Underground
"I hate tunnels"
Harry Tuttel - a Karkehan underground soldier - 3595
Majellan - beyond the planet Sandfar - 3109
Chaugrad drifted slowly past the dry husk of Sandfar. It had come out from deep space only hours before.
Already data
was streaming from the Chaugrad ship computer to the
Soon they would know the horrible truth, and more, thought Tegrin.
The flare of several large DS-210 missiles distracted him from his contemplation.
So they have decided to go ahead with the madness. He sighed, a tightness he had felt in his stomach for some time threatened to reach up to his throat and throttle the life out of him.
Mercy save us.
The missiles cruised out of the hanger bays at the
base of the Coloniser. The long, sleek fission bombs slid past the crude MMC markings on the side of the Glasteel dome.
So retribution would come to the first colonists, Tegrin writhed. In the name of justice, the pathetic Home World War was being waged out here. It made no sense.
Although there was some right for some revenge. There had been reports of MMC peoples who had been slaughtered by the first colonists. But did it justify this?
Faint vapour trails first gave the missiles away as they streaked across the Majellanic sky. People turned and fled to their respective shelters.
In a crude
medieval town to the north of
"What are we to do?" cried an old woman to the guard standing dumbstruck, slack jawed staring at the sky.
The captain
of the Guards rode up on his horse. "Right! Everyone hear this. We have
received word from
"But we have no place that is underground!" cried a stander by.
"There you are wrong," answered the Captain. "There is an old Karkehan tower on the edge of town which leads underground."
"We can't go there," shouted a large brute not far from the Captain’s horse. "It is a dangerous place, and we know not where it goes!"
"Indeed. But we have no other choice," said the Captain. "So get moving. Do not delay. Bring only food, water and as few possessions which you cannot live without. Gather as many people as you can. Pass on the word. You have until midday, and no more!" With that he turned his mount and rode away.
A large crowd
had begun to collect in and around the old tower, when the first of the
explosions were heard, far to the south toward
First there was a flash in the sky, followed by a shudder that ran through the earth like a ripple through water. Then came the roar, the heaving moan of the ground in torment.
The villagers were blind with fear as they charged down the stairs. A frenzied mass of dumb frightened animals.
Deeper and deeper the hard rock stairs wound. It was only then that the first foolhardy villager met a grisly fate at the hands of a Karkehan trap. His charred corpse fell back into the crowd, scurrying down the stairs after him.
They tried to turn around and flee, but the momentum of the crowd up the stairs was a wall of fear rushing its way to oblivion.
Sometime later the Plasma flame trap had been disabled. 'At great cost,' grimaced the Captain of the Guards, looking at the pile of charred bodies.
Slowly and as quietly as they could, the villagers advanced down the solid Karkehan stairs.
It was so easy to spot Karkehan construction, thought the Captain. They really had a thing going for metre thick slabs of rock.
The stairs finally ended, at what must have been several hundred metres underground, thought the Captain, nervously wiping his brow.
In front of them, a short thin corridor led towards a large open area. Scattered torch beams and candlelight flickered across the rock walls.
A thin young man took a hesitant step forward down the corridor. His foot came to rest on the first of a series of black and white alternating slabs that made up the floor.
He took another breath and eased his other foot onto the same black slab. Nothing happened. Sweat dribbled down his brow, droplets fell from his nose.
With great care he eased one foot onto the white slab and then the other. Eventually he had made it to the end of the corridor, with an audible sigh of relief.
"I-I made it!" he shouted back. "It's quite safe." The crowd behind looked visibly relieved as well. A soldier took a step onto the black square and then the white.
His body crumpled to the ground. His body severed through the centre. A large spike had jerked out from the middle of the white slab piercing him from below.
"A weight trap!" cried the Captain. "I have heard of these before."
Eventually after much travail, they made it clear that no one was to use the white slabs.
Beyond the corridor, a large tunnel came into view. Being a few metres wide, it ran left to right, with no fathomable end. On the floor two steel bars ran in parallel.
"The Great Karkehan Railway!" exclaimed the Captain. He checked the rails they were old and corroded from lack of use.
"At least we need not worry about the Karkehan," he said to no one in particular. "They are long gone from here."
The villagers set up camp in the large tunnel. The living was uncomfortable and cold so many villagers stayed on the stairs or burrowed out hollows in the rough walls.
After days unending in the darkness, a small group detached them selves from the camp and set off to explore the tunnel to the west. Yet another set off east to do the same.
The eastern team soon discovered that a chasm filled with rushing water blocked their path. They returned with the news and the water was utilised straight away. A great splashing, happy bathing and drinking soon followed.
To the west the tidings were grim. The west team never returned.
They had gone on some days and were running very low on supplies. Many of them had died. They were lost and shambling along the railway line like dark ghosts or zombies on some long forgotten quest, when they spotted the light.
Far ahead glimmered a pale yellow light. On closer inspection they came up to a rock fall, at the peak of the rubble a distant splatter of light fluttered against the rough-hewn roof.
The Captain scrabbled up the rocks to the top. Here he found the crusty exterior of some long derelict vessel. After scratching and digging away rocks and rubble, he found a hatch.
Carefully prizing it open, after searching for hidden traps and devices, he made it into the craft. What he saw in the heart of the ship made his jaw drop.
Suspended by beams of warm glowing light, falling from a floating globe in the ceiling - hung a man.
The man moved, with a smooth motion as if he swam in liquid and not light. He rubbed his eyes at the Captain.
"Greetings human!" said Himmelman.