The Lost Level, page 8
Instead of running, I pulled the .45, remembering that I had six bullets left. I stood my ground, with my feet shoulder–width apart, and raised the weapon, grasping it firmly with both hands. Then, with that car–sized head only yards away from me, I took a deep breath, exhaled, and then squeezed the trigger. The gun bucked in my hands, but my shot was true. The dinosaur’s rheumy left eye exploded in a shower of wet pulp and dribbled down its snout and splattered over me and the nearby trees. The beast’s anguished cry was terrible, washing over me like a physical force and drowning out the echoes of the gunshot. It snorted once, swiveling its head to look at me with its one remaining eye. I gritted my teeth, lining up a second shot and hoping my luck would repeat itself, when, with a shudder, the creature slipped back down the cliff before I could fire. The beast landed at the bottom, near the smoking, red–hot remains of its former foe, sending a great cloud of dirt and debris swirling up into the air. The tree trunk now jutted from its chest, driven through the monster by the fall. The Tyrannosaurus breathed a few more times and then was still.
“Holy shit!” I stood there gaping, shaking from the adrenaline coursing through my veins. The wet remains of its eye dripped from my hair and chin.
Kasheena cheered and Bloop made excited hooting noises as they clambered down out of the tree. Grinning, I approached the edge with caution and peered down into the canyon again. Immediately, another blast of heat bathed my face. I had time for only one brief glimpse before it became too intense to bear, but in that quick moment, I noticed two things. The first was that the robot’s wrecked remains were glowing, lit by some raging internal fire, and almost seemed to be turning liquid, as if it were melting. The second thing I noticed was a fissure in the earth. I don’t know if it was caused by the intense heat or perhaps the dinosaur’s final plunge, but inside that crack I saw something shiny. Squinting, I peered closer. It was part of an underground metal structure. Of that much, I was sure. Perhaps a tunnel or a bunker, partially exposed to the surface during the ferocity of the battle. Then, I caught a whiff of singed hair, realized that it was mine, and had to step back from the edge.
Kasheena and Bloop approached me. I noticed that Bloop had retrieved his weapons. Both of my companions were overjoyed and impressed by how I’d dispatched the Tyrannosaurus. Bloop slapped me on the back, nearly knocking the wind out of me with one of his sword hilts. He leaped up and down in joy, and I patted his back, returning the gesture. When Kasheena hugged me, her bare nipples rubbed against my chest like perfectly round stones. She didn’t seem aware of it, and I certainly didn’t mind. But when I felt myself begin to stiffen in response, I gently disengaged from her, blushing. She cocked her head and gave me a puzzled smile.
“Sorry,” I murmured.
“You are a strange one, Aaron Pace.”
“Yeah, I’ve been hearing that my entire life.”
“Do you not like the touch of another? Or perhaps you prefer the touch of other men? If so, it is okay. My uncle was—”
“No,” I interrupted, stammering. “I like your touch…I mean the touch of women…just fine. Not that there’s anything wrong with the other, either. I just…you took me by surprise is all. Where I come from, most women don’t…at least the women I know don’t…I’m not doing a good job of explaining things, am I?”
“You do not like me? You have another woman?”
“No! I like you very much, and I don’t have another woman. I just…I need to catch my breath, okay? After all, I just killed a Tyrannosaurus Rex.”
“So, now you believe in the dragon,” she said. “Now you see.”
“I believe I just shot something that was extinct in my world millions of years ago. Beyond that, I don’t know what to think. My head is spinning. Like I said, I just need to catch my breath.”
She nodded. “We will make camp beyond the other side of the valley. Then, you can tell me of the women in your world.”
Smiling, I holstered my .45. “That sounds good. I’d like that. And you can tell me more of your world.”
“Come. We will have to find another way down. This area is too hot.”
As she led us away, I tried to catch another glimpse of that strange underground structure, but the area below was obscured in smoke. Waves of intense heat wafted against my face. It felt like I’d stuck my head in an oven. I smelled roasting meat, and my mouth watered, making me forget all about the nasty Slukick I’d eaten earlier. As my stomach grumbled, I realized that the delicious aroma belonged to the dinosaur, no doubt cooking below due to its close proximity to the robot. I resolved to keep that in mind if I was ever lucky enough to kill one again. Roasted dinosaur flesh seemed much more appetizing than raw Slukick.
Then I did my best to wipe the gore from my head and face and considered that luck would indeed be involved if I ever killed another.
6
UNDER THE LIGHT OF NIGHT
WE FOLLOWED THE CLIFF’S EDGE, walking until the heat and smoke faded. As I’ve said, it is hard to tell time here accurately, but I would guess that after another half hour we came to a place where we could climb down. A cove of massive trees resembling the Redwoods of my world clung perilously close to the precipice, and some of their thick roots dangled over the side, forming a natural network of ropes for us to use in our descent. The roots were sticky with some sort of odd sap, and I was worried that—much like most of the things I had so far encountered here—the secretion might be dangerous, but Kasheena assured me it was not. Indeed, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it had a pine–like aroma, a nice change after smelling dinosaur shit and burning metal for so long. She told me that her people used the sap for a number of different applications, including, I was amused to learn, a form of primitive cologne.
Once we reached the bottom of the canyon, our trek across the valley floor was uneventful. The air was noticeably warmer, due to the close proximity of the fire, but not intolerable. Bloop took the lead, again. Kasheena followed him. A few Slukicks chattered in the tree limbs far over our heads, but none of us bothered to shoot at any of them. As I brought up the rear, I kept glancing in the direction of the robot, expecting a blast of extreme heat or clouds of smoke to round the bend and reach us at any moment, or to see flames racing toward us. Thankfully, none did.
I was still concerned about the robot, though. It had been melting from within. What if it started a fire? Then, it occurred to me that perhaps the robot had been nuclear–powered. If so, there was the potential for a much worse environmental disaster than just a forest fire. But neither Kasheena nor Bloop had seemed concerned.
“That robot was melting,” I said, finally.
“You mean the metal giant?” Kasheena asked.
“Yes. In my world, they are called robots. They’re machines—artificial constructs. Just like the airplanes I mentioned earlier.” I couldn’t tell from her expression whether she understood me or not, so I pressed on. “The robot was burning from the inside and melting. I can’t help but wonder if we should have done something about that. What if it starts a fire or something? We’re in the middle of a forest. That’s a bad spot to be if a fire breaks out.”
“It will rain soon,” Kasheena said. “So, even if a fire should start, the rains will extinguish it.”
I glanced up at the clear sky. “How do you know it will rain soon?”
“Do you see that moss?” She pointed to a cluster of blue–tinged moss growing on a nearby boulder. “Normally, it is red. Its coloration changes to that shade of blue when rain is certain. That is another reason why we must find shelter soon.”
“Interesting,” I murmured, and stopped to inspect the moss. “Some sort of chemical reaction, maybe? In response to the humidity or change in barometric pressure?”
I was trying to sound like I knew what I was talking about, but the truth was, I knew absolutely nothing about meteorology or botany. Even if I had, I soon realized that neither of my companions were impressed by my scientific method. I was still bent over, studying the moss, when Kasheena and Bloop hurried me along.
“The morning our paths crossed,” I said as we continued on, “I thought I heard thunder. But no rain followed it, and there were no clouds in the sky. Does that happen often?”
Kasheena nodded. “My people have heard it before, too, but we do not know what causes it or why.”
“I’m still concerned that robot may have been nuclear powered.”
“I do not know what that means.”
“Well, it’s a type of energy. In truth, I’d do a bad job of explaining it properly, but it is definitely something to be worried about.”
“You worry too much about what is behind, Aaron. Instead, worry about what is ahead.”
There was a small footpath on the other side of the valley. It wound up through boulders and crevices and crooked trees. As we began our ascent up the trail, I asked Kasheena about the strange metal structure I’d spotted beneath the valley floor, but she had no knowledge of what it could be.
“There are caves below the surface,” she said, “and many different tribes live in them, along with other things—creatures it is better not to speak of. And as I mentioned before, there are some who believe the Anunnaki live beneath the ground, as well. But I have never heard of a cave fashioned from metal. Perhaps it was related to the giant who fought the dragon. Perhaps the giant lived there.”
“Maybe,” I agreed and let the matter pass from my mind. There was so much bizarreness around me, it was hard to focus on one particular thing. I was trapped on a world with dinosaurs, giant robots, a beautiful barbarian princess, a furry black and blue–hued intelligent cat–thing, piranha birds, abandoned Jeeps and wheelchairs, phantom thunder, carnivorous grass, kleptomaniac vines, savage snake men, perpetual sunlight, meteorologist moss, and a host of other things. Underground metal passageways didn’t seem so perplexing or important when compared to some of those.
After reaching the top again, we discovered a small spring bubbling up through some rocks. Bloop knelt and sniffed the water. Apparently satisfied that it was safe, he cupped his hands and drank. Then, Kasheena and I did the same. After a brief respite, we continued on our way and soon found a flat, smooth space on the forest floor on which to make camp. Using our swords, the three of us cut fronds from a palm tree and lay them on the ground to make a bed. We covered these with soft green and yellow ferns. After that, we cut some more palm fronds and fashioned a canopy above the bed.
Bloop disappeared into the forest while Kasheena and I gathered a number of large rocks and formed a stone fire pit. I asked her how we would make a fire. To the best of my knowledge, neither her nor Bloop had a tinder box or matches (if they had, I don’t know where they would have hidden them, given his full nudity and her lack of anything other than a loincloth). And I certainly couldn’t start one with the few items I had scavenged.
Kasheena gave me a playful smile. “I have much to teach you, Aaron.”
She walked into the forest and beckoned me to follow. Puzzled, I did as she requested. She searched the ground, overturning rotten logs and sweeping the vegetation aside until she found a strange–colored rock—grey and silver shot through with brick–red speckles. The stone was roughly the size of a baseball. She pried it up out of the ground and then searched until she found another.
“These rocks produce a spark when ground together. I noticed that there were many of them in the area when we were setting up the camp. Unlike our meal before our encounter with the dragon, we can cook our dinner now.”
“I’d like that.”
“As would I,” she agreed. “Gather some tinder, and then I will start a fire. It should give us some comfort until the rains come.”
“And how soon will that be?”
She glanced up at the treetops and shrugged. “It is hard to know for sure. The trees grow close together here, and I cannot get a good view of the sky. But soon, I think.”
I went about gathering an armful of twigs and branches, mindful of where I stepped and what I touched. I also made sure to focus only on dead wood, rather than cutting any from the trees. I’d seen what some of the vegetation in the Lost Level could do, and I didn’t want to take any chances with the strange plants growing around me. I piled the tinder up and then added some of the scrap paper I’d collected from the Jeep.
Bloop returned to camp just as I did. He carried three rabbits with him. They looked remarkably like the rabbits back home, except for their fur, which had a greenish tint—probably some sort of camouflage effect. He proceeded to skin and field dress them. Given my reaction to our earlier meal, I wondered if this was for my benefit or not. He offered us the bloody innards, but both Kasheena and I declined. Shrugging, Bloop noisily slurped them down. Bits of gore dangled from his whiskers and the fur on his chin. He grinned, flashing blood–stained fangs.
Kasheena, meanwhile, piled my tinder in the center of the ring of stones and then crouched over it, holding one of the peculiar rocks in each hand. She struck them together, reminding me of a teacher knocking two chalkboard erasers together, but instead of producing a cloud of dust, a shower of bright sparks erupted. Their vibrancy surprised me. I had expected a few singular sparks, much like that produced from a piece of flint, but instead, it was like she’d turned on an arc–welder. The paper caught fire instantly, and Kasheena knelt over it and blew gently, further fanning the flames until the tinder caught. Twigs popped and crackled as the fire spread. Soon, its heat filled our campsite.
“We will keep these,” Kasheena said, hefting the stones. “This type of rock is rare in the lands around my village. My people will be very pleased to receive them. Usually, we must travel far to secure them. May we carry them in your pack, Aaron?”
“Of course.”
“We will wrap them in the skins of the rabbits Bloop caught. That will keep the stones from accidentally striking one another and setting your pack on fire. We will clean the skins and let them dry over the fire while we sleep so that the smell of blood doesn’t attract predators.”
We spitted the rabbits and then roasted them over the fire. As they cooked, my mind wandered back to the smell of the dinosaur roasting in the valley, which then made me wonder again about the possibility of a forest fire breaking out. I touched upon my concerns with Kasheena, but she didn’t seem perturbed by the prospect and merely assured me once again that it would soon rain. I also tried to explain my concerns about the nuclear potential of the robot and what impact a meltdown could have on the environment, but was unable to properly articulate it in a way that made her understand my fears.
Conversation dwindled and our impatience grew as we waited for the meat to cook. I occupied myself by sorting through my pack again. First, I used the rest of John LeMay’s paperwork to wipe down my .45 and sword, doing my best to clean them with my meager implements. I tossed the soiled papers into the fire, watching the last remnants of John LeMay’s life blacken and curl as the flames licked at them. I felt as if I should toast him or something, wherever he was now.
Here’s to you, John LeMay, I thought. You saved my life. I hope somebody did the same for you.
When the papers were reduced to ashes, I turned my attention back to my gear. I double checked my ammunition and verified that I had five bullets left. Kasheena and Bloop watched with interest as I sorted through everything else. Bloop was especially fascinated with the binoculars and hooted with delight after I showed him how to work them. Kasheena was enamored with the tube of cherry–flavored lip balm. I applied some to my lips and then invited her to do the same to her own. She put some on, licked it off, laughed, and then applied another layer.
Finally, the rabbits finished cooking. All three of us ate ravenously, and I suspect that Kasheena’s and my table manners were probably just as bad as Bloop’s. Grease dribbled down my chin and forearms, making my beard and arm hair sticky. Fat burst and crackled deliciously beneath my teeth. The meat was burned black on the outside and still half–raw at the center, and it seared my fingers and tongue, but despite that, it was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted. As I sit here writing this account inside the abandoned school bus, my mouth still waters at the memory of that meal.
And the rabbit isn’t the only thing from that night that I remember with such clarity.
After we were finished with our meal, Kasheena dug a hole and buried the rabbit bones so they wouldn’t attract predators. Then, using sign language, she indicated to Bloop that he should sleep while we took first watch. After a few moments, our furry companion seemed to get the message. He crawled under the canopy of palm fronds and was soon fast asleep. He snored softly, and he must have dreamed, because occasionally his tail twitched, snaking back and forth behind him. He reminded me of a napping housecat, curled up in the sunshine. Once, he stirred, swatting at a buzzing insect, but then lay still again. Kasheena and I watched him sleep for a while. Then we tiptoed away from the fire and campsite so that we could talk more freely without waking him.
We found an area where the ground had been carpeted by a soft blanket of moss, and we sat down cross–legged and facing one another. Our knees were only inches apart, and occasionally we would accidentally brush against each other. Every time this happened, I felt an electric thrill run through my body. Despite her rugged lifestyle, Kasheena’s skin was silken soft. And warm. I remember her warmth most of all. We talked for what felt like hours. I told her of life back on Earth and she told me about life here in the Lost Level. I studied her while we talked—trying hard to not be obvious about it. She had a raw, pure beauty that didn’t rely on cosmetics or hair styling or fashion. Her teeth were white, if a tiny bit crooked, but that only added to her appeal. Her hair was clean, and given our close proximity, I inhaled her natural, intoxicating scent with every breath.
