Drifters

Great Pyramid of Giza

It may have been her imagination, but Marie could swear the spiked pit she stood at the edge of was getting… less deep. She tied the grappling hook's rope to a post and stepped back. The depth of the pit wasn't important; they had to cross it regardless.

"Off you go," Marie ordered, motioning Razan to the bridge.

He bowed. "If I may respectfully ask, Captain, why don't you send Peter next?"

Marie smiled coldly. "Samurai, get on the damn bridge."

"Yes, Captain."

With obvious reluctance, he stepped onto the rickety thing, keeping a tight hold on the good rope.

Marie looked at Peter. "Can I trust you to cross on your own?"

"You can, Captain," he said, unhappy but determined.

"Good. As soon as Razan is off the bridge, it's your turn," she ordered, and stepped onto the first plank.

It was, admittedly, a very bad bridge. She didn't trust half the planks, and didn't particularly want to test the rope holding it all together. Which meant she wanted to get to the other side as quickly as possible. Judging by Razan's current pace, he wasn't eager to get to the other side before Tuesday.

He glanced back at her reproachfully, hopping over a particularly rotten plank.

"If you stop, I will stab you," she said calmly.

"If you stab me, I'll-" He cut himself off, hurrying to the next plank.

"You'll what?" Marie demanded, moving swiftly after him.

"Nothing," Razan said quickly, moving much faster than before. "My apologies."

Marie was right on his heels. "You'll what, Razan?"

"I spoke without thinking, I didn't have a threat in mind."

"Lying is beneath you."

"Several dozen deadly spikes are beneath me," he countered. "And between me and them is rotting wood." He paused, almost backtracking before clutching the good rope tighter and very carefully stepping on the next plank.

He hadn't come to a complete stop, so Marie left her knife sheathed. Besides, she needed both hands to hold herself secure as she stepped onto a cracked piece of square wood.

They made it a few more careful steps before Razan spoke again. "Captain, I am about to stop. Please don't stab me."

"Since you asked politely…" She looked around him to see they were where Sophie had fallen.

There were two planks missing in a row. The gap by itself would be slightly difficult, but the landing was the dangerous part.

"Ideas, Captain?" Razan asked, his tone faintly mocking.

Marie looked the situation over again. "How balanced are you?"

"Acceptably."

She sighed, moving to the side of the bridge opposite the good rope. "Slide along the rope. Try to keep as upright as possible. If you feel you're about to fall, fall inwards, and I'll try to catch you."

He nodded, moving his feet onto the rope. The bridge didn't seem to like their new weight distribution. It creaked, something snapping. Razan froze, but at a sharp word from Marie kept moving.

Then came another problem. They reached the next plank at the same time, but it wouldn't hold both of them.

"You first, Captain," Razan said quickly. "I have the good rope."

"No, you-" Another snap cut her off. She felt the rope under her feet give, and pushed herself onto the plank. "Don't dally," she ordered over her shoulder, running for the end.

The right side of the bridge began to sag just as her feet touched stone. Marie put a hand on a post for support, breathing hard.

"I would like to lodge a formal complaint against whoever made this bridge," Razan announced, stumbling slowly closer.

"I'll second that," Marie laughed, moving to check on Sophie.

The girl was asleep on the ground, but woke up easily enough with a nudge on the shoulder. She sat up with a sigh and stretched her arms.

"You all right, thief?" Marie asked.

"Yes, just getting tired," Sophie answered. "I'll sleep well tonight."

"Good."

They looked over as Razan threw himself onto solid ground, landing on his stomach and sliding slightly.

"Ha! Alive!" he cheered, then noticed them watching. He cleared his throat, moving into his usual sitting position as his face returned to neutral. "I believe the left door is next, Captain."

Sophie giggled.

"Well, get to it," Marie said slowly, turning to watch Peter cross.

Peter stepped onto the listing bridge, holding tight to the good rope. He expected the whole thing to break at any moment, and really didn't want to be on it.

But he didn't exactly have a choice.

He stepped from one creaking plank to the next, stomach sucked in as if that would make him lighter. The bridge creaked, threatening to send him into the spikes. With his next step something cracked, and the bridge tilted a tiny bit more.

Peter crossed himself, sending a silent prayer to whatever saint was in charge of bridges. Then, closing his eyes, he stepped onto the next plank, and the next.

He cracked an eye open just to check the position of the next plank, and stepped over. The bridge tilted a bit more, but still held. Confident at this point that the bridge was being held up mostly by his hopes and prayers, Peter took another step.

The ropes snapped in two, and the bridge fell out from under him.

Time seemed to slow. Peter grabbed the good rope and wrapped his arms around it, then pulled his feet up and hooked his legs around it, too. The rope sagged, but caught and bounced slightly as the bridge crashed against the walls of the pit and sent planks down onto the spikes. He felt something, and looked down in time to see his hat land perfectly on the tip of a spike. How dare it desert him.

"You all right, cowboy?" Marie called.

Peter looked over. He was only about a third of the way across. "Not really!"

"Need to bail?"

Honestly, Peter did want to bail. Doing that sounded much safer than trying to reach the other edge. But admitting that out loud…

Marie plucked the rope like a guitar string. The soft vibrations hit him, making him adjust his grip.

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"This will hold!" she called to him. "Climb along it like a caterpillar!"

"Right, sure, easy," he muttered, trying to remember how caterpillars moved as he adjusted his position more. Giving up, he looked at Marie. "How do caterpillars move?!"

"Slide your hands up, get a good grip, then pull your legs to your hands!"

Following these instructions was… not as difficult as he'd imagined. It was slow, and his muscles burned, but scooting along the rope like that wasn't particularly hard. Peter focused on the rhythm of the movements, blocking out everything else.

Finally his aching hands hit the stone post his grappling hook was wrapped around. He looked over to find Marie frowning at him.

"Did I do something wrong?" Peter asked.

"No, whoever designed this bridge did wrong," Marie said, tugging gently on the half of his poncho that was hanging under him. "The post is flush against the cliff… Hm. We'll be needing this." She pulled his poncho off and twisted it lengthwise before looping it across his stomach. "Samurai!"

There were quiet footsteps as Peter adjusted his grip on the rope. He saw the ledge, and realized he wasn't nearly flexible enough to get from his current position to safety.

Marie tugged his poncho, handing the ends to Razan. "Hold this tight. Peter is going to drop his legs off the rope, and you'll pull him onto the ledge. Peter, when I say, you will let go of the rope. We won't let you fall. Understood?"

"Yes, Captain," Razan said, looking Peter in the eye.

Peter nodded, trusting him. "Yes, Captain."

"Good. Let your legs drop."

Knowing it would hurt his hands, Peter steeled himself and unhooked his ankles. As controlled as possible, he straightened out. He felt Razan pull on the poncho, bringing him backwards around the post.

"Get your feet on the ground," Marie ordered, grabbing the back of his shirt near the shoulder.

Peter tried to stand, but it was too awkward of a position. The ledge began just below his knees.

"Close enough," Marie said. "Razan, ready? Good. Peter, let go now."

Not wanting to, Peter closed his eyes and let his hands drop. There was half a terrifying second of weightlessness, and then he was yanked back and around. They threw him onto the ledge, where he rolled a few times before finally stopping with his face pressed against stone.

Marie dropped his poncho onto his head. "Well done."

He curled his hand into a fist and gave her a thumbs-up.

"Next time, I vote we avoid bridges," Razan said.

"Agreed," Peter groaned.

"Motion has been accepted, seconded, and approved," Marie stated. "On to the next corridor."

"I thought the bridge was fun," Sophie said, heading through the now-open door as Peter pushed himself to his feet, straightening out his poncho before putting it back on.

"Let me see your hands," Marie said softly, watching him.

Obediently, Peter put his hands in hers, palms up.

She glanced over his right hand and dismissed it quickly, then squinted at the scar on his left palm. "It's aggravated. For the next few contests, I'd like you to keep this hand wrapped or gloved. Does it hurt?"

"Slightly," he admitted.

"When we get back, go to the medical area and get it seen to."

"Yes, Captain."

She nodded curtly, then motioned to the door. "As you were."

Peter made to touch the brim of his hat, paused when he remembered his hat was gone, nodded awkwardly with his hand in the air, and hurried away.

Razan hopped from one safe stone to the next. While the first corridor like this had been made of stones large enough to stand on, these stones were barely big enough to fit all five toes. Thankfully the carving on them was distinct; an odd eye painted white. The other carvings had green, black, blue, or red, but no white.

He wondered why the carvings here were painted, while the others hadn't been. Or at least, he hadn't noticed them being painted. Truthfully, he hadn't been paying all that much attention.

A part of him suspected these were painted because otherwise, seeing where to step next in the low light would have been next to impossible. People must have complained.

Behind him, there was a zwip as a dart shot out of the wall. Marie cursed another hole in her jacket.

Razan couldn't help but smile. His captain never complained about being hit, never mentioned any pain, but she had a profound hatred of getting holes in her clothes. In a way, Razan understood. The rips added insult to injury.

He jumped to the next tiny stone. Somehow, his heel pressed down on the stone behind it. Another zwip, and a dart hit him in the elbow. He cursed, pulling it out of his sleeve before stepping to the next stone.

The end of the corridor wasn't far. Then came a room in which the floor rotated, then a stairwell with tripwires, and they'd be at the top. Razan was so very ready to go home.

It only took two steps, a jump, and a hop for him to be through the doorway. He moved out of the way, watching Peter step wrong and yelp as a dart hit him. Marie moved through the doorway, looking tired and annoyed. Peter quickly followed her, pulling the dart out of his poncho.

Sophie, left halfway down the corridor, set her jaw and made a run for it. A hail of darts followed her, but she was too fast for them to hit. Unable to slow down, she crashed into Peter and sent them both stumbling to the ground.

And then the floor started spinning.

Marie helped the two up while Razan watched the walls pass by until he got to the door, where he began walking contrary to the floor. The puzzle to open this door was simple, hardly worthy of being called a puzzle at all. The only thing they had to do was push six bars from one side of the door to the other. …In the direction contrary to the direction the floor was moving.

He slid the top one easily enough. For the second one, he was running. And he only got the third one halfway across before the floor pulled him away.

"What are we doing?" Marie asked, watching the door approach her.

"Getting dizzy," Sophie answered helpfully.

Razan ignored her. "Push the bars all the way to the right."

Marie nodded, walking opposite the floor's movement as she reached the door. She pushed the bar Razan had started, breaking into a run to complete the job. "They're heavy," she warned, letting the floor take her away.

Peter was the next person to reach the door. He grabbed the fourth bar and pushed, running as fast as he could. He got it into position and stopped, panting slightly.

Next it was Sophie's turn. She grabbed the fifth bar, but stopped to do so. The floor was moving fast enough at this point that it took her feet out from under her. She yelped, stumbling along as she held onto the bar for balance. Razan reached the door and pulled her hands off the bar before shoving it as hard as he could. It moved about a third of the way along.

"Can't you climb walls like a gecko?" he asked Sophie, watching the door move further away from them.

"If I can get a good grip on something, sure," she complained. "But the floor is moving too fast!"

Marie reached the door and got the fifth bar into position. "Peter, it's all yours."

The cowboy nodded, trying to adjust a hat that wasn't there. He paused, glaring at his hand before breaking into a run.

It was a good attempt. Peter got the sixth bar two-thirds of the way across before the floor pulled him away. Sophie tensed, ready to go next, but stepped back when Razan shook his head at her.

He broke into a run, bent almost double to grab the last bar and push it into place. There was a loud click, and the floor slowed to a stop.

"What's in here?" Marie asked, watching the door slide open.

"Tripwires," Razan answered.

Peter walked over to look in. "We left my hook on the bridge. How will we find the tripwires?"

"I can kick them," Sophie offered.

"No, girl," Marie said, sighing. She pulled her cutlass out, looked at it, then held it out to Razan. "Have at it."

Razan stared at the sword a moment before bowing deeply to accept it.

His captain laughed. "It's just a lump of steel, samurai, and not particularly fine steel at that. Treat it like the tool it is."

"Respectfully, Captain, if that were true you would have replaced it," he pointed out, gripping the surprisingly heavy thing in one hand.

"Fair enough," she decided, and motioned to the doorway. "Take my prized possession and flail about with it, trying to hit things which will most likely dull the blade."

"Yes, Captain."

Sophie was absolutely starving as they disarmed the last tripwire and stepped through into the last room.

It was… anticlimactic. The final room looked much like all the other rooms; tan stone covered in Ancient Egyptian carvings. The only difference here was that there were windows in all four walls.

"Is there any trap in this room?" Marie asked, coming in behind Sophie.

"No, Captain," Razan reported.

Marie nodded, her posture relaxing a bit. She still looked ready to kill, as always, but slightly less so.

Peter stepped in and walked straight to a window as Nop appeared.

"Congratulations!" the raven said. "You completed the pyramid maze in four hours and thirty-six minutes! You are currently in tenth place."

"Out of?" Marie asked.

Nop hesitated, deflating a bit. "Eleven. But given that this was your first run here, it was quite impressive."

"Thank you," Razan said, bowing.

Sophie didn't think it was impressive at all. Granted, they had stalled in a few places, but she'd been feeling good about their time.

She noticed Peter staring out a window as Marie asked another question, and decided to see what was outside.

The sun was just starting to rise over a vast golden desert. The sky high above was lilac, with a single star still showing, but closer to Earth it was a bright, vibrant orange. White clouds drifted across the sky, casting brief shadows on the barren ground below. To Sophie, this was far more impressive than the sunrise she'd seen in the desert a few weeks ago. She wondered if she could capture this, the sky's colors with a brilliant sun on the horizon, and paint it on her wall.

Marie walked over and stood next to her, also looking out the window. "Want to go explore, cowboy?" she asked over Sophie's head.

"I do," Peter said. Then smiled and stepped back. "But I'd need my hat."

"We will retrieve it for you," Nop promised. "Are you ready to return?"