'Wonderful,' Floyd muttered. It may have seemed pretty obvious to him but these lads welcomed the idea as they would have orders from the God of Battles himself.
'Yes! Leave - before they find us!'
'Out of the tunnels!'
Good so far, I thought. When the silence lengthened, and I realized that was the end of their contribution, I asked the vital question.
'Out of the tunnels, right. But where do we go? Above ground again?'
'No - all exits will be watched.'
'Only one other way,' Dreadnought said, with rising enthusiasm. 'Down, we must go down!'
'To the Cultivastings!' his companion added, just as filled with enthusiasm.
'Let's do it,' I said wearily, not having the slightest idea of what they were talking about. 'The God of Battles wants it that way.'
They double-timed and we followed. Around the bend into the next tunnel where a glowing outline revealed that there was a metal door inset into the wall. Neither of our hosts tugged at the handle so there was a good chance that it was locked. Indefatigable stepped forward to face the illuminated keypad set into the wall beside it.
'Avert your eyes,' he said. 'The access code is top secret.'
'Get it, Fido,' I whispered. Aida reacted instantly; our plastic pet extruded sharp toenails, leaped high then climbed up my clothes, scratching my ear painfully as it jumped onto the top of my head. I resisted the temptation to say ouch and stood steady so it could read the punched-in numbers. The door creaked open and the creature jumped back to the ground.
A gentle breeze blew out through the doorway as we passed through it, smelling fresh and summery. Here underground? We stumbled in the darkness until the door clanged shut and the lights came on. We were in a small chamber facing a spiral staircase. Our hosts instantly started down it and we followed.
I was beginning to get dizzy from the round-and-round when we finally got to the bottom. The open door here glared with light. Blinking my tired eyes, I followed the others. Outdoors into a field of ripening corn. Startled birds flapped away when we emerged, while something small and furry disappeared among the stalks.
I knew that we couldn't possibly be outdoors, not after all the cave crawling that we had been doing. So this had to be a really giant cavern, with some kind of brilliant light sources above. These people really were independent of the surface - no wonder they hadn't been spotted before.
Dreadnought led the way between the rows of corn and we followed. It was hot and dusty, my fatigue was still there - and some species of tiny gnat kept trying to fly up my nose. I sneezed and rubbed and walked into Indefatigable's solid back when he stopped.
'Hail the Home and Joy in Survival!' he called out.
'Hail, hail and welcome, brave Defender,' a voice answered.
A sweet and high-pitched woman's voice.
We started forward again and I stepped out from behind my guide's massive form, rubbing my nose and sniffling. I had a quick glimpse of a woman and three or four children working with hoes. It was a very quick glimpse - for the instant that she saw me she screamed.
'Invasion Day!'
It all happened incredibly fast. The children dived to the ground and she grabbed at the heavy pistol that hung from a lanyard around her neck. Raised it and began to fire at us.
We all hit the dust faster than the children had. Dreadnought was shouting, the gun was banging, rounds screamed by and exploded among the crops.
'Stop! No! No Invasion! Enough, enough?'
I don't think she heard him at all. I tried to crawl down through the topsoil while I saw her squeezing and squeezing on the trigger; her eyes round and terrified, white teeth sunk into her lower lip. The only thing that kept us alive was the fact that the gun kicked hard and the muzzle rode up into the sky, with the last shots vanishing into the zenith.
It ended just as quickly as it had started. The children had disappeared. Indefatigable had grabbed the gun away from her and was patting her on the back as she sobbed hysterically.
'Well trained,' Dreadnought said approvingly. 'Irreproachable is a fine woman, a good mother…'
'And thankfully a rotten shot,' I said. 'Would you like to tell us what all that was about?'
'Training. Survival. For to these many generations. With the galaxy at war we seek only peace. We survive. They will kill themselves, but we will survive!'
He was winding himself up into a rallying speech so I broke in before he got into full spate.
'Stop! One minute - enough. The galaxy's wars and the Breakdown ended centuries ago. There is no more war.'
He lowered his clenched fist and sighed; rubbed his knuckle across his nose. 'I know. Some of us know. Most won't face the knowledge - cannot face it. We are too trained for survival and nothing else. Nothing in our programming and our lives has ever prepared us for a time without war. Without the threat of invasion. Some of us assemble, we talk, make decisions. About the future. We have a leader - I dare not tell you more!'
He broke off as Indefatigable came running back.
'The message has arrived - it is time to leave. The search has widened. If we move now we can stay behind the searchers and get to the meeting place. Quickly!'
We quicklied - and I was beginning to get very tired of it. The circular staircase had been a lot easier to come down than it was to climb up. Floyd saw my condition and if he hadn't half dragged me I doubt if I would have been able to make it. Once more into the black tunnels. I was only vaguely aware of our two guides, Floyd and the scuttling form of Fido. The next time we stopped I sagged against the wall. Enough was enough yet already.
'You will both stay here with Dreadnought,' Indefatigable commanded. 'You will be sent for.'
Nor would our watcher answer any questions in the few minutes that we waited. 'Proceed,' a voice commanded and we did. Into a dimly lit chamber that appeared glaringly bright to our dark-adapted eyes. A half- dozen young men, garbed like our guides, sat on the other side of a long table.
'Stand here,' Indefatigable ordered, then joined Dreadnought and sat down with the others.
'No chairs for us?' I asked, but was ignored. Fido felt equally irked, jumped up onto the table and barked. Jumped back to the floor to dodge the swing of a fist.
'Shut up,' one of the men suggested. 'We are awaiting orders. We are here, Alphamega.'
They all turned to look at a red box on the table. It was made of plastic and was featureless except for louvers on one side.
'Are the two Outsiders you told me of present as well?' the box asked. The voice was flat and mechanical and obviously cycled through a speech occulter.
'They are.'
'I speak to you, Outsiders. I have been told that you come here seeking an object taken from you.'
'That is correct, speaking-box.'
'What is the function of this object?'
'You tell me - you stole it from us.' I was beginning to get teed off at all this cloak-and-dagger stuff.
'Your attitude is unacceptable. Answer my question or be punished.'
I took a deep breath - and reined in my temper.
'I'd like that,' Floyd said cheerfully, as fed up as I was with all this nonsense.
Where the discussion would have gone from here would never be known because at that moment running footsteps sounded and a wild-eyed young man burst into the room.
'Alarm! Watchpatrol coming!'
The sound of a number of thudding feet added a note of urgency to his warning. But at least our captors were prepared for the emergency. A door opened in the wall behind them and there was a rush to get through it. The newcomer, who must have known what would happen, was the last one in the crowd to jump to safety.
The table was in the way. I launched myself across it just in time to have the concealed door slammed in my face. I kicked it but it didn't budge. I looked at the now silent box.
'Speak up, Alphamega. How do we get out of this?'
The red box crackled - then burst into flame. Melted into a pool of plastic. 'Thanks,' I said.
