“Michael, our ride left without us,” Jamie said. She had turned on a bit of the gallows humor the Dome 17 adventurers were known for. Michael recognized it as a symptom of anxiety for Jamie. Others would think she was just a very tough and strong person.

  “Oh well, we can just sit and fish and have a relaxing time. Right?”

  “I left my fishing stuff with John. So I guess we have to leave,” Jamie walked to the other end of the ledge and shined the light down into the water. Under the water a ways she could see another ledge which was totally submerged. It looked very much like the one she was on, but was about a half dozen paces away and a few meters down underwater. Glancing up, she shined the light there and saw another mesh ledge some distance away and above them, another even higher than that one, and some more off to the sides along the wall in various places. The top most ledge had stairs leading up and out a dark opening. From what she could tell, by looking around the area, each ledge was about the same size, and each had stairs on one end. But none of the stairs connected to the ledge she was on except for the stairs which led down into the water. The ledges all seemed to be separated from each other in some manner.

  “I cannot see the bottom, but it looks deep. That submerged ledge must be a couple meters down. The stairs go all the way there, but they are underwater. So do you have any ideas?” Jamie asked.

  “Say no to the next boar hunt?” Michael responded.

  Liduma leaped into the water and expertly swam across the flooded room and climbed up on something at the far side. They could not tell what she was standing on, but she was out of the water, or so it appeared. Liduma shook herself rapidly and dispelled the water from her short fur. Then she looked back. She gave two quick barks. She walked into the wall and appeared to vanish. She then reappeared and barked again.

  “She found a way out. There must be a passage right by there. I tried to swim once on the Eschaton, and that was with Shammai and The Voice. I really do not want to try that again.” Jamie was thinking hard. “Especially in water that deep.”

  “Jamie, the stopping of the elevator, and this place? Do you think this is one of The Voice’s games?”

  “Every other time, The Voice has talked about the game. But the elevator jamming and this weird place would sure fit with what The Voice has done before. So here goes,” Jamie them yelled loudly, “Am I playing a game?”

  Her words echoed throughout the area, but there was no response.

  “What if I lift you to the next ledge up?” Michael asked. If you climb on my shoulders, do you think you can reach it?”

  “Perhaps, but how will you get up?” Jamie was looking over the various ledges, and planning a path in her mind to where Liduma was standing.

  We can take the straps off the backpacks, and use them as a climbing rope. I know it will mean you carrying the packs to each ledge, and then taking them apart, and repeating that. But it looks like we can maybe make a way around the area, and not try swimming.” Michael replied.

  “Sure we can try,” Jamie said. She took both back packs, and slung them over her shoulders, and cinched them together around her. Then Michael propped the fusion light to give them the best illumination and braced himself against the wall. He interlaced his fingers in front of him to make a step for Jamie. She stepped on his hands, and then onto his shoulders. Michael held her ankles to steady her. By standing on her tip toes she could just reach the edge of the ledge above.

  “Okay, I have a hold on the edge, so give me a shove up and I should be able to climb over,” Jamie said.

  Michael placed one hand under each of Jamie’s feet and while she pulled with her arms, he shoved upward. She swung her leg over the edge and sat on the mesh above Michael.

  “The backpacks make this really difficult. I will link the straps together now and lower them to you.” Jamie undid the backpacks and connected the straps. The straps alone were not long enough to reach Michael, so Jamie emptied out one of the backpacks and used that to make up the difference. She was able to buckle the contraption through the mesh of the ledge, and then lowered the end.

  “Can I call you Jamie the rope maker now? Are you joining Willie and the traders?”

  “Well, if this holds you, I might.”

  Michael grabbed the fusion pack, and hooked it onto his pants and then grabbed onto the makeshift rope and climbed. It was not hard to reach the ledge, but was a bit tricky to get over the lip and onto the top of it.

  When he climbed on successfully. Liduma, who was across the way, barked vigorously. Michael pulled the fusion pack loose and shined the light back at her. She was watching them intently.

  “Got any more fungus bars?” Jamie asked. “I need more energy. This will not be easy.”

  “What is in my backpack is yours, take whatever you need. And if you need a drink, I know where lots of water is located.”

  “But the fish are in there, they breed in there. Oh, the thought of that.” Jamie made a squishy face. She was halfway serious, although not nearly as much as she would have been back in Dome 17, where water was so precious and carefully controlled and purified.

  They both ate half a fungus bar, and drank some of their water. Then they packed up all their supplies into one backpack. They did not all fit, but by overstuffing their pockets, they managed to carry everything along with the makeshift rope. They walked up the stairs at the end of that ledge and reached the next higher one. That spanned a good bit of the distance to the corner of the area. At the end of that ledge, they looked up, but the ledge above was way too high to reach. Shining the beam down, they saw a ledge below and a bit away.

  “So do we lower ourselves down, or take a run and jump? I think we could connect the straps to the mesh, and hang down. Then swing back and forth to make it over to that ledge. But the last of us would not be able to unhook the straps that way.” Jamie observed.

  “So connect the straps here, and you climb down with the backpack. You swing over and drop onto that ledge. Make sure our supplies are not lost. Then I will pull our straps and empty pack back up and then make the jump.”

  And so Jamie climbed down from the edge of the ledge. At the bottom of the makeshift rope, she held on tightly and began to swing. Back and forth she swung until at the height of the swing she was over the end of the ledge. She swung back and then on the return she let herself go and dropped neatly onto the ledge.

  “Made it!” she called back. She was panting and out of breath.

  “I see that,” Michael replied. “Are you ready? Catch!” He threw her the fusion pack which he had held to give her light for her swing. She deftly caught it. He then pulled up the rope and unhooked the straps. “Here comes the rope!” His toss was perfect and the wadded up rope fell right into Jamie’s hands.

  “So now I make my jump. Move back away so I have plenty of room to land. This should be easy, no ramp trying to crush me to death this time.” He ran toward the end of the ledge, but just as he was about to leap off, he stumbled a bit and instead of leaping, he fell.

  Splash!

  Michael crashed into the water just short of the ledge he had aimed for. He flailed about in the water trying to swim. Something he had never learned, since there was no need for swimming in Dome 17. Jamie rushed to the end of the ledge and connected the straps to the mesh. She then threw the rope out toward Michael. He grabbed onto it and began pulling himself toward the ledge. It was a bit of a climb out as well, since this ledge was higher above the water than the one they started on. But eventually he pulled himself up, with Jamie’s help. Liduma was barking encouragement the whole time.

  “That was pretty graceful, right?” Michael said as he panted heavily while lying on the mesh of the ledge. His RAM clothing was drying quickly. But several of his pockets were now empty. He checked and he still had his Willie Wacker, although it was soaked with water. He also had his knife, but had lost a few tools like his fire maker and one of his water containers. “I promise you, the water is drinkable. I got my fill just now.”

  “And the fish did not sting or bite you?”

  “No. I probably scared them terribly. Can you scare a fish? We must tell John I invented a new style of fishing.” Michael hugged Jamie tightly and held onto her. His heart was racing. It had frightened him more than nearly anything else he had endured. He checked his pockets again and then realized something else he had lost. “The two folded record cylinders! They are gone. I had them in this pocket, but when it filled with water, they must have been dumped out.”

  “They are lost for sure. I cannot even tell how deep that water is, and who knows where they went down in that stuff,” Jamie was not sure how important they were, since the records they had contained were pretty trivial. Surviving the watery ordeal and getting back to Antioch were on the top of her mind, not some old meaningless history.

  With their lights shining on the ledges ahead of them, and trying to figure out what route would be best, they did not notice the dark figure on the far side of the flooded room.

  Liduma barked several times, as she did see the figure as it entered the area.

  “We are coming,” Michael called to the dog in exasperation. “Be patient, I just fell in.”

  The dark figure quietly slipped into the water and descended. Coming back to the surface, the figure held both the record cylinders, but stayed right at the surface of the water. Even Liduma could not now see the dark figure in the murky light and concealing water.

  Jamie and Michael decided to follow the ledge they were on, so they packed up and walked on. It led them to the corner where it was an easy step over to the next ledge which headed toward where Liduma sat patiently watching them. At the end of that ledge, Jamie was again lifted up and reached the ledge above. It was not as big a gap as the first lift. Michael climbed after. Then several stair steps up, across a mesh ledge yet again, then a few more steps down, and another few short jumps across smaller spans. Finally they were on a ledge above where Liduma sat looking at them. They could tell she was on a ledge which was right at the waterline.

  “I guess you cannot stand on the water either,” Jamie chuckled. She was glad to be about done with this place. Liduma wagged her tail happily.

  “So down you go,” Michael said as he connected the straps to the mesh of the last ledge. Jamie climbed over and down. Liduma jumped up and licked her face and nuzzled her over and over while spinning in circles.

  Michael unhooked the straps an dropped the rope to Jamie. He then climbed over and hung by his fingers before dropping down onto the ledge. He fell to his knees from the impact, but was uninjured and did not fall into the water again. Liduma mobbed him with licking and nuzzling as well.

  They took a little while to unknot the straps and reassemble and repack the backpacks. They needed the rest after all the climbing and lowering and jumping. Liduma walked over and entered a dark passage in the wall.

  “Our leader wants us to follow,” Jamie said. “I hope where she is going is dry.”

  “I never thought of dry as being beneficial before.”

  They turned the corner and saw where Liduma had gone. It was a spiral staircase which led both upward and downward. Downward was all submerged, but there was a small landing, just barely covered by water, which led to the mesh ledge. Looking up the stairs, it was very dark as it turned. All across the steps was a steady flow of water, and the steps were covered in green, slimy looking stuff.

  On the side of the wall was a lever, it appeared to once have been red in color, but was faded badly now. Jamie pulled it, thinking it might illuminate the spiral stairway. There was a huge sound of mechanical gears and scraping and clanking all coming from the flooded area.

  “Jamie look at this!” Michael called out as he and Liduma jumped off the ledge and onto the landing of the stairwell.

  All the ledges were shifting position. Some were tilting, and others had additional stairs telescoping down from them. Even down underwater, the ledges were altering their positions. The water was rippling as the mesh ledges were realigning themselves. The white fish were fleeing from the lights and the moving ledges. After a while, there was a huge snapping sound and all the ledges which previously had been separated were now connected by ramps, extensions, or stairs. After the mechanical shifting and cracking was finished, they could easily walk to where they had cut in from the elevator: no jumps, no climbing, and no falling.

  “All that time, this was here and you did not pull the lever?” Michael asked Liduma.

  11 The third find: War

  Thinking of having to climb the slimy and wet stairway was a disappointment. Both Jamie and Michael were ready for a rest. But Liduma had been resting the whole time while Jamie and Michael traversed the obstacles of the mesh ledges. She bounded up the slimy stairs and away into the darkness with excessive energy. The slippery surfaces did not seem to make much difference as her claws bit into the green stuff on the stairs.

  “Is this what I think it is? Or where I think it is?” Jamie asked.

  “It does look the same, but now we are on the bottom end of this dripping spiral. So up we go? Or down?” Michael said jokingly as he looked down at the stairs which led away under the water. “Maybe we can see Warren Nine again?”

  “Let us hope not. I do not want him to think I am a renegade. But we better keep the lights on, so they do not think Liduma is their next food ration.”

  The shoes that Michael and Jamie wore had been designed in Dome 17 for adventurers. But the world of Dome 17 was dry, tan, radioactive, and filled with dust and sand. Not slimy water. Nonetheless, they had gripping soles and did surprisingly well. There was also a handrail which Jamie and Michael made good use of as they climbed. The bright light from the fusion pack did illuminate the whole stairwell as they ascended. The next landing up they found Liduma waiting for them. Her head was tipped to the side as she sat waiting. When they petted her, she ran off up the stairs again.

  Here the water was running down the stairs as well as pouring out over the mesh ledge. Glancing down at the wall, Jamie saw the long streaks of discoloration the water had left as it ran down that wall. There was another lever here, which Jamie assumed it would activate some alignment of the ledges on this level, but she did not try this lever.

  The next two landing were nearly identical. At each one, some water was pouring over the mesh in down the wall, while other was running down the stairwell. They slipped a few times on the green slimy substance on the stairs, but made steady progress. Liduma waited at each landing and would bark twice and then continue upward.

  Finally what they had been thinking the whole time they climbed the slippery stairs was confirmed. They emerged back in the hallway where the ceiling was cracked and water was entering. There was the steady, but small, flow of water. The water came down across the accumulated silt, and past the white plants with the upside down caps. In the dark rich soil, there were more human footprints, as well as other prints from some smaller animal. The ceiling lighting was still flickering, but not as dark as their first journey through.

  “The fusion pack must have somehow reconnected a bit of the ship’s power supply. I wondered if this would be completely dark or what?” Michael commented.

  “Just watch out for Warren Nine or others from his tribe.” Jamie was alert and watching as they turned and followed Liduma down the hallway. “Keep the fusion light on, maybe they will leave us alone.”

  “Jamie how could anyone resist you. You are angelic,” Michael joked.

  Jamie smiled at him and said, “Hydroponics and Concentrates is right here. That large area where we entered the elevator should be just ahead. Looks like that is where Liduma is headed. What if she wants to get on the elevator again?”

  The large chamber was as much a shambles as they remembered. With the brighter light of the fusion pack, and without having to avoid hurting Warren Nine’s eyes, they more closely evaluated the chamber. There were some open ducts and access tubes which ran off in various directions, all leading into darkness. No visible doorways, although the symbols around the elevator did light up again. Liduma sniffed at the elevator door, but turned away and walked side to side while sniffing.

  Jamie put her hand on the symbol of the elevator, and there was a weak buzzing sound, but the door did not open. She tried it again, and the buzz grew fainter and faded out. The symbols were also gone now.

  “Just looks like regular permalloy now. One could hardly find that elevator door now. Power all drained out? So what other doors are in these walls? Are they just all de-powered and therefore dark?”

  Liduma approached a round tube which was sticking out from the wall. It was large enough to crawl into, but not much larger than that. Liduma gave two quick barks and rushed in.

  Jamie and Michael approached the tube and were about to follow when they heard a commotion from inside the tube. Liduma was growling and then barked vigorously. Down the tube and out into the room ran three medium sized creatures. They were very fast, and darted past Michael and Jamie. They only got a short glimpse of them, but they were furry and grayish with black across their eyes, and a black and gray striped tail. They quickly climbed up a small conduit amid a pile of rubble and entered another tube fairly high on the wall. They were agile climbers. Two departed away, but the last stopped and sat at the edge of the tube and looked back. It had black eyes, and black fur around them. Its eyes were staring at them over the top of its pointed nose. It sat up and with its front hands wrung them together. The small fingers were clearly visible as Jamie shined the beam of light on it. It then joined its mates in the tube.

 

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