Chapter 25
No Way, José
The room was forty feet in diameter and extended up as far as the eye could see. A metal stairway with no handrail hugged the wall as it climbed from the floor to the top of the two-mile-high room. A pale blue glow came from a shaft that extended from deep in the ground below, through the floor, and out of sight, as it rose up through the center of the large, circular room. Below the floor of the dome, the shaft was metal, but once inside, the shaft became transparent. Inside the large tube were a number of glasslike pale blue tubes extending from the floor going out of sight above.
“The pipe I saw entering the dome at Oakland looked just like these,” Slatel said. “I went to the bottom of the metal shaft outside. At the bottom, these pale blue tubes or pipes extended out underground. I counted twelve of them.”
“That’s it,” Jeremy said. “These twelve tubes must be how the other twelve domes are communicating with this one. If we cut these, they won’t be able to communicate.”
“Not so fast,” Caroline said. “What if these are some kind of energy sources for the domes? Cutting them could unleash an unknown force. Some of these lines go from here all the way to San Diego. We have to be careful.”
“We have to figure out exactly what they are before we destroy them,” Matt agreed.
“The map,” Jesse said as she pulled the folder out of her knapsack. “Jeremy, get the scroll. Let’s see what they say.”
Jesse spread out the map on a nearby table. The scroll read as follows:
The power of the dome is partially nuclear and partially magic. You cannot stop one without the other becoming unstable. Nuclear is mechanical. Shutting it down only requires experience. The magic side must be removed within ten seconds of the nuclear shutdown or the entire system will go unstable. You must have the right combination of magic, potions, and elixirs to accomplish the task. The answer is with the Wand of Wongate, with Jaban, and with Oiltex to remove the magic of the shield. Danger is extremely high.
The map showed the inside of the dome, pointing out the most important locations: the queen’s residence, a control room next to the queen’s residence, and a large structure in the center called the power station.
“What do we do now?” Steve asked. “We don’t have the wand, and we don’t have Jaban or Oiltex, whatever they are. We’re totally unprepared to do anything here.”
“Yeah, in fact we know the wand is in the Cathedral of Gardenel,” Matt said. “That’s back on Gandoral.”
“T-Bone has both the potion Jaban and the elixir Oiltex,” Jesse said.
“How do you know that?” Jeremy asked. “He showed us several hundred bottles with tiny labels. We didn’t take the time to look at all of them.”
“I saw them all and remember every one,” Jesse said. “There were two hundred thirty-two to be exact, one hundred twenty-one potions and one hundred eleven elixirs. Jaban, the potion, was in a dark green jar with a lid, about the size of a jar of jam. The elixir was in a small light purple vial with a cork in the top.”
“Well, that’s just great,” Steve lamented. “We’re here and what we need is either in a different world or it’s fifty miles away in a bunker under a restaurant.”
“I’ve got an idea on how to get this done,” Jeremy announced. “We need to do an experiment first. Slatel, you can move quickly through the ground, right?”
“Yes,” Slatel confirmed. “The harder the ground, the faster I can move. I can move fastest through rocks.”
“You can’t take anything with you, right?”
“That’s right,” Slatel answered.
“You can’t feel pain?”
“Right.”
“Steve, plunge your fingers into Slatel’s chest and create a cavity, pulling some of the stone out in your hand,” Jeremy directed.
Slatel stood still while Steve plunged his fingers into his chest as directed.
“Matt, take the stone from Steve’s hand and create a door to cover the hole in Slatel’s chest,” Jeremy said.
When completed, the door closed perfectly.
Jeremy took a gold coin from his knapsack, placed it inside the cavity, and closed the door. “Go test it out. See if you can travel through the ground with a foreign object embedded in your chest.”
Slatel didn’t hesitate. He jumped down through the hatch in the floor. The others watched from above as he disappeared into the ground. In a minute, he was back. “I traveled through dirt, sand, and rocks. The gold coin is still here. I’ll go to T-Bone and get the potion and elixir. I’ll be back soon.”
“Wait a minute, Marble-head,” Steve said with a hint of sarcasm. “Okay, what about the wand?”
“That will be your job,” Jeremy said with a smile, punching Steve lightly on the shoulder. “You still have the urn that connects to Gandoral?”
“Of course I do,” Steve said. He rummaged around in his knapsack, pulled the glass urn out, and handed it to Jeremy. “Are you planning to go to Gandoral to get the wand?”
“No, you are.” Jeremy started to hand the urn back to Steve.
Steve put up his hands. “No way, José. No, no, I’m not heading back into the queen’s lair. You can do that.”
“That’s not logical,” Jeremy said.
“He’s right, you know,” Jesse agreed. “You said it yourself. The drop from the urn to the floor of the cavern is fifty or sixty feet. You can fly. We can’t.”
“That would be an easy fix,” Steve said. He looked into his knapsack and pulled out a rope. “Here. Use this and lower yourself down.”
“That’s not the real problem, Steve. The real problem is, if any of us goes, it would take a week or two to hike across Gandoral, through the Longline Region, and into the Black Forest to get to the cathedral. You could get there and back in an hour or less. You’re the only one who can get the Wand of Wongate in time. It has to be you.”
Steve huffed and puffed and shook his head in frustration, then reluctantly took the urn from Jeremy. “You’re going to owe me even more than you already do,” he said as he looked into the top of the glass urn.
“No, no, this is you getting even with the rest of us,” Jeremy said. “You continue to be a pain in the butt. I’m not sure you’ll ever make it up.”
Seeing Steve giving that look through his eyebrows, Jesse stepped between them. “Get the job done quickly,” she urged Steve. “We’re running out of time. We’ll drop the urn down to Slatel. When you return, Slatel will pull you out. You bring Slatel with you when you fly to the top of this chamber. We’ll be waiting for you there.”
“I can’t believe I’m going back to that evil place on purpose,” Steve said. He placed the urn on the floor and put his right hand into it.
Haven, Jack, and Caroline watched wide-eyed as Steve was sucked into the small opening in the top of the urn.
Jesse picked up the urn and dropped it to Slatel. He placed it on the ground next to the large metal shaft. He looked up and waved goodbye as he slipped into the ground.
“Let’s go up,” Matt said as he led the group up the circular stairs. “We’ll see what we can learn about the queen and the dome. Be careful. With no railing, it’ll be more and more dangerous the higher we get, so stay close to the wall.”
“It’s two miles straight up,” Jesse said as she followed Jeremy. “Let’s see, that’s about ten thousand five hundred sixty feet. If each step is ten inches, there will be twelve thousand six hundred seventy-two steps. I’ll replace our strength every thousand steps or so. If it takes me two minutes to revive all of you each time, it’ll take about an hour and a half to make the climb.”
“You did all that math in your head?” Jeremy said as he followed Jesse up the stairs. “That’s incredible. Especially since math wasn’t your strong point.”
Jack followed Haven to bring up the rear.
~~~
Slatel walked into the Pirate’s Cove. It was two in the afternoon, and there were only a few customers in the d
ining room. They turned and stared at the little stone man.
“Haven’t you ever seen a walking stone before?” Slatel asked. He bowed to them and went to the back of the restaurant.
“Slatel! What are you doing here?” T-Bone asked. “Aren’t you helping the Alliance?”
“Yes. I’m here to get a potion and an elixir from your inventory.”
“Well, I have both,” T-Bone said. “Come with me.”
Slatel followed him through a secret passage and down four flights of stairs. They got into an elevator and went down to the lab level. They entered the room with all the jars, bottles, and vials.
“Wow, how many are there?” Slatel asked as he surveyed the collection of mixtures.
“Two hundred thirty-two, to be exact,” T-Bone said with a proud smile. “One hundred twenty-one potions and one hundred eleven elixirs. What are you looking for?”
“Do you have a potion called Jaban?” Slatel asked.
“Let’s see. It should be over here.” T-Bone looked at labels, wiping dust off of several.
“It should be in a dark green jar,” Slatel said.
“Ah, yes, here it is.” T-Bone handed it to Slatel. “How did you know it was in a dark green jar?”
“Jesse told me. The elixir we need is called Oiltex. It’s in a small light purple vile with a cork in the top.”
“Yes, here it is,” T-Bone said. “That made it easy to find. How did you know and what do you need them for?”
“I don’t know,” Slatel said. “Jesse remembered every one of your bottles and vials. I don’t know how she does it. She pulled it out of her head. Here, slip the jar and vial into this cavity.” Slatel opened the door on his chest. “They need these to bring down the shields. At least, we think they will.”
T-Bone put the two precious liquids into Slatel. “Where are they right now?”
“I can’t tell you, but I can tell you it looks pretty bad.” Slatel looked concerned. “We have to bring down the shields before the war starts. I have serious doubts that it will be done in time.”
Chapter 26
Back to Gandoral
Steve lowered himself to the floor of the large cavern. He opened his knapsack and pulled out a strong flashlight.
I wish I had one of these the last time I was here, he thought to himself as he flashed the light on the wall where the small cave was located. Ah, there it is.
He put his knapsack over his shoulder, flew to the small opening, and crawled in. It wasn’t long before he emerged into the large cavern where the lava lake had been.
Yeah, this is how I remember it. He shook his head. I really don’t know what to do now. If I remember right, the lava lake was under the volcano.
He started to fly to one of the entrances to the cavern when he saw twenty or so Humongers emerge from one opening pushing and beating several hundred Imphogs. He rose to the ceiling and stayed there, watching the soldiers moving the Imphogs through the cavern and out the other side.
Okay, what’s wrong with this picture? There’s supposed to be a truce between the queen and the Imphogs. They can’t be killed, so what’s going on? He decided to follow them. They must know a way out of here. I wonder why the Imphogs are being tortured and chained together. I wonder where they’re being taken.
Steve followed well behind the last four Humongers. He stopped at the opening and moved in behind a pile of boulders off to the right. Steve watched the Humongers prodding and hitting the Imphogs as they put twenty in each cage. Once a cage was filled and locked, a dragon was hooked to the top of the cage. Then the dragon flew off into the distant orange skies.
A face appeared in a nearby boulder, startling Steve as it came out of the surface, nose first. The rest followed as the full face protruded from the boulder. The eyes opened and looked around, then stared at Steve. To Steve’s surprise, the face quickly sank back into the stone surface of the boulder and was gone.
Steve watched the Humongers loading the Imphogs for another ten minutes.
I’ve got to get going. I have to get the wand and return to Earth. We’re running out of time.
As he was about to fly toward the Black Forest, a Rocpean came up out of the ground right next to him. “Steve, what are you doing here?”
Steve almost jumped out of his skin. “You marble-heads have to figure out how to come out of the ground without scaring the snot out of people.”
“Sorry if I scared you,” Mumford said. “What are you doing back on Gandoral?”
Steve looked at him curiously. “You’re Mumford, the king of the Rocpeans, aren’t you?”
“Yes, what are you doing here?”
“I’m here to retrieve a magic wand,” Steve said. He pointed to the cages. “What’s going on with the Imphogs?”
“Torron has destroyed the Celestor and torn up the treaty. She can’t kill the Imphogs, so she’s decided to round them up and ship them off to the Valley of Darkness. We’ve learned that she intends to use some kind of new wand to destroy them but wants to move the entire clan far away before doing it.”
“I thought they couldn’t be killed,” Steve said. “That’s why the original treaty was signed and the Celestor was saved.”
“Torron’s new chief high priest, Smalik, has become quite a gifted sorcerer. He’s combined technology with witchcraft and has made a whole new line of devastating weapons. We’ve watched over the past two weeks while Torron moved a great army to Earth. You must have seen it.”
“Yes, I have,” Steve said. “She has a protective shield around her army. She’ll be hard to defeat. Say, I know how you can help me.”
“Before that, I have a question. Do you know what happened to my son? He hitched a ride on a tub of oil on its way to Africa a hundred and fifty years ago, and I haven’t heard from him since. Did he get to Earth safely?”
“Yes, he did,” Steve said. “He’s there now. Actually, he’s waiting for my return.”
“That’s good news,” Mumford said. “What can I do for you?”
“I need to find the Cathedral of Gardenel,” Steve said. “It’s in the Black Forest. Slatel helped us find it once before. It’ll be overgrown with vines and hard to find. Slatel was able to search for the foundation. Could you do that for me?”
“I’ll get some help,” Mumford confirmed. “We’ll be waiting for you at the northern entrance to the forest.”
“I’ll be there before you,” Steve said.
To Mumford’s surprise, Steve darted into the sky and disappeared.
~~~
Gary and his friends had cut into a military convoy headed toward the Ontario dome. The Humvee and trailer fit right in.
“It looks like I-10 has been cut off by the dome,” Sammy said.
“All civilian traffic is heading out of town,” Gary said. “We’ll stay in line with the military heading toward the dome. There’s a tall building at the corner of Mercedes Lane and Inland Empire Boulevard. We’ll try to get there if we can.”
“You know this area pretty well,” Johnny said.
“Yeah, I went to Valley View High School in Ontario,” Gary confirmed. “These streets are my old stomping grounds. There, see that building up ahead? That’s where we’re going.”
The ten-story oval-shaped building was only a couple of blocks away when they were stopped by military police. Fully dressed in military clothing, the three friends looked official.
“Where are you headed?” the soldier asked.
Gary pointed at the building. “We have orders to set up on the top of that building over there.”
“What’s in the trailer?” the soldier asked.
“Our equipment,” Sammy said. “We’re a forward position sniper team. We have all the toys.”
Gary went with the soldier and pulled back the tarp covering their weapons.
“Yeah, I’ll say you have all the toys.” The soldier helped replace the tarp. “Good hunting. From what I’ve heard, this is going to be a big one.”
On
ce at the building, it took two hours to get all the weapons and ammo to the roof.
“Look over there,” Johnny said as he pointed at a large doorway in the side of the dome. “There are aliens and people going in and out of the dome through that doorway.”
Looking through binoculars, all three watched as the Torron soldiers welcomed the gang members into the dome.
Just then, two rocket-propelled grenades were fired from a position on the other side of the line. They hit an invisible barrier. All the gang members ducked or hit the ground. A laser beam shot from inside the dome decimated the US Army attackers. The gang members got back up, and the line continued to move into the dome.
“Well, now we know why no one is stopping the flow into the dome,” Johnny said.
“The news reports said the domes are four miles across and two miles high,” Sammy said. “I’m not sure what kind of damage we can cause.”
“We’ll do our part,” Gary said, “and others will do their part. When we put it all together, we’ll defeat these aliens and kick them right back to where they came from. No one, I mean no one, messes with our freedom. We’re Americans, we’re free, and we’ll stay that way.”
“And if we die in the process?” Sammy said, knowing the answer before asking the question.
“It’s not where or when you die that counts when you die fighting for freedom and liberty,” the three recited in unison.
They laughed and gave each other enthusiastic high fives.
~~~
Slatel popped up out of the ground right next to the open urn. “Steve, are you there?” he asked, leaning close. “Steve! Are you there?” I guess not, Slatel thought. He put the jar and vial on the ground next to the urn. I’m sure it’ll take at least another hour for Steve to get back. What should I do? I guess I could sit here and wait, but maybe I could learn something helpful by looking around topside.
Winds of War Page 16
