Mosaic - Jeri Taylor [123]
"No, thanks," said Harry immediately, but at that moment something else drew their attention.
The door had reappeared in the wall, open and beckoning. Tuvok moved toward it, phaser drawn, hand held up to warn the others to stay back. He approached the door and lifted his wrist beacon, pressed the control, and saw the beam penetrate the darkness of the stairwell outside. He saw nothing. He took a few cautious steps into the stairwell and played the light up the stairs. Still, nothing. He looked back at the crew. "Follow me. Keep your weapons at the ready and stay tightly grouped."
And in this fashion they proceeded back up the stairs, scanning constantly, mounting step after step, forgetting how far they had originally descended and marveling that they seemed to climb upward forever. The air in the stairwell was pleasantly cool and fresh, a relief after the stuffy confines of the chamber.
Eventually they reached the level of the corridors, and Tuvok began leading them according to the path markers stored in his tricorder, winding this way and that, retracing the path they had taken while searching for Harry and Kes.
They'd been walking like that for ten minutes when Tuvok heard a distant noise. He held his hand for silence, then ordered., "Shut off your beacons."
Thirty lights snapped out, leaving them once more encased in the blackest darkness. And like that they waited in apprehension as a faint but ominous whirring sound drew closer and closer. Harry felt his breathing deepen and his hands grow clammy: What was that sound? Some new and horrible menace to threaten their lives? It was an awful sensation to stand perfectly still in a darkness so complete not one glimmer of light penetrated it, not one feature of the person immediately ahead visible, and to listen to the approaching sound of an unknown threat.
He could hear the breathing of the entire team, frozen in their places, tensing, ready for anything. The sound grew louder and louder, until he knew whatever it was must be almost upon them. The next sensation any of them had was of waves of pulsing air brushing by them, soft flutterings as something swept past on either side of them, whirring loudly, but paying no attention whatsoever to the crew which stood, rooted, in their path. Streams of beings skimmed around them, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, an endless current swarming through the labyrinthine passageways of this underground sanctuary. The crew stood like that, immobilized, for the strangest half hour any of them had ever spent, uncertain as to what exactly was happening, surmising that they were being skirted like water around a rock by the Tokath-the same creatures who had attacked when they emerged from the walls-and wondering if it was only a matter of time before one or more of the beings decided to renew the assault and turn this section of the corridor into bloodsoaked carnage. But the Tokath seemed uninterested in the humanoids who stood in their habitat. They continued their headlong rush down the passageway as the crew demonstrated its remarkable self-discipline by standing absolutely still, silent and unflinching. Eventually, the headlong flight came to an end, and the last of the whirring creatures swam around them. Only then did Tuvok cautiously turn on his beacon and begin to lead his team out of the maze, watching in amazement as the creatures settled themselves into the gelatinous walls like eggs encased in aspic, then seeing the gelatin begin to coalesce, and harden, until by the time they reached the original staging area the walls were as hard and stonelike as they had formerly appeared. The ramps that led to the surface were down, and a dim light filtered in, revealing a carpet of dead Tokath. A quick scan revealed no Kazon life signs above, and Tuvok led the group, running now, toward the surface and out of the dank underground which had been their prison for so many hours. Neelix