by Tim Kaiver
Cullen and Ehli shared a glance. She didn't refuse when he reached under her to lift her back into a fireman's carry, then took off for the riverbed. Where am I going?
"Ehli will show you. Find our son and bring him here before we lose him."
His compass showed a transmitter nearby. His Cipher mission required it. Shephka, please honor this path, he prayed, and ran for the dot on his map.
+25 XP to Cullen and Ehli – Escaped from Willo's base with two boxes of ultra serum.
Group XP summary: Cullen Level 2 Bounty Hunter 95/130; Ehli Level 2 Ultra 40/155.
29
It wasn't too long ago that Ocia had carried her like this, jostling her against his chest as they ran through the tunnels underneath Setuk's prison. Now Cullen carried her through the jungle at dusk. Tiny black birds darted off branches above, smoothly fitting through seemingly impossible spaces between leaves.
In less than a day, she'd gone from wondering if any of the new prisoners would try and steal their food, and if Nassib would successfully watch over them in the solitary corners of the prison, to being as free as those birds in terms of walls and cells, yet just as trapped. The danger in this new territory—the Reject Jungle Dungeon—was that it housed new predators, and the secrets of her husband's dark past.
She couldn't believe she was considering if life at Setuk was better.
"How's it going?" Cullen asked between heavy breaths. Again, he grunted in pain. He'd done that a few times in the five minutes since they'd left Willo's base.
He meant her attempts to reach Emmit. She hadn't had any success. Honestly, she hadn't really tried. A strange lethargy prevented her from focusing, even as she knew she should. Above them, a family of birds launched from their perch. Four or seven arced down toward Cullen—from behind, so he couldn't see. Ehli covered her face. "Watch out!"
He spun half a turn, holding her tighter against his chest. The warm metal of his rifle pressed into her cheek.
The birds squawked, then chirped happily as they moved away.
"Did you see something?" Cullen tilted her away from his chest, indicating that she look at him.
Ehli took a breath, then forced her eyes open. Her body jerked at the sight of Schaefer smiling down at her, dressed in a white lab coat soaked from neck to arms in someone's blood. She rolled and kicked hard enough to free herself from his grasp, then fell face first to the ground.
"Ehli." Schaefer's voice. The tone came from over a decade of love.
He touched her back.
She jerked away and swung a hand up to bat him off, but missed.
"Darling, please."
Why's Schaefer here? Ehli struggled to place time and location. She looked up to the forest she thought was the back twenty acres of their property. The sparseness of trees and bushes felt... odd. Not that it wasn't what she knew—she could navigate in these woods in pitch black. Something about it just wasn't right. How'd I get here? How'd I get home?
Knees popped by her ear as Schaefer squatted next to her. "It's getting dark, sweetheart. Emmit'll be home any minute. I don't want him to worry where we are."
He was right. She missed Emmit more than usual. "How long have I been out here?"
"Oh, I'm not sure about that. But when I came in for supper and you weren't there, I started looking out here." His hand stroked the back of her hair. It calmed her. "You left the side door open."
When his hand squeezed on her arm with enough strength to suggest getting up, she didn't resist. Emmit was waiting, and she wanted to go home. Why am I so thirsty?
She stood and brushed the dirt off her blouse and jeans. Her favorite, well-worn outfit. Mud darkened the underparts of her light pink sleeves and her knees. Emmit will ask what I've been doing. He'll be concerned. His sweet, acne-dosed cheeks filled her mind. That wasn't right. He was young and free to run outside, not tall and tossing in his sleep, asking where his dad was.
Schaefer dusted off her back, then his lips pressed a kiss on the back of her head. "I missed you, too."
Missed you too? Why'd he say that? Not that she disagreed. She missed him as well. More than the normal, he was off at work all day, only inside to eat and then back off to his research. She needed to get home, where she would shut and lock their door.
"Come." Schaefer's hand pressed on the small of her back. "Let's go home."
The dream left her, to be replaced by the sight of Cullen squatting beside a transmitter. They were shielded by bushes higher than Cullen's head.
He glanced over, concern in his eyes. "Are you okay?" When she didn't answer, he added, "I took some vitamin juice from your pack."
She traced his gaze to the pouch. The cool liquid soothed her dry, sore throat. Memories of green gas and vomit disappeared with the citrus flavor. She wished she could go back to her dream, to life before the Osuna hurt her family.
"I'm almost done here," he said.
As she looked up over his shoulder, she spotted the white face of a mara watching them from a ridge. Her chest seized. She looked away, but it was too late. She'd made eye contact. "Don't look," she whispered.
"I know," he whispered back. Five green bars had lit on the magnet screen. "I saw it following us. Not the only one. If we act like we're running from them, they'll chase."
I made eye contact.
"That's okay." He brushed his sweaty hair out of his eyes and examined the forest behind her. His blond spikes had sagged with the rain, and were matted by sweat to a darker brown. The magnet beeped and he rose, checking his holo compass.
*Mission update – transmitter 3 of 5 re-activated. Backup texts downloaded. Scan in process….*
+15 XP to group – expanded to Ehli for assist reaching transmitter.
"I think it's this way." He offered a hand to help her up. "Come on."
She glanced back. The mara had left its perch. She took Cullen's hand and followed him, unable to find the mara in the collage of branches and colorful flowers. "If they're following, what are they waiting for?"
"I don't know. Have some of this." He handed her some waver plant. This one was larger than her palm.
She bit a bud and stringy branch off the stalk. She grimaced at the bitter juice.
Cullen led her through tight gaps between the trees and bushes, close enough that she never saw where her feet landed.
A deep thump from behind them punctured the silence.
Cullen spun, and stared back through the jungle. Perhaps he thought Willo's group had found a way out of the sealed tunnel. She seemed to remember something like that happening. Cullen motioned Ehli forward and picked up speed.
Ehli wished she still had her machete. Her shoulders ached from deflecting branches.
Cullen's progress and urgency nearly separated them. She followed the sound of cracking, swishing branches.
A snake hissed somewhere under a bush near her leg. She jumped away and braced. When the expected bite never came, and she relaxed a breath or two.
Where are you? she thought.
Cullen swung his rifle, finger over the trigger, to where she was looking.
"I got it," she said.
A pinch squeezed across her scalp. A hiss grew from beneath the bush. Painful memories returned from the last time. She pushed through to the sound of the snake's defenses. In the rustle of its quick whip, her link connected. She dodged and threw its aim wide. The poison hit a leaf and burned holes as it dripped out. She stuck her hand into the bush on instinct. She found the neck and yanked the snake out, keeping a firm grasp behind its head. As she pulled it out, it gasped, fangs dripping with venom. It was the same species as the one that had bitten her—a hawk snake.
"You're coming with me." She had the snake wrap its body around her left bicep, just tight enough to keep from slipping off.
+10 XP – charmed hawk snake.
Cullen reached for her hand.
She petted the snake's head. "Go ahead, Cullen. Let's keep moving."
He shrugged, and parted some bra
nches. Ehli shielded the snake from a passing branch.
The birds and insects were louder than usual, she thought, keeping her from hearing anything beyond the swish and crack of branches and sticks underfoot. In her charm on the snake, she tried telescoping out to the world beyond. Her charm made a home inside the minds of too many to count. Be still and let me pass by in silence.
As she ended off her request, the jungle became hauntingly quiet. That's better.
+5 XP – charmed local jungle.
"Nice." She switched her attention to Cullen, who looked distracted.
"Thanks. I just got the third download of texts. I need to read these."
Out of curiosity, Ehli 'pathed in to see what they said.
Mission update – 3rd of 5 transmitters reactivated. Added two new keys and Writings of Cusaugh: block three.
Ehli had read the first set when Cullen got it, but not what they'd received from Transmitter 2. She set the Cipher to show the keys as soon as Cullen translated them from Veltuk to Common.
Key #3 – "prior to the dawn of a new age."
Key #4 – "to signal the last great war."
Key #5 – "A council of eleven will discover"
Key #6 – "the stars and repel as well as"
Each phrase played over in her mind as wonder over possibilities in interpretation and fulfillment tickled her imagination. The new age was something Schaefer had mentioned—when the Cipher would be available to all and the final war would begin. What is prior to the dawn of this new age? We may need to get the remaining texts to answer that, she thought. What will the last war look like? Is this what the Cipher brings? Will we discover new planets?
Cullen was contemplating the same things, counting and evaluating who the council of eleven might be.
"I'm going to listen for my son," she said. "If we have to split up so I can get him, you get to those other transmitters without us. We need them."
Cullen shook his head. "It's not an either-or. I won't risk you or Emmit getting hurt. I can back-track if needed. Focus on your son first."
+5 XP to Cullen and Ehli – relationship growth.
30
The blue bird landed on a thin branch overhanging the gorge. From this height, the jungle was spread out below to their right. Immediately ahead was a seven-meter-long bridge made of layered sticks that traversed the breathtaking drop, while to their left a cliff towered over them, sheer-faced boulders stacked against its base. The wind howled, shaking leaves from the branch the bird sat on.
The gorge was too wide to jump, even at a sprint, so the only way across was over the bridge. Which looked precarious to say the least. On the far side was a wide ledge. The only way off that ledge appeared to be a knee-high gap between the cliff and the stacked boulders.
"Seriously?" Sara asked the bird.
The bird pooped a white streak onto rock, took flight, and crossed the gorge. On the other side, it darted left and passed through the low opening beneath a boulder.
Emmit inhaled. So that was their route. Great.
"Come on," Emmit said, eager to complete his mission. "It'll be okay."
Sara stared over the edge. Birds were just visible below, soaring high over the jungle.
Sprinkles looked at Emmit. He wasn't sure if the concern emanating from the wolverine was for itself or Emmit.
Can you jump? Emmit didn't think he could. The negation from Sprinkles confirmed his suspicion, weakening his charmed connection as though out of fear to follow the boy. It's okay, he thought, pushing mental strength into his charm on the animal. I wouldn't do this either if I thought we'd get hurt.
Emmit tested his weight on the section of the bridge supported by rock. It creaked and bowed a little, but not so much that he doubted its strength. A step took him away from the edge of the cliff and over the gorge. The fall from here would end in a heart attack before his body hit the ground.
I've been training you for this moment for years... his dad's words reminded him, and with them echoing in his mind, he drove forward. His left foot landed on a stick that creaked and bowed more than usual. No time to slow. Just go. He shifted his weight in a half step to his right and jumped.
He crossed to the other side and rolled onto the ledge. His backpack skidded on the surface, slowing him to a stop. Heart pounding, he turned to look back at Sara. Her hands were cupped over her mouth. Only a shriek from a soaring bird broke the stillness.
I did it!
+5 XP – crossed the gorge.
Sprinkles licked his lips and shared a mental affirmation as if, in some strange alternate reality, the wolverine had raised him from a pup and was proud of his achievement.
Emmit's blood pumped so hard his hand shook as he pulled back the zipper of his shirt pocket to check on Dy. The gecko's big eye twitched toward him and his tongue flipped out. Sorry about that, boy. He couldn't help but laugh at the stunned and cute little lizard. "I'm glad you made it, too."
Sara dropped her hands and shook them out at her sides, focusing on the bridge. She stepped up to the edge, took a breath, then crossed quickly, taking long strides. She made it across without any creaks.
Emmit grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the ledge.
Sprinkles leaned on a front paw, testing the bridge. One of the beams broke and he jumped back, spinning around as he landed free of the bridge.
"Oh no," Emmit said. "Is he too heavy?"
"Might be," Sara said.
Sprinkles backed away from the bridge.
Don't give up, Emmit thought, adding more strength to the charm. I need you.
The wolverine crouched, then broke into a sprint. A few strides over, something creaked. Sprinkles leapt. Emmit watched in awe, then realized Sprinkles wasn't going to clear it. Oh no. "Grab the bridge!"
They grabbed the end of the bridge and yanked it backwards, away from the cliff edge. A warm thermal spat dust into his eyes, forcing him to squint and lose track of the wolverine's trajectory.
Sprinkles landed on one of the horizontal sticks. The impact jerked Emmit's shoulder almost out of its socket, but he and Sara held on grimly. Sprinkles leapt again, the wood snapping as he did so, and landed on the ledge beside Emmit, safe.
+5 XP – helped Sprinkles cross gorge.
Emmit's fingers ached, and he released the bridge. It was only when Sara gasped that he realized his mistake. The bridge folded and slipped off the ledge, disappearing so quickly it was as if it had never been.
"Oh no." Emmit looked up at Sara. Dad, I—we—dropped the bridge. Is this the only way?
"It's the best way. They'll have to be resourceful." Across the haunting distance, his dad's words failed to comfort.
I sure hope so.
Sprinkles led them toward the low opening beneath the rock.
Emmit jogged over and crawled through to the other side. On the other side was a clear area of flat rock. To the right, it became dirt and jungle, while to the left was a high, sheer cliff face.
Sara shuffled through behind him on her elbows.
The familiar chirp of the blue bird sounded from a branch over an opening they could use to reenter the jungle.
The bird took wing and swooped into the forest. Sprinkles galloped after it, and Emmit and Sara ran after the pair. The terrain was flatter here, with taller trees and less undergrowth.
With no apparent threats in front of them, and concerned about whether his dad could be trusted to ensure that his mom didn't die, Emmit considered going back and waiting. As he glanced back, Sara took his hand and pulled him forward.
"Come on. They'll be fine."
He hoped she was right. They had a mission, and his mom and Cullen were both capable adults. If he could make it this far, surely they could too.
They hiked on long enough for his leg muscles to tighten and his body to demand a respite. He finally gave in to the cramp in his side and slowed to rest against a thick tree. Arm up on the trunk, he wiped his sweaty forehead, breathing deeply.
Sara held
her side where the mara's bolt had hit her.
"Are you okay?" Emmit asked.
She grunted and moved her jacket to look at the bandage. A stain of red and brown blood filled the center of the bandage. "It needs stitches, but will be fine for now."
Sweat beaded off her jaw and dampened her hair, but otherwise she looked ready to go again. She spat, and wiped her face on her sleeve. "How 'bout you?"
He straightened up, rubbing at the cramp.
"Drink some water." She handed him her pouch, the cap already off.
He didn't want to remove his pack—well, he did, the weight was torture on his shoulders, but the relief would only make putting it back on so much worse. He accepted her drink.
"We'll be there soon. I'll get a refill then." She forced a smile.
Her smile took him back. Didn't she remember seeing Adi's dead body? How she'd nearly been killed by a mara? "How can you smile?" He handed back the pouch, and was glad when she took it.
She examined him for a second before she took swig, then capped it and twisted it shut. "I'm sorry about Adi. There's no way to make his loss less significant. But we're so close to achieving what many of us have dreamed of our whole lives. I've never been closer to avenging my brother and what his drafting did to my parents."
He didn't need telepathy to see her sorrow. "Right. Do you think he could still be alive?"
She looked away. "If he is, I don't know that it would matter. It's doubtful he would be the brother I knew."
"I see. Well, I look forward to avenging him too." Emmit searched the jungle for the blue bird and found it ten meters ahead, perched on the nose of a black stone that looked like Sprinkles, who was head down, sniffing his feet.
What started as a small sense of irony at seeing a statue similar in size and shape to his wolverine was soon eclipsed by the second part of the statue, which he didn't see until he was a few steps away. Someone sat straddled on the wolverine, but the figure was hidden by the branches of a nearby tree. The feet were not those of a grown man. A chill sent shivers down his arms as he realized he could see himself, encased in eroded black stone. His hand numbed, and the branch fell back. The branch didn't hide the boy's blank eyes, which stared right down into his. The effect created a disorientation strong enough to make him reach back for help.
