Monday, October 15, 2012

127 - Gallium Crystals and Seething Cell-Life




“It’s not funny,” Kyrus snapped and managed to get a mouthful of water and sand, went under, and came up before he pulled Werfas down and got him panicking again. Tizzy fell off his head and swam in a circle and tried to climb onto his face, blunt claws raking. “OW! Help.”

“Sorry.  Sorry.” Even as she said it, she was pulling loops out of the edge she’d stabilized, threading rope and tying it off to drop a line down the centre, away from the edges.  The sinkhole Werfas had opened up was a ragged, jagged toothed maw, with gallium crystals, the razor edges of peacock shards, the light glittering on smears of aluminum and the wild growths of all colours of salt.  Bright blue glints of copper sulfate showed on rings of manganese and all the way from the water surface to the top, showing how wildly the water-level had changed over the years.

The razor sharp walls were seething with albino oyuks and as they skittered around the crystals they exposed blotches and daubs of phosphorous.  The water was murky, full of bits of oyuk, and their feces.  Whippy, slithery life filled the water, ranging from particles too small to see to thumb-sized cells that swam by lashing tails and cilia, seething and bouncing against the boys.  It was fairly easy to float, the water was so full of salts and opaque with gelatinous life.  Oyuk reek was thick inside their nostrils, ammonia and grease combined, in contrast to the salt-bitter stench shrivelling their nose-hairs.

“Sorry, wing-brother,” Werfas said.  “I didn’t expect the stone to just drop out under me like that.”

“S’okay.  I’m glad there was water down here for you to land in, instead of you breaking both legs.”

“Um.  I’m glad you know how to swim... where did you learn?”

“Basin.  People hated us for illegal swimming in the water and kept trying to catch us.  Some of the ‘kulu were taught to swim to block us... we al’us were dunkin’.  We weren’t pissing in it, twas was drinking water, not stinkin’ water.  We even washed with soap afore we went... soap sand’s everywhere for te digging.  Slippy drippies we were.”

The light from above dimmed as someone joined Hara.  It was Da.  “Here comes the rope,” he called and the end splashed into the water next to Werfas.  Tizzy chirred and grabbed the rope, swarming up first, lashing him across the face with her tail as it whipped in wild circles until she had all four paws dug into the fibres.  She skittered up the rope as fast as a striking pitter and vanished over the edge.

Wer grabbed the knot and Ky looped the rope around him, under his armpits. “Haul him up!” He called.  “I’m fine.”

He didn’t mention that the cuts he’d collected were burning as the cell things tried to eat his blood and shrivel up and die, or bite into the wound.  Like all humans on the planet though, he was too acid for them and they bloomed and blew up even from his sweat, much less his blood, as it ate into their skins and broke them open.  He was surrounded by a weird slick of dead cells until his motion stirred them into the thrashing soup he swam in.

“Da!  I’m going to mander a hold for me.  I’ll get out of this stinking mess quicker that way.”

“All right.  Just be careful.”  Da and Ilax both answered.  “The karst is so friable you don’t want to bring the whole hole in on top of you.”

“Nah.  There’s not much of a current here...  I’ll be careful.”  He wanted out of the water so bad he could taste it.  Thank the Light he’d been able to swim but, endarkened he really wished this rescue was done already.  Werfas was almost at the top, ducking under the stone bar they’d grown across the top to hold the rope stable and away from the walls.

“Wait, son,” his da called.  “Don’t disturb the rock that much.”

“Da, it’s all right.”  What does he think? That I’m an idiot who'll bring the whole thing on top of me? He reached his hand up out of the water and a dozen brightly glowing dragonflies landed on his fingertips.  I’ve grown handholds and stick-ems a bunch of times for class!

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