Convergence/Chapter 9

9
 Jhiranae and Corian clambered back down the cliff face as quickly as they could without being completely foolhardy. The descent was easier than their earlier climb, and soon they made their way back to the speeder where the others were waiting.

 “Did you find anything?” Doctor Ostrada asked.

 “Sure did,” Jhiranae told her, checking the speeder’s temperature gauges.

 They weren’t great, but they had cooled significantly. Certainly enough to start and run for a while. Corian slipped into the back cabin and buckled in.

 “And?” Doctor Ostrada continued.

 “You’ll see,” Corian told her.

 The engines whined to life and the speeder started. Jhiranae aimed the speeder’s nose at the canyon wall and eased the throttle forward. The gauges shot up quickly and Jhiranae realized she wouldn’t have as much time as she hoped. The ridge quickly loomed large as they drew closer.

 “Uh, Jhiranae,” Plaspek spoke up from the back. “I normally don’t question your driving, but—that’s a cliff wall.”

 “I see it,” Jhiranae said evenly.

 “And we’re heading right toward it,” Plaspek added.

 “I know,” Jhiranae replied.

 Corian smirked knowingly at Plaspek.

 “And you’re not slowing down,” Plaspek said. “Have you lost your mind?”

 “It’s not a cliff wall,” Jhiranae told her. “It just looks like one.”

 “Okay, I’m convinced,” Plaspek answered, then turned to Doctor Ostrada. “Doctor, turn that speeder off. She’s lost it!”

 “Jhiranae,” Doctor Ostrada started with a worried look in her eyes.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “Trust me,” Jhiranae answered through gritted teeth.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “We’re gonna crash!” Plaspek shrieked.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> Then suddenly the speeder collided with the cliff wall—or would have if the wall was solid. Instead, it shot through what had previously seemed to be solid rock, heading steadily along a broad shelf in a wide valley. Several excited cries sounded from the back as they passed through.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “Ooooh,” Plaspek squealed in astonishment. “What was that?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “We don’t know,” Corian said. “But whatever it is, our scanners didn’t detect it at all.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “Some sort of hologram?” Kanjai speculated.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “If so, it’s not emitting any kind of power signature we could detect,” Corian replied. “But it was hiding this valley.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “The Daizon Valley?” Doctor Ostrada asked.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “I believe so,” Jhiranae answered.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “Can’t even see the cliff from this side,” Kanjai remarked. “It’s a one-way. . . whatever it is.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “Yes,” Jhiranae agreed. “Which was probably helpful to whoever placed it there.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “You could have explained that the cliff wall wasn’t real before driving us into it,” Plaspek pointed out.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “I did.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “Not in a very detailed fashion,” Plaspek complained. “You could have let us get out and see for ourselves.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “I could have,” Jhiranae admitted. “But in the interests of saving time—and the speeder’s engines, there wasn’t really time for a proper explanation. Besides, it doesn’t really make sense until you’ve experienced it.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “True, but it wasn’t very nice,” Plaspek pouted, skewering Corian with a dirty look. “And it wasn’t funny.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “It was a little funny,” he countered.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “Anyway, we’re through now,” Doctor Ostrada said. “Any idea what we can expect ahead?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “I thought I saw vegetation,” Jhiranae told her. “Hopefully that means water. If not, there were some rivers deeper into the Tusloni Basin on the map.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “Jhiranae is right,” Corian added. “Our first priority is to find water.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> “We can all agree with that,” the doctor said.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             The speeder lurched ahead. The shelf gradually widened out into a smooth slope that merged with the valley floor. Within a few minutes, they were deep inside the pass. The foreboding mountain ranges walled them in on either side, jutting imperiously into the sky. Their craggy peaks stood as Yanibar’s natural monuments to past tectonic cataclysms, unchallenged since the tumult that had forced them from beneath the surface. Despite the valley’s considerable width, the passage seemed narrow when flanked by sheer cliffs and towering mountains.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             A dozen kilometers in, they were forced to climb again as the pass led upward. The valley widened somewhat, but simultaneously became more treacherous to navigate. A massive boulder field forced Jhiranae to take a winding course around rocks twice the size of their speeder. Ahead of them on their northward side, several mountains appeared scarred and blasted.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Something violent happened there,” Plaspek said, pointing upward at the wounded peaks.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Like what?” Corian asked.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Hard to say without a closer look,” the Twi’lek answered. “Could have been a meteor. Could have been some kind of explosion—but it would have taken a big one.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             The speeder slowed as it crested a rise, skirting past a crumbling boulder.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Well, this wasn’t on the map,” Doctor Ostrada said.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Before them lay a long lake about a kilometer wide, studded with rocks poking from the waters and stretching the width of the valley. They edged the speeder closer, and then piled out, heading to the shore. The taciturn Atlax retrieved a sampler from the speeder’s pack and slipped it into the water. A few minutes later, it beeped.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Safe enough to drink,” he announced. “Put it through the purifiers first. Some heavy metal contamination.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Collecting the water containers from the back of the speeder, the archaeologists set about refilling them. Thankfully, their expedition had been well-enough funded to buy top-of-the-line equipment. Purification collars on the top of the jugs filtered water that was poured through them, stripping out silt, contaminants, and pathogens. In a few minutes, there was enough to drink. Tired and thirsty, each person waited expectantly for the filtration to finish.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             However, there was no shortage of water. Once the main jugs were refilled and filtered, each person could have as much as they wanted. The water was warm, but to their parched throats, it was heavenly. The mood lightened considerably. Plaspek even recovered her sense of humor enough to splash Kanjai, which resulted in a quick flurry of retaliation and escalation among the archaeologists; Corian stood aside and watched with disinterest.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"> They spent the next hour or so filling, draining, and re-filling the containers with purified water. Any spare container that would hold liquid was repurposed for carrying water, as there was simply no greater necessity in the desert. The time also allowed their wet clothes to dry out in the warm desert heat.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Well, that’s one problem solved,” Kanjai said as he drained his third bottle of water. “As long as we don’t wander too far from the lake, we’ll have water to drink.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Indeed,” Jhiranae agreed. “But we should keep going.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Will the speeder make it over the lake?” Plaspek asked.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “I think so,” Jhiranae told her. “Letting the engines cool periodically is helping.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “We still need to find a way to call for help or get offworld,” Corian pointed out. “Water is great, and if that. . . fake cliff helps hide us from the Grasp, better, but nobody is due out here for 161 more days.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “We’ll run out of food before then,” Atlax commented.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Maybe we could survive that long through foraging and hunting?” Kanjai suggested. “Or fishing if we can reach the sea.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Not likely,” Doctor Ostrada said. “That long from now would put us in the middle of Yanibar’s winter. Don’t let the current heat fool you—winter will be worse, in the opposite way. We would deplete our power sources and food collection would be impossible.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Yeah, we’d freeze to death,” Corian agreed. “Even if we could build a shelter, keep it warm, and stockpile food, our odds of survival aren’t good. And that’s assuming the Grasp doesn’t figure out we’re here.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             That thought sent a chill down everyone’s spines.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “All right, looks like getting offworld it is,” Jhiranae said, trying to lift everyone’s spirits.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Somewhat subdued from their earlier revelry, they piled back into the speeder as Jhiranae and Doctor Ostrada consulted the map. Ahead of them, the valley seemed to broaden, opening into the Tusloni Basin.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “This lake appears close to where a battle site is marked on the map,” Jhiranae observed as their speeder skimmed over the lake.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Corian brought up his macrobinoculars, activating an X-ray filter and peering down into the lake.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Hard to say,” he remarked. “There is definitely metal on the floor of the lake, but a lot of stone also.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “It has been three hundred years at least,” Doctor Ostrada pointed out.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Wait, I just saw something that was definitely a military vehicle,” Corian broke in.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “How did you know?” Jhiranae asked.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “It had a turret. Or what was left of one,” Corian told her.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “That would explain the heavy metal contamination,” Doctor Ostrada said, nodding to Altax, who merely grunted in reply.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Did they fight under water?” Jhiranae asked.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Maybe,” Corian said. “Maybe the battle happened before the lake was here.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Ew, we were drinking out of a grave,” Kanjai remarked disgustedly.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “It’s a three-hundred-year-old-grave. I’m sure all the bodies have long since decomposed. Besides, we filtered the water,” Jhiranae replied.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “How do you know the battle happened three hundred years ago?” Corian countered. “Maybe it was more recent.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “I think I’m going to be sick,” Kanjai said.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Again, the water was filtered,” Jhiranae replied. “It’s fine.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “I, for one, prefer water to no water,” Doctor Ostrada pointed out, which silenced that line of complaints.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             The speeder swept across the lake, leaving a large plume of water and spray behind them. The water was smooth on the generally windless day and they made good progress, aside from having to dodge the boulders that poked up from below the surface.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Up ahead should be a military base, if the map is accurate,” Jhiranae observed, turning slightly northward.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Good,” Corian said.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Plaspek rolled her eyes.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “We know why you would think that,” she replied. “You’re a military guy. But why is that good for us?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Corian gave the Twi’lek a sidelong glance.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Military bases tend to have equipment. Like transmitters. Or maybe even spaceships. Or spaceships with transmitters. And whoever built the base had to make sure their equipment would still work in this environment.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “So some of it might still work?” Jhiranae asked.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “That’s the idea. Might even find something useful.”

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