Michael Siemsen - Exigency

Relieved, Tom closed the wiki. While looking forward to bidding farewell to Unhkte, arriving at the rally point, and sleeping… oh, please tell me Zisa and Pablo setup more than just their own tents… he found himself oddly thrilled by a revelation. How many wiki articles could he correct, expand, or create based upon this day alone? And then the buzz deflated, spluttering off like a balloon. For what purpose? There was no more legion of eager scientists awaiting their periodic influx of Epsilon C data. Or rather, the legion still existed, but the conduit to them had been irrevocably destroyed. Earth wouldn’t haven’t the faintest clue of a problem for another three years. In six months, and for another twenty-plus years, full supply pods would brush past scattered station debris and probably explode while entering the atmosphere, raining extraterrestrial materials onto the oceans and surface.

An M from Angela.

ANGELA: I’m sorry. And you know I don’t ever say that crap. Forgive me?

She must have noticed his malaise and assumed she was to blame.

TOM: Yes. Of course.

He felt her hand press into the small of his back.

“Now, we have reached the last walk ,” Unhkte said, halting at the beginning of a flagstone-covered path bordered with decorative hedging and unlit stand torches. A light breeze from the coast pushed the city’s briny aroma to Tom’s nostrils. The lead guard knelt down and opened a small box, extracted some tools and bits of kindling, and set to work lighting a small hand torch. “The prepared Sootskee must find their way here unaided. This is essentially symbolic custom, and the source of much debate. Does one become any less Threck if guided to this point? Certainly not, lest Eshkowoss Peekt’s first Sootskee would be counted as such.” Unhkte looked at Tom. “You know much of Threck, but I wonder if you know history. Are Syons People learned of Eshkowoss Peekt?”

In the Threck emergence mythology, as Minnie had explained on a few occasions, Eshkowoss Peekt was the Threck Adam… or Moses, or all of them combined—the very first Threck. The catalogued story, which Tom pulled up on his fone, recounted the tale of a mindless Threck ancestor getting lost in the jungle near what was now Threck City. She fell asleep—as most of these characters seemed to in Earth-diver -type creation myths—and while sleeping, received the gift of awareness from some sort of Mother Earth/Gaea-type God who resided within the jungle. Upon awakening, Eshkowoss Peekt looked on the world with new eyes and comprehension, then ventured forth to share this awareness with all the other dumb animals.

Given recent events, Tom opted to lie to Unhkte. “We do not. Please enlighten us.”

Unhkte proceeded slowly up the path as the lead guard used the now-lit hand torch to ignite the first stand torch. “Yes, as we proceed. But I will be brief, as we will soon reach the fork, and must be silent for the duration.” Tom agreed and followed along beside Unhkte as, little by little, the path before them brightened beneath the intensifying glow of rekindled torches. “Eshkowoss Peekt was one of many coast-dwellers, no wiser nor slower witted than any other,” Unhkte began, the story sounding as though it would probably end up a wordier rephrasing of Minnie’s version. “Meandering beyond the riverside dwellings for no particular reason, Eshkowoss Peekt began on this certain course. The path particulars are another source of debate among my colleagues, as if the journey shares relevance with the destination, thus this nonsense with the unguided portion of the walk. Night fell, and without the sun as guide, Eshkowoss Peekt lay down near this particular stand of trees, quickly falling asleep.”

Unhkte stopped at the path’s fork as one of the guards continued down the right trail, lighting more torches.

“We will wait here for the guard as I summarize. During the night, Eshkowoss Peekt was endowed with kee , sleeping through the second night, and then the next. On the third morning, Eshkowoss Peekt awoke, and understood . With memories of arriving upon this place from two different directions , Eshkowoss Peekt looked at the deep tracks leading back toward the coast and suddenly knew— so simply, so obviously—how to return to the coast dwellings. But there was also the memory of arriving from the opposite direction, the undergrowth, and Eshkowoss Peekt spread low, following this strange memory deeper into the thicket, whereupon she discovered a magnificent city surrounded by red flora.”

Returning from the lit trail, the lead guard extinguished the hand torch in a water pot just off the path. “The Sootskee will have left the gate already, Dowfwoss.”

Unhkte agreed, motioned for silence, and followed the lead guard up the unlit left path. This trailbed consisted only of dry dirt and the sporadic exposed boulder. Though subtle, the path’s upward grade reminded Tom’s calves and quadriceps that they had yet to recover from the earlier tower climb.

A few minutes later, the path ended at a bend. Tom followed Unhkte down a few rough steps into a small open bunker area, like an observation booth, built into the side of the hill. Piled stones served as low walls on three sides, and four knee-height boulders in a line near the longer wall served as seats.

Unhkte straddled one of the middle boulders and draped herself over it. Tom sat on the boulder beside Unhkte, but found his entire upper body looming well above the wall. He glanced at Unhkte, whose seemingly reproachful eyes steered him to the ground in front of the seat.

Tom turned to advise Angela on proper seating, but she was way ahead of him, tucking her feet in under her knees, and looking like a kindergartner at circle time. She smiled up at him and patted the dirt beside her.

ANGELA: Let’s hope this is a quick show. I’m ready to eat, crawl into a tent with you, and sleep for a few days. I really hope someone comes to pick us up, though. I am not ready for a 20K hike.

TOM: Same here on all counts. Hopefully by now someone’s noticed we’re late coming home from work.

Settled in his seat between the boulder and low wall, Tom peered out at the view. The observation booth sat on a rise above a wide ravine set between two ridges. In the distance, the hills steepened and merged as they neared the peak of the rain-soaked Mount Tensakoss.

Tom caught Unhkte glance right, and followed her gaze. A small shadow crossed in front of one of the torches on the path, then another. Tom elbowed Angela.

They all watched as, one after another, the three Sootskee entered the ring, walked to the center, and picked up a thin branch from a pile. Each proceeded to the edge of the circle and began a rehearsed march around the perimeter, whacking their branches against every epsequoia trunk as they passed. Upon completing a circle, they lined up in a row on the left side of the circle and knelt low, spreading their arms and legs out until they lay as flat as possible—just as they’d done for months back at the nursery.

Tom heard the distinct sound of three different Threck eye sets hiding and popping up. Unhkte stiffened beside him and air began sucking faster through her siphons. One of the guards stepped into the space on the other side of Angela, pointing excitedly to the clearing. The other quickly emulated the first, and Unhkte threw up her arms for calm and silence.

Unsure what was so thrilling, Tom scanned the clearing for something more than unmoving Threck young. Sure enough, to the left of the Sootskee, three little creatures made their way through the ground cover, each on a course for a specific youth. He closed his bio eye and zoomed in. Wectworms. A common parasite in Threck Country, and creatures the Threck were known to avoid—even exterminate. Tom pulled up the wiki he and Zisa had created about them. As he’d thought, no new entries from Zisa, Minnie, or anyone else mentioning their inclusion in this ritual. It didn’t make sense. Wectworms entered hosts through an available orifice, made their way to the brain (in Threck) or central nervous system (dalis, pikpiks, etc.), where they burrowed in for the long haul. The majority of hosts abandoned previous behaviors, compelled instead to find the nearest fresh-water source, drink until practically bursting, and then travel to the nearest wectworm colony. Upon arrival, and with little fanfare, the host lay down and presented their body for mass consumption. In the small percentage of recorded cases in which this last step did not occur, the outcome wasn’t much better: death within 16 hours. Body eaten by some other lucky worms.