The sound of rope hitting the floor cued Benexx that ze had company incoming. Ze stirred, just as Jolk came down the rope hand-over-hand. Benexx darkened zer skinglow to the point it felt like ze was squeezing zer skin shut, then moved to the shadows behind a stalagmite. Jolk was alone, and armed with a rifle. Ze didn’t look to be in a particularly good mood.
Jolk turned on the light mounted to zer gun and swept it around the chamber. Benexx ducked back behind cover.
“There’s no point hiding, changfu. Come out!”
Quietly, Benexx climbed onto the top of the stalagmite. From the new vantage point, Benexx caught a strong scent of bak’ri hooch wafting off Jolk on one of zer fingers. So, ze’d been drinking. That was good and bad. The Atlantian moonshine would dull Jolk’s senses and reaction time, but ramp up zer aggression.
“Finally fetched my dinner, did you?” ze taunted back, trying to bounce zer voice off a wall to misdirect Jolk for another few seconds. Another trick ze’d learned from Uncle Kexx. It worked, turning zer attention away from zer hiding place at forty-five degrees. Not out of zer peripheral vision, but it would have to do.
“Not exactly,” Jolk answered. “But I have an appetite. And you’re going to feed it.”
“One of us is going to bite something,” Benexx called again, bouncing zer voice from the opposite wall, causing Jolk to spin around the other direction, exposing zer back.
“Did you really think I would let you embarrass me in front of Elder Sula without consequence?” ze shouted.
Sula, Benexx thought. Jolk let the name of zer master slip. What a complete idiot. Ze filed the information away, more determined than ever to get out of here and bring zer mother’s resources crashing down on these assholes.
Benexx tensed and closed zer eyes as the light swept right past the stalagmite ze was perched on top of, but Jolk didn’t look up to spot zer. The intense light must be screwing with zer night vision.
“I’ve got something for you, bearer. Something that will remind you of your proper place.” Jolk took zer hand away from the rifle’s foregrip and held up zer wrist for Benexx to see. Zer hand peeled off the bracelet around zer wrist, exposing a flap of skin. A trio of bright purple fingerlike proboscises wiggled their way out of the flap and waved around in the open air. Benexx’s fingertips dug into the rock beneath. So, Jolk had rubbed wrists with an elder and planned to make good on zer threat to fill Benexx’s back with zer filthy brood.
I’d rather die, Benexx thought. No, ze committed. That was a line ze wasn’t going to let them cross. Beat zer, starve zer, isolate zer, and ze would find a way to endure. But not that. Jolk was almost a head taller than zer, and more heavily muscled, and armed, but in that moment, Benexx didn’t care. One of them was going to be lying dead on the floor in the next few minutes, and ze’d been pushed to the point that ze didn’t give a thrice-damn who.
Jolk spun zer wedge of light around the chamber in frustration. “Show yourself!”
“Gladly,” Benexx growled, then leapt through the air and stretched zer arms out for Jolk’s neck. Jolk heard and spun around to face zer, the muzzle of the rifle climbing up in slow motion like a Cuut-damned John Woo film.
In the split second before they connected, Benexx released zer death grip on zer skinglow and flared out to zer full brightness, bathing the entire chamber with zer bluegreen light. It had the desired effect.
Jolk flinched from the sudden light, and Benexx hit zer horizontally. Despite zer smaller size, Benexx’s momentum was considerable and caught Jolk completely off guard at the shoulders. The impact folded zer over like a napkin and sent them both sprawling onto the unforgiving rock of the floor. Benexx managed to keep a hand around Jolk’s neck and squeezed. With zer other arm, Benexx reached down to try and get a grip on the rifle, but Jolk anticipated the move and pulled back. But ze didn’t anticipate Benexx lashing out with zer legs.
Benexx was far from an experienced fighter, but ze’d had some training, both against humans and other Atlantians. Zer father had insisted. Rolling around in the dust of this cave, ze was glad he had. Ze’d learned several things sparring with a variety of opponents. One, humans hit hard. Their rigid skeletons meant they had the next best thing to built-in clubs for fists, elbows, knees, feet, and heads. Second, that unarmed fights with or between Atlantians almost always ended up on the ground in a grapple, and that Atlantian feet were, for all practical purposes, not functionally different from their hands.
Sure, their toes were a trifle larger, and lacked the chemical receptors of their fingers (thank Xis, otherwise ze’d be constantly walking around tasting whatever ze was stepping in) but they were just as dexterous. If you knew what you were doing, it was like fighting with four arms instead of just two, a distinct advantage in any ground fight.
Benexx made sure to take it to the ground at the first opportunity. Down here, strength, reach, and speed were less important than form, precision, leverage, and flexibility, as Jolk was about to learn the hard way. Benexx got a foot on the vertical forward grip of the rifle and clamped down for all ze was worth, then wrapped zer other hand around Jolk’s throat.
Now, Jolk had to choose. Let go of the gun and pry Benexx’s hands free of zer neck, or focus on getting the rifle into position to turn zer head into a soup bowl. It wasn’t as straightforward a decision for an Atlantian. A human caught in such a position would have maybe ten seconds of consciousness to work with before oxygen starvation caused them to black out and their body to go limp.
But Jolk’s slower metabolism and decentralized nervous system meant ze had a minute or more to try and break Benexx’s grip, and even if ze passed out, the peripheral nervous nodes in zer arms and legs would go right on trying to execute the last set of orders they’d gotten from the brain, just in a much less coordinated way.
Jolk stalled for time, trying to bring a foot up to grab the gun, but as flexible as Atlantian joints were, they weren’t that flexible. Recognizing it was hopeless, Jolk reversed zer leg and used it to try and flip zerself up and over Benexx in a reversal, but Benexx was able to counter the new leverage with zer free leg, at least for the moment. It wouldn’t last, though. As hard as ze’d worked and practiced, zer bearer body was simply weaker than Jolk’s. Benexx had gotten the drop on zer opponent and placed zerself in the best possible position, but Jolk was stronger, larger, and had better endurance. It was a battle of attrition now, and Benexx’s muscles were already burning with pain from the intense exertion. Ze couldn’t outlast Jolk. If ze didn’t find a way to win in the next ten seconds, ze was as good as dead.
Or worse.
Jolk finally made zer choice and abandoned the rifle, moving zer hands up to grab Benexx’s wrists.
To hell with this, Benexx thought. Ze couldn’t maneuver the rifle well enough with one foot to actually train its muzzle on zer foe, but ze could sure as hell use it as a club. With a flick of zer leg, Benexx whipped the stock end of the gun up in a fast arc before bringing it crashing down directly onto Jolk’s head with a squishy thud.
The unexpected impact caught Jolk full in the face so hard it actually bounced. Dazed, Jolk’s grip on Benexx’s wrists slacked. Ze pulled an arm free and decided it was time to stop playing nice. With all the strength ze had in zer fingers, Benexx clamped down on the one spot ze knew Jolk had no defense against. The sweet spot on the shoulder, just below the neck, that caused a seizure-inducing neural feedback loop.
It was a low blow, unbecoming of an Atlantian warrior. But, as ze’d been reminded over and over throughout zer life, Benexx wasn’t a warrior. Zer was just a bearer. The poor, defenseless thing. As Jolk’s arm went into spasms, and the look of shock and betrayal spread across zer face, Benexx felt a fleeting moment of pity. Which lasted just long enough for zer to remember what Jolk intended for zer should ze lose.
Benexx sent the butt of the rifle crashing into Jolk’s face again, for good measure.
With one arm temporarily paralyzed and zer brain reeling from both oxygen starvation and multiple impacts, Jolk’s resistance faded fast. Enough that Benexx was able to get on top and pin zer shoulders down without releasing zer deathgrip on Jolk’s neck.
And a deathgrip is exactly what it was. The fact that no one had yet come to intervene meant that nobody else knew Jolk was down here getting zer ass kicked. Ze had probably been assigned a guard shift, and decided to take the opportunity to extract zer revenge.
Benexx had never killed anyone before. Hadn’t killed anything before, excluding fish ze’d caught. But ze didn’t have a choice now. Ze’d committed to killing Jolk the moment ze leapt off the rock. If ze let Jolk go, zer window of escape closed. Even if ze left Jolk unconscious on the floor, ze’d soon wake and sound the alarm that Benexx had slipped away.
And ze had to do it with zer bare hands. Sure, Benexx could just blow Jolk’s head off with the rifle, but the sound of a gunshot would echo through the entire cave system and bring everyone else running.
Jolk’s mouth gasped for air like a landed fish, while zer skinglow started to fire random static instead of coordinated patterns of stripes and dots. Zer pupils fell out of synch, one constricting to a wavy slit, the other almost fully dilated. Benexx had to look away, but ze didn’t slacken zer grip, even as the muscles in zer forearms burned and cramped under the strain.
After an interminably long time, Jolk’s writhing ebbed. Benexx stole a look down at zer handiwork, and immediately wished ze hadn’t. Jolk’s eyes stared off lifelessly in different directions, while zer flesh had taken on the pallid, featureless color of dead skin, save for a handful of individual chromatophores misfiring like broken pixels on an old fashioned digital screen.
Returned to sender.
With effort, Benexx uncurled zer fingers from Jolk’s neck and covered zer own mouth to keep from screaming at the horror of it. Regret washed over zer like a wave, and zer first instinct was to start CPR just in case it wasn’t too late to revive zer victim.
In the end, zer own survival instinct won out over Benexx’s altruism. Ze needed to get moving. Every moment down here was a moment ze should be spending getting further away.
“You chose this,” ze whispered to the corpse. Emotion overtook zer, and Benexx allowed zerself a few moments to flicker with grief. Ze felt sick and thought ze might vomit. But ze couldn’t afford to lose the scarce calories and nutrients in zer stomach, so ze had to breath deeply until the nausea passed.
It was time to move. Ze grabbed Jolk’s body by the feet and dragged it out of the line of sight of the hole in the ceiling, back behind the same rock cropping ze’d hidden behind and left the legs lying in view. Any cursory inspection from above would just show Benexx sleeping behind a rock. They’d have to come all the way down into the chamber to discover the truth. Ze grabbed the small bag of food and other supplies and tossed the strap over a shoulder.
Then, ze retrieved the rifle, spent a moment refamiliarizing zerself with its controls, then checked that it was loaded. It had a full magazine, but the idiot hadn’t even cycled a round into the chamber. It had never been a threat during the fight. Benexx just shook zer head and thanked Cuut for sending zer such an unbelievably incompetent enemy for zer test, then pulled the charging handle back and quietly slid a fresh round home. Ze checked that the safety catch was engaged, extinguished the flashlight at the rifle’s end, and slung it over zer other shoulder.
Freedom beckoned at the other end of the rope. Benexx was grateful for it, but as ze wrapped zer tired hands around the cord and the extra weight of the pack and rifle settled into zer shoulders, ze knew the climb out presented no small challenge.
Benexx reached up and tried to hoist zerself up the rope, but after less than a meter zer arms already threatened open revolt. Ze needed rest to recuperate from the exertion of the fight, but every minute down here just increased the odds someone would come to check on zer or relieve Jolk. Benexx planted zer feet on the rope, taking a significant fraction of weight off zer arms and cramping hands. Slowly, ze walked up the rope, using zer arms to guide and stabilize zer centimeter after agonizing centimeter.
With a herculean effort, the lip of the hole finally came within reach. Ze released the rope and got a hand on the cool, damp stone, half afraid the whole thing had been a setup and Sula’s foot was about to crush zer fingers and send zer tumbling back down to the floor for a second time. But no foot came. Gingerly, cautiously, Benexx pulled zerself up enough to get a peek at the area immediately around the hole. It was just as dark as the chamber had been, no torches or chem lights laying around, and only a very faint green glow of bioluminescence from a handful of fungal colonies.
Ze dialed up a little more skinglow to get a better look at zer surroundings. Much to zer relief, Benexx didn’t see another solitary soul. Ze said a thanks to Cuut more out of habit than humility and scrambled zer way onto the floor. Benexx lay there for a while, focused only on moving air in and out of zer chest and soothing zer muscles against the cold rock. Just long enough that they stopped burning beneath zer skin.
After not nearly long enough, Benexx forced zerself to get up and start moving again. Ze paused to give a cursory inspection of the inventory of the area right around the hole. There were some crates off to one side that looked like they’d been used as makeshift chairs, a small pile of food packaging, mushroom stems, that sort of thing. Temporary items for a temporary space. Ze spotted a plastic bottle shoved off to the side as if it had been hastily hidden. It was only a third full of an amber liquid. A quick taste of the lip with zer fingertip confirmed it was bak’ri hooch. Probably the very bottle Jolk had consumed to bolster zer bravery before coming down the rope and ultimately meeting zer fate. If the bottle had been full when ze started, Jolk had been very drunk indeed.
Benexx had no intention of finishing the bottle, but the hooch had uses as a disinfectant much like alcohol, and the bottle itself might come in handy as a water container, so ze tucked it into zer pack. Ze remembered the rope, and after a moment’s reflection decided rope was always a useful thing to have in a cave, so ze found the anchor point, worked the knot loose, then coiled it up and threw it over zer shoulder with the pack.
Ze was as equipped and prepared as ze was going to get. Benexx scanned the passage. It was a rough tunnel that curved at an angle in each direction. One end curved up and to the left, passing out of sight after maybe thirty meters, the other curved down and to the right. There wasn’t much to choose between them, but Benexx reasoned that, being a cave, the exit would generally follow the direction of “up,” so that’s the way ze settled on.
Slowly, deliberately, Benexx made zer way down the tunnel. Careful to keep zer footfalls as silent as possible and zer skinglow just bright enough to keep zer from bashing zer head on a rock overhang or from falling into another hole in the floor. During summer trips to G’tel, Uncle Kexx had tried to teach zer how to shift zer patterns to blend in with zer surroundings, a type of built-in, adaptive optical camouflage. But Benexx had never mastered the technique. Honestly, zer attempts to do so had been half-assed. Ze never envisioned a situation where ze’d need the skill, living as ze did in Shambhala.
Ze resolved to make Kexx teach zer again, provided ze survived long enough to see zer uncle once more.
Here and there, chambers and smaller passages branched off from the main trunk of the tunnel. Benexx paused to search each one, both to see if ze could find anything useful, and to make sure no one caught zer from behind as ze moved deeper into the network. Not that ze knew what to do if ze did run across someone. Shooting them would solve the immediate problem, but create an entirely new and bigger one.
Still, if it came to it, ze would stand and fight. Maybe if ze was really lucky, ze’d make a big enough bang that zer parents would hear about it and know how ze’d chosen to go out. They would be proud of that, at least. Provided zer father was even still alive, that is. Benexx pushed the dark thought to the back of zer mind as ze reached the next chamber. None of the tunnels and passages ze’d seen so far appeared to be excavated, or even expanded. They were roughly oval, likely naturally-occurring lava tubes much like the ones that were common beneath Atlantis. Eddy currents in the lava flow created the roughly spherical chambers at random intervals.
Was it possible they’d transported zer entirely across the ocean? It seemed improbable. All transoceanic transport happened either onboard one of Shambhala’s small fleet of airliners, or one of their remote cargo drone ships. It seemed impossible that they could’ve smuggled zer onto one of the planes without security catching on. It was at least conceivable that ze could’ve been stuffed into a shipping container on one of the drone ships, but an ocean transit aboard one of them took days. The superficial injuries ze’d received from the blast would’ve healed more by the time ze’d woken up.
Benexx shook off the question. Ze was getting too far ahead of zerself. Where ze was wouldn’t matter until ze found the way out of these infernal caverns. One foot in front of the other, ze moved through the caves. Quiet as a ghost in its tomb.