There’s nothing I can do about it now, though. I had hoped our dangerous journey might somehow spur some Power to appear inside me, but it hasn’t. I’m still a Miracle only by virtue of my birth, not because I possess any special magic.
I can’t be certain, but it seems to me as if we’re moving faster today than other days. Maybe it’s the Marines’ eagerness to end this journey that has increased our pace, or maybe it’s my misgivings about getting there that just make it feel like we’re going faster.
As always, Radar tries to brighten my mood with quips and jokes as we walk, but they’re having minimal effect. The other Miracles can sense my anxiety as well.
Doc moves closer to my side, opposite from Radar.
“Leah, have you felt any hints at all that your Power might finally be appearing?” she asks me.
I frown and shake my head. “Nothing. Nothing at all. I feel the same as always—very ordinary. I’m not even sure why I’m here.”
“We’re not either,” Sneak says from in front of us, always ready with a jibe. He’s smiling, so I don’t take him seriously.
Plush pushes Sneak hard on the shoulder. “You hush,” she says sternly.
“I’ll give you a couple of good reasons,” Radar says to me. “One, whoever is controlling all this over There said ALL the Miracles need to go to Alcatraz. That means you, too, Power or no Power. Two, I’m sure your Power will show up when we need it, and like I keep telling you, it will probably be the biggest and baddest Power of all.”
I hope she’s right. But even if my Power does show up, will I have time to learn how to use it? The rest of them have had their Powers for years and they’re still discovering new ways to employ them.
“And three,” Radar continues, “if you hadn’t gotten yourself into trouble, Kai might not have been sent through to help. Not only is he pretty dreamy to look at, but he’s been kind of useful to have around, too.” She lays her hand on Jordy’s shoulder. “Not as dreamy as you, of course,” she says to him.
Jordy just smiles. He’s used to Radar’s exuberant personality.
I smile, too. Kai is pretty dreamy, for sure, and has definitely been way more than useful. I guess I have made some contribution to this expedition, even if it’s only been indirectly.
I wish Kai was walking with me right now. He doesn’t talk all that much, but the air of quiet confidence he exudes is very comforting. But he’s somewhere up ahead, scouting our route for us to make sure it’s safe. I guess that’s a better use of his time than lifting my spirits, but that doesn’t change the way I feel.
A few miles outside of Pacifica we leave Highway 1, turning left onto Route 35, which continues northward right along the coast. The idea is the same as always: to travel by the most direct but least developed route possible. Dad’s map shows us that the 35 is a better choice for that than Highway 1.
The road descends until we’re traveling only a few dozen feet above sea level. The ocean is now little more than a stone’s throw away to our left, and the breeze blowing in off the water carries a strong briny scent. To our right, the hills rise steeply away from the coast.
The topography makes flanking parties pretty much unnecessary, so Dad doubles the size of the advance squad. Somewhere around noon, Kai returns from one of his scouting forays. He speaks briefly with my dad before coming back to with walk me. Having him beside me is definitely comforting.
“You were gone a pretty long time,” I say. “How far ahead did you scout.”
His answer is almost as comforting as his presence.
“All the way to the foot of the Golden Gate,” he replies. “I saw a fair amount of old Anomaly damage, but I sensed no danger anywhere along our path.”
The increasing amount of Anomaly damage makes sense, as we’re now only a matter of miles from where it all started. It’s great to hear he found no sign of any threat—I was expecting things to become much more dangerous the closer we got. For some reason, that doesn’t seem to be the case. I’m certainly not going to complain about it, though.
We travel along the ocean for several miles before the road makes a sharp right turn and begins heading up a steep hill. It takes us awhile to make it to the top, but when we get there the effort was more than worth it. Stretched out before us, less than a mile away, are the twin towers and graceful cables of the fabled Golden Gate Bridge.
We can’t see the actual roadway of the bridge from here—there are buildings blocking our view—but what we can see is amazing. The biggest bridge I’ve ever seen or crossed is the Coronado Bridge back home, which is nothing like this one. That bridge reaches pretty high above the bay, but it’s not a suspension bridge so it doesn’t have any towers. Even from here, I can tell that the Golden Gate’s towers are gigantic. I can only imagine how thick the cables hanging from them must be.
The bridge looks different from the pictures I’ve seen. Instead of being a bright orange/gold color, the metal has darkened to more of a burnt orange hue. I know from my reading that back in the old days they used to paint the bridge pretty much every year, but now it’s been close to thirty years since it received a fresh coat of its trademark paint. Still, it’s an awe-inspiring sight. Plus, it means our long journey is just about at an end.
Kai leads us into a five-story glass and steel office building. Dad leaves half his men downstairs to watch the entrances, while the rest of us trudge up five flights of stairs to the top floor and enter a large office space. Whoever worked here must have been pretty important.
Except for the layer of dust that coats every surface, the office looks like it’s been frozen in time, as if it’s waiting for its occupant to come back and use it again. A big wooden desk faces the door at an angle. Sitting on top of its dusty surface are two neat stacks of yellowing paper, a phone, a stapler and a glass-framed photo of an attractive middle-aged woman with two very cute young children. As we cross past the desk, I find myself wondering what might have happened to that family. I hope they somehow escaped and survived.
I don’t think about them for long, though. We stop in front of the nearly floor to ceiling windows, Kai on my left and Radar on my right. As usual, Jordy is close beside Radar. Dad stands next to Kai, with Lieutenant Gregerson beside him. A few other Marines look out from behind us. The rest have entered an adjacent office.
The view from here is simply breathtaking. Our building sits on a high point of land that’s already a hundred feet or more above the bay and most of the city, and our vantage point near the top of the structure gives us even more height. From here, the bay and much of the downtown harbor area are stretched out before us. The bay is beautiful, its waters sparkling blue under the afternoon sun.
I can’t say the same for the city. Much of it looks like a war zone, with bombed out buildings and whole blocks that are nothing more than charred rubble. Portals opening undoubtedly caused a lot of the structural damage—this close to The Incident, there must have been dozens, if not hundreds that opened up in its aftermath. I can’t know for sure, but I’m guessing the burned areas might have resulted from ruptured gas lines or fuel stations that then burst into flames.
At first glance, the city seems like a deserted ghost town, but every now and then I spot dark, unrecognizable forms flitting through the shadows. I have no idea what they are, but I’m pretty sure they’re not human.
As interesting—and depressing—as the view is, I don’t let my eyes linger too long upon the city. Instead, my gaze is drawn back to the bay, and to the rather small-looking island sitting in the middle of it. Alcatraz.
CHAPTER 36
MY FIRST VIEW OF OUR DESTINATION is nothing like I expected, nothing like the pictures I’d seen in all the books we studied prior to beginning our journey. The Rock itself, as it was often affectionately called, looks as solid as ever. But gone is the stark, solid block building made even more ominous-looking by the knowledge that it served as a maximum-security prison housing the worst of the worst. In its place stands nothing mor
e than a skeleton of the old structure, pieces of exterior wall reaching up to varying heights before crumbling away. In some places the jagged concrete sections seem no more than eight or ten feet tall, while other parts rear up almost three times that. The various outbuildings that surrounded the main prison are now little more than piles of rubble, and the distinctive lighthouse tower has completely crumbled as well.
Whether the destruction resulted simply from The Incident or occurred over the years there’s no way of telling.
I study the island more closely, focusing on the prison building. I can’t be sure, but I think I see the top of a dark black globe in the middle of the concrete skeleton. An anxious feeling grips the pit of my stomach.
I turn to Kai. “Is that what I think it is?”
Kai looks at me for a second, trying to see where I’m looking. “What are you seeing?” he asks.
“That thing in the middle of the building. It looks like a giant black balloon or something.”
Kai turns back to the window. “If you think you’re seeing a portal,” he says, “then you’re right. That’s exactly what it is.”
I feel my eyes grow wide. The black sphere looks at least twice as large as any portal I’ve ever seen.
“The original one?” I ask disbelievingly. “How is that possible, after all these years?”
“Your scientists’ experiment ripped open a hole between our worlds that never closed,” Kai tells me. “We’ve been able to partially seal it from our side, but that’s all. The rest needs to be done from here, I think.”
Some of the pieces start to fall into place. Perhaps this is the reason we were told to come here, to somehow close off this portal once and for all. But how are we supposed to do that?
“The island looks deserted from here,” Dad says. “Kai, can you see anyone?”
Kai shakes his head. “No. No one. But that doesn’t mean something can’t come through at any time.”
Dad nods. “I know. Still, I’m glad the island doesn’t seem to have any permanent residents.”
I’m pretty glad of that, too.
“I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade,” Radar says, “but how are we going to get to that freaking island? It looks like a pretty long swim.”
“I don’t think we have much choice,” Dad replies. “We’re going to have to go down to that marina and hope we find a boat or two we can use. Something with sails or oars, preferably.”
From up here, we can see two long wooden docks. The rest of the marina is blocked from our sight by buildings. More than a dozen boats of varying sizes are tied up on the piers. The biggest, docked at the very end of the nearest dock, is half submerged. It looks like one of the ships I’ve seen in old pictures that used to ferry tourists out to Alcatraz to visit the famous prison. The twisted stern of the boat appears to have suffered damage from an Anomaly, which is why Dad is hoping for sails or oars.
Dad turns to Lieutenant Gregerson. “Lieutenant, choose six men. Go down there and see what you can find. Be very careful. We don’t want to reveal our presence any sooner than we have to.”
“Yes, Sir,” Lieutenant Gregerson replies. He spins away.
“Wait a minute,” Sneak says. “I have a better idea.”
The lieutenant stops and turns around. We all look at Sneak.
“I know boats,” he says to my dad. “I can go down there and no one will see me. If there’s anything we can use, I’ll find it.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Dad says. I can see from the expression on his face that he’s pondering Sneak’s suggestion.
“He may not be seen,” Kai says, “but he can still be smelled.” A half smile curves his lips. “I may have an answer for that, though. Wait here, everyone.”
He turns to go, but then stops and turns back to my dad. “May I borrow your canteen, Colonel?”
Dad doesn’t hesitate, nor does he question Kai’s request. He simply unhooks his canteen from his belt and hands it to Kai. I wonder why Kai needs the canteen, and how long he’s planning to be gone.
“I won’t be long,” Kai says, answering my unasked question. He pivots and disappears out the door.
While we wait for him to return, we continue observing Alcatraz, the bay and the marina from our perch, looking for any signs of danger. We don’t see anything worrisome, but that doesn’t mean danger isn’t there, lurking somewhere out of sight.
True to his word, Kai is back in less than twenty minutes. Draped over his left arm are several long strands of slimy, greenish brown kelp. Obviously, he went back down the hill to the beach. It would have taken any of us much longer to make that trip.
Kai extends his arm toward Sneak. “Hang a couple of these around your neck,” he says. “Break a few pieces off and stuff them into your pockets.”
Sneak takes the kelp from Kai and holds the strands up near his nose. He wrinkles his face in distaste at the odor.
“Do I have to?” he asks.
“You’re going down to the marina,” Kai replies. “If you smell like the water, you won’t draw unwanted attention. Trust me, you don’t want any part of any creature capable of sniffing you out.”
Still making a face, Sneak wraps a thick strand of kelp around his neck like a scarf, leaving a long piece of it hanging down his chest. He breaks some pieces off another strand and shoves them into his pockets.
We can’t help smiling at him. I can see Radar trying hard to stifle a laugh.
Seeing our grins, Sneak suddenly disappears. Kai’s hand flashes out to the spot where Sneak vanished. From the claw-like position of Kai’s hand, I think he’s got Sneak by the arm. Kai’s reaction was so swift Sneak didn’t have a chance to move.
“Just a minute,” Kai says. “I almost forgot.”
He reaches out with his other hand and tips Dad’s canteen upside down. The water splashes over Sneaks head, outlining his invisible form as the liquid runs over his head and shoulders. Sneak sputters and reappears.
“What the...?” he stammers as we Miracles enjoy a laugh. It’s not often the tables get turned on Sneak.
“It’s seawater,” Kai tells him. “Like I said, the more you smell like the water, the safer you’ll be.”
“Yeah, well, next time warn a guy, huh?” Sneak says. “Geesh.”
Kai is right. It does smell like the ocean in here now. Sneak’s new scent should blend in pretty well down by the bay.
“Okay, Sneak,” Kai says. “Get going before the kelp dries out too much and loses some of its aroma.”
“Aroma, my ass,” Sneak says. “More like stench.” He vanishes again.
“I’m out of here,” his disembodied voice says.
The only way we have of knowing he’s gone is by the weakened scent of the seaweed. We all turn back to the window, though we know there won’t be anything to see and that it will be awhile before Sneak returns. He has to walk all the way down to the marina and back—which is at least half a mile—in addition to searching for any usable boats.
Waiting for him to get back is much more stressful than waiting for Kai was. For one, we know Kai can take care of himself and is familiar with whatever dangers might lurk outside. Sneak has no such knowledge, nor does he have Kai’s physical gifts and fighting skills. Sneak will have to trust on his invisibility and the kelp. The thought of him depending on a few strands of seaweed for his safety makes me cringe inside.
The other thing that raises our anxiety is watching the marina. We have no idea where Sneak is or what he’s doing, yet our eyes remain glued to the window. It’s stressful to watch and hope that we see nothing at all, expecting that at any moment some dark form could leap out and attack an invisible prey.
It’s almost an hour before Sneak walks back through the door, visible for all to see. He’s ditched the seaweed outside the building or somewhere downstairs, but the scent of the ocean still clings to him.
We’re all glad to see him back safely, but Dad doesn’t waste any time on pleasantries. At the moment, Sn
eak is a reconnaissance patrol just returned from a mission, and Dad treats him that way.
“Did you find any boats we can use?” he asks.
“There are a couple that might do in a pinch,” Sneak replies. He pauses, clearly enjoying being the center of attention. “But I found something even better.”
We all stare at him, waiting for him to continue, but Sneak is milking every second of this. Finally, Dad steps right in front of Sneak, looming over him. Dad can be pretty intimidating when he wants to be. Just ask any Marine who’s ever served under him.
“What did you find, Sneak?” he growls. “Out with it.”
Sneak realizes he’d better stop fooling around. “Mermaids,” he says. “I found mermaids. And dolphins.”
“Really?” I blurt. “Selene and her sisters are here?”
Sneak flashes me a look of mock exasperation. “Do you know any other mermaids, Leah? Of course it’s Selene and her sisters.”
I grin, ignoring Sneak’s sarcasm. I’m so excited to hear that Selene and the others are here in San Francisco. The more beings from There we have on our side right now, the better I like it.
Radar grabs my forearm. “Did you hear that, Leah? We’re gonna get to ride with the dolphins and mermaids again!”
That’s typical Radar, focusing on the fun of the adventure and ignoring that our ride may be carrying us into deadly danger.
“Uh, yeah, I heard,” I say, smiling. “I’m like, standing right here.”
“Selene said they’ll take us across whenever we’re ready,” Sneak continues. “She said they’ve been waiting up here in the bay almost since they pulled Leah to shore.”
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