lips twitched as she walked. She didn’t need much protection. There were no cave snakes on the planet. Not that she was aware of.
“Our Warlord chose me for this special assignment…because I’m the best.” Her brave protector didn’t appear to notice she’d left his side. “I would have arrived at the site first, if I had known its coordinates. My fighting skills are superb. I’m fast and strong and—”
“And your special assignment is almost out of your sight.” Seven-One’s tone was dry.
“Zondoo.” There was much stomping and huffing as the warrior caught up to her. “You move quickly, my lady.”
The speed was necessary. Her Warlord would be concerned if she was gone for a long duration.
“I haven’t seen cave snakes, but I have seen rock vultures and ukhels.” She chattered about her experiences with those dangerous creatures as they followed the base of the mountain.
The second tunnel’s entrance was farther than she remembered. They passed more warriors, navigated around landed ships. The signs of beings dwindled until, soon, all they saw was rock and sand and one fossilized tree.
She was out of her Warlord’s and his clone brothers’ sightlines, but the second tunnel had to be near, and she had an escort. She’d only spend a moment there, merely long enough to evaluate if it was suitable for beings to immediately inhabit.
Lea continued walking and talking, filling the rather ominous silence with words.
“This looks like terrain a cave snake might frequent.” Eight-Two broke into her one-sided conversation. His gait was jaunty. “Cave snakes have fangs that can pierce through thick body armor, and their venom can paralyze a warrior.”
“That doesn’t sound pleasant.” She finally spotted the opening to the second tunnel. “Here it is.”
The gap in the rock was much wider than the crevice to the tunnel she shared with her Warlord. Multiple beings could enter it at the same time.
“I’m going in first.” Eight-Two ran through the entrance before she could stop him.
She shook her head. The young warrior had no caution. She followed him.
The space immediately inside the second tunnel was a massive chamber. When she had first found it, she recognized that as a flaw. It tempted strangers to enter it, to linger, to wait for a being like herself to return. She would be ambushed in her own home.
Tolui’s warriors might not view it that way. They could station guards at the entrance, store supplies and weapons in the chamber. It might be a convenience for them.
Sunlight streamed through the opening, illuminating most of the chamber but not all of it.
Eight-Two stood on the edge of lit space. “We need a portable light source.” He peered into the darkness.
“We normally wouldn’t need one.” She moved to where the first reflective surface should have been situated. “But this relay has fallen from its base.”
The downed object lay on the stone floor. Judging by the dust on its reflective surface, it had been there for solar cycles.
“I could lift it, my lady.” Eight-Two looked at the relay and then at the darkened tunnel. “But then I couldn’t protect you.”
She didn’t require protection. She did require light of some sort. “If you run and retrieve a portable light source, I’ll stay here until you return.”
Eight-Two studied her. “You won’t explore the tunnel without me?”
The male clearly didn’t want to miss out on any grand adventures.
She smothered a smile. “I won’t explore the tunnel without you.”
“Yes.” He pumped the air with his fists. “I’ll be right back, my lady.”
Before she could acknowledge the young warrior’s response or give him any additional instructions, he dashed out of the tunnel.
“He will not be right back.” She said that to the empty space. “He’ll stop and tell everyone he meets about the mission he’s been assigned.”
She shrugged, not overly concerned about that. Eight-Two should eventually return to her…she hoped.
While she waited for him, she brushed the grime off the broken relay. “Your surface is shiny.”
It appeared to be mostly intact.
“Once you’re reattached to your base”—she talked to the relay—“you should convey the sun’s rays to the next reflective surface…assuming that relay remains on its base.”
She walked to the edge of the illuminated area and leaned forward.
“Are you on your base, second relay?” She peered into the darkness, trying to determine the state of the second relay.
There was a form. It was tall, too tall to be the relay.
“Oh shit.” It had a head, arms, legs.
The shape resembled a humanoid.
Her breath hitched. “I’m not alone. There’s someone in the tunnel with me.”
She drew two