Location: Unknown, A-class planet, Cave system
Date: April 2 2728 — Standard Earth Calendar (SEC)
A recon droid, with high-pitched whining, sharply zoomed up to me and caught my still-curled form in its lights, but only for a second.
A moment later, it was gone, flying up into a tunnel.
The pain flared in my right hand, and taking it away from my still-ringing ear, I looked at the pulsing palm. It was burned. And a blister was growing across it.
Shit.
"Lola, report?" I asked, looking back at the scaf.
It was still smoking, and the charred ST-100 mix covering the scaf crumbled under my tentative touch.
Hot.
Jerking my hand away, I turned my gaze to the Sixer still held in the scaf's arm. It was smoking too, and clearly welded to the hand.
The hell.
If whatever hit it had hit me instead, I would have been dead. It was a miracle that Lola was still operational inside the scaf, with all this damage.
The whining of the Ateeve's engines increased, and turning my head, I saw its hull slowly approaching the ledge, with Esdie already waiting on it.
So that was how she was doing it…
Catching up on the idea, I untied the rope around my waist, flipped a knot around the scaf's arm and pulled it to the edge.
"Come on!" I forced through gritted teeth, pushing hard against the rocky ground.
The scaf jolted, and I pulled it towards the edge, step by step, leaving a scratched trail behind.
A bit more.
The sharp tip of the Ateeve's nose passed me on the left, and Esdie hooked the scaf from above and pulled it over, onto the Ateeve's armoured hull.
I jumped on the hull next, grabbing Esdie to steady myself.
With the engine's increased whining, Ateeve pulled back, slowly going down to the main cave floor, and for the first time, I was able to see the snake in all its glory.
It was massive.
Now coiled by the base of the wall, it was perhaps bigger than the Ateeve itself, and I realised that it wasn't the end.
No, it was just a beginning.
Beginning of the end.
—
Standing over the scaf, with arms crossed over my chest, I watched as Esdie and DOC were cutting and gutting it, while trying to reach Lola's core—the necklace—hidden inside.
Impatiently tapping my fingers, I was deep in thought, unable to shake off the realisation I had had on the way down.
If before I had thought that the Ateeve's railgun was enough—enough to paste any animal that dared to come inside the cave, then, after this snake, this beast, I wasn't sure anymore.
A loud screeching brought me back to the scaf, where Esdie finally tore apart the front.
The pink aetherium sand began to spill over the ground from within the scaf, slowly steaming and exposing the inner parts—and a frame with the necklace at its centre.
It was surrounded by charred leftovers of what I recognised as the oak bark—the one I had brought to her the other day. It was hard not to, not with the pink colour it had from the aetherium.
Stepping closer, I reached down and picked up the necklace, ignoring the pain in my hand.
Carefully looking it over, wiping away the ash, I squeezed it gently. Not even a scratch.
Straightening up, already mid-step away, I got yanked back and was almost choked by the thermal blanket.
It had caught on the sharp edge of the gutted scaf, ripping slightly.
Tugging it in annoyance, ripping it even more, I freed the blanket's edge and, taking it off completely, dropped it onto the ladder leading up into Ateeve, before sitting down on top of it.
"How are you doing?" I asked, looking down at the necklace in my right palm.
"Operational," she said in return, her voice coming from above. "Your hand?"
Taking the necklace in my left hand, I looked at the blister on my right palm. It was already decreasing in size, slowly healing. Slowly for the anomaly-powered ability.
Briefly closing my eyes, I focused on the key star for regeneration and pushed a syrup-like energy into it before looking at it again.
The swelling was already decreasing rapidly, and new, baby-pink skin was taking its place instead.
"Operational," I replied with a humourless chuckle, flexing fingers. The pain was almost gone.
"Good. You had better get back there and harvest that snake. The core must be—" she began to say, reminding me of my earlier thoughts.
"Lightning bolt. How powerful was it?" I interrupted, leaning slightly forward.
"The one that hit the Ateeve? Depleted the shield for thirty-two per cent," she replied, and I nodded.
I didn't expect that much, but it only proved my worries. Combined with—what was it? Six, eight railgun taps?—the snake was a dangerously high level.
"As I was saying, the core must be—" she tried again, but I interrupted again.
"Lola, we have to leave," I said, turning my head towards the snake's direction. "It will get only uglier."
"Now? Are you planning to go naked?" she replied, but I refused to take the bait.
"If I must. Gut the underlayer, put those ties on it, for all I care, but we have to leave as soon as possible," I pressed on, feeling right about this decision.
"It's pointless to use the underlayer without the aetherium coating. Too high-tech to handle The Anomaly otherwise.
Do we have two days? I might make something from the snake hide instead," Lola replied.
At some level, I felt relieved that the underlayer—the only uniform I had—was no good to be used there.
I didn't want to lose the single piece of clothing that was reminding me of my past, of civilisation that I might never see again.
And if… if one day, I were to find a way to get back, I wanted to be dressed in my uniform again, to be Lt Commander Ladova once more, and not just a survivor Katee.
"Katee?" Lola asked, bringing me back from those dark thoughts, unknowingly mirroring me.
"No, we don't," I said in a low voice, feeling the looming danger, stronger than the one I had felt before—back on Mastodon.
—
"It's at least an A-rank," said Lola, when the detector, pressed to the snake's core, lit up in deep red, almost violet colour, "but most likely higher".
Grimacing from the wet and heavy scent in the air, with a taste of iron on my tongue, I put the detector on the tarp with harvested organs and stood up, looking at the gutted snake's corpse on the side.
It was imposing. And terrifying. All this power, the abilities. Lightning bolts, an energy shield, and who knew what else it had and didn't show us.
Glancing up the wall, along the bloody trail left on it, I looked at the wide open entrance into the tunnel.
What else was awaiting us out there?
The boulder that had been there before, covering the entrance, was on the cave's floor, a few metres away from me as well.
It had been casually knocked out, thrown away as if just a meagre obstacle.
And with it gone, the illusion of the sanctuary had been broken, and the bloody scent in the air was just a dinner bell, inviting beasts to come.
We had to leave. But we weren't ready. Hell, I was all but naked.
Lola had asked for half an hour, at most, suggesting that I harvest the snake's core and knots while she was packing.
We were out of time, I felt it in my guts, but just leaving everything behind and running away was not wise either. So I agreed, albeit reluctantly.
And now I was standing here naked, covered from head to toe in snake's blood and gore after finishing the task.
With two claw knives in my hands, I was perhaps presenting a stark picture to an unknown observer, if I had any.
But I was alone here, and Lola was yet to comment on my breach of social norms this time.
"Katee," said Lola.
"Is it time? Are you ready?" I asked, not taking my eyes off the snake.
"I think I have to stay," replied Lola, and I whipped my head, turning towards the recon droid from which her voice came.
"The aetherium in the necklace. It would conflict with your abilities. You wouldn't be able to go invisible.
You alone have a better chance of getting out, of surviving," she hurried to add, and I hated that she was right.
Of course, she was.
Turning away from the recon droid, I looked up at the tunnel entrance, with bright daylight illuminating it from within.
Up there in the tunnel, she used the scaf to cover my back—risking her own life, not even knowing if she would survive.
And now she was telling me to leave her behind.
Fucking snake. What did it forget here?
With each passing day, even hour, this place, this Anomaly, was taking more and more from me.
And though I was yet to die, it was a matter of time… if nothing changed.
If I kept holding back.
"No, not an option. You are coming with me. Find a way. That's an order," I said, leaving no room for arguing, while suppressing emotions, but wanting to rage instead.
Sharply turning, I stepped back to the tarp with organs yet to be packed, mustering my resolve.
This place, this anomaly, was not for the weak or the doubters. Or quitters, and quitter I was not.
Bending, I dug the knife deep into the core and held it before me.
It was the size of an apple, a big apple—one I had not seen in ages. It wasn't red or yellow, like an apple, but deep purple like a plum, and the pulsing warmth of The Anomaly was still coming in waves from it.
No time like the present.
Biting hard on the side, I tore the piece away and fiercely chewed on it.
Ignoring the taste, the rush of energy, and the blood running down my chin and chest, I dug into it, abandoning any worries about mutations, rejecting any limits I had had.
No more holding back.
—
"Yeeeeeee," I screeched, dropping into the lake, and water came together above me.
Leaving the cave, all covered in blood, was obviously a stupid idea. I knew that.
I also didn't want to leave without even once diving into this lake, no matter how cold it was.
Breaking the water surface, I swam back to the bank in a few short strokes and, finding a purchase with my feet, began to scrape off the blood and gore.
The half hour Lola had asked for was used to put together at least some clothes for me, even though I was completely ready to walk out with a thermal blanket around my waist and in the weird shoes she had made me earlier.
Splashing myself a few more times, I crawled out of the lake and, shuddering from the cold, hurried to wipe myself dry.
Whoever was in charge of the survival kit list was clearly inclined towards multifunctional and broad-function items, which was fair. The space on Ateeve wasn't unlimited.
But the single towel it had could have been bigger than a hand-sized one.
Good enough.
Flapping the towel, I put it on the ground and, landing my butt on it, began to put my fancy shoes back on.
Unfortunately, I didn't have a second suit, nor did I have any other sturdy outfits that didn't require aetherium coating to function—smart clothes and all of that.
Finishing with laces, I picked up the towel and, checking around just in case, hurried to Ateeve, parked nearby.
In a way, I was curious to see what Lola had put together, given all the limitations we had.
"It is all I can do," said Lola through a recon droid, as I came closer.
On the ground, on top of the tarp, were remains of the hunting suit. I easily recognised them, as well as the fact that not all the parts were there.
"I took the ST-100 mix coating off," she added.
Silently shrugging—we had no time for anything else—I picked up the part I recognised as the bottom and began to pull it on.
It barely covered my thighs and had weird contraptions on the hips.
"It's called a buckle. Put the leather tongue inside the metal frame and secure it with the pin into the hole," Lola commented, and I tried to follow the instructions.
I had never seen anything like that before. The survival database was truly weird.
With a few tries, I succeeded in securing the bottom part on myself and picked up the top part.
It was short, way shorter than my frame, and clearly was going to leave half my torso exposed.
"The aetherium coating we made converted the absorbed energy into thermal radiation when you were attacked. It ruined the parts of the suit over the stomach and back irrevocably," Lola commented, noticing my stare.
Nodding, I put it on and, already familiar with buckles, secured it together. It barely covered my ribs and was missing sleeves below the elbows and gloves.
Picking up one of the last pieces, I flipped it around, trying to see what it was for. It was clearly made out of the old poncho, from the bobcat, but it had buckles and belts, and the hood was in the wrong place.
It took me a few moments, but I figured it out without Lola's help. The bobcat's hide, whatever was left of it, was used to make a cover for my torso, with buckles on the sides and belts over the shoulders.
Vest. It was a vest with the old hood attached to the belts.
Buckling it on the sides and tightening it up, I took the holster rig next, with the needler already holstered. It wasn't Sixer—I saw it even before I touched the rig.
"I wasn't able to fix Sixer, unfortunately," said Lola.
Silently nodding, I put it around my waist and buckled up before taking the needler out.
It was SI-7w. I was quite familiar with it from my Academy years. It was an old army model, often called 'Seesaw', and a standard issue for a survival kit, apparently.
Checking the balance and the clip, I put it back into the holster.
"I modified it the same way, using the minimum of aetherium. The clip is half aetherium-embedded needles and half not. The same goes for the two spare clips in the rig," she said, and I checked the slots, familiarising myself.
"Five more clips, all with a minimal aetherium coating in the backpack, in the left side pocket," she added, and I nodded. That was acceptable.
There was only one last piece left on the tarp, something that looked like a neck guard.
"Lola, choker, for real?" I asked in disbelief.
"It is a laryngophone and a speaker," she objected, her voice obviously coming from the… choker this time.
"Dunno, I see choker," I replied, picking it up and buckling it around my neck.
Moving my head left and right to see how much it restricted my neck, I nodded with approval.
It was soft to the touch, and I was sure I would forget it was there soon.
Picking up the tarp, I carefully folded it before putting it into the backpack that was leaning against the Ateeve ladder.
Briefly looking inside—noting what was left on top for easy reach—I checked the side pockets and the heavy package attached at the bottom.
"Is it it?" I asked.
"Yes, I did as you asked," she replied, and I nodded with satisfaction.
It was great that this part was ready. I would have hated to walk all this time.
"And the necklace?" I asked next.
"In the inside pocket. This way, you could easily drop me—and the spare clips with aetherium—with the backpack. It's the best idea I've got," she replied.
Reaching inside, I pulled it out and was surprised to see it back on the neck chain, without aetherium coating or even the box filled with aetherium sand.
"Lola, explain?" I asked, holding it in my hand.
"Apparently, the alloy it's made from is superior to the other methods we have," she simply said, and the hair on my head stood up.
It meant only one thing. The attack that fried the scaf reached Lola's core, and it had only been stopped thanks to the necklace alloy itself.
Leave me behind, fuck my ass.
Putting the neck chain over my head, I hid the necklace under the vest and sealed the backpack with buckles I was sure it didn't have before.
I wasn't going to leave her behind.
"Submerge Ateeve into the lake," I ordered, picking up the backpack and stepping back.
"Proceeding," replied Lola, and Ateeve, whining with engines, lifted and, sealing in the process, moved over the lake.
With a splash, it entered the water and disappeared under its surface, blinking with sidelights for a few moments, before they went out too.
"Ateeve parked and switched into standby," said Lola.
Silently nodding once, not taking my eyes from the lake, I promised myself to come back, to get my Ateeve back.
I was not going to leave it behind forever either.
"Let's go then," I said at last and putting my backpack on, buckled the harness on my waist.
Leaving the cave behind, vanishing into the passage, I didn't look back.
Not even once.