From: miller@unicomp.net (Adam Miller)
Subject: [story]  The Deep
Date: Sun, 11 Jun 1995 16:18:06 GMT

              Copyright 1995 by Russell A. Miller

				The Deep
		As far as he could see around him there was the city-- bright,
gleaming and metallic.  Ardik thought, if he focused hard enough, that
he could get out of here and into there.
He closed his eyes and tried to blot out the constant sound of the
wind's banshee howl and visualize himself moving into the city.  But
it was no good.  He took the bead away from his eyes, and blinked as
his eyes re-adjusted to the darkness.
		Ardik sat down for a moment to reconnoiter.  He was sick of walking;
besides, he didn't even know if this was the right direction.  If he
wanted to rest, it would have to be in the light and the only light
besides the various floating objects were the panels in the floor.
Step on one, and it would glow.  That was the first thing he'd learned
when he'd been dumped into the Deep.  Dumped-- now that was an odd
word for him to have chosen.  There wasn't even an up here that he
could be dumped from.  Ardik, not for the first time, tried to look
around, tried to use his flashlight, but nothing could penetrate the
inky blackness for more than twenty feet.  Ahead and behind him the
tiles extended into the distance.  His was lit up, and a few others
far in the distance, but that was it.
		Ardik felt slightly groggy.  He hadn't been here that long, but the
constant dark did strange things to his perception of time.  By his
count, he'd lost at least 7 hours of sleep time since he came here,
and it would be so nice too-- NO!  He must not sleep.  Too
dangerous--the creatures.  Ardik forced himself into a lotus position
in the center of the floor, away from where the tiles dropped off into
blackness.  Inhaling deeply, he began his breathing exercises-- five
minutes per nostril-- and clamped his jaw down so tightly that his
gums hurt.  He couldn't take the chance of accidentally saying his
mantra.  He'd made that mistake when he'd first arrived, and didn't
want to repeat it.  He'd taken a deep breath and focused on the sound
of his mantra-- "OM".  And when he'd stopped afterwards, gathered all
around him were the creatures, with their writhing, glowing bodies and
their odd, slight movements as they flitted and flew across the deep
to spiral around him, making their otherworldly clicks and ululations.
They'd gathered around him when he'd first tried to meditate, curious
at the sound of his mantra.  And they'd just stayed there, just out of
reach, their gaping mouths opening and closing, their bodies pulsating
and glowing madly on and off like deranged fireflies, and stared at
him with their vast, hungry eyes.
		And so, he had sat there.  Not saying a word. Not moving a muscle.
Just breathing deeply in the lotus position, trying not to make any
movements.  He had had to sit that way for four hours before the
creatures became bored and left.
		But this time there was only one or two creatures in the far distance.
Instead of clearing his mind he focused instead on trying to remember.
He had a name--Ardick-- but that didn't mean much.  Was it a first
name or a last name?  And where was he from? He tried to remember, but
almost nothing was there, save for the dull, throbbing pain from his
bruised forehead, and a vague memory of being escorted down a hall by
someone in uniform-a military tribunal, a prison guard, perhaps?
Rubbing at the bump, idly trying to recall something, he spied a shape
floating in the darkness, just two or three feet away.
		It eyes reflected brilliant green, and it made a deep gnashing sound.
The thing hung there for a second and then-- it plunged toward him.
Instinct took over and Ardik fell into an attack crouch, flashlight
forward to blind the beast in its pure green eyes.  It caught the
glare full force, blinked fiercely-- and kept right on coming.  The
thing was all scales and claws and mouth, mostly mouth.  Ardik backed
up as near as he dared to the tile's drop-off and tried to make a jump
kick.  His foot glided effortlessly through the air, connecting
solidly with the creature for about half a second, and then he was
hitting nothing.  He tried to correct for the momentum, but it was too
late and he fell badly.  There was a sickening thump.  The flashlight
had rolled away.  It shown on him now and the smell of blood and fear
mingled in the air.  Ardik sat up weakly; his ankle felt twisted.  He
looked around wildly, trying to get up, and then he saw it.  The
creature, only two feet away from him, its red claws snapping
viciously, tail lashing and wings flapping spasmodically, rolled over
and fell asleep, the victim of a complex, circuitry encrusted dart
sticking  out of its side next to the crushed area where Ardik's foot
had connected.
		Picking up the flashlight, he got up unsteadily.  The ankle wasn't
twisted, just bruised.  He turned the flashlight in a slow 360 arc,
looking for the owner of the dart.  In the distance he could see a few
portals floating around.  He had discovered the portals as soon as
he'd arrived when a few smaller ones had floated by the tiled path. .
He'd grabbed one of the smallest ones-- barely as big as a bead-- and
peered through.  It had looked liked it might lead back to home, back
to the city.  It hadn't been big enough to go through, but he'd kept
the bead anyway.
		Ardik heard a low hiss and turned around.  The glow of the flashlight
fell on some sort of personal aircraft floating not two feet in front
of him in which a large humanoid, covered in arcane electronic gear,
was hissing at him, a very large gun held in one clawed hand.  Ardik
greeted the humanoid.  Ignoring  Ardik entirely, it peremptorily drove
its vehicle over to the body, put it inside, and quickly vanished back
into the blackness.  Ardik shined his flashlight at the receding
vehicle for a long time, and then began walking forward again.  He had
to get out of here.
				*		*		*
		Hours passed slowly.  Ardik walked along the lighted tile path in the
blackness looking for portals.  He'd passed many gateways, of all
sizes, leading to odd places--one had looked like it dropped into the
middle of a violent tempest.  Brilliant arcs and funnels of lightning
would appear through the dense rain every couple of seconds, throwing
the barren wasteland below into a strange bas-relief.  That scene
stuck in Ardik's mind well after he'd passed it.  That was one of the
few he'd been able to interpret.
		After walking for a while, he felt better.  The more he saw of the
Deep's odd grandeur, the better he felt.  Perhaps he wasn't any closer
to getting home, but maybe that wasn't so bad.  He felt important;
surely he had been sent on a mission of some kind.  As he passed by
yet more portals, he remembered vague faces which had stared at him.
They had stared at him as he passed down the hallway.  Him, Ardik--,
Ardik Samren!  That was it!  He must have been an explorer.  That was
it.  Most of the faces had been smiling, although one or two had
looked glum.  Probably some had been afraid for him.  With difficulty,
he tried for a second to remember what some of the specific faces had
looked like.
		And then he saw the portal.
		He'd passed many in a waking stupour, their endless diversity strange
but unmeaningful.  But ahead, in a group of portals composed of a few
small beads, some gigantic ovals, and a few man sized circles, he'd
seen what looked like the bead's match.  Fumbling forward, dragging
his weak ankle awkwardly behind him, he lurched toward where the
portals were drifting in front of the path.
		They were passing slowly, and the one that Ardik wanted was right in
the middle of them, drifting to his left, eight feet above the path.
He riffled through his pockets hurriedly.  There was some paper, and
the remnants of an old chocolate bar--but where was the bead?  The
sound of the chasm-wind had picked up, and the portals were drifting
faster now.  The doors glided majestically above the lighted path,
heralded by the strange cries of the wind.
		He could hear his breathing now, and it was ragged and uncertain.  His
bad leg felt numb.  His heart felt like it was clenching down.  He was
almost at the portal.
		Ardik finally found the bead and held it to his eye.  They both looked
about the same.
		The portal was just ten feet in front of him, but still too high to
jump through.  Instead, he jumped onto one of the smaller portals, one
too small for him to fall through, and used it as a stepping sound.
It gave slightly and he pushed off again, spiraling forward, seemingly
in slow motion, as he approached his chosen portal.  Ardik Samren,
explorer not prisoner, would return a hero to his people, and greet
all the smiling faces, and tell them of the strange place which he
called the Deep.

		He somersaulted through the air.
	
		His face broke into a wide smile.  This definitely led to home.  He
could see it as he approached the portal-- the familiar city, the
monorail whistling through the high, illuminated buildings, the dense
urban sprawl of cars and busses and airships.  He pushed off the
floater and leapt through the gateway, falling onto something which
felt like grass.  It was grass!  Behind him the portal dilated shut.
He stood and breathed deeply of the night air, looking around him in
satisfaction, before nodding off to sleep.  He'd done it!
		Day dawned faintly, and Ardik  awoke to find himself on lush green
grass, underneath the pale radiance of a white dwarf far above,
shining faintly, and the deep, deep, green sky above him.  He was
finally home--  wasn't he?

	Perhaps he'd been a prisoner after all.