| |
“SHREDS! WHAT’S THAT?”
The world shook. Every surface vibrated. The insides of Fluppit’s eyes still vibrated. Despite all that Fluppit felt she should be doing something and wasn’t.
“Vat in the hells now?” Ash-ka’s tone was poised between cross and stressed. “Ve need to go!”
“We can’t, your scout is still on the wrong side of your blasted bubble,” Sha-cha barked back.
That was what Fluppit, should have been doing. She should’ve been going back over to get the last bearer team and the dregs of the guards who’d stayed on the wrong side of the bubble, where she’d just had the strangest experience of her life. And her brief life had contained a lot of strange.
“Leafe them,” said Ash-ka. “We hafe Ssari. Sshe iss enouff yess?”
“No!” said Sha-cha. “Those are your guards over there.”
“They vill ff-ind their own vay,” said Ash-ka.
Sari was shaken awake by the quaking—her stretcher had been laid down while the dangerous task of ferrying folk across the gap was accomplished. “What is happening dear?”
Fluppit laid a hand on hers to calm her, “I have no idea, mother Sari.”
It seemed like the rattling of the surface of everything solid and the inside of everything organic was increasing. And now as if everything else wasn’t terrifying enough a rumbling, rolling, roaring, noise was emanating from the bubble.
“Are you going ov-fer?” said Ash-ka.
“I er-” Sha-cha sounded unsure for the first time.
“Thh-ere, it is decided! Ve go.” Ash-ka was not graceful in victory.
“But-” said Sha-cha.
“I’ll go,” said Fluppit.
“The inffant?” said Ash-ka.
“No, Fluppit—” Sha-cha started. But it was too late, Fluppit had got to her feet and they were taking her back across the floor of the bubble. “Nose to the ground. Follow your nose. Nose to the ground. Follow your nose.”
“Fluppit! No!” Sari and Sha-cha chorused, but Fluppit was already over halfway across. The rumbling crescendo coming to gods knew what kind of climax, then a fresh madness began. From all around Fluppit the same sensation that burned into her eyes from whatever the tiny pins were outside of the bubble, was now inside the bubble too. It was everywhere. But most importantly on the floor she was gazing at while chanting her mantra. She ran.
“Nosetotheground. Followyournose. Followyournose. Followyournose.” She lifted her head at the last moment to avoid running smack into the door. The metal surface was vibrant with the same radiation that was now filling the chamber. She shielded her eyes with one hand and knocked with the other. “Cover your eyes!” she yelled as they opened the hatchway. Then she was the other side of it with it closed, being hugged and cheered by the small group of guards who must have been counting the clicks till her return.
“You came back for us,” the scout on the stretcher said groggily.
“It seemed mean to leave you,” Fluppit said, “but we must hurry back. Ash-ka is not going to wait for any of us.”
“But what about, the—?” The leader of the little guard detachment had no words to describe what had come in through the door when he’d let Fluppit in, but everyone knew what he meant.
“Yeah,” said Fluppit. “That.” How was she going to explain it to them? What she’d just been through, been bathed in, when she didn’t understand it herself. How to explain to the hermit-like Fire-folk who never left the comfort of the glow of the fires of the chosen. Then she had it. That was the solution itself. “Okay. We’ve got to go back. We’ve got to go now.” The walls started resonating alarmingly to underline her point. “How we do it is the same: “Nose to the ground. Follow your nose.”
“But the—?” said the leader.
“Yeah,” said Fluppit. “There’s a new thing. It’s kinda like the warm that the great fires of the chosen give off. It’s a radiation like that. Except that you only feel it through your face.”
“I don’t understand,” said another guard.
“No,” said Fluppit, “and there’s no time to. We just need to go, now. “Nose to the ground. Follow your nose,” Quickly.”
“Okay,” said the leader. “Is it safe?”
“I’m here aren’t I?” said Fluppit. “If we go quick, we’ll be fine.” Fluppit hoped she was right. “Let’s get this door open.”
The guards wrangled with the wheel to open the door and as it opened a crack, Fluppit heard a hiss. But this time it was the guards, not the pressure in the room making the noise. The radiation, the whatever it was, was coming through even the smallest gaps. Like water. “It’s okay,” said Fluppit. “Nose to the ground”, remember?” The door opened wide enough to get them all through. “Go!”
“Nose to the ground.” She heard one of the guard’s mutter as they began to get underway. “But it’s there too! It’s everywhere!”
“Nose to the ground!” yelled Fluppit above the deafening noise now. “Keep going!”
Whatever the new thing was, it was getting stronger, the walls shook, there was ringing in her ears. They were going one step at a time. The floor seemed to lurch and the guard at the back stumbled. Fluppit rushed to help lift him and the stretcher up again. “Come on! Keep going!” With the guard on his feet, Fluppit went to head of their tiny column and urged, dragged, and pushed the front guard on. They were so close now, but the noise was so loud, and the radiance burned her eyes.
“Noooo!” cried the last guard.
“We’ve got you!” said Fluppit.
“And we’ve got you!” yelled Chick-chick. The front guard staggered into Sha-cha’s arms. She began to try to gather them in, but the rear guard had dropped his end of the stretcher.
“Shreds!” yelled Fluppit. She ran to the fallen end of the stretcher, reached out to check the scout was still mostly on it and shouted “I’ll be back!” Then hauled the stretcher over the threshold. She fended off attempts by Sha-cha to enfold her and get the hatch closed. “I’ve got to go back. One left.”
As quickly as it had begun, the radiation stopped, the noise and the rattling took a few clicks longer, but that stilled too. Fluppit stepped over the threshold and ran to the guard on the floor. He knelt with his face in his hands.
“Come on,” Fluppit said, quietly. “It’s all over, let’s go.” She led the sobbing guard through the door. Guards from this side closed it behind her, she slid down against the wall. Everyone cheered.
