Subterranean (21 page)

“Radovan,” she pleaded, “stop!”

He suddenly dropped his hands to his sides and fell silent. Appearing from all directions of the intersection were groups of Ravager soldiers, each led by an officer in spiked armor; they approached him comfortably and stopped five meters away, surrounding him with at least twenty weapons.

“Welcome.” He said, moving only his mouth. “I appear to have been separated from my officer. I require assistance.” One of the Ravager officers stepped forward and reached a hand out to him. Perplexed, Radovan stared at the outstretched offering without any sign of acceptance. “I am being hunted by a human and a Subterranean. I believe they will attack us at any moment using
high explosive ordnance
.” He said the last words drawlingly as he slowly swiveled his head to the dark alley where Lisa and Rasina were hiding, and then returned his view to the officer in front of him, its hand still outstretched. “Perhaps I should if I explain further.”

Lisa’s stomach lurched at the thought of being betrayed by Radovan, but her faith in him was quickly restored when he continued speaking to the Ravagers, overelaborating unnecessary information about meaningless things, like how human and Subterranean anatomy are incompatible. She smirked at the situation; he drew the Ravagers out and led them into a trap.

A trap she would spring.

“Give me the container.” She rushed over to Rasina and rummaged through the small pile of supplies they had brought with them. “Come on, where is it?” Her fingers poked recklessly through the collection of various devices; she sought a special explosive device that Radovan had given her… something she knew had the destructive capabilities to eliminate all of the Ravagers in the city square. “Here it is!” She finally procured a chrome sphere from the container and held it victoriously in her hands.

Before she could whirl around to throw the bomb out into the square, weapons fire fractured Radovan’s peaceful monologue, turning the area into a firefight. A pang of guilt stabbed her as she cried out in denial and scurried over to the scene, believing her friend had been shot by the dozens of Ravagers that surrounded him.

“No!” She witnessed, however, something entirely different. One-by-one in quick succession the Ravager soldiers were eradicated by an energy weapon firing precise shots from the window of a nearby building.

“Throw the explosives!” Radovan charged towards her. “Now!”

With the press of a button and a swing of her arm, Lisa threw the beeping sphere into the center of the square and covered her ears.
BOOM!
The explosion cleared away the entire remaining Ravagers and ignited the relative darkness of the city square with a brilliant flash of light. When the smoke cleared, Overseer Vale sat atop a pile of rubble with her legs crossed and a finger twirling the rifle in one hand.

“That was exciting!” She held an evil grin in her mouth. “How many more times do we need to do that until the entire city is free again, Radovan?”

“It would be ineffectual to utilize the same tactic repeatedly, Overseer.” He looked at Lisa and Rasina with an approving gaze, and then placed himself in the center of the city square.

“Well,” she slid down and landed hard on her feet, “perhaps you know of a more... effectual way, then? Flynn tells me you have all the answers.” Her grin faded when she saw Lisa and Rasina appear from the alley, supplies in hand.

“That is correct.” He stood erect. “Where is he?”

“I see you brought Rolan’s wife, as well.” Her eyes shifted quickly between all of them. “Great…” She said with an annoyed sigh. “It is like dinner all over again!”

“Vale!” Lisa rushed to her and embraced her with a hug. “You’re alive!”

Vale panicked and pushed Lisa off, stepping back with a look of bewilderment. “What are you doing?”

“Hugging you… I’m happy to see you.”

“Oh…” She muttered, pretending to examine the area to avoid eye contact. “Shall we... leave this place?”

“Yes, where is Flynn?” Radovan asked again.

“That way.” She pointed in the direction of the storage hangars. “He is attempting to learn how the spaceships function.”

“Ah, yes,” Radovan rubbed his hands together in excitement, “I was anticipating the opportunity to study one of the spaceships.”

“Yes…” she said slowly, “…and then perhaps we can use them to drive the Ravagers from our home.”

A tense moment of silence followed, with Rasina shyly interrupting. “Is Rolan well?”

Vale hesitated, contemplating how to describe his current predicament. “He is unharmed.” She said assuredly, relieved when Rasina smiled in response.

“Thank you.” She said gratefully.

“You are welcome.” Overseer Vale motioned them to follow her down the street. “We must return to the hangar now. There are more Ravagers in the city and the path is dangerous.”

“Yes,” Radovan made sure he was last in tow to cover the rear, “we should move quickly.”

The group ran briskly through the city, climbing over obstacles and circumnavigating blockades to avoid Ravager detection. While passing through one of the ruined buildings, Lisa swore she heard something moving along the walls, but every time she looked, the dark corners were still and quiet.

“I think something is following us.” She said, her eyes distracted by the inscrutable crawling.

“Perhaps,” Vale said, investigating the last stretch of walkway leading to their destination, “but we are almost there. Stay focused.”

Radovan walked up to Vale, who remained still in her reconnaissance. “Why have we stopped?”

“See that bridge?” She pointed at the long natural bond of rock connecting the city to the outskirts. “We must cross it.”

“Very well,” he moved forward, “let us do so, then.”

“Wait!” Vale jerked him back. “It is too dangerous.”

“Have you detected Ravagers?” He began to fumble around for a gadget in his vest.

“I am not certain,” she stared out into the quiet, empty street, “but I know something is waiting for us.”

“Then it would be best if I ventured forth.” He began to take a step forward.

“What are you doing?” She latched onto his shoulder and heaved him back again. “You are vital to the salvation of this planet.”

“I will not save anyone hiding under a rock.” He shook his arm loose and proceeded forward.

“Radovan!” Lisa hurried after him. “Wait!”

He stopped and sighed. “What is it?”

She waved her hand at Rasina and Overseer Vale. “Let’s all go together. The entrance is right there.”

He shook his head. “The Ravagers are too precise. If we move as a group, we will all be struck down.”

“I’d rather be struck down together than separately.” She kept his eyes on him.

“No, if we all perish, then the fate of this world is sealed.”

“I won’t let you go out there alone.”

“I will be fine.”

“You said yourself that trick wouldn’t work every time.”

“This will most likely be the final time I use it. Regardless, I will not put you at risk unnecessarily.”

“Vale?” Rasina’s voice slipped underneath the arguing of Lisa and Radovan. “Do you hear that?”

“What?” She walked away from the bickering duo. “Hear what?”

“That noise.” Rasina jumped at every noise creeping in the darkness, her eyes stained with paranoia. “Lisa was correct, we are being followed.”

Vale sighed and scanned the room. “Ignore it.” In the pit of her stomach, however, she did feel the encroaching threat, wrapping itself around the building and preparing to enforce its will on the inhabitants. She shot her gaze over at Radovan. “Silence, you two! We must move, now.”

“How?” Lisa followed Vale with her eyes as she approached the opening.

“I do not care!” She clicked her gun into the lethal setting. “Move!”

On the command, all four of them charged out into the open street with reckless abandon, making a mad dash towards the bridge that seemed so close, yet so far. Midway through their trailblazing, a giant mass crashed down in front of them, hindering their path with an impenetrable barrier twenty-five meters tall.

“What is that?!” Lisa screamed in horror as the green organic mass twitched and wriggled with life, ensnaring its way around them.

“The tentacle beast!” Overseer Vale herded the four of them together and started firing blasts of energy at the tentacle. “Shoot it!” Radovan and Lisa obeyed, but their weapons were having little effect on the thick skin of the great beast. “We need to go around! Follow me!”

They tried to escape the tentacle closing around them, but the organic force was too fast, plowing through walls and rock with ease as it blocked off every exit. “We’re trapped!” Lisa kept close to Radovan. “What do we do?!”

Radovan stood tensed, trembling with anticipation of fate for a few moments until the tentacle ceased moving. Planning two steps ahead, as always, he took a deep breath, relaxed his muscles, and lowered his weapon. “Nothing.” He said coldly.

“Nothing?!” Lisa grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. “What do you mean, nothing?!”

“The beast obviously wants us for something, or else it would have crushed us.” He remarked on the motionless tentacle curled around them like a fort.

“It probably wants to eat us!” She screamed.

“Most likely, but creatures are commonly at their weakest when they feed.”

Vale looked at him with a furrowed eyebrow. “What is your plan, Radovan?”

“Destroy this tentacle beast.” He reached around for a gizmo in one of the compartments on his belt. “I suggest you join me.” He handed her a spherical chrome ball.

“More explosives?” Lisa grabbed one of them from his hands and eyed it curiously.

“No.” He held his hands in the air for the others to see. “Activate the device by this button. Once you have done that—“

Suddenly, a conglomeration of smaller tendrils burst from the skin of the green mass. The tendrils clambered over each other as they spilled out and onto the ground, where they began to crawl towards the group. A thick, dripping green fluid coated them like a paste and made them incredibly adhesive, as everything they passed, rock and flesh alike, stuck to them like glue.

“Activate your devices.” Radovan pressed a button and waited for the others to do the same. The four spheres whirred to life and began emitting a blue glow, casting pleasant rays of light in every direction. “Hold tightly to them.” The devices vibrated quickly and tickled their palms while in their grasps. “Ready yourselves to throw them.” The tendrils squirmed their way closer and began to split apart, slimy strings connecting the separating ropes of organic matter. “Now!”

The four of them threw their spheres at the tendrils and braced for impact. On contact, the devices sparked with energy and sent powerful waves of electricity up through the tendrils and into the giant tentacle surrounding them. It seized in pain and withdrew the smaller tendrils, bringing the devices to rest within the organs of the prehensile appendage.

“Look out!” Vale dove into the three of them, dropping them to the ground just in time to evade the thrashing tentacle as it passed above their heads. “Let’s move!”

Radovan, Lisa, Vale, and Rasina all sprinted towards the bridge and crossed over it with hurried footsteps, each of them panting and gasping for air once on the other side. From afar, they watched the mythical creature writhe in agony, leveling everything in its way. Finally, at the end of its fit of suffering, the slithering tentacle fell to the ground with a thunderous crash and life spilled from its sinewy body. Feeling reinvigorated by the victory, they all managed a smile, and a comforting wave of safety rushed upon them.

“There.” Radovan sighed. “The tentacle beast is dead.”

“Not quite.” Vale said, her eyes pointing to the center of the city, where two more colossal tentacles of similar appearance jutted up and swayed about in agitation. “There are more.”

“Hmm,” he groaned in thought, “that was unexpected…”

“Whatever!” Lisa cried. “Let’s just go!”

“Yes,” Vale waved to them and turned towards the storage hangars, “this way.”

Chapter 19

More Than an Ally

“Damn it!” Flynn laid a hard fist into the cockpit controls of the spaceship he sat in.

Everything was marked by Subterranean symbols that he didn’t understand, but the layout was similar to most ships he had flown before. He was confident he could fly it, if he only knew how to turn it on. The vast grid of buttons and switches prodded at his frustrations, inciting his anger tenfold as he further debased himself for his incompetence.

I can’t even find a damn power switch!

“Ah! Damn it all!” At his limit, he leapt out of the cockpit, delivering a hard blow to the hull of the spaceship once he hit the ground. “Ouch! Damn it!” He shook the pain from his hand, cursing under his breath for his stupidity.

“Are you having trouble, old friend?” Rolan’s magnanimous tone sliced through the air.

Flynn turned to him, startled by his unexpected awakening, but quickly calmed himself upon seeing Rolan immobilized by his restraints. He ignored him, busying himself with unnecessary tasks as he decided what to say now that he was finally awake.

“What do you plan to do with me, human? Will you leave me restrained like this for the Ravagers to kill me?” He swept his eyes across the two sets of metal shackles arresting his wrists and ankles, each connected by a solid beam of red energy. “Whilst you fly away back to your world and witness the lies the Ravagers have told you?”

Flynn drew a sharp breath and rose to his feet. “I’m not helping the Ravagers.”

“So says the one who summoned them here.”

“I didn’t mean to bring the Ravagers here.” He stretched his tired shoulders. “Why would I want to? What could I possibly gain from doing that?”

“The salvation of your world…” He trailed off.

“Please,” Flynn retorted, “I’m not stupid enough to bargain with the Ravagers.”

“It is not a question of stupidity,” he tipped his head to the side, “it is a question of desperation.”

“True,” Flynn approached him and crossed his arms, “desperation makes a person do illogical things. Like accusing their friends of something they aren’t guilty of!”

Rolan seized in anger against the shackles, trying to throw his hatred at Flynn. “You attempted to kill me on the surface!”

“But I didn’t!” Flynn let the words sink in. “I wanted to, yes, I really did. And if you had been anyone else, I would have.” He paused, surprised Rolan didn’t reply. “But you’re my friend.” His heartfelt words nearly brought tears to his own eyes. “You saved my life on the surface the first time.” He pressed his hands against his chest. “If not for you, I wouldn’t even be here.
I wouldn’t have the chance to save my planet.
And now, you’re trying to stop me from correcting my mistakes! But I haven’t given up on reminding you that I’m your friend, too. The fact that you’re sitting here right now, alive and well, proves that.” He let his speech simmer, anticipating Rolan’s next words.

“If you are truly the friend you claim to be,” he said on his last inch of defensive ground, “then why am I in restraints?”

Flynn sighed deeply and lowered his head. From within his pocket, he pulled out a small microchip in one hand and the energy pistol from his holster in the other hand. Staring at the microchip with a feeling of fateful permanence, he cast both of the items at his friend, and then turned away from the clinking of metal rolling around on the floor.

“There,” he said over his shoulder as he went to climb back into the cockpit, “the means to escape
and
the means to kill me.” He hopped inside and said through the glass of the viewfinder, “I could use your help figuring out how to start these ships. Vale is expecting them ready to go once she returns.”

His mind was at peace, but his chest tensed, bracing for the impact of a lethal blast from behind at any moment. Taking his eyes away from his friend, he shifted them to the uncooperative controls and reconciled himself to whatever would happen in the next few moments.

“Flynn.” The call of his name from behind made him freeze and he wheeled around slowly to face the word. “Here.” Rolan tossed him the energy pistol. “I may be able to determine how to ignite the engines.”

Hiding a widening smile, Flynn swiveled back around to the controls and pointed at the first symbol he saw. “First we need to power the ship, and then we can ignite the engines. But it would certainly help if I knew what all of this writing means.”

Rolan joined him in the adjacent chair and glanced at the controls for a brief second. “There.” He pointed to one of the symbols emblazoned underneath a series of switches. It strongly resembled that of a planet’s sun. “This means power.”

Flynn dropped his head in embarrassment. “That was fast.”

“You said you were an archaeologist.” He turned his gaze towards him. “You also mentioned reading the ancient texts of other languages.”

“It’s a bit easier when I have a pile of books on the subject with me.”

“Books?” He said curiously.

“Yeah… like databases. It’s how information was stored before electronics. And it’s also where you can find records of epic stories…” he grinned, “…like the one we’re going to tell after this is all over.”

“There must be others alive for us to tell the story.” He responded grimly.

“Yeah,” Flynn looked at all the lights blinking on and beeping happily with power, “we’re working on that.”

“Here.” Rolan pointed to another symbol sitting atop a grid of buttons organized by size, from smallest to largest. “This is how we ignite the engines.”

“Let’s do it, then.” Flynn pressed each of the buttons excitedly, building up to the final one which he gave the most oomph. Contrary to expectations, the ship beeped in denial and a green screen in the center of the cockpit flickered on. After a few moments of calculations, it switched to an agitating red with symbols painted across as an error message. “What does it say?” They both leaned into it and wrinkled their eyebrows.

“It requires an access code to start.”

Flynn’s blood rushed in anxiety. “Do you know what it is?”

“Perhaps my clearance code will work.” He typed in the code with rehearsed grace. “It gives me access to almost everything in the city.” Upon completion, the machine promptly spat out the code and requested the correct one again. “Hmm,” Rolan dipped into thought, “the only other people with higher clearance than me are Vale and Tural.”

“I don’t think Tural’s going to be lending us his access codes any time soon.” Flynn said regrettably, remembering the walls caving in on the Subterranean leader. “Maybe Vale’s will work. She should be back soon with the others.”

“Others?” He arched an eyebrow.

Reunion

His heart was set afire when he saw Lisa enter the hangar with the others. Succumbing to the urge, he flew out of the cockpit and stood in plain sight for them to see.

“Hey!” He waved his arms and shouted, feeling Rolan slowly join him from behind. “Lisa!”

She broke free from the group and ran excitedly up to him, wrapping him in her arms. “Flynn!” She cried, in between impassioned kissing. “You’re okay! I was so worried about you!”

“I tried to bring this back to you, Lisa.” He gently pushed her off and procured the necklace from his pocket. “See?” The sparkling blue pendant cradled softly in his hands while she touched the bare spot on her chest.

Smiling with restrained tears, she placed her hand in his and tucked her head in his chest. “I love you, Flynn.”

He brought a hand up and stroked the back of her neck, sighing with serene relief. “I love you, too, Lisa.”

“Rasina?” Rolan met her gaze with a stunned expression. “You are safe!”

“Rolan!” She darted by and embraced him, sobbing joyfully to once again see her mate.

While the two pairs of lovers shared their moments, Vale crossed her arms at Radovan, who stood awestruck by the fleet of impeccable ships in the hangar. “Are you okay, Radovan?”

“Yes,” he led Vale closer to the ships to finish his sentence, “I am fine.” With a hand gliding across the sheen of the smooth hull, he became enveloped in his fascination. “I have read mention of constructs such as these in my research, but it is amazing to actually see one.” He orbited merrily around the ship, eager to learn all of the secrets contained within. “The knowledge of its construction could still be preserved, even after all this time.” He froze suddenly, catching sight of the computer control room through a broken window high above on the wall. “The terminals! There could be limitless information stored within the databanks of this hangar.” He dashed towards the elevator, still rambling on about the possibilities, leaving Vale alone next to the spaceship.

With a sigh, she turned around and tried to break up what she longed for the most. “Rolan, Flynn,” she said authoritatively, “what is our next course of action?”

“These are the ships?” Lisa asked, wonder sparkling in her eyes. “They’re amazing! With these we might actually stand a chance!”

“Yeah,” Flynn rubbed the back of his neck, “about that…”

“What?” She tugged at the wires of suspense. “They work, don’t they?”

“Well…” He locked his tongue securely behind his teeth.

“Flynn, speak, for Lunnak’s sake!” Vale commanded of him.

“We need an access code.” He said reluctantly and led the group over to one of the ships, eyeing it up and down. “The ship won’t turn on without it.”

“What about our access codes?” Vale crossed her arms and nodded at Rolan.

Flynn bit his lip. “We tried Rolan’s, but it didn’t have clearance. We think yours might work, though, Vale.”

“Very well.” Vale ascended the ladder to the cockpit. “Allow me a moment.” She disappeared in the cockpit and, for a brief second, Flynn snapped out of the protective trance Lisa had put him in.

“I’ll be right back, Lisa.” She almost didn’t let go immediately, but his assuring eyes and smile released her grasp.

His heart filled with hope and gripped by the unknown, he quickly catapulted himself into the cockpit with Vale and took a seat next to her in front of the screen. One-by-one she entered the symbols, each beep of the computer terminal twisting the tension in Flynn’s body exponentially. At the last button, she sent the code, and an uneasy moment of silence hardened in the air.

Denied.

The disheartening ring pierced Flynn in the heart while the hostile red screen flashed repeatedly in his eyes.

“Damn it!” A wallop of his fist on metal punctuated his anger. Retreating to the safety of his mind, he swiveled around in his chair and hunched over in thought.

“Flynn?” Vale resisted touching him. “What is wrong?”

“It didn’t work, that’s what’s wrong!” He sucked in a great gust of air and exhaled. “The only other access code that could’ve worked is Tural’s, but he’s dead!”

“Perhaps Radovan can bypass the security measures.” She peeked through the viewfinder and saw him working on one of the computers. “You said he is quite capable.”

“No, he’s never even seen this technology before! How is he supposed to figure it out? And even if he could it wouldn’t be before the Ravagers destroy what’s left of the city.” He shook the thin strand of optimism from his head. “We were so close…” He stepped out of the cockpit and descended each rung of the ladder with a barely maintained composure. “Maybe this was meant to happen.”

When his feet touched the ground, he noticed the pressing gaze of the others flattening his confidence; he knew they were waiting for him to reveal some grand plan to save the world, but he had nothing to say. He was rendered speechless by the energies of dependence channeling into him as he waited, waited for the usual miraculous gleam of an idea to burn away the darkness clouding his mind.

But nothing came.

There he stood: the leader of promise and salvation without a remedy for the final twist of fate. What could he say? What could he do? The odds have always been stacked against him, but this time there was no one to drag him out of his pit of despair; he sat in its dark reaches along with everyone who had ever jumped in after him.

“Flynn!”

The blinding light of Radovan’s voice descended from the elevator, his body appropriately shifting with festering excitement. The doors parted with a
swoosh
and he barreled out, rushing with a fountain of knowledge to pour.