A World of Secrets (The Firewall Trilogy)

by James Maxwell

  The trull, Hara, nodded. “This is acceptable. We will return soon, most likely after the full moon.”

  Taimin saw Lars trying to get his attention. The older man spoke softly. “These skalen didn’t trade for their aurelium,” he said. “And I don’t think they stole it either. They have a source.”

  Soon the trull and the mantorean had departed, no doubt to roam the wasteland, stealing and murdering to seize valuables from anyone foolish enough not to travel in numbers. Taimin watched as Kash wrapped the metal rings and dagger in cloth and took the bundle over to one of the benches. As Kash departed the room to enter the nest, Taimin’s determination grew.

  He had to find out what was happening here. They didn’t have long. The skalen might realize that Milton’s illness wasn’t genuine, or simply decide to kill the troublesome humans.

  “Please, Milton,” Taimin said. “Just a little longer. They’re getting used to us being here. We’ll soon have a chance to learn more.”

  False dawn cast a red sheen on the walls of bare rock. The golden sun wouldn’t rise and bring true daylight for hours. Usually, Taimin would be asleep.

  Nearby, Lars’s rumbling snore rose and fell. Milton twitched and groaned.

  Taimin lay on his side. His chest moved evenly but he had one eye open just a fraction. He watched as Kash took the bundle containing the metal dagger and rings and headed toward the mouth of the cavern.

  Milton gave a loud grunt. Kash stopped in her tracks and watched the three humans. Whatever she was doing, she wanted them to be asleep for it. Taimin kept his eyes pressed tightly closed. He waited for the count of two breaths and opened them again.

  His gaze followed Kash’s back as she left the cave. As he continued to pretend to sleep, he didn’t have to wait long. Kash returned to the residence.

  This time her hands were empty.

  20

  One end of a heavy pole pressed down on Vance’s shoulder, but the weight didn’t bother him at all. He looked proudly at the immense rock lizard swaying in front of him. Up ahead, the young bax, Bagrat, carried the other end of the pole. The long overhang that protected the village from the suns’ rays grew in size as they neared. Soon Vance saw the first round huts. Several bax stopped and stared.

  Vance noticed the pink-cheeked female, Den, up ahead. He had learned that although she wasn’t Bagrat’s wife, she soon hoped to be, when Gorax gave his blessing. Den put her hands to her face and then hurried over.

  “Now that is a lizard to tell stories about,” Den said in awe. “Well done, Bagrat.” As she inspected the dead lizard that was bigger than Vance’s leg, her brow furrowed when she saw the wound that had killed it. “Wait, this is an arrow wound. You don’t own a bow.”

  “It was Vance,” Bagrat said. He glanced over his shoulder to give Vance a smile and a nod.

  Vance grinned and shook the bow in his left hand. Den fell in beside them, and as they entered the village a growing cluster of bax came over to see. In the distance, Vance spied Ruth. She was over at the base of the cliff on the opposite side of the gorge, seated across from Gorax’s wife, Breang, as they worked together at some task.

  “Mind taking this, Den?” Vance asked.

  “You know the rules. You kill, you clean.”

  He laughed. “I’ll come back, I promise.”

  After handing Den the pole, Vance headed straight over to Ruth. He nodded to some of the village’s residents as he passed and greeted a few by name. Several had seen the rock lizard and asked if there would be a feast. Vance grinned and told them they needed to ask their warden.

  As Vance neared, he saw that Ruth had a bowl in her lap while she pounded leaves with a fist-sized stone. Twice as stout as Ruth, Breang sat with her, leaning forward to give Ruth an instruction before they both looked up.

  “Wife, did you see?” Vance held up his bow. “I shot a rock lizard the size of a wherry.” He briefly turned back the way he had come, disappointed when he saw that Bagrat and Den had moved on.

  Ruth gave him a wry smile but didn’t pause in her task. “I’m sure I’ll get to see it soon enough, husband.”

  Vance felt a flash of irritation. She could at least pretend to be interested. “Why not now?”

  “I’m busy,” Ruth said. “Breang is teaching me poultices.”

  Breang put her hands on her knees and groaned as she pushed herself to her feet. “I will leave you two to talk.” She nodded toward the bowl. “Keep at it until all the pulp is mixed. I will show you some elixirs tomorrow.”

  “Breang, thank you,” Ruth said.

  Breang snorted. “You already know so much that there is little I have to teach you.” She smiled at them both and waddled away.

  “That’s not true,” Ruth said. She gave Vance a quick glance while she worked. “My mother learned from the other races. I can see why.” She continued to pound while Vance waited uncertainly. He wondered if their conversation was over.

  “Well?” She set the rock down. “Did you find anything?”

  Vance remembered that he had spent the day exploring. He smoothed his moustache and shrugged. “Not really. I searched every cave and crevice. Maybe Taimin is having more luck with the skalen.” His gaze took in the entire gorge. “The bax know the area. I explained to Gorax what we’re looking for. They’ve all been helping.”

  “You told them?” Ruth asked, startled. Her eyes narrowed. “How much did you tell them?”

  Vance decided he didn’t like her tone. “What’s the problem?”

  “Vance . . .” She shook her head. “We’re supposed to be visiting family. No one likes being deceived.”

  “Oh,” Vance said. He thought for a moment and then waved a hand. “Gorax didn’t mind. I already told him about Zorn. He asked me who built it. I said we didn’t know, but that we found a map that led us here. They’ve already seen the machine. Until now, they hadn’t connected it with the firewall.”

  Ruth said nothing, just stared into his eyes. He had always thought she had warm, brown eyes. But she could make them look fierce when she wanted to.

  “What?” he protested. “What was I supposed to say? He still thinks we’re married. He just knows that we also want to find out about the machine.”

  “You’re sure he didn’t mind?” Ruth paused for a moment. “You’re going to have to tell Selena.”

  “Tell me what?” Vance turned to see Selena walking toward them, her tunic dusty from her explorations. Her eyes were questioning.

  Ruth gave Vance a meaningful look. “Tell her.”

  Vance sighed. “I told Gorax what we’re looking for and why.”

  “Oh.” Selena frowned. “What did he say?”

  “He’s agreed to help us find the entrance,” Vance said. He didn’t like the way that Ruth and Selena were both staring at him. “I’m telling you the truth. He doesn’t mind that we didn’t say why we’re here at first.”

  “I suppose you’ve spent the most time with him,” Selena said. “You’re sure he wasn’t offended?”

  “I’m sure.”

  Selena’s expression became amused. “Does he still think the two of you are married?”

  Vance reddened. “Yes.”

  Ruth changed the subject. “Did you find anything?” she asked Selena.

  “No, but I asked about the skalen at the three peaks. Den said that Gorax trades with them sometimes. Apparently they have a wealth of goods.” Selena turned to look into the distance. “I’m going to keep searching. There’s one last valley I haven’t explored.” She set off, leaving Vance and Ruth to watch her go.

  “She’s dedicated,” Vance said. “I’ll give her that.”

  “We all dream of a better life,” Ruth said. “We’ll walk through fire to get to it.”

  “You don’t mean literally, I hope.” Vance gave a short laugh.

  There was silence for a time, and Vance decided he should probably go and clean his lizard before Den or Bagrat did it for him. He opened his mouth but then Ruth met his eyes.


  “Vance,” she said seriously. “Why did you become a weapons trader?”

  He scowled at her. “Not this again.”

  “I’ll keep asking as long as you keep coming back with foolish responses.” Her voice became mocking. “It pays well. I get to meet new people.”

  “Look,” Vance said, “I understand. You heal people. I give them weapons so they can hurt each other.”

  “Are you ashamed of it?”

  “No. Why would I be?” He let out a breath. “I’m just tired of arguing.”

  Ruth indicated the clay bowl on her lap. “Sit down. I want to try this on you.”

  “Eh?”

  “Give me your arm.” Vance reluctantly held out his hand and Ruth clasped her palm over his. She rotated his arm, turning it up to reveal the underside. Vance was surprised when he saw a long scrape on the soft skin near his wrist. Now that he was aware of it, the scrape hurt. “Sit down,” Ruth said again, pulling him to the ground.

  As soon as he was beside her, Vance became aware of how close they were. She was still holding his hand. Their knees were almost touching. While Ruth used her fingers to gently spread her paste over the scrape, he watched her face and expression of concentration. Her lips were parted. They were red and moist. Her brown eyes had tiny flecks in them.

  After a time, he was surprised to find that the pain had ebbed away. The poultice felt cool on his arm. Her touch made his skin tingle.

  “Now, you have to leave that on for a time, so I’m afraid you can’t go anywhere,” Ruth said. “Tell me the truth. How did you become a weapons trader?”

  Vance hesitated; his instinct was to say something light, but Ruth was staring directly into his eyes. He gathered his thoughts. “My father was a smith, a craftsman,” he said slowly. “He made swords and tools. He started to teach me, but then he died.” He shrugged. “He was a hard worker. His heart gave out.”

  Ruth kept her body close to his. Her expression became a little sad.

  When she didn’t say anything, Vance continued, “After my father died, I couldn’t find anyone to finish teaching me, so I sold the things he hadn’t found a customer for. I was good at it. I began to work with other smiths. I developed a reputation for honesty.” He concluded with a smile. “That’s my story.”

  Ruth was still holding his hand. She had leaned in close while he spoke.

  “There,” she said softly, glancing down at his arm. “You can go now. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

  Vance climbed to his feet. She didn’t say anything more, but she kept watching him. He began to walk away but frequently glanced back at her.

  He thought about the last thing Ruth had said to him. He didn’t know if she was referring to the healing salve, or the act of revealing himself.

  As he left her behind, he thought about Cora, the woman he had risked everything to be with, culminating in his imprisonment in the arena. He had thought he loved Cora. But he now realized he had barely known her.

  Ruth, on the other hand . . .

  21

  Taimin knew he had to act. Soon the sandstorms would come. Kash’s patience was wearing thin. Milton was struggling to keep up the pretense of illness, and Taimin didn’t like to think about what might happen if their subterfuge was found out. With the skalen in the residence refusing to share their food, their own supplies would run out.

  At last the time was right.

  It was a few hours past midday. The golden sun scorched the area outside the cavern while most members of the clan slept in their nest. As was often the case in the afternoon, Lars was asleep. Even Milton was snoring softly. Taimin pretended to keep his eyes closed, watching through a crack as his ever-present guard’s head lolled to the side. Soon the guard’s chest was rising and falling evenly.

  Taimin eyes snapped open. He knew he might not have long.

  He swiftly sat up. He heard a mumble and glanced at Lars, but the big, bald skinner shuffled and fell silent. Another glance at his guard told him the skalen was still fast asleep.

  His looked toward the back of the residence. As he scanned for movement, the curtain at the nest fluttered, making his heart jump along with it, but then it fell still. He waited for the count of three breaths, then climbed to his feet.

  He took his first steps away from the alcove that Kash had said they were never to leave without an escort.

  Taimin froze when the guard shifted to change position on his cushion. His pulse began to race. Kash didn’t trust them. What he was about to do was dangerous. The guard’s head swayed. His breathing became regular once more.

  Taimin crept swiftly. His boots made a whisper of sound on the smooth stone floor. The bright sunlight at the cave mouth was dazzling, but he knew he couldn’t pause to let his eyes adjust. He walked out into the searing heat. After the coolness of the cavern, it felt like he was walking into a fire.

  For the first time since he had come to the three peaks, no one was watching him.

  His breath quickened along with his footsteps. He almost ran, trading stealth for speed. Focused on the narrow split in the rock that opened onto the third and final cave, he skirted the cactus grove and headed straight for it.

  With every step he expected to hear a voice call out. His back itched. A javelin could fly through the air and plunge between his shoulder blades and he wouldn’t even know it was coming.

  As he approached, the smallest of the three peaks was still large enough to tower over him. Nestled against the wall of the bowl-shaped gully, it had a shape that was humped rather than sharp. Taimin wasn’t certain how large the cavern inside would be; it was just the entrance that was narrow.

  He reached the split in the rock and glanced one last time back the way he had come. Keeping his ears pricked, he listened for the sounds of an alarm being raised.

  Nothing.

  He returned his attention to the cave. Despite its thin entrance, he wouldn’t need to turn sideways. He didn’t know who or what he would find inside, and braced himself for confrontation.

  Darkness swallowed him up.

  Taimin blinked and turned his head to look in all directions. From a cursory glance it appeared that, after a small circular space, the cave terminated in a vertical wall. The floor was uneven and the rock surrounding him was jagged and broken, rather than smooth, with sharp overhangs poking down from the ceiling and protrusions jutting from the walls. But although the cave was dark, it was bright enough outside that he could see a short distance using the light at his back. Now he could see that the circular section didn’t completely close off. The wall in front of him opened up at the end, indicating a bend that might tunnel deeper still.

  From his first inspection there was no spring or well, no supplies or ceramics. No skalen.

  He moved deeper, his heart rate increasing as he rounded the bend and saw that the tunnel turned, blocking his view of anything past a few dozen feet. Knowing he needed to move swiftly, he followed the curling passage. As soon as he was out of view of the entrance, he found it much harder to see.

  Then another corner brought him to a place where the walls spread apart and the ceiling climbed to twice its height. While this cave wasn’t as big as the residence, it was far larger than he had expected; obviously the peak covered just the front section, with the rest burrowed into the rock.

  Taimin stopped in his tracks.

  He was now in a vast underground chamber. Emotions fought each other when he saw what lay ahead. He experienced a flush of victory, but then an overriding sense of apprehension.

  In the not-too-distant past the cavern’s rear wall had collapsed. Boulders and bits of gravel surrounded a jagged, vertical crevice: a fissure at the place where the rock had split. The crack was similar in appearance to the cave’s narrow entrance. Perhaps it was a little wider, and not quite as tall.

  Taimin swallowed. The crevice was glowing.

  He approached with awe, focused on the strong green light that poured from whatever was hidden behind the
rock.

  All of a sudden, something flew past his face, like a spark from a fire. A second sped across his vision. In front of the glowing crevice, more tiny specks darted around.

  As he came closer, his mouth dropped open. Countless green particles swam in the air, floating as if kept aloft by a breeze when in fact the air was still. He continued until the glowing sparks surrounded him. He reached the region of boulders that littered the ground where the rock had split apart.

  He saw something: some items lying on a flat rock below the fissure. As bright green sparks hovered like flies on a carcass, he recognized the dagger and metal rings that Kash had traded for.

  Except that the rings were no longer metal.

  Without exception, every ring was now completely green. The dagger was different. Half of the blade was as it had been before, but the rest was in the process of being eaten; in time the aurelium would completely replace the metal.

  Taimin watched the glowing crevice once more. In his mind, everything snapped into place. Selena had described what she had seen when she was trapped inside the machine. Green light. Gray surfaces. Rock.

  The machine hissed and rumbled and released hot air.

  The skalen had discovered a source of aurelium. All they needed was metal and they had a constant source.

  Aurelium burned, even in tiny quantities. In the same way that a fire needed tinder, the firewall needed fuel.

  Yet to be truly certain, he had to climb up to the crevice. He had to know that it was possible to get inside the machine.

  A loud voice behind him sent a chill along his spine.

  “You should not be here,” the sibilant voice hissed.

  Taimin whirled.

  He saw Kash and half a dozen skalen. Their flat expressions were more than hostile. Every one of them was armed.

  Taimin wondered what was about to happen. With no other choice, he raised his hands to show that he was unarmed. Kash beckoned, and he slowly walked toward her. He allowed the skalen to encircle him. He braced himself, waiting for a knife in the back, as a scar-faced warrior came up behind him. A hard blow struck the back of his knees and he crumpled.