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CHAPTER TWELVE

  After a painstakingly slow drive through the canyon, all the while terrified that another gravity wind might pick up, Mackenzie finally saw where the canyon split into two paths. One bending west, the other bending east. Bell navigated around a pile of boulders that were embedded in the ground and progressed into the east canyon.

  "You're certain no gravity wind can come through here?" Abbas asked Lowe.

  "Positive," Lowe replied. "It originated from the mountains west of here, then followed the canyon north-east. It won't come through here."

  "I hope not," Mackenzie muttered, remembering clearly how close she had come to death.

  Bell steered off the main canyon and drove into the eastern path, which was more narrow. The truck tilted forward gently as the ground gradually sloped downward. Soon, the canyon walls were so high, they cast the truck and everything around them into an eerie twilight.

  "Keep your sidearms ready," Abbas said, taking out his own pistol. "We're less protected without the windows. If anything tries to climb in here, you stop it. Got it?"

  "Yes, sir," Jesse replied firmly, unholstering his pistol and loading a bullet into the chamber with a swift ch-chk.

  On they drove, unsure of what they might find. The truck's engine groaned in complaint a couple of times as its power began to drain, but Rhiannon still pushed on, with Bell whispering encouragement to her the whole time.

  "Come on, girl, you got this," she would croon. "Just a little farther."

  Mackenzie felt on edge as she sat staring at the broken windows, her gun held in both hands and currently aimed at the floor. She kept expecting any number of horrifying creatures to crawl in through the window and attack, sharp teeth snapping and claws slashing, but nothing came.

  Everyone was silent and tense. The brush with death had set them all on edge and they knew they weren't in the clear yet. No one spoke, no one even looked at each other as they drove along. They all just stared out the broken windows, waiting for the next thing to go wrong.

  Suddenly Mackenzie heard a faint beeping in her ear. Her computer beeped twice, then stopped.

  Staring at it, Mackenzie wondered if the gravity wind had damaged something. That would be the last thing they needed, her equipment was vital to their mission. Without it, they couldn't find water.

  Beep! Beep!

  The computer beeped again and Mackenzie saw a tiny blip on the edge of the thermal map that looked different from the rest of the reading, but it vanished and the beeping stopped again before she could get a good look at it.

  Mackenzie turned away from the windows and leaned over the thermal monitor. She stared at the edge where she had seen the tiny blip appear. She didn't blink as she watched the monitor, waiting to see if it would appear again.

  There! The beeping began again as the blip came back within range. This time it remained in view as they were driving straight towards it. She could see the familiar trace of the underground river far below them, Bell having driven them back towards it, but now there was something else along with it. There was a larger blip, something the river connected to. The thin line that indicated the river grew larger until it took up a quarter of the screen with light green.

  "Oh my God," Mackenzie breathed. "Water!"

  All heads turned towards her as she shouted, all wide-eyed with surprise.

  "The river, you mean?" Lowe asked.

  "No, I mean yes, but not just that!" Mackenzie replied, speaking quickly in her excitement. "It's the river, but it's... bigger! I think it's surfaced!"

  "Are you sure?" Abbas asked, hurrying from the front of the truck to her side. He peered over Mackenzie's shoulder at the monitor.

  "Is this it?" Jesse asked. "Is it what Inglis was looking for?"

  "Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Abbas warned. "It looks like it's at the end of this canyon, right ahead of us. We'll see it with our own eyes before we get too excited."

  The next few minutes were the longest of Mackenzie's life. Her heart was pounding painfully as her excitement grew. She knew she was right, despite Abbas trying to keep everyone from getting their hopes up. This was it, this was the water source they had been looking for! And if the thermal reading was correct, then it was huge.

  Finally, after what seemed like forever, the canyon walls began to decrease in height and sunlight began to filter in around them. The light caused Mackenzie and the others to squint as their eyes adjusted from dark to light, and then they emerged from the canyon.

  The mountains towered from not far away, perhaps less than five miles. The cliff still stretched behind them to the left and right, forming a wall around the flatlands they now found themselves in, but none of this caught their eyes. The first thing they saw, and what captivated them entirely, was the sight that lay before them. When they saw it, Bell stopped the truck and they all stared with their mouths open in amazement.

  Water.

  It was a river, flowing from the direction of the mountains until it reached the cliffs, where it seemed to burrow underneath and become the underground river they had followed. The sun sparkled off the surface as though it was a river made of diamonds, the light dancing before Mackenzie's eyes.

  "Whoa," Mackenzie breathed. "Look at it."

  "I've never imagined so much water in my life," Jesse said.

  "We could live forever here," Bell said, grinning widely. "All of us. Everyone in Town!"

  "We'd never go thirsty again," Lowe added.

  "Okay everyone," Abbas said, his tone serious even as he, too, stared wistfully at the large river. "Let's not jump the gun. We don't even know if the water's drinkable yet. We have to test it. Right, Miller?"

  "What?" Mackenzie asked, still staring at the river, daydreaming about submerging her entire self beneath the surface, just to see what it felt like. Then she realized what Abbas had said and snapped out of her fantasy. "Oh! Right, yeah."

  She quickly sat down at her terminal and scanned the area, searching for thermal imagery of animal life. "No animal life sighted, sir." But she still remembered the akuchos and that nothing seen didn't necessarily mean nothing was out there.

  Opening a cabinet underneath her terminal, Mackenzie retrieved the field test kit for the first time, grateful that it had survived the gravity wind's purge of the truck.

  Carrying the kit that resembled a bulky briefcase, Mackenzie hurried to the door as Abbas opened it. Everyone moved together, but quickly. Jesse led the way out, his rifle held steady in both hands as he aimed down the sights for any threat that came within his range. Abbas was second, followed by Mackenzie, then Bell and Lowe. They all moved with steady precision, surrounding Mackenzie as they walked quickly towards the river. As of that moment, Mackenzie was the most important asset they had. Her safety was their top priority, as no one else was equipped to properly evaluate the water's drinkability. They knew how to use the equipment, of course, but they had no idea what to look for.

  A short double-time walk later, they reached the bank of the river. As Mackenzie fell to her knees and opened the kit, the others fanned out around her, forming a semicircle as they scanned the area, no one speaking.

  Mackenzie took from the kit a metal device shaped like a foot-long cigar, but with a black sphere on one end and a small screen with buttons around it on the other. Holding her breath with excitement, Mackenzie dipped the sphere end of the device into the river and waited. Under the water, the black sphere opened and filled with water. Once full, the sphere closed again, sealing the water inside. The device vibrated gently in Mackenzie's hands as she held the sides of the small screen. Finally, a graph and numbers appeared on the screen. Mackenzie pulled the device out of the water to closely examine the screen.

  "Toxicity is low," Mackenzie reported, her heart pounding. "Doesn't look like there are many foreign minerals. Some sand and gravel."

  "Gravel?" Bell repeated. "We can't drink gravel!"

  "No, it's okay!" Mackenzie replied. "It's minimal, it wou
ldn't do any harm to the human body. It's good that it's here!"

  "How is that good?" Jesse asked, not taking his eyes away from scanning the area.

  "Sand and gravel are natural water purifiers," Mackenzie explained, pressing buttons on the device as she searched for other elements, such as parasites and lead and any other such things that would render this water as barren and useless as the rest of the planet. "The sand caused by erosion of the rocks around this river are perfect filters, we even employed a similar method at the wells back in Town. Sand and gravel are perfect filters because of how they form permeable layers."

  "I thought Brits spoke English?" Jesse quipped.

  "I understood some words," Lowe replied. "But the rest was just gibberish."

  "Water good," Mackenzie said slowly, stretching each word out as though she was speaking to Tarzan. "Drink water. Not die."

  "Are you sure?" Abbas asked, struggling to contain his excitement, or hide the hope in his voice.

  "I should run a few more tests," Mackenzie said, replacing the device in the kit. "No parasites showed up in the scan, but that doesn't mean they're not in there. The water is safe to drink for sure, but before we drink it, I should probably-"

  Before Mackenzie could finish her thought, Bell tossed down her gun, ripped off her bulky vest, kicked off her boots, and leaped into the river, screaming with delight as she plummeted towards the water. She cannon-balled with a huge splash and vanished beneath the surface for a few seconds before resurfacing, her ponytail flicking wildly as she shook her head.

  "Bell!" Abbas roared. "What the hell are you doing!?"

  "Oh my God!" Bell giggled with glee. "This is amazing, guys! Come on in, it's not too deep, you can stand and everything!"

  "What if there are animals in there?" Mackenzie asked, staring around Bell as though expecting something to attack from the depths.

  "No thermal readings, remember?" Bell pointed out. "No animals! No deadly water! This is it! This is what we've been looking for!"

  Everyone glanced between each other as they let this information sink in. The silence stretched on as everyone considered this, let themselves believe that this was what they had been searching for since humanity landed on this planet. Then, all at once, everyone threw down whatever they were holding, ripped off their vests, and ran to the river, even while tearing off their boots. They all followed Bell's lead and leaped into the river with various forms, splashing down as they cried out. Mackenzie felt a moment of fear as she saw the water rushing up to her, afraid of what it was like, afraid of so much water, but then she was under water and her fear evaporated.

  The sensation of the cool water washing over her entire body was unlike any experience Mackenzie had ever felt. The change in temperature was initially a shock, but then Mackenzie let herself enjoy the moment. The feeling of weightlessness as she floated in the water, her hair billowing out around her head. She moved her hand with her fingers spread wide, amazed at how the water seemed to slow her speed while still allowing her to move easily.

  It felt as though she was moving through countless sheets of the finest silk, which moved effortlessly over her skin as she moved her arms through the water, turning herself around beneath the surface.

  Finally Mackenzie swam back up, a laugh of glee escaping from her lips the moment she burst out of the water. Her hair, wet and darkened by the water, clung to her face and neck, droplets running over her face and tickling her nose. Looking around, she saw the others were equally as thrilled, laughing loudly, whooping with joy, splashing one another as they exalted being able to toss water around so carelessly for the first time in their lives.

  For hours they swam and drank and enjoyed themselves, figuring out the best ways to swim through the water. Bell once snatched Lowe's hat away, filled it with water, then slapped it back down on his head, water splashing out in every direction, causing Lowe and the others to laugh hysterically. Abbas dove under the water, then shot up beneath Bell, pushing her up by her feet so that she was launched into the air, where she screamed in shock, before splashing gracelessly back into the river. It was by far the greatest day Mackenzie had ever had. And, for the first time in her life, Mackenzie wasn't worried at all.

  The sun set far too quickly, in Mackenzie's opinion. She could have spent hours longer in the river, but once the sunlight vanished behind the surrounding cliffs and mountains, the water began to feel too cold. Within minutes, everyone was shivering and their teeth were chattering until Abbas ordered them all out of the river.

  No one wanted to confine themselves within the truck again, not when the river was so close and so peaceful and so beautiful. So they set a fire and sat around it, allowing the heat to dry their clothes and warm their skin. Despite the heat of the fire she sat so close to, Mackenzie was still shivering a little. Until something large and soft fell over her shoulders.

  "Here," Jesse said as he placed the blanket over her. "You're still shaking. This is the only blanket that didn't get sucked out of the truck."

  "Thank you," Mackenzie said, surprised at the gesture.

  Jesse sat down beside her, his legs crossed as he stared over the fire to the river. After a moment of silence, he looked down at his palms.

  "Are you sure that water was okay to swim in?" he asked Mackenzie. "My fingers look like they've shrivelled up or something."

  "Yeah, mine too," Bell said, frowning at her hands.

  Mackenzie leaned closer and Jesse offered her his hands to examine. Half a second later, Mackenzie was laughing.

  "It's called aquatic wrinkling," Mackenzie laughed. "Or pruning, if you prefer. It happens when you're hands are submerged for long periods of time. It happened in the wells sometimes."

  "Pruning?" Abbas repeated, studying his hands closely. "Why?"

  Mackenzie shrugged. "No one knows for sure, but there are some theories. I like the one that says people evolved this trick for increased grip on things underwater. Other people say it's just water passing in and out of the outer layer of skin. Don't worry about it, it smoothes out after a while."

  Everyone fell silent again and resumed watching the river. It was so calm, Mackenzie could almost forget how dangerous the rest of the planet was.

  "You think everyone will like it here?" Bell asked everyone.

  "Why wouldn't they?" Lowe replied. "More water than anyone can dream of, no animals trying to kill and eat us. These cliffs look like they offer protection from the storms. What's not to like?"

  "My girls will be safe here," Abbas nodded. "That's all I ever wanted for them."

  "We'll be able to build a real infrastructure here," Lowe added. "Hell, we might even be able to finally have indoor plumbing!"

  "Living the dream!" Bell laughed.

  "The tech-heads will love it," Jesse said, smirking. "All the new things to build. Miller's boyfriend will have the time of his life."

  "I told you, he's not my boyfriend," Mackenzie snarled.

  "Renaud?" Bell asked, grinning widely. "I don't know, that kiss goodbye looked a little more than platonic."

  "That was..." Mackenzie began to argue, but hesitated because she didn't know what it was. "He's just a friend. Or he was, anyway."

  "Looks like there's a little unrequited love there," Abbas said kindly. "Unless, of course, you feel the same way about him?"

  "I don't... I mean, Ethan's just..." Mackenzie struggled to explain, suddenly unsure of what to make of it. She hadn't had time to spare much thought for Ethan since heading out. "He just sprung it on me, right before I left. How's that fair? We've been friends our whole lives, and he chooses seconds before I go into the desert to grow a pair and kiss me? I didn't know what to do! I still don't."

  Abbas nodded knowingly, suddenly seeming more fatherly than Mackenzie had imagined him before. She kept forgetting he had three daughters back home to worry about. It occurred to Mackenzie that there was a strong chance he may have had a similar conversation with at least one of his daughters before
.

  They all relapsed into silence and resumed staring out over the river, the darkened waters reflecting the moon and the stars like a gently rippling mirror.

  "Vasseur would have loved this place," Lowe said softly.

  Feeling the guilt of Vasseur's death wash over her as easily as the water had, Mackenzie's sense of peace vanished and was replaced by remorse.

  "Yeah," she said quietly. "He would have."

  "Inglis, too," Jesse added. "But we made it. We're here. They didn't die for nothing."

  "Jesse's right," Abbas nodded. "We'll mourn them, remember them, but take comfort knowing that we finished what they started. And we can all survive. Their sacrifices meant our survival. And this river... This is their legacy."

  "How long before Town can relocate?" Bell asked. "We'd have to get them all through the canyon, too. How can we manage that?"

  "I can send a weather drone up tomorrow morning," Lowe said. "If I station it where the gravity wind originates, I can get a reading of when it's safe to pass through the canyon. It'll take time to move everyone through, but we should be able to manage it without any casualties."

  "It'll take time for people to pack up their homes," Mackenzie added. "Almost two weeks travel time to here. If we head back tomorrow, we should make it in time."

  "Then we better get some rest," Abbas said. "We'll start early in the morning and gather some water for the drive home. Then we'll help with the move. We'll be able to survive a long time here. I have a good feeling about this place."

  That night, they all slept peacefully. They still slept in shifts, but at no point did they feel as though they were in danger. There was something calming about the river being there. As though it somehow warded off any threats. By way of celebrating the discovery of the river, they had all treated themselves to a serving of the remaining mana fruits, leaving them all feeling peaceful and sleepy, so it came as a surprise to Mackenzie when, after what seemed like only minutes, the sun was rising over the valley once more.

  "Up, up, up!" Abbas crowed, clapping his hands loudly with every word as he marched between the bunks. "We've got a lot to do, people! Up!"

  "Keep clapping," Jesse growled warningly, glaring at Abbas with one eye as he lay face down on the bare mattress. "See what happens."

  "Come on, let's go!" Abbas laughed.

  Mackenzie groaned and rolled onto her back, rubbing her eyes. "And I was having such a good dream," she sighed. She smiled at the memory before the dream could fade. Something about her and Jesse Greaves alone in the river, swimming in the moonlight. He might have been a pain in the ass at times, but Mackenzie was only human.

  "What about?" Bell asked as she tied her boots.

  "Oh, never mind," Mackenzie said quickly, feeling her face burn red. She couldn't help but glance in Jesse's direction as he pulled a shirt over his head, catching a glimpse of his defined abs, along with the burn scar he had told her about. It ran from his shoulder all the way down to his naval, looking like a cross-stitch gone horribly wrong. Mackenzie didn't mind, though. She still took a moment to admire the way his muscles moved as he stretched, the way his shirt clung tightly to his body.

  Bell was looking between Mackenzie and Jesse, a smile slowly spreading on her face. She met Mackenzie's eyes and the smile only widened.

  "What?" Mackenzie demanded, still feeling the heat in her cheeks.

  "Nothing!" Bell replied, holding up her hands defensively.

  "Get moving, people!" Abbas roared at them. "We need to gather water, send out a drone, search the area for any possible food, then get back on the road! Let's go, go, go!"

  They all marched out of the truck one at a time, once again taken aback by the sight of the river glimmering in the sunlight.

  "Okay," Abbas began, surveying the area. "First things first, we want to get that weather drone up as soon as possible so we know when it's safe to drive back into the canyon. Lowe?"

  "Already on it," Lowe replied, stepping out of the truck with something that Mackenzie thought looked a lot like a crossbow, except where the arrow should have gone, there was instead a strange kind of flat, silver, frisbee.

  Without saying a word, Lowe aimed the crossbow towards the mountains and fired. The frisbee took off into the air with surprising speed, flying in a perfectly straight line. Lowe set aside the strange gun, then pulled his tablet out from his breast pocket and began tapping in commands.

  "That's the weather drone," he explained to Mackenzie, noticing her staring curiously. "I'm programming it to survey the weather over and on the mountain and to relay all information to my terminal and directly to my tablet. With any luck, we should be able to predict when a gravity wind might occur well before it does."

  "Cool," Mackenzie replied, nodding approvingly.

  "Okay, let's start gathering water," Abbas said. "Grab any container we emptied on the way here and-"

  "Hold up," Jesse interrupted.

  The mood immediately became tense. Everyone stiffened and Mackenzie automatically began to slowly look around, searching for danger, her hand already brushing the grip of her gun.

  "What is it?" Abbas asked.

  "I don't know," Jesse replied, slowly looking around. He was staring at the cliff tops, unblinking as he scanned the area. "I feel like we're being watched."

  "More akuchos?" Bell asked, slowly reaching for her gun at her hip.

  "They would have attacked by now," Jesse pointed out. "This is... Something else."

  At that moment, Mackenzie saw something strange. She had looked back to Abbas, opening her mouth to speak, but stopped when she spotted something odd on Lowe's chest. It was a small green dot, moving almost imperceptibly just over his heart.

  "Look out!" Mackenzie cried, realizing a fraction of a second later what the green dot was.

  Lunging forward, Mackenzie shoved Lowe as hard as she could, knocking him away from the green dot and throwing herself in its path. She could almost feel the dot burning into her, just between her shoulder blades. An instant later, something hard struck her back and she felt nothing but pain.

  Mackenzie wanted to scream, but her jaw had clenched hard and wouldn't open. Every muscle in her entire body seemed to tighten and cramp as electricity coursed through her. It seemed as though her very brain was being cooked as the hot electricity burned through her.

  Around her, she could see the others were in similar agony, each of them grimacing in pain, their fists clenched tightly as they convulsed on their feet. Lowe, unaffected thanks to Mackenzie, drew his gun and aimed into the distance. He started firing, shouting something, but Mackenzie was too focused on her writhing agony to understand. A second later, Lowe also tensed up and couldn't move, his teeth bared furiously as he still tried to shoot, but was unable to unbend his elbows.

  Finally, as the pain subsided and Mackenzie's muscles relaxed, the world faded to darkness and the last thing she could remember was falling.