CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

“Shit! Shit! Shit! Mother fucking son of a bitch!”

As he clung to the precipice, Mike watched the ATV hurtling down into the bottomless abyss that awaited him if he lost his grip. His curses didn’t help him keep his hold on the ledge he was dangling from. His aura kept the granite dry, but it didn’t cause his muscles to strengthen. He felt the fingers of one hand begin to slacken.

Mike had spoken with Hok and Kench numerous times before he set out. The two climbers had found a somewhat easier way to get to the lake that involved less climbing and fewer ridges. It was almost two hundred miles longer than the way they’d climbed earlier. Even though it was longer, it took less time because he could use the ATV. The thing seemed to be able to go forever. Joe had reassured him that energy cell that supplied the power was geared to last thousands of miles. Such an energy pack on Earth would cause the fossil fuel companies to go bankrupt.

That morning he’d begun covering the terrain that traversed a number of old landslides. It was raining lightly and the vehicle itself provided some protection from the weather, but his blessed aura did the best work on that.

He knew he was only half a day from the deposit of zukoh. He’d kept in constant contact with Joe. They reported that with their radar they could track the fleet as it approached. Mike still had a few days. There were benefits to having a colony more than halfway beyond the end of civilization.

Hok and Kench had said they’d go out to meet him. He’d come to a steep patch of scree. The wheels of the ATV had dug into the remnants of the landslide. The drop-off to his right was precipitous. Halfway across he’d felt the land under him and his vehicle begin to slide.

Seconds later his machine and he were hurtling toward the cliff. Then the ATV flipped over. At the last instant, Mike jumped clear. He scrabbled for any hold. Over his left shoulder, he watched the ATV fall to oblivion.

Mike didn’t know how long his fingers would last. Minutes? Seconds? His cling-wrap suit microphone still worked. Before he could get out a call for help, two hands clasped his right hand and two his left.

He looked up. Help was here. Hok had his right hand. Kench his left.

They pulled him to safety. The three made their careful way across the rest of the landslide. Clear of it, they got to Hok and Kench’s ATV. Mike’s arms trembled from the muscle strain as they made their way to the cave with the zukoh.

Mike went down to the shore of their lake of liquid wealth. Mike got several drops into the tiny miniature eyedropper-sized vial. Snek had told him, “I think Bex was working with maybe a tenth of what this thing will contain, but I don’t think you’ll have ten times his power.”

“Oh.”

“No, actually more. I think it increases exponentially. Remember, all that I’m telling you is theoretical guesswork.”

“Exponentially like the Richter scale for measuring earthquakes on Earth.” Mike had explained that an earthquake which registers 5.0 on the Richter scale has a shaking amplitude ten times that of an earthquake that registered 4.0, and thus corresponds to a release of energy 31.6 times that released by the lesser earthquake.

Snek had nodded, “We’re not talking a numerical ratio but a power ratio expressed in numbers?”

“Well, that sounds right. What I mean is a very tiny bit of this can do a lot of damage.”

Snek had smiled. “Very true. You, a storm, some zukoh, your implant, them firing on you. What could possibly go wrong?”

Mike thought about getting the confluence of events to come about. First he had to get up high enough to a storm before the fleet showed up. He wondered why the damn home fleet couldn’t decide to attack during the rainy season on the plain. Once again the universe was not conforming to his wishes. A lot of that going around these days, Mike thought.

As Mike prepared to leave for the last stage of his journey, Hok said, “You’re not going to be able to go much farther up by ATV. To get to where the storms are now will be difficult.”

“Will I need climbing gear?”

“Yeah. We’ll go with you.”

“You can’t be near when this explodes. I don’t know how powerful it’s going to be.”

They went over the route.