Deception by Jeremiah Kleckner

Author:Jeremiah Kleckner [Kleckner, Jeremiah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-10-25T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

6

The further they walked on the path, the more that Malik became certain that this wave he felt was old, certainly not the work of a Shogol Priest, Deacon, or any other high-ranking Necris-fueled Network official. This was older than both the Network and the Alliance. It may even be older than the Liothern Collective, or at least older than when the first human hands shaped its course.

A steep groove cut a path up the center, splitting the formation into two. The three of them traveled for twenty meters along the narrow corridor. As they walked, the pock-marked walls smoothed. The ground, once hazardous and random, leveled and became predictably measured. Patterned, even.

The sheer surface rose above them on both sides until all that was visible was a single jagged streak of sky, like a bolt of lightning frozen in place.

The passage continued in total darkness.

Malik tapped the controls on his exo-frame and it tweeted its acceptance of his command. Thin vertical and horizontal lines spread out over the walls and floor. At each point in the process, it noted changes in depth, slope, and composition. The computer then relayed small shining beacons to Malik's 3D visor. He tapped two more commands and uploaded the data to his crewmates' exo-frames.

With the cavern mapped, they marched an additional sixty meters until they came to a large ornately carved wall of stone.

As one, the Liothern caressed the wall with their thoughts. It pushed back gently, playfully resisting. They felt every inch of the stone wall and its many carved markings.

Hosk held her hand to the stone and looked at the engraving over the arch for a long moment. She then called up her keyboard display and began typing.

Malik stepped up beside her. "They're Necri symbols."

"I know," Hosk said. "I'm translating them now." Her exo-frame computer screened through its onboard system, then through the Swift Destiny's hard drives. "I've got a name. Porro Thule. It looks like some sort of tomb." She examined her computer's readings again. "I can't get any more unless I go out over the Sprawl."

"Let's not do that," Malik cautioned. "Not yet anyway. We don't know who is monitoring this sector."

"My scanner shows a crease down the center of the stone," Hosk said.

Malik ran his fingers along the groove. "I think you're right."

"A door," Rikt said. "It must be a door."

Malik stepped back and gave a silent order. Rikt and Hosk positioned on either side of him and joined their thoughts to his.

Together, the Liothern forced their will on the stone door. It creaked slowly with age, then widened with ease once it had begun moving.

Behind it, the flat stone-tiled floor sloped downward into blackness. A chill hung in the air, stale and biting. It rushed over them in a hurry, as though a long-held breath were suddenly let out. As it passed, a swelling strength pulsed up ahead, calling them deeper inside.

"Should we signal back to the ship?" Hosk asked.

Malik considered the question. "Yeah, do that before we go any further.

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