by John Walker
“You want to split up?” Kyle asked the question even as she moved out. He sighed, sprinting down the hall. He tripped, stumbling for a good ten paces before bouncing off the wall and spilling. Landing hard on his side, he rolled into a stalagmite. Pain danced through his ribs as he pushed himself up.
“Shit!” Kyle checked the cube, letting out a sigh of relief when he found it intact. That’s just what we needed. Me trashing the damn thing. He turned back to where he was heading. He’d made it to the end of the wall without finding a way through. I hope to God there wasn’t another hidden door.
“I found an archway.” Lysa’s voice buzzed in his ear but at least he was able to make out the comment. “Get over here quick as you can.”
“I’m on my way. This place is treacherous, be careful. I took a spill.” A hollow feeling on his left forearm felt like a nasty scrape. He took a look as he picked up the pace, sneering at a patch of blood staining his sleeve. Excellent. That’s what I was hoping for. Goddamn it! Glancing over his shoulder, he tried to make out the way they came in.
The air warbled with heat, making it impossible to make out any details but… he swore he saw some kind of movement. A blur of something as it came into the passage. His heart raced as he once again broke into a sprint. Throwing caution out the window made him nervous after his fall. It didn’t feel like he had a choice.
“Lysa!” Kyle gulped air before he kept speaking. “I think they’re in the big room!”
A high-pitched crack echoed in the room. Something red flashed behind him. The wall next to his head exploded into pebbles that showered down on him. Instinct made him duck as he kept moving. Additional blasts hit the wall around him, chasing him until he found the archway.
Lysa returned fire on the attackers, shooting blindly with her pistol. The cracks of her projectiles sounded like little more than a pop gun in comparison to whatever their pursuers were using. He passed by her into the next room then whipped out his rifle. Pressing against the wall, he took aim and peeled off a couple bursts.
“Do what you’ve gotta do in there!” Kyle shouted. “I’ll… I’ll hold them off.”
“What the hell were they shooting?” Lysa asked as she headed off. “Do you have any idea?”
“Not a damn clue!” The scope on his rifle gave him a view of his targets. He took a knee, lowering his profile to be a harder target to hit. Five figures stood near the door they came through, taking cover behind natural pillars. They continued firing in his direction but their shots went wide, as if they thought he might be on the other side of the passage.
Taking aim, he popped three rounds on one of the men. The bullets made contact, riding up from the chest to the helmet. None of them did a damn thing. Wait, what the hell? He did it again, another couple shots that hit the enemy armor with absolutely no effect at all. His blood ran cold despite the heat.
“We have a serious problem.” Kyle leaned back into full cover as the strange beams hit the wall where he hid, chipping away at it. He slipped into the room with Lysa. “Their armor… I scored direct hits! Nothing happened!”
“What’s that even mean?” Lysa worked at a tall console nearby, tapping away at a strange panel. “Are you sure you hit?”
“I’m positive! Come on, you know me! I’m a damn good shot! What the hell’s going on? These guys must be aliens! And they’ve got the beam weapons to prove it! Once they realize we can’t hurt them, they’re going to charge the hell in here! What are you even doing? What’s going on?”
“These are generators,” Lysa replied. She backed away, gesturing for him to follow her. “And they are rigged to blow. Come on!”
“How do you know that?” Kyle shouted. Exasperation won out over fear. “What did you even do?”
“Found the coolant line,” Lysa said, “yanked it then tapped a thing until it started humming really loud. My tablet said the temperature went up by thirty degrees. That sounds like it’s aching to explode to me. The passage up ahead should lead out… and probably keep us safe. I hope.”
“What?”
“Well, I mean, it could collapse too and kill us.” Lysa looked over her shoulder. “Seems like we’re looking at that happening one way or another though so I chose to risk crushing versus being shot by… whatever that stuff was.”
I guess I can’t argue that. Kyle swallowed past a dry throat. His legs ached, his muscles cramped. Most of it came down to stress, total panic threatening to rob him of his ability to think. Get it under control! You wanted to see the unknown, you jack ass! You got your wish! Now deal with it.
***
Niesh grabbed one of his soldiers, dragging him behind cover. When the attack hit his man, he saw the sparks on the armor. When the attack didn’t take him down, that was a curious development. One that put their quarry in a very different light. Their explosive may have been deadly, but if their hand weapons couldn’t penetrate their armor…
He ran a scan over the impact point. The readings showed no appreciable damage. Even sustained fire might not get through. Multiple sources may not even have the firepower to take down Kahl defenses. All those facts made things very different. His people didn’t need to take cover anymore.
They needed to charge.
Time to finish this.
“Get in there,” Niesh yelled. “They can’t even hurt you! Rush them!”
Niesh watched the soldiers charge, eight armored men. When he witnessed two individuals fleeing, he figured they only had to save one. He allowed his forces to open fire. Now, they didn’t have to bother. Their opponents didn’t represent any threat whatsoever. Much like their pathetic starship, these creatures had been hampered by their employers.
As his people hustled through to the next room, Niesh reached out to Kivda for a quick report.
“Sir, do you hear me? We have settled the situation. The enemy forces are—”
The floor shook, rocks tumbling from the ceiling. An explosion shattered pillars around him, sending stalactites crashing into the lava pools. Niesh hit the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of him. The impact went right through his armor, sapping his strength until his arms and legs felt like dead weights attached to his aching trunk.
“Niesh!” Kivda shouted through the speaker. Something topside must’ve given away what happened though he couldn’t imagine what it might’ve been. They were deep underground, near the generators storing power from the geothermal collection sites. He crawled as pebbles and stones rained down upon him, clattering off his armor.
“Come in!” Kivda continued shouting. “Respond! What’s going on down there? What’s that smoke?”
They must’ve detonated the generators. Niesh figured that had to be the only thing that made sense. The HUD on his helmet’s visor flickered a couple times before solidifying again. The life signs of all eight soldiers were gone. Every one of them died, likely obliterated in the explosion.
I lost the entire company. Crawling to his feet, Niesh stumbled toward the exit, the direction they’d come from. Chunks of the ceiling crashed down around him, boulders easily large enough to crush him dead. He reached the tunnel, hesitant to enter, but he had no choice. If he stayed, he’d be buried alive. Which might happen anyway.
His lungs burned as he picked up the pace, half running, half controlling a continuous fall. The incline became especially hard and the constant tremors didn’t do him any favors. He found his voice some thousand paces away from the carnage behind him though he did not feel safe yet.
“They’re all dead,” Niesh said. “The men. Generator explosion… our quarry… probably died in the explosion. I… I can’t say for sure.” He coughed, hacking hard as spikes of pain flooded his torso. Something’s broken. The familiar taste of blood filled his mouth. He had to swallow it.
“Get topside!” Kivda shouted. “Move, soldier! Move!”
“I’m… on my… on my way…” Niesh tripped, pounding his knee into the rock. Fortunately, the armor had managed to absorb the impact,
but it still jarred him enough to exacerbate his chest problems. He tried to stand… his legs wouldn’t respond. Crawling seemed like a good idea. Three pulls made him collapse.
Just… have to rest… for a moment. Self-preservation screamed at him to get up. His body ignored the cry. No. I’ll be fine. Just… have to catch my breath. He took a wheezing gasp. The walls cracked around him, high-pitched sounds of destruction. Part of the ceiling caved in, dust and debris covering his legs.
Numbness followed sharp agony. Niesh struggled to get away as another part of the corridor collapsed, pinning him to the ground. No amount of squirming, no effort nor desperation would free him. He settled in for what came next, quiet oblivion… difficulty breathing… heart racing.
It stopped. Sound faded. And all the lights in his helmet flickered out.
***
“Niesh!” Kivda shouted the name at least five more times. He clenched his fists. “He’s not responding. Benth…” He drew a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. The scanner showed a massive energy spike within the temple, an explosion of incredible power. He half expected the structure to cave in on itself.
Radiation from the blast killed their sensors. Penetrating the immediate area would be impossible for a while. The computer continued to churn away, calculating how long he had to wait before he’d have actionable data again. We’ll never get the bodies of our people back. He thought.
“Sir?” A voice filled Kivda with a brief moment of hope. “Sir, I’m nearly to the temple with our wounded. I’ll need immediate—”
The roof of the tomb collapsed, the entire structure caving in on itself. This took the rocks above with it, turning the cliff into a larger ravine. The campsite of their quarry partially went down, their broken transmitter going over along with the shelters. Kivda watched the whole disaster unfold in total awe.
And now they’re all dead. The thought filled him with rage. Those soldiers had not been the absolute best of the bunch, but they had been with the ship for several cycles. Long enough to be trusted on important missions. To have lost them all to a couple Prytin saboteurs… thieves. Plunderers. This is unacceptable.
“We have to find those two,” Kivda said, “but we can’t do it alone.” He shook his head. “Take us back to the ship, Benth. Fast as you can.” I’ll be back, you two animals. You can’t go anywhere. And when I return, we’ll continue this hunt. You will beg me for death before the end and I swear, you will not receive any such mercy.
The vow stopped abruptly. Kivda closed his eyes in an effort to calm down. Emotion will not make this easier. Emotion will get more people killed. He dreaded the idea of telling Renz what happened. The general did not take setbacks well. Nevertheless, he’d have some questions about why the shuttle was on its way back.
“Renz,” Kivda cleared his throat. “We’re on our way back.”
“Where did you find them?” Renz asked. “Where were they hiding?”
Kivda let out a slow breath. That’s one way to look at it. He chewed his lip for a moment before replying. “I’m afraid I have some bad news, sir. I’ll tell you when I get there. We’ll see you very soon.” He turned off the comm. Any more interaction needed to happen in person. He had no intention of being yelled at on an open channel.
***
Kyle trailed behind Lysa as they made their way through a narrow passage leading up. They needed another twenty yards before he’d feel entirely comfortable that their pursuers couldn’t just aim inside and blast them. Unfortunately, it wasn’t easy going. More like a serious hike up the side of a mountain.
Bits of rock jutted up from the ground making every step perilous. Once they reached the point where they couldn’t see the entrance anymore, the passage narrowed, shrinking. Kyle never had a problem with enclosed spaces before, not after some of the things he had to do while in the military, but that tunnel brought on a threat of panic.
Christ, if this gets too narrow… The thought brought on a moment of hyperventilation, a state he struggled with for a good five yards before mastering himself.
“You okay?” Kyle asked. He figured directing his attention to Lysa might make it easier to get through the next part of their adventure. “Like… are you worried?”
“Of course I am,” Lysa said. “And this is way too tight of a fight but it opens up a little.”
“You think this leads out?”
“Scans show a considerable temperature drop ahead. Three hundred yards more. It’ll get steep though. Be ready for some actual climbing.”
Excellent.
The whole place shook violently. Kyle’s ears began to ring before he even registered the sound of the explosion. He gritted his teeth, anticipating the moment when they’d be crushed to death in that small space. We’re about to be entombed in here. No one will ever find our bodies.
Dust fell around them, filling the air. Kyle coughed, struggling to keep his reaction subtle to avoid sucking more into his lungs. He pulled his shirt up over his face to act as a basic filter. Anything to help alleviate the hazard.
The ground continued to shake long after the initial shock of the explosion settled as if the land itself protested the event. Stone split around them, deep inside the walls. Pebbles fell behind followed by genuine rocks. Kyle glanced back, noting the entrance to their tunnel had been sealed.
“Keep moving!” Lysa shouted. Her voice broke as she coughed several times but she never stopped climbing. Her tenacity impressed him, especially with the world literally falling apart around them.
Their lights went out but still they climbed. Crawling through the darkness, moving along the jagged rocks while scraping their shoulders and legs on the sharper parts. The heat made the confined space utterly miserable. Combined with the darkness, the rumbling, the disgusting scent, Kyle had no idea why he wasn’t panicking.
Lysa stopped in front of him. He bumped into her leg. “What… what’s up?” He had a hard time speaking, barely managed to speak above a whisper.
“I’m a little stuck.”
Those four words finally pushed him over the line. If she couldn’t get through, then he’d be screwed. There was no way he could fit through something stopping her. Going back wasn’t an option. The walls closed in. He felt then clinging to him everywhere he moved. Unable to lift his head without bumping it made him scrabble forward, shoving at her.
“Hey!” Lysa shouted. “Stop! What’re you doing?”
Additional stones cracked. She cried out as something gave way. She squirmed through as bits of the volcanic rock making up the wall crumbled into dust. Kyle reached the point she’d been unable to progress. It was a tight fit for his hips, enough so that he strained until his face burned from exertion, his muscles complained.
A cool breeze tickled his cheek. Eyes wide, he sensed escape. A chance to be free of the cave network completely. That spurred him on but he had to remove the backpack. Slipping it off, he pulled himself through, letting out a scream as the walls tore at his skin through his pants. Once he felt himself break free, he turned to grab his belongings.
Somewhere along the way, he lost his gun. It’s useless anyway. He tried to assure himself. Lysa still has her pistol. Dragging the pack through, he continued up the way until dim light from outside filled the tunnel with a dull glow. The dark sky loomed from a cave above him. We made it! Holy shit!
“I’m out!” Lysa called after him. Her voice sounded dead in the cave, absorbed by the porous rock. “Come on, Kyle! Move!”
“I’m working on it!” Kyle got close enough to see her hand poking through. He gave her the bag rather than using it for himself. She pulled it away, allowing him to focus solely on getting out himself. He drew a deep breath of fresh air before slumping on his side, legs still inside the tunnel.
Lysa dragged him the rest of the way out. “It could still collapse. The last thing we want is for your foot to be caught.”
“Christ…” Kyle closed his eyes. “I… I’m sorry, back there. I lost it. Panicke
d. The situation, the rocks, the dark… I… when you said you were stuck, I…”
“It’s okay.” Lysa took his hand. “Really. We’re fine. We made it. Everything’s fine.”
“At least… at least we won’t be crushed to death.” Kyle tried to sit up. His muscles wouldn’t respond. “God, where are we? How far away from the site?”
“Far.” Lysa showed him her tablet. They were five miles from their campsite. Local time showed there’d be six hours until dawn. “Notice anything scary about these readings? The topography of the map?”
“I don’t… know?” Kyle peered at it. “What am I looking at?”
“The site’s been buried,” Lysa said. “Our camp’s gone too. Everything. Our supplies, the computers, the ship… we lost it all.” She patted the pack. “Hopefully this cube is something or we will be seriously screwed. In ways I cannot even fathom.”
“We’re alive.” Kyle closed his eyes. “All that matters right now is we survived. The rest… we’ll worry about later.”
“Like the fact we’re still being pursued?”
“Not by the soldiers,” Kyle pointed out. “They died for sure, but yes. We’re not out of this yet. Though I think we’ve got a minute to breathe. We need to use it resting.” He gestured to the pack. “Break out the water and rations. We’ll need our strength for the hours to come. Especially when our pursuers regroup.”
Chapter 12
Titus didn’t like having to rush off on a mission so soon. Around the seven week mark, the preparations felt like they were taking forever. When the distress call came in, he wanted another two months. Half a year. Anything to prove out the systems better, to ensure his people had the best understanding of their equipment possible.
But intelligence didn’t agree. They wanted proof of concept. High command agreed. It was the first time the two groups found common ground since they’d met the Prytins. Titus figured they were desperate for a way to spin the introduction of aliens to the rest of the human race.
