Timidly, he leaned close to the door and put his ear against it. He couldn’t hear anything, although, maybe the doors were too thick. Stepping back, Neutrino took a deep breath and decided it was best to just open it quickly. He pushed the door release button and jumped out of the way as the doors slid quietly open. He held his breath, expecting to hear something, but it was just as silent outside as it was within the control room. Slowly Neutrino peeked around the edge of the door.
Everything was perfect. There were handsomely crafted buildings and clean streets. Twin suns were shiny brightly on the city, but it was not terribly hot. A cool breeze gently blew across his face. Except perhaps, the need for a few trees and bushes here and there, it was all quite beautiful and strangely serene, but at the same time, it didn't seem normal. The streets, like the base, were deserted. It was as though he were standing in a miniature model of the city. Nothing stirred but his hair as the wind blew through it.
Neutrino took a few more steps and began to investigate his surroundings further. The buildings were mostly shades of blue and only one or two levels tall. The dirt ground was the same pale white color as the floor in the port. He moved further down the street and many of the buildings seemed to turn from businesses to homes or apartments. He glanced down an alley as he passed and noticed some open spaces between these homes; a common area perhaps? There were some brightly colored children’s toys lying in the dirt, but no children to play with them. As Neutrino passed one home, he smelled a wonderful fragrance wafting through a door that had been left open.
Food!
Forgetting for a moment where he was and what he was doing, Neutrino quickened his pace following the sweet scent of dinner. He didn’t remember how starved he was until the delicious smell of food crossed his path. He entered the small but comfortable little house and walked through a curved hallway into the kitchen. On the table was a wonderful spread of food better than that of the fanciest holiday at his household. His mother couldn’t cook, she could burn.
Neutrino was so starved he nearly dove right in. Instead he paused at the eeriness of it all. The table was beautifully laid out with delicious smelling food that no one had taken the time to eat. There was a wonderful golden bird of some kind, stuffing, and leafy blue vegetables he didn’t recognize but looked delicious all the same. He took off his gloves and touched the bird, it wasn’t hot, but it wasn’t entirely cold either. The food had probably been sitting out for a few hours at most. There was also a loaf of fresh baked bread that had been half sliced. All of it had obviously been cooked with great care and they didn’t even take it with them, they were in such a hurry to leave. It occurred to him that they may not have had time to leave, they could have been...
Neutrino wasn't sure. An attack would have been evident by injured people and destroyed buildings. The streets would have been chaotic, instead of this odd peacefulness.
The table was set for five. There was an overturned chair at one end of the table. As hungry as he was, Neutrino decided he wanted to look around a little more before he ate these people’s food. There were two other thresholds leading away from the kitchen. One looked as though it led to sleeping quarters; the other had a large wooden door which had been left open, revealing a flight of stairs descending into darkness. He thought it was better to check out the bedrooms first. It appeared to be the best place to learn about where he was. Besides, subterranean areas always freaked him out a little. It just seemed unnatural to be below ground.
Neutrino walked into the hallway. He turned left and entered the first room. There was no door, just an arched entrance. Inside was a dirt shelf carved out of the wall with a cushion that looked like it was used as a bed, a dresser made from a strange metal, and a few dolls. It was obviously a little girl’s room. The walls were bare but for a couple of drawings that had been tacked up; one of a red and purple flower, another of a four-legged animal. Neutrino went over to the drawers and opened one; all of the clothes were still neatly folded. Judging by the number of arm and leg holes, (two each), he assumed these people were not unlike him. In fact, it was probable that they had come from one of the Central Worlds, maybe even Venthall, to colonize this planet. So many people had left the last few years, searching for a better life. What kind of life did they find here? He tossed the clothes back into the drawer, turned and walked out, stepping over a doll in a green dress as he did so.
In the next room he found two beds and a bigger set of drawers. Opening the drawers he found clothing for boys, probably only a few years younger than Neutrino, about thirteen to fifteen years old, once again still neatly folded. These boys had even fewer possessions than the little girl. There wasn’t much to investigate, so Neutrino continued on to the last room.
I hope there’s more in this room than the others, he thought. His stomach growled angrily.
The last room had one large bed carved out of the wall and a dresser. It also had the only picture he had seen in the whole house. It was a family portrait showing all five family members, although the little girl was still just an infant, so it was probably taken years ago, perhaps before they came to this world. They were indeed like him, except that any of the few family portraits taken with his mother never came out so well. These people were all smiling happily. The father was a large man, gruff and well-muscled, but he had kind eyes and a genuinely pleased look on his face. The mother was pretty and slender with long, straight hair. The two boys looked like they could be twins, or at least they were very close in age. They all had brown hair and hazel eyes except for the little girl. Her hair was more red and wild and her eyes were clear blue. Neutrino could only imagine what she looked like now. He felt queasy and hungry at the same time. Enough of this nonsense, he was going to eat.
Neutrino marched purposefully into the kitchen and tossed his gloves on the table. He ripped a leg off the bird and began gracelessly eating. As he bit into it, he began filling a plate with the other food. Even though it was not hot it was still quite excellent, much better than the food his mother prepared, or anything he ate in the Academy cafeteria for that matter. Whoever made it was obviously a gifted chef. Neutrino silently thanked him or her as he made quick work of the first helping and began filling his plate again. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so hungry. The food felt so good and comforting and normal. Neutrino closed his eyes and imagined he was eating at a fancy restaurant with a beautiful girl someplace far, far away.
“What are you doin’ here?!” an angry shout woke Neutrino from his daydream. He half stood but lost his balance and fell backward over the chair. “What are you doin’ in my house?!” the voice yelled again. Neutrino tried to get up but froze at the sight of a Henninger blast gun pointed directly at him. Just beyond it, he recognized the face of the man in the picture, although he was not smiling now.
5. The Man in the Picture
“Why have you come here?!” the man asked angrily. Neutrino hesitated, he was too shocked to speak. He just stared at the mountain of a man, painfully aware of how hard it was to breathe. When Neutrino didn’t answer, the man demanded, “Where is my wife? What did you do with her?”
“I…uh…” Neutrino stammered. What in the world is he talking about?
“Tell me or I’ll shoot! Who are you? What are you doin’ here?” Neutrino looked down the barrel of the blast gun. It looked so harmless with its bright yellow color and shiny silver trim. It hardly seemed like it could destroy a life, but of course, it was quite lethal. At this range, Neutrino probably wouldn’t have any head left at all if the man shot him.
“I’m…” a bead of sweat dripped down the side of his face. Suddenly, he went from not being able to say anything, to babbling on and on. He recounted everything that had happened to him from the moment the Slipstream broke to the moment he found himself in the street outside. “…and I smelled the food and came into your house to eat. My compliments to the chef by the way, the food was excellent.” He winced at his own stupidity for making such a dumb comment.
He always seemed to have at least one foot in his mouth and nervousness caused perpetual babbling. Fortunately, the man didn’t seem to notice or care. He had sunken into a chair as he heard this jumbled tale, appearing to age and wilt with its telling. He looked at Neutrino as though he were trying to decide whether to believe him or not.
“So, you don’t know where my wife and the others are?” he asked woefully.
Neutrino shook his head, “I’m not even supposed to be here.” At that, the man lost all composure and began weeping pitifully.
Neutrino wasn’t sure what to do. He felt thoroughly confused by the whole situation. Should he comfort the man? Should he just stay where he was?
He’s obviously unstable; he’ll probably shoot me if I move too quickly. Or sit on me. Or both. He took in the man’s impressive size which was much more formidable in person, and decided it was best to just stay right where he was.
Neutrino looked around at the slowly darkening room and sighed. One or both of the suns must have been setting; the light coming from the skylight over the table had taken on a purplish hue. It was several more long minutes and Neutrino was actually beginning to get a little bored when he finally decided it was probably safe to speak. The man had quieted except for the occasional sob and now just seemed to be lost in thought. Neutrino wasn’t even sure the man still knew he was there.
“Um, sir?” He said quietly so as not to startle him. When the man didn’t say anything Neutrino asked him, “Are you alright, sir?”
The man wiped his nose on his sleeve which made Neutrino cringe slightly, (there was a napkin right next to him!), then he looked down at Neutrino as if he were actually seeing him for the first time. His deep set eyes were puffy and red from weeping.
“I’m sorry if I scared you. When I came up from the Under City and saw you sittin’ there I thought you were one of them.”
“Them?” Neutrino asked. He furrowed his brow as he often did when he was puzzled. His mother thought it made him look old rather than intelligent. She told him several times all about the wrinkles he would get. Funny that he would think of that at a time like this, way out here, wherever he was.
“I don’t know who they were really. We were just sittin’ down to dinner when it happened,” the man sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve again. “Suddenly, there was a light in the sky and a commotion on the street. Telia, my wife, was just comin’ down the hall after sendin’ the kids in. She heard the noises and went to the door to see what was happenin’.” The man paused as tears began to drip from his eyes again. “I called out to her but I was too late. A bright white light enveloped her and she disappeared right before my eyes. She didn’t even have time to scream, she was… She just…” The man began weeping again in earnest. Even though he was a rather large, burly man, and even though he was still holding the blast gun, he didn’t seem frightening or powerful at all now, sitting there all crumpled like he was.
“Then what happened?” Neutrino asked gently.
The man straightened up slightly and continued through his tears, “Then? Then I ran. I hurriedly pushed and carried my children down the Dark Stair to the Under City before the light got them too.” Suddenly the man looked up at the skylight. The suns had obviously now set. The sky was darkening but not completely black. It was that time of evening when the light leaves, but the memory of it still touches the world. The man stood up and the unexpected motion startled Neutrino.
“We have to go,” he said, “It may not be safe here after dark. I don’t know if that light took the ylmax beasts or not, we should be so lucky, but if it didn’t…” He paused, a concerned look on his face. “We need to go now.”
The man changed almost instantaneously from a crumpled mess to a man of action. He moved with a surprising quickness towards the bedrooms. He scooped up the doll with the green dress and shoved it into his shirt while Neutrino stared at him. Confused by the sudden activity; it took his brain some time to catch up with what was happening.
“Well? Come on!” The man yelled, “The suns have already set, the ylmax may have already reached the city. They could be here anytime.” He came back to the table and searched its surface for a moment before grabbing a large serving spoon and shoving it into his belt. Then he moved to where Neutrino still sat on the cold dirt floor thoroughly confused, and grabbed him by the arm. He pulled Neutrino to the door and pushed him inside. Still feeling slightly embarrassed about being dragged around as easily as the doll in the green dress, Neutrino stared down the long dark stair and thought he might prefer to take his chances with the ylmax.
“What’s a ylmax?” Neutrino asked as the man, now that he was thinking more clearly, stopped to close and bolt the door. All light vanished. It was like being eaten by the darkness. Neutrino's stomach knotted a little more tightly as the lock clicked. He began to wish he hadn't been so greedy at the dinner table.
“Ylmax beasts,” the man's voice echoed in the darkness, he was doing something but Neutrino couldn't see what, "are nasty three-legged creatures that only come out of their caves when the suns set.” Neutrino winced at the sudden light of a torch that the man had just lit. The man continued as he handed Neutrino his torch and prepared another one, "The ylmax will eat any livin’ thing big or small. It can crush a man with its third foot and its scaly exterior is impenetrable to blast guns or blades.”
“But you don't go below ground every night?" Neutrino asked, "I saw beds in your rooms."
The man lit the second torch, sighed and made a face, “Normally the defense grid keeps them out of the city but, with what’s happened, it's not likely functionin’, and I’d rather not take my chances." The man looked directly at Neutrino. He had a sad quietness about him.
"My name is Creet,” he said, holding out his hand.
“Neutrino,” he replied, taking Creet’s hand.
“I’m sorry if I didn't introduce myself before and,” he looked down in an embarrassed way, “I'm sorry about all of my blubberin’. My wife always said I had a soft gooey center." His eyes got a little misty at the mention of his wife. Neutrino was afraid he would start crying again but a loud bang from just beyond the door brought him back.
“We should go now,” Creet whispered hurriedly. He started down the steps. Neutrino hesitated. He stomach was still all twisted in knots and he felt slightly dizzy. He put his hand out to steady himself. The feel of the uneven rock under his fingertips reminded him of his gloves. He had left his gloves in the kitchen.
“Hey," Neutrino hissed, “I have to get my gloves.”
Creet turned to face him. "You'll have to leave ‘em," he whispered.
“But I can’t stream without my gear!” Neutrino whisper-yelled. His commander would tear him to shreds if he found out Neutrino left his gear lying around. A Slipstream Messenger is nothing without his gear! Protect it like you would protect your mama! Neutrino always thought Commander Trask should meet his mother before telling him something like that.
“We have no choice, if you go out there now you won't stand a chance," Creet whisper-yelled back, his dark eyes bright in the torchlight. Neutrino hesitated.
I can’t do this.
“Well, are you comin’ or not?” Creet insisted.
Neutrino didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to go down the stairs but he didn’t want to get eaten either. “I think I’ll just wait here until morning,” he decided.
“I wouldn't do that if I were you. If a ylmax detects the scent of your fresh meat sittin’ there, I doubt that door would stop him. The Dark Stair is narrow on purpose; they can’t get down ‘em, but you might not be able to move out of the way fast enough if a ylmax breaks down that door. Of course, I suppose you could just move down the Stair a ways and wait, but who knows how long that will take and in the meantime you’d be alone, in the dark." Creet stared him directly in the eye, as though he could see right through him.
Neutrino looked worriedly at the door, then back down the stairs. He hated everything about t
his whole situation. He hated the Slipstream for bringing him here, and he was even beginning to hate his mother for pushing him into it. He had no choice other than to follow Creet down into the darkness.
6. Darkness
The Dark Stair was aptly named; Neutrino doubted he would be able to see his finger until he poked himself in the eye with it if not for the torchlight. He couldn’t see at all beyond Creet and he had no idea how long the Stair was. It seemed to be unending. Sometimes they came to a small landing where there would be an entrance to another set of steps leading up. Neutrino could just barely recognize some kind of writing above the entrances, but he couldn't read it. Creet explained that the Stair was like a giant root system in reverse, leading from the deepest portion of the Under City to the surface and that each off shoot led to other people’s homes or businesses in the city. Occasionally, they would come to a landing and turn into another root that would go both up and down, but they of course, much to Neutrino’s displeasure, continued to descend.
In addition to being dark, unending, and very narrow, the Dark Stair was also extremely steep. Neutrino had already stumbled twice and if Creet hadn't been right in front of him, blocking the way with his broad shoulders, Neutrino could have tumbled on into oblivion. He could only imagine how squeezed Creet must have felt, but he seemed to be used to it.
Creet made walking down the Dark Stair look very easy. There was a lightness to his step that suggested he was in fact more comfortable below ground. Neutrino, however, was miserable and he had no idea how long his misery would last. To distract him from his panic stricken feelings of claustrophobia, he began to ask Creet questions.
Slipstream Messenger (Neutrino Book 1) Page 3
