The Space Spoon novel Chapter 62

At first sight, the high-altitude winds seemed to have grazed, or more accurately, swiped, clawed, and gouged their way across the mountain valley, carving out distinct alcoves in the steep slopes. As though polished, large and varying stones emerged under their feet. They twinkled pink and silver beneath the rising moon, Zeounny. Lak, the second moon, glided across the sky beyond the mountain range.

Trying to keep a steady pace that was neither too sluggish to waste time nor too fast to miss anything, Tejeda strode ahead of the group. C1313 didn't show up, and he barely persuaded Hanga to wait until dusk.

He had tried to contact the ship and scarcely managed to get a hold of E00. The trackers embedded in their suits weren’t working properly, and the life signs were meaningless when it came to C1313. They didn’t know exactly how to calibrate them for her or what they should track to grasp her wellbeing.

Even now, as they trekked in search of C1313, Tejeda thought he heard Hanga biting his nails. That Valerian was something else. For a moment, he wanted to turn and make fun of him, but maybe this wasn’t the right time for it.

A shriek sounded from his left as the dry wind blew. Tejeda shifted his weight. He could see nothing in that direction.

“Hanga, make the droid shed some light over there.” The Nubilae pointed toward the small alcove.

With a tiny controller in his hand, Hanga nodded and pressed a few buttons. The droid came back. Shayla covered her eyes when it turned the light toward them. When the small mechanical limbs crawled between Tejeda’s feet, they could all glimpse an open hatch.

A ladder shrieked again as the wind whistled between the rungs as it went down from the surface within the thick blackness.

Shayla gathered a strand that the wind hurled on her face and shoved the black hair behind her ear. “What’s the plan?”

Tejeda sat on his buttocks and took out Boppa’s map. Leaning over so the light came onto the scribbled paper, he examined it carefully and then looked over his geo-location tracker. They were a bit off from the X marking the spot on the map. But hey, the drawing was made by an old hag without any measuring tools, so this had to be it.

After rolling the map and shoving it inside his pocket, he looked at Shayla and then at Hanga. "This must be Kirian’s hideout. We go in, rescue C1313, grab the scientist, and get out. It’s going to be a piece of cake." He jumped to his feet and scratched his mane. "This reminds me that I should ask C1313 to prepare us some cake. She should practice desserts too."

Tejeda clasped his fingers around the top rung and started the descent, his boots hitting the ladder echoed inside the small alcove.

When Shayla prepared to follow him, Hanga stopped her with a hand on her wrist.

“Shayla, we both know Tejeda is a lunatic. If things go bad, promise me we will take C1313 and make a run for it.”

“I can’t make such a promise.” She positioned her feet on the ladder. “What I can promise is that I’ll have your back in case you decide to run.”

Hanga sighed heavily and followed her.

The walls and ceiling had a peculiar crimson color with purple tinges that spread across the entire cave like the veins of an organism. It was an odd color that Tejeda hadn’t seen before inside any of the previous caves, or on Larva 5, as a matter of fact.

“I don’t need any information from you. I can put one and one together just fine.”

“Not even knowledge that could help you with your research?” Tejeda fished for details as much as he could.

“No, thank you. My life’s work is already complete. Therefore, I’ll pass this game since I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed person.”

"Don't be concerned. Getting underestimated is always better. As in, claiming to be unarmed while carrying a big ass weapon miraculously hidden behind your back."

"Yeah?" Kirian extended his arms to the ceiling. The purple veins on the walls sagged, and the arching vault seemed to tumble into his fingertips. "I hope you're not kidding because you're going to need that weapon right now."

As Tejeda jerked away from Kirian, the ceiling above him shook like a stomach's wall trying to push itself over.

Blinking hard, Tejeda rubbed his eyes. If the bacteria reached these proportions, this mission would just go straight to 8 on the OMG scale. The organic mass encompassing the entire cave throbbed, pushing itself faster and faster toward its creator.

Tejeda had a vague suspicion of what was about to happen. Between his fingers, he looked back at his crew. "Do you remember when I said we were all going to be fine? Well, uhm, I might have been a little too optimistic. Hehe."