“Hurry, Lan! Your shuttle's coming!” called Lythandi. I paid the news stand attendant, stuffed the newspaper in my satchel, and trotted back to where Lythandi and Naldantis were waiting at the front of the subsurface shuttle platform. I was lucky to have the first shuttle in this flight of shuttles at the boarding platform. I didn't have time to dawdle, though. The first shuttle to arrive was also the first to leave. The Shuttle Authority would be quite happy to charge me for a second ticket if my first shuttle left without me.

       The shuttle doors opened as I reached Lythandi and Naldantis. The klizatch of the other family that would be sharing the shuttle with me began to shepherd his charges aboard.

       “Have a good trip,” said Naldantis, handing me my duffel. “We'll see you in a week!”

       “Keep an eye out for Sten, will you? I haven't heard from him, and I'm starting to worry,” said Lythandi as she gave me a hug.

       “I will,” I replied. I saw the warning light over the shuttle door begin to blink, so I hefted my duffle and quickly stepped through the doorway.

       “Bye!” I waved as the doors closed. The shuttle pulled smoothly away from the platform, and I watched Naldantis and Lythandi waving back at me from the brightly lit platform until the black edge of the tunnel suddenly hid them from view.

       I made my way to the seat left open for me at the front of the shuttle. I managed to stow my duffle under my seat and sit down without falling despite the jostling of the shuttle as it maneuvered through the switch yard. The shuttle had big windows on all sides, and I caught the occasional glimpse of another shuttle routing its way to its destination, between support columns in the twilight gloom of the switch yard. Shortly, even that view was gone as our shuttle found the track to Dalsport and the tunnel walls hemmed us in closely.

       The inside of the shuttle was brightly lit. My traveling companions were a klizan, klizatch, and their young child. Father and daughter were sitting on the long bench seat across from the door, deeply involved in a game of patty-cake. The klizan and I sat on the opposite bench seat, with the door between us. She pulled a briefcase out from under her seat, opened it on her lap, and was soon taking notes in the margins of her paperwork.

       I pulled the Dalsport Herald out of my satchel and squirmed around to get comfortable. As an apprentice mage, Da had set me to do a week of field work on my own. Da had arranged a few contacts to get me started in Dalsport, but that wouldn't keep me busy or pay my living expenses for the whole time. I had to find and negotiate jobs by myself after that. It was exciting, and scary too. I knew the basics, but there was still a lot of magic I had left to learn, and Da would watch over my shoulder if I had to do anything too complicated. Dalsport is much bigger than my home town. It is a major shipping port on Great Lake Vinibesta, and it has a college to boot. There would be plenty to do even for someone at my skill level. The real question was whether I could dicker well enough to be able to eat anything besides cheap noodles at the end of the day.

       The headlines of the Herald were still covering the cleanup efforts from the hurricane that hit the South Urdu coast, which is thousands of miles away. Archmage Tanindra had summoned Na and Da to consult on building a desperately needed temporary power plant. My Da would show them how it's done!

       I flipped to the want-ads and started skimming. The college theater group was looking for help on their next production — perfect! Plus, the college would be the logical place to look for Sten. He was supposed to be finishing his art degree there. Lythandi hadn't heard from him in weeks. She was getting really worried, though she hadn't told Na and Da yet. I didn't know how she expected me to find him in a city like Dalsport, but the college was the place to start.

       Suddenly, the lights went out. The electric hum of the shuttle's motors, fans, and lights stopped, leaving an eerie quiet and pitch darkness.

       “Nana!” wailed the kit.

       There was a sound like a freight train rapidly approaching. Then I was thrown violently through the air.

       It was as if one of the giant mountain dragons had grabbed our shuttle in its mouth and shaken its head. We rattled around the inside of the shuttle like nuts in a tin can, in absolute blackness. The roaring sound was deafening and our screams were inaudible. I don't know how long it lasted; it lasted forever.

       All the hell Da put me through paid off. I had my shield up before I hit the far wall of the shuttle. I didn't break anything, but it didn't prevent me from bouncing off the wall or being shaken up. As I hit the floor, I added another layer to my shield, capturing part of the shuttle and locking myself in place. As quickly as I could, I added layer after layer, expanding my shield until everything inside the shuttle was frozen in place. I don't know but that it didn't make the experience worse — every jolt and gyration of the shuttle I felt too.

       After being shaken that violently, it was hard to tell when the earthquake subsided. It was another tearful cry of “Nana!” that drew me out of my catatonia. I gathered my scattered wits (I could almost hear my Da scolding me) and summoned up a magelight. By its golden glow I surveyed the cabin. Luggage had flown free of the bins and was scattered about. I was in the front of the shuttle, and the further toward the back, the more chaotic things were. There were papers suspended in mid air. The klizatch was in an almost comical pose, like a dancer suspended in mid leap. The klizan, furthest away, was clutching on to the bench . . . with a leg bent at a sickening angle that could only mean a broken bone.

       “Nana!”

       The kit's cries drew her parents' attention. The kid was trapped underneath me, pinned to the floor. Their eyes snapped and they snarled at me with fury. My breath caught in my chest. Oh no! On top of everything else, the sight of me threatening their child had instantly enraged the adults. I was extremely thankful that the layered shields kept everyone immobile. If they could have reached me, they would have gutted me already. I was tormented by the kit's obvious distress and I wasn't even her parent! The Velan protective instinct is brutal.

       Carefully, I dispelled the innermost shields. Quickly, I got off the child and moved as far away as I could, pressing myself against the front wall of the shuttle and tipping my chin up slightly in submission. The kit stood up unsteadily and stumbled her way toward her parents. She tripped once — the floor seemed to no longer be quite level. Her parents' eyes followed her avidly. She bounced off the remaining shields and cried again, “Dada!” Their eyes flicked back to me.

       Taking my life in my hands, slowly I released the klizatch. I let free one straining limb at a time so he didn't fall indecorously to the floor. As soon as he was loose, my heart skipped a beat, but he went down on his knees and scooped the kit into his arms. There, the kit was safe.

       I gave him a long moment to calm down, then released the klizan. Papers fluttering to the ground caught the golden light. She slumped to the floor, then gave an agonized yelp as her broken leg shifted to a new position. Nevertheless, she too reached out to gather up her daughter into a hug.

       When I was pretty sure the kit's parents weren't going to kill me anyway, I sank to the floor. I took deep breath and let it out.

       Clearly, the klizan's leg needed attention. I reached for my duffel where it had skipped across the floor and dragged it to me. Opening it, I pawed through its contents.

       “What happened?” asked the father, in a surprisingly calm voice.

       “Earthquake, I think. Big one,” I replied, trying to decide which shirt was my least favorite. This t-shirt made of thick Terran cloth would make an excellent bandage, but I cajoled Da into letting me borrow it by promising to take care of it. This shirt Lythandi gave me as a gift, but the colors are rather pastel. I was hoping to buy something more vibrant in Dalsport. Which would be the honorable choice?

       “I mean, after that.”

       “Oh, Well, I'm an apprentice mage to Bri- ah, Bryindra.” I almost said Brian Starfire, but caught myself. I couldn't be prouder of my klizen, but the point of this week was to stand without holding a tail. An outright lie would be terribly dishonorable; I hoped a roundabout truth would do. I continued on, hoping he would not notice my hesitation. “I used a shield spell to hold us in place. I'm sorry that it took me so long to protect everyone. Let me see what I can do for your mate's leg. Ah, neither of you are healers, are you?” I asked belatedly.

       “No, I'm afraid not. I am Toctiran ne Par, and my mate is Valgenis nal Par.”

       A librarian and a professor. No wonder they were on their way to Dalsport. "I think we should splint your mate's leg and get her into a more comfortable position," I told Toctiran.

       "With what?"

       "With these," I replied, and held up the shirt that Lythandi gave me and my battered copy of the Dalsport Herald. I got up and walked the few steps to where Valgenis was holding her daughter. The kilzan was mostly lying on her belly, but was in a rather awkward position after sliding off the bench. I hunkered down in front of her and introduced myself.

       "Hello. I'm Lan. I think you would be more comfortable and your leg would hurt less if we splinted it and got you set up on the bench. Would you like to do that?" I asked, trying to sounds respectful and solicitous at the same time.

       "Yes. Thank you, Lanin'," she replied. She had been listening. Even adding the partial suffix gave me a lot of credit; I felt buoyed by her compliment.

       "OK, here's what we'll do." I took the Herald and separated it into two sheaves. "Toctiran, take these and roll them into two tubes, as tightly as you can." I took a claw and ripped the shirt into long narrow strips, then tied those to make even longer bandages. When I had done what I could, I moved back to Valgenis's leg. I had been trying not to think about it, but looking at it again reawaked my queasiness. Valgenis's thigh and knee were pointed down, but her ankle and foot were pointing up towards the ceiling. A thought, and I glanced at Toctiran. "Do you want to do it?"

       "No," he answered, not looking any more comfortable about the situation than I was.

       I closed my eyes and steeled myself. "I'm going to straighten your foot and set the bone. You might want to grab something."

       She set her daughter down away from her for a moment, and grabbed on to one of the bench legs with both hands. "OK."

       I grasped her ankle and foot firmly, pulled outward, rotated downward, and let the bones ease back into place. I thought I felt something match up and settle, so I figured it must have worked. The bench creaked and Valgenis let out a strangled groan. I was glad she didn't scream, or I would have lost my nerve completely.

       "There, it's set. I'll splint it now." I motioned to Toctiran. He placed the stiff newspaper tubes on each side of Valgenis's leg, and I tied them above and below the break with my cloth strips. What I had left over, I wrapped in a spiral around the whole thing, for luck.

       "OK, we're done. Let's get you up on the long bench over there."

       Toctiran helped her roll onto her back, swinging her uninjured leg up and over and keeping the broken leg as still as possible. Now she was leaning back on her elbows, blinking away tears so she could look at Toctiran and I.

       "Let's put your back up against the front window here."

       Toctiran lifted her at the arm pits while I carefully lifted at her knees, and we got her up on the bench and propped up in the corner. Toctiran turned, picked up his little girl, and put her in his mate's lap.

       The kit looked fearful of the tears in her mother's eyes, until Valgenis said, "Give Nana a hug." The kit needed no second urging. I heard her snuffling "Nana" into the fur of her mother's neck, while Valgenis patted her back. "There, there, Tes."

       Awww, I thought.

       Toctiran began gathering the scattered papers and stuffing them into the briefcase, and then stuffing the luggage back into the bins under the seats. Wiping my eyes quickly, I grabbed up my duffel and satchel and stowed them as well.

       Shortly, we were all sitting on the shuttle benches, looking at each other. Even little Tes, curled up against her mother's chest, was staring at me.

       I felt emotionally worn out, but my thoughts kept bouncing around in my head. Why were they watching me? What were Valgenis and Toctiran thinking? Were they, too, wondering when we were going to be rescued? What was the situation like on the surface? Would they remember us down here? What about aftershocks? Did we have to worry about air? What was going to happen? There we were, stuck, four of us in a tiny shuttle, probably a thousand feet underground, underneath a giant lake, in the middle of the merest thread of a tunnel, surrounded by miles of solid rock, wondering what was next. I could feel the nas Par looking at me. The weight of the rock above was oppressive. The walls of the shuttle car were close, confining. The air felt stuffy. Tightness in my throat made it hard to swallow, and my chest began to constrict as I felt claustrophobia set in.

       I jumped to my feet. "I'm going to do something," I blurted. I didn't know what. My eyes darted, seeking. There! On the back window. Emergency exit. "I'm going to go out and see if I can find a call box or something."

       I strode over to the window. There were two red latches along the bottom. I released them, and pushed on the window. It swung out slightly, hinged at the top. I could smell the air of the tunnel, a scent of concrete and electrical equipment. Stale perhaps, but not stuffy. I felt much better already. I'm too much of a de Kan to sit still very well.

       I held the window open and peered down, but it was too dark to see. I moved my magelight. There was a lip near the bottom of the shuttle, and the floor of the tunnel was a short drop beyond that. I put one leg through to straddle the window sill, then the other. The dumb window banged against my shoulder and back as I climbed out onto the lip.

       Holding the window out in front of me, I looked down for a clear spot to land. I dropped to the floor of the tunnel, and the window banged shut above me.

       "Nana!" I heard faintly, and realized that I had let it go dark in the cabin of the shuttle. Oops! I positioned my magelight at the top of the window, so it would shine both outside and in.

       There wasn't much to see in the tunnel. There were two rails running along the ground, leading from the shuttle off into the distance. The rails had a complicated cross section, with multiple layers — an off-white ceramic strip, some shiny strips, and the rest covered in a gray patina of dust. I thought I best not touch them, just to be safe. Other than that, the tunnel was empty — no cables or tubing running along the floor or walls, just smooth concrete. Well, mostly smooth. I could see scrapes where our shuttle had left its mark. On the right wall was stenciled a yellow arrow, which pointed towards the shuttle.

       Looking at our shuttle, it was sitting askew, clearly off the rails. It came close to filling the tunnel, with only a few feet of clearance on each side. The way it was sitting now, it was lodged up against one wall, and I could only get by on the other side.

       Again I noticed the word "emergency," written on a panel on the rear of the shuttle. What was this? I found the catch and opened it. There was only a small compartment. It contained a fire extinguisher (oh my, thankfully we hadn't needed that) and a flash light (just what we did need). I clambered back up on the shuttle and stuck my head through the window, which was much trickier to open from the outside.

       "Here, you guys take this flashlight. I'm going to explore down the tunnel," I said as I handed Toctiran the flashlight. He clicked it on and gave me a nod. Valgenis and Tes were looking at a picture book, though I saw Valgenis give me a nod as well. I dropped back down.

       I decided to start my exploration by seeing what I could see. I cranked my magelight up as bright as I could make it, then gave it a magical shove and sent it gliding down the tunnel. Its illumination let me see distant parts of the tunnel faster than I could get there on foot. Still, the tunnel was barren. I found more yellow arrows, but nothing else. When my magelight got too far away, about one hundred yards, I couldn't maintain it and it disappeared. I created a new one above me, and set out at a jog. I counted yellow arrows until I got to the fade-out point, then stopped and sent my magelight ahead again. I repeated this process two more times before something different happened. This time at about fifty yards ahead of me, there was a bright white square painted on the wall. At about seventy five yards, my light hit something and went out.

       I create a new magelight above me and started jogging again. Soon I reached the white square on the wall. It was an access panel of some sort, but big — about three feet by three feet square. Big cables came out of the wall below the panel, ran down the wall, and ran through a trough in the floor across to both rails of the track.

       I released the latch and swung open the door. Inside was a small access tunnel, with cables, pipes, and junction boxes lining the walls and floor. Mounted on the inside of the door was what I had been hoping to find. It was a box with a speaker grille, a large button under the grille, and a light next to the button. Above the box was a printed sticker: "You are at call box: 237. Hold button to talk."

       A call box! I hit the button. Nothing happened. The light stayed dark. I held it down and spoke into the grille.

       "Hello? We're stuck down here in the tunnel. Can anyone hear me?"

       I released the button and listened. Nothing but silence.

       I tried again, "Hello? Hello!"

       No response. I jabbed the button a bunch of times but nothing changed and the light stayed off.

       No luck. The line was dead, or maybe just this box. Damn. Maybe the next one would work. I shut the panel and resumed jogging.

       I hadn't gone far when I noticed a piece of rock lying on the heretofore bare tunnel floor. They were more numerous as I continued. Then I saw what had caused my fragile magelight to disintegrate. Huge slabs of solid rock had fallen through the ceiling of the tunnel and completely sealed off the passageway. There was bent rebar and dangling concrete where rock had forced its way through the ceiling. A mound of rubble, from boulders to pebbles, spilled into the tunnel.

       My heart sank. Still, I clambered over the pile of loose and shifting rubble, looking to see if there was any way though.

       Not a chance.

       I pulled a few rocks out of the way and heaved them down the pile behind me, but every rock I moved revealed even bigger rocks behind it, and I quickly desisted. Nuts! I flung a stone at the rock wall in front of me in frustration, and it ricocheted harmlessly away.

       I carefully worked my way back down the scree slope to the tunnel floor, careful not to twist an ankle on the treacherous footing. Once I got clear of the debris, I began jogging the four hundred yards back to the shuttle.

       When I got to the shuttle, it was easier to go through the shuttle than around it. I clambered in through the rear window.

       "We can't get through that way. There's been a rock slide. I found a call box, but it was dead and I didn't get any answer," I announced to my fellow passengers.

       The nas Par looked dismayed.

       "I'm going to look in the other direction next," I said as I walked across the shuttle cabin and released the red latches that kept the front emergency exit closed.

       The head of the family spoke sharply. "Are you sure you should be wandering about during an emergency?" she asked. "I'm sure the rescue crews know where the shuttle is, and will expect to find us all together. If you get separated from us, they'll have twice as many rescues to perform."

       She had me at a disadvantage, embarrassed. I was uneasy going against the klizan, even if she wasn't my own. I hesitated at the window. "Ma'am . . ."

       She drove home her point. "What would your klizan say?"

       I had to suppress a smile; it would not have been respectful. I knew what Nana would think about her son waiting around helplessly to be rescued! My ears came up. "She'd want me doing the rescuing, Ma'am," I said confidently, and continued out the window.

       I dropped to the tunnel floor and fired up my magelight again. The tunnel looked no different on this side — smooth concrete walls and floor, with two rails running out into the shadows.

       I could hear talking behind me in the shuttle. I don't think my answer was what Valgenis was expecting. This time I didn't have to hold in my smile.

       I started off at a jog again. I hadn't gone far when I came upon another bright white access panel. Swinging the door open, I found another call box on the inside of the door, just like last time. Just like last time, it was dead to all my attempts to raise an operator.

       I continued on, mindlessly watching the yellow arrows on the wall appear out of the gloom and then go past me. I was starting to feel tired, but the situation was too grave to stop for rest already. At least the going seemed a little easier. The arrows coming out of the gloom changed to point away from me.

       Splash, splash!

       I stopped abruptly. My feet were wet — there was water on the floor! I looked behind me — no water; in front of me — water. Just a shallow puddle, but I couldn't see the end of it in the darkness. A frisson of fear ran down my spine and the hair on my back stood up on end. Now I was officially, seriously scared.

       I ran forward with renewed vigor. Splish, splish, splish. Water flew around my feet, the drops collecting on and slowly dampening the fur on my ankles and lower legs. The splashes got bigger with every yellow arrow I passed. A cold ball of fear settled in my stomach. I had touched those stone slabs; there was no retreat, no way out behind me. In front of me the water was getting deeper.

       Onwards I ran. I had to step high to clear the ankle deep water, and plonking into the water with every step sapped the speed from my feet. When the water was well over my ankles, I couldn't maintain a run anymore. I settled to a slogging pace, and the yellow arrows crawled by. The water kept getting deeper.

       The end of my tail kept dipping in the water, and the rest of it was pretty much soaked from the splashing. Pausing, I ran my fingers through my tail to press the worst of the water out, then tucked it up the back of my shirt. It was odd, but it kept it out of the water. I slogged on.

       The water came up to just below my knees, but, as the yellow arrows continued to pass by, it seemed to rise no further. Still, a hundred yards through knee deep water seemed interminable. I kept going forward because I couldn't think of anything better to do. There was certainly nothing I could do behind me. I just put one drowned foot in front of the other.

       Then I came to another dead end.

       In front of me was a shear rock face, neatly capping the end of the tunnel. I stared at it, then ran up to it in disbelief. At least, I ran for two steps then slogged the rest of the way.

       It sparkled in the glow of my magelight. Water was falling from the crack where the ceiling of the tunnel met the rock face, forming a glistening curtain of drips, almost a tiny waterfall.

       This was different from the other rockfall, though. There was almost no rubble. There was no rebar bent down from the ceiling. In fact, it was the right wall that had the bent rebar and broken concrete. The rock had not shifted down, but sideways! I looked left. There, near the left edge of the face, the native rock turned into concrete. I looked closer, running my hand across the wall, getting rained on from above.

       There! Right at the left edge. The jagged, loose hanging concrete and the darkness made it difficult to tell. I brought my magelight right up close. A gap!

       I sent my magelight through and put my eye up to the widest part of the crack, a mere three inch opening between the jagged concrete walls. I sent my magelight left, right, then away into the distance. This had to be the rest of the tunnel! I looked through the crack hungrily, darting my magelight about. The tunnel! The way out!

       Water drops dripping on my head started soaking though my fur, and I drew my muzzle back from the crack. I grabbed at the opening, testing the crevice and pulling at the loose bits of concrete. The crack was despairingly narrow. I could stick my fingers through, even my whole hand in spots, but it would take days with a sledge hammer to make an opening I could slip my whole body through. Escape was tormentingly close, but unreachable.

       I stepped back from the corner and began to pace, sloshing through the water. I didn't know how to teleport yet, and shape changing was an even more advanced skill. I might be able to create a small explosion or two, but that would be terribly exhausting and very inefficient — very little of the energy would be absorbed by the concrete walls. Hmm. I didn't have a sledge hammer, but maybe I could find a chunk of rock to use as a battering ram.

       I cast about in the water, looking for something suitable. The shifting of the bedrock here had been annoyingly clean — there was very little in the way of rubble. I couldn't find anything bigger than my fist, and I had been hoping for something as big as my head at least.

       My search took me further and further from the rock face. I was dreading the thought of having to return to the first rockfall. I could hear the constant spatter of water falling from the fissure in the ceiling like sand through an hourglass. Then I noticed something on the wall I had previously overlooked: the large white square of another access panel!

       I swung open the door and pounded the call button perfunctorily a couple of times, then quickly ignored the dead call box on the door and excitedly examined the space inside. Just as before, the crawlway ran left and right, parallel to the main tunnel. I sent my magelight right, toward the rock face, but I couldn't tell whether it opened out or not. I gulped, then climbed in.

       The passage was narrow. There were pipes and cables lining the walls, and big square brackets holding them in place every few feet.

       I crawled on my hands and knees about twenty five yards when I neared the end of the tunnel. It was a mess. The cables had pulled away from the walls before being sheared off. I had to bend them back towards the wall and shoulder my way through. When I reached the edge though, I shouted with joy. It was the main tunnel! My shout echoed around me. Yes, the floor of the tunnel was still flooded and water was still dripping down from the ceiling, but the tunnel continued! We were not trapped!

       There was no room to turn around. I was going to have to crawl all the way out first. I started forward, but noticed my shirt was caught on a protruding bracket. I had to wiggle back to unhook it.

       I found out there is no graceful way to climb out of a hole in a shear wall four feet above the floor. I ended up doing an awkward headstand and flopping over into the water. So much for keeping my tail dry. For once I was glad of the water since it broke my fall, but I was completely soaked. I had also let my concentration lapse, darn it, and my magelight had gone out.

       I regained my feet in the darkness and was shaking out a bit when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. There was a faint glimmer far, far down the tunnel. I couldn't see it when I looked directly at it, but when I looked askance, it was unmistakable. There was light up ahead! Surely not the end of the tunnel, but perhaps an emergency light. There might even be a working call box.

       I created another magelight. Thankfully, they were as easy as they were fragile.

       There was a rumble. I was knocked on my butt in the water. Waves splashed over me as the water in the flooded tunnel sloshed violently in the confined space, and I choked and sputtered.

       The aftershock was brief, and I quickly scrambled to my feat. I had a moment's satisfaction that I hadn't let my magelight go out this time. I wiped the water out of my eyes and twitched my ears to clear them. Immediately I noticed that the sounds in the tunnel had changed. Water was coming from the ceiling much faster now, and the sound was no longer a delicate tinkling but a continuous rushing.

       The nas Par!

       I climbed back through the curtain of water into the access tunnel, fighting my way past the bent cables at the entrance. I crawled at a mad scramble until I banged my knee and banged my head. When I could see straight again, I decided that quickly but carefully were the watch words. I reached the access panel and climbed out, hanging on to the door this time and landing on my feet. Then I waded back up the tunnel as fast as I could through the knee deep water. When it was down to my ankles, I ran.

       I called out as soon as I could see the shuttle, so the nas Par were waiting at the window when I reached it. I was completely out of breath, huffing and puffing with my hands on my knees. I must have been quite a sight — disheveled, torn shirt, soaking wet from head to toe, gasping for breath.

       "Hurry . . . (pant, pant) . . . through the tunnel," I waved weakly behind me, "(pant, pant) . . . filling with water . . . (pant) . . . only way out . . . (pant)"

       The nas Par stared at me in amazement.

       "I MEAN IT!" I shouted. "Hurry!" I reached a hand up to help down whoever came first, still panting.

       Toctiran and Valgenis looked at each other. Valgenis nodded.

       Toctiran picked up Tes and handed her out to me. I sat her on the ground and reached up again. Toctiran was heaving a bag up onto the window sill.

       "No, we don't have time! Forget the bags! Come on!"

       Toctiran's ears flagged back in a brief flicker of fear. He dropped the bag back inside. Then he held the window open and helped Valgenis sidle onto the window sill. I climbed up, and together we gently helped Valgenis down onto the bumper of the shuttle, and then down to the ground.

       The four of us started off down the tunnel. In only a moment, I realized they were far behind me. Valgenis was leaning on Toctiran and hopping on one leg. Toctiran had his arm around her waist and was holding Tes's hand on the other side. Clearly the hopping was jolting Valgenis's broken leg, and they weren't moving fast at all.

       What to do? We needed a travois of some kind. I had an idea.

       "Valgenis, stay here, against the wall for a moment. Toctiran, I need your help. Come on." We ran back to the shuttle.

       "The window!" I pointed up at the large piece of glass that spanned the whole front of the shuttle and was only held in place by the hinge across the top. "We can use it as a sled. We just have to get it off the shuttle." I jumped up on the bumper, grabbed a corner of the window, and began to pull. It creaked a little. I glanced back to see Toctiran still standing there, looking befuddled. "Come on, help me!"

       I guess he decided that there were worse things than destroying public property. Between the two of us pulling, and a bit of judicious magical heating of the hinge, we pulled the window off the shuttle like pulling a sheet of paper out of a notebook. I had Toctiran lay the window across the rails, while I dove back inside the shuttle to grab the shoulder strap from my duffle bag. I used a cementing spell to attach the ends of the shoulder strap to the edge of the window. The window was wide enough to rest on both rails.

       We hurried back to Valgenis and Tes, with Toctiran dragging our makeshift sled behind him. The klizatch helped his comeilin down onto the sled, and I set Tes down next to her.

       We set off. It wasn't easy. Toctiran pulled the sled and I ran from side to side, nudging the sled so it didn't slide too far to one side and fall off the rail. The sled was heavy and awkward, but with my exhortations, we managed a slow jogging pace.

       When the water reached the top of the rails, we had problems again.

       Initially the window skimmed over the surface of the water as Toctiran pulled it. When the leading edge of the window dipped into the water however, the whole sled nose-dived. It scooped a wave over its passengers and jerked Toctiran to a stop. He lifted the front of the sled and tried again, but every time it drooped a little, the sled would pitch to a stop. The passengers were soaked and Toctiran was looking despondent.

       Valgenis, tired of getting dunked, splashed Toctiran. Tes joined in, and in moments the family was splashing each other, bringing a bit of levity to the situation.

       I smiled, but was anxious to keep moving. They hadn't seen the water pouring into the tunnel. If we could just keep the sled above water, we could make good progress again. I had an idea.

       "Stop, please! Let me fix the sled," I interjected. I took a deep breath and began to visualize the spell and what I wanted it to do. The spell would lift the sled out of the water, the water that was soaking my feet, that was pouring into the tunnel, filling it up, trapping us . . . in this tomb . . . .

       No, no, no. I grimaced and shook my head to clear it. "Concentrate, Lan! Set aside your fears; focus. You can do this," I told myself sternly. Again, I began forming the spell in my mind. I thought of Da's terrible singing, and his off-key mnemonic led me through the steps. When the spell was entire, I pushed it into being. A brief golden glow at the four corners of the window affirmed that the spell had taken hold. I adjusted it, and the sled rose up smoothly to float a few inches above the water. Tes gave out a shriek of surprise. I gave the sled a push to show it would slide, then Toctiran took up the traces and we were off again.

       A true levitation spell is unstable and needs continuous control to keep the object from drifting and veering. (It makes for great flying though!) Instead, for the sled I had made magical stilts. The spell lifted the corners of the window a fixed distance above the solid concrete floor. As Toctiran dragged the sled, I followed behind, keeping the spell charged and lengthening the legs as the water rose.

       The water was waist deep by the time we go to the end of the tunnel and the access panel. I was worn out, both from slogging through the water and from maintaining the spell. I sagged against the wall as I explained the situation.

       "You can see up ahead, this tunnel is blocked. Actually, it's shifted sideways." I opened the door. "We can crawl through this access tunnel and reach the other half of the main tunnel."

       "Through there?" Valgenis exclaimed in disbelief.

       "Yes. I've done it already. It's only a little ways, then it gets big again, I promise."

       They all stared at me. Tes buried her face in her mother's fur.

       "Look, the tunnel is filling with water! If we keep going, we'll eventually reach the surface." I pointed back the way we had come, into the darkness. "There's a huge rock slide that way. We can't get out. If the water traps us here, we're doomed. We have to keep going!"

       The nas Par weren't happy.

       "The tunnel is narrow. We'll have to go single file. Who's going to go first?" I insisted. We decided that Toctiran should go first, with the flashlight. Next I set Tes in through the doorway.

       "Follow your Da."

       "Nooo."

       "Come on, honey. Grab my tail," cajoled Toctiran, wagging his brush.

       I helped Valgenis off the sled. When she was situated by the door, I climbed in next, and Valgenis brought up the rear. I kept my magelight bright so Tes and Valgenis could see.

       We crawled.

       I kept encouraging Tes, and gave her a little nudge from time to time. I don't know how Valgenis made it with the broken leg. It was painful to hear her whimpering behind me, but there was nothing I could do except give her encouragement as well.

       We slowed down when we got to the end of the tunnel. Toctiran managed the exit somehow. The water was high enough, I think he almost swam out. He regained his feet and pulled Tes out of the tunnel into his arms. He gave me a hand and I made it out of the crawlway more gracefully this time. We were set to help Valgenis out, when she stopped just at the opening.

       "I'm stuck!" She wiggled, trying to twist free. "Help me, I'm caught on something."

       "Where?" I asked as I reached back beside her. It was probably that same stupid bracket again, I thought as I felt around.

       "Over here," she twisted, indicating.

       The whole wall started to shift! In absolute panic, I grabbed her and yanked with all my strength and a hefty dose of magic.

       We shot flying out into the tunnel like a cork from a bottle. The earth danced. Toctiran (who luckily had been standing slightly to the side) lost his balance and floundered in the waves, trying to keep Tes above water. I got a mouthful of water and choked, but kept the magelight blazing above us. (Excessively bright, true, but not out!) Five long seconds later, the rumbling stopped. I grabbed Valgenis and held her up, so her head was out of the water. She was practically drowned, gasping, choking, gagging, and coughing. Toctiran was little better. Tes was wailing. We were alive.

       "Let's get out of here!" I jerked my head down the tunnel.

       Toctiran waded his way toward us, with Tes crying in his arms. I couldn't get Valgenis to stand! She looked wretched.

       "Here," Toctiran handed me Tes, who started screaming again and reaching for her Da. He swept up his comeilin in his arms, lifting her completely out of the water, and carried her slowly down the tunnel.

       I was stunned — the nas Par must have decided I was honorable enough to stand in as a family member. Reigning in my surprise, I hugged Tes to me and spoke soothingly to her. I hurried to catch up to Toctiran and followed closely behind him.

       I could hear water pouring in behind me. When I glanced back, I couldn't see the opening we had come through for all the water. I shuddered. I was glad I was carrying Tes, as her weight gave me extra traction in the belly-deep water. We waded forward grimly, deliberately. The yellow arrows on the wall crawled by with aching slowness.

       The faint glow I thought I had spotted far up ahead became a speck of light. I couldn't tell how far away it was, but it was getting closer. I focused on it, my goal as Tes got heavier and heavier. We slogged on.

       When we reached the light, I knew a moment of great relief. It was an emergency light, mounted on the ceiling, shining brightly. It had power, and thus a connection, never mind how tenuous, to the outside world. Additionally, the water level was just below my waist now. We were gaining ground on the water. We were winning! I said as much to Toctiran. He grunted. I shifted Tes so she was sitting on my shoulders. There was another light ahead. We resumed out trek.

       When we reached the next light, the water was down to our knees. Valgenis murmured something to Toctiran, and he eased her down to stand on the ground. I watched him rub his arms. I was amazed he had carried her that long. I set Tes off my shoulders and took a breather as well. She clung to my leg. Valgenis looked at Tes and I with narrowed eyes, then gave the slightest of nods.

       Valgenis tried hopping on one leg again while she held on to her comeilin, but quickly gave up. Toctiran picked her up and carried her on his back this time. Tes and I did the same. We continued to move up the tunnel. The next light ahead looked somewhat different. The color was different, and it wasn't so much of a pinpoint.

       About half way to the light, we reached the end of the water. It was a great relief to be on dry ground. We left behind a trail of drips and squishy footprints as we walked.

       Ahead of us, the light resolved into a luminous rectangle, with glowing wings on each side. Soon I realized it was another shuttle car! We could see the rear window, and light spilling from the side windows illuminated the tunnel walls on each side.

       When I could see shapes moving inside, I called out. "Hello! Anyone in the shuttle?"

       After a moment, a response was shouted back. "Hello!"

       "Hey! We've got a broken leg here. Could someone come help?"

       "Yes, we'll be right there!" came the shouted reply.

       Soon we were met by a young couple. The male took a turn carrying Valgenis. The female offered to carry Tes, but Tes just turned her face away and clung tighter to my back.

       "I guess I'm stuck with her for now," I said, and smiled to soften the blow. "Thanks for offering." Just seeing more survivors renewed my spirits. "You can carry me if you want."

       Soon, we reached the shuttle. Toctiran and Valgenis sat on the rear bumper and rested. I put Tes down between them. Inside the shuttle was an elderly couple bound for Nopal.

       "We contacted the Shuttle Authority at Dalsport Station. We're waiting for the rescue team to come pick us up," said (Alice).

       "How did you reach them?" I asked.

       "There's a call box off that way," she said, pointing back the way we had come.

       "I'm going to go call them, and let them know we're here," I announced, standing up.

       I walked back down the tunnel. It was surprisingly hard to walk away from the people gathered at the shuttle. After finally finding more survivors, leaving the group felt almost like abandoning my chance at rescue. I squared my shoulders and picked up my pace. Letting the outside world know that we survived was important. Just as important, the sooner I reached the call box, the sooner I could get back to the shuttle.

       I found the large white square and opened the access panel. Glancing back at the shuttle, I could just make out the silhouetted forms in the distance. I felt a spasm of homesickness. Through that distant window I saw the warm glow of kinship, and here I was an outcast in the dark. I missed my crazy family.

       I took a deep breath, then pressed the call button. The button glowed red while I held it down, then went out when I released it. Nothing happened. I held it again and said, "Hello? Is anyone there?" Nothing.

       A few seconds later, just as I was about to press the button again, the speaker crackled to life. "This is Dinmasen, acting emergency response coordinator at Dalsport Station. What is your situation?"

       "Hi. This is Lan, calling from box (XYZ). I, uh, wanted to let you know that we're alive and, uh, hoping to be rescued," I said, stumbling a bit over what to say.

       "The shuttle near box (XYZ) already reported in. I don't see your name on the passenger list."

       "Oh, no, I'm from the next shuttle back. The power was out and the call boxes were not working in our section of the tunnel. The tunnel behind us was collapsed, so we've been making our way forward until we found the next shuttle and a working call box."

       "You're from the missing shuttle? That's great! You are the last shuttle unaccounted for in the Fica Straight Tunnel. Who all is with you?"

       "Valgenis nal Par, Toctiran ne Par, and Tes dal Par. I'm Lan de Kan. Everyone is OK, except Valgenis has a broken leg."

       "You moved someone with an injury? It would have been safer if she had stayed still until the rescue team got there."

       I snorted. "I don't think so! The tunnel collapsed behind us when the last aftershock hit. If anyone had stayed behind in the shuttle, even if they survived the collapse, you'd never be able to reach them. To top it all off, the tunnel is flooding!" Another thought occurred to me. "I don't know how long we have until the water reaches us. How long until we are rescued?"

       "The tractor is just pulling a shuttle out of the tunnel now. I can see it on one of my monitors. As soon as they get it cleared onto a siding, we'll send the tractor back down. There's one more shuttle in front of you. We have to pull that one all the way out before we can get the tractor down to your shuttle." Dinmasen paused. "It's still going to take at least an hour and a half to get down to you, maybe two."

       I shook my head. "I don't think we have that log. That water was pouring in, and the tunnel is filling up fast. I'll have to get everyone to start walking towards the next—"

       "What the hell?" interrupted Dinmasen. "A wall of water . . . . It's everywhere . . . . Great Mother, kid! It's a tsunami! The ground level entrance is in the middle of a flippin' river!"

       I heard him slam a hand down and yell at someone in the distance, "Get the hell out of there! Get to high ground! Tsunami!"

       Then he was back, close to the mic, breathlessly describing what he was seeing on the monitors before him. "It's pouring down into the station, down the ramps . . . . No, no, look out!"

       He gasped, then murmured incredulously, "Great Mother. It picked up that shuttle like a leaf. Those people just . . . disappeared. It's all running down into the tunnels—"

       I ran screaming from the call box. I screamed all the way to the shuttle. The people sitting on the back of the shuttle and the ones inside looking out the rear window just stared at me. I remebered to switch to words.

       "TSUMANI! Everyone into the shuttle!"

       Then we all yelled together and scrambled for the window. Having to cooperate to get Valgenis up and through the window forced us to slow down and start thinking again.

       I was the last one in. I latched the window closed and turned to face everyone. Valgenis was sitting on the floor under the front window. Toctiran and Tes were on the front right bench, the old couple on the left. (Bob) was also on the left bench, closest to me, and (Alice) on the back right bench, separated from Toctiran by the doorway.

       (Old F) immediately pressed me for more details. "What's going on? What do you mean, tsunami?"

       "I was talking to the coordinator in Dalsport," I said, and I told them what I had just heard. "A flood of water is coming towards us down the tunnel!"

       The others gasped and yammered in the crowded confines of the shuttle. I had nothing to add to the conversation. My thoughts were an endless circle of denials: "no, no, this can't be, no, no, no . . . ." I wanted to run, to escape, but there was nowhere to go. We had come so close to success! I fidgeted silently. I felt like my limbs were trying to find a way out, even if my brain couldn't think of one.

       I hugged my arms to my chest and tried to still my thoughts. Already I could feel an increase in pressure in my ears.

       "Lanindra."

       My eyes jumped guiltily to Valgenis, and she held them in her calm gaze.

       "Is there anything that can be done?"

       I was instantly reminded of my exhaustion, and I slid down the wall until I too was sitting on the floor. Why me?

       I looked at Tes, Toctiran, Valgenis, (Old F), (Old M), (Bob), (Alice). These people needed me. Understanding swept away self pity. No matter how unequal I was to the task, it was an honor to stand as the front line, to use all of my gift and skill to protect them if I could. That is what it meant to be a mage, and a mage is what I was proud to be. Holding my head high, I answered, "Yes. I will do everything I can."

       I looked around again. "Does anyone have any magical ability?" I asked, though I thought it was too much to hope for. Each person I looked at dropped their ears in a negative. I was on my own. I pondered for a minute, organizing the details of my last ditch effort.

       "OK. Throw all the luggage and anything else that's loose out of the shuttle. I'm going to have to cast a spell to secure everyone so we don't go flying about the cabin, and the fewer things the spell has to cover, the better."

       A few minutes of bustle later, the luggage had been defenestrated.

       "Da, my ears hurt!" whined Tes.

       "Try to yawn, honey."

       Tes was right. The pressure was building continually. We didn't have much time.

       "OK everyone! Sit back securely in your seat. I'm going to secure everyone," I announced.

       (Old M) and (Old F) gave each other a hug and a kiss before sitting back. I saw them grasp each other's hand as they sat there bravely side by side, and I felt a lump in my throat.

       The nas Par exchanged a group hug, then Toctiran put his arm around Tes and held her close at his side while Valgenis wrapped an arm around his leg. Even (Alice) and (Bob) jumped up for a frantic embrace before returning to their opposite seats. I tried not to be irked. Time was running short.

       I stood with my back to the rear window, and dropped into a light trance. One thing about being exhausted, it was easy to clear my mind. The hard part was getting focused again. First I cast a confinement spell over all the occupants of the shuttle, including my self. I had tied myself to the mast.

       "Da!" cried Tes, startled.

       "Hush, It's OK," murmured Toctiran.

       I barely noticed, as I was concentrating on building a shield spell around the cabin. Impact proof, water tight, air tight. I tied it into the physical structure of the shuttle, concentrating on sealing the seams while taking as much advantage of the shuttle's metal frame as I could. I also kept it as small as I could, just protecting the interior of the cabin and not the whole shuttle. It was devilishly complex, and I was bone weary, but it was do or die. I did. I pushed the completed spell into existence, and a brief golden glow from the walls confirmed it. A wave of fatigue hit me, and I would have dropped to the floor if I hadn't been held in place by the confinement spell. The shield wavered and I hastily fed it power again to shore it up.

       I surveyed my handiwork. The shield was good. All I had to do was feed it enough energy for it to resist the forces applied to it.

       I tried to psych myself up for what was going to come next. Do. Do! I refused to even acknowledge the existence of an alternative. It didn't matter that I was tired. I would hold the shield.

       There was a faint rumble now. Every eye in the shuttle was glued to the front window. It grew louder, rapidly crescendoing to a deafening cacophony. The roaring torrent hit the shuttle like an explosion.

       I threw everything I had into the shield to meet it.

       A moment later I was amazed to find myself still alive. Maintaining the shield was devastatingly difficult. I had held it for the moment, but I felt as if I was sliding over the rim of an abyss, scrabbling to hold on for dear life. I screamed out to the universe for help. Another moment, and I was hanging by my fingertips. I couldn't sustain the shield spell any longer.

       Then a hand grabbed mine. I was still dangling over the abyss, but I didn't fall. Together, we held the shield, just barely. I didn't know who was helping me, but moment after moment we sustained the shield while the shuttle whirled and ricocheted down the tunnel.

       Then I felt another mental touch — a brush of curiosity, then a flash of startled recognition and an explosion of parental concern. Da! He swept me up into a mental hug and hope surged in my heart!

       Da quickly tried to grab hold of the spell but the threads of the foreign magic slipped and tangled. The shield crackled alarmingly as the shuttle tumbled, and I grabbed back the unstable spell. Panic warred with hope as with tremendous effort I reasserted the fractured spell while Da led me through a lightning crash course on how one mage can feed power to another.

       Close behind Da came Na's touch. Receiving a mental hug form my mother buoyed my spirits even further. I could feel fiery anger radiating from my mom that made my dad's response seem icily calm.

       *Who has harmed my son?! SOMEONE DIES!* screamed Na. Her rage was frightening! She kept casting about distractedly to find a target for her anger.

       Then Da touched her and calmed her. It was so tender, I would have been embarrassed at intruding on such an intimate moment if I hadn't been so focused on shielding the shuttle. Different as they were, my parents were meant for each other.

       Da nudged me with a surreptitious hint.

       *Na, help!* I begged, catching on. *Help me with the spell!*

       *You're better at this,* added Da.

       Na gathered her rage scattered wits and turned her attention to feeding power. We bobbled again during the switchover and I really did start to panic, but Na snapped her attention into full focus and with skill that showed why she had been archmage, stabilized and strengthened the power feed and helped me bring the spell under control. It really was easier drawing power from her, but I could tell that my shield seemed odd to her.

       Soon the bumping and spinning of the shuttle settled down. The flood of water through the tunnel was calming down. The pressure was still immense, but Na was doing most of the work to sustain the shield and I was glad for the respite.

       *What in damnation is going on?* gritted Na.

       *The tsunami flooded the tunnel to Dalsport, and we're trapped in the shuttle,* I told my parents, giving the one sentence version.

       *Let's get you out of there. I'll teleport you out,* said Da.

       *No!* I quickly objected. *There are other people in the shuttle with me! There's a kid! We can't leave them!*

       At my mentioned of a child, Kalindra stiffened and her budding objection died.

       *Kal, maybe if you and I were both in the shuttle, we could teleport everyone–*

       *Even if we could get everyone out before the shield collapsed,* interrupted Na, *there's no way we could teleport into the shuttle without destroying this blasted shield spell.*

       The shuttle was no longer moving wildly. It had come to rest against the roof of the tunnel. The cabin was filled with an irritating grating noise as the shuttle slowly slid along the concrete ceiling. There were occasional jolts and hitches whenever the shuttle hit a particularly rough spot.

       Somewhere, someone was calling my name. Oh, the cabin! I pulled myself back into awareness of my physical location. There was wailing, and babbling, and someone shouting my name.

       "What? WHAT? QUIET!" I shouted.

       Most of the voices quieted down, and one called out, "Lanindra, what's going on?!" The smell of frightened Velan was strong in the air of the cabin.

       "Well, we survived the wave. The shuttle is still intact. Damn that was close. Is everyone all right?"

       There was a rough chorus of affirmation and swearing. I figured Tes must be doing OK if she could be wailing that heartily. Unfortunately, the ne Par were going to have to comfort her with words alone. I daren't release the restraints yet, and I told them so.

       "Da and Na are helping me. We're still trapped underwater at the bottom of the tunnel. We're trying to figure out how to get us all out of here."

       Again there was a chorus of upset voices. "Oh no, oh no, oh no . . ." "Hush, Tes, it'll be OK." "Damn it, I can't be here! I can't see! Get us out of here! I can't move! My nose itches!" "Oh, I think I'm going to be sick."

       If I could have moved, I would have shaken my head. Trying to tune out the hubbub, I concentrated on my mental link with Na and Da again.

       *I'm going to try pushing the shuttle,* said Da. *Kalindra, you and Lan keep that shield strong.*

       Na and I gave a mental nod of synchronized agreement. I was indescribably glad that Na and Da were there. Even with Na supplying most of the raw energy to power the shield, it was only sheer desperation that kept me going, maintaining the mental gestalt of what the shield should be so the spell would continue to exist. Na had been studying the spell so she could help maintain it, but she hadn't grasped it all yet and these were far from ideal circumstances. I had heard her mutter, "Constructivist hack," but Da had winked at me with pride.

       For Da to push the shuttle required a delicate balancing act. Da didn't know where the shuttle was exactly enough to perform the spell all by himself. Since I was the only one physically at the shuttle, I had to be the one to guide and position the business end of his spell. Na also needed me to guide the shield spell. Slowly, we positioned the pusher spell in the moments I stole from monitoring the shield, while the shuttle continued to grind along the ceiling.

       A few long seconds later, Da began pushing the shuttle car. I could feel the acceleration and the grinding sound swooped upward in pitch and then stopped as the shuttle left the ceiling. Everything went OK for a minute, then the shuttle began to waver. It started to buck up and down, then slammed into the floor — nose strike; tail strike — then ricocheted up to slam off the ceiling.

       *Stop!* I cried.

       *Damn it,* swore Da. *It's like pushing it through molasses. And I can't keep it steady! It bucks like a sonuvabitch and the faster I push it, the worse it oscillates. It's going to take forever to push it all the way to the surface.*

       *Instead of pushing the shuttle, how about we use the water behind it? If we heated the water behind the shuttle and converted it to steam, we could propel it like a rocket,* said Na aggressively. *A little solar plasma in the deep end of the tunnel, and the shuttle would reach the exit in no time!* I could sense my mother's vicious grin.

       Da paused contemplatively, then replied irritatedly, *Oh, hell no. The shock wave alone would flatten that shuttle like a tin can!*

       I think we all liked the idea though. Mmm . . . solar plasma. That would be one heck of a potato gun! Except I'd be the potato.

       *What if we drill a hole? Blast it out, straight down?*

       *No, no. They're under the Straight. They're under a thousand feet of water before you even reach bedrock . . .*

       *We must save our son!*

       Da winced. Somehow I didn't think Da would abandon me, even if he wasn't a Velan.

       My parents continued to argue.

       The problem was not the water behind the shuttle, but the water in front!

       *A pump!* I interjected.

       *What?* they replied in unison.

       *The water in front of the shuttle is the problem. So, pump it away. The low pressure will draw the shuttle forward. Pump it behind the shuttle and the pressure differential will do the work. Move the water, not the shuttle,* I explained excitedly.

       *What's the difference?* asked Da, frustrated.

       *The difference is what you are pushing around. Don't push the shuttle, push the water.* Blearily, I sketched out a mental picture, showing Da what I had in mind: an impeller spell in front of the shuttle, forcing water from the center of the tunnel outward toward the edges and then back along the sides of the shuttle.

       I convinced Da to give it a try. With great skill recalling his days as an archmage, my Da constructed the spell I had suggested but had only the barest idea how to create. We carefully positioned the spell as before, this time in front of and along the sides of the shuttle, rather than behind. With trepidation, Na and I watched him feed energy into the spell, and I felt the shuttle begin to move again. It was working! As Da tuned the spell, the shuttle went faster and faster.

       Inside, the sound of the water flowing around the shuttle made a gurgling whoosh. "We're moving!" I called out to my fellow passengers. "We're on our way!"

       Everyone cheered.

       Da, Na, and I concentrated on our spells. The shuttle was moving swiftly, but we had a lot of distance to cover. I did my best to stay focused, but Na had to nudge me when I started to drift. The minutes ticked away.

       *Oh, sh—!*

       BANG!

       Our shuttle crashed in to something, and Na and I scrambled to keep the shield together. Would this never end I wondered, as the shield wavered around me and I struggled to remember what the crazy spell was supposed to look like. I'm sure if Na hadn't been holding on at the edges, I would have lost the spell. As it was, it was acquiring wrinkles and quirks. The spell was nowhere near as strong as it first was and would not have survived that initial onslaught in its current state.

       *It's another shuttle!* said Da. Maintaining the spell in front of our shuttle, he had noticed it a bare moment before we crashed into it.

       *Oh no. That's right. The operator on the call box said there was one more shuttle in front of us. This must be it.*

       *There's no one in it . . . alive,* said Na grimly.

       *How are we going to get around it?* I asked.

       *We aren't,* said Da. I groaned. *We'll have to push it along in front.*

       My fellow passengers were clamoring to know what had happened.

       "We ran in to the shuttle in front of us. We'll be moving soon. We're almost out," I explained, avoiding the details.

       Once again we started moving. Every few seconds we'd bang into the shuttle in front of us. I think Na finally cemented the two shuttles together. I wasn't thinking particularly clearly by this time. I retraced the image of the shield spell over and over in my mind like a mantra, barely aware of anything else.

       We had been about two thirds of the way to the end of the tunnel when we crashed into the other shuttle. I don't know when Na jettisoned the second shuttle and its pitiful contents, or how Da maneuvered us through the switching yard so that we came out in an above-ground maintenance yard. I just remember being blinded by sudden sunlight and deafened by the cheering from my fellow passengers.

       Finally, the shuttle lurched to a stop. My mental link to Da faded away. I blinked wearily as I looked at each of the people around me. Young and old, parents and child, we had made it. They all stared back at me expectantly.

       Oh.

       I swept away the shield spell and slid to the floor. My mental link to Na was gone too. Sitting and leaning against the wall, I watched the different reactions. The young woman jumped up, stumbled to the door, and yanked it open. The older female rubbed circulation back into her arms and flexed her creaky joints. Valgenis grabbed Tes in a big hug, and Toctiran hugged them both. I watched everyone head for the door as soon as they were able. Toctiran held back and glanced at me, but I flicked my ears in a weak grin and waved him toward the door. Soon I was alone in the shuttle.

       Stars above, I never want to cast another shield spell as long as I live.

       I crawled over to the door of the shuttle and sat in the doorway with my legs dangling over the edge. I was so happy to just breathe air that wasn't stale and to feel sunlight on my face.

       The air smelled of the sea. I looked around at the maintenance yard, and it reminded me of a riverbank after a flood. Everything had been washed in one direction, and there was debris washed up against everything that was immobile, some high above the ground.

       The young male ran off to talk to a Velan in an orange vest who had just walked around the corner of a building - a rescue worker of some sort.

       Yes, we were lucky! We were alive after this disaster. Hundreds must be dead, and hundreds more must still need rescuing!

       I heard two soft pafs nearby, and turned to look. "Na! Da!" They had just teleported in! I jumped down from my perch and ran to them. I hugged Na, and Da's big human arms hugged us both. And, I'm embarrassed to say, that's the last thing I remember that day because I immediately fell asleep right there in Na's arms.