Reunification (22 page)

“
Oh, goddammit,” said a
voice on the other side of the mound, sounding so close that I
almost jumped. “Look, Lauz, this must be what caused that explosion
we heard.”

“
Aw,” said another
voice, this one dim and gruff, like a brute, and which must have
belonged to this 'Lauz,' whoever he was. “And it was a '94-B
Player, from what I can tell. My grandpa always used to play his
whenever I was a kid. Good music machine.”

“
Who cares if it was a
good music machine or not?” said the other voice irritably. “The
real question is, why did it explode? I don't see any bombs around
here.”

“
I heard those old
machines were kind of defective,” said Lauz. “Like, they were prone
to blowing up randomly. My grandpa's machine blew up in his face
once, but he got better and then went out and bought a new one
after that. And
that
one blew up in his face, too,
but—”

“
Lauz, did I say that I
wanted to hear more about your stupid grandpa?” said the other
voice in a tone as sharp as a knife. “No, of course I didn't. The
boss told us to go out here and find out caused that explosion that
tripped our security systems, just in case there's someone out here
who might be a threat to our operations.”

I exchanged puzzled looks with Resita, but
neither of us spoke. We simply listened more closely to these
mysterious speakers, whoever, they were, because we had no way of
knowing if they were good or kind. I did not trust the sounds of
their voices, but I knew better than to attack when we still knew
so little about these men. That neither of us were in any real
condition to fight was another reason to keep silent.

“
Well, I don't see
nothing that could be a problem,” said Lauz, who I judged as being
not very bright based on the tone of his voice. “Maybe one of those
sand snakes accidentally blew it up. My grandpa always said that
the government dumped a bunch of genetically-modified sand snakes
out here after the Portal War ended, so maybe one of those caused
it.”

“
Your grandpa was a
conspiracy theorist,” the other voice snapped. “Anyway, I don't
like this one bit. Even out here, machines don't just randomly
explode for no reason. I think someone is out here; actually, I
know
someone is out here, and not just one person, but two
someones.”

I tensed. So did Resita, though again
neither of us made any sounds. I hoped that the other man was
merely boasting to his friend, but for all I knew he could be
telling the truth. If he was, then I expected a fight.

“
Really?” said Lauz, who
sounded a little skeptical. “How do you know that?”

“
See those footprints in
the sand?” said the other voice. Though I could not see him and did
not know what Lauz's friend looked like, I nonetheless imagined a
shadowy figure gesturing at our footprints in the sand. “Granted,
most of them were blown away by the explosion, but there are still
a few that are clearly visible.”

“
Hey, you're right,
Arn,” said Lauz. He now sounded as impressed as a child shown a
simple magic trick. “And look, there are some claw marks, too. Do
you think that means there's a gigantic chicken walking around
here, Arn? 'Cause those look like chicken claws to me.”

As soon as Lauz ceased speaking, the sound
of something heavy hitting into something thick broke through the
air. It almost made me jump, while Resita just made a chirping
sound in surprise before he caught himself. We waited to see if
either of those two had heard him.

Then Arn said, “Gigantic chicken, Lauz?
Really? Let me guess, did your grandpa tell you that there are
giant chickens walking around the Dead Lands?”

“
Well, my grandpa did
say, uh, that the government was—”

Another whacking sound and Arn snapped,
“Shut up, Lauz. Those are clearly not the marks of a giant chicken.
Nah, those are Checrom marks.”

“
Aren't Checrom
basically chicken people, Arn?” said Lauz, who did not sound quite
as enthusiastic as before, perhaps because he had been hit twice
already. “So what's the difference?”

“
God, Lauz, how do you
even dress yourself every day?” said Arn. “Anyway, what this proves
is that there is a human and a Checrom running around here. I bet
they blew up this '94-B, too.”

“
Why would they do
that?” asked Lauz. “I don't get it.”

“
That's what we're going
to try to figure out, idiot,” said Arn. “But you know, I think it's
probably that Delanian human, uh, what did the boss say his name
was? Rii Whatever?”

“
Uh, I think he said Rii
Apakerec,” said Lauz. “Or something. I dunno. I've never been
really good with Delanian names.”

'Twas my name that Lauz just mentioned!
Technically, of course, he used my human name—Rii—and my non-human
name, Apakerec. Still, I used both names, but I did not know either
of these two. How, then, did they know mine name?

“
And that Checrom from
the Foundation,” Arn continued. “I think the spy said his name was
Resita or something? Anyway, their bodies were never recovered from
the wreckage of HQ. And look, those human footprints don't even
have shoes. I was told that that Rii guy didn't have any shoes,
which can't be a coincidence.”

Resita's beady eyes had grown to almost
twice their size, and his thin frame visibly trembled. There was no
mystery there. Based on what this Arn fellow said, it was quite
clear that these two were associated with those lizard monsters
that attacked the Foundation's HQ.

Which meant one thing was clear: If they
found us, they would likely finish the job that their allies had
started. And that was something I would never allow, for we had not
survived this long simply to die at the hands of two common crooks,
based on their manners of speech.

“
But how did they get
out of HQ and all the way out here?” said Lauz. “The Hunters had
all of the exits and entrances blocked off. No way they could have
escaped without us knowing.”

“
Doesn't matter how,”
said Arn. “What matters is that they survived. And the boss said
that no one was supposed to survive that assault, especially that
Rii guy.”

Though they did not say so, I knew that
their boss must be Xacron-Ah. After all, his Assassin had already
tried to kill me once; 'twould not surprise me if it turned out
that he had attacked the Foundation HQ for the sole purpose of
killing me. He probably did not want me to find mine sister, which
meant that I would have to work harder than ever to save her from
him, if he was as dangerous as his 'Hunters,' if that was the
proper name of those foul beasts from before.

“
So how do we find 'em?”
said Lauz. “'Cause I don't see them anywhere. They might be far
away now, maybe.”

“
I doubt they got far,”
said Arn. “That explosion happened what, five minutes ago, maybe
less? They couldn't have gotten far in that time. Shouldn't take us
long to find them, even without our sensors.”

I gestured for Resita to follow me. Whilst
I did not know exactly how strong Arn and Lauz were, I did not want
to fight them, for I was still too tired and thirsty and hungry to
do much. Though when I looked down at the trail of feathers that
Resita had left earlier, I wondered if running was even an option
for us, for it would not be difficult, methought, for those two
evildoers to follow us that way.

“
But you know what?”
said Arn. “My favorite screen show is on tonight and I frankly
don't want to spend hours looking for a human and an oversized
bird. Do your heat sensors work, Lauz?”

“
Yes,” said Lauz, who
sounded quite proud of himself. “I clean them every
day.”

“
Then use 'em to find
those damn idiots, who are probably hiding in the mounds like rat,”
said Arn. “Then the fun can begin.”

Before Resita or I could run, a strange
humming sound emitted from the other side of the mound. 'Twas a
queer noise, for it was high-pitched, but not like the humming of a
singing bird; rather, it was strangely metallic and screechy. It
was unlike anything I had ever heard, though that did not surprise
me terribly, for many of Xeeo's sounds and noises were foreign to
me.

Then, without warning, the sound cut off.
Resita and I stood there, as still as the wind in the Dead Lands,
waiting for whatever was going to happen, to happen. My ears still
rang from the humming noise, but I had enough sense in my head left
to turn to walk away from this mound.

But as soon as I did, Arn shouted
triumphantly from behind the mound, “There they are! Get 'em!”

Then something sharp and small, like the
sting of a bee, stung my neck. I reached for it immediately,
feeling something metal and spiky, but 'twas no use, for my eyelids
became heavier than Castle Una and I was soon lost in the darkness
of unconsciousness before I even realized what had happened.

***

Chapter
Ten

T
he darkness around me was thick
and impenetrable. 'Twas not the darkness of midnight, which is a
natural thing and easily dispelled by the light of day or the light
conjured by a wizard or witch; nay, this was a complete darkness,
one I could no more see through than I could see through a thick
mountain or stone wall.

But it was not death. That much I knew. I
was as alive as ever, for I could feel air going in and out of my
lungs, and I still felt the sand betwixt my toes, sand which was
likely from the Dead Lands.

Beyond that, however, not all of mine
senses had returned yet. Though I did feel the temperature around
me, which was an even and cool temp, though why that was, I did not
know. I last remembered being out in the hot, dry sun of the Dead
Lands, but now I was in a much cooler place, or so it seemed to
me.

I did not like being in the dark, however,
whether literally or figuratively. Hence, I began to force my eyes
open; not only did I want to see where I was, but I also wished to
find out if Resita was all right. For I vaguely recalled being in
severe danger before being knocked out; and if Resita was dead,
then I would indeed be angry at myself for allowing that to
happen.

Did take me only a few seconds to fully
open mine eyes, but when I did, I blinked several times, for mine
vision was not quite clear. When my vision finally did clear, I
looked around at my surroundings in order to better understand
where I was.

I knew not where I lay. 'Twas a bed of
some sort, soft and plush, the silk blankets nice against mine
skin. It was infinitely superior to the heat of the outside;
indeed, my skin no longer felt as rough as it used to. It was as if
someone had rubbed a kind of lotion over my skin, though I did not
know if that had happened or not.

And I no longer smelled the icky stink of
sewer sludge and garbage. That alone made me feel better than I had
in many hours, though the replacement smell was not much to speak
of. It smelled like soap; not exactly mine favorite scent in the
world, but far superior to the sewage stink that I had feared would
never leave my body.

Near the foot of mine bed was a small
stool, which I assumed was for visitors to sit on, though there was
currently no one upon it. It had five tiny wheels supporting it and
appeared to be height-adjustable, though did appear as if no one
had sat on it in a while.

As for the rest of my surroundings, I
noticed that I was in a fairly large, square room, my bed in one
corner. On the opposite end of the room stood a wall of clear
glass, through which I saw what appeared to be construction
equipment—such as massive cranes—rising from the ground. I also saw
what appeared to be piles of dirt on the perimeter of the area,
though where those piles came from, I did not know. It appeared to
me like I was in the middle of a Xeeonite construction site, though
that made no sense, as I last remembered being in the middle of the
Dead Lands, well away from civilization of any sort.

I sat up. That took less effort on my part
than I thought; indeed, I felt quite well rested, like I had had a
good nap. Eager to get up, walk around this place, and find out
where I was, I noticed a door on the left side of the room that
appeared to be the only way out.

Therefore, I decided to get up and walk to
it. But when I tried to raise my legs, a powerful pain shot through
them, almost enough to make me cry out. I managed to keep mine
mouth closed, however, because I did not wish to scream.

Instead, I pulled the blanket off my legs
to see what had caused the pain. I almost covered them back up when
I did.

Mine legs were broken. That much was
obvious. They were bent in awkward positions and whenever I tried
to move them, pain unlike anything else I had ever felt in my life
shot through them. I had never had broken legs before; however, I
still did not scream, though I groaned involuntarily every time I
felt the pain.

What happened to mine legs? I lay back
down, doing my best to keep still, but 'twas difficult, for it
seemed like every movement caused terrible pain in my legs. I knew
of no way to fight the pain, which made me angry with a righteous
fury, for now I could not get up and find out where I was.

Then I noticed a camera hanging above the
doorway. It did resemble the security camera from the Foundation's
HQ, except that it was smaller and less noticeable. Seeing that
camera there reminded me of how I had felt when I first awoke
inside the HQ, which was a feeling I did not wish to relive at
all.