To his surprise and relief, there was no one guarding the inside, nor did there seem to have been much activity lately, at least this close to the exit. The sundust torches were far and few, leaving large gaps of almost complete darkness, but they revealed very little in the way of foot traffic.
During the stretches of darkness, he sprinted, knowing that no one would be able to see him even if they were looking right at him. When he was exposed to the light, he was much more careful, knowing that if someone else was in the shadows he would be visible. He stuck to the walls, crouching low and taking his time. His focus constantly switched from the torch he had passed to the next one in the cave, watching for any type of motion that might suggest trouble. With this pace, it was twenty minutes before he reached the end of the long stretching tunnel.
At first he thought he had come out into some sort of crater or valley within the mountain, but soon realized that it wasn’t the night sky above him. There were no stars or moon above, only absolute darkness. It was a large cavern. So large he could not see the roof or the far side.
He took a few steps in and surveyed the area. In the center of the room, spanning the distance beyond where light shown, was a large pit. There was no light at the bottom, but from what he could see of the pit, it made him think that this was a new dig. Whatever the reason these brutes were here probably had to do with what they found down there, and that worried Aegion. If the machine Anadilcia stole was any indication, this didn’t bode well for what else they may have found.
On either side of the tunnel that lead back to the surface, and at regular intervals along the wall, were passages that lead off into more darkness. About a fourth of the way around the pit, the earth dropped off, making it impossible for him to reach the other side, though he could see it was similar all the way around the room.
He peered down each tunnel as he passed, trying to make out any difference between them, but nothing stuck out. No noise or light emitted from any of the caves. Many of the exits were blocked by cave-ins while others had thick dust on the ground and walls. No one had traveled down those in years. This left him with a handful of often used paths to choose from.
He took his time, studying each of them carefully. He finally picked one based on the amount of foot traffic that seemed to have passed by most recently. He had never tracked humans before, but it wasn’t very different than animals. Besides that, it was the only tunnel that seemed to have evidence of something, or someone, being dragged along. Aegion hated to think of anyone being dragged that way, but it was the thought of Anadilcia that made his heart skip a beat. He needed to find her fast if he was to save her.
The path he took quickly forked, but only one path was lit. The closer he got to the light source, the weirder it looked to him. Instead of the normal blues, greens, and reds that a sundust lamp emitted, these lights were yellow-white. They also flickered, something that sundust lamps never did. This caused shadows to jump out from every direction, making it hard for him to keep hidden.
It wasn’t until he was near one that he realized they weren’t made of sundust and instead some sort of fire encased in glass with oil inside. He had never seen such a contraption and only imagined how dangerous it could be. In fact, it gave him an idea for a simple bomb he could construct, if the need arose. He quickly walked past these, hoping that one wouldn’t burst and catch him on fire as he went.
He followed the lit paths through another few turns and finally came to a door at the end. He felt lost and didn’t know if he could ever manage to find his way out, especially if he needed to hurry. He decided that, after this adventure, he would stay above ground.
On the other side of the door, he heard loud motorized machines working. He cracked the door open just enough to peer in and saw he had found some sort of control center. The whole room smelled like burning water and oil, almost causing Aegion to choke with his first breath.
The room was small and cramped. On the right side he saw two men sitting at a machine like Aegion had never seen. In the center was a screen that glowed green, some sort of language scrolling across, but he couldn’t make out what it said, or if it was even in a language he could understand.
On the opposite side of the room was two tables surrounded by chairs with dirty dishes strewn about. Beyond that was a door open to reveal empty sleeping quarters. He counted his lucky stars that it only seemed to be the two men about, and wondered how long his luck would hold.
After studying the rest of the room, something on the wall across from him caught his eye, a map of the mineshaft plastered to the wall. He knew he needed to get his hands on it, or at least get close enough to study it, but knew that he’d be seen the second he went any further into the room.
After a minute of thinking over his options, a plan came to mind and he put it into action.
He stood up and opened the door with the confidence of someone in charge. Despite the noise of the machines, the two men rose to their feet, hands on their sabers.
“I hope you two aint slackin off in here,” Aegion said, in the most proper way he knew how.
The two men just stared, dumbfounded.
“I’m making my rounds, per the bosses request. After the little incident last week with that little brat, things are going to change around here!”
“Y-yes, sir! I-I mean no, sir! We are not slacking! But, with all due respect, who are you?”
“Who am I? WHO AM I?” Aegion yelled, really not knowing what to say. “How DARE you ask who I am! Now, before I get upset, show me what it is you do here.”
They both scrambled to their stations, each talking fast, trying to explain their job.
“Quiet! One at a time!” He said, pointing to the man sitting to his left in front of the screen he had seen earlier.
“Okay, I monitor communications between this base and the rest around Gallia. Thanks to this nearly instant message system, we are able to know of any threats before they reach us. This one,” he said, pointing to a small box on the screen, “Is located at the outpost above. And the one next to it is linked to the outpost outside of Avignon. The people at the settlement have no idea we can see them 24 hours a day.”
So that’s how they knew I was there. Damn it, I need to disable this machine.
“And you?” Aegion asked the other man.
“I-I’m in charge of the dig. Well, not the dig itself, but monitoring the ground around the dig,” he paused, but continued when he saw the confused look on Aegion’s face, “We use sound waves to pass through the earth before we drill, allowing us to see if it’s worth drilling in that location. This is how we can be so efficient in finding new artifacts.”
The first man took another good look at Aegion. He had a feeling this ruse was at an end.
“Where did you say you were from again? Anyone who works with the boss should know all of this.”
Aegion stumbled over his words, trying to find an explanation, but none coming out. The men started to rise. Aegion reacted quick, using the grip of his pistols to knock out both men. They fell to the ground, unconscious, and Aegion quickly went to work shutting down the machines.
After pressing countless buttons and nothing working, he decided to do it his way. He pulled his pistols out once again and emptied two rounds into the glowing monitor and surrounding machines. The sound of machinery off in the distance continued, but there was no life to the ones in front of him, except a hissing sound from within.
“Now,” he said to himself out loud, “If there is no more distractions, I need to find my daughter.”
He took five minutes to study the map. The map only covered the parts of the mineshaft the brutes were using, thankfully. It consisted of two levels. He was currently on the upper level, which consisted mostly of living quarters, a kitchen, and small storage rooms. The bottom level was much more open, with only one main tunnel outside of The Pit that seemed to connect the two levels. However, this main tunnel had many rooms on either side that were not labeled.<
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He tried to remember what Anadilcia had told him about her escape and retraced her steps. While they didn’t make sense now that he had the map in front of him, he found what he believed to be the treasure room. He couldn’t believe it was actually labeled as ‘treasure room’, but it gave him a general idea of where she was most likely being held, assuming she’s still here at all.
Before he left, he tied the two men up tight against one of the beds. He didn’t need them to wake up and alert the whole place that they had an intruder. He also took one more shot into one of the machines that still lit up, causing a flame to erupt from within. He smiled and hurried out back into the tunnel and off to find Anadilcia.
* * * * *
He retraced his steps back towards The Pit, quicker this time than before. Thanks to the map, he knew this stretch of the tunnel was only used for those that went to and from the control center, which couldn’t have been very many people. The two he had incapacitated seemed to sleep, eat, and work in that room, so he wasn’t worried about anyone coming to check on them.
By the time he was half way back, he heard voices coming from ahead. It wasn’t long before he saw the lights from lanterns coming his way. He searched for a place to hide, but there was nothing. If he went back, they’d see him the second he reached the light, and there was no way to go around them. He crouched down against the wall, as far back into the darkness as he could, though he knew it wouldn’t matter.
He readied himself to fight, pistols in hand and legs bent to pounce. He counted more than a dozen men and knew, even with his skills, he was at a major disadvantage. His mind was racing as they got closer and closer, unsure if he would try to remain hidden or attack. He didn’t see either option with a positive outcome, but he had to choose quickly, or the choice would be made for him.
Their light was only a few feet from revealing him and he had resolved to attack. He stood up, still hugging the shadows and raised his pistol. He could take out at least four of them before they knew what happened, but after that it would all depend on how prepared they were.
He took aim, but before he could fire, he heard a whisper from the other side of the wall, “This way, hurry!”
This caught him with such surprise that he momentarily forgot the danger and stared into the darkness that covered the adjacent wall.
“Did you hear me? Hurry!” the voice said again.
He saw the slight glimmer of metal and leaped across the path and into a crack in the wall, slamming into a cloaked man who seemed more sturdy than a person of his size should be.
Aegion started to ask questions, but his savior shushed him just as the men passed by, none of them even giving the crack a glance. Aegion quickly went over the map in his head once more and knew for sure this path wasn’t supposed to be here. In fact, he was pretty sure the crack wasn’t there a few minutes ago. And he was right.
As soon as they had all past by, the cloaked man slid a rock into place, hiding the crack once more. He pushed Aegion forward, still not saying a word. When the path grew big enough, the man passed him by and took the lead.
The path sloped down slightly, although Aegion couldn’t be sure how much. They finally reached a room that had nothing more than a table and chairs in it.
“Please, sit. We don’t have much time.”
“Who are you, and what are you doing in here?”
“Listen to me, we don’t have time for that now. Assuming everything goes right, I’ll answer all your questions later. For now, you just need to listen.”
Aegion didn’t like the idea of taking orders from this man, but he had saved his life, so Aegion remained quiet.
“I assume you’re here for the girl, correct?”
Aegion nodded.
“The item she stole the first time I helped her escape, did they get it back?”
“As far as I know they did. It ain’t back where we were at.”
“That’s not good, not good at all. That item she stole was more dangerous than you could imagine, and what’s worse is the dumb brutes who brought her back inadvertently activated it when they tried to take it from her. If we don’t get to it and deactivate it, or dispose of it somehow, countless lives will be lost.
“I know how to deactivate it, but unfortunately I am not well enough to find it myself. You need to get to the item and bring it to me. I’ll be wait-”
“Now, hold on a minute. I get what yer sayin and all, but savin my daughter is my number one priority.”
“Don’t you get it? If you can’t get the item back to me, there will be no where for you to go with her on Gallia!”
“Nothin for me here, anyway. I’ve been thinkin of leavin this place behind.”
The hooded man was silent for what seemed like minutes. When he finally spoke, it was with defeat in his voice, “You are a fool. However, a fool with a purpose is better than a wise man without one.”
“Don’t get me wrong, assumin there’s time after I find her, I’ll get yer item to ya, just know that if I don’t leave here with her, I don’t leave at all.”
“That is acceptable. Now we must hurry, there is not much time left before it will activate,” he said, standing up and leading Aegion down another path, “When you reach the item, you will see lights emitting from one side. There are five in total. Each one represents a stage in the process. Once it reaches the fifth light, it will change to a green color. This means the item is primed and very little time left. Once it turns red, it is beyond the point of being stopped, let us hope that is not something you see.
The path was tight and sloped down at a much steeper degree. When they reached a dead end, the hooded man pushed the rock aside and they both stepped out into what Aegion could only describe as an identical cave as before, although he knew they had descended to the bottom level.
“Head left to find Anadilcia, I believe she should be kept in the furthest room on the right. The treasure room will be straight ahead past that. Coming back down this way,” he turned to point down the opposite side of the tunnel, “will lead you back up near the entrance where you came in. I will be waiting near The Pit for you.”
“I’ll do the best I can. Thank ya for all yer help,” Aegion said, running down the tunnel without looking back. He only had one thing on his mind.
* * * * *
After leaving the mysterious hooded man, Aegion found himself in a maze of large, stacked crates. He knew he had to reach the far side, but that seemed to be more of a challenge than he had anticipated. The last thing he needed at this point would be to cause a scene and alert the whole place of his presence. Most turns lead him to dead ends, drop offs, or men hiding in the maze taking a nap, slacking off on their duties.
One in particular almost made him yell out in surprise, and fright. He came face-to-face with some sort of monster, red eyes and teeth dripping with saliva. It looked hungry and wanted a piece of Aegion. It looked similar to some of the creatures he had seen in The Wilds, but somehow different. Luckily it was locked in a cage, but it still let out a screech when it saw him and fought to free itself. It even bit at the metal bars that held it in. He quickly turned back and got out of there. He doubted the thing was strong enough to bite through the metal bars, but didn’t want to stick around to find out.
Throughout the whole ordeal, he heard voices coming from either side of the crates. He was careful not to make any noise, especially when the voices were only one or two crates away. After twenty minutes of this, he was so frustrated that he looked for an alternate way of getting around. He studied the creates, they seemed to be solid enough, so he looked for an area and climbed the crate-wall. This wasn’t ideal, as anyone looking in his direction would see him, but he was done sneaking around on the ground.
They weren’t exactly stable, but they held his weight. When he reached the top, he dropped to his stomach and surveyed the area. He was right, there were a lot of people down here, at least five dozen consisting of both men and women, all armed with a pisto
l at the very least. A few even held guns that took two hands to hold. He shook his head, thinking how impractical such a weapon would be, but figured there must be some good use for them.
Once he was sure that no one would see him, he searched for a path to take. Of course, he could just drop down on the other side of the wall, there was enough shadows to hide him, but then he’d have to make his way past the brutes, and with that many eyes he doubted he had a chance.
Instead, he looked back to the maze of crates and saw his answer. About half way to the other side of the room there was a crate that didn’t belong. He had seen it while wandering, but didn’t pay it much attention at the time. It was now obvious to him that if he simply moved it to the side, he’d reach the far end in the matter of minutes.
Frustrated that such a minor obstacle kept him from his daughter for so long, he jumped to the floor with a thump. His carelessness landing caused conversation on the other side of the crates to stop.
“Did you hear that?”
“Yeah, what was it?”
“I-I don’t know, sounded like someone walking around back there.”
Aegion froze and even held his breath, not wanting to make a single noise.
“It’s probably that forsaken creature loose again. They need to keep that thing locked up in a room where it can’t get out.”
“Y-you mean that thing can chew through metal bars?”
“Done it before. I’ll call for the trainer, he’ll take care of it.”
“Alright, cause I sure don’t want to deal with it!”
Aegion sighed with relief and continued on his way, resolving to not let his emotions get the better of him again.
Sure enough, once he moved the discolored crate out of his path, he reached the other side of the room unimpeded. He was also surprised to see that no one stood in the way of his exit into the hall that the hooded man indicated should hold his daughter.
Luck don’t fail me now, almost there Anadilcia. And I swear, if they put even a finger on ya, they’re gonna pay.
The hall he entered was well lit and consisted of four doors on each side and one on the far wall, which he knew lead to the treasure room. Out of the eight doors along the walls, only four were closed, the ones closest to the treasure room. He crept along the wall and checked each of the open rooms and was relieved to find them empty. He didn’t know which of the closed rooms held his daughter, so he started with the closest one.
The Planet Without A Sun (Sinesol Universe) Page 8
