Yearning, page 19
Camilla rubbed her knuckles.
“Just a brief paragraph. You okay?”
“Yes.
Knowing when to stop fussing, Darian continued after
quickly wiping at her damp eyelashes.
“It saddens me, even if this is the best way under the
circumstances. We will soon have procured the same type of
garments as the people who inhabit this world. We will eat
the same food, live very similar, hard lives, and thus blend
in. Once the Elders decide that it is time to bury the ships,
we will also stop using the tools we brought with us. Time
will pass, generations will shift, and, eventually, nobody will
remember Dwynna Major.”
Camilla stopped typing. “What?” she whispered.
“It’s what it says. There’s no other way to read this.
Dwynna Major.”
“Dwynna Major. Dennamore.” Camilla spoke the words
slowly and then slumped back in her chair, covering her
cheeks with her hands. “Is that where the Dennamore
settlers really came from? I’ve never heard of it.”
“Trust me. Neither have I. Doesn’t it sound a bit Irish?”
Still unable to think clearly, as the text had squeezed her
heart as if to stop it, she said, “I’ll have to Google it. Do you
think anyone ever returned there? And why would they bury
their ships? What was their port of entry? New York? Boston?
Perhaps Plymouth?” Darian rubbed her temple. “Did they
sink, no, bury, their ships? Was that really what Bech’taia
meant? She wrote buried.”
“I…I suppose we might find out later, if it’s in the
journal.” Camilla’s hands were trembling now. “I think I need
a break, if that’s all right.”
“Me too. I—” Darian’s cell phone rang, and Raoul’s name
showed up on the screen. “Wait a moment, Gran. I’ll help
you down the stairs, but I just need to take this. It’s Raoul.”
She tapped the screen. “Hi, what’s up—?”
“You need to come to Philber’s house. Samantha too.”
Raoul sounded out of breath.
“What? But she hasn’t gotten off work yet.” Confused,
Darian raised her eyebrows at Camilla, who was standing
up, mouthing “wait for me” to her.
“You’ve got to call her. I’d do it, but I’m busy here. It can’t
wait. Philber says so, and I agree. Carl as well.”
“You have to tell me something.” Darian stood. “What’s
wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong exactly, but we think we found a way
into the tunnel.” Raoul drew a deep breath. “And by the
way, wear your NIEC and bring Samantha’s.”
* * *
Samantha rushed through the doors and down toward
the parking lot outside Town Hall. She had hastily told her
colleague that she intended to work from home, which was
a half-truth, if you weren’t too particular. Darian had given
very little additional information other than what Raoul had
mentioned over the phone.
Getting into the car, she had to will herself to calmly put
her briefcase on the passenger seat and strap herself in.
She gripped the wheel with one hand and turned the
ignition with the other, relieved that her car didn’t have one
of its moodier days and started willingly.
The drive to Philber’s house took less than ten minutes,
despite roadwork in the area. As she drove up by his house,
she saw Darian’s car behind what had to be Raoul’s. A
bicycle leaned against Philber’s hedge. As Samantha
stepped out, another car pulled up behind hers, and Walker
exited. Samantha hoped all these cars wouldn’t attract too
much attention among the neighbors.
“You were summoned as well?” Walker held up his bag. “I
was here earlier but felt I needed more of my gear. It’s
important we document what’s going on.”
Samantha could hardly believe she hadn’t even given
that aspect a single thought. Darian had worked on the
journal today with Camilla and mentioned how they had
translated and written down several pages worth of coded
text. Of course, they needed to document visually as well,
when appropriate. “Thank God you thought of that,”
Samantha said and walked up Philber’s garden path with
Walker. She was about to ring the doorbell when someone
flung the door open.
“Damn. I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you. I saw you
from the window.” Darian stepped back and let them in. “I
just got here and haven’t gone down to the basement yet. I
had to let myself in.”
Samantha was about to ask why when she heard the
raised voices below. She couldn’t make out what they were
saying, but someone, most likely Philber, was causing a
commotion.
Carl appeared in the doorway to the basement stairs.
“Oh, good. You better come down before Philber has a heart
attack. He doesn’t want to wait much longer. Better slap
your NIECs on first.”
“I’ve got mine.” Darian pulled a box out for Samantha.
“Here’s yours.”
“Good.” Samantha opened it and lifted her hair in the
back. The NIEC attached instantly, and she waited a few
seconds to see if the vertigo hit, but it didn’t. She felt an
odd possessiveness. This NIEC was hers.
Walking downstairs, Samantha was able to make out
words from behind the smooth rock wall.
“This is my damn property, and if I want to press the
damn sensors, or what the hell these things are, I should be
able to do that without some damn doctor—”
“Philber, we have no idea what’ll happen.” Raoul
sounded calmer, but he clearly had to raise his voice as
well, to be heard. “And we owe it to Samantha and Darian to
insist they be here. This is their discovery. Their baby, if you
will.”
“And we’re here,” Darian said and hurried around the
wall. “Calm down and fill us in.”
“Took you a long time,” Philber muttered. His eyes were
narrow slits, but he seemed to try to harness himself.
“Fill us in.” Samantha waved Walker forward.
“Come over here and tell us what you see,” Raoul said,
and pointed at the wall. “This showed up when Philber and I
pressed one of the outer glowing spots each, at the same
time.”
Samantha felt her eyes widen when she saw the grid that
had appeared on the rock. It seemed perfect to her. “Have
you measured the grid squares?”
“Yes. They’re 3.3 centimeters. Well, actually 3.33333, to
be more precise,” Philber said, rubbing his chin. “It’s
unfathomable how a rock that sits in a house built in the
seventeen hundreds…” He shook his head and didn’t
continue. It was rare to see Philber speechless.
“And the map ought to be just as accurate,” Darian
whispered, indicating the detailed map of an old version of
Dennamore. “Here we are.” She pointed at where Philber’s
house was shown with a sharply edged rectangle. She did
the same with Camilla’s house and Walker’s. “Here’s Town
Hall. The lake. And…the tunnel?”
Samantha felt for support and found Darian’s shoulder.
Bracing herself, she let her gaze follow the clear marking of
a completely straight tunnel, or whatever it was, that led
from the lake to the town hall. In four spots, lines seemed to
lead from the tunnel to the homes of Philber, Camilla, and
Walker, and one more. “This house, and yours, Walker, and
Camilla’s, are located south of the tunnel. So is the fourth
house. Who lives there?”
“That’s the one they tore down, remember?” Philber
nodded at the fourth rectangle. “The Normans’ house.”
“Ah. The other two remaining log houses are north of the
tunnel, with no lines to them. Perhaps they don’t have these
rocks either.” Samantha turned to Philber. “Are you saying
you think these lines indicate access points to the tunnels?”
“Yes. Yes!” Philber flung his hands up. “Now to the next
part we discovered.” He stepped up to the wall. Placing his
palm against another bright dot at the edge, he pushed up,
thus moving, not scrolling, the entire grid.
“Holy crap!” Darian gaped.
“And this.” Raoul used two spots and pulled them apart.
The map grew bigger. “Now the grid is 6.66 centimeters. You
can get it up to twice that size.” He zoomed in farther,
keeping Philber’s house in the middle. “See?”
Samantha did. She was trying to think above her sudden
dizziness, which she suspected came from learning too
much too fast. “It behaves like the map on my cell phone
does,” she said quietly.
“Look at that.” Darian pointed to what Philber thought
was an access point from his house. In the center of his
house were two smaller but distinct glowing dots.
“I’ll be damned,” Walker said behind them. “Perhaps I
need to utilize one of those interfaces after all. There are
markings at my house as well.” He motioned to his house,
just visible to the far left. “And at Camilla’s.”
“Is this what the argument was about?” Samantha asked.
“You wanted to push these markings and see what
happens?”
“It’s my house,” Philber said grumpily.
“It is. And still, don’t you agree that we need to be
prepared when we take such a huge step?” Speaking in her
best librarian voice, soft and calm, Samantha locked eyes
with Philber.
“Like you were so prepared when you put on the NIEC the
first time,” Philber said, not without triumph.
“Touché,” Samantha said. “I did take a risk. A personal
risk. If you touch the markings and cause your house to fall
on us—isn’t that something we need to at least consider?”
“Make the house collapse? Ridiculous.” Philber huffed.
“It might be, but it is worth a few extra minutes while we
discuss the possibilities. We’re a team here. I don’t suggest
that I’m the leader of our group—” Samantha blinked as
Raoul and Darian both guffawed. “What?”
“You are so our leader,” Darian said brightly. “This is your
show, Samantha. The rest of us are equally important to
our, well, um, quest, but we need a leader, and that is you. I
know Gran feels the same way. Anyone else here have a
different opinion?”
Everyone shook their heads. Even Philber.
Carl patted him on the back. “Now that we’re gathered,
you can better make your case. See how that works.”
“Don’t push your luck, kid,” Philber said, but Samantha
could tell he was mostly joking. Mostly. “All right. I don’t
think anything will level the house. If this is an access point,
someone must have accessed it back in the day, and
obviously the house is still intact.”
“Yes. But it’s also older,” Walker said.
“My house is in perfect condition.” Philber hit the logs
that made up for the outer wall for emphasis.
“True. It is.” Walker had pulled out his tripod and was
now attaching his camera. “If you’ve decided to do
something, I need to set up properly, to document.”
Philber brightened. “Now we’re talking.”
Samantha raised her hands. “If we’re going to do this,
we’re going to do it by the book.”
“What book is that exactly?” Carl asked while looking at
the grid. “Would that be the ‘steps to not getting killed while
investigating crazy sci-fi shit’?”
Everyone chuckled. “That’d be the one,” Darian said.
“I want the ones not touching the markings at a
reasonable distance. Over by that other wall.” Samantha
pointed behind her. “Raoul, I assume you have your medical
equipment with you?”
“Yes.” Raoul pointed at a shelf by the back wall.
“Good. Philber, since you’ll be doing the deed, so to
speak, you’ll have to back up instantly. No antics.”
Samantha turned her head around, not even blinking, and
made sure the stubborn man knew she meant business.
“Got it,” Philber said, probably worried she might pick
someone else for the task.
“Carl. Your mother will kill me if I let you get hurt. You
stay over by the stairs, and if I tell you to, or if something
looks off, you hightail it out of the house. Understood?”
Samantha repeated the look when homing in on Carl.
“Absolutely.” Carl nodded and moved to a safer spot.
“Have your cell phone ready,” Samantha added. “Just in
case.”
Philber was already positioned by the grid on the wall.
Samantha stood between Darian and Raoul, barely able to
breathe.
“Hold on to your lucky drawers,” Philber said, and
suddenly his voice trembled slightly. Whether it was from an
onset of nerves, or from excitement, was anyone’s guess,
Samantha thought. Perhaps both. Philber chose to use both
index fingers and pressed them against the markings for a
moment and then pulled them away. Nothing happened. “I’ll
try again and keep them there.” Philber raised his hand but
then stopped in midmotion and cast a glance at Samantha.
“Boss?”
“All right,” Samantha said, hoping she sounded calmer
than she felt.
Philber repeated the maneuver and kept his fingers in
place. Samantha found herself counting the seconds, and
when she hit five, a gentle rumble grew in intensity. Philber
let go and jumped back toward the rest of them. Over by
the stairs, Carl stood wide-eyed and clutched his cell.
Then the wall shifted. The grid wasn’t visible anymore,
merely the lines that Samantha recognized from before, the
ones that looked like a circuit board. Now the wall folded in
on itself, slowly, rumbling like distant thunder during an
electric storm. When it stopped, it had created an opening
from floor to ceiling, wide enough to easily fit a person
through. Behind it, a soft light came from below.
“Unbelievable,” Darian whispered. She took a few steps
forward, and Samantha’s first reaction was to grab her arm
and yank her back, but instead she joined her. “A hole in the
floor.” Darian pointed. “Or, rather, an opening. See?”
“I see it.” Samantha bent forward and peered down the
hole. “Steps. And light. How can there be light?”
“You’re asking that, after all we’ve seen lately?” Darian
snorted. “I have no clue. None.”
“We have to go down.” Philber, of course, was obviously
ready.
“We will, but not yet.” Samantha could see Philber gear
up toward another frustrated exchange of words. “And
before you blow another fuse, I’m just saying, we need to
have the right gear with us. We need people on the surface,
as in Camilla and Brandon, to know where we are in case
something happens.”
Philber deflated. “Yeah. All right. Damn it.”
Darian nudged Samantha’s arm. “And one of the people
with a NIEC has to stay up here in case that thing suddenly
closes itself. Who knows if it opens from inside?”
Samantha shuddered. She had never been keen on
closed-off areas, and the idea of being trapped underground
was not appealing. “Good point.”
“And,” Darian said, raising her voice some, “I think it’s
vital that I read you what Camilla and I translated today. It
might help us once we’re down there. You never know.”
“Who’ll stay behind?” Philber said, his fiery eyes making
certain everyone knew it wasn’t going to be him.
“I’ll do it,” Walker said. “I’ll go back with Darian and have
one of the NIECs fitted. I’ll bring Camilla back with me, and
we’ll keep watch while the rest of you go down. Those who
want to, that is.”
“I’m going,” Carl said and pointed to the opening with an
open hand. “This was part of my assignment from the
start.”
Nobody else offered to stay behind. Samantha thought it
was as if the mystery they were unfolding had them in a
tight grip. Even she, who took some pride in being
levelheaded and who led a quiet life, normally, couldn’t
imagine not going. Glancing at Darian, she knew the fact
that she was in on this played a big part in her decision.
“Let’s sit down a bit,” Philber said and pointed to the far
end of the basement. “I have some stools in there. I want to
