by Curtis, Gene
Mrs. Shadowitz pointed at the sunstone. “What date is indicated on the face?”
Mr. Young opened the notebook on the table beside the sunstone. “It doesn’t say and I don’t know how to read the markings.”
Mrs. Shadowitz said, “They had eighteen months in their year plus five days as I recall. Their months were twenty days long. Their half century was significant to them and was fifty-two years long. I have no idea how to correlate that information with the marking on this sunstone.”
“Perhaps we should...adjust the dials...to find...something we recognize...to establish...a starting point.”
Mr. Young said, “That is likely to take a significant amount of time.”
Mrs. Shadowitz said, “Then we’ll eat and sleep in shifts. No one other than the three of us in this room at any time. No one is to know that we’re here, not even Nick or Mark. The door is to be locked at all times. At least one of us will be here at all times. We’ll come and go in radiation safe hazmat suits; that should hide our identity and start the rumors as to why this section is off limits.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The Attack
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” the announcer’s voice boomed over the players on the school grounds and the crowd seated in the bleachers waiting for the match to start. “Mrs. Shadowitz has asked me to announce a special celebration that will commence immediately after today’s game on the Engineering Section grounds to witness the activation of the sunstone. Everyone here is invited to attend this historic event and enjoy the festivities that follow.”
Mark was sitting on the corral fence watching his teammates prepare for the first flag and hadn’t been paying attention to what the announcer was saying. He was more interested in formulating a new plan to go after the bonus flag if the one they were going to use didn’t work. I wonder if it will work on kangaroos? The Island was overcrowded with kangaroos but not many were on top of the inner and outer rings.
It took a moment for the new information he’d just heard from the announcer to process. When it did, he slid from the fence rail and turned to face his friends who were also sitting on the rail and in on the ruse. The play acting was for the benefit of unfriendly ears. “The sunstone is going to be activated? They recovered the power source? When? How? I thought it was destroyed. Why didn’t they tell me they recovered it?”
Chenoa said, “That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
Jamal said, “You know why they didn’t tell you. They wanted to keep you out of it because of what Benrah said.”
Nick slid down, walked up to Mark and put his arm around his shoulder. He whispered, “You’re over doing it.” Then he said out loud, “This is the first that any of us have heard about it and Jamal is right. Benrah has no excuse to mess with you now. Besides, they might have invented something that works and don’t need the original power source.”
“Still, they could have told me.”
Jamal slid from the fence. “They just did. Maybe they just recovered it this morning.”
Nick said, “That’s not likely. They would have needed time to check it out and make sure it was safe. I think they found something else to power it.”
Chenoa said, “So they didn’t tell you, big deal.”
“You weren’t boiled alive trying to recover it.”
LeOmi didn’t bother to leave her seat. She just looked at Mark and shook her head. “The world doesn’t revolve around you. Grow up.”
That hurt, but it also made him realize he was acting like a little kid. Of course Jamal was right; they hadn’t told him about it because of what Benrah had threatened. Still, he would have liked to have known beforehand and not to have had the information dropped on him from out of nowhere. He was transmitting his thoughts as hard as he could.
As usual, Tim, Mark’s councilor from last year was sitting with Mark’s parents in the stands. His mother Shirley leaned in front of Steve and said to Tim, “Kangaroos, they’re not dangerous are they?”
Tim chuckled and said, “Normally not unless there is a dog within striking range. They also get a bit cranky when they have not had breakfast. There is not anything for them to eat on The Island and I imagine they are a smidge hungry by now. They are also a bit edgy since there are so many of them.”
Shirley said under her breath, “Oh,” sat back up and turned to look back at The Island.
Steve said, “It doesn’t look as dangerous as the bears did last year.”
Tim said, “Do not let that fool you. Their favorite method of attack is to grab you with their upper paws and rip you open with the claws on their feet or to drown you while you are coming toward them in the water. They are excellent swimmers and many a dingo has lost its life that way.”
“Why don’t they just swim across the moat?”
“They know what is in the water.”
Steve frowned, raised his eyebrows and nodded.
Charlie Goodfellow, the school’s chief astronomer stationed atop The Seventh Mountain shouted, “Noon,” and the game’s first flag was launched. Its silhouette was easy to track against the wispy gray clouds as it arched toward the sandy desert below. The moment the flag impaled itself in the ground the twelve Emerald Tribe riders yelled in unison, “Yah!” setting their mounts into a full-out run toward the flag along with the other three tribes.
“They’re off and it looks like Jasper is leading the pack,” the announcer intoned.
Mark, followed by LeOmi, Nick, Chenoa and Jamal, walked to the edge of the moat around The Island. Getting across fifty yards of water and back again with the bonus flag was the hardest part of acquiring the one hundred forty-four bonus points. Omar’s Strategy Guide for Flags was seriously lacking in any description of techniques used in the past to get across the moat.
Slone and some of his crew were approaching the moat on the other side of The Island. They all waved at Mark’s team and called out, “Good luck.”
The announcer chimed, “It looks like we have an early play for the bonus flag getting ready to start. Ruby and Emerald are getting ready to go for it...Back on the field Krisa has the flag for Emerald but it doesn’t look like she’s going to get around Onyx and Ruby.”
Mark halfheartedly waved back at Slone’s team as did the rest of his group except LeOmi. Instead she said, “I still say he’s up to something and all this niceness is just to put us off our guard.”
“I’m not off my guard,” said Mark turning to Nick. “You ready?”
Nick smiled and nodded. “Ambush or go for it?”
“Let’s make a straight play and only use the ambush if we have too.”
Nicked pulled a package from Aaron’s Grasp about the size and shape of a book, pulled a tab and tossed it into the water. The vinyl canoe hadn’t finished inflating before Mark and LeOmi dove into the boat sandwiching themselves side-by-side between the plastic sides in an obviously practiced move. A rocket motor ignited pushing the boat across the water to the other side in less than two seconds.
The announcer called, “In case you missed it, Emerald team used the old rocket powered canoe trick to get across the moat and Ruby team is using their standard rope trick. Back on the field, Jasper scores the first point of today’s match.”
Chenoa yelled, “Fire” and all three used slingshots to shoot skunk scent paintballs onto The Island targeting specific points along the path Mark and LeOmi planned to take. The balls broke open on the rocks and the kangaroos began scampering away from those areas as best as they could. A few slipped into the water and quickly scrambled back onto The Island occasionally knocking others into the water.
The announcer chided, “What are they using, skunk scent? Come on guys. That stinks. What did those poor kangaroos ever do to you to deserve that?”
Mark and LeOmi scrambled out of the canoe wearing clear plastic masks over their mouths and noses to keep out the scent while using oxy-caps to breathe. They started making their way toward the bonus flag which was erected in the middle of the twi
n Stonehenge-like rings of the inner and outer circles. The plan had been for one of them to grab the flag, sprint up one of the inclined stone slabs to the top of the inner ring, run across another slab to the outer ring and launch the flag like a javelin toward the team members waiting below while the other one ran interference against other teams that may be there or against whatever animals that were there populating The Island. Slone’s team was already on The Island and it looked like he and the three other members of his team were using smoke-ring guns to repel the kangaroos with some type of scent, but it didn’t appear to be all that effective.
“It looks like all four teams are taking their time getting ready to go after the second flag,” called the announcer.
Mark pulled his mask down, tried to speak but gagged due to the strength of the odor and quickly put his mask back in place. A moment later his muffled voice said, “Four against two; this isn’t going to work. Do you think you can throw it across the moat from ground level?”
“If not, I can get it close enough for them to get it, but I don’t think that will do any good.” She pointed back to where Chenoa, Jamal and Nick were waiting. Many people clad in orange, red and black were converging on their location. Players in green were coming in behind them.
“Well folks,” said the announcer, “it’s been a long time since I’ve seen anything like this. It looks like all the players are heading toward The Island and no one is going after the second flag.”
Mark looked across the moat, waved his arms over his head and yelled, “Ambush!” and then pointed behind the group.
LeOmi said, “You get back to the boat and I’ll get the flag. We’ll just fight our way through when we get across.”
“Too late, they’re making a run for it.” Mark pointed toward Slone’s team which had given up on using the smoke-ring guns and had started pushing and dodging through the kangaroos making for the flag.
Mark and LeOmi’s path to the flag was a lot clearer than Slone’s, but Slone’s team was a little closer to it. LeOmi, following close behind Mark said, “You throw your body into the closest one. I’ll get the flag; you just keep them busy for a few seconds and I’ll do the rest.”
Mark ran past the flag and headlong into Slone, the first of the four. Ralph Lawrence, Keith Richards and Bruce Spencer dodged past Mark and Slone continuing on toward LeOmi who had just reached the flag. Ralph grabbed her shoulder and spun her just as she yanked the flag from its mount. She used her momentum and the flag pole to strike him on the side. He lost his balance and almost fell. Keith and Bruce withdrew their riotous from Aaron’s Grasp. The fight was on. Ralph joined in attacking LeOmi just seconds later.
Mark and Slone regained their feet quickly. Slone tried to push his way past Mark but Mark grabbed his sleeves and spun him away from LeOmi. Slone withdrew his riotous in such a way as to strike Mark’s chin with the pommel of the wooden practice sword and would have, but Mark twisted Slone’s shoulders just in time to avert the blow. He pushed Slone back and drew his riotous.
Slone smiled. “Might as well save yourself some pain and put it away. LeOmi can beat Ralph and Keith, but Bruce is better than she is. Besides, she’s going to have to drop the flag and neither one of you can stop me from getting it when she does.”
Mark held his sword at the ready position. “Let’s see about that.”
Slone swung low. Mark jumped over the sword, parried Slone’s reverse swing and on landing rammed his shoulder into Slone’s midsection.
LeOmi had difficulty fending off the three attackers with the flag pole. She drew her riotous, smiled and tossed the flag to the side. She slowly backed up the inclined stone slab enticing her three attackers to follow her to the top of the inner ring and away from the flag. She saw the nearest kangaroo pick up the flag pole, sniff it and then toss it aside. Another picked it up, sniffed and tossed it away. LeOmi could no longer tell where the flag was after this process repeated a few times; her attention had been focused mostly on her attackers.
Jamal, Chenoa and Nick, slingshots in hand, watched as the multi-colored army of players approached. Nick said, “Should we lay down a stink line to keep them away from us?”
Nick said, “Their intentions are obvious; they’re going to wrest the flag away from whoever gets it off The Island. Then it’s just going to be one big melee.”
“It sounds like our best strategy is to start stinking up the other teams so no one wants to get near them.” Chenoa took aim. “Don’t hit any of our guys.”
Jamal exclaimed, “Wait, shoot us!”
Chenoa looked puzzled. “Shoot us?”
“Yeah, no one will want to get near us to steal the flag when we get it.”
“We don’t have masks.”
Nick produced three masks. “I brought some extras in case we had an accident.”
Mark was losing badly to Slone. From sheer exhaustion he fell backward while blocking Slone’s relentless blows toward his upper body. He caught himself with one hand. Slone stepped in, snatched the riotous from his hand, tossed it aside and trotted up the ramp to where LeOmi was fighting just with Bruce now on the outer ring. Ralph and Keith were nowhere to be seen.
Mark trotted up behind Slone whose riotous was poised to block a sudden attack.
Slone said to Bruce, “Where’s the flag?”
LeOmi, holding her riotous upside-down, was using as little energy as possible letting Bruce wear himself out. He responded to Slone with one word for every two handed blow he delivered to LeOmi, “Near...where...we...caught—
LeOmi spun out of the way and Bruce’s momentum along with his divided attention caused him to stumble forward toward the edge of the ring. She stifled her impulse to help him continue his journey forward to a fifty foot drop into the moat. Instead she grabbed his collar and pulled him back. He looked a little embarrassed when he turned to face her. She said, “Thanks for the workout; I enjoyed it.”
“Where’s Ralph and Keith?”
She pointed down. “When they got tired of being hit they went looking for the flag. It looks like they got sidetracked.” A kangaroo behind Ralph leaned back on its tail, raised its feet and thrust Ralph toward another kangaroo which reared back and launched Ralph into the air toward the moat.
Slone was standing with his arms folded across his chest. “Where’s the flag?”
Bruce shrugged and LeOmi said, “I’m not telling.”
Slone said, “Let’s find it,” turned and started trotting toward the inner ring and then down the incline. Bruce followed.
LeOmi had no idea where the flag actually was, but she knew what had happened to it and how best to locate it. Mark joined her and they walked the inner perimeter of the outer ring scanning for another kangaroo to pick it up. They hadn’t made it quite half way around when they spotted it floating in the moat.
Mark looked to where Nick, Jamal and Chenoa were. They were surrounded but no one was getting near them. He pressed the buttons on his walkie-talkie ring and said, “It’s in the moat where we are.” The three turned to look at The Island. The crowd parted as the three started running toward the moat.
LeOmi patted him on the shoulder and pointed down. Slone and his three companions had spotted the flag as well and were quickly making their way toward it. Mark’s oxy-cap was still working. He ran to the edge, jumped and entered the water just a couple of feet from the flag. He started struggling back to the surface as fast as he could but the fifty foot plunge had taken him fairly deep. His mind felt one...two...three leviathans lock onto him. He knew he had just seconds before they had him.
He saw something disturb the surface above him and realized LeOmi must have jumped in too and watched as she passed him on her way down. His mind felt two leviathans shift their focus from him to her.
He broke the surface and saw the ropes Slone’s crew was using to try to get the flag back to shore. He grabbed the flag realizing too late that being in the water put him too low to make the thirty yard throw to the outside bank. He
might be able to make the twenty yard throw to The Island but he didn’t want to give the flag to Slone. He felt something bump him from below and he rose up out of the water over a foot, just enough to attempt the throw. The pole landed in the water just close enough to the outside shore for someone to reach it.
LeOmi let him go and surfaced. Mark said, “Any second now, brace yourself, don’t fight; they just want to get us out of the water. We smell worse than skunks to them.” A moment later an enormous eel like creature’s body crested the surface beside them. It rolled and a huge fin created a wave that washed them back onto The Island.
Mark looked across the moat to see who would get the flag. A player wearing a face mask and dressed in black was many paces in front of the army of players but still behind Jamal, Chenoa and Nick. It was Cynthia Dover, the student that had played a practical joke on Mrs. Shadowitz last year. She had evidently figured out that strong smells were being used as a weapon. Jamal recovered the flag and handed it off to Chenoa who began running for the corral. Cynthia, a second year junior caught her easily, grabbed the flag and hip butted Chenoa loose from the pole. Cynthia didn’t make it twenty steps toward her corral before being swarmed by the other players.
The announcer’s voice boomed, “They’ve got her surrounded...She’s lost the flag and I can’t tell who’s got it...It looks like Emerald Tribe has...make that had it...There it goes, it’s up and Jasper has it...It’s up again going to Jim Jenkins for Jasper and he’s throwing it toward the corral and...it’s in. One hundred forty-four points for Jasper.
Skunks were as numerous as squirrels in the woodlands where Chenoa’s family lived. That necessitated the discovery of an extremely effective deodorizer. One that worked immediately was a ten percent solution of an automotive degreaser containing sodium hydroxide and formulated to make soluble grease and oils break up on contact. Chenoa used a spray bottle of this to deodorize the group.