by Brinda Berry
Then light blinded me. I squinted my eyes, not prepared for the invasion of white, hot brightness. The buzzing was absent as well as any dizziness. I lifted my face from Regulus’s back.
I’d been holding on to him for my life with my body pressed against his and both arms now firmly attached to his waist. I loosened my hold and tried to scoot back on the seat, but the speed of the bike and my recent loss of equilibrium made that difficult.
We zipped along a smooth dirt path at a speed fast enough to scare me. I had never ridden a motorcycle before and tried to concentrate on my surroundings instead of thinking about the precarious ride.
Stone walls rose on both sides of the narrow strip of dirt, and I turned my head to see Arizona riding behind us. I looked up to see how high the buildings reached, maybe three stories. We seemed to be in some sort of alley. Both motorcycles slowed at the end of the alley and turned right and entered a street. There were people lining the road, walking and ignoring us.
Of various heights and sizes, the people walked slowly and a few heads turned to watch us pass by them. They wore shapeless brown robes that seemed to melt into the landscape. We darted around few vehicles and even a man walking with a donkey, loaded with packages. I twisted my head for a second look at the unusual sight. Hoods concealed individual faces.
And instead of the light bulb of an idea blinking on in my head, the images of the robed figures crackled in my brain like a Fourth of July sparkler. I could see the man in my driveway, his face smashed to my rear car windshield.
The images in my mind must have been combustible because I fought off a burst of fear and anger. I had been excited at the thought of slipping through the portal to some unknown world. But I was in a place where I was likely to be in danger.
“Why did you bring me here?” I yelled into the wind while jabbing Regulus in the side to get his attention. He turned his head, but his helmet prevented me from seeing his face. I tried again, “Tell me what’s going on.”
We looped around an outdoor market with stands of vegetables in the center and reentered the alley. Arizona still followed close behind. The bike accelerated and, suspecting where Regulus was headed, I lurched forward to hold on tighter. I heard and felt more than saw the blackness ahead. He punched the gas to maneuver us exactly through the portal that now seemed so clear to me. Did it just appear? How did he know exactly where to find it? I made a mental note to ask.
This time, my stomach didn’t pitch as much as it had the first time. I had readied myself for the free fall feeling and felt my body, along with Regulus’s, glide into nothingness only to slam into the reality of my woods within seconds. We were riding toward my house down the long driveway.
Just to my right, Arizona was grinning, as usual. My dress had hiked up to the tops of my thighs. He couldn’t see anything—the dress wasn’t that short—but embarrassed, I tried to release one arm from around Regulus to pull my clothing down. The bumpy terrain broke my hold, so I gave up. Arizona’s grin widened.
We stopped in a shaded area with a tent, a campfire, and supplies neatly set in a clearing of massive oak, hickory, and pine trees. A fire had been built recently. Cut wood and kindling were tidily stacked on one side.
The campsite wasn’t new. My jaw dropped as I absorbed the implications.
“You stay here? You’re practically in my backyard, you know. How long did you think you could live out here without anyone finding you?" I shoved off Regulus to swing my leg over and hop from the back of the bike. After the ungraceful dismount, I straightened my full skirt and took off the cardigan, tying its arms around my waist. I had given up on recouping any decorum with my cute outfit.
I peeked inside the tent, just out of plain nosiness, to see if it boasted anything unusual inside. To my disappointment, it looked like the inside of every other camping tent.
I could see Regulus and Arizona out of the corner of my eye taking off helmets and moving the motorcycles.
“We don’t live here,” Regulus answered me. “It’s a temporary camp. We need a place close to the portal. For surveillance.”
“Surveillance of my bedroom window?” I said sarcastically picking up a pair of binoculars and squinting to look through the lenses in the direction of my house. “And what was the point of taking me to Scaryville?”
“It’s called Pinaghi, and I wanted you to see how close the world lies to your own. You should understand how easily one can move between these dimensions.” Regulus waved his hand at one of the portable chairs. “Sit.”
I wanted to stand just because I didn’t like being told to sit, but I realized that it would be silly. I couldn’t sit on the ground in the dress. I waited a minute and then sat in a green canvas chair opposite to the one he had offered.
Arizona busied himself stacking wood beside the fire pit. Regulus joined him in the task, and they worked as a team without communicating. Their rhythm told me that they had done this many times before. Arizona squatted beside the pit and piled slivers of bark at the center of the cleared area. A few rocks were stacked at the corners of the perimeter. Regulus carried what appeared to be a storage chest closer to me. An extra chair?
Flames tentatively sparked in the kindling as Arizona blew on the starter. Regulus lifted the lid of the chest that I expected him to sit on. He took out some packages and a pan along with a metal stand that expanded to a grilling surface over the fire. I realized that I was watching dinner preparation.
I was glad for a few minutes to be able to watch Regulus as he opened packages and cooked the meal. He was so strange. He didn’t care if I liked him or not. I was having the hardest time figuring out why he was bothering with me. He said that I could find portals, but they had a portal. Why would they need me? I didn’t have a good hand of cards in this game.
He, on the other hand, could hold the answers to finding Pete.
“So, yeah, that was pretty awesome and unbelievable, and that’s an understatement,” I began. “Is that the world that you usually live in?”
“No. But of course, you know that you have had travelers from that world.”
“How do you get to your world? A different portal?” I was imagining a portal like a rabbit hole…and hundreds of them throughout my woods.
Regulus handed me a bowl and spoon. He shook his head. “Imagine the portal like a road. You can start out on the same road, but take a turn and end up miles away. The IIA has some control of this portal, and we have programs that allow us to reach certain destinations.”
“If the IIA has control, then why don’t they just stop people from coming through?” I held my bowl for Arizona as he ladled in a fragrant, thick mixture from the pan. It looked like it might be beef stew. I had been a little hesitant when I saw the packages being opened, but the aroma of the concoction was beyond anything my dad and I ever cooked.
“They have some control, not absolute control.” Regulus picked up a bowl. “And there are some portals in your world that completely escape the control of the IIA.”
“Realllly.” I drew out the word, intrigued. “Like where?”
“Many people enter a portal off the coast of Florida. Your people are well aware of it. Yet, individuals are still drawn to it.” He ate a tiny bite of stew, then blew on the next spoonful.
“No way. I would have heard of it.” I shifted, uncomfortable. What else didn’t I know?
“You know of the Bermuda Triangle?” Regulus waited, looking expectant.
“You’re kidding, right?” I stared at his serious face and was absolutely sure that he was not.
I waited for him to chew and swallow before my next question. “And people who are sucked into the Bermuda Triangle… Where do they go?”
He shrugged. “It’s unknown. I told you that the IIA doesn’t control the travels throughout that portal. There are an endless number of dimensions that the aimless traveler can fall into. That’s why it is extremely important that the IIA program the course of the traveler. Otherwise, your destination c
an be unfortunate as well as producing unnatural consequences.”
“You sound like a commercial for the IIA,” I stated between bites. “Doesn’t man have free will to seek his own destiny?” For a minute, I felt that my speech pattern had actually mimicked Regulus’s in its formality.
“We protect the universes,” Arizona said defensively. “Your world is so bent on planetary suicide, it’s a miracle it’s still around.”
I looked at Arizona. Usually he seemed like he was on my side. “Your world, you said. This is our world, Arizona. You said you were born in Phoenix, that is, if you were telling me the truth.” My mind fleetingly went to the connection between Arizona’s name and his birthplace. “It’s our world. I don’t know where you’re from, Regulus, but our world does just fine.”
“I am from the IIA.” Regulus sounded pompous and self-important as he tossed his bowl into a plastic tub.
“Why do you even care about this world if the IIA is so great?” I couldn’t figure out why I had gotten so defensive about it.
“Because your world is our seed vault,” Regulus said.
All I could picture at the mention of a seed vault was my grandmother’s kitchen drawer that held her beloved Burpee seed packets. Seeds for beefsteak tomatoes and all kinds of flowers. I last visited my grandparents in Clearwater, Florida when I was fifteen. A month of Florida could have been heaven. But it hadn’t been. After Pete disappeared, my dad had taken time off from work to hit the road looking for him. And I’d been stuck in Clearwater.
I’d heard him on the phone one night with my grandfather. “Dad, I think he might have gone to find Nancy. If that’s where he went, I’ll bring him back.” Dad never talked about her. The woman who was once my mother.
“Mia, this is part of your training. Are you even paying attention?”
“No, I’m eating.” I clanged my spoon against the bowl with unnecessary force. Looking down, I realized that I had eaten half of the meal, a thick stew of beef, peas, carrots, onion with just the right seasonings. How that delectable meal came out of a bag, I couldn’t even begin to comprehend. Much better than my usual sandwich at home.
“Regulus, you need to break it down,” I said. “Tell me what you mean when you say seed vault. It’s like you talk in code all the time.”
Regulus sat on the chest beside me and kicked his feet out in front of him. Darkness had fallen while we’d eaten and talked. A cicada chirp vibrated through the clearing. Stars had begun to glitter against the backdrop of the sky. Arizona looked up to follow my gaze.
“A seed vault is a preservation of life. You keep the starter seeds safely locked away and ready for use in case of loss of life and the need for a new beginning,” Regulus said. “Your people have a seed vault for the so-called doomsday. It’s in the Arctic. It is a storage facility holding a genetic diversity of seeds for food crops.”
“And you guys are keeping your seeds here?”
“No, our seeds are different,” Regulus answered. “Your people are our seeds.”
“Like an ark, but instead of two of each, there’s DNA to represent millions of possibilities,” Arizona said.
“So, Earth is like the ark.” I frowned, stating this more to myself than in response to the conversation.
“The IIA works to protect you from outsiders. It’s your destiny to protect the Earth from destruction,” Regulus said. “As well as from disease, genetic mutation, and dimensional tampering.”
I thought about global warming, pollution, and all the other environmental topics that were discussed in my science class last year. It just didn’t make sense to pick Earth.
“So, what is it that you think I can do in all this? And don’t you think saying it’s my destiny is a little over the top?” It’s your destiny… I could hear wise Obi-Wan’s voice in my head. I had watched the old Star Wars movies with Dad a million times.
Arizona scooted his chair closer to mine as if to tell me a secret. “We have been informed that there is someone harboring the Slips as they come through the portal. The last Slip bargained for mercy with the IIA. The Slip confessed that he was to meet someone here for safe harbor. Help us find this individual who will destroy your world.”
Great. I had enough problems without the weight of the world added. “I can try, but I don’t see how I can figure out who it is,” I said to Arizona. Find some other Jedi, I thought.
“It is a male individual at Whispering Woods College,” Regulus said.
“OK, you didn’t say that you had it narrowed down to a few thousand people,” I said, failing to hold the sarcasm level down.
“The Slip had a meeting time and location. The individual from the university will be expecting to meet a young female Slip. We want you to go to this place. Arizona and I will be there out of sight and ready to retrieve the criminal,” Regulus said.
“We would never let anything happen to you.” Arizona settled his hand on my knee, and I didn’t take it as a lewd gesture, but rather a comforting one. I was getting used to the fact that Arizona was the touchy-feely type.
I covered Arizona’s hand with mine, and then lifted it to take it off my knee. He grinned.
“And if I do this…if I am the bait…you can then help me with information about finding Pete,” I said in my best no-nonsense tone.
“We have already agreed to that, Mia,” said Arizona.
Regulus handed me a piece of paper. “Here is the information for the meeting. You will travel alone to the location at the set time. You must wear this attached to your clothing.”
The gold pin was the size of a half-dollar and looked like a tree branch. Oh goody. I’d be dressed in Grandma’s hand-me-down jewelry. I held it up to the area above my heart and raised my eyebrows while nodding that I got it.
I examined the note. “OK, I think I can find this. And this says 18:30. That’s military time stuff, right? It doesn’t tell me the date.”
“Tomorrow night,” answered Regulus.
“Why didn’t the Slip go to meet the person right after coming here? Why the gap in time? And what about the baby? How was that guy going to take care of a baby in the woods until tomorrow night? And where’s that baby’s mother?” The rush of questions poured from my lips.
“You ask too many questions, Mia. The strategy of a Slip is not your concern. As for the baby, not all babies have natural mothers. Some have Makers and, later, Caretakers,” Regulus said in his authoritative manner.
For some unknown reason that statement made me sad. Not for myself but for him.
My noisy ring tone startled me, and I jumped. I took my cell phone from my pocket to show Regulus and Arizona, who had also reacted to music seemingly pouring out of nowhere.
I saw the name on the caller ID. “Hey, Em, what’s up?”
“Are you back from the date yet?” she said breathlessly.
“I told you, it’s not like that,” I said, trying not to reveal too much to Regulus and Arizona. I turned my back to them. “And no, I am not home yet, but I’ll call you when I get there.”
“Don’t forget…sorry to call. Do you know what time it is? I’ve been going crazy wanting to hear, and I couldn’t imagine that you wouldn’t be home yet.”
I cut into her chatter. “Bye, Em, I’ll call.”
“Eek, sorry…’bye.”
“Was your call of great importance?” Regulus asked.
“No, nothing, Em just wanted to talk,” I said.
They both stared at me, waiting.
“You know, just girl talk.”
They both just looked at me, clearly puzzled.
“It’s teenage girl bonding stuff,” I said. “What’s up, whatcha doin’…you know.”
Regulus looked at Arizona for an explanation and only got a shrug.
I looked at the paper in my hand again. “OK…” I cleared my throat. “I really need to go home now. You know, I do have school and all.”
Regulus and Arizona stood to put out the fire, and I sat and watched sinc
e I didn’t know what I should do. I examined the tent again and looked at the rolled-up sleeping bags. I had never been camping except for in a two-man tent in the backyard with my brother as a child. We didn’t have to go far to explore the wilderness.
“How long have you guys been camping here so close to my house?” I asked, wondering how they had avoided discovery.
“A couple of weeks.” Regulus returned some supplies to the storage chest he had been sitting on earlier, moving with mesmerizing grace and speed. He was built like a football player. A lean one without an ounce of fat on him. He looked up and met my eyes. My cheeks were instantly on fire. Look away, I told myself, but was unable to follow my own directions from my brain.
“Where do you guys stay? I mean, where do you live?” I blurted out, looking at the tent and breaking the eye contact.
“Wherever the IIA stations us,” Regulus said. “We are registered at the university. This campsite is necessary as a second station away from the dorm.”
Arizona grimaced as he added, “I like a place with a hot shower and a Taco Bell, to be honest. Your portal location demanded less than desirable living conditions until we moved into the dorm.”
Regulus went to his motorcycle and beckoned me by waving his hand and motioning for me to take my seat behind him. I didn’t argue but gathered my skirt high enough to allow my leg to swing over. I gripped his shoulder to steady myself as I threw my leg over the seat and before I could protest, he grabbed my waist to help me. I looked over his shoulder to avoid his eyes.
He started the engine, accelerating within seconds, heading through the trees and brush on a route that would take us to my driveway. My log house appeared before me in minutes and the trip had been too short for me to think of any questions about what would take place tomorrow.
I could hear Biscuit barking and spotted my dog in the front window. I got off the bike before Regulus could help and straightened my clothes. I took off the helmet that I had used and handed it to him.
“Thanks for the dinner. I’ll do my part tomorrow night. Just don’t get me killed or anything.” I laughed nervously.