Crystalline Space by A. K. Duboff

Author:A. K. Duboff [Duboff, A. K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781643650197
Google: _A2luwEACAAJ
Amazon: 164365019X
Goodreads: 41953898
Publisher: BDL Press
Published: 2018-09-01T23:00:00+00:00

14

“Let’s start walking,” I said, hoisting the backpack containing extra supplies onto my shoulders.

We’d loaded a map of our destination onto a handheld device—one of the new additions in the packs Tami prepared for us—and we were facing a challenging journey across narrow strips of land through ten kilometers of bogs. The path reminded me of the kind of circuitous route we’d take through the boulder fields in the hills back home, only this was much longer and had a lot more opportunity for dead ends.

Fortunately, we’d recorded aerial footage on the fly over to our landing site. The image was loaded onto the handheld along with an optimized path through to the edge of the lake where the underwater path led.

Kaiden lifted his own pack. “Everyone have everything? Double check.”

I nodded. “I’m good.”

Maris groaned as she picked up her pack. “Do I really need all of this?”

“We don’t know what we may find out there, and we’ll be a long way from resources,” Toran stated. “Unless you want to potentially find yourself hungry and sleeping on the bare ground, having the contents of that pack on hand is in your best interest.”

“Or, you can stay here in the shuttle by yourself for however long we’re gone,” I muttered.

Maris only flipped her hair out of her face in response.

“I’m ready,” Toran said in response to Kaiden’s original question.

“Okay, then let’s head out.” Kaiden set off along the specified path.

After a quarter of a kilometer, the first signs of the marshlands appeared. The ground softened underfoot, and the air took on a faint aroma of decay. Shallow puddles of water popped up in our path. As we went deeper, the puddles multiplied and merged into waterways.

The solid ground on the path we were following was, in reality, only firm when compared to the standing water around it. Covered in short reedy grass, my boots sunk in at least three centimeters with each step, making for an exhausting slog through the maze of relatively dry pathways. Some areas were six or seven meters wide and the four of us could comfortably walk abreast, but in the other places, the pathway narrowed to a meter and we’d have to hop over to another landmass.

After an hour of walking and jumping, my pack was digging into my shoulders. To distract myself, I kept an eye on the water for any signs of life.

The water was still in most areas, but as we got deeper into the marsh, I started to see the occasional flutter of water out of the corner of my eye. Whenever I turned toward the movement, there was only a telltale ripple on the surface, which could easily have been caused by a gust of wind. The appearances were too random and numerous, though, for me to believe that was the only explanation. Something was out there.

“Hey, have you noticed anything in the water?” I asked when I was certain the sightings weren’t in my imagination.

“Yeah, I’ve been watching that, too,” Kaiden replied.

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