by S. G. Basu
“It’s who now?” Kusha almost yelled.
Dani giggled, slipped an arm into the satchel, and pulled something out. “Meet Doob,” she said smiling, voice brimming with pride.
On her palm sat the tiniest model of an Onclioraptor, meticulously designed to the smallest detail.
“And Daab,” Ren held in his hand another miniature Raptor, identical in build except for the complementary silver coloration to Doob’s gleaming black.
“We built them during the first challenge. We were done early and had so much time to kill.” Dani flashed an apologetic smile.
“We have programmed them for the most intricate maneuvers, and they work like a dream,” Ren announced as Maia leaned closer, trying to get a good look at the little Raptors.
“So that’s why you kept disappearing on us?” Maia let out a chuckle. She felt happy to finally know what Dani and Ren had been up to, but then she worried that Ren might have done something truly inexcusable. “You didn’t swipe these parts from the project rooms, did you, Ren?”
“Oh no, he bought the parts with his own money,” Dani was quick to reply.
“Good use of my not-so-hard-earned money, don’t you think?” Ren added with a mischievous smirk.
He took a pair of razor-thin control sticks and proceeded to demonstrate an easy Spiral that Daab executed with perfection. Everyone cheered with the exception of Kusha. As the tiny Raptor came to a stop on Ren’s outstretched palm, Kusha shook his head and turned away.
“Won’t you look at them, Kusha?” Dani playfully tugged at his sleeve.
“Would it have killed you to tell me what you had been up to?” Kusha said.
“We wanted it to be a surprise,” Dani said, flashing a sheepish grin. “Don’t be so angry.”
Kusha sighed. By the time Dani cajoled him again, a small smile had crept on to his face. But the smile only lasted a moment. A frustrated yell from Miir made everyone forget about Doob and Daab. Their mentor had returned, and so had Yoome. They rushed in his direction, and together they set out for Central Square, treading frantically through the crowd. Halfway through their arduous walk, Kusha stopped abruptly. Thankfully, Miir was leading the way and Yoome was close behind him, so the only one who was remotely offended was Nafi, who bumped headlong into the boy.
“Can’t you even walk right?” she glowered.
“I . . . know,” Kusha replied, his face awash with a bright smile.
“Since you know, maybe you could try to learn,” Nafi shot back before walking past him.
“No,” Kusha shook his head, trying to keep his voice as low as he could when he spoke. “I know when it’s going to be . . . the attack.”
The other four slowed at once.
“Remember the old man said something about changing policies that made the place less secure? And then that hotel owner said that because of the new policy he had to let everyone go so they could watch the display tonight. And remember, the free rations to everyone who collects stardust?”
“When the stardust falls,” Ren’s eyes sparkled as he spoke, “the sentries could possibly go as well, leaving the Grotto unguarded.”
“Yes, and with all this commotion, no one is going to notice if a bunch of people break in,” Kusha added.
“But what are we going to do? How will we even get away from those two?” Maia asked, pointing toward Miir and Yoome who strode ahead of them.
“Don’t you see how Miir is ignoring us? And that girl simply doesn’t care,” Kusha reasoned. “It’s too dark out here for anyone to notice immediately that we are missing. By the time he realizes we’re gone, it will be too late to track us down in this crowd.”
“Even if we somehow manage to get away, what will we do at the Grotto?” Dani looked worried. “I mean, we’re unarmed, we hardly know what’s in there, and it’ll be dangerous to just walk in unprepared.”
“What else can we do other than try and catch them in the act?” Kusha asked. “We can’t speak about this to anyone; no one will believe us. And if Miir is right, which he always is, they might just put us in prison for knowing state secrets.”
Maia eyed Nafi, worrying how she would react. If she didn’t agree, they would probably carry on without her. But she hoped and wished that Nafi would understand.
“You do understand that this could mean risking everything we have achieved so far,” Nafi said, taking time to look each of them in the eye. No one replied. It was clear that everyone had made their decision. Nafi quickly glanced away and fell silent for a bit. What she said next made Maia smile in relief. “I agree. Trying to get in there is the only option we have. I just hope we can catch them red-handed.”
They scuttled along again, trying their best to keep up with Miir and Yoome. On reaching the Square, Miir herded them to a side until they were snuggled between a rowdy bunch of workers from the settlement of Kiigyzhid and a cheering horde of pilots of the Royal Fleet Squadron 44. Lively exchanges between the groups made their squished existence a little bearable, and the five continued to make their own plans in hushed tones.
Soon the Sedara dimmed. As the skies turned a deep shade of purple, the crowd transformed. Maia held her breath, blinking in disbelief as she took in the scene—incandescent Xifarian eyes were lighting up all around them, growing more numerous by the moment, until it felt like she was floating in a sea of embers.
Murmurs grew louder, reaching a crescendo when the pre-display show started on a raised stage at the center of the field. As the crowd roared, Kusha slipped away from the group followed by the rest of the team. Maia left last, backing away slowly from the unsuspecting Miir and Yoome, whose attention was focused on the group of flying acrobats in the central arena. She found her friends waiting at the Sanctuary gates. A wild party raged there—music played, couples danced, babies screamed. It was perfect mayhem.
“Now, how are we going to get inside?” Kusha asked, feeling the thick girth of the bars on the gate.
The bars were very closely spaced, Maia noted. There was not a chance that they could slip through them. The only other way was to climb over, but they stood tall, over three times Kusha’s height.
“Master Ren,” someone shouted. “Found ya, Master Ren.”
A strange, swarthy man, who looked positively inebriated, strolled over to the five youngsters as they stood at the entrance, his eyes shining with the joy of finding a long lost friend.
“Adienos,” Ren grinned happily. “Thanks for showing up, buddy.”
They shook hands for a long time and talked about some game night over and over again until Nafi cleared her throat very loudly.
“The task at hand,” she nudged Ren. “Remember?”
“You want to get in, right?” Adienos leaned forward to look at Nafi.
Nafi blinked and stared. “Uh hum.”
“Got provisions, just like Master Ren asked,” the man winked and turned to yell at a group of well-built men who had gathered around. “Boys, get the ladder up, will ya?”
In the blink of an eye, a rope ladder was slung over the fence. Kusha wasted no time in climbing up, and Maia scampered up next. Soon, all of them were inside and the ladder was off. Adienos shook hands with Ren, whispered a hasty, “We’ll wait around here for ya,” and returned to their revelry.
“Who was that?” Nafi demanded of Ren as soon as they had stepped away into the shadows. “And how did he—”
“Just an old associate. I had him come and meet us here in case we needed assistance, which we did,” was all Ren had to say.
Nafi stared at him for a few moments and then sighing loudly, she stomped forward.
“This is a madhouse,” Kusha whispered as they made their way to the back of the building. “A bunch of people simply climb over the fence and no one cares. Yet, if we even talk about this place, we run the risk of getting arrested. This is what they call security?”
It was indeed surprising to see that the place did not have a single guard on duty. A lone, weak light shone on the
top floor of the building. Maia assumed those were the curator’s living quarters. Worries flooded her mind as she made her way to the back garden. Maybe the crazy old man was right—this was all part of a big conspiracy. She quickened her pace. Striding past the curtain of trees, Maia and her friends came to face the entrance. The small door engraved with Xifarian insignia stood slightly ajar. After a moment’s hesitation, Kusha pushed it open. It swung wide, revealing a flight of stairs that wound downward.
“Stop.” Dani clutched Kusha’s arm. “I can’t let you do this, guys. It’s too risky. I should rather go and talk to the curator.”
“This is the only way, Dani,” Maia whispered. “The curator will never listen to you until you have proof.”
“Now is not the time for a debate,” Nafi said impatiently. “And deal with it, Dani. We’re not letting you do this all by yourself.”
“Together we are stronger than we will ever be alone,” Maia said in a steely voice. She stretched her arm to the center of their small huddle, her fist closed in a tight ball.
“Together,” Ren whispered as he touched her fist with his own.
More fists came flying in, completing a neat circle.
“Together.”
“Together.”
“Together.”
44: The Stabilator
About twenty steps down from the entrance, Nafi pointed toward a darkened alcove on the left. Piled clumsily in its hold were the limp forms of two sentries. The saboteurs had indeed struck.
With a rapidly increasing heartbeat, Maia tiptoed forward. With every step she took, the air grew clammier; veins of dampness spread like giant cobwebs across the dark, stone-lined walls, and Maia struggled to breathe as she trudged across a wave of suffocating and stale air. A faint, bluish light seeped upward, the source of which did not become apparent until the staircase ended. She had reached the threshold of an enormous circular chamber, separated from the central area by a waist-high wall. For a moment Maia stared open-mouthed at the gigantic contraption at the center of the room. Then she squinted and her arms flew up instinctively to shade her eyes.
A colossal glass globe, that reminded Maia of a giant crystal ball, filled the underground chamber. It rested on a raised circular platform from which a series of chunky cables and wires ran to the sides of the room. Each of these gargantuan coils was attached to the platform through a bulbous protrusion engraved with notches. A thick metallic column passed through the center of the sphere and into the domed ceiling above it.
The wonder of it all, however, was the interior of the globe. Sparkling bolts of light radiated from the central column inside the sphere, creating an illumination brighter than anything Maia had ever seen. From the wonderment on her friends’ brightly lit faces, she surmised that everyone was equally amazed by the view.
“So, this is the Stabilator,” Ren said in a hushed, respectful voice.
“Look,” Dani pointed at two men, clad in flowing, dark-red capes, fumbling around the base of the ethereal orb.
“That’s them all right,” Maia whispered, recognizing their garb.
“Let’s go get them,” Nafi suggested in a bright voice.
“Right, but the question is how?” Maia’s question was undoubtedly worrisome. “Someone needs to get help while the others try to hold these thugs from damaging anything.”
“Maybe we could get the curator to open up,” Ren said. “It might be easier for me to get his attention without getting arrested right away, since I’m from around here.”
Maia nodded in agreement and so did the others.
“I’ll tell him that we saw some commotion on the grounds and decided to look into it.”
Maia and her teammates nodded once again; that sounded like a reasonable enough explanation for their presence in the Grotto. Whispering a quick “good luck” to his friends, Ren tiptoed up the stairs. As the rest hunkered down and watched, the men fumbled around, feeling the notches in the bulbous protrusions where the cables attached to the base of the Stabilator.
“You know what they’re looking for?” Dani clutched at Maia’s hand. “The lock for the key. They don’t know where the key fits. I’m sure those spherical things are the locks.”
“Guys, I have a plan,” Maia whispered. “Doob and Daab . . . we could use them to create a distraction. Maybe we can buy ourselves some time.”
Kusha’s eyes sparkled and Nafi nodded eagerly. Maia felt very hopeful; suddenly, there was a slimmest possibility of averting a terrible tragedy.
“Let’s split up and attack them from both sides,” Maia suggested.
After Doob and its controller stick had been placed into Dani’s eager hands, Kusha and Nafi crawled along the aisle to the far side of the room with Daab. As the girls readied themselves for a signal from Kusha, something changed in the demeanor of the hooded men. One of them waved at the other, shouting and pointing at the lock he had been inspecting. His companion rushed over, examined the notch, threw his arms up, and shouted in glee.
“They must have found a match,” Dani whispered.
Maia felt a chill. What was taking Ren so long to get back? What if he . . . no, she could not let doubt creep into her heart. He had to come back for them. He was their teammate after all. She had to believe, she had to have faith in their friendship.
The men kneeled in front of the sphere. One of them reached inside his robe and took out a gleaming blue prong threaded on a chain. Maia guessed that was the Chrysocolla key. He inserted the prong into the lock and it slid in noiselessly. Right at that moment, someone cooed from the other side of the room. The men froze, and then peered in the direction of the noise.
Maia prayed for them to get up and inspect the source of the commotion. The men simply stared. Then the shrill whistle sounded once again, cutting a jagged path through the taut atmosphere of the room. Maia breathed in relief as the two men looked at each other, pulled the key out of the lock, and rose swiftly to their feet.
The war cry that knocked Maia off her feet was not something she would have expected coming from someone as modest as Dani. The noise had its intended effect. The men stopped, and after a brief exchange among themselves, they split up. The taller of the two walked cautiously in the direction of Maia and Dani. When he was about twenty steps from them, Dani launched Doob. The tiny projectile took off without a sound, zoomed over the balustrade, and hit the man squarely on the forehead, taking him completely by surprise. He yelped in pain and staggered backward while Dani pulled Doob back toward the aisle. A loud groan came from the other side of the Stabilator; Daab had sprung into life as well.
Doob flew out again—a tiny blur shooting upward and then plunging down on the man’s head in a fast spiral. The man detected the attacking craft at the very last moment, tried to sidestep and avoid it, but didn’t quite succeed. As Doob’s right wing scraped across his shoulder, a gash appeared on his dark robe. The man groaned, and then shouted out in rage at the flying craft. Dani straightened the Raptor and aimed at the man’s face. He seemed to sense its approach and slowly unhooked a thin wire rope from his waist. Then he laughed.
The sinister cackle resonated throughout the chamber and plunged into Maia’s ears like a toothed knife, almost stilling her heart as she held her breath. Maia stared, her insides churning at the thought of failure, her mouth parched. The whip crackled, and the tiny tentacles that covered its entire length seemed to stretch out and claw the air. The craft swerved, but it was not fast enough. The whip caught the rear end of the little Raptor, a few tentacles wrapping around its tail ferociously. Dani accelerated and broke the grip, but the whip had done its damage. Doob went into a dizzying tailspin.
The man had walked close to the aisle where the girls were hiding. He paused briefly, facing the railing that separated them, then leaped over it into the passageway and faced the two girls as they cringed in fear. He stepped closer, flicking his whip as he walked, his eyes glinting through the narrow slits of his mask. Maia and Dani stumbled backward, struggl
ing to stay out of his reach. Barely ten steps separated the man from his hapless prey when Doob swooped down on him. He fell back, trying to evade Doob, and struck at it as he steadied himself. The whip caught the tiny Raptor. It went crashing and sliding along the aisle, spinning and bobbing out of control.
“Jump over the rail,” Maia whispered to Dani as the man turned his attention back to them.
As they dived over the banister into the center of the room, Maia heard the crack of the whip again. The tip missed her arm by the breadth of a hair, but the tentacles grazed over her wrist. A thousand nails seemed to scrape over her bare skin, a burning sensation spreading over the area where the tentacles had touched her body. There was the sound of shuffling feet on the other side of the globe. A limping Kusha and an unsteady Nafi appeared from behind its engorged middle. Maia was just about to rush to them when an idea struck her.
“Dani,” she whispered urgently. “Give me Doob’s controller. Quick.”
Dani stopped and stared for a moment, confused, before she handed over the thin stick. Maia ran to the lock where the men had fitted the key. Hastily slipping Doob’s controller into the keyhole, she scrambled toward Kusha and Nafi, Dani following at her heels.
“You guys all right?” Kusha asked, panting.
“All right . . . yes. But trapped,” Maia observed as the men stepped closer from both sides. Behind them, the Stabilator shone and sparkled in an eternal ebb and flow of currents.
The men raised their hands in unison, and Maia braced herself for the pain as the whips came slithering at them, the tentacles licking hungrily at the air. The whips weaved around their waists and arms, holding them in a vice-like grip, and pinning them against the cool glass walls of the Stabilator.
“Oh, this is even better. Some kids from the Initiative. Can’t believe that project is such a great ruse already.” The taller man spoke in a teasing voice. “We will just leave these snoops here. No one will ever believe anything these outsiders say, not right away anyway. That will give us plenty of time to take cover.”