Ammonite Planets (Omnibus): Ammonite Galaxy #1-3 (70 page)

With some difficulty she made herself remember that she was wearing the orthogel bracelet, and that Arcan could help her if she got stuck inside the dark and rocky tunnel. She closed her eyes, blew air slowly out of her mouth, touched the bracelet lightly, and then pulled herself into the hole in the rock.

It was hard to breathe inside the tunnel, but Grace didn’t know if that was because her own fear was making her breathe shallowly, or if the air in the tunnel was stagnant. Either way, it didn’t help. She swallowed and sent a small prayer to Almagest. She was just a sub-standard Sellite, one who had never been genetically modified, one who seemed to excel at nothing. And one who was perpetually scared during all these adventures. Sometimes she wished she could be just a little bit more like Six and Diva.

Her head swam, and she bit her bottom lip to keep her concentration on dragging herself along the tunnel. Just as she thought she must be nearly at the end, the roof dipped, and she found herself pinned to the floor by a downward spur of rock.

Her heart flipped right over in terror, and she lay there for some time, eyes shut as hard as she could, and tremors passing up and down her body. It took long moments for her to realize that if both Six and Diva had got through this then she must be able to as well. She battled with her panic unsuccessfully, pulse pounding in her throat, and hands stretched out in supplication in front of her, until at last she was able to deduce a way again, twisting slightly so that the spur would release her. It turned out to be easier than she thought, and she was able to breathe normally again. She felt ashamed of her dread. Would she always be terrified of enclosed spaces?

When Grace finally tumbled out of the tunnel she was in a sorry state of disarray, and was more than grateful for the pitch blackness which hid her face from the other two.

“Grace,” Six acknowledged. “About time too! We thought you’d gone on holiday.”

“I …” Grace heard her own strangled voice, stopped, and struggled to bring her voice down an octave or two. “I was just admiring the … the view.”

“Well, come ON! We’ve been waiting for what seems like hours. This crack seems to open up into a passageway of some sort here, and the path widens out as it goes up.”

Grace struggled along in Six and Diva’s wake, just glad to have room to stand up in. Her relative comfort had already improved by about a hundred percent. Though she could see nothing in the darkness, in some way the lack of light reminded her of Valhai, and she felt her previous terror dissipating slightly.
 

THEY CONTINUED ON along, trying to ascend inside the solid rock, until after about half-an-hour they found that the rough path they were following was becoming slightly more visible. Some amount of light was at last allowed to filter through the few holes in the tunnel-like pathway, and they were now able to see vaguely where they were going. The rock surrounding them glinted darkly, and the going was much easier.

“Just think,” grumbled Six, “Arcan could simply have transported us up to the top of this outcrop. I think he must enjoy making us suffer!”

“Trust you to moan,” snapped Diva, who was also feeling the strain of all that struggling uphill. “It might get you back into shape.”

“Speak for yourself, your royal spikiness, it’s not
me
who’s unfit.”

“No. I suppose all that noisy panting is just for background noise?”

“Well, YOU sound like retro-entry on a shuttle!”

“You both sound like warthogs!” Grace told them firmly, causing them to stare at her indignantly before dissolving into giggles.

“How high up are we?” Six tried to spy out of one of the small holes in the passageway.
 

Diva joined him, struggling to get a foothold on the smooth rock to stretch herself high enough to see. “I would say we are about two-thirds of the way up, wouldn’t you?”

“About that. Of course, the last section will be the worst, because the outcrop tapers at the peak, which means the gradient will be much steeper.”

“Oh terrific! Thanks again, Arcan.”

But Arcan remained stubbornly silent. They turned back to the pathway. It was smooth, because it was made of solid instellite, but there were small bumps and promontories which made it dangerous to negotiate. They tripped and fell over these small protuberances many times, and were lucky that the bodywraps protected them from injury. Unfortunately, the same bodywraps made the journey infernal, causing their body temperature to rocket, and sweat to pour down their skin inside the suits.

“What do you suppose made this passageway?” asked Six.

“Most of it seems to be from wind erosion, and yet it doesn’t seem completely natural, does it?” agreed Diva. “And there is guano on the floor, which is a sign that something used it in the past, although I think that nothing has been along here for a long time. Perhaps the species died out?”
 

Six pulled a face, and they continued on, and up. The slope got steeper and steeper, and it was hard for them to stay on their feet now.

Diva’s spiky hair had melted around her face, and strands of green were plastered to her cheek. She pushed them back with disgust. “Yuck!”

“Yes. We don’t look exactly prepossessing, do we?” said Six. “I hope whatever is waiting for us at the top of this thing doesn’t expect high fashion!”

“Look!” Grace had been concentrating on the scene in front of them, and suddenly stopped dead. The other two, not paying attention, walked into her, and they had to spend a moment untangling themselves.

“Really, Grace, what on Sacras do you think you are doing, stopping like—”

“If you
have
to put the brakes on without warning—”

Their voices trailed off into an awed silence, and the three of them simply stared.

THE PATHWAY HAD opened out into a chamber which must have been three or four stories high. The rocks formed huge columns which towered upwards, and then curved in to support a solid rock dome above, forming natural openings which allowed the sunlight to filter through unimpeded, but protected the very centre of the chamber from the elements. The floor sloped down into a basin in the centre of the chamber. The whole of the basin was taken up by a dark-coloured liquid, but there were hundreds of dinosaur-like birds around the edge of the basin, and they had all turned to the unwelcome visitors at the same time. They varied in size from waist-high to heavy creatures at least twice Grace’s size. They looked to be almost an exact cross between a dinosaur and a bird, with small heads, hardened beaks which curved slightly, interminably long necks and heavy bodies. The strangest thing about them was that they had wings on their back legs as well as the large wings on either side of their bodies. The creatures were a mottled dark brown with patches of deep emerald green. They were standing upright on their hind legs, and a long tail was visible trailing behind them on the floor, ending in feathers. Six cleared his throat “Err …”

There were squawks of surprise and a large fluttering of wings. One or two of the largest birds – or dinosaurs – took a tentative step forward and regarded them curiously through one of their dark and almost reptilian eyes. They appeared merely curious, but Grace couldn’t help noticing the large curved digits ending in talons which seemed to be strategically placed on the hind feet. There were, she saw, two sets of long talons on the wing extremities too.

Six cleared his throat, and waited, his hand on the scabbard which contained his kris. The moment stretched out until it was apparent that the dinosaur birds were not going to attack. They seemed to be waiting to see what the newcomers would do. There was no sense of fear, only curiosity. He sensed that this was one of those speech moments. Not one of his strongest points. “Err …” He looked behind him for support. “Err … Diva?”

Diva stepped up to him, and stared at the creatures in front of her.

“Birds,” she said.

“No, dinosaurs,” Six told her.

“They have feathers and wings, so they must be birds.”

“Quite untrue. These are not birds, but dinosaurs.”

“Well we have to call them something, nomus! If you don’t want to call them birds and I don’t want to call them dinosaurs, what are they?”

Six thought for a moment. “All right,” he said. “Avifauna, then. ‘Fauna’, because they are animals, and ‘avi’ from the Coriolan meaning wing. I suppose we could call them avians, too, because there is no denying that – whatever else they may be – they have definitely got wings. That suit everybody?” He raised an eyebrow at the two girls.

Diva looked as if she were going to take exception to that, then gave a nod, stepped past Six, and faced the avifauna regally. Grace looked at the Coriolan girl with great respect. Only Diva could look imposing with her tinted hair plastered to her face, and a sweat-stained and filthy bodywrap encompassing her body. Six let Diva pass, but stayed close to her, still ready for action, just in case some brute force were needed. Not that Diva needed much help in that area, either, but he wanted her to know that he always had her back.

“We have come to present ourselves to you,” she announced in a clear, ringing tone, “and to the orthogel lake.” She pointed to the dark liquid in the centre of the basin.

There was a rustle of discomfort, and one or two of the smaller avifauna took fright and fled, disappearing out of the chamber through the gaps between the towering columns, with a light flutter of many wings, which they extended before jumping.

Six shook his head. “I told you so,” he said. “—It’s that hair. Scary.” He winced as a delicate heel trod on his toe, and then frowned as he gazed at the central lake. “Is that orthogel? It certainly looks like it, but it seems thinner, and rather … rather apathetic. More ortholiquid, than orthogel?” He felt the bracelet around his ankle vibrate. “Oh well, Arcan seems interested. See if you can get us closer, Diva.”

“We wish to pay our respects to the lake,” she said obediently, beginning to edge her way along the wall as it opened out, and addressing the avifauna in her clear, regal voice, exactly as if they could understand her. “Kindly do not get in our way.”

Grace fell in behind Diva, without taking her eyes away from the winged reception committee. Six brought up the rear.

“Those beaks don’t have teeth, but they could be lethal. Their jaws look pretty strong!” whispered Six to Grace, who nodded.
 

Diva spoke to them both through her teeth. “Shush! Don’t make any sudden moves, or do anything to spook them.”

“It’s not the
avians
that are spooked,” pointed out Six, but he tried to glide in the girls’ wake without making any noise.
 

“And whatever you do, don’t hurt any of them. If we do nothing to them they will do nothing to us.”

“You hope,” muttered Six, not totally convinced.

However Diva seemed to be right, and they managed to move about ten metres along the wall before she was forced to come to a temporary stop. The avifauna were thicker here; there were feathered dinosaurs all around them. One or two had scaled the walls of the chamber, showing an agility that belied their size. Six found there were three or four of the creatures hanging off the rock directly above him.

“Err … Diva?” As she turned round he pointed upwards.

“Yes,” she said. “They can obviously climb pretty well. You would have thought they would be too big, wouldn’t you? I suppose the low gravity is a help.”

“It won’t help us much if one of them falls on us.”

“No need to be sarcastic, nomus. Nothing has happened to us so far.”

But Six had fallen suddenly silent. One of the dinosaur birds had strutted officiously up to him, and had put its face on a level with his. It gave an enquiring chirrup, tilted its head, and was clearly scrutinizing him, evaluating his use as a food source or as a possible predator. Six glared back at it with such an expression of disgust that Grace couldn’t help giggling.
 

“Dinosaur meets troglodyte,” said Diva pleasantly, “hard to see which is the more prehistoric, isn’t it?”

The troglodyte in question gave such a fierce frown at this that the avifauna warbled alarm. All the rest of the avians turned to stare at Six, who put his shoulders back and tried to inflate his size.

The avian snaked its head back close to Six’s again, and resumed its evaluation rather more warily. Six pulled his head back until it came up against the back wall of the chamber.

“Don’t pull back, Six,” advised Diva. “These creatures have never seen anything like us before. They are just curious.”

“Can’t you see this thing is about to peck my eye out?”

“No need to exaggerate, Six. It is probably just trying to be friendly.”

“Then why isn’t it trying to be friendly with you?” He rolled his eyes. “I don’t like to monopolize all the attention. I would be happy to share.”

“Maybe it doesn’t like green hair?” Diva said sweetly, examining her nails. Grace giggled.

The avian extended impressive wings and Six saw the large hooks on the front edge. “Hey, Diva, this thing has claws! Get it off me!”

The avifauna crooned again at Six’s voice, and pushed him against the wall with its chest and open wings, effectively pinning him in place. Six gave a strangled cry.

Diva took a step away. “See?” she said. “I told you it liked you!”

Six struggled futilely against the avian, pushing the thick feathered muscles as hard as he could, and finding it hard to breathe. “Grrgh!” he managed. “Is it all right if I slice a wing off this thing?”

“NO it is NOT!” said Diva. “You can’t go chopping things up on first contact. I must say, it seems very taken, perhaps it would be open to an adoption plan?”

“Get me out of here, or I swear I am going to make mincemeat out of this thing, first contact or not!”

“I suppose you expect me to do something about it, as usual?”

“Grrgghh!” The limbs flailed desperately some more, and Diva saw that Six’s kris had appeared, shining menacingly in the light.

“Oh all right!” She strode up to the animal – which swiveled its head to look at her – and glared at it straight in the eyes, her own hands on her hips. “Drop him immediately!”
 

The avian found itself gazing into a pair of flashing eyes which obviously expected something of it, gave a questioning chirp, put its head on one side, and then folded its wings unwillingly back into its body, leaving Six free. All of the avifauna took a few steps back, leaving them room to move.

Six stepped hastily away from the wall, stretching and twisting his head from side to side to check that everything was still in working order. “I knew I should have brought a stun gun.”

“I think they are quite simple creatures,” said Grace. “That one just wanted to get close to you. They seem quite amicable, really.”

“It damn near smothered me!”

“Yes, but I don’t think it meant to. I think it was just being friendly, and it
did
obey Diva straight away.”

“She will be even more unsupportable than usual now, I suppose.” He thought for a moment. “Not that I’m ungrateful, but does that attitude of hers
always
have to work?”

Diva had turned back to the rest of the dinosaur birds, and resumed her slow walk in the direction of the centre basin, Six’s huge friend now trotting meekly behind her, and other avians falling curiously in behind them. Six and Grace scuttled to join the procession. Six, still rubbing the back of his neck, kept one wary eye on the nearest avifauna. As they got nearer to the liquid the stone became warmer, which explained why the creatures had been huddling around the lake. The top of the dark fluid was glistening too and the air above it was hazy.
 

BY THE TIME they finally arrived at the centre of the chamber they were surrounded by a gaggle of the alien avifauna. Diva paused at the edge of the lake, and then bent down to touch the surface of the liquid. There was a collective intake of breath from the avians, and a rustle of worry.

Diva put both hands on the surface, and her fingers moved.
 

“I am trying to get some response, using the same language we did with Arcan, at the beginning,” she said over her shoulder, “but nothing is happening.”

“Well it would have no reason to understand, would it?” Grace was doubtful.

“No, but surely it would recognize a pattern? Would be able to reply somehow?”

“Yes, of course.”

“—If it worked,” Diva said, getting to her feet. “Unfortunately, there seems to be no response at all.” Her fingers went to the orthogel bracelet around her wrist, and she unfastened it purposefully. “Arcan is going to have to do this himself.” She took the bracelet and dipped it into the surface of the liquid, just as Grace gave a shout.

“Don’t!”

Six took a step forward too, as if to try to stop her.

Everybody froze, but nothing seemed to happen. Grace eventually let out a ragged breath, and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Phew! Thank goodness. I had a terrible feeling that something awful was about to happen. Diva, you should have checked that out with Arcan first. He might not have wanted a direct first contact.”

“I didn’t want a direct first contact with that avifauna,” grumbled Six, “and neither of you took much notice of me, did you?”

“That is not the same,” Grace scolded him, “we can’t transport across half the galaxy, can we? There isn’t much we can do to transform a whole system, after all.”

“Says who?” Six straightened to his full height. “I think we have done pretty well so far in transforming the Binary System!”

Grace was forced to agree to that. They had changed Valhai, and now Kwaide. She gave a reluctant nod. “True.”

“And it wasn’t your neck the creature was hanging around, I notice!”

She raised her eyebrows and tilted her head from side to side, considering his argument, but was saved from answering by a keening noise which seemed to originate from the centre of the basin, and was growing louder and louder. At the same time a wind was springing up all around them, whistling through the overhead columns of stone and instantly evaporating the little heat they had retained in their bodywraps.
 

The solid stone around them suddenly seemed insufficient shelter, and they huddled down, dropping onto their knees and covering their heads automatically with their arms. The keening sound was now so intense that it was hurting their ears, and Diva had pulled the bracelet rapidly out of the surface of the lake. It seemed to be still in one piece, but was looking definitely the worse for wear.