by Gary Hoover
Chapter 30:
“Not good, not good, not good,” Dave mumbled. His face was lit by the flickering lights on the control panel as he stared at the readings with a furrowed brow.
Not good?! Not good is not good. Jeff thought as he worked his way over to find out what was going on while trying not to be too obvious about how concerned he was.
Since they had started, he had experienced a recurring fear that something might happen to strand them – completely alone and helpless in a harsh wilderness in which a violent, mauling death seemed the obvious end to anyone who found themselves without shelter for any period of time.
“Can I do anything to help?” Jeff asked awkwardly. The others were asleep, and Dave had been driving through the night but had stopped the vehicle a few minutes earlier.
Dave ignored him and busied himself taking readings from various gauges while writing notes.
Jeff’s stomach churned.
He began to imagine them stranded in the middle of nowhere and wondered what, if any, options they would have in that situation.
Dave continued to busy himself as if Jeff wasn’t there, and his uncharacteristically serious expression was making Jeff very nervous.
“Here,” Dave said abruptly as he thrust a calculator into Jeff’s hands. “Run some numbers for me. Add 567 and 3425, subtract 321, add 21,387... ”
Jeff waited for the next numbers as Dave walked to the other side of the cockpit to check some other readings.
“Add 657, subtract 543. What do you get?”
“25,172”
Dave cringed. “I was afraid of that.” His voice trailed off as he continued to take readings and notes. “We’re burning power too fast, why are we burning power so fast?”
Jeff shrugged, wondering if he should try to respond before realizing Dave was just talking to himself.
Dave plopped heavily into the driver’s seat and stared at the view screen. The headlights were illuminating a short section of the ‘road’ which was a path that had been cleared at one time but was now covered with vegetation. The trees on either side were tall and densely packed.
Swarms of insects attracted by the headlights were swirling erratically, coming in and out of view. Dave sat and stared with a blank expression Jeff couldn’t read, though it seemed he was deep in thought. He put his hand over his mouth and then let it slide slowly down until it dropped past his chin and then fell limply into his lap. His eyes never moved from the point on the screen he was watching.
After several minutes of silence, he turned to look at Jeff. “Let’s go out and take a look.”
“Out?” Jeff’s voice wavered and his stomach lurched as the single word was all he could manage.
Dave stood up and began to rummage around the cabin. “Sure. We need to get a look at what’s going on with the motor and the access panel is on the exterior.” He opened a toolbox and looked through it to make sure all the tools he needed were there.
Jeff dreaded being out and exposed in the forest. And he felt that way in bright daylight. The thought of going out in the deep wilderness in the dead of night was as terrifying as anything he could ever imagine. He could feel himself shivering involuntarily, not from cold, but from fear and the adrenaline that was being pumped into his system.
Jeff looked back into the dark hold area at his sleeping companions. He would feel more comfortable if, at the very least, Benji and/or Rasp would accompany them; or better yet, go in his place. “Um, should we wake anyone else up?”
Dave looked back and thought for a few moments. “Nah, we’ll just take a look. No reason to wake anyone. Maybe later if we find we need to do something.”
He pulled two flashlights from an overhead storage compartment and handed one to Jeff. He lifted the toolbox and nodded toward the door in the back. Jeff started toward the door, but then paused as Dave seemed to remember something. He went back to the instrument panel, flipped a switch, and the headlights went out.
“Whhh... why’d you do that?” Jeff asked, as his fear jumped up a few more levels.
“What? You don’t want to attract too much attention from the local animals, do you?” His face began to break into a grin.
“Well, at least I guess it’s good to see you smiling again,” Jeff said as he pulled his gun belt from a hook and buckled it around his waist.
“Heh, heh, heh.”
Chapter 31:
Jeff walked tentatively down the exit ramp with Dave right behind. He swept his light and looked intently along the tree-line for anything that might be watching them.
When they were both clear of the ramp, Dave hit a button on the side of the vehicle, and the ramp began to rise into its closed position.
“What are you doing?!?!” Jeff asked.
“What? You want me to leave it open to expose our sleeping friends?”
Jeff considered that. “I don’t know. I guess you’re right. Let’s just get this done.”
Dave stepped ahead of Jeff and began to walk very tentatively along the right side of the vehicle toward the front. He swept his flashlight over the ground in front of him and chose each step carefully.
Jeff was more concerned with the bigger things that might be lurking beyond the tree-line, and he used his light to sweep the area. He also stayed right behind Dave, trusting him to spot any dangers hidden in the weeds. There was an eerie silence.
“You know, in these parts, the things you’ve really got to watch out for are gonavores, so if you’re checking the tree-line, keep an eye out for them,” Dave said without taking his eyes from the ground.
“Gonavores?”
“About this high,” Dave illustrated by holding his hand at stomach level. “Brown fur, narrow snout, sharp teeth, beady eyes, VERY fast. Oh, and they eat nothing but reproductive organs.”
Jeff’s jaw dropped, and he felt a tingle in his nether regions as the thought of that sunk in.
Dave stopped for a moment, looked over his shoulder to see Jeff’s expression and grinned.
“You’re making that up,” Jeff said.
“Believe whatever you want. It’s not like you’re likely to live long enough to have any use for your reproductive organs anyway. Heh, heh, heh.”
As they neared the front of the vehicle, Jeff noticed something that looked like a clump of moss on the hull at about eye level. He directed his beam on it, and Dave’s eyes followed the beam.
“What’s th–”
Before Jeff could finish his question, the lump sprung from the hull and headed directly for his face. He swatted the air furiously and stumbled backwards, lost his footing, and landed on his butt as the brown furry shape, which Jeff recognized as similar to a bat as he got a momentary glimpse, flew off into the trees.
Dave was laughing uncontrollably and gasping for breath as he extended a hand and lifted Jeff back to his feet. When he was finally able to catch his breath, he said, “After that display, I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about from a gonavore. Doesn’t seem like you’ve got anything for them to eat down there.”
Jeff glared at Dave, but Dave didn’t pay any attention as he continued walking. Dave swept the hull with his flashlight, stopped, put the tool box down, opened it, and dropped his flashlight into the box. “Give me some light down here,” he told Jeff as he dug through the box. He selected a wrench-like object, stood up, let out a slight groan from the effort of getting out of his crouch, and began to work on loosening fasteners on a panel. As he worked, he chuckled periodically as he was apparently remembering the image of Jeff’s panicked moment.
“You know,” Jeff said, “it’s a shame that you’re roughly three times my age, but I’m more mature than you.”
“Yes it is,” Dave said shaking his head but not taking his eyes off his task, “yes it is.”
Jeff wasn’t sure how to read his tone, and before he had much time to think about it, there was a sound from the trees to their right. Jeff swung the light to see what it was.
“Hey!�
�� Dave complained. “Where’s my light?!”
Jeff ignored him, figuring Dave was less likely to feed on his intestines than whatever might be lurking beyond the tree-line.
“I thought I heard something.”
“All I hear are bugs.”
Jeff realized that Dave was right. There were insect sounds now that were ominously missing when they had first exited the vehicle, but the sounds gradually came to life as the insects became used to Jeff and Dave’s presence. Jeff scanned the trees a little while longer but couldn’t see anything moving. Let’s just get this done, he thought and turned the light back on the panel Dave was working with.
Dave removed the final fastener and gently lowered the large, heavy, metal plate. The plate had a sizable dent in it.
“Yeah, it looks like we knocked things around pretty good when we hit that stump,” Dave said as he poked around in a mass of wires. “I think the motor housing’s been twisted out of place and bent.” He reached up and pulled on something in the cavity.
Jeff could see the whole vehicle rocking with each hard pull.
“Damn it!” Dave poked around a little more and then reached down to fish around in his toolbox.
Jeff followed his movements with the light as Dave removed a large wrench and began using that to try to pry something in the motor compartment. Again, the vehicle rocked with his movements.
After about thirty seconds of that, he let the wrench fall to his side and exhaled loudly. “It’s no use.” He looked back and forth from the toolbox to the motor. “I’ll probably do more damage than good without the right tools, but I’m afraid we’re just going to drain our batteries if we don’t put that straight.”
Dave stood for a while just looking and contemplating.
Jeff was a little afraid to ask what the options were. Up until that point, he had been anxious to simply find The Prophet, but now he was wondering if they might end up stranded in the middle of nowhere. “So... what now?” he asked hesitantly.
Dave looked at him but didn’t speak immediately.
“Not sure. I should be able to fix it with some basic tools and replacement parts. I could probably find what I need at any mining camp or community – should be something around–” He trailed off and seemed to be thinking again.
“Uhhh... can’t we do some thinking inside?” Jeff asked.
He expected Dave to mock him, but instead Dave lifted the panel and began refastening it with a noticeably hurried pace. Apparently his desire to tease Jeff wasn’t strong enough to overpower a rational fear of being out there too long.
As he was finishing the last fastener, Jeff noticed something.
“Hey,” he said quietly but urgently.
Dave looked at him with a ‘what now?’ expression.
“Why are there no insect sounds?”
Dave looked toward the tree-line. Jeff turned the light and began sweeping the edge of the forest.
Dave closed the toolbox and picked up his own light. “Oh, hell,” he said as he paused his light on a spot in the trees.
Jeff looked toward where Dave was focusing his light.
He saw the light of Dave’s flashlight reflected back at them from two enormous eyes that were set at least three feet apart.
Crap!
Jeff had seen eyes similar to those, close-up, once before. They were the eyes of an enormous snake-like creature that had six small legs.
“Go! Go! Go!” Dave was shouting as he pushed at Jeff, but he didn’t have to provide too much motivation.
Jeff was already doing everything he could to move as quickly as possible toward the door at the rear of the vehicle – which, he remembered with a sickening feel in his stomach, was closed.
“I hate those things,” Dave said as he ran beside Jeff.
Jeff looked over his shoulder and saw it was already frighteningly close. They were nearly at the back of the vehicle, but they still needed to open the door and get inside. As Jeff was watching over his shoulder, he lost sight of where his feet were going. His right foot went into a hole, and his weight twisted his ankle painfully.
He felt like time was slowing down as he fell forward. He was too concerned about the snake to even notice the pain as he impacted the ground.
He looked up in time to see Dave trying to stop and losing his own footing. Jeff felt awful to think his clumsiness may have doomed Dave as well. He reached for his baseball bat and tried to get to his feet, but before he could get far, he heard a shrieking, guttural sound that registered in his mind as uncontrolled, visceral rage.
He turned in time to see Benji charging the snake. He realized Benji must have exited the vehicle and passed them while he was falling and/or face down.
Benji was roaring and staring down the snake which had stopped. The snake seemed unsure of what to make of the fierce, but relatively puny creature that was challenging it.
Jeff drew his bat and got to his feet. As he did so, Benji lunged and got himself onto the snake, behind its head. He straddled the reptile and gouged its eyes as it bucked and lurched violently. Benji was being shaken like a rag doll and Jeff couldn’t imagine he could stay mounted, but somehow he managed.
With the eyes now dispatched and the snake blind but still flailing, Benji dug into it with his claws while biting the back of its head.
Jeff cringed at the grisly scene as Dave caught up with him, and the two approached cautiously.
Within a few more moments, the snake stopped flailing and slumped to the ground as Benji roared victoriously.
Chapter 32:
Artimus opened the door very slowly and peered around the edge.
I’m sure I didn’t leave those lights on, he thought as he eased around the door and closed it behind him as quietly as possible.
He was armed with a hammer he had brought from the garage. He could hear someone searching the kitchen drawers and the loud clanging of kitchen utensils as the intruder searched for something.
What the–
He could see the door to the gun basement and wondered if he should take a shot at arming himself with something more substantial.
A burglar wouldn’t waste time in the kitchen, which means–
Artimus hoped he was just being paranoid, but he had been working with a foreign general and others discussing details that could lead to open insurrection.
Are they searching for something specific or just anything that could give them information?
Artimus made a quick dash across the room to the gun basement door and opened it as quietly as he could. He cringed as it made a squeak.
Is there anything incriminating in the kitchen? Is there anything incriminating anywhere in the house? he wondered as he selected a hefty gun from the wall. He checked the charge and put the butt into his armpit then headed back toward the kitchen.
How many are there? Should I check upstairs first and make sure nobody can surprise me from that direction? No, then I might get cornered up there.
He took a quick look up the stairs, but couldn’t see any lights or movement. Then he did a loop around the rest of the downstairs living area as he made his way back to the kitchen.
As he arrived at the doorway, he could see shadows moving in the kitchen, but he couldn’t clearly tell if it was more than one person. He couldn’t hear any voices.
Good.
Maybe that means there’s only one.
He slowly edged around the corner and when he could clearly see the intruder’s back, he shouted, “DON’T MOVE!”
“AAAAHHH!!”
Artimus winced at the painfully high-pitched scream and loud clanging of a dropped pot.
Then he saw a familiar face as Codi turned to face him.
The two of them stood there utterly confused for a moment, until they both started to catch on, and their tense expressions gave way to smiles followed by laughter.
Artimus leaned the gun against a cabinet.
“Surprise?” Codi said between laughs.
“Oh, y
ou surprised me,” he said with a bemused expression.
“I thought you might enjoy a home-cooked meal,” she said with an awkward smile.
“That sounds great! What can I do to help?”
“Nothing! I want you to just sit and relax and enjoy.”
She took his hand and led him to a chair. Artimus sat down, and she put her hands on his shoulders. “You’ve been working too hard. You have too much on your mind.”
She began rubbing his shoulders, and Artimus made a half-hearted gesture of protest.
“Just relax,” Codi said a bit sternly as she dug her thumbs into his shoulder blades. “You’ve earned an evening of relaxation. The world’s not going to blow up if you stop worrying about it for a few hours.” She leaned over to get a look at his eyes and see if he was going to do as she requested.
Artimus smiled warmly. “Thanks.”
Codi went back to working on his shoulders, and neither of them said anything for a little while.
After a few minutes, Artimus leaned back and looked at Codi. She smiled and then began to lean in.
Artimus didn’t flinch as she continued until her lips met his.
It was long and slow and warm... and wonderful.
Why haven’t I been spending nearly every waking moment doing this? Artimus wondered to himself.
Chapter 33:
Jeff stared at an enormous metal wall. It had a textured surface that seemed to be made of rectangular metal bars, stacked together like building blocks but with some sticking out farther than others.
Jeff looked to his left and then right. The wall stretched as far as he could see in both directions. He looked up and could see no end in that direction either. As he examined the wall, the ‘bars’ that comprised it seemed to slide in and out randomly. The whole wall was writhing with a motion that made it appear alive. Then the movement of the bars suddenly stopped.
He felt that he should be doing… something.
“Better, brighter people than you have tried to solve The Enigma.”
