Free Deep Space Dead by Edward Chilvers Page B

nothing more.”
    “That means our inspection needs to be even more cursory,” said Jak frankly. “I’m not risking my life for whatever’s down there. We go in, find them dead or alive and get the hell out of there.”
     
    Bratten shone the flashlight into the cave. Jagged stone walls flanked either side and soon the light of the torch was beaten back by the darkness. “This may be close to a fault line but the rock appears stable and from the look of that rock this volcano hasn’t erupted for thousands of years,” she said.
    “What else could have happened to them if not a landslip?” Asked Jak. Bratten did not answer him. Arianna looked around again. If this volcano was indeed dormant it must have been one of the only ones in the area for all around there was evidence of recent seismic activity. Arianna could not believe this was the same world that was also home to the lush plains and fresh rivers surrounding their home city.
    Bratten sighed heavily and steeled herself. “Come along then,” she said, taking a tentative step forwards. “We might as well get this over with.”
     
    Arianna was suddenly nervous. She regretted having put herself forward for the search party, had only come along so that Jak wouldn’t risk himself too much. She reached for the laser pistol by her side. Arianna had never used one before. The things were made for blasting rocks, which was the only reason they had them. Mostly they were carried by the miners or engineers. The rangers rarely ever used them nor were they trained to do so, for nobody in the Confederation had fired a shot in anger for thousands of years.
    Jak turned to two of the rangers. “Stay here,” he ordered them. “Wait five minutes then come and find us. I’m certain I don’t want to be in this hellhole a moment longer than I have to.”
    Jak set the mode on his laser pistol to leave a trail of light so that they might find their way back easily enough. They proceeded along the tunnel of the cave but saw nothing. The rocks were jagged and sharp and in places the natural passageway was so narrow they were forced to squeeze through on their sides.
    “Five minutes,” said Arianna at last, glancing at the clock on the end of her pistol. “We said we’d head back.”
    “Just a little longer,” said Jak. “So far we’ve found no trace, nothing. We need to have at least some idea of what happened to them or the Admiral will only send us straight back.”
    “And I’m still not able to identify this curious reading,” put in Bratten. “The Admiral will want to know what’s down here as well. We may as well get it over with. Like Jak I don’t much fancy a return trip.”
    “Look at this,” said Arianna, pointing at a blackened patch of the cave wall. Bratten approached and examined the patch closely. “Singed,” she said eventually. “Singed by a laser pistol by the looks of things. That means they must have fired them, and there are more singe marks, look.” She moved the flashlight in an arc to demonstrate other black patches peppering the walls.
     
    Their fear grew but so too did their burning curiosity. They had to know what had happened to the others. Their eyes alighted upon a dark mound in a small chamber. “They look like rags,” said Yalor Hain, one of the rangers.
    “They are rags,” said Jak grimly, bending down to pick up one of the tattered garments. “And look at this. The logo of the Confederation as worn on the ranger’s uniforms.”
    “Why would they take their own uniforms off?” Wondered Yalor Hain.
    “It looks as though they were ripped off,” said Jak solemnly.
    “But why?” Asked Arianna, trying to hide the unease from her voice.
    “Maybe it is the heat,” said Bratten Jorg. “It is oppressively hot down here.”
     
    They rounded a corner and came into a small chamber with two passages leading off to either side the stopped short and stared. Blood caked the walls and dripped down on to the floor where it