Apostle of the Terrians (4/4)
by Simon Kattenhorn
Chapter Four
Alonzo opened his eyes and squinted against the light that seemed to fill the cave. He was having trouble seeing anything. In fact, even the walls of the cave weren't visible. And where was Morgan?
"Great," Alonzo said under his breath as he climbed to his feet. "Morgan, where the hell are you?"
The reply from somewhere nearby in the brightness surprised Alonzo enough for him to recoil a step or two.
"Didididididi."
"What? Morgan? Who...hello? Who's there?" The realization hit home and Alonzo cursed himself for not being able to recognize when he was on the Dream Plane considering his numerous previous experiences.
The Terrian stepped closer towards Alonzo, the light forming a halo around the creature's body like it was some form of angel or other godly apparition.
'Dididididi. #You seek the chosen one.# Dididid. #The child.#'
Alonzo's heart raced. "Yes! We're looking for Uly. Do you know where he is?"
The Terrian looked at Alonzo with a haunting expression. Alonzo noticed the deathly pallor of the Terrian's skin. Even in the bright light surrounding both of them, it was unmistakable. Suddenly the light vanished and Alonzo and the Terrian were engulfed in darkness. The only light appeared to be emanating from the Terrian itself, as if its skin contained a natural phosphorescence that dimly illuminated the surroundings. They were standing in a cave, at the foot of a steep, muddy incline. Alonzo assumed it must have been the slope he had just fallen down. There was no sign of Morgan however. The Terrian gestured at the cave around them with his arms and continued with his trilling communication of sounds and thoughts.
'Didididididi. #Caught in the mountain of the night.#'
Alonzo frowned. "The mountain of the night? You mean these caves?"
The Terrian pointed back into the darkness where a small tunnel joined onto the chamber in which they were standing.
'Didididididid. #Swallowed where mother is gone. Life gone forever.#'
There was such an obvious sadness conveyed in the Terrian's message that Alonzo was taken aback by the strength of his empathic reaction. He had not experienced such a raw conveyance of emotion from a Terrian before. The emotions permeated his being while the Terrian's thoughts filtered into his mind. The Terrian did not like this place. Nor did he wish to be here. It was only his obvious concern for Uly's safety that drove him to enter the Dream Plane in this place at all. Alonzo realized that the mere act of being here was sapping the very life out of the Terrian. It was killing the Terrian to be here, both mentally and physically.
"If Uly is back there, we will find him. You need to leave now, my friend. You really need to leave."
The Terrian sensed Alonzo's concern and felt reassured that the human might actually understand what it was about this place that made it so disturbing. With a final cock of his head, the Terrian retreated into the darkness, the glow of his skin slowly dissipating. Then he was gone, and Alonzo opened his eyes.
"Well it's about *time*," Morgan heaved a sigh of relief. "I was about to give up hope and try to go and find help."
"Morgan, is that you?" Alonzo felt groggy. His head ached. He must have hit it when he and Morgan fell.
"Of course it's me! Who else would it be?" Morgan rolled his eyes and helped Alonzo up to his feet.
"Right," said Alonzo. "Where are we?"
"Stuck in a hole in the ground, no thanks to you," Morgan gave Alonzo his best told-you-so expression. "We should have called the others on gear first. Before you dragged me into this death-pit, that is."
Alonzo steadied his one-hundred-pound head with one hand and tried to take in the surroundings. Fortunately for them, the lumalight they had been carrying had made the journey with them into the cave successfully. Morgan had turned it on to illuminate the entire cavern. Alonzo recognized the cave immediately from his recent encounter on the Dream Plane.
"Will you shut up, Morgan. Uly's down here."
Morgan looked unconvinced. "We don't *know* that."
"*I* do," shot back Alonzo. "A Terrian told me."
"*What*?" erupted Morgan. "Are you insane? There've been no Terrians in here. You were unconscious for heaven's sake!"
"The Dream Plane, Morgan. I saw him on the Dream Plane."
Morgan stopped short. "Uly?"
"No, the Terrian."
Morgan frowned. "And he told you that Uly's down here?"
"You got it."
Morgan pummeled the fist of one hand into the palm of the other. "I *knew* those Terrians weren't to be trusted. But does anyone ever listen to me? Noooo."
Alonzo didn't have the slightest clue what it was Morgan was going on about now. "Morgan, what are the hell are you talking about?"
"The Terrians," replied Morgan, nodding his head up and down in complete comprehension of the situation. "They've gone and taken Uly."
"What?! Why would the Terrians take Uly for heaven's sake?"
Morgan was pacing back and forth as the numerous scenarios played out in his head. "I dunno. Perhaps to make him their king or something. Maybe they want something from us."
"Kidnapping? You think the Terrians kidnapped Uly? What could we possibly have that they would want, Morgan? Their own Transrover to cruise the local Terrian nightclubs?"
Morgan was having difficulty trying to tie the loose ends together. It *had* to make sense. Somehow. "Where are you going?" Alonzo had started working his way towards the tunnel that led off of their cavern.
"To find Uly. The Terrians haven't taken him. He's trapped in here somehow. And for some reason- I'm not sure what, but it's something bad- the Terrians can't help him in here."
Morgan stopped suddenly. "Bad? What do you mean something bad?" Morgan risked a few glances around him, half expecting a face-eating bat or something equally not-what-he-wanted-to-see-right-now to come thundering out of the darkness. "There's something down here?" Morgan hurried forward to catch up to Alonzo and grabbed onto his arm. "We must stick together..."
"Morgan, get the hell off of me!"
Morgan let go and again looked around nervously.
"I don't know what's down here," Alonzo continued. "But I'm sure it's not some *thing*. It's just this place. It's bad for the Terrians. It can kill them.
"Disease?" squealed Morgan as he made a point to wipe his hands vigorously on his clothing. There was no telling what kind of diseased fungus or flesh-eating bacteria resided down here in the dark.
Alonzo was getting tired of trying to ease his companion's idiot fears. They needed to find Uly, and fast. He could be hurt. "Yes, Morgan, the whole place is full of disease. Don't touch anything. Including me."
Alonzo and Morgan lost track of time. They had been working their way through a virtual labyrinth of caverns and interconnecting tunnels. Despite numerous attempts, there was no getting through to anyone on the surface using gear. Alonzo had been pushing ahead steadfastly but Morgan had found himself wheezing and puffing trying to keep up the pace. And to top things off, he was pretty sure by this stage that they were lost. Every tunnel had begun to look the same.
"What?! Alonzo there it is again! I *knew* it! We've been going in circles!" Morgan was gesturing to what he considered to be a memorable rock formation and was acting generally panic-stricken.
"Calm down, Morgan! *Every* chunk of rock looks like that down here."
"Oh, so now you're the geological expert?" Morgan let the sarcasm flow.
"And you *are*?" Alonzo shot back. "Morgan my sense of direction is working just fine, even down here. We haven't been going in circles, we...."
He was interrupted by a sudden sound from just ahead.
"What was that?"
Morgan's eyes opened wide. "What?!" He jumped up and gravitated to Alonzo's side, glancing around nervously.
"I thought I heard something. Kind of like a....there! Hear it?" This time they both heard it. The unmistakable sound of a child-like whimper. A faint cry.
Alonzo stormed forward, followed a second later by Morgan as if the two were attached by an elastic band. "Uly! Uly! Where are you?"
The faint crying appeared to be coming from up ahead. Alonzo was running by this stage, trying to avoid colliding with rocky walls and dangling stalactites as the light of the lumalight cast ghostly shadows around him. Morgan was beginning to fall behind, calling for Alonzo to wait as he saw the glow of the lumalight advancing further and further ahead of him.
"Alonzo! Alonzo!" yelled Morgan.
"Uly! Uly?!" Alonzo continued forward. "Where are you?"
"Alonzo!" came a cry from behind Alonzo.
"Alonzo?" came a cry from ahead of him.
"Uly? Where..." Alonzo caught sight of the little boy, trying to crawl towards the source of the light and sounds.
"Uly!" Alonzo rushed forward towards Uly and dropped to the floor beside him to give him a warm, full-body hug. Uly's eyes narrowed to thin slits in the sudden glare of the lumalight, and he cried out in pain as Alonzo jarred his leg.
Alonzo realized immediately the boy was in pain. "Where are you hurt?"
Uly winced, as if the mere mention of the injury compounded the pain. "My leg! I think I broke it..."
Alonzo attempted to examine it as Morgan finally came wheezing up to them.
"Uly..." was all he managed before collapsing against the rock wall and heaving huge breaths.
"His leg is broken," Alonzo concluded. He felt scared to check the boy too thoroughly. He was so small and fragile, he was worried he may break him further. "How did you get in here in the first place?"
"I fell," Uly said, trying now to choke back any tears and put on a brave face in the company of these two fellow men.
Morgan nodded. "Through the cave opening," he said.
Uly shook his head. "No, through the roof." He hung his head in embarrassment. "I was Terrian-traveling."
Alonzo's eyes opened wide. "What?! You can Terrian-travel?"
Uly nodded. "I've been practicing. The Terrian was helping me." His eyes dimmed as he recalled the very same Terrian's warnings about the caves. "He warned me about the mountain of the night, but I didn't understand."
Alonzo nodded his comprehension. "The Terrians are scared of this place."
"Why?" asked Uly.
"It's diseased," piped in Morgan. "There's bacteria everywhere." He surveyed around him, nodding his head as if his visual inspection were enough to convince him that his appraisal of the cave was right on the mark.
Uly looked at Alonzo with a suddenly worried expression. He didn't like the sound of "bacteria everywhere". Alonzo rolled his eyes and gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head to reassure Uly that the bacteria only existed inside Morgan's head, probably devouring his brain as he stood there, glancing around and nodding like an idiot.
"Are we gonna get out of here now?" asked Uly. "I'm hungry."
Alonzo and Morgan glanced at each other and a momentary mutual sentiment of worry passed between them.
"Sure we are, kiddo," Alonzo tried to reassure the boy. He knelt down in front of Uly and tried to sound unconcerned so as not to alarm him. "This is gonna hurt a little Uly, but I need to get you onto my back so I can carry you out of here."
Uly grimaced at the thought of the pain. "Alright," he said meekly.
Morgan helped lift the boy onto his uninjured leg and then up onto Alonzo's back. He gripped Alonzo furiously with his arms wrapped tightly around the man's neck and his uninjured leg curled around Alonzo's hip, leaving his broken leg dangling.
Morgan lifted the lumalight and shone back towards the direction they had come when he let out a loud gasp.
"What?!" responded Alonzo, trying to spin around slowly enough so as not to injure Uly further with the motion.
"Oh my God." Morgan stood motionless and stared at the illuminated cave wall ahead of him with a mixture of disbelief and fear.
***
"What is it?" asked Uly.
"Did you see something?" Alonzo had turned around now to face the direction of the illuminated cave wall and he let out a small gasp. "Oh."
The three of them stared ahead at the cave wall. It looked like honeycomb; there were so many tunnels leading off of the cavern in which they were standing, it was difficult to believe that the rock wall had enough solid portions remaining to prevent the entire lot from collapsing in on itself. But that was not what had caused the two men to react the way they had. For along the entire length of the cave wall as wide as the light of the lumalight pierced the darkness, extended a line of Terrian staffs, imbedded in the cave floor, separated from each other by a distance of about two meters and forming an open barrier of sorts, like a broken fence. It was incredible that neither Alonzo nor Morgan had barged into one of the staffs as they thundered into the cavern in search of Uly.
"This doesn't look good," whispered Morgan, his eyes still wide in near-panic.
"What does it mean?" asked Uly.
"I don't know," answered Alonzo. "I've never seen anything like it before. Why would the Terrians leave their staffs behind like that?"
Morgan became animated. "I'll tell you why! It's because it's a warning, that's why! We shouldn't *be* here! It's probably some kind of Terrian burial ground or place of worship or sacrificial chamber or something and we need to get out of here *now*!"
"Morgan! The Terrians do not sacrifice anyone," Alonzo shot back. "Why don't you spend a little more time thinking and a lot less talking, hmm?" He flicked his eyes to indicate to Morgan the presence of Uly on his back, to remind him that they needed to be calm and not alarm the boy.
Uly watched the exchange silently, his eyes moving back and forth between Morgan and the side of Alonzo's face he could see from his position on Alonzo's back.
Morgan regained his composure and stood ashen-faced in silence for a few seconds. It was as long a silence as he could muster. "Well, what else could it be?"
Alonzo walked towards the nearest Terrian staff and ran his hand along the cool wood. He examined the circular metal plate attached to the top of the staff and noticed how adjacent staffs in the line were all different in some way. Alonzo had yet to discover the significance of the differences in Terrian staffs or even how the Terrians made the staffs to begin with. There was still so much about the race that they had yet to discover. It was both exciting and simultaneously discomforting.
"The staffs all face outwards," noticed Uly.
"What was that?" asked Morgan as he walked over to join them next to the staff.
"You're right," agreed Alonzo. "Look how all the staffs face towards the cavern wall, rather than the interior."
Morgan cocked his head back and forth as he examined the staff and others nearby. It was unclear to him how to discriminate the front from the back of any staff, or even if there *were* a front and back.
"Oh yeah," said Morgan. Well if they could tell, he certainly wasn't going to let them know that it wasn't at all clear to him.
"Which means," continued Alonzo, "the staffs were intended to warn people coming *into* this cavern from the side tunnels."
Morgan's eyes widened once again. "You mean it *is* a warning?" He darted his eyes back and forth, trying to pierce the darkness around him. "Maybe this cavern is the source of the bacteria..."
Alonzo gritted his teeth. "Morgan. Will you *please* shut up about bacteria. There is no bacteria, okay?"
Morgan was entirely agitated now. First the place is diseased and now it's not. First the staffs are not a warning and then they are. 'Alonzo really needs to get a grip,' he thought to himself. 'The man is talking nonsense.'
"Maybe we should leave now," suggested Uly in a quiet voice.
"Good idea," seconded Morgan. He made a move towards the cavern wall and stopped abruptly. He turned and directed a nervous question at Alonzo. "Er...which tunnel?"
Alonzo stopped dead. He had no idea which tunnel. He had been so completely focused on locating Uly, he hadn't thought about the possibility of getting lost in the process. "Damn," was all he said.
"Oh that's just great." Morgan turned and ran his gaze across the cavern wall, with its network of tunnels leading off in all directions. It was not a particularly wonderful sight.
***
Morgan and Uly sat on the cold stone floor of the cavern watching the dancing shadows approach along one of the tunnels as Alonzo returned towards them. Morgan had his arm around Uly, trying to keep the shivering boy warm. Uly had been lapsing in and out of sleep, his stomach growling from time to time. Alonzo appeared at the tunnel mouth and walked over to them, a somber expression on his face. Morgan immediately knew what that meant.
"Nothing?"
"They all look the same," Alonzo said angrily. Morgan recognized that the anger was directed at their predicament rather than at him personally.
"Just lots of boulders and rubble. And these dark veins of rock everywhere." Alonzo walked over to the cave wall and pointed out one of the veins of rock that had intruded into the surrounding limestone.
Morgan got up gently, resting Uly softly against the floor. He walked over to the cave wall and examined the rock veins.
"Any idea what it is?" asked Alonzo.
Morgan shook his head. "I found something similar up on the surface a few days ago. But I don't remember seeing any of this on our way in. Do you?"
Alonzo shrugged. "Can't say I was really paying much attention to the rocks themselves."
Morgan looked at the veins closely. They formed an impressive network throughout the limestone wall. "Same type of look as Morganite veins," said Morgan. "But this rock is black, like obsidian."
Alonzo glowered at Morgan. It never ceased to amaze him that the man had no qualms about using his own name to identify features and formations on this new planet. "Maybe we can call this one Martinite," suggested Alonzo sarcastically.
Morgan's eyes lit up. "Really?!" He returned his attention to the rock and rolled the name around inside his head a few times.
"Maybe the rock already belongs to the Terrians," Alonzo added.
Morgan stepped back nervously. It was true this place *did* seem to be a Terrian site of sorts. He glanced at all the Terrian staffs and wondered out loud, "perhaps the Terrians are trying to warn us off about the veins." He ran his finger along one of the veins again. "Can't imagine why though. There's no energy emanating from *these* rocks. They're completely dead."
Alonzo was getting restless. He couldn't see how the veins were significant in any way in terms of getting them out of here. "We still need to find the tunnel, Morgan. I haven't seen anything in any of the others yet."
"No footprints or anything?"
"Nothing. Most of the tunnels have solid rock floors anyway."
Morgan nodded and silently analyzed the situation. They needed to do something. In his condition, Uly couldn't afford to stay down here any longer. "We need to just pick one and keep moving," suggested Morgan. "Try to keep moving upwards. We need to get Uly out of here."
Alonzo nodded as the two men looked at the boy. Uly was asleep, a troubled expression on his face.
***
Uly had all his weight on his good leg and supported himself against one of the Terrian staffs. The cavern was dark except for the almost imperceptible glow from his Dream Plane Terrian companion. The creature looked terrible. Uly almost burst out crying at the sight of him.
"What's happening to you?" Uly wailed.
The Terrian's chest moved in labored breathing. He attempted a few times to take in enough oxygen to finally trill back at Uly.
'Dididi....dididi...di. #Stone in the sky.#'
Uly shivered in the cold. His mind struggled to understand the Terrian but the riddles were as unfathomable as always. "Are you dying?"
'Didididi....didid....dididi. #Mountain of the night. Must go forever.#'
The Terrian looked at Uly with a sad expression. He reached out with his right arm and rested his large, gray, leathery hand on Uly's head. Then he closed his eyes and projected his thoughts directly into Uly's mind. The exchange was silent. And yet Uly, eyes closed, saw clearly the thoughts and messages conveyed to him. The Terrian was showing him which
tunnels to take. How to reach the surface. How to escape the ground and breathe in the open air.
And there was more. Uly struggled to absorb the rapidity with which the images danced through his thoughts. Uly watched in awe as he saw a cavern filled with Terrians- more Terrians than he had ever seen before. And the walls were glowing, pulsating with light and energy from a thousand veins of Morganite. The sense of unity amongst the Terrians, and between the Terrians and the planet was so palpable, Uly felt himself to be a part of the planet. As if he had always been a part of the planet and the planet had always been a part of him. Uly saw the images change and watched in sorrow as the veins of rock became dimmer and dimmer and the Terrians were forced to flee this place of 'joining'. Forced to separate and fragment into smaller and smaller groups, trying to survive and understand what had become of their mother planet. What had become of themselves.
And it suddenly occurred to Uly. What it was about this place. The mountain of the night. This place that had once sustained the Terrians in a unified oneness unlike anything they had ever since rediscovered. This place was death. Anathema. It was life undone. Strength eroded. Understanding cursed. They blamed themselves. The Terrians believed that it was they who had emptied the place of life. Too many of them together as one. The living had killed the self. It was a place to which no Terrian dared return.
Uly opened his eyes and cried out. "No! You have to go now! Please!"
The Terrian projected his reply. '#It is too late.#'
Not able to control his emotions any longer, Uly allowed tears to flow down his cheeks as he reached up and clasped the Terrian's arm. "I'm sorry. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to come here. I didn't know it would hurt you."
More images flowed from the Terrian's mind. Uly saw things he did not understand. A man, standing with a group of Terrians in a compound. He was shouting at a group of men Uly didn't recognize. Men wearing uniforms. Council insignias! The man was a friend of the Terrians. They respected him. They accepted him as their own. Uly did not know this man but he felt a connection to him he couldn't comprehend. Somehow, Uly knew this man was going to be a vital link in the survival of G889 and the Terrians. He was the Terrian's hope for peace. For survival. Deep in his heart, Uly hoped that one day he would meet this man and help him in his crusade.
The images stopped.
Uly opened his eyes.
The Terrian stared at Uly. Uly stared at the Terrian.
For a moment, it was as if their very souls reached out and knew each other.
And then the Terrian was gone.
***
"Come on, Uly. We need to go now."
Uly opened his eyes and squinted at Alonzo, who was gently shaking the boy's shoulder. "What?"
"We have to go. Time to get out of this cave, kiddo."
Alonzo picked Uly up and with Morgan's help lifted him onto Alonzo's back again. They began moving towards one of the tunnels nearby. Uly stared ahead of them and noticed the dark veins of rock in the limestone cave wall.
"No," said Uly. "It's the wrong way."
"What?!" exclaimed Morgan. "You *know* the way out of here?"
Uly gripped onto Alonzo tighter. "Yes. My friend told me while I was asleep," he said sadly.
"The Terrians!" whooped Alonzo. "They showed you the way out on the Dream Plane! What took them so long?!" Alonzo was smiling broadly and the sentiment immediately spread to Morgan.
Uly looked around them at the line of Terrian staffs and the walls of the cavern fading to either side until swallowed up by darkness. "They don't come around here anymore."
***
With Uly's frequent input, the three of them managed to wind their way slowly upwards towards the surface. Morgan had begun complaining about the ridiculous amount of time they had been heading upwards and that they should be higher than the mountain was to begin with by now.
After what seemed like hours, they came into a small chamber and were immediately struck by the rumble of rushing water. For a frantic second, Morgan expected to see a wall of water thundering towards them down the tunnels, ready to whisk them off to their deaths. Instead, they discovered an underground river flowing through the center of the chamber, apparently cutting off their path of advance.
"Ah, great," Morgan moaned. "Now what?"
Alonzo looked to Uly. "Any ideas, Uly?"
Uly shook his head. "That's the way we need to go," he said. "I don't think it's much further beyond here."
Morgan walked over to the river and surveyed their chances of successfully fording the stream. The water was flowing rapidly and disappeared into a crevasse nearby that Morgan was sure he didn't want to get the opportunity to examine up close.
"It's too dangerous," he concluded. "It's too wide to jump over and the water's flowing too fast to walk through."
Alonzo nodded. For once, he was in total agreement with Morgan. It was too risky. He let out a loud sigh of frustration and pummeled a fist against the chamber wall. "Damn!"
Kneeling down, he allowed Uly to ease himself off of his back and sit on the stone floor. He stood up again and walked over to the river, examining it along its entire run through the chamber, searching for any point where they might be able to get across. There was none. He walked over to where the river streamed out of the chamber walls.
"I think I might be able to climb up and over here," he shouted back at Morgan.
Morgan dashed over and, taking a look at where Alonzo was beginning to climb, threw his hands in the air in horror. "Are you crazy?! You can't climb over that! It's too dangerous."
"Well I don't see you coming up with any better ideas, Morgan." Alonzo grunted as he pulled his body up onto the rock face.
"Not getting the three of us killed sounds like a good idea to *me*," Morgan retorted.
Alonzo was carefully playing his hands across the rock face, searching for suitable holds. Pulling his body up and across the outflow point of the rushing water, Alonzo continued his verbal attack on Morgan. "Oh, come off it, Morgan. If we stopped and buried our heads in the sand every time you thought it was too dangerous to continue, we'd still be down in the main chamber, chewing on Terrian staffs for breakfast."
"Is that right, Mr. Hotshot? Well let me tell *you* something. If you'd listened to me in the first place..."
"*Please* stop yelling!" shouted Uly, cutting off Morgan.
Morgan and Alonzo both turned toward Uly in surprise. Alonzo froze on the rock face, confused at Uly's sudden outburst. Morgan sighed and moved towards the boy.
"We're sorry Uly, we didn't mean to..."
"Shhhh!" interrupted Uly. "I thought I heard something."
Alonzo and Morgan both craned their necks, as if this would naturally amplify any sound they were attempting to hear.
"I don't hear anything," said Morgan. "What did it sound like?"
A sudden rumble from above echoed throughout the chamber.
"Like that!" exclaimed Uly, a big smile jumping onto his face. "They're digging through!"
The smile spread to Morgan's face and he let out a loud whoop. "Alonzo! They're digging through!" he shot back at the man who had begun climbing back down the rockface. Suddenly, Morgan's grin vanished, replaced by a look of horror as he watched Alonzo's hand slip away from the hold onto which he had just grasped, upsetting Alonzo's balance and sending the man careening off of the rockface and into the torrent of the river beneath him.
"Alonzo!"
As Uly looked on in terror, Morgan sprinted across the cavern towards the point where the river disappeared into the crevasse. It took every ounce of effort to cover the distance quicker than the rate at which the water was carrying Alonzo inexorably towards the promise of death in the deep crevasse. Alonzo was kicking furiously with his legs, trying desperately to reach out towards the edge of the flow, an expression of panic dancing across his face.
Reaching the edge of the crevasse, Morgan flung himself onto the rock floor so that he was lying on his stomach at the edge of the river. Alonzo was moving towards him rapidly, his arm outstretched in a desperate plea for help. Alonzo knew he would not make it to the edge of the river before it emptied him into the crevasse. Morgan saw the look in Alonzo's eyes and knew that the man knew. Without a sound, Morgan stretched out his right arm as far as he could reach and opened his hand in a gesture for Alonzo to attempt to grab onto him. 'Come on, Alonzo. You only get one chance at this,' Morgan willed the man telepathically.
Alonzo saw his only opportunity for survival, reaching out across the water to him. Willing him to give everything he had to grab a hold of that opportunity. To Alonzo, it was as if time suddenly slowed to a fraction of the speed. The sound of the roaring water became a distorted, low-pitched reverberation. In slow motion, Morgan's hand inched closer and closer to him until finally, Alonzo forced his arm out of the water and clenched his hand around Morgan's.
Time returned to its normal speed. Alonzo felt the force of the water yank his body around as he held onto Morgan's arm. To his complete horror, Alonzo's legs moved over the edge of the crevasse and he felt the water pulling down on him, as if the lower half of his body had moved into the event horizon of a black hole that was slowly pulling his body apart. Both men simultaneously let out a yell- Alonzo's one of determination to live, and Morgan's one of sheer pain as he felt his shoulder threaten to pull completely out of its socket.
Alonzo fought against the river's power to pull his dangling arm out of the water and grabbed onto Morgan. His body ached as the suction of the crevasse demanded his submission. With each hand pulling furiously on Morgan's arm as the other moved up it like it were a rope, Alonzo pulled himself towards the edge of the river. Morgan fought back the urge to scream out at the constant pain in his shoulder. It was as someone had taken burning knives and plunged them deeply into his shoulder blade, pushing him to the very verge of consciousness.
As if sensing defeat, the river suddenly surrendered to the men, and Alonzo felt his legs pull out of the crevasse as his torso fell onto the rocky cavern floor alongside the river. With a final effort, he dragged himself out of the water and rolled onto his back, lying beside Morgan as the two of them fought to catch their breath. Uly dragged himself over to them, snapping out of the frozen state he had been in while the scene played out before him in a period of less than thirty seconds.
"Oh God. Thanks, man," Alonzo gasped.
Morgan's shoulder still ached but the pain was no longer the searing agony of a few seconds earlier. "No problem," he gasped back. "Anytime."
"I don't think so!" Alonzo laughed between snatches of breath. Morgan began laughing then and Uly looked at the two men as if they had both turned stark raving mad.
"I think that's enough spelunking for one day," Morgan decided.
"You bet!" agreed Alonzo.
As if on cue, a stream of dirt and debris began falling from above as the sound of digging above them intensified. Large clumps of soil and fragments of rock were falling from the chamber roof now and eventually a metal shovel pierced the roof completely, letting in a stream of bright sunlight.
"It's daylight!" exclaimed Morgan, getting up onto his feet. "We've been down here all night!"
The hole widened enough for someone above to shine a lumalight into the darkness below.
"Hello?" came the unmistakable voice of John Danziger.
Uly, Alonzo and Morgan responded in chorus. "Hello!"
"We're down here!" added Morgan.
"Uly? Uly!" The frantic voice of Devon Adair streamed through the hole from somewhere above.
"I'm here, mom!"
"We're sending down a rope," shouted Danziger. "Tie on one at a time."
"Okay!" Alonzo yelled back. "Uly's leg is broken. Be careful."
There was a moment of silence. "Gotcha." Alonzo guessed Danziger omitted
to pass the information along to Devon, at least until they had gotten Uly safely to the surface.
Within ten minutes, the three of them had been successfully pulled from underground. Alonzo came up last, and he blinked blindly as the bright rays of the morning sun filled the air. They were standing on the slope of the hill, about two thirds of the way up from the base. Julia was fussing over Uly's leg while Devon hovered nearby, her expression a mixture of anguish and relief. Morgan was off to one side talking into a gearset, obviously with a duly relieved Bess back in camp.
"How did you find us?" Alonzo asked Danziger.
"Oh we had a little help from Mr. Subsurface Surveyor here," Danziger chuckled as he patted the Zero unit on the back. "It was Bess' idea actually. I can't believe I didn't think of it."
"It was a complex mathematical correction to the seismic reflection data pattern," explained Zero. As if sensing the need for layman's terms, the Zero unit clarified. "I imaged you."
"Well not a moment too soon," laughed Alonzo. "I was about to toss Morgan there into a river."
"Sir?" responded Zero.
"Looks like he beat you to it, Alonzo," Danziger smiled broadly.
But Alonzo had already walked over to stand by Julia, waiting for her to finish attending to Uly's injuries so that she could then attend to him. On a more personal level.
"Let's move out!" Danziger barked out at the group and they began heading back down towards the camp.
***
Voice-over: Personal Log of Devon Adair.
'I sit and watch the sleeping form of my son, and I fear to ever let him go again. This planet has shown us more about ourselves than we ever dared discover. Our strengths. Our weaknesses. Our determination to survive. And our capability for compassion and kinmanship. But it has also shown us danger and pain. It has shown us fear. It has shown us death and it has shown us grief. I believe it has also shown my son something more. Uly told me of his encounter with the Terrian while in the 'mountain of the night'. How this Terrian gave his own life so that Uly may live. The images he showed my son. I'm sure Uly doesn't understand the meanings, but deep in my heart, I know I do understand. Uly is vital to the survival of the Terrians and they are willing to risk death to ensure his survival. I don't know how and why they know of the future. How they escape the prison that is the linearity of time for us in life. But there is something about the future of this place, this planet, that the Terrians alone cannot overcome. They need my son. And although it gives me comfort to know that Uly has these guardians watching over him as we travel towards New Pacifica, I can't help but be filled with dread about what is in store for us there. Over the horizon. Where the future waits. For I know now that despite the greatest of intentions I've always had for the colonization of this planet by the Syndrome families- for a new hope- something is going to go horribly wrong. And I fear that no matter what I do each and every day to stop it, it is ultimately out of my hands. And in the hands of my son.'
-The End-
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