Note: This chapter may be subject to change when I next post, but the next chapter may take a week or so while I research some of the medical jargon. Please enjoy and please review!
> - Atlantean spoken
Joshua Sweet strode down the hall in nine large steps, wishing it were longer. Nine steps worth - anybody's steps - was not enough time to think. The large black man dipped his head as he came through the door into the wide lobby. Doorframes at the Whitmore place were larger than most, but still one never knew. Years of being very tall had made Sweet conscious of his head. The others gathered in the room watched from various chairs and sofas as the doctor found one of his own, a prominent red fixture in the room. Time and anticipation grew outward as the others waited for the doctor to speak. Sweet's mind, however, was elsewhere. Down in a dark volcano, three days ago…
Down here, down here!> The little boy called to his brother and sister. Small, white-haired children with smooth milk-cinnamon skin, they clambered over wreckage, splintered wood and wrenched, twisted metal. Shattered pebbles of glass winked on the ground, a hazard to tiny bare feet, which miraculously pattered around it. The little ones climbed with the skill of a people used to leaping and scaling, missing sharp edges of metal as easily as sharp edges of the rocks they were used to. The second two joined their brother on a springy plank of wood. He bent his knees, grinning as the board swayed under them. Testing it once more, it dipped further under his weight and rose again. Three children's giggles echoed in the vast underground chamber. Bending deep, the first boy jumped. The wood bounced with such force that all three shrieked for joy. As it came up and down once more, the plank shifted out of place, causing the metal bar and other debris holding it to fall. A scream came up from the wreck, causing the children to stop laughing and gasp, eyes wide. Tentatively, they climbed down, and stood on the ground, waiting. No scream followed, but after a moment, all three heard a small whine.
Is it an animal?> the little girl asked. She and the other looked to their older brother, who shrugged.
I don't know,> he said, It screamed. Animals don't scream, do they?>
Yes,> said the other little boy, but it whined like an animal. >
Why would there be a person down here? Kidagakash and Milo said everyone who did not come back was not coming back.>
Then it is an animal. >
Let's go see it! >
Wait!> The older boy grabbed hold of his siblings.
What if it is dangerous?> They stopped. Nothing was said for a long time. Again, the mournful whine sounded. Without knowing why, the older boy shuddered.
It sounds hurt.> The words were in his mouth before they were in his head, but once out, they made sense to him. Whatever was calling sounded very weak. Of course, that meant it could be very big, and they would never know it, and he had been warned about how dangerous big, hurt animals could be. The other two waited, eyes flicking around, for their big brother. He sighed, relaxing his hold.
If it is trapped under the metal, it cannot get to us,> he took another deep breath, I see no reason why we cannot go see it.> The other two cheered. But,> he warned, we will go get someone once we see it.> Nodding, they all set off.
It was coming from here,> the younger boy said, pointing down a dark opening. A metal wall was held precariously up by blades of the shattered gyro-evac and the piece of metal pipe the three youngsters had shaken loose. The same three exchanged looks.
How do we…?> began the girl.
You go down and we will hold you,> said the oldest boy. He held out his hands to the smallest sibling. Each brother taking a hand, she was lowered carefully down into the hole. Her tiny feet dangled only a few inches from the ground. Looking up, she nodded. The older boy nodded back, and the two obediently dropped her. Squatting down, she peered around in the darkness.
There's nothing down here.> The little boy scratched his white head.
But it was coming from this way.> His sister shrugged.
There's no room down here. I want to come up.> The older boy stood, not taking in this conversation between his young siblings. He was looking around, searching. The sound had come from over here, but just because they could not see it did not mean the animal was down in the hole.
Mei-kahn! I want up! >
Oh. Oh, yes!> he cried, remembering his little sister. He lifted her out. As he did, the metal beneath them shifted, causing all three to jump. An agonized scream ripped up behind them.
They fled.