A Fire Upon the Deep

Flenser whole once more. Steel edged back, almost in retreat. Yet there was something strange here. Yes, the Flenser was at peace with himself, self-satisfied. But now that Steel could see the pack all together, he saw something in its body language that… Insight came then, and with it a flash of intensest pride. For once in my life, I understand better than the Master. "Whole, you say? Think. We both know how souls do battle within, the little rationalizations, the great unknowings. You think you've killed the other, but whence comes your recent confidence? What you're doing is exactly what Tyrathect would do now. All thought is yours now, but the foundation is her soul. And whatever you think, it's the little school teacher who won!"

The Fragment hesitated, understanding. Its inattention lasted only a fraction of a second, but Steel was ready: He leaped into the open, loosing his arrows, lunging across the open space for the other's throats.

.Delete this paragraph to shift page flush

— =*=

CHAPTER 40

Any time before now, the climb through the walls would have been fun. Even though it was pitch dark, Amdi was in front and behind him, and his noses gave him a good feel for the way. Anytime before now there would have been the thrill of discovery, of giggling at Amdi's strung-out mental state.

But now Amdi's confusion was simply scary. He kept bumping into Jefri's heels. "I'm going as fast as I can." The fabric of Jefri's pants' knees was already torn apart on the rough stone. He hustled faster, the stabbing beat of rock on knees barely penetrating his consciousness. He bumped into the puppy ahead of him. The puppy had stopped, seemed to be twisting sideways. "There's a fork. I say we… what should I say, Jefri?"

Jefri rolled back, knocking his head on top of the wormhole. For most of a year, it had been Amdi's confidence, his cheeky cleverness, that had kept him going. Now… suddenly he was aware of the tonnes of rock that were pressing in from all directions. If the tunnel narrowed just a few centimeters, they would be stuck here forever.

"Jefri?"

"I— " Think! "Which side seems to be going up?"

"Just a second." The lead member ran off a little ways down one fork.

"Don't go too far!" Jefri shouted.

"Don't worry. I… he'll know to get back." Then he heard the patter of return, and the lead member was touching its nose to his cheek. "The one on the right goes up."

They hadn't gone more than fifteen meters before Amdi started hearing things. "People chasing us?" asked Jefri.

"No. I'm mean, I'm not sure. Stop. Listen… Hear that? Gluppy, syrupy." Oil.

No more stopping. Jefri moved faster than ever up the tunnel. His head bumped into the ceiling and he stumbled to his elbows, recovered without thinking and raced on. A trickle of blood dripped down his cheek.

Even he could hear the oil now.

The sides of the tunnel closed down on his shoulders. Ahead of him, Amdi said, "Dead end — or we're at an exit!" Scritching sounds. "I can't move it." The puppy turned around and wiggled back between Jefri's legs. "Push at the top, Jefri. If it's like the one I found in the dome, it opens at the top."

The darn tunnel got narrow right before the door. Jefri hunched his shoulders and squeezed forward. He pushed at the top of the door. It moved, maybe a centimeter. He crawled forward a little further, squished so tightly between the walls that he couldn't even take a deep breath. Now he pushed hard as he could. The stone turned all the way and light spilled onto his face. It wasn't full daylight; they were still hidden from the outside behind angles of stone — but it was the happiest sight Jefri had ever seen. Half a meter more and he would be out — only now he was jammed.

He twisted forward a fraction, and things only seemed to get worse. Behind him, Amdi was piling up. "Jefri! My rear paws are in the oil. It's filled the tunnel all up behind us."

Panic. For a second Jefri couldn't think of anything. So close, so close. He could see color now, the bloody smears on his hands. "Back up! I'll take off my jacket and try again."

Backing up was itself almost impossible, so thoroughly wedged had he become. Finally he'd done it. He turned on his side, shrugged out of the jacket.

"Jefri! Two of me under… oil. Can't breathe." The puppies jammed up around him, their pelts slick with oil. Slick!

"Jus' second!" Jefri wiped the fur, smeared his shoulders with the oil. He extended his arms straight past his head and used his heels to push back into the narrowness. Then the stone closed in on his shoulders. Behind him, what was left of Amdi was making whistling noises. Jam. Push. Push. A centimeter, another. And then he was out to his armpits and it was easy.