Nil Unlocked

by Lynne Matson

  “Enough,” he said. “Sleep, Skye. We’ve got a road trip in the morning.”

  CHAPTER

  54

  RIVES

  DAY 316, DAWN

  Skye lay in my arms.

  I was spooned around her, her back pressed against my chest, one arm hooked over her waist. For warmth, I told myself.

  I eased backward a crucial bit. Then I lay there, thinking cool thoughts. Antarctica. Greenland. Sweden in winter. Waking up plastered to Skye wreaked havoc on my control.

  When I’d pulled myself together, I leaned my head close. My lips brushed the edge of her ear. “Hey, sleepyhead,” I whispered.

  She opened her eyes. “Hey.” Then she closed them and curled closer, erasing the slight space I’d made between us and tucking her hands under her head. For a heady moment, it was just me and Skye. But it wasn’t. Nil hung around like a third wheel.

  Three’s a crowd, I thought. And today marks the beginning of your end, Nil.

  I wondered what Maaka would think of my words, not to mention Skye’s plan.

  What’s number three? I’d asked her.

  Now I knew.

  “I’m so warm,” Skye said, eyes still closed. “Do we have to get up?”

  “We’ve got a trip to take,” I said softly. “Remember?”

  She sat up immediately. “Right. The mountain. The gate. Let’s go.”

  I laughed. “Patience, padawan. Breakfast first. Then we pack a few things to spend the night in case we need to. Then we leave.” I paused.

  We leave. But Skye dreamed of more.

  “Do you remember your three-part plan?” I asked her. “Where part one was we find when the stationary gate opens and where? And two was sweeping the island for everyone to make sure no one gets left behind, with the idea being if we all leave, the island’s mojo gets out of whack—maybe enough to destroy it?”

  She nodded.

  “I know what number three is. It’s getting Maaka to join in our annihilation scheme.”

  “And Paulo,” she said, her voice quiet. “We’ll have to work on him, too.” Then she looked at me, the steel in her eyes flashing in the growing sunlight as she smiled. “But patience, padawan. Don’t look ahead. Today, step one.”

  It was my turn to nod.

  “I’m going to wake Jason and get some supplies,” I told Skye as we walked up the beach. “Meet at the firepit in twenty?”

  “Perfect.”

  Twenty minutes later, Skye walked up to the firepit. Nikolai followed her like a pale puppy, complete with a goofy grin. Something was up. Skye wouldn’t meet my eyes.

  “Ready, Skye?” I had a pineapple and three fish, all fire-roasted, thanks to Jason. No time for wraps, but protein was protein. “We’re going to eat, then go.”

  “Rives.” Skye came over, and as Nikolai followed, she turned to him, held up one hand, and shook her head. Nikolai stepped back.

  “He’s well trained, I see,” I said. Beside me, Jason snorted.

  “I’m sorry,” Skye said. “He asked me where I was going and I pointed to the mountain. And he said he wanted to come.”

  “He said that?” I asked skeptically.

  “Well”—her cheeks flushed—“he actually said, ‘Me come?’ but I know he wants to go. Rives, he’s been sitting in this City for weeks. And this gate will be his, too. So why not?”

  “Because he’s never been on Search. Because he’ll slow us down. Because I can’t read him and if we get into trouble he’s a team variable I don’t know where to fit. Skye”—I paused—“this isn’t your average Search. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

  “It’s not your average Search,” she agreed. “A direct scouting mission, not an escape.” She glanced at Nikolai, who waved and smiled. “It feels wrong to tell him no, Rives. Why do we get to decide?” she asked quietly.

  I didn’t have an answer that didn’t make me feel like a controlling jerk.

  “Fine.” I sighed. “Let’s go.” I turned to Jason. “Will you help keep an eye on the rook?”

  “No problem.” He looked at Skye.

  “I meant Nikolai.” I fought not to snap. Skye could handle herself. Plus, my eye was already on her. I waved Nikolai over. “Let’s pack and roll.”

  “And hope the gates roll, too,” Jason said. “Wait—scratch that.” He ran one hand through his mop of hair. “Let’s hope we find what we’re looking for.”

  “Well said, bro. Well said.”

  I clapped Jason on the shoulder. We ate quickly, then set off on the ultimate Search, looking for the ultimate prize.

  Skye and I took lead; Jason and Nikolai took rear. I actually felt better with a foursome as we trekked.

  Balance reigned.

  The mountain loomed over us, watching.

  “What do you want to do?” Skye asked as we worked our way through the south lava field. Smooth ripples of black rock, baked under the Nil sun for enough centuries to crack. The meadow winked grass green in the distance at the black mountain’s base. “After Nil, I mean?”

  I thought about her question; it was the same one I’d asked her last night.

  “Short term? Hang with my parents, I guess, take the bac—it’s the French equivalent of a high school diploma—play football. Long term? Maybe play football, maybe become a photojournalist. I’ve lived my whole life traveling. Seeing the world, noticing it. I can’t imagine doing anything else. I can’t imagine a job where I sit still.” I lapsed into silence.

  “And by football, you’re talking about soccer, right?” Skye said.

  “Right. My last club was in Paris.”

  She looked thoughtful. “I bet France is beautiful.” Her sigh was wistful.

  “It is.”

  “I’ve never been to Europe, just a million tropical islands.” She smiled. “But one day.”

  “One day,” I agreed.

  Nil fed off our dreams, I felt it. The sun grew hotter, the air thicker, like the island breathed in our words, our hopes. Then it stilled completely.

  Noon, I thought, caught off guard. Merde.

  I looked at Skye; she was looking at me.

  “Turn,” she whispered, her hand finding mine.

  Should I go? Save myself?

  Stay? Help the rest? Risk checking out?

  Skye’s eyes were pleading.

  For me to stay? For me to go? For something I couldn’t read?

  She grabbed my arms and spun me around as Jason screamed.

  The shimmering wall flew past me, skimming the ground like a liquid rocket. A furious single flying fast, it rolled over Jason without stopping. The last thing I saw was his face: shock, disbelief, fury, sadness, a roiling mix of emotion twisting his face into a living portrait of The Scream.

  The gate collapsed into a single black dot—and then disappeared.

  Jason was gone.

  Our team’s balance was gone.

  Nikolai stood ten meters away, jaw dangling, arms wrapped tight.

  “Holy crap,” Skye said.

  Should I have caught it?

  Was that mine?

  Jason made it, I breathed. That’s what matters.

  Skye stared at the place Jason vanished. “I hope he told Miya good-bye,” she murmured.

  “Me too.” Hell, I wished I’d told him good-bye. Told him how much I trusted him, how much I thought of him. That he was more of a man than most I’d ever met. So many words left unsaid. I hoped he knew.

  No regrets, Natalie would tell me, even as she hugged me.

  I closed my eyes, feeling the lingering strength of Skye’s hand, feeling the hole left by Jason’s escape.

  “Let’s get to it,” I told Skye. I knew I needed to sort out my feelings for Skye before I regretted something else, too.

  Focus.

  Pay attention.

  Inattentiveness can get you killed.

  Mind refocused, I set a strong pace. Nikolai kept up. He even draped a cloth over his head and shoulders as sun protection, a wise veteran mov
e.

  But he wasn’t a veteran.

  The void Jason left brushed cool against my spine. His eyes would be on the rocks, on the grasses, watching our backs.

  Time to finally learn to watch your own, Rives.

  The island’s stillness made me hyperaware. Just like on the last Search with Raj, the lack of small animals was disturbing. Maybe it’s why the leopard staked out the City, I thought. Nothing moved, nothing chirped.

  Not even a rabbit—which used to be a given—to snare.

  I pondered Nil’s wildlife—or lack of it—as we neared the meadow. To the right, Mount Nil jutted from the ground, a black beast with emerald blotches, butting against the meadow’s southern edge.

  “The gate has to be on the backside,” Skye said as she studied the mountain. “The eastern backside, actually. Which means we have to go through the meadow, or at least around it, because the southern route is blocked by lava, right?”

  “Right.” The meadow’s grasses swayed in the breeze. It looked peaceful, which meant nothing.

  “Skye?” I asked. She hadn’t moved.

  “I’m worried about the tiger.” She turned to me. “What if the cats protect the gate? What if they’re drawn to it, and they protect it? I know it sounds weird, but no weirder than anything else here. And my uncle’s journal? The mysterious island angel girl told him to stay away from the meadow.”

  “Stay away because of cats, or because it’s near the stationary gate?” I frowned.

  “I don’t know. I’ve asked myself the same thing. But the cats. They’re a problem.”

  “True. But right now the gate’s closed. So they have nothing to protect, right?”

  “Right.” She nodded. But she didn’t move.

  “It’s your call, Skye,” I said quietly. “We can go on and look for the place where you landed, or wait for Paulo and Maaka to give up the coordinates. We have time either way.”

  Forty-nine days, my mind whispered.

  Tick-tock. My Nil clock.

  I waited for Skye to make the call.

  CHAPTER

  55

  RIVES

  DAY 316, DAWN

  “Let’s do it,” she said abruptly.

  She starting walking, tacking south toward the mountain.

  I followed, hefting Jason’s gear and mine, then signaled to Nikolai to follow.

  At Mount Nil’s base, etched into a black rock boulder the size of a Smartcar, the Countdown carving faced the mountain—like the carving at the Arches. All the labyrinths faced the mountain, I realized, all the arrows pointed here.

  Another Nil piece locked into place.

  Skye and Nikolai were looking at me. Looking to me, to lead.

  “About thirty meters up is a cave,” I said crisply. “A safe house to spend the night if we can’t make it to South Beach by dark. We should follow the grassline, using the trees as defense for as long as we can.”

  “I remember rock steps,” Skye said. “Or what felt like rock steps. Let’s look for something like that.”

  Staying above the meadow’s grassline, we hiked around the mountain, staying on this side. The backside facing the southern coast oozed lava; it dripped off a hard black shelf into the sea, like molten steel, hissing as it hit the water. On this side, Mount Nil’s slope was more forgiving, which on Nil meant it was still a grueling haul, just not instantly lethal. We chose each step with care, hiking without speaking.

  “There!” Skye cried.

  Midway up the mountain, rough black steps gouged the mountain’s side like scars, curving away. The primitive steps led to a black rock platform, a smooth swath about half the size of a football goal but just as deep. It butted against a sheer wall that rose into the clouds.

  Skye made it to the platform first and crouched near the center. A carving splayed across the ground, cut into the black rock, the gouged lines filled with pure white sand.

  “This symbol,” Skye said, kneeling. “The sun, with the eye at its center, and the twelve rays. It was on the ground on the Death Twin island, too, the twin they call Spirit Island. I remember now.” She looked up at me, her eyes light. “And it’s the same sun that’s tattooed on Paulo’s arm.”

  And carved in the Cove tunnel, I thought. Marking a skeleton’s tomb.

  “We did it,” Skye whispered. “The heart of the island. This is where the gate will show. I know it.”

  I nodded. It seemed so obvious now. The eye etched in the sun’s center stared back at me. Watching, like the mountain.

  Like Nil.

  Nikolai bent down. He traced the eye, running his fingers through the sand, mesmerized.

  “You know what?” I studied the eye. “We’ve never come up here, because there’s no room to run. But the irony is, if you’re here when the gate comes, you don’t have to run.”

  “So now we just need the time of the gate. Noon or midnight. I guess be prepared for both.” Skye looked thoughtful.

  “I’m hoping noon,” I said. Because otherwise I’m toast.

  “It would be easier,” she agreed.

  If easier means still alive, then yeah.

  Saying nothing, I stood beside Skye, studying the carving.

  Staring.

  The eye didn’t blink. The rays didn’t waver.

  Inside the eye, a crescent moon appeared, like I’d stared at a hidden picture long enough for the real image to appear.

  I blinked, and the crescent moon vanished.

  Nikolai and Skye hadn’t moved.

  I was reminded of my first visit to the Looking Glass cavern, when I’d lost time listening to the water falling, waiting for clarity.

  How long had the three of us been staring at the rock?

  The sun was fire in the sky, falling fast.

  “Skye. Nikolai.” Their heads snapped up, eyes unfocused.

  “I know we just got here—” I stopped. Did we?

  “Anyway,” I continued, “no gate’s flashing tonight. And we need to check out that cave in daylight and set up camp before nightfall.”

  Without discussion, we backtracked down the steps, then trekked up the mountain to the cave, fighting dwindling light.

  The shallow cave was empty, save for a pile of wood and a bleached tusk knife. A lucky break.

  When Skye went to touch the tusk, I blocked her. “Leave it. We’ll use the wood, but we’ll disturb as little as possible, okay?” I didn’t add that the skeleton in the tunnel had clutched a similar bone tusk, giving the tusk an aura of death.

  She withdrew her hand.

  I pulled out the thin groundcover and grimaced. I preferred sleeping on soft sand, not brutal rock, and on this rock, the groundcover did almost nothing. South Beach would’ve been safer, but we were bunking here. We needed the tri-wall protection, and we needed rest. It was a Nil necessity.

  “I can’t believe Jason’s gone,” Skye murmured. She sat on her satchel, rubbing a small rock between her thumb and forefinger. It glinted shiny black.

  “You and me both.” I watched her hands worry the rock. My rock, I realized. The one I’d kept from my first day on Nil. The one I’d tossed her in the lava field on the day Paulo fell. My chest tightened that she’d kept it.

  Our eyes caught and she smiled.

  Nikolai tapped my knee. I turned to find him holding out a large redfruit and a small bleached plank.

  I raised the fruit in thanks, cut it with my knife, and shared.

  Nikolai nodded as he took a slice. He raised it and grinned. “Spasibo.”

  The spooked deer was gone, replaced by a boy finding comfort in companionship and strength in survival. Did Nil create his newfound strength, or just push it to the surface?

  Another question. No answer.

  We added nuts, a mango, and salted fish. Not a bad dinner, considering. Night fell fast and heavy outside the cave; darkness covered the entrance like a blackout shade. We stoked the fire for protection, far enough outside the mouth that we didn’t smoke ourselves out.

  Any
doubts that the hyenas were still here vanished within the hour. They cackled in the distance, an eerie echo. No noises were close. I took the distance as a positive sign. Maybe Nil would let us sleep. Or at least Skye and Nikolai.

  With Skye so close, the thin groundcover was the least of my problems.

  She curled beside me, tucked between me and the wall; Nikolai slept against the far side. He was already snoring. I faced away from Skye, but my every sense told me she was there.

  “Can I tell you something?” she whispered as darkness fell. Shadows clung to her face, like Nil searching for a way in.

  “Anything.” My voice was rough.

  “I’m glad you didn’t take that gate today,” she whispered. “That you didn’t leave. I know it’s selfish, that I shouldn’t be glad at all. And I know you could be gone tomorrow. But I’m really, really glad you’re here.”

  Here, on Nil? I wanted to ask. Or here, in my arms?

  I was that man, standing on the edge of a cliff, windmilling my arms to keep from falling.

  “Me too.”

  A thick moment passed. I teetered, then stepped back.

  “Good night, Skye.”

  “Good night, Rives.”

  CHAPTER

  56

  SKYE

  DAY 41, DAWN

  I woke beside Rives, close but not touching, and I almost laughed. It was a perfect representation of last night: good, bad, and completely awkward.

  I’d spent half the night terrified something would come inside the cave and eat us for dinner. I knew we were decently safe, but it didn’t feel safe; it had felt dark and threatening and lethal campout creepy, maybe because the dreaded meadow sprawled below us, out of sight but still fresh in my mind, the same meadow I personally knew was home to a Bengal tiger and that Rives knew was home to a mini pride of lions. Maybe I was claustrophobic; the darkness had felt choking. I missed my hut by the sea with open sides.

  The other reason I couldn’t sleep? The sleeping arrangements.

  Sure, I was warm enough, tucked between the cave wall and Rives, but the rock ground dug into my bones with a vengeance, and comfort was out of the question. And worse than sleeping on a rock was sleeping beside Rives, our bodies so close I could touch him—and to be honest, at one point when I woke, I was completely embarrassed to find myself snuggling closer because he was so toasty warm—and yet there was a wall between us.