Neverwylde (The Rim of the World Book 3) (18 page)

“Come on! This way!”

There was nowhere else to go but toward the lakes.

Cooter began firing his pulse rifle at the carpet of clickers swarming in their direction. Kyber tugged on Kelen, urging her toward large bodies of water, and the gigantic net with its two tall pylons which braced both shores. A surge of adrenaline gave her the strength to get that far, but no more. She collapsed in the mud, her body shivering from cold and stress.

Someone screamed in fear. She jerked her head up to see a creature from beneath the water lift its head from the depth. Like the clickers, the thing had been attracted by the sounds of the battle.

Massapa pointed to the nearest pylon. “Put it at our backs for defense!”

Kyber reached down for her. Kelen struggled to get on her feet, but her legs refused to obey. Jules swooped in, throwing one of her arms over his shoulder. With Kyber taking her other arm, they managed to lift her enough to half-drag her to the base of the enormous white structure. Setting her against the tower, Kyber took a defensive stance in front of her, claws extended, ready to protect her.

From there she watched as the water monster honed in on the furry man creatures. The furry things tried to ward it off with snarls and swipes of their paws, but they had no effect on it. The lake creature lowered its head, opened its gigantic maw, and scooped a furry thing into it. With two hitches of its head, it swallowed the thing, then struggled to reach more.

Fullgrath, Massapa, Gaveer, and Cooter continued firing on the clickers, who edged closer and closer to where the survivors were trapped. Sandow pointed to where they could see Plat and Isup slowly making their way toward the survivors. With Cooter and the others fighting the clickers, and the furry creatures engaged with the lake monster, the renegade Seneecians managed to zig-zag a path toward the pylons. It was evident they had decided to seek safety by siding with the other survivors, if only temporarily.

Jules gave her a hug. “Guess this is it, Kel. Our last stand.”

She fiercely hugged him in return, batting her eyes to clear them of the tears. What she wouldn’t have given to have a weapon.

Behind them, the pylon glimmered wetly white in the dimming light, and a memory echoed in her mind. Kelen sniffed. “Wait. Dox.”

Kyber glanced back at her at the same time Jules asked, “Dox? Where?”

“No, no!” She pointed at the pylon. “Don’t you remember? When Dox disappeared for a moment, and we didn’t know where he’d gone?”

Jules frowned at her, then it suddenly came to him. “Oh my God. Are you thinking—”

Not waiting for answer, he rushed over to the pylon to examine it. Seconds later, he found what he was searching for. “Hey, everyone! Over here!” He threw her a quick smile. “Good instincts, Kel. There’s a light panel here!”

“What?” Sandow and Tojun made their way over. Grabbing Kelen, Kyber helped her over to where the navigator stood.

On the back side of the pylon lay a flat slab of rock, similar to the other slabs they’d seen where the elevator had taken them. Jules pointed to where he’d opened a small hatch in the structure. Inside was a lighted display identical to the one in the machinery room.

“Which one are we?” Mellori asked.

“I don’t know. I think we’re this one.” Jules pointed to a blue one below an orange one. “We walked deeper into the crust to get here. Assuming this orange one is the machinery room, maybe this blue one is us.”

Cooter shot off three more rounds. “We’d better figure out something in a hurry. Those clickers are getting nearer, and I’m almost out.”

Kelen glanced over Kyber’s shoulder to see Plat and Isup standing motionless on the trail. With the furry creatures in front of them, and the clickers behind them, they were surrounded and unable to advance or retreat.

The lake monster gave an earth-rattling roar and dove toward the white Seneecian. The D’har kept firing, then his weapon gave a little burp when it emptied. The lake monster descended upon them, its mouth open to devour the D’har. Plat threw the empty pistol at the creature. It bounced harmlessly off the thing’s slick skin, but the man’s actions appeared to enrage the behemoth even more. It let go with another growl. Plat grabbed Isup by the arm and twirled the Seneecian around, giving the crew member a hard shove. The lake monster closed its mouth over Isup and raised its head to swallow him.

Kelen screamed, unable to take her eyes off the Seneecian’s futile attempts to free himself. A few jerks of its head, and the monster gulped him whole.

“Listen!” Jules brought their attention back to the pylon. “I’m going first to where this orange dot signifies, which I’m ninety-nine percent positive is the machinery room. If I’m not back in ten seconds, it means the coast is clear, and the next person steps on the slab. Got it?”

Without waiting for an answer, the navigator hit the orange light, then stepped on the rock. He disappeared a heartbeat later.

Kelen tried to spot where Plat was, but couldn’t find him.

“Where’s Plat? Did that thing eat him, too?”

“No,” Kyber told her. “He found another tunnel entrance and disappeared.”

She saw him staring down at her. The look of anger in his eyes matched how she felt. “He deliberately sent Isup to his death, the coward!”

Kyber nodded and gave her a little push toward the slab. “Time is up. You go ne—”

Jules reappeared. The man was gasping for breath. “Can’t go there! Place is crawling with eye worms!”

“Try the gardens!” Gaveer suggested.

“No!” Tojun interrupted. “The smoke monster could be there.”

“Then where? There’s no place that’s safe on this world, no matter where we go!” Kelen argued.

Jules ran his fingertips over the white light at the top. “The temple. I’ll try the temple.”

“But that place has eye worms, too!”

The man vanished without responding, but Kyber answered for him. “No matter where we go, there is danger. But I would rather we take our chances in the temple where we have room to flee, than get cornered in a location with our exits blocked.”

“I’m with him,” Fullgrath stated. He fired again at the clickers, which were less than ten meters away.

Cooter ran over to join them. “I’m out, and unless you guys have a plan, we’re all fucked.”

Kyber pushed her toward the slab. “The count of ten is over. You go.”

“But—”

“Go!” he ordered, giving her a final hoist onto the rock.

His loving gaze was the last thing she saw before the world went white, and the lake vanished.

Chapter 28

Cold

The whiteness dissipated, to be replaced by the familiar walls inside the temple. She barely had time to look around when two pairs of hands grabbed her and pulled her off the slab. Kelen gasped, then cried out in relief.

“Mellori! Dox! Oh, thank God, you made it!” She threw her arms around the men, hugging them fiercely, when Jules spoke up.

“There’s not enough room in here for all of us. Kel, you and Dox wait in the outer room with Kleesod.”

She hurried to obey, leaning heavily on Mellori for support. She noticed the glowing bandage wrapped around Dox’s head, and the way he heavily favored his leg. Dox saw her worried stare and gave her a bright smile.

“I’m okay. Doesn’t hurt.”

Through the open doorway, she saw Sandow appear on the slab. Following him, Gaveer, then Tojun. Kyber came next, with Cooter and Fullgrath last. Everyone exchanged claps on the back and handshakes in greeting as they took the moment to catch their breaths.

Sandow checked Dox’s head wound. “Doesn’t appear serious on the outside, but I’d like to scan your skull for a possible fracture.” The physician looked at Jules. “My tablet’s at the nonagon. Any chance we can retrieve it?”

“Not until we’re sure the machinery room’s safe.”

“You are positive it was full of eye worms?” Kyber insisted.

“Not full full. Just lines of them snaking along the floor. I got the impression they were sniffing out where we’d been, what we’d touched. I didn’t hang around to be sure.”

“You don’t need your tablet,” Mellori told them with a grin. “We brought your portable hand scanner from the ship.”

“Brought lots of things!” Dox exclaimed. “Can make lots of things now!” He tugged on Kelen’s hand. “Come see!”

He led them to the entrance of the temple where a loaded sled hovered just inside the archway. Fullgrath bent over to examine underneath the transport.

“That looks like the undercarriage of one of the lifeboats.”

“It is,” Mellori chuckled.

“Look!” Dox pulled off a covering, revealing bundles of supplies, each wrapped and tied inside blankets. “Lots of good stuff here!”

“We brought back blankets, food, medical supplies and instruments,” Mellori told them.

“Plus more weapons,” added Kleesod.

Kelen touched a familiar-looking packet. “Is that…”

“I thought we could use some changes of clothes, too,” Mellori smiled.

“We were about to take the elevator to the machinery room when Jules appeared,” Kleesod informed them. “He told us of your plight.”

A shout of warning made them start. They turned around to see Jules running toward them.

“Eye worms! Eye worms are coming through the maze!”

“Where do we go now?” Cooter questioned. He glanced outside, at the nighttime quickly descending over the desert. “Out there?”

“No!” Mellori barked. “We’ve been dodging those sand snakes ever since we first left here. It’s too dangerous.”

“Then where?” Kelen asked.

“Everyone grab as much as you can carry,” Kyber ordered, reaching for the transport. “We have to use the elevator.”

“Again? Where?” Cooter demanded.

They all filled their arms with supplies. Kelen found herself struggling with a blanket loaded with an odd assortment of items, but she gritted her teeth and fought against the pain in her leg to limp back to the little room where the slab was located. She paused in the doorway, her gaze locked on the temple floor in the distance. In the semi-darkness, the ground appeared to be moving. If she hadn’t known it was eye worms, she would have thought she was seeing an optical illusion, or that her mind was playing tricks on her.

“Kelen, come!” Kyber’s urgent growl jolted her back to the seriousness of their dilemma. She made her way inside the already crowded room where Jules was searching the wall. She adjusted the pack in her arms, when the navigator gave a whoop.

A portion of the wall slid downward, revealing another panel of lights.

“I knew it! I knew there had to be auxiliary panels at every location. All right, everyone. Where to?” Jules gave them a puzzled look. “Where do we go? Do we try the machinery room again?”

“Too risky,” Fullgrath announced.

“What about one of those other lights?” Tojun pointed to the panel. “We know green is a garden.”

“I doubt any place is safe anymore,” Gaveer bluntly stated. “I think those creatures have become aware of us and are out to get us.”

“I believe something must have triggered them. Made them realize we are here. That is why they are all out to get us,” Massapa surmised.

Sandow added his opinion. “If he’s correct, the only place we can be safe is a place where we haven’t been yet. Jules, what about one of those other lights? What does pink stand for?”

“Hey, guys, we don’t have time to discuss this!” Mellori nervously informed them.

“I agree! Pick a fricking light!” Cooter yelled.

“Pick white.” Dox’s calm voice knifed through their rising tension. Noticing everyone staring at him, he pointed to the panel. “Pick white.”

“It’s as good a choice as anything,” Fullgrath said. “Come on!” Hefting his load, he took a stance on the slab. “Hit me with the white light, Jules.”

“If it’s not safe, get off and get right back on,” the navigator ordered. “If you’re not back in—”

“Yeah, yeah. I know the drill. Hit it, fly boy!”

Jules hesitated a second, then slammed his hand on the white light on the far upper right side of the panel. Fullgrath disappeared, and Kelen heard Jules softly counting off the seconds.

“Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. All right. Dox, you’re next. Go!”

After Dox, Kyber pushed Kelen forward. Jules helped her onto the slab.

“See you shortly!” he smiled as Gaveer yelled. Kelen saw the Seneecian drop his load, bear his claws and teeth, and rush outside as everyone else turned to face the first wave of eye worms. She cried out, but the temple vanished, preventing her from seeing what was happening.

The second she solidified on the slab, Fullgrath hauled her off the rock, sitting her on her feet. The first thing she was aware of was the intense cold. The thin and tattered remains of her uniform gave her insufficient coverage against what had to be freezing temperatures.

Sandow appeared. Fullgrath helped him off the slab. The doctor immediately noticed the bitter cold. He dropped his bundle, opened it, and pulled out two blankets, handing one to Kelen and the other to Dox. She thanked him and wrapped it around her, then took a stance against a nearby wall to watch the others arrive.

Massapa came into focus. Kleesod was after him. When Kyber arrived, he hurried over to where she stood. For the first time, Kelen noticed he wasn’t wearing his uniform, just his genital cup, which was the Seneecian version of underwear. Seeing she was unsteady on her feet, Kyber helped her to sit and squatted beside her, but said nothing as they watched and waited for the others to arrive. Cooter came next to last, with Gaveer being the final one to appear on the slab.

They formed a barricade around themselves, using the bundles of supplies. With that done, they hunkered down and huddled together, keeping the elevator within sight.

Kelen snuggled against Kyber’s furred body, extending her blanket to him. He drew it around himself and they cuddled for warmth.

No one talked. Instead, they kept their ears open, listening for any unusual sounds that could signal something dangerous. They alternated using their tube lights. Sometimes Dox would play his over the walls and floor, but other than the increasing cold as the night progressed, this place didn’t appear any different from the temple they’d left.