Neverwylde (The Rim of the World Book 4) (9 page)

Kelen glanced upward and remembered what she’d planned to tell them. “Has anyone else noticed that the wall containing the doorway doesn’t have a textured surface?”

            “Or that this room has six sides, just like those graphics on the walls are six-sided?” Tojun pointed out. He also had a bowl of the stuff, and she could tell he was having as hard a time eating it as she was.

            “We call that shape a hexagon,” Kelen informed him. “We have an insect on our world that makes its home using clusters of these shapes. Those clusters are called hives.”

            “Why do you think the ceiling is the chamber floor?” Jules threw the question out. “Why are there rooms underneath?”

            “Guess we won’t be finding any nonagons on this part of the planet,” Fullgrath remarked.

            “No, but I found more food.” Lifting out a small plate, Mellori held it up. “At least, I think it’s food. It looks nothing like what we found over at the other place.” He took the plate of blackish lumps over to the doctor for a scan test.

            “Eww.” Kelen laughed and screwed up her nose. “That makes this mess I’m forcing down look downright delicious. Massapa, I hope you find something that looks more appealing.” She sobered immediately when she saw the Seneecian’s wide-eyed expression of fear. “What’s wrong, Massapa?”

            Kyber got to his feet and went over to where his crewmember stood staring at the still-open drawer where Mellori had withdrawn the black lumps. When Kyber joined him, he pointed to the side of the box. Kyber peered closely, finally turning around to face the rest of them.

            “More of those Adajuss symbols?” Jules guessed.

            Kyber looked back at the side of the box. “It says, ‘Ganj not friends.’”

            “That’s it?” Sandow asked.

            “Sounds like the Adajuss were into graffiti,” Fullgrath remarked.

            “Mellori?”

            Mellori glanced at Kyber. “What?”

            “Which panel held the bowls of food?”

            “Umm.” The engineer pressed on a hexagon. When that one didn’t react, he touched the one beside it. It popped open. “This one. But there’s nothing inside. We already got our allotted three servings out of it.”

            “It is not the inside I wish to examine.” Kyber bent over to check the side of the open box. Massapa went to check the other side.

            “On this side,” he told Kyber.

            “Read it.”

            “‘You stay you die.’”

            “Why did they write that stuff on the side of the boxes?” Jules questioned.

            “I’m guessing to hide it from Hoov and its people,” Kelen surmised. “Are there any more?”

            Kyber, Massapa, and Mellori began pressing the panels, going along one row, then splitting up to take the next row above and below. Almost immediately, another box popped out. Massapa checked the contents, withdrawing three round red objects. He tossed them to Sandow as Kyber checked the sides.

            “‘Eat drink nothing. Poison.’”

            Kelen coughed, nearly throwing up as she stared in horror at the half-empty bowl in her lap. Tojun threw his bowl across the room. Dox had yet to touch his.

            Sandow pushed away the plate of black lumps, setting the red balls beside it.

            “But you scanned it,” Fullgrath objected to the doctor. “You said it was safe to eat.”

            “I said it was edible,” Sandow shot back. “But there could be chemical compounds in it my scanner isn’t programmed to recognize.”

            “So, do we take the chance and eat it anyway?” Kleesod asked. “Or do we stick to our dwindling pile of rations?”

            “He has a point,” Massapa stated. “Sooner or later we may have to eat this or starve.”

            Fullgrath gave a derisive laugh. “Oh, great. Use up our rations, or take a chance on their food. Starvation or poison. Either way we’re goners.”

            “For now, we chance nothing,” Kyber almost growled. “Check to see if there are more,” he told Massapa and Mellori, and hurried over to where Kelen sat in shocked dismay. He glanced at the bowl, then snatched it up and threw it across the room like Tojun had. “Doctor?”

            Sandow crawled across the short distance to Kelen. “How do you feel?”

            “Fine. I’m fine,” she admitted. Her body felt as if she’d put it on alert, checking every heartbeat, every muscle movement, every breath for some sign of irregularity. Trying to notice something that would seem out of place. But, so far, nothing. She looked up at the two men studying her. “Other than being tired and crampy, I’m okay.”

            The doctor arose and went over to where Tojun stood. “How about you? How much did you eat?”

            “All of it.”

            A sound caught Kelen’s attention and she glanced over to see Mellori kick away the bowl sitting in front of Dox. Thank goodness for the young man’s preoccupation with his projects, or else he might have eaten some of the contents.

            “Found another one!” Massapa called out. Before they could ask what it said, the Seneecian translated it for them. “‘Sent ask help.’”

            “What’s that supposed to mean?” Fullgrath countered.

            “What does that drawer hold?” Sandow asked instead.

            Massapa checked. “It looks like water.” He sniffed it. “It is water, but it has an odd smell.”

            “Bet it’s the poison,” Jules whispered.

            Fullgrath turned to Kyber. “Those other scratchings, they pretty much made sense, but not this last one. Sent ask help? What do you think it means?”

            “I have no idea.”

            Kelen noticed Jules getting to his feet and walking over to another wall. He ran the tips of his fingers over the symmetrical lines texturing the panels. “There are no windows and only one door. I don’t know if this side of the world holds to the three theory like the other side did. In fact, I’m beginning to believe this room isn’t our ‘home’ like Hoov claims it is. I mean, I don’t think it’s where we’re supposed to live from here on out.” He turned around to face them. “I think this is a holding tank for us. A jail cell.”

            Sandow gave a little groan. “I was thinking along the same lines.”

            Fullgrath chimed in. “Is it possible those Adajuss died out because they were kept here as prisoners? And perished because they ate the food and drank the water?”

            “It is a very real possibility,” Kleesod agreed.

            “So what do we do? Just stay here and wait? Because that’s what this is probably turning out to be, isn’t it?” Fullgrath demanded. “They plan to have us eventually die out, the same way the Adajuss did. Y’all agree with me, right? Put the dangerous invaders where they can be watched and feed them to kill them off.”

            “I cannot think of any other motive for us being here,” Kyber agreed. “It appears they are reluctant to kill us themselves because they do not know our strength. Therefore, they are using these tactics of appearing to be helpful to keep us off-centered. And by the time we come to the conclusion we are never supposed to leave this room alive, it will be too late.” He motioned to the wall. “That is what all those scratchings have been about, to warn us. To keep us alert to their plan.”

            “I have a question,” Massapa mentioned, turning to Jules. “This room is purple. There is a purple light on your tablet, correct? Then there should be a transportation panel here somewhere, correct?”

            Jules bobbed his head. “Correct, but where? Finding it might take us hours. Or days. And we don’t have that kind of time to spare.”

            “I believe we would be better off getting away from here first, then looking for the next cavern where there would be a panel,” Kleesod suggested.

            “Then what should be our next move?” Massapa inquired. “Do we try to make a run for it? Do we ambush them? What is our plan of action? Because we cannot remain here to die.”

            Jules turned and rushed over to the unmarked wall where the doorway stood. Pausing in front of the purplish structure, he reached out with one hand…and met resistance. He frowned. “What the hell?” He tried again, but his hand would not go through. He looked back at them. “I think they’ve locked us in.”

            “And you’re surprised to discover that?” Mellori remarked.

            Kelen watched Kleesod hitting the wall and knew what he was looking for. “Three. We keep forgetting about three.”

            The Seneecian frowned. “We know of one door. There should be two more.”

            Jules and Gaveer went over to examine the walls, searching for the other two portals they knew had to be there, but they were unable to find them. “They could be locked like the other door, which might be why you can’t feel them,” Kelen remarked.

            “Oh, great.” Fullgrath made a rude sound. “So what’s our next move?”

            “Need a rock.”

            Everyone glanced over in astonishment at Dox, who had suddenly emerged from his self-imposed isolation. Kelen blinked, confused.

            “A what, Dox? You need a rock? What kind of rock?”

            The young man placed a hand at his throat. “A Hoov rock,” he explained, then held up his jury-rigged device. “Ready to test it.”

            Mellori chuckled. “By golly, I think I have an idea.”

            “What is it?” Sandow asked.

            “I’ll tell you after we get Dox a Hoov rock,” the engineer promised, and grinned.

Chapter 14

Stone

            They ate from their dwindling supply of rations. Sandow continued to hover over Kelen and Tojun, scanning them at regular intervals for signs of distress. Although she didn’t feel like eating again, Kyber convinced her to have one of the ration packets.

            “It might help to dilute the stuff you ate in that bowl,” he suggested.

            Sandow also urged her. “It’s worth a shot.”

            As time progressed, the wait became less tolerable. Dox went back to working on the communication devices. The others took advantage of their incarceration to get some much needed rest.

            Wide awake, Kelen shivered as she huddled within her blanket. When Kyber tried to share his body warmth, she got too hot and had to shuck an outer layer. Within minutes, she was cold again. This constant seesawing left her too tired to rest, much less sleep, and the painkillers that Sandow provided were starting to lose their effect.

            When night began to fall, the temperature grew colder. The ceiling panels finally closed, but there was no additional heat pumped into the room. Neither was there any way for them to start a fire. There was nothing flammable to use as fuel. The walls of the room brightened, making them wonder how long they would stay that way. At some point they were certain the light would dim, maybe to the point of plunging them in total darkness.

            “Five bucks Hoov doesn’t show until tomorrow,” Fullgrath announced.

            Jules snorted. “You don’t have five bucks.”

            “Then I’ll rub your stinky feet, fly boy.”

            Mellori chuckled. “I’ll take that bet.”

            It grew quiet once more, until Gaveer softly asked, “Does anyone know how many days we have been on this planet?”

            “Hard to tell,” Jules replied. “But by my estimate, I would say we’ve been here nineteen days.”

            No one replied.

            With the ceiling panels closed, what outside noises they’d been able to hear were muffled or completely eradicated. To Kelen, it grew unbearably quiet.

            “I have half a mind to start humming, just to break this silence,” she teased.

            “It is a little unnerving. I’ll grant you that,” Sandow remarked.

            Kleesod suddenly sat up from where he sat. “Listen! I feel a vibration!”

            Her stomach knotted with fear. “Another ice quake?”

            Massapa placed his ear against the ground. However, it was Gaveer who identified it. “Outside. Footsteps.”

            “Hoov?” Fullgrath asked.

            They were answered when the creature strode through the wall. It stopped on this side of doorway, as if it expected to make a sudden exit. Kelen watched Hoov study all of them, and her eyes involuntarily dropped to the glowing necklace it wore. A quick glance over at where Fullgrath and Mellori sat revealed their eyes were also focused on the translation device.

            Hoov pointed to the far wall, the one where the food dispensers were located. “Eat. Home.”

            “Thank you, but no,” Sandow responded. “We don’t know if your food is compatible with our biological systems.”

            Rising up on its two back legs, the creature strode further into the room, nearly tripping over Jules where he sat with his back against a wall. Stopping near the dispensing wall, it tilted its head when it spotted the bowls and food that hadn’t been touched. Halfway turning around, it seemed to glare at Sandow, who nodded.

            “I told you. We thought about it, but decided not to eat it because we weren’t sure our bodies would be able to tolerate it.”

            Hoov thought it over for a moment, finally accepting the doctor’s explanation. Kelen kept a close eye on the creature and tried to read its expressions. They had no idea whether or not Hoov would be able to read the Adajuss marks. They couldn’t risk finding out, which meant they had to keep Hoov from seeing those scratchings on the side of the drawers if the creature decided to open them.

            Her eyes dropped again to the translator necklace Hoov wore. She glanced at Jules, who nodded at Mellori. The ex-navigator saw her scrutinizing them and raised a finger to his lips, requesting her silence.

            “Hoov, how long are we going to stay here?” Mellori asked.

            “When will we be allowed to leave?” Fullgrath clarified.