2

by James Phelan

  An hour later, they all left the hotel, sneaking out through a rear fire exit and hurrying across the deserted parking lot.

  The pre-dawn air was warm and planes roared overhead, taking off from runways nearby. Sam and Eva had their backpacks slung over their shoulders, and they followed close behind Jabari, who was striding across the street and flagging down a taxi.

  “So instead of being picked up in the morning as planned,” Eva said, “we’re going to get on a plane ourselves and meet Lora on the way to Antarctica?”

  Jabari nodded. “Yes,” he said. “We are booked on the first flight south. We will be leaving in just over an hour from now.”

  “But shouldn’t we regroup?” Eva said, looking at Jabari. “Wait for reinforcements if Stella is after us? Arrive in Antarctica with a whole army?”

  “When we land in Hobart, we will be meeting Lora, and whichever Guardians did not go to Chernobyl,” Jabari said wearily. “It’s not much of an army, I’m afraid, but we don’t have any other choice.”

  “But if they are coming from the other side of the world, we’ll be waiting too long—Stella will find us before Lora does,” Sam said, concerned.

  “Lora is travelling on the Enterprise jet—she will arrive not long after us. We head to Alex together.”

  “Thing is,” Sam said, still frowning, “it still might be too late. I didn’t see Alex with his Gear in my dream, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t dream of it. Even if we have the same dream, the Dreamers sometimes see details I don’t and vice versa. If Alex now thinks of me as an enemy, like we were in the dream, and tells Hans about it, then the Gear will be lost to us.”

  “If we have any hope of convincing Alex of the truth, we have to get to him as soon as possible,” Jabari said.

  Sam nodded.

  “Sam,” Eva said quietly, looking out at the twinkling lights of the airport from the taxi, “we know that somehow Solaris has been spying on your dreams …”

  Sam nodded as he stared out the window. “I know,” he said. “Another reason we have to get to Alex as fast as we can. Besides, the clock is ticking. We don’t have many days left to fulfill the prophecy.”

  03

  ALEX

  “Argh!” Alex screamed as he woke, panicking, not knowing where he was. His hand reached out, fumbling to find the flashlight by his side.

  Oh—that’s right, now I remember. I’m lost, in a cave, in Antarctica, with hardly any food.

  Great.

  Alex sat up and ate the last of his energy bars. He was huddled inside the snow cave, with nothing but the food and drink still left in his backpack. Tucked into a pocket of his snowsuit was his emergency GPS transponder.

  My dream of Sam … he wanted a Gear. But I didn’t see, I don’t remember finding it.

  What if he doesn’t believe me in real life, like in the dream?

  Alex turned the thought over anxiously in his head. He knew that his mother, Phoebe, understood what he was doing here in Antarctica with Hans. But what if, after everything that he’d been through on the long voyage here, the others didn’t really believe his motives? The thought had never even occurred to Alex before.

  They wouldn’t really think I would join one of our enemies … would they?

  Alex had a suspicion there was something else in the dream, something about Sam, or maybe Solaris. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Whatever it was, there was a mental block there now.

  He stood up and used his flashlight to inspect the scene once more. Water dripped from the ceiling and he constantly had to wipe his face free from condensation. It wasn’t that cold. In fact, the thermal pool outside the cave made it slightly warm. Steam rose in the frozen air, carried into the cave and condensed inside, forming a natural steam chamber that, at the far end, was so warm he’d stripped down to his thermals in the night and slept on his snowsuit like a mattress. Every now and then there’d be a loud plop as the steam collected on the ceiling and dripped into the centre of the pool.

  The hypnotic sound of the rhythmic dripping calmed Alex slightly, and it was only then that he realized the real significance of his dream.

  But maybe it’s true. I am one of the last 13.

  His mouth fell open in amazement as he tried to process the impossibility of the situation.

  Think, Alex! C’mon, you have to get out of this. Everyone is depending on you. If you fail, they will believe the dream—they will believe you’re a traitor.

  And what about the prophecy? I have to survive—the fate of the world depends on it!

  Alex paced in the cave, gathering his thoughts. His eyes strayed to rock under his feet.

  Even the floor isn’t just snow and ice.

  Huge sections of the stone were covered with intricate carvings, far grander and more detailed than any Roman or Greek mosaic he’d seen in his history books at school. As he shone his flashlight over a wider arc on the floor, Alex could see delicate depictions of starry skies that were criss-crossed with lines of the zodiac. Below them was extravagant scenery of people, animals and a landscape filled with palm trees.

  Alex looked closer at the impressive mosaic sky, counting in his head.

  This shows the thirteen zodiacs signs that Ahmed told me about.

  He traced the constellations with his fingers.

  There!

  Ophiuchus … we meet again.

  But the most intriguing—and incredible—part of the scene before him were the structures that dotted the huge image etched into the stone floor. These structures, with tiny figures of people congregated around them, were unmistakable.

  Pyramids.

  “I gotta get to the others, tell them about this.”

  Alex dressed, pulling on his heavy snow boots and snowsuit.

  Maybe if I reach higher ground, get out of this valley and climb one of the mountains, I can set off the GPS transponder. Then I just gotta hope the signal gets picked up.

  Piece of cake.

  “Oh man, imagine some cake right now.” Alex’s stomach rumbled at the thought.

  OK, that seems like a good plan to start with.

  It felt good to have a plan—the thought of doing something took his mind off his hunger and the fact that he was stuck on the most hostile continent on the planet.

  Alex inspected the entire cave, looking over every detail of the engraving, every tiny etching, being careful not to miss anything that might be connected to the last 13 or the race. As he was searching in the silence, several thoughts kept looping in his mind, refusing to leave him alone.

  I’m one of the last 13.

  Where’s my Gear?

  Why didn’t Sam believe me?

  04

  SAM

  “Hey …” Eva said from her window seat, nudging Sam who sat between her and Jabari. “Look. We’re almost there.”

  “Great,” Sam said, looking out at the view of the Tasmanian landscape below. During the hour flight to Hobart, he kept quiet with his own thoughts. The morning outside looked grey.

  “I saw you napping before,” Sam said to her.

  “I was just closing my eyes,” Eva replied.

  “You were snoring.”

  “Fine, I slept a tiny bit.”

  “Did you dream?” Sam asked.

  “Yeah,” Eva said, a slight smile on her face as she reminisced. “An old dream though, of my family. Christmas, actually.”

  Sam smiled. “I love those dreams.”

  “Yeah,” Eva said. “Me too.”

  “Ever wish this never happened?” Sam asked. “That our dreams were good or bad, nothing more?”

  Eva nodded.

  “Me too,” Sam said.

  Sam looked past Eva out the window, and soon felt the plane bank slightly, dropping speed and then touching down bumpily on the tarmac. The aircraft taxied to the passenger terminal. He got up and followed Jabari and Eva out.

  As he walked through the small airport, he felt a strange feeling brewing in the pit of his stomach. He knew t
hat this time it was not just about a race to the next Dreamer, or the next Gear.

  It’s a battle to survive … and maybe, worse of all, a battle for Alex.

  And in the loneliest place on earth.

  As they waited for Lora to arrive, Sam and Eva talked in hushed tones about the race, the others back in London and what might happen next. Jabari sat nearby, constantly scouring the terminal with alert eyes.

  The man never rests.

  “Well, I know the prophecy said—” Sam was saying.

  “Lora!” Eva interrupted, jumping up and running across the terminal, threading through passengers to find Lora who walked quickly toward them. She gave her a hug.

  Lora came up to Sam and Jabari, greeting them and introducing the two tall Guardians with her.

  They all went over to a café that had just opened up for breakfast.

  “Bad news. Jedi has tracked Stella’s movements,” Lora said to them. “She was just seen at Melbourne airport.”

  “Where’s she headed?” Jabari asked.

  “We’ll know soon, I’ve got a Guardian watching them,” Lora replied. “You guys were very lucky to escape at the hotel.”

  “Jabari got us out,” Sam said.

  “It was nothing,” Jabari said, smirking. “Almost too easy.”

  Lora returned a small smile, but still looked worried.

  Eva showed Lora the tiny Gear from Australia that she still wore inconspicuously around her neck.

  “Well done, all of you,” Lora said, smiling wider this time as she admired the twin brass discs that caught the light as Eva held them up. “We’re getting so near to the end now.”

  “Yeah, and it was another close call,” Sam said.

  “You guys did good, Sam,” Lora said. “You survived.”

  Everyone was silent at the table, clearly thinking about the horrific ambush in Chernobyl that Lora had only just escaped herself.

  “I will check the arrangements for our transport south,” Jabari said, breaking the uncomfortable silence and excusing himself from the group.

  “How are the others?” Sam asked Lora.

  “OK,” Lora said. “After Tobias, and the events at Solaris’ hideout and Chernobyl … they’re as good as they can be, I guess. No one thought this would be easy.”

  Sam nodded. Then he saw Lora and Eva smile.

  “What?” he said. “What is it?”

  Sam sensed a presence behind him, but before he could turn around, hands covered his eyes.

  “Guess who?”

  “Ha!” Sam said, recognizing the Italian accent. “Gabriella!”

  “No!”

  “Huh?” Sam turned. Gabriella was there, but it was Arianna who had her hands over Sam’s eyes. “What are you guys doing here?”

  “With our reduced manpower, we brought Arianna and Gabriella to help out with our task ahead,” Lora explained. “Strictly no field work though—”

  She looked at Gabriella and Arianna meaningfully, and Sam wondered if this had been a point of debate on the flight here.

  “We’ll be the communications experts,” Arianna said to Sam.

  “While you are looking for the Gear, we will be holding the fort, this is how to say it, yes?” Gabriella added.

  Lora nodded. “Antarctica is notoriously unreliable for satellite and phone connections. We will have Gabriella and Arianna with Eva at the base to keep us in contact with Jedi, the Professor and the Director.”

  “What?” Eva exclaimed. “I have to stay there too?”

  “Eva, you’ve been in enough danger recently. It makes no sense to have you out in the field unless you really need to be. Sam needs to find the Dreamer, and the Gear.”

  “OK, I guess,” Eva said, begrudgingly. “When do we head for Antarctica?”

  “They’re readying the jet now, refuelling and doing flight plans,” Lora replied. “We’ve got another two Guardians and two Agents with us. They’re organizing supplies for us. We’ll leave as soon as they return.”

  “Where do you get supplies for an Antarctic expedition at such short notice?” Eva asked. “Wait, why am I even asking? They’re buying stuff from the Save The World store, right?”

  “You’d be surprised,” Lora said with a grin.

  05

  XAVIER

  “Seriously, there’s nothing to worry about,” Xavier whispered to Maria as they followed the rest of the last 13 into the Professor’s office. “It’s not like we’re in trouble. Remember, we’re the good guys.”

  “I want you all to pack,” the Professor said to them, “and to be ready to leave the country.”

  Maria looked at Xavier with a questioning look.

  “Leave the country?” Rapha repeated.

  “Yes,” the Professor replied. “After dinner tonight, you will all leave here—under the radar, of course.”

  Xavier nodded. Looking around at his last 13 companions assembled in the Professor’s office, he knew Maria was anxious. She’d been having bad dreams all week, just like he had. Cody seemed calm. Rapha was nodding, thinking about what was ahead. Issey still seemed half-asleep. Zara looked nervously at the other faces in the room. Poh was smiling and gave Xavier a thumbs-up as he caught his eye. Xavier grinned in return.

  He looked out the windows. The view was familiar now—the UN security cordon remained, circling the perimeter of the campus. There’d been no further security breaches at the Academy and it almost seemed like the UN guards were there mainly to keep the world’s media at a distance. The interest in the last 13, and the fate of the world, had unsurprisingly not diminished in the slightest. If anything, it had only grown in intensity. More news choppers circled the sky, skirting the no-fly zone established over the campus grounds.

  “You will be leaving with Phoebe,” the Professor explained further. “Under the cover of darkness, you’ll slip through the cordon outside.”

  “But I thought we needed to stay here, together, for the race?” Xavier asked.

  The Professor nodded his head. “Yes, that is true. But I have decided, in consultation with Lora and the Director of course, that the Academy might not be the best place for you at this point.” The Professor gazed out the window at the helicopters and media camps set up in the distance. “There are only two Gears left to find. It won’t be long before we will have to leave—to go with Sam to find the Dream Gate. I fear if we wait till the very last moment to make our move, we will find it impossible to make the journey alone.”

  “So where will we go?” Zara asked, still looking nervous.

  “Everyone in the world knows who we are,” Rapha added.

  “Don’t worry, there is someplace safe,” the Professor replied. “I know, after everything you have witnessed, especially in these last few days, it may seem as if we have no one left to trust. But we still have friends on our side. The most important thing, above all else, is that we must make sure the last 13 are prepared for when the time comes to assemble the Bakhu machine.”

  “Prepared?” Xavier asked.

  “Yes,” the Professor said, “I know that all of you must be there and ready, right at the end.”

  “Are you talking about the prophecy?” Xavier said. On the wall, next to where he stood by the windows, was a printout of the Dream Stele hieroglyphs. A translation was written underneath: Dreaming of their destiny, Minds entwined, thirteen will be. Falter not, the last cannot fall, Or Solaris shall rule over all. One by one each shall unveil, A Gear they need so to prevail. Dream a path through time and space, There to find the sacred place.

  Something about it bugged him. But what? He remembered the night at the museum, when he’d seen Sam and Lora in police uniforms, before he knew about all this, how his father’s sponsored exhibition of antiquities found by Dr. Kader had been attacked by Egyptian Guardians. He stared absently at the words.

  “You mean the prophecy, saying that the last 13 will come together,” Maria said.

  “That’s right,” the Professor said, standing next to he
r and Xavier. “All of you—and the two we don’t yet know the identity of—will be there at the end.”

  Xavier stared at the English translation words of the prophecy. Then the hieroglyphs.

  “Xavier?”

  “Professor—you said, ‘I know that all of you must be there’ …” He looked up to the old man. “What makes you so sure of that? It’s more than just the prophecy, isn’t it?”

  “I dreamed it,” the Professor said, chuckling. “You are your father’s son, that’s for sure—an inquisitive mind and a knack for reading people.”

  Yeah, and I can tell he’s still holding something back.

  “What is it?” Xavier asked him. “There’s something else.”

  It took a while for the Professor to speak, and when he did, his voice was soft. “I fear, Xavier, that your journey will be harder than most.”

  “So do I,” Xavier said, looking at the floor. “I’ve seen it in my dreams.”

  The others in the room were silent, their faces betraying their surprise and concern.

  “I know,” the Professor said.

  “You do?” Xavier replied, recalling his week of nightmares that hadn’t shared with anyone. “But you said we weren’t recording dreams anymore, that it wasn’t safe with all the prying eyes and ears focused on us now.”

  “True, but there are more ways that Dreamers can see,” the Professor said, “and you don’t get to be as ancient as me without getting a little wise.”

  “So, we’re leaving for Egypt,” Xavier said, certain now. He realized in that moment that he suddenly had great responsibility for what the group were about to do.

  We’re following my dreams.

  The Professor nodded.

  “To stay with my father—he’s there now,” Xavier said. “Has been for a few days.”

  “Is that safe?” Cody asked the Professor. “Won’t people be expecting Xavier to be with his father?”

  “No one knows he is there,” Xavier said.

  “Xavier is right,” the Professor said. “His father has been preparing for us.”

  “Because of him—and because of Ahmed …” Xavier trailed off, then he understood. “That’s why they’ve been working there in Egypt all these years and it’s the reason behind all his work on the Dream Gate. That’s why we have to go there, all of us.”