by S. G. Basu
“It is time for you to go back to your rooms,” Oliena said, walking over to the couch where the team was seated. She accompanied them to the door and led them outside. The moment she opened the door, all the happiness and joy of having achieved glory beyond imagination vanished in a heartbeat. Aerika stood in the corridor, her face scrunched in anger. Next to her, huddled together, was the entirety of Core 7.
“Thank you, Premier.” Aerika did the same handclasp as Dani had done and bowed to Oliena.
Oliena turned to Kusha. “We will take care of this, Kusha. And I am sure we will see each other soon. We have a lot to discuss.” She smiled again and took her leave.
As soon as the door closed behind Oliena, Aerika stepped closer to the gang.
“Don’t you love attracting attention?” she fumed.
No one spoke. A question like this was not meant to be answered. Nafi took a deep breath, and it seemed like she intended to speak. Maia’s hand shot out to grab her arm, to stop her from saying anything, but it was already too late—Aerika had noticed.
“Yes, young lady, you wanted to say something?” Aerika looked at Nafi with cold, appraising eyes.
Nafi twitched but did not speak. As Maia watched Nafi avert her gaze, strength rose through her and spilled out.
“It . . . it was . . . critical that we came here tonight,” Maia started. “You see, we were trying to save some lives.”
“Oh, really?” A mocking smile played on Aerika’s face. She looked threatening and by no means appreciative of what had taken place. “Then maybe you do not mind accepting a fourth strike against you. I believe it will be a small price to pay for all those lives you managed to save.”
“But, how can you ignore how important this was?” Maia was not going to accept it without a fight.
“I have half a mind to throw you out of this contest,” Aerika said. “Please do not tempt me further with your arguments.”
Behind her, Loriine and Baecca broke into a cascade of giggles.
“You told on us?” Nafi snarled at the two girls. “How can you when you’ve been going out too?”
“You thought we would sit back and watch after what you brought on us?” Loriine shouted.
“You brought it on yourself,” Ren shot back. “Had you not been so mean to Chylomyhrra all the time, you’d be fine.”
“And how can you not be punishing them?” Maia asked Aerika. This was war—there was no room for feeling sorry for anyone anymore. “They’ve been going out more than us. It’s their codes we’ve been using to come up here.”
Aerika pondered a bit before turning toward Core 7. Loriine and her teammates had stopped laughing.
“Is that true?” Aerika demanded.
“It’s all lies,” Loriine said with a straight face and unwavering eyes. “They always lie and break rules.”
A tumult of protests rose from Maia’s team. Aerika raised her hands to make the barrage of shouts and cries stop; matters were getting dangerously close to a fistfight.
“It is true.”
That one statement made everyone fall silent immediately. It was Karhann. His teammates stared at him in shock and disappointment.
“I’ve been coming up here to watch.”
“A strike against you too then,” Aerika said after a thoughtful pause. “Now you will get back to your dorms; I have had enough trouble for the night. Keep in mind, I do not want to hear another word on this matter from any one of you again.”
“Maybe you can send us home already,” Loriine said rather adamantly. It was astonishing that she still had the audacity to talk back after all the furor she had caused a few days ago.
“Try me, and I just might do that,” Aerika replied in a voice steely enough to stop all conversation for that moment and for that night.
52: In the Belly of a Monster
Aerika’s vigilance increased exponentially after that incident. Her constant and rather cruel monitoring of activities now included the time before and after the sessions as well. There was no escape from the dormitories, no late-night chats—nothing other than visits to the RC, the sessions, and back. Dani and Kusha still did not speak to each other. Maia felt that Dani had softened a bit and made a few awkward attempts to talk to the boy, but Kusha somehow ended up botching her attempts with equally awkward responses. Dani continued to be miserable mostly because Hans had sent her a message saying how disappointed he was that Dani had overstepped her boundaries. Maia had tried to cheer her up, but it hardly worked.
Then there was the matter of yet another nightmare, one that revisited Maia over and over again. This one was particularly strange. Every morning she woke up with a hazy memory of Bikele disappearing under a pool of dark water, much like the way he had dived out of sight through the water lock. It was obvious that her mind had cooked up this specific vision just like Kusha had said. It was probably a remnant of her last meeting with Bikele and nothing more. But hard as she tried to drive away the nagging memory of it, with every other occurrence, the unease grew.
The final months of their stay were upon them. Maia found it hard to believe how quickly time had passed since her arrival at Zagran. Palak announced that the model converters needed to be submitted, and a long list of tasks to be completed.
“You still have some time to finish your hydrosol units for the GeiFonz Icecap,” Palak said. “However, the work on the hydrothermal unit has to be wrapped up sooner. So, from now on, that will be your top priority. All teams have done a great job in joining forces to design the parts. Now all parts have to be assembled before the converter can be transported from the workshop here to the Converter Galley in the Karnilian Caves. Your first trip to the workshop is scheduled for today.”
With Aerika, the two instructors, and their assistants on their back around-the-clock, everyone was eager for a break, and the trip to the workshops provided just that. It promised an escape from the relentless supervision, and Maia looked forward to the outing. She was excited by the prospect of being inside the cavernous machines; spending time tinkering with its gazillion parts and pieces, and conversing without the fear of observant eyes and snooping ears. Maia could hardly wait.
***
The workshop was a gigantic place. It was neither cozy nor warm, only an endless parade of iron and steel apparatus in a shadowy factory floor. Monstrous equipment, mostly hydrothermal converter units, was being built all over the place for the various energy farms under the seas. The units, resembling gigantic upside-down funnels, were sunk halfway into the floor, the upper half protruding above it. Engineers and technicians in overalls milled around them busily, dark masks covering their faces. Palak led all the teams to one side of the floor and stopped in front of a colossal funnel that towered above them in an ominous stance. A large sign on it read “SHTC-9203-KC.”
“This is the one you are helping us build, the Singletorrent Hydrothermal Converter 9203 for the Karnilian Caves site.” He pointed at the dark structure. “The parts you have built already have to be installed inside, and once all of them have been fitted, we will carry the converter out to the Karnilian Caves where it will come to life.”
“Sir?” Jiri’s hand shot up. “What does 9203 mean?”
“It’s a serial number,” Palak replied casually. “This is the nine thousand two hundred and third unit at the Karnilian Caves site.”
“You mean there are—”
“Yes, there are nine thousand two hundred and two other converters at the caves now.”
As the group stood transfixed, Maia struggled to imagine the enormity of the power grid that the Jjord had built under the oceans. A pang of hurt and sadness sank its sharp teeth on her prone heart.
9203 . . . and this is just one of the many sites. The Jjord have so much . . . too much almost. Yet, they can’t find enough to share. “Okay, let’s move on,” Palak barked, marching forward.
He showed them inside the converter. It was as impressive as it was intimidating. Its interior was filled with hu
ge gears and axles, wheels and spokes, circuits and wires and fuses. The numerous parts and pieces gleamed menacingly amidst the dull darkness. There were ladders built into the sides to access the uppers areas and more going downward below the midway line. The subparts that the teams had built were stacked on a table outside and soon everyone was assigned parts and tasks by a group of technicians in charge of the unit.
Maia found it somewhat fun to creep and crawl through the machine’s massive innards, trying to put the various elements in place. The groups were put to work together in one particular section at a time, which gave them ample time to chat about things. Palak and Dill, their assistants, and Aerika did stop by routinely, but mostly stayed outside. Inside the giants, there was freedom, and Maia cherished it.
***
About a week into the regimen, Dani took a break from their usual tasks to show Maia how she had installed gears in Appian’s wind turbines. The rest of the team gathered around as well, studying and observing, learning various tips and tricks. They were all listening to Dani with rapt attention when the sound of shuffling feet made them sit up and look around.
“There you are, thought I’d never find you,” said a familiar voice.
“Bikele?” Maia squealed, scrambled to her feet, and rushed toward the masked man.
“Yes, indeed.” Bikele took off the thick black workman’s mask. He slipped an arm over Maia’s shoulder. “Siobah told me I could find you here, and I’ve been searching every floor of the converter for you. By the way, I heard of the ruckus at the Council. And I have to say, I’m impressed,” Bikele added with a wide and approving smile at Kusha.
“Don’t tell that to Kusha, it’ll get to his head,” Nafi teased. “He already thinks he’s some kind of royalty now.”
“I do not,” Kusha protested loudly. “Be quiet, Nafi.”
“Did you hear that, Bikele?” Nafi smirked. “That’s the Emperor of Tansi speaking.”
As Kusha lunged at Nafi, uproar ensued. Maia giggled and Ren joined in the mad scramble.
“We shouldn’t be making so much noise.” Dani’s was the only voice of reason.
“I think she’s right. I can’t stay here for long anyway,” Bikele said. That comment did the trick, and the group calmed down.
“Siobah is a friend of yours?” Dani asked when everyone had settled down in a half circle around Bikele.
“She’s a very wise lady who has eyes and ears everywhere. A guy like me needs friends like her to survive, and she has been a good friend and helped me out countless times. She was the one who told me about the Council. I would have never known otherwise since they didn’t declare the details to the public. The premier simply called off the proceedings and announced the deal as void. I believe she was concerned about revealing your identity to everyone, Kusha, given that you have not come of age yet. I was so proud of you guys.” He stopped and beamed at them. “I hope Aerika didn’t have too much to say about it?”
No one wanted to miss the opportunity of expressing their opinions on Aerika and her ways, especially after having all their frustration pent up for so long. They started all at once, loudly voicing their complaints. It took a while before they calmed down a little and finally managed to tell Bikele the whole story of their adventure at the Council.
“We did stop the deal, but it hardly helps us in the long run.” Kusha sounded worried. “The Xifarian withdrawal starts in a few months, and since we don’t have time to come to a consensus before then, the Jjordic Council still won’t give us any support. Maybe it would’ve been better to get a chance at saving some of the people instead. Now, until there’s a new deal to replace the underhanded one we got scrapped, everyone on the surface is in danger.”
“I have reason to suspect that it will not come to that,” Bikele said. “I don’t know for sure though, so keep this only to you. We have a lot of energy to spare, we always did. Or I should say that we have slowly built capacity to reach the point that we would be able to sustain the undersea settlements and much more. But, due to our unfortunate history, we have never made that information public. Premier Oliena is a firm believer in peace and coexistence, and I do not think she will turn her back on millions of helpless people.”
“Why can’t she make it known?” Dani asked as soon as Bikele paused.
“There are many reasons for that, Dani. First of all, there are a lot of people in the Council who still carry a grudge against the Solianese and would not like to help our compatriots from the surface. I believe our Honorable premier is waiting for an opportune moment to make a pitch to save everyone, but in the meantime, she is also making sure that we are ready when we go out to help.
“Then there is the obvious question of whether the Solianese Houses are ready to protect the supplies this time around. Or will history repeat itself? The Houses are divided, and there is little hope that they would come together again. There are new possibilities though—like this boy, Kusha, who showed the courage to claim his right and make a promise. But, it was not an easy promise to make, and it will be far more difficult to keep.
“The biggest issue of all—the Xifarians. They want their lost artifact back, and they will not be happy to find out that we can survive even if they withdraw their support. And who knows what they might want to do then? Attack us? Destroy everything we have built so painstakingly?”
There was absolute silence as Bikele stopped to take a breath.
“We don’t have any answers to any of these questions. Now, the premier is a very sensible woman, and I’m sure she is thinking hard about this. I think that Kusha’s appearance gave her some answers and she now knows what to do. I have also seen work at the caves pick up rapidly after your adventure at the Council. That can only mean that we are ramping up capacity so we can support and sustain even more.”
“Wow, I hope what you say is true, Bikele,” Nafi said slowly. “I guess we’ll soon find out.”
“Yes, we will. I’m hopeful and you should be also.”
“I have to tell you something,” Maia blurted. She needed to tell Bikele how the Xifarians were hunting for the shards. He had to know that there was a bigger danger lurking, a greater threat that no one knew about. Slowly she related everything she had heard from Sophie about the heart of the Sedara; she told him about the fires and of the suspected involvement of the Order of the Fyrstell. “They’re trying to find the pieces, Bikele. Once they have all the shards, they’ll try to put the Capsule together again. And then—”
“Maia,” Ren interjected, catching her off guard. “Don’t you think you’re worrying too much about this?” He seemed troubled. A bit irritated as well. “Yes, we . . . they will try to restore the Capsule. But putting it together won’t be so easy and it sure won’t happen in a day. Remember what Mahswa Tabrin told us? The heart was put together by Ataii, and she was not an ordinary person. Where will they find someone as powerful again? Will they ever find anyone at all?” His tense gaze met and held hers, but only briefly. “I don’t know, but I just don’t see Xif flying out of this system anytime soon.”
Ren’s words, simmering with frustration, made Maia’s heart twinge. She realized how difficult this situation was for Ren, caught in the middle and helpless. He was most likely correct in his assumptions, she had to admit. But he did not understand what Maia was going through. The fact that she knew this appalling piece of information and did nothing to warn her people about it was eating away at her.
“Maybe you’re right, Ren. But, the people of Tansi need to know the truth, our leaders need to know the truth.”
“Maia, no!” Bikele had never sounded so vehement. “I understand your fear and your concern. This is indeed an alarming situation. But now is not the time for you to come out. Think about it, no one would even believe you. Do you think the Xifarians will admit that they are planning to kill the sun? No. Do you think the Solianese will rally around you? Of course not. They can’t even show up at the Council. Do you think we, the Jjord, will protect you
? I doubt that. We are scrambling to secure our settlements. Fires have been breaking out across Zagran and we don’t yet know who is behind it. So, stay put for now. You will know when the time is right to announce your secrets to the world, all of you will.”
Bikele paused a moment to catch his breath. As Maia sat pondering, she felt a tad lighter. Bikele’s supportive words had eased her conscience.
“Are we securing the settlements now?” Dani asked.
“Yes, we are.” Bikele nodded. “We’re also putting up armed guards at all the energy pits and reengineering the alarm systems. We’re almost done with the pits in the remoter areas, and the Karnilian Caves are next. That’s why I’m here, to approve the systems for the caves. We hope to complete it all within a few weeks.”
“It’ll be strange for you, won’t it?” Maia chuckled at the thought of a zillion security guards running around the Karnilian Caves. “It was so quiet down there, just a few of you.”
“It sure will be,” Bikele laughed. “Gus is so upset with the idea of more people joining us that he refused to accompany me today. Actually, he has been putting this off for a long time. But a few days ago we had a severe warning—we had to get started, or we would be penalized. Gus still held out and sent me up instead. He says he will have nothing to do with this hysteria.”
Bikele stopped and looked quickly over his shoulders. Maia cast a glance around; so far, there had been no intrusions, but it was good to be wary.
“I think I should leave now,” Bikele said, smiling at everyone. “I hope to see you all soon.”
He patted Kusha and pulled Maia close before he left.
“If I don’t see you before you leave, Maia, remember where you can find me. Call on me whenever you need me.”
Maia felt heaviness clamp on her heart. It happened every time she had to part with Bikele.
“I will see you again,” she said, forcing some cheer and driving out the sadness from her voice. She threw her arms around him in a sudden, quick impulse, holding on to him for a while before letting go. Bikele sighed. His downcast eyes glistened as he flicked a few wayward locks of hair from Maia’s forehead.