by Jake Bible
Mgurn muttered to himself as he looked from the scanners to the view screen. He’d switched views so that we had thermal imaging up, but it made no difference. All there was below us was nasty saltwater.
“I’d help,” I said and held up my hooves. “But I can’t work the console anymore.”
“When we find our destination and are on our way through trans-space, I’ll reprogram the console so it adapts to your new physiology,” Mgurn said. “There are many races that do not have phalanges.”
“That sounds dirty,” I giggled. “Phalanges.”
“I am ignoring the immaturity if that statement,” Mgurn replied, “since it puts you in a good mood.”
There was a quick beep, and Mgurn slowed the ship. He brought it to a full stop then studied the navigation console for a long while. I knew Mgurn well enough to see that he didn’t need all of that time to figure out what the system was telling him. He was just trying to work out how to break the news to me. So I let him off the hook.
“The island is under the water, isn’t it?” I asked. “Totally submerged.”
“Yes, it is,” Mgurn answered.
“Under the water on Earth,” I stated. “This day just keeps getting better and better.”
Neither of us had ever spoken to someone that had been under the oceans of Earth. No one I knew ever had. There were plenty of secondhand accounts of what dwelled down in the deeps. Secondhand accounts. No firsthand accounts.
“I have shields at full power,” Mgurn said. “I am initiating full stealth protocol. That should hide our presence long enough to reach our destination.”
“And if it doesn’t?” I asked.
“Then we may have some unfortunate interactions with the aquatic fauna of this planet,” Mgurn said. “I would prefer to avoid that.”
“You and me both, buddy,” I said. “I’d prefer to avoid going underwater in the first place, but doesn’t look like that is in the cards.”
We both shivered as Mgurn dipped the nose of our ship and began the plunge into the murky, yuck-choked sea. The view screen went completely black as we went under, but then the filters kicked in and we saw what awaited us.
Nothing.
“Mgurn?” I asked.
“Yes, I see it,” Mgurn replied. “Or do not see it, as the case may be.”
“Underwater island is not underwater,” I said.
“Again, Joe, I see that,” Mgurn responded.
“So, what are we going to do?” I asked.
My chest felt tight, and I was having a hard time breathing. As the ship continued its dive, both feelings increased until I thought I would hyperventilate.
“Joe? What is the problem?” Mgurn asked. “Joe?”
It was obvious he was torn between piloting the ship and attending to me. I had to give him credit for keeping his hands on the ship’s controls.
“Underwater,” I gasped. “Not liking being underwater.”
Mgurn glanced over at me and nodded.
“Ah, yes, that would be the bull part of you,” Mgurn said and seemed to relax. Yay for him. I, on the other hoof (even I can’t help it), was not relaxing. “The Minotaur is a land creature. It was physically connected to the island where the labyrinth was built. You are feeling the intense fear of water that it would have felt if it tried to escape.”
“Less mythological analysis and more finding the foing giant iron door,” I snapped.
“That is what I am attempting to do, Joe,” Mgurn said.
We continued to go deeper and deeper. My anxiety grew until I thought I’d punch right through the ship’s hull to get out. That wouldn’t have helped me since I’d just end up a few hundred feet under the surface of the gunky sea, but I wasn’t exactly thinking rationally.
“What is that?” Mgurn asked, squinting at the view screen. “Joe, I believe we may have reached our destination.”
I wanted to give him a thumbs up, but I had no thumbs, so I just nodded instead. I couldn’t answer him verbally because I was afraid if I opened my mouth, I’d start screaming and not be able to stop.
Mgurn turned on all external lights, illuminating the seascape in stark contrast. In front of us was the occluded shape of something very large. We approached it at close to full speed until Mgurn cut the throttle and let our momentum take us the rest of the way. It was a mountain, no doubt about it. An undersea mountain, sure, but still a mountain.
It was easy to tell it had once been above the surface. The ruins of ancient buildings dotted the sides of the mountain. Most were only stone foundations or slabs of old concrete, but some still had partial walls intact. We could see the outlines of roads that wound around the mountain. But that was all we saw.
Mgurn circled the mountain several times before he brought us to a full stop, turned in his seat, and shrugged his shoulders.
“I did not see an iron door,” Mgurn said. “Did you?”
“No,” I said. It was the only word I could manage without losing my cool. I said it again just test that I could. “No.”
“Navigation?” Mgurn called out. “Is this the correct destination?”
“You have arrived,” a voice announced. “But you are far from your destination.”
“Oh my,” Mgurn said. “That is not the navigation system AI.”
He was dead on about that. It was not the voice of the navigation system AI.
“Naked Snake Lady,” I muttered and clamped my mouth shut before I could screech.
“Hello, Miss Horne,” Mgurn said. “My name is—”
“Irrelevant,” Naked Snake Lady said.
“That was rude,” Mgurn responded quietly. “Polite introductions are never irrelevant.”
We waited, but she said nothing more.
“There must be a door here somewhere,” Mgurn said. “The logs clearly stated there was a door. We saw it.”
“Keep looking,” I struggled to say. I wanted to crawl right out of my skin. “Find it or get us out of here. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
“Joe, stop making that noise,” Mgurn said. “Please.”
“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” I continued. The lid was off and I couldn’t put it back on. “Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
Mgurn covered the sides of his head with two hands and worked the controls with the others. He got the ship moving again and brought it in closer to the mountain. It was close enough that we could see the silt start to billow up as we passed.
“There! Eeeeeeeeeee! Back!” I snapped. “Eeeeeeeeeee!”
Mgurn slowed and brought us back around. I pointed with both hooves at a spot on the mountain that had moved. I know it had. It wasn’t just silt shifting, but something bulky.
“Well, will you look at that?” Mgurn said as the bulky something began to unwind. “Our view was blocked. Such a simple answer.”
A memory flashed in my brain, and I gasped. I knew what we were about to see when the thing was done unfurling itself.
“Nope! Eeeeeeeee!” I screeched. “Nope, nope, nope! Eeeeeeeeeee!”
Mgurn didn’t respond, just started working the controls to get us as far away from the shape as fast as possible. He probably would have anyway, but the appearance of a giant mouth filled with more sharp teeth than could be counted was probably the main selling point for getting the fo away from the mountain.
He aimed our nose for the surface and hit the thrusters. We didn’t budge.
The sound of heavy impacts echoed through the ship, followed by every klaxon hooked up to a speaker.
“It has attached itself to us,” Mgurn announced.
His voice was surprisingly calm. Or maybe that was my interpretation since he just wasn’t screeching like a banshee. I was busy doing that. It’s all about perspective.
Mgurn started to increase power to the thrusters, but a horrible wrenching noise put an end to that.
“You have arrived,” the navigation system stated, no longer the voice of the Naked Snake Lady. “You are now at your destination.”
The ship was
whipped back around to face the mountain. In front of us was the iron door, slowly being revealed as the huge shape swam its body off the mountainside. Before either of us could comment, not that I had much to say beyond Eeeeeeeeeee!, the ship was flung straight at the door.
Mgurn shoved all hands against the console in front of him. I did the same with my hooves as the door raced at us. Or we raced at it. Whatever.
It opened wide, and we were both blinded by a red light that hurt to look at. Yet we couldn’t look away.
I was somewhat pleased to hear that Mgurn had joined me in my screeching as the ship crossed the door’s threshold, and we were plunged into inky blackness.
Seven
The blackness lasted for all of a millisecond.
The ship exploded into the Daedalus System like a bat out of a watery, gripped by a sea monster, hell. Mgurn slammed a fist on the control console, and the view screen dimmed, keeping us from going blind by the harsh glare of the bright red star that sat directly in front of us.
“Logging location of quantum planet,” Mgurn stated. “I have the coordinates locked into the navigation system in case we need to return on autopilot.”
“That means we have to go back through that door,” I replied then shook my head. “Hey! No more screeching! Cool.”
“Yes, I am pleasantly aware of that fact, Joe,” Mgurn responded. “And, yes, we will have to go back through that door and into the water once again. I hope you do not obsess over that.”
“What? Me? Nah,” I said. “I’m too happy to be back in space instead of under that nasty ocean. We can deal with my bull panic when the time comes.”
“I look forward to it,” Mgurn said. He looked at me and gave me his best “I’m humoring Joe” smile. Then the smile turned legitimate. “Joe! Look at your hands!”
I glanced down and almost wept with joy. My hands were my hands once again. No more bull hooves.
“Holy foing crud!” I exclaimed and wiggled my fingers. “Oh, man, does this feel good!”
“I understand,” Mgurn said. “It’s like when an adolescent Leforian emerges from its pupal stage and—”
“Nope,” I said. “Do not ruin my moment with any story about pupal stages.”
Mgurn nodded and went quiet. He didn’t look offended. I think he was just happy that I wasn’t screeching anymore.
I fiddled with the scanners and furrowed my brow at the readings the ship received.
“There’s nothing here,” I said. “That star? Not here. All these planets? Not here. Not according to the scanners.”
“I was afraid of that,” Mgurn said. “Going through that door and coming out a quantum planet could create havoc with our scanners. The ship will need to acclimate itself to this system before we will be able to get any accurate readings.”
“Or any readings at all,” I said. “Right now we got nada, buddy.”
“I suggest we find a stationary position and observe the system with our eyes instead of the scanners,” Mgurn said.
“Not much choice,” I said. “Park us and let’s have a looksee.”
Mgurn flew us away from the quantum planet, as well as away from the bright red star. I was thankful for that because that big old sun was giving me one hell of a headache.
The Daedalus System was huge. It took us an hour to get to a spot that looked like it was out of the path of the ever-orbiting planets. Some of them moved like normal planets, appearing to be stuck in place, moving too slow for the human, or Leforian, eye to make out. But others whizzed by like comets. Whizzing planets are never a good thing when you are in a spaceship that is a fraction of their size.
“I’ll keep thrusters primed,” Mgurn said as we watched a planet zoom by so fast it was barely trackable. “Just in case.”
“Good call,” I said and started studying the system.
Planets everywhere, of all types and sizes. Huge gas planets, small gas planets. Water planets, desert planets, rust-colored planets. Planets made of molten rock that looked like they’d just been birthed from the cosmos. Planets of the darkest ebony, only visible because they were a black spot against the others that orbited behind them. Even a planet that I swear was all polka dots.
“Where do we start?” Mgurn asked.
“That’s the question,” I said. “Any hints from that old myth you were telling me?”
“No,” Mgurn said. “The labyrinth of myth had a distinct entrance. Everyone knew about it. I believe it even had a concession stand, in case someone felt the need for snacks and a drink as they walked inside to meet their fate.”
“You’re foing with me,” I said.
He shrugged. “That is how the story goes.”
“There has to be a way to know which planet to start with,” I mused. “Which one is the entrance? What would a planet look like if it was the entrance to a labyrinth?”
“Perhaps we are past that point?” Mgurn said. “I mean, we did just go through a giant door. That could have been the entrance, and now we are already in the labyrinth.”
“Good point,” I said. “That means each of these planets is now a possible way to go. Do we go left or right? Straight or back? This is a maze, so we had better choose wisely, or we’ll end up lost forever.”
“A labyrinth is not technically a maze,” Mgurn said. “It usually has one entrance that is also the exit. A maze usually has an entrance and an exit with many dead ends and false turns. A labyrinth could be considered an elaborate path that winds around itself until you reach the center.”
“Is that the center?” I asked as I pointed at the bright red star. “I really hope that’s not the center.”
“As do I,” Mgurn said. “But it is a reasonable assumption that what stands at the center of this system would be the center of the labyrinth. Even if we are speaking of a metaphorical labyrinth.”
We went silent and stared for a long time.
“Okay, let’s think this through,” I said. “We have already entered the labyrinth. We are on the path. We just have to follow it. But how? Which planet do we choose?”
“Perhaps we can choose any of them,” Mgurn said. “We have entered the labyrinth and now all we must do is move forward.”
“So how the hell is this a trial?” I asked. “Did the suckers that had to walk the labyrinth in the myth only have to worry about dying from boredom? Because this seems pretty damn easy to me.”
“Oh, no, there were tests and traps and many evils that could be found along the path of the labyrinth,” Mgurn said. “Just like in your vision.”
“My vision!” I exclaimed and smacked my forehead. It hurt, but I was so happy I had a normal hand to smack myself with that I didn’t care. “My vision told me where to start!”
“What was the first part of your vision?” Mgurn asked. “Was it the ring of fire?”
“Yeah,” I said. “So let’s go find a fire planet.”
“No, I do not think so,” Mgurn replied. “When you described it, you said you were standing in a ring of fire with nothing but black outside it. That does not sound like a fire planet. Quite the opposite.”
Mgurn engaged the thrusters and pointed us at the nearest planet that looked like pure ebony.
“We shall check out this planet first,” he announced like he was a tour guide. “Then proceed to the next one if we do not find a ring of fire.”
“And if we do find a ring of fire? Then what?” I asked. “My vision jumped me from place to place. It never showed me what I was supposed to do.”
“What we are supposed to do,” Mgurn said. “I am your assistant, and I will assist you in completing this quest.”
“Yeah, I got that, Mgurn,” I said. “I was speaking generally.”
“No, you were speaking specifically,” Mgurn said.
“Okay, whatever, I don’t want to argue,” I snapped.
“That is a good sign,” Mgurn said. “Perhaps that means your bullness is receding.”
“Or it means I’m exhausted and don’t
want to play word games with you,” I snapped some more.
We reached the ebony planet and both gulped at its size. It was one of the largest planets I had ever seen. We weren’t even close to reaching its outer atmosphere before it filled the entire view screen. I wasn’t even sure it had an outer atmosphere.
As if reading my mind, Mgurn said, “Airless. Absolutely zero atmosphere.”
“Then it can’t be our planet,” I said. “Fire needs air.”
“We should scout closer,” Mgurn said. “It would be wise of us to thoroughly search the planet before dismissing it. It is best to be sure rather than have to backtrack later because we missed something.”
“Then take us in close, and let’s see what there is to see,” I said.
He did, we did, there was nothing. We searched the entire planet, or as much as we could, and didn’t find any trace of a ring of fire. By the time we left the planet’s vicinity, I could feel myself getting grumpy again. My hands also throbbed, but I sat on them, afraid to look and see what transformation may have been happening all over again.
“Next planet,” Mgurn said as he took us dangerously close to the path of one of the faster orbiters. “Not nearly as large which means it will take less time to search.”
The blackness of the planet wasn’t as deep ebony as the other one. It had a charcoal quality to it. A hint of gray that lay just beneath the surface.
“Go to the north pole,” I said. A feeling had come over me and I wanted to explore it. “Or whatever serves as north for this planet.”
“Sensors do not pick up a magnetic field, so a magnetic north is not possible,” Mgurn said. “But when I take in the planet’s orientation to its closest neighbors, I believe I can approximate a true north.”
We flew down closer, and Mgurn brought us in on a sweeping approach to what looked like the top of the planet. There was an obvious thump and jostle to the ship as we entered the planet’s atmosphere. No clouds to make it visibly known that that was what we did. But I used to be a Fleet Marine and made many a drop inside a windowless troop transport. After a couple dozen of those, you learn what a blind atmospheric entry feels like, even with dampers on the ship.
