Cadence

by Wilson, Dianne J. ;

Beaver turned around with his hands spread wide. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Communication Centre. We track and help Spirit Walkers, Water Workers, and Seekers. We are the metaphorical finger on the pulse of everything that moves underground, including yourselves.”

  28

  Kai, Bree, and the two guys arrived back at the OS as the sun was rising and armed with coordinates to all the entrances to the underground transport network and all of the places they would need to go.

  They found Zulu man-down in the basement. He was sleeping with Runt, Peta, and Paintbrush glued to his side, taking turns to pat his face with a tissue. They’d tucked a pillow under his head and covered him with a blanket.

  Paintbrush ran to Kai and hugged him. She’d found clips somewhere and attempted to pin down her paintbrush ponytails. Runt had pink warrior stripes on her cheeks. Someone’s blush had been raided for the cause. She wouldn’t hug Kai, but fist-bumped him instead. Peta stood off to one side, her large eyes seemed to be holding in a flood of emotion.

  Kai crouched down close to her. “Peta, do you know where Evazee is?”

  Peta sniffed hard and pointed at the testing arch.

  Runt sighed and hugged the girl. “Evazee went to find healing stream water for Zulu.”

  Zap patted Zulu on the cheek. “He’s so pale. What happened?” Zulu still had his amulet around his neck, but it was securely closed and tied with a purple hair elastic.

  Runt shrugged. “The grey man came. He made many problems.”

  Kai looked at the others. “The sooner we make this plan happen, the better.”

  Kai waved the three girls closer. “I want to send you guys on a mission. Would you like that?” Their sparkling eyes said enough. “Call everyone to the main meeting room. Go as quick as you possibly can.”

  Runt crossed her arms. “Aw, no, I wanted a real mission. This one is stupid.”

  “OK, Runt, here’s a special one for you. You know the storm drain in the basement? Go check if it’s still flooded. Go now.”

  The three of them stood staring at him with wide eyes.

  He clapped his hands once. “Go!” They shot off like greyhounds from their stalls.

  ~*~

  Evazee barely flinched at the pain that danced across her skin as she stepped through the arch. By now, she should at least land on her feet but she still tripped, bit the dirt, and rolled before pushing herself upright.

  She blinked against the brightness, her eyes still used to the dim light in the OS basement. The arch had brought her back to the slums outside Sam’s house. It was a small victory, but it made her heart pop a little. This was the right place for the Healing Stream.

  Evazee turned in a slow circle, figuring out where she was. If she remembered correctly, Sam’s house was diagonally to the left and the Healing Stream to the right. She found Sam’s house easily, but it made her heart ache to look at it. All the repairs that Zulu had done had been undone by the plants withering and turning brittle. If they’d been using Healing Stream water, there was nothing to show for it.

  Her backpack bounced as she walked up to the door.

  Sam swung it open, and his face lit up when he saw her. “You’re back!” He hugged her so hard, it took her breath away.

  “How are you, Sam?” His face was sunken and hollow.

  “Not good. My nana, she can’t get up anymore.” He looked so small and lost.

  Evazee wanted to hug him and never let go. “Have you been giving her water from the river we found?”

  Sam shrugged. “The river is gone.”

  “That can’t be right. Take me there.”

  Sam ducked out of the shack on bare feet.

  Evazee followed him, walking so fast, her T-shirt quickly soaked in sweat.

  The shacks thinned out, replaced by patches of weeds and the odd struggling tree.

  They reached the spot where Evazee thought the river should be, but there was nothing but a dried-up sandy channel. “Sam, are you sure this is the right place? I don’t remember it looking like this last time.”

  The boy nodded. “The water stopped coming.”

  Using the weeds as leverage, they lowered themselves down the dry bank onto the riverbed and kicked up dust. Now what? Together, they followed the dry bed.

  Evazee’s mind ran options. Something pale glinted at her feet. Before she could get it, Sam swooped in and picked it up. He handed it straight to her as if it were something she’d dropped. It was a scroll much like the one Kai had carried around the first time he’d been stuck here.

  “Thank you, Sam. Isn’t this for you?”

  “No. It shines the same colour as you. Yours.” He grinned briefly before his face fell. “Can you fix this?”

  Evazee pocketed it and started looking for a good spot along the bank to climb out before answering. What could she say to this boy?

  “I don’t know, Sam, but I’ll try.” The words were barely out of her mouth when the wind started. She braced herself, knowing what was coming. Maybe this time she could land on her feet.

  ~*~

  Kai sneaked a sideways glance at Zap as he turned the kettle on. Zap was spreading peanut butter on bread, whistling quietly. It seemed like Kai’s thoughts were still veiled from him. This was good. The guys knew about half the plan in his head. The other half, he intended to sneak off and do by himself.

  Runt ran in and tapped him on the shoulder. “Somebody is watching us.” The girl was dripping from the waist down. “Also, I checked the storm water drain. It’s freezing cold, but we can get out that way now. The water has dropped enough.” She shivered so hard, her teeth clacked.

  “Back up a step. How do you know we’re being watched? Show me.”

  The two of them slipped up onto the roof.

  Runt bent herself over double to sneak along the low wall and Kai copied her. She peeped over the wall and stopped.

  They crouched together.

  Runt thumbed over towards the building across the road. “Watch the windows one floor higher than where we are. You’ll see.”

  Kai followed the direction of Runt’s thumb and picked out the glint of binoculars.

  “There are more of them. They don’t leave.”

  It was obvious they were under surveillance. And Kai thought he was being paranoid. Somehow it was a relief to see the glint of the binoculars. “I have a plan. We need to get everyone into the storm water drain.”

  ~*~

  Evazee landed back in the basement and kept her feet under her for all of three seconds. The edge of her foot overstepped the stairs and she overbalanced. She pitched forward and rolled down the stairs, landing so hard the wind was knocked out of her.

  Zulu lay on the floor in the room, all alone. She checked on him, no change one way or the other. This was no good. She’d have to go back.

  Her legs shivered as she approached the arch. This never felt easier. There was a slide and blur and she was through, landing with a roll that made her back click. She sat up and rubbed her head, waiting for the spinning to settle before opening her eyes.

  The air was different here, fresh and alive. Colours played across her eyelids. Resonance pools. Her heart sank. She loved this place, but the water in the pools was not Healing Stream water. She didn’t have time for vision gazing that may or may not be reality. As far as she could see, she was alone.

  Her only choice was to play along. Do the right things to crack the arch and get back to the OS. With a deep breath, she turned in a slow circle waiting for a pool to stand out. Her eyes took in the beauty of the living lines of colour flung upwards, dancing and twirling.

  Amongst all the moving lights, one pool simply sparkled. It sat alone, quietly shimmering in a shade of blue that stole Evazee’s breath. It was as if a ton of glitter floated in the air above the water.

  This one appealed to Evazee and she hurried over and settled at the edge. The sparkles drew her in, capturing her imagination. She might as well be watching the night sky on a moonless night, eac
h light individually sparkling and twinkling.

  She saw herself reflected in the water surface. Small and insignificant, almost invisible. From deep inside, a tiny figure of a man formed. She saw no features or markings that she could identify him by. The man grew and grew until he enveloped her completely. It settled her heart, filling her with a sense of wholeness that she hadn’t felt since losing her imprint.

  In a moment, the water in the pool stirred, creating a mini whirlpool. Evazee hung onto the bank to stop herself falling in. The water gathered inside the image of her, leaving the rest of the pool scooped out and hollow. Evazee stopped breathing for a moment. The water seemed to compress in on itself and then exploded outwards, aimed directly at Evazee. It landed on her with enough force to throw her backwards onto the grass. She lay there, soaked through to her underwear.

  As she regained her breath, the sky overhead started to spin. She clung to the grass and rolled down the stairs once again. She was going to be bruised from head to toe if this kept happening.

  Evazee coughed water from her lungs and sat up to find Zulu staring at her. He was still weak, but upright.

  “Friend-Evazee, Kai has taken them all to retrieve their amulets. This is bad. Very, very bad. I found this.” He handed her a piece of paper with a set of coordinates scribbled down in rough, and the words “the Crux.”

  “Oh, no. He doesn’t know. I have to stop him.” Evazee rolled the paper in her fingers with her mind racing.

  Zulu rolled himself onto all fours and slowly regained his feet. “I’m coming. Let me get my things.”

  Evazee looked at him and knew one thing for sure. That would never happen. The way he’d gone at the priests from his own village had been terrifying. To risk that level of power being harnessed for bad was not a risk Evazee was willing to take.

  She waited until he was out of sight, tucked the co-ordinates into her pocket, and sneaked off to the garages to get the OS bus.

  ~*~

  The shuttle flew through the tunnel at a speed that made Kai’s head spin. To think they’d been living on top of one of the underground stations and never knew it. The storm water drain in the basement led to a door that ran to a station.

  Before they’d left the OS, Kai had briefed them on the buddy system and divided them up into groups of five. No matter what happens, stick together.

  They’d all trooped past Zulu and the Testing Arch, down through the manhole cover and into the storm water drain.

  Kai’d done a quick headcount before they got to the shuttle and then it was just a matter of getting off at the right place.

  They skipped the first stop and got off at the second. The exit came out within the security fence of the Crux, close to the backdoor entrance he’d come in last time they visited.

  Tau, please let this Naviband still work. The thought of walking all these kids into a trap soured Kai’s belly, but there was no other way.

  They avoided the pools of light thrown down from lamps mounted high and crept from shadow to shadow.

  Kai’s heart nearly stopped as he lined up the Naviband with the beam. But with a click, the door drew back and they were in.

  They lined up in quiet rows along the dim passage. It was unthinkable that they could make it this far without being discovered, but so far it all seemed to be working. Maybe Tau was listening after all.

  Kai left them there and ran on silent feet to the lab where he’d found Dr S. The lab was quiet, a gentle hum the only noise in the air. Not a single scientist in sight.

  Now what?

  His Naviband beeped and cycled through options. It came to rest on the vault that he was trying to take these kids to. Kai could follow it and end up exactly where he needed to be. There was definitely someone looking after him.

  He led his troupes along silent passages and they worked their way deeper into the the Crux. They turned down a passage that was familiar but with more twists and turns than Kai remembered. Before long, they stood outside the same vault where he and his friends had been deserted by Elden.

  Kai shook his head at the memory of Elden. They’d all been taken in by the guy. One day he’d like to have a conversation with him and find out what he was thinking. Or punch his lights out. Probably punch more than talk.

  The Naviband opened up the vault and they all trooped in.

  “Guys, sit along the wall. We’ve only got one device, so this is going to take a while. Be patient, we’ll get to you all.”

  He picked out Peta who sat closest to him and put the device in her hands. He slid her thumb onto the fingerprint reader in the centre and the whole gadget lit up neon pink. A hexagon on the floor lit up in the same colour a few metres from where they stood.

  “Click the device into the top of the pillar.” Kai watched her small hands fumble. But then she got it right. There was a collective gasp from the whole room at the click. The pillar shot up and Peta walked around examining the amulets through the lava glass. Her face lit up as she saw one she knew was hers.

  “Go ahead, take it.” Kai spoke gently but his insides were boiling with impatience. This was taking too long.

  ~*~

  The OS bus ran out of petrol in the desert outside of the Crux. Evazee’s determination faltered as it jerked to a shuddery stop. The building glinted in the lights rigged all along the fence. The desert still gave off shimmery heatwaves, which was odd because deserts were supposed to be cold at night.

  She had to find Kai and stop him before he started dishing out amulets.

  She hopped out, shut and locked the door, and pocketed the keys. Sweeping her hair off her face, she walked. By the time she reached the high perimeter fence, Evazee’s thighs were on fire from crossing on the soft sand. She hadn’t thought through how she’d be getting past security.

  She rubbed her palms on her jeans. Sweat and sand was a gross combination. Sand had been trickling into her shoes steadily and was rubbing away the skin in a few places. Everything about this place made her skin crawl.

  Evazee needed to talk to Jesus. Whether He was listening or not. She tried to frame her thoughts into words. They twisted away from her as if her mind was covered in soap. She took a deep breath and tried again. “Please help.”

  It was all she had right now.

  ~*~

  The process was working, but it was slow. Every hour that passed increased their risk of discovery and they’d already been in this room for over two.

  Kai found Bree. “Tell the other two to keep going with this lot. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “Where are you going?” Bree’s hands were on her hips. Not a good sign.

  He waved and left quickly before she could ask any more questions. He found his way back to the labs and Doctor S., who was working quietly by himself.

  His face dropped when he saw Kai. The doctor shooed Kai into a side room. “What are you doing here? You can’t just keep waltzing in here as if this is your lounge. That Naviband will be deactivated and setting off alarms any moment now, if not already.” The doctor looked all shrivelled like a prune that needed soaking.

  Kai waved his concerns aside. “Have you found an antidote?”

  “The truth? Not even close. This last batch...seems to have a life of its own. It has developed the ability to adapt, to defend itself from substances that would cause it harm. Or for our purposes—neutralize it.”

  “How is that possible?” Kai felt the blood drain from his face. He’d known all along that what he’d injected into his veins was permanent. He’d felt the effects of it seeping into his flesh from the inside out, fought the growing darkness in his mind. But through it all, he’d held on to the tiniest thread of stubborn hope. Hope that said one day he might be free from the death sentence inside. But if it was a living, mutating thing? There was no fighting that without doing permanent damage.

  “This won’t sound very scientific, but it feels as if it’s being manipulated from the outside.” The doctor pressed the heels of his hands into his
eyes and rubbed hard. “I don’t even know what I’m saying. Get out of here, Kai. Go be with the ones you love. The world as we know it will be changing forever real soon.” Invisible weight crushed the doctor. “And I’ve been part of creating this.” Guilt was eating him alive.

  ~*~

  Evazee approached the guardhouse, feeling like her legs might give way beneath her. The uneven sand sucked at her feet. The truth was–she was scared silly. She prayed as she walked, each step a simple help.

  The security guard put down a cup of coffee as she knocked on the glass. Some of the hot liquid slopped on his hand, and he cursed. This was not the best start to her attempt to get into the Crux.

  “What is your business here?”

  “I’m one of the Doctor’s test subjects. He told me to come back after a week. He needed to check if my levels had stabilized.” She coughed behind her hand.

  The guard stared at her, annoyance clear in the set of his eyebrows. “Which Doctor?”

  Evazee hunted for a memory of what Kai had said, what had been on the gravestone. Nothing.

  The security guard’s finger hovered over a call button.

  Something with an R. Roland. She blurted it out, “Roland.”

  The security guard pressed buttons. “Sure. Let me check if he’s expecting you.” He waited for his call to connect and mumbled too quietly for Evazee to follow the conversation. He leaned through his window. “Give me your marking number.”

  Evazee flushed. This would end badly. She turned and got as close as she could to the light from the window, holding her hair up for the man to see. She’d never seen her marking, and she didn’t know if it had numbers, but it was the only thing she could think of. The scratchy tip of the man’s finger poked her skin as he read off her marking. He listened in silence, then answered, “Sure. This is on you if it backfires.” He ended the call and issued her a strap for her wrist.

  “This is your Naviband. You must have used one before. Head on over to the vehicles on the right. Someone will take you to the labs.”

  ~*~

  Doctor S. escorted Kai to the lab exit. “I’m assuming you know how to find your way out from here.” He leaned in close, whispering, “I’m being watched. Don’t come around here again.”