Canticle Blue

12. Everything

Music - The Hills of Home by Kevin Braheny & Tim Clark

The next morning, winds were light from the west and gradually began to shift to the north. The overnight rain-snow mix subsided, and patches of sunlight began to drift across the island. After breakfast, the Estes, Cian, and Tor set out for the southern path. Elyse and Havilan stayed at the south crater with Annibet and Os to look for N-type samples in the debris and to uncover the new opening.

The path was as Annibet had described it, hard-packed, with sparse vegetation and manageable grades. The group found it difficult to divide their attention between wet rocks on the ascending path and the expanding vista of the inner island below them. When they reached the ridge area near the top of the path, they paused to take pictures of the rock-walled structures they had seen from aerial photographs. Syl and Geddes quickly concluded that they had nothing to do with the Per'sa habitation of the island. They were artificial nesting sights, erected for sea birds brought to the island by ecologists in the 3rd century, This technique, recorded in many history books, had seldom worked as planned. The remaining birds on Per'sa Island had evidently chosen the outer slopes of the caldera instead. The Estes stayed behind for a short time, looking for more clues to confirm their dating estimate, then joined Cian and Tor on their way to the craters.

They stopped briefly at the south crater and saw no one. But the opening in the north wall was now completely uncovered. Geddes called Os on the radio. "Geddes here. We're just above you at the moment and would like to take the ladder with us. Will you be needing it right away?"

"No," he answered. "We're just cleaning up and were about to pull it back inside anyway. We want to try the north opening here in a few minutes. Do you have any instructions?"

"Just keep us appraised of what you're seeing as you move inside. I'm going to answer everything you say as quickly as possible; so, if you don't hear back from me, you can assume you're not getting through. In case that happens, send someone back toward the opening and relay information as best you can. If you encounter anything risky, backtrack a bit and let us know."

"Will do Geddes. We've already seen more globes inside. Hope to give you some good news soon."

The Este's group found the central crater to be surprisingly massive and well- constructed. They could see exposed N-type in many places, its seemingly polished surfaces reflecting sunlight like a giant halo. The rocks and gravel in the entire crater had obviously settled considerably. What they could see of the exposed opening was much larger than those in the south crater too. They decided they could easily drop the ladder through it like a staircase without removing any debris. Each person would only have to stoop and crawl through the top of the doorway.

Os's group found a northbound tunnel inside the new opening. It was illuminated on both sides by blue globes and sloped gently away from them for at least three hundred feet. They were first surprised by the relative warmth inside and then by the rhythmic sounds of moving water somewhere in the distance. They eventually found that the way ahead was blocked, apparently by another cave-in. But before they reached that area, they came to a well-lit descending staircase and the beginning of an eastbound corridor beyond that. And there was much more light coming from that direction.

Os used the radio, again. After describing what they had seen and heard, he asked, "How are you hearing me so far?"

Geddes answered, "Very clear signal, Os. I'm wondering if the two craters were originally connected. We're still working our way through the opening here. There's a tunnel continuing northward with lots of globes. I think I'm hearing water too."

Os continued. "Geddes, I'm not sure how the tunnel floor looks where you are, but we're not seeing any fallen rock in these corridors. Everything looks very good. We would like to proceed down the east staircase."