SCUTTLE ( IV )

“Why? Why is he going over to some strange woman’s house to look at her cellar? Why is he getting involved in the tragic disappearance of her daughter?” These questions assaulted Jim as he drove over to Elizabeth’s house. “Hell, he knew why. She’s a beautiful woman, and he’s an interested single guy. Still, why get involved with her trauma?” He was never one to get involved with women who had heavy issues. If they were stressed out neurotics, emotionally bankrupt due to being abused and battered, or on some moral crusade against the crimes of humanity, he stayed away from women that had more problems then he did. This was simply because he had a hard enough time dealing with his own issues, and besides he was trying to have fun.

Elizabeth. Elizabeth was different. His attraction to her wasn’t just about her beauty. This woman is dealing with extreme turmoil in her life, and yet she continued to hold on to her humor and her reason. She’s strong and resilient, traits that are so rare in people, and what he has found to be sorely lacking in most women, or at least the ones he had been seeing. He should probably face it, he had been dating weak minded individuals, and that had never mattered before. Yeah, she had lost it, and at that moment she opened up and showed that she was also vulnerable. She let him soothe and comfort her, and no woman had ever let him do that without having to prove himself first, of course most of his relationships with women to this point had been based solely on sexual attraction. There was much more to her then her beauty and sexuality and he was very interested in what that might be. There was also something changing in him, his perspective altering, growing, and he damn well needed to see where that was leading.

As usual, rain fell in great buckets along the metal streets, wood houses and manicured Earth-like lawns. The soil and seed were imported from Earth, computerized machines were installed underneath to control the amount of heat, chemicals, and water needed to keep the vegetation alive. If there wasn’t enough from Taneria’s climate, naturally, then it was produced. Likewise if there was too much, it was diluted, dried or cooled by the machines and the science of chemistry to obtain the needed balance for sustainability. Jim’s car stopped automatically at the coordinates that Elizabeth had provided, which he had punched into its computer earlier. Before he had reached the porch step, she had opened the door and was beckoning him inside her county style two story home with gabled roof and wrap around porch.

He entered quickly, and without even saying hello she had him follow her across the wide plank heart pine wood floors through beautifully decorated high ceilinged rooms to the cellar door. Opened, its stairs descended into pitch darkness, and the smell of mildew and the aroma of Taneria’s odd soil filled the cement stairwell.

“Where’s the light?”

She looked innocently up into his eyes, “I’ve been having electrical problems for awhile now. We have to go down and screw in the bulbs.”

His face screwed up a little and he gave a worried grin, his eyes rapidly moving about in search of a safe way down. “Don’t worry, I know the way. The cellar is pretty empty and worn down. This house has been here for at least fifty years, built by early settlers, so it’s a bit run down in parts. Steven was going to remodel it, but he never got around to it before he left.”

She took his hand and led him down into the cellar. It was not long before they stopped and Elizabeth screwed in a light bulb that had been resting in its socket. It lit up about a thirty foot radius within the fairly large cellar. The cement walls were cracking and crumbling and there were wooden beams with metal brackets placed in key positions to reinforce the floor above. In separate heaps scattered about the floor were piles of Taneria soil.

“Everything here remained relatively the same after Clarissa vanished except for this.” She walked between some beams to a part of the wall where the cement had fallen, exposing a hole in the soil about the size of a very large gopher.

“What is it?”

“It’s a tunnel stupid,” she said jokingly, and smiled.

“A tunnel?” Jim raised his eyebrows and took a step back. “To where?”

“That I don’t know, but I was hoping you could help me with that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s obviously how the kidnapper entered my home. I told the police but they didn’t buy it because they couldn’t imagine how a human could fit through that opening. But a small human could. If we find out where the tunnel leads, we will find out more then we know now.”

“OK. In theory that all makes sense, although I’m not sure even a small human could navigate that, but you don’t have any proof. Even if you did, how can we explore it without risking our lives in doing so?”

Elizabeth bowed her head a little and sadly said, “I don’t know, but it’s the only lead I have. I just want to find my baby.”

Jim softened like a piece of warmed cheese and put his hand upon her elbow. She immediately put her arms around him and drew him in tightly. They held each other there. “It will be ok Elizabeth, we’ll figure something out. Maybe we can acquire a robot cam and have it investigate where the tunnel leads.”

Her head felt good against his shoulder. In his arms she felt secure and far from worry. “That sounds good,” she lifted her head and looked into his eyes. It looked as though she wanted the same thing and he bent his head down toward her to prove it. Their lips met and their tongues parted them. Whatever they were going to do, it was going to have to wait. Awhile.

Signals channeled the airwaves, sharp and direct. Sliced easily through softness, and drove through dense matter. Emanating from a strong and vibrant power source they transmitted forth from a planet far out in space. Their receiver stood motionless in his apartment, his appendages wrapped about him as his antennae pulsated alertly. His wings spread out fan-like to help draw in the clicks and clatter of the message.

It came from the Queen of his kind, three times him in size and power. She is insistent and wants to know why he has taken so long to exterminate the Riachen. Does he need assistance? To accept the help she offers would damage his credibility as the foremost indomitable warrior in her entourage. Concentrating all his strength he attempted to respond. It will cost him all his energy for the time being and he will have to rest for hours before he can return to the hunt. He communicates, through his antennae, a polite decline to her offer and a reassurance that the Riachen horde burrowed here will be exterminated within a couple days. Also, he has located the entrance to their burrow and sensed the presence of a Riachen Mother within. In fact it was her power that had stopped him from exterminating the horde upon discovery. Now he is building and storing the needed energy to fight her. “Do not worry, my Queen. Your best and brightest charge will rid one more planet of this scourge that threatens the born!”

The communication complete, he returned to human disguise and stood before his patio. Bowing his head one final time before the coming battle, he fell into the meditative slumber needed to rebuild his energy.