Beneath the Fallen City, Jamie A. Waters [ebook reader .TXT] 📗

Even though they’d known each other for a year when her ruin rat camp had moved to his district, it wasn’t until she recently joined his camp that she began to see him differently. Through his altruistic actions, he’d challenged her beliefs about traders and even OmniLab, forcing her to look beyond the surface. Sure, she was still cautious, but a darker side of human nature could be found anywhere, whether it was in the towers or on the surface.

It was a constant challenge to live as a ruin rat on the surface when survival was sometimes dependent upon outsmarting the OmniLab traders and their crews. Kayla enjoyed the challenges Carl provided, pitting her will against his. He was willing to let her go her own way for the most part, but he wasn’t beyond resorting to some unethical tactics to prevent her from going too far. The man had a quick mind and was incredibly devious, two traits she greatly admired. More than anything, he understood her. Of course, it didn’t hurt that he was sexy as hell too.

With a sigh, Kayla pushed away the errant thoughts in order to focus again on the dilapidated room. Her former camp was depending upon her to continue providing them with tradable credits they could use to purchase vital supplies. Since she’d left them a month ago, they’d taken a hit to their productivity and had been struggling to make up the difference. If she managed to find enough tradable materials on this scavenging expedition, it might be enough to put them back in the clear for another few days, or even a week if she were lucky. She couldn’t afford to spend time daydreaming when there was work that needed to be done. Hopefully, tapping into her new energy abilities might help expedite things a little bit.

The energy continued to flow around her, and she channeled it until the mental image of the room shifted and transformed the dingy walls into brightly painted surfaces covered with family photographs. A child played on the floor while her parents sat on the couch and watched an antique vidviewer on the wall.

Kayla opened her eyes and stared at the verisimilitude of the ruined room. A wave of vertigo swept over her as the mental image overlapped with reality. Shaking her head, she pushed aside the image, but the memory of the past refused to leave completely.

An old photograph caught her attention, and she crossed the room toward the cockeyed frame. The glass was cracked and the picture faded, but she gasped at the sight of the image. The family looked exactly like the one she’d imagined. The energy flow around her shifted dangerously, and she swallowed nervously as she tried to regain control.

“Kayla?” Veridian’s voice interrupted over her headset. “You okay? Your vitals just spiked.”

“Uh, yeah. Sorry about that,” she said in a rush, not wanting to alarm her scavenging partner on the surface. He’d been monitoring her progress for the past hour. “I just found an old photograph that surprised me. That’s all.”

Okay, Kayla, keep it together. You know this energy shit is freaky and you haven’t figured exactly how it works yet. Just relax.

A slight vibration under her feet caused her to freeze. The floor felt secure, but vibrations didn’t usually happen without reason. More curious than alarmed, she bent down and pressed her gloved hand against the ground. The vibration grew stronger.

“Kayla, get out now!” Veridian shouted over the headset. “We’ve got seismic activity on the monitors.”

The walls began shaking violently. A rumbling noise grew in intensity as the dust and debris fell around her. The picture frame on the wall clattered to the floor. Kayla crouched low against the wall, powerless to do anything else. A loud crash resounded though the room, and she threw her arms up over her head as part of the ceiling collapsed.

Almost as soon as it had begun, the shaking stopped. Dust filled the area, obscuring her vision through the helmet.

“Kayla? Are you all right?” Carl’s panicked voice came through her headset. He must have been monitoring the channel from the trader camp.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” She tried to brush off some of the dust covering her visor with limited success. The filtration device embedded within her new helmet worked overtime as a cloud of gray powder surrounded her. Apparently, OmniLab had some uses after all—they made terrific toys. “That was scary as hell. I didn’t think there was any seismic activity in this area.”

Carl sighed. “Thank God. There normally isn’t. I don’t know what happened. The building you’re in is mostly underground, and it’s possible some of our equipment may have affected the stability of the chasm. I’m going to have Xantham look into it now. In the meantime, get the hell out of there until we know it’s safe.”

Fantastic plan. She wasn’t a big fan of shaking ruins. “Is everything okay above ground, Veridian?”

“Yeah, I’m fine up here. A few pieces of equipment got knocked over, but that’s it. Can you make it back to your harness so I can pull you out?”

Relief rushed through her. In every way except for blood, Veridian was like a brother to her. It was Veridian’s mother who’d saved her from nearly dying in a ruin collapse when she was a child. After adopting Kayla as her own, she and Veridian grew up together and had created an unbreakable bond. She couldn’t imagine losing him.

“Shit!” Kayla looked around, investigating the now collapsed entrance to the room. “The tunnel’s blocked. I can try digging my way through, but I don’t know if the area above is stable. Can you run a stability scan? While you’re checking that, I’m going to see if I can find another way out.”

“On it,” Veridian replied.

Carl’s voice came over her headset again. “Kayla, don’t move. Other areas may have weakened if that tunnel collapsed. Veridian, send me the data as soon as you finish running it. I’m heading out with Cruncher right now to bring some stability supports.”

Kayla snorted. Don’t move? Who the hell was he kidding? There was no way she was going to sit with her thumb up her ass and wait. She’d been rescuing herself for twenty-one years. No need to stop now.

Visibility was crap, but she could see a few inches in front of her. It would have to do. Moving along the wall, Kayla climbed over rocks and rubble, searching for another way out. Other than the tunnel and part of the ceiling collapsing, the rest of the room appeared to be stable.

A small opening by the fireplace caught her attention. She didn’t recall seeing it before the tremor, but then again, they’d only managed to excavate down to this level a few days before. With grim determination, Kayla began clearing away the debris blocking the area. If she could clear enough of a path, there might be another room on the other side. After about ten minutes, Veridian’s voice once again came over her headset.

“Kayla, we’re going to have to wait until Carl gets here with the supports. It looks like the structural integrity of the tunnel wall is compromised. Everything else appears stable as far as I can tell from here.”

“Sounds good,” she replied absently and continued to focus on the task at hand. They could do what they wanted, but waiting wasn’t an option. When she finished clearing away the rest of the debris, a sizeable hole had been made between the floor and the wall. It appeared to be some sort of natural tunnel sloping downward, and with no debris inside that she could see, she believed it might be relatively safe.

She knelt closer to the opening, and a tingle of energy swept through her. Her heart thudded in excitement. I knew it. There’s something else in this sector.

Kayla bit her lip, debating whether to explore the tunnel. Carl wouldn’t be happy if he knew what she was considering. He’d argue that the strange energy pull was even more of a reason not to explore alone. It might be possible to take a quick look and get back before they knew she’d disappeared.

“V, can you send Carl and Cruncher down with a hydrating pack? I’m parched.”

Veridian’s voice responded in her headset. “Sure thing.”

She pressed the button on her wristband to change comm frequencies to an unmonitored channel. Fortunately, neither she nor Veridian had volunteered their little code to Carl’s crew. “V, I found some sort of natural tunnel. I think there’s something down here.”

“Tell me you’re not going to do what I think you’re going to do.” Veridian’s voice was strained.

“I’m going to do it,” she informed him, pressing her gloved hand against the wall of the tunnel. Even through her gloves, she could tell the temperature was several degrees cooler than the room.

Veridian groaned. “Not a good idea, Kayla. Carl’s got to be monitoring your vitals and comms. You may be sleeping with him, but he’s still my boss.”

She grinned. “Loosen the connector for the control monitoring panel. Pretend the earthquake did it.”

“Fine,” he agreed. “You better cover for me when he loses his shit.”

“Done.” Dropping to the floor, Kayla used her elbows to crawl through the narrow opening. It was a tight fit, but once inside, the earthen passage widened. “I’m inside now. There’s no debris in here. It’s probably safer than the last room. I’ll let you know what I find. I’m going back to the other channel now.”

“Be careful,” he warned.

Kayla pressed her wrist unit again to switch back to the main channel. Sometimes the old saying was true: it really was better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Adjusting the light on her helmet, she crawled through the tunnel where the swirling energy seemed to beckon her further. Rocks bit into her knees and palms, but she continued. After a reasonable distance, the tunnel suddenly ended. It appeared to open up into some sort of chamber, but it was impossible to tell much from her location though.

Twisting her body, she gripped the edge of the dirt wall and lowered herself to the rocky floor below. Kayla pulled out a secondary light and flipped it on to get a better look. She nearly dropped the light, her breath hitching in excitement at the sight in front of her. A huge natural cavern