Xeno Xoo Lost Chapter 9: Claustrophobia

It happened so fast. No more than five seconds passed between Jel spotting the light to Denk’s screen filling with debris. Everyone in the gatehouse froze, and for a time, nobody spoke.

“Voprot go.”

“Denk, do you read me? What just happened?” Ingo asked, holding up his open palms.

“The Nads brought it down on top of him, that’s what happened,” Geddy said.

“Voprot go rescue.”

“Geddy go, too. I don’t suppose you’ve got those coveralls in like a forty-two regular.”

Ingo threw off his headset and stood. “You’re not going in there.” His eyes found two of the young wardens standing at the back. “Prepare a rescue team. Go!”

He jutted his chin at Voprot. “Fine. The more the merrier.”

Geddy turned around to leave, but Oz stood in his way. “No. No way.”

“You want to stand here and watch? Be my guest.”

“You can’t fit in those tunnels,” she protested. “The wardens can reach him before you even get your ass through the gate.”

He shrugged indifferently. “Then they can push me back out. Where’s that QP?”

“Geddy, think about this. If anyone should go, it’s me and Jel.”

“Not an option. Excuse me …”

He pushed past her as Voprot shuffled his way backward.

“Geddy!”

— You should stop.

He pivoted back to her and heaved a sigh. “We know they’re here now. Get the Armstrong and find where they got in. They can’t get the queen.”

She closed her eyes and sighed resignedly, then looked up at him with her giant eyes. “Fine. But I’m going, too.”

“Oz, listen …”

“Where you go, I go. From now on. Besides, what if he’s injured? What if some important decision needs to be made? What if something needs to be carefully thought through?”

“I don’t think I like where this is headed.”

“You and Voprot? Think about it.”

“And Eli,” he whispered.

She gave him a droll stare. Really? “I’ll bet Eli agrees with me.”

— I do. She should be there.

— Whose side are you on?

He sighed and looked at Jel. “Bring some gear. And the dynamic duo.”

She gave a tight nod. “Not my first rodeo, chief.” She turned on her heels and hurried off.

Geddy and Oz left the gatehouse and found Voprot waiting with a determined, but anxious look on his face.

“We go rescue now?”

“Yep,” Geddy said. “Oz is supervising.”

“You don’t know what you’re doing,” Ingo protested behind them.

“That’s never stopped us before,” Geddy called over his shoulder. “Has it, V?”

“Nothing stop Voprot.”

“Wait!” Ingo called. Against his better judgment, Geddy did. The pinch-faced little man caught up with them. “I’ll go with you.”

Geddy’s eyes slid over to Voprot, who was ambivalent, then back to Ingo. Yes, he was kind of a twit, and yes, he’d wound up with Denk’s girl, but he seemed to take his job seriously, and this was his realm. Plus, it wasn’t like anyone else was jumping in to volunteer. Not after what they’d seen.

“Fine. You’re on point.”

The locks retracted on the wardengate. Voprot’s whip wouldn’t be much use in the tunnel, so he’d taken the biggest blaster from the wardens’ armory. Like most weapons, it looked like a toy in his hands. Oz had her blades, Geddy his PDQ. Ingo carried two blasters. In addition, they had gear to help Denk — a heavy pry bar, shovels, rope, and medical supplies. They also had the last spare fan in case the ones Denk and Dewhold placed were inoperable.

Oz and Geddy both wore improvised knee pads and thick canvas gloves to protect them as they crawled. With no room for packs, all the gear was on a special sled that doubled as a rescue device. It trailed behind Voprot on a thick length of rope that looped around his shoulders.

Queen pheromone smelled faintly of cabbage. Ingo said you could only smell it when it was on you. An additive made it sticky and sweat-resistant, which was essential for the tunnels. Even though he’d seen it work with his own eyes and he trusted the science, it seemed a flimsy defense.

Ingo squared up to them and stuck out his jaw, more accepting of this grim duty than Geddy would’ve expected. “You do what I say, when I say it. No loud noises. You walk — or crawl — softly. Everything softly. Are we clear?”

They mumbled replies in the affirmative, and Ingo gave a tight nod. His eyes drifted sideways as he listened to something on his headset. “Roger that. We’re good to go.”

Geddy’s heart worked double time to keep up with his building anxiety. Ever since stowing away on a merchant ship bound for Kigantu when he was a kid, sandwiched between crates in a black and freezing cold cargo hold for five long days, confined spaces gave him fits. He was the first to activate his headlamp.

With some difficulty, one of the younger wardens swung the door open.

Though Geddy knew it would be black as pitch and small, he still found himself holding his breath at the sight of the tunnel, which might as well have been hell’s asshole. But Denk, his dear friend and stalwart pilot, was waiting at the end, trapped and quite possibly hurt. Maybe even dead. If it was Geddy, Denk wouldn’t hesitate.

— Is it true that facing a phobia can cure you of it?

— We’re about to find out.

“Let’s go,” Ingo said, and proceeded into the tunnel. He was slightly taller than Denk, but even he had to duck a bit to get inside.

Oz and Geddy exchanged a look as though deciding who should follow. She smiled and said, “I’ll go. Maybe the view will keep you calm.”

“Or give me something to live for.” He turned to Voprot. “Looks like you’re the caboose, big guy.”

Voprot nodded and tumbled forward onto all fours. “Voprot ready to save Denk.”

Oz entered the tunnel at a low crouch, then immediately got on her hands and knees and followed Ingo in. The darkness swallowed her immediately. Geddy didn’t follow right away. Something was wrong with his legs.

“Geddy? You go now,” Voprot said over his shoulder.

“Right. I totally am. Just …” his eyes roamed around the cavern for a moment, appreciating how much space there was around him. The only difference was scale, right? “… taking a moment.”

He took the deepest breath he could and let it out in a thin stream as he stepped across the threshold and into the tunnel, adjusting his headlamp so it pierced the center of the dark. The bottom of Oz’s boots and her perfect, heart-shaped ass sharpened his focus.

— You can do this, Geddy. I believe in you.

— Appreciate it, pal.

The first twenty meters or so weren’t too bad. The inside of the vault door had a ring of lights around it that seemed to amplify the light from Voprot’s headlamp behind him. Between that and the slight upward slope of the tunnel, it felt like another chamber filled with people and light was just ahead. But once there was no light whatsoever, just the smell of raw earth with a few hundred meters of rock directly overhead waiting to crush him, shit got real.

Oz was receding in the distance. He could hardly see her ass anymore. Was his field of vision narrowing?

— Not good. Not good. Not good.

“Uh, Geddy?” asked Voprot.

The question jolted him back to the present. He’d stopped moving altogether and didn’t even know it. Oz turned back and shined her light straight in his eyes. His hand went up.

“Did I miss a scenic overlook?” she called back.

“Traffic,” he said, crawling to catch up.

“Seriously, though. You okay?”

He shrugged, squinting through his fingers. “I could use an extra set of retinas.”

“You’re okay,” she said, mostly to herself.

At times, the tunnel widened to the point where he could duck walk, which helped his claustrophobia but killed his weak-ass thighs and loose lower back. Mostly, it was easier to just crawl, but it made for slow going. A half hour elapsed before Ingo, who had gone ahead a ways, came running back.

“I found the cave-in!”