by Gene Curtis
He finished making the assignments, but there weren’t enough of them to take care of the rest of the crowd that was waiting. The lobby was crowded and people were going to get bored rather quickly. He had to think of something for them to do while they waited: Competition? Tour? Treasure hunt? Show?
What he thought was a brilliant idea occurred to him. He keyed in the intercom code for the culinary classroom. “Hello... can anyone hear me?”
A moment later a girl’s voice answered, “Hello.”
“Is Jamal there?”
Another voice answered, “This is Jamal. Is that you, Cap’n Ben?”
“Yea, I’ve got a situation here in the gymnasium. Can you do an emergency breakfast for about two hundred people?”
* * *
Mark and LeOmi were a couple of minutes early when they arrived in the healing ward and about fifty other students were already there. Mary, the primary nurse that had attended to Mark on his many visits there, greeted them. “Welcome to the rescue club.” She handed them both earpieces. “These will let you hear and speak to the other members. You two will be stationed together since you,” she pointed at Mark, “can’t remanifest yet.” She pointed at a nearby whiteboard on an easel. “Write your names on the station that you want to man.”
The list included various places around and in the school, one position just inside each of the twelve entrances of the outlying sections, half a dozen in Magi City and a dozen roaming/relief positions. All of the positions in Magi City and at the school were already taken, as were the roaming positions. Mark felt someone place a hand on his shoulder.
“Hi guys.” It was Gerod. “It’s not on the list, but I have room on the sub for you if you’d like to check it out.”
Gerod was a counselor for Agate Tribe, best friend of the Communications teacher, Mr. Fairbanks, husband of Mark’s counselor, Shana, and all around useful guy at The Seventh Mountain. Mark thought that being with him on the sub would be a good thing, very informative, but being at one of the other stations where he wasn’t just an observer might give him some more hands-on experience.
Mark asked, “What’s it like at the stations?”
“Most of the time it’s pretty boring. The first positions to go are the ones in Magi City; they’ve got arcades there and shops. The next ones to go are the ones in the mountain. Most rescuers bring a book to read or movies to watch if they’re on post at one of the other stations.”
“They sit in the sand and read?”
“They sit in auto-cars and read. The ones outside the mountain usually sit in the shade of an alcove at one of the entrances since auto-cars don’t work on the school grounds.”
“That’s strange. Why don’t they work on the school grounds?”
“No metal deposits and there’s a dampening effect on magnetic fields.”
LeOmi said, “That’s why they use horses. Didn’t Mr. Fairbanks explain that to you when you were a freshman?”
Gerod said, “He wasn’t supposed to explain most things unless asked about them. We let students discover most stuff on their own. It’s part of what we do to encourage a curious mind.” He looked at LeOmi. “You must have asked Bekka about it.”
“I was curious why the car I came in died when we arrived at the mountain.”
“Well there you go. Ask questions about everything you don’t understand.”
“Why can you answer our questions today?”
“You’re in the rescue club. That puts you outside of the testing day. Your questions can be answered when you’re not around other students. Now, are you coming on the sub or not?”
Mark and LeOmi nodded, “Sub.”
He wrote on the whiteboard showing they were assigned to the sub and then called to Mary, “Mark and LeOmi are with me.” He pointed at them back and forth over their heads so she’d understand over the commotion. He then took them to the balcony where they remanifested.
They arrived at a large lake. Gerod said, “This is the Naval Combat Training facility. I don’t think you were brought this far in when you had your tour.”
Mark said, “I saw the lake on the map, but had no idea it was so big.”
“Our sub is right over here.” He pointed to the nearest quay.
They crossed the gangway to the top hatch. The sub wasn’t very big, maybe fifteen feet long at the most and no more than six feet wide. It wasn’t the one they’d been in last year. Mark said, “It’s so small.”
“Don’t let the size fool you. She’s fully capable to ten thousand feet. Climb in and let’s go.”
Gerod sealed the hatch and sat in the pilot’s seat. There were three portholes in the front and two in the back on either side. He looked out and saw fish swimming all around as far as he could see.
Gerod turned on a display that showed a map of the waterways and a bright yellow submarine icon indicated their position in the lake. “We’re going to take a scenic route to the Wastelands’ lake.” He tapped a few keys, the display changed and he traced out a route on the screen with his finger. A computer voice said, “Auto pilot engaged.” Gerod said, “Let’s go.” The sub detached and began sinking while motoring away from the dock. After a few minutes Gerod said, “LeOmi, I forgot to ask if you’re claustrophobic.”
“Not that I know of.”
“Well, if you are you’ll find out in a few minutes. The underground river we’re going in gets rather narrow at one point. If you find yourself having trouble breathing just don’t look out the windows. Here we go.”
The area outside the sub became dark and a second later, the exterior lights came on as they entered the underground tunnel.
“Up ahead on the left is a trigibbereras’ bed and she will likely be home sleeping. They’re nocturnal. Her name is Merriam and she’s just over two hundred years old.”
The tunnel wall had an oblong alcove about fifty feet long and ten feet high with what looked like three boulders equally spaced in the middle. As the sub neared it, the boulders moved. A small head on a long neck rose up in the far end of the niche and turned to look at them. Seven long gills on either side of her neck just below the head flared and relaxed in a slow rhythm.
Mark asked, “What do they eat?”
“They’re herbivores for the most part. The ornathopti, on the other hand, are omnivores; they eat anything that wiggles. The only reason we’re safe in the water is because we smell so bad to them.”
A few minutes passed in silence while they looked out the windows. Gerod said, “Okay, here’s where it gets narrow. You might want to sit down in case I bump the wall.” He tapped a few keys and the computer voice said, “Manual control engaged.”
He didn’t bump the wall and the sub passed through an opening into an expanse of dimly lit water. “Okay, we’re in the Wastelands’ lake, about two hundred feet down. Would you guys care to watch one of the sub mariner students try to recover a training target?”
LeOmi asked, “Is this what was happening last year when we tried to save that guy?”
Gerod turned his seat to face her and smiled, “Same scenario, different student.”
“Sure, why not?”
“Okay, here’s the situation. The student received sealed orders to recover a bomb. Presumably, one of our planes had to jettison its payload before landing this morning. When he started he believed this was a test, but several things have happened before he got here that have caused him to doubt that belief: none of the other students received sealed orders, he heard com traffic from some unknown group trying to steal the bomb, he saw divers trying to hide from him, the bomb was not where it was predicted to be, his instruments indicate that the bomb is radioactive, his sub was attacked by thralls... you get the picture. He’s likely a little rattled and he thinks there’s a good possibility this isn’t a test. Right now, he’s searching for the bomb. It’s hidden in the bottom of what looks like an old rockslide. It’s rigged to topple over onto his sub when he starts poking around. The test isn’t about getting the t
arget; it’s about how he performs under extreme stress.”
Mark said, “I hope he’s got an extra pair of underwear.”
“He’s not in any real danger. His sub is designed to be able to take the stress and he’s a second level junior. All he has to do is remember what he was taught last year about extricating a trapped sub. It’s just a matter of pushing the right buttons and turning a few dials. He’ll remember; if he doesn’t panic.”
* * *
Chenoa arrived ten minutes early for her test and the lights were out in hangar three when she opened the door. She fumbled for the switch and when the lights came on she saw that the hangar was completely empty: no students, no instructors and none of the sixteen planes that were normally housed there. Okay, this is the test, she thought. I’m supposed to figure out what is going on and then do something.
She jogged around the inside of the hanger and verified that no one was there before picking up the handset to the phone. No one answered at the control tower. Outside there were no planes to be seen anywhere. Her auto-car was gone now but a couple more were approaching. They stopped and she saw it was her squadron. “Back in your cars and head for the control tower.”
At the tower when everyone was out of the cars she called, “No one was in the hangar, no planes anywhere. This is the test. The airfield is vacant and we’re supposed to figure out what’s going on, help if we can. The answers have to be in the tower. Let’s go.”
Chenoa led her squad up the staircase to the top level, a small room with tall windows all around. Inset below the windows were display panels showing more than four hundred red dots and green dots moving over a map of China. She picked up a headset and put it on. Immediately she heard a man’s voice say, “Red Dogs, status?”
“Dog Two, depleted, fifteen minutes fuel.”
“Dog Three, fifty rounds remaining, ten minutes fuel.”
The remaining Red Dogs gave similar reports followed by, “Seventh Leader, all squads depleted or below ten minutes fuel return to base and re-up.” Another voice said, “Sixth Leader, roger that, all squads return to base and re-up when necessary.”
Chenoa covered the microphone with her hand and said, “Jenna, it looks like all planes are deployed over China in a heated conflict. Planes are low on fuel and returning to base. Get refueling teams going and a crash truck in place.” She looked out the window and saw Blue Eyes squad down by hanger three. “Get Blue Eyes on rearming.”
Jenna was Chenoa’s wingman and second in command. She said, “Chuck, Jim, you’re on the crash truck. Everybody else, man the fuel trucks. Move out.” She turned to Chenoa, “I’ll get Blue Eyes onto rearming the planes then I’ll go to refueling unless you need me back here.”
Chenoa answered, “Someone needs to look for the ground crews and controllers. They’re gone for a reason and figuring that out has to be a part of the test.”
“I’ll get on it as soon as Blue Eyes squadron is deployed.”
* * *
Later that night a lot of people were seated at several tables that had been pushed together in the back of The Oasis when Mark and LeOmi arrived. Two seats had been saved for them between Nick and Salina. Several of the students that were there Mark had never seen before.
As Mark was sitting James asked, “How do you arrange your socks?”
Salina followed with her question, “How big should the hole be; how deep?”
Mark looked back and forth between the two and asked, “What’s the difference between a duck?”
James looked perplexed. “Between a duck and what?”
Mark chuckled, “The questions on that test didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me either.”
“You could have warned me about it.”
“Sorry, I would have if I had remembered it. I got a bit sidetracked during the test and had to leave.”
Chenoa said, “Just remember to go get your signet cleaned in a week or so.”
Shana and Bekka walked up behind Mark and LeOmi. Bekka began, “So, LeOmi, how’d you like the sub?”
“It was pretty cool. I saw the map last year, but it doesn’t do the underground channels justice. The most important thing is I see how stupid I was last year trying to rescue that boy trapped in the mini-sub. Mr. Müeller should have told us he was in absolutely no danger.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered. You needed to experience it for yourself. Now, what would you like to eat?”
“Nachos with ground beef and a Coke, from anywhere.”
Mark said, “That sounds good, one for me too, please.”
Bekka said to LeOmi, “You and Mark have been excused from further orientation activities. The Council of Elders believes it is important that you start looking for your lake and the sunstone as soon as possible.”
LeOmi nodded and Mark said, “Sounds like a plan.”
Shana and Bekka finished taking orders and left.
Nick said, “Lake Berryessa in the Napa Valley might be a good one to check out first. Sandy soil, sparse growth, blue water, hills around it and it’s near some olive oil manufacturers.”
LeOmi answered, “I’ve never been there. I’ll need to find someone that can remanifest me there.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Five Friends Fail
Mark felt the warm breeze; it smelled faintly of olive oil and the soil was sandy. The hills across the lake looked different from the ones she’d described from her dream; they weren’t as high as she’d said, but that could be because of where they were standing.
Bekka asked LeOmi, “Well, what do you think?”
“I’m not sure. It’s similar to my dream and different.” LeOmi looked at her shadow. “We’re not in the right spot. North is that way,” she pointed along the shoreline, “and I was looking north across the lake, not east like we are now. We need to move a few miles that way, I think.”
Bekka looked the way LeOmi was pointing, “Just a second while I find a spot.”
Mark said, “I thought you’d been here before.”
“I’ve been here, to this spot, but I haven’t been up there before.” Bekka pointed.
Mark remembered his first lesson on remanifesting and how he was supposed to examine a rock some distance away with Spirit Sight and then to want to look at the rock with his physical eyes. Since he was able to see with Spirit Sight as well as he could with his physical eyes, he’d had no desire actually to be where the rock was and, as a result wasn’t able to remanifest. He wondered what it would take for him to get the hang of it.
He understood what Bekka was doing and asked her, “How far can you remanifest to a place you’ve never been before?”
“As far as you can see, at ground level that’s about nineteen miles, max.” She held out her arms, “Grab on.”
The spot where they reappeared wasn’t a whole lot different from where they had been. LeOmi said, “I don’t think this is going to be the right lake.”
Bekka held out her arms again, “Okay, let’s check the visitor center before we go back to school.”
* * *
It was mid-day when they got back and the school grounds were full of people. They all seemed angry. Mark had never seen a riot or lynch mob before except on TV, and what he saw now looked very much like that.
Bekka’s voice sounded a little nervous, “This is a bit unusual. Stay here on the steps while I find out what’s going on.” She disappeared.
Mark stood beside LeOmi and watched the crowd surging toward the moat. There was a lot of shouting and it seemed they got angrier with every passing second.
LeOmi said, “This isn’t right. Something serious must have happened while we were gone.”
Mark answered, “The way everyone’s acting, maybe Benrah did something.”
Bekka reappeared with Shana and said, “It seems Slone was showing off and created a thrall which he says he lost control over. The thrall attacked several students. A lot of people started believing the rumor that Slone could be Benrah might be true.
They started going after him and he fled. He’s by the moat now and the Council of Elders is defending along with some teachers and staff.”
LeOmi smiled, “Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”
Mark fought to control his anger, “Listen at you. Slone might be a butthead but no one deserves this. Look at that mob; they won’t stop until he’s dead. Get me to the top of the outer ring on The Island.” He grabbed Shana’s arm.
The foursome appeared on the top of the outer ring. The crowd looked like it was made up of mostly students. The few people from Magi City were easy to spot since they were dressed in regular clothes. The defenders stood, swords drawn, on the outer bank of the moat with Slone behind them on the edge of the bank, dripping wet. There was a shouting match going on between the defenders and the ones closest. Mark took the staff out of Aaron’s Grasp and held it high. It took a couple of minutes for the crowd to quiet down.
Mark yelled, “Those that have sworn allegiance to me step forward and defend Slone or renounce your oath this instant.”
Murmurs rifled through the crowd for a few minutes followed by absolute silence. One by one, people began leaving the crowd to stand with the defenders.
Mark continued, “I could understand this if Slone were in fact Benrah. But look at him, he’s pathetic. Would Benrah act like this? No way. The grounds would be full of thralls and Neo-Phylum defending him. Go back to what you’re supposed to be doing and let the Council of Elders handle this.” Slowly the crowd began to disperse.
They remanifested down to where the defenders were. LeOmi marched right up to Slone and gave him a reverse round house kick square in the chest. He fell back into the water and when he surfaced, he looked sheepish and shrugged. “I deserved that.”
Mrs. Shadowitz said, “Animation is taught in the senior year. It would be wise to wait until then before you attempt any further experiments. Now, get cleaned up and report to the Council Chambers.”
Shana said, “Come on, I’ll take you to the healing ward.”