DusktoDust_Final3 (6 page)

Trivi was highly addictive. While under the influence, users neglected to sleep, eat, or work. They devolved to a near catatonic state, with only the drug sustaining them. Because of this, trivi was highly illegal on Earth and many other planets. But Prospect was different. Because of the limitations placed on the UN by the Prospect Denationalization Pact, it was perfectly legal to produce, distribute, and use.

The Skull Pit was the result of this lack of regulation. Once a profitable mine, it now stood in ruin, overrun by the very miners who had worked it. They were all trivi users now, also known as glassers. They spent their miserable lives on their hands and knees with pickaxes and homemade tools, gathering from the earth the only sustenance they knew. They lived in the vast labyrinth of tunnels and passages that made up the Pit, never seeing twilight. These tunnels were what brought Alana and David here. With hundreds of entrances and exits, and having never been mapped, they would be able to lose the PK tails once and for all in the Pit.

Alana looked at David.
“
You sure we have to go in there?
”

David nodded.
“
We stay together. If we get separated we
’
ll never find each other again.
”
He pulled out his pistol and checked that it was loaded.
“
Move hard and fast. It
’
ll get the PKs off our ass and won
’
t give the glassers enough time to react.
”

“
Got it, D.
”
She checked her weapon as well.
“
It
’
ll be a walk in the park.
”

Not quite
, David thought.
But it’ll work
.

Two kilometers away, Staff Sergeant Letsego sat in the back of a taxi staring at a tablet. The image on the screen was a black and white aerial view of the outskirts of the Skull Pit. He watched as two white spots moved across the screen and then disappeared.
Damn it.

“
Staff Sergeant, I
’
ve lost them. They
’
ve gone out of view,
”
Gio
’
s voice said in his ear.

Letsego threw the tablet across the cab in frustration.
“
Yes, I see that.
”
He turned to Sergeant Conway, who was sitting next to him.
“
They
’
re in the Pit.
”

It had been easy following the two smugglers up to this point. Gio had had a drone in position above the Decham train station when they arrived. Letsego and his team had simply listened to the directions Gio gave them, following the Dominguez
’
s first to the down trodden hotel and then the next day on the ridiculous detour journey that they had taken. The drone had finally traced them to here, the Skull Pit.

And that was where the tracking would stop. The drone did not have the capability to see subterranean, and even if it did there were too many heat signatures down there. These smugglers were smart.

Letsego leaned forward to the cabbie.
“
You get an extra hundred if you get to the Pit in the next two minutes.
”

When the team had first waved down the cabbie, the meagerly paid man had been hesitant to go to the Pit. But once the notes had been high enough he had obliged without question. Now, with the new bonus on the table, he dropped his foot to the floor and the hover shot forward at an alarming pace. Letsego and his four team members braced themselves for the short but wild ride.

Ninety-eight seconds later the hover pulled up in front of an ominous tunnel. The team got out. Letsego threw a handful of bills in the cabbie
’
s front window and then the vehicle sped off faster than it had arrived. Now to the task at hand.

The tunnel entrance was pitch black except for the orange glow of embers just inside the entrance. No doubt it was various glassers strung out and numb to the world.

Letsego started for the entrance.
“
Everyone roger up on your comm.
”
He heard four checks come through his earpiece.
“
Alright, gents. We cannot lose them in here.
”

The five intelligence operators made their way quickly but cautiously into the tunnel entrance. In the shadows Letsego could see the skeletal bodies of glassers sucking on their makeshift trivi pipes. While they seemed frail and unthreatening, he knew the truth. The effects of trivi changed a person. He had seen it in the slums of Johannesburg. Addicts could not separate hallucinations from reality. At any moment they could see you as a threat, and then God help you. The team kept their distance as they passed.

The tunnels were illuminated by the faint violet glow of trivisium deposits. The eerie glow made Letsego
’
s neck hair stand on end. He kept his weapon at the ready, moving quick but checking every corner of the labyrinth as the team moved forward. A few hundred meters through the entrance the tunnel diverged into three different ones.
“
Ski?
”
Letsego said, and the corporal squatted down, inspecting the dirt for footprints in the tunnel
’
s dirt floor. Jankowski was from Idaho and was one of the best tracker
’
s Letsego had ever met.

“
I can
’
t be sure which , but they definitely took the left or the middle tunnel,
”
Ski said after his assessment.

Letsego nodded.
“
Alright, we
’
ll have to split up.
”
He looked at Conway.
“
Take Yang and Smith. You
’
ve got the middle tunnel. Ski and I will take the left. Remember, we are following them. Do not make contact. We need to track them out of this hell hole.
”

Conway nodded.
“
Good to go, boss. Close but not too close.
”

“
If you find them first, let me know,
”
Letsego said as Ski and he made their way into the left tunnel.
“
If we find them we
’
ll do the same.
”

With no map to go off of, David and Alana were traveling blind as they made their way through the Pit. All David had guiding him was a cardinal direction. West. That was where their exit lay. The western edge of the Pit was defined by a large cliff, the end of the expansive plateau that it sat atop. Along that cliff were the remnants of an old spaceport, used when the mine had still been active. From there David and Alana could get out of the Skull Pit and be free of their Peak tails.

David didn't seen any sign of the PKs as he led Alana through the winding tunnel system. They had been walking for an hour now. David couldn
’
t be sure, but he felt like they were getting deeper and deeper underground. The atmosphere was thick with the sweet smell of burnt trivi. The tunnel
’
s walls were pockmarked with where glassers had dug tooth and nail for trivisium deposits.

Every few minutes David and Alana would pass another colony of glassers. David thought that referring to them as colonies was inappropriate. The word implied some amount of civilization, of which there was none down here. The colonies ranged in size, from a dozen or so glassers to groups of fifty or more. Their skin was pale from lack of sun, covered in tattered clothing. They looked especially depraved in the violet light of the trivi ore. The few faces that David had dared to look at were hardly human; eyes sunken deep into eye sockets, cheek bones more defined than those on a skeleton. This was where the Skull Pit got its name. While according to biology these people were still alive, there was no such thing as life down here. The drugs made sure of that.

All the glassers they passed moved slowly, but David knew they could move fast if they wanted. They sat around all day, occasionally clawing at the tunnel walls in search of some trivisium. All they had was time. But if they wanted to they could chase David and Alana down and rip their limbs from their bodies. Underestimating these unpredictable animals would be a mistake. Being high on trivi made anything possible.

While not apparent at first, each colony was more than just a loosely tied together group of depraved human beings. There was a hierarchy. Some glassers were more equal than others. The chief ran things, though no one called him the chief. No one called him anything. The glassers did have a language, but it didn
’
t involve words. It was more a series of grunts and whispers that David was sure no civilized human being could understand. Using this means of communication, the chief directed his workers, some being the miners of the colony and some being the soldiers. These were the only real roles in a colony. As long as there was a supply of trivi, the glassers would be happy.

Knowing what they did about them, David and Alana were very careful each time they encountered one. They moved quickly, keeping their distance, staying on the edge of the caverns they found themselves in. They avoided eye contact with the glassers, especial the soldiers, who were slightly more vigilant than the other degenerates. The smugglers didn
’
t linger. At every tunnel intersection David didn
’
t hesitate. He consulted the compass on his watch and quickly chose a direction, not shortening his stride, always keeping in mind their final goal. West.

They rounded another corner and stopped in their tracks. They were about to enter a new cavern, a giant cavern. It was easily ten stories tall and two hundred meters across. And it was the center of the largest glasser colony they had come across.

There were at least five hundred glassers- David couldn
’
t tell for sure. If they were going to go this way they would have to be very careful.

David pulled Alana back into the tunnel they had come from.
“
Shit.
”

Alana looked at him.
“
We should go around.
”

He shook his head.
“
For all we know the other tunnels lead right to this cavern as well. It looks like it
’
s the hub of everything.
”

She looked at him alarmed.
“
You
’
re not saying we go through there? D, I don
’
t have half enough rounds to take on that pack of animals.
”

“
And that
’
s why we aren
’
t going to make this a shoot out. If we don
’
t bother the glassers they won
’
t bother us. There
’
s another tunnel on the other side. Looks like our best chance. We
’
re going to walk through there, calm and collected, and come out the other side in one piece.
”

Alana gave a nervous snicker.
“
Just because you say it
’
s going to happen one way doesn
’
t mean it actually will.
”
She pulled her pistol from its holster and did a brass check.

“
Sergeant
.
”
David knew how to make her listen when it mattered.
“
Put that away, pull yourself together, and follow me.
”

She hesitated, then, putting aside her doubts and putting her trust in her old platoon sergeant, she holstered her pistol. David, while not always right, always had their best interests in mind, and she respected that. She nodded.

David inched toward the cavern entrance.
“
Stay close..
”
With that he rounded the corner.

There appeared to be twice as many glassers as he had seen before. Even so, he didn
’
t slow down. With Alana behind him, he stayed close to the right cavern wall. The majority of the glassers were on the left clawing at the rock, where there looked to be rich trivisium deposits.

This cavern was different than the others David and Alana had been in. It was more illuminated. A shaft in the ceiling was open to the crimson sky, probably a drilling hole from the mining days. This extra light gave them a better view of the glassers. They had gone from deformed, disgusting humans to utterly terrifying lifeforms. Earlier David had felt some pity for glassers, still seeing the hint of humanity in the them. But now he couldn
’
t see anything human in them. They were animals. No, they were creatures. Something conjured up in a nightmare. The faster David and Alana got out of this hell the better.

It started halfway across the cavern. While most of the glassers were busy gathering sustenance from the rock, there were some soldiers on watch. They didn
’
t look like they were on watch. They were just sitting on the rock floor, eyes barely open. But then David made eye contact with one of them. That was a mistake.

The soldier started moving, slow but determined. As David and Alana followed the cavern wall, he started stalking them. On his hands and knees, breathing hard, he closed the distance with the intruders.

“
We
’
ve got company,
”
Alana said as she noticed the glasser.

David nodded and picked up the pace.
“
Just keep moving. We
’
re almost there.
”
The exit was seventy five meters away.

The soldier didn
’
t slow. Intruders had entered his domain, and he wouldn
’
t let them go without punishment. Soon other soldiers joined him. David could tell that they weren
’
t going to make it. All of the colony
’
s attention was slowly turning towards them. It was only a matter of time until the chief took notice and then there would be no escaping it.

David pushed Alana in front of him.
“
When I tell you to, head for the tunnel.
”
He drew his pistol.
“
Got any other firepower on you?
”

Alana drew her own weapon.
“
Four grenades.
”

The closest glassers were less than fifteen meters away now.
“
Okay, once we
’
re both in the tunnel use-
”

A horrid screech interrupted David and echoed violently through the cavern. It was the chief. He had seen them. Now the soldiers were unleashed.
“
RUN!
”

David and Alana sprinted for the tunnel, glassers close on their heels. They both fired rounds into the hoard, but it didn
’
t slow them. The sea of glassers didn
’
t end. As David and Alana got into the tunnel the concentration of pursuers thickened. They were fast, but David and Alana were faster. Not by much, but they were.

David spun around, nailing a glasser in the head. It fell, just to be replaced by another.
“
Grenade!
”
he yelled at Alana, between breaths. They needed to end this pursuit before they ran into another glasser colony, or worse, a dead end.

Alana tossed him the grenade. He thumbed the safety and pulled the pin, holding the spoon tight. Up ahead David could see there was a smaller tunnel branching off to the left of the main tunnel.
“
Go left!
”
Alana nodded, knowing what he wanted to do.

They broke off into the side tunnel. As they made the turn, David dropped the grenade at the intersection, letting the spoon fly.
“
Grenade out!
”
They kept running down the small, trivisium-lit tunnel.

Three seconds later the tunnels reverberated with an earth shattering explosion. At the same moment the floor opened up and swallowed David.

Letsego could hear the explosion from half a kilometer away. He and Jankowski had been tracking the Dominguez
’
s through the tunnels, being careful to avoid the glassers. The tracking had been relatively easy. Glassers don
’
t wear combat boots.

“
What was that?
”
Ski said when he heard the explosion.

Letsego picked up the pace and raised his wrist mic.
“
Conway, come in.
”

“
What was that, boss?
”
Sergeant Conway
’
s voice was slightly broken. The trivisium must be interfering with their transmissions.

“
Do you have me on your locator?
”
Conway said he did.
“
Good. Get to my location. We
’
ve found them.
”

Letsego and Ski double timed it down the tunnel, weapons drawn. The footprints they were following matched the direction where the explosion had come from. That had to have been Dominguez.

Just as Letsego and Ski were coming upon a large cavern was when Conway and his team finally caught up to them.

“
Are they here?
”
Conway asked, slightly out of breathe.

Letsego peered around the corner into the cavern.
“
No, but they
’
re close.
”

Conway saw what his boss was looking at.
“
Are you kidding me! There
’
s hundreds of them!
”

The cavern was full of glassers. They were oriented on a tunnel entrance on the other side. They moved about like rats, jumping over one another, all trying to get to what was in the tunnel.

Letsego pulled a submachine gun out of his rucksack.
“
Wait a second, staff sergeant,
”
Ski exclaimed when he saw what Letsego was doing.
“
We can
’
t go in there. We
’
ll get torn to pieces.
”

“
I know,
”
Letsego said.
“
Conway, did you see any other tunnels going up and to the left back there?
”

The sergeant thought about it for the second.
“
Yeah, there was one. But Lets, if that was our guys the glassers must have gotten them by now.
”

Letsego laughed.
“
No. They are alive, and cleverer than we thought.
”

The five of them backtracked to the tunnel Conway had seen. He was right. It led upward and around the large cavern. With Ski on point, they moved up into the new tunnel. The team advanced quickly but cautiously, weapons at the ready.

Letsego froze when he saw Ski hold up a fist. The point man turned around and motioned toward the tunnel floor ahead of them. Lestsego had not noticed the large hole in the floor at first, but now it was unmistakable from the dust rising out of it.

Letsego motioned for Smith and Yang to cover the rear while he and Conway moved up to join Ski. Silently they moved up to the edge of the hole. Halfway there they hit the deck when they heard a gunshot go off.

“
Get up, D!
”

David came to. Everything around him was dark and blurry. The air was filled with dust. He took a deep breath and immediately coughed.

“
Get the hell up, we
’
ve got to get going!
”
Alana
’
s voice seemed far away.

The sound of a gunshot brought David completely back to reality. The fog immediately cleared from his mind. He looked around and realized what had happened. He was no longer in the same tunnel he had been in before. The explosion had blown a crater in the walls of the tunnel. He had fallen through the floor into another tunnel system. He looked up and saw Alana standing a level above him. She was facing down the tunnel from where they had come from, firing at a steady rate.

“
You okay?
”

David got up and brushed himself off. He picked up his pistol off the floor.
“
Yeah I
’
m fine,
”
he yelled.
“
What the hell are you shooting at?
”