Chapter 19
Treehouses
The noose hung in front of him, dangling freely at about knee height. He put a foot into it, bouncing to test his weight a couple of times as his other boot crunched rhythmically into the dry leaves. The action had drawn smirks and jeers from several onlookers. He didn't care. Better to be safe than dead. At his signal, the noose rose, carrying him with it up into the treetops. He could hear the pulleys groaning softly against his weight, and grew doubly thankful he had checked it before climbing aboard. He looked down, immediately wishing he hadn't, as the dizzying jungle floor shimmered in and out of focus beneath him. From down there, the rope elevator had seemed to hang from nothing, suspended somewhere far above amidst the canopy for some reason currently unknown to man. Standing on the forest floor and looking up, nothing was visible save a few unnaturally straight boards, or perhaps, if one had a sharper eye, a rope ladder or two. As he ascended, however, what was previously hidden came into view, appearing out of the surrounding greenery like it had grown there naturally. His eye level rose above the floorboards and met with an ever-increasing cluster of small wooden rooms, each roofed by a flat cone of bamboo poles. Though the closest buildings looked quite inhabitable, the rooms became significantly less polished the further from the "lift" they were, and some of the farthest from view were barely more than a few planks strung across the strong boughs of a tree. A few of the completed sections were connected by sturdy rope bridges, a feature that no doubt was going to become more common as the treetop colony expanded. A gust of wind suddenly blew the leaves around him and caused his rope elevator to sway unsteadily. He gripped it a little tighter.
The air dropped sharply in temperature as he reached the top. He shivered a little, stepping off the rope and onto the solid new floorboards with the practiced ease of one that's had past experience living in the trees - a feat not many of us can lay claim to. The new little town had already developed considerably since he had last seen it. Back then, it had barely passed infancy. Now, as he looked around, he could already see signs of actual livability - for a regular person, that is. Admittedly, the word meant different things to different people. He scanned the construction site, blurring out the hum of general activity surrounding him and searching instead for the mastermind and leader of the operation - the one person that remained at the base night and day, through rain and snow, keeping watch constantly while everyone else took the project in shifts. Catching sight of his intended target through a paneless window, he started forward again.
Personally, he had always felt that the Sixers had the right idea. A hideaway in the trees was far safer and more efficient than a sitting duck complex on the ground protected by a mere fence and a few nonlethal weapons. Having said that, it would take a very large treehouse to store almost a thousand people. There was no way this one was anywhere near the size it needed to be. In its current state, it could probably hold 150 .. and that was being very generous. Thankfully, right now, there didn't appear to be more than 20 people here. He took extra care crossing a particularly treacherous-looking beam, landing on the other side with a thump. His target had evidently seen him coming and waited for him. They were both fully aware that if it had appealed to him to do so, he could have been out of sight before the other man had even reached the bridge. The two eyed each other, their arms folded in exactly the same manner.
"Carter. Long time, no see."
"Lucas." The Sixer replied without a trace of cheerfulness, seemingly untouched by their time apart. "What do you want now?"
Skye groaned inwardly as the tapping of small feet returned once more. She finished hammering in the last two nails and tested the railing, turning just in time to see the young boy catch his foot on a slightly raised board. The dark-haired youth flew forward onto the wooden planks, landing on his face and sending Skye's heart into her mouth for the third time that morning.
"Boylan!" She yelled, her annoyance finally getting the best of her as the boy pushed himself back up. He seemed unhurt, but it was only a matter of time before he tripped in the wrong place and performed a lovely dive right off the edge of the entire structure. She took another steadying breath as Vaughn got to his feet, determined to arrest the attention of the deficient babysitter this time even if she had to hogtie him first.
"Boylan!" She set her hammer down on the floor for a moment, then, on second thought, picked it back up, tapping it against her palm as she glared around in search of the barkeeper. "He almost threw himself over the edge again! I swear, if you don't start doing your job-"
"Kids, right?"
The somewhat sleepy intonation of the voice beside her drew her attention away from Boylan's inevitable hanging for a split second, though the streak of irritation in her features remained. Silas ignored it, leaning on her shoulder affectionately as he watched Vaughn race out of sight.
"Yeah, I love kids. So bright and hopeful and full of the shiny side of life .. and then wham!" He brought his hands together with a crack, causing Skye to jump a little. "Life slaps them in the face, you turn around, and boom, they're us!"
She raised an eyebrow as he placed his arm back on her shoulder.
"Us?"
"Yeah, us!" Silas nodded energetically, appearing far more cheerful than seemed appropriate given the topic of his narrative. "You know, ordinary people forced into fighting a war we never asked for, killing the enemy until our consciences are dulled and suddenly we're heartless machines. Old souls trapped in the bodies of young adults. The unsuspecting backbone of society. That's us."
Skye blinked, her previous annoyance forgotten as she attempted to digest this statement. Before she could offer any sort of response, however, Silas suddenly yelped and jumped into the air, managing to jolt her sharply in the process. He turned indignantly, adopting Skye's recently-discarded expression of irritation as a new figure stepped out from behind him. Lucas stopped nearby, twirling the twig in his hand a few times before throwing it away. He looked up to meet their eyes as Carter appeared on his right.
"Hey."
Silas massaged his injured ribs, glaring at the grinning face beside him.
"Very funny, Lassie. Why don't you do me a favour and go fetch your stick?"
Lucas ignored this kind suggestion, instead turning casually to look around as though he had come merely to inspect the building quality. He hadn't missed the fact that Skye was eyeing him intently. She was sure to demand answers as to his presence here first chance she got. No harm in delaying her a little. He nodded slowly.
"Looks like you guys are making progress."
"Easy for you to say." Silas retorted, still making a show of tenderly rubbing his side, though it had long since stopped hurting. "You better be making sure Curran's taking good care of my Loretta. She gets bent out of shape if he doesn't feed her properly."
"Well then, fear not." Lucas responded gently. "Naturally, your furry plaything is my utmost concern."
Silas pulled his dignity back into place with a sniff.
"Well, you don't have to get snarky about it."
Lucas turned his attention to Skye.
"Reilly's been asking about you too. Wasn't hard to satisfy her for now, but I thought you should know just in case she gets more curious. You might have to come home a bit earlier."
"It does feel kind of shady to be out here so often behind her back." Skye admitted, throwing a look at Carter as she finished the sentence. It had been the Sixer's call to keep the whole operation a closely guarded secret, a decision that not everyone had agreed with at the time.
"There's no point telling her until we have something to tell her." Carter spoke up in his own defense, folding his arms in a manner that was almost regal in nature. He sounded bored, as though he had repeated the same short speech more times than he could count. "A fact you already know, or you would've gone behind my back and told her all about it by now, am I right?"
Skye cast a sheepish glance at Silas, but said nothing.
"That's what I thought." Carter muttered. "No one says anything to our esteemed commander until I give the all-clear .. especially not you, chattermouth."
Silas straightened indignantly, his cheeks flushing slightly with the reminder of his own sad tendency to let confidential information leak out unawares.
"I haven't said a word. Honestly."
"I know you haven't." Carter responded severely. "Or you wouldn't still be walking around here."
It was unclear how far the veiled threat was meant to go - would he banish a tattletale from the project? Would he break his legs? Would he throw him over the rope rail and let him snap his neck at the bottom? Silas looked into the Sixer's dark eyes and decided he didn't want to risk finding out.
"Yes sir." He nodded reverently, pausing to watch Carter walk out of earshot before turning back to the other two with an exaggerated shudder.
"Man, that guy is scary!"
Neither of his other two were listening. As soon as the Sixer had left them, Skye had darted across to Lucas and was now gripping his sleeve, murmuring her next words for his ears alone.
"Why are you here? Is something wrong?"
Lucas shook his head quickly.
"Nothing wrong. Just thought I'd drop by for a visit."
Skye looked up at him, meeting his eyes seriously, searching for some form of explanation, an answer to the question she hadn't even asked yet.
"You left Mom by herself?"
"No." The young physicist explained patiently. "I left her with an assortment of doctors and nurses."
Skye's brows lowered a little.
"You know what I mean."
"She's fine." Lucas reassured her, abruptly giving in and disentangling her hand from his crinkled sleeve. "She's visiting with Maddy as we speak. In fact, her main worry was you. So here I am."
"And here you are." Silas smiled sweetly, stepping up to join the conversation he had been rudely excluded from. He made sure to place himself equally as close to both Skye and Lucas as they stood to each other so as not to be ignored again - a movement which resulted in all three standing absurdly near one another - so close, truth be told, that they could have comfortably placed their hands in each other's pockets. Silas turned to Lucas, not seeming at all disturbed by the fact that his own long nose was now only centimeters away from touching the other man's.
"Well, while you're here, could you check on the generator? I'm not sure the EMP shield's working right."
Lucas stared at him, aware of how odd the situation must have looked, but still unwilling to budge.
"Already done. It's fine."
"Did you make sure you shut the vent properly?"
Lucas pulled on a plastic smile.
"Yes-"
"Are you sure .. ?" Silas was evidently channeling his inner paranoid housewife. If his eyebrows could have wrung their hands, they would have done so in an instant. "One drop of dew could blow this whole place up."
Lucas lowered his eyelids, as much to block out the high definition images of Silas' pores than for any expressionistic effect.
"Of course I'm sure. The thing's probably pointless anyway. I keep telling them, we're too high up to-"
"Did you lock it?" Silas queried gravely. "Otherwise it comes right open again at the tiniest bit of wind."
Lucas hesitated, replaying the event back in his mind - had he locked it? He didn't .. remember .. Finally, he gave up, growling in irritation and turning on his heel.
"Be right back."
Silas sniggered softly to himself as he watched him go, then turned to Skye with a short laugh.
"There is no lock. He gonna be looking for it for ages."
She rolled her eyes, but ended up laughing, to the young soldier's great delight.
"You better go and help him before he tears down the whole place looking for it."
Silas visibly slumped, shrinking miserably until he was almost at her eye level.
"Aw, do I have to .. ?"
"Go!"
"Fine." He immediately returned to his normal height, all traces of depression instantly evaporating. "I'll go and rescue him. But only 'cause you asked so nicely."
Skye shook her head as he set off, swinging his arms a little too enthusiastically, his boots clipping time against the floorboards.
By the time Lucas had managed to locate her once more, Skye was seated happily on a wide swing at the very edge of the construction zone, a feature that was little other than a single plank of wood which had been strung up on one of the branches overhead. At some point a back piece had also been attached, an addition which lent a certain air of luxury to the seat. Perhaps the whole thing had been Skye's doing. Regardless, she certainly appeared to be enjoying herself now. A few rays of sunlight filtered down from the tree canopy above and fell over her, picking out the specks of floating dust and pollen that drifted about. He watched as she swung gently back and forth through the waterfalls of light, lapping up the afternoon's peace as her camo-patterned legs dangled over the precipice. She seemed oblivious to the descent. A few birds sung cheerfully, the soft breeze interfering with their calls and sending them echoing waterily across the surrounding jungle.
After a moment or two, he ventured forward to stand beside the swing, leaning on a thick tree trunk that bordered the wooden platform. Eventually, the planks would be shaped around the circumference and adjusted as the tree aged. For now, however, there was nothing on the other side of the wide trunk except a sickening plunge - a fact which, despite sending his own stomach into a tailspin, didn't seem to be bothering Skye whatsoever.
"Careful. Quite a drop." He had placed himself within arm's length of her just in case his greeting surprised her and she slipped, but she merely grinned up at him. She must have heard him coming after all.
"You survived the generator?"
Lucas rolled his eyes and shook his head a little.
"The guy's an idiot."
He hesitated for a moment, then gingerly stepped closer and lowered himself down onto the wooden plank beside her.
"This thing big enough for two?"
"Guess we're about to find out." Skye retorted, grinning as he suddenly shot out a hand and clutched the tethering rope tightly, causing the whole swing to shudder. He moved his other hand quickly to grip her shoulder, as though his disturbances were about to send her flying overboard. Skye sat still and watched him in silence as he settled down, the swing coming to a gentle rock beneath them.
"You finished?"
"This thing is not up to building code." He muttered uneasily. "I'd stake my life on it."
"You might have to." Skye returned blandly, then grinned again as he threw her a look of queasy offense. She turned back to the small bowl in her hand, and Lucas forgot his current discomfort as he peered down at it. Roughly hewn of what appeared to be a bamboo stump, it contained a series of small red and creamy-yellow coloured pieces inside. Skye appeared to have been in the process of eating them before he tried to catapult her to her death. She added significant weight to the hypothesis a second later by plucking one out of the bowl and putting it into her mouth. Lucas watched her curiously as she chewed. Finally, she swallowed and turned a slightly irritated glare upon him.
"What? Waiting to see if I'll keel over and die?"
"The thought had crossed my mind." He responded with some dignity. Skye snorted and shook the bowl, sending the hardened pieces rattling against each other.
"It's dried frut - a fact a hardened survivor like you should have known instantly. I'm disappointed."
"How did you get your hands on those?" Lucas prodded, ignoring the insult. "They're practically a luxury around here."
Skye shot him a knowing look.
"You have your secrets; I have mine."
"Evidently." He reached over and took a piece for himself cheerfully, ignoring her protests. "Better not wave those around. You'll be wanted for dealing on the black market."
Skye shrugged.
"It's a risk I'll just have to take." She cast a boot out, sending the swing wobbling again, and noticing, to her great delight, that Lucas' hand immediately seized upon the rope. "Wouldn't want anyone to think I was getting boring."
"What, in your old age you mean?" Lucas relieved her of another sliver of frut and shook his head dryly, glancing down at the 50 foot drop to the forest floor. "Boring is never a word I could associate with you. Barely a day goes by that you don't surprise me."
"I'm glad you like surprises .." Skye stared at him so gravely that Lucas felt his heart begin to sink. ".. because you just partook of the forbidden fruit. That makes you an accomplice."
Her partner in crime laughed.
"I've been called worse things."
They munched in silence for a while, and Lucas was eventually able to release the mooring once again. It really wasn't so bad up here after all - so long as no one took it into their heads to make any sudden movements. When some minutes had passed, he turned back to her.
"So I was thinking. While we're out here-"
"Here we go." Skye shook her head in disappointment. "I knew there had to be some other reason you ended up out here. And here I was thinking you might've just come because you missed me."
Lucas flicked her a brief grin.
"I did miss you."
"Aww."
"But not as much as I missed Silas. That guy-"
"Aww!" The indignant reversal of tone caused Lucas to chuckle. Skye watched him, looking deeply aggrieved.
"If I wasn't a much nicer person .."
"What, you'd tell me he was right behind me all along?"
Skye feigned shock.
"That would be .. That would be almost too mean. No, I would never do that."
"I would .."
At the first touch of the gleeful hiss in his ear, Lucas' eyes slid shut, as though he was attempting to extract himself from the situation and teleport himself elsewhere. The attempt was unsuccessful, however. When he opened his eyes, two other pairs were waiting, grinning back at him.
"He really was behind me."
"He really was." Silas confirmed, as Skye nodded solemnly. The soldier seemed to be enjoying the novelty of referring to himself in the third person, for he continued.
"And he is so, so glad he happened to catch that, because bless your dear heart, Lucas, if he hadn't, well .. I dare say he'd never have believed it."
Lucas shot him a droll look.
"That would have been a tragedy."
"A tragedy!" The soldier repeated, almost speaking over the top of the other man in his enthusiasm. ".. it would truly have been. I'm so thankful we could avoid such a catastrophe by talking this whole thing through together, aren't you?"
Lucas' eyes bored into Skye's, wondering if she could read his mind well enough to prevent him from throwing himself down off the swing. Disappointingly, the object of his attention seemed completely in the dark as to his intentions. Silas, however, appeared to have eaten his mind-reading beans that morning. He leaned on the back of the swing, reaching over and taking a piece of frut for himself.
"You're lucky this piece of wood is strong. It was just scrap. Your combined weight could crack it, and then woooooooooo .." His voice faded out very slowly, ending with an extremely wet-sounding squplish at the end. He munched happily on the frut as the two turned to eye him dully. Skye leaned her elbows on the rough back of the seat.
"Shouldn't you be getting back to work?"
"Why?" Silas questioned with an irritating smile, leaning down to peer uncomfortably close to Skye's upturned face. "You're not, and you've been on break longer than me."
Skye turned to look at Lucas, opening her mouth to make some comment. She was interrupted by yet another suggestion from Silas.
"Oh, you think your guest is gonna get lonely on his own, that it? Don't worry." They watched in alarm as he made to climb over, right into the middle of the precarious chair. "I'll take your place. I'll keep our dear boy company-"
Skye and Lucas scrambled off the seat as the wood groaned a little. A muffled crack came from some unseen place. Watching them dive for safety, Silas pulled his leg back over the side, grinning.
"Evidently you're not as tired as you thought you were."
"Ohh, let me push him off the edge."
"Do me a favour and make it look like an accident."
"Now come on, guys .. guys!" Finding himself in an instant headlock, Silas squirmed, but it was no use. With Lucas half choking him and Skye mercilessly digging her fingers into the tenderest parts of his ribs, the young soldier found he barely had the strength to stand, let alone fight. He howled miserably.
"Stop, stop .. stop it! I yield!"
They released him a moment later and he thudded to the floor with a groan, holding his offended ribs and glaring up at the unrepentant faces.
"Savages."
Lucas righted himself, running a hand through his hair and managing to calm it slightly. As Skye readjusted her askew collar - Silas had gone after it in a desperate counterattack - he nudged her arm.
"I believe you had something to show me."
She looked up at him with raised eyebrows.
"Oh, so you had an ulterior motive for coming out here after all?"
Lucas shrugged, reaching out to pull Silas up, then folding his arms once more as the invalid declined his kindness, preferring instead to remain splayed out on the ground like a drunk swimsuit model.
"No. More like .. Malcolm had an ulterior motive. I just managed to kill two birds with one stone."
"I see .."
"He wants it investigated further, and since his arm isn't back in working order yet, he's having to satisfy himself with bossing everyone else around."
Skye grinned. That was a scenario that didn't take much imagination to believe.
"Oh. Well, I guess we'd better get going then. Wouldn't want you to get in trouble."
Silas suddenly found the will to go on and pulled himself up, springing to his feet with the alarming air of a slightly spiteful jack in the box.
"To the ruins? Do you want me to come?"
Lucas stifled a snort of derision.
"What, so you can give us bad directions the whole way? I think we're good."
"Aw, come on-"
"Hold it .. right .. there." They turned to see the iconic form of the colony barkeeper approaching, trying valiantly to maintain a firm grasp on the squirming boy in his arms. "You're not going anywhere, Corp."
Skye and Silas threw a baleful look at one another. They were both technically corporals. Boylan could have had either one of them in his sights, but to Skye's immense relief, his laser focus came to rest on Silas.
"Yeah, you. You've won the jackpot, ya lucky son of a gun." The bartender appeared far too excited at the prospect, sending warning sirens blaring through the minds of the three onlookers. "You're on babysitting duty!"
"What?" Silas blinked at him blankly, his eyes flicking down to Vaughn as the child made another mad leap for freedom over Boylan's shoulder. "You mean .. me?!"
"That's right." Boylan gritted his teeth and smiled cheerfully, managing to catch the two small legs as they disappeared down his back. Skye and Lucas exchanged a grin as he yanked the boy back over his person. "It's your turn."
"You mean .. you want me to look after him?" Silas laughed in disbelief, running a hand through his hair as he eyed Vaughn. The child stared back at him as Boylan turned him unceremoniously up the right way and held him out.
"Yep! He's all yours."
"I .. can't believe this." Silas' mouth slowly curled upward into a wide grin. "This is awesome! Yes!"
Silas had never been one to trust warning signals, not even if they got into his eyes and screamed blue murder. This unexpected reaction was probably the only thing that would have caused Boylan to rethink his strategy. The barkeeper hesitated, suddenly feeling strangely unnerved.
"What-"
"No one ever trusts me with kids!" Silas darted forward and wrenched Vaughn from the other man's grip before Boylan could retract his arms completely. "You and me are gonna have the best time, little buddy!"
Vaughn's impassive face instantly transformed into a grin that reflected his new babysitter's. Silas crowed loudly and swung the boy onto his back as he galloped off, shaking the floorboards with his hoofbeats. With the soldier's arms securely holding him up, Vaughn threw his small fists in the air gleefully.
"Yaaayyy!"
"Yaaayy!" Silas echoed, his cantering growing more exuberant. "Let's jump the toolbox!"
"Yayyy!"
"HEY!" Boylan, turning a new shade of grey with every passing second, followed him at a pace that was barely any slower. "Hey, go easy with him! This isn't a rodeo. Watch the-"
Skye and Lucas winced at the resulting crash, followed by a faint chuckle.
"We're fine!"
"Again!"
"You wanna go again?"
"Yeah!"
"No!"
Lucas shook his head as a laugh exploded from Skye.
"Ever heard the saying 'when an immovable object meets an irresistible force'?"
"Yeah."
"I think this is hands down the best example of it I have ever seen."
"I can think of a few others .." Skye grinned. "But you're right, something tells me Boylan's not gonna get much work done this afternoon."
"We better make a break for it while we still can." Lucas murmured, looking down at her and gesturing in the opposite direction from whence another faint crash had just sounded. "Shall we?"
Skye nodded.
"Lead on."
They found the gaping hole in the mountainside with little trouble. The thing couldn't exactly be hidden from view. The colony leadership had discussed filling it in once more, but Malcolm had forbidden it, almost going so far as to have a coronary in the middle of the Command Centre to prove his point. It was too valuable historically to simply heap piles of rocks onto it - it was, after all, possibly the most important discovery of their era. No one had the heart to oppose him. If Malcolm's expression was anything to go by, he would rather have had his good arm sawn off completely than to have had the ruins buried anew. Reilly had posted two permanent guards to keep watch of the area, and so far, there had been little interference from either enemy infiltrators or natural predators. Despite the entrance being situated on the side of Snakehead that Terra Nova had managed to hold so far throughout the fighting, the fact that the area wasn't already crawling with Phoenix soldiers was somewhat miraculous in itself.
As Lucas greeted the men, Skye released the curled-up rope ladder from her back, letting it drop to the ground with a small sigh of relief. The thing was heavier than it had first appeared, and it had grown increasingly heavier with each consecutive step uphill she had been forced to take until she had felt like she was 9 months pregnant, only .. backwards. As she caught her breath, she surveyed the terrain for a suitable tree to tether themselves to. Her frown grew with every rejected candidate. Any tree within reasonable distance seemed to be far more badly uprooted than she had realised. The closest stable one was several metres away. As Lucas appeared beside her once more, she pulled out her hunting knife.
"Ladder's not long enough. Here, pass me that piece of vine."
The wiry stuff grew in abundance on this side of the mountain. Lucas bound the cut pieces together quickly, testing the knots against his own weight. Skye squinted up at him, pausing her latest burst of energetic sawing.
"You know, you'd be a lot more comfortable if you took that thing off for a while."
Lucas shook his head, readjusting one of his shoulder straps. He was being particularly careful not to jolt it too much, as though a large and very fragile egg was incubating inside the rounded black carrier box on his back. Skye watched him for a moment, and then snorted a little, shaking her head as she turned back to her work.
"What's that thing even for anyway? You're acting like it's made of gold or something."
"Documentation." He responded immediately, as though he had been expecting exactly such a question. "The insulation'll protect it from the EMIDs until we get underground."
"Get down!"
They dropped automatically as the guard's yell rang out, covering their heads with their arms as a shower of dust and dirt exploded further up the mountain. They emerged a moment later and shook themselves off, looking up just in time to watch a couple of return cannonballs fly back over their heads toward the enemy troops. The strong smell of burnt gunpowder drifted down to them on the wind. Lucas spat a wad of dirt out of his mouth and wiped his face with his sleeve.
"Looks like Maddock's keeping his eyes open anyway."
Skye nodded in response, picking up her knife once again. Maddock was one of Mira's upper-level Sixers. He had been assigned to man the trebuchets in her absence. In truth, she couldn't have picked anyone better. Maddock had the eyes of a hawk and the territorial temper of a smilodon. His retaliatory shots were fired swiftly and rarely missed their target.
"Guards said Kensinge's drilling's been shaking this place within an inch of its life." Lucas muttered, locating the unwinding ends of his abandoned vine braid and beginning again. "They said to be careful. No sign of instability down below, but we don't want the thing caving in on us."
"Be careful. Roger that."
He was silent a moment, waiting as she rounded the tree, crouching at its base to secure the extension in place. As she reached up to grab another piece of vine, he raised his voice a little, his words ringing out clearly so there could be no mistaking them.
"Josh and Tasha are engaged. I thought you should know."
Skye's hands paused their work for a moment.
"Oh."
"The timing could be better, but whatever." He watched her closely. "Good for them, I guess."
"Yeah." Skye cut through the stubborn vine with a snap, then threw the large hunting knife down sharply. It stuck into the log at her feet. "Yeah, good for them."
As his seams unwound for the third time, Lucas glared down at his workmanship, a look of growing fury spreading across his features. His cheek twitched with restrained irritation.
"Here, give me a hand with this, will you?"
Skye eyed him for a moment, then smiled to herself and sat in front of him, gripping the bunch of threads tightly. He seemed to calm a little now that he was no longer wrestling a braided alligator. After a few minutes of watching his hands weave clumsily in and out, Skye's voice spoke up again softly.
"It's weird. I dunno, guess I just sort of always assumed it'd be me."
The braiding paused for a moment as he studied her.
"I know you did." He returned to his task, his hands flying back and forth. "But for what it's worth, they say there's someone out there for everyone. Maybe one day you'll turn around and the answer will be right in front of you."
Skye looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.
"What, out of the seven unmarried guys on the planet? You have to admit, the odds aren't exactly in my favour."
"What are you gonna do then? Sneak off to the future, kidnap yourself a husband, and smuggle him back here?"
Skye chuckled.
"Not exactly what I had in mind, but if that's what it takes .."
"Come on, old lady, you're not even 21 yet. You've got time."
Lucas' eyes flicked up and over toward the guards. They seemed distracted by their own conversation. For whatever reason, he felt relieved. It took him a moment to notice that Skye was handing him a new string of vine.
"Anyway, you can talk." She commented, retaking her previous seat. "You've got girls climbing all over each other to get to you. Personally, I think it's pretty stupid, but .."
".. thank you."
"That wasn't what I meant." Skye cast a laughing look at him. He seemed to be concentrating particularly hard on this section. "But come on. You have your pick of anyone in the colony. How come you never seem interested? You were starved for attention when we first met. I would've thought you'd jump at the chance to have some adoring companion hanging off your arm."
Lucas threw a humorless glare in her direction, ignoring the grin he received in return.
"You were different. We were on opposite sides from the start, but still .. you wanted to understand. You wanted to understand me."
"What can I say, I was always intrigued by odd specimens."
"And again .. thank you."
"Anyway, you can talk." Skye continued, seizing her advantage. "You were the one always asking questions about me. I don't recall ever pressing you for information."
"Oh, really?" Lucas scoffed. "You suffer badly from a selective memory disorder, Skye Tate. You should probably address that."
"I'll get it checked out sometime."
"Sooner, rather than later." Lucas advised, returning to his previous sober manner as he secured the final knot in place. "The point is, I could care less about all the busybodies. The last thing I want is to be the prize in some messed-up popularity contest."
"You have trust issues."
"I'm not the only one."
"There! Done."
Skye sat back on her heels and examined their handiwork, mentally measuring the distance to the bottom of the hole.
"Should be long enough." She finally decided, taking the offered hand as Lucas pulled her to her feet. "So. You want to go first, or shall I?"
The ladder was unceremoniously kicked over the edge, and cascaded down into the hole like the viney hair of some fairytale princess. As it happened, it was .. nearly long enough. They were forced to drop the last few feet into the dirt where the ladder had failed them. Skye lost her footing as she landed, jumping back up hurriedly and throwing a withering glance at Lucas when he threatened to laugh.
"Do you need me to help dust you off, or .. ?"
"This way."
Stifling a grin, he paused to throw a farewell wave to the two heads peering down at them before following her into the darkness of the tunnel.
Skye had only recently seen the passageway, but even she found herself staring around in wonder all over again. The torch they had brought was far stronger than the improvised firelight had been. In the gleaming white light, the ancient halls seemed in far worse condition than she'd realised. Deep, jagged cracks intersected the natural indentations in the stone, and here and there, a large chunk of rock had actually given way and fallen into the path. Grey stone melted into clay, and still the cracks persisted, this time showering the walkway with a powdery yellow plaster that seemed to attach itself to everything and everyone. Skye frowned as she ran her hand along the wall carvings, then stopped walking entirely as her fingers slid into a wide crack and disappeared. She extracted them warily. Surely that hadn't been there before.
"This is insane." She heard a subdued voice murmur beside her, and turned back to study Lucas. The physicist was staring around with shining eyes.
"Hey .. what else did the guys up top say about the drilling?"
Lucas barely had time to meet her worried gaze before the vibrations began. It started under their feet, a low hum that rapidly accelerated to a sharp, spine-rending shriek. The shudder that began in the ground spread, seeming to crawl up the walls themselves like an invisible virus. The stone floor rippled out from under them, the movement giving the unsteadying impression that the hallway was rotating and swaying around of its own volition. Skye completely lost her sense of balance and dropped to her knees. A section of the ceiling nearby began to shower down increasing amounts of dirt until it finally buckled with a roar, sending up a giant shockwave of dust and covering them in grime. The drilling stopped immediately after the impact, as though its job for now had been completed. The hallway gave one more deep rumble and fell silent. Skye got to her feet, coughing and spluttering as the rain of dirt settled. She felt about in the darkness, eventually finding Lucas' hand nearby. She followed it along, searching for the torch in his grip. It was there, and what was worse, it was already switched on. She pulled it toward her, shining it directly in her eyes. All she could make out was a dull smudge of light. Instant panic threatened to choke her, but after a few more seconds, the image grew clearer. She shook her head, wiping her face on her sleeve as the dizzying mist faded from her eyes. As she tried to steady her uneven breath, she peered up at Lucas, laughing a little when she caught sight of his face. A layer of filth must have been the customary uniform for visiting this place. He shone the torch into her eyes again, causing her to squint and turn away.
"You alright?"
"Yeah. Fine." She grabbed his hand and pointed the torch toward the mountain of dirt and stone behind them. The hallway was now completely impassable. "But our way out just got a lot more complicated."
Lucas thought for a moment.
"Where were your Psittacosaurus tunnels?"
Skye grimaced.
".. on the other side of that dirt wall."
".. oh."
They stood in silence for some seconds, staring numbly at the new obstacle. Finally, Skye shrugged, turning back deeper into the tunnel. At least the pathway seemed clear this way. It would have been a disaster if they had been trapped from both sides.
"Well, nowhere to go but forward, right?" She muttered, shaking her hair in dog-like fashion and sending dirt flying all over again. "Maybe one of the other doors leads out."
"I hope you're right."
They set off again, barely pausing to admire the scenery this time. The hallway quickly ended, and they found themselves standing in a circular room, with only skeletons and statues for company. Lucas looked around at the figures lining the round walls, raising an eyebrow at a slouching figure to his right. It was sitting closer than he would have liked. He turned back to Skye.
"Cheerful establishment."
She began to laugh in reply, but stopped, as the sound they had both been silently dreading arose once again and filled the space, beginning with the same low rumble and quickly heightening to a feverish squeal, only this time, the noise was even more piercing. The shrill whistle seemed to have taken on a life of its own, darting into their eardrums and stabbing, twisting some invisible knife in deeper and deeper until their very brains were bleeding with it. Skye felt herself growing unsteady again as Lucas slammed his hands over his ears.
"Sounds like it's right beneath us! What are those idiots thinking?!"
Before she could answer him, not that she could have heard him anyway, a hollow click rang out around the tunnel and the ground seemed to separate beneath her, cracking apart like some force from within was violently repelling each side. Skye scrambled back, but the gap rapidly widened and overtook her, opening up to reveal a dark, jagged throat. There was no end to it. The chasm below seemed to go down and down forever, bottomless. With a desperate effort, Skye twisted, kicking away from the edge with as much power as she could put into the motion. It was probably that attempt that saved her. As the ground beneath her disappeared, Lucas leaped forward, grabbing her arm. Skye gripped the shuddering edge tightly with the other hand, yelling involuntarily as her handful of security crumbled into nothing. Lucas held onto the arm he had managed to reach and stumbled back, horrified at the thought of her falling even as he pulled her up, though the chances of it were rather slim - his panicked grip was so tight that it would leave an impressive set of bruising the next day. He backed into the centre of the room as more of the shelf broke off, dragging Skye along with him, her heels bouncing along the vibrating floor. As they watched, the slouching skeleton seemed to tremble as well, then tilted sideways, plummeting head-first into the chasm below as the floor gave way. Terrified, Lucas and Skye waited, managing to regain their feet but unsure of what to do next. They remained frozen where they stood for the next minute or two, enduring the teeth-chattering shaking and leaning heavily on one another for balance. Finally, the vibrations calmed and the roar fell away into silence. The torturous screeching of the drills had stopped long ago - perhaps Kensinge's men had been reprimanded by the mountain itself.
Shakily, Skye looked about her. The cavern was a mess, about a quarter of it separated from the rest by a large scar in the floor. The walls were littered with cracks and openings of all descriptions. Bricks were gorged out and missing all over the place. A person had to be careful not to step in the wrong spot and break their neck - either by falling or by having something drop onto them from above. Skye took a few tentative steps forward and peered down into the abyss that had nearly swallowed her, Lucas still holding firmly to her arms. She pulled back almost immediately, running into him with a thump.
"It's hot." She muttered, still staring toward the chasm with wide eyes. An invisible curtain of warm air seemed to be rising out of its depths, heating the otherwise cool chamber to the point where it was already growing unpleasantly humid.
"That's all we need." Lucas muttered, his voice coming from directly above her. "Those guys better stop before they drill right down into the magma layer."
"If they do, they'll be feeling it before we do." Skye commented unsympathetically. She turned back to Lucas then and shook his hands off her arms. "Thanks."
He eyed her for a moment, then nodded briefly.
"Be more careful."
"Right, because I go around trying to throw myself into sudden cracks in the earth." She retorted. Nevertheless, she threw one more uneasy glance down before following him away. As they passed a particularly wide fissure in the wall, Lucas paused, shining the torchlight in and flicking it around the narrow space.
"Looks like a natural cave system." He said finally. "Can't see the end of it. Might lead somewhere .."
Skye watched him closely, sensing something else behind his tone of voice.
".. or .."
"Might lead something to us." He murmured, and she nodded. There it was - the bad news. She stayed right by his side as they set off again.
"Watch your back."
As if she had had plans to do anything else.
Ignoring the small rooms that lay to either side of the main hall, they continued straight ahead, though it didn't take Skye long to notice that something was off. The water - the rushing sound that had accompanied her and Josh during their first time here - it was gone. When they emerged from the passage and stepped out under the archway, Skye stopped in surprise. The large bowl that made up the entire centre of the room - the one that had been filled to the brim not two weeks ago - was now utterly empty. In fact, not a single drop of water was to be found in the whole room. Skye shook her head in bewilderment.
"I don't understand it .. where did all the water go?"
Lucas pulled his attention away reluctantly from one of the strange lanterns that lit the room. He dropped to one knee, slipping the capsule off his back and placing it on the stone floor gently. He seemed to only be half listening.
"Maybe the drilling diverted the flow of the water - went through a new fissure or something."
Skye stared into the bowl in dissatisfaction.
"Maybe."
She returned to stand beside him as he lifted the treasured object out of its container. The iridescent coating on the Box reflected the purple-green lights in the chamber, casting prisms of colour in waves around the walls. The glow bounced off Lucas' face for a moment as he stroked the lid, then opened it. The input trays slid out smoothly at his touch, and Skye watched in surprise as the holographic screen beamed to life. The shapes and patterns danced in the atmosphere, seeming happy to have their brain sitting securely in Lucas' hands. The whole picture suited the strange room unusually well.
"You fixed it .." She whispered. The comment was mostly to herself, but as Lucas stood, he smiled down at her.
"I fixed it."
He flicked through a few sets of image projections before settling on one. As he wandered off around the room, Skye followed slowly. She would never understand how the connection worked, how he even knew what the thing was saying to him. Nevertheless, he seemed to know what he was doing, and since he was apparently the only one who did, she followed. After a few minutes of tailing him around the footpath, however, she grew bored with the pursuit.
"What are you doing anyway?" She eyed the Box critically. "I thought that thing was just a glorified calculator."
"You thought wrong." Lucas retorted. He was tempted to leave it at that, to force her to keep wondering, but he decided to take pity on her instead. "I suppose you could say it's a type of supercomputer. What it's doing is scanning the area."
He stopped abruptly and Skye looked over his shoulder at the spinning display.
"For what?"
"Energy spikes, radiation, you name it. It's taking readings, looking for unusual substances, sounds outside of our hearing range, that sort of thing."
Skye turned away from him, resting her eyes upon the spinning sphere in the centre of the cold room.
"What does it think of that?"
"Good question." Lucas muttered, turning towards the ringed ball of lightning, though his attention still rested on his holograms. "Definite energy output, though it also seems to be absorbing it simultaneously. It's expelling a small amount of power - the light and the zapping, I suppose .."
"But it's not generating any heat."
"No .." Lucas agreed. "It seems to be sucking the heat back into itself somehow, feeding off of it. Probably explains why it's freezing in here. Could be an advanced power source."
"Like a sci-fi battery?" Skye raised an eyebrow.
"Not sure." Lucas frowned. "Can't tell exactly. Doesn't seem to be reaching dangerous levels though. I mean, I wouldn't touch it .."
Skye stared back defensively as he turned to eye her.
"I never touched it."
A slight grin visited his face as he returned his gaze to the device.
"Probably wouldn't be here if you had. Either way, if those journal entries are anything to go by, it was here before any of us existed. It should be fine on its own for a little while longer."
"Unless Kensinge's drilling makes it explode." Skye commented darkly. Lucas was silent for a few moments, following her stare back over to the sphere. It was levitating, meaning the vibrations underfoot probably weren't bothering it too much. However, should the entire ceiling collapse on it ..
Finally, he shrugged a little, turning away as though he had decided instantly to put the matter out of his mind.
"I say we leave it for now. Let's see about these locks."
Skye hesitated a minute, seemingly unable to tear her eyes away from the whirling light, then she shook her head with an effort and followed.
"Fine by me."
The first set of double doors - and indeed, the four other identical sets that lay along the same wall - were secured by a high-tech locking mechanism, a feature which was jarringly out of place in the old cavern and yet somehow seemed entirely appropriate at the same time. It was a bar of bluish-grey metal, hollow, judging by the pale liquid they could see slushing around inside it via the horizontal slice of transparency on the front. The internal liquid seemed to be glowing faintly - possibly reflecting the outer light of the cavern. The technology, though odd-looking, didn't seem that far removed from their own. As Skye watched, Lucas scanned the bar, holding the Box beneath it so that the projector shone directly into the window at the bottom - a section she hadn't even noticed before. The light appeared to be transmitting some key sequence into the liquid, and after a moment, the left end of the bar clicked out. Lucas turned it and allowed the chain to drop as though it was a menial task he had completed every day of his life. He gestured toward the door.
"Grab that handle, alright?"
Skye eyed him as she gripped it.
"Seen this sort of thing before, I take it?"
"What, the lock?" He threw a sideways look at her, as though she herself had become the new object of curiosity. "They're pretty common, especially in government facilities. It's glow stick technology - crystallised code. Why, haven't you seen it before?"
She rolled her eyes a little.
"Let's just say I try not to hang out in government facilities."
"That's a shame." Lucas closed the Box up and slipped it back over his shoulder. "You should try it sometime. You'd fit right in."
She lowered her eyelids at him for a moment, then, seeming to decide he wasn't worth the trouble, turned back to the door. He nodded.
"On the count of three, ready? .. three."
They pushed simultaneously. Skye's breath caught in her throat as the heavy doors groaned open. There appeared to be nothing but pitch blackness inside. Something about it reminded her unpleasantly of the chasm. Nevertheless, the first obstacle had been cleared, and with surprisingly little trouble..
"Guess it's a good thing you just happened to have the key." She muttered.
Lucas looked at her sharply. One of her eyebrows tilted up a little as she met his gaze.
"What? You're gonna tell me it wasn't the slightest bit convenient?"
He leaned on the doorframe, folding his arms stubbornly.
"Are you suggesting we shouldn't use a key just because we happened to have it?"
"And if you didn't have it?" She challenged, and he threw her a somewhat tolerant look.
"A computer is good for many different uses .. but if all else fails .. that's why we brought the bolt cutters."
"When intelligence fails, fall back on brute force, is that it?"
"Adapt and overcome." Lucas responded imperiously, then paused to tilt his head at her. "Are you still that suspicious?"
She shrugged.
"No, just .. curious."
"Should I be touched or offended?"
Skye's only reply was to step a little closer as another tremor rattled the ground beneath them. When it fell quiet, Lucas leaned back lazily on the doorframe.
"Are we going to stop bickering anytime soon? I'd like to see what's in here before we get buried alive if you don't mind."
"Go ahead then." Skye gestured into the dark room, but Lucas refused to move, smiling back at her witheringly.
"Are you sure you don't want to go first? I might reprogram the entire cave and install a failsafe before you get inside."
Skye shone the torch directly into his eyes.
"For what it's worth, I'm fully aware that you're twice as smart as I am, not to mention three times as sarcastic, but do you have to be both all the time?"
Lucas pushed away from the wall and stepped forward, clasping the torch and redirecting the beam straight up into the ceiling.
"Depends. Do you have to be paranoid and overly sensitive?"
Skye glared back at him.
"I'm not paranoid."
"Maybe I was being sarcastic."
They stared at one another for a few moments over the torch, their tense faces bathed in the weird light. Skye tried to redirect it into Lucas' face, but his hands held it back easily. She tried again with little success. For some reason, the attempt brought home the ridiculous nature of the situation. Lucas' eyes flashed as her mouth twitched.
"You smiled."
"No I didn't."
"You did." He pushed forward, directing the beam right into her eyes as she caved, turning away to hide her laugh. "I win."
She shouted with indignation as he released the torch, flicking the light back onto him as he smothered his own mirth. His face instantly turned to stone. She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, and then turned away.
"I saw you laughing, by the way."
"Can't have. Didn't happen."
She ignored him, her attention now focused back on the room, the torchlight picking out small pieces of the puzzle from the doorway.
"Shall we?"
"Up to you. I was ready ages ago." He laughed under his breath as she stepped forward, seeming not to listen, though he could tell by the way her shoulders straightened slightly that she'd heard every word.
The dark room seemed to grow even darker as they passed the threshold. It looked like a great-grandmother's attic, dusty boxes and chests lining the walls on all sides, barely leaving enough room to walk between them. The chests all appeared to be sealed tightly, but after selecting their target - a larger box sitting on a table near the opposite wall - and putting in a few solid minutes of pulling and pushing, they managed together to crack it open. The plastic overlay was brushed away impatiently and the two curious heads peeked inside, only to find that it was full of books.
".. books?" Skye muttered, pulling back in some disappointment. "Real books. But why?"
"What did you expect, jewels and treasure?" Lucas muttered, grinning a little as he flicked through the pages of a huge tome with tiny lettering. "Maybe a golden crown or two?"
Skye's face flickered with annoyance.
"No, but .. why books?"
"Isn't it obvious?" He shut one book and turned to another, brushing the dust off a gilded cover almost reverently. "They were preserving it."
"What?"
"History." Lucas responded, replacing the contents of the chest and taking one last look before he sealed it closed once again. "Looks like someone was in a hurry. These are from all over the world, some of them aren't even in English. No order, just all piled in here together."
"They're all full of the same thing." Skye shut another lid, securing the clips tightly. "Books. Every single box."
"Makes you wonder though." Lucas muttered, casting a last glance around as he moved toward the door. "Who got so desperate they needed to hide all this under the mountain, and why?"
"Maybe they were thieves." Skye suggested. "Maybe they were planning to come back for it later and sell it."
He threw her a look.
"How very .. capitalistic of you."
Skye met his disapproving gaze with a laugh.
"Don't look at me like that. The thought must've occurred to you as well. I mean, look how old these things are. They've gotta be worth a lot, right?"
"Probably. Let's check next door."
The next room over was almost identical, except that the old chests were now replaced by metal boxes, and the contents, if possible, had grown even older - the books had disappeared and given way to stone tablets and scrolls, most of which were completely unreadable. Skye blew her hair out of her face in frustration.
"Is it me, or are these priceless discoveries just really, really boring?"
"Could be worse." Lucas shot a grin at her. "They could be alive."
The mountain seemed to respond to this statement with a hungry growl of its own. The surrounding walls shuddered, causing a fine cloud of dirt to shower down from above. Skye exchanged a look with Lucas as she brushed herself off yet again.
"Why do I get the feeling we're already being digested?"
Upon opening the next doorway, they found their passage almost completely blocked by mountains of dirt and rock. The ceiling had partially caved in. It was impossible to tell how recently the collapse had happened, but whatever was being stored in the room was now covered in several layers of additional protection. They entered however, trying to scramble around the inside edge of the wall, though struggling to maintain their footing on the unstable surface. Skye reached out and grabbed Lucas' wrist as he slipped, then just managed to stop herself from falling by grasping the hand on her right - a cold, white hand that had appeared out of the black veil of shadow beside her. In a wave of horror, she released it almost immediately. Lucas chuckled a little, steadying her as she darted backward. Her heart rate slowed as he shone the torch upon the figure. The marble reflected the light brightly, despite the dusty sheen that covered it. It was a statue, a life-sized image of a person, lifeless, though definitely not dead. Still, Skye found herself wiping her hand on her pants anyway. The room appeared to have been full of statues once - probably still was, though most had been buried. Mixed in with the sculptures, there were also a few wrapped canvases and frames scattered about, intermittently interrupting the flood of brown and white. These didn't seem to have coped with the burial as well as the statues - most of the visible paintings were twisted almost double. Skye brushed away some of the dirt, excavating one poor specimen from its prison. The image on the surface was unrecognizable. She dropped it back into the dirt.
"Whatever was in here, it's no good now."
"Art, history, these are all forms of information preservation." Lucas murmured, mostly to himself. "Seems to me that someone didn't think the earth was going to be around much longer."
"It's caved in pretty good." Skye stared up at the ceiling. It was accented by a large black hole. It was impossible to tell how far up it extended. "Looks like someone dropped the mountain on it."
"Must be Kensinge's drilling again." Lucas muttered grimly. "Woman's a one-man wrecking crew."
He set off around the room once more, wading through the rubble and creating a newly indented track. Skye followed in his wake, having a much easier passage as a result. They arrived at a large marble piece near the back of the room that seemed to have mostly escaped the fate of its companions. It consisted of several realistic figures, and depicted a group of tall-wigged persons gathered around a park bench - or what could only be assumed was a park bench. It was labeled "The Simplicity of Aristocracy".
Skye, crouching in front of the plaque with the torch, turned to look back up at Lucas with a raised eyebrow.
"What does this remind you of?"
He snorted, not bothering to answer. Skye turned back to the statue for a moment, then shrugged and stood back up. She paused warily as a slight shudder ran through the ground beneath their feet, causing the dirt under her to shift as it made to swallow her boots, but it was over almost before it began.
Lucas had finished his examination of the room. He headed toward the door, gesturing over his shoulder for her to follow.
"Nothing here. Come on."
Skye nodded and moved to exit the chamber, but half way there, she hesitated, running a finger over the back of a large white horse that had captured her attention, its mane blowing back in the wind.
"Do you ever wonder if maybe Harlon was right?" She asked, turning to Lucas suddenly. "Maybe we should be gathering everyone together and abandoning ship now. Evacuate to the treehouses while we still can. They're just waiting like sitting ducks back home. I mean maybe .. maybe he had the right idea after all .."
Lucas paused in the doorway, leaning an elbow on the frame as he studied her. Harlon - the man she had spoken of - had been a former Sixer that had had his own ideas about how the colony should be run in the months prior to the future's declaration of war. He had vanished when Zoe did. No one had heard from him since. Everyone seemed to have their own theories as to why.
".. no." Lucas responded finally, meeting her gaze without hesitation. "I don't wonder. If I ever had any doubts, the last few months have proven he was wrong. If we'd done what Harlon did, we'd only have stranded ourselves, not to mention setting Kensinge up with a brand new base the moment the Phoenix got here. We would've been making it that much easier for them to expand and hunt us down in the long run. At least this way, we get a fighting chance."
He looked up and around the cavern behind him before turning back to her, his voice sounding a little louder after the silence.
"The odds are against us, true, but the underdogs have won the battle before. It's not impossible. Harlon was nothing but a coward. Sooner or later, he'll get what's coming to him. As for us, we'll make it, so long as we don't give up."
He watched her as she nodded slowly.
".. okay?"
"Sure. Yeah." Skye threw one more look around the room and followed him out, turning to pull the heavy doors shut with a dull click.
She observed the process in silence as he unlocked the third door, suddenly feeling strangely despondent and wishing the whole expedition was over. Lucas pushed the doors away from himself slowly, seeming to be under the same dark cloud that had settled upon her. He took her right hand - the one holding the torch - and directed it into the room, not bothering to take the light off her.
The sight that greeted them, however, was a significant change from the last few rooms. It was much brighter, and rather than being cluttered with assorted chests and odds and ends, it was furnished simply with four tall white boxes. They looked like four refrigerators lining the walls, each with a soft glow emanating from a transparent panel on the front. They exchanged a mystified glance and started forward, stopping directly in front of the closest box. As they stepped into the atmosphere around it, the temperature suddenly dropped. Skye shivered as Lucas reached out and pulled the misted door. It opened with a sucking sound, expelling a thick fog of, somehow, even colder air. Skye's face felt numb, but she leaned forward anyway to look over his shoulder as he waved away the mist. The shelves inside the box were lined with smaller boxes, slices of metal inside some type of slushy substance, which itself was encapsulated by a shield of near invisible glass. There appeared to be dozens of the things.
"They're-"
"Liquid core hard drives, right?" Skye interrupted, causing Lucas to throw a look over his shoulder at her. She smiled a little. "Believe it or not, I do remember some of my history lessons. You didn't seem so surprised when I knew what a book looked like."
He snorted and turned back to the fridge, sliding out one of the bottom shelves.
"These are a lot more recent. I'd guess about 50 years old."
"Think they've been here for 50 years?" Skye asked, and he shrugged.
"Could have been, but then there's these .." He pointed down to a few silver spheres, nested inside what appeared to be a rubber egg carton. "They can't be more than 15. I remember when we first started using them."
"But how .." Skye murmured as he closed the door, pressing against it to make sure it had sealed tightly once again.
"I'm more interested in the power source." He commented, glancing around as though he expected to see some sort of generator lying around. There was none. "Maybe it's buried beneath us .."
"Maybe it's powered by the Falls." Skye suggested. "Malcolm's power plant downstream runs on hydroelectricity, right? Maybe these do too."
Lucas raised an eyebrow at her.
"Who says I'm smarter than you?"
Skye frowned and pointed at him, feigning deep concentration.
"Besides you, you mean?"
Lucas snorted.
"I would never."
"Not in words, anyway." Skye muttered. After they had pulled the door shut once again, Lucas reached out and pulled her hood down over her head, holding it there for a moment as she attempted to deflect the unexpected attack.
"That's enough out of you, Miss Tate, or I'll be forced to take more drastic measures. Now let's get on with it." He sighed a little as he pulled the Box back out of its pouch. "Five more minutes and my stomach will be competing with this mountain."
"Are you saying you're hungry?" Skye asked politely, appearing beside him once more, hood back in the appropriate place. Lucas threw a wary glance at her as he broke apart the last lock.
"Starving. Why?"
She shrugged.
"No reason, just trying to understand why you're so cranky today."
He eyed her flatly.
"I'm not in a bad mood. I thought you were in a bad mood."
"I'm not in a bad mood." She responded, sounding almost surprised. He turned back to the door, staring at the wood in silence for a moment.
".. okay."
He heaved it open with a grunt, stopping immediately as a flood of light spilled out of the room. Skye stared past him, the hand that held the torch dropping to her side, no longer necessary. There was only one object in the entire space. Lucas approached it slowly, for once at a loss for words. It was a perfect replica, identical in every detail, completely sealed and hovering in its own liquid shell of thick glass. The container alone was taller than he was, and perfectly square from corner to corner.
"It's .. the Eye .." He whispered in confusion. ".. but .."
Skye tore her gaze away from the floating core just long enough to glance up at him.
"I thought that thing was supposed to be one of a kind."
"It is!" He exclaimed, leaning both hands on the casing and peering inside, his face almost touching the glass. "I mean, obviously, someone could make another one if they wanted to, but no one has yet. The Eye technology has some of the strictest patents in the world. You could get jail for life just for attempting to source the parts."
Skye raised an eyebrow and turned back to the tank.
"Well, evidently someone did."
"As far as information storage devices go, this is the best." Lucas muttered, sounding as though he was trying to solve some perplexing mystery. "There's no need for anything in any of those other rooms, all of it can be kept in here. The entire history of the world and every single person or chemical in it is stored in this thing - why go to the trouble of keeping everything else?"
"Nostalgia?" Skye suggested feebly. "Or maybe they were keeping it for a day when technology was taken out?"
Lucas slowly shook his head.
"But that would never happen. It couldn't. Not completely anyway."
"Says the guy that built a stack of electromagnets for that very purpose." Skye countered dryly.
"Point taken."
"Hey." She knelt suddenly, tugging at his elbow sleeve to draw him down with her. As he followed, she held out a finger, tracing a series of letters that formed a ring around the bottom of the case. He took the torch from her, following the text back to the beginning. Written in silver, etched right into the casing itself, were the words:
'Knowledge of 10,000 years.
Collaboration of 1,000 hands.
Born in 100 different rooms,
For 1 final purpose.
Beware the wielder.
- Property of the Guild of Scientists.'
Lucas sat back on his heels, switching the torch off again.
"Look familiar?"
"Some company motto." Skye remarked, straightening. "Is that written on the one back home?"
"Could be." Lucas frowned at it. "I've never seen it, but I guess it'd be covered by the wall anyway."
Skye turned the torch back on, using it as a laser pointer as she gestured out the door back into the main chamber.
"Who's willing to bet that whoever these people are, they're responsible for that thing out there too?"
He shrugged as he stood.
"Probably a pretty safe bet."
Skye suddenly grinned.
"Maybe they're the evil science rejects from the future bent on destroying our reality through time travel."
Lucas threw a half-smile at her.
"You laugh, but the more I think about it, the more familiar these people sound .. I just can't quite .."
"You think you know them?" Skye questioned. Lucas thought for a moment, but ended with a slightly disheartened shrug.
"Don't know. Can't remember."
"Either way, this thing must've been put here recently, right?" Skye frowned, leaning her chin on the head of the torch. "And yet, it can't have been. Julien's journal mentions that ball, which has to be newer technology than even this, and on top of that, there's no other way in or out."
"At least, there wasn't before you ploughed straight through the mountain." Lucas added, ignoring the look he received in return. "There has to be another entrance, a proper entrance. What say we try this last door?"
"Lead the way." Skye murmured, suddenly feeling a twinge of guilt as she exited the room. "Malcolm's gonna be sad he missed this."
"He can come back when his limbs are functioning properly again." Lucas retorted, setting off around the cobbled pathway. The final door was set deeply into the rock wall. Old and weathered, it was secured by a simple thick metal chain, ending in a bar that had been inserted through the rusted padlock. It was huge as far as locks were concerned, and heavy, but nothing a solid set of bolt cutters couldn't manage. It was, after all, the reason they had brought them along. Skye watched as Lucas retrieved them from his pack, her breath catching in anticipation as he opened them. He paused, however, and she frowned as he pulled away from the lock.
"What is it?"
"It's too easy .." He muttered, shaking the chain and causing the lock to rattle sharply.
"See this bar?" He stepped aside to show her. "It's keeping tension on something. We break that, whatever's inside drops."
Skye's frown increased as she put a hand on it.
"It wasn't this tight before. Nowhere near this tight."
"You said the water flowed under this bridge, right?" Lucas looked at the ground beneath him, as though it would suddenly begin filling with liquid right then and there. "Maybe the water takes the weight when the tide's in."
"The weight of what?"
"No idea." Lucas responded helpfully. "We could break the bolt and just let it drop now, but we'd risk smashing whatever's inside to bits."
"You think it's some sort of trap?" Skye ducked, trying to see between the doors with little success. "Why only at low tide? Doesn't make sense."
"Sense or not .." Lucas murmured thoughtfully, raising a hand to rub the back of his neck. ".. what if there's another one of those in there?"
He cast a wary glance back toward the levitating sphere, and Skye followed his gaze reluctantly.
"I wouldn't want to drop that thing from any height, would you?"
"We could blow the whole mountain to bits." She murmured, images flooding into her head of the fallout, pictures of the black hills that currently encased them breaking to pieces and falling in with a sucking sound. They'd be buried alive.
"And it's not as crazy as it sounds either." She turned back to the door, waving a hand across its surface. "It's dark in there now, but I'm sure last time, I saw light shining out of these holes. There's definitely something in there that glows. Even if it's off at the moment, I don't really want to find out what happens if we drop it."
"I'm with you there." Lucas suddenly stopped, standing at attention stiffly as the distant rumbling began. It seemed to ripple towards them beneath the earth and then shudder away under their feet. It was followed by three other waves in close succession. They waited intently for a fifth, but it never came. Finally, Lucas dropped his gaze back down to meet Skye's.
"We should probably get out of here anyway."
She nodded quickly.
"Speaking of which .."
She didn't finish, and it took a moment for him to catch up. The instant he did, however, was captured so perfectly in his dismayed expression that she almost laughed aloud despite the predicament.
"Ah." Lucas folded his arms, staring into the glowing centre of the room. "That does present something of an issue."
They stood in silence for several seconds, neither struck by any bright ideas. Eventually, Skye shrugged.
"I say we head back anyway. The good sentries might have dug us out by now."
Sadly, the good sentries had not. The mountain of dirt that greeted them was, if possible, even bigger than the one they had deserted some time ago. Each trying their hardest not to appear more panicked than the other, they turned and ventured back down the tunnel, circumnavigating the chasm uneasily and eventually finding themselves standing back in front of the shattered wall of the antechamber.
"Still here." Lucas muttered, as though he had expected the jagged hole to have magically vanished in their absence. Skye tiptoed forward and stuck her head in. The natural cave on the other side was little more than a slit in the rock. She turned to stare back at him.
"Can't see how far it goes. We could take our chances .. but as you've so comfortingly pointed out, we have no idea of knowing what might be on the other side."
"It's either that or be stuck in here for who knows how long." Lucas commented. "There are supposed to be cave systems running all through this mountain. We might get lucky and find one that leads out. The odds are better than in here, anyway."
Skye turned the torch back to stare into the darkness. The little beam of light seemed to be drawing them onward.
"I'll go first." She decided abruptly. "You're bigger than me. I might be able to make it through if you can't."
Lucas blinked as she stepped through the fissure in the wall.
"And if I can't?"
She threw an unworried look back over her shoulder.
"Then I'll keep going and try to bring back help. Guess we'll have to take our chances."
He groaned a little as he squeezed through the gap. It was already feeling too close for comfort. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Skye seemed to read his mind and decided to rub it in.
"Come on, it has to lead somewhere. After all, this was your idea, right?"
Lucas met her gaze miserably for a moment as he contorted himself to fit through another hole.
"Yeah, don't remind me."
They weaved their way through the passage in the hillside, sometimes finding it wide enough to walk comfortably, other times nearly having to climb their way across a cliff face in order to continue their journey. Once the surrounding rock rattled with such ferocity that they both feared they would be thrown against the sharp stones and crushed, but they managed to gather their wits about them and proceeded, following the little winding path ever upwards toward the surface. Finally, Skye's voice rang out with relief and she darted forward, her feet eating up the last few metres in a matter of seconds.
"I see light! It's still daytime!"
Lucas released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
"Now if only we could make it without being completely flattened in the process, I'd be most grateful." He stopped suddenly, narrowly avoiding running into Skye, who had come to a halt directly in front of him. Lucas nudged her a little.
"What is it? Can't you get through?"
"I don't believe it." She muttered, moving forward to slip through the final crevice. Stepping out, one foot after another, she emerged in a small, uneven room. Lucas squeezed through after her, stopping in the same moment of amazement. The angles were wrong, the dimensions skewed in places thanks to the new cracks in the mountain, but even so, there was no mistaking it.
As they approached the exit in the rocky hillside, the golden light of the sinking sun spilled in and fell upon the ground. Lucas watched as Skye ventured forward and knelt down, drawing her fingertips across a darkened patch - a former blood stain. He looked around. There were still traces of life scattered about - a bandage here, an old food preparation stone there, a small pile of blackened twigs where someone had tried to start a fire. Skye rose, but remained still, gazing out at the diluted light. The sound of the nearby Falls could be heard clearly now, rushing into the room and filling the space with the damp echo. For a while, neither one of them could think of anything worth saying. They stood in the familiar little cave of grey stone, their minds thrown back to other times, plunged into a sea of strange memories they had nearly forgotten. Lucas leaned on the wall, staring blankly into space. When Skye finally turned to look back up at him, her eyes were shining brightly. He met her gaze and smiled a little, but still neither of them said a word. Neither had to. It was their cave. They had been freed of their prison and brought home. Somehow, a series of seemingly miserable events had twisted together and led them both back here, to this - the real heart of Snakehead Mountain. Beyond that, there was nothing left to say.