Pathways - Jeri Taylor [175]
Kes stared at him. Everything he said was resonating deeply within her, as though a powerful bell were pealing in her mind. A sense of wonder and joy enveloped her, for she knew she had found kindred souls, that she wasn’t unique and alone after all. There were others who questioned their existence, and challenged it. Her heart was pounding in excitement and anticipation.
“Can I do this, too?”
“Of course. I thought you might feel that way.”
“Why is that?”
He smiled and his eyes sparkled as he did so. “I saw you the night you stayed in the Assembly until you fell asleep. I knew you were someone with a questing mind, someone who didn’t accept this docile life of ours. But I waited until you’d finished your growth cycle before approaching you.”
Kes reached out and fingered one of the plants. The leaves were silky and inviting, and she looked forward to nurturing them. For once her mind was quiet, satisfied for now, knowing she had found a place, a niche, where she could be who she was, among others who would understand her and who would answer her questions. She felt a peace she had never in her short life known before.
It wasn’t long after that she found the access tunnels. Once she realized the boundaries of the city weren’t the boundaries of their underground space, she became a relentless explorer. Deeper and deeper into the caves she ventured, always careful to leave markers so she could find her way back, but pressing ever forward, away from the city.
Even Daggin became concerned. “You mustn’t go on these expeditions alone,” he warned. “You could fall, and no one would know. I’ll go with you any time you want.”
But Kes preferred the thrill of exploring on her own. She knew it might be dangerous, but that was part of what tantalized her, and she didn’t want to give it up. If she wanted safety she’d go back to standing in line for food rations.
It had been an accident that she found the tunnel. She certainly hadn’t been looking for one, since she didn’t know they existed, and almost passed by the opening without realizing what was there.
It was the color that caught her eye. The stone of the caves was gray-white and striated in a horizontal pattern, without variation. As she moved through a particular passageway, magnasite lamp in her hand, she swept the beam over the walls that surrounded her.
A dark, orangish streak, faint and dimmed with time, intersected the gray striations of the stone. She’d never seen a mark like that, and she stopped to stare up at it.
It seemed to emanate from a crack in the stone about a meter above her head. As she played the light over that crack, it seemed that she could discern a pattern in the fracture that made it seem planned rather than random. Curiosity began to burn in her.
She looked around for a boulder to roll against the wall so she could climb on it and reach the strange stain and the unusual fracture, but there was nothing except a large and imposing stone that she couldn’t possibly move by herself. She would need help.
A short while later, she was back with Daggin, who was as excited as she by her find. Together they were able to roll the boulder into place, and Kes started to climb onto it. Daggin put a hand on her shoulder, restraining her.
“I’ll go first,” he cautioned, and Kes rankled at the implication he would be better qualified to deal with whatever surprises their find might lead to. She started to protest, but Daggin was already on the boulder and shining his lamp onto the stain.
“It’s rust,” he announced, tapping on the stone face with a small tool he’d brought from the farm.
“Then there must be something metal behind that rock-face,” said Kes, becoming more excited every second.
“Let me see if I can pry this section of the rock out,” replied Daggin, inserting the flat end of the tool into the crack and wedging it