Initiates (The Book of Adam 3)

by Scott Gelowitz

  “I haven’t learned much from Horton,” he said before Don could ask him any questions. “I have a couple of ideas what Dad might have done, but I’m not sure how I’ll be able to check.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Don as Marius pulled out of the yard.

  “I think Dad hid it just outside of the Mechanical lab on one of his last trips to Area 51,” said Adam.

  “Really? What makes you think that?” asked Don.

  “It was just a hunch at first, but when I asked Horton if it would be possible to get outside through an emergency exit he first said no, but when I pushed on and asked him if my dad could have done it, he had to admit that it was possible.”

  Don sat in thought for a moment. “I’ve never been out the emergency exit for the Mechanical Lab. Did he say what was out there?”

  “Yeah, he said it’s a long narrow path leading down to the river below that’s really hard to climb back up on a good day in the summer and nearly impossible during the winter. Since Dad had been there in the winter he was sure Dad couldn’t have done it that way.”

  “I would tend to side with Horton on that one,” said Don.

  Adam shrugged. “He didn’t say it was totally impossible, just nearly. I have a hunch that Dad figured out a way to get down to the river and back.”

  “Quite possible,” replied Don. “I wonder if you can get any proof that your dad hid it out there. It would make it easier to convince Horton to let us go outside and look around. We might want to wait for spring though, just to make it safer,” said Don.

  “It would be easier to wait for spring, but I’m curious to see it in the same way Dad would have, and maybe that would give me another clue.”

  “Well, you’re going to need to convince Gurpreet to authorize that. I’m not so sure that he will be convinced based on a hunch, even if it is yours,” said Don. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow and tell him what you think and we’ll see what he figures, alright?”

  Adam nodded.

  Marius pulled up in front of Adam’s house after he had driven around town allowing time for Don and Adam to talk. Once he stopped, Adam hopped out and waved goodbye, then ran toward the house so he could get out of the bitter cold.

  Moments after he started running, a man stepped out of the shadows behind the house.

  “Stop,” called the man.

  Adam did as he was told, but protested. “I live here,” he said. “I just don’t want to freeze.”

  The man shone a flashlight directly in Adam’s face and he squinted.

  “Sorry, I had to make sure it was you. Just doing my job. Get in quick,” said the man.

  “Thanks,” said Adam, trying to hold back the sarcasm because the man was just doing his job.

  The side door was open and Adam stepped in, slamming the door as quick as he could so he wouldn’t let the heat out. The warm interior was extra welcome because he was so cold from his short walk, but on top of that, he was home. He didn’t think he would miss it, but seeing it at that moment made him realize how much he did.

  “Adam!” exclaimed Mary as she got up from her seat in the living room.

  Adam was unsure if she was going to be happy to see him or upset because he slammed the door, but when she turned toward him he saw the grin on her face. She ran over and gave him a big hug before stepping back to look at him.

  “Wow, you’ve grown!” she exclaimed.

  “I have?” said Adam. He hadn’t realized it until that moment, but the clothes Mary had bought him at the beginning of the year had been large and loose when he left for Area 51, but at that moment they were fitting just right.

  “It must be Betty’s cooking,” said Mary.

  Adam felt awkward hearing Mary talk about Betty’s cooking, especially when Betty had said that Mary was one of the best cooks she’d ever known.

  Mary picked up on his thoughts. “I see by the look on your face that you know I worked in Food Services.”

  Adam nodded. “Betty said you’re one of the best cooks she’s ever had work for her.”

  “She says that about everyone,” said Mary. “She’s forgetting about all of the disasters I created for her – and remind her about the food poisoning incidents next time she gives me high praise.”

  “OK,” said Adam, grinning but wanting to hear more details.

  “Speaking of food, are you hungry?” asked Mary.

  Adam shook his head. “We ate before we left,” said Adam.

  “Why don’t you take your stuff up to your room and come back down to tell me what you’ve been doing.”

  With all that Adam had just learned about his father fresh in his mind, he wasn’t so sure what he wanted to share, but he knew that there were all sorts of things he could tell her besides that.

  He agreed and climbed the stairs to his room. When he opened the door, he saw that everything was just the way he had left it a few months earlier. Compared to his room at Area 51, his room at home now felt huge.

  After he dropped off his luggage, he climbed back down the stairs but had a harder time avoiding the creaks, probably because he had gained weight. Mary was waiting in her living room chair, so Adam sat down in the other one and looked over at her.

  “How do you like Area 51 so far?” asked Mary.

  Adam shrugged. He didn’t know how to answer that. It was great to be out on his own, but he missed being in Grayson too.

  “It’s quite the place,” he said honestly, “but it’s been a lot of work so far.”

  Mary nodded. “They do that intentionally. It will get better.”

  “By the way, Dreena says hi,” said Adam.

  Mary’s eyes widened. “Where did you meet her?”

  “She’s the Math and Astronomy instructor.”

  “No way,” Mary looked surprised. “She didn’t tell you anything, did she?”

  Adam shook his head, but grinned the entire time. “She just said you were a lot of fun and to say hello. Other than that she hasn’t said a thing.”

  Mary looked relieved. “Well, I was younger back when I knew her best. Tell her I say hello back.” Mary paused for a second, “If she’s an instructor, does that mean she dresses normal now?”

  Adam laughed. “She’d be normal at a punk rock festival if she was lucky,” he replied.

  Mary nodded and chuckled. “That’s her, absolutely.”

  She paused for a moment. “So, who is your instructor?”

  Adam paused for a moment. Up until the previous week he had thought that Mary requested Horton’s return.

  “Horton,” replied Adam.

  Again, Mary looked surprised. “But he retired a few years ago,” she said.

  “They brought him back just to teach our class since there’s only the four of us.”

  “I guess that makes sense,” said Mary. “I can’t help but think that there’s more to it than that.”

  Adam was surprised how quickly Mary came to that conclusion, knowing that she was right. It must have shown on his face.

  She said, “There is more to it than that. Spill it.”

  Adam was caught in a tough position. He didn’t want to anger his mother, but he didn’t want to lie to her either. If she was willing to talk, though, she might have more clues than she knew, just like Horton.

  “The short version is that the League thinks Horton may have some clues to help them figure out where Dad hid the Heartstone, and they thought that seeing me would jog his memory. I just found that out myself not too long ago.”

  Mary’s face became stern. “So they are trying to get you to find it for them,” she said. “I really don’t like that.”

  Adam quickly came up with a rebuttal. “No, they’re just hoping that I might be able to help. They don’t want me to search for it at all. They think that since I seem to have a bunch of the same abilities as Dad, I might think the same way as him and be able to give them help with the clues – that’s all.”

  “Clues? What clues?” asked Mary, her face softening
a little.

  “Well, the Aeturnum symbol in the fake Heartstones is one, and the note I showed you is another.”

  Mary thought about it for a few long moments.

  “I can see what they mean,” she said. “Have you told them your suspicions?”

  “After talking to Horton, I told them that I think Dad might have hidden it outside of the Mechanical lab on a late-night visit he had there before he died.”

  “And what did they say about that?” asked Mary.

  “They said they’ll have to think about it before they let me go out there and check,” said Adam.

  “They should go out and check, not you,” said Mary.

  “Yeah, but they might overlook something that I might find obvious,” said Adam, but then he decided to change the subject. “I haven’t told them all of my suspicions, though.”

  Mary looked surprised and intrigued. “What other suspicion do you have?”

  “Well, Horton told me that the last thing Dad worked on before he died was that pendant he gave you for your anniversary,” said Adam.

  “And you think it’s a clue?” asked Mary.

  Adam nodded once.

  “I really hadn’t thought about it,” said Mary as she pulled it out from beneath her shirt, dangling it in the air as she looked at it.

  “Would you mind if I took a look at it?” he asked.

  Mary hesitated and looked from the pendant to Adam.

  “Just promise me you won’t break it,” said Mary. “It’s the last thing he gave me.”

  Adam promised and Mary undid the clasp, handing the pendant over.

  He had never held it before, and the weight of it surprised him. The flowery carvings were intricate and skilfully done, and the gems placed in the middle of each flower weren’t huge or gaudy. They seemed to be just right for the piece.

  “Can you connect with mechanical objects too?” Adam asked.

  Mary shook her head. “That was your Dad’s specialty all the way.”

  “I’m going to try and see inside,” he told her so that she would know what he was doing.

  She nodded her approval and he began.

  It didn’t take long for him to connect, and as soon as he was inside he began to look around. In the middle of the entire area was a large round metal compartment that took up most of the interior space. The backs of the gems on the outside were visible on the inside, and each one was attached to a small connecting rod leading to a gear. Each gear was connected to many other gears, and at the end of a confusing jumble of gears, a large latch seemed to be holding the outer shell together and another latch seemed to hold the inner container together. As Adam made his way around to the other side, he saw hinges attached to the outer shell and on the compartment.

  Something had to be hidden inside the inner compartment.

  “What do you see,” asked Mary.

  “There’s definitely something hidden inside. There are gears all over and I’m just trying to figure out how this thing opens.”

  He continued looking all around the interior and ended back at the latch system. Carefully he followed the latches back to the jumble of gears, and then out to the gems. Each set of gears was set in a specific place so that if any of the gems were pressed they would reset to their starting position. As Adam looked closer, he noticed that one of them wouldn’t reset if a certain other one was pressed next, and the second one wouldn’t reset if one specific third one was pressed and so on, but if the wrong one were pressed they would all reset to their starting positions. He followed each one back to the connected gems, marveling at the intelligent design of the mechanism.

  “Can you help me remember these colors in order?” he asked.

  Mary said yes.

  “Red… orange… yellow… green… blue… dark purple… and light purple,” said Adam.

  “You mean indigo and violet,” said Mary.

  Adam disconnected from the pendant and looked at Mary with slight confusion.

  “It’s the way the colors of the rainbow used to be taught. Indigo is dark purple to you and violet is light purple. Roy G Biv.”

  Adam nodded. He had heard that information somewhere in the past, probably at school when he was only half listening.

  “I’m going to try and open it now, OK?” he stated.

  Mary nodded.

  He pushed the gemstones one at a time in order, and a moment later it popped open. A small black stone fell out.

  Mary gasped.

  Adam looked at it in wonder, but slowly came to a realization.

  “It’s an Impression Stone, isn’t it?”

  Mary nodded.

  “Can you connect with them?” he asked.

  Mary nodded again.

  “You think there’s a message in it?” he asked again.

  “Absolutely,” she said.

  “Go ahead then,” said Adam, but Mary just stared at the little black stone.

  “Can I be alone while I do?” she asked him.

  That took Adam by surprise, but after he thought about it, he felt that it was preferable that he was somewhere else while she read what Ed had left for her.

  “I’ll go up to bed. If you decide to let me read it, just let me know in the morning.”

  “Thanks,” said Mary without taking her eyes off of the stone, “and goodnight.”

  “Goodnight,” said Adam.

  His sleep was much better than he had expected it to be, especially with everything that had happened the night before. Most surprising of all was the fact that he could hardly wait to talk to Mary again that morning, and possibly get to connect with the Impression Stone.

  He hopped out of bed and dressed quickly, then tried to climb down the stairs quietly, but failed again because of his increased weight. Mary was sitting in her chair already and turned to see him as soon as the stairs gave their first creak.

  “Merry Christmas,” she said happily.

  Adam wasn’t expecting her to be happy. He was expecting her to be moody and possibly weepy.

  “Merry Christmas,” he replied as he walked to the small living room.

  “Come and open your present,” she said.

  Adam was surprised to see a wrapped box sitting on the floor, since it hadn’t been there the previous evening. Mary had always gotten him something for Christmas, but usually it was clothes and most of the time nothing was wrapped.

  He picked up the box and was surprised that it had some weight to it. He sat down in his chair and began to open it, wondering what could be inside. When he opened the box, he was surprised and excited. Inside was a brand new set of screwdrivers, wrenches, and a utility light that he could clamp wherever he needed extra light.

  His surprise and delight showed on his face. “Thanks Mom,” he said as he pulled the screwdrivers out of the box.

  Suddenly, his face showed his thoughts again. “I feel terrible. I didn’t get you anything,” he said.

  Mary smiled and shook her head. “You gave me more than you know last night.”

  Adam looked confused, but then remembered the stone in the pendant.

  “Really?”

  Mary nodded. “The thing is, the message inside wasn’t just for me. It was for both of us. Do you want to see it now?”

  Adam dropped the screwdrivers back in the box unconsciously and set the box on the ground. Mary pulled her pendant out again and pressed the gems in order until the stone fell out. She had obviously replaced the stone the previous night and intended to keep it near her.

  Adam took the stone, and after looking from it to Mary, he cupped it in his hands and began the connection.

  It had been a while since the last time he connected with any stone, since they hadn’t played many Kurling games all year, so the feeling of falling to the middle of the little stone almost surprised him. As soon as he was there, a long piece of paper with writing on it drifted into view and the words looked handwritten in the style of his father.

  His heart raced as he began to re
ad:

  Dear Mary and Adam,

  I’ve left this note for both of you in the hopes that one day one of you will open this pendant, either by luck or by knowledge.

  I’m not sure if you’ll know by the time you read this or not, but I have moved the Heartstone away from Grayson without the knowledge of anyone in the League. I am sure someone is leaking information from within the League and in order to keep you safe I have moved the stone. When I am gone, the League will send Karl to check on the Heartstone, and when they find out that it is gone, the leak in the League will inform the Decreta that it is no longer here and that will keep you safe. No plan is ever foolproof however, but I know the League well enough that most of my plan should work.

  After a lot of thought, I came up with this plan. Mary, you know I checked that Adam isn’t affected by the Heartstone, but just the fact that it was nearby was dangerous to you both. We all know what’s happened at other locations suspected of hiding the Heartstone.

  By now you know that I had a heart condition that isn’t repairable without a transplant along with a lot of rehabilitation. Even with that, I’d never recover fully. I’m not willing to sit around recovering while you two are in danger.

  Mary, You know I will always love you. We always knew that I’d probably get killed on one of my adventures while trying to help others anyway, so I feel that dying to save my family and all of the good people of Grayson is worth it. I’m no Teneo after all, and what’s ten or twenty more years compared to saving the lives of those you care about most?

  Adam, I hope you grow to your fullest potential and never hold yourself back. You can accomplish nearly anything if you try; I know it already at your young age. I want you to know that even though you don’t have a father, the people of Grayson will step in to help you grow in my absence, so in essence they will be your step-father. Learn from them because there is a lot of wisdom and talent there.

  As far as the new location of the Heartstone is concerned, I’m sorry but I’m not giving anyone any answers, especially you. Any clues I leave for you would just paint a large target on your backs, and that’s what I’m trying to avoid, so hopefully you will not try to find it. Once they discover that the Heartstone is gone they will know that I did it and then they will try and find it, but it has been moved far away through the unknowing help of a lot of people.