by James Phelan
“We now believe so, yes,” the Professor replied.
“It does kinda make sense now …” Sam said, looking at the key that dangled from around his neck.
“What does?” Alex asked.
“That this all ends in Egypt,” Sam replied, looking at the hieroglyphics cut into the key, which he now knew spelled out the word “thirteen.” “It started there, with this key—inside the Star of Egypt. Remember? I went to the pyramids and I didn’t know why. It’s like I went there because I had to.”
Sam paused, looking out the thick glass window of the truck as they rumbled up to the American station. The volcano behind them erupted with an ear-splitting bang. Bright red and orange lava spewed from the top, dark smoke battling the white snowy winds of the superstorm. “Us going to Egypt? It’s like we’re going home.”
37
XAVIER
“I can make that,” Xavier said, looking across the gap.
“Dream on,” Cody said, standing next to him. The missing chunk of floor, just in front of the maze entrance was just that bit too big to jump.
“That gap wasn’t there before,” Dr. Dark muttered. “How strange.”
“You don’t think I can make it?”
“I know you can’t,” Cody said, crossing his arms.
Xavier looked at him, standing there.
Right.
“Fine,” Xavier said, pacing away. “Stand back.”
“Xavier, no!” Poh said.
“I’ll be fine,” Xavier replied. “Just keep back, I need a run-up.”
Phoebe caught his arm as he unspooled the rope.
“Xavier, you don’t have to do this,” she said. “We can get the Agents standing guard up at Dr. Kader’s workshop to come down and help us.”
“Actually, I’m not feeling so great,” Zara piped up, stepping forward. “The darkness, I find it …”
“I can take her back to the workshop,” Issey volunteered. “She needs fresh air, I think.”
“Thank you,” Zara said, looking relieved and leaning on Issey as she took deep breaths.
“Sure, that’s a good idea,” Phoebe said. “I’d better—I’d like to stay with everyone else.” Her eyes flicked to Dr. Dark and Xavier could see she was anxious not to leave them down there alone with him.
In case he really does flip out.
“We’ll see you guys later, OK?” Issey said. “Stay safe and we’ll send down the Agents with equipment for you.” He and Zara started walking back as the others called out their goodbyes.
“And who knows what we might find on the other side,” Rapha said. “Maybe it’s better to wait anyway.”
Xavier shook his head, handing an end of the rope to Phoebe.
“Why delay?” he said, tying the other end of rope around his waist. “Besides, this is a walk in the park.”
Xavier looked over to his father, who was smiling like he was enjoying the show—that what his son was about to do was something to marvel at and be proud of.
At least one of us is confident.
“Good luck,” Maria said to him.
Xavier nodded. His father gave him a thumbs-up.
Great, my dad’s lost his marbles from lack of sleep, and I … I can do this.
Xavier closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths.
It’s only a jump. Think of it as the long jump at athletics day. Piece of cake.
He opened his eyes and ran faster than he ever had before.
And jumped.
“That was cool, man!” Cody said to Xavier. Cody high-fived him as Xavier grinned. They waited as the others followed Cody across on the rope.
“This way,” Dr. Dark said, consulting the map. “This is the way I should have come in the first place. Not long now.”
Xavier watched as his father led them into the maze, side tunnels shooting off in each direction.
“For what it’s worth,” Cody said, walking next to Xavier, “I’m sorry for what I said about your father. He’s not crazy.”
“Ha!” Xavier laughed. “Cody, don’t apologize for that. Right now, I think he is a little nuts. So long as he doesn’t get us lost.”
Xavier looked ahead to see his father a little off in front, shaking his head and muttering to himself.
“Um, guys,” Xavier said, “can you give me a minute with my dad?”
The others nodded and waited patiently as Xavier approached his father. As he came closer to him, Dr. Dark moved farther away, disappearing around a corner.
Xavier jogged to catch up to him. “Dad? Where are you going?”
Dr. Dark turned around.
“Dad—what’s happening? What aren’t you telling me?”
“Xavier …” Dr. Dark’s voice trailed off.
“What? You’re worrying me. Are my friends going to be OK down here?”
“Yes, they will be.”
“Tell me what’s going on, please.”
Xavier could see his father looked conflicted.
What is it? What’s so hard for him to tell me?
“This race,” Dr. Dark said, sitting down, “it’s about to end.”
Xavier sat next to his father. “I know that.”
“You don’t know it all,” Dr. Dark said. “You don’t know the half of it.”
“Then tell me,” Xavier said. “I’m listening and I want to know.”
Dr. Dark looked to his son. “It’s about Solaris.”
“What about him?”
“He’s … he’s …”
A deep metallic voice came out of the darkness.
“I’m right here.”
Be sure to read the next thrilling adventure in The Last Thirteen series:
01
SAM’S NIGHTMARE
I snap my fingers,” Solaris says, getting to his feet, “and all your friends die.”
His black body armour is dull, no longer shimmering, as though seen through a heat haze. But the menace in his voice remains as frightening as ever.
I gasp for breath, doubled over in agony. His shadow looms over me as he stands, prepared to resume the fight. I take a step back, struggling to get upright, and almost slide over the edge of the dusty stone surface. I glance backwards over my shoulder, trying to see another way out. We are so high up, it seems as though thousands of rough stone steps cascade away beneath us.
I look down, searching for my friends. I can see them, standing in a circle at the base of this impossibly high pyramid. They look up, watching us.
Why aren’t they climbing up? Why don’t they help me?
But I catch sight of something else down there, shock coursing through me. It’s a body, lying sprawled on the ground. I can’t make out who it is.
Are they unconscious or … dead?
“See, Sam?” Solaris says, his sick humour evident in his voice. “Don’t think I won’t do it … again.”
I turn to stare at the soulless black mask. “I’m not afraid of you,” I whisper, my voice hoarse.
“Your Gears,” Solaris says, with another, different edge to his voice now. “Give them to me. Don’t play games with me, boy. Be thankful that I am giving you this chance.”
I touch the straps of my backpack, feeling the weight of the precious Gears inside.
“And then what?” I ask, still defiant. “Then what will you do with us?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Solaris says, walking around the top of the pyramid. I mirror his movements, keeping as much distance between us as I can. “Cold desert night like this, I could give you all a little … heat.”
He shoots a stream of fire at the stone at my feet. I feel the unwelcome warmth running up my body. I force myself not to react, but I’m tense, frozen to the spot. I am overwhelmed by visions of all the fire that has ever scared me. I clench my fists and grit my teeth.
“Sam, Sam, Sam …” Solaris says. “Still frightened of a little fire?” He laughs.
Another jet shoots out, this time rushing by my head. I turn and duck. The heat
flushes my neck. I open my eyes and in the early evening sky, I see the moon. It’s full, its glow both beautiful and haunting.
“Are you really going to keep me waiting, boy?” he says.
I say nothing.
A kaleidoscope of images flashes through my mind—from another time, another place.
I’m dreaming, but is this really my dream? Is he manipulating the dream, manipulating me?
Solaris lunges at me and I move quickly, more easily now, keeping out of his way. I close my eyes and blink out the gritty sand that’s been kicked up.
“You are dreaming, Sam,” Solaris says. “You’ve managed to figure that out. But ask yourself—whose dream is this? Hmm? Maybe you should have stayed in school at the Academy a little longer … oh, that’s right, you couldn’t, could you?”
Again, I look down at my friends, clustered around, barely visible in the dim light. I look at Solaris, standing there, his arm raised. The realization hits me suddenly, like a blow to the head.
I can’t run anymore. The race is ending.
“Maybe I did need to spend more time at the Academy,” I say to him. “Or maybe I already know how to find out whose dream this is.”
“Don’t even try it!” Solaris says. “I’m in your head, boy, you don’t stand a—”
I run hard, fast, right at his towering black form. I charge with my shoulder down low, just like my high school football coach taught me. Before he can react, I plough into Solaris’ stomach and we go flying through the air—off the edge of the pyramid, out into darkness, falling through an empty sky.
I close my eyes and concentrate.
We hit the water hard.
I plunge down into the inky depths, my arms pushing out in front of me, my legs kicking fiercely to propel myself upward. When I reach the surface, my screaming lungs suck in air and I spit out the cool water as I look around.
It’s night now. The moon is high and a handful of stars are sprinkled across the sky. I catch sight of a black shadow close to me in the water and I strike out for the shore, eager to put distance between us. I have caught Solaris by surprise with the sudden change in my dream but the advantage won’t last long.
We’re in a city—I can see buildings and streetlights surrounding us from above. I smile as I catch sight of the Eiffel Tower looming high over me, lit up against the night. To the right is the bridge where I’d landed on top of a tourist bus after Zara and I made our crazy BASE jump from the Tower.
This is my dream. I brought us here—to Paris.
“Argh!” I shout out as Solaris grabs hold, reaching out to me with impossibly long arms. His hand grips my backpack, dragging me to shore with long, powerful swim strokes. “Get off me!”
He’s silent as he swims. I twist and turn, trying to pull against him, to swim in the opposite direction, but he’s too strong for me. The backpack straps tighten as I struggle, I cannot get free.
Think … it’s my dream, so I can control it.
Go somewhere else …
“Don’t do it!” Solaris snarls, stopping to drag me around to face him, his voice still rasping and metallic through his mask.
I blink hard against the blinding daylight. I’m momentarily stunned by the heat in the air. Water pours off me as I scramble to my feet.
I’ve been here before, too—it’s the Grand Canyon.
My last 13 tour, huh.
“You can’t escape me,” Solaris says. He’s standing, facing me. He’s still and menacing, yet I can tell he is impatient, all humour gone now as he chases me through my dream.
“Give me the Gears, Sam!” His voice is piercing, ripping into the very centre of my mind. “You know that I will follow you, wherever you go. Paris, New York, Cairo, Arizona, Sydney—it doesn’t matter. I’ll be right there. And when you wake up? I’ll be there, too. You have nowhere to go. There’s nothing you can dream that I won’t see. You’ve lost, Sam. It’s time to give up.”
He holds up something in his hand. It is a small, shiny silver disc—it glints in the sun as it spins gently on the end of a linked chain. It looks like an old pocket watch. Solaris is looking at it meaningfully. “It was made a long time ago. Now, it’s mine.”
“Nice story,” I say. I scan the desolate scene around us.
If I can get away, lose him in my dream … then I can find the last Dreamer.
“You still don’t understand what’s going on here, do you Sam?” Solaris says. He takes a step forward, the antique timepiece in his hand. “Your destiny is my destiny, one way or the other, until this is finished.”
Solaris turns to stare out at the expansive sky. Suddenly, everything changes. We are not in the desert anymore.
What the …? I didn’t do that.
But this is my dream.
Isn’t it?
I stare, bewildered, at the rolling green hills around us, snow-capped mountains in the distance. I shiver and my breath swirls in front of me in the cold mountain air. We’re standing at the top of a long valley, with a small, picturesque village nestled at the bottom of it, ringed by a dense forest.
“Maybe you don’t know everything after all,” Solaris sneers under the mask.
I gasp, the full realization of what’s happening dawning on me. “But, if we’re sharing a dream, like I did with the others …?” My mind reels, grappling with an unthinkable possibility.
“That’s right, Sam,” Solaris whispers. “Do you understand now? The last 13 is complete.”
No! It can’t be.
But it is.
There is nothing now but the inescapable truth that our worst enemy is one of us. There can be no way to win this.
We are all going to—
Die.
About the Author
James Phelan started writing his first novel while in high school. He now divides his time between writing thrillers and books for teens.
jamesphelan.com.au
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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Phelan, James, 1979-, author
2 / James Phelan.
(The last thirteen ; book 12)
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-1-4431-3397-5 (pbk.).--ISBN 978-1-4431-3398-2 (html)
I. Title. II. Title: Two. III. Series: Phelan, James, 1979- .
Last thirteen ; bk. 12.
PZ7.P52Two 2014 j823’.92 C2014-901818-5
C2014-901819-3
First published by Scholastic Australia in 2014.
This edition published by Scholastic Canada Ltd. in 2014.
Text copyright © 2014 by James Phelan.
Illustrations & design copyright © 2014 by Scholastic Australia.
Illustrations by Chad Mitchell.
Design by Nicole Stofberg.
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