anywhere alone?’
‘That’s rich coming from you, a person who dives into danger quicker than you can say dead.’
‘I’ve had extensive training, Deep Reach, SED training, you haven’t.’
‘Well, I’m back and I’m safe, no training necessary.’ Trish walked past her and opened an enclosure on the supply vehicle. Removing a flask, she took a swig of water while at the same time avoiding Sarah’s glare.
‘Look, can we just stop?’ Sarah said.
‘Stop what?’
‘This.’
Trish made a face of indifference.
‘This place screws with your mind,’ Sarah said, ‘it’s tearing us apart. You’ve been caving before; you know what its like.’
‘It was a grade two, for one day, so no, I don’t know what it’s like.’
‘Dehydration, paranoia, disorientation,’ Sarah said. ‘If it wasn’t for these helmets and the Centipede—’
‘Bob,’ Jason mumbled.
‘—we’d be hallucinating, sleeping for twelve hours straight and God knows what else.’ Sarah looked to Jason, who’d also decided to take on some water.
‘She’s right,’ he said, ‘these places can really mess you up. It’s the lack of light and fresh air. The constant silence, too. We’ve been down here over a week. Even I’m feeling it.’
Trish humphed and Sarah took that to be a sign of weakening resolve. ‘Truce?’ She held out a hand.
Trish hesitated and then accepted the offering.
Sarah searched her friend’s face for the hint of a smile, for anything that signalled a warming of relations, but nothing was forthcoming. It was a start, though.
Jason handed a small energy bar to Trish. ‘So, what noise?’
‘Eh?’
‘You said you heard a noise,’ he said. ‘What noise?’
Trish gestured ahead. ‘I’m not sure, something. Sounded weird, like—’
‘Like what?’
‘I’m not sure.’
Sarah refrained from commenting in order to preserve the new found peace. ‘Whatever it was we need to get moving again. According to my helmet we’ve stayed for too long, we were asleep for six hours.’
Jason swore and Trish looked shocked. ‘Are you sure? I set my alarm.’
Sarah nodded. ‘Me, too. I must have just switched it off and gone back to sleep. I’ll turn up the loudness; we can’t afford to lose more hours like that again.’
‘So, which way now?’ Jason asked her.
‘There’s only one way; forward. We don’t have the supplies to get back to the shuttle station and even if we did—’
‘When they found us they’d lock us all up and throw away the key,’ Trish said, finishing her sentence.
Jason collected the Centipede’s control unit and slipped on the strap. ‘How far to the next waypoint beacon?’
Sarah removed an energy gel from her backpack, swallowed it down and then consulted the map on her visor. A detailed schematic of the route to the Anakim temple appeared, along with information on the various hazards between them and it. ‘About three quarters of a mile,’ she said.
Jason’s expression brightened. ‘Nice.’
‘Straight down.’
His smile faded.
‘Welcome to Sanctuary,’ Trish said.
Sarah, buoyed by her partial reconciliation with Trish, slapped him on the shoulder. ‘Come on, doofus, the sooner we start the sooner we’ll finish.’
‘Doofus?’ he said, peeved.
Trish snorted. ‘Sounds about right to me.’
Sarah walked away with a small smile on her face while her eyes scanned the path ahead with care. Trish followed and, bringing up the rear, came Jason; the all-terrain vehicle, aka Bob, trundling along by his side.
♦
A noise echoed down the cave from behind and Jason slowed the Centipede to a halt. Looking back, he searched the pitch-black by filtering through the different visual spectrums provided by his visor’s operating system. He zoomed in on an area in the distance. Nothing stirred. Get a grip, Jas , he told himself, you’ll be seeing little green men next . With a shake of the head he switched Bob back into forward motion with a flick of
‘That’s rich coming from you, a person who dives into danger quicker than you can say dead.’
‘I’ve had extensive training, Deep Reach, SED training, you haven’t.’
‘Well, I’m back and I’m safe, no training necessary.’ Trish walked past her and opened an enclosure on the supply vehicle. Removing a flask, she took a swig of water while at the same time avoiding Sarah’s glare.
‘Look, can we just stop?’ Sarah said.
‘Stop what?’
‘This.’
Trish made a face of indifference.
‘This place screws with your mind,’ Sarah said, ‘it’s tearing us apart. You’ve been caving before; you know what its like.’
‘It was a grade two, for one day, so no, I don’t know what it’s like.’
‘Dehydration, paranoia, disorientation,’ Sarah said. ‘If it wasn’t for these helmets and the Centipede—’
‘Bob,’ Jason mumbled.
‘—we’d be hallucinating, sleeping for twelve hours straight and God knows what else.’ Sarah looked to Jason, who’d also decided to take on some water.
‘She’s right,’ he said, ‘these places can really mess you up. It’s the lack of light and fresh air. The constant silence, too. We’ve been down here over a week. Even I’m feeling it.’
Trish humphed and Sarah took that to be a sign of weakening resolve. ‘Truce?’ She held out a hand.
Trish hesitated and then accepted the offering.
Sarah searched her friend’s face for the hint of a smile, for anything that signalled a warming of relations, but nothing was forthcoming. It was a start, though.
Jason handed a small energy bar to Trish. ‘So, what noise?’
‘Eh?’
‘You said you heard a noise,’ he said. ‘What noise?’
Trish gestured ahead. ‘I’m not sure, something. Sounded weird, like—’
‘Like what?’
‘I’m not sure.’
Sarah refrained from commenting in order to preserve the new found peace. ‘Whatever it was we need to get moving again. According to my helmet we’ve stayed for too long, we were asleep for six hours.’
Jason swore and Trish looked shocked. ‘Are you sure? I set my alarm.’
Sarah nodded. ‘Me, too. I must have just switched it off and gone back to sleep. I’ll turn up the loudness; we can’t afford to lose more hours like that again.’
‘So, which way now?’ Jason asked her.
‘There’s only one way; forward. We don’t have the supplies to get back to the shuttle station and even if we did—’
‘When they found us they’d lock us all up and throw away the key,’ Trish said, finishing her sentence.
Jason collected the Centipede’s control unit and slipped on the strap. ‘How far to the next waypoint beacon?’
Sarah removed an energy gel from her backpack, swallowed it down and then consulted the map on her visor. A detailed schematic of the route to the Anakim temple appeared, along with information on the various hazards between them and it. ‘About three quarters of a mile,’ she said.
Jason’s expression brightened. ‘Nice.’
‘Straight down.’
His smile faded.
‘Welcome to Sanctuary,’ Trish said.
Sarah, buoyed by her partial reconciliation with Trish, slapped him on the shoulder. ‘Come on, doofus, the sooner we start the sooner we’ll finish.’
‘Doofus?’ he said, peeved.
Trish snorted. ‘Sounds about right to me.’
Sarah walked away with a small smile on her face while her eyes scanned the path ahead with care. Trish followed and, bringing up the rear, came Jason; the all-terrain vehicle, aka Bob, trundling along by his side.
♦
A noise echoed down the cave from behind and Jason slowed the Centipede to a halt. Looking back, he searched the pitch-black by filtering through the different visual spectrums provided by his visor’s operating system. He zoomed in on an area in the distance. Nothing stirred. Get a grip, Jas , he told himself, you’ll be seeing little green men next . With a shake of the head he switched Bob back into forward motion with a flick of
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