IN NATURA: a science fiction novel (ARZAT SERIES Book 2) by David Samuel Frazier Page B

she said under her breath.
      “What was that, Alex?” Tom asked.
      “Oh, nothing . . . . Ready?”
      “Yes, Alex,” she heard the two Arzats respond almost immediately in her mind.
      “Tom?”
      “Yes. I’m ready,” he said, picking up the last of the gear. “If you’re going to take the lead Alex, just be careful. If those computers were right, we’ve been down here eight thousand years or so. I didn’t exactly build these stairs with that number in mind, if you know what I mean.”
      “That thought actually did cross my mind, Thomas,” Alex replied.
      Thank god I insisted on aluminum instead of steel in their construction, Tom thought. He gave a quick look back into the dark, hoping that they hadn’t forgotten anything critical. If they had, it was going to be a long way back down.
      “Tom, what is A-LUM-I-NUM?” Ara asked.
      Jesus! She’s reading my mind again, thought Tom.
      “So sorry, Tom, son of Richard, but your mind is so loud it is impossible not to hear your thoughts,” Ara apologized.
      “It’s okay, Ara. It’s on me. I need to learn to block.”
      “I will teach you, Tom Pilot, as I have already taught Alex.”
      “Yeah . . . well . . . I think I could probably use another lesson,” Alex said, beginning the long climb up into the black.
      “Actually, you are already quite proficient, Alex,” Ara replied. “I am not hearing anything from you but the thoughts you would normally speak aloud.”
      “Are the steps safe, Tom?” Mot asked, testing the first rung with his enormous foot.
      Tom shrugged. “I guess we are going to find out soon my friend. Anyway, they are the only way out of here unless you want to go dig in some rocks for a couple hundred years.”
      “I still do not understand your numbering system, Pilot, but I am aware that it would take us a very long time.”
      Tom and Mot had purposely plugged the only other practical entrance to the ARC when they had first taken refuge, but they had used an enormous skip loader to do so. Obviously, after eight millennia, the skip loader was probably long gone as well as any other modern tools they might otherwise have used. They were both well aware of what it would take to reopen it by hand.
      “Alex, wait up, would ya?” Tom shouted.
      Alex was already several flights above them, winding her way steadily up toward the top. Six inches a step . . . a thousand feet up . . . maybe two thousand steps give or take a couple hundred, she thought, already starting to breath heavily. For a while, she had tried to count them but eventually gave up.
      She stopped and adjusted her backpack and then switched her torch from one hand to the other. Alex could see that the torch was almost spent. She had one spare with her, but if that did not last the climb, she would have to wait for the others or climb in the dark. The good news was that the flame was still bright yellow, which meant that there was plenty of oxygen in the stairwell, and at least she was getting warmer.
      Tom’s call echoed up the chamber.
      “Come on, Thomas! Haven’t got all day,” she answered back.
      Alex looked down and could just make out the flicker of a torch several flights below. She turned and started up the stairs again, anxious to get well ahead of the two Arzats, whom she knew would make the climb like it was nothing, despite the fact that they were carrying most of the equipment. She was surprised they hadn’t already passed her.
      Mot was following Alex with Ara close behind. Tom had taken the rear. He was struggling to remember what kind of barrier would be at the top and if it would be locked as well, or worse yet—blocked.
      “Eight thousand years! Yikes, that’s a long time,” he said under his breath as he climbed.
      “Not so much, Tom, son of Richard, if you consider our first sleep.” Ara said, hearing him again.
      According to the carbon dating in the caves where they had originally been