Spinning Wheels: Mecha Origin 3

by Eve Langlais

  But the longer they drove, the more it chafed.

  If it weren’t for the readings on the dash, it would feel as if they were hardly moving at all. The asteroid appeared as a never-ending flat pinkish expanse. It didn’t gleam, or have the slipperiness of true ice, and yet the temperature outside showed it probably never melted.

  At one point, Nema shared a bit about her world. “We don’t have vehicles like this where I come from.”

  “What about transportation?”

  “We walk.”

  “Everywhere?” There was a skeptical note in the query.

  “Most places. For those that are too far, we have the puddles.”

  The word had Ray repeating it. “Puddles?”

  But she didn’t explain other than to say it was a Lake thing.

  They took turns driving, Zak giving Nema lessons so that she could have a turn.

  He thought it was funny, when it was her turn to drive, to startle her by screaming, “Watch out for that tree!”

  Even more amusing when she swerved the rover and sent Zak tumbling. Before saying sweetly, “Thanks for the warning.”

  The teasing eased in to silence as the journey turned monotonous. It didn’t help their bodies chafed inside the suits.

  Nema said it first. “There’s nothing.” A dull observation that succinctly summed up their finds thus far after having driven almost halfway around the planet. The large loops had covered a lot of ground.

  They didn’t find one single hidden temple.

  Not even a rock.

  Or a drone.

  “We’re only halfway there,” Ray remarked. “Could be we chose the wrong side to land and start our search.”

  “Or whatever was here got destroyed in whatever event covered this place in ice,” Nema replied.

  “The clock stopped ticking.” Zak wagged a finger, tic, tic, tic…Nothing.

  “If that were true, then why is something still hiding the planet?

  “Perhaps whatever killed the planet didn’t take out its defense system,” Ray offered.

  “Who votes we turn around and take a break before doing the other side?” Zak lifted a hand.

  “No point. We’re past the midway. Might as well keep going. But I will widen the loops to get us there in half the time.”

  “You still want to keep looking?” she asked, glancing over at Ray.

  “I think we’ve come this far. Might as well.”

  “I need food if we’re not quitting yet.” Zak moved into the back. “I’m going to scrounge up some rations.”

  Nema removed her helmet and shook out her hair. “I hate this thing.”

  “You should keep it on just in case.”

  “In case of what?” She swept a hand. “There’s nothing out there. Maybe Zak is right, and the temple that used to be here had its clock run out.”

  “Possible, but I don’t think that’s the truth. And neither do you,” he argued, trying to prevent her from falling into despair.

  “Could be a case of wishful thinking.”

  “We haven’t located the drone.” The one spot of mystery they’d yet to solve.

  “Maybe it crashed hard into the ice, enough to sink it, and then was covered over before we figured out where.”

  “The other object we crashed into the planet still shows on every scan. Which means we should be able to see the drone. But we can’t.”

  Her lips twisted. “You believe there’s still a hidden spot.”

  “Don’t you?”

  Her expression brightened. “Yes. But it’s nice to know I’m not crazy in thinking it.”

  “Bossy yes, crazy no.” He took his gaze from the seamless plane to look at her and offered a smile.

  “Ray, watch out!”

  The abyss appeared suddenly, a gaping hole with ice flowing down the edges like a waterfall forever frozen, dipping down into a chasm big enough to swallow them whole. Ray rammed the rover into reverse, gears screeching at the sudden change in direction. The vehicle hovered, meaning it shouldn’t slide on ice.

  Shouldn’t and didn’t were two different things. Rather than reverse, it kept moving toward the hole. A hole that they never saw from space, indicating a protective technology of the highest order.

  Ray spun the direction levers, trying to change their course. The rover shuddered, and Zak staggered close, exclaiming, “What the frukx is going on?”

  “Why aren’t we stopping?” Nema asked, her voice tight with fright.

  “I don’t know.” Ray rammed a button to drop the wheels, trying to get traction. They never even touched the ground, and still they kept sliding for the hole.

  “Hey, Ray,” Nema said softly.

  “What?” he asked absently, his gaze intent on the edge that they passed and for a moment remained level.

  “We found the anomaly.”

  “I guess we did.” The nose of the rover dipped, and he breathed, “Oh shit. I regret being right.”

  Through the windshield they got a perfect glimpse of the bottomless abyss.

  Zak began to say something clever, “Entering the maw—Awwwwww!” He ended on a yell as they tipped into the hole.

  A sound that trailed off as their descent slowed and they landed gently at the bottom.

  It took a moment before Ray observed softly, “We didn’t die.”

  Whereas Nema said, “Where are we?”

  And Zak. Zak sighed. “I think I wet my suit.”

  The laughter helped revive them. It was Ray who started scanning readings first. “We seem to have landed in some kind of large cavern. The temperature, while not as chill as the surface, is more than we can handle.” Nema at least. He and Ray, with the upgraded gears controlling their temperatures, stood a chance. But he’d prefer Nema not turn into a frozen statue.

  “Turn on the lights. I can barely see anything,” Zak remarked, standing once more with a hand braced behind Ray.

  The small lights on their vessel barely illuminated the space before them. Ray flicked some switches, turning on brighter lights, showing a vast cavern, confirming the readings.

  Its floor was strewn with debris. Or should he say derelicts? “I see the drone.” Ray pointed.

  “I see more than one,” Nema remarked.

  Indeed, the more he looked, the more he noticed, not only the familiar drones from Snype’s lab but other galactic devices meant for small transport and messages. And another rover over in the far corner, its windows dark and dusty.

  “How did they all get here?” A valid question from Nema, given they’d not perceived any signal.

  “Shouldn’t we be asking, why did none of them leave?” It seemed odd they’d all just died in this spot.

  As if Ray wondering about it triggered something, the lights on the rover dimmed. The outside ones first, and then there was a flicker inside.

  “What’s happening?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. We should have more than enough charge left.” Ray frowned as he brought up a hologram of the power source, which steadily drained. He fiddled with the console, shutting down systems to slow the drain. But nothing worked.

  The rover kept losing power, and Zak exclaimed, “Something is siphoning our energy.”

  “No shit,” Ray muttered. What he didn’t say was they should evacuate the area quickly in case the cave tried to drain their suits, too.

  The lights faded to a dull beam that left more shadows outside than anything.

  “Frukx.” Zak cursed as he headed into the back of the rover and began banging open compartment doors. Gathering weapons and supplies no doubt.

  Ray shoved out of his seat and nudged Nema ahead of him. “When we get out of the ship, don’t talk, run.”

  “Run where?” she asked.

  “Anywhere that takes us out of this cave.” He halted by the outer hatch even as the interior illumination flickered. The computer chimed a verbal warning. “Imminent failure of environmental controls. All passengers please put on protective outerwear.
”

  “Helmets on and sealed,” Ray barked as he yanked his on. He’d pulled it off not long after Nema. Now they all shoved them on, sealing them to the necks of their suits. Good news they were at full power and air.

  Zak shoved a survival kit at him, along with a gun, which Ray holstered. He slung the pack over a shoulder.

  “What about me?” Nema grumbled.

  “I didn’t forget you.” Zak handed her a kit and weapon of her own. A machete since she seemed fond of edged weapons.

  “Let’s go,” Ray said just as the lights flickered one last time. And went out.

  “Warm spot,” Zak murmured, to which Nema uttered a nervous giggle.

  Ray heaved open the door and muttered, “Keep close together when we step outside.”

  The darkness appeared complete until he tapped his helmet and a headlight came on. His suit showed over ninety-eight percent charge. They’d barely touched the energy, despite wearing them during their exploration with the rover.

  But now they’d need them to last until they found a way out of here and back to the ship.

  The word impossible came to mind.

  With the headlamps lighting the way, they set foot on the cavern floor. He immediately felt a shock run through him. “What the frukx? Something weird just happened.”

  “It’s the ground. It’s sucking at the suits,” Zak said.

  Indeed, the power meter showed a half percent had disappeared already.

  “We need to move.” And get out of this danger zone.

  Picking a direction at random, he began to jog, only to have Nema say, “You’re going the wrong way.”

  “How can you tell?” he grumbled. The cavern followed a long sphere shape. He could have sworn he’d chosen the wall closest to them. “What makes you think your direction is better than mine?”

  “Instinct,” was her reply.

  “Better have killer instincts, because we don’t have much time.” Zak kept pace with Nema while Ray remained a few steps behind, keeping watch, not trusting the stillness.

  Theirs wasn’t the only large rover left derelict. He spotted others in the bouncing beam of his light. Alien design for some. Familiar for others. All abandoned and dark.

  What of the occupants? He saw no corpses littering the ground.

  At the fifty percent energy mark, they finally spotted what appeared to be a wall, a smooth-edged panel of ice.

  “Okay, baby, you chose this direction, but I don’t see a way out. Or are we supposed to climb?” Ray fumbled at his tool belt, readying a cord. They could rappel out. The question being, would their suits have enough juice to get them back to the ship on foot?

  “Keep running,” Nema huffed inside her helmet, her breathing coming fast.

  It seemed rather pointless. Run or walk, he saw only death ahead, which was why he launched the hook for his rope. It shot out in a straight line, then—as if it hit a ceiling—collapsed.

  “That’s not good,” Zak remarked.

  As for Nema? She wasn’t giving up. She sprinted the last few paces to the wall and pounded on it.

  The ice didn’t move. A doorway didn’t magically appear.

  Ray’s steps slowed as he got close while Zak walked the edge of the wall, hand skimming the surface, looking for another hidden clue. Nema did the same in the opposite direction.

  Thirty-five percent.

  He turned around and looked back at the expanse they’d traversed. The graveyard of mechanical items.

  But not a single body.

  No skulls left behind. Or purple slime. Which seemed odd given a cavern this cold would have preserved biological flesh. Unless something ate it.

  Still, something should have been left behind. A gun, a knife, a helmet. They wouldn’t have been the first to try and look for another exit.

  Which meant there had to be way out. Nema returned to the spot she’d led them to and glared at it.

  “Trying to melt it with the power of your mind?” Zak teased, coming to stand behind her.

  Twenty-five percent.

  “I’m going to use you as a battering ram in a moment,” she grumbled.

  Ray came to stand by her side. “Why this part of the wall? What about it draws you?” Because she’d returned to the same spot. A spot undistinguishable from the rest of the wall. Yet she remained fixated on it.

  Her lower lip jutted. “I don’t know.”

  “But you’re sure.” More stated than queried. He removed his glove and immediately felt a chilling bite on his flesh.

  Zak noticed. “What are you doing? You’ll freeze.”

  They’d all die if they didn’t solve the riddle. Ray pressed his hand against the ice, sucking in a breath as the shocking cold numbed his flesh.

  But more startling? The ice wrapped around his hand and yanked him in!

  16

  The wall swallowed Ray.

  She might not have believed it if Zak hadn’t said, “Did that ice just eat Ray?”

  She nodded.

  “Shiiiiit.” Zak sighed the word. “What do we do now?”

  Fifteen percent.

  Her suit kept losing power. And Ray had disappeared.

  Nema blinked as if that would suddenly make him reappear. The wall remained unbroken.

  The hum within her, almost a voice, rose in demand. Urging her.

  Come. Come and find us.

  She was afraid though.

  “Ray!” Zak yelled his friend’s name as if that would bring him back.

  There was no reply, not through the wall or via their headset. But their time was ticking.

  Touch the wall or not? Had it eaten Ray or rescued him?

  Ten percent.

  Either they died, frozen on this lost planet, or they tried.

  “Touch the wall,” she said, even as the humming inside her increased, excited with her choice.

  “What if it’s a monster and touching it just feeds us to it?”

  “Then we’ll all be digested together.” She removed both gloves, ignoring the deep chill.

  Five percent.

  “Hold my hand,” she asked.

  He laced his fingers with hers, and together they placed their hands on the wall.

  Flesh to ice. She had only a moment to suck in a breath at the shocking contact before it sucked her in.

  The first surprise was it didn’t hurt. Light being the second. Once she blinked the ice crystals from her lashes, she discovered herself somewhere new. The ice of the cavern had disappeared and been replaced with stone blocks, gray in hue, tightly cinched together. All the same shape. Size. Except for one.

  One metal block.

  The chamber appeared dome shaped, not a doorway to be seen. A glance over her shoulder didn’t even give a hint of the one they got sucked through.

  Zak whistled. “Would you look at that?”

  Ray already was, crouching down to peer at the one anomaly in the room. The metal block’s surface, dull and non-reflective, with a symbol etched on to it.

  “The mark of the Mecha Gods.” Ray traced his fingers over it. It had no effect.

  She startled at his use of the word God. The shiver in her body claimed there was nothing holy here.

  “We found a temple,” Zak enthused.

  Yet she felt trepidation more than anything. The hum inside her had quieted.

  Perhaps it didn’t feel a need to agitate now that she’d done what it wanted.

  Her suit flashed a warning. Three percent. No longer losing energy, but so drained that it was practically useless.

  “Lights off. We don’t need them,” Ray ordered.

  She flicked off her helmet lights. The room remained illuminated. She did wonder where the light came from. A source didn’t prove evident.

  Ray, still stroking the one metal block, examined the surface for a moment before he muttered, “According to my finger scanner, it’s latmevilium.”

  “As if there was any surprise. This is obviously the entrance to a temple,” Zak
said.

  “It doesn’t look like a temple.” Nema couldn’t help the skeptic note. The room didn’t look like much of anything other than a prison. “There’s no way in or out.” Not to mention no sign that anyone had passed before them. Pristine and dust free. It didn’t help the foreboding within her.

  “Like the cavern, we probably have to activate the correct location.” Zak slid his hand along the wall, making a full circuit before frowning. “Maybe I didn’t touch the right spot.” Off he went again.

  Ray turned to Nema. “What’s your instinct telling you now?”

  “Nothing.” The Lake remained quiet. As did that other, alien hum. She wished she knew what that meant.

  “Don’t just stand there,” Zak admonished. “Try touching something.”

  She pressed her fingers lightly on a block. It felt slightly warm to the touch, making her realize her hand was warm. She wiggled it. “It’s not cold in here.”

  “According to readings, it’s perfect for our bodies.”

  “And breathable,” Ray announced, pulling off his helmet and raking a hand through his hair. “A good thing, too, because my power unit was just about drained.”

  She joined the males in pulling off the confining headgear and taking a breath. Scentless. Lifeless. She didn’t point out that being able to breathe wouldn’t do them much good if they couldn’t escape this room.

  She returned to touching the wall, just as the men did, trailing her fingers over it, hoping for something, even a mental whisper. Nothing jumped out until she hesitated before the metal block. Hesitated at the wrongness of it.

  “What’s wrong?” Ray instantly noticed.

  “Did you feel anything weird when you touched it?” She pointed.

  “No. Do you?”

  How to explain it was more a feeling than a sensation? “Do me a favor and hold on just in case,” she joked, even as her stomach balled into a stone. Where was her bossiness now? Her bravery? Both Ray and Zak linked an arm around her, providing an anchor. Before she could talk herself out of it, she reached out and touched the carved cog.

  Instantly, she had an urge to snatch her fingers away, but she forced herself to hold them in place. Letting her gorge rise at the wrongness in the metal, only removing her hand finally when the Lake within her roused enough to scream, Let go.