The Caverns of Kronos

Return to Kronosia - Part 5

     Hama opened the entrance to the tunnel again and led the way back down.

      The first part of the way was back the way they’d come, but then they took a turning and headed down a tunnel they hadn’t seen before. It was narrow and cramped, and Thomas suspected that the Kronosians had dug it themselves since the great disaster. He understood Lilly’s fears. If the Nobles should find out about these tunnels, it would go very badly for the common people who’d been using them. The wonder was that Lord Basil had never learned about them with his Ring of ESP. It was probably as Andricus had said, he supposed. With five thousand people living in the city, he couldn’t read everyone’s mind, and those who knew of the tunnels would have taken care to stay away from him.

     A few minutes later they arrived at another bowl set in the ceiling and Hama gave another coded series of knocks. The bowl was lifted a moment later, and another elderly man peered down at them. His face brightened when he saw Hama, but he frowned when he saw the small crowd of strangers behind him. “Ham?” he said suspiciously. “What’s going on?

     “Can we come in, Tomsk?” said Hama.

     Tomsk hesitated for a moment, but then nodded and lowered a rope ladder. Like Hama before him, he knew there was no point in turning away people who knew about his secret tunnel. Better to let them in and find out what they wanted and what their intentions were.

     He listened intently as Hama repeated what Andricus and the Tharians had told him, telling it as though he believed it even though he still had his doubts. “And you believe all this nonsense?” he asked when he’d finished.

     “I don’t think he believes it completely yet,” said Andricus, “but I do. I’ve seen this girl here healing people with a touch and a prayer. See this?” He showed them the slash in his steel breastplate made by the Runeblade. “I was cut badly across the chest here, but now there’s not the slightest mark on my skin. Nothing to show I was ever injured. And you must have heard the stories about them from before they fled the city.”

     “A healer?” said Tomsk, looking closely at Diana. “Aye, I have heard stories, from the days when they worked for the Nobles.”

     “Those days are gone,” assured Diana. “We don’t work for them any more.”

     “And you’re a healer, are you?” he asked. She nodded, and he rolled up a sleeve to show her a nasty bruise on his arm. “A guard gave me this just for looking at him funny. Let’s see you heal it if you’re telling the truth.”

     Diana nodded again and gently touched the bruise with the fingertips of her left hand. Normally she wouldn’t have bothered with such a minor injury, holy power being much too precious to squander in that way, but this was obviously a test which would determine how they were received by these people. She prayed obediently to Caroli, therefore, and the bruise vanished, leaving the old man gaping in wonder.

     “All right,” he said, rolling his sleeve back down again. “I believe you.” He turned to Hama. “Leave ‘em wi’ me, Ham. I’ll take care of ‘em.”

     “Good of you, Tom,” replied Hama. “I owe you one.” He said goodbye to his grandson and the Tharians and then disappeared back down into the tunnel.

     “We’re going to have to make up a cover story to account for your sudden appearance here,” said Tomsk. “Suppose we say you used to live in Konnen sector and moved down here to get away from the hustle and bustle? It’s close enough to the truth.”

     “Sounds good to me,” agreed Shaun.

     “I’ll get one of my sons to find a good place for you. There’re plenty of empty homes just a few doors from here. Wait here a minute.”