Merrick tucked both their hands into his parka pockets. “C’mon then, have a look!” He didn’t have to shout, they were so close now. Linn closed her eyes. He was also shielding her partly from the wind, which felt good. She focused on her power, trying to remember where she had scanned from before, and started there.
Linn had hoped she would know it when she saw it, and she did. She pulled one hand away from Merrick and pointed. “There!”
Then she opened her eyes. The glowing white aura she had seen vanished, but she had a pretty good idea of where it was. Blackie came loping to meet them as they scrambled down the side of the hill. When they were halfway, Linn stopped her descent by the simple expedient of dropping herself into a sit, and using her butt as an anchor. Merrick crouched beside her as she focused again.
“It’s right there.” Linn reached out, and picked up a handful of rocks. “But I don’t know how to reach it.”
“Maybe it’s not on earth?” Merrick offered. Blackie was staring intently at the patch of ground with his eyes narrowed.
Linn shook her head. “I wouldn’t see it if it weren’t here.”
Blackie stepped forward slowly, looking as though he were stalking prey, and vanished, an inch at a time, into midair.
“I think he’s got it!” Merrick grabbed the tip of the big cat’s tail gently, and followed him in. He stuck a hand back out, and Linn grabbed onto it and let him tow her through a tingling field of power.
“Whew!” She ran her hands through her hair, with the wind and the static discharge, it was puffed out like a dandelion head. Linn looked around. They were in a crudely hewn tunnel, which had been painted bright white at some point, and lights in the ceiling flickered to life as they moved. Motion detectors. She didn’t see wiring, though.
Merrick cleared his throat. “Would you, ah...”
Linn looked at him, wondering what he was suddenly all shy about. “What?”
“It’s just, if you could go that way...” he pointed deeper into the tunnel, “but not too far? And turn your back.”
“Oh. Sure.” Linn started to walk away, following Blackie, who was moving at a slow amble, looking in every direction and sniffing the floors from time to time. She heard the ticking of toenails coming up behind her, and felt the furry skull slip under her fingertips just before he bumped her hip with his shoulder.
“Feel more prepared, now?”
The big gray wolf nodded, and paced up to Blackie, who reached out a paw and pushed at his head, roughly. Merrick swung his body sideways and thumped the big cat against the near wall. Formalities out of the way, the boys proceeded in formation ahead of Linn. She glanced over her shoulder. There was no way to get in aside from the way they had, and the island was deserted. Still, you always wanted to keep an eye on what was behind you.
They moved slowly, with both the boys using noses as much as eyes. Merrick looked back and her and nodded his head deliberately. Mac’Lir had been here, that meant.
Linn nodded back. The corridor tunnel was sloping downward now, and she felt like it had a familiar construction. The lava tunnels at Sanctuary were like this. The bit at the top had looked hand-dug, though. She wondered about that. Were they still on earth, or the high plane where the gods dwelled? Was the high plane a replica of Earth? Not exactly, she didn’t think, but then again where Mac’Lir’s castle was looked a lot like a wilder Scotland. And Quetzalcoatl’s Court was very like the Yucatan Peninsula looked on google. She had been to the Mayan god’s court, but not to the equivalent on Earth in real life.
If they were still on Earth, in Iceland, then there was a lot of power involved in keeping this place safe from the active tectonic plates.
“Hold on a minute.” Linn told the boys, then stopped and closed her eyes. It was like looking at the sun through closed eyelids. White, with tinges of other colors, a lot or reds and yellows. She didn’t think she’d met the yellow power before, but likely it was one of the Olympians, and she was just as glad to not have that dubious pleasure. She was overwhelmed and dazzled by the display, and had to blink to adjust when she opened her eyes again. The tunnel looked dim after the sight she had just seen.
“It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen.” Linn told the boys. “There’s a huge amount of power, and either it’s from many sources, or not from our ancestors at all. Let’s keep going, but slow.”
She didn’t think there would be booby traps, or Mac’Lir would have warned them. But she wanted time to think and assess as they started downward again. It was steeper, now. She could see the slope, and the tunnel was coiling round on itself. Merrick and Blackie fell back so she wouldn’t lose sight of them around a corner, and slowly, they kept moving toward the bowels of the Earth.
Chapter 15
Linn stopped them after a while and checked the time. They had been walking for an hour.
“Break, liquids, and let’s talk a bit?” Linn was already pulling her backpack out to get water. She turned her head politely to let the boys come back to human for and get their own gear.
“How far are we going to walk?” Blackie asked, leaning against the wall, his legs stretched out in front of him. She knew he wasn’t tired already, just bored. Featureless tunnel was, well, boring.
“Until we get there.” Linn stopped. “That was my mom coming out my mouth just now, wasn’t it?”
“You’re officially the adult.” Merrick agreed.
“Joy.” Linn got up. “I sit any longer I’m going to get stiff.” She stuffed her pack back out of sight, and started down the tunnel.
She’d gone around a curve, and when she heard paws behind her she held up one hand to stop them. “Shh... listen.”
She could hear a humming: faint, and it more came through her feet than was heard. Merrick bumped her with his head. “Okay, so you hear it too. I think we’re close.”
The humming got progressively annoying, like off-kilter speakers, as they got closer. Blackie would stop and shake his head from time to time, but Merrick got to the point where he had to stop and whimper.
“Change, Merrick. It’s not so bad to human ears. Or can you hear like a wolf in human form?”
He shifted. Linn was startled, he was usually so careful to do that privately. She didn’t see anything, really, it was a blur of skin, fur, and glowing power, just like Sekhmet. Linn made a mental note to introduce the two of them. Then he was kneeling on the tunnel floor, fully dressed, and holding his heads in his hands.
Linn got Tylenol for him, and a bottle of water. He gave her a grateful look out of reddened eyes.
“Do you want to retreat back up the tunnel?” Linn tried to offer him a way out. He shook his head and got up. She took that as a no.
“Onward.” Linn stepped out in front this time.
The curves had been getting tighter, and now she came around a corner and into a vast room. Linn stopped and stared. Above, the ceiling was not terribly high, perhaps only twelve feet. But the far side of the room was shrouded in mist, and the walls to each side of her curved slightly. The room was oblong, from what she could see.
Scattered across it were low pillars. She headed toward the nearest one, zipping up her coat. The room was cold, too. Frost glittered on the pillar, which wasn’t so low, when she got to it. The top came to her chest. It was rectangular, and vaguely coffin-shaped. Linn had forgotten the hum, but Merrick grabbed her.
“Can we find where the hum is coming from and shut it up?” He was still rubbing his temple.
“Yeah, let’s start there. Can you tell a direction?”
He nodded. “Blackie can help, even more.”
The big cat stropped against Merrick’s leg.
“Gerroff me, you big lug.” Merrick cuffed Blackie’s head, but Linn noted that it was gentle.
Blackie headed toward the far side of the room, with Merrick and Linn following. None of them wanted to get closer, and Linn wasn’t sure she could do anything with the noise, but it wouldn’t hurt to look. Maybe it would be an easy f
ix.
The mist, which Linn was sure was due to the cold in the room, got thicker as they got near the wall. It was harder to see here, because of it, and Linn stumbled over a pillar. This one wasn’t even knee high.
“Ouch.” She stopped to rub her shin, and Blackie re-emerged from the fog to head-bump her, his ears tickling her chin. “I’m coming. I wonder why these ones are so much shorter.”
She was also worried about the fog. How were they supposed to find something in this mess?
When she bumped into the console, she was no longer as worried about the fog. Now, Linn was worried about figuring out what they had here, and how big it was. Machinery stretched off to either side of them. Lights glowed on some of it, other parts looked like they ought to be lit up but were dark.
The humming had gotten loud enough to be an annoying whine, with intermittent rumbles that she could feel through her feet. Something wasn’t right, she knew that in her bones. It was very unsettling. Linn stared at the strange panel in front of her, suddenly and utterly convinced that technology was indeed magic. She could no more fix anything here than a cave man could.
“Dang it.” She kicked at the machine.
Blackie nudged her, and pointed with his ears off to her left. Linn sighed. It wouldn’t help, but she might as well look.
Merrick was sitting on one of the low pillars. “Come on.” Linn held her hand out. “I don’t want to lose you in this maze.”
He nodded without speaking. His skin was pale and sweaty looking, despite the chilly air. Linn was worried about him. He clung to her hand as they followed Blackie through the tendrils of mist. She needed to either make the noise stop, or get him out of here. He was stubborn enough that she didn’t think the second thing was an option.
The noise was louder, know, and she found Blackie sitting and looking up at a door. He could manage doors with lever or pressure handles, not a round doorknob, or as this one had, a keypad. Linn looked at it closely. The symbols were strange, almost runic, nothing she could recognize as numbers, but it still made her think of a numerical keypad. It was slightly raised from the door’s surface, and in one side was a small hole, strangely shaped.
“Oh...” Linn stepped back, and transferred Merrick’s hand to the scruff of Blackie’s neck. “Look, I know you two aren’t close, but I need both my hands. Since you...” she looked at Blackie. “Don’t want to be human right now, and Merrick is...” she looked at him. His eyes were glassy, and he didn’t seem to be processing what she was saying.
“Okay, I’m going to hurry now.”
When she’d seen the tiny hole, Linn had known they were on the right track. Now, hands-free, she pulled free the case Aoife’s skin had given her. It wasn’t magic, she told herself firmly. It was analysis of all the possible outcomes, and then the vector indicated which pivotal point it all hung on. Hence, the case. She’d recognized the shape of the reset hole on the side of the keypad.
Linn booted the computer up, and connected the right cable from it to the keypad. For a moment, nothing happened, and she was afraid she had guessed wrong. Then the screen filled with the mysterious symbols, and the keypad beeped. She could hear the click as the door unlocked.
Before she went through the door she used a bit of the medical tape to keep the door from being able to relock, and put the computer away. She might need it again.
Linn looked at the boys. Merrick was sitting on the floor now, his eyes closed, and one arm around Blackie’s neck. She knelt next to him.
“I think we need to go back.”
“Mmm-mm.” He shook his head.
“Look, I know you’re a guy, and stubborn, and all.” Linn started.
He spoke without opening his eyes. “I can’t.”
“What’s wrong?” Linn reached out and felt his pulse. It was racing, but strong. His skin felt clammy.
“I can’t see, the light’s blinding me, and there are colors around stuff.” He gritted out. “And I’m gonna throw up.”
“Okay, something is definitely wrong with you.” Linn rocked back on her heels. “I’m going to get you out of here.”
“No. Get the noise. It’s important.” Merrick batted her hand away.
Linn sighed and got up. “I’ll hurry.”
She turned away, muttering “Men” under her breath.
The room through the door was clear of the mist, and much smaller and warmer. Linn stood and looked before she started moving. It looked like a space station or something from a movie. Everything was white, and rounded, and... Her shoulders sagged. How on earth was this going to work? She closed her eyes and opened the sight.
Then she opened them again, and rubbed her eyes, blinking tears away. That had hurt. If power was nanobots, this room was full of them. Maybe even a source of them. Linn looked down at her hand, where the feather was. It was glowing brightly. It didn’t hurt, but she felt funny.
“Okay,” Linn said out loud to herself. “I need to get out of here quickly.”
She took a deep breath, and then regretted it. It felt like she had sucked in something sharp. Coughing, she started to walk around the room and look for the noise.
Linn didn’t find it. But she did find a part of the walls that wasn’t glowing. Elsewhere, the walls were lit, and on smooth patches, the symbols flickered over them. Here, it was just dark. She sighed, and started looking closer, for an access panel, or something.
She found, near the floor, another raised keypad like the one on the door. It was knee-high to her, and she sat on the floor in confusion. Why was it so short? At least she had stopped coughing. Her head felt clear, even a little giddy. She really needed to get out of here.
The reset hole was the same as the one on the door. She plugged the computer in. After a moment, the screen filled up with symbols. This time, however, there was no beep. Instead, two boxes appeared at the bottom of the screen. Linn stared at the cursor blinking in one of them. Password? Code? Who knew?
The keyboard was in English. She stared at it for a while, but it didn’t yield any answers, either. Linn closed her eyes, and poked at the keyboard. A few clicks later, she opened her eyes again and wiped away the tears. She looked up at the wall, which was flickering back to life. There was a series of large clicks, and then a whoosh of noise.
Linn hit the floor. It was roaring past her, she realized after a second. Behind the wall. She got up slowly, looking around cautiously. The whining seemed to have stopped. Blackie opened the door and looked in.
“You shifted.” Linn said stupidly.
“Get out of there! Linn...” He beckoned at her. “C’mon!”
Linn staggered to her feet, and then bent back down to scoop up the computer. She didn’t bother to power it down. Clutching it to her chest, she wove toward the door. It was impossible, she found, to walk in a straight line with her head swimming the way it was.
Blackie seemed oddly reluctant to come into the room, he was just standing there holding both his arms out to her, the door propped on one foot. Linn reached him and pushed the computer at him. He took it reflexively, and as she pushed past him, he took his foot out of the door and it closed behind them.
Linn saw Merrick still sitting on the floor and pointed herself at him. He was looking up at her, with his eyes open, and clear.
“Oh... goo’you shee me.” Linn could hear herself, and she sounded weird. “Um.”
The room went into a small spin, and she lost her footing. Merrick caught her on the way down. “Oh, I feel funny.” Linn heard herself say in a very small voice. Then she closed her eyes because the room was making her seasick. “No light.”
She wasn’t sure later if she had said that out loud. She did know that she must have passed out, because she woke up wrapped in space blankets, cuddled up to Merrick, who was sound asleep. Experimentally, Linn closed her eyes. There was a faint glow around the nearby equipment, and some far-away bright flares, but the blinding power of the small room was out of her sight. She sighed.
Merrick and the blankets were warm, and Linn wasn’t looking forward to the chill of the vast room. But it was awkward to be cuddling with her friend. She squirmed away, tucking the blankets around him as she moved, trying not to wake him up. He rolled over and sighed, and she froze. But his eyes were still closed, and he didn’t move again. Linn finished making her escape.
Blackie, back in cat form, was curled up on his other side. He opened one golden eye, and then yawned widely, displaying white fangs. Linn glared at him. Her head ached.
“I need answers, buster. Get over here where we can talk.” She hissed across the sleeping Merrick.
Linn looked around the room. It looked much brighter in here... then she realized that the fog had receded. She remembered the whooshing of the previous night, or however long it had been, and decided that what she had reactivated had been connected to the ventilation in this room somehow.
Quietly, she walked away from the sleeping Merrick and waited for Blackie.
He tapped her on the shoulder, in human form. Linn spun around and tried to keep her voice down.
“What did you know, and when did you know it?”
He leaned back a little. “Whoa, there.”
“I have the headache from Hades, there is no coffee, and...” She sighed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t snap at you.”
“I couldn’t tell you, I needed to stay cat.”
“What? And why?” Linn sat on the short column. She rubbed her temples.
Blackie sat next to her. “I can see things, as a cat, I can’t as a human. Like the power in something, or...” He waved a hand to indicate the whole room. “Someplace. It’s how I saw the tunnel door first, and then was able to go through it by focusing on merging my power with it. Which passed on to your... er, nanobots, through Merrick. I don’t know if he can see like I can, we haven’t talked about it.”
“And the room last night? And what was wrong with Merrick? I still don’t even know if he’s going to be okay.”
The God's Wolfling (Children of Myth Book 2) Page 12
