Benexx stalked around in the dark tunnels and caverns for what seemed like days, although ze had no way to know how much time had actually passed. Zer captors had realized ze’d gone missing and come looking.
They’d swept through in pairs, skin glowing as brightly as they pleased, scouring the tunnels for their missing hostage. At one point, ze could see the dirt between the toes of one of their feet from the rock shelf ze’d scurried under for cover, close enough to reach out and touch. Close enough ze didn’t dare to breathe. They moved on, and through the grace of Xis, ze’d managed to outpace, evade, or hide from them each time they’d drawn close since.
So far.
Ze’d given in to sleep at one point, holed up in a tiny alcove halfway up a wall scarcely big enough for zer to curl up in. Thankfully, Atlantians weren’t prone to snoring, unlike zer father.
What ze did know was zer waterskin was getting light, as was zer bag of food. If ze didn’t find resupply soon, ze’d be going on a crash diet.
A nagging feeling crept into Benexx’s mind. Ze couldn’t place it at first, but it eventually coalesced into a sort of eerie familiarity. Deja vu, zer mother had called it once. That’s when the space and the smell reoriented in zer mind and Benexx realized with sinking dread that ze’d been in this spot before. Ze was still for a long breath, quiet, listening for sounds of pursuit or hidden enemies. But silence was all that filled zer ears. Benexx took a risk and brought zer skinglow up for the first time since escaping the hole ze’d been thrown in, only to confirm zer worst fears. Ze was standing only meters away from where ze’d started.
Benexx’s hands balled into twisted fists as ze swallowed a scream that would’ve been loud enough to bring the ceiling itself crashing down on zer. Ze’d forgotten Uncle Kexx’s training. Ze should’ve been leaving trail markers to avoid doubling back as ze had. Sakiko wouldn’t have forgotten. Sakiko had always been the more attentive student.
Benexx gave zerself a ten-count to let the anger and self-recrimination wash over zer, and break against the battlements of zer psyche.
“Shouldn’t have taken that left turn at Albuquerque,” ze whispered, smirking at zer own joke. Benexx was probably one of only a couple fullhands of people alive who would get it, thanks to zer father’s untraditional parenting methods and esoteric sense of humor.
Ze walked over to the hole in the floor that opened to the improvised cell ze’d spent the last few days languishing in. Where ze’d languish still if ze hadn’t escaped, except with the added horror of Jolk’s wretched spawn beginning to grow in zer back. Benexx spit into the hole and muttered a curse that would’ve earned a grounding from zer parents as soon as their translators explained what it meant. Actually, ze father would probably know, the amount of time he spent in a locker room.
The plan hadn’t changed; ze needed to get as far away from the literal hell-hole as possible. Benexx looked back over zer shoulder. Ze’d passed a few larger chambers in the last couple hours of walking because ze couldn’t see the far side of them and didn’t want to risk being caught out in the open. But now, it seemed likely one of them was hiding the way out.
Frustrated but determined, Benexx set off in the direction of the nearest chamber, although it was still a considerable distance. The cave network was absolutely massive, and what had at first looked like a straightforward system of ancient lava tubes had grown into a dizzying labyrinth of tunnels melted through the rock by long-gone magma, as well as limestone caverns eroded by rain. The first set of human geologists to set foot in the place would doubtlessly be overjoyed at the discovery, but Benexx had well and truly run out of patience.
Retreading ground ze’d already covered once before, Benexx quickened zer pace through the dark, still alert, but at the same time more confident that ze could avoid any surprises. The vastness of the place worked to zer advantage in one respect. No part of the caves ze’d seen so far indicated any sort of long-term settlement, not now or even in the distant past. They were virgin territory, lacking the worn footpaths, fungus farms, and other refinements of a Dweller city. It would take a small army of people to thoroughly patrol the place, and ze was fairly sure ze was dealing with a terrorist cell. Religious zealots, separatists, whatever they were, they probably only numbered a fullhand or two. Which explained why ze’d only run into three search parties since escaping.
Ze reached the junction to the first chamber in half the time it had taken to leave it behind, despite taking care on the return journey to leave zer little trail markers. Ze’d just have to hope they were subtle enough not to be noticed by zer pursuers. The cavern beyond was huge, and deep. Dots and irregular patches of soft blue light emitted from colonies of bacteria and fungus coated the walls, giving the space shape and volume. Something about it seemed odd to Benexx’s eye until ze realized part of the floor was mirroring the wall next to it.
Water! ze thought with relief and excitement. It was then ze recognized the smell of the pool on the air, however slight. Even perfectly still, clean water had a smell. It was subtle, and easy to overlook in the mingled layers of odors in the stale air. Still, as thirsty as ze’d become, Benexx couldn’t believe ze’d missed it on the first pass.
Ze let the rifle hang from its sling and held up zer hands to get a sense of what else might be hiding in the chamber. The moist air in the caves held odor well, and the sluggish airflow meant it could linger for many hours before fading. There was the usual muddy scent of the bacteria and fungus sticking to the walls, the rusty smell of the rocks themselves, a pinch of salt, a whisper of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, not nearly enough to worry about, and… and…
Benexx’s hands snapped shut from the shock of the smell. It was subtle, even more subtle that the water had been, but it was there, and it was familiar. So familiar, it couldn’t be mistaken for anything else.
Human sweat.
But what were humans doing down here? Other hostages? They must be. Zer captors must be holding their prisoners in widely separated cells to keep them from comparing notes, organizing, or otherwise increasing their odds of escape. It was probably the first smart thing they’d done, considering how inept their efforts at holding zer had been.
Benexx caught zerself starting to gloat. In truth, the only reason ze’d escaped wasn’t because there was anything wrong with the cage they’d assigned zer to; it was because Jolk was a petty, vindictive little bully who tried to take advantage of zer and lost. If Jolk had even a little more discipline, ze’d still be floundering at the bottom of that hole, or worse, dead. Both zer mother and Uncle Kexx had hammered home the dangers of overconfidence and underestimating one’s opponent.
Zer father, well, he had a different philosophy about these things. His overconfidence had its own gravity. It pulled people along for the ride without him having to do anything.
Propelled by the chance of seeing a friendly face for the first time since zer nightmare had started, Benexx entered the cavern, zer mission of escape morphing into a rescue attempt. Hostages meant guards, although ze didn’t detect any fresh Atlantian pheromones on the air. It was only then ze became aware of zer own smell, and just how powerful it had become after days in captivity. Any Atlantian should be able to smell zer from a hundred paces, and even a human could pick zer up from across a decent-sized room. Ze’d need to fix that. Fortunately, the solution was only meters away.
Ze clung fast to the wall and moved with great care to remain as silent as possible until ze reached the edge of the pool. Its surface was as calm and still as glass, and every bit as clear. Even in the weak bioluminescent light of the cave, ze could see straight down to the bottom of the pond as if there was nothing there at all. It was almost disorienting. The water was so pristine that Benexx felt badly about polluting it. But it only took a moment for zer thirst to win out. Out of habit, ze touched a finger to the water to check its freshness. Too fresh, as ze suspected, fresh enough for humans to drink unfiltered. Like all Atlantians, ze preferred water with a little brine to it. But, in a pinch, fresh would have to do. Ze uncorked the waterskin and gently lowered its mouth into the water, careful not to make any bubbles as it filled or send any telltale ripples across the surface to the other side of the cave beyond what ze’d already cleared as safe.
Once it was halfway full, Benexx lifted the skin and drank from it greedily. Ze didn’t remember ever being so thirsty. Ze could feel the cool, tasteless water rejuvenating zer body and mind. Ze could think clearly again about something other than zer next drink. Then came the really dangerous part. Ze looked at the strap holding the rifle to zer shoulder. It was probably designed to be safely submerged underwater, but ze wasn’t sure, not really. Ze’d only ever fired one once at the range by the cliffs overlooking the ocean by Shambhala and hadn’t bothered to learn much more about it than its basic operation and safety protocols. Ze’d fired a nice group, but that was at paper, not people.
It wasn’t worth risking zer only effective weapon, even on the off-chance water would make it inoperable. So ze stripped it off and set it down gently on the shore. Then, one foot at a time, ze slowly eased zerself into the pool, sinking lower with each passing moment until the waterline reached zer neck. The pool was deceptively deep. What ze’d thought was probably no deeper than zer waist instead kept going many meters past zer wriggling toes. It was also cold. About a meter and a half below the surface, a thermal plane dropped the temperature at least seven or eight degrees below the layer at the surface. It was bracing, invigorating even, and floating in the crystal-clear pond was the first little luxury ze’d felt since waking up on the floor of the strange cave days before. Still, ze couldn’t afford to hang around, losing body heat and growing cold-headed.
Benexx dipped zer head below the surface, fully submerged, and quickly ran zer hands and feet over every square centimeter of zer flesh that ze could reach, which being Atlantian, was most all of them. Zer suckers scrubbed away at days of accumulated dirt, bodily oils, dead skin, and assorted filth. The first proper cleansing ze’d had since the night before the parade.
Then, Benexx allowed zerself a moment’s indulgence and kicked off for the bottom of the pool, leaving a cloud of detritus behind zer in the pure water. Eventually, it would settle out and be nothing more than the newest layer of sediment. It took zer three long strokes of zer arms and legs to reach the bottom before Benexx reached out a finger and touched the silt, just as ze, Sakiko, and Jian had done in the crater lake southwest of G’tel three summers ago.
Despite the cold, floating in the water, unconstrained by gravity and liberated to move about in three dimensions, Benexx felt zer first moment of genuine freedom since waking up in this awful place. Atlantians had never really left the water behind as humans had. It showed whenever the friends swam together. Benexx always reached the bottom first, if the other two managed to reach it at all. Sakiko was the stronger swimmer at the surface, but under the water Jian had a confidence and fluidity that came from his youth aboard the Ark, playing in the old Zero Stadium and hanging around his parents in the micro-grav of the command module. He never got disoriented, but he could still only hold his breath like a human.
Cautious not to disturb the silt, Benexx pointed zerself for the surface and fluttered up through the water column, slowing to a crawl just before the crown of zer head breached the surface. Ze grabbed the craggy lip of the pond and pulled zer body out of the water with the same muscle-burning delicacy ze used slipping into it.
Light and movement from the other side of the cave caught the corner of zer eye instantly. Fear froze Benexx’s limbs in place like a statue, too afraid even to turn zer head to inspect the threat.
Instead, as the water drained out of zer ears, Benexx listened. When no excited shouts of “There ze is!” followed after a fullhand of beats, ze forced zer body out of its paralysis and turned around to face the disturbance. At the far side of the cave, someone approached, skinglow bright and either a hand torch or a rifle with a mounted light in their arms. Atlantian, then. Whether it was the elder, Sula, or another conspirator ze hadn’t identified yet, Benexx couldn’t tell from such distance.
Their gait was quick and purposeful, but their light was being held in a cone straight ahead as they made their way down the path, no sweeping side to side as one would if they were searching for someone. The light shone perpendicular to where ze stood by the pool, leaving zer in shadows, for the most part. Anyone standing behind that light would’ve had their night vision ruined after seconds, unable to differentiate reflections of the soft bioluminescence of the chamber from the true dark of everything else. A guard, maybe? Heading to whatever cell the human prisoner or prisoners were being kept in for a change of watch? Probably.
With the realization ze hadn’t been spotted, but still could be if ze wasn’t careful or if the walker was lucky, Benexx reached down and gently grabbed the pack, waterskin, rifle, and moved them out of line of sight. Then ze backed against the wall and made zer best imitation of a rock. Ze even experimented with matching zer skinglow to the surroundings as Uncle Kexx had tried to drill into zer.
Just then, the presumed guard stopped short and turned zer light onto an entryway to a side chamber about halfway down the length of the cave face, then walked through and disappeared. A brighter light, harsh and artificial, sparked to life and cast itself from the passage and against the far wall, well away from where Benexx hid. Voices emanated from the hole in the wall. One alert, the other sounding slow and groggy. The human hostage, probably, although ze couldn’t make out what either was saying. They were too quiet, muffled, and distorted by echoes.
The conversation continued, with the groggy one coming up to speed. Probably they’d just been woken up and needed a minute to come to full consciousness. Benexx certainly did in the morning. Then two figures emerged from the mouth of the passage and began walking back the way the guard had come initially. One was definitely the Atlantian Benexx had watched enter only a few minutes before, while the other was definitely human.
This was zer chance to free the prisoner. If ze moved fast and silently, ze could take the guard by surprise before they left the cavern, maybe even get right up behind and bury the muzzle of zer rifle in the back of their skull before firing, taking them out cleanly while hiding some of the report of the shot at the same time. Then, ze could hand the guard’s weapon off to the human and… and…
Benexx realized something was wrong as the two strolled away, side by side. The guard’s rifle was still pointed ahead to light the way, not at their prisoner. And their conversation, while still difficult to make out, sounded calm, almost convivial. A few days seemed an awfully short time for that level of Stockholm syndrome to set in. The truth hit zer like a hammer fall. The human wasn’t a prisoner like zer; they were working with the conspirators. They were part of the same group, as ridiculous as that sounded.
But, at the same time, it explained a great deal. Like, where had Sofa and Jolk’s guns come from? How did whoever had kidnapped zer and presumably attacked the parade gotten their hands on remotely-detonated bombs?
The answer was walking away from Benexx at a leisurely pace. Ze had half a mind to go through with zer plan to execute the guard. But instead of handing the human a gun, ze’d tweak the plan just a little bit and hand them a bullet instead. In the knee. Then start asking them questions every bit as uncomfortable as their freshly shredded joint.
Benexx surprised zerself. Ze’d never taken a life before escaping from Jolk, and that had been a brutal, personal affair. It had frightened and disgusted zer. Now here ze was, not but a day or so later, chomping at the bit to do it again. Hardly bearer-like impulses. But what ze was most surprised and disturbed by was just how undisturbed ze was by the prospect. What did that say about zer soul, Benexx fretted.
Besides, the risk of discovery was just too great. Ze might just as easily blow the approach and wind up gunned down and bleeding out on the footpath. So, ze waited. Ze waited until both of them had exited the enormous chamber. Waited longer until ze couldn’t hear the sound of the human’s shoes against the rocky path. Then waited longer still.
When ze was absolutely sure they were well and truly gone, Benexx crept around the pool and across to the far wall, then made zer way down it, clutching the stock of zer rifle all the way. White light still spilled out into the cavern from the passageway branching to the right. Wearily, Benexx put zer back against the wall and listened for signs of life. Sensing none, ze crept close enough to stick a hand in the entrance and sniff for the presence of another person, but detected only stale pheromones and sweat from a single human body.
Benexx breathed deeply, trying to calm zer racing bloodways. Ze raised the stock of the rifle up to zer shoulder and steeled zerself for a fight, should it come to that. With a silent prayer to Xis, ze rolled from cover and swept into the passage, the muzzle of zer gun clawing for a target almost of its own volition.
But it became quickly apparent to zer just how ill-advised setting off any kind of spark in this particular chamber would be. All around zer, naked mining explosives laid in the open air, sitting on make-shift work benches among tangles of wires, blasting caps, electronics, and hand tools. It was a bomb factory, probably the point of origin of the very bomb that almost killed zer back in Shambhala during the parade.
Benexx’s first instinct was to run away. But it wasn’t long until zer fear fueled an even more intense and primal emotion. Ze wanted to make a big bang on zer way out. These were the tools to do it. Zer mouth curled into a smile devoid of mirth or compassion.
“Now we’re talking,” ze said, the first words ze’d spoken aloud since escaping the cell these bastards had thrown zer in.