that would be required if he were to stay with them, deep beneath the city. Sarazen could not hide his anticipation of his impending exploration of the sentient’s subterranean home.
CHAPTER 14
Kerrig's work had been swift and skilled. Sarazen could instantly feel the benefit of his service and felt almost as good as new if not better. His exterior still looked positively 'antique' but there was little that Kerrig could do about that now. For the time being, Sarazen’s movement was a little hindered but was not so much of a handicap that he could not walk around and perform simple duties.
“ Are you ready to take the tour?” Trist inquired with a youthful sense of anticipation.
“ Indeed. Although I profess, I long to feel the warmth of the Star on my face. This darkness consumes me, how do you function in these conditions?”
“ A case of having to, my friend. You will see that we have made the best of our surroundings. The feeling of disenchantment will pass I promise.” Kerrig seemed certain that Sarazen would adapt to the alien surroundings, although Sarazen was not convinced. Perhaps the trauma of a million cycles of oblivious sleep had not yet truly manifested itself.
“ Now, can you stand?” Kerrig asked, inviting his patient to use his legs for the first time in an age. With helping hands from both Trist and Kerrig, who grasped the old man underneath his arms and gently lifted, Sarazen took to his feet and gradually bore weight. His stabilisers carefully retracted their grip and he arched his back and stretched his arms high above his head.
“ I feel renewed.” Sarazen muttered as he ran internal diagnostics and flexed his joints.
“ Renewed! Indeed, however if that were the case then you would not be the Sarazen I have come to know.” Kerrig replied light heartedly.
“ So it is true then, Cole was correct.” Sarazen stated, although his friends knew not what the old man was talking about.
“ My visual acuity has increased by 59%. I am impressed with your technical skills,” he continued.
“ My pleasure, ” Kerrig replied.
“ Pleasure, another term I have not encountered.”
“ Ah. Yes, well, you will soon understand, my friend.” Kerrig assured his ancient companion as he beckoned him to follow.
Sarazen’s enhanced senses enabled him to at last analyse his surroundings. The room he had awoke in was a claustrophobic chamber with tiled walls in a slippery, enamelled green colour, the ceiling arched and low, allowing only a few hand spaces of room above his head. Behind him, the tunnel continued into the distance, masonry rubble could be seen to litter the passage along the way.
“ Kerrig. I am perplexed. If these passages are used on a regular basis and as many cycles have passed. How is it that I was not discovered sooner?” Kerrig answered as they walked slowly down the corridor which stretched as far as the visual sensors could see.
“ Ah. Yes, well we did have to dig through many layers of fallen rock to access the tunnel in which we found you. There are a great number of such passages which have subsided and retain their secrets. The place where you were discovered is one of the many entrances to the network, but it would appear that over the passage of time, the entrance has closed over and has remained buried beneath the earth. The seters have seen to it that such places are almost impassable.”
“ Incredible. T he seters were few in number, the plains arid and barren.”
“ That is extraordinary. The seters now dominate that area, they flourish and multiply. They grow to great heights.” Kerrig was beginning to understand how different Sarazen’s time had been even in terms of the landscape.
“ The passage of time has indeed changed many things. I wonder if I would even recognise the place I once called home.”
“ To be honest Sarazen, I doubt that very much.”
The trio continued down the lengthy passage until it suddenly opened out into a larger
CHAPTER 14
Kerrig's work had been swift and skilled. Sarazen could instantly feel the benefit of his service and felt almost as good as new if not better. His exterior still looked positively 'antique' but there was little that Kerrig could do about that now. For the time being, Sarazen’s movement was a little hindered but was not so much of a handicap that he could not walk around and perform simple duties.
“ Are you ready to take the tour?” Trist inquired with a youthful sense of anticipation.
“ Indeed. Although I profess, I long to feel the warmth of the Star on my face. This darkness consumes me, how do you function in these conditions?”
“ A case of having to, my friend. You will see that we have made the best of our surroundings. The feeling of disenchantment will pass I promise.” Kerrig seemed certain that Sarazen would adapt to the alien surroundings, although Sarazen was not convinced. Perhaps the trauma of a million cycles of oblivious sleep had not yet truly manifested itself.
“ Now, can you stand?” Kerrig asked, inviting his patient to use his legs for the first time in an age. With helping hands from both Trist and Kerrig, who grasped the old man underneath his arms and gently lifted, Sarazen took to his feet and gradually bore weight. His stabilisers carefully retracted their grip and he arched his back and stretched his arms high above his head.
“ I feel renewed.” Sarazen muttered as he ran internal diagnostics and flexed his joints.
“ Renewed! Indeed, however if that were the case then you would not be the Sarazen I have come to know.” Kerrig replied light heartedly.
“ So it is true then, Cole was correct.” Sarazen stated, although his friends knew not what the old man was talking about.
“ My visual acuity has increased by 59%. I am impressed with your technical skills,” he continued.
“ My pleasure, ” Kerrig replied.
“ Pleasure, another term I have not encountered.”
“ Ah. Yes, well, you will soon understand, my friend.” Kerrig assured his ancient companion as he beckoned him to follow.
Sarazen’s enhanced senses enabled him to at last analyse his surroundings. The room he had awoke in was a claustrophobic chamber with tiled walls in a slippery, enamelled green colour, the ceiling arched and low, allowing only a few hand spaces of room above his head. Behind him, the tunnel continued into the distance, masonry rubble could be seen to litter the passage along the way.
“ Kerrig. I am perplexed. If these passages are used on a regular basis and as many cycles have passed. How is it that I was not discovered sooner?” Kerrig answered as they walked slowly down the corridor which stretched as far as the visual sensors could see.
“ Ah. Yes, well we did have to dig through many layers of fallen rock to access the tunnel in which we found you. There are a great number of such passages which have subsided and retain their secrets. The place where you were discovered is one of the many entrances to the network, but it would appear that over the passage of time, the entrance has closed over and has remained buried beneath the earth. The seters have seen to it that such places are almost impassable.”
“ Incredible. T he seters were few in number, the plains arid and barren.”
“ That is extraordinary. The seters now dominate that area, they flourish and multiply. They grow to great heights.” Kerrig was beginning to understand how different Sarazen’s time had been even in terms of the landscape.
“ The passage of time has indeed changed many things. I wonder if I would even recognise the place I once called home.”
“ To be honest Sarazen, I doubt that very much.”
The trio continued down the lengthy passage until it suddenly opened out into a larger
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