Hidden Empire - Kevin J. Anderson [156]
Today, the orangish skies of Rheindic Co had a strange greasy quality, as if high smoke dimmed the sunlight. Margaret hadn't bothered to study the planet's quirky weather, but she thought the gauzy overcast looked a little odd.
She watched Arcas curiously as he hurried into the winding labyrinth, ducked to the left into a small side canyon, and climbed over rubble that had fallen from the cliffs. The stone walls narrowed even farther.
"This direction," Arcas said. "Not too far."
Louis pointed up toward the narrow slice of sky between the enclosing canyon walls. "I don't like the look of that."
Overhead, the smear of gray haze had clotted into hard fists of clouds sheeting feathery gray moisture. The slurry of rain and dust that fell from the clouds evaporated before it could strike the ground, and then came down in a renewed downpour.
"That looks like quite a storm." Margaret glanced around at the canyon walls that seemed to bottle them up. "You don't suppose Rheindic Co is one of those worlds that gets a year's rainfall all in a single afternoon?"
Arcas sniffed the air with concern. "I wish I could touch one of my treelings and access information from the worldforest. I don't know enough about deserts yet." He looked around. "But let us hurry. The cliff wall is just ahead."
They picked up their pace, climbing over boulders until they reached another finger canyon. Margaret wondered how Arcas had ever found this place and then traced his way back to camp. Now she did see a squarish cave opening high up on the crumbling cliff wall, where parts of a sealed overhang had fallen away. The rubble lay in chunks of debris on the canyon floor.
Even from here the cliff appeared hollow, more than just an arched indentation. When she looked just right, in the light and shadows of the gorge she could indeed discern something inside the cave, angular forms that did not look like natural rocks or cave growths. "Let's climb," she said.
The striated rock bands could provide a route for agile climbers to scale the face. DD had brought detachable pitons and wall-hugger attachments for his masters to use, but still it looked like a difficult ascent.
"DD," Louis said, "you go up first and show us the way. Watch out for any unstable cracks or boulders."
The Friendly compy didn't hesitate. "Yes, Master Louis." He removed the equipment he had brought, briefly accessed his instruction files so he knew how to use the tools, then scrambled up the nearest shallow ledge. With his nimble mechanical legs, the little robot zigzagged his way higher.
Louis watched DD, then glanced back at the bulky Klikiss robots, knowing they couldn't possibly make the ascent. "Sorry, Sirix. You three will have to wait until we erect ramps."
"If we decide to erect ramps. We have to see what's up there, first," Margaret said. "May not be worth the effort, old man."
Louis gestured to the green priest, smiling. "Arcas, would you like to go next? Since this is your discovery, you might as well have the honor of being the first human to set foot there."
The green priest looked surprised and then embarrassed. "Are you sure it wouldn't be better if you or Margaret—"
"Arcas, we don't care about such things," Margaret said with a hint of impatience. "Go on."
The green priest scrambled up after DD, using the handholds and pitons the silvery compy had diligently left for them.
Fat, cold droplets of gray rainwater splattered against the cliffside as Margaret began to climb, waiting at each ledge for Louis. She knew they would both be sore this evening. They would take turns rubbing muscle balm into each other's aching joints, but an excellent discovery would help her get over any amount of pain and weariness.
DD had reached a ledge three-quarters of the way up the cliff face, and the rain continued to splatter harder. After pounding a thick piton anchor into