Red

  Red rubbed the sleep from his eyes as his current situation slowly came back to him. Stuck with Reggie, wounded, and not even able to blame him for losing Lisa. His head and shoulder throbbed but sleep had improved both. Whatever Reggie had done to mend his shoulder from the pincher bites was holding. Of all the people to be stuck underground with, and now owe a favor to, why did it have to be Reggie?

  He was already up sorting through his backpack. He had perched a flashlight on a rock beside him. As Red sat up, he glanced at him but didn’t say anything.

  Their conversation from yesterday still stung like an open wound. Maybe what happened at Goblin Valley wasn’t all Reggie’s fault, but he still abandoned them when they needed him the most. “I understand there was no excusing Mistress Kreeg’s actions. But you abandoned me, and Lisa. And what happened, happened. But you can’t say that if you were there it would have happened the same way. Yeah, maybe you would have ended up a Sov. Or maybe, just maybe we would have held the day, and we could have ended the Sovs there, once and for all. And maybe you, me, and Lisa would be toasting margaritas on a beach somewhere instead of in this goddamned tunnel.”

  Reggie zipped his bag shut and rose to his feet. His tone was calm. “It’s in the past Red.” He pointed at Red and himself. “No matter what, we have to move on. We have to work together to save those kids and find Lisa.” He held his hand out to Red. “Now, are you ready to do this?”

  Red’s insides squirmed but he found his hand extending for Reggie’s almost involuntarily. He hoisted him up.

  Reggie smiled. “See? Was it that hard to take someone’s help?”

  Red smashed a right hook into Reggie’s pompous face. Reggie keeled over, falling to a knee.

  That felt right.

  Reggie yelled. “What the hell was that for?”

  Red rubbed his knuckles. “That’s for dragging my ass through a hive of centipedes.”

  Reggie shook his head and laughed. “Fine. I’ll give you that one.”

  Red held his hand out.

  Reggie eyed the hand with suspicion. “Are you we good?”

  “Good? I feel great. Punching you is therapeutic. You should try it sometime.”

  Reggie fake smiled back and took his hand. “I’ll pass. Now come on, if we’re done hitting and arguing we have a short walk through the Heat Works before we get to the main city.”

  After stripping out of his thermal suit the moving tattoos on his body startled Red. It felt like it had been so long ago that he had put those on. He stowed his suit in his bag and off they went down the tunnel.

  After a thirty-minute walk they came to a concrete wall with a metal door. The door was plain except for a keyhole and handle. Reggie placed his hand on it. “Give me a minute while I pick this lock. On the other side of this is the Heat Works. The whole city and most of this region of the empire is powered by this geothermal power plant. Sourced of course, from that magma chamber we just came from.”

  Red rubbed his head. The throbbing from before he had slept had eased, but it still hurt. “Should we be worried about security?”

  Reggie slid his hand on the door and the lock inside the door clicked. The door opened slightly. “There we go. And no. I told you, very few know this way and those that do don’t take it because of all those bugs and the heat. But I promise you, they weren’t that bad last time. As for security, we won’t have to worry about Ocelotl, those are the jaguar warriors, until we get into the city.”

  Reggie opened the door fully and a room poorly lit by harsh blue LEDs welcomed them. Metal pipes of varying widths leaned against the stone walls of the room. Across the long room was a closed metal cage door. They were in some kind of storage room for pipes. But it didn’t matter. Relief washed over Red. They had finally reached some kind of civilization, even if it might be potentially hostile to a former Wreckie. Two former Wreckies, technically speaking.

  After closing the door behind them and making their way out of the pipe storeroom, they wandered corridors that had crisscrossed pipes all leading to and from the magma chamber. The thick pipes whirred as steam and water shot through them. Getting your bearings was hard underground without any visible landmarks, but as far as Red could tell, they had come in from the side of the way pipes ran. What was weirder was that the pipes were not warm, at all. Red brushed his hand against one as they proceeded through the maze. It crackled with ESH.

  “Be careful,” Reggie said stopping to turn around. “If someone didn’t seal a pipe properly, you’re in for a nasty burn, or worse. Half of these pipes contain super-heated steam under intense pressure. One pin hole leak could slice you open. The scary part is a steam leak is invisible. So, if you see a puddle...don’t get too close.” Reggie smiled and spun around to continue down another corridor.

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  Red removed his hand from the pipe. “Thanks for the tip.”

  After another ten minutes of winding passages, they at last came to a wire mesh security gate. With the push of a bar across the door it opened. On the other side, steps carved into the rock led down to Cuāuhtli City, the capital of the Cuāuhtli Empire. Situated under a massive magically enhanced turquoise sky, the city stretched on as far as the eye could see. Adobe buildings painted in every color of the rainbow clumped together in city blocks separated by canals. Smaller skiffs carrying people darted past larger freighter barges loaded down with cargo. Trains puffed plumes of steam as they chugged by on elevated train tracks several stories in the air. Small dirigibles glided through the air docking at some of the taller buildings.

  To the right in the distance, Red could just make out through the misty air, a colossal, stepped pyramid capped with a golden dome, the Jaguar Temple. It served as the seat of power of the Pipilitin, the ruling elite, and as the home to Emperor Tonatiuh.

  Reggie paused to take in the sight. “It truly is a beautiful city.”

  Red had to agree. It had come so far since he had last been here. The sheer scale of what they had accomplished, underground and for the most part cut off from the above world, was impressive. But not having to limit the use of ESH technology had its benefits for sure. “So, what now?”

  Reggie pulled a cell phone out from his bag. “I have a call to make.”

  “Cell phones work down here?”

  “Only if they were made down here. They have all the trappings from above, you know. Well, no internet at the moment because of Mistress Kreeg’s latest temper tantrum. But they have their own internet down here too, to some extent. Even if it’s a little outdated. You know, don’t expect to stream any shows while you’re down here. Now hush.”

  Reggie pressed actual buttons on the phone and held it up to his ear. “Hello! Did you miss me?... Yes...Yes. I know. No! That’s not my fault. Okay...I can’t help that...I’m sure...Okay...Small and scaly like a Gila monster ...Yes now...Of course, I have it...That’s the one by the tree, right...Okay, see you soon. Bye.” Reggie stuffed the phone into a pocket.

  “Everything okay with your contact?”

  “Oh yes, fine, fine. Some people are just too sensitive.”

  “Lead them through a centipede infested tunnel without telling them by chance?”

  Reggie grinned. “No, I save that for true friends.” He winked. “Now come on. We have a bridge to find.”

  The stairs took them down to the edge of the city, which was a wide canal of emerald, green water. Several tributaries led off into dark tunnels and some into the heart of the city. At the edge of the water, a small pole with a button and a light on it stuck out of the water. Reggie pressed the button, and the light lit up. A few minutes later a narrow boat with raised bow and five seats rushed up to the small dock. It was silent except for the sound of water lapping against its hull. The engine at the back of the boat appeared to be made of hardened clay and it puffed white steam. The back seat was occupied by a man wearing green coveralls sucking a vape pen. He maneuvered the boat alongside the dock. “Donde?”

  Reggie carefully stepped into the boat. “Puente de Arbol, por favor.”

  “Veinte,” The driver said.

  Reggie shook his head. “Diez.”

  “Trece,” the driver countered.

  “Fine,” Reggie huffed handing the man some coins. “Well come on, Red.”

  Red climbed in. As soon as his butt hit the seat the boat flew forward down the canal like they had just robbed a bank. Red gripped the edge of the boat looking for seatbelts. There weren’t any.

  As they went deeper into the city the traffic on the waterways grew heavier, but their speed didn’t decrease. Boats for the most part stayed to the right with the occasional impatient driver swerving left to make a death-defying pass if they saw an opening. Their driver was one of the impatient ones. He apparently had no fear, and a thorough understanding of Spanish and English swear words which he used often and loudly. Luckily his bilingual ability to cuss was equally matched by his driving skills and within a few minutes of near misses and boat bumps they arrived at a bridge with a massive orange tree at one end. The boat pulled up alongside the dock and Red quickly got out. A second after Reggie’s foot lifted out of the boat, it sped down the canal.

  The tree loaded with oranges was centered in the middle of a small square lined with park benches. In the corner a small stand, with a line of about five people, sold food that smelled amazing. The ground was lined with colorful tiles carved with intricate Aztec patterns. The building surrounding the square climbed into the turquoise sky some thirty floors high.

  Reggie sat on a park bench and laid his bag down beside him, keeping a hand firmly on the strap. “Keep an eye out for a small lady with white hair.”

  Red put his bag down on the bench and adjusted his scabbard so he could sit. “Anyone care that I’m carrying a sword?”

  “Nah. They’re probably just thinking you’re paranoid. Crime is almost nonexistent down here. The Jaguars make sure of that. They’re not very forgiving. Keep an eye out for them too.”

  Most women were dressed in flowy white garments trimmed in greens, browns, and reds, while the men wore tighter fitting and short sleeved versions. Most wore leather sandals with the occasional pair of athletic shoes.

  After several minutes of people watching Red noticed that Reggie was in deep thought. He stared at a small woman with sand brown skin and curly white hair as she sat at a park bench. across the square.

  “Is that your contact?” Red said, realizing how little he knew about this more modern version of the Spader Society.

  “Shush. I’m trying to focus. My mind talking is rusty. I haven’t done it in a long time.”

  Two tall figures with orange-yellow fur covered in black rosettes strolled into the square. Instead of human features their faces were those of real jaguars, with menacing yellow eyes, wide noses, whiskers, and pearl white fangs. They wore jade-colored capes with wooden swords strapped to their hips. The edges of the swords sparkled in the light. Those macahuitls could cut through almost anything or anyone, plus they could deflect numerous ESH based attacks. These were the Jaguar Warriors that kept the peace, or imposed the will of the emperor, depending on your politics. Most people looked away or chose alternate routes to avoid the hulking figures as they passed through the square.

  Red elbowed Reggie. “Two Jaguar Warriors at three o’clock.”

  At the sight of the two warriors the white-haired lady left the square in haste trying to look casual.

  “Shit.” Reggie said straightening up. “Hopefully this is just coincidental. If they come over here let me do all the talking.”

  “No problem.” Red adjusted his scabbard in the event he needed to draw his sword. A pure ESH attack could be deflected with a swing of a macahuitl. But with his sword he should be on even footing. Too bad there were two of them.

  One of their jaguar heads glanced their way. With a few words they changed course and headed right towards them. This couldn’t be good.