by Mark Jeffrey
A few hours later, the round doorway slid open.
Two figures slipped inside and a flashlight came on, blinding Max. He braced for the worst. The doorway slid shut again.
Suddenly, a shadowy figure lurched forward and punched Ian in the face. The sickening sound of Ian yelping filled the room.
“Ace!” a girl’s voice admonished from behind the flashlight.
“That,” said Ace, shaking out his hand from the punch, “was for sneaking off on us and letting us all get caught by these—these—freakin’ aliens!”
“Cut it out!” the girl said again. This time, Max recognized the voice: Sasha Fwa.
Ian was on the ground, doing his best to keep from crying. He didn’t want to give Ace the satisfaction.
“Leave him alone!” Max snarled at Ace.
“You stay out of this,” Ace snapped back. As his eyes focused, Max was surprised to see Ace waving a large dagger at him.
Ace’s eyes went crazy wide.
Ian coughed and shook his head at Max in warning. Ace wasn’t afraid to use it.
Max froze.
Ian got to his knees. “I tried to warn you, Ace. I said, we’ve got to hide, we’ve got to be more careful. Didn’t I say that?”
Ace nodded. “Yeah, but you didn’t say anything about this!” Ace opened his arms to indicate the alien craft around them.
“I didn’t know about it!” Ian said.
Ace’s lip quivered with pent up rage. “Oh yeah? Well, well, well, little Ian. You also didn’t tell me about this Book, now did you?” Ace held up the Book. “You knew about that!”
“Holy smokes . . . how’d you get your hands on that?” Max asked.
Ace smirked. “I stole it from Siren, just like Ian did. That pock-faced idiot actually left it out in the open.”
What? That got Max’s attention. That didn’t sound like Siren at all. It was far too sloppy. Siren was infinitely more careful and calculating.
“Ace, you said you weren’t going to be mean!” Sasha protested again.
“Oh, I’m not being mean. I’m just saying”—Ace swung the Book and rapped Ian right across the face—“that the little Serp VP ought to’ve told the Serp President about a certain Book when he found it—like he was supposed to do—in exchange for all that nice protection.”
Ace turned his blade on Ian. “Now don’t act like you didn’t do me wrong. You stole this Book from Siren. And when these two”—Ace waved the knife at Max and Casey—“came along, you deserted your very own Serp brothers and sisters. You left us behind. And off you went, using this Book. Right?”
Ian pushed himself to his feet, defiantly. “Yeah, that’s right. But only because you wouldn’t listen. I told you something bad was going to happen. And it did, just like I said it would. So, stab me if you want to. But it’s your own fault.”
“You see this?” Ace screeched at him and held up the hand with the slave glyph burned into it. “This freaking hurt! A lot! And you know what else? I’m tired of being Mafdet’s little whipping boy! So you know what I’m going to do?”
“What?” Ian asked.
“First, I’m going to lose this stupid hospital gown.” Ace plucked at his slave tunic. “You get to wear it now because I’m taking your clothes. Get out of them and give them to me. Now.”
“What?”
“I said, clothes off, geek.” Ace waved the knife.
Ian started undressing, reluctantly. “No looking!” he said to Casey and Sasha, his voice muffled by a shirt going over his head.
In a few quick minutes, Ian wore the slave tunic and Ace wore Ian’s clothes. They were a little small on Ace, but they would do.
“Now. I’m going to leave you the same way you left me. You can be Mafdet’s boy. You can shine his armor. You can get him his . . . his . . . whatever that stuff is he eats for breakfast. Sasha and I are going. We’re using the Book and we’re leaving.”
A realization formed in Ian’s mind. “No! Ace, you can’t!”
Ace grinned. “Oh, but I can. I am!”
Ian felt panic whip through him. “No, no, no, you don’t understand! You’re going to get killed, Ace! If you go in the Book, you’re going to die!”
Ace laughed. “Yeah, right. You three went into the Book and you didn’t get killed.”
“That was different! And I almost did get killed! Ace. Please listen to me. There’s a pack of wolves. If you go into the Book, they’ll eat you. The tyranny of the page is absolute!”
Something about Ian’s insistent manner started to unnerve Ace. But he just didn’t want to listen anymore. “Quit lying to me, Ian.”
“But—”
“Say another word and I’ll cut you. Or better yet, I’ll cut your friends. I’m serious.”
Ian closed his mouth, utterly helpless.
“Sash, let’s go,” Ace said, waving her over.
Ian almost started talking again, to warn Sasha, but then he saw the dagger and caught himself. Fortunately, it seemed Sasha had finally wised up on her own.
“No, Ace. I’m not going with you,” she said.
Ace’s eyebrow shot up. “No?”
“No,” Sasha said, her voice shaking a little. “You promised me you weren’t going to hurt anyone, and you just hit Ian! He was the one guy trying to help you! How many times did he tell you about the UFOs? Huh?”
Ian couldn’t believe that Sasha was actually standing up to Ace, let alone on his behalf.
“Think about what you’re saying, Sasha,” Ace said. He looked at the Book, and then at Ian.
A flicker of doubt played across Sasha’s gaze. But only for a moment. Then she steeled herself and said, “Yeah. I’m sure. Ian is warning you again, right now. And again, you’re not listening. I think that if you go into that Book, something terrible will happen. I think Ian’s right.”
Ace smirked. “You actually believe this little loser? He’s got you scared? Fine. Stay. I don’t care. There’s a zillion other girls like you. And you know what? I was starting to get sick of you anyway.”
Ace laughed again and opened the Book. “Have fun with Johnny Siren! And don’t try to follow me.”
Then Ace was gone.
The Book dropped to the floor with a monstrous thud.
Ian shook uncontrollably as he picked up the Book.
“He’s dead,” Ian said to Sasha. “He was eaten by the wolves. He was dead the minute he went into the Book wearing my clothes. I tried to tell him.”
“I know,” said Sasha. “You tried to tell him a lot of things. He just didn’t want to listen.”
“So,” Max said, thinking out loud, “now we know for sure: If it is written in the Book, it has to actually happen. At least Siren wasn’t lying about that. Sooner or later, events will chain together to make it come true.”
“Yes.” Ian nodded. “I should be relieved. That should have been me. But I still feel awful.”
Casey jumped up. “But now we have the Book again,” she said. “We can escape!”
“Siren said he didn’t see me in any more pages of the Book,” Max said. “Which means I don’t enter it again. It means I can’t enter it again. Right?”
“Unless he lied about not seeing you again,” Ian offered.
“No. Siren doesn’t lie about stuff like that,” Max said. “He believed it.”
“He also believed I was going to get eaten by the wolves,” Ian said. “And he was wrong.”
“Excuse me,” Sasha interrupted. “I don’t know if this helps, but I overheard Siren talking about how you can use the Book to find ‘Mr. E.’”
Max and Ian stared at Sasha, dumfounded.
But Casey set her gaze upon Sasha with fresh suspicion.
“We were all serving dinner to Siren and Mafdet,” Sasha began, “and the other centurion—I can’t pronounce his name, Nef something—and the guys Siren always has with him. Anyway, Siren starts going on about you, Max, and how you were trying to find Mr. E.
“And Mafdet says, ‘So you k
now how to find him, right?’”
“Siren says, ‘Yes, of course I do.’ And he says that it’s simple: The Books were made by Mr. E a long time ago. They’re supposed to be some kind of teaching machine he left behind for humans. And in each one of them, on the last page, is a kind of ‘back door’ that will take you right to him. There’s a riddle you have to solve, but it’s easy if you know Mr. E’s actual name.”
Sasha paused.
“Well?” Ian finally blurted out.
“I don’t know if I should actually say the name out loud,” Sasha said.
“But you know what the name is, right?” Ian almost shouted at her.
“Of course,” Sasha snapped, like it was an insulting question.
They all sat there for a moment and thought.
“But why would Siren just say it like that?” Ian asked. Then it dawned on him: “Oh. Right. He wanted Sasha to overhear and tell us.”
Casey leaned in and whispered in Max’s ear, “I don’t trust that girl.”
“It’s a trap,” Max said. “Siren wants us to know how to find Mr. E.
“But why would Siren want to help me find Mr. E? What does he get out of it?”
“The Pendant, of course,” Casey said. “Maybe Mr. E has it or knows where it is. That must be it.”
Ian looked at Casey. “Nice, Casey. You must be right. Jadeth is getting impatient, she’s leaning on Siren to produce it, and he’s getting desperate. So he’s taking chances he’d rather not take. So Siren helps you get into the Book . . . and then figures he’ll just steal the Pendant from you later.”
Max thought for a long moment and then said, “We have to do it anyway.”
“What?” Ian sputtered.
Max looked around at his companions. He took a deep breath and explained himself. “Look. If Siren needs us to get the Pendant from Mr. E, then Mr. E must not want him to have it. Maybe Mr. E is like a guardian of some kind.
“So I say we gamble, too. You heard Jadeth. She wants to use the Pendant to make everyone slaves. We have to keep it away from her.
“And there’s another interesting point to consider. If Mr. E can make Books that transport you to other places, well, that means he’s able to do stuff that neither Siren nor Jadeth can do. He’s more powerful than either of them. And maybe . . . just maybe . . . he’ll be on our side. It’s either we try this, or we stay here and start doing Mafdet’s laundry.”
“We go,” said Casey.
“Yeah, we go,” agreed Ian.
“Me, too,” said Sasha.
“Wait. What about the rest of the Serps?” Ian asked. “Shouldn’t we try to rescue them first?” Sasha nodded, looking at Max hopefully.
Max thought for a minute. “We can’t. There’s too much riding on us getting to the Pendant before Jadeth. We might not get this opportunity again.” Max sighed. “The Serps are just going to have to sit tight for a little while longer. We’ll come back for them later, I promise. Ian. Open the Book to the very last page.”
Ian nodded . . . and opened the Book.
As soon as Ian did this, the four of them were suddenly in a small black obsidian room. There were no windows or doors. The surface of the walls was slippery as ice.
“Hey, that wasn’t like last time,” Ian said. “We didn’t even see ourselves on the page first.”
“It’s a back door, remember?” Casey said. “That’s why Siren didn’t see Max on any other pages. Back doors must work differently.”
Max noticed that there was a diamond-shaped protrusion from the wall. It had a hole in it, something like a keyhole.
Suddenly, thirty or so keys appeared, hanging on hooks on the wall.
“This must be the riddle! Sasha—quick, what’s Mr. E’s real name? You can say it out loud now,” Ian asked.
“Enki,” she replied. “His name is Enki.”
“Enki?” Casey repeated, startled. “Wait. Enki is Mr. E? They’re the same guy?”
“Jadeth said that Enki was the one who made the Pendant,” Ian said. “What kind of person makes something like that? An artifact that removes free will, turns people into zombies?”
Max’s face went white. But there was no going back now. The only way out was forward.
Ian examined the keys, being careful not to touch any of them. Each had a hieroglyph on it. He wrinkled his brow in confusion.
“Hey!” Ian said to no one in particular. “C’mon! I can’t read . . .” As he said this, the hieroglyphs morphed into recognizable letters. Each had a letter of the English alphabet on them—A, B, C, etc.—and the remaining keys beyond the twenty-sixth disappeared altogether.
“Huh,” Ian remarked. “Weird. It’s like it’s alive and listening to us.”
“What are we supposed to do? Spell his name?” Max asked.
Ian went over to the diamond-shaped thing on the wall and examined it. “No. We’re supposed to choose a single key, I think. There’s only one keyhole.”
“Well that’s easy, then,” replied Max, taking the key with the letter E off the wall and handing it to Ian. “This one. Mr. E.”
Ian took the key and was about to use it when he stopped. “Wait! Not this one. Siren said you needed to know his real name to solve the riddle. You already knew Mr. E, and that wasn’t good enough.”
Ian replaced the E key on the wall. After a moment, he snapped his fingers and pulled another one down.
As Casey watched, confusion played over her face. “Z?”
Ian smiled. “Not Z.” He turned the key. “N. It’s the N-key. Enki.”
“Of all the corny . . . ,” Max said.
“It’s funny!” Ian said, laughing. He slipped the key into the diamond-shaped lock. “At least Mr. E has a sense of humor.”
Ian turned the key. The room dissolved like a dream and they found themselves falling in pitch-black.
Chapter 17
The Isle of the Dreamtime
Max, Casey, Ian, and Sasha fell.
And fell.
And fell some more.
Max’s mind swamped with panic.
They bounced down a tunnel of some sort, flailing and flapping, and clutched in the blackness, trying to find something, anything, to halt their rapid descent. But the tunnel walls were sheer as silk, slippery as black ice.
And then without warning, they were ejected in a heap onto a stone floor.
We’re not dead? Max thought with numb amazement. Are we still in the Book?
Slowly, they untangled themselves. “Everyone all right?” Max asked.
“Yeah,” Ian croaked.
Sasha groaned. “Mostly.”
“I’m a little bruised but fine,” Casey added.
Tropical wind whistled in their faces.
Wherever they were, they were outside. And it was night.
As their eyes adjusted, they saw that they were on a large, stone, open-air platform. Above was a dark sky crowded with warm stars. They shimmered like powdered jewels against the velvety deeps.
The platform was enclosed by heavy stonework covered with hieroglyphs. The glyphs glowed in the starlight.
Suddenly there was a thunderous crash like the gnashing of stone.
“What the heck was that?” Ian barked. Max rushed to peer over a gap in the wall.
He gasped. They were atop a great obsidian tower. It sat on a craggy rock jutting up from the sea. A boiling sea slammed against the rock base far below.
Casey, Ian, and Sasha ran to his side.
“This is where we’re supposed to find Mr. E?” Casey asked suspiciously.
“I do hope we’re not stranded here,” Ian muttered.
“At least there aren’t any wolves here,” Max replied.
“Well, there doesn’t seem to be any Mr. E here, either,” Ian said.
The sound of a television made them all whirl in terrified surprise.
A man was seated in a comfortable chair. He faced away so they could only see one arm and the back of his head. To his left was a roaring fire
in a stone pit.
He was watching television.
None of these things had been there seconds ago.
Without really thinking about what they were doing, the foursome began tiptoeing, sneaking up on him.
Surely, this was Mr. E—Enki?
And just as surely, he was perfectly aware of their presence? Wasn’t he?
A cartoon played on the television. They could hear loopy sound effects and skittish orchestral music plinking away through a tinny speaker.
The man sat perfectly still until he suddenly raised his arm and aimed a remote at the TV.
Click. A news program appeared, with a weatherman talking about the eclipse.
Click. A show about ancient Egypt and the pyramids.
Click. A documentary about UFOs.
Click. The television showed Max, Casey, Ian, and Sasha, tiptoeing toward the back of the chair, as though they were on a security camera. The children stopped dead in their tracks.
He knew they were here!
Well, of course he did, Max snapped at himself.
The television turned off.
“Hello . . . Max, Casey, Ian, and Sasha,” the man said without moving. “I’m glad you’re here. And yes, I am the person known as Mr. E that you have been looking for.”
The words hit Max like a physical force. This was him!
Mr. E stood and faced the foursome.
He was tall with a snow white mane of hair and a long flowing beard. Although he was clearly very old, his face was tan and curiously free of wrinkles.
His eyes twinkled with mischief, and yet, they also seemed like they could incinerate with a glance.
He was marvelous and terrible at once.
Max liked him instantly.
Mr. E spoke.
“The one whom you name Johnny Siren tried to follow you here. He was . . . prevented.”
“Is he dead?” Casey asked nervously.
“Oh, no,” the man replied carefully. “He was simply returned to the place from where he came. But I don’t think he was very happy about it.” His eyes danced over the children and he laughed heartily.
“You four, on the other hand, passed the test.”
“You mean that riddle? It wasn’t that hard.” Ian beamed.