CHAPTER 14
Shiro
Shiro was watching Kalin straighten the Barra on his shoulder. He stood at over six feet tall with neck-length black hair so thick it resembled fur. Except for his long-sleeved white shirt, everything he wore was the color black. His short open vest edged a wide belt surrounding a trim waist. Thick sinews filled his skin-tight pants and cuffed pirate boots made him appear tough and rugged.
Why can’t I look like that? thought Shiro.
His glasses sat bent and crooked on his nose. One lens was shattered, making it hard to see out of his left eye. Cornea implants would have corrected his vision, but he hated doctors, which meant his overbite had never gotten fixed, either.
“She’s crazy,” said Kalin. His face glistened pink with moisture from the scorpion blood.
“You got guts,” said Shiro, noticing the red bruise on his jaw. It has to hurt. “I’ve seen her beat guys to the floor. They couldn’t walk for days.”
“Let’s go,” said Kalin.
They began jogging down the tunnel.
“How could that skinny squirt beat up a guy?” asked Kalin. “She’s a twirp.”
“The twirp’s been taking self-defense lessons since the age of three,” said Shiro, trying to keep up the pace. Kalin had a long stride. “She’s a master of judo and kick-boxing. I wouldn’t mess with her.”
“Yeah, well, she can’t break me.”
Shiro laughed aloud. “She already did. With one kick.”
Kalin’s brow furrowed and Shiro worried about being punched. A hit from Kalin would deck him and he’d fall in the dirt. He cringed at the thought. Bacteria was his downfall, something nearly impossible to tolerate until the meds. Wherever he touched dirt, he’d feel invisible bugs crawling on his skin and would literally scratch until he bled. Why he became a geophysicist was a question he had asked himself every time he did fieldwork. He’d decided a long time ago that his OCD would not hinder his love of geology, so thanks to the Young family, Dr. Rand, long sleeves and pants, he learned to cope.
However, down here, the dives onto the dirt and the quaking had him covered in dust; his hands were filthy, but the crawly sensation on his skin wasn’t bad. It was bearable. When was the last time he’d taken his meds? He checked his watch. Twenty-one hours ago? Impossible. He’d skipped a dose, yet he was relatively calm. Perhaps the experience here in the core was good. Maybe the will to survive was overpowering the psychological stressors. He couldn’t think of any other reason for the symptoms to lessen. It was strange.
“I can take Rina,” said Kalin. “She’s nothing compared to a Bulguan. They’re part woman, part animal and they eat men.”
“Oh, how nice,” said Shiro, assessing the repulsive thought. “Thank you for that delightful image.”
Kalin chuckled. “Rina’s easy. She’ll break soon.”
Kalin was smart, but stupid when it came to Rina. She was special. Shiro’s condition had chased away good people, bothering them to the point of not wanting to hang with him anymore, but not Rina. Although she teased him at times, she was always there for him. Rina was the best friend he’d ever had.
“She’s not lying, Kalin,” he said. “In the sub, she stopped a detonation that would’ve killed most of the people above. Rina would do anything to save this world. Even die for it.”
Kalin grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop. “Are you hiding something?”
Kalin’s green eyes were staring straight into his, searching for any kind of deception.
“No,” said Shiro and he yanked his arm back. He would not be intimidated. “And neither is she.”
“I understand she’s your friend,” said Kalin, “but I can’t help but feel she’s lying and I need to know why.”
“What if she honestly doesn’t know why we were brought here? What if only Vorkis knows why? I mean, Rina doesn’t lie to people and I can’t see her starting now.”
“Kalin—” said Marante, tapping several orbs on the scanner as he approached them.
“What?” asked Kalin.
“The scanner is operative for the moment. The tunnel where Rina went is correct. Another tunnel from there will take us to the Command Center.”
“It’s about time you fixed it,” said Kalin. “Let’s go before it breaks again.”
Marante scowled at him. Their relationship was similar to his and Rina’s, reflected Shiro; attack when you can but don’t hurt. The men running beside him were very human, though one of them didn’t look it. When Shiro had awakened in the sub, he didn’t think he would end up in the core of Earth with two aliens from different worlds. Marante was the scientist and the cool one. His black oval eyes shined like liquid pools of oil, and since they’d met, he’d noticed Marante’s small, rounded nose had altered in size and color several times, possibly reflecting his emotions. It was impolite to laugh at him, but it really was a humorous oddity.
Kalin on the other hand, had all the brawn and energy of a fearless hero, yet inside he was a powder keg ready to burst. The anxiety Kalin lived with had to be overwhelming.
It must be killing him, just as it does me.
The thought brought back the memory of waking up in a bed of grass, the sounds of his parents’ screams, the heat of the fiery plane as he listened to them die. Then he shoved it away, along with the horror, focusing again on the men beside him. On the left was a paper-thin alien with a pumpkin-sized head who could be Captain Kirk’s best friend. On the right was a tall, muscular hero whom any woman would give her left arm to have. And in the middle, there he was—a fat, bucktoothed geek with broken glasses and a pizza belly. Somehow, it just wasn’t right, being the geek who was always scared, though he seemed to be improving.
They turned left down the passageway and he squinted at the glaring light from the large, bright opening at the end of the tunnel. Upon reaching the entrance, they stood at the threshold of an enormous, seemingly endless cavern. In front of them, beyond the fine white sand, dense tropical foliage led to a narrow beach where a crystal-clear blue ocean went on as far as the eye could see. In the distance over the calm water, a patch of low dark clouds was slowly moving across. It’s raining inside the core! Shiro stared in awe. This cavern has its own weather system! From up above, synthetic sunlight bathed the whole area creating a living, functioning environment.
“There must be an enormous amount of condensed phosphorous in the ceiling,” he said, staring up. “The glow is diffusing the visual height of this cavern. I can’t see how high up it goes.”
“Over two miles,” said Marante, studying the scanner, “and the phosphorous ranges from six hundred to almost a thousand feet thick.”
“Wow,” said Shiro. “No wonder the insects survived.”
“There she is,” said Kalin, pointing.
Rina was standing waist-deep in the ocean, scrubbing herself clean. The men walked across the soft sand and joined her. She sloshed out of the water. Kalin squatted and washed his face.
“I think we’re in Jurassic Park,” she said, pointing to a large tarantula-type spider weaving a web around an entrance to another tunnel. It was the size of a house.
“Good heavens!” said Marante. “More pheladons?”
“Yeah,” said Kalin, standing up. “Quit being so chicken.”
“I will stop when you grow up,” Marante retorted.
“Well, you cleaned up nicely,” said Shiro, grinning at Rina. He had to jab her. “Even the dung smell is gone.”
Rina’s red T-shirt clung to her torso, revealing her shapely form.
“Hmm...still don’t believe in bras?” he added, knowing a sly smile would get her back to normal.
“This has not been a good day,” she said, tilting her head to the side and squeezing the water from her hair, “and I’m going to kick your butt if you start with me.”
“Tell that to the guys whose mouths are gaping,” he said, nodding his head to Kalin and Marante. Their gazes were glued to her.
She stood in front of the two, drip
ping water and with her hands on her hips. she said, “I’m not in the mood for hormonal idiocy. The first man who makes a comment is going to die. Understand?”
They cleared their throats and turned away at the same time.
“Good,” she said. “Now, which way out of here?”
“The scanner has failed again,” said Marante, frustrated. “From the last reading, the pheladon is blocking our needed passageway.”
A high-pitched screech came from inside the webbed tunnel. A gigantic creature, half scorpion and half spider, burst through the web. It leapt into the air towards the spider, who quickly jumped away. The insects faced each other, moving in a circle, their claws raised high, their salivating fangs spread apart. The four slowly began walking backwards towards the tunnel they’d exited, keeping their stare on the beasts.
“What’s the big one called?” asked Kalin. “The front half of it looks like a scorpion.”
“Yeah, it’s a Mastigoproctus Giganteus,” said Rina. “A whip scorpion, commonly known as a Vinegaroon. The strong smell is acetic acid, something we Earth-humans call vinegar, hence the name. A year ago, I was setting up seismic sensors in the desert and one of the insects sprayed a cut on my finger. The thing attacked me and I had to beat it with a shovel six times to kill it. They’re relentless. I had the taste of vinegar in my mouth for days. That one has yellow ringlets on its hind legs. It’s a new species.”
“Of course it’s a new species,” said Shiro. Sometimes she was so smart she was dumb. “Look at the size of it. We need to leave.”
As they reached their tunnel, the sounds of pounding footsteps came from within.
“Hide!” Shiro whispered fiercely.
They ducked behind a thick patch of leafy bushes just outside the entrance. Another enormous spider came dashing out and raced towards the fighting insects.
“Where did it come from?” Shiro asked, peering back into their cave. “We were just in there.”
“It probably sensed its mate was in trouble,” said Rina, her attention fixed on the creatures. “This is amazing.”
Shiro couldn’t believe she was doing it again. Four years ago at Mt. St. Helens, she insisted they get closer. They’d missed the pyroclastic cloud by seconds because Rina wanted to video tape the event. She did this type of thing all the time. Now, here they were watching giant insects battling, and again, the scientist in her was taking over.
“We’re not staying here, Rina,” he demanded. “We need to go.”
“Back into the tunnel,” said Kalin.
“Wait,” said Rina, stepping out from behind the bushes, entranced by the spectacle. “The Vinegaroon is winning.”
One massive claw of the Vinegaroon grabbed the leg of the male spider and tossed him into the air. The spider hit the ground with a loud boom and bounced towards them. The three men leapt away, but Rina didn’t make it in time. A spider leg bashed her chest and she went airborne, landing in the sand fifty feet away and moaning. The monstrous spider had crushed the bushes that once hid them. The creature lay on its back, screeching and kicking fiercely as it tried to upright itself.
Kalin shoved his Barra into Shiro’s arms and hurried off. He slid along the wall face, steering clear of the flailing legs.
I wish I had Kalin’s courage; thought Shiro, even Rina’s would do. Then he felt Marante’s hand on his shoulder, as if comforting him. Could he have sensed my sadness?
“See,” whispered Marante, “he has her.”
Kalin slung Rina’s body over his shoulder. Her wet hair flopped forward over her head and she started yelling. Kalin shushed her and pointed. She spread the hair apart and immediately quieted at the sight of the insect. The creature had moved further from the wall, making it easier for them to pass. Kalin rushed back to them and sat her on the earthen floor.
“Thanks,” she said, pushing back her drenched locks. “So you do care?”
“Actually, no,” said Kalin, looking down at her. “I need to know your connection to Vorkis.”
“So much for heroes.” She brushed the sand from her legs. “What a pity. I guess it’s not in you.”
Kalin was about to say something when Marante broke in. “Are you all right, my lady?”
Shiro was glad Marante stopped the ensuing argument. The whole thing was ridiculous.
“Yes, I’m fine,” she said.
“Can you walk?”
“No, Rina, can you run?” said Shiro.
She nodded and Marante helped her to stand.
“Do we have to go back in there?” Shiro asked nervously.“What if it has babies?”
“If we go back the same way we came in, we may get lost,” said Marante.
“I don’t think we have a choice,” said Rina, glancing at the warring beasts blocking the other tunnel.
“We’ll have to find another way to the Command Center,” said Kalin. “Let’s go.”
A gut-piercing screech came from behind them. The Vinegaroon had torn off four of the female’s eight legs. She wobbled to and fro; fountains of black blood spurted from the open sockets. The male spider shrieked, arched its legs back and, with a single push, leapt onto its feet. It made a head-on attack. The Vinegaroon hissed and sprayed a clear liquid into the spider’s face before jumping in the air. The spider crashed into the rock wall. It staggered on weakened legs, rubbing its face into the dirt, trying to remove the acid.
Although two hundred feet away, the strong odor burned Shiro’s sinuses and tears streamed down his face. He cupped his hands over his mouth and nose, hoping to filter out the caustic fumes while keeping a close watch on the beasts. The Vinegaroon pounced onto the back of the spider whose legs spread straight out under the weight and it hit the ground hard causing a strong earth tremor. Shiro nearly lost his footing but kept his eyes on the Vinegaroon as its huge claws savagely ripped into the spider’s thorax and pulled out its entrails. The spider shrieked in agony as the Vinegaroon buried its face into the body of its enemy, eating it alive.
“We have to go now!” said Shiro.
The Vinegaroon lifted its head out of the dead spider and stood on its hind legs. Chunks of slivered meat and yellow viscous dangled from its mouth. A loud shrill permeated the air and they covered their ears in searing pain. It turned its head and hissed at the four standing by the tunnel entrance. They fled down the passageway.