Lazarus Rising

1.24 Escape

As the door swung silently to behind them, Cheyenne wrapped her arm around Lazarus's shaking shoulders. In the semi darkness his torn shirt revealed the rivulets of blue lights in his chest, rapid streaks chasing each other through his veins and arteries like tiny bolts of fairy lightening. She tugged the material straight and reassuringly squeezed his arm. "Lazarus, are you alright?"

"I.. I am." He stuttered. "It's just being down there with that..that thing. And what it did to Shelvocke. I'll be okay, let's just get out of here."

The passageway arced progressively upward. Lit by an extraordinary green luminance given off by scrappy patches of mosses clinging to the wall it stretched out in front of them into an inky ball of blackness. Supporting a shaky Lazarus, Cheyenne made slow progress as they shuffled along in silence accompanied by nothing but the sound of Lazarus's harsh breathing and the scraping sound of their boots on the unforgiving surface of the rock. After an hour they felt the floor surface change beneath them from hard rock to a thin gritty layer of sand. It had to mean they were close to the surface. Cheyenne could feel a sense of deep relief when she made out a shaft of light entering the mouth of the tunnel where it broke the surface. A solitary figure stood at the entrance waiting for them, its outline wavering like a thin flame on a candle's wick in the sudden brightness.

As they neared the circle of red light the figure turned and rushed toward them.

"Jamek!" she cried out.

"You made it. I was going to come but I was told to wait here." He looked into her eyes and then embraced her. She could feel the weight of his body as his powerful arms wrapped tightly around her, and instinctively she pulled him close to her. "I missed you." He whispered.

For a few seconds they held each other, then reluctantly she pushed him away. "Let's get up to the surface, we've been stuck down here too long."

In the warm, bright sunlight the Metro Officers gaze fell momentarily on the sword Cheyenne had tucked into her belt then on the hollowed eyed Lazarus and his tattered clothes. "Here Lazarus, sit down for a moment." Jamek pulled a thin flask from his pack, "Try this, it's a local infusion, it will give you both energy. My aero's too not far from here. When you're ready, we will go." He faltered and cast a look back toward the tunnel's entrance. "Shelvocke?"

She reached out and took his hand. "I'm sorry, Jamek, he didn't make it. There was nothing we could do."

"I came too late. I should have been here earlier. He was a good friend to me." Jamek bit his bottom lip in moment of reflection. Far above the shriek of two low flying aero's bought him to attention. He stood and watched as two thin shadows shot across the sand and disappeared down the ravine below them. When he spoke he had regained his composure and the quiet authority his voice carried reminded Cheyenne of when had first met him. "They know you have escaped. We must move. Here, slip these on they will help us get back without being spotted." He knelt and pulled out two camo suits from his pack and briskly helped them climb into them.

When he was satisfied they were ready, Jamek pulled the pack onto this shoulders, scrambled down the rock ledge and jumped off the rock onto the red sandy surface. "Stick close to the walls, the suits are more effective that way. Come on, let's go."

Shielding her eyes from the stark light of the sun, Cheyenne saw they were in a deep ravine. Around them the cliffs reeled, vast tectonic plates thrust up through the planets surface by incalculable forces, millions of years ago. Above she could make out the river of the Martian sky, dyed a dazzling russet colour by the overlaying bio dome shield.

The trail Jamek followed kept them in the shadows. The earnest breeze and sunlight gave her new vigour after the long spell in the cave system under the fortress. She looked at Lazarus. He nodded at her, he appeared steadier now. Jamek picked up the pace, his boots kicking up drifts of the soft sand that the fingers of the breeze whipped away and threw against the rock with the swishing sound of rice being cast against stone.