Vor winced. “It's nothing.”
“I want to know.”
“No.”
“Oh, I see.” Lena nodded and returned to eating.
“What do you see?” Vor straightened in his chair and glared at her.
“You were together.” She waved her fork at him. “She's one of the women you've . . . been with. At those sex places you go to.”
Vor gaped at her.
Lena burst out laughing. “Holy convergence! I'm right.”
Vor continued to gape at her, but his expression shifted slightly from shock to wonder. “You have a lovely laugh.”
Lena stopped laughing and returned to eating. This wasn't a date. She was this man's prisoner. She shouldn't be laughing. Or maybe she should, but in a more mocking way. They were enemies. Lena had to remember that, especially now that she was talking to him. No matter how nice Vor was to her, he was keeping her against her will. Nothing made up for that.
Even as Lena chided herself, she thought about the stories Vor had been telling her about his life underground. They'd been mostly about his childhood, with a few recounting his years working up to the status of commander. They'd generated curiosity in Lena, but she couldn't ask him questions when she was trying to ignore him. Now, she could.
“There's something I've always wondered.” Lena scooped some fruit onto her plate. “Your Medean ancestors built big convergences to dig into the ground.”
“Yes.” Vor eyed her warily.
“Do those machines still exist?”
“Yes.”
“Then why don't you just dig your way to the surface? Why use the old tunnels at all? You could pop up wherever you wanted and not have to fight anyone.”
“Because the underground is a delicate honeycomb of caverns and tunnels.” Vor leaned forward, his expression shifting to eagerness. “The original tunnels were made in calculated locations so that they would come at the Source from many angles. Only a few expeditions found the Source, but then they connected the other tunnels so that all of them led to Tech.”
“Uh-huh.” Lena frowned. “So?”
“So, once the original Nethren found the Source, they dug more and more, creating a maze of tunnels that connected to natural caverns. They wanted to live near Source, but they didn't expect to live only underground. They never thought the Aethari would join forces with the Medeans against them. So, they dug without worrying about adding more tunnels to the surface. When our surface tunnels were closed, they tried to dig a new tunnel out. It started a series of cave-ins, including a cavern that held one of our cities. Over a hundred thousand people were crushed to death.”
“Oh, dear convergence,” Lena whispered.
“Yes, it was tragic. Before they risked another tunnel, they conducted surveys. Everywhere they analyzed resulted in the same information—it was too unstable. Further digging would cause more cave-ins. We couldn't escape. Our eagerness had trapped us. So we were forced to live underground. But we never stopped trying to talk to your people. When our attempts at negotiation were ignored, we resorted to violence. We've been trying to fight our way to the surface for centuries, but I don't think violence is the way.”
“I see.” Lena had her hand around her glass of water. It was cold; the condensation slicking her fingers. But it matched the feelings Vor's story inspired in her. Her people had imprisoned his people underground. It was hard not to sympathize with him.
“It forced us to become resourceful,” Vor went on. “We've invented astounding machines and built vast cities that run on geothermal energy.”
“What is geothermal energy?”
“It's heat given off by Para's core. The center of our world is molten stone, Lena. Source lives near it, but the heat from that molten core seeps up, and we harvest it to run our machines, heat water, and cook food. Speaking of food, it's abundant underground. We have farms, livestock, and lakes full of fish. Our lights mimic the sun, and we have machines that pump in fresh air through small shafts while others pump stagnant air out. Life underground isn't so bad.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because, as I've already said, living down there has stolen our emotions, Lena. Can you imagine losing your ability to love? Or laugh?”
“You don't laugh?”
“Rarely. We don't form attachments to things or people outside of our immediate family. I used to think that was a good thing. But the longer I'm up here, the longer I'm around you, the more I realize that life is a specter of what it should be without those attachments. I am not a machine, but now I see that I've lived as one. I can't go back to that, Lena. I want more now. And I want it for all of my people.”
“That's admirable.” Lena sighed and rubbed her head. She really needed a cup of coffee. It had been over a week since she had had any. No wonder her head hurt. “But what's not so admirable is kidnapping a woman who has nothing to do with the war.”
