Chapter 2
Ascent
They knew the climb would be strenuous. Even with the gradual, low-angle slope, in their weakened state they found themselves gasping for breath barely a hundred meters inside the tunnel.
Kelen first felt her leg muscles burning. Not long after, they grew weak, almost rubbery. To the point where they almost went out from under her. She stumbled, falling against the rough rock wall and painfully scraping her arm and elbow. Kyber started to lift her into his arms to carry her, but she waved him off.
“No. You’re too weak yourself to carry me. I’ll be fine. I’ll make it,” she reassured him.
In spite of her refusal, he slipped an arm under hers to give her support. She didn’t refuse the offer. He also made a point to make frequent stops to allow them the chance to catch their breath. Although they were only a minute or so in duration, they were crucial because of everyone’s deteriorated physical state. They all knew it was imperative that they reach the temple before the Seneecian unit left the planet, but if they pushed themselves too hard, they might not reach the summit at all.
Their overall physical strength was seriously depleted. Their stamina was almost nil. Their morale and need for self-preservation were their only strong points. This could be their only chance to get off this half world. However, if they missed this opportunity…
Kelen tried not to imagine what it would be like to be forced to live the rest of her life on this dangerous planet. The only thing she could say with certainty was that none of them would make it past five years, at the most.
“Twelve.” Massapa’s voice sounded thin inside the narrow corridor. Kelen glanced back at the Seneecian who was keeping count of the air ducts they passed. Each duct also signaled a disguised cross tunnel intersecting with this main one. And, like everything else on this world, the number of ducts would be a multiple of three. With the way ahead still dark, Kelen knew they had at least three more ducts before reaching the surface of the planet. Privately she hoped there were only three left, but she doubted it.
“Hey, Kyber?” Jules’ voice floated up to where she and Kyber walked at the head of the group, but behind Cooter, who took point. Kyber glanced back at the man but didn’t respond, making it clear he’d heard the ex-navigator. Jules took it as a sign to continue. “Kyber, say we manage to make contact with the Duruk character. With them being Seneecians, and because Seneecians and Terrans have been at war for years, what are the chances they may try to blast us out of existence the moment they see us?”
“He’s got a point,” Fullgrath added. “I’ve been thinking the same thing. Have you got any kind of strategy planned in the event we hook up?”
“Actually, I have given it much thought,” Kyber admitted, giving Kelen’s hand a little squeeze. “Massapa, Gaveer, Kleesod, if we do manage to connect with the search party, I want each of you to take two of the others under your protection. Put yourself in front of them in case any of Duruk’s men have been ordered to attack without orders.”
“What about pasty-face here?” Fullgrath questioned, referring to Plat.
“Mellori and Sandow can watch him as I present myself to my brother.”
Nothing more was said as they continued their slow but steady ascent to the temple on the planet’s surface.
At one point, Kelen checked to see what Dox was doing. He was using the group’s last workable tube light to fiddle with the inner workings of the box that sent out the rescue signal. In the light’s glow, the tiny furry appeared almost luminescent, a golden radiance riding on the young man’s shoulder. The next time they paused, she called out him.
“What are you working on this time, Dox?”
Both Dox and Five were nose deep inside the machine. After a few seconds, Dox lifted his face to look at her. “Changed the signal.”
“Oh?” She’d suspected as much, but to hear him say so still surprised her.
“It was my suggestion,” Sandow admitted. “We’d been putting out that ‘Green, not ice’ message for nearly an hour. I figured it was time we honed them in a little closer.”
“What does it say now?”
“Survivors here.”
“In Seneecian,” Gaveer added.
Kyber gave a nod. “Smart move. There is a code of honor among warrior castes that no man is abandoned when there is the chance he can be saved. That should convince Duruk to continue searching for a little longer, giving us that much more time to reach the temple. Time for us to move on.”
“Do we have any way of knowing if the Seneecians are trying to signal back to us?” Mellori questioned Dox.
The young man shrugged slightly, forcing Five to clutch Dox’s ear to keep from falling off. “Maybe. Can’t tell.”
The belief that the Seneecian unit might extend their search a bit longer gave them some hope. Regardless, they kept their pace even, despite the fact that they knew they were gradually slowing down.
“Eighteen,” Massapa announced.
Kelen felt Kyber squeeze her hand again, signaling he was about to call for another brief rest, when Jules shouted, “Hey! Is it my imagination, or is that a light ahead?”
Cooter whirled around from where he stood. “I was about to say the same thing. It looks like we’re about there.”
The announcement gave them the strength to forge ahead, yet they continued to struggle to place one foot in front of the other. Another dozen or so meters, and the light ahead was discernably brighter.
“Anybody know what time it is?” Mellori asked.
“Daytime,” Fullgrath muttered. No one responded with laughter. They were too exhausted.
The entrance soon came into full view. With less than a handful of meters to go, Kyber stepped away from Kelen and signaled for a halt. “Cooter, hold back,” he whispered to the point man. Giving his fellow Seneecians a wave to join him, he faced the others. “We will emerge first and confront Duruk. I will inform him of your presence here, but I will demand that you be given asylum status.”
“What if he refuses?” Sandow queried. “What if he insists on taking us prisoner?” Pointing to the bound and gagged Seneecian, he added, “What’s going to happen to him?”
“We will not know until it occurs,” Kyber admitted. “My first priority is to get all of us off this world. We will deal with the consequences later.”
He softly caressed Kelen’s cheek with his fingertips. “There is much we have to discuss, once we leave here.”
She nodded but didn’t reply, and watched in silence as her husband and his shipmates exited the tunnel.