The Imperium Chronicles Collection, 2nd Edition - Stories

by W. H. Mitchell

  Lord Maycare followed the coordinates I had given him, which led us to a grouping of stone objects at the base of the volcano. From their shapes, the objects were clearly man-made, although I doubted man had actually made them. Devlin slowly set his ship down, sending a whirlwind of flakes swirling around the cockpit windows. Three of us, Lord Maycare, myself, and even Henry, donned winter gear for the frigid temperatures that awaited us outside. Bentley elected to stay aboard to look after the ship.

  “I don’t care for the cold,” he droned.

  A ramp in the belly of the Acaz lowered, letting in a wind of biting ice crystals. I winced at the pain and pulled my fur-lined hood down a little tighter over my goggles.

  “Ready?” Devlin shouted over the gusts.

  I nodded and stomped past him down the ramp. When my feet touched the planet proper, I felt the gravity increase slightly compared to the artificial Gs of the ship. Bentley had attempted to acclimate us by slowly increasing the gravity on the Acaz during the journey, but I could still tell the difference now that we were actually here.

  Devlin told Bentley via a hand comm to close the ramp after we had safely cleared it. Seeing our potential avenue of escape slowly creep shut left a pang of unease in my stomach. I was sure we were safe, but I would have preferred to keep the ramp open a little longer.

  “Alright,” Devlin said, “let’s get going.”

  This time he passed me and tread toward the stones. Before long we came to a set of steps, each a single slab of volcanic rock. Even with the drifting snow, we easily followed the stairs as they wound up the short hillside, the mountain dominating our view just beyond. When we got to the top, the knoll flattened into what must have been the temple at one time. Now only a few wind-worn columns remained, some of which had crumbled across a floor of more stone slabs. A little farther on, not more than twenty or thirty feet, I spotted a low altar of some kind.

  “This must be a couple thousand years old,” Henry offered.

  “I’d say at least five,” I corrected him.

  “There’s something coming out of the ground,” Lord Maycare pointed at a spot just in front of the altar. “What is that? Smoke?”

  I came closer. One of the pillars had toppled over and severely damaged one of the slabs. From between the cracks, threads of vapor flowed out before quickly dissipating in the wind. “No, I think it’s steam,” I said.

  The three of us stood over the cracked stone in a semi-circle.

  “I wonder what’s under there...” Henry said, his voice trailing off.

  “One way to find out,” Devlin replied.

  He lifted a sizable piece of lava rock and, before I could stop him, dropped it heavily on the point where the steam percolated up. It made a hollow thud.

  “Wait!” I yelled, but it was fruitless. Even if he heard me, I doubt Lord Maycare would’ve listened.

  He pounded the slab again and then a third time. The crack widened into a crevice while clouds of hot moisture billowed from the hole.

  “I think I see a stair case,” Devlin said, discarding the rock fragment and crouching down on one knee. He reached into the fracture and pulled on the slab with a heave. I was impressed by how strong he was.

  “Can you give me a hand, Henry?” he asked.

  “Well, ah...” my assistant hesitated.

  “Just let me will you?” I said, getting down in the snow next to Maycare. “I’m stronger than him.”

  Without looking behind me, I knew Henry was probably blushing, but I couldn’t let bruising his ego deter me.

  The two of us tugged on the slab and lifted it out of the way. Devlin was right, there was a stairwell, although I couldn’t tell how far it went. It definitely headed in the direction of the volcano.

  “If we go down there,” I said, “I doubt we’ll be needing these winter coats.”

  “You think it goes all the way into the mountain?” Maycare asked.

  I pulled my scanner from a pocket and quickly picked up the same readings the surveyors had found 50 years previously. The readings also seemed to grow stronger down the stairway.

  “I think whatever is creating this power signature must be somewhere in the mountain and this looks like the easiest way in,” I said. “Unless you want to climb those cliffs...”

  At that moment a puff of smoke belched from the top of the volcano, followed seconds later by a slight tremor beneath our feet.

  “On the other hand,” I went on, “it might not be safe underground if the ceiling collapses.”

  Devlin smiled. “You know just how to win me over,” he said and began removing his gear.

  Leaving our cold-weather equipment at the top of the stairs, we descended into the darkness. At the bottom, Lord Maycare lit his flashlight and sent the beam down a long corridor. Like the temple above, the walls and ceiling were constructed with stone slabs.

  “Look at the chisel marks on these stones,” I remarked.

  “Yes?” Devin asked.

  “Well, they weren’t carved with lasers or anything sophisticated. The power readings I’m getting are nothing a primitive society could produce...”

  “So you don’t think the people who made the temple are the same ones who built the power source?”

  “Well, if they were,” I thought aloud, “they must have lost the knowledge of that technology at some point.”

  “Could they have found the technology, Professor?” Henry wondered. “Maybe it’s from a different race altogether?”

  “I suppose,” I said. “It’s even possible they found it and considered it a gift from the gods. That would explain the temple.”

  Devlin, apparently impatient with the academic turn of our conversation, interrupted. “I guess we won’t know until we see what’s at the end of this tunnel!”

  Maycare set off down the corridor, not waiting for a response. I followed close on his heels with Henry right behind me.

  After a few hundred feet, the corridor opened up into what appeared to be a natural lava tube running left to right.

  “Which way now?” Devlin asked.

  I pointed my sensor in both directions, but the readings were definitely more pronounced to the right. “That way,” I said.

  We followed the tunnel for several minutes, the air becoming drier and progressively hotter with every step. The incline also became steeper, headed downward.

  “It really stinks in here,” Henry coughed. “Like rotten eggs.”

  “The sulfur from the volcano,” I said. “We should be under the mountain by now.”

  “I see light up ahead,” Devlin gestured, turning off his flashlight. The lava tube glowed orange in the distance.

  As we drew closer to the light, the heat became more intense. My hair was tied up in the back, but I could feel the sweat accumulating in the strands and dripping down my neck.

  Finally, we came to the end of the tube and entered a domed cavern laced with rivers of molten magma. The lava, churning between dark and bright red, lit the ceiling above with flickering shadows of hellish brilliance.

  “I’ve never seen anything like it,” I said.

  “Me either,” Lord Maycare replied. “Could they have carved all this?”

  “I don’t think so,” I said. “This room must have been part of a larger magma chamber at one point. I can see more lava tubes farther up the walls.”

  “I see a path to the other side,” Devlin said. “We could walk across.”

  “It looks dangerous,” Henry remarked doubtfully.

  “Where’s your spirit of adventure?” Devlin asked him.

  “I’d rather read about it in books,” Henry confessed.

  “It’s alright, Henry,” I said. “You can walk back to the entrance if you’d like.”

  “Alone?”

  “Lord Maycare and I can go on without you,” I suggested.

  My assistant grimaced, imploring me with his eyes. “No, I want to go too,” he said, but clearly didn’t mean it.

  “That�
�s a good lad!” Devlin shouted, his voice reverberating off the rounded roof.

  “Not so loud,” I said. “No telling how sturdy the ceiling is with all these tremors.”

  Devlin shrugged off the danger and started heading toward the center of the room. The path was little more than a bridge of solidified basalt that had cooled enough to become rock again. The liquid kind still flowed beneath it.

  About halfway across, I heard an audible warble from inside Lord Maycare’s pants pocket. It was Bentley on the communicator.

  “Lord Maycare?” I heard the robot’s voice over the speaker.

  “What is it?” Devlin asked.

  “There’s a ship in orbit,” Bentley said. “It won’t answer my hails and I detected a transmat signature a few moments ago.”

  “You better take off and wait in orbit until you hear back from me,” Devlin said, his voice growing serious.

  “What’s going on?” Henry asked.

  “I think we’re about to have visitors,” Maycare said while putting away the comm.

  Right on cue, a man’s voice pierced the perpetual twilight of the room, although it sounded like he was floating well above the floor.

  “Hello down there!” he bellowed.

  Looking up, I saw three men standing at the lip of one of the lava tubes about ten feet off the ground. The man in the center had both hands on his hips and smiled behind a dark beard. The other two, larger and more menacing, carried blasters pointed in our direction.

  “And who are you, sir?” Devlin asked, acquiring the official tone of a nobleman.

  “I might ask you the same question,” the stranger replied.

  “I’m Lord Devlin Maycare.”

  “My apologies!” the man said. “I didn’t recognize you in such dim light. Perhaps you could step out a little farther?”

  “I’m fine where I’m standing, thank you,” Devlin said. “Have we met?”

  “I’m Agent Skarlander,” he said, “from Warlock Industries.”

  “Ah yes,” Devlin shot me a glance. “I guess I’m more familiar with your work than your face.”

  “My reputation precedes me,” Skarlander bowed slightly. “And who is that with you?”

  “Why don’t you come down and meet her in person?” Devlin said.

  “I’m fine where I’m standing as well.”

  “I’m Professor Jessica Doric,” I said, tired of the niceties, “of the Maycare Xeno Institute.”

  “Maycare Institute of Xeno Studies, actually,” Devlin corrected me under his breath.

  I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”

  “Yes, of course,” Skarlander said. “I’ve read some of your papers from the University.”

  “Really?” I asked.

  “Your findings were amateurish, but your grammar was impeccable.”

  “Son of a —” I started.

  “What do you want here?” Devlin interrupted.

  Above us, Skarlander leered down.

  “The same as you, I imagine,” he said. “There’s a power source somewhere in this volcano and I intend to claim it for Warlock Industries.”

  “Well, you can’t!” Henry shouted.

  “Oh, I’m quite sure I can,” he said dismissively. “For example, we brought guns.”

  Two blooms of yellow light burst through the semi-darkness, lancing the lava rock on either side of us.

  “Hold your fire, Skarlander!” Devlin roared. “We’re unarmed.”

  “My point exactly!” he yelled back.

  My vision still dotted with images of the blaster strikes, I was slow to realize that the magma around us was bubbling suddenly. Realizing what was coming, I grabbed Devlin by the shoulder. “We need to get out of here,” I said in his ear.

  “Of course,” he replied. “They’re going to kill us.”

  “No, you don’t understand—” I started, but the ground heaved upward as the whole chamber shook. My balance failed and I landed on my side as the violent tremor rattled the loose rock around me. I expected the quake to die down quickly, but it went on seemingly forever, sending pieces of the ceiling falling into the magma below in great splashes of liquid rock.

  I heard Devlin’s voice, but it was lost in a noise like an avalanche tumbling down a mountain. I peered upward, only to see sheets of white. Snow from outside was flowing through the holes in the ceiling like a waterfall. When the cold deluge hit the magma, a sound like a hissing scream erupted around me. I tried flattening myself against the ground as the torrent of hot steam washed over me.

  Lord Maycare grabbed my arm hard.

  “Time to leave!” he shouted, rudely pulling me to my feet. The shaking had lessened, but I could barely see anything in the churning froth of fog.

  “Wait!” I said and stretched my hand out wildly. “Henry!”

  Henry’s shape became a dull outline with poor posture. I grabbed him and, while Devlin tugged on my left hand, I clutched my assistant with my right.

  “We’re going the wrong way!” I said, thinking we should be heading back the way we came.

  “No, we’re getting the power source,” Devlin barked over his shoulder. “Come on!”

  He was insane, I thought. We were lucky to be alive and I didn’t think an alien artifact was worth dying over. At the same time, I was shaking more now from the adrenaline than I was during the earthquake. The sensation surging through every fiber of my body, I had to admit, was probably the feeling Maycare kept talking about.

  I didn’t struggle as he led me along. In some ways I felt satisfied with it all, but immediately scolded myself for thinking that way. I didn’t want to be someone’s justification for adventure, no matter how exciting it was, and I certainly didn’t want a man leading me while doing it. It’s wasn’t ideal. Not at all...

  “Can we stop now?” Henry asked in a low, plaintive whimper. In truth, I had forgotten he was still trailing behind me, my hand still holding his.

  “Okay,” Devlin halted.

  The steam had started to thin and I could make out walls around us. We had apparently wandered into another tunnel, although this one was not a lava tube. I could see stalagmites jutting up like strangers milling in a crowd.

  Both Henry and I collapsed, trying to catch our breath. Lord Maycare remained standing, surveying the surroundings.

  “I hate this place,” Henry gasped.

  “Agreed,” I said.

  “It was a lucky break, that earthquake,” Devlin reflected. “But I’ve always been lucky...”

  “Well, I hope it doesn’t run out while I’m around,” I said.

  Devlin grinned. “Fortune favors the bold.”

  “Does it?”

  “It’s even on my family’s crest.”

  “I prefer ‘fools rush in where angels fear to tread’.”

  He laughed this time. “Nobody’s ever confused me with an angel...”

  “When can we go home?” Henry interrupted.

  “No!” Devlin replied. “We’re here to find that thing Jessica won’t shut up about.”

  “Wait, what?” I said, my cheeks reddening.

  “Let’s get a move on,” Devlin said, “before Skarlander figures out where we are.”

  I checked my scanner to make sure it was still working. The energy readings were stronger than ever.

  “Actually,” I said, “he may go straight to the power source.”

  “Good!” Henry cheered. “We can just avoid them altogether.”

  “We’re not leaving until we find that xenotech,” Devlin said. “I’m not letting Warlock Industries get another artifact.”

  “What do you have in mind?” I asked.

  “No idea!”

  Using my scanner to guide us, we crept along the cavern tunnel. Not knowing where the others were, however, we tried to use our lights at a minimum. With the uneven ground and occasional aftershocks, our progress was slow and treacherous.

  I felt a sharp pain as I stubbed my toe against a loose rock. In the dark, I was too
busy cursing under my breath to notice the next rock a few inches away. I tripped and fell. I assumed I’d greet the sharp edge of stone when I hit the ground, but instead landed on something soft and terrifying. I stifled a scream at the back of my throat.

  In the glare of Devlin’s flashlight, I saw strands of white fur all around me. For a second, I thought it was still alive, but the musty odor quickly told me otherwise.

  “What is it?” Henry asked.

  “A dead animal,” I said, running its hide between my fingers as I dusted myself off again.

  “Big, too,” Devlin remarked. “Must’ve been dead a long time. It’s all skin and bones.”

  “Look at the skull,” I pointed. “It’s like a bear of some sort.”

  Maycare took the hide from me and gave it a shake.

  “You’ve got enough bear-skin rugs, My Lord,” I said.

  He dropped it and started flashing the light around as if searching for something. The light stopped when it brightened a small stalagmite. Devlin gave the pointed column a sharp kick with his boot. The tip of the stone, about six inches from the point, broke off. Maycare picked it up and went back to the skin. He handed me the flashlight and started jamming the sharp edge of the rock into the belly of the creature’s fur.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “I’ve got an idea,” he said.

  “Okay...”

  “It probably won’t work—”

  “No?”

  “—But I’m going to try it anyway.”

  Another hour of sneaking through tunnels finally led us to the source of the power readings.

  I peeked around the corner and saw another cavern, smaller than the one from before but still laced with streams of flowing magma. In the center of the chamber, with his back to me, Skarlander stood atop a dais of stone slabs where a crude altar had been built. Nearby, his two bodyguards loitered near a grav sled hovering a few feet off the ground. I assumed the sled was to carry the xenotech in case it was too heavy to lift.

  Skarlander, slowly turning his body, revealed something cradled in his arms like a newborn. It was a huge sapphire, the size of a pineapple, that glowed with a radiant, blue light. Skarlander’s blazing eyes basked in the glow.