Darklight by Greg L. Turnquist

Author:Greg L. Turnquist [Turnquist, Greg L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Clean Reads
Published: 2018-03-24T22:00:00+00:00

Clarel found herself nestled in the middle as everyone stood, packs loaded. She tugged at her straps, trying to shake off the soreness in her legs.

Gavin looked back, his eyes scanning until they stopped on one man. “Sergeant, fine job getting everyone here. Well, everyone that you could. Pick up the rear.”

That man probably saved her life, the thought piercing her heart. Then her mind replayed the sounds of the attack, and the warm thought was replaced with a single tear.

“Yes, sir,” the sergeant said. He shuffled himself to the back.

Clarel looked over at Rodrina.

Rodrina touched her shoulder and offered a smile.

“Extinguish pocket bulbs and get the darklights from both ends,” ordered Gavin.

Things went dark, followed by those familiar clicks from the two darklights. Padded feet filled her ears, and she started walking. Traveling in pitch black, buried deep in tunnels was dreadful. The comfort of those feeble lights was gone. Clarel had relished those few hours, but no more. Was this necessary so deep in the tunnels? Not being a military tactician, she chased such doubts from her mind.

Bits of light were a privilege and not the standard accoutrement she was used to. It took another thirty minutes of trudging, making turns, and descending more levels to shake off her angst.

In that time, her mind shifted into tunnel ops. Remembering her past nervousness, she again tapped those around her to spread a sense of companionship, and a sense of renewal radiated back to her.

After another hour, Clarel tabulated having gone down five more levels. Her thoughts drifted to the questions she couldn’t shake. Who built this? And why? This run had started at the sixth level. At least that was her guess. They had now doubled that. How deep did these tunnels go?

Giving up on these unanswerable questions, Clarel looked over at Rodrina.

Rodrina brushed her shoulder, straightened the glasses on her face, and continued moving with a familiar gate.

Despite Clarel’s eyes being starved of sensory input, tiny vibrations painted a picture that made her stare in surprise. She turned her head to the right, and her ears focused in that direction. Rodrina licked her lips and scratched her nose. These minuscule sounds entered Clarel's brain and gave her a crystal-clear picture.

She looked to the left and noticed two other Undergrounders. One tugged at a strap, while the other put his hands in his pockets. Her mind drew an image as the glimmer of a fingernail scratched webbing and a hand brushed against fabric. The doldrum task of hiking in pitch black evaporated, and she looked ahead and behind, discerning details about their entire troop.

Clarel had guessed the soldiers and Snitch traveled by dead reckoning. Not true.

Someone at the front scratched their head, and the ricochet of that vibration was wrong.

That fragment of sound painted a tunnel ahead, branching left and right.

Clarel exerted every effort to avoid shrieking. These bits and pieces of sound cast a picture of Gavin as he veered right. As she passed the junction, Clarel reached, her fingers gracing empty space.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.