The Gravity Keeper

by Michael Reisman

  Too late, I realized what I’d done. “Oh, dear.”

  Alysha gasped. “You read my mind!”

  I groaned. With all these rules being broken, I was bound to get stuck narrating infomercials as punishment. But as I liked to finish what I’d started, I continued. “Not quite: I can sense your surface thoughts, yes, but only those relevant to the Chronicle. After all, that is what Narrators do, correct? Especially in this type of Chronicle: a first person/third person omniscient tale. Only the best from Greygor Geryson.”

  All three kids asked, “Who?”

  I blushed. “Er, that’s me. That’s my name.”

  “Wait,” Simon said. “So you read Mermon Veenie’s and Sirabetta’s minds, too?”

  I shook my head. “I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that; I don’t know why. I expect my Keeper knows the answer, but I’ve never met him. It’s that whole never-leaving-here thing, I suppose. But when chronicling, I only know what I know and nothing more. I knew when Mermon was scared or anxious, but I could learn none of his plans about Sirabetta. And I know nothing of Sirabetta; I couldn’t even get an emotional reading off her.”

  The kids frowned; they’d hoped for better information.

  “I’d think you’d know all about someone like that with all her talk of revenge against the Orders,” Owen said. “Or having such a loud voice in that hood.”

  I was beginning to feel quite cross, as if I wasn’t being respected. I am a Narrator, not a detective! “Yes, well, it’s not as simple as all that. Wait, what? Revenge against the Orders? She did say that, didn’t she? And that hood. I believe her hooded black coat let her become invisible, rather than any tattoo formulas. That reminds me of something.”

  I gasped and rushed to my bookshelf, a well-organized collection of past Chronicles and Knowledge Union reference books (as well as some choice novels for when things get dull). I scanned the spines of the many volumes there and found a compendium of items created by the Orders.

  “Here it is: the Overcoat of Dr. Solomonder Smithodrome!”

  The three kids rushed over to me, crowding in to look at the book I held. I continued to read. “‘Solomon Smith, doctor of Psychology…also known as Solomonder Smithodrome, Keeper of the Order of Psychology and honorary member of the Council of Sciences.’” I tapped the entry. “Yes, here we go. ‘He designed his hooded Overcoat with the aid of the Craftsmen’s Guild, incorporating an important psychological principle into its weave. It allows the wearer to go unseen when nobody knows he is there. Visibility is restored when the wearer’s presence is reasonably suspected, and only to those who think he’s there.’ An odd bit of clothing. But it does explain why Sirabetta appeared whenever I saw Veenie talking to her or thought she was present.”

  “So how did Sirabetta get it from this Solomon?” Simon asked.

  I coughed uncomfortably. “I’m really not supposed to get involved, and telling you that would be a bit too much information,” I said, closing the book.

  “But our lives are in danger,” Simon said.

  I frowned. “True, but I might lose my job.”

  Alysha put her hands on her hips. “You can’t possibly care more about your job than our lives, could you? We’re just kids!”

  “Pushy kids. But no, I don’t want to see you killed or hurt.”

  “Maybe this is fine,” Owen said. “You think this has never happened, but you don’t know everything. This might be part of your job. Maybe you’ll be fired if you don’t do it.”

  I rubbed my chin as I pondered that. “I’ll see what I can find.” I removed my spectacles as I searched my bookshelf for the correct reference book.

  “Don’t you need your eyeglasses?” Owen asked.

  “The wretched things aren’t real; I removed the lenses long ago.”

  “Then why wear them?” Alysha asked.

  I blushed and looked away. “I wanted to look more like a proper Narrator.”

  I found a tome on recent events in the Council of Sciences and starting flipping through. I stabbed my finger at an index entry, turned to the page, and stopped in shock. “My, my. Here’s an interesting fact: ‘Dr. Smithodrome’s wife, Sara Beth Smith, joined the Order a week after her husband did; she became Sirabetta Smithodrome.’ As you’ve no doubt gathered, official membership in the Union involves a slight name change.”

  Simon’s face paled. “So Sirabetta’s in the Union?”

  “Not anymore. Listen: ‘In February 2005, Solomonder and Sirabetta were divorced and began feuding in the following months. By June 2005, Sirabetta had begun recruiting members of the Order of Psychology to help her overthrow Solomonder and let her take over as Keeper of the Order. She was defeated; her followers and she were—” He gasped and became even paler than normal. “They were stripped of their formulas and lost their Union Cards.”

  “Union Cards, what does that mean?” Owen said.

  I felt my throat closing as I answered; this was not something I liked to think about, much less talk about. But they deserved to know. “Losing your Union Card is what we call being ejected from the Union. It’s supposed to be quite rare, only for terrible crimes. The BOA has your memory partially erased and your life rearranged; you no longer remember the Union or have anything more to do with it.” I paused. “In some extreme criminal cases, they send you to Outsider prison. That’s what they did with Sirabetta, as Sara Beth Daly. That’s her maiden name.”

  Owen gasped. “They threw her in jail—that’s why she wants revenge!”

  “Yeah, but you said she had no memory. Or formulas,” Simon said.

  Alysha frowned. “And where’s this Solomonder guy now? Why’d he let her have his inviso-coat?”

  I closed the reference book. “It doesn’t say here. There are no further entries on either of them.”

  “You’ve got to call someone!” Simon said. “Tell people who Sirabetta is, find out what happened to Solomonder, and get the Order of Physics off our backs.”

  “Simon, I’m sorry; I cannot do anything more. I’m a Narrator, not a helper. I shouldn’t have done this much. My purpose is just to sit and watch. If I don’t know something, such as who that Miss Fanstrom woman really is, it’s clearly not ready to be revealed in the Chronicle yet.”

  Alysha balled her hands into fists and opened her mouth, ready to make a threat, but Owen put a hand on her shoulder. I stared, stunned, as he said, “It’s not his fault.” He paused thoughtfully. “It’s like fish asking a human to come underwater and help them. He can do it for as long as he holds his breath, but after that, he’s got to go back up on land.”

  I took a step back, amazed. Who knew Owen could be so wise?

  “Yeah?” Alysha said. “But then he can just get a snorkel or some scuba gear and go back down for longer!”

  And then there was Alysha.

  Simon shook his head. “I think Owen’s right, Alysha. We’ve come this far on our own. We’ll manage.”

  I nodded. “I can’t see the future, but I can tell you this—you’ve accomplished more incredible things in a few days than most on Earth will ever do. And you’ve shown more bravery and cleverness than many Union members as well.”

  I frowned as Owen scarfed down the last slice of pizza, which had been sitting on my plate. It looked like I’d be calling for more delivery soon.

  “I can tell you one thing that may be helpful,” I said. “Mountain Hospital, where Ralfagon is being kept and Eldonna is keeping watch? There’s a shortcut that will keep you off the roads, away from Physics members if you’re lucky.”

  “Where?” Simon asked.

  “Through the woods, over that ravine,” I said. “The path continues on to another entrance. Go out that way and down Mountain Road; you should reach Mountain Hospital easily. It’s so rare that an Order member would need to go to the hospital that I doubt they know the shortcut. It might be your best hope.”

  Simon stood, and the others followed suit.

  “Thanks, Mr. Narrator,” Owen said. “
I don’t even feel tired anymore.”

  Alysha nodded. “Yeah, thanks, I guess. But if we get killed from this, I’m going to be really mad at you.”

  “Um, Greygor, right?” Simon asked. “If we do get out of this, maybe we’ll come by again when I’m not the subject and you can talk more.”

  I shrugged. “We can work it out. I almost always have pizza around.”

  They left, and I started to clean Simon’s soda mess from the carpet. I hoped that the information I’d given them would keep them alive; I also hoped that it would not get me in trouble.

  CHAPTER 32

  HAIL AND FAREWELL

  I watched from my recliner as the kids left. Simon paused outside my apartment, wondering which was the best way out. Then he led his friends back the way they had come before. As they walked past a certain point, they found themselves back at school.

  “Hey, it’s Miss Fanstrom’s office,” Owen said. “How did that happen?”

  Simon looked at the closed office door. “Maybe she left the teleportation device on.” He knocked on her door, but there was no answer. “Guess she went home.”

  “Let’s get to the hospital,” Alysha said. They made their way through the school halls; by now, most teachers and students had gone home. The kids were so preoccupied with our meeting and their mission that they failed to consider a certain gym teacher.

  I watched in horror as inside the gym, Willoughby Wanderby’s cell phone rang and woke him. “Ohhh, my head,” he mumbled before answering. “Yes?”

  “Are you coming with us to the hospital?” a female voice asked. “It’s visiting hours.” Wanderby let out another groan. “What’s wrong?” the woman asked.

  Wanderby hesitated. “A small problem at the school. Nothing I can’t handle.”

  Then Simon, Alysha, and Owen walked past the entrance to the gym, and Wanderby spotted them.

  “You!” he snarled, dropping his cell phone. “This time you won’t get away!” He ran into the hall.

  Simon quickly spoke his friction formula, and Wanderby’s feet slid out from under him. He landed hard on his butt and groaned.

  “Owen, hit him with velocity. Quick!” Simon shouted.

  Owen, already dizzy, went pale. “But he’s a teacher!”

  “It’s him or us!” Alysha said. “Just knock him out.”

  Wanderby started to speak his rotational formula, but before he could finish, Owen used his velocity formula to hurl him down the hall. Wanderby slammed into a set of lockers and sank to the floor, unmoving.

  “I don’t think I’m getting a good grade in gym class this year,” Owen said.

  Unbeknownst to the kids (but painfully knownst to me), Wanderby’s cell phone was lying open in the gym. “Willoughby? Willoughby?” the female voice shouted. “That’s it; something’s up. Set the Gateway for Wanderby’s school!”

  Simon, Owen, and Alysha ran out the nearest exit to the playground but stopped as a heavy downpour started suddenly. A handful of kids playing on the jungle gym squealed at the sudden heavy rain and ran off, drenched.

  Owen groaned. “Great, it’s been sunny all day and now this. I don’t even have a jacket or an umbrella…”

  Simon and Alysha grabbed Owen’s arms and yanked him forward, toward the nearest break in the chain-link fence surrounding the playground.

  Alysha noticed a bluish tinge to the puddles forming on the ground. She stopped. “What’s with the rain?”

  They all turned to look and gasped at the source of the rain’s bluish hue. A beautiful, glowing rectangle had risen up in front of the school’s outside brick wall. Before the kids could react, a leg stepped out of the blueness. It belonged to the lovely red-haired Loisana Belane of the Order of Physics. She emerged from the Gateway, followed by Myarina Myashah and Robertitus Charlsus.

  Myarina frowned. “Stupid automatic rainstorm. This is ruining my hair.”

  “There was no time for raincoats,” Loisana said.

  Robertitus pointed at Simon and his friends as rain plastered his plaid shirtsleeve to his thick arm. “We’ve got worse problems than rain: Outsiders! We’ve been spotted!”

  It was true. Although the rain was picking up in intensity, it was not yet hard enough to hide the Gateway and the Order members from sight.

  Simon squinted. “Wait a second; I know that redheaded woman. She does the weather on the news. She came to the school last year to talk about meteorology!”

  Owen gestured at Robertitus. “And that guy’s a bowling instructor at Lawn Lanes on Route Four!”

  Alysha studied Myarina. “The shorter woman runs a fashion workshop.” Simon and Owen snickered. “What? Rachelle made me go.” She paused. “Wait, what are they doing here?”

  Loisana, Myarina, and Robertitus stood still, horrified at this breach in protocol. Loisana moaned. “This is my fault! I figured Wanderby was under attack, and I didn’t wait until the rain got heavy enough.”

  The double doors of the school banged open and Wanderby stomped out with one hand clamped to his head. He noticed the Order members and, after a split-second hesitation, pointed at the kids. “Stop them!” he roared.

  The kids started to run for the nearest exit, but Loisana spoke her formula and gestured toward them. The water froze; solid sheets of it coated the fence and blocked the three exits. The thin layer of water on the ground solidified, trapping the kids’ feet. The falling rain became hail that pelted them.

  Myarina cleared her throat. “Loisana, darling, while you’re at it…” She gestured to the rain that was still soaking her friends and her.

  Loisana spoke a variation on her formula, and the rain around the Order members dissolved into water vapor.

  The kids tugged at their feet, trying to break free of the ice, and cried out from the painful hailstones. Loisana frowned and changed the hail back to rain; now the kids were just getting drenched.

  “What happened?” Owen squealed.

  “She’s controlling states of matter,” Simon said, “turning liquid into solid or gas. Freezing, vaporizing, melting.”

  “She can turn the rain into boiling-hot steam if she wants!” Alysha said.

  Owen groaned. “This-is-bad-very-bad-terrible-bad!”

  “Don’t panic,” Simon said. “The ice isn’t too thick. Just keep tugging at your legs. I’m going to increase the gravity on the ice; it might become more brittle.”

  They could barely hear the adults talking over the downpour.

  Loisana turned to Wanderby. “Okay, they’re stopped. Now explain why you had me freeze three Outsider children.”

  “And why now?” Robertitus said in his thick southern drawl. “Loisana, Myarina, and me were just going to visit Ralfagon and Eldonna.”

  Wanderby winced at the lump on his head. “It’s ‘Myarina and I,’” he said.

  Robertitus frowned. “You sure?”

  “I am a teacher.”

  Loisana snorted. “You’re a gym teacher, not a grammarian.”

  “Who cares?” Myarina snapped. “Let’s get to the point here. This humidity is making my hair frizzy.”

  Wanderby hesitated. “I just need to talk to those three; you go on ahead.”

  Loisana narrowed her eyes. “I don’t think so. What is this all about?”

  “We haven’t done anything wrong!” Simon yelled. “This is all a mistake!”

  Wanderby shook his head. “Don’t listen to them. They attacked Ralfagon.”

  “Three kids hospitalized the Keeper of Physics?” Loisana asked. “Please.”

  “They have formulas.” Wanderby paused. “And the Teacher’s Edition.”

  As if on cue, the Gateway closed and the rain stopped, leaving a layer of water on the ice spanning the playground.

  Robertitus clenched his fists. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get ’em!”

  Alysha, still straining against the ice, said, “Okay, Owen, now you can panic.”

  CHAPTER 33

  RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE GYM

&
nbsp; “Wait,” Simon yelled out, “we didn’t hurt anybody!”

  “Except for Mr. Wanderby, but he started it,” Owen said.

  Alysha nodded. “Totally self-defense.”

  “Do you or do you not have the Teacher’s Edition?” Wanderby hollered.

  “Well, when you put it like that…” Owen said.

  Wanderby gave an I-told-you-so look to his fellow Order members.

  Loisana frowned at Wanderby (like me, she disliked I-told-you-so people), then turned to the kids. “Okay, give it here.”

  Simon managed to tug one foot free of the ice and stomped at the other one. “It’s not safe!” he shouted. “Not until we can get to the hospital.”

  “Why, so you can finish off Ralfagon?” Robertitus roared. “Not on my watch!” He spoke a formula and pointed at them, creating seismic waves that made the iced-over ground rumble and quake.

  The seesaws pivoted, the huge concrete tubes quivered, and the tall metal jungle gym shimmied. The ice cracked around the kids’ feet, and they fell to the heaving ground.

  “You know, I had them trapped in that ice,” Loisana said dryly.

  Simon, Alysha, and Owen struggled to their feet and started for the nearest exit again. “Enough!” Wanderby bellowed. He pointed at the jungle gym. “Robertitus, cage them.”

  Robertitus redirected his formula, and more seismic waves rocked the metal structure. The ground beneath it bucked and kicked until the jungle gym snapped free and tipped over, imprisoning Simon, Alysha, and Owen between its bars.

  “They’re not listening,” Alysha whispered. “We have to fight back.”

  “Okay, this thing is going zero g,” Simon said. “Owen? Like yesterday.”

  Owen’s voice took on a sudden fierceness. “Ready.”

  Simon canceled gravity on the jungle gym, and with great effort, the three heaved the massive metal structure over their heads.

  Wanderby’s mouth dropped open. “Now what do they think they’re doing?”

  “Rocket time!” Owen shouted. He spoke his formula and sent the jungle gym streaking through the air toward the school.