Unlocking the word.
I grab Gray and pull her by the straps of her pack. The carbine sways off-target and sends a bullet into a boarded up storefront. She swears at me.
We made it into an alley before whoever was shooting at us got a second chance.
The plane touched down at dusk. Pinpoints of light came from various points in the city, almost enough to make one forget that it was abandoned. The clouds above us melded into a monotone gray, hiding the stars even as they reflected the sun’s dying moments.
“Ready?”
I nodded. My bag was at my feet, and I swiped it in a single motion as I opened the door and let myself out. The tarmac was solid under my feet, a surprise after the floor panels of the small plane.
I had Ellison on a cold-storage chip in my pocket. He’d fallen back at the ravine.
Could’ve happened to anyone, honestly. Maura’s a planet you don’t mess with. The anomalies still boil across the world’s surface.
One minute you’re rappelling down a cliff-face, and the next you’re leaving an impact crater because the rock you’d anchored to decided that it might not exist anymore.
Object permanence is a horrible thing to take for granted.
The comms still worked, and I’d called it in when it happened. With a skeleton crew, I didn’t get a response for two hours.
“We’ve got a copy of him on file, but take the chip with you.”
When I sought the Grail:
We had stopped in a peasant village close to the border of our kingdom. Dismounting after a long day’s ride, I walked around the town. Our lord’s banner hung from the town hall. But it did not matter–those who are seeking treasure must know their surroundings.
In truth, I feared that our adversary arrived before us. That devil, the snake whose name I will not speak, who had met us on the river as we set out on our quest and delivered us to brigands.
But there was no danger. Having assured myself that the stables were empty, save for the horses that worked the fields, and the houses contained no enemies, I returned to my companions.