left me breathing as hard as if I’d fought a rokhura in heat, but now we were a dozen veltiks from the first drop in our path, and I needed to focus.
“My friends, be wary,” I said, opening up the comms. “From this point onward, the Narrows would swallow us without a care.”
Hearing the occasional beep from the instrument tiny Joan wielded behind me, I found myself worrying over the humans, though less so for mine. Thankfulness assailed me. To hear her words, she now took the shel armor as her due; she fast became one with it and may consider herself a part of it as it was a part of her. But what of the other humans? I had learned of their short lifespans when studying medical information provided by VELMA. Compared to Theraxl, their lives would be but a quarter or less than our natural longevity.
“VELMA,” I said. “The introduction of shel extends the host’s length of life for ikthekal. I had assumed it would be true for CeCe as well. Do you have information regarding this?”
“In scanning ikthekal life systems, I have deduced several chemical exchange processes that contribute to longevity,” she said. “As these processes can be duplicated in human systems, I believe your assumption is correct. You may be interested to learn that the other humans’ bodies underwent a subtle transformation upon receiving their inoculations against the cyanobacteria. I’m still researching, but it appears that the introduction of Theraxl DNA into their systems may have begun a complex cell regeneration biorevitalization. As exposure to Theraxl DNA occurs for the humans over time, my models predict their lifespans will increase.”
I couldn’t help the spontaneous release of tension in my body upon hearing the news. Imagining my hunter brothers’ reaction to hearing their mates would die before them had prevented me from sharing what I’d learned. But now we had hope. Provided the remainder of the quest went as planned, of course.
Gravel spilled beneath my boot, and I caught myself against one wall before I fell into the crevasse before me.
“The quakes have altered the Narrows,” I said, forcing calm to imbue my words. My heart raced at my near miss, however. “I think we can jump it,” I said. “But I will anchor a line.”
A glance behind me showed Joan scowling at her instrument and CeCe not far behind, waiting with gloved hands resting against either wall.
Testing the anchor’s strength, I threaded line through the eyehole and knotted it then leaped across the divide, landing on solid ground. A second anchor, a second knot, and the line was secure. If the humans latched onto the line with their metal “biners” as they called them, the line would hold if they missed the ledge when they jumped.
Watching Joan disassemble her instrument and stow it, I noted her concentration as she snapped the biner onto the line, took a few steps back while staring at the black slash in the rock, and then ran toward it, pushing off with one foot and landing before me, her dark eyes intense with her effort.
“Well done,” I said, and looked up to see Raxkarax behind CeCe, his helmet pointed at Joan. We could not disguise our emotions even obscured by armor and helmets, I noted with some amusement.
CeCe cleared the crevasse with ease, and our small group moved farther into the Narrows to allow room for the others.
A sudden familiar scrabbling noise emitted from the crack at the same time VELMA spoke in our helmets.
“Agothe-faxl approach from five meters below.”
A chorus of curses flooded my helmet, but the three of us who had crossed were forced to stand and wait, the passage angling into a right-turn steps after the ledge.
CeCe stood closest to the corner and could watch the ensuing battle where Joan and I could only listen.
“They creep up from the crevasse,” Raxkarax said through gritted teeth. “Drive them down!”
“Move to your left,” I heard Pattee say. “Got that one.”
Grunting and thrashing sounded through the comms.
“Another one down!”
“Damn, that was close,” Pattee said with harsh breathing.
“And another!”
“Got him!”
After several rotiks, heavy breaths popped the comms before CeCe spoke.
“Clear,” she said.
Tension bled off my neck and shoulders, and I turned back to our trail with relief.
“I’d forgotten about them,” Joan said with disappointment. “I won’t make that mistake again.”
“What’s that?” I said.
“Thinking that just because we can barely fit in this tunnel, nothing else will try to.”
“I can tell you that Hivelt barely fits,” Hivelt muttered in our comms. “Pattee, if I get stuck, promise me you’ll return to feed me once every few days.”
“You assume I would leave you behind,” Pattee said, a smile in her voice. “I’ll use agothe-fax spikes to carve the rock out and release you from these unforgiving walls.”
Hivelt’s low laugh seemed to shake the walls around us. “You see my mate would ravage the bodies of her enemies to rescue me.”
Smiling, I could imagine Pattee’s wide smile and rolling eyes, the odd expression the humans adopted when they’d had their fill of nonsense.
Ever had it amused me how my hunter-brothers competed to brag about their mates’ assorted victories and accomplishments.
Sadly, my mate had an unfair advantage, though it was possible her greatest achievements occurred before she wore the shel armor. Toppling the entity known as IGMC, creating the enigmatic but powerfully intelligent VELMA sentience, preserving the lives of countless other humans. Alas, my CeCe had an unfair advantage regardless of armor; she was magnificent in her own right, and I must boast of her successes with utmost delicacy, lest I alienate our companions.