Raider shook his head, not bothering to argue with her. "Finish the story, Tin Can."
"Today, Elena decided to play spy. I think that's what the Sye was waiting for. Because somehow we ended up back in the Osiri's lab. That's when I lost contact with her."
Jin's worry permeated every word. Her friend was antsy, his desire to head straight to Elena clear.
"How does the cave fit?" Raider asked, struggling for patience.
"Oh, that. Somehow, this cave is connected to all the towers. Though I'm not quite sure how." Jin flew under a particularly low hanging section of the ceiling. "I think it's similar to the passageways we used during the adva ka. Remember them?"
Kira nodded slowly. "I do."
They'd been weird, warping time and space in unexpected ways. Sometimes looping in on themselves. Other times sending you to unexpected destinations that shouldn't have been possible given the length of time you'd been traveling.
The chamber where the lenacht had been born was like that too. So easy to stumble upon when it wanted to be found. But later, no amount of searching had enabled her or anyone else to find their way back. Like it had never existed in the first place.
"Elena dropped off my scanners for a time right before she entered the lab. I think that's because she wasn't actually here but rather somewhere in between."
Raider scowled at the drone. "Can you at least try to make sense?"
"Think of it as a pocket dimension. One that acts like a maze. She's here—but not."
Raider stared, irritation growing on his face.
"And this cave connects to the same place," Kira said uncertainly.
"That’s correct."
Raider stopped, forcing the other two to as well. "Let me see if I understand the current plan. We're going to venture further into the deep, dark cave system, hoping to stumble upon what you're calling a pocket dimension—I can't believe I just called it that—in hopes it will lead us to my daughter." Raider gave them a look. "With no backup or any real idea of what we're going to do when we reach her."
"Sounds about right." Kira and Jin glanced at each other. "Problem?"
"Nope." Raider shook his head and strode toward where Jin's spawn was circling. "Just wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page."
Jin snorted. "You mean the one dripping in our enemies' blood?"
"That's the one," Raider muttered.
Jin shot forward. "Oh good. Glad that's settled."
They didn't talk much after that as they moved through the tunnels. The ecosystem changed the further inside they got, giving credence to Jin's theory that there was something unexplainable about this place.
It felt alive. And not just because of the creatures she could sense infesting the cavern around her.
There was something in the atmosphere. As if it was trying to feed off her fears.
It was subtle. Constantly lapping at her psyche, draining her just a little more the longer she lingered.
"I don't like this place," she said softly.
Raider walked across the stone bridge to the other side of a luminescent pool. "What's there to like?"
"Not that way," Jin shouted, zooming toward Raider.
Looking startled, Raider froze. "What is it?"
"Look." Jin used his anti-gravs to toss a stone at the ground in front of Raider. It sank, breaking the illusion of rock. Ripples spread out, causing a faint luminescence in the water. When it settled again, it looked exactly like the rest of the cave floor. "That stuff is toxic. It destroyed a dozen of my spawn before I figured out what was going on."
"And you're just now telling me this?" Raider asked in disbelief.
"There wasn't reason to before. There is now." The drone sailed across the room, disappearing into an alcove after his bird. "This way."
Raider joined Kira. "Is it just me or is he flightier than normal?"
"He's just got a lot on his mind."
"I hope you're right," Raider muttered softly to her back as she followed Jin. "I really do."
"Which way?" Raider asked a short time later, staring at the pair of identical tunnels in front of them.
"I don't know," Jin admitted.
Kira sent him a startled look. "I thought you said you knew the way."
"I did." Jin corrected himself. "I do."
"Then—" she prodded.
"I can tell Elena is in that direction, but I don't know which tunnel will lead us there."
Raider cursed, kicking the wall as he paced away from them.
"How is that possible?" Kira asked, ignoring her friend’s outburst.
Jin's bird landed on his casing as he hesitated. "It's this place. It's affecting me."
"Your spawn?" Kira guessed.
"I've lost track of several of them. Everything keeps getting turned around."
That wasn't a good sign. Kira and Jin had never spoken of it directly, but she knew his connection with his spawn was similar to what a biological might have with their limbs. They were an extension of him. His hands and feet.
It shouldn't have been possible to lose track of them. Just like you wouldn't with your own limbs. Unless you had a spinal or neurological condition preventing those signals from getting through.
Kira nodded at the tunnels. "But you're sure she's that way."
"Yes."
Raider turned back to them. "We split up."
"No." Kira didn't even have to think about her answer. "Absolutely not."
"Jin said it himself. She doesn't have time for us to do this slow. You take one. I take the other. We get in. We investigate. Then we rendezvous back here."
"That is a stupid plan," Kira told him.
"Yeah, but it's the only one we've got." Raider considered the tunnels, indicating the one to the right. "This one is mine."
"Fifteen minutes. Then we meet back here."
Despite his distracted nod, Kira could tell he wasn't really listening, his focus on the tunnel and what waited on the other side.
"Raider." Kira waited until she had his attention. "If you find her, you wait for backup. You don't go in alone."
"Sure thing, Nixxy. Just like you would if the situation was reversed."
Kira watched him disappear into the tunnel with a feeling of resignation. "Why do I get the feeling he's not going to wait?"
"Probably because you wouldn't be able to either," Jin quipped.
With a growl, Kira headed into the tunnel on the left. "Come on, Jin. You're with me."
"Who else would I be with in a situation like this?"
Twenty Eight
Elena – Osiri Lab
"Mom!"
Fear rushed through Elena at the awful silence that answered her. She didn't know if Elise was dead or simply unconscious. And the not knowing was tearing her apart.
"Answer me, Elise," Elena cried, thrashing against her bindings.
Why did the Osiri have to be so inventive? Hadn't they ever heard about giving someone a fighting chance?
And this bone pick! Why was it so useless?
She'd thought when Fyr slipped it into her hand that it might be her beacon of hope. But no. All it had done was poke a hole in her thigh when she’d tried to cut herself loose.
"I won't call you egg donor in my head anymore. So please say something."
"She's not dead. You can stop screaming," Fyr told her.