Tara The Great [Nuworld 2] (14 page)

area that a second ago had been a hallway behind them. “I hope that wasn’t the only

way out of here.”

Coughing from the other side of the rubble silenced him. Tara moved behind him

and also stood silently looking at the pile.

“This is all your fault,” a muffled voice spoke from beyond the rubble. “If you’d

been content with the cave people, we wouldn’t have this problem.”

“You don’t know that.” The voice was Polva’s. “You have no idea who is

attacking.”

“We shouldn’t have attacked the cave people’s town to get them,” replied Brev.

“After feeding them with all those false rumors about an eastern faction. These people

are stupid. They were like a time bomb waiting to go off.”

“Which is why I didn’t want them,” Polva’s voice rose in pitch. “Now how are we

going to get out of here and find those two?”

“I’ve radioed for help. Don’t worry. If they’ve been killed, I’ll get you two more.”

“I don’t want two more. I want them. Someone else can have two more. You

promised me a child. They are the best there is among these primitive beasts. I want my

child, then I want my home,” Polva whined worse than a spoiled child.

Tara looked horrified when Darius glanced her way. She didn’t return his gaze but

instead stared at the pile of rubble, her eyes wide open, not blinking.

“Come on.” Darius moved away from the debris.

Flat panels providing light flickered on and off as Tara and Darius moved in the

only direction they could go. Once the walls had been a sterilized white. Now, they

appeared light brown as dirt and small rocks appeared here and there from cracks in

the seams of the walls. They stopped at each intersection and quickly decided which

way to continue. There had to be a way back to the large cave that had once been the

city of Korth.

They hit their third intersection and began hearing voices. Shouts. Yelling and

confusion. A lot of people were somewhere very close.

“Where are they?” Tara asked.

“This way.” Darius pointed to the hallway on their left.

Parts of the white walls were completely gone. Packed dirt and roots from plants

looked like guts hanging out of a wounded animal. They stepped over rocks and

paneling.

“Wouldn’t roots indicate we’re close to the surface?” Tara wondered out loud as

they moved cautiously down the hallway. The lights flickered then went out, forcing

them to use the light behind them to see what lay ahead. The hallway ended within a

few more feet and double doors stood in front of them.

“I can see between the doors,” Darius whispered, as he put his face to the wood.

* * * * *

Tara pushed herself around him and looked through the crack at a large, cave-like

room. Torches and small fires scattered throughout the space. Shadows dancing along

the rough walls made it difficult to determine how many people were actually in there.

Voices behind them caused them to turn away from the doors and look back in the

direction they had just been.

“We’re trapped.” Tara hated that sensation more than anything.

“Wait.” He pushed her up against the half-smooth, half-rough wall. “They won’t be

able to see us. We didn’t see the doors until we were on top of them. We’re in the dark

back here.”

“So who exactly did you contact?” It was a female voice.

“Well, I spoke to two of them when you had me handling the communication.

They’d heard rumors. We’d heard rumors. You said they could help us.” It was Pee-

coo. The other voice must be Pee-coo-mee.

“I know, I know. But you shouldn’t have called them. Now we really have

problems.”

“I didn’t know what else to do. They were gone and I was scared.”

The two were walking toward Darius and Tara. Darius walked out into the center

of the hallway.

Pee-coo-mee stopped suddenly and grabbed Pee-coo. She pulled her gun and

pointed it straight at Darius.

“Who are you?” she asked, squinting to identify the tall figure.

“Who did you contact?” Darius stepped into the light, blocking Tara, who stood

behind him.

Pee-coo gasped and Pee-coo-mee’s mouth fell. She still held the gun toward him. “I,

uh, well I, um, contacted the Runner,” Pee-coo stammered. “Patha.”

“Oh, great.” Tara leaned back against the wall.

“I need your landlink so that I can contact him,” Darius ordered. “How long ago

did you talk to him?”

“Right after we lost…” Pee-coo hesitated and looked at Pee-coo-mee. “I mean after

we couldn’t find you.”

“We need a landlink,” Tara said to Pee-coo-mee.

“Of course.” Pee-coo-mee lowered her gun and moved past Darius and Tara.

“Follow me. Keep your hoods low and don’t talk to anyone.”

She reached for the doors that led into the large underground area. “I sure am glad

to see you, by the way.” She smiled at Tara, then pushed open the doors slowly.

The noise of the room, if that’s what the large cave-like structure could be called,

engulfed them. People were everywhere. Some were sitting around small fires. Others

stood, huddled into groups, talking in animated voices. A few hurried along in various

directions with hands full of blankets or other supplies. No one paid any attention to

them, and the four worked their way through the people, avoiding piles of clothing

heaped here and there, or a mama with several children cuddled up on her.

“I’ve made a spot for us over here.” Pee-coo-mee pointed to an area along the wall

at the far end of the room. She’d taken several of the cloths that Pee-coo sold at his

booth and draped them over sticks to make two walls. They walked to the other side of

them and found a small semi-secluded spot with a couple of blankets on the ground.

Pee-coo-mee reached underneath her cloak and handed a flat computer panel to Tara

before sitting.

Tara held the landlink with her good hand, but when she tried to twist her body

and adjust her long cape with her other hand, she stopped quickly as pain racked her

body.

Darius grabbed the landlink and held her cape out so she could sit.

“I don’t know how long we’re safe here. The eastern faction could attack again at

any time,” Pee-coo-mee said as she observed Darius’ chivalrous actions.

“It’s not the eastern faction,” he said, sitting on the other side of Tara. Darius

handed her the landlink.

“What?” Pee-coo-mee looked from Darius to Tara.

“Members of a colony from the moon are here.” Tara studied the landlink. “Did

you know that?”

“From where?” Pee-coo-mee looked startled.

“The moon,” Darius continued. “They’ve fed you false information about an

eastern faction and the UGA-9 bomb.”

“Can you prove this?” Pee-coo-mee wrinkled her brow. “I’ve intercepted the

eastern faction’s transmissions myself.”

Tara was busy typing on the computer. “Patha’s quite relieved we’re okay.”

“Has he sent troops?”

“Scouts.” Tara stared at the small monitor on the flat disc. “He says they’ll meet us

at the rendezvous point.” She looked up at Darius who was studying the screen.

“Where’s that?”

“Tell him we’ll be there soon.”

Tara met his eyes for a moment then typed the response.

Pee-coo-mee made a slight guttural sound in her throat. Tara realized this man,

who was so in control of the situation, bothered Pee-coo-mee. And he was in control. He

and Patha had a plan, and she hadn’t known anything about it. She looked at him again

and his glance lowered to her body.

“How do you feel?”

“I’m okay.”

“Right.”

“Pee-coo-mee?” A woman called from the other side of the makeshift walls. “Are

you back here?”

Pee-coo-mee was on her feet in an instant with Pee-coo at her side, moving toward

the owner of the calling voice.

“Darius, we need to get out of here.” Tara leaned to watch Pee-coo-mee and Pee-

coo talking to an older lady and her mate. “Those moon people, or whatever they call

themselves, want our children. I was scared to tell Patha that. I don’t know how secure

the cave people’s transmission is.”

“Not very, I’m sure,” he grumbled. “I don’t think they want our children that we

already have, I don’t. I think they want us to make a child for them.”

Tara looked up at him quickly. “Somehow we need to get word to Patha. I want all

the information on these people we can find—their weaknesses, their strengths, and

most of all, where they plan on living.”

He took the flat landlink out of Tara’s lap and poked at the keys with his thick

fingers, then stared at it for a moment. He typed some more, then set it down. “Come

on, we’re leaving now, we are.” He stood and reached to help up Tara.

Pee-coo-mee turned and approached them. “Have you made a plan?” she asked

Tara.

“We’ve seen enough.” Darius seemed somewhat annoyed at Pee-coo-mee’s inability

to acknowledge his authority. “Time for us to leave.”

“Please.” Pee-coo-mee looked at Darius this time. Under her hood, her pale face

showed sincerity as she spoke, “I’m sorry I doubted your knowledge of the people who

are attacking us. It was an initial shock.”

She stopped for a minute as if she expected Darius to say something. As if she

expected him to act the way a man should according to her culture—asking guidance

and offering any information he might have on the issue at hand.

Darius did none of these things. He stared at her. His face was stone, completely

unreadable.

Pee-coo-mee stared back. “Well then.” She sighed. “Allow us to show you a quick

way to the surface.”

“Good.” Darius’ voice sounded a little deeper than normal.

Tara was sure he was flaunting his masculinity. Then to make matters worse, he

guided Tara through the cave as if she were a delicate flower. Tara wanted Pee-coo-mee

to see that men could be intelligent and capable just like women, but Darius’ gallant

dominance wasn’t helping a bit. She shot him a dirty look in an attempt to get him to