Page 40 of 1000 of You
Forever
They wentinto a smaller tent that was lined with clear material similar to the floorabove the pit, but more malleable. Ossa walked over to a box standing on-endand opened the lid sideways. Reaching inside, he removed several belts, whichhe handed over toMuamand the others. SeeingMuam’sperplexed look, he grinned.
“Buckle iton. Like this.” He demonstrated, putting on his own. “Now, press the center ofthe buckle. Don’t be afraid when you feel the shelter surround you.” He frownedslightly. “You’re not claustrophobic, are you,Muam?”
“What isthat?”
“Afraid ofsmall, enclosed spaces.” Ossa glanced atGova. “Areyou?”
They bothshook their heads.
“Theseproject a protective suit around you, in case there are any spores orcontaminants at a site. It also protects the dig from contamination from you.”The man chuckled. “I take it you don’t understand a tenth of what I’m saying,do you?”
“Thisdevice protects us from any danger at the dig, while also protecting the digfrom us,”Muamrepeated.
Bregstromsnorted. “Give the guy a chance, Hamid. Sounds tome like he’s a bit more tech savvy than we give him credit for.”
Muamstared at his arms and hands, then down his body. Heappeared to be surrounded by some sort of light.Govawas also encased in light. She smiled at him as he scrutinized her. “You are asbright as the holy fire in the sky.”
“That’s toenable us to see in dark areas. Can you breathe okay?”
“What isokay?”Govaasked.
Bregstromnodded. “It means everything’s all right. Yourshield filters the air, but it doesn’t recycle it. If you get caught in acave-in, you’ll only have a small amount of air to breathe. If that happens,try to take slow breaths until we can rescue you.” He pointed to a red buttonon the side of his buckle. “If you get into trouble, press that red button.It’ll notify us and send us your GPS. A GPS is a location. Same goes for us. Ifany of us find ourselves in trouble, your suit will alert you and help you findus.”
Dolucaclapped his hands and rubbed them together. “I’mready for this! Let’s go!”
Theyreturned to the clear floor suspended over the pit. This timeBregstromwent to a box on a pole and pressed something,resulting in several more poles rising from the floor. “Hold on to those so youdon’t fall,” he instructed. “Sometimes the lift can jerk.”
Muamgrasped one of the clear poles.Govatook the one next to him, and they clasped hands. Immediately, they could tellthey weren’t quite holding hands. Not flesh to flesh, but close. Almost. It wasakin to wearing gloves. Touching, yet not touching, although it looked likethey were.
The floorlowered them down into the pit.Muamstared at thewalls of sand as they descended. Beside him,Govamurmured what he was thinking. “Sometimes our deaths have been swift. Othertimes, excruciatingly prolonged. What do you think, my beloved? Could a burialby sand slide be our demise this time?”
“I do notknow. But I am curious as to why the gods have brought us back here, back tothe place where all our years of torment began. There has to be a reason.”
Her fingerstightened around his. “We may never know why. Not if the gods choose not toreveal it.”
When theyreached the bottom of the pit, they stepped off the clear floor, onto theground.Muamslowly turned around, taking in theirlocation and comparing it to what he could recall of his village. Stopping, hepointed ahead of him. “My shop is over there.” Without waiting for someone tocomment, he began walking toward the place where he’d spent years honing hiscraft.
The farrock wall of the structure remained intact, to an extent. Stepping inside, hespotted the rock anvil and the furnace where he’d heated the blades in order toshape them.MuamreleasedGova’shand and went over to the raised fire pit. Bending down, he reached behind itand pulled out what was left of the mallet he’d used, holding it out to show tothe others.
“This iswhat I used to hammer the blades.” He pointed to a small pile lying near thefurnace. “Those are the bits and pieces of iron left over from my work. I keptthem in a woven basket, but the basket has disintegrated over the years.”
“Are youcertain, beyond all doubt, that this is your old village?”Bregstromdemanded.
Pausing,Muamglanced atGova, then backat the men. “There is one last thing I need to check, which will remove alldoubt if proven.”
“What’sthat?”Dolucaasked.
“My home.”Without offering any further explanation, he turned and walked away from theshed. Although countless, unknown and untold years had passed, his feet andbody remembered this short walk to the hut where he’d once lived. He silentlycounted the number of steps from his work place to the area where his homewould have stood.
There wasnothing there anymore. Only a flat expanse of sand. Overhead, the wind waspicking up above the lip of the excavation.Bregstromglanced up into the sky.
“Looks likewe might be in for a storm. Hamid? Anything on the radar?”
Ossachecked something strapped to his wrist. “Not that I can see. No cloudbuild-up. Nothing in the forecast except for sun, sun, and more sun.”
Muamignored them and crouched where the fire pit shouldbe.Govakneeled beside him. “So long ago,” shewhispered.
