Chapter 38: Cave Woes

As Mina and I headed north, the terrain got rougher and steeper.

“Hold on a moment,” I said. Mina stopped and looked at me.

“We are going this way assuming that Jem and Laine were too far from the shuttle, and they hid in a cave,” I said.

“Right,” replied Mina.

“I’m thinking the reason they were too far from the shuttle is they were searching for us. Does that sound right?” I asked.

“Yes. When we did not check in, they would come looking for us,” replied Mina.

“The obelisk is further to the west. If they went looking for a cave, they might be more to the west of our present location,” I said.

“Are you suggesting we try west from here?” asked Mina.

“It can’t hurt. I don’t want to risk using communicators because the creatures might detect us. It may take a while to find them, if they are hiding,” I said.

We turned west and continued looking for caves. As we walked, I focused my thoughts on Jem, trying to coax any intuition that might lead us to her. We were basing our search on multiple assumptions. I hoped they turned out to be correct.

“It appears we are not alone in the caves,” whispered Jem.

“I don’t want to become its next meal,” said Laine, panic clear in her voice.

“If we go above ground, we could encounter worse things searching for us,” said Jem. Was there really worse things than being eaten in the dark?

“What if we moved closer to the surface? We are so deep here that escape to the surface is unlikely,” said Laine.

“A good compromise. Let’s do that,” replied Jem.

They slowly backtracked towards the surface, hoping the source of the growling noise did not notice them.

“This is about as far as we should go to avoid detection,” said Jem later.

“I haven’t heard that growling noise again. Perhaps it went in another direction,” said Laine. She did not sound too confident though.

“Do you have your stun gun?” asked Jem.

“Yes,” Laine pulled hers out to confirm. Jem did the same.

“There are two directions of attack. You cover that direction and I will cover this one,” said Jem.

“Understood,” replied Laine. They sat in the tunnel, back to back with their stun guns drawn and ready.

Mina and I continued through the forest on our search for caves.

“Bri-an, if Jem and Laine are hiding underground to avoid detection, why have they not detected us?” asked Mina.

“I don’t know. They might have detected our position. There could be a patrol of those creatures on their way to capture us,” I replied.

“If we are on their scanners, will we lead them to Jem and Laine?” asked Mina.

“It is possible. Again, I don’t have an answer. You are asking the right questions though. A healthy sense of paranoia helps to keep us alive,” I said. She smiled.

Then I noticed a piece of coloured tape on a tree branch.

“Mina, isn’t that your tape? I don’t remember coming this way before,” I asked.

“Yes, that’s mine. I don’t remember coming this way either,” replied Mina.

“Look there! Footprints, and they are too small for my feet. They went this way,” I said.

Mina took back her tape. “I don’t want to help the creatures find us.”

“Good point. I’d better hide these tracks as we go,” I said. I picked up a fallen branch and swept away the footprints from the ground. “Let’s go find them.”

We followed the footprints, and up ahead we saw another piece of coloured tape.

“I bet Jem came up with this idea, but it could lead the creatures to her,” I said.

“I’m glad we got here first,” replied Mina as she took back the piece of tape.

“This tape won’t show up on scanners on their vessel in orbit. It is only a problem if the creatures on the surface stumbled upon it,” I said.

We continued on their trail. The sun was getting low in the horizon, which meant it would soon be darkness. If the six-legged creatures had night vision, they’d have the advantage on us. By nightfall, we’d need to stop looking for Jem and Laine and hide until morning.

Our search led us to a small rocky cliff. Searching, I saw a small piece of tape part-way up the cliff.

“I think we are getting close,” I said. I pointed out the tape to Mina. She grinned.

We climbed up the slope.

Part-way up the cliff, we got to the tape. They had tied it to branches that were covering a small cave opening.

“Mina, I’ve found where they went. We had better join them,” I said.

I moved the branches aside and climbed inside the opening. Once I was in a good place, I helped guide Mina and then pulled the branches back over the opening.

Mina and I turned on the lights on our suits. Mina took the lead, and we began the slow climb downwards and northwards.

After a few minutes, Mina exclaimed. “I think I see a light ahead!”

“Take your time and watch your footing. It is too easy to injure yourself in the dark,” I said.

We heard a voice up ahead. “Who is that? Friend or foe?” I recognized Jem’s voice.

“Jem, it’s us,” said Mina.

“Don’t shoot,” I added.

We turned a corner in the tunnel to find Jem and Laine huddled together. They both had their stun guns drawn. I guess they were being cautious.

The tunnel was too low to stand up fully, but we hugged each other the best we could.

“I’m so glad to see you Brian. We lost you, and then Quon reported multiple incoming vessels. We had to hide,” said Jem.

“I’m sorry. We got trapped and took a few hours to escape. When we returned, there was a communications blackout, and we discovered six-legged creatures had destroyed our campsite. After that, it took us a while to find you,” I replied.

“I am glad you made it back. Quon estimated the vessels to be a match, so I ordered Quon to hide. We did not have time to return to Quon, so we hid the shuttle in the ocean,” said Jem.

“At least we are alive and well,” Mina offered.

“There is one more thing. There was a growling noise from deeper in the caves,” said Laine.

“How long ago was the noise?” I asked.

“At least an hour ago now,” replied Laine.

“I can take you somewhere safer than this. It getting dark soon outside, and we can get to the obelisk. Mina and I have figured out how to use it to transport to another world,” I said.

“I have had enough of this cave. Commander, please take the lead, we will follow,” said Jem.

It was a simple task to backtrack and climb back out of the cave. As we reached the surface, I made sure we turned off our lights. In the darkness, an artificial light might show up on their sensors.

Sticking my head out of the opening, I looked for signs of movement below the cliff. It was quiet, and I could not see any creatures. I stepped out and helped the others out and we descended the slope. When we reached the bottom of the cliff, I invited them to join me under a tree.

“Captain, the creatures in space may use simple thermal imaging. If we keep under the cover of the trees, they should hide us from detection,” I said.

“Good. Lead on Commander,” said Jem.

I led us due south, which should get us to the clearing that contained the obelisk. It was getting dark now, as we were near the equator. I hoped to find something familiar before we ran out of light.

Further on, Laine blurted out. “Over there!”

I waved at everyone to crouch down and stay still. We all looked in the direction Laine pointed.

In the distance there was something large moving. It was too dark to be certain if it was a creature from the beach.

“This way, quickly and quietly,” I said. We turned off the trail and into the deeper bushes. I kept going until we were far from the creature, then I turned south again. Our goal was to find the clearing that contained the obelisk. Once there, we would be safe.

Then Mina spotted something.

“I recognize that plant! Look, see I tagged it,” said Mina. The plant had a piece of coloured tape on it.

Earlier in the day, she was tagging every other plant we passed. I could not recall this specific one, but I was now glad that she had tagged it.

“Very good. Which way to the clearing?” I asked.

“This way,” she replied and pointed right. We turned and picked up the pace. Fortune was smiling upon us.

A few more minutes and we entered the clearing.

“Please stand close together and next to the obelisk. And whatever you do, please don’t touch it,” I said.

We gathered by the obelisk, and that is when it happened. A six-legged creature crashed through the undergrowth and into the clearing.

Laine screamed. Something black and resembling a tall spider coming at you will scare anyone. The creature stopped and pointed a weapon at us.

There wasn’t much time to react. I stepped in front of the group and raised my arms out to my sides. The creature fired its energy weapon directly at me.

My personal shield popped into existence and it reflected the fire from the weapon at the creature. A moment later it keeled over dead and landed on the stone tiles.