Silversion by Rick Johnson

Author:Rick Johnson [Johnson, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-01-29T16:00:00+00:00

Free Musterteers

When Klemés climbed out of the catchment basin inside Tilk Duraow, he was breathing hard. “Welll-ee!” he gasped, “now that’s a climb!” Although he had climbed slowly, taking frequent breaks, the ascent up the lava tube had been difficult. The tube was steep, and the handles were slick with the black slime that grows in darkness with constant damp.

At first, almost all forward progress was provided by his arms. Then he realized that the handles could also be used as footholds. Flipping himself on his back, he was able to push himself up with his legs. Although it was a relief to give his arms a rest, the water splashing down the tube sprayed over his head as he lay on his back. He emerged from the tube, soaked to the bone and shivering. Taking off the headlamp he had borrowed from the Club Wolf post, he pulled himself out of the catchment.

“Before I go find Bem and Helga, I need to warm up and dry my clothes,” he thought. “The door to my old cell should be unlocked. I’ll stop there and start a fire. Once I’m warm, dry, and rested, I’ll head up to the parade ground where everyone else will likely be.”

Covering the short distance to his old cell, he was surprised to find Bem, Helga, and Christer inside the cell arguing.

“Oh, so it’s a crime—deserting the cause—if I go with you to look for Tē’d’Tē,” Christer was complaining, “but you’re not a deserter when you do the same thing?”

“What’s this I hear about deserting?” Klemés laughed, coming into the room.

“It’s not exactly deserting,” Helga replied, “but I’m leaving Tilk Duraow.”

“Leaving!” Klemés exclaimed. “By the Ancients! Where are you going?”

“She says she’s going to look for Tē’d’Tē,” Bem replied.

“That blessed Weasel saved my life,” Helga said. “I can’t just let her disappear by means of some wicked outrage, never to be heard from again. No. Not while I breathe.”

“Helga’s like this,” Christer chuckled. “She has this habit of disappearing—heading off to help someone—without telling anyone. This time, I was watching her and could see all the signs. I just told her I was going with her this time, wherever it was she was thinking about going.”

“Well, I still haven’t invited you,” Helga growled. “You’re needed here. I won’t draw any more beasts away from operations here. I’d stay if I could—it’s just that Tē’d’Tē means a lot…”

“I don’t need an invitation,” Christer replied, “Tē’d’Tē means a lot to all of us. We all want to find her and get her back. Besides, Bem gave me all the permission I need.”

“You know I’m a sea-captain, Helga,” Bem said. “If one of my crew wanted to go off to attack another ship in a rowboat by themselves, I’d have them thrown in the brig! That’s under the general Law of the Sea that allows captains to jail beasts when they’ve gone temporarily insane and are a threat to themselves and others! I won’t stand by and see you act insane.

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