The Rivening

Ding Dong

Connie lay prostrate on the ground, and only vaguely noticed being carried and laid on some kind of bed. She had no idea how long she slept, and woke only to find James hovering over her.

"You okay? I thought you were a goner. Looked like a bullet grazed your shoulder. The medic fixed it." He raised his voice, "What happened?" Then louder, fretful, "The passage closed up. What did you do, Connie?"

She stared at him. Tried to sit up but collapsed back.

James spoke anxiously, nudged her unhurt shoulder, "Passage disappeared. What did you do? You have to open it."

"Go away. Let me sleep. I can't do anything now."

When she later woke up, Connie looked around, trying to sort out where she was. Finally, she realized she was lying on a king-size bed in what must be Hastings' enormous RV. Had they closed the passage? What happened to Eneko? Was he shot? Was he alive?

She had to try to signal and find out if they had succeeded.

Connie stumbled out of the RV. Several mercenaries stood around looking angry and frustrated. James came running up.

"What happened?" He held up his instrument. "The expander isn't working!" He yelled at her, overwrought.

"Calm down. Let me see."

They walked to where the passage entrance had been. The surface on the rockface was completely smooth again.

Connie stretched out her good arm and the wounded one as best she could. She couldn't sense any vibrations at all. The passage was closed. It was done.

"We sealed it, James. I can't open it. We actually did it." The enormity of it swept over Connie.

He stood with the expander, frantically fiddling with dials.

"They're going to kill me, you know. Connie. I mean, really, actually, kill me. And you too."

"Who James?"

"Hastings, Grayson, my sister." He gestured to the mercenaries. "Them."

"And where are Hastings, Grayson, and your lovely sister?"

"They're..."

"In Dahria?"

James nodded.

One of the mercenaries came up, "What the hell is going on? We're tired of sitting around. Where's Hastings? He owes us money."

Connie told him, "He's stuck on the other side. Apparently permanently."

"What!?! And the other team?" He yelled in her face. Connie shrugged and he turned to James. "I've had enough of this shit. We're done here. You owe us big time. How're you planning on paying up, nerdy boy?"

James panicked. The mercenary took a threatening step toward him. "You better figure it out."

Connie said, "You know what? All this stuff is yours." She gestured to the encampment.

The mercenary looked around, "RV too?"

"Absolutely. Though I'm not sure where the keys are. Also, I noticed a safe in there, but I don't know the combination."

He grinned. "I think we can figure that out. That should about square accounts. You good with that, Jimmy?"

James nodded nervously, "Sure. You bet."

The mercenary walked off, calling on the others, who quickly began breaking down the site. James looked at Connie. "They don't even seem to care what happened to Hastings or the others."

"Yeah, it's like after Dorothy threw the bucket of water on the Wicked Witch of the West. Remember? How the scary guards turn nice and everyone starts singing 'Ding dong, the witch is dead.' One of my favourite scenes. Okay, maybe it's not quite the same." She watched them moving around. "I think they're glad to leave and glad they didn't get stuck on the other side."

"And what are you going to do now?"

"Not sure. I'm going to head back to Toronto and pick up where I left off, I guess. One thing I do know, James, I really don't ever want to see you again."