His head shook once, then nodded. “I can do that,” he said, trying to convince himself.
“And Keelin, you climb down with Cathal. That gives us extra hands on the ground should anything happen. I’ll call if I sense anything.” Brice wasn’t sure if she was talking about the warths or the thing in the cave. “Brice, how long to set up?”
“Five minutes. Loads of good placements.”
“Get on it. Keelin, set up a sling for Cathal. Lots of padding. Tris, get ready to climb.”
Brice saw both Keelin and Tris nod. Ryann glanced at Cathal, then stood straight, hands on her hips. Her voice was sharp and loud.
“Okay. Let’s do this.”
Ryann fractured her mind, segmenting everything that was happening. She saw Brice set up the belay system, and noted his efficiency. She saw how Tris took deep breaths up on the lip, and knew he was struggling to keep his fear in check. She saw Keelin use webbing to build a body-harness for Cathal, and noticed with interest the tenderness with which she moved his body.
And she allowed her lattice to reach out to Cathal. She pushed into his own lattice, forcing herself on when it kicked back, even though she knew the dangers of this. But she needed to know what was happening. She needed to understand.
Blood still leaked from his wound. He had lost about a half-litre, maybe a little more. Not a great amount for such a wound, and Ryann had to assume that was down to his lattice. It would be doing everything it could to keep Cathal alive.
But it was working too hard. Energy raged through his body. Neurons fired too fast, and his muscles twitched on a cellular level almost constantly. Ryann knew Cathal’s body could not sustain that kind of intensity. Sooner or later, his muscles would start to atrophy, and neurons would start misfiring more often. If nothing changed, his own body would work against him.
She needed to get him back to Haven, but even then, she could think of little the medical team could do. They could artificially pump more plasma around his body, and they could control the temperature of his environment. They could keep him alive. But she couldn’t see how they could reverse the damage.
She couldn’t see any future for Cathal.
But they had to try. And they had to get away from this cave.
She watched Brice and Keelin lift Cathal into position, and she gave Tris a nod. He returned it, pushing his fear down, and started to climb.
And Ryann turned her attention to the rear of the cave, where the creature hid in the shadows and watched them.
Its signal was elusive, and her lattice seemed to slip around it. But she’d felt it, even as they brought Cathal back to this cave. She didn’t know when it returned, just that it was there, keeping back. It followed them.
But it didn’t attack. Ryann didn’t know what that meant.
She pushed towards it. She couldn’t detect movement now, and it almost merged with the lifeless rock. She might have described this as stillness, or calm, but it felt more like a void.
Ryann heard Tris saying he was down, and she pushed into the forest.
<Warths are a long way off, Tris. Should have no problems.>
<Good to know. Thanks.>
She looked over to Brice and Keelin, and gave them the nod. As they shuffled Cathal to the edge—something she didn’t want to watch, even though she trusted Brice’s rope-work—she returned her attention to the creature in the shadows.
It was unlike anything she’d come across before, even in the virtual scenarios in training. Yet there was a familiarity about it, something she felt she should be able to grasp. But it evaded her every time she pushed—not like it was actively rejecting her, but more like…she didn’t know what it was like.
She didn’t know anything about it. And that scared the hell out of Ryann.
<We’re down,> Keelin sussed. Brice dismantled his rope system. Ryann wanted to tell him to leave it, that they needed to get down as quickly as possible. But the creature was not making a move.
Yet it stirred. There was a shift in its position, almost like it knew they would soon be gone.
Was that what it wanted? Had they crossed into its territory, and it only attacked to repel them? That would make sense, but only if she ignored how it had bitten down on Cathal and…yes, she had to accept this…sucked at the wound.
Like it was feeding.
“Ready,” Brice said, shouldering his pack. “You want to climb first?”
Ryann shook her head. She should be at the rear. But she didn’t want to be alone with that thing up here.
“There’s enough space to climb together,” she said, trying to make that sound like a logical solution rather than the act of a coward.
They climbed. Ryann didn’t enjoy this, but she could climb without struggling, and that meant she could keep focused on the creature.
As they dropped over the edge, it emerged from the tunnel entrance. She couldn’t feel its motion, but she could sense its void shift, and something sparked. Interest, or intelligence. Something vital, at odds with the dark cloud that surrounded the creature.
It reached the lip as her feet found soil—wonderful, moist soil, with all its sensations of life—but it came no further. It didn’t reach the cliff itself. Almost as if it didn’t want to get too close to the open air.
<What now?> Keelin asked. The pilot had propped Cathal against the cliff, and was holding him steady, one hand on his shoulder. Tris was on the man’s other side, but he kept his eyes on the trees—either watching for warths or avoiding looking at Cathal. Brice was a few paces away, and he alternated between looking into the trees and glancing up at the cliff.
What now? What would Cathal do?
He’d make sure the crew
