When it Stops

“This deluge can’t last much longer. What do you think?”

“I have no idea. If you had asked me that question two days ago, I would have said, absolutely not. We’ll be back out on the trail in an hour or so, but now Jack, I haven’t got a clue.”

“Come on, Bill, you have lived here your entire life. Do you remember any time in all those years when the ground has been pummeled this hard for this long?”

“Nope, I’d be lying if I said I did. The Originals spoke of a time when the surface changed shape during the big rains, but I thought it was just a legend. If this keeps up, we will need to move to higher ground. We should probably do that anyway, storm or no storm. This ground is saturated and could break loose at any time. They won’t be able to rescue us if that happens.”

“This is not what I expected when I signed up for this job. They told me I would get out from behind a desk. I’d get some exercise, and I’d see places on this planet that few have had the opportunity to see. Did they feed you the same line of BS when they recruited you, Bill?”

“Not hardly, Jack. Don’t forget, I was born here so I already knew what this place was like. We natives spend the first part of our lives wandering in nomadic tribes. No part of the planet is off limits. It is our duty to learn about our home world and how to live in harmony with it. Unlike everything I’ve heard and read about where you are from, we try and protect our world not ravage it.”

“Look who’s acting all holier than thou. It’s been slightly more than two hundred years since your ancestors came to live here and if the native inhabitants hadn’t shown them the ropes they wouldn’t have survived.”

“Jack, have you forgotten why my ancestors came? Your world was teetering on implosion with too many people and not enough food. It was leave or starve to death. You’d think those settlers would have learned how to behave after killing off the origin world. What was it called; Earth, I believe? Let’s save this conversation for another time. Right now, we need to find a safe place to survive this torrential rain.”

“Is it safe to walk out unshielded in this rain? It’s coming down with such force the drops are punching holes into the ground. They’re more like a sheet of bullets than a spray of water. Look at the way it’s shredding that tree, Bill. Are you sure we should try and walk out in that?”

“I wasn’t talking about walking out in the open. This cave we’re standing in is part of an interconnecting system which runs under the mountains. I wandered through some of them as a boy, but no one has explored them all. A large part of our assignment was to map a section of them starting on the other side of the mountain. This deluge has moved our starting point forward a few miles.”

“The big money people wouldn’t send us out to map some caves. What do they expect us to find in there, gold?”

“You think too small, Jack. What is the most valuable material in the galaxy?”

“Bill, do you feel that? The ground is vibrating! That’s not just rain falling, its dirt, rocks, and trees. We’re in the middle of a landslide!”

“Quick, Jack, grab your pack and get further into the cave!”

The men ran into the all-encompassing blackness that was the cave, then turned to watch as the opening they were just standing in filled in with tons of debris. As a massive boulder blocked any remaining light from the outside world. That's when the unexpected happened. The black cavern walls began to glow.