Chapter 7

Rapid Transit

Alenna hauled herself onto slab of mud-covered rock and shone her torch into the gloom on the far side. Her fur glinted in the reflected light, and no amount of grime could mask the determination on her face. I'm not going to complain if she doesn't, Weskar thought.

“Come on!” she called down to them. “This side is easy!”

Sam took a half-step and a jump, caught the edge and scrambled to the top with an agility which belied his size, then grinned as he leaned down to extend a paw for the shorter Shepherd. Weskar didn't really need help, but Sam's strong grasp felt good. At least we're together.

Weskar's nose picked up the scent of slimy water as they slithered down a narrow chute. He thought of the mysterious voice captured by his audio pendant. It's coming...

“Careful!” he warned. “There's water ahead.”

Sure enough, around the next bend a dark pool blocked their path. It lapped at their feet, and the far side was beyond the reach of the torches.

Weskar eyed the uninviting surface. “There's something wrong here. Can't you smell it?”

Alenna sniffed and contemplated the water. “Well, I wouldn't drink it. It's probably just stagnant. Besides, we don't have much choice.”

Alenna was right about that. She led the way into the pool, a torch strapped to her wrist and her elegant tail held clear of the water. Sam followed and Weskar brought up the rear. He didn't like the look of the pool one bit, so he got out his torch and flicked it on.

They hugged the wall of the cave, icy water reaching to their knees, and the splash and gurgle of their steps echoed back from hidden crevices. A strange sense of foreboding gripped Weskar, and he tried to move as quietly as he could.

He stumbled over something round which turned under his foot. For some reason which he couldn't later explain, he reached down into the water and picked the object up. It was lighter than a rock, and hollow. Alenna and Sam turned to look as he held it up.

The empty eye sockets of a canine skull stared back at him. Many years beneath the water had stained the bone dark brown. It seemed to look right through Weskar with an unseeing gaze. “Yerk!” he said, and dropped it with a shudder.

Sam watched with a grim smile. “It's a pity we don't have time for a more inspiring eulogy than that!”

“I just hope we don't share the same fate,” muttered the Shepherd. It's coming...

The tunnel curved one way, and then the other. In places the water reached to Weskar's waist, but just when it seemed they would have to swim, it got shallower again.

Weskar felt a swirl of water around his leg. He stopped, but all was calm once more. “You're getting jumpy!” he told himself, and started after the others. But before he could take three steps, he felt another swirl of water, and this time something slimy brushed past him. He jumped sideways in surprise, bumping into the wall.

“Something brushed my legs!” he explained in answer to the questioning looks from Alenna and Sam. They scanned the water, but the surface remained smooth and black, marred only by dispersing ripples from their own movements. Sam shrugged, and they moved on.

There was a scream, cut short by a splash as Alenna vanished into the water. Weskar swung his torch in time to see her struggling to regain her footing as something dragged at her. It had her by the leg, and they could see it writhing beneath the surface.

Sam leaped forward and swiped his paws downwards in a massive blow, clawing at whatever was under the water. Once, twice, three times he tore at it, and on the third blow it released Alenna's leg and squirmed away. She scrambled to her feet, gasping for breath.

“Lights!” came Sam's frantic cry. Weskar was already pointing his torch at them. “Quick, point it out there!”.

Weskar shone it onto the water at their feet. Sam retrieved the other torch, and then, supporting Alenna with his other arm, he walked backwards to join Weskar by the cave wall.

Water swirled in the darkness to their right. Weskar and Sam swung their torches as one. They caught a fleeting glimpse of a massive, blunt head, wide mouth and rows of cruel pointed teeth. Beyond the head, a sinuous body as thick as Weskar's torso snaked beneath the water. It twisted and writhed as if the light burned it, and then recoiled and vanished again into the darkness.

Alenna was panting hard. “Can you walk?” asked Sam. “I'm okay!” she nodded, but her voice shook.

“We've got to get out of this water!” said Sam. “Keep moving. Weskar, shine your light out there and keep your eyes open.”

Sam went first, while Weskar swept the inky depths with the torch beam. Alenna limped between them, leaning on Sam for support as they splashed on as quickly as they could.

Another swirling of the water, and they moved their torches just in time to see the blunt head and massive jaws coming at them, much closer than before. Once again the monster writhed and swung away from the light. “That was close!” panted Sam, genuine alarm in his voice.

Sloshing along behind them, Weskar felt vulnerable to attack. At that moment, his paw struck something long and heavy beneath the water. Desperate for some kind of weapon, he reached in and lifted the object out. He shuddered when he saw a heavy thigh bone, old and blackened like the skull. But he felt safer with the solid weight in his paws, and he hoped the former owner would forgive him.

It proved a timely find, as a slimy bulk brushed past his leg. The eel had sidled along the cave wall while the dogs' directed their attention into deeper water. Weskar clasped the bone with both paws and angled his wrists down so that his torch lit up the water at his feet. The giant cave-dweller curved sinuously as it homed in on Alenna, following the scent of blood in the water.

At the touch of the light, it writhed and turned away from them. But then, desperate with hunger, it seemed to steel itself and turn back. It started to accelerate towards Alenna, jaws gaping. Weskar jumped forward and brought the thigh-bone club down as hard as he could. His timing was excellent, by luck more than skill, and the bone smashed into the eel's huge head with a thud which jarred his shoulders.

The eel veered off from its attack and rolled over and over in a tight, twisting spiral, away from the canines and down into the black depths.

“I doubt that's the end of it,” cried Sam. “Come on!”

They set off at a jog, slipping and splashing, with Sam half-carrying Alenna. Much to their relief, the pool grew shallower. When it was below their knees, Sam's prediction proved true, and the giant eel reared out of the water beside them. But it seemed to have lost heart, for it turned away from the light of their torches and disappeared into the darkness in search of easier prey.

The three canines rounded a corner and saw at last the rocky floor emerging out of the black water. Their spirits rose as they climbed out on to dry ground. Sam led them up the slope until they left the shore far behind – only then did they feel safe enough to stop and rest.

Alenna slumped against a rock, her face pale, while the two dogs helped ease off her pack. Dark blood oozed from an ugly row of gashes across her ankle, seeping through the delicate russet red of her fur.

She took the First Aid kit from Weskar, and tried to dab the injury with a wad of gauze. The dogs winced as they watched her grimace in pain.

“Let me help,” Weskar offered, but he received an uncharitable scowl in return. “I can manage!” she snapped. But her paw shook so badly that she dropped the gauze.

Her shoulders slumped, and she leaned back on the boulder. “Maybe I could use a steady paw...” Her voice held an uncharacteristic resignation.

“Of course!” Weskar tried to infuse his voice with enthusiasm as he took out a bottle of disinfectant and some fresh gauze and swabbed her ankle. His paws were steady, hiding the trepidation he felt as he tried to recall his First Aid training. This was Alenna, after all, a bitch who was used to being aloof and in control. At first he could feel her tension and picture her stare of disapproval, but by the time he had cleaned her wound and wrapped a clean white bandage around her ankle, she seemed more relaxed. He looked up to find a hint of a smile showing on her face.

“Thank you!” she said, and her gaze flicked from Weskar to Sam. “Both of you. That was... very brave.”

Sam's tail fanned the air gently, and his big paw rested on her shoulder. “Sometimes it's useful to have friends, you know!” He replied with a mischievous wink.

They rested just long enough to catch their breath, but nobody felt like lingering in the vicinity of the black lake. Alenna clambered to her feet and reached for her pack, but Sam lifted it gently from her paws and slipped it on his own shoulders. She looked as if she would argue, but then changed her mind as she took a step on her injured leg and stumbled in pain. She bit her lower lip. “Okay, so it's a bit sore. Don't worry; I can make it.”

More rockfalls blocked their path as the cave twisted and turned. Alenna put on a brave face, but her limp grew worse, and Weskar could see her grimace as she struggled over crags and boulders. Sam helped her with the steeper sections while the Shepherd scouted ahead and held the torch high to light their way.

They were all ready for a rest when they came upon something extraordinary. A dark opening in the cave wall caught Weskar's attention, but when he shone his torch at it, a confusion of light reflected back. Ducking his head, he stepped inside, and a treasure-trove of pale crystals enveloped him.

Glinting clusters sprouted from the walls like strange plants, while ranks of elongated prisms packed the spaces between. Giant mineral formations covered every surface of a chamber a few paces across and twice the height of a canine.

Soft light bathed Weskar as the crystals caught his torch beam, scattered it amongst themselves, and sent it back from a thousand glowing facets. The other two joined him, Sam's mouth open in awe.

“A giant geode!” he whispered. Prompted by a blank look from the other two, he explained. “Mineral deposits that grew inside a cavity in the rocks!” He reached out a reverent paw to the nearest crystal. “Normally, they are much smaller!”

He circled the chamber in a rapt study of the formations, while Weskar simply stood and admired the spectacular sight. Then Alenna sat down abruptly on the fine white sand of the cave floor.

“I don't know about you boys,” she said, “but I'm ready for a rest.”

---

“I've been thinking,” reasoned Sam through a mouthful of Kibble, “it wouldn't make sense for the city to be very deep underground. It would be too difficult to build. It can't be much further to the surface.”

Weskar let himself believe the big dog's optimistic suggestion. He didn't want to contemplate the alternatives – that there was no Outside, or even that they were wandering in circles.

Leaning back against one of the packs, with her injured leg elevated on a convenient rock, Alenna looked a lot more comfortable, and some of her spark had returned. “I don't care how far it is, so long as we're moving further from the Prefect.”

Weskar pondered her words. “I thought we were searching for the Outside. You do seem to mention the Prefect quite often, and not in the fondest terms!”

“Huh!” Her voice was scornful. “If you'd seen the Prefect the way I have, you wouldn't be on the fondest terms, either.”

This piqued Sam's interest. “What happened?”

The Ridgeback stared into multi-faceted depths of a large crystal for a while, and when she spoke, her voice sounded unusually quiet.

“When I was a young pup – only 12 years old – I was made an intern of the Prefect. As you know, not many youngsters are chosen. I was so proud, and looked up to him so much. We revered him in those days. He was so strong, so commanding. I was thrilled when he took an extra interest in me.

“He used to invite me to his private study to help him... Which was OK, until one day he told me to take my clothes off! He was only wearing a robe, and it was undone. I didn't know what to do, but I didn't want to refuse him. He was the prefect, after all.”

She paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. When she continued, her voice was even quieter.

“He wanted me to lick him. All over. He grabbed my head and tried to force me. What I remember most was his smell.”

Weskar could hardly believe his ears. Yet something in the Ridgeback's tone convinced him that she was telling the truth, and her face showed the pain and anger which the memories still evoked.

Sam shook his head in consternation. “I always thought he was a bit crazy. You know what they say about power corrupting.”

Alenna nodded. “I ran out. I thought he might send his guards after me or something – anything seemed possible at that point. I was so scared. But nothing happened, and after a while I stopped being scared and got angry instead. Needless to say, I never went back to being a Prefect's Intern. It turned out not to be so glamorous as I thought.”

Now Weskar could see the pain and vulnerability which Alenna kept hidden behind her bravado. He leaned over and wrapped his paws around her in what he hoped was a gentle but comforting embrace. She stiffened slightly at his touch, but then relaxed.

As they settled down to get some rest, Weskar took out the audio pendant. He felt drawn to the plaintive voice, as if the puppy in the recording was reaching out to him through the years. But what if there's no more... What if... Weskar tried not to think about the skull beneath the black water.

Gingerly, he pressed the button.

...I found a nice hot pool and had a swim. It's very beautiful here. But I haven't gone far from the city yet, so I need to keep moving...

Weskar smiled as he imagined the mysterious youngster relaxing in the hot water of the blue pool. How far had he journeyed through the caves? The jumbled order of the recordings made it impossible to know.

---

There were no city lights to signal dawn in the caves, and it could have been morning or lunch time or midnight when Weskar woke to the flickering light of the torch. He could feel Alenna's warm fur snuggled against him, and her rich musk brought a tingle of excitement to his nose. She sighed gently in her sleep, and Weskar wished he could just lie there and stroke her fur. But hunger pangs urged him to full wakefulness, and his muscles ached from lying on the unyielding rock. He sat up and stretched.

The tearing of paper sounded loud in the silence as Sam opened a pack of Kibble. Weskar watched the Saint's large paws as he measured the ration into three portions. On an impulse, he reached out and stroked the soft fur on his friend's cheek. Sam's eye's met his for a moment, and the big dog smiled. “Ready for more exciting underground adventure? I think we'll be out of these caves before the day is over.”

Weskar wondered again what the “Outside” might look like. He imagined the view from his office window, the city spread out below him, the curve of the wall in the distance. Like that, only bigger... He tried to picture the wall being further away, and the light brighter. But there's no wall... His mind refused to grasp the concept.

Alenna stirred, woken by their voices and the smell of Kibble. She stood up to stretch, but then she staggered and slumped against the rock of the cave wall. Sam helped her up.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “I'm just a bit dizzy.”

Sam felt her forehead with his paw. “You're burning up!”

He sat her gently down on the floor again, while Weskar checked her injured leg. Under the bandage he discovered an ugly red swelling. “I don't like the look of that very much,” he said.

Alenna peered down at her ankle. “It's fine. I just got up too fast. I'll be OK.”

Weskar applied more disinfectant and retied the bandage while Sam passed around the breakfast ration. Once they had eaten, Weskar and Sam picked up the packs, and they ducked out of their gem-encrusted camp site and turned their noses in what they hoped was the right direction.

It was soon obvious to both dogs that Alenna wasn't well. Shivers racked her body, and she was forced to lean on Sam's arm as she stumbled along. Pain showed in the grim set of her features, but determination drove her on as she tried to keep up a steady pace.

Their fortunes seemed to have improved, however, for they had entered a very straight passage with an even floor, and the going was easy. After a few minutes, Sam stopped to examine the walls. “This tunnel looks different,” the Saint explained, in answer to Weskar's quizzical expression. “It's too regular to be natural.”

Sam's suspicions were soon proved true, when they came to a heavy wooden frame, blackened with age, which supported the cave roof.

“There's no doubt now! We're in an old mine.” An excited grin lit up Sam's face, and his tail waved too and fro. “This is great! There must have been an easy way out of these workings. If we find it, and if the roof hasn't fallen in, we should be out of here in no time.”

Spirits buoyed, they set off again. The roof was high enough that they could walk without stooping, and there were no boulders to clamber over. However, Sam's prediction had not come true after half an hour, and Alenna's condition seemed to be getting worse.

They were considering whether to stop for a rest when the torches revealed a cavern ahead. Long-forgotten miners had quarried a vein of ore from the mountain, leaving an empty stope which vanished into the darkness above their heads. Fallen timber littered the floor, the remains of ancient ladders and platforms. Twisting strands of wire rope and steel girders lay rusting between piles of ore.

At the far side of the cavern, the tunnel continued. Iron rails began in the chamber, and their twin parallel lines followed the new tunnel. Sam inspected their metal, and nodded in approval. Then he began a search of the chamber, while Alenna rested on a boulder.

The Saint examined a few items, and cast them aside. Then Weskar saw his tail wagging. “Brilliant!” he exclaimed.

The smaller dog joined him to examine his find. It was a steel hopper on wheels, designed to carry ore out of the mine. It lay on its side, half full of rock, with one wheel missing. However, Sam was poking and prodding enthusiastically. “Here's our ticket out of here, Wesk-a-dog!” he grinned.

Alenna sat cross-legged, her tail curled around her legs, and held the torch while the two dogs threw all the rocks out of the hopper. That done, they tried to tip it upright, but it proved to be too heavy. Undaunted, Sam hunted about the chamber until he found a sturdy steel girder which he was just able to lift.

Weskar watched with interest as Sam positioned a rock and used it as a fulcrum for the girder, levering up the side of the hopper. Weskar rolled more rocks under the gap to hold it while Sam repositioned his fulcrum. In this way, they managed to jack up the hopper until it was close to the point of balance. Then, with the two of them pushing together, they tipped it upright.

As a machine, it had seen better days. Rust holes and manifold dents gave testament to years of rough treatment. However, it had been well built, and its battered sides disguised a sturdy frame.

Sam busied himself with the missing wheel, which was soon fitted back onto the axle with the aid of the lever and what Sam cheerfully described as 'careful adjustment', meaning whacking it with a heavy rock. He even managed to scrape some ancient grease out of the gears of an old mine winch which had once hauled the hopper up the inclined tunnel. A bent nail served as the pin to keep the wheel on its shaft. Sam stood back and surveyed his handiwork with pride, ignoring Weskar's dubious expression.

Then, with a lot of pushing and levering, they managed to manoeuvre the hopper back onto its rails. Sam jammed a rock under the wheel to make sure it didn't start without them, and took a good look down the tunnel. It sloped gently away into the darkness, running straight as far as the torch would illuminate.

“I hope it's steep enough to get us moving!” Sam said. “I don't fancy pushing this thing all the way.”

Alenna tried to stand, but she swayed and had to sit back down, her body caught in a fit of shaking. Sam took off his shirt and wrapped it around her shoulders, and they lifted her gently into the hopper. She sat in the bottom and leaned on the side, resting on the packs, and Sam and Weskar jumped up and crouched beside her.

Sam stood at the front of the car. Shirtless and with his thick fur matted and dusty, he looked every bit like an old-time miner. He held a length of old plank in his paws, and wore a broad grin on his face. He looked at the others. “Are we ready?”

“I was born ready!” came a murmur from Alenna.

The reason for the plank became apparent as Sam reached down and knocked the rock away from the wheel. Nothing happened, for the tracks were almost level. The big dog leaned over the side and planted the end of the plank on the rocky floor. The muscles in his broad shoulders tensed as he pushed on the timber like a gondolier.

There was a creaking sound, which rose to a metallic screech as the ancient bearings began to move. Sam shifted his plank and leaned on it again, and now the hopper tilted forward as it entered the tunnel, and they started to pick up speed.

“All aboard!” he cried, pulling in his plank and sitting down. “The next stop is wherever this tunnel goes. For your own safety, please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times!”

For the first few minutes they rumbled down a gentle slope, their progress marred only by occasional lurches as they crossed uneven joints. Sam shone the torch ahead to light their way, and it was a relief to sit back and let gravity do the work.

At one point the walls ahead disappeared, and Sam had time to yell “Bridge!” before they clattered over a rickety wooden structure which spanned another deep underground chasm. Weskar felt the trolley sway alarmingly, and they wouldn't have been brave enough to cross if they had been going slow enough to stop. Before they had time to be frightened, they plunged back into the tunnel on the far side.

Not far after the bridge, the tunnel levelled out and the hopper-trolley creaked to a halt. Sam and Weskar took turns pushing so that Alenna didn't have to walk, and they made good progress. The trolley was quite easy to push once they got it rolling, and Sam praised the quality of the ancient bearings.

They rounded a corner and passed another rusting mine winch, and the tunnel began to slope downwards again. Weskar tripped over a stray loop of wire cable and fell flat on his face. He jumped up again in time to see the hopper-car picking up speed without him. “Come on, Wesk!” yelled Sam. “This is the last train!”

The Shepherd sprinted after the receding car, and managed to catch the back and swing himself up. “Full steam ahead!” he cried, exhilarated by the ride.

“You boys are having way too much fun with this!” said Alenna from where she sat hunched in the back of the car.

The gradient in the new tunnel grew steeper, and they picked up speed. Soon the rumble of the wheels rose to a roar, and Sam's ears flapped in the slipstream. The car swayed and bounced dangerously as they crossed bumps and joints in the rails at a speed they were never designed for.

“I forgot about brakes!” yelled Sam, still grinning and wagging his fluffy tail despite their breakneck speed. However, even he had to admit they were getting out of control. He scrambled to the back of the car, leaned out, and jammed the end of his plank against one wheel.

Their speed dropped as he leaned his weight on the end of the plank – just in time, as they clattered around a curve and the car nearly jumped off its rails.

Then the tunnel became even steeper, and once again they picked up speed. A burning smell came to their noses from the improvised brakes. Desperately, the Saint leaned harder. The ancient timber broke in two and dropped to the ground in their wake, and Sam pitched forward into the bottom of the car.

Now they were definitely out of control, and the wooden roof supports flashed past so fast they were a blur. Another curve approached, and the two dogs threw their weight against the side of the hopper to keep it upright as it lurched and teetered. Then they hit a bump and became airborne for an instant, crashing back onto the rails with a bang.

Suddenly the walls and roof fell away as they shot out into a new cavern. Crouched in the front of the car and holding the torch, Weskar caught a fleeting glimpse of the rails ahead vanishing below a shiny surface, and then the hiss of water replaced the rumble of the wheels as the car plunged into a pool. It skipped along the surface like a motorboat, then sank gracefully in as it lost speed. Then there was a thump and a lurch, and Weskar banged into the front of the hopper as it stopped abruptly.

The torch flew from Weskar's paw and splashed into the water. Sam's furry bulk landed on top of him, and Alenna and the packs slid into Sam.

There was a moment of confusion as they untangled themselves in the pitch black darkness. “End of the line, folks!” announced Sam as he helped Alenna to sit up. “Are we sinking?”

Water lapped around their paws, but it didn't get any higher. “We're on the bottom, I think.” Weskar's voice shook from the excitement of the ride. A splashing sound suggested that Sam was feeling around in the darkness. “There seems to be water all around!” he announced.

Weskar checked around the front of the mine cart. “There's a boulder here, but it's slippery. We need some light!”

Sam was already rummaging in the pack for the other torch, and Weskar heard him flicking the switch. “Damn!” he muttered. “I think I landed on it.”

They were silent for a moment as they contemplated the possibility of trying to escape the caves in complete darkness. Then Weskar heard a little jangling sound, and a tiny glint of light appeared.

“Look at this!” Alenna's weak voice held a note of excitement. The glint of light came from where she sat at the back of the car. “It's my gift! There's light coming from inside it – but I don't know how to open it...”

The light moved, and Weskar imagined her holding the little pendant up and inspecting its surface.

“There's a crack there, but it won't pull apart.”

The light vanished again as she cradled it in her paw.

“Well,” said Sam, “That's interesting but not very useful. I suppose we'll have to feel our way. Which will take ten times longer, and we'll probably go in circles, but hopefully it's not much further...”

His voice trailed off as a soft blue light appeared in the chinks between Alenna's fingers. She opened her paw, and the light washed over them. The pendant had elongated, and a section in the middle shone with a pale blue iridescence.

“What did you do?” Wonder filled Sam's voice as he peered more closely.

“Just held it in my paw.” They could see Alenna's face in the soft light, and a rare smile of pure joy suffused her features as she stared into the depths of the pendant.

“You just needed to warm it up!”

The gentle glow was enough to reveal their surroundings. The cart had come to rest on the shore of a dark pool. Weskar grinned as he scrambled out onto a boulder. “Nice parking!”

A jumble of rocks rose up before them from a cave-in of the roof. At the top of the slope, he could just make out a low opening.

He helped Alenna up on to the rock, and Sam climbed up after them. Then, with Sam supporting Alenna and Weskar scouting about for the easiest way, they climbed the slope. The Ridgeback seemed reluctant to part with her light pendant, so Sam helped her to hold it up where its light could illuminate the way ahead.

Boulders filled the tunnel from floor to ceiling, but near the top of the pile Weskar found a round opening in the wall. A concrete shaft led away into the darkness, and a faint breeze stirred in his whiskers. He sniffed cautiously, and his heart gave a flutter when he smelled a familiar small.

“It smells like City technology up here!”

Sam's nose wasn't as good, but he'd learned to trust Weskar's olfactory abilities. “You first... I'll help Alenna.”

The Ridgeback shivered constantly, and it took them ten minutes of uncomfortable crawling to help her through the tunnel. At last they were able to clamber out through the remains of a bent steel mesh, and into a larger room.

Sam stretched his cramped back. The faint pendant light revealed bare concrete walls and a bank of equipment cabinets, from which heavy cables snaked up to the roof. A concrete stair lead up to a steel door. They climbed the stairs and tried the door, which creaked open.

They entered a circular room, and the sterile white walls and dark linoleum floor immediately reminded Weskar of the city. Had they accidentally gone in a circle, and found their way back? He flinched as he imagined the Prefect's guards bursting in through the door at the far side of the room.

But all was quiet, and Weskar shook off his paranoia and followed Sam as the big Saint circled the room. Control panels lined the walls in curved banks. Some contained arrays of heavy switches, decorated with brightly coloured diagrams and symbols, while others contained display monitors. Two other doors led out of the room. A bold yellow line crossed the floor from the far door, and terminated at a control panel which stood a little apart from the others.

Sam found the only sign of electrical life in the entire room, in the form of a tiny red light blinking on the side of this panel. It drew the big dog like a moth, and he ran his paw over the smooth but empty display screen, disturbing a thin film of dust.

Weskar jumped when the panel emitted a Bloop sound and lit up. A complex diagram of lines, coloured symbols and text appeared. It meant nothing to Weskar, but Sam started following through it, his technical mind assembling a picture of the underlying circuits.

“These systems have automatically shut down due to low power levels,” he said. After studying the digram a bit more, he tapped a graphic on the screen, then ran his paw over another with a sliding motion. A faint hum came from the panel, and light strips in the ceiling powered up, flooding the room with white light. After spending days in the caves with only the feeble light of the torch, they blinked and squinted in the glare.

Sam stared at the screens, piecing together more of their ancient technical language with every minute. He touched a symbol which brought up another graphic.

“We'd better hurry,” he said with a wry smile. “This system will only run for another fifty years or so.”

“It was built to last, just like the city,” croaked Alenna from where she leaned against the wall. The room had awakened her interest, but she was obviously still very sick.

Weskar tried the other doors while Sam continued his rapt study of the control panel. The far door – from which the yellow line emerged – led to a long concrete hallway which Weskar decided to save for later. The other door revealed a smaller room, also circular in shape. Weskar's jaw dropped open at what he saw, and he called for the others to join him.

Polished marble walls gleamed in the light of elegant spotlights fitted into the ceiling. Four rows of large portrait photos formed a gallery around the curving walls. Set into a recess behind a glass panel, each picture showed something which looked a lot like the canines of New Hope City, but smaller, and obviously four-footed.

They were beautifully photographed, bright and lifelike despite the passing of centuries. A plaque bore the name, gender and breed of each animal. Below each portrait, another glass-fronted alcove contained a small urn, simple but elegant, and a sealed vial enclosing a lock of canine fur.

An inscription made from silver letters curved around the marble wall above the portraits. It read simply, ‘The Hundred'.

In the centre of the room there stood a pedestal with a glass front. Behind the glass, the canines found a portrait of a most unusual animal. It stood tall on two legs as they did, and it wore clothing, but it seemed to lack fur except on top of its head. Its features were also strange, having a flat face, hardly any nose, and ears set low on the sides of its head rather than on top.

Below the photo, they read this inscription:

Robert John Williams

The Last Human

Smaller text followed, written in archaic language. Here is the gist of what the canines read:

This memorial commemorates the First Hundred, who gave their DNA to my great project.

Humanity is gone, destroyed finally by our own foolishness. First came the great warming, then came the great cold, and finally the sickness. We did not know where it came from, but it was of our making.

Somehow spared, I was left with the great choice: leave Gaia to evolve intelligent life anew, or try to preserve something from the Human Race. I have chosen the latter.

From humanity come the gifts of reason, knowledge, science and art. From humanity's longest companion come the gifts of strength, courage, adaptability and fortitude.

From the Human, Knowing.

From the Dog, Being.

From Both, Feeling.

From Time, Wisdom.

We dream of utopia, but can offer only the chance of a new beginning.

Dr Robert J Williams

Biologist, Scientist

Last Human

2255 AD

“Human?” said Weskar, sounding out the unfamiliar word.

Alenna coughed, and leaned on Sam's arm. “You would know them as 'Protectors', Weskar,” she said. Her voice was faint and hoarse, but Weskar could detect a solemness to it. “So it's true....”

The Shepherd felt dizzy. “What's true? What are these animals who look a bit like us but have four legs? And this Robert Williams?”

“It was a theory some of the outsiders had. They thought we were engineered – cloned – from the DNA of two species. The humans – like Robert Williams – and the canines of his time.”

Weskar gripped the pillar as his world turned upside down. Before him lay the answer to the great mystery of where they came from and who the “Protectors” were. The human smiling solemnly behind the glass was their God, and he was long dead.

And with the realisation, finally, of the truth, a kind of peace came to Weskar. The wise, ancient, dead truth of Robert Williams showed up all the sordid layers of petty scheming and self-serving lies behind the Prefects and the “Protector” myth, and Weskar felt no more obligation to the Prefect, or any need to justify the contradictory beliefs. Truth was his to discover and there was nothing left to fear.

Weskar stood by the pedestal, and looked up in awe at the pictures of his ancestors.