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Bright light illuminated the lower part of the hole the moment Adrian and the others reached the floor, blinding Devika. She deactivated the night vision on her contacts as closed her eyes, raising her hand to shield her face as well. When she opened her eyes, her vision swam. She grabbed the rail to steady herself. After several deep breaths, her vision cleared.
The boys entered a tunnel below, reigniting her fear that they would waltz in and claim the prize. But the moment she reached bottom, all her concerns gave way to awe. The short tunnel opened to an underground Etaem city that dwarfed what they’d seen back on the beach. Towering buildings filled the monstrous cavern. Lights shone from every window and doorway. This must be the New York City, London, or Tokyo of the Etaem world.
Once upon a time, when the Etaem still inhabited this world.
Signs flashed across giant billboard screens, accompanied by the hum of electricity. Bioluminescent trees lined sidewalks, adding to the luster. Devika blinked a few times, eyes still adjusting to the brightness.
The paved roads looked museum-quality clean. No signs of dust, fallen leaves, or spider webs. The latter might be explained by the toxins present in the city, but there must be auto-cleaning bots that tended to the place. It spoke to the Etaems’ pride and skill in building things that lasted long after they’d gone.
Scientists who’d studied Havendesh and its abandoned cities believed the Etaem had left hundreds of years ago, maybe as many as a thousand. And yet neon lights flashed across billboards, and Devika couldn’t spot one burned out lightbulb.
There were also no cars on the streets or other obvious modes of transportation. That would limit exploration for the remaining three and a quarter hours of oxygen she had remaining.
Her fascinated study was interrupted as she sensed someone approaching; Adrian scowled at her. Vincent and Falk lumbered on his heels.
“Don’t get in our way,” Adrian said through clenched teeth. “I’m warning you.”
She snorted. “You don’t scare anyone.”
His face reddened as he got up in her face, raising his shoulders to max height like a posturing male in the wild. “You think you’re so smart. Don’t forget we’re all alone here. We wouldn’t want an accident to happen.”
“Thanks for the heads up.” Nico fished something from his pocket. “I got a picture of you three. If anything happens to Devika or me, the prime suspects are Adrian, Falk, and Vincent.”
Adrian backed up a couple of steps, eyes widening. Devika barely stopped herself from laughing at his reaction.
“You can’t send messages down here.” Adrian’s statement lacked confidence. “No signal.”
“It’s a good thing I have this with me then.” Nico held out an upraised palm. In the middle of his hand, a tiny metallic device began vibrating four half-centimeter wings.
Before anyone could respond, he tossed the device into the air. It took off.
“When that scout reaches the surface, it’ll log that message in my inbox,” Nico said. “If we don’t come back, that’ll be the first place the authorities check.”
“Just stay out of our way,” Adrian snarled, before storming off into the city.
Devika exhaled. She’d have to be more careful. From the way they’d panicked when Nico had mentioned the scout, she felt confident Adrian’s threats were just blowing off steam. Still, he was angry. Sometimes angry people did stupid things.
“That was quick thinking with the scout.” She squeezed Nico’s arm.
He scowled, staring at the trio’s retreating forms. “I won’t let them bully us into giving up. You worked too hard to get us to this point. I’m not running away over juvenile threats.”
“So, you’re with me?” she asked. “We finish this now?”
He raised both hands, pointing at the city. “This is amazing! We can’t turn back now.”
“It is,” she agreed.
“So where to? Where in this city is the next clue?”
She pulled out another test strip. “I’m not sure, but let’s get another sample and see if the surface contamination is down here as well.”
While they waited on the analysis, she studied their immediate area, trying to decide where to look for clues. Messages scrolled across or flashed on boards from most buildings.
“We should scan some of those,” she suggested, pointing to the nearest boards.
Her wrist-comp beeped, returning the latest results. Contamination levels remain constant.
“Gotta keep our helmets up, suits sealed.”
“And here I was hoping to take in the big city smells.” Nico frowned exaggeratedly as he started forward.
“We’ve done it,” she called after him.
“Huh?” He halted, turning back to her.
“You said I’ve figured out everything to get us here. That isn’t true. We’ve gotten here. Together.”
He gave her a broad smile before hurrying across the street to scan messages.
Making her own way forward, Devika found a menu-sized board with text adorning an entrance. She scanned it—a greeting to a seafood restaurant. Next came a picture of a male and female Etaem holding some sort of gear above a single line of text.
Probably nothing useful, but she scanned the text, anyway. What she got back was Cube Escape. Was that an ad? Movie title? Perhaps it was a movie poster. Did the Etaem have movies and cinema?
“All advertisements over here,” Nico hollered.
She wondered whether her initial impression was correct. Had the Etaem disappeared suddenly? Strolling down city streets or eating at a restaurant one moment, gone the next?
As they pushed deeper into the city, Devika stopped scanning most of the signs. They didn’t have the time. And she’d wager they wouldn’t find the next riddle or clue displayed in flashing neon lights.
Instead, she focused on a broad study of their surroundings, examining everything they passed, searching for the one oddity. The one thing that didn’t belong. A tough task, considering she didn’t know what would be odd to an alien civilization.
She checked her wrist-comp. She still had two and a half hours of oxygen, so she pressed on until they reached a square filled with marble memorials.
An Etaem hologram was on display above each memorial. Every four to five seconds the image flickered to another Etaem. Her initial impression of them as squid-like creatures had been shallow. Yes, they had carapaces that ended in a point, and tentacle-like legs, which strangely ended in claws. But in each pair of eyes she caught so many familiar emotions. Many shone with love, joy, and pride. Others drooped from sadness, fear, or despair. Some burned with anger and resentment. A few shriveled with guilt.
She’d known they were an intelligent species. After all, they’d built an advanced, technological world and then left it for the stars. But it took until this moment for her to recognize them as individuals. At least a hundred hologram memorials stood in the square. And at the rate the images changed above each memorial, they represented thousands or perhaps millions of Etaem. A city’s worth.
A shiver slithered up her back.
She approached the nearest memorial where digital text flowed across its surface.
“Welcome to Laquir, human,” a phantom voice said. “City of the Sacrificed.”