They had been backtracking for about an hour now. First they climbed back up the tunnel and now they were in the sewers again. Soon they would be coming across the dead ratlings if Rip had his bearings right. He smiled at the thought of their grisly remains lying there, a testament to his skill. Still, something was bothing Rip. “Uh, Thebes, I know I ain’t good at mapping and that kinda stuff, but I’m a fair tracker and it seems to me like we’ve been through this part of the sewers before,” Rip observed.
“That’s right. We need to go back to New Roanoke.”
“What? Go back? Why? I thought you said you had a plan!”
“I do. That’s why we have to go back to New Roanoke.”
“What the hell good is that gonna do?”
“We’re not properly equipped.”
“Not properly equipped? We must have brought everything and the kitchen sink too! If it’s not in my backpack we can just get it out of my ATV parked outside the sewers.”
“Nope. I’m pretty sure you didn’t bring what I’m thinking of.”
“Try me.”
“Fusion blocks.”
“What the frag do you need those for? You aren’t planning on making the tunnel bigger are you?”
“No. I’m planning on making a new tunnel.”
“But you said…” Rip was about to say something, but Thebes cut him off.
“Okay, look. When I examined my notes closely I noticed something peculiar.”
At this, Thebes pulled out a pocket computer and put up a holographic projection. It looked like the cavern they had just escaped from. Three sides of the cavern were rough and natural looking. The other side was smooth and somewhat rounded in shape, but it only formed part of a sphere, like the cavern was exposing that part of it and the rest was buried. “This is what the cavern looks like according to data I gathered from the laser distancer. Going off the hypothesis that the Neeman structure is spherical in shape, I examined my maps of the sewers and realized there is actually a portion of the sewers here,” she pointed to an area of space beyond the hologram of the cavern and the computer immediately extrapolated a spherical shape of the structure outward towards her finger, “where the sewers come much closer to the structure than the original tunnel does. It’s so close in fact that a few powerful fusion blocks should get us inside. No need for crawling down long tunnels. No need for walking through huge caverns filled with hostile ‘bots. I didn’t think of it before because I didn’t have my laser distancer to give me an accurate enough picture of the Neeman structure and the cavern. The best part about entering here is that it would take us inside without exposing us to the cavern…and those robot spiders.”
“Okay…” Rip pondered this a moment. He was not stupid, but this sounded a little technical to him and he was not a technical type. Nevertheless, he had one nagging question. “If you’ve got that holographic mapping computer and you already mapped out the entire sewer, why didn’t you just copy a map of the sewer from your notes into the computer before we came down here? Then you might have noticed this the first moment you stepped into the cavern and turned on the laser distancer.”
Thebes sighed and made an apologetic face towards Rip. “I just bought the computer in New Roanoke. I kinda forgot I had it.”
If it had not been pitch black in the sewers, you could have seen Rip’s face turn beet red with frustration. “Fusion blocks it is!” he said, throwing up his arms and pushing past Thebes on his way towards the sewer exit.
“Umm, Rip…” Thebes spoke timidly, not wanting to anger him further.
“What?” he responded with no small amount of resentment.
“Your nose is bleeding.”
Rip put his hand up to his nose. It was not just bleeding, it was gushing blood. He could not imagine why he failed to notice, except that he was extremely frustrated with Thebes right now. However the realization of what was happening hit him as he pulled out a rag to place under his nose. It was the first sign of Last Call. Rip was stunned. He thought he had at least a few more years left in him, but it was now apparent that he would be checking out soon. A wave of worry and concern overcame him for a brief moment.
“Are you okay?” Thebes sounded concerned. After all, Rip was being quiet and acting contemplative for once.
“Everything’s fine,” he lied. “We should get moving.”
He held the rag to his face until the nosebleed clotted, and then he threw it to the ground. Normally, he would worry about someone being able to track his blood, but this time he did not much care. He had not seen any indication of creatures in the sewers that would be able to track him that way. Besides, the rag was soaked with his blood and he did not have any place to put it.
They trudged through the sewers for several more minutes. Rip’s bio-comp quickly compensated for any negative emotions and he soon forgot why he was upset with Thebes and the nosebleed. He began to remember the satisfied feeling he was anticipating by the chance to admire his handiwork with the ratlings again. They would be passing the site of the battle by any minute now. Yep, any minute now, they would be coming across the mangled and dismembered corpses of eight ratlings, eight kills that Rip had seen through to the very end with his very eyes. This part of the sewers was very recognizable. They had to be close. He remembered the spurting blood coming from the ratling’s hand and poor Thebes standing there in shock. The blood was all over her, all over the walls. Yes, any second now they would come across that grim scene and Rip would have another good jab at Thebes for that one. Any second…
Rip switched off his thermal enhancer and lit his electric lamp to have a better look. “Thebes?”
“Huh?” Thebes was clearly distracted. She was now using her laser distancer to make a more accurate map of the sewers as they traveled.
“Where are the ratlings? And for that matter, where is the blood? I thought we painted the walls. This place has been scrubbed clean!”
“That’s right. We need to go back to New Roanoke.”
“What? Go back? Why? I thought you said you had a plan!”
“I do. That’s why we have to go back to New Roanoke.”
“What the hell good is that gonna do?”
“We’re not properly equipped.”
“Not properly equipped? We must have brought everything and the kitchen sink too! If it’s not in my backpack we can just get it out of my ATV parked outside the sewers.”
“Nope. I’m pretty sure you didn’t bring what I’m thinking of.”
“Try me.”
“Fusion blocks.”
“What the frag do you need those for? You aren’t planning on making the tunnel bigger are you?”
“No. I’m planning on making a new tunnel.”
“But you said…” Rip was about to say something, but Thebes cut him off.
“Okay, look. When I examined my notes closely I noticed something peculiar.”
At this, Thebes pulled out a pocket computer and put up a holographic projection. It looked like the cavern they had just escaped from. Three sides of the cavern were rough and natural looking. The other side was smooth and somewhat rounded in shape, but it only formed part of a sphere, like the cavern was exposing that part of it and the rest was buried. “This is what the cavern looks like according to data I gathered from the laser distancer. Going off the hypothesis that the Neeman structure is spherical in shape, I examined my maps of the sewers and realized there is actually a portion of the sewers here,” she pointed to an area of space beyond the hologram of the cavern and the computer immediately extrapolated a spherical shape of the structure outward towards her finger, “where the sewers come much closer to the structure than the original tunnel does. It’s so close in fact that a few powerful fusion blocks should get us inside. No need for crawling down long tunnels. No need for walking through huge caverns filled with hostile ‘bots. I didn’t think of it before because I didn’t have my laser distancer to give me an accurate enough picture of the Neeman structure and the cavern. The best part about entering here is that it would take us inside without exposing us to the cavern…and those robot spiders.”
“Okay…” Rip pondered this a moment. He was not stupid, but this sounded a little technical to him and he was not a technical type. Nevertheless, he had one nagging question. “If you’ve got that holographic mapping computer and you already mapped out the entire sewer, why didn’t you just copy a map of the sewer from your notes into the computer before we came down here? Then you might have noticed this the first moment you stepped into the cavern and turned on the laser distancer.”
Thebes sighed and made an apologetic face towards Rip. “I just bought the computer in New Roanoke. I kinda forgot I had it.”
If it had not been pitch black in the sewers, you could have seen Rip’s face turn beet red with frustration. “Fusion blocks it is!” he said, throwing up his arms and pushing past Thebes on his way towards the sewer exit.
“Umm, Rip…” Thebes spoke timidly, not wanting to anger him further.
“What?” he responded with no small amount of resentment.
“Your nose is bleeding.”
Rip put his hand up to his nose. It was not just bleeding, it was gushing blood. He could not imagine why he failed to notice, except that he was extremely frustrated with Thebes right now. However the realization of what was happening hit him as he pulled out a rag to place under his nose. It was the first sign of Last Call. Rip was stunned. He thought he had at least a few more years left in him, but it was now apparent that he would be checking out soon. A wave of worry and concern overcame him for a brief moment.
“Are you okay?” Thebes sounded concerned. After all, Rip was being quiet and acting contemplative for once.
“Everything’s fine,” he lied. “We should get moving.”
He held the rag to his face until the nosebleed clotted, and then he threw it to the ground. Normally, he would worry about someone being able to track his blood, but this time he did not much care. He had not seen any indication of creatures in the sewers that would be able to track him that way. Besides, the rag was soaked with his blood and he did not have any place to put it.
They trudged through the sewers for several more minutes. Rip’s bio-comp quickly compensated for any negative emotions and he soon forgot why he was upset with Thebes and the nosebleed. He began to remember the satisfied feeling he was anticipating by the chance to admire his handiwork with the ratlings again. They would be passing the site of the battle by any minute now. Yep, any minute now, they would be coming across the mangled and dismembered corpses of eight ratlings, eight kills that Rip had seen through to the very end with his very eyes. This part of the sewers was very recognizable. They had to be close. He remembered the spurting blood coming from the ratling’s hand and poor Thebes standing there in shock. The blood was all over her, all over the walls. Yes, any second now they would come across that grim scene and Rip would have another good jab at Thebes for that one. Any second…
Rip switched off his thermal enhancer and lit his electric lamp to have a better look. “Thebes?”
“Huh?” Thebes was clearly distracted. She was now using her laser distancer to make a more accurate map of the sewers as they traveled.
“Where are the ratlings? And for that matter, where is the blood? I thought we painted the walls. This place has been scrubbed clean!”
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