Prophet's Journey, page 11
part #1 of Prophet of the Badlands Series
“Counting steps.” Ooru grinned. “From the entrance, four then right then three then left, then six then right… it is required we remember it without mistake before we are allowed to go outside.”
That made sense. The machine men with the wheels probably wouldn’t try to go down that stairway in the first place, and those giant traps looked big enough to possibly catch one.
“Thank you for helping me,” said Althea.
“You are welcome. We can’t leave anyone outside if they’re nice.” Paama glanced back at her for a second. “The Silver Men would kill you.”
“I don’ like them,” said Eem. “They still have shooty sticks. Ours don’t work no more.”
Althea didn’t quite know what to think of a boy around eleven who felt more jealous of the machine man’s functional guns than frightened of how easily it could kill him.
The kids walked along the tracks for far longer than it took to go from where they’d found her to the stairs. Eventually, color—blue plastic—appeared up ahead near another platform similar to the one they entered from. Small devices hung on the walls, giving off light. Four adults with spears, two women and two men, approached the edge to help the kids climb up.
They all looked at Althea, curiosity shifting toward awe when they realized her eyes glowed.
“Who is this?” asked a man. “Why are you carrying her?”
“She has been taken from her home by bad people. They put something on her so she cannot walk.” Ooru twisted to the side, holding her feet toward them.
The adults examined the binders. Their emotions and facial expressions told her they generally recognized the device as a tool of captivity, and didn’t look pleased about it being on her.
“What is your name, child?” asked the older of the men, tall, with shaggy black hair. “I am Amon.”
“Althea.”
A red-haired woman with faint wrinkles at her eyes brushed her hand at Althea’s cheek. “I am Shara. Who has done this to you?”
“I don’t know. They shot me with a little thing that made me sleep.”
“Cowards,” muttered Shara.
“Ulon,” said the younger man. Like the girl Paama, he kept his dark hair in a single thick braid, but his had numerous baubles woven into the end.
“I am Iora,” said a whispery female voice.
Althea glanced to her right at a youngish woman with short light brown hair, probably in her early twenties. “Hi. Umm…” She clicked her feet apart. “Can someone please take these off me?”
“Bring her to Ell-Gee.” Shara pointed at a much smaller tunnel lined with the same little lights.
“I will.” Ooru nodded at the redhead, then started for the passageway, carrying Althea.
She clung to him, tucking her legs in to avoid scraping the walls while peering around at the low ceiling, small lights, and electrical wires stringing them together. The relatively long hallway ended at a large chamber with white walls and columns, all covered in tiles, mostly cracked. Around fifty people occupied it, sitting in clusters tending cooking pots or around piles of animal hide, stitching them into garments. A bready-meaty fragrance filled the air, drawing an instant growl from Althea’s stomach. Smaller children zoomed around playing. Everyone wore garments made of fur or hide. Few people bothered to take notice of the three kids carrying Althea across the chamber to an archway at the center of the inner wall, blocked off by a curtain of thick transparent plastic.
A few made eye contact with her, but aside from the occasional sense of curiosity or mild fear when someone noticed her glowing eyes, not one person gave off the usual blast of elation or adoration she’d become used to whenever her captors brought her to their camp, settlement, or fortress. Despite being quite a ways from home, having people react to her as they would have reacted to any ordinary new person—and not a prize—left her staring around in mild shock. She might have cried if not for her anger at the binders on her legs.
Paama pulled the barrier aside so Ooru could carry her through.
Despite the grand size of the arch, it led to a relatively small chamber. Three adults, two women and a man, sat in beat up chairs quite fluffy and cushioned, though exceptionally old. The one on the left had a detachable platform extended from the front, upon which the man’s legs rested.
An older woman with dark skin and short, curly hair of pale grey occupied the center chair. Numerous baubles decorated her animal hide dress, and she wore several amulets made from shiny green material bearing an intricate inlaid pattern of tiny silver lines. To her left sat a much younger man, dressed in an odd robe apparently made from a blanket. His shoes resembled fuzzy animals that had been hollowed out, but she had never seen rabbits like that. Perhaps he had killed one of those ‘stuffed animals’ that Anna gave her. Shaggy brown hair hung to his shoulders, and he smiled out from under a thick mustache above a goatee while raising a short, wide glass at her in greeting, then took a sip of the whitish liquid within. The rightmost chair held a slender woman with long, straight black hair and almond-shaped eyes. Her general appearance reminded Althea of Aya, the former harem slave who Rachel had referred to as ‘Japanese.’ However, this woman had zero trace of timidity in her.
An empty, even fancier, chair sat on a dais behind the three fluffy ones. A small circular mark on the headrest bore the letters B M W, though she had no idea how to pronounce it or what it meant.
All three people regarded her for a moment, having no particular emotional reaction beyond mild annoyance from the women. The man gave off a constant, subtle emanation of serenity. He sipped his drink again, closed his eyes for a second, and sighed in contentment.
Ooru set Althea down on her feet. She couldn’t help but feel somewhat like a slave presented to the bandit chief, due mostly to the binders. However, she refused to be owned. So far, these people didn’t radiate any sense of being bandits at all, merely settlers. She peered at their thoughts.
The dark-skinned woman was annoyed that children she thought of as scouts—specifically Ooru and his two friends—would walk into this room unannounced. Apparently, they didn’t have enough status to do so. She didn’t pay much attention to Althea. The younger woman who resembled Aya also thought it wrong for them to walk into this room, but her irritation at that gave way to wonder at the sight of glowing blue eyes. The man, however, mostly contemplated how much he enjoyed the flavor of the alcoholic drink… though debated if he’d mixed it up a little weak. Regarding her, he thought she appeared sad, scared, and hungry, and considered that a problem they should do something about. His urge to comfort and protect her eased the last of Althea’s worries.
“Ooru,” said the older dark-skinned woman, “Why do you enter the council chambers?”
“Who is this child you bring?” asked the younger woman.
The boy bowed deep, pressing his right arm across his chest. “Councilors, this is Althea. We found her while searching for useful things. She is in need of help. Forgive us interrupting you, but we thought she might be of the gods. Maybe a messenger from the queen.”
“Her eyes.” The elder gasped.
“Whoa,” said the younger, reclining man.
Eem stood on Althea’s left, puffing his chest up as if proud of saving her.
“I am Noema the Enlightened, elder councilor.” The elder extended a hand toward the other woman. “This is Sumiko the Far Seeing.” She gestured at the man. “And… Bill.”
“Yo,” said Bill, saluting her with two fingers.
“We are the councilors of the Transit tribe.” Noema brought her hands together in front of herself. “What brings you to us, child?”
Althea pondered a few seconds, then said, “Ooru.”
The councilors exchanged glances. Bill snickered.
“You misunderstand me.” Noema smiled. “For what purpose have you come here?”
“I was taken from my home and I want to go back. But the bad people put handcuffs on me so I can’t walk.” She kicked at her leg. “Will someone please get them off me?”
Bill rolled forward out of his chair, smoothly keeping his drink level, not spilling a drop. The recliner rocked back once free of his weight, but the leg platform remained up. All three councilors approached and stooped to examine the binders. Sumiko touched the tiny buttons, making bright green numbers appear on the screen. When it buzzed, she jumped back with a gasp.
“This is a relic,” whispered Noema. “They have power within them.”
“Truly a sign. Queen Kye may have communicated with her.” Sumiko bowed her head in reverence.
Noema rose and lifted Althea’s chin with two fingers, gazing into her eyes. “What form of magic does that relic possess?”
“Bad magic that keeps me from walking. I hate it.” She demonstrated baby-stepping around.
Sumiko grasped the shackle around Althea’s right ankle and tried unsuccessfully to open it. “Why would someone curse you with this artifact?”
“Because they’re a meanie!” yelled Althea. “There’s bad stuff here and I could die from not running.”
“Where did you come from?” asked Bill.
“My village is named Querq. People stole me at night and I woke up inside a flying machine, but it broke so I had to come back down, but I can’t walk very fast at all.”
The councilors whispered among themselves, wondering if she really was something they called a ‘god.’ Noema doubted it, Sumiko believed it, and Bill simply said they should help her.
Sumiko tugged at the hem of Althea’s dress, feeling the fabric between her fingers. “Where did you get this garment? I have never seen something so white or made like this… truly, she is of the gods’ realm.”
Noema also reached out to study the fabric. “I do not possess an explanation for that. Hmm.” She took Althea by the hand. “Come, child.”
Althea peered up at her expectantly, but the older woman started to walk off, making no effort to pick her up. She sighed and micro-stepped along at her side. Ooru bit his lip, evidently wanting to help, but too afraid of the councilors to do so. They crept out into the main chamber and veered to the left.
After a few minutes of agonizing progress, Noema peered down at her. “Why do you walk so slowly?”
A surge of indignant anger exploded inside Althea… but she held it in. The four adults she’d first seen here all seemed to know what handcuffs were. Why would they put the dumb ones in charge? “That’s what this ‘magic device’ does. It makes me slow so I’m easy to kidnap and can’t run away.”
“Ahh. Now I understand.” Noema scooped her up and carried her.
Althea resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The councilors and the three children who found her crossed the giant room and went into a vast corridor lined with the same lights hung at random levels, as if no particular care had been made to keep them even. The walls on both sides had tall, flat metal boxes with faded pictures of men, women, strange monsters, or scary places. Silvery letters along the bottom of one picture read, ‘In Theaters June 2099.’
Perplexed, Althea looked around at all the growling, terrifying creatures in these pictures and decided that she never wanted to be anywhere near a ‘theater,’ whatever that was, since all the monsters would be there. And she absolutely did not want to meet the green one taller than a house.
Noema carried per past a few passageways that led off to either side, continuing to follow the enormous corridor. A metal sign stuck to the ceiling above one said, ‘restrooms’ with an arrow pointing to the left.
Resting rooms? Althea peered down that hall at two doors. Is that where they sleep?
The councilors eventually turned right, taking her past a set of double doors into a large chamber filled with steel shelving containing vast amounts of techno-junk. At the far end of the room by a workbench, a thin man with long, straight brown hair stood with his back turned, stooped over something that emitted random flashes of light and buzzing sounds. His animal-hide clothes bore numerous scorch marks and grease smudges.
A tiny girl sat on the floor near his left leg, maybe six or seven years old, playing with a metal wand and an ancient piece of electronics that had been opened up to expose the insides. Her furry skirt also had numerous smudges and burns, her bare chest smeared with grease. The child wore a necklace of wire and tiny electronic bits. Her auburn hair frizzed up around her head when a minuscule spark leapt from the tip of the wand in her hand to her nose. It didn’t appear to bother her much, though she had an expression of permanent surprise. Undeterred, she poked the wand into the electronic component, making several LEDs on the side come on.
“Ell-Gee,” said Noema.
The man looked up from his work. Upon seeing everyone, he stood, faced, them, and bowed. “Councilors.” A dull grey amulet hung around his neck on a wire, bearing the letters LG. It appeared to be made of plastic, cut out from a larger object.
A bzzt came from the little girl in time with a wisp of smoke rising out of the old device. She giggled, then tried to lick the wand—zapping herself on the tongue. At that, she crossed her eyes and made a face like she tasted something bad. Eem glanced at Althea and twirled his finger around by his ear.
Noema approached the workbench and set Althea down, seated, upon it. “This child is in need of your assistance. She has been cursed with magic that prevents her from moving.”
“Hello, girl.” Ell-Gee smiled at her before glancing at Noema. “I am not well versed in magic, councilor.”
“We are aware of that.” Noema frowned, folding her arms. “However, Queen Kye is not here.”
Ell-Gee let out a resigned sigh and again looked at Althea.
At his confusion, she pulled her legs up onto the table and pointed at the binders. “Please take these off me.”
The man gave off a burst of humor. He started to look toward Noema with an ‘are you serious?’ face, but caught himself, remaining stoic. “Ahh, yes. Well. This particular form of magic I may be able to do something with.”
Bill hid his mouth behind his hand, his body shaking with mute laughter.
Sumiko elbowed him, annoyed.
Ell-Gee took a knee, stooping to examine the restraints more closely. After a few minutes of poking and prodding at them, he hurried over to one of the shelves. The little girl made an ‘aaaah’ noise while sticking her tongue out and licking the wand—which zapped her again.
Without looking away from his rummaging, Ell-Gee said, “Avie, don’t lick the diagnostic probe.”
The girl zapped herself on the tongue again and giggled.
“Your daughter shares your love of electricity.” Bill raised his glass in toast and took a sip.
Althea looked down at the small girl, who resumed prodding the electronics in her lap with the wand. Is her thinking-shape hurt?
“Aha!” called Ell-Gee. He extracted a flat plastic device from the pile of junk that appeared similar to the learning machine, only thicker and larger. “This will do.”
“What is it?” Althea wrapped her arms around her legs, tapping one foot on the tabletop.
“They called it a datapad, I believe.”
She leaned closer. “I have a datapad, but it’s not that big. It’s back home. Sometimes, it makes me mad because I don’t know stuff.”
Ell-Gee chuckled.
A tingly zap jolted Althea in the right ankle.
She jumped with a yelp, and shot a look down at Avie who’d tapped the binders with the wand. The little one peered up at her with wide-blue eyes, her expression still as though someone had snuck up behind her and made a loud noise.
“Please don’t zap me,” said Althea.
Avie prodded the binders with her finger, seeming fascinated.
“Will that ‘datapad’ be of any use here?” Noema gestured at it.
Ell-Gee wiped his hand across the datapad’s screen, pushing a button to turn it on. “Yes, it should be just the thing. Just need to find the right interface cable.”
“8C!” chirped Avie.
He looked down at her. “Are you sure? That’s CR—I mean Silver Man tech.”
Bill sipped from his drink.
Avie nodded, pointing at the binders. “Tiny pluggie. 8C parity or maybe a B8-UHDR.”
Ell-Gee abandoned the datapad and stooped to look at the binders. “Oh, you’re right. That does kind of look like an ultra-high data rate port.”
“Not Silver Man,” said Avie. “Sky Monster.”
Althea considered zapping herself in the nose with that wand. Maybe then she’d understand these people.
“These are as good or better tech than the silver men.” Ell-Gee whistled. “Where’s that darn adaptor?”
“I get!” Avie dropped her wand and raced off across the room amid the pattering of bare feet. She leapt onto a shelf near the wall, climbing it like a monkey on fire until she reached a box near the ceiling.
Everyone waited in silence until the child returned carrying a dark orange ribbon cable, which she handed to her father. Ell-Gee took it, examining the end with a tiny plastic bit half the size of a pea. He grasped Althea’s foot and lifted her leg up, inserting the wire into the underside of the shackle around her right leg.
“It fits. Let’s hope the data connection lines up.”
Althea stared past her toes at him. “I don’t know what you said.”
“You understand this magic?” asked Noema, an eyebrow raised.
“It’s not magic, councilor. It’s technology, like the silver men.”
Noema’s mood darkened. “I caution you not to blaspheme the gods.”
Ell-Gee flashed a fake smile. “Of course, councilor.”
He set her foot down, the thin wire still connected to the handcuffs, and plugged the bigger end into the top of the datapad. The front face lit up at his touch, and within a moment, the tiny display screens on the binders erupted with activity, displaying numbers so fast she couldn’t read them.
“Eep!” She leaned back, stretching her feet out to get the device as far away from her face as possible before it exploded.
“Shh.” He patted her on the head. “Nothing to be afraid of. It’s an electronic combination lock.”
