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

After giving the suggestion another moment of consideration, Kyber sighed loudly. “I concur.” He tried to get to his feet but his knees gave out and he stumbled forward. Sandow managed to grab him before he fell.

“Hey, there! You okay? Kyber, you’re not recovered enough.”

“I will be fine,” the Seneecian gruffly replied.

“Yes, you will be fine.” Massapa stepped forward until he faced the ex-Por D’har. “You will be fine after you have given yourself more time to heal.”

Kyber opened his mouth to retort, but his former crew member pressed the issue. Kelen took a stance behind the man’s back to show her mate she wasn’t going to support him this time around.

Massapa pointed to the bandage wrapped around Kyber’s abdomen where small dots of blood were growing in size. “You need to stay here and coordinate our efforts. Keep us centralized. Keep us focused on the tasks at hand. It is what the Por D’har would do if we were back on our ship.”

“This is not our ship,” Kyber started to argue.

“No, it is not,” Tojun interceded. “But it does not mean we no longer have need of someone to collate all the information we gather.”

“Kyber,” Kelen finally spoke up, taking a stance beside Massapa. “We need a hub. We’re not asking you to take command. We’re not asking you to make decisions for us. We’re asking you,
I’m
asking you, to keep us synchronized. We need guidance and direction. If you remain here, we can expand outward, then report back to you. You’ll be aware of everything we’re doing and be able to pass along that information to whomever needs it.” She pointed to Dox. “Dox will remain with you, freeing up Mellori to help where he’s needed.”

The Seneecian’s eyes went from person to person, scanning everyone in the room before returning to her. “You make a very compelling argument, woman.”

She grinned. “Yeah, you’re right. I do. And that’s why you love me.”

Chapter 4

Interment

            Using a piece of Verin’s uniform, Massapa drew a copy of the man’s family crest to lay atop the body, using the drying blood to make the intricate design. With rigor setting in, it kept the corpse stiff, but Massapa, Gaveer, Kleesod, and Fullgrath managed to carry the Seneecian between them as they exited the apartment.

            “I wonder how we’ll be able to hoist him up that narrow tunnel until we reach the temple,” Fullgrath commented. He turned to Kyber. “We can’t walk two aside in that narrow space as it is. And you’re still in no condition to make the long climb.”

            “We may have to drag him,” Kyber remarked, when Dox stepped up again.

            “Take the elevator.”

            “The what, Dox?” Jules questioned.

            The little man pointed in the direction of the tunnel leading to the machinery room. “Use the elevator. It’s faster.”

            “I think he’s talking about the rock slab,” Mellori noted.

            “Yeah, but will it accommodate more than one person at a time?” Kelen wondered aloud. She turned to Dox. “Do you know?”

            To Dox’s credit, he shrugged his shoulders. “Not sure. Maybe. Won’t know until we try, right?”

            Sandow cleared his throat. “Well, he’s correct about one thing. It’ll take us hours to get there if we try to go up that steep incline. I say we go for it.”

            The six men continued forward to enter the tunnel, which was barely wide enough for them to walk in formation with Verin’s body resting at shoulder level. The rest followed behind. It wasn’t long before they emerged into the vast cavern with its multitude of strange, alien machinery.

            As they neared the rock, Jules ran ahead to fetch the tablet he’d left behind. Kelen noticed he’d hidden it in a small crevice between two large rocks rather than have it sitting out the open.

            “Smart move,” she complimented.

            He flashed her a smile, then approached the tall, flat pillar where the lights were located.

            “All right. You have to remember I haven’t had the chance to test these myself. I only have Dox’s word for it.” He pointed to a white light near the top of the rock. “That one is to the temple.”

            “You know that for a fact?” Mellori queried.

            “Been there.” Dox gave them that grin they knew well. He was notorious for going out on his own. No matter how many times Dayall and the others castigated the young man, they also knew Dox was genetically predisposed to such adventures. He could no more keep from poking his nose into the unknown, even though he well understood the dangers involved, as he could stop eating or sleeping.

            Gaveer pointed to the panel. “Where are we on this? Which light is this cavern?”

            Jules indicated a dark orange one. “Here. I think.”

            Sandow peered closer. “And this green one is the garden, correct?”

            Jules pointed to a green one almost midway between them and the temple. “Correct. Think of this slab as side-view representation.”

            Cooter snorted. “If that’s the case, what the hell do all these other lights indicate? Especially these way down here near the bottom of the rock?”

            “We will discuss exploring those sites at our council meeting,” Kyber decided. “Our priority right now is to see to Verin’s interment.”

            “Since we don’t know if this platform can send more than one of us at a time, let’s begin with me and Cooter,” Fullgrath suggested and hefted his weapon. Stepping up on the dais, he held his gun at the ready. Cooter joined him, holding his beloved pulse rifle pointing outward.

            “Here we go!” Jules moved over to the slab and hit the white button. There was a low hum, but after several seconds nothing happened.

            Fullgrath muttered an expletive under his breath and stepped off the rock.

            Cooter vanished.

            Immediately, Fullgrath leaped back up onto the slab. A heartbeat later, he was gone.

            “Let us place Verin’s body there. When it arrives, they will remove it to allow the rest of us passage,” Kyber announced.

            The dead Seneecian was carefully laid on the rock and disappeared within seconds. One by one they all took a stance on the slab, until the only ones left were Jules, Kelen, and Kyber.

            “Go ahead.” Jules motioned for her to step up.

            “I just thought of something. Doesn’t one of us have to stay behind to work the return button?” she questioned.

            “Dox figured out how to set an auto return,” Jules assured her. “When we step back on the platform up at the temple, it’ll bring us right back here.”

            “Go, Kelen,” Kyber urged. “I will come after you.”

            She nodded and climbed up. The world went from opaque to pure white, and then she was struck by a blinding light. Throwing up an arm to shield her eyes, she felt a hand grab her other arm and pull her off the platform.

            “Careful,” Mellori cautioned her. “The floor is littered with small rocks. Watch your step so you don’t trip and fall.”

            Kelen glanced around at the monolithic figures rising a thousand meters overhead, and at the immense, carved vaulted ceiling. Another check around her allowed her to get her bearings. The ledge leading out into the openness of space would be outside and to the left of the small enclosure where the transport rock was located. The planet’s desert would be to the right.

            The others were gathered outside the three-sided room.
Three-sided room.
Kelen snickered. Everything the native inhabitants of this world did hinged on groups of three. The nonagon-shaped cluster of apartments. The fact that all of the symbols representing their language were presented in sets of three. Even the food was doled out three servings at a time, leaving them unable to have more until the machine cycled through.

            Soon after she joined the rest, Kyber and Jules followed. On Kyber’s silent signal, everyone walked to the end of the temple and out onto the ledge that extended over the gulf of space.

            The sun was behind them, hidden from sight, but casting the tall, imposing shadow of the temple over the rock. Kelen stared at the horizon past the seemingly impossible vista of outer space that lay beyond. She saw the way the sky above was a clear and perfect blue. Yet further down, it grew darker, until the stars presented themselves in bright, almost painful clarity beneath their feet.

            A sense of foreboding swept through her as the body was placed a meter away from the lip of the precipice. Kyber and the Seneecians made a semi-circle around their crew member, as Kelen and the other Terrans stood behind them.

            Softly, the aliens began to croon. Their deep voices reverberated against the side of the half planet, until she thought she could hear their echoes falling into space below. Their chanting continued as they paid homage to the man.

            Again, her eyes went to the torn throat. There were also marks she could see which she’d missed earlier. The slashes across his face and bare arms. The Seneecian had fought for his life, but he’d been outnumbered and overwhelmed. If Isup had joined in on the carnage, Verin had never had a chance against those odds.

            A shiver went through her as the droning continued. The soothing sound calmed her. Relaxed her. Helped her to center herself.

            A tiny breeze ruffled her hair. Glancing up, she stared at the tall spire looming above them.

            Something glinted.

            Her body chilled and she kept her eyes glued to the tiny slit in the rock structure. Barely breathing, she focused on that area.

            Another glint.

            Kelen softly gasped. A glance at the others showed they were unaware of what she’d seen. Their attention was on the ceremony. All except for Dox, who appeared to be studying the rocky ledge they were standing on. For a fleeting moment, she feared their combined weight might cause the ledge to break off and fall. She started to reach out and touch Kyber’s arm when something made her look upward again.

            The glint reappeared.

            She stared down at her feet. The foreboding continued, growing and warning her of a nameless fear she didn’t recognize.

            The chanting stopped. After a few more words in Seneecian, each man drew a single claw across Verin’s extremities. Those closest to his legs marked them. Kyber and Gaveer left a shallow furrow on each arm. Then, as one, they reached underneath the body and rolled it over until it fell off the lip and plummeted into the abyss.

            “Kel?” Sandow’s soft voice reminded her it was their turn to say a few words for their own lost crew member.

            “Who’s going to do the eulogy?” she asked him.

            “I will.” Fullgrath stepped forward.

            Kelen turned to Kyber, who was watching her with a curious expression on his face. He could tell she was worried, but she didn’t know how she could explain the uneasiness that seemed to hover over her.

            The ex-weapons master began. “This is being done in memory of Lieutenant Nave Bertriol. He was head of security, and he and I often—”

Dox’s scream of terror made them jerk in shock.

“
Eye worms!
”

Chapter 5

Attack

            Everyone instantly froze as they stared in stricken silence at the pack of eye worms slowly advancing at them. Mellori motioned for them all to remain quiet and try not to move, as past experience taught them the multi-legged creatures relied on sound and vibration to spot their prey.

            Kelen checked behind her. The ledge’s lip was less than six meters away, but that wasn’t the worst of it. She watched as the things drew closer, pausing every few centimeters to seek the source of the noise that had drawn their attention. Bulbous eyes swayed at the end of long stalks rising from scaly, hot dog-shaped bodies. The only way to get to the platform would be through those things.

            “Aren’t we gonna do anything?”

            She recognized Cooter’s whispered growl of irritation. She didn’t recognize who shushed him immediately after.

            One little bugger suddenly decided to press the issue and started making a beeline toward Gaveer. The Seneecian took a step backwards. The sound of his sandaled feet across the rock was like sandpaper. Altogether, the group of eye worms turned to descend on him.

            “Fuck this shit!” Cooter yelled and began spraying the nest, swinging his pulse rifle from side to side. Eye worms exploded like balls of black and blue goo. Within seconds, he’d cleared a path.

            “Run for it!”

            Fullgrath dashed inside first, firing his pistol at the stragglers emerging from the cracks between the rocks in the floor. Kelen snatched her little tube weapon from her pocket and held it out in front of her in case one of those things tried to jump her.

            They reached the platform and Fullgrath motioned to Jules.

            “You go first! Coot and I will try to hold them off!”

            Jules obeyed without question and disappeared. Mellori jumped up next, followed by Dox and Tojun. When the Seneecian blinked out of sight, Kyber gave her a shove toward the platform.

            “Go.” His voice was flat and authoritative, leaving no room for argument.

            She turned to tell him he’d better be right behind her, when someone yelled. A hoard of eye worms were starting to pour into the narrow room. Hundreds of them. So many, the floor appeared to be one massive body of undulating creatures.

            She felt herself being lifted and literally thrown upon the transferring rock. She landed hard on her knees, sending pain lancing through her legs. Kelen barely had time to catch her breath when the light shifted around her, going from golden to white. Hands grabbed her arms to drag her off the platform. She stumbled but managed to stay on her feet as she turned to wait for Kyber to appear.