The Merchant of Death tpa-1

by D. J. MacHale

  “I know what you really need,” he said slyly. “I know, I know.”

  “What do I need?” I asked, losing patience.

  “You need tak,” he announced. “I am the one, the only one who can get it for you.”

  Tak. There was that word again.

  “What is tak?” I asked.

  Figgis laughed again and reached into his waist pouch.

  “Tak is the answer,” he said reverently. “Tak is the hope.”

  Whatever tak was, it couldn’t be very big because it fit in his pouch. He was just about to pull it out…when Rellin walked in.

  “Figgis!” he shouted.

  Figgis instantly pulled his hand out of the pouch, empty. He looked incredibly guilty.

  “You should not have brought him here, old man,” Rellin chastised.

  Figgis cowered and ran out of the room like a guilty puppy. Whatever tak was, it was clear he did not want Rellin to know that he was trying to sell me some.

  “I am sorry you saw this room,” he said, sounding tired. “I do not want you to think we still have hope of fighting the Bedoowan. These weapons will soon be destroyed.”

  Something wasn’t right. Rellin wasn’t telling me the whole truth. I figured since he wasn’t being totally up front with me, then I should be careful about what I said to him. So I didn’t mention the tak thing that Figgis was trying to sell me.

  “I guess you gotta do what you gotta do,” was all I could think of saying.

  I didn’t like being there, especially since there was something going on that I wasn’t clear on. The best thing for me to do then was leave. So I walked past Rellin and out the door. He didn’t say another word to me.

  Once away from there, my thoughts went back to the problem at hand, which was Uncle Press. So I ran back to the cell where my gear was. When I stepped inside that room, I saw that Loor and Alder were there and they were going through my stuff! They had it spread out all over the floor. Wasn’t there any such thing as privacy around here?

  “Hey!” I shouted.

  Alder jumped back, embarrassed. But Loor kept right on rummaging.

  “I am looking for the weapons you brought back,” she said without a hint of apology. “I see no weapons here.” She said this while shaking one of the yellow walkie-talkies you sent.

  I grabbed it from her and said, “I didn’t get any weapons. I wouldn’t even know how to use a weapon.”

  “Then this is all useless,” she spat out.

  “That’s what you think,” I said and handed her back the walkie-talkie. I then found the other walkie-talkie and stepped to the far side of the room. I put it up to my mouth, hit the send button and said, “Boo!”

  Both Loor and Alder jumped in surprise. Loor threw the walkie-talkie away like it was hot. Alder caught it and then he threw it too. Man, how excellent was that? It was the exact reaction I was hoping for.

  “What is this magic?” asked Alder with wide eyes.

  “It isn’t magic,” I said. “You gotta understand, my territory is way more advanced than here. Things like this are pretty common where I come from. It’s not magic, it’s science.”

  I picked up the small CD boom box you sent and hit Play. Instantly the first track started to play. It was a head-banger rock song with thrashing guitars that sent Loor and Alder into a panic. They covered their ears and ran to the far side of the room like frightened rabbits. It was awesome. I didn’t want to prolong their agony so I turned the music off quickly. The two sat there staring at me with wide, frightened eyes.

  “Still think we need weapons?” I asked with a sly smile.

  Then I saw something that totally blew me away. Loor looked to me and, believe it or not, she smiled.

  “I like this science,” she said.

  “Me too,” added Alder.

  So far so good. Their reactions gave me hope that my ideas might work. The trick was to use this stuff the right way and the time to do that was coming fast. I took a quick inventory and saw that you were able to get everything except for the flashlight. You guys are amazing. I was a little surprised to see that none of the stuff was mine though. I didn’t mean for you to go out and get new stuff, or to send your own, Mark. But after I thought about it, I realized that it would have been hard for you to go to my house and get my stuff. My parents would have asked questions and that would have been tricky. So as soon as I can, I’ll repay you for everything.

  I gave one of the walkie-talkies to Loor and showed her how to use it. If we got split up, these would be crucial. The rest of the equipment I put back in the pack. Alder then added something that was a little surprising. He gave us each clothes that the Bedoowan wear inside the palace. They were simple pants and jackets with long sleeves. The pants had pockets and were tied with a drawstring. The jackets closed with buttonlike pieces of wood. They were light, almost pastel colors of green and blue. But the thing that really jumped out at me was that they were soft. The material was some kind of cotton and they were really comfortable. Even the leather shoes were comfortable. If I didn’t know better, I’d guess that the Bedoowan did their shopping at The Gap. It really struck me how the Milago lived their lives wearing rough, smelly caveman skins while the Bedoowan wore these coolio, comfortable clothes that were like pajamas.

  Loor didn’t want to wear them. She wanted Alder to get us armor from the knights. But Alder explained that the knights were not allowed to wear their armor in the palace. If we were seen inside wearing armor, the Bedoowan would instantly take notice and we’d be lost. Wearing the clothes he gave us was our best chance of blending in. Loor didn’t like it, but she couldn’t argue with the logic, so we quickly dressed in the Bedoowan outfits.

  Alder also had something else of value-a map of the palace. It was crude and drawn roughly on some parchment paper, but it was good enough. It didn’t show everything, but it had the key areas we needed to worry about: the cell area where Uncle Press was being held and the guard quarters where the knights stayed. Everything seemed in place except for one small detail. Maybe the most important detail of all.

  “This is all good,” I said. “But how are we going to get in?”

  “There is a way,” Alder said. “The Bedoowan do not know of it and very few of the Milago are aware. My brother showed it to me the day before he died.”

  Now there was some new information. Alder had a brother who died. I wanted to know what that was all about, but now was not the time for chitchat.

  “Then let’s go,” I said.

  I put on the pack and followed the others out of the cell. Rather than turn for the main mine shaft to climb to the surface, Alder led us to one of the ore cars.

  “No sense in all of us walking,” said Alder. “Jump in.”

  Wherever we were going, it was underground. Loor and I climbed into the ore car and Alder started to push. We headed down the track of yet another tunnel off the main cavern. As we passed some miners, they barely took notice of us. These poor guys were like the living dead.

  Alder was a pretty strong guy and he pushed us along with ease. Luckily the tunnel was flat, so maybe it wasn’t all that hard anyway. We traveled for a long time and went pretty deep into the mine. After a while it got totally dark, but it wasn’t like we had to make a turn or anything, so Alder kept on pushing. As the tunnel started to grow brighter, I looked ahead and saw a small spot of light way in the distance. Before I could ask what it was, Alder said, “The tunnel leads to the sea. The end is not far from here. You cannot enter from the outside because the opening is high in the bluffs. It is to bring fresh air into the mines.”

  Fresh air, yeah, right. Not fresh enough to get rid of the poisonous gas that was killing all the miners. I then noticed something else weird. Throughout all the tunnels, the walls looked the same. They were made of solid, craggy rock that had been chiseled out by hand. But here it was different. Along one side of the tunnel were round, stone columns. They were wide too, maybe three feet in diameter, and looked to me like big
ancient columns from Greek ruins.

  “The miners uncovered these by accident many years ago,” Alder said. “They are the foundation of the Bedoowan palace.”

  Whoa! That meant we were directly under the fortress!

  “The Bedoowan do not know that the Milago have tunneled under their palace,” Alder added. “If they did, they would have closed this tunnel off and killed some miners in punishment.”

  There must have been about twenty of these pillars and they were roughly ten yards apart. I saw off to the side, between two of the stone pillars, another tunnel. Actually it was more like a small recess, because just inside it was a ladder. Obviously this ladder led up into the palace. Gulp.

  “No one knows why this secret entrance was created,” said Alder as we climbed out of the ore car. “It is older than any of the miners who are alive today.”

  I stood at the bottom of the ladder and looked up. I then looked back at the others. It was show time.

  “Let’s make sure we’re all on the same page,” I said. “Our plan is to get to the cell where they’re keeping Uncle Press as quietly as possible. If this becomes a fight, we’ll lose.” I said this while looking straight at Loor. She looked away from me. I knew she agreed, but it was killing her.

  “Alder,” I said. “Can you get us to the cell area?”

  “Yes, I think so,” was his answer.

  “You think or you know?” I didn’t want anything left to chance.

  “I know,” came his more confident reply.

  “Good,” I said.

  “But it is not going to be as easy to get back unnoticed,” he added.

  “And that is when we fight,” said Loor.

  “Yeah, whatever,” I said, and turned for the ladder. Jeez, she had a one-track mind. It wasn’t until I got halfway up the ladder that I realized I didn’t want to be the first one up. What was I thinking? I had no idea what might be waiting for me on top. But it was too late now; we weren’t about to change places while dangling in the air. So I continued to climb and ended up on a dark shelf of stone. The ceiling was also stone and it was so low that I couldn’t stand up straight. The others quickly joined me.

  “Now what?” I asked.

  Alder knew exactly where to go. He walked a few feet along the stone ledge and then raised his hands. I looked to see that above him was a wooden door. A trapdoor! Alder pushed it up easily, then hoisted himself through it. Loor was next. She easily pulled herself up. It wasn’t as easy for me. Not only was I shorter, but I had the pack on. I stood below the open trapdoor looking up and said, “Uh, excuse me? Little help, please?”

  Loor and Alder both reached down, grabbed my outstretched hands and hoisted me up as easily as if I were a child. We were now in another dark room.

  “This leads to a storage room off the kitchen,” Alder whispered. I figured that since he was whispering, we were getting close to where we might come across some Bedoowan.

  Alder led us across the small room and then felt along one of the walls. I wasn’t sure what he was looking for until he found it. There was a small notch carved into the stone. Alder stuck his fingers in and pulled. Suddenly, the wall opened up as if it were a door! We quickly went through and Alder closed the secret door behind us. When I looked back, I saw that once it was closed, you could barely see the seam where the door was. The wall was smooth, as if it were made out of plaster. That seemed weird. Everything I had seen so far on Denduron was crude and rough. This wall seemed almost modern.

  I looked around to see that we were in a storage room. There were baskets of food and rough, burlap bags full of stuff. There were also stacks and stacks of earthen pots. I was hit with a bunch of new smells. For the last several hours I had been smelling that nasty, sweet smell in the mines. But now I got the definite aroma of cooking food. I had no idea what it was, but it was making my mouth water. All I could think of was how my house smelled at Thanksgiving. My stomach rumbled. So did Loor’s, I’m glad to say.

  On the far wall was a wooden door. Alder crept quietly to it and gently eased it open. Instantly, the sounds of banging pots and sizzling food filled the room, like a busy restaurant kitchen. Again my stomach rumbled. I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible because this was torture. Alder waved for us to come and look. Loor and I joined him at the door and peered out. What I saw gave me a total shock.

  This was a busy kitchen. Several cooks scurried around carrying large, succulent roast turkeys cooked to a golden brown. Other cooks were peeling vegetables and cutting potatoes on large wooden tables. Others were stirring pots of fragrant soups that bubbled on fiery stoves. But that wasn’t the shocking thing. What surprised me was how modern this kitchen was. Believe me, by our standards it was still pretty ancient looking, but not compared to what I’d seen so far on Denduron. The pots were crudely shaped and hammered out of black metal; the ovens were made of stone with fires burning inside. The chefs slid the turkeys and other roasts in and out of these ovens with long paddles. Their other utensils didn’t exactly look as if they came from the mall. They were crudely made and very simple but still, this setup was light years ahead of anything the Milago had.

  I saw a device that looked like a dumbwaiter. The chefs placed platters of sumptuous, steaming food into a hole in the wall, then pulled on a rope that raised the small elevator and its cargo up into the palace. They even had running water! I saw iron sinks with hand pumps that produced clean, fresh water. Unbelievable. The Bedoowan had running water while the Milago had disgusting sewerholes in their crude huts!

  It was then that I noticed the kitchen workers. As they went busily about their chores, they had a different look than anyone else I had seen on Denduron. Their features were all very small and delicate, like perfect dolls. Everything about them was small. Their hands, their feet, and even their height. Their eyes were different too. They slanted down, which gave them kind of an Asian feel. They all wore outfits like we had on, but theirs were white. But the thing that jumped out the most about them was their skin. It, too, was pure white. I don’t mean pale-skinned like the Milago, I mean white. Believe it or not, it wasn’t creepy. In some strange way, they were beautiful people. They just happened to look like porcelain dolls.

  Alder must have been reading my mind because he whispered, “The workers in the palace are not Bedoowan. They are brought from a place across the ocean called ‘Nova.’”

  “Why don’t they use the Milago to do their work?” I asked. “They make them do everything else.”

  “Because they do not want the Milago to see how well they live,” answered Alder with a trace of venom. “They are afraid it would cause unrest.”

  That was an understatement. If I were a Milago and saw this I’d be downright pissed. Heck, I was getting pissed anyway. And hungry. Those turkeys smelled good.

  “Look,” said Loor as she pointed across the kitchen.

  Standing in the doorway was a guy who was definitely not from Nova. He was so big that he filled the opening. He wore the same kind of clothes we had on and stood with his hands on his hips, surveying the kitchen. Around his waist was a leather belt from which dangled a nasty-looking club. I could feel Alder tense up.

  “It is a Bedoowan knight,” he whispered. “I do not like this. The knights never come to the kitchens. He must be looking for something.”

  “You think they know we’re here?” I asked nervously.

  “I do not know,” answered Alder. “But if he catches us, we are finished before we even begin.”

  The knight stepped into the kitchen and slowly walked around to survey things. The Novans paid no attention to him and he didn’t acknowledge them either. His eyes slowly scanned the room, taking everything in. We were trapped. In a few moments he would certainly enter this closet and find us.

  Alder said nervously, “We should go back to the mines. We can wait until he’s gone and then return.”

  “There isn’t time,” snapped Loor. “When he enters the door, we will overpower him a
nd throw him into the mine.”

  That wasn’t a good idea either. We weren’t about to kill the guy; at least I wasn’t about to. And he’d be sure to wake up and sound some kind of alarm. And who knew what the Novans would do if a knight entered their pantry and never came out? No, beating up on the guy wasn’t the answer. I quickly pulled off my pack and dug into one of the side pouches, looking for a better solution.

  “What are you doing?” demanded Loor.

  “I’ve got an idea,” I answered. “If it doesn’t work, we’ll do it your way.”

  I found what I was looking for and quickly moved back to the door. The knight was only a few yards away. There wasn’t much time. He looked into a large pot of soup and reached in to take a taste, the slob. That’s when I took my shot.

  The thing I pulled out was the laser pointer you sent. I clicked it on and aimed the red beam at the pot of soup. From where we were it was easy to see the red laser dot against the black pot. I could only hope that the knight saw it too. He pulled his hand out of the pot and started to suck on his finger to taste the soup, but still he didn’t see the laser. Alder and Loor watched the scene over my shoulder. Of course, they had no idea what this laser thing was, but now wasn’t the time to ask.

  I jiggled the beam a little so that the red dot danced on the pot. The knight stood there sucking on his tasty finger. He was just about to reach back into the pot for a double dip…when he saw it. He looked at the jumping dot curiously, without even taking his finger out of his mouth. The idiot. Then I slowly moved the dot off of the pot and let it travel across the stove. The knight, with his finger still in his mouth, followed it. This was like the game I play with Marley and a flashlight. I’d shine the beam on the floor and Marley would jump at it. The poor dog never got the idea that the spot of light wasn’t something she could get her paws on. But that didn’t stop her from trying.

  That’s exactly what happened with the knight. I slowly moved the red laser dot over loaves of bread, past bubbling pots, across wooden tables, down along the floor and back up on the wall. The curious knight never took his eye off of it. He followed the magical red light like, well, like a dog following a flashlight beam. What he didn’t realize, is that I was moving him farther and farther away from us.