Mop stood to leave. Instead of placing his napkin calmly upon his plate, he swiped it off in Jasper’s direction, but sadly it made it only half the intended distance. Jasper pursed his lips and let a gust of wind rush out of them as he rolled his eyes. Bucket cleared his throat and continued. “Your parents met while your father attended classes at Oxford. Dester Indiana came to England to study International Relations. He was an ambitious young man, your father was. He was striving to become an ambassador. It was at a royal ball that he met Rosezella Tudor. An upperclassman named Abbadorn introduced them. He was also your father’s best man at the wedding. His appearance, and later disappearance, happened so suddenly that it became a story in and of itself. MI6 could never even figure out his last name…we were bothered by it, but nothing ever came of it. As it turned out, your father’s favorite class assignment became your mother. His International Relations became interpersonal. He courted Rosezella by royal permission over the next three years as he attended university. They fell in love, head over heels, and it was obvious to everyone they were destined for the altar. Arrangements were made for marriage and a return to the states where Dester could complete his master’s program. Your family home was in the earlier stages of the foreclosure process at the time, and it wouldn’t be long before the bank took it. The English government purchased your family’s estate and gave them the deed as a wedding present with the promise that they would never have to pay the property tax again. The FBI had to be made aware of our situation once your mother became great with child. Events leading up to the birth of the twins became complicated, and, of course, as you know a year after you and Calvin were born the dung really hit the proverbial fan.”
“Why did all the research on the lava slide stop? Where did the priest and the sisters go?” Stacy asked.
“We never found them. To this day we just do not know what happened. All we have to go on is a name the monks left us from the Samaritan stone tablets, Infernal Maximus. According to the text he is part demon, part human, and part lava snake. He is a leader who caused havoc among the angels. The angels constructed the prison described in the Bible and known by the name of Hell. This is a real place, although invisible to the human eye, as it sits just outside of normal space and time. Kind of like that thing you see out of the corner of your eye, it is there, but then it is not. Infernal Maximus liberated captured demons and they set up camp in a cavern off of one of the lava slide exits. We know for certain neither the angels nor the monks were ever able to locate his lair, and one more thing, the monks who crossed paths with these demons described them as looking like mole-men. So, there you have it, I hope I gave you enough to dwell upon.”
Jasper stood up and crossed his arms. “I have three questions. How did my father’s wallet come to be in your possession? Who is Volnar? Where is Iconium?” Jasper countered sternly.
“Your father’s wallet was all that was found of him on our last search and rescue mission beneath the earth prior to the whole system powering down. Volnar is the angel of wholeness and health. Iconium is his planetary assignment, a planet so far away we could never reach it in our lifetimes, even if faster-than-light travel was possible. We don’t even know how to contact him, or any angel for that matter. The most we have is the information left to us by the monks and the good sisters of the Order of Saint Luke.” Sir Lord Bucket stood. “There is more to tell you, but I have revealed as much as I can until I have your answer. You need to go for your walk now. Make it a quick one, time is something we are in short supply of. Reflect well on what I ask, Jasper. Join me in the control room when you have reached your decision. You can trust me.”
Jasper, Stacy, and Thunder proceeded to walk out of sight into the park. “Maloof!” Thunder was once again a horse. “Hey, Thunder, time for you to run around for a bit. Have fun and play hard, boy. Off you go.” Thunder galloped away in happy delight.
“So, what’s the plan when we get back to that control room? Bucket needs that key. I’m not sure we shouldn’t give it to him. He does have a certain reasoning, Jasper; there is so much we don’t know.”
Jasper and Stacy sat down in the grass. Thunder went by and a second later he was wading into a pond, all the while keeping in tune with Jasper’s thoughts. Jasper put his arms around Stacy from behind her, and they both rolled end over end until they lay on their backs looking into the midday sun. The warmth they felt on their skin was the same they felt in their hearts. “It would be easy to give the key to the adults and walk away from all of this. Prom is next week. Everyone has told us we are one year too early. But in the here and now all that matters is the truth, and the adults around us are only telling us a partial truth. Bucket wants us to trust him just because, but it’s kind of hard to foster feelings of trust when someone is holding back all the details. That key was meant for me for a reason. I was named Jasper Indiana for a reason. My brother was killed for a reason. My parents missed my entire childhood for a reason. They know about the key, but they don’t know about Thunder. He is my ace in the hole. I’ll give up the key when I know my parents are safe.
“So this is what I need you to do. When we get back to that control room, keep Mop and Bucket from noticing that I have gone down to the slide for as long as possible. I will walk slowly toward the slide. I don’t want to get too close or alarms might begin to sound, or worse yet, the door might start talking again like it did in my basement. I’ll put my hand in my pocket and hold onto the key without anyone knowing. I’ll ask the question in thought and once I know the location of my parents, I’ll give Bucket the key with the provision that we accompany them on the rescue mission. I’ll make him promise that no one goes anywhere on that slide until we get my parents back. We can do this, Stacy; it will be a little tricky, but we can do this.”
chAPTER twenty-one
Aside from the guards, there was only a small handful of staff on duty in the control room upon Jasper, Stacy, and Thunder’s return. Thunder was once again his happy, waggy, doggy-tailed self. Sir Lord Bucket and Lieutenant Commander Reginald Mop stood with their backs toward the door, busy with friendly banter, and were unaware of the trio’s arrival.
“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers; a peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked; If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?”
“A Mother Goose nursery rhyme? Do you honestly believe the Americans will be impressed with your ability to articulate the letter P? For King and country, Reggie, act your age!”
“Our mother would have appreciated my use of phraseology.” Reginald adjusted the lava slide control screen to get a better reading on the buildup of pressure behind the pearl glass doors. Where was it coming from?
“Americans often say ‘You can’t judge a book by its cover,’ or ‘As the crow flies,’ and my favorite, ‘Don’t let the door hit you in the...’”
“The signals are coming through the lava slide all kitty-wampus. We could be looking at another case of lava snakes.”
Bucket suddenly tensed up. “When will you know for sure?”
“The pressure is growing slowly. If it suddenly spikes, we will need to sound the alarm.”
“Alarm…is it a serious problem?" Jasper said from behind.
“Oh, good. You are back.” Bucket avoided the question.
“Stacy is first in her science class,” Jasper said, looking directly at Stacy with a wink of his right eye. “You should explain it to her and let her take a look.” Jasper made his suggestion, then backed away from them all slowly and went down the rough, wrought iron spiral staircase that led directly into the lava slide room just two floors below. Thunder followed behind him. No one but Stacy even knew they were gone. Jasper knew Stacy would do a great job at asking the right questions to keep them distracted. All was going according to plan.
“A marvelous idea, Jasper. Hmmm…Mr. Mop, please let Stacy have the chair and let us show her how the system works.” Bucket thought for su
re he had scored some points with the Americans at this very moment. They began showing detailed aspects of the system to Stacy.
Bucket continued, “Then let me say to the young scientist that I believe the lava slide is powered in part by angelic power authorization as well as the outer core of the earth. The outer core is below the mantel, as you well know, but it floats above the inner core starting at about 1800 miles straight down. The hot liquid metal core swirls around the inner core, producing the Earth’s magnetic field. That field extends outward several thousand miles, keeping earth inside a protective bubble, and thus keeping us all safe from the harmful radiation of the sun. Without the outer core, the earth would be very Martian. It would have an atmosphere incapable of sustaining human life. I believe the lava slide’s velocity is powered by that same spinning core. What do you think?”
Unnoticed, Jasper inched his way past the staging room’s massive blast door. It was obviously installed to contain any type of lava breach that could escape the slide tube and burn the whole building to the ground. Directly outside the doors was a utility closet with a sign that read “Hydro Coolant Pumps.” Jasper had no time to think about the purpose of such a device, but somehow, in that moment, he knew it had to be a safety feature added for the use of the lava slide. Jasper was now about five feet inside the three-story staging room. The Roman-style archway with pillars on either side of the pearl glass doors were a mere 30 feet away. He looked up at the six enclosed balconies and each of them were dark, except for the one where Stacy sat with Mop and Bucket looking over her shoulder. He looked up and made brief eye contact with Stacy.
Stay close to me, Thunder. If something goes wrong we may need to bolt out of here in a hurry, and I would die if anything happened to you. Thunder gave Jasper a low doggie whine and put his tail between his legs as he moved to Jasper’s side. They stopped every two feet or so to glance in Stacy’s direction, no one had notice the two of them had slipped away. Jasper moved a few feet closer.
Would the scanners detect him as a threat? The cameras had motion sensors. They began to move with him. “Thunder, we’re on closed circuit television, so smile pretty for the camera,” Jasper said in a whisper. He patted the side of his pant leg and Thunder moved in as close as he could. Step by step they grew closer to the pearl glass doors, just ten feet away. Thunder’s ears suddenly went down, and he gave a low moaning whine.
Jasper halted. “What’s wrong, boy?” He looked back over his shoulder to Stacy.
Back upstairs in the control room…“Sir Lord Bucket, we have an increase in pressure…it is twice as much as the first spike,” The technician said with certainty, but Stacy knew better. It was the key; Jasper had reached the distance he needed to be at in order to ask his question. She looked down and gasped. Jasper was much closer than the last time she had looked. She made eye contact and nervously moved her hair back over her ear.
“Okay, Thunder, here we go.” Jasper placed his hand in his pocket over the key and thought…Heavenly Key made by God you hold knowledge that I seek. Where are my parents? What is the lava slide destination number? Can you take me to them?
“How much pressure, Reggie? Are we talking one lava snake’s worth or a whole nest?”
“It is off the chart. We have never recorded a spike this high before.” Without warning the alarms in the lava slide staging room began to blare. “Look!” Mop stated as he pointed his outstretched hand downward into the slide staging room.
“Good heavens, we have to get them out of there and seal the door shut.” Bucket spoke through the intercom system. “Guards to the staging room! Remove Jasper and Thunder and seal the door. Lava snake incursion is imminent.”
Mop turned on the two-way audio feed in the staging room. “Jasper, back away from the slide. Get out of there. The lava snakes are coming.”
Neither Jasper nor Thunder heard a spoken word; instead, they were both caught up in the vision being played out in front of them. Unseen by everyone else, Jasper saw his parents.
Cracks in the surface of the Roman pillars began to appear. Dark spots began to pop up all the way down the surface of both columns. They cracked; orange light could be seen behind them. The pillars shook, and suddenly the pearl glass doors turned color. The door spoke. “The lava slide vehicle is operational. Minor damage to tubes 6, 12, 18, 22, and structural integrity breaches in tubes 2 and 14. Last active inbound transport was yesterday. There has been no active outbound transport in 17 years. Tectonic plate shifting has collapsed subsections 4, 16, 27, and 28. Immediate angelic repair required. End of line construction is pending under the polar ice caps. Determining alternate routes to bypass damaged lava slide sections. This will take a few moments. Please stand by…”
“The door is S P E A K I N G!!!” Mop shouted, his arms pointing and his hands flapping as if they had just picked up a pot of boiling water without the protection of gloves.
“Please tell me you’re recording this…Stacy, did the door in Jasper’s manor behave in this fashion?”
“Yes, it did,” Stacy replied as she shook her head in the direction of Lieutenant Commander Mop.
“Then do I need wonder what other information the two of you are withholding? What is Jasper attempting to do down there?” Sir Lord Bucket was clearly angry.
Smoke began to pour out of the now-gaping holes where the black burnt spots had originally formed. The entire top of the pillars began to crumble to the floor, sending chunks of rocks in every direction. This went completely unnoticed by Jasper and Thunder, as they were consumed by the answer the key was giving them.
Ten guards entered the staging room. Each carried a hydro extinguisher backpack. They moved toward Jasper, and as they did, the lava snakes burst into the room from the holes in the pillars. Everything they touched caught on fire and began to burn. The guards opened fire directly in front of Jasper, giving him a wall of protection against the lava snakes slithering in his direction. The temperature of the room increased by a third and was still rising as more and more snakes poured into the room. When the hydro liquid hit the body of the snake it cut it in half, turning part of it to stone and causing the other half to lose form and melt apart. The floor of the staging room began to dissolve under the extreme heat. Steam and smoke rose up, clouding the reinforced glass of each balcony’s viewing area.
“We are going to lose the room and everyone in there if Jasper doesn’t move now.”
Two guards finally reached Jasper’s position. They took hold of his arms and began to pull him just as a lava snake sprang up from the floor. The guards were unable to react quickly enough and in a moment of sheer terror the snake melted a hole completely through the torso of the closest guard. He fell with a thud on the floor, slumping dead to the ground. The second guard wasted no time and fired his weapon upon the snake, destroying it; but no sooner did he defeat that lava snake, then another took its place, boxing them into a corner. As more snakes poured through the pillars they began to vibrate at a sizzling, ear-piercing pitch, and with a mighty burst shattered to the ground around the pearl doors. The guard in front of Jasper fell over the debris and the lava snakes devoured him. Not even his final agonizing screams were enough to cause a response from Jasper or Thunder. The doors to the lava slide opened, and the key formed a thick purple mist around Jasper and Thunder and levitated them into the tube. The doors shut behind them, and they were gone.
“Abandon the lava slide staging room. Withdraw and close the blast door; stand by to release the hydro coolant on my mark.” Sir Lord Bucket directed the battle from the intercom of the 3rd floor balcony. The remaining guards retreated to safety behind the closed blast door. “Release, release, release,” Bucket commanded.
In the center of the ceiling of the staging room, there was a hydraulic hatch that opened horizontally across the surface of the ceiling. Out poured high-pressured liquid coolant. The staging room filled up like a giant bathtub, and the lava snakes were killed on contact. The room was now completely submerged. F
rom the control room standpoint looking out from the viewing glass of each balcony, the staging room had become an oversized aquarium with an eerie orange glow. The alarms went silent, and everyone stood in disbelief. Bucket picked up a remote control from the console and pointed it at the observation windows. He pressed the big red button in the center of the box, sending a signal that allowed cast iron blast plate shielding to drop down in front of each window on every level. At least they would survive this, but he had lost good men, and someone needed to provide him with a good reason why.
“Jasper!” Stacy screamed. “Come back…this wasn’t part of the plan,” she whispered. “I wish I could be with you, you impossible boy. Creepy cow, go home.”
Bucket walked sternly over to Stacy and put a fatherly arm around her shoulders. “There is an old English proverb; Reggie would call it a nursery rhyme. ‘If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.’”
chAPTER twenty-two
“P O S S U M !!!” Jasper screamed as he and Thunder flew out the lava slide door and landed face down in the dirt. Red sand caked to his tongue. “Oh, what fresh hell is this?” Jasper shook his head, how this had happened he did not know he was too dizzy. The fading image of his parents in a blue light was clouding his vision along with the stirred-up red dust that was now all over his face.
Thunder was attempting to steady himself on all four legs, but he couldn’t find the strength. “Thunder…I think we’re about to pass out like the last time…Hang on, boy.” Jasper was trying to push up on his elbows from the ground, but down he went. Dust swirled around his head as his face-down flop produced yet another layer of dirt caked to his skin.
Jasper: Purple Flamingos Fly at Midnight (Jasper - Purple Flamingos Fly at Midnight Book 1) Page 13