The Lost Tribes, page 25
April pressed closer to him, her tears soaking through his shirt. He wrapped his arms around her to calm her trembling and pressed a finger to her lips.
Shhh!
Aris’s shadow did not return. Ben said a prayer for the cat’s released spirit.
Were the girls still alive? Could he get to them without being seen? He studied patterns in the floor. Six blocks to the next column — the distance of a free throw line — about fifteen feet. Fear clouded his reasoning. He struggled to stay coherent. Across the hallway — less than half-court — he estimated thirty feet. Grace and Serise were directly across from Carlos. How far? Pythagorean theorem. Grace and Serise were at the other end of the hypotenuse.
Think. Do the math.
Fifteen squared plus thirty squared. Ben’s head felt as if it would explode. About eleven-hundred feet. Take the square root. More than thirty feet, less than forty. He could make it. He was faster than lightning on the court. But getting to Grace and Serise meant leaving April behind. That wasn’t an option. He made a promise. April was the priority.
How did spies make choices like this?
Fear evident in his eyes, Carlos gestured toward to Ben. In his hand — his Swiss Army knife, its tiny blade drawn. Ben nodded, although he didn’t know what good the blade would do against multiple attackers, especially when wielded by someone who could never bring himself to hurt even the tiniest insect. He closed his eyes, bowed his head in silent prayer, then slipped his hand into the front pocket of his backpack. Still there! His own multi-function knife.
A sound spilled into the corridor, like a flag whipping violently in the wind. Heavy footsteps thundered toward Ben, then slowed as they approached the doorway. Soon an extended pause separated each step.
Step …
Ben heard something being dragged across the floor — away from his position behind the column. The intruder was not alone.
Step …
Two flashes of blinding light erupted.
Step …
Ben held his breath. The intruder’s shadow was close to the door. Soon he or she or even it would be illuminated by the torch on Ben’s column.
Step …
April’s heart beat rapidly. She drew short, quick breaths. Ben covered her mouth to muffle the noise and held her closer.
Step …
Ben willed the stranger to move on. He swore that he would raise his grades, give up basketball and devote his life to science if he could just open his eyes and find himself back in his boring Sunnyslope bedroom. He would never, ever ask for an adventure again if this one simple wish were granted.
Silence.
He opened his eyes. The foul odor faded but the shadow remained, standing motionless as if trying to sense the location of its prey. Rapid bursts of a high-pitched ping bounced off the column. The assailant rotated in all directions before continuing toward the door.
And then, with renewed panic, Ben realized that they had left footprints in the dust. The trail would surely lead the intruder to their hiding places.
Ben rested his chin on April’s hair. There was no choice. If the stranger attacked, he’d have to defend her. They were trapped and out of options.
April tried to peek but Ben shook his head. NO!
Too late!
Her pack fell to the floor with a reverberating THUD! The footsteps came to a stop. Ben stifled a scream. For a few seconds there was complete silence except for the shallow breathing of the stranger.
Flipping his blade to the open position, Ben pointed toward the intruder then made a slashing movement across his neck. Carlos gave a thumbs up. Like Ben, Carlos was shaking, but he was ready.
Multiple footsteps moved toward the column that concealed Ben and April. A hulking, misshapen shadow loomed on the floor in front of him. He gasped as an eerie, elongated hand reached out.
The time to act was now.
Ben used his fingers to indicate the countdown.
One …
Two …
Three!
Ben shoved April to what he hoped would be a safe distance. Joined by Carlos, he lunged into the corridor. The massive assailant caught their arms mid strike and held them firmly at bay.
Defiant, Ben stared into the piercing cold eyes of his pursuer.
Answers
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Safe Harbor
“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.”
Confucius
“Uncle Henry!”
Ben’s uncle released his grip on Ben and Carlos, but not before twisting their wrists causing them to drop their weapons. The useless knives clattered to the floor.
April sprang into his arms. Expressionless he towered above them in burgundy robes veined with gold threads. A turban covered his bald head, draped under his chin, and down his back. He maintained his grip on April as if she were weightless.
Three men flanked him, their feet apart and hands behind their backs. Only a portion of their faces showed through their heavy draping.
Ben’s heart continued its violent hammering. The shortest of the guards acknowledged him with a slight nod. It was brief, but comforting. He had seen those hazel eyes somewhere before.
“We’re so glad to see you,” April said. “We’ve been through some scary stuff!”
“I can imagine.” Uncle Henry said, maintaining his ice-cold demeanor. In his hand, a device beeped intermittently.
A tracking device?
“Where are the others?”
Grace and Serise crept out of the shadows, both pale, gasping and clutching their chests.
“We’re all here.”
Ben ran to Grace and hugged her. “I thought you were dead.”
“We thought something had gotten you guys too,” Grace said in short sobs. “We heard that awful screaming.”
A long ornamental knife hung, from the sash around his uncle’s waist. A single drop of green liquid clung to the tip for a few tenuous seconds before dropping on Uncle Henry’s otherwise spotless leather boot and splattering on the floor. The knife retracted until it was only a few inches long.
“What was that awful noise?” asked Ben.
Uncle Henry glanced toward the desert entrance and scowled. “Nothing that need concern you.”
Ben followed his uncle’s gaze. He could make out tracks in the dust as if multiple things had been dragged away.
“Aris!” Uncle Henry barked. “Akoosh!”
Aris sauntered out of the shadows, sat at Uncle Henry’s feet and licked his paws as if he had just eaten a meal.
Ben’s heart soared. Everyone alive and accounted for. “Any word from our parents?”
His uncle lowered April to the floor. “Not yet. We can’t stop here. This area of the complex has not been in use for two thousand years. Follow me.”
He pulled the door lever. It didn’t budge. He growled and yanked with enough strength to rip it from the wall. The door flew open revealing a liquid barrier that quickly evaporated. No tricks, no mumbo jumbo, no dialing codes. It had just been stuck.
Ben’s uncle whistled a single note. The torches in the corridor extinguished and the barrier returned once everyone had passed through safely. His robes billowed behind him as he took impossibly long strides. Minutes later they arrived at a cavernous room teeming with …
… people?
Ben was jolted completely awake. A renewed surge of adrenaline coursed through his body. “What is this?”
“The way home,” Uncle Henry said. “Welcome to Safe Harbor.”
“Whoa!”
The chamber rose at least five stories. In contrast to the stone corridor, this room was a spotless, gleaming facility filled with electronic equipment. Suspended in mid-air, massive holographic screens displayed world locations, star charts and solar systems. Hundreds of smaller screens streamed newscasts from all over the world. The videos showed volcano eruptions, mudslides, earthquakes and other disasters.
Ben’s attention shifted to a scale model of Earth rotating above a central platform. Tiny points of lights blinked along the surface of the globe. The platform was surrounded by a shimmering moat of silver liquid too wide to be crossed without a ramp.
People poured in from glass tubes located around the perimeter, some limping or aided by others. A few stayed behind to work, but most disappeared through doors at the farthest quadrant. A chorus of voices rang throughout the chamber, negating Ben’s attempts to eavesdrop. The mood, however, was urgent.
New teams rushed into the tubes and disappeared. Seconds later they could be seen working unnoticed at the scenes of the disasters and placing devices in strategic spots around the area. In one location, a team set off explosive charges as the residents evacuated.
A BBC news broadcast played in a monitor to Ben’s left.
“A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 8.3 rocked northeastern Japan today, causing blackouts and forcing authorities to temporarily shut down highways, railways and even Tokyo’s main airport, more than 250 miles away. Aftershocks are being reported miles from the epicenter and are expected to continue for several days. Casualties appear to be at a minimum …”
“Are you causing those disasters?” asked Ben.
Uncle Henry scowled. “Of course not. We’re trying to prevent them. Without the terraformers on-line and no manual way to activate them, it’s a difficult task.”
Uncle Henry marched across a bridge and down a curved staircase. He unraveled his turban as he went, draping the many yards of fabric over his arm. The guards dispersed once Ben and his friends were all safely on the ground floor.
Aris rubbed against a technician whose skin glowed in a deep magenta. A single black ponytail sprouted from the top of her bald head. She lifted the cat onto the console, reached into her pocket and placed a treat in his mouth. Aris rubbed his face against the woman’s cheek. She beamed in response.
The guard who acknowledged Ben earlier stood behind her. The woman turned suddenly and threw her arms around him. He touched her forehead as she uncoiled his turban, then scratched Aris under the chin.
Ben’s heart jolted to a stop. He had seen that that face, those hazel eyes, those neatly coiled dreads. The guard from the British Museum!
“Kavera.” Uncle Henry said, nodding in the guard’s direction. “One of the best field agents on my team. It was his idea to give you a little help in London, and plant the clue at the Vatican — against my explicit instructions. He will be disciplined for the insubordination.”
Ben’s head was swimming with a million questions. “Whose that woman with him?”
Uncle Henry shook his head. “Don’t recognize her? I’ll have her come to my quarters later. You can get reacquainted.”
“I think I would remember meeting a bald lady with bright red skin.”
“Perhaps,” Uncle Henry said. “Perhaps not.”
Ben tried getting a closer look at the woman, but she rushed out a doorway. A man thrust a digital tablet into Uncle Henry’s hands. He scanned the images, closed his eyes and returned it. The man bowed and rushed away.
“What was going on?” asked Ben.
“We’re sustaining a lot of casualties.”
“And our parents?”
Uncle Henry frowned. “No word yet.”
“So who was following us back in that old hallway?” asked Ben.
“Not who,” answered his uncle. “But what. Again, nothing that need concern you.”
Kavera deftly worked the console with one hand while swatting affectionately at the cat with the other.
“I’ll go get Aris,” April said.
Her uncle waved dismissively, “Not to worry. Aris knows his way around the complex.”
Ben felt as if all eyes were focused on him and his friends as they walked through the room. A woman’s voice spoke over an overhead speaker system.
“Dineh-nay-ye-hi il-day ah-di …”
Serise froze in her tracks. Her head cocked to the side.
“What’s the matter?” asked Ben.
Serise stared at the ceiling and then glanced at the digital star charts.
“Hia tsiyu galuhisdiyi talidui sutlvlodv …”
“Serise?” Uncle Henry gave her a quizzical look.
“Did you get any of that?” Ben asked Grace.
She furrowed her brow and held her hand up to silence him. Finally, she shrugged her shoulders and mouthed, “I don’t know.”
“Nia taragrachia farla duesna himtara,”
“Serise?” asked Uncle Henry.
Serise looked frantic. She spun in a 360 degree arc, scanning the room for something. “I thought I heard … my mother and then it was gone. It was Navajo. Few people speak it.”
“Enough do to make it useful,” Uncle Henry said. “Let’s keep going. We have a lot to do and you need rest.”
“Grosh gon toonda devisna zolor terra …El transporte llega en doce horas …”
The woman’s voice droned in a monotone cadence. It echoed throughout the chamber.
“O transporte chega em doze horas … Transport ankommer om tolv timer … Il trasporto arriva in dodici ore …”
“Something about a ship,” Carlos whispered. “I heard Spanish and then it was gone. The languages are changing too fast. I can’t keep up.”
“Transport kommt in zwölf stunden an … Le transport va arriver dans douze heures.
“I heard French,” April said.
“Me too,” Grace said. “And German and …”
“Latin,” Carlos said. “But the echo makes it hard to translate. What the heck is this place? The United Nations of spy outposts?”
As Uncle Henry urged them forward, Ben strained to hear the woman’s voice. Finally he understood too.
“Transport arriving in twelve hours.”
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Kurosh
“Belief in the truth commences with the doubting of all those “truths” we once believed.”
Friedrich Nietzsche
They left the pristine metallic environment of the control room and traveled down a stone corridor which ended at a courtyard built with intricately carved walls, inlayed tile and two-story archways. An enormous skylight spanned the circumference of the three-story space. It reminded Ben of the skylight covering the British Museum. Stars twinkled beyond the glass enclosure. Ben did a double take. The night sky featured two moons and the familiar “old man” face was missing on both.
Straight ahead, two stained-glass doors retracted as people emerged from the other side. Ben caught a glimpse of trees and plants before the doors closed again. Everywhere Ben looked, people were packing equipment, emptying chambers and loading metal containers into larger ones.
Uncle Henry climbed a stone staircase and proceeded down a corridor. He arrived at a mahogany door which dissolved when he placed his hand on the center medallion. Once everyone was inside, it returned to its solid state.
The room reflected Uncle Henry’s taste — expensive. Tribal rugs covered hardwood floors. Woven tapestries draped the walls. Two leather couches sat at right angles to each other, flanked by a table and a chair. The room was filled with artifacts from all over the world.
“What is this place?” Ben asked.
“My home,” Uncle Henry said.
“Whoa! You live here?” asked Carlos.
Uncle Henry shot him a look of disinterest. “It appears to be the unfortunate trait of the young to ask a question which has recently been answered. You may rest here until the transport arrives. Your parents will know where to find you.”
“What happened to them?” asked Ben. “Do you think they got out?”
“Your parents are very resourceful. If they said they would meet you here, they will do everything in their power to keep that promise.”
“Why didn’t they tell us about all of this?” asked Grace.
“Maybe they couldn’t,” Serise said. “Maybe they were under orders to keep this a secret.”
Uncle Henry sat on a ledge covered with burgundy cushions. “No such order was ever given. Your parents thought concealing your true identities was a prudent course of action.”
“I don’t understand,” Ben said.
“Don’t you?” asked his uncle. “There weren’t supposed to be children on this mission. Under different circumstances an act of insubordination would be dealt with harshly. However, what was done was done. We relocated the teams — your families — to the same area of the United States to make it easier for us to monitor your progress.”
“I knew it!” Serise said. “Paradise Circle was a punishment!”
Ben closed his eyes and waited to be zapped back to reality. “This just doesn’t make sense.”
“Actually, it does,” Serise said.
All eyes turned in her direction.
“All that mysterious stuff they were working on. All the travel. Translating foreign negotiations. Their weird hobbies, like studying crop circles and weather patterns. It was just part of the mission?”
“Yes,” Uncle Henry said.
“So I guess we’re not catching a boat to Borneo, huh?” Carlos said, sarcasm and resentment dripping from his voice.
“No.” Uncle Henry’s voice was slow and dry. “That won’t be your destination.”
“Ben thought our parents were jewel thieves or counterfeiters or secret agents,” April said, “and that’s why they were always traveling all over the world and why there was a secret lab in the garage and why Carlos’s family had a super gargantuan satellite dish so they could get top secret information and stay one step ahead of the law and Grace’s parents were always translating top secret government messages and …”
April droned on without taking a single breath. Ben wanted to bury his head in shame as his sister spilled the beans in the longest run-on sentence ever invented. Hearing her accurate retelling of his theory made him realize how ridiculous it sounded. When she finished, Uncle Henry was glaring at Ben.
Ben didn’t say anything in his defense. He was planning his own eulogy.
