The Trilisk Supersedure - By Michael McCloskey Page 0,1

hills.

He walked up the draw, remaining wary. He hopped from rock to rock trying to avoid the plants and thus hopefully the fauna as well. A cliff rose on his right, starting as a small cleft in the rock then rising meter after meter until it was a sheer rocky barrier.

DeVries found a cave entrance in the side of the cliff. When he stopped to examine it, he quickly noticed the entrance had been carved smooth. A ceramic grating of an odd design blocked the way. The grating had about a dozen strong vertical bars, with about eight centimeters of space between each one. The bars were only about four centimeters wide, but very deep. The openings extended about thirty centimeters to the far side. He resisted the urge to try and stick his arm through one. The other side was dark, and he didn’t feel like finding out what danger might lurk there.

DeVries grunted. Apparently, the water wasn’t his alone.

Unless whoever made this is long fallen to dust. Could be a ruin.

He accessed his scanner over his link. Without taking the device out of his pack, the scanner had a limited range, but DeVries just wanted to check for nearby danger. The scanner picked up some anomalies ahead. DeVries carefully cleared a rise of spiky rock and tried again.

Lifeforms. Humans. Now he was sure.

Can’t be the space force. This has to be colonists. Out here in the middle of nowhere? Oh, of course. They must be here for the water, same as me.

DeVries took stock of his gear. He had two weapons: a PSG stunner and a Veer Industries plastic knife. A laughable arsenal by his standards, but of course he had had to keep a low profile to escape. He squeezed the knife in his iron grip, as if flexing his need to kill. He felt half inclined to carve on whomever he found one by one just to pass the time. But he was curious, too, so he decided to talk it out first.

He put away his knife but loosened the clasp holding his stunner in place. Then he climbed a little farther. The wall on his right had a tunnel carved into it. There was a spot for another of the ceramic grates, but the grate had been pulled out and set to one side. He would have to crouch a bit, but the tunnel was clearly passable for Terrans. It had rough red walls with gaps where the rock had split and cracked. DeVries walked into the tunnel.

He heard voices. The urgent rhythm of the hissed whispers told him they had detected him.

“I come in peace,” he called out. “I am only one man.” His voice echoed ahead. He estimated there must be many chambers and passageways.

“Please leave us be. We’re not with the space force,” replied someone.

DeVries’s heart rate increased.

How could they possibly know I’m concerned about the space force? They can’t.

He took a few more steps forward. The outside light filtered in through another of the large gratings in the ceiling of a small, square room. The far side had a low wall built around its corner, which made DeVries think of a well. Four men in robes stood by the wall with blue plastic containers. Two of the men wore reddish robes, the color of the rocks outside, and two of them wore yellow. DeVries had to double check that they were men, wondering if two of them might be women. But they all looked male. Three had short, dark hair. One was bald. The robes made them appear simple, but he reminded himself they could have any kind of equipment under the plain coverings.

“What makes you think I care about the space force?” asked DeVries. His voice was calm, soothing even. He knew most people found his appearance nonthreatening.

“You’re their enemy, correct? You’re from the UED?”

“No. What makes you think the UED would be here? Oh. You’ve been cut off, haven’t you? United Earth Defiance lost the war.”

“That does not concern us. But we have seen UED forces here recently.”

“Really?”

“A squadron of marines. We assumed you were one of them.”

Wow. Small universe. At least it seems that way when everyone flocks to rocky planets in the habitable zone.

“I’m a free agent,” DeVries said carefully. “How about yourselves?”

“We’re here for an amazing denizen of this world, the Konuan.”

“Never heard of it. Is it valuable? You’re hunters?”

“The Konuan. They used to live here by the thousands. Maybe the millions. They created a city