by Oumar Dieng
Yakhar came over. “You must take it easy,” he said. “You are lucky to be alive.”
“Yakhar! I thought you were dead!”
“I almost was; the darkness was consuming my body. Had it not been for him, I wouldn’t be here right now.” He pointed at Magaal.
“And Battu?” I asked.
“Gone. When you destroyed the staff, the shockwave must’ve thrown him into one of the wormholes.”
“And the Naaju?” I asked.
“All gone. The wormholes too. The earthquakes have stopped as well. It seems that every time Battu summoned the Naaju, it destabilized the planet’s magnetosphere and ecosystem. Had we not stopped him, the planet’s orbit would have misaligned. Eventually, it would have collided with the sun.”
“Wow. I’m glad they are gone. Too bad though,” I said.
Yakhar looked at me funny.
“Oh, I meant the wormholes, not the Naaju. I was hoping we could use one of the wormholes to return home.”
“Sali!” a voice said, coming toward me.
“Dad! You’re OK. You look a lot better.”
“Yes,” he said, “thanks to these guys. They have amazing medicine here, and they get it all from the trees. I feel better than I have felt in years; I feel like I am seventeen again.”
“I’m glad you’re OK, Dad. How long have I been out?” I asked.
“A couple of days.”
“I was out that long?”
“Yes. You scared the hell out of me. I’m glad you’re OK,” Dad said. “Listen, Sali,” Dad started.
“No, Dad. Listen …”
We both started, talking over each other.
“You go first,” I said.
“I’m going to do whatever I can to help find your mom.”
“No, Dad,” I interrupted. “I almost lost you trying to find Mom. I don’t know if Mom is still alive or not, but wherever she is, I am just going to believe that she is OK and will find her way back, someday. I’m not going to risk your life going after her when we have no idea where she is. We should just find a way to get home.”
“I’m sorry, Sali. I know you really wanted to find her.”
“It’s not your fault, Dad.”
Magaal walked up to me. “I owe you a debt of gratitude,” he said. “Thank you very much.” He pulled a piece of cloth, covering what appeared to be a box.
“No,” I said, “that is not necessary.”
“This will help you in your journey ahead.”
I looked at him, intrigued. I uncovered the box; it wasn’t a box. It was a homemade customized booklet. I turned the first few pages slowly and carefully. It was written in English.
Where have I seen this handwriting before? I thought. “Wait, this is Mom’s handwriting,” I gasped.
I frantically turned the pages, scanning through the document. It was a journal that contained meticulous notes about Centaura, a tally-marked calendar, and several other scribbles. The tally marks counted down the number of days she’d been on Centaura.
“What is it?” Dad asked.
I looked up, a huge smile on my face. “Dad, I know where Mom is,” I said.
“How?” he asked.
I raised the journal and pointed at it. “It’s all in here,” I said.
“You are probably eager to return to Danaya,” Yakhar said. “I can help with that.” He handed me a device and started explaining. “After our encounter with Battu, I was fascinated by how he combined the elements to activate the wormholes. It’s all science. Once we understood the composition of the elements and how the wormholes work, it was just a matter of having our scientists put this together.”
“What are you saying?” I asked.
“When wormholes open,” he said, “they have a specific magnetic resonance and emit very low levels of tachyon particles and dark matter. What holds a wormhole open is a combination of those elements and the magnetic field that is powered by the source of the wormhole. This device will locate those elements as well as the magnetism. If a wormhole opens up anywhere, this device can not only detect it but also stabilize it.”
“Are you saying that this device can tell us where we can find a wormhole?”
“Yes,” Yakhar said.
“That means we can go home,” Dad said. “We have ourselves a real Einstein-Rosen bridge detector!”
“Now, if you do decide to go home, you would have to do it soon,” Yakhar said. “Because the cycle is coming to an end.”
“The cycle?” Dad asked.
“Yes, Dad. The wormholes open every thirteen years on Centaura, and I suspect on Earth as well. The cycle is coming to an end. That means if we don’t go home soon, we will be stuck here for thirteen years.”
The Garabon insisted on helping us. They accompanied us to the wormhole, following the signal from the detector. It led us to an isolated part of the forest with high trees and exotic plant life. The wormhole was directly under a tree. It looked as mesmerizing as the first time I had seen it; a puddle floating in midair and leading to another world, our world, Earth.
Part of me felt sad about leaving Yakhar and not seeing him again, after everything we’d been through. “Thank you for your help,” I said.
Yakhar nodded. “Here,” he said, handing me a small, flat transparent device.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s a universal kinetic inter-dimensional communication device.”
“I can communicate with you with this?”
“Yes, although I don’t know how many times you can use it. But as long as there is technology that can transmit signal waves, I will get your message with that.”
“This is amazing, thank you. And I did not get you anything.”
“Why would you get me anything? I am not leaving,” Yakhar said, missing the joke.
I shook my head and chuckled. “Thank you,” I said. I turned to Dad. “Shall we?”
“Let’s do it. Let’s go home.”
I turned around and looked at the Garabon. They slightly bowed and nodded to say goodbye.
“How about you go in first, Dad?”
Dad jumped through the wormhole. I followed.
Epilogue: Dinkytown
It was late at night on a calm evening in Dinkytown, Minneapolis, but oddly, the wind picked up, whipping around discarded newspapers in the recycling bins and rattling the dumpsters in the alley. A bright flash of light appeared. A wormhole materialized. A shadowy faceless creature with wings stepped out of the wormhole. It closed behind him. The creature looked around the empty alley. He walked up to the edge of the street and observed a handful of people who were going about their night. Some were going to restaurants, while others were headed to the movie theater. The creature stood for a moment and shapeshifted into a man. His eyes stopped at the skyline, where he noticed a giant sign with the letters “GT” brightly lit. The creature headed in the direction of the building.
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Sali and the Five Kingdoms
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About the Author
Oumar Dieng is an emerging author of new adult fiction. This is his debut novel.
Copyright © 2018 by Oumar Dieng
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