"What are our chances of rescue?" said Ruby after a while.
"Bad," said Random. "The storm and the attack threw us way off course. The last location I had put us about two miles from the main city, Vidar. No other settlements in walking distance. And after a crash like ours, they might not bother with any rescue. They wouldn't come this far just to identify a few bodies. Even if two of them were rather famous bodies."
"So," said Ruby, "first we get to the cliff face. Then we climb the cliff face till we find a cave. Then we sit and heal. And then we get to walk two miles through this shit to the nearest civilization. Wonderful. Assuming we get through all this alive, I am going to find whoever's idea it was to send us here, rip out his spleen, and make him eat it, one bite at a time."
"You must be feeling better if you can talk that much. Let's speed up the pace."
"You're a bastard, Jack. Have I told you that recently?"
"Shut up and keep walking."
"Why the hell did I agree to come here?" said Ruby.
"You volunteered. Said you were bored. Wanted a little excitement."
"This is very definitely not what I had in mind."
"Ah, you never want to go anywhere fun."
They clung to each other as the wind whipped sharply about them, pushing them this way and that like some playground bully. They screwed up their eyes against it till they could barely see, and it filled their noses and mouths with dust that irritated their throats. The ground beneath their feet rose and fell sharply for no obvious reason, hard and unyielding, so that each step sent painful vibrations shuddering through their exhausted bodies.
Random tried to get some impression of his surroundings. The shapes they passed were some kind of black basaltic rock, but their strange, enigmatic shapes had a subtly troubling quality. There was something almost organic about them, something strangely familiar, like shapes seen in dreams, full of significance. Random shook his head, trying to drive out the unsettling thoughts. It was just his imagination that the rocks looked like creatures who might awaken at any moment, and turn and pursue him with the slow malevolent patience of all creatures in nightmares. He looked back at the pinnace. It was almost lost in the darkening twilight, but he could see well enough to be astonished he and Ruby had survived at all. The ship had cracked open in several places, the thick armor plating split and buckled like paper. More than enough to kill any human passengers. Anyone merely human.
At least the engines hadn't blown up yet.
Random turned his head away and concentrated on the cliff face before him. It was definitely closer. Which was good, because he felt like shit. Every step jolted his broken ribs, and he was pretty sure he had serious internal injuries too. There was always blood in his mouth now, no matter how often he spat it out. Ruby was leaning on him more and more heavily, and had stopped complaining, which was always a bad sign. They had to find shelter soon, somewhere they could rest and hopefully heal. Even the more than human had their limits.
When they finally stumbled to a sudden halt at the base of the cliff, it seemed like a miracle. Random spotted a cave opening and pointed it out with a harsh croak that was all that was left of his voice. They hauled themselves up the jagged cliff face with a last burst of strength, buoyed by a possible end to their struggle. The cave opening was a good ten feet in diameter, its interior an impenetrable darkness. Random pulled a penlight from his sleeve, and played the thin yellow beam around the cave's entrance. The interior stretched away before him, farther than the light could penetrate. Still leaning on each other. Random and Ruby stumbled into the cave.
It went some way back, and they followed the tunnel until they reached the sealed end, and then collapsed on the hard rock floor, their backs against the comforting support of the end wall.
The air was still now, and perhaps fractionally warmer, though the never ending storm still howled outside, as though angry at being cheated of its victims. Random and Ruby sat together, shoulder to shoulder, their breathing and their heartbeats slowly returning to normal. Their various pains seemed comfortably far away for the moment, though neither had the strength to move another inch. Random turned off his penlight. Might need the power yet, and besides, there was really nothing he needed to see right now. He felt deathly tired. Since passing through the Madness Maze, he'd grown accustomed to his occasional wounds healing quickly, but it had been a long time since he'd been busted up this badly. He wondered if there was a limit after all to how much damage his body could repair. If so, this was a hell of a time to find out. He could hear Ruby beside him, breathing jerkily through her mouth. She didn't sound good.
"Ruby? You still with me?"
"Unfortunately, yes." Her voice was strained and harsh. "I feel like shit. How about you?"
"I'm getting there." Random gritted his teeth against a sudden surge of pain from his broken ribs, and then had to cough, which hurt even more. A thick wad of blood and something else came into his mouth, and he spat it out. "Damn. I have a horrible feeling there was a bit of lung in that."
"You're just trying to cheer me up. I always knew I'd end up in Hell, but I never thought I'd get there while I was still alive. Maybe I didn't. Maybe we both died in the crash—"
"No," said Random. "If this was Hell, all my friends would be here. Sit. Rest. Get your strength back. When morning comes, we've got a two-mile hike ahead of us."
"Oh, shut up. I'm not going anywhere. Any chance we could contact anyone through our comm implants?"
"Afraid not. The constant storms create a supersaturated electrical and magnetic field. Plays hell with all kinds of communications. We've no way to let anyone know we're alive. Can't even send up a flare. We're on our own."
"Somehow I just knew you were going to say that. So, how are we supposed to find our way to Vidar in weather like this?"
"I can feel where it is," said Random. "So many people, I can feel their presence. Reach out with your mind. See if you can feel them too."
"Damn," said Ruby after a moment. "You're right. It's like having a compass in my head. I didn't know we could do this."
"Unlike you, I haven't been taking my abilities for granted," said Random. "I spent my spare time testing what I could do, trying to expand my limits."
"I'll bet you were a teacher's pet at school. It's a pity you didn't work out how to speed up our healing abilities."
"Be patient. They've got a lot of work to do. We'll heal, in time."
"Hope you're right. Random. I've never felt this bad in my life. Even hurts to breathe. If I didn't know better… I'd swear I was dying…"
Her voice trailed away. Random couldn't even hear her breathing anymore. "Ruby? Ruby? Can you hear me?"
"Don't shout! My head hurts enough without you yelling in my ear. Let me sleep. Maybe when I wake up, everything'll be fixed again."
"No! I don't think we can trust our bodies to do this much work on their own. We have to do it ourselves. Go inside, concentrate, and control the healing process. Otherwise, we might just drift off and never wake up."
"You're just full of words of comfort, aren't you? All right, I hurt too much to argue. How do you want to do this?"
"Try to find your healing power, the same way you found the compass. And once you've found it, work it for all it's worth."
Ruby nodded and closed her eyes. Random closed his and focused his thoughts inward, searching for something he'd know when he found it. He pushed the pains of his broken body from his thoughts, refusing to let them distract him. He shut down all his senses, sinking deeper and deeper into his own mind. He refused to die here when there was still so much work to be done. And he was damned if he'd die such a useless, pointless, stupid death. His anger burned fiercely through him, and something stirred in the back brain, the undermind, that secret part of him he couldn't see, where his power lived. And a new fire ignited there, bursting out through all the rest of him, burning away all pains and weaknesses in its purifying flames. He was remade and reborn, and Random
howled in sheer exhilaration at being so alive.
His eyes flew open as he crashed back, already forgetting that hidden part of himself he'd so briefly touched. He raised his hands before him and flexed them, and they were fine. He surged to his feet, grinning like a fool. All his injuries had healed, all his pains were gone, and he didn't even have a scar left to show for it. He realized Ruby was standing beside him, stamping her foot on the ground to test that her leg wasn't broken anymore. She looked at him and laughed incredulously, and then they hugged each other fiercely.
"Damn," said Ruby when they finally did release each other. "I feel good! I feel like I could take on a whole damned army!"
"No pain anywhere?" said Random. "No weaknesses?"
"Hell, no! You?"
"I feel like I am twenty again. I feel like I could go one on one with a Grendel and dismantle it with my bare hands." He broke off and looked at Ruby thoughtfully. "And just a few moments ago we were both knocking on death's door. I'm amazed we even survived the crash, let along managed to drag ourselves here. Just the shock of so many major injuries should have killed us outright."
Ruby shrugged. "This isn't the first time something should have killed us, and we survived. It's part of being who and what we are."
"But we just did in a few seconds what a regeneration machine would have taken weeks to do. And I have no idea how."
"Random, will you for once in your life look on the bright side? We are no longer dying, we are back in shape again, and the pinnace didn't explode, after all. Count your damned blessings. Now let's get some sleep, so we can set off for Vidar at First light."
"Yes," said Random. "Sleep does sound good. But this is something we need to talk about in the future, Ruby. We don't know nearly enough about our powers. About what we might be able to do if we put our minds to it."
"We're doing all right," said Ruby. "The Madness Maze didn't exactly come with an instruction manual. So we learn by doing."
"There's still the question of how we do what we do. Where does the energy come from that powers our abilities? What did we just tap into to heal ourselves, to bring ourselves back from the brink of death? I'm already forgetting most of it, but what I can remember scares the hell out of me. It felt like tapping into God…"
"I think you're getting delusions of grandeur," said Ruby sternly. "Now shut up, lie down, and get some sleep. We've got a long walk ahead of us in the morning."
She turned away from him, lay down on the cave floor, and closed her eyes to indicate that as far as she was concerned, the conversation was over. Random looked down at her for a while and then lay down beside her. He knew questions didn't go away just because you didn't want to talk about them, but there was no point in pushing the matter now. Still, when this mission was over, it was well past time that all the surviving Maze alumni got together and tried to work out a few answers to the nature of their unique condition. Random had no real objection to becoming more than human; he just wanted some idea of where that road might be taking them.
In the morning they stood together at the mouth of the cave, looking out into the new light. The wind actually seemed to have dropped off a little, but the storm was still going strong. Loki's sun was mostly hidden away behind the boiling clouds, but its pale light was augmented by the lightning flaring constantly overhead, illuminating the land below with a stark bluish light. Random and Ruby watched in silence, getting their first real look at the landscape they'd crossed the night before.
The valley was full of eerie, grotesque shapes of black stone, standing in no apparent pattern, like so many silent watchful sentinels. Beyond them the pinnace still lay where it had crashed, up against a dark cliff face. It looked like a broken toy, too delicate for rough handling. At the far end of the valley Random could just make out an open plain, dotted with more of the dark, forbidding shapes. There was no sign of life anywhere: no vegetation, no insects, no open water. Only the wind-carved landscape, harsh and bleak and utterly alien.
"I suppose life never really got started here," said Ruby. "Just as well, really. The last thing we need is more complications on our little hike to Vidar."
"That is a terribly self-centered view, Ruby," said Random.
"So? What's your point?"
"I don't know why I ever take part in these conversations anymore. All right, lead the way. And keep your eyes open. Young Jack Random and his bloody Ghost Warriors aren't supposed to be anywhere near here, but you never know."
"Good point," said Ruby. "Let them all come. I could use a little action."
Random sighed and followed her out of the cave. Climbing down the cliff face proved a lot easier than going up, and soon they were striding through the valley toward the open plain. The storm winds were still blowing hard, but now they had their strength back, it didn't bother them nearly as much. Even the abrasive dust that got everywhere was only a minor irritant. Vidar's location burned in their minds like a beacon, and they headed for it in the straightest line they could manage. Time faded gradually into the background. With no significant landmarks, it was hard to tell how far they'd come, or how much farther they had to go. There was just the storm and the winds and the hard, unyielding ground and the city still somewhere up ahead. So they kept their heads down, screwed up their eyes against the dust, and kept going.
The world moved slowly past them, always looking much the same. Sometimes Random thought he saw something moving, right out on the edge of his vision. Something dark and slow and impossibly large. But by the time he'd stopped and turned to look directly at it, it was always gone, lost in the storm. He couldn't be sure he'd really seen anything. It was just his eyes playing tricks, providing the illusion of movement in a landscape where there was none. So he strode on, looking determinedly straight ahead. After all, what kind of life could possibly exist in conditions like this? Even Humanity wouldn't be here if not for the cobalt mines.
He was pretty sure Ruby hadn't seen anything. If she had, she would undoubtedly have taken a shot at it.
The dark stone structures passed slowly by, no one shape like any other, reminding Random of ancient statues of forgotten gods. They varied from simple monoliths the size of a man to great mountains with wind-cut crevices deep enough to drop a starship in. Random would have liked to think about something else, but there was nothing else. Maybe the stones were the evidence of past volcanic activity, driven up through cracks in the ground as molten rock, only to solidify once they hit the cold air. It was as good an explanation as any.
Oh, God, thought Random tiredly. I am really really bored.
And then they reached the top of a long rise and looked down, and there was Vidar, the main city of Loki, spread out on the plain before them. It was a great sprawl of squat black buildings, with dark towers thrusting up here and there—a shadowy fortress with red and yellow furnace eyes, like a mining operation in Hell. A tall metal wall surrounded the city, polished by the abrasive dust to a dark purple sheen, with two massive metal gates at the front. The faint shimmer of a massive energy Screen covered the whole city from the walls up. It had to be said that Vidar didn't look the least bit welcoming, but Random and Ruby were used to turning up at places where they weren't wanted. As long as it promised shelter from the storms, a clean bed, and a hot bath to soak in, Random was quite prepared to get down on his knees and kiss the ground inside its gates. Without looking at each other, Random and Ruby made their way down the long gray slope to the dark city below.
A local guard patrol intercepted them as they approached the main gates. There were six of them in full body armor, with improvised masks and hoods. They plodded determinedly toward Random and Ruby, stopping a respectful distance away. Each man had an energy gun in a thickly gloved hand, carefully targeted. Random and Ruby came to a stop too, just to be polite. One of the guards stepped forward.
"Who the hell are you?" he yelled, his voice only just carrying over the winds. "Our sensors confirm you aren't Furies or Ghost Warriors, but nothing human i
s stupid enough to travel the surface without armor!"
"We are Jack Random and Ruby Journey," said Random as courteously as he could while still shouting. "I believe you're expecting us. Sorry we're a bit late."
"But… we saw your ship go down yesterday, over two miles away!"
"We survived the crash, but our crew didn't. So we waited out the night in a cave and then walked here."
"You walked? Jesus Christ, maybe you are as good as the stories say. Follow me, I'll lead you in. But I'm afraid the weapons stay trained on you till we can positively verify your identity. Shub's been trying all kinds of tricks to get into the city. We don't take chances anymore."
"Understood. Now, do you think we could get moving? I've had enough of this storm and dust to last a lifetime."
"Welcome to Loki," said the guard leader, and turned and headed for the main gates. Random and Ruby moved after him, the other guards turning slowly to keep them covered. The main gates turned out to be two huge slabs of steel. Twenty feet high, to match the walls, and eight feet wide, they looked like they could keep out anything up to and including a Grendel in heat. They opened slowly in response to a signal from the guard leader, who led Random and Ruby in. The rest of the guards moved quickly in to surround them, and the gates slammed together, holding out the storm.
It was suddenly very quiet. The roar of the winds was gone, cut off as though someone up above had thrown a switch. Random slowly straightened his aching back and rubbed grit from his eyes. Beside him, Ruby was hacking and coughing, trying to clear the dust from her mouth and throat. They were in a huge airlock, big enough to handle fifty men at a time, if they didn't mind crowding. The air was comfortably warm and blessedly clear. Random took several deep breaths before turning to the guard leader, who was now wearily stacking pieces of his armor in the wall compartments. He was young, barely into his twenties, with a long, serious face under a thick shock of long yellow hair. There were already deep lines of responsibility and hard life around his mouth and eyes. He grinned suddenly at Random, an engaging, almost shy smile.