Mahi’ and her brothers exchanged glances. “There are few fissures that the Baba Yaga would fit through easily besides the entrance to the west of the Citadel that is used by the people, and all are guarded.” She tilted her head in consideration. “But there is a cavern just below the ice, on the other side of the mountains to the southeast of the Citadel. It is large enough for the transport Pods, and there’s a route from the cavern we can take into the mountains that comes out at a lavafall. It should be safe enough to make camp there overnight. The predators don’t like to get close to the lava.”
Bethany Anne was satisfied with that as an alternative to mass brawling in the streets in reaction to their unannounced arrival at the Citadel. “Sounds good to me. Okay, get your teams loaded up. We’ll camp at the lavafall and make a firm plan for going forward once we’ve had a moment to acclimate.”
“We having a cookout?” Peter called.
Bethany Anne grinned, thinking that kumbaya moment might not be so out of reach after all. “Kind of a requirement, right? Do your worst. It’s not like there will be another chance to cut loose before the end of this operation.”
Peter nodded, returning her grin. “Sounds like a party I don’t mind organizing.” He shrugged at Bethany Anne’s laughter. “What? You can’t blame a guy for being happy to get out of the house. I’ve been Todd’s primary parent for so long, I’m not sure I even remember what it is to cut loose.”
Michael joined in the laughter. “I could remind you about our last hunt?”
Peter folded his arms over his chest and smirked at Michael. “Only if you want to be reminded about it. Personally, I’m still pissed we went to the effort of bringing down a fifty-foot dinosaur without destroying the meat, only for that mole-monster to swipe it.”
Li’Orin’s jaw dropped, his skepticism cut with a touch of wonder. “Just how huge was this beast to steal such a kill?”
Peter shuddered. “Huge enough.”
Bethany Anne cleared her throat. “Would you care to save the reminiscences for another time?” She waved her finger in a circle. “We’re kind of in the middle of something here.”
Peter snickered and stretched out his arms. “Sure thing.”
Bethany Anne had the feeling her eyes were going to get sore from all the rolling if they didn’t wind this up soonest.
Qu’Baka, Ice Cavern
The Pods lifted off to return to the Baba Yaga as Peter’s two chosen teams drove off into the cavern.
Bethany Anne walked from group to group through the driving snow, checking that everyone about to head into the blizzard had tethered themselves to the main safety line correctly. “Remember, this line is the only thing preventing you from getting separated from the group. Treat it like a lover six points hotter than you are and you’ll be stellar.”
The Guardians had occupied themselves with transferring their supplies for the expedition into their trucks immediately on landing, meaning they were ready to be sent ahead to the lavafall to set up camp while the other teams made their way into the mountains on foot.
The rest of the expedition party were taking their sweet-assed time about getting the long hike started. They had a couple of kilometers of arctic conditions to traverse before they got to the pass into the deeper underground, so Bethany Anne wasn’t inclined to rush.
Da’Mahin’s and Kel’Len’s eldest son had plenty to say about the tether. He appeared to have a small following among Da’Mahin’s warriors. They spoke out also, emboldened when their leader failed to chastise Ch’Irzt.
Gabrielle flashed an awkward look at Eric when Kel’Len verbally flayed her husband for allowing his warriors to step out of line. She tested the durability of the thin braid attaching her to the main line. “What if the line breaks?”
“It’s not gonna break,” John assured her, yanking his tether between both hands to prove its strength. “Nano-infused polymer braid.” He caught Bethany Anne’s attention. “Did we get upgrades on all of our equipment before we left?”
“You bet your ass we did,” Bethany Anne replied as she breezed by. “Everyone good?” Satisfied by the various assertions, she gave the group a few moments more while she clipped herself into place at the head of the line.
Michael emerged from the whipping snowflakes and attached his tether to the safety line. “The way ahead is clear. I believe I have found the fissure Mahi’ spoke of, but I cannot be certain without her confirmation.”
“One more thing.” Bethany Anne fed Etheric energy into the safety line until it glowed brightly along its length. “Now we’re ready to move.”
Bethany Anne set off into the screaming blizzard and was immediately blown back by its strength. She put a stop to that by increasing the density of her body until she was too heavy to be moved, then activated the commlink in everyone’s helmet HUD. “Let’s move. I want to get some feeling back in my ass before the next century. Watch your step, and call out if you go down.”
Mahi’ had no trouble with her footing as they progressed deeper into the wintry cavern. As an adolescent approaching proving age, she had used places like this as her training grounds. She kept in contact with Bethany Anne as they traveled, guiding them by memory to a shortcut into the mountains she hoped was still there.
Bethany Anne couldn’t make out anything five feet in front of her face, let alone the back of the line. The wind scoured the humans through their layers, pushing them back a step for every two they took.
Even the Bakas seemed to be finding progress difficult.
The line went taut as someone fell, returning to its expected tension almost immediately as whoever it was scrambled to their feet.
“I’m okay,” the Guardian yelled, making everyone wince as their helmet speakers complained about the volume.
Bethany Anne cursed softly at the close call.
Devon, The Hexagon, Sublevel One
Tabitha was about to give up and go into the hangar alone when the echo of claws on permacrete announced Ashur’s arrival.
The German Shepherd trotted into sight a moment later, his tail high and his ears pointed with interest. “What are we hunting?” he asked in greeting.
Tabitha turned to indicate the boneyard door. “What or who we’re looking for is the mystery. The hangar looks to be where the trail begins.” She buried her fingers in Ashur's thick white fur and tended to his neck and shoulder muscles while she gave him a rundown of what she knew so far.
Ashur leaned into the attention. “My nose will find whatever is out of place,” he promised.
Tabitha bent to kiss the spot between Ashur’s ears, giving his chin some extra attention with her nails as she did. “I knew I could count on you. Let’s go.”
They entered the hangar side by side and headed straight for the Izanami.
Ashur’s snout wrinkled as he drew in the air and sorted through each scent at the molecular level while they crossed the expansive space. “Unless we’re searching for the tacos you ate for lunch, you should probably hold your breath.”
Tabitha considered being offended for a split second. “You’re as tactful as a brick,” she told him flatly.
“Would a brick be able to tell you there has been someone down here?” Ashur asked. “Because I don’t think it could.”
Tabitha put her hands on her hips and fixed Ashur with a knowing look. “Has there been someone down here?”
Ashur’s ears flicked back, his doggy grin making him look like a pup again. “Well, we could go aboard the ship and find out?”
Tabitha sighed. “Yeah. C’mon, then.”
Ashur smelled the sadness on her. “What just made you unhappy?”
Tabitha frowned. “Unhappy? No, you just reminded me of Dio for a second, is all.”
Ashur’s tail drooped. “I miss them too.”
Tabitha paused to kneel and hug her canine friend. “I lost my friends when Anne’s ship didn’t make it back. You lost your children. We’ll find them one day, don’t you worry.”
Ashur whined softly, pushing his snout into Tabitha’s hair. “They’re out there somewhere. I won’t stop until I find them if it takes me another hundred years, and neither will Bellatrix.”
Tabitha released Ashur. “You’ll find. I know it.” She sent the instruction for the ship to drop its ramp, which it did after some minor “persuasion” of the stand-in EI on her part to circumvent Bethany Anne’s absence.
Ashur trotted up the ramp ahead of Tabitha. He swept wide, considered loops with his nose as they went through the hatch and headed into the main corridor beyond. “Where do you think we’ll find clues?”
Tabitha hooked a thumb toward the elevators. “I guess we start with the guest quarters. That’s a deck below here. If there was any time someone could have snuck onto the ship without being noticed, it would have been during the craziness after Izanami smashed that factory up.”
Ashur chuffed, the translation software transforming it into a snicker for Tabitha’s ears. “What are we waiting for?”
Tabitha called the elevator. “Nothing, I guess.”
Ashur looked up at Tabitha as the doors opened, not fooled by her nonchalance. “This has you spooked, huh?”
Tabitha frowned. “Duh, yeah! I’m responsible for the kids while they’re in the vault. If this is an attempt by someone to test our reactions before they make a move to get to them? Damn right, my hackles are up.”
So were Ashur’s, although literally rather than figuratively. “Something just moved above us.”
Tabitha looked up at the same instant as the German Shepherd when she heard the scuttle of tiny claws on the roof of the car.
The elevator plummeted without warning.
Tabitha was thrown on her ass. She grabbed Ashur around the torso with one arm to prevent him from being slammed into the ceiling and braced herself in the corner of the car with her free arm and both her feet. “WINSTANLEEEEEY!”
The emergency brakes screeched as they halted the freefall. Tabitha heaved a sigh of relief when the elevator shuddered to a full stop.
Winstanley spoke from the circular grid on the panel. “There is an issue, I’m afraid.”
Tabitha released a shaken Ashur and pushed her hair out of her eyes. “We’re between decks?” she surmised. “Right?”
“Correct,” the EI confirmed. “I have informed Sabine of the malfunction. Please exit through the escape hatch above your heads and wait for help to arrive.”
Tabitha heaved herself to her feet and eyed the escape hatch. “It used to suck to be short.”
Ashur got to his four feet somewhat unsteadily. “How are you going to open it?”
“Like this,” Tabitha told him. She pulled a swatch of energy from the Etheric and formed a blunt lozenge, which she flung at the hatch.
The hatch was torn out by the impact, as was the casement.
Tabitha held out her arms to Ashur. “You ready?”
“To be tossed up there like a chew toy?” Ashur retorted. “No.”
Tabitha put her hands on her hips and pressed her lips together. “You’re just worried you’ll get grease in your fur, you big, vain lump. Maybe I should have asked Bellatrix to help me instead. She wouldn’t be too precious to get dirty.”
Ashur huffed, knowing when he was beaten. “Just step back.”
Tabitha squashed herself into the corner while Ashur walked a circle.
“See who’s precious now,” he told Tabitha, bunching himself up before springing for the hole.
Tabitha joined him on the roof of the car a moment later. She glanced around for an indication of what had caused the elevator to fail, her gaze landing on a break in the guide rail farther up. “You see that?” she asked Ashur.
Ashur didn’t reply immediately, his attention on the sensation of being watched. “Someone sees us,” he told Tabitha quietly, lifting his nose to indicate the upper shaft.
Tabitha’s hand dropped to her belt, forgetting she didn’t have her drones anymore. What she did come up with was the packet of dot-cams she had in her pocket for Sabine. She turned her attention to Ashur, motioning at the maintenance ladder with a finger. “Think you can make it up there?”
“Um, yeah.” Ashur scoffed. He dropped the attitude when he saw Tabitha pour a minute amount of dust into her hand. “What is that?”
“Approximately ten thousand camera drones,” Tabitha told him, her eyes on the dot-cams. “Problem is that they’re not equipped to move by themselves, so I need to create a delivery system. Watch.”
Ashur dropped his rump to the roof while Tabitha carefully tipped the dust into the energy ball she had formed in her other hand. He stared, mesmerized as the energy closed over the miniscule cameras. “What now?” he asked, unable to look away from the shimmering construct.
Tabitha grinned as her ad-hoc solution stabilized over her palm. “Next is, I just connected to the dot-cams through my HUD, and now…” She tossed the energy ball directly upward.
They observed in silence as it ascended to the top of the elevator shaft, then burst apart much like a firework.
Tabitha blinked to adjust her vision when the cams began coming online as they clung to the surfaces of the elevator shaft. “Now we get our asses out of here.”
10
Qu’Baka, Ice Cavern
Mahi’ slowed and called a halt, although her words were promptly stolen by the shrieking wind as the expedition party came upon a cliff. She remembered this place where the snow turned to water without warning. There weren’t too many places on the planet where the balance of ice and volcanic activity were balanced so perfectly as to form hot springs.
She recalled the new features in her modified armor included a connection to the group and blinked to activate the video, as Izanami had shown them. “We have arrived,” she informed Bethany Anne and Michael when their faces appeared in her HUD.
Mahi’ untethered herself from Bethany Anne and Michael and waved an arm in the general direction she intended to take. “The fissure that will bring us out close to the lavafall is near here somewhere.”
Bethany Anne looked at the whiteout beyond the shelter of the cliff. “How do you even know where we are? I can’t see beyond my armor’s HUD.”
Mahi’ laughed aloud. “You don’t forget your home. Stay here. I’ll be back as soon as I’ve found our route.” The blizzard swallowed her whole before she’d taken three steps back into it.
There was a fair amount of muffled cursing and shoving while the tail end of the party caught up and the team leaders got their people untethered and organized along the lakeshore.
Bethany Anne minimized the windows in her helmet HUD until only the feed for Mahi’ remained. What are your thoughts so far? she asked Michael to fill the time while they monitored the search. The hint of a smile touched the corner of her mouth at the way his expression shifted in her camera’s view. Still not convinced?
Michael wrinkled his nose. Unless we’ve stepped into a Jules Verne novel, I don’t see how an entire civilization could have developed underground.
Mahi’ spoke excitedly. “Can you make your way to my location? I’ve found the fissure. The snow is not as bad on this side.”
“We’re on our way,” Bethany Anne replied. She tilted her head at Michael, grinning at the speed with which Mahi’ had gotten a result. “If that’s not a good omen, I don’t know what is. Let’s move.”
Michael passed the order to move to the team leaders, and the party picked their way along the path Mahi’ had taken between the cliffs and the shore.
They found Mahi’ sitting cross-legged on top of a flat boulder by a yawning chasm in the cliff face. “I thought it would be better to wait rather than explore alone.”
Bethany Anne peered into the darkness, feeling the planet’s hot breath rush past—a sulfurous belch from its core. She ignored Peter and Li’Orin, who were competing to be the first to go inside. “Is it passable?”
Mahi’ grinned at their antics. “It is. I had feared my brother would have sea
led all the paths between the above and below, but we are in luck.”
“Where is the advance team?” Bethany Anne waited for Peter to get the latest from the Guardians who’d gone ahead.
Peter cut the call. “They got to their entry point okay. They’re only a couple hours out from the lavafall, so we can expect a warm welcome when we get there.”
Michael indicated for John and Li’Orin to follow him and entered the fissure to scout ahead. “We’ll be back as soon as we’ve made sure it’s safe for everyone.”
“It’s out of the cold. What else matters?” Gabrielle shivered and rubbed her arms inside the thick fur cloak she’d borrowed. “You’d be prying my iced ass from the tundra if not for Kel’Len and her furs.”
Bethany Anne couldn’t argue that she appreciated the effort from Kel’Len. “That’s a bit on the side of exaggeration, but yes. It was good of her.”
The group was ready to go by the time Michael returned to report the way ahead was clear. John and Li’Orin headed for their teams, while Michael rejoined Bethany Anne and Mahi’ by the cave entrance.
“We’ll have to go in slowly,” Michael reported. “There’s a short tunnel, then it tightens into a narrow aperture that’s about wide enough for a Pricolici. Beyond that shouldn’t be too difficult to navigate.”
The shocked faces that filled the vid-links Bethany Anne opened in her HUD brought a wicked smile to her lips. “What do you all think this is, a vacation? Quit standing around. Asses, inside that cave, now.”
The party shuffled into a single file around the mouth of the fissure and prepared to head through the narrow opening one at a time.
Bethany Anne made her way to the aperture, a rough slit in the rock left behind by an old cave-in. She turned to say something to Michael about the shape, but he was nowhere to be seen at the moment.
John had plenty to say about Bethany Anne going through the slit first, but she let it slide since it was all under his breath.
Bethany Anne turned her body sideways and stepped through the gap. The temperature spiked the moment she passed through the eye and stepped into the space beyond.
Enter Into Valhalla Page 10
