Maria
moved a little in his arms, and that reminded him to hurry. A couple of long steps closed the distance, and it seemed even more impossible he hadn’t spotted the door as soon as he climbed down the hole. It was
huge
. Maybe it hadn’t been there earlier. Maybe it just appeared, but Maria had seen it, hadn’t she? Or, had she just known where it would show up?
Despite the
circumstances, he was tempted to go around it, just to see if there was anything on the other side. Maybe he’d only see more red-hot lava, or maybe it would look exactly the same?
He refrained from the experiment
. The way this day was going, the door would disappear to never be found again. He didn’t have a hand free either, didn’t see a way to open the darned thing.
He kicked it.
Stephan
doubted the heavy door would budge.
He half expected to be kicking a mirage, and was more than surprised when his foot hit a solid surface. The door swung open, revealing a clinically clean room with metal walls.
An artificial sounding voice said, “Come in, what are you waiting for? You’re letting the dreadful heat in.”
He stepped over the threshold, and a creature ran around him, prodding and poking, examining him from all sides.
I’m probably unconscious in the blazing hot hell outside, hallucinating. There wasn’t a door, I only wanted to see it, and now we’re both dying.
He was still trying to make heads or tails of what he saw when the little being spoke, confusing him even more.
“Aaah, two heads but only one pair of legs, just like prophesied. But you’re early. I was scheduled to get to sleep at least another couple of hundred years or so. Sit down.”
A plush armchair appeared behind
Stephan, and he obeyed, still holding Maria in his arms. He was too surprised to object.
H
is host appeared to be a combination of a robot and some form of furry toy, and it ran around in an extremely energetic fashion. Its bizarre appearance convinced him it was real. No matter how drunk he might get, he’d never be able to make it up.
The unlikely being chattered on.
“
Can I get you some refreshments? Oh, where are my manners, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
It paused and read from a note in its paw.
“Stephan Forks, that’s you, right? I’m the Watchman. You can call me W.”
Stephan
shook his head, struggling to get his thoughts together.
“
Stop running around. You’ve got to help her. Can you help her?”
The Watchman
paused his erratic scampering and twitched its little nose.
“
Oh, she’ll be fine. She
is
fine. Cratus loves her, he wouldn’t really hurt her. But, you see, she won’t wake up just yet. We know everything about
her
already, and this is a test of
you
.”
Enough already. I don’t care about watchmen or cousins that are surely as crazy as Frank, or anything else, for that matter.
He got up from the chair and put Maria down in it, making sure she was comfortable. Then, he grabbed the Watchman by the long furry ears. He moved faster than anyone would expect from a man his size, and definitely quicker than W could anticipate.
Holding the peculiar creature up in the air, he rumbled,
“No, that’s not gonna fly. You’re going to wake her up and make sure she’s okay right now.”
W surprised him by looking at the note again and checking something off, completely untroubled
by being held high in the air by his ears.
“
It says here you have strong will and character, and you do seem to love her, right.”
He glanced over
to meet Stephan’s eyes as if double-checking the assumption was correct.
Stephan glared.
W snickered, “Let me down, you need to bring her where we’re going. She’ll be fine, I promise.”
A promise from this being could mean everything or nothing
.
He
put W down fairly gently and lifted Maria back up in his arms, but when his host scurried away towards an inner door he didn’t follow. He just sat back down, making sure she rested comfortably with her head against his chest, and caressed her hair away from her sooty cheeks.
W stopped a split second too late and almost went head first into the door.
Probably wouldn’t even hurt him. I think he’s got cotton wool up there.
“
You’re supposed to come with me. Why aren’t you coming?”
W
seemed taken aback, not knowing how to handle the situation, and Stephan shrugged.
“
I don’t care what’s behind your door, and I don’t care about this little game of yours. You asked if I love her, well, all I care about is right here. You run along and do whatever you have to. I’m not hauling her into any more dangers. We’re staying.”
He could have sworn he heard another voice laugh softly
; maybe her cousin watched them. He forgot all about it as his girl’s long eyelashes fluttered and she woke from the forced slumber.
She looked at him, her green gaze unfocused at first
.
“Hi, sweetheart. Welcome back.”
Recognition came to her eyes and she mumbled, “Lover…”
He brushed his fingers against her cheek, oblivious of their peculiar surroundings.
“Where are we? And where are my shoes? We went into the hole, didn’t we?”
“
Yes, we went into the hole, and you showed me to the door. Are you okay?”
Maybe he was still being tested.
Maybe he acted exactly according to Cratus’s plan.
It didn’t matter
, he didn’t care.
W chattered,
“Alright, she’s awake, she’s fine, now are you coming?”
“
No. You seem to have waited for a long time, and you said we were early. You can wait a little longer. Get us some water.”
Maria
recuperated quickly, and he was soon convinced everything was as well as it could be. When they were ready to leave the room, W took her hand and led the way.
Some things are completely predictable.
Animals, computers, and robots all seemed to adore her, and this little creature wasn’t an exception.
It was a short walk through a cool corridor with bluish metal walls and a thick rug on the floor
. Going through the door from the lava landscape seemed to have teleported them to a completely different world, or maybe to another dimension where nothing even resembled Beta IV. It could be possible. The lake might even be gone if he went back to look for it.
As intriguing as the idea was, he wouldn’t act on it. He wasn’t keen on going back there himself, and he certainly
wouldn’t bring
her
back; that would only happen over his dead body.
When they reached the other end of the corridor, their guide let go of
Maria’s hand.
“
This is it. I can’t go with you in there, and when you take it, you must do it the same way as you entered.”
What?
Maria’s blank face gave no help; she seemed to understand even less than he did. Then he got it.
“
Aah, come here, babe.”
He scooped her up in his arms, quite content with having her so close
.
“
When we entered, he said we had two heads but just one pair of legs. I’m guessing you’re supposed to take whatever it is while I hold you.”
Their guide nodded several times, pleased with
the deduction.
“
I don’t know, babe, should we really bother with this? Maybe we should just go home.”
She met his eyes.
“Yes. I think it sounds like a good idea. I’d like that.”
W seemed
close to panic. His little mechanical snout twitched, and he whimpered.
“
No, no, you have to continue, you can’t quit now.”
Dammit, now I’m feeling sorry for the little thing.
“
Calm down, W, we were just joking.”
Their host still looked worried.
Why was all this so important?
Had it been just a coincidence that they were in exactly the right part of space to pick Olga
’s transmission up, or had some other powers been in play there too?
Maybe someone controlled their every step since they met.
Stop thinking about it. You’ll drive yourself crazy.
*****
Maria’s eyes widened when Stephan stepped over the threshold.
Oh wow, that’s cool. I want one.
They stood next to a narrow, contained waterfall that seemed to fall forever. The water smelled vaguely of almonds, and each drop shone with a soft blue light. It was utterly beautiful, even to her who had seen so much during her long life. Behind the curtain of water, a large wooden box stood propped up on a shelf.
“
That must be it.”
Stephan
walked up to the water and she reached out to take the box. The drops that fell on her skin were soft as flower petals.
As soon as she pulled
the little crate out and held it in her arms, their surroundings changed.
T
hey were at home, on the ship, in their own bedroom.
“What? Did you do that?”
She shook her head.
“
No. I think Cratus did.”
“
This is a little too peculiar, even for us. Are you okay?”
“
I’m fine. Never been better. You can put me down now, if you want to. I mean, no hurry…”
He made a little face,
set her down on the bed, and said with forced cheeriness, “Well, that wasn’t too difficult.”
I don’t remember anything between you almost falling into the hole and waking up in W’s office, but I’m sure it wasn’t easy.
“You are a poor liar.”
Getting to the box wouldn’t have been possible if at least one of them weren’t chosen, probably both. Neither of them could have gone all the way on their own.
If that was true, had
Cratus known about them since before she was born?
No, seeing
this far into the future, predicting that Stephan would ram her and she would fall in love was preposterous.
Unless it was supposed to happen, or
Cratus
made
it happen.
Stop thinking about this before you entangle yourself too much and draw any more outrageous conclusions.
Stephan sat down next to her, wrapped one arm around her waist, and touched the box with his other hand. The moment they were both in contact with it, the wooden lid opened up, showing an intricate mechanism of numbered moving gears and counterweights. It made a low ticking noise.
Yay, we have a
thingymabob. Just what I always wanted.
“
It’s a map. A star map. I’ve never seen one quite like it.”
He poked a gear carefully, then ano
ther, and when he was satisfied, the ones that had stopped temporarily moved again, finding new positions.
“
This is where we are, these must be coordinates to a star system, and I’m guessing these are latitude and longitude on a planet.”
She met his eyes.
They wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation of going there, just to see what it was.
It s
till only took a couple of minutes before the map ended up under the bed, next to her panties.
Olga paced the castle library.
Being left behind like this was humiliating, and the more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
I
f anyone should be out there trying to defend the colony it should be
her
, but the strangers told her to stay where she were, doing nothing like a child.
Despite her anger, she
still spun around when she heard the door open, and ran up to them, eager for news.
“
What happened? Did you find anything?”
Stephan and Maria glanced at each other, and she narrowed her eyes.
Are you keeping secrets from me? Don’t keep secrets on my planet.
He said,
“Yes. We found a cave with an underground lake and an island.”
She started pacing
again, feeling like a caged animal.
“
I knew it.”
Stephan murmured,
“Maybe we should come back later,” and she whirled around to face him.
“
The curse, is it still there? What happened? You must tell me all about this.”
His eyes wandered towards her breasts and she smiled in spite of all. She had picked the soft red shirt carefully. Nothing wrong with looking good at the end of the world...
Maria nudged Stephan and said, “The curse, well, it was really a virus, it’s gone. I do think all the infected ones are gone as well. Your people are safe.”
And? What aren’t you telling me?
“You’re hiding things from me. Don’t do that. This is my planet and not yours.”
She knew she was challenging the other woman
, but she couldn’t help it.
Maria opened her mouth, and Olga steeled herself for getting into a verbal skirmish, but Stephan interrupted them both.
“You know what we should do? I bet they had some form of hideout somewhere. There might be survivors.”
Olga shook her head.
“You think we should go there? That could be very dangerous if they’re still around.”
Maria s
hrugged and sided with Stephan.
“
I think it is a good idea. It’s a good opportunity to learn about them, and they’re all gone, so it’s quite safe. You can stay behind if you don’t want to go.”
“
Are you implying I’m a coward? I’m just saying it’s not a good plan. You don’t even know where to start looking.”
Maria
stared back and Stephan rolled his eyes.
“
Stop this, both of you.”
Olga averted her eyes and blushed, cha
stised by his tone of voice. He surprised her by smiling.
“
I have a pretty good idea of where we should go. I saw an old ruin up in the forest to the north when we landed. It’s not far, and it’s where I would have gone.”
“
What ruin? There aren’t any ruins here. We’re the first people on this planet.”
Maria
rolled her eyes.
“
There were civilizations here before you, and there will be other civilizations here after you. The rover will get us most of the way.”
*****
Stephan knew the little vehicle should still be parked outside the cave, but he wasn’t surprised to find it outside the castle gate. Since meeting Maria, things like this happened all the time.
He got in behind the wheel and pressed a few keys to
make a map visible on the console. Olga was nowhere in sight.
“
Do you think she’ll come?”
Maria shrugged
.
Good thing we’ll be leaving soon, before they get into a real fight.
He started the engine and Olga came running. She jumped into the back and muttered, “This is an idiotic waste of time.”
Steering away from the settlemen
t over lush green fields, it reminded him of the trip they set out on the very same morning. It was hard to believe all the things they’d been through really happened, and in such a short time.
I wonder what happened to W.
He glanced over at Maria, but she looked the other way.
It wasn
’t a long drive to the edge of the forest, and they travelled mostly in silence. As they reached the first trees, he manoeuvred the rover in between them, finding a path over rocks and the occasional tree trunk. Eventually, the trail became too narrow even for him, and he parked next to a tall tree filled with large purple flowers.
Maybe Olga was right all along and this was folly. I should have taken Maria to the ship and left, or maybe we shouldn’t have returned to the castle at all.
He wasn’t much for premonitions and shrugged the thought off.
“
Ladies, I think we’ll be walking from here.”
Olga jumped down from the car with the grace of a cat
, and Maria exited her side no less elegantly.
Both stepped down the path, but he didn’t follow.
He crossed his arms, resisted the temptation to flex his muscles, and looked sternly at the two of them.
“
Do me a favour, girls, and try not to fight. It gives me a headache.”
He winked at
Maria, who smiled and answered in a merry voice, “Yes
Daddy.
”
Olga didn
’t take it quite as well.
S
he grumbled, “I’ll fight as much as I want to,” but still stayed mostly silent as they trekked through the woods.
*****
Olga walked behind the others, stumbling over stones and roots.
The day was much too hot, and how the hell did Maria manage to walk in that silly little dress? Those ridiculous high-heeled shoes shouldn’t work in the forest.
It’s not fair.
She didn
’t have too much time to fret before they reached the ruins. An old stone wall seemed to rise up from nowhere and she more sensed than saw it at first. The ancient walls were covered with moss and vines, and once her eyes got used to the sight, the fortress was larger than her city.
Stephan
’s voice woke her from her reverie.
“
We’re certainly in the right place.”
Lowering her eyes from the wall, she followed
his gaze to the ground and slapped both of her hands in front of her mouth to prevent a surprised yelp from escaping.
“
Oh my goodness…”
There were bodies strewn all over the ground, and she recognized many of the turned.
I guess they were right, but I wish they’d been wrong. I do not want to see this.
When she finally
ripped her eyes away from the devastation, she saw Maria step over a corpse, holding her skirt up as if reluctant to let the hem become dirty.
That’s too bizarre. Those two look
as if shit like this happens to them all the time. What kind of life is that?
She didn
’t move until she saw her friends disappear into the ruin, leaving her alone with the dead.
That
thought made her hurry, and she ran to catch up with them.
She walked under a giant archway, glancing up.
I hope that thing isn’t about to collapse...
One of the turned lay on the ground with his arms stretched towards the path, and she jogged a few steps to close the gap to Stephan.
Up ahead, Maria veered off to the side, and Olga glanced after her.
“Where are you going?”
She only looked away from the ground for a second, but it was enough.
S
he stepped into nothingness.
T
here was absolutely nothing to carry her weight, and she fell forward with a yelp.
T
he fall lasted forever, and then, at the very last second, an invisible hand caught her.
She hoped it was Maria holding her, and not some ancient contraption that might give way and drop her.
Olga lay flat on her stomach in the air, just a foot over a grid of ancient, rusty, and menacing spikes. Even after all this time, they still looked sharp.
Shit, shit, shit. I fell into a trap.
It took a couple of long seconds before she dared even to blink, and she gasped for air.
Once she managed to pull her attention away from the certain death
beneath her and turn her head to the side, she cried out again. Right next to her was the rotting body of one of the first people who turned. His eye hung out of the socket, and a portion of the nose was gone.
She heard Stephan’s voice.
“You got her, right?”
Maria answered, “Of course I got her.”
“Just checking, you know. If you got her, why don’t you bring her up?”
Listen to him
, bring me up. Please, bring me up.
Maria’s voice said, “I think maybe we should go down.”
“Why?”
“There’s stuff down there. Don’t you trust me?”
“Of course I do.”
Oh my God stop arguing. I’m sure you both think it’s really cute, but I’m dying here.
Her voice came out a whimper.
“
Well, whatever you do, make sure to do it soon.”
She turned her head enough to see the sky with one eye. Maria took a step over the edge and stood in mid-air, but she couldn’t see Stephan.
Maria reached out a hand and teased, “You really don’t trust me.”
He too stepped off the edge, keeping his arms crossed over his chest.
They both sank down until their feet were at Olga’s level. Strange how Maria’s shoes looked brand new.
Maria’s voice asked,
“What are you still doing down there?”
“Can’t you see she’s terrified?”
“Well, I’m holding her, I don’t know what to do.”
Stephan
crouched down and took her hand.
“
It’s alright. You’re okay. Come on, you need to get up.”
His warm hand and confident grip
encouraged her and she got to her feet, keeping her eyes fixed on the spikes below.
Standing on nothing was even more uncomfortable than lying on it, and her legs wanted to fold.
“Oh no, don’t fall.”
Stephan grabbed her around the waist and she clung to him.
*****
Stephan sought Maria’s eyes, but she stared at the wall, pretending she didn’t care about the other woman hanging on to him.
I’m so tired of you two fighting over me.
He definitely didn’t want to give them any more reasons, so he freed himself from Olga’s grip.
“Olga, you’re okay. You can let me go.”
Taking a good look around
, the place looked just as horrific down here as it appeared from above.
“We’re all here. What was it you wanted to see?”
Maria
frowned and bit her lip as she looked around.
“It has to be here somewhere...”
She walked through empty air with a determined look on her face, and Olga groaned.
“
She’s making me seasick.”
“
Just pretend you’re walking on glass, and it’s not all that bad.”
She gripped his arm again, and he couldn
’t help a little smile.
I’ll never wish for Maria to depend on me again, but it is nice to have a beautiful woman turn to me for support.
“What is she doing?”
“I don’t know, she’ll tell us soon enough.”
Maria pulled her hands over the wall, clearly searching for something, but every rock looked the same to him. He was used to her doing peculiar things and wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.
They watched her roam along the wall, looking like she counted on her fingers.
“There you are...”
She pushed on a stone.
It was old and hadn’t moved for millennia, and it didn’t move now either. She glanced over her shoulder.
“
Lover, would you give me a hand and push on this one?”
Most people regarded Stephan as muscle, missing the fact that he was intelligent as well as burly. It bothered him; his muscles came more from good genes than hard work, but he didn’t mind doing the heavy lifting when it was
her
asking.
He walked up to her, smiled
, and kissed her quickly before pushing the stone. He didn’t have much hope of accomplishing anything, but he hardly even had to try.
S
ubjected to his strong hands it moved, as if it had been used yesterday, and a portion of the rock wall in front of them slid to the side.