Finding Darkness

Chapter 19 That's one big hole

"There is where we're going." Malachi pointed out ahead of them towards a tiny dot in the distance.

They were both prone, laying on the top of a gentle rise overlooking a vast valley. The rays of the setting sun cast the high mountains in golden rays.

"Where? All I see are a bunch of mountains." Tamar groused.

"Come over here." Malachi motioned her over to lie beside him.

Switching arms, he pointed again, this time having Tamar sight down his arm and fingertip.

"Now do you see it, that tiny dot at the base of that mountain?"

"That's the main entrance of a mining operation? It's so small."

"We're still five miles from it. It'll get bigger as we get closer, trust me."

Tamar looked over at him from the corner of her eye. It had taken them almost a day and a half to travel the fifteen miles from where they were to here. In all that time, Malachi had gradually become the man she'd grow used to. Now he was once again the strong man that drove her crazy. Whatever he'd done to himself seemed to have worn off. But why were they just laying here, waiting for the sun to set?

"No, I'm just running every sensor scan I have. This valley has no cover to speak of, if we're caught out there, it could be troublesome."

"I didn't ask you." Tamar's head whipped towards him.

"Sure you did, you wondered why we're just laying here."

Tamar sat up from her prone position. "I didn't say a word to you."

"That's weird, because I could have sworn I heard you as plain as day." As soon as the words left his mouth, he grabbed her and pulled her back to the ground.

"What are you doing?" She screamed, then froze. Without looking behind her she saw three tiny dots sweep over the mountains, jagged peaks and peel apart, each seeking their own attack vector.

Blinking her eyes, she settled back beside Malachi.

"That's what I'm doing." He pointed towards the approaching specks.

Tamar didn't say a word about what she'd just experienced. She just blinked her eyes to clear the stars from them and concentrated on the situation.

"I want you to run as fast as you can towards that opening. I'll take care of them, but be careful. Hopefully this is just a patrol that happened to stumble upon us," he said as he stood to his feet. "But if not, there could be Saltek. If there are, just give a whistle and I'll come running." Before Tamar could protest, he was gone, jumping into the air so fast he took a gathering of leaves and small branches with him.

"I wish I could do that." She muttered to herself. Then sprinted towards the tiny dot in the distance.

Approaching the slope of the mountain, Tamar was forced to cut her speed to be able to maneuver around rocks that slowly grew larger and larger. They started as no more than gravel, small pebbles, then grew into rocks the size of small cars. Soon she was running between pieces of stone big enough to give the illusion of sprinting through cannons. If she hadn't had a very well developed sense of direction, she could have gotten easily lost.

Tamar took comfort in the sounds she heard. Bounding over and around huge chucks of stone, she heard sounds of the pitched battle playing out all around her. The sounds bounced off the stone so she couldn't tell which direction they were coming from, but she knew it was fierce. Tamar could hear the Rougarian fighters coming in low for their strafing runs, Malachi's glorious screams as he did battle with them. Explosions that shook the ground on which she ran, first one, then two, and finally three.

The third detonation sounded different from where she ran, and only at the last second did she realize that it was because it was nearly on top of her. A rolling fireball swept towards her. At its center was the remains of an alien fighter. It disintegrated as it rolled, shedding fiery pieces as it drew nearer.

Then he was there. A black shape descended on wings of red. Tamar was knocked to the ground, darkness engulfing her. She struggled for a few seconds before her mind realized what had happened. Then a grunt from over her and the muffled sound of roiling explosions washed over and around her.

"Are you okay?" The disembodied voice was so familiar she didn't even flinch at its proximity.

"Yeah, I'm fine." A playful thought struck her, and she lifted her hand and brushed it over his chest. In the darkness, he wouldn't see her, so she thought. Why not?

"What are you doing, ma'am?" The blackness receded, Tamar looked around to a sea of flame.

Sliding out from under Malachi, Tamar answered as she stood. "I have no idea what you're talking about good sir" Turning, Tamar gazed at the entrance. She hadn't noticed she'd been so close to it.

It was huge, huge in a way she 'd never thought possible. The hole in the stone of the mountain was so gigantic she couldn't make out the stone patterns over head, it all looked like one seamless mass.

"I told ya." Malachi said when he caught her slack jawed expression.

"Its just, I've never seen anything. This place is massive." Tamar moved from the late afternoon sun to cool darkness with one step. She stood there for a moment to let her eyes adjust, then looked around.

They were standing in an enormous tunnel that went back so far into the rock it disappeared into the rock's black depths. The sheer size of the hole made her doubt that it could have been man made, but who else could have built it?

Malachi chuckled while watching her gaze around at the sheer size of the place. She'd never believe the size of the nest. If she was awed by the sight of this place, she'd have to see the nest to believe it.