0-SA (The Last Ship Series)

Chapter Fifty: Down?

Osa road Prune ahead of the group. A few days had passed, and they were coming up on what had been emitting the transmissions. The purple skinned Irinaut let out a low crackle, and Prune came to a stop.

Zio and Fex road up next to him. Sage sat with Zio and Jacques with Fex. The Yetis were such massive beasts, riding a human with their Irinaut master was nothing.

"What is it Osa?" Sage clung to Inka's fur. She beasts often made her nauseous when she road them.

Osa made a soft clicking sound, "I don't know what's going on." The male looked around for a moment before climbing off Prune, still looking at the map, "According to the coordinates we should be right near the ship, we have been, but I have not seen anything of the sort."

Fex cocked his head. He glanced at Zio, who almost immediately began interpreting with an agitated glare. The dark blue Irinaut hummed loudly before climbing off Tillian and approaching Osa. The others did the same, seeming genuinely curious to what exactly was going on.

Jacques looked around, "So what, are we missing something here?" The soldier brought his gun up over his shoulder.

Zio purred, before glancing back at Jacques. The Irinaut nodded his head before glancing at Osa, who was pulling one what looked like a man hole.

"Help me remove this." Osa looked at the group. Fex was already approaching with a crowbar, seeming ready to remove the lid.

Fex shoved the bar in before lifting it up off the opening. The male glanced down into the hole, a low growl came from him, 'How would a ship get down there, Osa?'

Osa was crouched down; observing the opening. There was signs of heavy infection growing on the walls, and that made him nervous. The male tilted his head lightly to the side, "Jacques, Sage, could a ship fit down there?"

Sage shrugged, "Depends on where it came in at. For all we know it could had crashed right through the ground somewhere." The woman glanced in the hole, "I don't know about going down there Osa. Wouldn't they know better than to hide in the open like this?"

"They could be trapped down there. If it isn't a ship maybe they got some communication device? Could you contact them back?" Jacques walked over next to Sage, his own eyes focused on the opening.

Osa shook his head, "I tried and it gave me a communication error. So whatever they had working, it may be broke again." The male took a deep breath; feeling over his mask and neck shields, before suddenly sitting down and preparing to climb down in.

Fex's eyes lit up, 'Woah woah, Osa, what in the hell are you doing?' He began to click repeatedly and loudly, 'There could be infected down there it's pitch black!' The Irinaut shook his head no, 'We are going down there?'

Osa glanced at Fex, who clearly didn't like the idea of this. The purple skinned male barked back, 'It's no different than us riding the Yeti's in the street of the night to make up time.' The Irinaut looked at Jacques and Sage, "You all are welcome to stay up here. These are my people. I would understand." He looked at Fex and Zio, who seemed to understand that meant them as well.

Sage could be seen grinning in her mask, "Pfft, your people became my people well over a decade ago, Osa." The woman cocked her rifle to check the slot for a bullet before letting go and sending one into the chamber, "You'll need my aim down there." She looked at the Yetis, "What about these guys?"

Fex's hands were glowing a vibrant red as they curled into fists. He did not like the looks of this, and something just felt, off. The male threw his hand up, 'No no, I'm going. Even if it's to say I told you so.'

Osa grunted as he climbed into the hole and braced the ladder. He looked at Fex as he commented this, 'I'll be right back up. Maybe it's best you do stay up here, and watch the Yetis.' With that, the Irinaut began to make his decent. Soon, oddly the entire group followed aside from the Yeti's, who Fex and Zio had instructed to climb the building to the top. For Yetis, this came with ease with their giant talons.

Fex was the last to climb down, and the tunnels were pitch back. The male hummed as his, Osa, and Zio's bodies began to emit their vibrant glows. It easily gave enough light to give them a full view of the tunnel from the front and back.

Osa looked at the group. He wasn't fond of them following. Even if he didn't admit it to them, he himself didn't like the looks of this either, "We see anything strange, anything that doesn't look right, we turn around, and we leave. No second thoughts, got it?"

The group nodded, and Osa simply returned the gestured before turning and looking down the tunnel. His heart was racing, but he knew they had to at least check out the signal. The Faction had really cut back on their searches for Osa to his knowledge. Though, the family had become rather self efficient; making really the only thing they had to really find were materials for the ship.

Osa finally took a step forward and began walking, "Alright, let's find that signal."