Napier Henrez casually lent against an oxygen recycling pack watching Lydia through the open utility door scrubbing her hands and face. As teenager Nape's puppy fat had turned to brawn and the kid that had once had felt the wrath of the school bullies found himself the Captain of the School Lift Ball Team as well as the hot prospect for the town's debutante ball. He carried a carelessness of youth that married a good education paid for by his wealthy parents together with an arrogance bought on by his rakish good looks and toned muscular physique. Whistling tunelessly to himself as he studied Lydia through the doorway he flicked a rubber power ball from hand to hand and needed little reassurance that he'd ended up with the hotter prospect, Lydia's friend Saffi.
Lydia, stripped to the waste, rubbed the caked blood from her face and shoulders. For a moment she stopped and rested her thin arms on the basins edge and stared into the mirror. The face that stared back wasn't hers. It looked drawn and pale, its button nose was smeared with dried blood, dark rings crowded round the reddened eyes. She attempted to pull back the wisps of cotton thin hair that had broken free from her pony tail. They wouldn't stay tied back, in frustration she wetted her hand and slicked them back in one wet lump.
Looking beyond her reflection she saw Nape. She snatched up her towel and pulled it around her. 'What the hell are you doing in here Nape?'
Nape snorted, 'Don't flatter yourself Lydia, I've seen better. You don't honestly think I could be interested in you, do you?'
She kicked the door hard with her foot. 'Get out Nape.'
Nape put his shoulder in the door, forced it back and pushed his way back in. Grabbing Lydia he pushed her back until her head bounced off the wall. 'You've got a bit fiery lately Lydia. Little mousey Lydia, is that what happens when you murder someone?'
Lydia struggled to get free and bought her hand up to hit Nape, he grabbed it and slammed it hard into the wall. Having gained control he lent forward, pushing his weight against her until his face almost touched hers. 'I don't think so Lydia. You see you need me Lydia, now that I've made such an incredible discovery.'
'What discovery?' Lydia spat in his face. The Nergalrhod? Had Nape discovered the Thing that lurked in the darkness beneath them?
'The chamber which you fell into Lydia, you must have seen what was in it. What's on the walls-ancient worshiper's and the icon of their god? The find is almost pristine. We've done some basic tests -they're old Lydia probably before the first humans walked on Earth. The worshipers are alien to this planet, there's no doubt.' Nape gloated. 'And I've found it. Throughout the Universes I've not heard of anything like this. I'll get my undergraduate thesis out of the discovery. It'll launch my career, every University on the home planets will want me on their lecture circuit.'
'But you didn't discover it. It was Milo who led the expedition and it was me that fell into the chamber so you'd have to credit its discovery with all of us.'
'Milos dead Lydia. Now I'm the leader of this expedition. My discovery. See. You see that don't you? You need me.'
'Why would I need you?'
'I know you didn't do it, whatever happened down there you didn't kill Milo. I checked your suit, the pressure dropped right away for about three minutes. You probably passed out, it's a crappy rental after all. Milos went the same way, no pressure, he probably panicked and forgot to turn on the reserve supply. The idiot took the helmet off, like that was going to save him- we're not at home, he signed his own death warrant. Take it off here on Ax and you die.'
'Milo wouldn't have panicked.' Lydia bit her lip.
'Either way Lydia, I've reset the instruments on the suits. Now it's just my word against yours.' Nape grinned and flicked the ball in front of her face. She flinched. 'Who made the discovery Lydia?' He tighten his grip on her neck. 'Who made the discovery?'
She looked down. 'You did Nape.'
'Sure I did.' He swung around, pulled her towel from her and threw it on the floor. 'Just make sure you don't forget it.'
Behind them the door banged open. Saffi stood looking at them. 'What going on?'
'Nothing,' Nape bent down and picked up the towel and pushed it into Lydia's hand. 'I just came to check on Lydia. She's still not feeling great are you Lydia? What's up Saff?'
'You guys need to come, there's something on the halo you're going to want to hear. Come on, quick we're in the common room. The fleet has been trounced, no one knows how badly. No one knows where they are? It's all over the C.'
Nape put his arm around Saffi, 'Lydia's just finishing up. She'll be along.'
'Where's Milo?' Lydia called after them.
'In the cooling room. Oh and I've got first dibs on his suit so don't touch it.' Nape waved his arm in the air, turned and blew her a kiss
'You little....' Lydia turned away, hands balled. She stood in front of the mirror and slowly rubbed the salt and blood from her face. Inside her a fire raged fuelled by her anger, her frustration; Nape was a fool, Nape understood nothing. She looked down, her hands were red raw from scrubbing. A small fleck of gold from the statue had caught under her fingernail, she twisted a nailfile in and stabbed at it until her fingertip oozed with blood. Checking again she could see she'd only forced the fleck further down under the skin.
The Nergalrhod, Nape hadn't mentioned her. Should she tell Saffi? But Saffi would think she'd lost her marbles and then she'd probably tell Nape. Nape would then have something else to hold over her.
She pulled on a battered old top and rubbing her hair dry looked into the passageway. It was empty. Down the corridor she could hear the faint murmurings of the halo transmission. She left the utility room dodged down the passage away from the sound into the second hub. Picking her way back to her cabin she worked her way through the debris of dig equipment- scanners, markers, lighting units, generators scattered haphazardly along the walls and floors. At the back of the third hub hung the suits and small door leading into the refrigeration area.
Checking quickly behind her she slipped through the door letting it gently swing shut behind her. She waited, listened then moved. The stark light flickered into life. The room was small, cluttered with sealed food packages and water barrels. At its centre stood a workbench on which lay a sealed specimen bag.
She held the zip for a long time. Then she took a long deep breath and pulled it open. Milo's face was as in real life, composed, self-assured, ready to break into a wry smile and crack a clever joke. His glasses had been slipped into his upper pocket just where he used to keep them. Reaching down she took his hand. It was cool and dry to her touch. Her voice wavered, 'Oh Milo.' She pushed his hair back and pulled his collar straight.
Suddenly she felt Milo's hand tightened around hers. She looked down confused .The hand tightened again. She gasped, trying to pull away.
'Let go!'
The grip held her fast, she struggled to pull free. Milos' eyes' rolled up. White like boiled eggs they spun upward, round and round, pupil-less, ghostly, grotesque.
'Shit!'
Milo's chest rose and dropped releasing a ragged breath of frosted air. It hissed again as the gases vented up through the gurgling lungs. 'Lyyydiiiiaaa.'
She froze and tried to take control of the shaking in her arm. 'Who are you?'
'I can't tell you my real name, you would be too terrified to hear it. I am the Nergalrhod.' Milos tongue flicked out of his month as if tasting the sharp air then withdrew behind the cracked lips.
'What do you want?' Cold perspiration trickled down her forehead.
'Go to Kark'raK on the edge of the crater tell them to come to rebuild my home. The temple.'
'Why?'
'Then I will tell you something about Milo.'
'What happened to Milo?' she leant forward and stared into the bottomless blank pallidly of the jellied eyes.
'Lydia, you will achieve greatness. The Gods will walk with you Lydia.' The lips quivered and bubbled with phlegm. A thin snail of blood dribbled down Milo's cheek.
'What are you talking about? Milo! What happened?' Lydia banged her hand on the table, 'What happened!'
'The temple. You must start with the temple Lydia.' Milos's body tensed and deflated, his head slumped back onto the table. His hand slid from Lydia's.
Released from Milo's hand Lydia darted for the door. Struggling to grasp the handle in her cold sweat, she thumped on the door then pulled it open and crashed into the passageway and into Saffi.
'Lydia what's happened? Are you alright? I've been looking for you. You need to hear this -come on we're all in the common room. '
Lydia ran her hands over her face and held them there for a moment. 'OK, I'm coming.'
Nape, Nexa and Janzen were crowded round the halo. Nape waved his hand over it to improve the signal. The disc emitted a thin whine then the transmitted face dissipated into a haze a blue flashes. 'No, that's it. Lost it.' Nape pulled the halo disc away and slipped it into his pocket.
'Well?' Saffi slipped down beside him and pushed up to make room for Lydia.
'We picked up a random broadcast from one of the Outremer stations. It says Earths fleet took a beating at Rama and are in full retreat, probably back to Earth. There's a total embargo on all freight and passenger transports. Apparently everything has been switched over to support the armada or what's left of it.'
'Outremer?' Lydia broke in. 'Can we trust what they say?'
'We've had no contact with any passing ship for twenty hours. Total halo silence, the C's dead. The area round Ax, it's like cursed space. There's no traffic or C activity. There's nothing for jumps around and I can't raise anyone. Looks like the broadcast from the Outremer station has called it right.'
'Someone will come won't they?' Saffi looked at the cabinets of food and the jumbled bottles of water piled up on the floor. 'We've only got supplies for two months now.'
'I doubt it, not if the Swarm are on the way. Defending Earth will be the priority not some little backwater like Ax.' Nape slumped back in his seat and looked at them blankly. 'It looks like we're stuck here.'