The Caverns of Mare Cetus (21 page)

   "Hey, folks," said Hunter who was standing a short distance away. He began motioning everyone toward him with his hand. "If you're all about ready, we need to get going. Our comrades still need us."

   "It's too weird," said Richelle. She picked up the Vimap and ran through the diagnostic results again, then sighed loudly, disgustedly. "I c-c-can't believe I'm anemic. There's no history of it in m-m-my family."

   Renata patted Richelle's knee. "Don't worry, honey. There has to be an explanation. The blood module might be running against a bad standard or something." She chuckled. "Programmers. Can't trust them to get everything right, now can we? Or maybe a crystal is defective." She laughed again. "There are all kinds of possibilities there. H-techs. Can't trust them either. Did you know I dated one once?"

   "What does your love-life have to do with anything?"

   "Look. You know and I know there's no way all three of us suddenly came down with anemia. Did you try another Vimap?"

   "Yes. With the same results. Hunter thinks there's something wrong with the Mediprogs too. N-n-not all of the modules seemed to be functioning right. I had to reset the system several times. And some of the results on D-d-d-devon didn't make any sense. The second run on her said her teeth were already bonded—healed. But that's not possible—not in hours."

   "Maybe it is," said Renata. "It might be her purrrrr-fect teeth. Did it even cross your mind she might be a cat?" Renata began to purr.

   "Sheesh, you're really fucked up. I ought to check on what dose I gave you." Richelle started to get up.

   "No! Don't go. Please don't leave me."

   She plopped back down, her irritation evident. "What?"

   "I want you to watch me." Renata spread her legs wide apart and began leaning forward, her arms held ahead of her, fingers straight out.

   "That's not a good idea," said Richelle as Renata continued to lean forward. Her voice cracked. "Your broken ribs…"

   After a brief moment, Renata had the tip of her nose resting on the reddish-gray limestone floor. Keeping her face down, she moved her arms out to her sides, like they were the wings of an airplane. "Doesn't hurt a bit." She let out with a cackle. "Just call me Rubber Renata."

Richelle humphed. "Your d-d-dose is definitely too high."

   Renata pushed herself back up to a sitting position, then sent Richelle a proud, radiant smile.

   Richelle wasn't amused in the slightest. "Say," she said, her scowl suddenly fading from her face. "While I've g-g-got your attention, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

   "Shoot," replied Renata, pointing her left index finger at Richelle like it was the barrel of a pistol. As she used the tip of her outstretched thumb as a sight, she aimed her finger right between Richelle's eyes. "Hold still." She lowered her thumb. "Gotcha!"

   "Stop that!" Richelle pushed Renata's hand away. "I want to know—have you been hearing things?"

   Renata dropped her pistol hand to her lap. "Hearing what?" She cupped her right hand behind her ear.

   "Noises. Noises in the passages."

   "You've been hearing noises?" As she studied Richelle's face, she felt a silly smile come to her lips.

   "Yes…why are you looking at me like that? D-d-don't you believe me?"

   "Sure I do. Everyone hears noises now and then down here. Scary, huh?"

   "It's m-m-more than just noises," she said, her voice dropping to a hush. Richelle seemed to suddenly tense up. "I think there's something following us down here. Ever since we got in the Long Hall."

   "Following us?" Renata began fighting the temptation to take another finger shot at Richelle. She firmly grasped her left index finger with her other hand.

   "Yes. I haven't t-t-told Hunter yet. I'm not sure he'd believe me. I figured you would since you're more logical th-th-than him anyway. I don't know why you're not the commander instead of him."

   Renata's head was spinning, but she still knew bullshit when she heard it. "You're trying to screw with me 'cause I'm mentally in-pacas-ipated, right?"

   "N-n-n-o. I'm serious. S-s-something's following us."

   "D-d-did you know you stutter a lot wh-wh-when you get t-ttight? I th-th-think it's a s-s-sign of sexual frustration." Renata giggled.

   "Damn it. I should have known b-b-better. You know what— you'll never command a mission. Isis was right. You're nothing but a bitch…" Richelle stopped in mid-sentence as Hunter stepped up to them.

   "Can you hike?" asked Hunter, looking down at Richelle's foot.

   She looked up. "I don't have much choice now, do I?" She huffed, then threw on her boot without putting on her sock. She got to her feet and began limping away.

   Hunter watched Richelle for a moment, then gave Renata a stare of bewilderment.

   Renata leaned back on her outstretched arms. "Beats me. I can't imagine what's up her ass."

   "And what about you?"

   Lustful thoughts swirling through her mind, she giggled. "You want to know what's up my ass? I haven't checked lately. Care to take a look?"

   He shook his head and laughed.

   "I'm sorry, Hunter darling. I'm so buzzed now I could fall off a cliff and not know it."

   "What am I ever going to do with you?"

   She moved the tip of her finger slowly across her lips. "I can think of several things."

   "Enough," he said. He helped her to her feet, taking her arm in his own. They walked over to Arielle and Ramon.

   Renata began studying Arielle's face. It was obvious she was medicated as well. Her eyes were glassy; there was a playful giddiness about her youthful features. "Here's your Vimap back. How are you feeling?"

   "Pretty damn good," answered Arielle as she slipped the Vimap in her pocket. "And my honey's being such a sweetie. Did you know he put all my heavy stuff in his pack?"

   Renata looked at Ramon whose back was turned toward her. She crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue.

   Richelle limped up to Renata and Arielle.

   "Okay, gentlemen," said Hunter, giving Ramon and Edison a stern look. "You know what we're up against. We need to make time, not mistakes. We have two drugged ladies now. You know what that stuff does. Let's pay close attention to them and give them the help they need. Let's get on it."

   Edison gave a thumb's-up sign.

   "Hey, you know me," said Ramon. "I'm the epitome of seriousness."

   Hunter turned toward the women.

   "What about me?" asked Richelle. "These two aren't the only ladies that are hurt." She waved her sock toward Renata and Arielle. "Unless you th-th-think I'm not a lady." She raised her right foot off the ground and held it out toward Hunter.

   Hunter frowned, but then his expression softened. "Of course you're one of the ladies, Richelle. I didn't mean to exclude you. Let's take a look at that foot." He motioned her toward him with his hand.

   "It's hurting a lot," said Richelle, sniffling as she limped toward Hunter.

   Devon abruptly stepped next to Renata and put her arm around her shoulders. "Come with me. It's time I told you something." She led her away from Arielle, toward a passage wall. When they reached the wall, Devon turned Renata toward her. "I want you to know I'll take care of you from now on. I won't allow anyone or anything to ever hurt you again." She gave Renata a strong hug, then a peck on her cheek. "You're my Sister. I care about you."

   "Listen, you lovesick puppy dog," said Ramon as he came up behind them. "I saw that, and I don't like it." He pushed on Devon's shoulder with two fingers. "You're warped, girl. I don't trust you."

   Renata pulled Devon by her side. "You listen…booby." She put her arm around Devon. "If she wants to be my sister, that's fine with me."

   "Sister? That's not what I saw. You're on too many drugs, Renata."

   "Back off," said Devon. "This is my Sister, and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it. And if you try to split us up, I'll finish you. Got it?"

   He put his fingers to his head, then pointed at Devon. "You? Don't make me laugh. I don't have a thing to fear from you, you puny witch."

   "I'll tell you what you have to fear," she said, a dark expression spreading into her face. She let go of Renata and took a step toward Ramon. "Not only am I a woman. I'm a Mendrax."

"Now I've heard everything. You're not only weird, you're nuts."

   Renata looked at Devon with a scatterbrained expression. "You're a Mendrax? I didn't know that. Imagine that. Wow."

   She smiled at Renata, then turned her anger back toward Ramon.

   "Renata," said Ramon, "do you realize what she's saying? She's telling you she's a Mendrax. She thinks she's a delusion."

   Devon continued to hold her gaze on him.

   At once his expression grew flat.

   Devon motioned him forward with her index and middle fingers. "Care to take a look inside my mouth again?"

   Ramon didn't answer; he continued to gaze at her face.

   "Come a little closer, will you?"

   It appeared to Renata that Ramon was trembling.

   "Maybe you'd like to explore my caverns," said Devon. "The way Garrett supposedly did."

   Ramon shook his head. "That would be a bad move." He turned and hurriedly went back to the others.

   "What just happened here?" asked Renata after a moment. "You, you…"

   "Put him in his place, didn't I?" finished Devon.

   "But…"

   "What he thinks I am is his own delusion. I'm just playing on his weaknesses. You know who I am. I'm your Sister. Your friend."

   Renata took a deep breath. Devon surely seemed like a friend now. Besides, Devon had just torn Ramon to pieces in a way she never could.

   Devon put her arm around Renata again. "Let me take care of you. I promise I'll never let you down." Devon let go of Renata just as Hunter came up to them.

   "Rene," he said, her backpack held in his arms. He helped her slip it on. "My Second should be by my side."

   "Right-o!" said Renata, saluting him but hitting herself in the forehead instead.

   "I still can't pick anything up from Trent. I figure we need to get to his last recorded position, which should be about a twenty-minute hike from here. Seem reasonable?"

   "Whatever you say, darling," she said, her head buzzing now as if a colony of bees was building a hive inside of it. She rubbed her eyes and yawned.
Ramon suckered in by Devon. It had to be a dream.

   Hunter's eyes lit up with amusement. "Great stuff, huh?" He put her hardhat on her head. "I've already sent out commands for the other Kalos to halt and run internal diagnostics. That was about ten minutes ago." He motioned to the others. "Okay. Let's go."

   The group began hiking down the passage, leaving the wreckage of Kalo Two behind. Time passed.

   Though Renata's head was in a fog, she began to realize the route to the spot of Trent's last signal seemed to be much longer than Hunter had anticipated. Compounding that, they had also encountered several time-consuming, tight, twisting passages and short, rugged climbs, the men having to expend considerable effort to help Arielle and Renata traverse them. Renata finally snapped back to reality when she heard Hunter cry out.

   "Damn it!" His face was buried in the Vimap. "This is the exact spot where Trent and Isis are supposed to be. We're right on top of their signal." He stepped into the image and began pointing out the route they had taken. "After we got past that tight section, we followed the wide passage for eight-hundred twenty meters, then cut down this side passage for exactly three-hundred and seventeen meters. I can't believe they're not here."

   Renata stepped into the image too, taking Hunter's arm. She began looking at the route. "Why don't we try to contact them again? It's been awhile, maybe they moved somewhere for safety."

   "Okay," said Hunter, reservation in his voice, skepticism in his eyes. "Trent!" he said forcefully into his com. "This is Hunter. We're right where you're supposed to be. Well, where the hell are you?"

   "Right where we've always been," came Trent's voice through their coms, loud and clear, nearly sending Hunter into the low ceiling above his head.

   "We've found them!" exclaimed Edison. "But, where are they?"

   Hunter's voice was brimming with excitement. "Trent! We're exactly where you last transmitted from. Just give us the direction and distance, and we'll come and get you."

   "What are you talking about?" asked Trent. "I just told you, we haven't budged."

   Renata felt as if her heart had become lodged in her throat. "What in God's name?" As she stepped out of the image, Devon took her hand, but Renata pulled it away. "Please, Devon, not now."

   "Why don't you just pinpoint Kalo One on your Vimap?" said Trent. "It's been here for over an hour. Running diags for much of that time."

   The group gathered around Hunter as he stepped out of the image and showed them the Vimap screen. Much to their dismay, Kalo One was in an adjacent passage, nearly parallel to the one they had taken.

   "Jesus Christ, Hunter!" exclaimed Ramon. "Where has your head been? You took the wrong passage. Why didn't you fix on Kalo One?"

   "I did. Right before we left Kalo Two. One didn't show up in that passage. It showed up here. In this passage. The last time I had a fix on it, it was from right here." Hunter slammed the tip of his finger on the screen, covering a green dot. Immediately the two men began arguing.

   "Trent," said Renata into her com. She sat down in front of some brownish-yellow boulders, Arielle and Devon sitting beside her, Edison and Richelle across from them. Renata took off her hardhat and backpack and set them on the ground in front of her. Devon did the same. "How is Isis doing?"

   "She's doing as best as can be expected," he said, a hesitation seeming to slice between his words. "She went into oligemic shock a short time after she was shot. I got her bleeding controlled a short time after that, but she damaged quite a few blood vessels. Fortunately she missed her femoral artery, or she might have died on the spot."