CHAPTER SEVEN

JAHLE

After a morning meal of protein bars washed down with water, Jahle discovered the lamps were dead after lying dormant all night.

“We will have to walk around until they recharge,” he said. “The tunnels will be hazardous without them.”

Mel tapped a finger to her lips. “I can do one better.”

She grabbed the lamps from his hands and strode to the water pump. Using the straps, she attached all four lamps to the handle, and snapped her fingers at him.

“Canteen,” she ordered.

He had to help her insert the canteen, but once it was in place, she cranked. By the time the pump burbled with water, the lamps glowed again. Mel grinned while she rubbed her arm from the effort.

She is resourceful.

“How are your hands?”

She glanced down at them in surprise. “I almost forgot about the rope burn.” She opened and closed her fingers a few times. “They don’t hurt now, but I get the feeling they will when I use them.”

She is stoic.

Jahle packed away the bedrolls while the water purified. As he made to close the doors, he hesitated. The unspoken rule of the emergency campsites was to replace what you took. He had enough emergency rations to leave a few.

For who? We are all dying.

He placed two inside the crate.

“Why are you doing that?” Mel asked. Her bright eyes missed nothing.

“An Ennoi is not an Ennoi without other Ennoi.”

“Huh?”

“We should give more than we take. That is the Ennoi way.”

By the time they returned all the equipment, the pump was done with its purification cycle.

“A quarter bottle.” Jahle pursed his lips. The earthquakes must have damaged the pipes leading to the water table below. Perhaps the water table itself had shifted. Or perhaps, with the Water People decimated, no one was left to maintain the system.

“Better than nothing,” Mel chirped.

After her full night’s sleep, she was perky and bright-eyed, eager to move on. Jahle had barely slept, and his entire body ached this morning. He wanted to curl up and rest, cradling Mel in the curve of his body, but they could not afford a delay. Every bell that sounded in Kreebo meant Dogan grew closer to discovering his betrayal.

When he realizes the extent of what I stole from him…

They made good time. Mel proved to be a quick learner. She questioned him about the trail markers until she began to understand the system. While she couldn’t read Ennoi, she learned the symbols that made up the various routes.

“Which way?” he asked, when they reached an intersection.

Mel peered at the slabs on the walls, then pointed. “This way to the Kardashian Ridge.”

“Kastikan Ridge,” Jahle corrected.

“Same difference.”

“What is a Kardashian?”

The lecture on human culture that followed was almost incomprehensible to Jahle, but he let her speak. Her voice soothed him. The stream of words washed over him, and seemed to draw the tension from his body. With Mel behind him, he could face any obstacle.

She was smart, and funny. Adept. He wanted to spend time deciphering her mind and exploring her body. Even when the path grew rough, she soldiered on, keeping her head up. When they reached a jagged patch, she climbed, gritting her teeth against the pain in her fingers. She only hesitated when they encountered a collapsed tunnel. The gap left was wide enough for Jahle to wiggle through. From the other side, he coaxed her under the rubble.

“I-I don’t like tight spaces,” she said, scrambling to her feet. She wore a sneer on her face, as if anger could hide away the truth of her emotions.

I want to kiss away her fear.

When they stopped for a break, they sat side by side on a rocky ledge, and she ate the pre-chewed protein bar without a fuss. His heart thundered as her shoulder brushed his. His throat closed up when her lips met his fingers. He wanted to sweep her into his arms and seal the deal.

Yet she is unaffected. Do humans not feel the Avowal?

The ache in his muscles was a warning. He had met his Avowed, and soon, he would achieve his full Potential. She was ignorant of Ennoi matters. Better to keep it that way. He would help the Water People, and in return, they would take her to the ships. He would find a cave to lie in, until…

How long do I have?

“You okay?” Mel stared at him again. She was always studying him.

“I am fine. We should keep moving.”

The rest of the day passed quickly. Jahle pushed onward as long as he could, but when Mel stumbled, he guided them to the nearest campsite. They worked as a team, with Mel priming the pumps while Jahle laid out the bedrolls and set up the portable heater. Mel whooped when the pump gurgled. They filled both canteens and drank their fill.

“No more pee water!” Mel danced around the campsite. “Pee free!”

“To bed. Get some sleep. Another half a day’s march awaits us. Maybe more.”

“Nuh-uh. You kept watch last night. I’ll keep watch tonight.” She patted the sonar evaluator. “Anyone shows up, I’ll be all, like, ‘say hello to my little friend!’”

He bit back his amusement. She put so much faith in that machine. “No, you should rest.”

She merely stuck out her lower lip at him and marched to the cave entrance, where she plunked down on a rock. Jahle stretched out on his bedroll and dozed. When he woke from his nap, Mel’s head was slumped to her chest, and the sonar evaluator lay on the floor beside her. He scooped her into his arms. She murmured and burrowed her face into his chest. His heart galloped along with her breathing.

He laid her on her bedroll, and tucked the sonar evaluator beside her before he sat back on his heels. He took a moment to enjoy the serenity on her face. No judgment, no wariness. Just an openness that made him long for easier times. With a trembling hand, he swept the hair from her forehead. The ache in his limbs was growing.

I can offer her nothing.

When she woke the next morning, he was already up, packing away his bedroll.

She rolled to her feet with a groan, and staggered to the water pump. She pulled off the bulky over shirt she wore, revealing a thin white shift beneath. The pump had produced enough water to fill both canteens. She splashed the excess onto her face.

The water trickled downward, soaking her shirt, so it clung to her curves. He watched her arch her back. Her murmur of pleasure from the stretch sent a boulder tumbling down his chest and into his groin.

“I am so stiff,” she groused.

Parts of me are too.

The bedroll didn’t deserve the violence he bestowed upon it, nor did he have any reason to stare at the names on the wall for a few minutes. He reminded himself that most of the names on the wall belonged to the dead. The thought helped sober him up. He added his name to the end of the list. Another Ennoi, waiting for death. Mel carved her own name into the wall, followed by the triangle-eared animal.

Jahle swung the packs into place on his shoulders. He was at the mouth of the cave before he thought to check his belongings. He cursed when he noticed the missing pouch on his hip. He hurried back and grabbed it from beside a rock, all while chiding himself for his carelessness.

Can’t afford any distractions.

“Don’t want to forget your spices,” Mel said with a wry smile. “They can only improve the flavor of those shoe leather bars.”

He debated removing all his packs and placing it underneath. With the other straps holding it down, it was more likely to remain safe. However, under Mel’s scrutiny, he feigned casualness, and slung it over his shoulder.

“If we find a campsite with a working stove and enough water, I will make you a stew.”

“Oh boy! Rotten fish stew! Just like dear old Grammy used to make!”

He led them onward. The path began to curve upward, and soon, Mel had no breath left for talking. Her energy and effort grew focused on the path. Even Jahle began to struggle, weakened by sleepless nights and the scarcity of food. Plus his bones seemed to weigh as much as the rock surrounding them.

Jahle called a break earlier than he intended. They perched on a rock and ate in silence. Mel excused herself to walk around the corner ahead so she could relieve herself. She returned a few minutes later, her cheeks bright with color and a spring in her step.

“It opens up ahead! The path! There’s like a cliff! And light!”

The caverns. We made it to the Kastikan Ridge.

Jahle forced himself to his feet.

Let’s hope I am not too late.

The tunnel opened into a vast cavern, and the path continued along a ledge that sloped steeply back down. Light filtered in from holes in the ceiling, and the howling wind diffused into a gentle breeze by the time it made its way down. The cavern floor below them was dotted with ruins.

Mel peered over his shoulder and whistled. “Whoa. Long way down. Is that a… city?”

Jahle nodded. “It used to be Kastik. The capital city of Geran.”

“What happened to it?”

Greed. Anger. Hate.

“The war,” he replied. “Enemy bombs.”

Mel didn’t reply, but merely followed him out of the tunnel and onto the ledge. It was wide enough for both of them to walk side by side, but Jahle went ahead, sticking close to the wall. Mel peered over the edge, but she didn’t flinch about stepping out. She walked with sure feet, keeping one hand on the wall.

“Are there any enemies here?” Her voice was steady.

Only ourselves.

“No. The Cadam Ennoi occupy another planet.”

“Hmm, why does that name sound familiar? Cadam…” She paused for a moment. “Is that smoke down there?”

He peered across the ruined city until he spotted the pale column. “Yes. That will be our destination.”

“That’s the space airport place? Are there lots of people living there? Jahle?”

“Focus on the path,” he responded. “It narrows.”

The spot between his shoulder blades began to itch from the glare she shot him.

The fewer words I speak, the fewer lies I spew.

They meandered their way along the side of the cliff. Occasionally, they would cross rock slides, or the path would narrow to the point where Jahle had to place one foot in front of the other, while clinging to the wall with his left hand.

Mel said nothing, but followed. He heard her mutter – don’t look down, don’t look down – but she kept pace with him. Her breath hissed when her palms scraped rock, but she didn’t complain.

Jahle called the first break. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. The world seemed to be spinning, and his body trembled. A muscle in his back wouldn’t stop spasming.

“You don’t look so good,” Mel commented. She pulled the canteen from his pack and handed it to him. “Finish it up. You need it.”

He didn’t argue, but drank deeply. His empty stomach roiled against the liquid, and she handed him a protein bar. He choked it down, and then the second one she offered. He rejected the third one.

The Water People need it more.

“Better?”

“Yes,” he said, breathing deeply. The ache in his bones subsided.

“You haven’t been eating enough,” she chided. “A big boy like you has to keep his strength up.”

He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but it felt false. All he really wanted to do was tuck her into his arms and sleep. To give into the inevitable, and embrace the fact that she was his Avowed. Instead he pushed off the wall. “Let’s keep going.”

They walked for another bell before disaster struck.

Jahle’s head spun. He stumbled to the side. His foot landed on a loose rock and betrayed him, twisting out from under him.

“Whoa! Dude!”

Mel grabbed his arm, but it was too late. Jahle crashed downward, his chest hit the edge of the path, while his right arm dangled over space. His fingers scrambled at the rock, but he was at no risk of tumbling over the edge. It was just the spinning in his head that made him believe he remained in motion.

He lay there, waiting for the world to settle. Mel crouched down beside him, and rolled him over until he lay fully on the ledge. She peered at him, and then patted his chest.

“Close one there, buddy. Sorry about your spices, but I don’t think even a good dash of oregano would fix those protein bars.”

Spices?

Jahle’s eyes bugged out. His hand shot to his hip, then up his body. Nothing.

No! No, no!

He rolled to his feet and scurried to the edge. He sat back with a groan, and sank his face into his hands. The medicine pouch sat on an outcropping, several lengths downward. Even if he dropped to his belly, it would remain out of reach.

He had lost the only hope the Water People had for survival.