GALLANT (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 3) (27 page)

"Okay then. Let's rock."

Gallant didn't bother to ask what that expression meant as he gave Mar the signal to seal off the corridor so they could open the ship's door. Any mist that drifted inside would be detoxified after they left and the same procedure would be followed in reverse upon their return.

The moment the door closed behind them, Cherry felt as if someone had dropped an icy, white sheet over her head. There were hints of light but no visibility whatsoever. She groped for Gallant's hand and the contact reassured her a little.

It only took a few seconds for the protective suit to adjust its temperature to keep her from feeling the outside chill, but it was long enough to know that if the mist wasn't lethal, the cold air would still make it impossible to get around without a suit. She couldn't help but wonder which would be worse, dying from asphyxiation or exposure?

Though Gallant had to release her hand long enough to attach the lead line, he came back to her immediately. "Have you got a fix on us, Mar?" he asked aloud.

"Yes, Captain. If you would begin walking, I will direct you toward the location that appears to have a tunnel between the surface and the underground network of caves."

"Visibility is absolute zero, so try to warn us about any high or low spots on the ground also."

The words were barely out of his mouth when the mist suddenly parted before them like a curtain. Cherry screamed as a huge four-legged beast with two long curved tusks came charging toward them.

Chapter 14

Gallant yanked Cherry toward him and leapt aside in the nick of time. What appeared to be a prehistoric mastodon thundered by, heading straight for the ship.

"Mar-Dot! Brace yourself," Gallant exclaimed.

"What is happening?"

"You're about to be—" He cut himself off as he realized the animal should have already collided with the ship, yet he had heard no crash. "Did you pick up anything unusual on the monitor just before I yelled?"

"Negative. I was scanning the surface elevations as you suggested."

"Check for life forms again. Something that seemed very much alive just about trampled us to death then got swallowed up by the mist somewhere between us and the ship."

"Gallant," Cherry said with a tug on his hand. "How is it that we could see that animal as clear as day, yet we can't see each other?"

"Good question."

"Captain, we are showing life forms besides yours now."

"Anything four-legged?"

"Negative. The readings are indicating that five humanoids are about fifty meters to your right."

Gallant turned Cherry in that direction and started walking again. "This way?"

"A few centimeters back to your left and you should bump right into them."

Cherry's stomach clenched with a combination of fear and anticipation, but she reminded herself that coming along had been her idea and she ordered her feet to keep moving. Not being able to see was causing her to be more frightened than she normally would be.

"Captain," Mar-Dot said in an urgent tone. "We are picking up a powerful surge of energy emanating from those life forms."

As suddenly as before, the mist lifted, and a throng of painted savages came running toward them, brandishing spears and howling like banshees. Cherry could see them perfectly as they closed in on her, but she still couldn't see Gallant right beside her.

A short, high-pitched buzz alerted her that Gallant had used his little black box, and yet she was unable to see the beam of light that she knew would accompany the shot he had fired. Again and again she heard that buzz, but none of the savages fell.

When they were almost upon them, Cherry tried to pull him away. "Gallant! We've got to get back to the ship!"

"Stand still," he said much too calmly for her peace of mind. One of the savages balanced his spear high in the air and thrust it toward Cherry with terrifying force. As Gallant held her in place, she screamed again, certain it would be the last sound she ever made.

But nothing happened. The spear never hit her. It simply vanished, and a second later, so did the savages.

"What the hell was—"

Gallant squeezed her hand. "Mar-Dot, what've you got?"

"The energy surge has dissipated."

"And the five life forms?"

"In the same position."

"All right. Guide us to them."

Cherry's heart was racing as they followed Mar-Dot's directions. "I don't get it. What's going on?"

Gallant's tightly controlled voice made her imagine how wary his expression probably was. "Remember your breakfast?"

Cherry gasped. "You think these are illusions?"

"It would seem so. Did the savages look solid to you?"

"Absolutely. Why?"

"The animal charged by too fast to notice but the savages looked almost translucent to me. I was immediately certain they weren't real."

Without warning something dropped over Cherry's head and body. She put up her hands a fraction too late to stop what felt like a net from tightening around her and Gallant.

Mar-Dot confirmed the obvious. "The life forms are now in a circle around you, Captain."

Gallant snorted. "Very timely, Mar-Dot. I believe they're about to escort us below, so just keep the channel open. Usual orders stand."

Cherry felt a nudge from behind and took a step forward at the same time as Gallant did. They were definitely being prodded along to somewhere.

"Are you all right?" Gallant asked.

"I'd be doing a hell of a lot better if I could see, but I'm okay. What are Mar-Dot's usual orders?"

"If our suits are taken away, we won't be able to communicate with them, so they'll contact me mentally every other hour. I can't return any messages but they'll be able to ascertain whether I'm still alive. As long as I'm breathing, they won't leave the planet without me. In the meantime, the security shield should protect them and the ship from harm. Mar-Dot, someone just removed my weapon and the lead line from my belt. We'll be relying completely on you to guide us back when we're done here."

"Understood, Captain."

Their escorts brought them to a stop. Cherry could hear a long scraping sound, like rock against rock, and guessed that they had come to the entrance of the tunnel that Mar-Dot had mentioned. They were pushed forward another few feet and halted again.

Slowly, the rock beneath Cherry's feet began to vibrate with a humming sound similar to that of an elevator motor, and it took her a moment to realize that they were indeed descending. Clinging to Gallant's arm, she whispered, "Aren't we being a little passive about all this?"

"If they wanted to kill us, we'd already be dead. There is no logical reason to put up a fight... yet."

As soon as the rock elevator touched bottom, they were nudged off it and the humming sound indicated that it was rising again. In the next instant, a great gust of wind practically knocked Cherry off her feet. She could hear and feel it whirling around her and upward. The blowing stopped at the same moment the humming sound did, taking with it enough of the mist to allow her to note that a bluish, phosphorescent light emanated from the walls of the cave. Cherry immediately took advantage of the improved visibility to check out their guides.

As Mar-Dot had reported, there were five life forms moving around them but it was impossible to tell what they looked like as they were completely shrouded from the tops of their heads to the ground like ghosts, but in reflective silver material instead of white sheets. The only indication that they had faces was the two circles of convex black glass that made Cherry think of bug-eyes. Since it was obvious that they had been able to see her and Gallant in spite of the mist, she assumed those eyes had something to do with that ability.

While one of them removed the net that bound her and Gallant together, another shoved a large flat rock a few feet across the cave floor, revealing a narrower opening than the one above them. Then that being and another figure lowered themselves into the abyss.

The one who had removed the net pointed at Cherry and Gallant, then to the hole. Once she and Gallant stepped to the edge, she could see there were steps leading down.

"Hold it," Gallant told her. "Let me go first. That way, if you slip, I can catch you instead of strangling you with this chain."

"My, my. Even in trying times you live up to your name. Well, go on then. I'm right behind you. Or rather, above you."

Once they were all within the second cavern, one of the guides pulled down a lever protruding from the wall. Automatically, another gust of wind swirled around them, carrying more remnants of the mist upward through the opening. Before the last figure descended the ladder, he slid the rock back over the hole. This entire procedure was repeated two more times without their guides uttering a word.

Cherry estimated that they were now about a hundred feet below the surface and there didn't seem to be any traces of the mist left. However, it wasn't until the figures began removing their shrouds that she assumed the air was safe.

The five beings turned out to be one female and four male humanoids, wearing animal furs over most of their bodies. It may have been an effect of the bluish light, but Cherry thought their facial skin was so pale it had an opalescent quality to it.

Using a series of hand signals, one of the men directed Gallant to remove the slave collar from Cherry's neck and get out of their protective suits. Gallant quickly took off the collar and chain and handed it to the man, but he was much slower about his suit.

Following his lead, Cherry unfastened the headpiece, took a shallow breath, and waited to see how the air affected her before pulling it off completely. Gallant gave her a nod and they helped each other out of their suits. The female took possession of those items and the slave collar.

The man who had given them their instructions signaled to another, who then wrapped his hands around a rock protruding from the wall and turned it. His efforts produced a loud grinding noise, followed by the appearance of a crease in the cavern wall. Countless turns later a portion of the rock opened outward like a hinged door.

Cherry and Gallant were motioned ahead of the others through the opening and into an enormous cavern at least two hundred feet square. The bluish light was brightened by the presence of thousands of stalactites hanging like iridescent icicles from the ceiling thirty or so feet above. At the far end of the cavern was a low oval-shaped table carved from the same glowing stone as the walls. Around the base of the table, a number of mats were scattered, implying that this was either a dining or meeting area, with
primitive
being the operating word for decorating style.

The escorts stopped Cherry and Gallant when they reached the center of the room and all the males departed through a corridor on the left. Still carrying their suits, the female marched straight ahead in military fashion, rounded the table and went into another corridor behind it.

Cherry waved her hand in front of her nose. "The air down here may not kill us but it smells like rotten eggs and boiling cabbage mixed together."

Gallant grimaced. "Mostly sulphur, I think. With just a hint of unwashed bodies."

"Maybe if we asked real nice, they'd let us put the protective suits back on. Any idea what happens next?"

"From the looks of it, I'd say we're in a receiving—"

A cacaphonous blasting of horns made them both return their attention to the end of the room where the table was. Two male children, carrying ivory tusks nearly as big as they were, marched stiffly out of the corridor. Wearing only white cloths wrapped around their lower bodies diaper-style and a white band around their heads, they each took a position against opposite walls and blasted the horns again.

Cherry and Gallant spared one curious glance at each other before the parade continued. Out came eight of the biggest, brawniest,
ugliest
people Cherry had ever seen. The three men and five women, one of whom was the female from the escort party, wore short, sleeveless jumpers made of a variety of animal hides and furs.

The simple covering made it possible to see that they all had a pearly quality to their pale skin, just as the first group had. On the other hand, the multitude of scars marring the flesh suggested that the skin tone did not denote weakness, only a lack of sunlight.