by John Sharp
Chapter 11 – The Plan
It’s dark, completely and utterly devoid of any light. Like a blind man I clutch at Sarah’s arm as we make our slow way down the tunnel illuminated by her flashlight. Yet I can see no light. I see nothing and keep expecting to tumble over with each step.
“Anything yet?” Sarah asks from my left.
“No,” I say. She gives me a disapproving grunt as we continue on.
“There’s bound to be something near here. We must stay vigilant,” Whisper says from my satchel.
Step after step I make my blind way forward, until I once again stumble on an unseen obstacle. Giving a quick tug on my arm Sarah stabilizes me. We both curse in unison.
“Is this really necessary?” She asks.
“Yes. I can see movement easily in the other world but an intersecting tunnel down here might have nothing in it so I could miss it. I must focus all of my sight to that world to find what we are looking for. Right now I see nothing but darkness,” I reply.
“I need more coffee to deal with this shit,” Sarah mutters and I bite back a retort. We had been down here for several hours already and both of us are irritated from the damp and the dark. The search would have been much faster if my shadow had wanted to help. Being who and what he is he just laughed at the suggestion. He was probably amused at the thought of me stumbling around in the dark.
Another hour passes by with nothing to show for it and I am just about ready to quit when it happens. It’s only a brief glance but something besides darkness and compact soil catches my eye. A flash too quick to be properly seen, but after so long in the dark it was like a bright ray of sunlight.
“Stop!” I call out, my pulse racing.
Sarah nearly falls at the suddenness of my command and this time I steady her.
“What?” She snarles. Perhaps she thinks I need a bathroom break again.
“I saw something a few steps back,” I say.
“Where?” Sarah asks.
“A few steps back,” I say again, this time in a heated tone trying in vain to fight my own irritation. “Let’s just turn around and walk slowly.”
“That’s all we’ve been doing,” Sarah replies, her voice low and dangerous. I hope this isn’t another false alarm. We take three steps back, then two to the right and then five to the left. It feels like we’re doing a really slow, pathetic dance when I see it again.
“Here,” I say, my blood thrumming in my head.
Before me is a tall vast tunnel with a greenish luminescent moss covering the entire ceiling that has a steady glow emanating from it that illuminates the area like night vision. Unlike the busy main floor of the hive, here there’s just a single hivetung moving away from my position with long, unhurried strides. More important than the lack of guards is the lack of sigil stones! I smile a wicked smile that would do my shadow proud.
“Got them,” I declare.
“Really?” Sarah asks, disbelief evident in her tone. I can’t blame her, she can’t see what I do.
“Yes, really. The tunnel under the hive intersects here at chest height,” I say, looking down with a feeling of nausea as I remember the hivetung that was bisected by the floor. The subway canal and the hivetung tunnels don’t perfectly overlap so half of my body is hidden beneath the soil. I would have to shift sediment out of the way before I could crossover but I could do it.
“Shadow,” I say. “Shift here and scout around. Don’t do anything suspicious or let yourself be seen.”
“Oh yes, great master, I obey immediately,” my shadow says, the sarcasm tainting every word. Contrary to what he said he makes no move to comply.
I sigh. “Please,” I add painfully but it’s still no good. Although I can’t see him at the moment I can feel that he hasn’t moved.
“Just think about all the lovely chaos that will result when we cross over. Plenty of death and destruction I’m sure.” When courtesy fails offer promises of violence and mayhem. I can actually feel my shadow smile and hear his dark chuckle. Then, without a word, I feel him shift and see a sudden darkness spread on the ground near me in the other world like pooling black blood. Rippling, the pool stretches upward on the tunnel wall becoming an indistinct source-less silhouette filled with menace. He zooms off with terrifying speed down the tunnel. Long minutes pass and I do my best to ignore Sarah’s excessively loud exhalations as we wait. Finally, just as I am about to suggest she breathe through her nose, which surely would have aggravated her even further, my shadow returns crossing back to my world wordlessly. I follow with my vision, finally seeing the world immediately around me.
“What did you see?” I ask, my heart thudding.
“Many wonders,” my shadow says, hidden from view once more by the surrounding darkness.
“Something more specific would be nice,” I growl, my patience thinning even further.
“How many foes are there?” Asks Whisper.
“Far too many for you to handle alone, rat,” my shadow says, adding emphasis to the last word.
“I doubt that,” Whisper hisses in retort.
“Did you find vision’s source?” I ask. Sarah’s light suddenly swivels in my direction, sending a bright flash of pain across my eyes.
“What’s going on?” She demands more than asks, able only to hear my side of the conversation. Annoyed I gently push the light out of my eyes and down to the ground.
“Just give me a moment,” I say.
“I found it,” my shadow says. “It is oh-so-lovely, cries of pain and born in blood. What pleasantly wicked beings these hivetung are.”
“What is it!” I demand, stomping my foot angrily.
“I don’t want to ruin the surprise,” my shadow replies, looking far too pleased with himself. Fucking shadow. My obvious irritation gives him far more enjoyment than his disclosure would so I doubt he will ever tell me. I’ll have to see for myself.
“Did you see any of my kind in there?” Whisper asks.
“Oh, yes,” my shadow says. “They make good use of your kind in there. Use a rat for a rat’s job.”
Whisper snarls. Whether at my shadow or at the prospect of his imprisoned kindred I’m not sure, perhaps both. I direct my attention back to Sarah. Although I can’t see her in the dark, I can tell from a millions years’ worth of male evolution and survival instinct that she, using the technical phrase, is about to blow a gasket if I don’t immediately answer her.
“We found a way in, but we will need an army…”
