by AM Scott
Could she climb down fast enough? She’d seen no signs of guards, which seemed pretty stupid. What if… Saree pushed her head out a little farther and scanned the cavern wall. Blast it into a sun. There it was. Halfway down the wall, but still well above head-height, a bright green beam crossed the entire cavern wall. She peered across the cavern. Yes, there was a matching one on the other side. They decided to alarm the entire wall rather than each individual tunnel. Pushing out a bit farther, she could see her side of the cavern was pocked with tunnel mouths too. Only a few were below the alarm line. They probably had individual sensors on those.
So, was anyone actively monitoring the alarms? Saree couldn’t see anyone moving or the glow of screens, but the cavern was brightly lit. They must not turn the lights down in here, making it that much harder for her. How could she get past the sensor line? If she had a rope, she’d be able to jump the sensor beam, but she didn’t. Four meters was too far to jump and fall; she’d break an ankle or leg for sure.
Maybe she could jump to the crates? The stacks started a meter, maybe a meter and a half, from the wall. Each stack was at least three meters high. Not only that, but the ones closest to her were heavy-duty plas transport crates, the sturdy, multi-use kind used for machinery or fragile items, not easily crushed, thin plas sheets. Most of them were dark gray and marked ‘Galactica Mining Corp,’ so assuming they contained mining equipment was a safe bet. Whether the equipment was still in the crates, that wasn’t such a safe bet. Still, Saree could climb down to just above the sensor beam, then jump off the wall to the stack of plas crates.
Would they stay stacked or would her momentum send them crashing? If they were full, they’d probably stay upright, but if they were empty? Oh suns, she could send the whole stack crashing. Even if they stayed stacked, the impact might boom like a big drum. Then she’d be caught for sure.
Saree sighed. Staying here wasn’t an option. She needed water. Going back into to the Badlands wasn’t a real option either, not without more water. If she could communicate with Hal, it would be worth taking the chance, but without that assurance? No.
No, she had to have water, and climbing and jumping was the only way down. Saree prayed her luck held. She crawled backward, pushed back up to her feet and retreated to her pack. Pulling out her bev-tainer, she slowly drank the last few mouthfuls, the relief all too short-lived. She warmed up her body, moving more and more vigorously, readying herself for action. Her muscles screamed, and the bruises hurt, but after running through her regular warm-up twice, Saree was ready. Or as ready as she could be.
Walking quietly back to the cavern edge, Saree pulled the pack back on, tightened the straps, and peered out. No movement. She sat on the tunnel edge. Carefully twisting to her stomach, the rock pressing painfully hard into her hipbones, she found the first footholds. Saree climbed down the carved steps, checking each hold and the sensor beam location before she moved. Just above the sensor beam, Saree cautiously turned, clinging tightly, moving each hand and foot one at a time. She perched sideways on the edge of the roughly carved steps. Okay. You can do this! Ready. Three, two, one, go!
Pulling herself into the wall, Saree pushed off hard with her hands and feet, flinging her body into the air and twisting toward the crates. Using her abs, she straightened her body just in time, hitting the top crate with a bang. She let her hands and feet slide out, hoping to minimize the noise and her chances of sliding off. Breath oofing out explosively, she sprawled face down on the crate, fingers scrabbling for a hold on the smooth plas. Ow, oh suns, oof. Saree lay there, grateful she’d made it, and tried not to cry. She couldn’t spare the moisture. But blast and rad, she hurt. Saree huffed. She’d been in pain already—now it was worse.
Finally, Saree forced herself up to her hands and knees and looked around. Nothing moved. Her landing must not have made as much noise as she thought. She’d heard a bang, but she wasn’t at all sure how loud it really was. Her heart was pounding so hard, every other noise was quiet in comparison. Quickly, she climbed down the stacked crates. They didn’t shift at all. Maybe they were mining equipment? Either way, she’d lucked out.
Staying close to the stacked crates, looking for more sensors and possible escape paths, Saree crept toward the kitchen. The sand shifted and swooshed slightly under her feet, dust puffing up around her. A few meters before she reached the kitchen area, she spotted a gap between the rows of stacked boxes and she ducked into it. Saree wove her way through the maze of haphazardly stacked provisions—someone must have been looking for something in particular and they didn’t care about leaving it neat for the next person. The path ended at the back of a very large, tall, smooth, light gray plas wall. The back of the auto-mess? There was a very narrow gap between the grey plas and the stacks of boxes. Looking down the gap, she could see a big white tube connected at the very end. The water connection? It was more than possible.
She listened, turning her head slowly, but heard nothing. Taking off her pack, Saree squeezed between the plas wall and the stacked boxes. Moving very slowly, careful to not push any of the boxes, she crept along. There was no telling how securely these boxes and crates were stacked. Judging from the rest of them, not well. Saree inched along sideways, the slight swoosh of clothing sliding against the plas wall covered by a low thrumming noise. Finally, she reached the tube connection point. She spread her knees and lowered herself into a wide-stance squat, inner thighs painfully stretching and butt muscles shrieking.
‘Water,’ the big connector was helpfully labeled. Saree grimaced, her tongue sticking unpleasantly to the roof of her mouth. She’d found water, but no way to get any—the connector was a good five centimeters across. Even if she could get it off, water would gush everywhere. The low thrumming noise she’d noticed earlier came from a dark tunnel in the cavern wall. The other end of the water pipe disappeared into the blackness.
Blast it all into a sun. She needed water. Peeking out around the end of the kitchen module, Saree surveyed the area. Nothing and nobody behind or in front of her. Edging out of the narrow gap and along the end of the auto-mess wall, she crouched to peer around the end, into the area around the auto-mess. Tables with attached benches sat scattered haphazardly across the open area. Beyond the tables, sani-stations along the end wall between the tunnels. Between the tunnels in the middle, several beds. The area reeked, an overwhelming mix of over-tasked sani-stations, stale beer, and rotting food. It was amazing the Inquisitors weren’t all dead of disease. A triumph of modern medicine, she was sure.
Saree watched the area for any movement. Nothing stirred, although there was someone lying in the bed farthest from her. She crept out, around to the front of the auto-mess. Yes! A water station. Pulling off her pack and opening it wide, she pulled out a bev-tainer, opening it and placing it under the spout. Oh, by the egg of Zarar, please, please be a quiet flow.
Grimacing, she pulled the lever and water flowed out into her bev-tainer. Thank all the suns of the universe! Saree pulled the full container away and drank half of it immediately, licking her lips to catch the escaping drops. She wanted more, right now, but she made herself fill the rest of her bev-tainers, pulling out one at a time, watching the space around her for movement. Then Saree drank her fill, refilled the bottle and put her pack back on. It was heavy, but water was a weight she was thrilled to carry.
Stomach sloshing slightly, she stood and looked at the auto-mess. A very basic model, pumping out a rough paste in three different flavors, none of them good. Normally, she wouldn’t touch the stuff, but right now, nutrapaste sounded heavenly. Saree pulled a bowl from the stack and filled it. Her mouth watering, she retreated to the tiny space behind the auto-mess to shovel it in. The gritty, sticky paste was too sweet and the fake vanilla flavor overwhelming, but it was food. Food, glorious food! Tummy rumbling contentedly, Saree edged her way back down the narrow passageway to the other end of the auto-mess. She peered out again, and shoved her bowl into the recycling crate, wincing at the slight clunk o
f the flap shutting. From the smell, it wasn’t one of the higher-end models.
Movement from a bed caught her eye and she froze. She slid slowly back behind the auto-mess and peered around the corner. A figure sat up slowly and her heart sank. Ferra. Oh, suns. She was naked, bruised and battered, eyes black, lips split, a black slave collar circling her neck. Ferra pulled the blanket around her shoulders, shivering, her head bowed, shoulders hunched. Suns. She couldn’t leave Ferra to these animals. A flex cuff around one ankle leashed Ferra to the stairs of one of the sani-stations. It looked just long enough to let her into the sani-station, but not long enough to get food or water.
As she watched, Ferra looked around the area, then crouched down next to the sani-station platform. She clenched the leash between in her fists and slid the leash back and forth along the corner of the platform, over and over. Ferra was trying to saw through the leash. Saree smiled, a fierce joy singing in her heart—Ferra hadn’t given up. Saree looked around the area, including a long look behind her. Still no one. Now was the time to move. She waited for Ferra to look up from her work. Saree deliberately stepped out of the passageway she’d hidden in, making her movements obvious.
Saree held a finger to her lips and saw the moment Ferra spotted her, shock running through her body, her eyes widening. Ferra clamped her hand over her own mouth and fell back on her butt. She just stared for a few seconds, clearly unable to believe her eyes. Then Ferra flung her hand away from her mouth, motioning and mouthing, “Go!”
Saree shook her head and ran over to Ferra, crouching down next to her.
Ferra hissed, “Scholar, run. Don’t get caught.”
Saree pulled her little knife out and sliced through the leash. “Do you know where your things are? I need my e-torc.”
Ferra shook her head. “Dalm has them. Run. Get to Haven and contact Lightwave there. That’s your only chance.” She shook her head again and shuddered. “Don’t get caught. I’ll go back into the tunnels. Go out the way you came in.”
“I can’t. I have to find another way out,” Saree told Ferra. “Get some water and food. Do you know which tunnel goes back to the cavern you got caught in?”
Ferra turned to look at the water station and didn’t answer. She stumbled to it, sinking down under the spout and letting the water run straight into her mouth. She drank frantically, using a corner of her blanket to wipe off her face. Saree stayed where she was, even though her eyes were watering from the chemical-laden stench. If Ferra was seen, Saree could edge behind the sani-station and into one of the tunnels. Ferra grabbed two bowls, filling one with the nutra-paste and the other with water. Her blanket kept slipping. Ferra stood, wrapped and tucked the blanket around her body, and walked away, carrying her bowls. She walked into to the tunnel second from the far end without another glance at Saree, drinking from her bowl of water.
Saree looked around and ghosted after her. The front tunnels weren’t an option—they’d be alarmed, and men, probably the men looking for her, would come back through them. She’d follow Ferra back to the cavern and go back through the same tunnel she used before. They wouldn’t be expecting her to come out in the same place. Or at least she hoped so. There wasn’t much of an alternative.
Why didn’t Ferra want to team up? Saree got her loose; you’d think she’d be grateful. But no, Ferra walked off without so much as a thank-you or even a whispered direction. Some people never changed. Saree followed her down the long, dimly lit tunnel, carefully noting the additional tunnels eaten away on each side. Saree stayed on the left side of the tunnel. Who knew where all these side tunnels went, if anywhere?
Some tunnels had names scrawled in black next to them—areas reserved for certain people?—and some had other notes, like ‘parts’ or ‘sani-mod maintenance.’ The last one was a good hiding place—obviously no one went in there. Other tunnels dead-ended immediately and some faded into darkness but had nothing written by them. Saree scooted from one tunnel to the next, following Ferra. She peeked around the edge of the tunnel she huddled in—Ferra had almost reached a big, black opening. Another cavern, maybe the one they’d been caught in earlier?
“Where do you think you’re going?” a man’s voice snarled. “How did you get loose?”
Saree plastered herself against the side of the tunnel wall, mentally cursing the containers in her pack slamming into the bruises on her back, and edged back, away from Ferra and into a side tunnel. No matter what was down this tunnel, it was better than the man out there. Ferra ran past her and the man laughed. He jogged past, still laughing. Animals, every single one of them. Saree considered going back out, but more men thundered by. They must have been alerted by the man who spotted Ferra.
Blast. She couldn’t go that way and she couldn’t do anything to help Ferra, not now. Saree had done more than she should have; that leash was obviously cut, not worn through. Still, she’d do the same again to give Ferra a chance. She sniffed. Even if Ferra wouldn’t do the same for her. Her longing for a real weapon was almost a physical ache. But she didn’t have one, and she had to put some distance between herself and those men if she was going to stay free.
Turning, Saree headed farther into the side tunnel. She’d have to be cautious, but going back was guaranteed capture, so forward she’d go. This tunnel was big enough to walk upright in, but not as big as the giant ones exiting the cavern. The tunnel gradually spiraled upward in a lopsided corkscrew. Was the tunnel worm drunk? Saree smiled a little at the idea. Maybe this one would get her to the top of the Badlands where Hal could pick her up? Wouldn’t that be a nice surprise? Saree snorted softly. She’d been lucky so far, but she just couldn’t imagine she’d be quite that lucky. Still, the thought gave her feet a little lift, even with the light fading the farther she got from the cavern. She moved cautiously ahead.
A dim light shone on the tunnel wall. Another sensor? Saree swallowed hard and slowed her walk, scanning the entire surface of the tunnel ahead of her. She continued up the spiral, the glow getting brighter. Finally, she saw it and stopped. A night glow? Saree edged closer and crouched near it. It wasn’t a sensor, at least not one she was familiar with. It looked like a standard night glow, the kind you’d see in a child’s room. Why would there be a night glow here? Her stomach twisted under the load of water and nutrapaste. Whatever the reason, it probably wasn’t good for her. This might be someone’s sleeping berth, which meant she might run into someone, or someone might run into her.
Saree paused, undecided. Continue ahead to the unknown or back to the certain? More and more of the Inquisitors would wake, alerted to Ferra’s escape and probable recapture. Would they be distracted by her or start looking for an accomplice? Would any of those animals even notice her leash was cut?
Well, no one had run up this tunnel yet, so maybe she’d be better off continuing. Maybe the occupant was one of the men already out looking for her? Or maybe this was just a storage area. It might even be a dead end and she’d be trapped. Blast, blast, blast it all into a sun. Why hadn’t she read the writing on the wall?
Still, better the unknown than the known at this point. Saree stepped to the other side of the tunnel and edged upward, hoping to minimize any shadows she might cause in the dim light of the night glow. Saree sneaked up the big spiral, creeping along, working hard to keep her footsteps soft, and not rub against the wall. It was difficult, because everything hurt so bad. Straining her ears, she heard nothing but her own breathing. Another glow appeared, and she slowed, her heart pounding again. She had to be getting close to the surface.
The light faded into nothing, but she got the impression of a larger space. A room at the end of the tunnel? An opening to the surface? Saree slowed, scanning for sensors. Nothing she could see…
She crept up the tunnel, feet aching, inching along. The tunnel ended and she crouched, leg muscles protesting, to peer into the blackness. She looked up. No stars, so she wasn’t outside, not yet anyway, but she could smell the dusty surface of Gliese. And…Saree swe
pt a hand across the tunnel floor. Yes, it was dusty, more than just dust dragged in by feet. She must be very close to the surface. Hope bubbled up like the effervescence in a glass of Centauri pow-wine. But thinking of wine made her think of Loreli. A tsunami of homesickness swept over her. Saree sagged, then stiffened her spine. No time for regrets; she had to keep moving forward, stay in the moment, survive. Besides, being homesick for her shuttle, for Hal, made sense, but for Loreli? She hadn’t known her that long, had she?
No matter—she had to escape. Peering around the edge of the tunnel, Saree jerked back. Outside! It was dark enough in the room to see starlight shining on the spires of the Badlands. But that glimpse showed something else, too. An impression of a low, long box—a bed? Had she stumbled into someone’s sleeping quarters? Someone important enough to rate a view or someone so unimportant they didn’t care if he got captured or killed by something on the surface? By now, they’d know there wasn’t much on the surface, so it was probably someone important. The effervescence abruptly flattened.
Was someone actually sleeping in that bed? Saree closed her eyes for just a second to wallow in despair. She tightened her jaw. Hal was waiting—she would make it out. She looked around the corner again. Allowing her eyes to adjust, she scanned from one side to the other. Her tunnel opened into a long cavern—maybe a really big tunnel? No, the floor was flat. At the end on her right, it simply disappeared—probably the tunnel ending, opening on one of the many cliff-like walls of the Badlands. In front of the opening, the box took up almost the entire width of the cavern—it was a bed. And there was someone in that bed.
Saree pulled back, her heart pounding like a Klee dance party and her stomach sinking. Blast it all to the black hole of Andromeda! She made herself look again, but to the other side of the room. Another box just to her right—clothes storage or something? And a sani-box at the far end, better maintained than the ones in the main cavern. Or less smelly, anyway. A few other things strewn around, probably clothes on the floor.
