The Antarcticans (40 page)

“Don’t touch that,” Addie was quick to say.

“Then how are we going to keep going?”

He shrugged. “Maybe we aren’t supposed to. Some of our technology is designed to execute intruders.” He stepped forward and traded places with Noila. “Let me do it.” He reached forward and placed his hand against the glass. It lit up, but nothing else happened.

“Can I not get a minute to myself?” The voice came from in front of them; it was unmistakably Lucifer.

“Lucifer?” Addie asked, as he looked around for where he might be.

“Ugh, I’m right in front of you. Have a sense of imagination. Nothing you see in the caverns is real.” The wall vanished, and Lucifer was sitting in his Srechritoris form on his belly, with his hind legs curled under his body and his forelegs stretched out in front of him. He laid his head on his front paws; his eyes looked drowsy. “Well? You didn’t come down here just to stare at me, did you?”

“No. Sorry to bother you, but can you get Addie and me to the surface?” Noila asked.

“What for? The continent is in chaos up there, and you have work to do here. Need I remind you?” His tail flicked back and forth.

“I need more samples, and there are no real Ptahs here to gather them for me.”

“Smart woman, eh?” Lucifer looked at Addie. “And if you don’t?” He looked back at Noila.

“The research stops,” she answered.

“Ms. Noila, this isn’t a question then at all, is it? Well, if you don’t mind me prancing around in my natural state, we can go out there right now. What do you think, Addie?” He laughed heartily.

“I’m ready to help Noila however I can,” Addie said.

They made their way to the large circular chamber and over to the lift that led to the surface. Addie picked up some gear on the way, and Noila double-checked her suit before they hit the unforgiving atmosphere. The lift brought Addie and Noila to the surface. Lucifer stayed behind; it was clear he wasn’t up for the adventure. When the metal disk at the top of the cavern separated, Noila internally braced herself for whatever might be on the other side. The lift settled on the surface, and they stepped off. Many of the village’s structures had collapsed after their ice foundations had melted. Heaps of wood and bricks lay everywhere. Humans dressed in black suits were dragging bodies of Antarcticans to makeshift stations through the slush. The humans held large machetes, which they used to shear the fur of the emaciated Antarctican bodies.

Noila leaned into Addie. “What are they doing?”

“It’s our death ritual. When we die, everything in our bodies eventually evaporates, and only our bones remain. We store the bones under where we live, so we’ll be close to our ancestors. When we portal, we visit our ancestors’ spirits and reflect on the lives of those who came before us. We take the fur to create these.” He pulled on the added fur collar around his neck.

“That’s beautiful but so sad.” Noila teared up. “We’ve only been underground a couple of weeks. How has so much gone wrong?”

“This is just the beginning. There’s going to be more melting, and we’ll lose everyone’s remains. We’ll never recover the bones; they’ll be washed away into the ocean. Our whole history will be lost.”

“There’s nothing else that can be done?” Noila felt overwhelmed by the helplessness of the situation. She was familiar with the feeling. It was the same as when Joshua had tried to take his life.

“We could relocate them, but look around—I think my people are just trying to survive. Remember the chamber where I showed you my history on the walls?” Noila nodded. “My ancestors’ bones are the reason I could do that. Even if some of us survive—and I’m sure there will be some, who through good genetic fortune, will weather through this—they will be lost because they’ll be so far away from the bones of their ancestors.” He shook his head sadly.

As they walked farther through the village, Noila saw frail, elderly Antarcticans circled around the dead bodies of their loved ones. They were wailing and making strange hand gestures. The spectre of death and mourning was everywhere.

“Are we too late? Even if I find some Antarcticans to give the serum to?”

“I think there’s hope. There are more Antarcticans farther inland on the shelf. I’ve heard things are more stable there. The Ptahs will be able to get to them quickly, administer the serum, then bring you the results.”

“Will they trust the Ptahs?”

“Yes, no doubt. They know the Ptahs would only help them.”

“Is there someplace in particular we should go to summon the Ptahs?” she asked.

“Yes, over there.” Addie pointed to the remnants of Noila’s cottage. “The crevasse that ran under your house extends outside of the dome.”

They hurried to the entrance of the crevasse and exited the dome. The cold, dry air caught Noila by surprise, and she choked as it filled her lungs. She pulled up her mask, and her suit quickly regulated her body temperature, adjusting it to this extreme temperature in Antarctica. The snow was soft and slushy. Addie had no trouble making his way through it, but Noila felt the snow pull at her boots and tug her down as she walked. When they reached the large, deep opening in the ice, a booming echo reverberated through the ground.

“Don’t get too close. Let me figure out how stable the ground is first.” Addie held up a hand signaling Noila to stop. He cautiously inched forward toward the crack until he was satisfied the ground beneath him wouldn’t give way. He leaned over the side and peered down. “This is a good place to cross. It’s not very deep here—in case we fall in, that is.”

“Why do we have to go to the other side?” Noila asked.

“This side is too close to the dome. The energy it gives off will interfere with the Ptahs’ sensing mechanism, and they won’t detect you. We’ll never get them to come up to the surface here.” He walked backward a few steps, placed a spike in the ground with a rope attached to it, then ran toward the opening, jumping at the last minute. Bits of snow and ice fell into the expanse below. He looked over at Noila with a big grin. “Your turn. Hold tightly to the rope in case you go down.”

Noila grabbed the rope and jumped, easily clearing the opening. They walked for about five minutes. Addie pushed his nose into the air and closed his eyes.

“Okay, we’re far enough away,” he said.

He planted the stake next to him and started digging a space in the snow for Noila. “Okay, you sit here, and do whatever you did in your cabin to attract them.” He was looking around nervously. “I won’t be able to keep you out here long. Your suit is only rated for two hours.” He headed back toward the crevasse and walked along the edge of it, following it away from the dome.

Noila sat and relaxed. She tried to remember what she’d been thinking about when she was in her bathtub the first time she had summoned the Ptahs. She inhaled deeply, meditating on its soothing feeling, being careful not to take the air in too quickly. She exhaled and sunk into the space Addie had cleared. Soon she felt the nuzzling of the two smooth heads followed by the bumpy segmented bodies as they slid between her arms and legs and wrapped around her body. At home in her cottage, she hadn’t realized that their bodies generated heat, but now, in the frigid air, she was acutely aware of it. The blue and orange heads she had become comfortable with rose in front of her, waiting.

“I’m so glad you guys came to me. I’m trying desperately to help Addie and the rest of the Antarcticans.”

They moved their heads as if they understood.

“We need to get this serum into healthy Antarcticans, and then I need a cell sample from them to see if the serum worked.”

Their heads spun until the polished silver opened and beams of light projected onto the snow, displaying a movie of the Ptahs swimming through the water, deep under the ice shelf, to a nearby community of Antarcticans who looked healthy. It then showed them heading back to where Noila was. A small clock on the side of the projection showed the hours passing; it would be eight hours before the Ptahs could return with the results.

Noila pulled out the vials from the pockets of her suit and placed them inside the heads of the Ptahs.

“Thank you. I’ll meet you here in eight hours.” She stood up as they uncoiled from her and disappeared through the snow and over the edge of the crack into the ice. Noila got up and walked in the direction Addie had gone so she could find him and return to the cavern.

Addie had found a small shelf inside the crevasse. He had climbed down onto it and was looking at something. When he saw Noila, he waved her over.

“Noila, look at these cracks. They’re so big I can put my hand in them, but do you hear that? The fissures are getting bigger and spreading as we stand here.” He reached up, pulled himself out, and brushed off his legs. “Let’s get you back in the cavern before you freeze to death.” He walked her to where the rope was spiked into the ground and gestured for her to go first.

Noila tightened her pack and got in position to sprint for the edge. She felt her heart pumping, readying for the explosion of muscle power she would need. A deafening crack rang out. The crevasse widened, doubling its width, and the ground beneath them swelled and shifted. An additional crack appeared just north of them and joined the large crevasse. “What’s happening?” She looked at Addie, her eyes wide with fear.

“The shelf’s splitting again. It looks like we’re on a piece that’s going to go out to sea.” He wasn’t looking at her; he was staring at the large crevasse before him. The spike that held the rope from the other side, where they had started from, had been ripped from the snow and was hanging inside the crevasse. Addie pulled the spike next to him out of the ground and wound the rope up until the spike from the far side came over the edge and he held one in each hand. “No time to explain. Stay here. I’ll be back for you.” He ran and jumped, falling down until, far within the endless blue darkness, his spikes made contact with the other side and pierced the icy wall. He took one spike out at a time, scaling the wall until he made it to the top. He looked over at Noila and waved. “Stay right there.”

She lost sight of him as he ran toward the dome. As she stepped back, she heard a loud crack in the ice. She looked down and could see the snow falling into the small fissure that had opened. Without warning it widened further, sending her tumbling to the ground. She didn’t move afraid that any movement would make the situation worse. She was breathing hard, dreading what was next. And then the piece of the shelf she was standing on dropped, she was hurled into the air then slammed back down against the icy surface. She pulled her hood tightly over her head and dug her feet and hands into the ground. The ground was still shaking; the snow on top looked like powdered sugar sifting over French toast. Her mind raced to the Ptahs, hoping they would return. Her feet held tightly to the ground as it moved beneath her. Realizing the ground was rocking and bobbing, Noila screamed realizing she was floating out into the dark sea. “Help! Help!” she screamed. Only wavy, sloshing seawater answered her. She covered herself, pulled her arms close to her body, and thought about Gavin and Joshua.

…

“Well, this is some sort of continental drift.” Lucifer was standing over Noila’s huddled body. He nudged her with his head. “C’mon. We need you back in the lab.”

She opened her eyes and saw him staring back at her. She couldn’t feel her hands or feet, and her nose felt like little blades were cutting into it. She tried to push her body up to a standing position, but she kept falling. Lucifer lay down on his belly and rolled toward her. A harness saddle was attached to his back. He lined it up perfectly with her body, and when he rolled toward her, she was able to barely pull herself onto it.

“How did you get here?” Noila asked him.

“The same way we’re going to get back,” he answered. “You have to buckle yourself in. You won’t be able to hold on where we’re going.” He turned his head back to look at her.

Noila looked down; she saw she would have to clasp the two ends together to get a tight fit over her legs and waist. She pushed her hands to the bottom of the saddle, which was warm with Lucifer’s body heat. When she pulled off her gloves and pressed her hands together, she couldn’t feel them. Her mind was wiggling her fingers, but they wouldn’t respond.

Lucifer was stabilizing himself against the floating island, which was now at least a mile out into the Southern Ocean. The chunk of ice they were on climbed the rough waves into the air then slammed down hard. “What’s the problem?” he called back to her.

“My hands won’t move,” she said.

“Well, use something else unless you want to take up permanent residence on this iceberg. We don’t have a ship closer than a few days away, and you’ll never survive that long out here.” With Noila still on his back, he moved toward the center of the ice; pieces around the edge were disintegrating around them.

She looked at her hands—the cracked skin, the black tips—and pushed every ounce of energy from her body into them. Her right index finger moved, then her pinky. She strained, trying to ignore the crashing and breaking waves around them. The icy wind picked up and whipped her face; she ignored the pain in her nose and her eyes as they dried out and froze. The fingers of her right hand finally moved. Needles rushed through them, as if a valve had been opened and the blood had rushed in. “Almost,” she yelled. She looked up and saw that the mainland was growing smaller in the distance, the fierce winds whipping the ice-capped water between them into a frenzy. Her hands fumbled for the buckle. She could move her left hand, but her fingers weren’t operational; she used that hand as a brace to push the buckle against it. When she heard the click and pulled against it to make sure her legs were secure in the harness, she yelled to Lucifer, “Ready.”