Page 90 of Stealing the Star Stone
And we’ll dock nice and snug for a lovely long trip!”
They hurried along the passage now accompanied by her singing.She threw in a few skips as she got into the swing of it.
“We danced on Uranus ‘til morning was near,
Her asteroid belt slipped and her moons did appear,
And when her black hole pulled me close with a spin,
I was sucked into bliss — never seen her again!”
For the chorus, Eli joined in, making her wince.Still, he was laughing and enjoying himself.
It was the only space shanty she knew.By the time they were climbing a slope and hopefully out of the tunnel, her voice was hoarse and he’d improved his shanty repertoire.
Her hope crumbled for they weren’t leaving the tunnel.A cavern opened up, an altar at the center of a pyramid of steps.Many long tendrils dangled above it, throwing out a circle of red light.
“I should’ve expected this,” she said with a sigh.Climbing to the top would give her the best view.They had to find a way out.
“Looks like a stone used to sit here.”He stroked the indent in the altar.“See any clues?”
She didn’t answer, unable to blink.Something had moved in the shadows.A shimmer, nothing more, but her instincts warned they weren’t alone while her mind claimed she was imagining it.
“What is it?”he whispered, crowding her to peer in the direction she’d fixed her gaze.
“I saw a ghost.”She flicked a dismissive hand.“It’s probably not a real one, but whatever it is, it’s transparent and coated with a rainbow hue like an oil slick.”
“Invisible isn’t good,” he said.
Her shoulders dropped an inch at him not doubting her.That went a long way to bolster her.“We need to find the stone if this is the temple.Or—”
“The next tunnel?”He spun on the spot, sweeping his gaze across the vast cave.They couldn’t see the sides—the tendrils didn’t illuminate far enough.“I don’t want to venture into the darkness to find the exit.”
“Same,” she said, taking a step down.
If she circled the altar, she might stumble on worn stones showing the past foot traffic.It was the only hope they had.By her broken sense of direction, she’d say the tunnel was north or west of them.
“Wanna use my butt tattoo?”he asked, a smile teasing his upper lip.
“Tempting if it was strong enough to project.Can you summon your sparks?”She gestured to all of him.“You could be my personal glow stick.”
He chuckled.“I don’t know how I did that.”
“So, we’re back to the beginning.”Her eyes widened.“What if the correct path illuminates like the other one?”
“Yeah!Go around and tap marked stones?”He ran down the steps to the base of the pyramid, stomping across the paving regardless of whether they bore letters or not.
Movement in the corner of her eye had her blurting out another verse,
“On a wormhole-bound freighter I met Venus May,
She said, “Mind how you steer or we’ll both drift away,”
But the stars were aligned and my course set just right,
We made landfall together all through the night!”
Whipping her gaze at the ‘thing’ showed nothing was there.
