Chapter 5
She reached her tent and went in. Lexa had asked her not to go to the war tent as Azgeda warriors were around and she didn't want Tanwen to be targetted. Pelana went to the Commander and whispered Tanwen's message. The Commander nodded and said she'd be there after the meeting. Pelana bowed and left the tent.
"How many warriors are coming down from Azgeda?" the Commander asked the Azgeda General.
"At the moment, there are 150 warriors coming to join the fight against the mountain, Heda." Even though Azgeda as a rule didn't like the Commander and the other clans, this general seemed to know that his life would be forfeit if he showed the slightest aggression to her. Secretly he actually admired her for what she had done. He was a trusted general of Queen Nia, but underneath all that rhetoric he spouted in her name, he actually only wanted peace. At the moment, he'd take the peace of mind that the fall of the mountain would bring. After that, he'd subtly work on his warriors about needing peace to consolidate their place in the Kongeda and to provide for their own people. Each of his warriors were drawn from the populace and not full-time soldiers. As a result, all of them wanted peace - and to go home to their families.
"Are any more joining us?"
"I haven't been told of any more, Commander," he said with a bow. Lexa nodded. She didn't trust him anymore than any other Azgeda warrior, but so far he'd impressed her with his ability to be polite and restrained from attacking anyone either physically or verbally.
"Then once we have a plan, we can begin to advance on the mountain. This time, I will not give up until they are all dead! There are some of the Skaikru children also held prisoner inside the mountain. We will rescue them as well. I've been informed that if the maunon figures out that their blood is better for them than ours, it could be disastrous as it would allow them to leave the mountain without the use of their suits. They would be able to breathe out here without them." Growls and dire threats rumbled around the room. "We will protect those children! We take them away from the maunon and they have to stay in the mountain. We get our people out as well and the maunon will die in there. They will cease to be a problem for us and we can finally live in peace instead of fear of the maunon coming to get us." This time roars of agreement sounded around the room.
"Good. We'll meet here again in four days. Use that time to train. There is an area set aside for large-scale training ten miles northeast of here. Take your warriors there and train. Learn how to fight alongside each other instead of trying to take each other's heads off! Understood?"
"Sha, Heda," they all agreed. The Commander nodded back and left the tent.
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Once back inside her tent, she saw her wife sitting on a chair at the table looking over a map.
"You wanted to see me?" Lexa asked, coming up behind her wife and leaning down to wrap her arms around Tanwen's shoulders, placing a kiss on her cheek. Tanwen's eyes closed momentarily at the unexpected but very welcomed kiss.
"Sha, We've discussed what needs to be done and now we just need your permission to go dig up the Pentagon," Tanwen said, rising and turning into a full embrace. Both of them sighed in pleasure at having the other in their arms.
"I've sent the warriors to another area to train to work together. Tomorrow, you can go with the others to help dig, but I'd like it if you wore your old Skaikru clothing. The warriors may know you now as my wife, but they still don't really look at the Skaikru clothing. I'm hoping that with the clothing, they don't recognise you as my wife."
"I thought you just said you'd sent them off to train?"
"I did, but that doesn't mean any warriors coming here won't see you." Tanwen nodded.
"Okay, we'll set off just after dawn tomorrow. We'll need digging tools like pickaxes and shovels. Other than that, maybe a few Trikru warriors - just in case."
"That can be arranged. Anya can help you. Indra needs to go with the others to train, but Anya is a warrior without troops at the moment. It won't look odd if she stays here to look after her former village while Indra's away."
"Subtle deception, Commander," Tanwen said. Lexa nodded.
"But needed. I don't want to lose you, Tanwen, I've only just found you."
"You didn't find me, Lexa, Anya took me prisoner." Lexa chuckled.
"From prisoner to my wife in less than three days," Lexa said. Tanwen laughed.
"Some things are destined to be, Lex, we're one of them."
"And I couldn't be happier," she said, snuggling into Tanwen again.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
"Pelana! Stop it!" Tanwen said as she caught Pelana messing with her Skaikru clothing once more.
"But it's too tight!" she said. "I can't move enough in this!"
"No, but once we get to the site, you can take the jacket off." Pelana grumbled and put her hands down. She was uncomfortable in the tight Skai clothing, the Trikru clothing was much looser, freer, making moving much easier. Ingrid was also feeling weird in the foreign clothing but she kept herself from fiddling with it.
Tanwen turned as she saw Pelana'a hand rising once more to adjust the clothing.
"Pelana, if I have to climb back into this clothing, then so do you." Pelana caught the mild protest at having to wear the clothing again.
"What's wrong with our clothing?" Raven asked, checking her own clothing.
"For you, nothing, but they've always had looser clothing and I've gotten used to it," Tanwen replied. Octavia was smirking. She didn't have to change back into it. As the mate of Lincoln, she had their clothing earlier than the others.
"Don't worry, once the mountain has fallen, you'll all be given Trikru clothing to wear," Octavia said.
"We will?" Raven said, turning toward her.
"Uh-huh. You need to look the part and the Skaikru clothing isn't the right look. Believe me, you'll be thankful for it!"
Once they were attired in Skaikru clothing, they left the tent. Tanwen's two male guards had to stay behind, guarding the Commander's tent where their queen was 'sleeping'. The two guards were way too big to fit into any Skaikru clothing they had, but the two female guards could and were wearing them. Several of the Commander's warriors would go with them. They snuck out of the tent while it was still dark and Murphy, Monroe, Octavia, Lincoln Tanwen and her guards and the three Trikru warriors all made their way silently to the river where they crossed using boats. Once on the other side, they moved behind a pile of built up dirt and stones. It would hopefully shield them from too many eyes. For this day, the Commander had only her trusted people on watch in the areas that overlooked the river and the area across it.
"Alright, let's look for anything to make it easier to get inside. A hatch, a cover or something else. There has to be something under here," Tanwen said. They spread out with Tanwen and her two guards searching on the waterfront while the others were searching other places.
It had just started to lighten when Monroe called out.
"Found something!" she hissed. The rest went to her and found her kneeling down and cutting vegetation away from a metal hatch. Murphy helped her and soon the entire hatch was uncovered. Murphy checked the hatch and tried the handle.
"Shit!" he said when it wouldn't open. Monroe pushed him out of the way and began picking the lock. It was a combination one and she asked for total silence as she worked. Within minutes, it was unlocked and they pulled the hatch open. Murphy took out a flashlight and played it around inside the hatch. He found a ladder and stepped onto it and down to the bottom. The others waited as he did a quick sweep to check it was empty.
"Come on down," he called up. Tanwen had the Trikru guards stay topside to protect the hatch. The rest of them went down and looked around.
"There's a door at that end of this corridor but the other is blocked by fallen rubble," Murphy said. Tanwen looked at the rubble and checked the ceiling. It didn't look stable so she moved to the door.
"Monroe, pick it please." Monroe had it open within seconds and again, Murphy was first through. Each time they encountered rooms, they checked them and then moved on. It took a couple of hours to reach another part of the compound and this time, there were two doors to choose from. Tanwen decided to carry on straight until they couldn't. She guessed they were heading northwest. The door ahead of them was a small store cupboard with janitorial supplies in it. The other door led to residential areas and here they found skeletons.
"Shit! Must have tried to shelter from the bombs," Murphy said. "Wonder why they died?"
"Dunno but let's keep going. We still need to find the command areas," Tanwen said. They moved on, still searching rooms but most of them were housing so they were left alone. They moved out of that section and found themselves in another long corridor. Tanwen stopped and looked back before looking forward.
"What's up?" Murphy asked.
"We're walking the perimeter," Tanwen said. "We haven't come across any corridors turning towards the centre." Murphy looked back as he remembered the layout of the previous corridor before the residential area.
"You're right," he said. "Maybe that's the command section."
"Makes sense," Octavia said. "It must be protected."
"So we keep following the corridors until we find a way in?" Monroe asked.
"We have to, but I hope the way in is not in that collapsed section," Tanwen said. None of them liked that thought. They kept searching. It took another few hours to reach the other side of the rubble. With no way towards the centre. Monroe looked up.
"Guess I'll have to crawl through that," Monroe said, pointing to a pipe running through the rubble. Murphy boosted her up and she shone her torch into it.
"Looks clear!" she said and pulled herself up into it and, even though it was confining, she was able to work her way through it. They heard a faint voice from the other side.
"I'm through!" Murphy was boosted up by Lincoln and he too, crawled through to the other side. They knew what to look for and the others had to stay where they were until either Monroe and Murphy found a secret way in or they came back.
Monroe moved to the left side while Murphy moved to the right. There wasn't much of a gap, but it was big enough to notice that the collapse was deliberate on both sides.
"This was deliberate, Monroe," Murphy said.
"Yeah," Monroe said, awed. They moved to the only door there was.
"Can you get through it?" Murphy asked. Monroe studied it.
"Yeah, it may take a few minutes, but yeah, I should be able to." Murphy stood back and watched. He was a thief and an arsonist, but he was always curious about lockpicking. He'd have to get Monroe to teach him sometime.
Monroe heard the click and smiled. She opened the door and walked through with Murphy on her heels. They came to another door. This one was more like an airlock door and again, Monroe was able to bypass the locks and open the door. When they went through this door, however, they heard movement. Both were on heightened alert. Using the hand signals they'd learned from Bellamy when hunting, they were able to communicate. Monroe pointed to the bottom of a door where light came from it. Murphy nodded and continued checking the area.
Eventually, both Monroe and Murphy met at the door and both listened silently. They didn't hear anything and were about to pull back when they heard someone whispering. They didn't hear what they said, but it was the unmistakable sound of human voices. They looked at each other. Murphy and Monroe were debating what to do when the door was suddenly opened and guns leveled at them.
"Who are you?" a young man in a dirty uniform asked. Monroe and Murphy held up their hands.
"Murphy kom Trikru and Monroe kom Trikru," Murphy responded.
"Murphy kom what?" the young man asked.
"I guess you've never been to the surface?"
"It's not safe up there yet," he said.
"Actually, it is," Murphy said. "We've just come from there. We live there."
"You can't, it's deadly."
"They must be from the other side," another guy said.
"Other side?" Monroe asked. The first man pointed towards the northwest where they encountered the skeletons.
"They went there. There was a division on what to do. Those of us who wanted to survive stayed here, the others moved there."
"Then your people did the right thing. We found skeletons in a residential block to the northwest."
"Doesn't say why you're here, though," the second man said, suspiciously.
"Actually, we're looking for maps of Mount Weather. Got any?"
"Why?"
"Because we are at war with them. They take our people and we know they bleed our people to put it into themselves. We only see a few of them again and that's only because those in the mountain have turned them into monsters."
"Mount Weather?"
"Yeah, you know of it?"
"Yeah, they tried to contact us about 50 years ago. We never answered because that was when our division happened."
"Are you on friendly terms with them?" Murphy asked.
"No. We have ignored all calls from them. They haven't tried to contact us in over forty years."
"Good. If they knew you were here, they'd capture you and bleed you dry."
"Why?"
"Because they can't metabolise the radiation. They need our blood to survive, but it's killed thousands of us."
"We can't metabloise it yet, either," the young one said. Murphy smiled.
"I think you can, after all we're covered in it and you haven't broken out in a rash nor struggled to breathe." The two men looked at each other.
"What do you want?"
"We want the maps and a possible way into Mount Weather. We want our people back. We cannot get in through the doors and the tunnels under the mountain are where the reapers live."
"Reapers?"
"The monsters the mountain people turn our people into."
"How many people are here?" Monroe asked, putting her hands down, but keeping them away from her body.
"Twelve," the young man replied.
"Twelve? That's all?" Monroe asked, appalled at the low number.
"Illness and fighting took most of us," the second man admitted.
"What do you want to do?" Murphy asked.
"We don't know. You're the first people we've encountered. There were encounters just after the bombs fell. That's why they collapsed the tunnels - to keep them out."
"So you're the descendants of those who took shelter here? The military?"
"Yes."
"If the tunnels had collapsed, how did you get here?" asked the first man.
"Oh, we found the pipework was still clear."
"Are you alone?"
"No, our people are waiting on the other end of the pipe," Murphy said.
"How many survived above ground?"
"Well, just after the war, everyone headed for bunkers of some kind. No-one left on the surface survived. It took a few years before they came out of their bunkers and when they did, they began breaking off into factions, fighting for land and to survive. Eventually they became clans, and now there are twelve of them scattered over the eastern half of the USA," Monroe told them.
"How many people?"
"Around two or three hundred thousand," Murphy said, shrugging as if it wasn't really important.
"What about us? Can we go to the ground?" Monroe and Murphy looked at each other.
"We don't know. We'd have to ask the Commander for permission to live on her lands," Murphy said. For all that he was a bully, he respected the Commander for what she did to unite 12 warring clans and get peace for them.
"Who's in charge here?" Monroe asked.
"Well, I suppose we are," the second one said.
"How old are you?" Monroe asked, curiously.
"22," the second man said. "I'm the oldest."
"How old's the youngest?"
"A few months. We know we won't last long, but we had hope that someone would remember us."
"What's your name?"
"Dan Gerson," the second one said.
"And you?" Monroe asked the first one.
"James Wolf, 18."
"I'm Monroe, 18, and he's Murphy, 18." They grinned at each other. They lowered their weapons.
"May we come in?" Murphy asked. They hesitated, but allowed it. Monroe and Murphy moved through the door and into a lighted area.
"This is our messhall and lounge area," James said. The two Trikru nodded.
"Where are the others?"
"Through here," Dan said, moving towards another door and opening it. Monroe stepped through to see the rest of the young group. She counted ten people.
"Hi, I'm Monroe, and the surface is now safe to live on." They sighed in relief.
"Hey, Dan?" Murphy said. "Why are there no other adults?"
"We had a sickness a few months ago and we lost a lot of people. There were only five adults at that time and we lost all of them plus eight kids."
"What did you do with the bodies?"
"There was a crematorium built into the bunker and we used that, but we had to sacrifice most of our wooden furniture for it."
"Okay, you'll have to stay here for now, but we will be back to check on you and figure out what to do with you." Dan nodded.
"Do you have maps we can use against Mount Weather?" Dan led them to a computer.
"We use thermal power from deep in the earth. We don't know how it works, but it does." He switched the computer on. "We're not sure how to use it," he admitted. Monroe sat down and worked her way through the files searching for the maps she needed.
"Got them!" she called out and Murphy went over to them.
"Can you print them off?"
"Sure," Monroe said and Dan turned on the printer and Monroe printed out the maps they needed.
"Don't suppose you have a video recorder or something do you?" Monroe asked.
"What for?" Murphy asked.
"So we can film them as proof people are still alive down here." Murphy nodded.
"It would be good for the Commander to see you." Dan nodded and searched a cupboard for the required item. He handed it over to Murphy who handed it to Monroe. Monroe switched it on and started filming, commentating as she did. She got everyone to say their names and ages and then Monroe filmed the sign above the door which said, Pentagon Bunker, Section D.
"That's it," Monroe said as she stopped filming. Murphy had the maps and Monroe had the camera.
"We will be back, but it may be a few months. We have a war to fight before we can give you a safe place to live," Murphy said.
"Don't forget about us, please," Dan begged. Murphy realised that they were hanging on by a thread.
"We won't. We'll be back as soon as we can, okay?" Dan nodded and he led Murphy and Monroe back to the entrance. Murphy boosted Monroe into the pipe and Dan's eyes widened at the small size of the pipe.
"You came in through there?" he asked in amazement.
"Yeah, and it may be the only way out for you as well," Murphy explained. "Boost me up please and then stay by the pipe. We'll tell the others about you and they may need to hear you to believe us," Murphy said with a chuckle. Dan did too.
Monroe's head appeared at the end of the pipe and she passed the camera to Octavia while Lincoln helped her out of the pipe and then he did the same to Murphy once he'd passed the maps to Monroe.
"Well? Did you find the right ones?" Tanwen asked.
"Oh, yeah and a whole lot more!" Murphy said.
"Why, what else did you find?"
"Not what, who," Murphy said.
"What?" Tanwen said, confused.
"Hey Dan!" Murphy yelled into the pipe.
"Yeah?" they heard a faint voice. Everyone was startled.
"Who's that?"
"Dan Gerson, 22," he replied.
"Dan, I'm Tanwen kom Trikru," Tanwen said.
"Murphy, you never did explain that part of your names!" Dan said. Murphy laughed.
"Trikru is the clan we come from!" he yelled into the pipe.
"Got it!" Dan said. "Don't forget about us, Murphy!"
"We won't! We have to leave now, but we will be back, okay?"
"Okay, come back soon."
"Bye Dan," Murphy said as he led them back around the perimeter to the hatch handout of the bunker.
"There's really other people down there?" Tanwen said.
"Yeah, twelve of them and Dan's the oldest at 22."
"Shit! They're like us!" Octavia said.
"Why so few?"
"Illness, fighting and a division between them. Those we found at the northwest residential area were one faction and Dan's people were the other, but all this happened over 50 years ago." Tanwen nodded trying to take it all in.
"Let's go back and look over the maps. I'll have to inform the Commander of this new group." Tanwen sighed. It was something else they didn't need to contend with right now.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
They made it back just as the sun was setting. Tanwen took Murphy and Monroe with her and dismissed the rest.
"Commander!" Tanwen called from just outside the tent.
"Enter!" she heard from within. She entered with Murphy and Monroe and Ingrid with Pelana standing guard outside. Indra rose and bowed to Tanwen.
"Ai kwin," she said. Tanwen nodded in acknowledgement.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Lexa asked.
"Yes, Commander," Tanwen replied, bowing to her. Murphy and Monroe followed suit. Lexa frowned. It wasn't like her wife to bow to her in their own tent, even if it was in company.
"What is it?"
"Something better spoken about in private first, Commander." Lexa nodded and dismissed Indra. Once she'd left, Lexa turned to her wife.
"What's happened?"
"We gained entry to the bunker and eventually found some pipework that Murphy and Monroe went through to get past some fallen rubble." She pointed to the two with her.
"And what did you find?" she asked the pair. Both of them looked to Tanwen who nodded. Murphy turned back to the Commander.
"Commander, we came across twelve people in there as well."
"People?!"
"Only twelve, Commander, and the oldest is 22."
"How?"
"Those that entered the bunker during the war stayed there after it. They knew the radiation would kill them so they dug in to wait it out. We don't know why they never came out earlier, but from what we learned, they, too, thought it would still be toxic and deadly on the ground," Murphy said.
"But only twelve?"
"Commander, around 50 years ago, there was a division among the people. One side wanted to try to go to the surface and the other one didn't. Those that left, died. We came across their skeletons soon after we entered the bunker," Monroe continued.
"Through the years, there's been illnesses that have killed some people. The last one was only a few months ago and it killed all five adults and eight children. I guess the 22 year old was still seen as a child because he was from the next generation." Monroe shrugged.
"So there's a group of children living under the Pentagon right now," Lexa mused.
"Correct. Lexa, they may need to go live with those in Camp Jaha. They would have no understanding of clan ways and it would be better for Abby to check them over. She needs to make sure they don't bring illness here," Tanwen said.
"I agree, but not until the mountain has fallen," Lexa said.
"I told them it could be a few months, but that we would be back to get them at some point, Commander," Murphy said.
"Why did you tell them that?"
"Hope, Commander. I never want to tell people that they are going to be left behind to die, especially the babies."
"Babies?"
"There were two, Commander," Monroe said, setting up the camera for both Tanwen and the Commander to see. She pushed play and they watched as Monroe commentated on what she was filming and who. They watched as twelve people, including the two babies appeared on the screen. Everyone bar the young ones recited their names and ages while one of the mothers gave the names and ages of those too young to do so. Monroe stopped the recording and stood back.
"Then we will deal with them after we deal with the mountain," the Commander said. They nodded and Murphy handed over the maps while Monroe handed over the camera and they both bowed to them and left.
"Anything else?" Lexa asked.
"No, Lexa. I thought it was important to bring it to your attention. Those people are Trikru too."
"How?"
"They live beneath Trikru lands, Commander. Their nearest village is Tondc."
"I don't think Indra would appreciate more outsiders trying to make their home in Tondc."
"No, but if we can get them to Abby, Clarke could have twelve more people for their village. They'd have to be taught both how to live on the ground and how to co-exist with their neighbours."
"It will not be easy for them, "Lexa said.
"No, but they can make a life for them, a life that was denied them just like ours was before we came down. I can't condemn them without finding out if they want to live on the ground."
"Are they like the mountain men?"
"No, they do not need your blood. Murphy and Monroe were covered in radiation and it had no effect on them."
"So what do we do with them?"
"For now, we leave them there. They must have a farm setup and a source of drinking water and everything else they need, otherwise they would have died by now."
"Then we deal with them later," Lexa said, moving over to her wife and hugging her.
"Have you eaten?"
"No Commander, other than the food we took with us, we haven't eaten. I've sent the others for food and rest."
"Then you will do the same. Ingrid, get us some food please and we'll retire afterwards."
"Sha, Heda," Ingrid said, leaving them alone for a moment.
"What's on the agenda for tomorrow?" Tanwen asked, yawning.
"We have some more training to do. You are free to move around, but make sure you take all your guards."
"Sha, Heda," Tanwen said, leaning in for a kiss. Just as the kiss ended, Ingrid called out that the food was ready.
They ate the food and retired for the night. Neither of them was sure what to do about the new undergrounders.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
The next day, Commander Lexa was off with Indra checking on the different clan warriors training together ten miles from Tondc. Tanwen, with her bodyguards, walked around the village, checking on people and making sure they were well cared for. The people of Tondc were pleased the Commander had found someone who cared and loved her for herself and not for her position. They'd seen how caring Tanwen was with everyone bar the Azgeda warriors which she'd been warned to stay away from. Most of the village was happy to see a queen they could be proud of. Tanwen was walking past one of the huts set back and a little away from the others.
"Ai kwin," an elderly man called out.
"Sha?" she asked, before turning to speak to him.
"My name is Galen, I'm a healer. I have some herbs for the other healers, but I need some more vials to put them in. Could you ask one of your guards to ask the healers to bring me some?" Ingrid stood closer to Tanwen.
"He is a good man, ai kwin." Tanwen nodded. He was not someone she'd really seen. He kept to himself most of the time. Tanwen sent Merrick to the healer's hut while Tanwen asked if she could see the herbs he made for them. He nodded and bowed as first Pelana went in and then Tanwen and Ingrid entered with the other guard outside. Tanwen looked around and saw herbs hanging up drying on racks. She remembered when Clarke did that at the dropship when Jasper had been speared and she needed some red seaweed dried so she could crush it up into a tea for him. There were some mortars and pestles around in various states of usage, small glass bottles full of medicines - or poisons, Tanwen wasn't sure which - and a few tools around as well. A bed was tucked away in the corner with some clothing piled on it at the foot of the bed.
"Mochof for your hospitality," she said, giving a short head bow to acknowledge his position and age.
"My pleasure, ai kwin," he said, waving to a chair near the fire which was lit. She sat down in one chair and he sat in the other. Tanwen noticed what looked like old world books on a shelf to one side, partially covered with a cloth.
"Do you read gonasleng?" she asked.
"A little. I was born thirty years after the bombs and my parents made sure we could read. Unfortunately, there weren't many books so over time, I've lost most of my knowledge. There are many words I struggle with now." Tanwen silently asked permission to look at the books which he gave. She got up and moved the cloth aside and read the titles. Most of them were either anatomy or medical books of some kind.
"This one is my favourite," he said, moving over to her and picking up a large hard-backed book. Tanwen looked at it but it had words she hadn't read before. "It deals with the internal organs," he explained. He handed it to her and she took it and opened the book. As she flicked through the book, she noticed there were lots of diagrams of the organs with cutaway portions so the reader knew what it was supposed to look like. She riffled through the book and stopped on one about the heart. She read a little and moved on. Next, she stopped on the stomach, but she quickly moved on from some of the photos there. The next one was about bones. She was soon engrossed in the text and sat back down still reading. The old man smiled and left her to it as Merrick came back with the vials.
A few minutes later, Tanwen gasped and shut the book with a loud bang.
"May I borrow this?" she asked.
"Certainly, but why?"
"Because it may help us with the mountain men," Tanwen said. He nodded and Tanwen got up and hurriedly thanked him again and almost ran out of the hut. She ran to Clarke's tent where Anya was on duty.
"Is Clarke in and available?" Tanwen asked, agitated. Anya nodded and called out.
"Kwin Tanwen is here."
"Enter," Clarke said and Tanwen and Ingrid entered the tent.
"What's up?" Clarke asked when she saw the agitated state of Tanwen.
"I found something in this medical book," Tanwen said, sitting beside Clarke on the bed. She opened the book to the right page and shoved it at Clarke. Clarke marvelled at the book.
"Where did you get this?" she asked, looking at the cover and running her hand over it.
"Never mind that!" Tanwen said. "Look at this!" Tanwen once again turned to the right page and pointed to the text she needed Clarke to read. Clarke read it and she too gasped.
"Is this right?" she asked.
"I don't know, but it's in an actual medical book, Clarke. I doubt they'd put that in if it was wrong."
"What do we do?"
"We need to rescue our people, Clarke and the sooner the better."
"Who else knows?"
"No-one. I brought the book straight here."
"The Commander?"
"She's off training with the clans," Tanwen said.
"She needs to see this," Clarke said.
"Sha!" Tanwen said fervently.
"Anya!" Clarke called.
"Sha?" Anya asked, sticking her head into the tent.
"Tanwen's found a book that says that our bone marrow could let the mountain men walk the ground!"
"Clan people?"
"No, the hundred and the Arkers!"
"How?"
"We were exposed to solar radiation. That's a little bit stronger than what's down here right now. It's why we can live above ground and the Maunon can't."
"So what does this mean?" asked Anya.
"We need to take that mountain as soon as we can. We don't have the time to plan much more. The more time they have, the more time they have to think of this. If my people are killed for their bone marrow, they would need to take from them all. All of them would be killed!"
"Do you want me to get the Commander?"
"No, but if you see her, tell her Tanwen and I have urgent business with her. She needs to know this." Anya nodded and resumed guard duty.
"So what now?" Clarke asked.
"I'll take this book to our tent and stay there with it. It's too valuable to let others see it or take it."
"Where did you get it?"
"There's an old man who mixs herbs for the healers. It's his."
"Does he use it?"
"Sha, he's losing the ability to read Gonasleng, but the pictures are still useful to him." Clarke nodded.
"Maybe he'll let me have a look at it," Clarke said.
"Maybe, but don't let your mother find out about it, she'll want it for herself!" Clarke nodded.
"So what does this mean for our plans?"
"It means we need to find a way in through the reaper tunnels. The maps are in our tent, grab Anya and Sterling and let's go." Clarke agreed and soon they were all walking into the Commander's tent. Sterling and Pelana on guard inside with the rest on guard outside. Tanwen pulled out the maps and she and Clarke and Anya studied them. Clarke and Tanwen both translated the gonasleng words for Anya and they looked for any way into the mountain.
Tanwen pulled up the second map and saw it was more detailed than the first one.
"Look at this!" Tanwen said. "There are doors marked here but they look like solid walls and rock behind them!" Anya and Clarke looked over and Anya traced a path with her finger.
"When we separated in the tunnels, I followed this path before coming back for you. This is where a lot of reapers were, but it was also a dead end."
"Maybe it's a dead end because that's where the door is?" Clarke asked, more than said.
"It could be, but we still have to deal with those reapers first. We cannot move through the tunnels unless we clear them out first."
"Is there anything special about them?" Clarke asked.
"Who? The Reapers?"
"Yes, is there anything you can think of that could hurt them, or stop them?"
"Nothing except killing them," Anya replied. Clarke was thinking of the time the maunon found her in the tunnels before Anya freed her.
"Remember in the tunnels when the maunon caught up with me?" Anya nodded.
"Well, they used some kind of sonic sound emitter and when they did, the reapers covered their ears and moved back from it. Could they be susceptible to high pitched sounds?"
"We've never known them to be scared of noise, "Anya said.
"What about high pitched sounds like… I don't know.. a panther's scream?" Clarke asked. Anya stopped and thought about it. She shook her head.
"I've never heard of it happening, but most of the time we just kill them and don't think about any sounds that could stop them." Clarke nodded.
"Maybe Raven can come up with something," Tanwen said.
"Good idea. She's with Luzzo, looking through some of the old world things we found."
"Old world things?"
"Tek. We don't know what it is or does, but we do have some."
"Then dragging Raven away from there would be useless," Tanwen grunted. "We'll check for any more ways inside, but we need to wait for the Commander to come back tonight."
ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo
I was in hospital for most of Saturday with chest pains, but good news, heart is good, EKG and blood tests normal. May need to have follow up investigations, but for now, I'm good. Enjoy this chapter, it's one of my favourites. Samdagger.