Chapter 123

Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Three

Shivering came over Connor—adrenaline and stress combining in a nasty mix that shrank the outside world into a tiny pinprick. His heart pounded so loud, he couldn’t hear anything else.

He took a few steps away from the monster on unsteady legs and settled on a chunk of debris.

Slowly, the details of the world around him seeped in: the dry dust kicked up by the monster’s death throes; the stench of its dark blood; the absolute silence that had fallen over the big, shadowy room.

Elise was hunched over the serpent’s head, squinting.

That was a scientist’s curiosity. One second, she was running for her life from the thing, and the next she was enthralled by what its existence meant.

She turned, finger on her chin. “How did you know it had a brain in its head?”

“What?” He wasn’t just stumped by her question but needed to be sure he’d heard it right.

“You went after its head. How did you know it had a brain? These are alien creatures. They could have organs completely unlike our own experience.”

Without meaning to, Connor chuckled. “I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at you.”

She crossed her arms. “You just so happened to laugh at nothing after I asked you a question?”

“Okay, I’m laughing at you, but it’s not like you think.”

The archaeologist tapped the toe of her boot. “I’m looking forward to what it is, then.”

Connor coughed to clear the stale dust from his throat. “Well, to star with, I didn’t know anything about it. I guess instinct said go for the head. That’s where the eyes are, right? Eyes connect to the brain?”

She shrugged. “They could be fake. Some animals are known for camouflage that presents a deceptive appearance.”

“Fair enough. But—and this is why I laughed—I wasn’t aiming for its head.”

“You just happened to get lucky enough?”

“Exactly.” He pointed to the slab. “All I wanted was a chance to get above it, then hopefully behind it. It couldn’t snap backwards, so once I was past its head, I would have a chance to stab it. Anywhere would do.”

Some of the tension went out of Elise’s body. “This was all about drawing it to the slab?”

“Once I saw that it was trying to keep you from the Asp and cover, yeah.”

“Then you were using me as bait.”

“I don’t think I had that level of certainty, but…” He wiped grit from his face.

Her shoulders slumped. “I suppose I shouldn’t be mad. You’re a trained soldier. Killing is what you do.”

“I don’t recall training to kill giant, alien serpents, but okay.”

She strode over to the Asp and hefted it. “It’s lighter than I thought.”

“It’s built from high-end composites, mostly. The rounds are a lot smaller than Mamacita—Vicente’s machine gun. I’m more about laying down covering fire, he’s more about serious urban renewal.”

“Urban renewal?”

“That gun of his can take down buildings.”

“Oh.” She slung the Asp over her shoulder, then grabbed the glow stick. “We’re running out of light.”

Connor tapped the bulb of his armor’s light. “I thought these things would kick back on once—”

“—once that thing was dead?”

“Something like that. It doesn’t seem likely all of our lights would die at the same time.”

She nodded. “The influence. You think it can manifest like…magic?”

“I like the way you don’t make that sound condescending.”

“There was someone who said a long time ago that extremely advanced technology could pass for magic in the eyes of a primitive.”

“You think this thing they imprisoned is technological?”

She held the light up toward the ceiling. “I don’t know what I believe.”

“I don’t think we’re getting out the way we came in.”

“Unless that snake was trapped in here for centuries, I assume there’s another way out.”

She gingerly made her way down the debris, then angled for the nearest corner, where she started a quick circuit around the room. In the light of the glow stick, Connor realized that the debris pile only filled the section of the room where Elise had fallen through.

He pushed up, cleaned the gore from his blades, then sheathed them. “You notice that the floor only gave away around us?”

Elise stopped. “I don’t believe it’s seismic events anymore, if that’s your point.”

“We’re being sealed off. Even if they came deeper down, Selen and the others are way ahead of us.”

The archaeologist stopped at a black rectangle: a door.

She sniffed. “It came in this way.”

Connor hurried after her as she exited the long room. She stood in a passageway, turning left then right, considering three doorways.

Finally, she turned left and stopped.

More of the alien symbols were carved in the wall.

She squatted and ran her fingers over the symbols. “You know, before we came here, I spent a lot of time examining the imagery.”

“You mentioned that.”

“I did. But I didn’t tell you that I had access to some of—” She pointed at the symbols. “—this.”

“I thought you said you hadn’t seen it before.”

“Technically true. I hadn’t seen all of it. There’s a lot more of it down here than the images revealed. But what I had was enough.”

“Enough for…?”

“We have records of ancient alien civilizations, Connor. They’ve existed since humans came this far out into space: photos, videos, even pieces taken from surviving structures. These symbols show up in several historical records.”

“You could have shared that from the start.”

“Could I? Your boss didn’t exhibit much warmth.”

“She…used to be better.”

“Well, the relevant takeaway is that I didn’t feel the least bit safe. Revealing that I might know something about these ruins without knowing why you were here didn’t seem wise.”

Connor held up his hands in surrender. “Point taken.”

Elise stood. “So, you interested in what I think these symbols might mean?”

“If you think you have them figured out, yes.”

She dusted her hands off. “I think they mean we might have a way to catch up too Selen.”
Ill Fortune
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