The Lost Tribes, page 15
“Hey!” Ben shouted as the bird flew off.
“That’s supposed to be good luck,” April said. “I read it in a book.”
Ben attempted to remove the slime with a rock, careful not to let the white and yellow guano touch his hands. April headed toward the water, gingerly trying to step only on clean rocks — a futile exercise.
“Don’t get too close,” Ben barked as he tried to get his bearings.
April approached a group of sea lions. They watched her every move. “We’re looking for a statue or something to take back to Easter Island!”
There was no response from the sea lions.
“It’s Easter Island we’re going to, right?” April asked.
Ben nodded. “Rapa Nui is what the game calls it.” He was pleased that her budding friendship with the animals would keep her out of his hair for a while. The island was huge and he had a lot of ground to cover. “Excuse me,” April said, petting a sea lion on the head. “Do you know where the Rapa Nui treasure is?” At the sound of “Rapa Nui,” the sea lions barked in a deafening cacophony.
April peered into the face of the largest sea lion. It looked like an old man. She pointed across the harbor, lifted her hands in the air, then hopped back and forth while wiggling her fingers.
The sea lions stopped barking. The old man sea lion raised up on its sleek black flippers. Twice as large as the others, it quickly advanced toward her.
“April! Look out!” Adrenaline pumping, Ben ran toward her. He knew he shouldn’t have let her come along. This WAS a booby trap.
Before Ben could reach his sister, the animal stopped and issued a loud, threatening bark. It bobbed its massive brown head toward a narrow stretch of beach then loped in that direction.
When April stayed put, the sea lion returned, barked louder then pushed her forward with its nose.
“I guess we’re supposed to follow him,” she said.
The sea lion led them to a hidden cave but stopped short of the entrance. Ben slipped in sideways and wrinkled his nose. The air was dank and mildewed.
“Wouldn’t it be cool,” April said, “ if all those slaves actually jumped into the sea and turned into sea lions or seals like they do in Irish legends?” She nuzzled the animals on the nose, patted its golden brown mane and gave it a kiss. It did not turn into a handsome prince. Instead, it barked more gently and the cave walls began to glow. The sea lion brushed April on her cheek and rubbed her arm with a flipper before returning to its place on the beach.
Okay. April did serve a purpose. Ben swore he would never admit that out loud.
He traced wall carvings with his fingertips — three-masted ships, people in chains. A dotted line showed the journey of ships from a triangular shaped island to this one. A single Moai was painted just above Easter Island. This Moai, however, had a thin body attached. Ben could tell April understood the message. Gone were her usual flippant remarks. She studied the drawings quietly.
Walking across the cave, Ben nearly tripped on a hole in the ground. Ben guessed it to be a fire pit of some kind. It made sense that the slaves would need to warm themselves and dry out the humidity.
“Ben!” April covered her mouth and pointed further into the cave.
Tucked in the shadows, a skeleton sat cross-legged on the ground, its bony arms and fingers clutching a Rongorongo tablet to its chest.
“Don’t look!” Ben pushed her behind him for safety.
“Too late. I’ve already seen it.” April winced and closed her eyes. Seconds later, she opened them just enough to peek at the skeleton and mumbled something under her breath. Ben understood. His mother said one should always say a prayer for the safe flight of a soul that has passed on.
Out of respect Ben recited his own internal prayer, then touched the tablet without disturbing the skeleton. As expected, the tablet glowed and changed to English.
“Return the treasure to its rightful home. When the time comes, it will summon the Moai.”
The codes for “Home,” “Sunnyslope,” and “Rapa Nui” were listed. “This must be it,” Ben said. “There’s no other choices. But now that we’ve found the tablets, where is the treasure?”
April shrugged and sat on a pile of stones. She yawned, stretched her arms and — apparently having recovered from her initial shock — studied the skeleton with great interest. The stones shifted. April jumped to her feet and tried to replace them but they collapsed into a useless heap. Something glowed beneath the pile.
“Ben! I think I’ve found the treasure!”
Inside a wooden box lay a carved statue of a man with the head of a Moai and red rubies forming its eyes. It matched the carving on the wall. “Good job April! I think this is it!”
“I don’t think so,” said April. “When we found the other treasures we zapped back home. That’s how we knew we had the right ones. So what do we do?”
“The clue said we had to return the treasure,” said Ben. “I think we have to take it back to Easter Island.”
April yawned wide enough to swallow the island and Ben with it. “Can we do it tomorrow? I’m so tired I can barely keep my eyes open.”
“I know. But it will only take a minute to finish and then we can go home.”
Ben looked around and sighed. In his haste he had left Grace’s PC on his desk. There was no way to pilot the program manually. If they didn’t find a dialer they might be stuck in the cave forever.
“Jackson! Quit this application.”
“You named your computer Jackson?” asked April. “As in Jackson Carter?”
Ben rolled his eyes and tried again. “Jackson! Quit this application!”
There was no response. The voice command module on his Mac didn’t work when the game was running. They were stuck until his mother checked on them. Having an adult enter the room seemed to be a sure fire way to deactivate the program.
April kicked at the stones now littering the cave floor while Ben searched further into the cave.
Dead end.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Milestones
“Only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible.”
Albert Einstein
“Where’d you find that?” Ben asked when he returned to find April holding a wooden pole.
“Over there.” She pointed to a crack in the wall. “I realized the skeleton was a fake so I looked behind it to see if there were more clues.” She aimed the pole toward the fire pit and waved it like a magic wand. “Abracadabra!”
Ben stared at the pit hoping something would happen. The pit remained dormant.
“Open Sesame!” April shouted, waving her arm more vigorously. A silver rod slipped out of the shaft and rolled to a stop at her feet. “Oops! I think I broke it!”
Ben braced for a change in the hologram. When nothing happened he picked up the rod. Tiny Rongorongo patterns covered its surface. Ben tried inserting it back into the pole but couldn’t find an opening. “It’s probably Uncle Henry’s power source for these fake tablets and cave lights,” Ben said. “I don’t think ancient people had metal stuff like this back then. Keep looking for a way out.”
He tossed the rod aside and paused. The holes circling the pit contained a shallow notch. They were barely visible. He crouched and ran his finger along the surface to be sure.
“Did you know these rocks have a ridge on ‘em?” April said, tossing one to Ben. “Think it’s a clue?”
Ben caught the rock and frowned. “Doubt it.” There were only eight holes. Not enough to make a dialer. But with no other options left, he placed the rock in a hole. It didn’t fit. He tried the next hole with the same result. Three holes later he found one that matched. He yelped with excitement. Soon he and April matched rocks to holes as if solving a preschool puzzle. Once completed, the formation glowed but there weren’t enough nodes to form a dialer.
Ben twisted a rock. It clicked and locked in place. “April! Twist the rocks on your side. I’ll do mine. Righty tighty.”
When the last of the rocks was locked into place, the ground shook as six additional nodes rose out of the ground. The rocks now formed a glowing dialer complete with center Yin Yang symbol.
“I guess that bird slime was good luck!” said Ben.
As he and April entered the transport beam, a chorus of barks could be heard from the entrance of the cave as if the sea lions were saying, “goodbye,” or maybe, “thank-you.”
The red hatted Moai remained submerged in the ground. Ben and April slipped down the staircase, found an empty niche and placed the statue inside. A narrow drawer slid out of the wall. Inside lay a black basalt Moai with coral forming the whites of its eyes and red rubies for irises. Once Ben retrieved it and a star chart with the letter “E”, he and April were instantly zapped back to his bedroom. On the monitor, the Moai rotated above the altar of the Guardian.
Ben put the statue on the balance scale which fell to the right with a loud clunk.
“What’s wrong?” asked April. “Isn’t this the right treasure?”
He shrugged and studied the canopic jars. Each was translucent and a different color. He hadn’t noticed that detail before. Four matched the gems they had collected.
When Ben placed the Moai to the side of the scale, the rubies fell out. He placed the jewels on the tray. The scale balanced. To the right, the metal rods on the closest canopic jar clicked into place.
“April, you put the other stones on the scale. It’s only fair since you, Grace, and Serise found them.”
The green gemstone dislodged from the Tibetan statue, the scale balanced and the rods of the second canopic jar on the left clicked into place. The same happened with the remaining gems. But the door to the Guardian remained closed. Not even a hint of what was to come. With Uncle Henry it was always all or nothing.
“So we have to wait until we collect them all before we get the surprise?” April yawned. “We’ve only got one more day. It will be quicker to play without the holograms.”
“I don’t think you can do that,” Ben said.
“Yes, you can. We got tired of walking everywhere and switched the special effects off.”
“Let me guess,” said Ben. “Serise figured out how to do it.”
“No.” April attempted a grin but her eyes drooped closed. “I did. By accident. Just hit the escape key after all the 3-D stuff starts. It’s like an on/off button. That’s how we got through the puzzles so fast.” April yawned again. “By the way, we took a vote. Even if the girls win we won’t make you and Carlos drink Mom’s breakfast drink. That would just be mean.”
Ben smiled. His sister had a heart after all.
April’s words slurred. “I’m tired. I’ll … just … sit … on the bed … and watch.”
Ben studied remaining list of locations. He opened his backpack and retrieved the slip of paper with his dad’s secret codes. “Where should we go next? You can pick this time.”
Silence was followed by a quiet rasping sound.
“April?”
His sister lay propped against a pile of pillows. Ben nudged her. She was out cold and snoring. He picked her up and carried her to her own room. She was surprisingly light. Not like hoisting Carlos on his shoulders. Ben kicked the comforter out of the way then slid her onto the bed. April sighed, then snored again. Her school book fell to the floor with a gentle “thump”. Ben reached down to get it, thumbed through the pages and remembered the general storyline from his own fourth grade class years ago. He placed the book on the nightstand, then covered his sister with a blanket. Tomorrow, he’d explain to her why her ATM theory wouldn’t work.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Detour
“I may not have gone where I intended to go, But I think I have ended up where I intended to be.”
Douglas Adams
9:00 p.m.
Ben returned to his room and slumped in his chair.
Time to start figuring things out for yourself, Ben Webster.
He rubbed his eyes, tempted to crawl into bed himself. But memories of recent events haunted him.
“ … calling all the teams in …”
“We’ve been compromised …”
Ben psyched himself up for one final mission before calling it quits for the day. He attempted to synchronize Grace’s computer with his own. After three computer crashes, he found an open source code that worked and configured it to access his computer through a remote wireless connection. He rubbed his sore shoulders, felt something crusty beneath his fingers and froze. The slime from the condor was still on his shirt.
After changing shirts, he pulled a crumpled paper from his jeans pocket, smoothed the wrinkles and set it on a stand next to his computer.
First Dynasty pendant - British Museum
N 51 W 0
Hope diamond - Smithsonian Museum
N 38.55 W 77.2
Estrucan medallion - Vatican City
N 41.54 E 12.27
The coordinates from his father’s notepad weren’t on the game menu. Would they work anyway?
Ben started with the obvious — the British Museum. He arrived to find the hallways dark and deserted. His watch read, 9:00 p.m. Pacific time.
He didn’t have time to do the mental math needed to translate that to London time but he was relieved to have the place to himself. His footsteps echoed as he searched corridor after corridor. Moonlight cast an eerie glow on the colossal heads in the Egyptian room. He felt like a secret agent skulking around, undetected. After a while, he stumbled upon a familiar courtyard. Success! A sign across the hallway read “Special exhibits.”
But his joy was short lived. The exhibit had closed the day before.
“Can I help you?”
Ben’s stomach lurched. No one had ever spoken to him in the game before.
“The museum is closed,” said a security guard whose name tag read “Albert.” The short, brown-skinned man spoke with a thick British accent. His dreads were tucked neatly under his cap.
Unsure what to say, and still in shock, Ben just nodded.
“Young man, it’s five-thirty in the morning. Perhaps you would like to return during normal hours — with your parents?”
Ben wondered if the guard could hear his heart thumping in his chest. “Could I ask one question?”
“I suppose it would do no harm. One question, then on your way, eh?” The guard’s hazel eyes twinkled in the moonlight as he looked at his watch.
“Where’d the exhibit go?” Ben asked, trying not to stammer. “The one that was in this room?”
“School assignment?” The guard spoke gently, as if he were not surprised to find a strange American boy wandering the hallway after hours.
Ben nodded so fast he could have doubled as a bobble-head doll.
The guard smiled and handed him an information sheet. Most of the items were returned to the museum archives, underground. No access for the public. No way to get to the First Dynasty pendant. That should have been expected. He was playing from his father’s codes, not his uncle’s. Everything else had been sent back to their owners around the world.
“Seeking the path to enlightenment?” asked the guard.
Ben froze. A Tibetan Monk had said the same thing to the girls. “Yes, Sir.”
“I suggest the Bandiagara Escarpment. Interesting village there. You might find the answers you crave. Or a clue. You won’t find what you need at this location.”
The guard escorted Ben to the courtyard. “I trust you know your way home from here?”
“Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir,” Ben said, his voice trembling.
“On your way then. Good luck with your journey.” The guard tipped his hat. “Oh, and I believe you dropped this.” He placed a rock in Ben’s hand then turned, leaving Ben alone.
Why didn’t he arrest me?
Ben then looked in his still-shaking hand. The rock sparkled like a diamond. But it was blue. And it wasn’t his.
A bright flash appeared behind him. Ben spun around. “Excuse me! Sir?”
The guard had vanished.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The Hogon
“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”
St. Thomas Aquinas
Ben was completely spooked, but he was also running out of time. He used Grace’s computer to pilot to the location marked “Bandiagara Escarpment” and found himself sitting inside a mud hut. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust.
“It is impolite to enter a house without knocking first,” said a voice coming from a dark corner. “Are you lost?”
Ben tried to stand up, but bumped his head on the low ceiling and sat down again on the dirt floor. He couldn’t see who was speaking. “I’m searching for the path to enlightenment.”
“I see.” An old man crouched next to him, his face wrinkled with age and decorated with a coarse salt and pepper beard. “Enlightenment is not an easy path. Are you prepared for the journey?”
Ben considered the question. The museum guard would not have sent him here if it weren’t a clue.
“Yes, sir. I’m ready.”
“At what price?”
“Price?” Ben realized that he still had the blue diamond in his pocket. He placed it in the man’s palm. “Will this pay for my journey?”
The old man laughed, then gestured for Ben to follow him. “We don’t have a lot of time.”
Outside, Ben found himself in a village built at the base of a cliff. Pointed thatched roofs covered a cluster of windowless clay huts. Other than a few low-lying bushes and a sprinkling of gnarled Baobab trees, the landscape was mostly dry and dusty. “Where am I?”
The man swung his gnarled wooden staff in a wide arc. “Where do you think you are?”
Ben sighed. He needed to solve the game by tomorrow. At this rate, he wasn’t going to solve this one location in a month. “I think I’m in Bandiagara Escarpment.”
