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They stood at the entrance to a pitch-black tunnel. After escaping out a rear entrance to the food court, Maliek had convinced Fejan that finding the Oomael was their only choice. Though reluctant for reasons she wouldn’t discuss, she’d agreed to take them.
One meter into the tunnel, the darkness swallowed the walls and floor, as if everything ceased to exist, including light.
“Can we get something to carry us through?” Maliek asked, uneasy at the prospect of entering the tunnel. “Or better yet warp to the other side?”
Fejan shook her head. “Transport never makes it.”
“Never makes it?” Maliek glanced at Jana, hoping Fejan was messing with him. Neither gave him any sign she was joking.
“The tunnel’s programming prevents their use,” Fejan said. “On foot’s the only way to get there.”
“Flashlights coming up.” Jana extended his hand and three small gray ones appeared in his palm.
Maliek added Space City contacts with a thought and activated the night vision feature.
Fejan refused the flashlight Jana offered her. “Those won’t do us any good. Nor torches, night vision goggles, or anything else. Use them and you’ll immediately get lost.”
Maliek tried to scan the interior of the tunnel anyway, but the now green-shaded walls and floor abruptly ended at the wall of darkness, the same as without the night vision enhancement.
“Wandering through the pitch black is what’s going to get us lost,” Maliek protested. “Is there another way to the Oomael?”
“No.” In Fejan’s hand appeared a Kevlar rope. She handed one end to Jana. “We’ll tie ourselves together. I know the way.”
“You do?” Maliek asked as Jana slipped the Kevlar rope through a ring on his belt and handed over the end.
“Yes,” Fejan replied, tying herself to the front of the rope.
“Is the tunnel straight through?” Jana turned on a flashlight and pointed it into the tunnel. “Or are you leading us into a maze we might never escape from?”
No corresponding beam touched the darkness. It disappeared, as if into a black hole.
Fejan rolled her eyes. “You’re being dramatic. If you try to cheat, you might get lost inside a long time. But if you’ll trust me, I can get us through.”
Maliek didn’t like that he’d ended up last in line. In horror movies, the person at the rear was always the first one taken.
“Ready?” Fejan asked, tugging at the rope.
“Lead the way, Mielele.” Jana gestured to Fejan while getting rid of the flashlights.
Maliek tensed as Fejan entered the tunnel and disappeared. For a moment the Kevlar rope hung suspended in midair, and then Jana vanished, too.
Maliek instinctively shifted his upper body backward even as he stepped forward into the darkness. He inhaled, then held his breath. He raised his hand in front of his face, but couldn’t make out even the outline. Glancing back, he could no longer see outside the tunnel. His instincts screamed for him to retreat.
“Relax,” Fejan said somewhere ahead. “I can feel the way.”
“Feel it?” The rope tugged at Maliek’s waist, pulling him forward. He took a deep breath.
“Subtle, but it’s there,” Fejan answered. “Like a force drawing me forward.”
Maliek tried to sense what she meant.
“I don’t feel anything,” Jana said. “Is it something for Bazij only?”
“I’m not sure.”
Maliek felt nothing, and as much as he wanted to trust Fejan, walking without sight was terrifying. He reached out in front of him, half afraid he’d collide with something. When he touched nothing for a couple of steps, he reached sideways for the walls, needing support, but they seemed to have vanished as well. Only the floor beneath his feet and the rope at his waist offered physical contact.
Desperate for something to take his mind off his unease, Maliek asked, “Fejan, how did you end up here?” His voice echoed several times, as if they passed through a giant cavern. He flinched at the changes in acoustics.
Wait, if they were in a cavern, could they be walking near a pit and not know it?
“My father,” Fejan replied, though her voice didn’t reverberate.
What was going on? Were they in a tunnel? A cavern? A digital void? The possibilities on top of his inability to see caused his chest to constrict, straining his breathing. To calm himself, he tried to focus on Fejan and her story, while hoping she knew where she was leading them.
“My mother passed away when I was a child. For a long time, my father and I lived alone. But a few years ago his horns leapt for a Macab. Fleura. She fit right in with us, and I wondered if they’d unify.”
A sadness as strong as an undertow filled her voice.
“One day Fleura skipped a trip we’d planned to Miran-silya. I tried to find out what happened. She never responded. I asked my father and he said she was gone. At first, I figured they’d had a fight, but he wouldn’t tell me anything more.
“Then her family contacted me, asking after her. She’d disappeared and they wanted help to reach her. I asked my father about her again. He reiterated that she’d left, but wouldn’t look me in the eye. I realized then what he’d done.”
With growing horror, Maliek understood as well.
“He’d sent her here,” Fejan said. Her sadness hardened. “He wanted her safe in the sims, so he had her kidnapped and inserted in the covums. But that meant rooting her here instead of in the open system.”
Maliek opened his mouth, but he couldn’t speak. Couldn’t snap the spell of her words.
“Once I knew what he’d done, I was so angry with him and so heartbroken for Fleura. I didn’t want her to be alone, so I joined a protest. I made threats I knew would get me sent here.”
Maliek wondered if he’d have the courage to do the same, for his parents or anyone else.
“Did you find her?” Maliek asked. Again, his words echoed. “Do you hear that?”
“The echo?” Jana asked. His words sounded muffled, as though passing through water.
“It’s a trick,” Fejan replied.
“A trick?” Maliek asked.
“I sound weird.” Jana said.
“The sounds you’re hearing, they’re meant to disorient you,” Fejan said. “Keep you from finding your way through.”
“Why does your voice sound normal?” Maliek asked.
“I’ve visited the Oomael before. They don’t like visitors, and this is another means of trying to keep anyone from finding them. I’m allowed, so it doesn’t affect me.”
A hand clasped Maliek’s arm. He gasped, yanking free.
“We have to turn around,” Fejan said, voice right in front of him. The hand grabbed his arm again and tugged back the way they’d come.
“What? Why?” Maliek followed her lead, but he glanced over his shoulder for some obstacle. It could be anything and he wouldn’t see it.
“What’s wrong?” Jana asked.
“It’s the way forward,” Fejan explained. “I know it makes no sense, but we have to double back. It’s how the tunnel works.”
They backtracked a short distance. Of a sudden, pale light shone upon them through a glass ceiling. Stars filled the sky. Glass windows formed a new tunnel. Maliek halted. The tunnel led them through outer space to a massive space station.
“The Oomael live in space?” Maliek asked, taking it all in.
“A sim of space,” Fejan corrected.
Hundreds of ships flew around the station, docking at various points. Satellites orbited it.
Maliek longed to grab a ship and make a run for it even though he knew that he couldn’t escape a sim by flying from it. That didn’t mute his desire to try.
The place seemed a fortress. It could serve as a haven for them while they sought escape.
Maliek removed the rope and handed it Jana, who unhooked himself before handing the whole thing to Fejan. They proceeded along the tunnel to the entrance to the space station. A half dozen Oomael guarded it, each armed with heavy guns. Despite knowing that guns couldn’t harm him in a sim, they still intimidated Maliek. He wondered if that was their real purpose.
“Who are you?” one Oomael asked. He had a pair of neon horns connected by a scar.
Fejan took the lead. “Commander, we’re prisoners seeking refuge.”
“That’s obvious or you wouldn’t have come,” the commander said.
“My friends didn’t commit any crimes. Our people kidnapped them and rooted them here.”
“You haven’t answered my questions.” The commander fingered his gun, though he kept it aimed at the ground.
“I’m Fejan.” She tapped a horn with her hand in what resembled a salute. “I travel with Maliek and Jana. We’re hoping you might have information on how to escape the sims.”
The commander about-faced and walked away. He spoke over comms, though Maliek couldn’t hear what he said. The remaining guards closed ranks and glared at them.
It was not the welcome Maliek had hoped for. Would the commander let them enter the station after consulting with his superiors?
“What do we do?” he whispered to Fejan, afraid to move anywhere.
“Wait,” she replied.
A few minutes later, the commander returned. “Take them into custody.”
“No, I’m Fejan.” Her horns pulsed in rapid fire. “I’ve permission to visit.”
The guards aimed their guns and fired. In shock, Maliek dove for cover. A net landed on him, pinning him to the ground. He tried to lift himself, but the thick-corded net seemed to adhere to the ground like a magnet. Similar nets covered Fejan and Jana who lay beside him, trapping them all.
Moments later, Igata arrived with her droids.