I woke up to the smell of sweat and blood. The taste in my mouth was worse, and even Demi waved her hand in front of her face when I got too close. She had gotten up earlier and procured coffee for me from the Ugly Duckling. Apparently, she didn't want me offending the innocent bystanders in the Pub with my hard-earned stench. Can't say as I blame her.
I slammed the coffee down, grabbed my harness, and headed for the spare electric cart in the main corridor of the Emerald Grotto. One leisurely drive later, I stood at the river's edge contemplating my navel. Somehow blood from the night before had gotten there too. I strolled out into the water until my head went under and stayed that way as long as I could hold my breath. It's always peaceful in the river.
The area around the bank was strangely depopulated, and I attributed it to the number of teams doing the away thing. Queen Mother had people at 267, 367, Mt. Femmes, and Cavern Twenty-Seven. Now droves of scientific folks were pouring over Mt. Arcadia in Australia. Mt. Drago was buzzing with excitement and anticipation but felt oddly empty.
Thirty minutes later, Demi and Bubo made their appearance, then piled into the water and the games started almost immediately. Bubo's favorite being "Smack My Wings to Splash Everything That Moves," and Demi's comeback, the ever entertaining, "You Wouldn't Dare." It didn't take long until we were all exhausted, but stress free, and that counts for a lot in my book. I eventually got dressed, said goodbye to Demi and Bubo, and made my way toward Commons. It was pure enjoyment to experience how slow my day had become, not wanting it to stop, but knowing more stress was sure to be around the next corner.
I hadn't seen Matthew or Gregory, and I imagined they would lie low until the hangovers subsided. It was only a matter of time before a meeting would have to be endured. Their training had to resume. Maybe I'd get lucky, and they wouldn't bring up the life debt thing whether they remembered or not.
Many of the dragon and rider teams from the previous night had been transferred over to the dragon side of Medical, which left a considerable amount of room to visit the others still on the bipedal half. Most of the dragon/rider teams had issues with their partners being in an area they couldn't see. After a lot of jockeying of hospital beds and what seemed like miles of cabling, the teams that just simply wouldn't deal with the situation were moved into the larger of the two sides of Medical.
I walked over to the main entrance, bipedal side, and thought about the last few days. The trauma that I and the two younger Machinists felt, loomed to a lesser degree now compared to the holocaust suffered by the dragon and rider teams. I/we suffered no injuries, and for all practical purposes, had no signs of post combat anything. Oh sure, we felt stress; I wouldn't deny that, but nobody other than Queen Mother knew anything about our ordeal, nor would they ever. This obviously doesn't apply to the dragons, the communal network being what it was. A trip to Twenty-Fourth Street and Camelback doesn't look like much if you compare it with teams that fought on the Provinces of Hell. This is not the "Tanis Show," and I need to get over not being able to go collect Amphitere eggs. It isn't healthy to feel less because you weren't there to control everything. That's what it was. How many would have been injured if the Emerald Warrior had run the show? The truth is . . . if we had been there, it might have turned into a real disaster where men and women lost their lives. The Machinists are not, I repeat, are not the end all do all where battle is concerned. There are fighters here that are equal to us, if not better, and it was high time to step back, probably for the first time in my life, and allow other people to shine. That's not easy for me to say, but a lot of things in life are not easy.
Beds were lined up like cord wood in the main bay, only a few feet from the entrance. The Medical Area doesn't usually have this many patients at one time. I greeted each one of the riders as I slowly worked my way to the back of the room. These were men and women I saw every day as they went about their duties just like me.
I.V. lines were connected to them, as they battled their way up from the massive loss of blood they had endured. There was a lot of laughter and jokes about the ineptness of the enemy, and how lucky they were to have been beaten by the greatest fighting force ever to have flown across the Provinces. I high fived the ones I could and simulated the movements to those I couldn't. These were some of the bravest people I'd ever known. It was interesting to note, the teams who couldn't deal with being away from their dragons were, in their entirety, the Section Leaders. They had the most seniority and tenureship by far, but apparently little or no ability to be separated from their bonded partners. It seemed to me that the designation really ought to be dragon and rider on one side and the smaller section for everyone else. I'll be the first one to admit that I'm no better, so it isn't that I don't understand.
All the way to the back on the right side was Abercrombie's apprentice/student, JMan. He was watching the antics of the riders like me. This was his first visit to the dragon asylum, and you could tell he was enjoying himself immensely, even with the injuries he had sustained. He raised his hand having spotted me, and I worked my way down until I stood at the foot of his bed. His chart was hanging there so I pulled it up and scanned through the information.
"Hey Tanis, it's good to see you. How did your trip to see the higher ups go? I heard through the grapevine you and your boys were successful. I'm really glad to hear it."
Successful might not be the operable term, but it certainly wasn't worth getting into.
"Yeah, we did okay. Have the Doctors given you a time when you can blow this Popsicle stand? I'm sure you're itching to get back out there."
He looked pensive for a moment, but the sentiment passed quickly.
"The Doctors tell me a few more days, but they also sting the end of it with, if you're up to it - we'll see when we get there. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate everything that's been done, and the chow is top notch, but I could use some exercise or at least a walk."
I glanced down at his chart again before answering him. I don't think he wanted to hear what I had to say.
"Yeah, I hear you, but according to the chart there are several things that could rip loose if you get too strenuous, and I get the idea you would . . . well, you don't seem like the kind of guy to take it easy. I think, a few days, is their way of not allowing you to tie them down to a timetable. Look at the bright side, when you can get up there's a whole mountain to explore from an electric cart. The food is even better down at the Ugly Duckling. Certainly, a larger selection, and there's dragons to watch. There are naked ladies fighting, but you have to pretend you're not looking at them when you watch. Lots of stuff to look forward to and you're just . . .”
He said it at the same time I did.
"A few days away."
I had already heard that Abercrombie and his men had left but were planning to come back in a few days. Pun intended. Upon their arrival Abercrombie would assess JMan's improvement and decide whether he was fit for duty, a foregone conclusion that he wouldn't be, before leaving again for a few weeks. JMan would convalesce and be up and mobile, which would, I'm sure, change his mind about whether or not it was pleasant to be closed up in a cave.
JMan asked if I would be back on the following day, and I told him it was contingent on whether Queen Mother had me up for away duty or not. If I stayed in the mountain, then I would. I waved goodbye to the others and made my way to the door leading out to Commons.
Right as I got there, Cystic handed me a piece of paper and a smile, a prelude from one to the other. Not necessarily in that order, now mind you. The paper was a copy of many that were given only to people who were riders of youngling Aguivas. Looking closely, I determined Bubo and I were being called to the Green Grotto to undergo tests concerning the well being of Baby Aguiva Warbirds.
Not very long ago we learned some critical things about the Aguivas and their mating habits. These tidbits were crucial to the understanding of this species and their subsequent well being. Not to mention, it surprised the crap out of everyone. The only people who had any experience with these dragons were The Pieces of Eight, and their knowledge base was sketchy at best due to the lack of time spent with them in the formative stages. The Handlers where the Pieces of Eight were trained disallowed the riders to witness anything until the Warbirds were much older. The point is that we collectively are learning about our dragons daily, and not one day goes by that we don't learn facts about them no one knew. This summons is probably no more than that.
Only moments later, Demi drove up on an electric cart, with a sleeping Bubo on a sled being pulled behind it. She climbed out as I walked up and thrust a piece of paper at me that was a copy of the one in my hand. Her demeanor was that of irritability, presumably from having to drive the cart all the way here. However, I knew the exact opposite was true. She looked for reasons to drive the carts. It had become an unspoken hobby and one more reason to be in human form. She grinned shyly, removing the irritation on her face and looking instead for approval. I acted like it was the most normal thing ever and I stepped around her to climb into the cart. The passenger side, I'm not mean, and I don't really like golf carts that much.
"Let's go find out what the latest revelation is, Demi. Who knows, we might discover why plasma burns or how cherry candy causes them to fart more often. One just never knows."
She played bells and positioned herself behind the wheel. The acceleration was smooth, and we made a wide "U Turn" to head back toward the Green Grotto.
"I heard it has something to do with why some of the baby Aguivas fall down a lot. Their equilibrium depends on the development of their elbow hands, or something. I can't imagine how this has anything to do with Bubo since his balance is really good and he hardly ever falls down."
I agreed with Demi, and although Bubo was still technically a baby, he was considered a youngling, although more advanced and a tad older. We would listen and learn; all of us that have Aguivas owe that to them.
Demi drove onto the main ramp leading down into the grotto and I was surprised to see so many younglings in one place at the same time. Some were even older than Bubo and considerably more advanced. From the look of it, we were supposed to fall in line and get the little ones weighed first, and then adjourn to the far-right side of the foyer, where I assumed a demonstration would be held. Quite a few of the riders had come in from Mt. Femmes and I recognized some from my trips to their mountain. Demi waited until the now awake Bubo waddled down off the sled, and then went to park our cart to the far left of the foyer by the ramp. We would collect it later.
Needless to say, I thought this was going to be time consuming because there were so many dragons ahead of us. The women running the scales, however, had their own idea about how to operate this event and it was to be alphabetical. I had no problem with that in concept, but the amount of jockeying around trying to get the younglings in position to be weighed was more like a Chinese Fire Drill and caused the crowd to be moving constantly. Conversations were, as a result, somewhat short lived, but that may have been what the staff wanted in the first place. Everyone concentrated more on whether they had been called than where they were going to be on the weekend. Pretty smart.
After a short time, Bubo got called and we scrabbled, squirmed and waddled until we were in front of the ramp that led up and onto the scale proper. It looked more like it should be used to weigh vehicles, but in some cases probably held more weight than most cars. Once Bubo was in place, my job was to make sure he held still long enough for the machine to register his weight and length. Believe me; keeping an Aguiva still is just barely a possibility, certainly not a probability. Today Bubo was good, and it only took twice to gain the information they required.
Once that was done, coaxing him down the ramp on the far side was easy. Hold up a piece of cherry candy and he'll follow you anywhere. From there it was an excruciatingly lengthy path down and around to arrive at the area where the presentation was to be held. Several of the others were already there and looking impatient.
My first thought was that we only needed maybe a couple Aguivas for show and tell. The Staff had other ideas and wanted each rider to use his or her dragon for the presentation performed, with the help of someone who knew what we were trying to accomplish. It got crowded in a hurry, and eventually the best laid plans of men and dragons will try to go astray. And boy did it ever.
You can't put that many babies in one place without the inevitable taking place. The inevitable in this case is the need to vent, and even worse, when one does it, others get the idea to take part in the festivities. I'll tell you what; the person who invents a working dragon diaper will change the course of history forever. Until then, all we have are shovels, sore backs and a lot of sweat. After a lot of laughter and even more work, the area was clean again. The point to today's presentation turned out to be a great deal more interesting than anyone thought.
Some Aguivas have equilibrium problems; to date no one knew why, and to the best of anyone's knowledge they got over it within the first year. No real harm, no foul. That is until the advent of a rider named Brandon Harper and his Warbird, Arrow. This little Aguiva was born at Mt. Femmes, ate his first meal with no problems, and seemed healthy at his initial checkup. Shortly thereafter, Arrow began having issues standing, any movement on his part causing him to tip to one side. He would fall immediately if he attempted to walk, and as a result seemed listless and weak.
Brandon impressed with the Arrow, and it didn't take the rider long to realize that his dragon had special needs. Instead of waiting, apparently not Brandon's style, he began experimenting with different techniques to help strengthen the Warbird. That was when he noticed the first oddity about Arrow. Aguivas can't see forward due to their eye placement on the side of their heads. To see forward they have to turn their heads to one side or the other. On the ground this presents no real problem, so long as they have both feet under them. To maintain their equilibrium, they flex and release their elbow fingers randomly to redistribute their weight to the side where the wing is furthest down. By doing these movements, the Aguiva resorts to accepting food or treats via their beaks. They shouldn't ever try to take the treats with their elbow hands. For example, if the Aguiva sees you are trying to give a treat, the beak automatically opens until it feels the morsel hit the tongue. Once this happens, the mouth closes, job done. During this time, the elbow feet are opening and closing to maintain balance.
If you offer them a treat and they attempt to take it by one of the elbow hands, their balance is thrown off and down they go. Arrow would try to take offerings exclusively with his right elbow hand, attempting to turn to achieve this no matter which direction he was facing. The result, no matter how cute it might appear, was devastating to his balance. In essence he was right-handed and in most species, this wouldn't cause an issue, but Aguivas are by necessity ambidextrous. Without that ability, they are handicapped by the loss. Imagine what would happen to a human baby that went straight from sitting to walking, never learning to crawl first. It causes neural problems, and the only way to fix it is to force them to crawl. Once they go back and achieve what was missed, presto bingo, problem solved.
Bubo never suffered these irregularities, so it never even occurred to me to question them. He was apparently ambidextrous from birth, meaning my Warbird was healthy, strong, and had a normal equilibrium. Big sigh of relief.
You could see the looks on some of the riders; their dragons were suffering some of these problems from one degree to another. It was decided that those who had any of these issues were to go first on the show and tell presentations. I agreed wholeheartedly and moved back closer to the rear of the pack.
At one point, Brandon brought up Bubo's efforts with the Brunswick maneuver, how it strengthened his muscles and did wonders for his balance. I was gratified to know that my little Aguiva got noticed. I was even more gratified when I heard the maneuver was being instituted as part of the regular regime. Let's hear it for bowling balls.
Before I could even do my presentation, Demi came up from behind and informed me Queen Mother wanted my presence in the Conference Area. Seems there's been a problem with some of the heavy machinery at Mt. Arcadia. I'm to collect Matthew and Gregory then report upstairs. Demi gave me an apologetic smile and I headed for the ramp.
I almost always wear the harness over my shirt, it's not like I have to hide here in the mountain. Halfway up the ramp I hit the switch and suited up on the fly.
"Walter, can you locate the boys for me please?"
"Absolutely, Tanis. They're in the Ugly Duckling just getting started on another binge. If we hurry, we can stop them before it's too late for them to be coherent."
We turned right and headed up the East Wall, arriving in record time. Walter and I walked into the large bar area within the Ugly Duckling just in time to stop Matthew from taking a drink. I didn't know if it was his first or not, but he appeared sober, and I needed to keep it that way.
"Suit up guys. Queen Mother wants us at the Conference Area five minutes ago. Looks like we're going to Australia."
Gregory looked relieved and Matthew radiated excitement.
"Ten four, Dude . . . we're like halfway there."
Gregory chimed in too, and then hiccupped.
"We'll meet you there. We just need to get our suits."
I was somewhat disinclined to reprimand them for not wearing their harnesses; they'd had a bad week. Maybe some active duty would do them good. Likely as not we would probably need to move large heavy objects that Queen Mother’s machines couldn't get to conveniently. It wouldn't be the first time I had to supplement what normal excavation was unable to do. It seemed ironic to use advanced science as a bulldozer, but sometimes it's the only way to get the job done quickly.
The three of us left the Ugly Duckling at the same time. They headed for the Armory, and I flew straight up. Walter scanned the area ahead and confirmed it was clear. We shot into the Cone and streaked past the Alcoves higher and higher, until clearing the opening at the top. I drifted over to the right and landed just outside of the Veranda where I knew Queen Mother was waiting.
Pulling the suit down, I walked into the Conference Area, where I could see The Ariella sitting at the end of the conference table. She had a glass of something green she was sipping on and she glanced around as I got closer.
"Ah, Tanis . . . Thank you for coming so quickly. I've got a two-week job for you that I need done in two days. That didn't come out right, what I meant was in two days time, it has to be finished. You once said that if it was difficult, you could do it immediately and if was impossible it'd take a couple of days. This job, to date has qualified as impossible. Sooo . . . I need it in two days."
Matthew and Gregory strolled in toward the end of her soliloquy and she motioned for them to sit. I chose one of the end chairs closest to Queen Mother and started looking at the paperwork she'd already laid out. I saw the problem right up front and knew her equipment wasn't sophisticated enough to effect the changes she needed.
I pointed to the spot in question and then tapped the page.
"How sure are you that water lies behind the wall circled in red? If we're not careful enough, the whole cavern there could cave in. Have you worked this out with your Corp of Engineers yet? Tell me they said no to even trying. That's a great deal more sensitive a job than just blowing a hole in the wall."
Queen Mother was nodding vigorously, and I could tell she agreed with me.
"We've been all through the different proposed methods on the computer and they fail, some of them miserably. The wall between the river and the main cavern is load bearing, and as such, can't be blown down or it all goes. The end result has to be a circle, smooth and perfect so that the ceiling remains intact. That much surface rock would hold the shape and structure without taking away the tensile strength. A laser could do it, but the size and bore capacity is well beyond the available science presently. Only a Machinist would be able to generate that kind power."
I chuckled.
"Or in this case . . . three Machinists. We'll go give it a try. Look at the bright side, if it caves in, only a Machinist would be able to dig his way back out." Note to self: Sometimes sarcasm just isn't helpful.
Not too long ago a mountain collapsed on me, and I almost couldn't dig my way back out. I got into a lot of trouble as a result, and now I'm being asked to do the very thing that could cause it again. It doesn't take a physics degree to see the irony. I could be blind and still see it. I know she was thinking the same thing, and I was glad she didn't mention that painful memory. We had that meaningful glance thing going on for a minute, and then we both looked away. I knew the whole problem, and no matter how many times I looked at it, the back of my head kept telling me I was missing something.
"I don't understand. You've got the eggs safely tucked away and your riders are healing. Mt. Arcadia's not going anywhere, and I doubt the river will dry up anytime soon. So, I guess my question is . . . what’s your hurry? Why the two-day limit? Seems history has proven that haste makes waste."
Queen Mother laced and unlaced her fingers and got the weirdest look on her face. She took a deep breath, and then another.
"I didn't see the problem until it was too late. Massive shipments are due in three days, and I have nowhere to put them."
Still not seeing the problem.
"Mt. Drago is huge, with dozens of caverns large enough to house the belongings of every person in the city of Phoenix. When the trucks get here, simply stash the stuff like you did the eggs."
I don't think I'd ever seen the look on Queen Mother's face that I was witnessing at that precise moment. Her problem came tumbling out with speed and force, the words almost bumping into each other as they spilled forth.
"Bob Harris purchased a trucking company in Sydney and all the trucks are already en-route to Mt. Arcadia. When they get there in three days, I can't let them pull into a mountain that might fall on them while you're working. Further, I can't let them unload, move out, and then have the mountain land on all my supplies. I screwed up and you have to fix it. When Bob finds out he'll kill me first, and then everyone else will kill me later. I can't leave the trucks outside of the mountain for obvious reasons. I have nowhere to run, nowhere to turn. I am so screwed. But if you can finish the excavation in two days, we're saved. It's as simple as that."
And with that said, she burst into tears. Why would she purchase a trucking company and then send the trucks out in the open to the mountain? Come on Tanis, think. Unless she was actually going to move the trucks inside the mountain on a semi permanent basis and then send them out piece meal when she needed something. Like a remote base in the middle of the boonies. To the outside world it would be like, "now you see me, now you don't". The problem there is that for a short period of time there's a lot of, "now you see me".
I wondered how she got them out of the city without anyone noticing. Did she use alternate routes and then rendezvous once they left the main roads? Did she factor in the Aborigines in the Outback? Did we have any of those guys? And if we did, were they friendly?
Bear in mind, all of this went down in couple of seconds, four eye blinks tops. If I started asking questions now, it would be like I didn't trust her or her judgment. Of course, she was the one who had a fleet of trucks on the way to a mountain which couldn't house them, but God knows I wasn't going to redundantly point that out. That would be rude.
"All righty then . . . we'll dig you a dragon-sized doorway from the Common Area to the river, and then you can stand there with the blast doors open when the trucks get there. Wave them inside like you’re landing a plane."
She shook her head and turned the color of a fire truck, the kind of red when you know you've found a way to screw up even worse than you originally thought.
"We haven't installed the blast doors yet."
Matthew whistled.
"Dude, that's like closing the horse doors after the barn is out."
Gregory cleared his throat, loudly.
"Shut up Matt."
Queen Mother held up her hand.
"No, he's right, not with the saying, of course, that was backward, but the sentiment was quite accurate. It's just that if the excavation goes wrong, then we won't need blast doors, will we?"
I'd heard enough and the excavation wasn't going to perform itself.
"Ariella, if you would be so kind as to contact the Gate Room boys and tell them to stand by. We'll be there in a few minutes. We don't want anyone there while we work, you know, just in case. Once we're done, you'll be the first person we contact, promise."
Motioning to the two Machinists, we ambled back out onto the Veranda next to the edge. We suited up and then dove over the railing.
We exited the Cone and activated the hand rockets, slowing our descent and angling toward the main corridor. There were literally throngs of people going in both directions within the confines of the corridor, so we kept our altitude as close to the ceiling as possible. There was an opening right before we arrived at the Gate, so we landed as quickly as we could and walked the rest of the way.
I could hear the machinery beginning to wind up as we made the last few yards to the Gate. When it opened, the atmosphere seemed murky and the lighting was so dim, it was impossible to see anything clearly.
The three of us stood ready, and I glanced over to the tech when it felt like we'd been waiting longer than usual. He gave the go ahead and I took a step into the main cavern of Mt. Arcadia.
Matthew and Gregory crossed the event horizon right behind me and we stood there waiting for the Gate to close. The light winked out as it closed, and we activated our external lighting to provide a more convenient way to navigate in the gigantic cavern.
This cave hadn't been given the phosphorous treatment yet, so when artificial lighting goes out; it's as dark as pitch. We also switched to infrared to enhance our vision.
I knew where the bank of generators was, so it was to be our first stop.We set out at a brisk walk. We reached our objective a few minutes later and fired up the bank of generators, knowing it would take somewhat longer to get them up to full strength.
I pulled up the cavern maps on my helmet screens and with Walter's help, located the exact spot where the opening was supposed to eventuate.
I shot probes into the stone where we would begin removing material, while Matthew and Gregory played paper-scissors-rock to determine who would go first at the wall with the lasers. Walter began transmitting readings as soon as the first probe was affixed. Depth verification and tensile strength populated my onboard screens, and information was automatically sent to Mt. Drago.
Gregory won the selection process and stepped up to a line I'd drawn on the floor only moments before.
"Gregory, set your weight to fifty thousand pounds and position yourself for potential impact. On my mark . . . and fire."
A pulsing yellow beam emitted from his shoulder armor and made a hissing noise when it impacted against the wall. He had his legs apart and was set via his onboard computer to keep his aim on the wall steady. A crackling noise joined the steady hum of his maser as the stone began to melt under the onslaught. It resembled a small lava flow on its way to the floor. Matthew stood ready to remove the debris as it dried into a solid object.
It would be several hours before Gregory's maser punched through to the river side of the new opening. Once that happened, I would make the two guys switch jobs and start over again. In the meantime, I decided to look for an alternative preexisting way to get to the river, so I could assess the area we were trying to break into. There was no telling what condition it was in, having been kept pristine for God knows how long. I was also curious if the water in the river was fit to drink without going to great lengths to get it that way. That would be very helpful.
Walter began testing the air quality and checking to see if there were any currents moving. We had to find any cracks or crevices ultimately leading to the outside and determine whether they were dangerous for the security teams destined to move in soon. Also, it would tell us if there were other access points to the river that flowed through Mt. Arcadia on its way to the western edge of the continent. Within a quarter of an hour, Walter located moving air coming fromroughly the direction of the proposed river. We scouted farther and farther back into a crevice initially hidden from view. The crevice wound in an irregular pattern, changing altitudes repeatedly until I was forced to take the suit down. I pulled out a pencil sized flashlight to substitute until I could get the suit back on. There was virtually no light whatsoever, another sign that we were cut off from the outside. At the moment, I wasn't sure if that was good or bad. Since there were no visual signs of animal life present, it was another indicator that there might not be avenues of ingress into the mountain.
Squeezing between two large stones, I finally popped out about thirty yards from flowing water. The sound of the river had been getting steadily louder, and now achieved a roar that could only be created through rapidly rushing water. This was a veritable torrent of slashing fresh water (I tasted it) thundering by at a breakneck pace that was conceivably dangerous if you weren't tied to something substantial.
I put the suit back on and walked up the riverbank for about one hundred yards, noting that I couldn't see the end. This section of the river could run for miles and would take longer to explore than I had to spend on it. Side trips like this one, interesting as they might be, weren't part of the mission, so I turned back. Once we were done cutting a path from the Common Area to the river, teams could come through here at their leisure and map to their heart’s desire.
Walter and I determined none of the air drafts led to the outside, so that was a security bullet dodged. Queen Mother would have to find a way to slow the river down or it wouldn't be utilizable to the average mountain dweller. She would also need to find where it left the mountain and install a filtration system to purify the water before it got to the outside world. No sense in contaminating the river for everyone else.
There were still no animal life forms detected on the way to the series of crevices leading back to the main cavern, although it smelled as if that assessment might possibly be wrong. It seemed to take longer going back than it did getting to the river. It might be that the return trip gave the impression of being all uphill. I also noticed an abundance of mushrooms growing up through cracks in the floor, an unusual occurrence where only solid rock could be located. I'll need to put that into my report, and make sure the mushrooms are tested for levels of toxicity in the near future. Besides the mushrooms, the caverns we’ve seen so far have a remarkable lack of vegetation, with the exception of the shoreline at the river, where weeds, grasses and some kind of frond that grows in the dark can be found. It's also possible to find all forms of life that can swim for extended periods of time underwater. We're hoping the river constitutes the only way to enter Mt. Arcadia without our knowledge. Sooner or later the underwater entry point needs to be found and covered with the screening mesh developed by the Corp of Engineers at Mt. Drago. By doing that, it keeps unwanted life forms like snakes and amphibians from entering and performing naughty bits to the dwellers swimming in what they thought were safe waters.
I took the suit down once I got to the entrance to the crevices and worked my way back to the Common Area. Gregory still hadn't punched through yet, but the debris was piling up nicely behind him. Matthew was forced to wait for the remnants to cool, so Gregory was creating more, and faster than Matthew could carry away.
The hole was beginning to widen the further back it went and was now almost three feet in diameter by almost four feet deep. The next problem was also starting to manifest itself, and Gregory finally turned the maser off as smoke piled around his suit.
"It's gonna have to be Matt's turn; I'm starting to overheat. I waited as long as I thought it was safe, but the safety buzzer is constant now, probably not a good sign."
Matt moved around to his left to keep from walking on the liquid rock drying close to where Gregory had been working.
"Be careful where you walk, Greg, this stuff doesn't dry or harden very quickly. It's pretty awesome though Dude. It's like having your own volcano."
Gregory chuckled.
"Yeah, cuz that's what everybody wants. I need to run diagnostics. One of the heat faders is still kinda high. I may have pushed too hard. My Screener says it'll be okay, just needs some time."
Gregory came over and stood next to me, while Matthew took up where he had left off. The smoke was getting a bit thick, but as long as we could see to make the cut on the rock, I was somewhat disinclined to go looking for an industrial fan.
At the rate of progress, we would make it under the deadline, but just barely. Once we had broken through, I believed it would go faster with two of us doing the cuts, but for now I just wanted to hear the sound of running water. The probes we had planted in the wall showed no signs of potential fatigue, and I couldn't feel any interior rumblings either. It's a sure-fire sign you've gone too far when you can feel the floor move.
Four hours later, the maser struck air, and we could hear the sounds of the river. We stopped and let everything cool down for awhile, running only the diagnostic tools from our suits. We also had a four-foot tube that ran from the Common Area to the river, which turned out to be through twenty feet of solid rock. Not bad for our first six hours, give or take.
The debris left behind turned into a small mountain in its own right, and we took shifts dragging it to the far side of the Common Area. It will eventually need to be carried away, but there's only so much three men can do during a two-day stint.
Over the next day and a half, our four-foot diameter tunnel turned into a fully fledged corridor with smooth walls and floor. The width went from just a few feet to enough for two grown dragons to walk side by side. Since there were no explosions, the integrity of the walls was never compromised and the mountain was equal to, if not greater than, what it was before.
We wound up with an extraordinary amount of rock debris and were forced to drag it further and further with each load. All of it was positioned along the opposite walls, and although it was unsightly, it didn't constitute a hardship to the available space, nor would it prohibit the trucks from parking in their area. When the fleet of trucks arrived, there would be ample room for all of them without the need to carry away the debris first.
It was amazing how much noise the river caused in the Common Area. You could still talk to someone without having to yell, but there was a constant background ambience that I assumed would never go away. In a lot of ways, it was rather pleasant, and affected me in the same way as a wave machine does when I sleep. It was restful and soothing. Now, as you got closer to the river, all bets were off. It simply got noisy, and not a good noisy either. Once Queen Mother gets her Corp of Engineers to cut down on the speed of the rapids, the cessation of that much movement will drastically reduce the overall ambient noise.
The three of us had been sleep deprived since we started, and our levels of exhaustion were now critical. We flip-flopped between laughing uproariously at things that weren't funny, to being irritable without reason.
I called Queen Mother while I was still conscious and arranged for her engineers to come through the Gate to look at our handiwork. Mathew and Gregory headed for the Gate via my request and were instructed to show up on the following day to pitch in when the trucks arrived. We had eaten only preprocessed tube food we carry in the suits since we got here. They were instructed to have a good meal, get cleaned up, and go to sleep, as they would be needed again only too soon.
When the engineers arrived, I greeted them with the suit on but the helmet down. I thought it was best to actually have a face to face; these guys are extremely nit picky about their work and I wanted to make sure they understood about the rock we restructured. Only one of the engineers had a name badge, and it said . . . John. I took him for the leader of the group. I guess the rest of them prefer to run incognito.
It was too far for them to walk, so I made sure they had an electric cart to drive over and through to the river side of the corridor. I can be somewhat nit-picky as well, and I was more than ready to let them see how the impossible became routine.
We stopped halfway down the corridor and the engineers got out for a closer inspection. I was gratified by the looks on their faces and stood back trying to act humble. The Senior Engineer finally turned around and walked over to me.
"I wouldn't have thought it possible if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. How did you do this?"
Remember, I'm really tired and the technology we command is, in a lot of respects, vastly superior to theirs. Technology, which is Classified, I'm not supposed to share with anyone outside Wizard's Clan. What I can share with them is a sense of humor that has been described as S.T.R.A.W. which of course means, Sick, Twisted, Rabid and Wrong.
"You do realize that information is highly classified? So, if I tell you, I'll have to kill you. Queen Mother would be very upset and think about all the paperwork that would generate. Just not worth it, right? So, tell her we worked closely together on it while we were apart. Enjoy your new tunnel."
It occurred to me, right as my sense of humor invaded the outside world, that this Engineer most likely hadn't developed into a social creature as of yet. He swallowed, blinked, and then cleared his throat.
"If that is supposed to be humor, Mr. Theatra . . . well it isn't funny. And this is a corridor, not a tunnel!"
This man was close to popping a blood vessel, and I didn't want to be responsible for his untimely demise.
"You're welcome, John. Climb back in and we'll drive down to the river in your brand-new corridor."
John actually scowled at me while he climbed back into the cart. The other engineers, whoever they were, hadn't said a word or uttered a sound. As we approached, the shoreline conversation became increasingly more difficult until the roaring was so loud, talking was impossible unless you yelled.
You could tell from the way they cringed, that leaving the cart was not something they relished. The engineers acted frightened, and I would have bet even money that none of them had ever seen a large, rapid, river up close. It was daunting, and I don't have a problem admitting it. None of them would walk to the water's edge, and when it was time to leave there was no hesitation in their movements. They climbed in and stared with furtive glances at the road back.
I got the idea these guys didn't get out much.
Driving the cart back to the Gate Area only took a few minutes, and I could see the techs were back and nervously watching our progress. Somebody in Mt. Drago had obviously been betting we would fail, and die in the ensuing cave in. I recognized the attitude and sympathized with their paranoia. They just wanted to open the Gate and go home but had to wait for everyone else to pass over the event horizon first. Nobody wants that for their epitaph.
The engineers left without as much as a "kick my butt" or "have a cookie," and I knew we wouldn't get a glowing report. I was betting Queen Mother wouldn't care. She got her corridor, and in the correct amount of time. I decided thinking was now overrated and way too much work. Trying to look patient was probably not my forte at the moment, and when they had disappeared through the Gate, I too went home. Queen Mother was waiting for me in the opposite Gate Area with a huge smile on her face, and a cup of coffee. She also had a cart for me to ride in . . . and both of my dragons. We drove to our river where I bathed hurriedly and stepped out to a steak dinner. When we finished, she drove right to the entrance of my area, kissed me goodnight, and instructed Demi to make me lay down. It didn't take all that much persuading.