Descending Road - HEADS DOWN ON THE STONE by Dana W. Paxson

HEADS DOWN ON THE STONE

1560 4D

I couldn’t turn my eyes from Thringe‘s look. She came to me, took my hands, whispered, “I know,” and went into a back room. Drasstar followed her.

“Father,” I said, feeling sick.

Masinarin and Grioskin stayed by the door, both with drawn weapons ready. My father came and wrapped his arms around me. “There’s a lot to tell you,” he said, and then he sat down on a heap of cushions, his words coming in short bursts. “But first we have to find our way out of here. The City is starting a relocation tomorrow. They’re locking off the area. Shipping people out to the northern mines. Deadly.”

“Which area?” I asked him, dreading the answer that came.

“Brownhollow Score and the surrounding streets. Our home. I got your friend out, just ahead of a patrol.” He pointed at Masinarin and Grioskin. “These two found us and got us down here. It was close.”

“I hear boots,” Masinarin said. “Get Thringe. Out the back.” I helped my father up, and we hurried after Grioskin through back hallways to a door that led out to an access corridor.

“That arma virida worked,” my father said, moving just behind me.

“Father, they asked about you,” I said as we continued through a maze of corridors behind Grioskin and ahead of the others. “The blues asked if I knew Quessnar Viustin.”

His breathing hesitated. “What did you say?”

“I told them a good lie.”

“What?”

“That you’d saved my life once. You’d fixed a broken bone in my leg when I’d been running away from them.”

“Oh, that’s not good, Lejina.”

“Why?” We stopped, waited, then scurried across an open gap at the end of a small lighted street, returning to access corridor darkness.

“That connects her and me with a specific event.”

“Why would they ask, if they already had your name connected with me, with her?”

“Lejina. This game of theirs is never what you think. It’s got layer after layer. You always think you know what they’re doing. Then they flip the trap, and you realize they’re far ahead of you. Look, don’t you think they knew? About this masquerade of yours? Why did they get your gene samples?”

“They knew?”

“They knew part of the picture. But they didn’t have the secret it held.”

“What secret?”

Grioskin‘s voice hissed, “Quiet!” We stopped and waited. Not a sound. A light blazed in our faces, and an amplified female voice said, its tone shrill and cutting, “Come out, single file. Hands on top of heads. We will use beam weapons if we see any movement we don’t authorize.”

We all obeyed, and moved forward into a large chamber where many utility tunnels let in on all sides. Lights burned at us as we were pushed to the middle of the chamber, and told to kneel. “Heads down on the stone!” the voice barked. “You are all under arrest.”

Story List	SURPRISE ME	Author Page
USER SURVEY	PUZZLE ME	MAKE ELM MARK

HOVER Lucida Bright BARE	HOVER Lucida Bright FULL	HOVER Palatino Linotype BARE
HOVER Palatino Linotype FULL	HOVER Times New Roman BARE	HOVER Times New Roman FULL
PAD Arial BARE	PAD Arial FULL	PAD Lucida Bright BARE
PAD Lucida Bright FULL	PAD Times New Roman BARE	PAD Times New Roman FULL


	HEADS DOWN ON THE STONE 1560 4D I couldn’t turn my eyes from Thringe‘s look. She came to me, took my hands, whispered, “I know,” and went into a back room. Drasstar followed her. “Father,” I said, feeling sick. Masinarin and Grioskin stayed by the door, both with drawn weapons ready. My father came and wrapped his arms around me. “There’s a lot to tell you,” he said, and then he sat down on a heap of cushions, his words coming in short bursts. “But first we have to find our way out of here. The City is starting a relocation tomorrow. They’re locking off the area. Shipping people out to the northern mines. Deadly.” “Which area?” I asked him, dreading the answer that came. “Brownhollow Score and the surrounding streets. Our home. I got your friend out, just ahead of a patrol.” He pointed at Masinarin and Grioskin. “These two found us and got us down here. It was close.” “I hear boots,” Masinarin said. “Get Thringe. Out the back.” I helped my father up, and we hurried after Grioskin through back hallways to a door that led out to an access corridor. “That arma virida worked,” my father said, moving just behind me. “Father, they asked about you,” I said as we continued through a maze of corridors behind Grioskin and ahead of the others. “The blues asked if I knew Quessnar Viustin.” His breathing hesitated. “What did you say?” “I told them a good lie.” “What?” “That you’d saved my life once. You’d fixed a broken bone in my leg when I’d been running away from them.” “Oh, that’s not good, Lejina.” “Why?” We stopped, waited, then scurried across an open gap at the end of a small lighted street, returning to access corridor darkness. “That connects her and me with a specific event.” “Why would they ask, if they already had your name connected with me, with her?” “Lejina. This game of theirs is never what you think. It’s got layer after layer. You always think you know what they’re doing. Then they flip the trap, and you realize they’re far ahead of you. Look, don’t you think they knew? About this masquerade of yours? Why did they get your gene samples?” “They knew?” “They knew part of the picture. But they didn’t have the secret it held.” “What secret?” Grioskin‘s voice hissed, “Quiet!” We stopped and waited. Not a sound. A light blazed in our faces, and an amplified female voice said, its tone shrill and cutting, “Come out, single file. Hands on top of heads. We will use beam weapons if we see any movement we don’t authorize.” We all obeyed, and moved forward into a large chamber where many utility tunnels let in on all sides. Lights burned at us as we were pushed to the middle of the chamber, and told to kneel. “Heads down on the stone!” the voice barked. “You are all under arrest.”