How Six Saved the Frogs, page 19
Nif held up the roll of sticky material. “Let me bind it, at least.”
“I’m fine, Nif. Let it go.”
“Let’s hope there aren’t more killer plants hanging around,” Six clucked from above.
Jack seemed to agree. “Or those blirzi.”
Confusion flashed across Nif’s skin, blending with the irritation at Jack being so stubborn. “What do you mean with or? Those killer plants are the blirzi.”
Twenty
Through the Mountain
“I can’t believe no one mentioned blirzi are plants. Killer plants!” Wouter couldn’t be happier that Nif was talking to him again. It sucked that Ruben’s death was part of the reason the bani were willing to give them another chance, but Nif turning away from him—that had hurt.
Nif and Sop had Jack’s slat. Wouter had protested, but Jack had assured him his dot would still connect as long as he took a quantum-connection hub with him. The three-way connection would eat up their batteries faster, but this way they could track them and keep Vek updated.
So far, Jack had found a damp chamber that wasn’t too cold for bani and had curly heather growing across the floor. A place where Nif could unleash the tainted energy after he healed Jack’s arm.
“I thought they were like the dart-shooting plant, only with this thick vine tentacle that didn’t want to let go of my arm.” He turned his head to check if Pim was still holding on to his backpack. It put a paw on his cheek as if it knew what he wanted. It made him smile. And it really did remind him of Pim, a boy he dated years ago, who’d had a kind, soft face that reflected his personality. Such a pity they’d drifted apart after Pim and his family had emigrated.
Taking a deep breath, he turned on his torch and entered the corridor. He glanced at the bani behind him. Wouter still felt he’d let them down, let Vek down. All the more reason to find a way out of here, so they could rescue their kin. He hadn’t realised how close Nif had been to Rut and Puk, two of the abducted bani. No wonder he’d been so angry.
“That’s how blirzi catch their prey.” Nif’s voice sounded even tinnier through the phonet, and the longer lag in translation created an eerier effect, but they could talk. “Are there no enemies like blirzi on Earth?”
The corridor sloped down, narrow and dark. Wouter’s heart raced when he reached a bend. Why was he doing this? But the corridor widened after the bend, and after a second one it levelled out, opening into a bright, luscious chamber. Curly heather grew around a shallow pool fed by a small stream disappearing into the wall. It was magical.
“Six?”
He couldn’t stop staring. “I’m here. We have carnivorous plants on Earth, but we’d hardly call them enemies. They don’t attack humans.” He’d better not tell Nif they ate creatures that looked like bani. Who knew what frogs translated into. Maybe Jack would.
“I found a chamber with more curly heather and a pool. There’s light coming from a skylight of sorts.” He checked the readings—paying attention to the colours more than the numbers. “Temperature is in the orange range. Only one other corridor leading off it.”
“Time?” Jack asked.
“Not a large chamber. Fifteen minutes, maybe twenty.”
“Go for it.”
“Where are you now?” Wouter reached the pool. Pim patted his cheek and Wouter put it down. It padded across the curly heather and bent to sniff the water.
“Almost reached the next corridor.” Jack hadn’t had much luck after the heather chamber. No blirzi, but no closer to finding a way out of the mountain, either.
Wouter didn’t want to say anything, but Jack’s voice sounded even more strained now. Pim stared up at him, apparently done sipping water, and Wouter picked it up again.
“Good luck.”
“You, too.”
The wide corridor was light enough that Wouter didn’t need his torch, but he couldn’t see the end, so no telling where it led.
He took a breath and told Nif, “I wasn’t even aware it was injecting something into me. Though, the bite throbbed. I thought it was trying to pull me to them.” It was the one thing he dreaded about going through these chambers, running into more blirzi.
“We don’t know why it thought you were poisonous. You don’t eat algae.”
Wouter shuddered. “Thank Earth for that.”
Jack snorted. “Maybe they just thought you were tasty.”
“I’ll remind you of that when you run into them.” Though he hoped neither of them would.
“He’d better not,” Nif clucked. “Or I won’t be able to heal his arm.”
Ouch.
“I’ll be careful.”
If only Wouter could get Jack to rest. If anyone could.
He reached a fork. One corridor went on, the other seemed to wind deeper into the mountain. He took the first one, but a few paces in, Pim started growling, not the kind growl, and pulled on his hair.
Wouter stopped. “What’s going on?”
It was as if Pim didn’t want him to go that way. What had he missed? He studied the walls and the ceiling ahead, and cursed.
“What is it?” Jack asked.
“Glowy bulbs growing along the ceiling in the distance.” So much for not running into blirzi. They seemed to grow on one side, only. “Actually. Hold on.”
He walked on, shushing Pim as they started growling again. “Don’t want to let them know we’re here, do we?”
Pim huffed into his hair, sending shivers down his spine, but stopped growling. Approaching the bulbs made his heart race, but he continued until he had a better view. The bulbs didn’t span more than a meter and a half. Ahead, the ceiling was devoid of bulbs. He let out a breath.
“It might not be as bad as I thought. There’s another corridor off of this one, or the entrance to a chamber. The path ahead seems clear.” Bright, even. “Nif? If I stick to the wall opposite the entrance, can the blirzi still grab me?”
“You were halfway into their chamber when they grabbed you last time?”
“Yes,” Wouter answered without thinking, slapping his forehead when it dawned on him that it didn’t translate well. The drawback of talking to Nif via phonet. He tried again. “Halfway seems right.”
“Maybe if you run?”
That was more or less what he’d been thinking. Nothing had come zapping out at him yet, so, it seemed he was out of reach. Right. “I’ll let you know how that goes.”
He took a deep breath, told Pim to hold on and set off. He passed the entrance at a run. Despite the glowing bulbs lighting the floor beneath them, it was hard to see if there was any soil. He didn’t dare stop until he’d cleared at least two meters. Even then, he turned and shuffled backwards, watching the entrance as he caught his breath, until Pim stopped his incessant growling.
Nothing zapped out at him.
“I’m assuming you all heard that? It seems Pim can’t just sense poison, he can sense the blirzi as well.”
“Maybe they smell the same.”
“Maybe you should have brought me one, Nif.”
“Wilds are free creatures, Jack. Pim following Six was its choice, not ours.”
Wouter pressed his lips together to keep from laughing and letting on how much he enjoyed Nif putting Jack in his place. “Maybe you should take a break, Jack. I’m close to this next chamber, and the light in this corridor is brighter.”
He hadn’t even noticed how much until he looked back. The corridor behind seemed dark in comparison, and he hadn’t needed his torch at all.
“Time?”
“Ten minutes. Tops.”
“All right. I could use a break. Let me know what you find.”
As Wouter made his way to the next chamber, Pim didn’t growl again, or pull at his hair. He reached it in seven. Though he stood frozen for the next three as he took in the view. Beyond the open chamber lay wavy hills bathed in sunlight, climbing another mountain. Not just that, there was no steep drop, like the path into the caves. The heather and grass—not the sharp kind—all but flowed into the chamber. In the shade of the other mountain, blirzi lived—their yellows indeed harsher than inside the caves—but unless those migrated overnight, they wouldn’t be a problem. Wouter still shuddered at the sight.
The chamber was about half the size as the one they’d fallen into, big enough to fit them all, and the temperature sat safely in the oranges. The downsides were the patches of soil scattered throughout the chamber—blirzi had definitely trekked through here—and no other corridors into the mountain.
“Any luck?” Jack sounded impatient, if strained and laboured.
He needed to get back to Nif. Or take more painkillers. Though, Wouter doubted he’d take them if he suggested it. Jack wasn’t going to like what he had to say, but he doubted Jack would find an exit on his level.
“I fear I’m going to have to pull you up after all.”
Among the hustle and bustle and the cacophony of clucking, Nif rested in the heather at the edge of the chamber. The view was as impressive as Six had described, despite most of the hills sitting in the shade of morning. A few blirzi had moved closer to the cave. They’d probably started out at first light, just like they had—before eating their first meal, even—though blirzi didn’t walk as fast.
The trees here seemed forlorn and sad. As tall as the ones in the forest, but there were so few of them, and their branches hung bare. No place for bani to sleep. Caught between the mountains, they didn’t get as much sunlight this time of year. No wonder the blirzi liked these hills. The soil was so wet, the grass and heather had turned brown in places. The few patches of algae grew too close to the blirzi to be safe to eat. Luckily, the forest, the stream, and their path were less than half a day away.
The opening the scouts had followed had ended in a sheer drop, and Jack’s corridor had only led to farther into the mountain. When he’d returned, his arm had been bothering him. His own fault for walking off without letting him bind it. He was at least resting it in the wrappings from their healing basket since last night’s second healing. Though Six suggested using the sticky material might make Jack behave more. But Jack wanted nothing that restricted his movements too much.
Six joined him, sitting cross-legged. “Jack and Vek are already plotting out the best course. I’m glad she gave us a chance. I’m glad you gave me a chance.”
Nif flashed agreement. Six’s words reminded him of their loss. “May the soil that cradles your age mate nourish your memories of him.” He hoped Six would understand even if humans didn’t bury their dead.
Six bowed his head and rested his trembling hands in his lap. “That is beautiful. May the soil that cradles yours do the same.”
Gazing out over the fields, Nif ran a hand across the heather. The soil had blessed him. He had so many memories of Esh. From the way she and Rut challenged each other to climbing or jumping competitions, to sitting close together and staring out over moonlit ponds.
“How close will they get?” Six interrupted his thoughts and pointed at the blirzi. “They were half a field farther back last night.”
“Blirzi don’t travel as fast as we do. We’ll be well on our way before they’ve crossed the next field.”
Six let out a breath. “Good.” Pim scrambled into his lap, letting go of the root it had been holding in its mouth, soil clinging to its nose, and licked Six’s hand, making his face light up. “Hey, little buddy. You found food?”
It butted its head against Six’s hand and munched on the root it had dropped into Six’s lap.
“Is this what they eat? I don’t know what they eat. What if there’s nothing to eat for them at your winter habitat?”
Nif studied the wild. “It seems perfectly capable of finding its own food.” Pim looked young, but not that young. “It’s not sprog.”
“Are you sure?” Six petted Pim as it ate.
“It was taking care of you when we found you, not the other way around.”
“Feeding me berries.” He shook his head in mirth. “Maybe it thinks I’m sprog that needs looking after.”
Nif had no doubt the little wild was an intelligent creature, but the way Six clucked to it was like he clucked with Jack, with them. Humans were strange.
Six’s smile faded as the bani behind them clucked about untrustworthy humans. “I know we deserve it, but I’m tempted to take my machine out again if it means not having to listen to them. Seeing their disapproval on their skin is bad enough.” Six ruffled Pim’s leafy mane. “It was hard for me not to understand you, even when I could clearly read your emotions. I felt I was missing something, missed… you. I…”
Six went quiet when Nif leaned in and put his hand on Six’s arm. Was it too soon? Unwanted? Should he pull back? Maybe he was reading too much into Six’s words. They barely knew each other.
But then Six wrapped his arm around Nif in return, and Nif didn’t want to run or pull back. He wanted to stay right where he was. Six made him feel comfortable, treasured, understood. Made him feel like this was all they needed. To sit together. To sense each other close. Six didn’t even need to cluck. They could just be and enjoy the view while Pim’s happy growls filled the air as it lay in Six’s lap, savouring its leaves while demanding pets. Maybe, they could listen to their favourite music. Or watch those moving images Six liked so much. They could pretend they had all the time in the world. Make memories to treasure after Six left.
Across the room, Sop flashed him a happy greeting, followed by acknowledgement, as they stood with the other scouts. Rut stood with her back to them, but Nif liked to think that she, despite her misgivings about humans, would like to see him take his chance. A chance of finding what he’d been looking for since Esh had passed.
This pretend-peace could not last. Not while their kin were in danger. But they stretched the moment as long as they could. Even after finishing their meal, they gazed out over the splotchy hills and ignored the clucking and flashing around them.
Until Vek clucked to get ready.
Six smiled at him, a mix of happy and sad, as he let go of Nif and helped Pim settle on top of his basket. Pushing himself off the floor, he held out his hand. Nif took it and let Six pull him to his feet.
“We will find your kin.”
Pim growled from Six’s shoulder as if it agreed.
If only Nif could feel as certain.
Twenty-One
The Silence Before
They reached the stream around midday rest. Nif wasn’t the only one happy to see the luscious trees on the other side. Relief flashed around him. They were all eager to cross the stream, to find a leaf and sway in the breeze.
Jack was having none of it. He stopped two bani-lengths before the stream and muttered something the implant didn’t pick up as he inspected the ground. His scrunched face couldn’t mean anything good when he faced them. “I want no one crossing this space until I cluck it’s all right.”
Vek flashed her displeasure, but she didn’t stop Jack as he indicated the area he wanted the bani to stay away from.
“I get you want to cross the stream as fast as possible, but this is not the time to separate. We’ll cross when I’m ready.”
A restless silence settled over the group as they sidled up to the stream, eyeing the area Jack had marked. Large chunks of uprooted heather and grass revealed the dark soil beneath. The memory of their kin being pulled away, packed together, desperately grabbing at the ground, hit Nif hard. He had to sit down. He found his feelings reflected in the misery flashing around him as they realised this was where their kin had been dragged in those awful twisted vines.
Pim scrambled onto his legs while Jack unpacked one of his living machines from his basket, its soft growl a welcome comfort. He ruffled its mane and willed himself to look away.
With Six and Vek following, Jack hovered the machine over the damaged grass. It beeped a slow, but steady rhythm, drawing in curious sprog, despite protest from their minders. None of them dared get too close, though. And when the beeping became louder, erratic, they squealed and hopped back.
Six shook his head at them, but Jack didn’t even seem to notice with the way he eyed his machine as he headed towards the sheer wall of the mountain. If only he’d stop taking his arm out of the supportive wrappings to point at something on the ground every time the beeping changed. Unable to hide his frustration, Nif ran his pads through Pim’s mane to calm himself.
Jack didn’t seem to understand that while Nif had healed him, his body was still recuperating. Healing shocked the entire internal system. He needed rest to let the cells adjust and continue what Nif had started. A lot of rest. Stubborn human. If they had more time, if they weren’t trying to find their kin, Nif might have forced Jack to sleep. For now, all he could do was watch him. Whatever he was doing.
It seemed Vek wanted to know too. She flashed confusion. “What’s the machine doing?”
“It’s looking for evidence. Traces we might follow to find your kin.” Jack paused and pointed at the ground. “And the persons who took them. Like this image of the feet wrappings I picked up near the stream. I’ve yet to meet a species other than humans wearing these.”
“Your machine understands clumps of soil?”
“It’s the pattern. The bumps and gaps form a shape that looks nothing like any of the marks bani leave. Or wilds.”
“Your missing colleague?” Vek clucked.
“Not the right size, and Alliance-provided wrappings have their symbol in them.” Leaning on Six, Jack showed Vek the bottom of his feet wrappings. “Like this. But the ones I found don’t.”
“But they belong to humans.”
Jack nodded. “Unfortunately. The info the Alliance provided me with was inconclusive on where the predators come from. There might be other species as well.”
For the first time, Nif wished he hadn’t volunteered. A wave of nausea washed over him. Focussing on Pim’s growling, he tried tuning them out, but it was useless. His implant picked up their voices loud and clear.
