Order of Magnitude

XVI. Home Again

    Three of Jacques' best parvs, Turner, Miller, and Scarlet, walked alongside three of Chandra's best parvs: Meghan, Donovan, and the woman herself. It was a long trip back to Turner's old home, but it was worthwhile. The SubTerrans were an overall decent group of parvs, and they felt the same about his crew. Most of them were impressed that such tiny creatures led so daring a rescue against the humans. It was so impossibly unheard of, that they gained the immediate respect of the community. The parvs fed off of that respect, and gave it back in spades. Immediately, the two vastly different groups got along like they were old friends.

     Chandra was impressed with Turner most of all. She enjoyed his quiet dignity and his quick mind. He was sharp as a tack, and she could see why he commanded the respect from his fellow parvs. When everybody was all settled in SubTerra, she could see him being a member of her advisors. He would turn down the offer, of course, but she had her whole life to convince him otherwise.

     "There's Pebble Hill!" Miller exclaimed so suddenly that it startled the SubTerrans. "We're almost home!"

     Chandra threw a glance at Turner. "Is he always this enthusiastic?"

     "You get used to him," Turner laughed.

     Miller bolted in front of the others to race up the hill and get a good look at the place he had missed so much. When he reached the top he froze in his tracks. The others hurried behind him to see what was wrong. They were left just as immobile as their comrade was.

     The mound that had served as a thriving community for so long was destroyed. The top of it was missing, dug up and left in piles around the sides. The entrance hole had collapsed, and the twigs and branches that were used for foundations were snapped and cracked.

     Silently, Turner shuffled down the hill. He slowly ambled to the mound, the others right behind him. They couldn't get in through the door anymore, so they had to ascend up the side just to see inside. The view was even more awful than it was from Pebble Hill. Every member of their community, everyone they had grown with together, every single parv was dead. Most were burnt, some had dried blood coming from their ears, while others were missing their heads altogether. Meghan gasped and turned away.

     "It's so terrible," she said.

     "These were our people," Turner reflected. "What could have done this?"

     "This was what happened to my family," she cried. "The ones who were stuck the lab. We came back a few days after our escape, and this is exactly what it looked like. Those scientists did this. They must have."

     "We saw the ones in the lab," Miller recollected. "It's sure not any easier when it's our own..." he drifted off from his thoughts and puked down the side of the mound.

     "Guys, look," Scarlet said and pointed toward the doorway. Young Thom was lying dead, wrapped around by his mother's arms. Turner saw this and collapsed to his knees.

     "I guess they followed him back," he said. "Good kid, too. He was going to be something special."

     "Is Travis down there?"

     "It's hard to tell. There are so many that I can't identify..." Turner slammed his fist into the soft dirt.

     "Why would the scientists go to the trouble of destroying your home?" Chandra asked.

     "Maybe they were looking for us, trying to dole out some revenge. Or maybe they were looking for Jacques."

     "They did all this so they can find their test subjects?" Donovan said. "I don't get it."

     "Neither do I," Turner all but whispered. "This is all my fault."

     "Don't say that," Chandra chided. "Don't you ever say that!"

     "It's true; if I didn't lead that rescue, these guys would all still be alive."

     "It's those awful scientists," Meghan insisted. "Nobody else. You didn't kill them, they did. Remember that."

     "Don't go feeling sorry for yourself," Chandra said. "You did nothing wrong here. What you did was amazing."

     "Yeah," Miller agreed. "You did the right thing. These guys down there would all agree with you, even now."

     Scarlet put a reassuring hand on Turner's shoulder. "I still believe in you."

     Turner looked around at his friends and smiled weakly. It was going to take some time for him to get over what he witnessed here, but at least they succeeded in dulling the pain. "Well..." he said slowly. "We might as well take as many supplies as we can. There's nothing else left for us here. It's time to go back to SubTerra. It's time to go home."