Missing (Caveman Chronicles)

The Index -|-

The morning light had begun to invade the night sky with abstract mist appearing near distant hues of green and blue. Throughout the area surrounding the Ganix village, smoke rose in thin, grey plumes from torched huts and other fires that had spread. Small teams of cave-people solemnly bore the bodies of the dead away from the village toward the downstream portion of the river. There, they laid their dead friends and family face-down on the sand.

The Xi attack was over. At great cost, the Ganix had repelled the invaders. Joy would come only after mourning.

Breathing heavily, Kpleeb arrived at the cave two paces behind Xir and the other warriors. The lutu that Kiipo had arrived in was still perched near the cave entrance, soundlessly hovering above the ground. Without stopping for a breath, he continued into the main cavern.

The main cavern was empty except for Zara’s supplies and the red-tiered device. Kpleeb ran to the smaller, side room and saw that it too was empty.

“Zara!” he called out as he returned to search the main room. He looked under everything, even the absurd locations. With each passing moment, his anxiety rose, and he felt sicker to his stomach.

[Where could she be? She could certainly be out hunting for the Xi… But no. We killed them all… Didn’t we?] Kpleeb felt as if it was impossible to know how many of the billions of Xi might have been sent to resolve their little problem on Phaedro.

Xir approached from the entrance. “Strange signs outside.” He pointed with a knuckle toward the entrance. “Come.”

Xir led the way to a nearby gentle slope where the trees had encircled a shallow bowl of grass. Kpleeb knew this place well, for he had at times laid there with Thoka and gazed at the stars. It was a peaceful spot, simple and hushed. Xir bent to one knee and pointed at an area of grass that appeared to be flattened.

Kpleeb looked closer. “This could simply be a meat-yak napping.”

Xir walked slowly around the area and pointed at various spots on the ground. “Feet here. Here.” Xir pointed again to another spot. “Poda, here.” He spoke the Xi word awkwardly.

Kpleeb bent and looked. There was a remnant of the grey-green goo on the grass and dirt, and he remembered how Kiipo had taken nutrition from the poda by consuming it through a straw-like nozzle that extended from its mouth.

[Kiipo never spilled any of the poda. How could he? So why would poda be here?]

Kpleeb squished some of the slime between his thumb and finger. “You’re right, Xir. This is poda. I don’t know how it got here, but here it is.” He straightened and looked in every direction. “The Xi came to take Kiipo back while we were fighting the other lutu.”

Xir scanned the area and then looked Kpleeb in the eye. “Take Zara?”

There was no emotion in Xir’s words, but Kpleeb felt their weight. His mind reeled with the possibility. He imagined Zara’s tiny frame battling a dozen Xi dressed in glossy, black suits. [Could she really be captured… or worse?] He refused to accept the possibility.

“I don’t know, Xir. Perhaps we simply failed to find her.”

Xir grunted. “If Zara sleeping, not find, else…” He trailed off.

Kpleeb imagined that Zara might indeed be sleeping, or lying unconscious under a tree or the remains of a hut. He grimaced and shook his head to rattle away the worry.

“We cannot act without information.” Kpleeb looked at Xir. “You are right. The only way we would not have found her by now is if she was taken by the Xi… or if she is injured and hidden. We must look for her thoroughly, and if she is not found, I will assume the Xi have done this.” He pointed at the ground in front of them. “If the Xi took Kiipo, they could have taken Zara as well.”

Xir paused and then nodded Kpleeb. “We find.” He turned and motioned to the other Ganix warriors that lined the clearing. As a group, they trotted off together leaving Kpleeb in his thoughts.

He sat on the slope and put his fingers into the thick grass. The more he thought, the more he realized that Zara’s kidnapping was a real possibility. Slowly, his heart sank.

[If they have taken her, it surely would be to study here. She is, after all, a very special girl… But she would fight back, and she is so strong that she would probably kill many of them.]

Kpleeb looked around the small meadow. “No silica dust,” he muttered.

[Could they catch her unawares?]

His thoughts drifted and chaotic scenes of death and mayhem played in his imagination. His anger rose.

“I will kill them all.”