Neverwylde (The Rim of the World Book 4) (6 page)

            “We’ll need to find another food source soon,” he informed them. “If we keep to two meals a day, we’ll run out in three days.”

            Kelen glanced over to where Dox sat with his back propped against the wall. The young man had been unusually quiet during their trek below. But as she observed him more closely, she got the impression he was more at ease. Maybe the drugs Sandow gave him were helping. Or maybe he was able to relax because Hoov was no longer among them.

As the men continued to discuss their possibilities come morning, she watched as he worked on several small devices at once. He dealt with them systematically, in an assembly line fashion. Making an adjustment on one, putting it down, picking up the next one, making the same sort of adjustment before putting it down and reaching for the next. Methodical, identical movements. She counted the number of objects lying in a neat row before him. Twelve. Automatically, she did a quick head count of everyone present. Eleven.
And Cooter makes an even dozen.

She scooted closer to him. “Hey, Dox. What are you making?”

He continued to work, absorbed in his task. She almost thought he hadn’t heard her when he responded. “Communicators.”

She resisted the urge to reach over and pick one up to examine it. Doing so would throw a kink in Dox’s thought process. Instead, she continued to watch him build each individual device from scratch.

“How long before you’re finished?”

“Don’t know. Depends.”

Kelen kept her smile to herself and moved away to give him room. She knew if she continued to hang over him and ask him questions, it would distract him from his work. When Dox involved himself in a project, he normally isolated himself where no one and no sound could interrupt him. In their current situation, because he couldn’t shut himself up in a room, the best he could hope for was to get as far away as he safely could and tune everyone out.

She checked to see if he’d eaten. Spotting the empty meal packet, she picked it up and took it over to add to the fire.

Kyber remained in deep conversation with Fullgrath and the other Seneecians. The men were bent over Jules and his tablet, discussing strategy. Mellori took inventory on their supplies, and Sandow checked the medications. Biting her lower lip, she limped over to the physician. He glanced up at her, flashed her a smile, and she saw his professional demeanor slip into place.

“What can I help you with?” He dropped his eyes to her leg, which she was obviously favoring.

She kept her voice low. “It’s not my leg. It’s my…period.”

He stared at her for two seconds, then nodded. “I knew it was inevitable. Unfortunately, contraceptives were not among the supplies Mellori brought back from the ship. And to be honest, if I had gone, I don’t think I would have thought to pack any. I’m sorry. How are you coping?”

“Right now I’m okay, but I have a history of having heavy flows, and I’m worried what might happen when I start.”

Sandow grimaced. “I recall that note on your medical history.” He glanced over her shoulder and she knew who he was looking at. When he returned to her, he slowly shook his head. She spoke before he could.

“Making love to my husband is not what I’m worried about.”

“Still, because you’re no longer protected, you’re at your highest risk of pregnancy.” He gave her a wry smile. “I’m going out on a short limb here and assuming he’s not using a Seneecian condom, or any other form of contraceptive.” Seeing her facial response, he sighed. “I thought not.”

“A possible pregnancy is not what’s at the top of my list.”

“It’s the bleeding,” he bluntly remarked.

Kelen gave him a helpless smile. “Remember when Hoov smelled me and said blood? I don’t think he smelled my leg.”

“After what you’ve just told me, you could be right.”

“I’m afraid if I start, the scent might attract other creatures.”

He rubbed his chin. “It’s possible.”

“Doc, is there
anything
you can give me to stop me from menstruating?”

Sandow bowed his head as he thought. Frowning, he gave her an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Kelen. Short of giving you a complete hysterectomy, which is impossible given our current situation, I have no medications I can give you, and nothing I can mix that’ll act as a contraceptive.”

“What about the plant life here? Maybe there’s a bush with some chemical components you could use to fabricate one?”

“If we were at the other temple, I could pull some samples from the garden to test, but I didn’t bring any with us. I’m sorry, Kelen. You’ll have to suffer through it.” He added a wan smile. “Fortunately, we have enough rags you can utilize.”

She patted his arm. “Thanks anyway.”

“If the cramping gets too severe, I can give you something to help you through that,” he added.

“Now that I can guarantee I’ll take you up on.”

She moved away from the physician to let him finish his work and went over to an empty section of the wall to sit down. Her cycle would begin soon. Perhaps tonight. Once it did, she had no idea how it would affect things.

Cocooning herself inside her blanket, she brushed a patch of ground free of rock and loose dirt before laying down. She was completely unaware of when Kyber came to join her, wrapping himself protectively and lovingly around her to share body warmth.

Chapter 9

Hole

            She awoke when Kyber shook her shoulder, his voice low, insistent, and worried.

            “Kelen! Wake up! Kelen!”

            “What? What?” She tried to focus as she rose up on one elbow. Immediately, her body reminded her what it was like to be female—the body aches, the headache. The cramping.

            She gave the room a quick scan. At first, everything appeared to be normal. Except for Gaveer, who was on guard duty, the others were asleep or starting to rouse. The room was dark, the fire giving out the only light. Despite the discomfort, she was warm, and it wouldn’t be difficult to close her eyes and fall back asleep.

            Kyber lowered his face until his lips touched her cheek. “I sense excessive bleeding coming from you. Wake up, Kelen!”

            She rubbed a hand over her face and eyes. Rolling over onto her back, she looked up at where he hovered above her. “Yes, I’m bleeding, but don’t worry. It’s natural for my species.” At his curious expression, she gave a nod. “I’ll explain it in length later, but trust me. I’m fine. I’ll have minimal pain for a few days, and things might get messy, but it’s normal. Dr. Sandow is aware of it.”

            His gaze bore into hers, as if trying to read her mind. She knew he could sense things in her.

            “If it is natural for your kind, why are you concerned?” he murmured, still apprehensive.

            “Because I’m worried others will smell the blood, and we don’t know how they’ll react.”

            “Then I will tell them—”

            “No, no. That’s not…” She touched his mouth with a forefinger. Pausing, she took all of two seconds to come to a decision. “Oh, to hell with it.”

            Her body protested in ways she’d forgotten about. Worse, she felt her womb convulse as she sat up and she grunted softly, clutching her abdomen. Taking a deep breath, she mentally braced herself. “Hey, guys?” She waited until most of them were giving her their attention before giving them the news. “I need to let you know…I started my period.”

            On the faces of her fellow crewmembers she saw a mixture of surprise and pity. On the Seneecians’ faces, curiosity.

            “What that means is that I’m bleeding. My body is sloughing old blood from within. It’s a natural part of our reproductive cycle.”

            “How long will you bleed?” Kyber questioned.

            She shrugged. “In the past, I’ve gone as few as three and as many as seven days, but my cycle is no longer as it should be. Since I’ve been on the six month contraceptive shots issued to all reproducing females who go on deep space assignments, I haven’t had a real period for some time. I…I have no idea how long this one will last.”

            She saw the Seneecians’ nostrils widen as they breathed in her scent. Sandow also saw the aliens’ reactions.

            “I need to add that, although this part of Kelen’s physiology is natural to our species, we are concerned about the timing. We worry the smell of blood might draw unwanted predators.”

            They continued to stare at Kelen until Massapa got to his feet. “All the more reason we need to be extra cautious.”

            “Not intentionally changing the topic here, but I have a question I’ve been wanting to ask.” Jules tucked his tablet inside his uniform for safekeeping. “That howling noise we heard when we first arrived. Did it come from the creature Hoov killed, or was it Hoov we heard?”

            “That’s a good question,” Mellori admitted. “I’ll confess, I thought it came from the creature Hoov killed, but now…I don’t know.”

            Kleesod got to his feet and stretched. “We need to be moving.”

            “Right. Let’s try to get back to the temple before we stop to eat,” Sandow suggested.

            They rose and collected the bundles. Gaveer snuffed out the fire as the physician made his way over to Kelen.

            “Are you in need of napkins?”

            “I’m fine right now. I thought I might start last night and placed some extra padding down there. I should be okay until we reach topside.”

            “How about pain meds?”

            “I’ll let you know when it gets intolerable.”

            “Well, just in case, here.” He held out his hand to her. Kelen saw him drop a couple of capsules in her palm. Giving him a smile of thanks, she tucked them into her uniform’s breast pocket.

            The doctor nodded and followed Tojun out the tunnel. Kelen trailed behind Massapa, who carried Dox. When they were all gathered in the original tunnel, Fullgrath led the way to the surface.

            No one spoke as they climbed the gradual incline. Going up wore them out, but they had anticipated it would. It also took them longer, forcing them to take short, frequent breaks to catch their breath and save their strength.

Along the way, Jules kept an eye on their progress with his tablet. Kelen noticed the cracks or shifting in the tunnel walls. Every few meters they would encounter a gap in the floor. Fortunately those were never too wide to prevent them from stepping over and continuing on. She’d also tried to find another air duct, which would indicate an intersecting tunnel, but it was impossible to tell because of the damage sustained.

            They had gone nearly a kilometer when Fullgrath called out a warning and came to an abrupt stop. The group cautiously advanced until they stood alongside him.

            Mellori shone his tube light down the tunnel’s throat and groaned. “Shit. Now what?”

            Everyone stared at the collapse that filled the corridor. Mellori and Sandow played their lights from the floor to the ceiling, which showed the total devastation.

            “There’s no way we can get through that, either,” Fullgrath announced. He glanced at them over his shoulder. “Can’t go forward, can’t go back. Now what do we do? We’re screwed, people.”

            Gaveer stepped closer to the pile of rubble, rock, and dirt that plugged the tunnel. He peered upward, then pointed at the ceiling. “Is that a hole?”

            Mellori went up behind the Seneecian to shine his light above them. Kelen stared in surprise at the obvious hole about half a meter overhead, directly above the collapse.

            “It appears the ceiling gave way during the trembler,” Gaveer told them. He suddenly jumped up and grabbed the edge of the hole that was nearly as wide as the tunnel. Surprisingly, the edge held. Slowly, the Seneecian hoisted himself up until his head disappeared into the hole. After a couple of seconds, he lowered himself, let go, and dropped to his feet. “There is another tunnel up there.”

            “What?” They crowded closer to peer up into the blackness.

            Mellori tapped the Seneecian on the arm. “Hoist me up for a look-see.” Putting his tube light into his mouth, he placed a boot in Gaveer’s cupped hands and was lifted up to where he could grab the edges. They saw him play the light around, then the man fell back to the ground.

            “He’s right. There’s definitely another tunnel up there, but get this. It’s not parallel to this one. It’s perpendicular.”

            “Perpendicular?” Jules checked his tablet.

            “It might be another one of those intersecting tunnels,” Kyber suggested.

            Fullgrath nodded. “Well, what do you all think? Should we take it?”

            “I don’t think we have any other choice,” Sandow answered.

            “But is the floor up there stable enough?” Mellori wondered.

            Fullgrath holstered his weapon to free up his hands. “Can’t be any less stable than what we’re standing on. Give me a hand up, would you, Massapa?”

            The Seneecians helped to hoist everyone and their supplies up into the next tunnel. Kyber lifted Kelen. She grabbed the rock rim, dragged herself onto the floor, then rolled over to make room for the next person. After they were gathered, lights were shone down the darkness.

            “Looks like just another tunnel,” Fullgrath observed. He flashed his light ahead and behind them. “Which way do we go? Flip a coin?”

            “We may end up finding our way blocked again,” Tojun said.

            Jules stepped forward, holding up his tablet. “We go that way,” he announced, pointing.

            “Why that way?” Kelen queried.

            “I can’t promise anything, but I think if this way remains clear, we’ll end up where one of these lights is located.”

            “Are you sure?” Kelen checked the tablet, peering over Jules’ shoulder.

            “What color light? What location?” Sandow asked.

            The ex-navigator made a face. “I don’t know the location. It’s a purple light, and I have no idea what that means.”