the furry was brief. “In the last chamber.”
“Last chamber? Which one was the last chamber?” Fullgrath challenged.
“Guess we’re gonna hafta make a trip down there to find out,” Cooter responded, then gave Kyber a side eye. “That is, if we make the trip.”
Kelen looked over at her husband. “There’s the possibility that the panel there has also been destroyed. But if we didn’t know of its existence until now, it’s possible the person or creature responsible for vandalizing the others may not have known about it, either. At least it’s worth a look, Kyber. I think we should check it out before we make a final decision about where to make permanent camp.”
He stared back at her. She could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he weighed all their meager options. Kelen pressed the issue. “And while we’re there, we can look into the food and water situation.”
When Kyber continued to hesitate, Sandow chimed in. “It wouldn’t hurt.”
The Seneecian sighed loudly. “Actually, I think it is a very good idea. We need to evaluate every option before we dismiss it.”
Cooter whooped. “Awright! Now that that’s settled, I’m going to follow Kleesod’s lead and catch forty winks. G’night, everybody. Wake me when it’s time for an eye worm supper.”
That being said, the man laid his rifle across his lap for instant access, laid flat on the ground, crossed his arms over his chest, and closed his eyes. He was snoring within seconds.
Chapter 20
Alert
“Hey, Kel.” Jules hurried to catch up with her. They were en route to the nonagon after giving themselves a few hours of uninterrupted sleep and another meal of whatever Massapa and Mellori managed to catch at the lake after Five showed them what to do.
Kelen slowed down to let her friend join her. At the same time Kyber took notice of her holding back but didn’t slow, remaining in front of the line and directly behind Cooter, who took point.
“Hey, I got a question for you. Last night you said you had an idea as to why the nonagons didn’t show on the display panels at the teleportation stations, but you never shared it.”
“It’s only a theory I have. I don’t have any way to prove it.”
He flashed her a smile. “Regardless, I’d like to hear it.”
“I think they were excluded from the panels as a defensive measure.”
Mellori gave a little grunt where he walked behind Jules. “It’s highly possible, and very strategic.”
Jules shook his head. “I don’t follow.”
“Think about it for second,” Mellori continued. “Do you want your enemy to have direct access to your home, where your family lives? Where you rest at night in the belief you are safe? True, the nonagons can be reached via any of the myriad of tunnels. But if the location or knowledge of that direct route is kept secret from whatever is invading, they have the ability to get there ahead of the enemy and have time to either gather reinforcements, or send their loved ones to a safer location.”
“Then I have a question,” Kyber spoke up. “If there is a transporter in the nonagon, but there is no light on the panels, how do the inhabitants know what light to hit to be sent there?”
Mellori snorted and gave Kelen a little nudge. “He’s got you there.”
She was quick to pass the question. “I defer that one to Jules. He’s the guy with the detailed board.”
“But it makes sense not to have an obvious light on the panel,” Jules insisted. “Another thing, if you go to a chamber and find it compromised, you’d stay on the platform and get a quick return home, and no way for the enemy to follow you because they’d have no idea where you went.”
Kelen glanced behind her where Dox was walking. Five was crouched down on all five paws, riding on Dox’s shoulder and emitting cheeps and chirps in the young man’s ear as they headed for the lower chambers. Jules checked to see what she was looking at and chuckled.
“Looks like our savant has found a forever friend.”
She frowned. “Five does appear to be happy at the moment. What I don’t understand is why he’s not anxious to return to his own people.”
This time Jules let out a bark of laughter. “There you go again, Kel. Applying human characteristics to an alien species.”
The gentle rebuff made her blush. “You’re right. Sorry.”
They continued the rest of the way in relative silence, with very little further conversation, and only stopping twice to rest and rehydrate. Dox was able to provide them with a couple of jury-rigged tube lights, that he was able to recharge via a solar energy cell he’d taken from the chamber where they’d found the stash of confiscated loot accumulated by Hoov’s people.
At one point Cooter called back to Jules. “Where did you say we’re headed again?”
“To the orange chamber.”
It made sense. They all knew the way from that cavern to the nonagon.
Kyber held back, allowing Jules to pass him, and locking in step next to Kelen. Once he drew even, he reached out and took her hand, surprising her. She glanced up to see a ghost of a smile on his dark features.
“Penny for your thoughts.”
He gave her a quizzical glance. “A what?”
“Old Earth expression. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
Bending his head, his voice dropped to a whisper. “I am thinking of a soft bed.”
The unexpected remark made her laugh. Kelen slapped a hand over her mouth to muffle further chuckles. Before she could respond, he challenged her.
“A penny for your thoughts.”
“Oh, geez. Now you got me thinking about you know what.”
“Beyond that, I saw that look on your face that tells me you are in deep discussion with yourself about something.”
“I was. I am. I was thinking about what we could do with time we have left on this world. I think it would be wise to chronicle as much as we can about it. So that anyone who lands here after us at least have some concept of this place, and what to expect.”
“What about it?”
“I think it’s an excellent suggestion. The men and I were discussing that very same topic not too long ago. It would keep us busy, for one thing. Make the time go by. It would give a purpose to our lives.”
“Leaving behind a legacy in the form of a warning.”
“Exactly.”
They passed another air vent. Jules murmured, “Number eleven.” Kelen saw his fingers tapping on his tablet.
“Working on a diagram of tunnel entrances?”
“Yeah. This place has more entrances and exits than a rabbit warren.”
“This is eleven, eh? Now that we know about the air ducts, I wonder how many we’ll find between the temple and the orange chamber?” Mellori asked.
“Want to make a bet it’s divisible by three?” Kelen snickered. Not surprisingly, no one took her up on her bet.
They continued forward. Kyber kept holding her hand, every so often running his thumb across the back of her knuckles. It was a simple gesture, done where no one would notice, but it brought shivers to her. That small ache of need blossomed in her abdomen.
I am thinking of a soft bed.
Warmth and soft fur. His demanding mouth. Damn, the man was a quick learner! The feel of his hands on my skin. The way he teases me with those claws, driving me out of my mind.
We can’t get there fast enough.
Cooter halted, abruptly throwing her out of her daydream. Kyber voiced the answer to her unspoken question.
“Light ahead.”
It was a golden glow that would gradually darken in shade as they drew nearer to the orange chamber. Kelen smiled and gave Kyber’s hand a squeeze.
“And here’s number twelve,” Jules half-mutte
red as a slight breeze wafted overhead. He tossed Kelen a knowledgeable look of amusement. She could almost read his mind.
Yeah. Twelve. Divisible by three. Color me not surprised.
Cooter signaled for them to hold back. “Lemme check out the area first. See if it’s clear.” Hefting his pulse rifle, the man proceeded without them.
Kelen watched as the security officer advanced, his body outlined by the orangish light. Everyone’s attention was on Cooter, when a high, piercing whistle came from behind her. She whirled around in time to spot Five hastily climbing down Dox’s pants leg. When the furry reached the ground, he tugged on Dox’s uniform and gave another short screech. Before she could comprehend what was going on, Five dashed for the tunnel wall and vanished.
“Ikko!” Dox dropped to his hands and knees. Giving a squeak, he began crawling after the furry, also disappearing into the small, interconnecting corridor.
“What the hell!” Mellori crouched down and shoved his hand inside the tunnel. Withdrawing his arm, he gave an exasperated sigh. “Should we go after him?”
He was answered by the sound of a pulse rifle firing.
Chapter 21
Confrontation
Kyber didn’t hesitate or stop to ask Cooter what he was firing at. Planting his foot on Mellori’s backside, he shoved the man into the tunnel, then pushed Kelen onto the floor and gave her a push.
“Go!”
She dove into the narrow opening with Kyber following her.
They hurried on hands and knees through the dimly lit corridor. Presently, they met up with Dox and Mellori at one of the widenings. To his surprise, Five was with them. The little alien appeared to be reading the hieroglyphs etched into the stones lining the floor. Turning to Dox, it cheeped at him, then pressed onward. Dox started to follow the Jeef when Kyber stopped him.
“What did it tell you?”
“Road to watching room ahead.”
“Watching room? What’s a watching room?” Kelen asked, but Dox was too far ahead of them to answer. She checked with Jules. “Where are we headed?”
