Galactic Calendar 259872/ 2000 [ Sol Year 4387/ Day 155 of 365. Sol standard year]
Days after of Crash landing/ 5
Uninhabited Island /Beach near crashed escape Capsule 20045
Galactic Standard Time / 0940
Callahin kept from drooling as he led the way through the caves. So far things were going a lot better! Sure he had hit some snags but so what? He was on the right path now, nothing could stop it! He had to admit, that he had wanted them to be on a more dangerous path, but this was fine. He’d just have to use the traps he set up in his home after all.
All he needed to do was think of a way to split the group up, then he could strike!
“How much longer until we’re there?” Al asked from behind.
Callahin looked over his shoulder and smiled. “We’re making great time! I didn’t want to take this route, but then needs must!”
He hoped that would let them stop talking. Not that they needed to stay quiet, but then he didn’t like to hear his prey talk too much. It had been a long time since he had been able to feed on ones like these beings. He had been stuck eating the ones these called pirates.
“What way were you hoping to use?” Racha asked suddenly.
Callahin stopped and smiled back at her. “The boulder trick I used? I have another path down the right tunnel. That one is more…… open than this one. And it’s a bit faster. Do you notice we’ve been going up and down? That one was a straight line.”
Callahin turned back around and his face went to a neutral frown. He hadn’t liked that he told them anything about what he had here. If they thought there was a chance to live, they tried to do it. And that was the last thing he wanted, for them to run. He had to feed soon, and these were the best food he had found in a long time!
“So then how far are we from the ship?” Jinn asked.
It took all Callahin had to keep from drooling. That one, Jinn smelled the greatest! There was something about his mental energy that just caused his mouth to water. It had a primal energy to it that was so tantalizing. And that Racha girl, she was so razor sharp. Finally, there was Paige, hers was so mature and ripe. All in all, this was the best catch that he had made in years!
“Not far, not far at all! Another clearing like the one sir Ginn? Tinn? Sorry, names are terrible for me! But it was where we rested from the wolves, that’s a clearing to me! We just need to go through another. And it has only two passages there, the one we’re using and the one we need!” Callahin said with a laugh.
It was almost time to spring his trap. All he had to do was get them into his lair and then send the others to the den of his roommate.
“So the hive formed up there how long ago?” Sk’p asked.
Callahin only sighed and shook his head. “I haven’t gone on that path for a month or more. So anytime in a month or more. Long enough for that to happen,” Callahin admitted.
“So there is another way down from the ship!” Sara exclaimed in joy.
For a second, Callahin felt a spark of anger at her. If they led people through that path, they would all be here too fast. If there were all those people up here, they would overpower him. So the best thing to do would be to end that kind of thinking here and now. If only so he would come out on top of this hunt.
“Well, yeah. But it goes down the other way. Anyone will pass right by the hive. With how they’re hunting us, bad idea,” Callahin said
“Then the other path you wanted to take? How does that get to the ship?” Al asked.
Callahin kept silent for a few seconds, once more marveling at Al. That one was looking like a great meal! Beyond the knowledge he had about Callahin’s home, he was thinking and asking questions! Those traits would be perfect once Callahin took them!
“Oh, that one? It leads to a tunnel that goes out to the right of the end clearing before the ship. Just keep moving forward and all that!” Callahin said with a laugh. He turned back, confident that he had kept the truth hidden from them again. That was the best way to kill his prey, trick them, and then eat them. And the best thing was that these fools would never see it coming!
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Racha bit back a sigh. How was she dealing with a fool like Callahin? Did he realy think that he had pulled off such a deception? What was Callahin, a fool or had he been able to do it in the past? It raised more questions that seemed to lead to no good answers.
All in all, Callahin was definitely trying to trick them. If that was to lead them into a trap, that she didn’t know. But she was sure he was. Once they reach the ship, they’ll have to send Jinn to talk to Locke. With luck, he’ll use his abilities to make a way up for here for the others. That would give the others the most safety and make a path that they could destroy. And his abilities might be able to help them kill the queen of the hive, or talk to her.
“Well, we’ll see how that path is once we get there. What seems to be bad might be what you need after all,” Jinn observed.
She looked at him over her shoulder and saw him looking right at Callahin. So he knew there was something about Callahin that was wrong? Good. The more people that did, the easier it would be to take him down if he turned on them. For if Jinn knew something was wrong, then Al did too. And Paige must have picked something up as well. She didn’t know if Sk’p, Sara, or Jess had sensed it. But four of them had. All they needed to do was wait, and then when Callahin showed his hand, they showed their hand instead. Say what you will about her, but Racha loved to trip traps to ambush the ambusers.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Callahin stopped, turning around, horror on his face. If Racha wasn’t close enough to see his eyes have a spark of rage, she would have almost believed he was worried for them.
“Really, are you sure about that!? I mean, the hives are strong here! And killing the queen means going into the hive itself! Do you really want to do that?!” Callahin asked, stammering in shock.
“Yeah,” Jinn said with a smirk. “I don’t know about you, but we’ve got some strong people behind us. The security division was strong among the group you know. And they’ve got a lot of good weapons with long-range mods. It might work, take them out at range, and then we hit them through the cave mouth!”
“Smart. If we can hit the hive from three sides, then we could kill it,” Racha said softly. She kept her eyes on Callahin, hoping that he would react. That was what Callahin’s mouth dropped open and he started to laugh.
“Of course! Of course! I forgot that you had more people! I was just thinking about the people here!” Callahin said, nodding as he looked at Racha, his smile wide. “But are you sure you have enough people to do it?”
“Are there enough of us? My friend, there are….” Sk’p began.
“Enough!” Racha broke in, stepping in front of Sk’p and flashing a sign at him with the hand behind her back. She hoped that he understood what she had signaled, he had to. There was too much riding on his mission. And with someone like Callahin here, they couldn’t let him know anything.
Not until she was sure that he wasn’t playing against them. But then that might be hard to do. She more than anyone knew how being stranded and alone hurt people. Who knows what this man had been through that he wasn’t telling the others? But no matter what, they needed to make this place safe for all of their people here. And in the short term if they insulted a survivor, then so be it.
“I’m sure that there are enough of us here to handle them. All we need to do is plan it out. The right plan can handle anything after all. That’s what I’ve learned over the years,” Racha said as she looked at Callahin.
“That’s true. My captain must have just stumbled from one disaster to another after we landed. But still, you need to see it first. That’s something I must insist,” Callahin said as he looked around at the group. The others must have nodded, for Callahin smiled and turned around. “Good! Follow me! It’s been a few weeks since I’ve been down this way, but if I remember it right…… yes. That mark there?”
Racha followed Callahin pointing right arm and saw a hole with white paint on it. The picture it made was of an arrow pointing farther down the tunnel.
“I made that a long time ago when I went exploring around here. That will show us the way. If you get separated, follow the white arrow! It’ll lead you to my den!” Callahin said with a laugh as he led the way.
Once again, Racha looked at him with worry. The way he seemed to throw his emotions around a the drop of a hand, bothered her so much. She was sure that he was acting, but there was something there.
A hand on her shoulder caused her to look back at Sk’p. Before she could say anything, he started to blink his eyes in a pattern. To her shame, it took a moment for her to figure out the code. After that, she just nodded and Sk’p grinned.
Moving around her, Sk’p raised his voice. “Hey Callahin, wait up! I want to be next to you if something attacks us from the front!”
Callahin just laughed and shook his head“We should be safe. Those things would have to be a lot smaller to get into my tunnels. And now that I said that, I can’t deny that they might have something that small. We should move, faster please!”
As Callahin started to run, Racha looked around with a hard stare. The others all followed after Callahin, leaving Jinn and Raccha to bring up the rear.
As they moved, she looked at Jinn and tried to get his attention. When he kept his eyes forward she scowled and tried to think of how to get him to look at her. They had to talk without letting Callahin know they were. And in this cave, where it echoed, they had to do it in code.
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As Jinn ran, he tried to keep calm. So far everything was going as he thought it would in the broadest way possible. The hive was beyond what he thought would happen, but the way Callahin reacted was. He had to be hiding something, something that he needed. The way he reacted just now, means that he needed something from the group. And that was the one thing that he wanted the least of.
All in all, he could see it so much clearer now. The way that Callahin had saved them, and the way the wolves attacked. He had to have gotten what he needed from the group from the wolves as well. And that scared him a little. He had heard a lot of stories designed to scare him growing up, and some of them flashed before his eyes. But if Callahin dared to even think of trying anything like that, he would be sorry. Jinn would tear Callahin apart with his bare hands and make the scum eat his own heart!
As he came out of a tunnel mouth into a large chamber thirty feet wide, he looked around. There were four tunnels, two going to his left. One was below him and another was above him along the wall on the upper level. There was another tunnel opening to his right. As he looked towards that tunnel he heard the sounds of echoing off the tunnel walls. For a second he stood there, trying to place it but then he ‘filtered out’ the echoes. It took him closing his eyes for him to realize just what he was listening to. Looking around again, he saw Al was by the tunnel on the top, gazing back at him.
He turned and saw Racha leaving the tunnel and ‘dashed’ to her, and then ‘dashed ‘ to Al. As he came out of his trick, Raccha slugged him in his stomach. As he winced, Racha staggered and threw up her last meal into the open air.
“Never. That. Without. Telling. Me,” Racha panted out as she glared at him.
“My apologies, but I had no time. I can hear them. Bugs. They're coming,” Jinn said as he looked down at the middle-level tunnels. He scowled as he heard the sounds they made grow louder. “And unless I’m wrong, they’re moving faster now. Move!”
As Al led the way with Jinn and Racha following him, Jinn kept his ears open. So far, they were making good time but the creatures were right behind them.
“You know, I’m starting to think that our friend is leading us here on purpose!” Al snarled as he ran.
Jinn only nodded, not trusting that Callahin wouldn’t hear them. They had no idea what his tech could do, and that bothered him. He had already told Al this, so he must have a reason for what he was saying. Jinn had to trust Al, there was nothing else to do now.
Racha cursed behind them as they ran, and to Jinn her voice echoed off the walls. “Why do the three of us always have to run away? Ever since we crashed we’ve done nothing but run from everything here!”
Jinn snapped his head to look at her and saw the way her mouth was set in a smirk. He saw her look at him and she nodded. He felt a rush of shock for a second, then he smirked back and nodded. So Racha had caught that something was wrong with Callahin then? Perfect! That was just what he needed.
As they ran, Jinn looked around. He was trying to find anything that might help them and saw that there were marks on the walls. He had seen enough battlefields in cramped spaces to know the signs, and there they were. Somehow, he got the idea that their friend didn’t stay back and let the defenses kill the pirates.
After another five minutes, they came out into a large chamber that was lit by sunlight. He looked up and saw the sunlight come through a crack in a cone that went up thirty feet.
“Nice, isn’t it?” Callahin’s voice called out.
Jinn looked up and saw him standing by another tunnel, a smile on his face. “This place is at the center of the mountain! And this tunnel leads to the ship, just another hundred feet!”
Jinn saw most of the group resting around this final chamber. Paige and Sk’p wee by Callahin, Sara, and Jess were closer to Jinn. Taking a look around, he saw another tunnel only big enough for a biped under seven feet to come through. It was by the far right of him, and the rocks were a dark ruby color. With a scowl, he looked at the mouth and tried to think. He had seen this color before and in rocks. He looked closer, trying to remember where he had seen it when he heard Al whistle.
“Amazing! This place. I had a friend, who studied planets. And this? He would have had a field day with this place! The floor alone,” Al said as he chuckled.
Jinn looked down and saw that the floor was a jade green. When the wall and floor met, the colors mixed and there were spots of blackish-red spheres here and there. It was those spots that made Jinn realize where they were, and that caused him to stare in shock.
Slowly, he turned in a circle as he took in the chamber with new eyes. Once he saw the spheres, then everything made sense. “Stars. We’re in an impact crater!”
“What!?” Racha asked, whipping her head to look at him.
All Jinn did was point at the spheres. He saw her eyes widen and then she looked around, shock in her eyes.
Al just looked at Jinn, stunned to silence. But as he looked around, he was starting to see the same things that Jinn had.
“Are those?! I mean you go months without finding one of those….. wait. Why is this in an atmosphere!?” Al asked in horror.
Jinn was about to say something when he heard a clank. He looked up and saw a stone hit the ground in the center of the chamber. It was only the other one next to the one that he saw fall that he knew what made the sound. Looking up, he saw dust “INCOMING!”
As everyone looked up, a large stone broke free from the side of the rocks facing the forest. As a stone five feet around fell, the sounds of insects started to come from behind them. As he turned, another loud crack came from above. When the next stone landed with the second rock between it and the first he understood. “Pincer. This is a pincer! There’s something coming from above and behind! Get ready to fight!”
“I’ll open the doors!” Callahin cried as he ran.
Jinn looked at him, not shocked at all. Only disappointed that he was right about him.
“Paige, Sk’p! After him, keep the doors open!” Racha barked.
Jinn looked up to see her aiming her weapon back down the tunnel.
“Everyone else! Get ready to fight! Nothing gets by us!” Racha ordered as she moved around the chamber, leaving the center bare.
It took Jinn a moment to understand, and he nodded. Keeping the possible drop point of the bugs free was smart. But then the loudest crack was heard, and an insect scream came from above.