Ch. 41, The Space Between Heartbeats

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The whole level felt like the space between heartbeats. Not quite silence, but also nothing like the unending roar of the Belly. The soft murmur of water rushing through pipes, the occasional rustle of leaves when my shoulders brushed against them, and then steady footsteps of the man beside me. The globes above had changed to a soft golden glow now, and I wondered if it were meant to mimic Old Earth's moonlight. Everything in me screamed to ask Dagger why he'd sought me out, why he wanted to partner with me. Instead I kept my mouth shut. No need to make him second guess himself now. When I found Xyla, she'd have loads of theories.

Dagger turned the corner and froze—a half second later I did the same.

A woman stood before us, in the center of a hallway of flowing green vines. She was dressed in the same deep green as the Jackal girl, but this time I realized that the patchwork dress wasn't patchwork at all— it was the layering of what looked like hundreds of leaves sewn together. She smiled knowingly at both of us, then set a small bag on the ground and left without saying anything. Dagger stayed where he was, but after she was gone, I made my way over to the bag.

As I stepped closer, a scent like fresh bread drifted up to me. My stomach twisted and, unable to resist, I opened the bag. Neslted inside a bed of green leaves, was a warm and flaky pastry. My mouth water as I broke it open, revealing deep red berries with a sugary sweet sauce.

I turned to Dagger, who held back from the bag wearily. "Have you ever seen a berry like that?"

"Leave it. We can pick fruit off the trees."

We might be partners, Dag, but that doesn't mean you're in charge. I shoved the whole thing into my mouth, barely stifling a moan when it melted on my tongue. Then I gave him a sticky-sweet smile. "I'll share with the next one— if there is one."

"Let's keep moving."

After a few more minutes of our silent progression, we passed through a hallway filled with strange green plants with sharp, almost needlike projections.

"So, where are you from, Dagger?" The room grew into an almost sweltering heat as we passed through it, and it was only with a great deal of self-control I managed not to touch one of the poky projections.

"Hell." He didn't stop walking.

"Well, I can tell we are off to a great start to becoming friends."

"We aren't friends." He paused at the end of the hallway, glanced around the corner, and then went left. "Just partners."

"Fine, partner, care to explain where you're headed?"

"We'll need water first. So will the others. They'll try to force us to one of the public fountains to fight. So we either convince someone to give it to us privately, or we each find a better weapon and we fight for it." He paused and looked me over in a way I might have looked over a piece of faulty machinery. "And I'm not great at convincing and you aren't great at fighting, so..."

Gee partner, anything else wrong with me? We walked in silence down a new corridor filled with tree-like plants with some kind of fruit hidden in green sheaths, when the answer came to me. "Why not just take it straight from the pipes?"

He stopped so abruptly I nearly crashed into him. "What do you mean?" His voice was nearly accusing.

"You just find a place where the pipes are exposed, find a smaller branch, and you can open it. It's not hard. All the plants here are getting water—it shouldn't be hard."

"And the water's drinkable?"

What kind of water is undrinkable? I just nodded. "Of course."

"Show me."

His voice was demanding, like a spoiled child. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Sure thing, partner."

It didn't take long to find a place where the pipe was exposed and it was as easy as I said, though I let out too much at first just to drench his disbelieving face. Guess you don't know everything, do you Dagger?

After drinking our fill we both sat in an empty hallway letting the heat dry our clothes. Thick, rope-like plants surrounded us and the globe-like lights above had gone almost entirely dim.

"How did you know how to do that?" Dagger said.

"Most engineers in the Belly would. We deal with the machines and water lines all the time."

He hesitated, and surprised me again. "What happened to your arm?"

I lifted my metal arm and turned it over in the dim light of the hallway. "Caught it in a machine. Crushed it so bad that they had to cut it off." I made it into a fist, and smiled at the strength there. I'd once been embarrassed of my arm, but now I was proud of it. "Yaneli taught me how to rebuild the flesh into something even stronger." That was Yaneli, taking the worst life gave you and fixing it into something beautiful. The pain twisted in my chest thinking of her, but it was softer somehow now, less all-consuming. Even if I'd only imagined her voice, Xyla was right. Yaneli had known she was dying—she wouldn't have blamed me. Yaneli wanted me to fight. For Xyla and Yaneli both, I couldn't give up.

"Yaneli was the woman you jumped into the Tuv Pit to save?"

"Yes." I said softly. But I didn't save her, did I?

He seemed to sense my reluctance, and changed the subject. For all his silence, maybe Dagger was more observant than I thought. "Why couldn't the doctors in the Belly save your arm?"

It was my time to look at him strangely. "We don't have doctors in the Belly. Not real ones." Did he look surprised? It was hard to tell, but I didn't want to talk about the Belly anymore, so instead I asked, "So partner, where to now?"

"You tell me."


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