The Abyss of Time

Chapter Twenty Four

     The ford they'd found had been south of the place they'd found the river, so Jack and the other quad riders went north. They travelled slowly, barely more than walking pace, and constantly scanned the undergrowth with their eyes, alert for the slightest movement.

     "The cyborgs were wearing surface suits like ours," said Dundee. "but in camouflage colours. The same colours as the jungle we're in. They even had luminous patches on their suits, to blend into the luminous vegetation."

     "They had days to study the place before we came down," said Jack soberly. "It's given them an advantage." He looked down at his own surface suit. "Still, black isn't the worst colour to avoid notice." The quads were black as well. They'd painted over the original garish colours before leaving the Lucina.

     "And these things are quiet," said Jaime, patting the handlebars of his quad fondly. "So long as you stay under twenty and keep the compressors balanced."

     "I think we're getting too far from the river," said Dundee. "I can't see it any more."

     "We don't dare stay too close," Jack reminded him. "They're on the river somewhere. Maybe right around the corner."

     "Is it true they have devices that can track us by the chemicals we leave behind?" asked Jaime. "Like a bloodhound?"

     "My dad knows all about cyborgs," Jack reminded him, "and he had a hand in designing these suits. I'm sure he'll have thought of that. Made sure they're completely without any giveaway chemicals. And the quads have a completely self contained engine. No need for oxygen, no exhaust gases. Nothing but water, anyway, and there's plenty of water in the air anyway." The thought prompted him to wipe away the condensation that was beginning to block the view through his faceplate.

     "How else can they track us?" asked Jaime.

     "No way that's a threat to us," Jack assured him. "These suits keep our DNA inside as well, and the jungle's too hot for thermal imaging to be any use to them. If you're going to fight cyborgs, this is the best place to do it. Just make sure your suit radios are at their lowest possible power."

     They'd all checked before they left their temporary camp but there was a pause as they all checked again. "It means we'll be out of contact if we're more than a dozen or so metres from each other," said Dundee. "It would be easy to get lost out here."

     "If anyone loses contact with the others, head back to camp," Jack told them. "We'll meet up again there."

      The others nodded and they rode in silence for a while, angling a little to the west to follow the curve of the river. They came to the massive trunk of an Atlas tree and went around it, Jack taking the time to stare at the multitude of living creatures crowding its craggy bark. Some of them seemed to be digging into its bark and drinking its red sap like giant aphids. Not just the small ones either. Some of the sap drinkers were the size of sheep, although they looked nothing like any sheep he'd ever seen before. Others, at the edges of the running streams of water flowing down the trunk of the colossal tree, had what looked like tiny waterwheels being turned by the flowing current.

     Don't get distracted, he admonished himself. Keep your mind on the danger. He put the tree out of his mind and fixed his eyes on the surrounding jungle again.

     Things kept moving, though. Strange forms of life jumping, leaping and flying across his field of vision. Most of them rubbery, seemingly composed entirely of long, whiplike tendrils that waved and lashed around, seemingly at nothing, although occasionally he would see a tendril grasping something and pull it into one of several mouths. Most were dark, with a deep blue or sheer black leathery skin, but some of them had glowing, luminous spots, mainly at the bulbous ends of long, dangling tentacles. Jack wondered if they were lures, to draw in prey.