Neverwylde (The Rim of the World Book 4) (14 page)

            After a few tense seconds, he waved for her to join him. Together they walked into the chamber.

            Kelen had no idea how long they stood on the small shelf, overlooking the cavern’s interior. It wasn’t as vast as some of the other caves, but its size wasn’t the reason why she and Kyber gawked in disbelief at its contents.

            At the piles and piles of what appeared to be alien equipment and technology, clothing, weapons, and food supply packets.

Chapter 21

Trove

            “By the four gods.” Kyber’s soft oath reflected what she was thinking. She continued to stare at the mounds of accumulated items, aware of Kyber moving away from her but not paying attention until he called to her. He’d found a set of steps leading down onto the floor of the cavern. She hurried to join him where he waited for her at the bottom.

            The cavern was faintly lit, but there was enough light for them to see. Kelen walked over to the nearest pile. Squatting, she poked through the items in the heap, most of which she couldn’t identify.

            “Kyber, can you tell what this stuff is?” She looked over to where he was rifling through another pile. Most of it was in box-like containers and packages. Strange lettering and symbols marked the individual packages, and without opening them, it was impossible to tell what was inside.

“It appears to be contraband from other ships.” He frowned. “From other species.”

“From ships that also crashed here?” she ventured. “Sweet heavens, Kyber! That means we’re not the first ones to crash on this planet! Other vessels were here before us. Other peoples from other worlds!”

He agreed. “Judging from the amount of contraband, there has been many.”

Kelen studied the symbols inscribed on several containers as she moved from pile to pile, some of which were as tall as she was, and two to three meters in circumference. “There doesn’t appear to be any sort of filing or labeling system. It’s like it was just dumped here, and when a pile got too big, they simply started a new one. Kyber, do you think there could be more than one room of this stuff?” She straightened and turned to where she’d last seen him, but he was not in sight. Fear clogged her chest, making her automatically reach for her weapon. “Kyber?”

To her relief, he reappeared on the other side of the pile. “It is very possible there could be at least two more rooms of this material.” He gave her a crooked grin, one which she now thought of as a one-toothed smile. She snorted at his reference to three.

“I don’t recognize any of this writing. Do you?”

            “Yes.” Picking up a rectangular parcel, he tilted it to where she could see the symbol. “It’s Krinollian.”

“Krinollian? From the Krionite system? Shit, that’s got to be at least eight hundred light years from here! Are you sure?”

“If I correctly recall my studies at the training academy. The military is adamant about having us learn all that is known about all life forms we have encountered, in the event we are ever in contact with them on future missions.”

“Well, the Space Academy back on Earth does, too, but not to the point where we need to learn the language.” She saw him about to respond, pause, reconsider, and close his mouth. She knew he was tempted to criticize. It was the same reaction she would have taken had the circumstances been switched. But since the Terrans and Seneecians had come to terms with each other and formed a strong bond of kinship since their crash landing on this alien world, the insults and innuendoes had been replaced with silent acceptance and respect. Although she’d half-expected to hear her mate make a derogatory crack about Earth’s military ineptitude, she wasn’t surprised when he chose not to, and Kelen laughed. “Wise move, my love. So, what does that particular package say it contains?”

He pointed to the larger symbol. “This is the emblem of the
Uchu Pa
, which I will venture to say is the name of the ship. The smaller lettering says this contains
guub.
I have no idea what that is.” He grabbed the end of the box and ripped away one corner. Nearly a dozen hand-sized, semi-transparent packets containing a greenish substance fell onto the ground at his feet.

Kelen bent to pick up one of the containers, when Kyber hunched over, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving it a squeeze. She glanced up to see him staring behind her. The ruff on the crest of his head rose with his alarm, and he silently snarled. She froze, waiting for him to make the next move.

She heard a noise, like the shuffling of feet. It sounded like it was coming from the other side of the cavern, not from the opening where she and Kyber had emerged. Pulling her blaster from her pocket, she moved away from him to give herself an unobstructed shot. They waited, their muscles tensed with expectation, when they heard a whisper.

“Holy shit! Will you look at all this stuff?”

Kelen started. “Jules?”

“Kelen? Hey, Kelen!”

The navigator came running around a tall pyramid of materials. Behind him were Fullgrath, Mellori, Sandow, and Dox, as well as Massapa, Gaveer, and Kleesod. The group merged with hugs and pats on the back.

“Are you two all right?” Sandow quickly scanned her and Kyber, checking for injuries.

            “We are fine,” Kyber assured the man. “We managed to flee Hoov’s people and find refuge for the night. We were following the tunnel when we came across this trove of artifacts.”

“Sounds pretty much like what happened to us. Which way did you come from?” Fullgrath questioned.

Kelen pointed in the direction of the other opening. “Back there. And you won’t believe what we discovered.”

“This looks like Devtoki.”

They turned to find Massapa holding up an oddly-shaped container. The Seneecian pointed to the emblems on the side.

Kyber lifted the partially empty box he was holding. “This is Krinollian.”

“Krinollian?” Mellori wrinkled his nose in puzzlement. “What in hell is this stuff doing here? What is this place? A trading post?”

“I believe Hoov and its people scavenge the ships that crash here, and this is one of the caverns where they store all the confiscated supplies and materials,” Kyber told them. He gestured to the piles surrounding them. “If we investigate further, there is no telling what goods from other worlds that we may find.”

Kelen gave Jules another quick hug. “I’m so glad we managed to reconnect. Did everyone make it out of that ambush okay?”

“We think so.”

“Where is Tojun?” Kyber interrupted.

            “We do not know,” Gaveer admitted. “Massapa and I fled down one of the tunnels during the assault and got separated from everyone else. He wasn’t with Jules and the rest when they found us.”

            “You were lucky you managed to reconnect,” Kelen remarked.

            “It wasn’t luck that got us back together,” Jules hurried to explain, tossing Dox a grin. “I tracked you here.”

“Tracked us how?” Kyber asked with a perplexed frown.

“Actually, I tracked Kelen because Dox couldn’t plant a device on you,” the ex-navigator explained, eyeing the Seneecian’s partial nudity. Other than the genital cup covering his parts, Kyber was unclothed, having lost his uniform back at the other temple. Although he’d been offered a clean Terran uniform, he’d chosen not to wear it, claiming that it would inhibit him from having full use of his arms and legs in the event he needed to defend himself.

Jules pointed to Kelen’s hip. “Check your pocket.”

            Shoving a hand into one, she encountered nothing, when she remembered Dox brushing up against her before the fight erupted. The device was in her other pocket. She withdrew the button-shaped object and recognized it. “This is one of the communications devices Dox was working on.”

Mellori nodded with a grin. “He wasn’t able to finish them in time, but he had the forethought to put one on each of us. When hell broke loose back there, he and I followed Jules into the corridors. When we finally had the chance to stop and take a breather, Dox explained how Jules could use his tablet to detect and track each of us. Since there was no place on Kyber where he could put one, we hoped the two of you would remain together.”

Kelen gave Dox’s arm a squeeze. “That was brilliant thinking, Dox.” The young man returned her praise with beatific smile, then detached himself to poke through the piles of dumped materials.

“So who else are we short? Where’s Cooter?” Kelen inquired.

“Haven’t seen him since the ambush,” Fullgrath acknowledged.

“Kyber.” Kleesod motioned at them from another pile several meters away. “You have to see this.”

“What?”

Kelen followed her husband, who quickly strode over to where a smaller load had been dumped. Kyber gasped, dropped to one knee, and began pawing through the debris. It took her a few seconds to recognize what they’d found.

“Is that Seneecian?”

“Not just Seneecian,” Kleesod informed them. “It is from the
Ist Umberu
.”

“
Your
ship? How is that possible?”

“Hoov’s people must have a way to detect ships that crash on this world. Then they go and scrounge for everything they can, and bring it back here,” Mellori guessed.

“We crashed near the other temple. I could see them using the transportation panel to get from there to here, but how did they get from here to there when the panel on this side is frozen?” Jules asked.

“Maybe they can reach it on foot,” Gaveer remarked. “Maybe these temples are closer together than we originally believed.”

“No.” Mellori shook his head. “There is no way that big a difference in temperature and climate can exist side-by-side. I’m willing to bet we’re on the opposite side of the planet.”

“Even if we are, what purpose would they have for taking this stuff? Or for storing it here, for that matter?” Kelen included.

Sandow scratched his chin. “Does there have to be a reason, Kel? I mean, why couldn’t they do it simply because they like to hoard stuff? Remember, there are creatures on our world, like magpies, who like to collect shiny objects and take them back to their nests simply as keepsakes. Maybe these things are doing it for a similar reason.”

“It is all here,” Kyber suddenly announced.

Kelen turned to him. “What?”

“Our gear. Our food and water we had originally brought with us when we arrived at the first temple. Our survival material that mysteriously disappeared.” He pulled out a packet, ripped it open, and drank thirstily of the contents, as did the other Seneecians. He handed the remainder to Kelen, who finished it off.

“I bet if we keep looking, we’ll find our sled and all the stuff we’d brought with us, too,” Fullgrath predicted.

            “Well, whatever we plan to do, it better be quick.” Jules’ tone of voice held a warning.

Kelen glanced up to see the navigator staring at his tablet. “Why?”

“He can track that Hoov thing,” Fullgrath said.

“How?”

The big guy pointed to his chest and made a circular motion. “That rock we got off Hoov to make the translation device? It puts out a kind of vibe.”

“A uniquely patterned wavelength,” Mellori corrected. “The tablet can pick up on those wavelengths. Although we can’t track the other creatures’ whereabouts, at least we can pinpoint Hoov’s location.”

“And chances are good that wherever that stick thing is, those that follow it aren’t far behind,” Fullgrath muttered. “How long do you think we got, Jules?”

“At the pace they’re moving, I’d estimate no more than an hour.” He pointed to the opening where Kelen and Kyber had emerged. “From that direction.”

“Then we had best grab what we can and leave immediately,” Kyber suggested. He paused for a second, then added, “Dox, you said you put a device on Tojun? Dox?”

A head popped up from behind a pile nearly halfway across the cavern. “Dox here!”

Sandow stepped forward. “We’ve been tracking all the devices, and that’s how we’ve been able to regroup with each other. Once we met up with Massapa and Gaveer, we took roll. That’s how we determined that Kelen and Tojun had to be the remaining two blips.”

“So there is one blip left to meet up with?” Kyber clarified.

Jules nodded and pointed to a side of the cavern none of them were familiar with. “That-a-way.”

Fullgrath grumped. “I’ll take door number three. Dox? Come on, or we’re leaving you behind. We gotta get our butts away from this place.”

Kelen glanced over to see the head had disappeared from the top of the pile. “Geez, and here we were hoping this cavern would have a panel in it.”

Jules gave her an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Kel. It seems only the colored caverns have the transportation panels.”

“Then point us to the nearest colored cavern,” Gaveer growled.

Kyber quickly countered him. “Not until we first find Tojun.”

“And hopefully we’ll meet up again with Cooter before then,” Sandow remarked.

They quickly filled their bundles with Seneecian equipment and foodstuffs. As usual, Dox showed up with another armload of strange-looking equipment, but no one dared tell him to leave some of it behind. The probability was too high that somewhere along the way, their lives might depend on some gizmo he created from it.

Hoisting her bundle over her shoulder, Kelen took one final look around the cavern before following Kyber and the rest of the group down the mouth of the third tunnel.

Chapter 22

Tojun

They hadn’t traveled far through the third tunnel when they came to a slight widening. At that time, Jules double-checked their position in relation to the remaining blip which signified Tojun’s location, and the blue dot which told them where Hoov was. For several minutes they tracked both pinpoints of light, until Fullgrath pointed out a fact that was becoming clearer.

“Appears to me both of those dots are heading for that bigger red one.”

Jules agreed. “They’re heading for the red cavern.”

“Whatever a red cavern means,” Mellori remarked.

“There were no red caverns, or purple ones at the other temple,” Kelen reminded them.