by Jeff Altabef
He’s told me so many stories, it’s hard for me to remember them all. He wants me to have remembered this one, but I don’t. “I don’t think so.”
“I’m sure I must have, but you were never good at listening to my stories.” He laughs. “I was the same way. My father would lose patience with me when I was young, but eventually I began to understand them, and now I can remember all of them as if he were still with me. He always smoked a pipe when he began a tale.”
He wrinkles his nose. “I hate the smell of pipe smoke. At least I didn’t subject you to that.”
I grab his thick hand, tears not far from my eyes. He seems so real, as if he could still be alive. “I’m listening now.”
He takes a deep breath and stops at the hide that operates as a door to the lodge. “On my thirteenth birthday my father brought me here. He told me it was time to become a full member of the Tribe. I was ready for my first vision.
“We fasted for two days. I was so hungry by the end of the second day I almost ate a few bugs while he wasn’t looking. Once the sun came up on the third day, he led me into the sweat lodge.”
He walks into the small oval structure and I follow him.
“I wish you had met him,” he says. “His voice used to rumble like a heavy bolder rolling downhill, but it was a good voice, a kind one.”
I blink and suddenly a young Sicheii and his father are in the sweat lodge with us. The young Sicheii, hair almost touching his shoulders and his frame slight, sits cross-legged with sweat coating his body. His father is positioned opposite him on the other side of a small fire in the center of the lodge. Sweat glistens off his bare skin. He looks wider than my grandfather, with a broader chest and stronger arms. His hair falls past his shoulders with gray streaks running like rivers through a black canyon. Despite the differences, they are clearly father and son, with the same eyes, posture, and spirit.
“By the start of the second day, I began to worry that the vision would not come. I never wanted to disappoint my father, but I could not last much longer in the heat. Luckily, the Wind Spirit took pity on me and sent me a vision. At least I thought it was from the Wind Spirit. Now I’m not so sure. Visions are tricky things. You must decide for yourself who sent them to you. After the vision, I left the lodge on unsteady feet.”
The young Sicheii wobbles out the door with his father behind him. We follow them, and as we go outside, a red-shouldered hawk circles above us and cries out.
“So that’s how you knew the hawk was your animal guide,” I say.
He nods. “Yes, Little Bird, I learned much that day.”
The young Sicheii and his father vanish.
“What was your vision?”
He eyes me, his voice somber. “I have never told anyone what my vision revealed to me.”
I touch his arm. “Please.”
“I saw a pair of blue eyes specked with crimson, and the flash of a crystal sword. When the blade plunged into my chest, the pain knifed through my body.”
I stagger backward. “You saw your own death? Why didn’t you tell me? You didn’t have to come with me. We could have done something else.”
“And not fulfill my destiny?” He shakes his head and his white mane shifts on his shoulders. “No, Little Bird, that was my cross to bear. I gladly went to the spirit world knowing I fulfilled my vision.”
“You knowingly sacrificed yourself for me?”
“Of course. For you and for all our people.”
His image starts to fade and I snatch his arm, as if I can hold his dissolving form together. “Tell me about the Heart Stone? Do you know where it is?”
He smiles slyly. “What do you think?”
“We’re out of time. Just tell me this one thing.”
He brushes his hand against my cheek and I feel love flowing through him.
Then he’s gone.
Connor
The smell of coffee wakes me. I reach for Juliet, but of course she’s gone and in the kitchen.
When I sit up and stretch, a buzzer rings, followed by Juliet’s father’s voice. “We’re here. Let us in.”
Juliet pads her way from the kitchen to the door and presses the door release. “Don’t worry, I’ll get it.”
I hold my hands out palm up. “I was just about to spring into action.”
Juliet opens the door and her mom, dad, Lisa, and Aaric walk in.
I glance at Aaric and can’t help but wish he had gotten lost, maybe found himself on a different planet where he could try to steal someone else’s girl. “Great, the gang’s all here.”
A few moments later, the others stir and join us in the kitchen. Juliet made a full pot of coffee, and everyone except Barrett and Aaric grab a mug.
Once we’re all gathered around the kitchen table, Juliet looks at her mom and says, “Did you think of a place Sicheii could have hidden the artwork?”
She looks stressed, her lips forming a thin tense line. “My father didn’t own much besides the gallery. He had the Porsche, and that’s about it.”
I shake my head. “There’s no way to fit much in the boot of a Porsche.”
“What about one of the other members of the Order,” says Troy. “He could have left the art with them.”
Juliet says, “He might have given it to Roundtree, but that’s a dead end. He never would have trusted anyone else.” She pauses for a second and then her face lights up. “There’s one other place that Sicheii called his own. It would be the perfect place to hide stuff.”
She glances at Troy, who smiles and says, “Of course. The sweat lodge, and that old RV out in the desert.”
Juliet’s mom twirls her hair in the same way Juliet does when she’s nervous. “It would be just like him to have a secret sweat lodge and never tell me about it.”
Aaric clears his throat and we all look at him. “At least we have a place to search, but we have another problem.”
“Besides a bomb that might destroy the world at any second?” asks Blake. “What could be worse than that?”
“A number of Deltites are forming to oppose us. They are not happy that I am working with you.” He locks eyes with Juliet. “They know about the Heart Stone and that we are here looking for it. They will stop at nothing to secure it for themselves.”
She moves next to him. “Jared’s turned on you, hasn’t he?”
He nods. “Jared and Vladic have teamed up with a number of other Deltites, and enhanced humans, to kill us.”
Juliet’s father says, “Vladic is the guy who escaped from the house, but who’s this Jared?”
Aaric hesitates a few moments before answering. “He is my brother. Apparently, he has made a deal with the old Prime Elector to take control of the planet.”
“How many do we have to face?” Akari cracks her knuckles.
“I cannot be certain, but more than we can probably handle.”
“Great. What a bloody cock-up.” I say. “How long do we have?”
“They will not attack during the day. They will wait until darkness when their advanced eyesight gives them the advantage over you. If I have the Heart Stone before they attack, they will never move against me. I will be too strong for them, and we will be safe.”
He’ll be too strong for them. How strong will the wanker be?
I glance at Barrett; his face looks unworried, yet I sense something in his eyes—a touch of distress maybe. But I can’t tell if he’s concerned about Aaric getting his hands on the Heart Stone, or this new imminent threat from the Deltites.
Juliet’s dad puts his mug on the table and rolls his neck. “So we have one day to find the artwork, figure out the clues, and grab this Heart Stone. Let’s get cracking.”
The buzzer to the apartment rings and I jump, spilling coffee on my hand.
Troy opens the door for Frankie and Landon, who stroll inside. Landon wears a pair of camouflage pants and T-shirt from his days as a Marine, and Frankie’s black Batman T-shirt stretches tightly against his massive chest and bulg
ing arms.
I don’t know about these enhanced humans who are teamed up with the Deltites, but Frankie and Landon are fierce and battle-tested. They fought with us back at the Boathouse in Central Park. Having them on our side has to improve our chances.
Landon grins. “What, you weren’t expecting us?”
Juliet hugs Frankie, and Troy fist-bumps Landon.
Juliet steps back and smiles. “You left New Beginnings and came all the way from New York City? How did you know where to find us?”
Landon winks at Troy. “My cousin might have said something yesterday.”
Frankie beams a bright smile. “When I said we were family, I meant it. Family pulls together when we have to. You don’t need to ask for help from me.”
Landon grins. “Once a marine, always a marine. We never leave anyone behind. Now... what do we have to do? What’s our mission?”
“It’s going to be dangerous,” says Juliet.
Frankie shrugs. “That’s why we’re here. We didn’t fly in that tin can all the way across the country just to hang out. Are we going to fight more of those freaky people from the Boathouse?”
Juliet nods and fills them in. Afterward, she introduces Frankie to her parents, and then both Frankie and Landon to Aaric and Barrett. “These two are... let’s say... freaky people, but we can trust them. They want to help us.”
Frankie studies the two aliens for a long second and nudges Landon in the ribs. “We could have used these two at the Boathouse, huh. If Juliet says you guys are good, then you’re good.” He lifts his anvil-sized fist to both of them to bump. “We’ll gladly take your help in dealing with the others, but we’re not family yet. You’re going to have to prove yourself first.”
Juliet
My stomach rolls when we reach the sweat lodge and Sicheii’s old, rusted 1970s RV. The lodge looks the same as it did in my vision. It can’t be a coincidence. My grandfather sent me that vision on purpose, so we could find the artwork.
Akari grabs Blake’s arm and yanks on it. “Get out of the car!” she shouts.
“No way! The desert is full of rattlers!”
It’s amazing that Blake can be so brave when we face Deltites, yet so scared about common dangers. It’s like there are two Blakes: the confident one who has come to grips about being a Chosen, and the old Blake—the scared and unsure version—which still pops up when the Chosen one isn’t needed.
Akari braces her feet against the side of the SUV, pulls on his arms, and grunts.
Blake tumbles out and lands on his stomach. When he looks up, he sees a scorpion a step away from his face and jumps to his feet faster than toast pops out of a toaster. “Is that a... scorpion?”
Connor stomps on it. “No. It used to be a scorpion. Now it’s a disgusting lump of bug guts on the bottom of my trainer.”
Troy jogs to the RV and shouts at us over his shoulder. “I’m going to check out the old clunker and see if I can find the paintings.”
My parents and Lisa follow after him.
Frankie and Landon step next to me. Frankie cranes his thick neck backward and looks toward the heavens, his mouth slightly open in amazement. “Bear, that’s one big sky. I could get used to something like that.”
Landon smirks. “You know there’s no White Castles around here. You wouldn’t last a week.”
Frankie scowls at him. “You’re kidding? No White Castles? We’re still in America, right?”
Landon claps him on the back. “Yes, we are in America, and nope, I’m not joking. Come on, let’s scout out the terrain and see if we can find some markers, or anything else that looks like a place where Jake could have hidden some art.”
Frankie is right about the sky. It is amazing. Now that I see the world with my enhanced vision and these special sunglasses, the sky looks immeasurably more beautiful than before, the colors countless shades of blue, green, and purple, all swirling together to create a heavenly hue.
A hawk catches my attention. He circles a few miles away from us. I zoom in on the bird as if my eyes have become super-powerful telephoto lenses, and see in incredible detail—each perfectly crafted feather, the bird’s striking irises, the powerful curve of the talons, one of which is bent at an unnatural angle. I could get lost in these magnificent details, but I need to stay focused, so I pull back.
At least I can control this ability now. What happens when I can’t? Could I get lost in a miniature world of immense complexity, trapped in detail that overwhelms me, trapped in a mere feather?
A shudder ripples through me.
Luckily, Blake interrupts my thoughts. “Well, that doesn’t look like much.” He points at the sweat lodge and wrinkles his face. “I’d rather go to a church.”
“It’s not much to look at, but that sweat lodge was used by my grandfather and his father before him. It’s made of grass and mud.” I walk toward it. “My grandfather believed it was a spiritual place where only a thin veil separates the spirit world from our world. He’d come here to meditate and open his heart to the spirit world so he could receive visions and guidance. Sometimes he brought others so that spirits could communicate directly with them. He dragged me here when my abilities showed themselves, and I was struck with a fever.”
Akari studies the small oval structure. “I think it’s beautiful. You can feel the care that was taken with each bit of mud and grass used to create it.”
“Beautiful is a strong word, but it’s special.” Connor nods toward Aaric and Barrett, who seem lost in a private discussion. “Those two look chummy. I wonder what they’re chatting about.”
Aaric looks tense to me, his face tight, his eyes worried. “They’re cousins. Maybe they’re catching up on family stories?”
“Right.” says Connor. “Whatever it is, I bet it’s about us.”
I shrug. “Unless we find this Heart Stone soon, it won’t matter.”
Troy bounds out of the RV, his face dejected. “Not good, Jules. We haven’t found anything.”
The sun burns down on my head and sweat trickles down my back. It took two hours for us to get here, and it’s dangerously close to midday already. We need a break.
Connor points at the sweat lodge. “How about we check in the lodge?”
“There’s nothing inside,” I say. “I can’t imagine where he could hide paintings.”
Connor grins. “Sounds like the perfect hiding place to me.” He slips past the piece of leather that hangs in the entranceway.
Blake protests. “I’m not going in there. Who knows what’s lurking in a place like that?”
Akari rolls her eyes and follows Connor inside.
I’m not too keen on going in after the last time I was here. It’s on the top of my list of places I never wanted to go back to, but I summon up my courage and stroll in after them.
A fire pit sits in the center of the oval hut with a hole in the ceiling directly above it. The only light comes from the chimney, which does a poor job of brightening the interior. Everything is masked in shadows, just the way Sicheii would have liked it.
Connor uses a flashlight to illuminate the inside of the mud and grass structure. The only items in the place are the mattress on one end, and the wooden stake, which Sicheii used to tie me up the last time we were here.
“You weren’t kidding.” Connor strolls toward the mattress. “Not much here except this bed.”
Blake joins us.
I knew he’d come. The brave version always triumphs in the end.
“Well, it sure does smell in here.” He bats the air in front of his face.
“It is a sweat lodge.” Akari shoots him a sharp look. “What did you expect?”
“Exactly this, which is why I should have stayed outside.”
Aaric’s thoughts ring in my mind and startle me. “Juliet, we have a problem. Barrett is in trouble.”
My heart jumps, and I slip outside while the others are still talking.
Barrett sits in the dirt, his aura blazing white.
; I look for a crystal in his hand because he looks like Aaric does when he’s linked with someone, but he’s not holding any.
“What’s he doing?”
Aaric frowns. “I think his father has linked with him, and it is not going well. Can you see the crimson and black around the edges of his aura?”
The colors look faint, but they start to creep toward the center and burn brighter in intensity. “What does it mean?”
“He is in distress. I suspect his father is displeased with him, and that might prove fatal for both him and us.”
“How can that be? His father must be back on Alpha.”
“The crystals link two brainwaves together. It is possible for an extraordinarily powerful mind to overwhelm a weaker one and inflict much pain, even death, when the two are joined. Barrett told me that his father has spies on Earth, and if he suspects that we are working together, he will take it out on his son.”
I ball my hands into fists. “He’s going to kill him right before our eyes? We have to do something!”
Aaric glances at me with wide, soulful eyes. “There is nothing I can do to break the link. Only one gifted with mind-reading could intrude on a link. If Barrett loses this struggle to his father, his father will destroy the planet. We will never find the Heart Stone in time.”
Barrett’s face is strained, sweat beads on his forehead, and his aura is becoming stormy around the edges, as if rain clouds roll in toward the center of his soul.
Barrett
One moment I’m outside the sweat lodge, and the next I’m transported to the crystal caverns back home. Not physically, of course, but mentally, which feels real enough. The caverns are vast structures carved deep into Alpha’s core. This one, while still large, appears smaller than most.
It takes a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the dark surroundings. I’ve been to the caverns a few times with my instructors. Priests use one of the caves as a holy place, a place they believe links directly to the Creator.