I hated the feeling left behind in my body after a teleport. Despite what the engineers and the docs said about the safety of tele-travel, it didn't feel the least bit normal. They definitely were making a killing off of the travel network. Thirty percent of every job payout went towards my trips back and forth, and another ten percent towards tools of the trade. It's a good thing my line of work was so lucrative, but I couldn't help but wonder what it was doing to me every time I was forced to use the stupid thing. I would have been happier never seeing other parts of the world, but in my line of work, that wasn't a possibility. I couldn't just walk away from my career either. Not then. The thought was 'Maybe after this last job.'
You see, I specialized in collections of a sort. Not the kind you might be thinking. I didn't hunt down people for a few measly coins they forgot to pay to a loaner, but rather, I searched for and collect special ingredients from around the world. Rare types of wood, fungi, foods, paints, metals, artifacts etc. If you could name it, I could find it.
Not many collectors learned the tele-network after it was discovered, and even fewer had kept on the new places being discovered. Our world had changed forever when scientists had figured out that there were other lands and how to travel to them. It had been twenty years since the first successful discovery, and since then the world was in a slipstream of discovery and exploration. New technolgies were being invented all the time, known botanical and animal species had more than double in count, and business was booming.
This trip was the most lucrative one I had ever had the pleasure of contracting out for. Jove Mot, a local metallurgist and somewhat of a mad scientist, required an ultra rare metal that had only ever been seen around the Great Pillar, a giant rocky formation that jutted from the center of the ocean, ringed with a narrow strip of land at its base, covered in exotic trees and fauna. It's was the most dangerous place known to exist, at least that had been discovered so far. It was a blind science exploring the unknown corners of our world. Some researcher would get it in their head that something may be exist at a set of random co-ordinates in their computer, they would prepare supplies complete with an emergency return beacon, then they would set the teleporter to this location and do a blind jump. If it turned out there was only water there, they dropped a mapping buoy and hit their return beacon, but if there was land, they setup a new camp with a telepad, and began researching. That's how the Great Pillar was found.
The heat was almost unbearable, the critters were surly, and the Great Pillar rumbled regularly, shaking the ground beneath your feet. Sometimes it spit balls of fire and spewed columns of smoke and ash from its peak. I didn't like going there at all. I didn't trust the place. Lucky for me, I knew the best spot to look for the requested material, a cave I discovered on one of my few previous trips. It was near the foot of the pillar on the south end of the island. The telepad in was located on the east side, so it should only have been a half day journey south west. In most climates, I wouldn't mind a camp out for a day or two, but not here. My plan was to get in and get out in under a day. I packed a burrow capsule just in case though. It's a cool little device that laser cuts a pre-set depth and temporary living quarters shape into the ground. It melts all the surface material to create solid walls, and gathers scrap material to etch a natural door or hatch. It can be adjusted for flat or vertical cutting, depending on whether you want a cliff entrance or man-hole style entrance. Personally, I liked a normal doorway as opposed to a sewer grate. To each their own though.
Thankfully the weather was good that day, at least I wouldn't have to worry about any electrical storms or hurricanes. Both are relatively common near the island apparently. The water lapped against the shore, the sound soothed my mind as I walked the beach. It was the path of least resistance. I'd have enough fun hacking my way through the underbrush of the jungle when I reached my destination. A blue bellied beach turtle was digging out a hole to lay eggs in I assume. It's a magnificent creature about three feet long, and about a foot and a half tall. A flock of cliff gulls were diving for fish just off the shore, returning to their nests to feed squawking infants when they had caught one.
About halfway through the hike the tingling in my body had mostly subsided, and I had started to relax a little. No sooner had I thought that perhaps my chills about this place had been childish, a tremor shook the ground beneath my feet, turning my legs to jello, and dropping my heart into my guts. The trees sway violently back and forth as I fell to the sandy ground, the beach undulating beneath me. My mind raced to comprehend what was happening. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before. I became dizzy and felt sick to my stomach. The ground became still once again as I retched into the sand. I sat there for a while trying to wrap my head around the event, and deciding whether to go on or not. In the end, the lure of a retirement sized payout won out. I hadn't noticed the pillar beginning to spew smoke yet. It wasn't until the first flakes of ash brushed past my face that I looked up to see the dark plume spreading out over the sky to the north west. This was around the same time I had come upon the marker I had left along the beach which would lead me into the jungle towards the cave beyond the dense foliage. I didn't want to find out what would happen next without having shelter. I unsheathed my cutting laser and frantically sliced through the foliage as I raced through the jungle towards the foot of the pillar. I cleared the last of the few feet of the jungle and spotted a river of fire flowing down the side of the mountain of stone. Liquid fire! I spotted the cave entrance with its large overhang and jutting stones not more than a hundred paces away. I ran as fast as I could towards it, fumbling for the burrow capsule in the pouch on my belt. I cleared the mouth of the cave and raced into the darkness, letting the sensors on my survival suit trigger the guide lights on my shoulders. Light flooded over the stone walls, melting away the dark as I weaved between stalagmites and stalactites. A wave of heat wafted against my back, and I knew I had to find a spot to burrow, fast! I stuck the burrow capsule against the flat stone surface at the back of the cave and hit the red button. It clicked to life and lit up the blue display screen on the front of it, indicating that it was scanning the wall in preparation for a vertical cut. I looked over my shoulder and save that an orange glow was coming from the dark tunnel where I had been moments before. My heart raced.
"C'mon c'mon, scan faster," I yelled at the stones around me as I paced back and forth!
Bzzzzz!
Bits of melted stone oozed as the lasers cut the entrance and began burrowing. It would be complete in a few minutes, but did I have that long? It seemed like an eternity as it went about its job. I watched in horror as the glow became brighter and brighter, and then the liquid fire oozed into view, flowing slowly around the base of the stalagmites. I could feel the intensity of the heat rising as it inched closer and closer.
Ssssss-Thunk!
The sound of the capsule completing the sliding stone door almost made my heart stop. I lunged inside my new burrow and slid the stone slab shut just as the river of fire began to pool in the small area at the back of the cave. The capsule hovered next to me, waiting to be retrieved or given fresh instructions. I was effectively buried alive.
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