When the Devil Dances

She looked at the other two women. “It’s probably the only chance I’ll ever get for a rejuv. If it’s not eternal life, it’s a close equivalent.”

Shari sighed. “Go for it.”

“Computer,” Elgars said. “Please do a full upgrade on this patient.”

“Very well,” it said, opening the cover. “Get on the slab.”

There was another wait as Elgars got the computer to download a schematic of the exit and Shari ensured all the children were ready to run. She settled the children and convinced them that, yes, she was really Miss Shari. After checking out the route and determining that there shouldn’t be any Posleen between their current position and the surface she took over carrying Amber and started giving her a bottle.

About then the cover came off and Wendy sat up.

“Dang,” she said. “It’s like going into and coming out of Hiberzine. No time passed at all.”

“Feel any different?” Elgars asked.

“Stronger,” Wendy said. “It feels like… I dunno, my ‘wind’ is better. I feel charged up is the best way to put it.”

“Well, let’s go,” Shari said, cradling the child in one arm and the bullpup in the other. “I don’t want this place to ‘shut down with extreme prejudice’ on our heads.”

“Do we know where we’re going?” Wendy asked.

“We do now,” Elgars said, holding up the pad. “But… computer, could we get a sprite?”

“Certainly,” the AID responded as one of the micrites appeared and flashed on.

“Ready to go,” Elgars said.

“Okay,” Wendy replied. “Let’s roll.”

They exited the chamber to the left and went through a series of turns and twists, twice passing through large sphinctered openings that reminded Wendy of nothing so much as heart valves, until they came to an even larger chamber than where the rejuv device had been. In the center of the chamber, which was nearly fifty meters across and nearly as high, was something that looked just exactly like a purple loaf of round bread.

“What is that?” Elgars asked, as the sprite vanished into the distance.

“That is the transport pod,” the AID answered as an oblong door opened in the side. The oblong was horizontal so the entrance was well below normal human height. In fact, Elgars had to duck so she wouldn’t hit her head.

The interior was just as unpleasant and unprepossessing as the exterior, consisting mostly of purple-blue foam with occasional washes of green that looked brownish in the odd light.

“Please take a seat,” the AID intoned. “This transport is leaving the station.”

The group sat on the floor and looked around waiting for the device to start to move. There were no external windows so there was no way to see what was going on outside; it was for all practical purposes its own little universe.

“AID?” Elgars said after a moment. “When will we start moving?”

“You are halfway to Pendergrass Mountain, Captain Elgars.”

“Oh.” She looked around again and shrugged.

“Inertial dampers,” Wendy said. “The sort of thing they have on spacecraft; it ‘damps’ the motion.”

“Okay,” Shari said with a shrug. “So when do we get there?”

“Now,” Wendy said as the door opened into blackness.

“That’s not so good,” Elgars said, stepping out onto the barely visible floor. Looking around she saw a chamber that was a large and apparently natural cavern. But there was no visible entrance deeper into the mountain; it was as if the transport had gone through solid rock. “Okay, now I’m freaked.”

“It’s just before dawn,” Shari said. “We need to let the children sleep. I could use some rest myself for that matter.”

“It’s cold out here,” Wendy said, pulling at her torn shirt. “Maybe we could sleep in the transport.”

“And have it suddenly go back to the Urb?” Elgars asked. “I don’t think so.”

“We’ve got some blankets,” Shari said. “We can bed down in here. If we all huddle up together it won’t be too bad.”

“Okay,” Wendy said looking around. “Up near the walls. Can we light a fire?”

“Probably a bad idea,” Elgars said. “The light and heat could attract attention. We just need to make it through this night; we’ll find some better materials tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Wendy said. “Let’s get some sleep. And hope it gets better tomorrow.”

CHAPTER 33 Betty Gap, NC, United States, Sol III 0714 EDT Sunday September 27, 2009 ad

They sends us along where the roads are,
but mostly we goes where they ain’t:
We’d climb up the side of a sign-board
an’ trust to the stick o’ the paint:
We’ve chivied the Naga an’ Looshai,
we’ve give the Afreedeeman fits,
For we fancies ourselves at two thousand,
we guns that are built in two bits — ’Tss! ’Tss!

— Rudyard Kipling

“Screwguns”