07. Ghost of the Well of Souls (31 page)

They decided not to press anything further, and entered the great cavern through its carved, ornate entranceway.

The cavern appeared to be an enlargement of some natural one, because it instantly became cooler and a breeze blew steadily against them as they descended. Workmen had done the walls and ceiling, though, so it appeared to be a long artificial construct with marble friezes and ceiling frescoes all along, forming a story or legend. If they were concerned with the sensibilities of the young, it didn't show, since just within a short walk the marbles left no doubt as to how the Alkazari-ans copulated, among other things. There were also somewhat gruesome hunt carvings, and a panoply of little bear gods and demons, among them a progression from regal types to idealized Alkazarians, larger than the others, who were depicted in various extremely ornate uniforms.

The path was entirely artificial, set in a more natural bed dug into the rock. There were in fact two paths, one for going in on the left and one for exiting on the right. Both were about three meters wide and quite smooth, almost shiny, made out of some reddish substance that gave off a subtle glow so you knew exactly where it was. It was also recessed about fifteen centimeters from the more natural rock base, with regular grooves along the sides and small single rails along the top. It explained some of the crawlers and containers they'd seen just outside. Not only people, but cargo, was moved along these.

Finally they came to an elaborate security station that had but one officer, wearing the same silver and black as the one at the entrance. This station, though, was more automated. As they stepped up and passed through a portal one at a time, a three-dimensional representation of each of them appeared on a plate at a console. It then went through a series of gyrations from skeletal and nervous systems, even checking the contents of the stomach and whatever was inside any bag or article of clothing, few as those were with this trio.

Jaysu found the one of herself fascinating; she preferred not to look at the insides of either of the Pyrons.

They then had to place a hand in a recess under the officer's watchful eye. She was surprised to feel her palm scraped, and a slight pinprick. When she withdrew the hand, it had a tiny bubble of blood at the prick, although when she sucked it, there was no apparent wound and it didn't bleed anymore. Each of the snake-men had to surrender a tendril for the same purposes.

"You may pass. Wait in the left waiting area for the lift," the security officer instructed them.

They went forward, and Jaysu was surprised. "No papers to check?"

"They don't need to here," Har Shamish told her. "They now have everything up to and including our genetic codes. From this point on I expect more of those than paper. We're in their master computers now."

They walked down to one of two very large doors built into the cave. Unlike the rest, the doors had only some kind of official crest on them, one she'd seen on flags and uniforms, and nothing more. There was no sign of machinery, but they could feel the whole chamber vibrating, and there was a humming noise along with the sound of rushing wind, which was hard to place.

The doors themselves were about four-by-four meters square. There was no indication as to what was behind them, although there was a pillbox enclosure to one side that seemed to have a lot of electronics in it and several operators. The pervasive cameras around the chamber told Jaysu that they wanted them to remember that they were being observed.

"Now what?" she asked the two Pyrons.

"Now we wait." Shamish responded. "Shouldn't be long, I don't think. I didn't see any big rigs out there, so they aren't moving much cargo today."

O'Leary used two tendrils to give a sort of shrug. In this matter, she knew as much as he did.

There was a distant added noise now, a roaring sound, and it seemed to be getting louder, until it virtually shook the whole chamber. Then there was a
chunk!
that shook the floor so hard it almost made them lose their footing, and then hissing, like gas venting from cylinders, although it wasn't venting their way. They heard a hydraulic sigh, then a Klaxon alarm sounded and the great door in front of them slid to one side, into the rock.

The chamber it revealed was well-lit, and had more of the rails and grooves about its sides. It was also quite deep, going back six or more meters. They could move very large, heavy containers through it, that was clear.

The ceiling bristled with cameras, and when a loudspeaker said, "Passengers, please enter and proceed all the way to the rear of the car," they obeyed, more curious than nervous.

At the rear, they stepped over a bar that clearly was there to keep containers from coming farther back, and then there were two sets of ladders with handrails up a couple of meters to a platform containing seats, benches, and the like. For the small Alkazarians, it was the kind of area they could move thirty or forty people.

"If you cannot sit or otherwise belt in, then go to the sides and hold tightly to the railings there," the public address voice told them. "Once under way, you may relax pending our warning, but be prepared to grab the rails again if instructed."

They did as they were told. Hearing warning beeps from outside, they looked, and saw several short containers being pushed into the front of the car, using the grooves on the side. Yellow-clad workers scrambled to stop them and lock them in place, and then yelled signals to one another. Finally, a half-dozen Alkazarians came back to the passenger platform and, without even looking at them, sat down and buckled themselves in to the chairs.

There was a second Klaxon sound from outside, and some kind of announcement that they could not make out, and then the door closed. When it did, a second door rolled down and closed too, locking with a series of
chunks,
cutting them off. Finally, there was that hydraulic sound and the sound of rushing air.

"They're pressurizing this cabin!" O'Leary said wonderingly.

"Maybe we should enjoy it while we can," Shamish suggested. "If we go up there, the air's going to be mighty thin."

There was a sudden eerie silence, and then, incredibly, they felt themselves begin to move upward, slowly at first, then with increasing speed.

"It really
is
a lift!" O'Leary breathed. "I've been in ones in some mighty tall buildings before, but never one that went this far up!"

Jaysu wondered just how far up it would be. At least
she
was made to fly with the clouds. And in this case, what would be at the other end?

Sanafe

IT WAS ALMOST COMICAL TO SEE THOSE HUGE CREATURES WITH
their soft spiral shells and many tentacles boarding the special pneumatic train line in the northern part of Abudan, and being sucked away one at a time by controls operated by Kalindan engineers who'd built the line as per instructions and never asked what it was for. They were intimidated and not a little scared by the sight of these strange creatures, but Yabban officials were also there to ensure that all went smoothly.

Somehow, I never expected to see anybody use one of these things without being inside a protective car or capsule,
Ming commented.

But they
are
protected inside,
Ari noted.
They're completely withdrawn into those shells, even the eyes fully retracted. They're better protected than we'll be.

Even so, it was amusing to forget their situation, and also just who these creatures were and what they were bred to do, and just watch them being shot off into the vacuum, tumbling and looking like they were in zero gravity until they hit the first bend and got bonked around. In two hundred kilometers there would be a lot of bounces. Since the Chalidang shell was soft and pliant, it was doubly impressive. That must be awfully tough skin and thick internal bones, they both agreed.

Iwonder just how scrambled they're gonna be when they get there,
Ming mused.

I'm more awed that they're doing this without water,
Ari responded.
Nothing can hold its breath for
that
long. I wonder how the hell they breathe?

Has to be some kind of gadget. They're getting packs of stuff as they get to the front of the line, and since we know it can't be weapons or other implements of war, it's probably some kind of recirculator. Hell, I never figured out where they breathed from as it is!

It turned out that it was the common soldiers who were sent off in this unceremonious fashion; the officers climbed into form-fitting, bubble-shaped vehicles. The sergeant major, too, got a bubble, as did the warrant officer and the colonel. General Mochida sent all the officer and senior NCO types ahead, staggered in between enlisted personnel so there would be supervisors at each of the stops to reorganize the men, check them out, and get them back on their way.

"I'm afraid we didn't anticipate
you
,"
the General told them, "and so we don't have a car that will properly transport you. The standard cars are too small for this line, you see."

"That's all right. Just leave the drug and we'll happily stay right here," Ari told him sincerely.

Mochida chuckled. "No, my young friends, I don't think so. I'm afraid we're going to have to strap you into one of the officer bubbles as best we can and send you just ahead of me. I'll be the last one out. Don't worry—the bubbles have sufficient oxygenated water that they can take you a good distance. In our case, we can store enough water inside cavities in the body to take us a considerable distance, quite an advantage in the field at times, particularly in areas where oxygen is low."

They stood by until the line went down. It took hours, and through one cycle of their shot, before they saw the end of things. This was not an efficient way to move troops, but it sure was sneaky.

And don't forget, the consulate here isn't gonna be sending any notices home,
Ming pointed out.

Maybe not, but I'll still bet you Core knows by now. There are a lot of Kalindans around here in the construction gangs, and a few races that seem to be involved in this business back in the diplomatic zone.

Huh. You're right, of course. Isn't that funny, though? It never occurred to me until you brought it up that we might not be the only spies around here. You think maybe Core dismissed our report because it was old news, and only worded it that way to help protect us?

Could be. In any event, we went ahead and failed to protect ourselves anyway. Not much we can do about it now.

But
—
don't you see? If it's old news, then the Sanafeans have
got
to know! They'd be tipped! That means they'll be ready for this invasion, or whatever it is.

Maybe, but I don't remember anybody pointing out a Sanafean to us, do you? And they are standoffish and hate Kalindans. Would
you
believe a Kalindan ambassador if you were them? Hey, look, Chalidang quick-froze a bunch of solders, and they're going to invade. See what I mean ?

Ming did, and knew he was right. They would certainly have been forewarned, but the odds were that they wouldn't believe it. Even if they did, they were some kind of tribal types with little central government and no national army. Just professional meanies, more or less. They might be fighting wildmen, but against a disciplined force of pros . . . Well, it didn't seem likely they had much chance.

"It would have been much easier if we'd just taken Ochoa," Mochida said. "The water hex between it and Sanafe is high-tech, and we could have remotely deployed an awful lot of stuff, not to mention using the harbors and forts for a central supply base. Still, this will do. Ah! It's almost our turn. After you, please!"

They looked at Kalindan faces operating the terminal and still working on assembly of the last part of the line, and some of the Kalindans looked back. Some seemed surprised, but nobody came over to speak to them, let alone ask them who they were, why they were with these creatures, nor made an offer to take messages back.

Finally, it was their turn.

Strapping them in was less of a challenge than even Mochida had feared. There was an alternate restraint using netting and belts that was just made for Kalindans, simply because it was Kalindans doing much of the testing of the bubble cars and the system itself.

The netting pressed them flat against a padded lower back wall and held them tightly, and not very comfortably, although they were no more uncomfortable than they'd been on the regular line getting here.

And then the bubble was closed, the hatch turned and locked down, and they were pushed up onto the main tube line, to what appeared to be a solid wall.

A Kalindan operator turned a huge wheel, and suddenly the "wall" fell back, revealing a long tunnel, and they were violently sucked into the system.

It was as noisy and uncomfortable as before, but faster, much faster. The new improved model, both of them thought without much enthusiasm. It was bumpy, vibrated like hell, and if they tried to shift their weight even for comfort's sake, it started a spin that was hell to stop. Still, it worked. And how! It worked . . .

With stops for transfers and to renew the water in the bubble, it took some time, but the effective speed over the journey was nonetheless impressive, averaging close to fifty kilometers per hour. That put them at the border only about four and a half hours from when they'd left.

In each case they arrived just ahead of the General, who seemed to be having the time of his life.
He
hadn't arrived frozen, but had come in as they had, undersea, as it were, but his size had prevented him from taking the suction express to the capital. Now that he finally was on one designed for him, he was like a kid on an amusement park thrill ride who simply wanted it to keep going.

It ended several kilometers from the border. The region was dark and there was an unpleasant sulfurous taste in the water that burned as they breathed it.