"Good to see you are finally back, Miss Cassie!"
"Haha, same here, Jon."
"So, what does the school do about your accident?"
"Oh, you do not have to worry about that."
"No, please. Tell me. I want to know. Do not you trust me?"
"Yes, I do. Which is exactly why I decided not to tell you about it."
"But why?"
"Because we will face a serious consequence if I do."
"Wha-"
"Yes. It is just like you heard from my own mouth. Now I will not blame you if you think I am lying to you, but as it stands now, I must not tell anyone about it."
"Not even your family?"
"This is the consequence that I have to take. Do not worry about it, Jon."
"Then, please. If you are hurt again, whenever you need someone to talk to, please talk to me."
"Ahaha, look who is talking now…"
.
I guess it has not been five minutes of going deeper into the cave, but there were already so many turns that we have taken earlier. At least we have turned four times from our initial direction, yet it does not look like we will be able to find the exact spot of the light source any soon.
It appears that the cave will still go yet far deeper than what I have expected.
"Colonel, with all due respect I think we should just go back and travel back on the surface." Alek requested to Yeon.
Yeon stays silent, not saying any words.
"Well, Sir?" Derek turned to him as well.
"Hold it." Yeon stopped his steps. "Jon, I need to hear your opinion. What do you think we should do now?"
Really? A few moments ago you were raging all out against me for my decision back in the truck, and now you suddenly become calm and ask my opinion for our next step. I suppose you are pretty quick in cooling your head down.
But nevertheless, I have to admit that being angry will not do any of us good either…
"It seems that the light source is still far. If we are pursuing it, then I think it will be better for us to instead go back to the surface." I suggested
"How do you know that?" Derek raised his voice a little, signalling his curiosity.
I explained to them that the way ahead of us seemed to be just leading in a straight path. However, since my eyes are able to look at a further distance compared to most people, I can determine for sure that the end of the straight path does not show us the light source just yet
In fact, my eyes revealed to me that the path ended in a fork, but for some reason I do not feel like I need to tell them just yet. Especially since Yeon is around.
"We do not know what kind of threat that could probably be waiting for us up ahead either. Then again, if you still think that it is of much importance, well it is your call, Yeon." I turned back to him.
At first, he stays silent for a moment, with his eyes looking down a little staring the cave ground implying that he is thinking about something. I can even begin to slightly hear Alek's breath since he was standing right behind me and no one else is saying anything.
"We will have to see it first." Yeon finally decided. "If this path later turns out leading us to more complex forks and separating ways, well…"
"Okay." I nodded. "I will lead the way then."
Whatever his reason was for staring at the ground for a few moments just now, it seemed to have ensured him enough to proceed along the path ahead. That said, I came to realize that he clearly planned on going ahead from the start whether or not I suggested the same thing.
I begin to slowly realize that there is something not quite right about Yeon…
Regardless, I deliberately gave myself some more distances away from the other four; maybe about four or five meters away from them. That way, I can at least stray away for a moment from the uneasy atmosphere I have around Yeon.
But about some while after that, Takeshi approaches me…
"Major." He called.
"Yes? Is there anything on your mind?" I kept on having my eyes concentrating towards the end of the cave path.
"Why did you agree on us in going on ahead?" He spoke out his thought in a low voice
"Think about it. Are you sure that had I strongly suggested him to go back up to the surface he would agree?" I answered him in a similar manner. "Because if anything, I believe that if he prioritized all of our safety above the mission he would immediately tell all of us to turn back to that rope at the entrance the moment I mentioned there might be more of those aliens waiting for us up ahead."
"Y-you mean, he plans on wiping us all out through the aliens for some reason?!" Takeshi's eyes opened wide.
"That is a possibility, although still very unlikely. Just keep it to yourself for now." I patted his right elbow once.
He seems to be lost in thought for a moment, since he does not move even a step for a moment after that short conversation. It is only after Alek finally catches up to him that he finally snaps out and begin to walk again with the rest based on how loud the footsteps that was heard from behind me.
And then, finally reaching the end of the cave path, I turn to the only possible next path; towards my right direction, and it is then when I finally begin to understand more about the truth behind the light source inside the cave…
"What is wrong, Mayor?" This time, Alek was the one who asked me.
But I do not need to answer anything before they will understand themselves through their own eyes.
"Whoa... this is…," Derek muttered.
"The more we know now about the light source that keeps on illuminating this whole cave." I replied as I nodded.
The first thing that popped right up in my mind when I looked at the sight was as if we have been inside one of the holes or rather pores of an enormous permafrost ice sponge all along.
There seem to be no visible ground from where I am standing; like the next path that we will have to take in order to proceed serves as a thin, narrow bridge that connects us from one cliff to another.
Then, there comes the only possible explanation for the light source. It is no question that we are currently somewhere in the level of under the sea, and it is known that in the Arctic Ocean there lives bioluminescence planktons; a type of plankton that is able to emit light throughout its body.
Of course, it is absolutely not hard for me to imagine that the aliens would be able to manipulate millions of plankton for their advantage in lighting their way through the seas. After all, I believe it would be one of the most effective way to infiltrate the archipelago unnoticed through the ocean without the use of non-biological light source for them.
Back to the enormous ice sponge maze, countless large holes completely fill my sight from the far left all through to the far right direction, from about at the very least fifty meters from the surface above us all through to the seemingly bottomless end below the thin and narrow ice bridge. Each hole must be around three meters in diameter or so.
"Colonel I think we-"
"Turn back." I cut Derek's sentence to Yeon off short. "The light source most likely comes from bioluminescence plankton, and if the aliens manipulated them in order to give light to the sea around them and also this place, then that also means more of them are present ahead of us."
Both Alek and Takeshi did not say anything before they began following me back to the path before us. I caught a glimpse of Yeon's sour and dissatisfied frowning face as I walked back past him. Perhaps he had now realized that he had nothing else he could say to me, and thus began to follow me with a loud first thudding step that echoed throughout the path.
It was then when suddenly something broke through the ceiling just a few steps away from me…
What the?! What the hell is it now?!
At first it looked like a spherical large object, but then it appeared to stand, and as it quickly revealed its true form, I realized then that we were looking right at yet another deadly threat right in front of us!
Great! It is another type of them, huh? And this one is twice bigger!!