by Alfred Wurr
“Where’re the stairs?” Caleb breathed.
“Gone,” Wilhelm said matter-of-factly. “Liv, how’s Scott?” he asked, moving to her side.
“As pale as Shivurr, Wilhelm. He’s started bleeding again. We need to hurry.”
“Here, I’ll carry him,” he said, lifting him gently from the sofa. “Come on, guys. Let’s move.”
We followed him out the open door into the tunnel beyond, where I stopped to take in our new surroundings. Water dripped from the ceiling above, where balls of pure light glowed and lit our way. The floor of the tunnel was heavily textured lava rock and the walls were black, mixed with iron reds, deep purples, and the yellowish white of gypsum. The tunnel was quiet and calm, hovering around room temperature, too warm for me but comfortable for my companions. It was surprisingly quiet, reminding me of the Nevada Chamber that housed the tholos; our voices were muted as well, not echoing against the walls like I’d expect, as if the rock, starved for conversation, swallowed up any sound. Nor, I realized after a moment, could I see signs of animal life. Nothing for them to eat, I supposed.
“What is this place?” Caleb whispered, peering from the doorway, his face pale.
Olivia grabbed his hand and coaxed him out to join us. “It’s a lava tube, left behind when the volcano erupted millennia ago.”
“Come on, let’s go,” Wilhelm said with a hurry-up face. “Scott’s dying here.”
He turned and dashed away, and we followed, moving quickly to keep up. My bleeding friend’s long limbs drooped down, nearly brushing the rough floor of the ancient tunnel. Occasionally, Wilhelm lifted him higher, compensating for his shorter stature, whenever he needed to step onto a large boulder. Other times, he leaped the distance between boulders with startling ease, bending his knees upon landing to cushion the impact for Scott, who made no sound of complaint, his eyes closed as if in a coma or trance. Unencumbered, I kept up without too much trouble, but I could soon hear Caleb gasping for breath behind me. Looking back, I could see Olivia trailing him, urging him on.
Wilhelm stopped and whirled about. “This is taking too long.” He shifted Scott over his shoulders into a fireman’s carry. “I’ll run ahead and take Scott to Axe. Olivia, take our friends to the cottage. I’ll meet you there later.”
“Try not to jostle him too much when you run,” Olivia said, her breathing easy. “The stasis matrix has its limits.”
“Got it,” Wilhelm replied. He turned around and walked backwards. “I’ve got him, Shiv. Stay, gather your strength. You’re going to need it to get our friends back.” He smiled. “You did it, buddy; you Frost Walked. That’s going to be key.” Then he whirled about and ran up the rocks, at a speed that would have been impressive even if he weren’t carrying the extra weight of a tall, full-grown man, and disappeared.
For a moment, I considered following him, confident that I could keep pace, but I dismissed the thought in its infancy. Wilhelm would have known that I could keep up, but he hadn’t suggested it, so he must have had a reason he hadn’t had time to share. Maybe this Axe person didn’t take kindly to strangers, or there were other factors of which I was unaware; maybe he wanted me to keep an eye on Caleb and Olivia. Well, Caleb, at least. I got the distinct impression Olivia could take care of herself.
Heck, after taking down that guy Philip at Scott’s house all by herself, maybe she’s the one staying back to protect Caleb and me, I mused.
Absent the need to rush, we moved at a more moderate pace, allowing Caleb to catch his breath. Olivia, knowing the way, took the lead, and I dropped back to bring up the rear. Before long, the tunnel’s slope increased, and we picked our way more carefully up toward the gleam of light coming from the exit. Beautiful yet perilous, it soon outshined the light of the orbs overhead.
“I didn’t know Las Vegas had lava tubes beneath it,” I said as we walked.
“It doesn’t, as far as I know,” Olivia said. “We’re not in Vegas anymore.”
Caleb snorted. “Yeah, right—and then you woke up.”
Olivia made no reply and just kept climbing until, moments later, we reached the exit. “Maybe you’re the one still dreaming, kid,” she said finally, pushing aside the huge leaves of a tropical plant with her back and holding it as we passed.
The air was warm, much warmer than the cave, and thick with humidity, like it had just rained, a sharp contrast to Las Vegas. Palm trees towered overhead, and ferns and other greenery dotted the forest floor. Birdsong filled the air. We were in a tropical rainforest, and somehow, the sun still shone.
Caleb’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly as he looked up at the canopy of trees surrounding us, like a guppy feeding from the surface of a fish tank. “I don’t—how? Where are we?”
A blood-curdling roar ripped through the air somewhere in the distance to our left. It sounded large enough to be a bear but had a vaguely avian aspect to it, like it was part pterodactyl or another dinosaur.
Caleb turned snow white and sidled closer to me. “Oh, shit,” he said, scanning the greenery and swallowing audibly. “What the hell was that?”
Olivia, several feet ahead of us, stopped and looked back. “Don’t worry about it,” she said gravely. “Stay close to me and you’ll be fine.”
“That’s not really an answer,” Caleb said, frowning.
“It’s better if you don’t know,” she said, resuming her walk.
We hiked through the tropical woodland for ten minutes before arriving at a large house. A gravel path led away from the building, and a vehicle, covered with a tarpaulin, sat in the carport next to it. We took the stairs that ran up the right side to a deck that looked out over a beautiful ocean. In the west, the sun was beginning to sink below the horizon but still had some power to it.
“Where are we?” Caleb asked breathlessly.
“An island in the Pacific Ocean,” Olivia said, grinning. “We live here sometimes.”
“This is wild,” the teenager said. “Is that a beach down there?”
“Yep,” Olivia replied. “If we’re here long enough, you can take a swim.”
“How can we be here, though?” Caleb said, his voice too loud.
“Magic,” Olivia answered, straight-faced. “Well, science really. Just so far beyond the science they teach you in school that you might as well just think of it as magic. It tends to ease the transition.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Yeah, exactly,” Olivia agreed. “You guys wait here a few minutes.” She pointed to nearby lounges. “Relax. I’ve got to take care of a few things.” She opened the door to the house, which didn’t appear to be locked, and left us alone.
“I’m still not sure this isn’t all a dream,” Caleb muttered as we lay back and watched the sunset. “Maybe I’m still wasted, sleeping in the van at the edge of Lunar Crater, and Alan, Lilith, Brad and Lucy are totally fine.”
“I’m afraid not, dude,” I said, shaking my head.
“Yeah, I know,” Caleb said, shrugging. “Still, it’d suck if you were just a figment of my mind, brah. I just hope everyone is okay. Those dudes aren’t going to hurt them, right? I mean, they shot Scott.”
I pursed my lips, releasing it in a rush of chilly air. “I think shooting Scott was an accident. They were trying to shoot me.” I hesitated, pondering. “I sure hope not. They’ve no reason to. You guys just happened to give me a ride; it’s not like you busted me out. They’ll probably ask them some questions to try to find me or keep them a while—use them as bait for me.”
“Yeah, but they know you exist. Won’t the Bodhi Group want to keep that a secret?”
I snorted softly. “Doubt they’re worried about that. Would you believe them, if you hadn’t met me yourself?”
“Fuck no,” Caleb said agreeably.
“Exactly.”
“So, what are we going to do?” Caleb asked. He looked at our surroundings meaningfully. “How do we even get back there?”
“Beats me. Maybe the same way we came, but in rev
erse. Whatever brought us here should bring us back, right? Wilhelm will get us back, once Scott’s in the clear.”
“If he’s ever in the clear,” Caleb said grimly. “It didn’t sound like this Axe chick’s going to help.”
The sun was now fully behind the horizon and the light rapidly fading to black. In that restful moment, I became aware of the incredible variety of sounds surrounding us. The ocean breeze blew through the trees, shaking the leaves as a symphony of bird calls mixed with insects clacking and chirruping erupted. Caleb, who had struggled to keep his eyes open since sitting on the lounge, closed them and seemed to drift off to sleep. Before long, the unlit torches that lined the deck flared to life on their own.
“Hey, guys, I’m making dinner,” Olivia said from the nearby doorway. “Come inside and set the table.”
Chapter 23
The Gods’ Honest Truth
Outside, the world was inky black save for the torches lighting the deck, or lanai as Olivia called it. We sat around a large table in the dining room of the villa, eating spaghetti and meat sauce that Olivia had made from a can.
“We’re not well provisioned, I’m afraid,” Olivia said, laying a plate of crackers on the table. “I’d have stocked the larder with fruit, vegetables and bread if I knew we were coming. That’s what we get for an emergency departure.”
Caleb dug into the meal eagerly, displaying no sign of disappointment at the lack of selection. I nibbled a bit, extracting trace elements necessary to maintain my well-being, but mainly availed myself of several glasses of water and bottles of soda pop.
“Sorry, Shivurr, we’re out of dark soda; just got Sprite, ginger ale, and one Mountain Dew,” Olivia warned as I opened the fridge. “Just what we left behind after our last visit.”
The drinks were cold, so I didn’t care too much. A Dr Pepper would have been sweet, though. I thought of the stash cooling in my hat, but I hoarded them like a leprechaun’s treasure; those might be the difference between life and death at some point. Halfway through my first beverage, Caleb pointed out that the fridge had an ice maker. My mouth fell open and I raced to transfer handfuls into a glass for my drinks, then into a large bowl. Humming to myself, I sat back and gobbled the cubes like popcorn. Popping one into my mouth, I noticed Olivia watching me with a smile on her face.
“Sorry, Olivia,” I said, holding an ice cube halfway to my mouth. “Do you want some too?”
She shook her head and chuckled softly. “No, thank you. I forget how hard it is for you to be here, out of your environment, where it must be so unbearably warm, like a human living in a dry sauna all the time. I’m really glad to see how happy a simple thing like ice cubes makes you.”
“You get good waves here?” Caleb asked, craning his neck as he looked outside. “Looks like ankle busters down there.”
“Not much on this beach, but the windward side is another story,” Olivia replied.
“Damn, wish I had my board,” Caleb said, looking wistful. “Carving some waves would be bitchin’. Be nice to blow off some steam. Get my head right.”
Olivia shook her head. “Too dangerous.”
“No sweat, Liv. I’m hard-core. I’m no Alan, but I’m no Barney either.”
“Who’s Barney? Friend of yours?”
“Nah, Barney’s a noob.”
“I’m sure he’ll get better with practice.”
Caleb laughed. “No, Liv. Barney’s like metaphorical.”
“I see,” replied Olivia, raising a brow. “I wasn’t worried about your surfing skills.”
“Then what? Men in grey suits?”
“Are we still speaking the same language?” Olivia asked with a smirk.
“Sharks, dude.”
“No, dude,” Olivia said, flashing her eyes and smiling. “Something more dangerous than sharks, in the water and the forest.”
“Like what we heard in the jungle?” I asked. Olivia nodded, pouring herself some wine.
“I never should have left California,” Caleb moaned, making a face. “I could be hanging at Antonio’s, chowing on ’za.”
“Why did you?” Olivia asked, taking a sip of her wine.
“It’s Lilith’s fault. She wanted to see Lunar Crater. She convinced Alan and he persuaded me.”
I swallowed another ice cube. “Lilith? I thought it was Brad’s idea. He’s the geologist.”
“Yeah, true. Plus, Lucy wanted to take photos, but Lilith was the reason Alan wanted to go.”
“You guys are good friends, eh?”
“He’s been like a brother, dude; since we met in grade school.”
“That’s a rare and beautiful thing, my friend,” I said, emptying another can of soda into my glass.
“I must say you all get along exceptionally well,” Olivia said. “You hardly ever bicker.”
Caleb tossed his shoulders. “Nah. If we did, what’d be the point of being friends? Who wants to hang out with jerks and assholes? I’d rather be alone.”
I looked across the table to Olivia. “Speaking of Nevada, how do we get back there? The same way we came, right?”
Olivia looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know. It’s probably not safe. The house is sure to be watched closely, and you getting captured or worse won’t help our friends.”
“Can’t you just take us somewhere else?”
She shook her head. “Spatial transposition doesn’t work that way.”
“Spatial trans—what?” Caleb asked.
“It involves transposing two physical areas of space—trading places, really. The region of space that corresponds to our basement was switched with the same volume of space on this island, in the location where we arrived. Setting it up is not easy—the space-time manipulation is incredibly complex and energy greedy—and the two places are inextricably linked thereafter. You don’t just point it somewhere else, at least not easily. Despite the hassle, we’ll have to relink this end to somewhere else now that the Las Vegas house is compromised. That’ll take weeks, though.”
“Then how do we get back?” I asked, my voice rising. “We need to get our friends back. They can’t wait that long. We must be hundreds of miles from Nevada.”
“Thousands, actually,” Olivia corrected. “The Pacific is huge.”
“But you must have other ways back, right? Using this spatial transference.”
“Transposition. The closest linked location is nowhere near. It’s an option but will take longer.”
“Don’t suppose you’ve got an airplane?”
“Uh-uh.”
“Then how? By boat? Won’t that take days or weeks?”
“Try not to panic, Shivurr,” Olivia said, holding up a hand. “Let’s wait for Wilhelm to get back.”
A man stood on the lanai, looking in through the screen door. In his late thirties or early forties, he was a bear of a man, six feet tall and thick like a slab of meat. He wore a tank top and bright red shorts with a floral pattern and sported massive tattoos on the brown skin of his arms, which appeared to extend beneath his shirt to his chest as well.
Olivia rushed to open the door. “E komo mai, Hanale,” she said. He stepped inside and picked her up in an embrace.
“Aloha, Olivia,” the big man replied in a deep, rumbling voice. She nearly disappeared as he wrapped his meaty arms around her. He released her and looked to me. “Howzit, Haukea Kane?” said the man, smiling. He bowed slightly, causing his long black hair to fall in front of his face.
I stood up to meet him. Caleb remained seated, mouth open. The newcomer stepped forward and locked me in an embrace. Large as he was, I could feel great strength in his arms and solidity in his form. I froze, then patted him on the back. I didn’t want to be rude, even to an effective stranger. He released me after a moment, showing no outward signs of discomfort from the chill of my touch.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I get the impression we know each other, but my memory isn’t what it used to be.”
“Shivurr’s got a touch of amnesia, Hanale,�
�� Olivia explained helpfully, closing the lanai door and joining us. “Thanks for coming so quickly.”
“And what of Huhu Makani?”
“Gone to Aceso. One of our friends needs her help.”
“Not Kolohe, I hope.”
Olivia shook her head. “Bear is safe. This is a new friend. His name is Scott.”
“Scott? Is he `ohana?”
“Not in the strictest sense, no. But he is to us.”
Hanale looked uncomfortable but said nothing.
“Come, join us. There’s still pasta left.”
We sat and Hanale loaded a plate with spaghetti and dug in, smiling. Over dinner, we learned that he lived on a neighbouring island, part of a chain of similar volcanic islands, coral reefs, and sand shoals.
“Do you live here, dude?” Caleb asked the big man.
“Hanale keeps the islands safe,” Olivia said, looking at him fondly. “He’s our resident guardian, protecting them against the outside world. Keeping people from finding them.”
The big man nodded, chewing wetly.
“How’s he do that?” Caleb asked.
Hanale swallowed. “Illusion. Weather manipulation, mostly. Sea monsters. Anyone makes it past that wish they hadn’t.” Seeing Caleb’s face, he added, “Don’t happen much, brother,” pronouncing brother so it sounded like bruddah. “Most days, we live the simple life, fishing, swimming, surfing.”
“We?” I prompted.
“Me and the others on the islands,” the big man replied. “Not just me living here.” He waved a hand at Olivia and himself.
“Hanale has help. Protecting the islands against people is the least of it,” Olivia added. “There are worse dangers. And keeping the technology running smoothly takes time and maintenance.”
“Who are you dudes?” Caleb asked, leaning forward. “The stuff I’ve seen this week—fire monsters, teleporting here—this is witches and warlocks shit.”
Hanale guffawed. “They used to call us gods, little brother.”
“Ages ago,” Olivia agreed. She stood and walked to the patio doors, looking out at the ocean, lit only by starlight now. “We…they were so ignorant back then. They thought the earth was flat and a few thousand years old, if you can believe it. Even mankind’s current technology would have been magic to them.”
