Abyss: Section 31 by Dean Weddle

Author:Dean Weddle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: 2001-11-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

“What is this place?” Ro called up to Kel. “It seems familiar.”

The Ingavi released his grip on the branch he was dangling from and dropped headfirst ten meters, snagging another branch a mere two meters above the ground and swinging himself up into a seated position. “Do not speak too loudly,” Kel said. “The Jem’Hadar have claimed this area for their own and though they do not come here every day, they come often enough.”

The sun would rise soon, Ro knew, and soon they would have to make a decision: stay under cover until nightfall and rest or continue to the spot where the Ingavi thought the runabout had gone down. Kel said it was still a few hours’ hike, and while it seemed sensible to stop and rest, part of her wanted to press on.

“If the Jem’Hadar come here, why are we going this way?” Taran’atar asked, stepping into the clearing and dropping his shroud. He had been slipping away about once an hour—“reconnaissance,” he said, though Ro wondered what he could be finding out that their arboreal spies could not.

And spies they had—in abundance. Kel had been true to his word; he had found them an army, though there was still a question about how effectively Ro and Taran’atar could use them. In the end, they could end up being nothing more than cannon fodder and that thought tore at Ro. What right did she have to ask these people to die? Certainly, they seemed willing enough to fight, but could they truly understand what they were about to face? She shook her head and tried to focus.

“There is something here,” Kel said, “that you need to see.”

“Quickly,” Taran’atar snapped. Kel dropped to the ground and bounded up the trail a couple of dozen meters, then suddenly veered to the right. Above them, in the highest branches of the canopy, Ro heard their Ingavi army take a collective breath, then release it in low, grunting hoots that reverberated in the branches and seemed to shake dew from the leaves.

They walked through the dense brush over uneven terrain for several minutes, Kel first, followed by Taran’atar, then Ro last. Even in the dim predawn light, she saw signs that this narrow trail had once been well traveled by the standards of the forest. There was something familiar about the place, too; she had been here before, on her previous visit, though there was something dreamlike about the memory.

The trail opened out into yet another grove of huge trees. There must have been a cold spring nearby, because a heavy mist clung to the place, cloaking the ground up to the height of two meters. The fog didn’t drift, but seemed only to ripple in the breeze like heavy gray curtains.

“Do you recognize this place now, Ro?” Kel asked softly.

“Yes,” she said. “I remember now. I was brought here once. This is the oldest grove, the place where your people first settled when you came here.” She explained to

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