“The moment you hear anything …” he reminded her about Christine.
Chuckling, she said, “I promise!” She continued down the hallway, heading away from him.
* * * * * *
Raptor trusted Andrew to take care of himself. She knew he was exhausted, having caught only a few moments of sleep here and there. The Keepers, after they had received the retrovirus, only needed about two hours of sleep a day.
While she wanted to give Andrew the retrovirus, she could not. It would take her and Dynamos several hours to create it and every moment counted right now.
Making her way down the hallway, she soon came to the computer room and stepped inside. Mouse, Godlin, and Walker were all there.
“No Christine,” Mouse said as she entered. “Where’s your sidekick?”
“Sleeping. Any luck with the virus?” she asked, knowing that despite having lost it earlier, Mouse would continue to try.
Clenching his jaw together, Mouse said, “I sent the fix out, but it won’t be able to get ahead of the virus. Selena and Gadget are still out there. They should send in a report soon.”
“I suppose we’ll know more then. Notify me when that comes in and let me know the second you hear anything about Christine.”
“You bet,” Mouse said.
Turning to Walker, Raptor offered her the Stone of Life. “We need to talk.” She stepped closer to the woman. “The Stone tried to take Andrew as its Quester, and its current Quester is the tree they live in, not Nagun.”
Godlin listened in, his forehead wrinkling at the prospect.
Turning the emerald over in her hand, Walker carefully examined it. “That is troubling,” she said in a soft voice. She stood up and moved over to the table where the box of Quester Stones rested. She opened the lid labeled “Life” and set the emerald inside. Only four were missing: the Stones of Malice, Daring, Fear, and Friendship.
“Tell me about it,” Raptor said. “Andrew swore to me he’s not interested in becoming its Quester anymore, but you know how these things operate.”
Walker bowed her head as she moved back to her seat in front of the computer. “It won’t care if he’s unwilling and will dominate him.”
“When we get done with this, I want you to work with him. Train him to resist these things.”
“It will be difficult, and I’ve no way to be certain he has mastered the technique without putting him at great risk.”
Godlin crossed his arms over his chest. “If we could find him a lesser Stone, it would be his best protection.”
Earth could not protect everyone from an attack by another Stone. However, Stones bonded to a single person could protect them fairly well from temptation. “I don’t like making new Questers.”
“We can’t lose him to the Stone of Life,” Godlin said. “Earth would not tolerate that level of failure.”
Shuddering, Raptor knew exactly what would happen if Andrew became lost to the Stone of Life. Earth would go into a rage, and there was no telling what it would do in response. The planet was furious over Venom’s betrayal and Bringer’s death. Anytime she thought about Bringer while connected to Earth, she only felt emptiness. His death had hurt the planet, though she did not know how badly or in what ways.
She often wondered why the planet tolerated the Keepers risking their lives. Perhaps the risk of losing a Keeper was less damaging than the threat posed by Quester Stones running amuck on Earth.
“Locate a lesser Stone—something he can control and something that won’t cause us a lot of trouble. We’ll call it plan B. Plan A is anything but that.” A lesser Stone probably would not make Andrew immune from the influence of the Stone of Life, but it would give him a fighting chance.
Walker said in a soft tone, “Very well.”
“Any luck on the Stone of Friendship? Last I heard, it was in Mexico.” Raptor changed the topic quickly, not wanting to dwell on the complexities of having a new Keeper joining the ranks.
“A little. I managed to track it to El Paso, owned by a young man working in a hotel there—the Paso del Norte.”
Raptor raised an eyebrow. “That puts it close to where Andrew and Christine are from.”
Staring down at her hands, Walker replied, “I thought the same thing as well. We know why Andrew is here, perhaps Christine has something to do with the Stone?”
“And she’s not here, so we can’t find out until we get her back.” Rubbing her temples, Raptor let out a soft sigh.
“Walker and I are about to leave to investigate the town,” Godlin said. “We may not find anything though. Things can get around in a hundred years.”
“Earth is still pressing on me to find Christine. She’s connected to this.” Raptor felt certain she was on to Earth’s agenda regarding Christine, for now. If its objectives changed, the planet would tell her.
Mouse leaned away from his work. “The government knows the crystalline creature attacked that town. They are swarming the place.”
Godlin gave a grunt. “Wonderful,” he said in a growl. “I hate playing spy.”
Reaching over to set a hand on Godlin’s arm, Raptor could not help but smile at his grumbling. “Good luck you two. I’m heading out to get the Stone of Malice.”
Chapter Eighteen
Andrew awoke to a knock on the door.
He fumbled around in the unfamiliar room, trying to find a light switch on the wall. The control panel next to the door glowed dimly. He mashed his hand into the buttons all at once, desperate for the light to come on or the door to open.
When nothing happened, he yelled, “Come in!”
The door slid open, and Raptor stood there, a single eyebrow lifted high. She pressed a button on the keypad next to the door, causing the lights to come on. In her hands, she carried a small potted plant, a packet of water, and a sandwich.
Andrew rubbed the back of his neck, remembering that he just needed to push the big button on the control panel, not all of them at once.
“Ugh,” he groaned, sitting back on the bed and resting his head on the wall. “How long did I sleep?”
“A bit over two hours. I just got back from getting the Stone of Malice.”
“How’d it go? See any polar bears?”
Pressing her lips together tightly, Raptor said in a stiff tone, “Fine.” However, she ignored the second question and changed the subject. “Mouse located Christine.”
Andrew pushed himself off the bed at the news. “Let’s go.”
Raptor motioned for him to sit down again. “We need to talk first. I want to prepare you for where you’re going.” She offered Andrew the packet of water and the sandwich.
Taking both, Andrew sat down on the edge of the bed again reluctantly. They could not waste time just sitting here chatting. He shoved the straw into his mouth and drank all of the contents in several big gulps. The sandwich came next. Throwing off the wrapper, he took a bite out of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
“Christine is in the Labyrinth of Horror. Tech’s volunteered to go, so you’ll have help. There’s another Quester Stone there too. I expect you to get it.”
Chills ran down his spine. “That doesn’t make me want to go, you know.”
“What happened to your sense of heroism? You’ve been dying to save people ever since you got here,” Raptor said, giving him a ridiculous grin.
“Come on, seriously? Labyrinth of Horror?” He would rather go back and face the warrior women again than go somewhere named that. A vague memory of Tran being terrified of the dimension came back to him from when Raptor had first shown Andrew the list of Quester Stones.
“It’s an accurate description. The dimension is a maze, and it’s got a mind of its own. I’m betting Christine has Arachnid’s Quester Stone too. That’s one way she could have gotten there on her own.”
“What if she doesn’t have it?”
“I’ll approach Arachnid again and take Walker with me. He really hates her.”
Shifting uncomfortably, Andrew hunched his
shoulders. Arachnid was powerful, and Raptor had already said the Keepers would lose in a fight with him.
She seemed to sense his worry. “I’ll pay whatever the cost is. We need every one of the nine Stones we can get, or all of this is for nothing. Now, are you going to go or not?”
Andrew held his half-eaten sandwich, his stomach in knots. Every time the Keepers spoke of a new dimension, it always came with a list of warnings. But if he wanted to save Christine, he would have to swallow his fears and go. Raptor obviously had faith in his abilities, and he did not want to disappoint her either.
Andrew let out a breath, his cheeks puffing out. “All right, I’m in.”
“Excellent.” She beamed a smile. “But first, you need to master your control over plants.”
Plopping onto the bed next to Andrew, Raptor placed the plant in between them. It stood about a foot tall with bright green, spear shaped leaves growing out of narrow stalks.
She motioned to the plant. “Touch it.”
Curiosity overtook him. Reaching out, he touched the leaves.
His mind flooded with information. It was a bell pepper plant, typically considered a vegetable, but it had seeds, making it a fruit. This species lacked capsaicin in its flesh and did not produce the intense burning sensation of other pepper plants.
Andrew pushed aside the technical information. The bell pepper plant was not healthy. Low nitrogen in the soil had stunted its growth. He picked up the pot and carefully studied it. He could see the stems and the leaves had started to take on a light green, yellowish hue.
“It needs nitrogen. It’s not growing well.” Compassion ran through him, compelling him to heal the plant.
Raptor gave a humming sound. “Good, but that’s not what you need to practice. I want you to take control of the plant and force it to grow, like you did the trees in Paris.”
“I don’t know how I did that.”
“You’re in direct contact with this plant, so it will be easier. Focus. Coax it into doing what you want it to do.”
Andrew thought about the trees in Paris, how he had used his anger to make them grow. The crystalline monster had destroyed Tech’s plane and had been about to catch Raptor’s.
He closed his eyes, trying to picture a tiny version of the monster crawling through the bell pepper plant.
Nothing happened.
Andrew jostled the pot back and forth, causing the leaves to sway. He let out a slow breath, reminding himself it had taken him a few tries to glean information from the tree. There was no sense in taking his frustration out on a helpless plant.
Plants grow new leaves from the top in a logical pattern of growth. These new leaves produce a hormone called auxin, blocking the growth of other leaves. New leaves only form where the amount of the hormone is the least. Depending on the species of plant, the new leaf may grow only a few degrees away, or it may grow directly opposite the first leaf. The result is a highly organized pattern of leaves growing around a stem.
For this plant, one tiny leaf stuck out from the top, and the next leaf came in ninety degrees away from it. Andrew focused on where the new leaf should grow, but he remembered the lower leaves also produced the auxin hormone. A new leaf would not start to grow until the older leaves had matured and stopped producing the hormone.
With a deep breath, Andrew honed in on the older leaves, thinking about them growing larger. The plant quivered, and the leaves started to stretch out, becoming longer and thicker. The top of it started to push upwards as well, and a tiny new leaf bud formed, exactly where Andrew had expected it.
Andrew squeezed the pot and gave a faint squeal of excitement. “I did it! That was easy!”
“These powers will come to you, if you let them,” Raptor said.
“Oh, oh, let me try something.” Andrew wanted to make it shrink down back into a seed. He fixated on the plant, trying to reverse its growth, stripping the water away from it, like he had done to the tree in Ligna.
He started slowly at first. The plant leaves began to draw in on themselves. Encouraged, he focused on taking more away, faster.
“Wait!” Raptor yelled, realizing his intentions.
Large brown and black spots appeared all over the plant, and the leaves shriveled up. Before Andrew could stop it, the stem of the plant fell over, limp, and turned into a hard, brown stick.
Andrew’s jaw dropped, shocked at what he had done. “I didn’t mean to! I-I swear! I was just trying to make it a seed again. I didn’t know …” He trailed off, holding the pot away from him. Brittle leaves fell off the plant, and water dripped out of the bottom of the pot onto the floor.
Raptor reached over and gently lifted the pot out of his hands. “It’s all right.” She put the plant down on the ground.
“What happened?” His stomach felt sour.
“You stripped it of its nutrients and water.”
“But it should have gotten smaller. That’s what I wanted it to do.”
Reaching over to set a comforting hand on his back, Raptor said, “Why would you expect that? Plants grow like we do. When it grows a leaf, it can’t un-grow it, just like we can’t un-grow a limb or become a child again.”
Andrew punched the bed. “I killed it.” Regret tugged at his heart. “I’m sorry.”
“You did great getting it to grow, but your powers aren’t magic. You still have to follow the laws of physics and biology.”
The withered plant laid on the ground in front of him. There was no hope of bringing it back. “Any other lessons?” He asked in a dull tone, feeling useless at the moment.
Raptor pushed herself up off the bed and started for the door. “The only way you will learn to master these powers is to use them. I want you to keep that in mind on this mission.”
Andrew swallowed the last of his water and ate a few more bites of sandwich. He stood and followed Raptor out of the room. They headed down the hallway, toward the computer room.
Voices drifted to them as they came closer.
Raptor stopped right before they reached the door. “Shh,” she whispered. “I think Tech is trying to trick Tran into going.”
Andrew strained to listen through the wall. He could just make out what they said.
“Help you do what?” he heard Tran ask.
“You remember Christine went missing? Well, Mouse found her, and Raptor wants you to help me get her,” Tech answered.
“Where is she?”
“Nowhere special.”
“But I’m needed here.” A moan came from Tran.
“Nah, Mouse has enough people here. Don’t you, Mouse?”
“Oh yeah, I have everything under control,” Mouse reassured Tran.
Tran spoke in a low voice. “You’re not helping.” Andrew imagined him slumped with dread.
Andrew whispered to Raptor, “Why are we tricking Tran?”
“He deserves it.” Smirking, Raptor inched closer to the door. “Tech’s been looking for a way to get back at Tran for a prank he pulled a week ago. Plus, those two are best friends and work well together on missions like this. I could order both of them to go, but it’s so much more fun to trick Tran into it.” She stepped around the doorway and into the room.
“Excellent!” she said with a way too cheerful smile. “Glad to hear you’re volunteering to go, Tran!”
Andrew followed her. Tech and Tran stood in the middle of the room. Mouse sat rocking gently in his chair, just behind them. To their right were Godlin and Walker. News broadcasts from all over the world played on their screens. All the channels replayed the crystalline creature’s attack in Paris.
To Tech, Raptor said, “I want you to bring Andrew with you. There’s a Quester Stone there, in addition to Christine.”
“He’s got no business going,” Tech said. “It’s dangerous.”
Andrew felt butterflies spawn in his stomach at the mention of danger. Yet, he wanted to go. He kept his mouth shut, expecting Tech would cave into Raptor’s request.
“Er, I
changed my mind about going,” Tran said.
Raptor responded to Tech, “He’s more powerful than Venom. If he doesn’t start going now, when is he supposed to go?”
Tech seemed taken aback by the first statement. Then he responded in a firm voice, “Powerful or not, he’s too easy to kill. When we fix that, then he can go.”
“We did plenty of missions long before any of us had it.”
“And we nearly got ourselves killed several times over, too. It’s too risky.” Tech turned away from Raptor.
“Says the person who stormed a military base and started a war with an actual army,” Raptor replied. “Without said fix.” She smirked as she nudged Tech on the shoulder.
Tech spun around to face her. “You turned into an elephant and started rampaging all over the place.”
Lifting herself up taller, Raptor tapped her chest. “I was providing a distraction while the others got you out of there.”
Andrew chuckled to himself. “Sounds like a day.”
“At least I came prepared. I brought supplies.” Tech squared his shoulders back.
“By supplies you mean a bucket of green army men,” Godlin interjected.
“It was a vital component!” Tech faced Godlin, jabbing a finger at him.
Godlin leaned over to Andrew. “We get into the building he’s holed up in, and there’s a few traps laid out. All of them are being guarded by tiny, plastic soldiers.”
A battalion of toy army men, lined up around a gun laying on the ground, popped into his head. He threw his hands up over his mouth to cover a smile.
Tech huffed. “Fine, you win. But the second he gets in the way, he gets sent back.”
“Fair enough,” Raptor said. Throwing a glance over to Andrew, she gave him a knowing smile.
Tech thumbed his nose with a sniff. He turned to Andrew and Tran. “Well, let’s go then.”
Creeping closer to the doorway, Tran said, “I’d rather stay here.”
“Raptor picked you for the mission, remember,” Tech said. He glanced over to Raptor and winked.
Raptor grinned at Tech and then turned to Tran. “Oh, yes, this mission is just for you.” She slipped behind Tran, blocking his escape.
Stone of Power (Keepers of Earth Book 1) Page 23