by Teya Tapler
“There’re no animals here, there’re no spiders here.” She repeated several times like a wizard casting a spell, and then switched off the flashlight to conserve its power.
Oh, how I miss the flowers and the blue sky. She pulled out a piece of chewing gum and put it in her mouth. Chewing and blowing bubbles helped her calm down.
Chapter 10
Zander inched his way in the dark, slowly putting one knee in front of the other. The pipe was still only four feet wide, and crawling made it easier to move. He shifted his hands and knees sequentially in a rhythmical way, trying to put his knee where his hand was before. The surface wasn’t smooth. His hands felt the edges of each stone and the material bonding it with the next rock. Everything he touched or put his knee on felt coarse and solid made to last for generations.
He kept on crawling. The pipe was winding, going slightly upward. Every now and then he would touch a group of pebbles, small sticks and sand gathered around them. It felt as though water had dragged them along its way. That bothered him. He started wondering whether those were clustered by draining water from the top of the structure or by water meant to flush the intruders out.
There were no other junctions. After few curves, Zander saw a thin strip of light and headed toward it. It was coming from an opening on the floor. He couldn’t see much, the opening was as big as a nail hole, but the conversation going on out there was easy to hear. Two men were talking.
“What took you so long?” the first voice said. “How long does it take to bring the maps from the car?”
“There were complications. These Anaconda guys are here. I saw one of them lurking around the pyramid,” the second one said.
“Was he alone?” The first one asked.
“Yeah.”
“Did you take care of him?” The first man raised his voice.
“Yeah,” the second man said. “He won’t be coming here anytime soon.”
“Did he recognize you?”
“No, he didn’t. I came from … behind and hit … him really … hard … on the head.… You should have … seen him rolling … down the pyramid.”
Zander rubbed the sore spot at the back of his head and stretched in discomfort. His muscles hurt. That’s why he had dropped the rope and had found himself at the bottom of the pyramid losing his communicator device along the way. Before that he had a lifeline, the ability to call for help. Now he was on his own, in the jungle, away from his team, without support. He wasn’t lost but no one knew his location. It was essential for him to find out who those men were. Zander laid flat on his stomach and put his ear on the hole to hear more.
“I asked: did you take care of him?” The first man raised his voice again.
“The-the animals d-dDId. I-I saw a few jaguars heading t-toward hHIm,” the second one stuttered.
“You did well, Kevin. Now read me the latest letter from your sweetheart, Evan. She turned out to be quite an asset, didn’t she?” the first man said, and Zander realized why those voices were so familiar. That was Zull Mort, the very person who had created the pearls, and his son, Kevin. How could Zander forget Mort’s voice? After the leader of the 906 Inquisitors was captured when Zander showed up in the warehouse to surprise and arrest Mort, a recording from him simply said, “Bye, bye good guys!” and then everything exploded.
The 906 Inquisitors were alive! Maybe Zull Mort was really Mr. Mort, the CEO of Mort Enterprises. It didn’t feel good when something Zander was suspecting proved to be right. That was too much of a coincidence. If only he had his communicator. He could notify Emil, Peter and Mary that Mort was closer than anyone expected. They thought that he was still in the 25th century, that Mort Enterprises belonged to somebody else. The news had to be delivered to Emil as soon as possible. Here Zull Mort was more powerful than ever. His authority was to be respected, and based on Zander’s experience, Mort had to be feared.
Mort was too close for comfort, but again, he sounded close enough to be possible to transcast him with a single shot. Zander instinctively touched the place he usually hid his transcaster gun. There was nothing there. He flew to Mexico with the members of the archeological dig and Emil didn’t let him take the transcaster gun at the dig. Today, Zander didn’t even have a knife, and he was to save the girl and take her back to the camp.
What does Evan have to do with Mort? Why did he call her Kevin’s sweetheart?
“Dear Kevin.” Kevin’s voice disturbed Zander’s thoughts.
“Your idea about writing to you every day was great. I feel like we’re together, except that it takes you longer to respond.…”
Zander swallowed. He slowly realized their plan. Zull and Kevin Mort were playing with Evan’s feelings, trying to get to the pearls. Yes, the pearls were their target, not the professor nor his family. How cunning, to make the professor’s daughter unknowingly report every one of his steps to the enemy. Zander already knew how the excavations were going; now he’d learned what Mort was up to. He had heard enough and had to report back to Emil.
Very slowly and quietly, he turned around and headed back toward Evan. After a few turns, when he was far enough from the Morts, Zander sped his crawling. He moved fast in the darkness, keeping his head down. That time the pipe was sloped downward and the decline increased his speed. He was thinking about Evan. For a moment he wondered if she suspected anything, and then he quickly tossed that thought away - Zander had heard her sincere letter. The poor girl was in love with Kevin Mort, and his father, Mr. Zull Mort, was using her. They would break her loving heart in a million pieces, and would probably kill her and her family once Zull Mort had his hands on the pearls.
“A-a-ah!” Zander heard a scream as he bumped into something soft. He stopped and received a few random blows in the face. That made him move back, and he sat down, pressing his back against a bump on the wall. By that time Evan had switched on the flashlight and pointed it at his face.
“Oh, it’s you!” She studied his face then sighed.
“Sorry, I—” Zander started apologizing.
“What did you see? Can we get out that way?” Evan asked impatiently and pointed to the pipe behind Zander, still keeping the light on his face.
He gently pushed her hand with the light in another direction. “No, it’s a dead end,” he lied and pointed to the pipe behind her. “We’ve to go that way.”
“You go first!” She extended her hand, offering the flashlight and made space for him to crawl in first.
Zander delayed his move. He realized that the bump behind his back was gone: he had accidentally pushed some sort of a button. There was a low-pitched noise coming toward them. The tremors were moving closer, and even his heart was beating in sync with them. The whole structure trembled in the rhythm of something heavy—and most likely deadly—that was fast approaching. They had to leave that place at once.
“Hurry up and move in that direction!” Zander pushed Evan toward the pipe behind her. They moved fast, the flashlight dangling on her wrist marking their path with bright light spots. They barely made it a few feet in the new direction when a door fell shut behind them with a bang, leaving no space for retreat.
Trembling, Evan moved closer to him and he hugged her. “We are safe here. Everything is going to be all right.” He repeated quietly in her ear. Far behind him, a torrent of gushing water was heading toward the cubical chamber they occupied several minutes before.
Too frightened to do anything, Evan pressed her back against his chest, feeling his warmth and the beat of his heart. Her mind filled with images of them floating in the roaring water, drowning and then getting impaled on the spikes. His closeness was calming her down. Since he showed up today, all he was doing was helping her, saving her from one peril after another. Her breathing gradually slowed down and normalized. Her eyes stopped darting around and focused on the bright light spot on the wall.
“We are safe here. Everything is going to be all right,” Zander said a little bit louder, and Evan realized she was
in his arms. She pushed him and moved swiftly far enough not to be embarrassingly close.
“We have to start moving.” He said softly.
Evan carefully inspected the left and right side of the pipe then pointed the light back into the direction of the still-roaring waters. The torch shone on a big stone blocking the pipe. There wasn’t a single drop of water on their side. They were safe.
“We have to start moving.” He repeated.
Evan had no choice but to go first as there wasn’t enough space to maneuver around. She started crawling away and he followed silently. They moved slowly for some time putting their knees where their hands were before. The pipe wound and spiraled with sharp turn. It felt like it was going in circles. Their hands touched the rough stones and the mortar on every move. Some of the areas they moved on had hard, almost sharp, edges.
“I can’t go further, my knees hurt.” Evan stopped, too exhausted to consider the option of being flushed, drowned or impaled. Her legs were trembling and her arms had lost the little strength they had.
“Okay, we’ll stay here for the night. Make yourself comfortable,” Zander said.
She lit the area to find a comfortable spot and Zander used the light to inspect their surroundings. The chance of being in the path of the next roaring water stream bothered him. When the bright spot appeared he blinked a few times to adjust his eyes and focused on the details. The bottom was covered with the rough stones they felt while crawling but he didn’t see any sand or stick clusters and that reassured him they were moving in the right direction.
It was weird to think that anyone could sleep comfortably on a surface like that, but Evan cuddled like a kitten around her backpack trying to lay her head on a softer spot, and switched off the light. Zander laid down not far away. He was bigger than her and could not lie the same way. He had to either lie flat along the bottom of the pipe or lie in a cross section with his back following the curved circle. He chose the latter option, closed his eyes and listened to her breathing, focused to hear the non-existent noises around them. It was very quiet and very dark.
***
“Keep on sleeping,” her voice woke him up and he felt her trying to pull something from underneath him. Obviously he had made the wrong sleeping position choice and had rolled over something she desperately needed. “I’ll just … take my backpack.”
Something moved from underneath him and when his head hit the rough stones he was fully awake. “Turn on the flashlight. It will be easier than feeling your way in the dark,” he said.
“It doesn’t work anymore,” she said.
It felt that it wasn’t only her backpack he had been lying on, so he decided to be helpful and abruptly got up. Forgetting that the pipe was barely four feet high, he hit his head on the ceiling and slumped back down. “I’m sorry. I must’ve fallen asleep and—” he said when her touch on his shoulder made him stop.
“I’m okay. Don’t worry about me.” she said
“Let’s get outta here, then,” he said quickly and started crawling.
Evan heard him moving away and headed in the same direction. For an unknown reason, now he was the one leading. The surface was the same as before but the pipe sloped downward. It became even steeper, and both of them tumbled down turn after turn, hitting all sides of the tunnel, until they fell one after another into a shallow pond.
The ripples in the water from their big splash slowly disappeared as Evan and Zander sat up. They looked above and around the pond, then looked at each other and laughed. They were outside. The sky was blue. They were in the middle of the rain forest: the trees were green, the birds were singing. It was a beautiful summer day.
Zander sat on the edge of the pond and put his wet backpack on. It wasn’t the right time to wonder which one of the items inside had to be dried, repaired or replaced. First he had to bring Evan back to the camp and then he had to notify Emil about Zull Mort. He looked at her: Evan was washing her face and cleaning the dirt from her hands. Then she smoothed her wet hair backward and let it fall freely around her shoulders.
She’s so beautiful, Zander thought. If only this was my real life instead of a mission.…
“Oh, it is so slippery here. I can’t get up.” Evan interrupted his thoughts with her splashes, trying to stand up and falling back into the pond.
He helped her get out of the water, took her backpack, and both of them headed to the camp, supporting each other as they limped along. Their shoes dried after several steps, replacing the wet marks with indentations in the mud and the fallen leaves.
The two miles to the camp were not a long walk when one wanted to get away from the world, but that day they seemed like a marathon distance, and Evan was longing for the finish line. It was getting harder for her to keep a brave face on as her swollen ankle reminded of its presence at every step. She needed a rest. Without a notice, Evan sat down on a fallen tree and pulled Zander to a stop. He didn’t say anything, simply took her in his arms and continued walking toward the camp.
Now her head was close to his face, her long, dark hair spread over his arm. Zander spontaneously smelled her hair. It didn’t smell like strawberries or melon or apples or any other fruit, as he expected. Like their clothes, it had the scent of the stale water from that pond. The algae smell made him wrinkle his nose with disapproval.
“What are you doing?” She caught his reaction.
“Nothing.” He looked away. The thought of telling her the truth about who he was crossed his mind. Wondering how to explain to her his mission, he remembered his teammates and Zull Mort and quickly changed the topic. “Hey, look over there … parrots!”
Evan didn't look in that direction. She was still watching him. From his arms she could clearly see his powerful, yet gentle, features, strong jaw and a small scar on the left side of his chin that looked like a crescent moon. She thought that if he shaved his few-days-old beard, the scar would give him a powerful and stalwart look.
“You can almost see the camp among the trees,” Zander said.
“Evan is back!” someone shouted.
“Quickly! Come here! Evan is back! Tell the Professor that Evan is back!” the people from the tents close by started shouting when they saw Zander and Evan.
Soon both of them were sipping chamomile tea with honey and lemon while having their wounds and bruises taken care of in the medical area. Evan was very thirsty and the hot liquid teased her. Impatient for the tea to cool down she was blowing it furiously so that she could pour it down her throat in one gulp. The smell of chamomile, honey and lemon was relaxing her, making her slowly forget her ordeal.
“There you are, young lady!” Her father was beside himself with joy. Seeing his little Evan alive and in one piece meant the world to him.
“Where have you been?” Her mother rushed in the medical area, too. “Do you know that your father hasn’t slept all night worrying about you?”
Zander thought of his parents. His mother had died shortly after his birth. The only thing he had from her besides a few pictures and his father’s stories was the silver chain he wore around his neck. It had a distinctive pattern that looked like honeycombs. He had grown up with his grandfather and his father, but they were always heading to or returning from an assignment. Growing up in a family of time and space travelers wasn’t easy. They had their smiles and family time, but those seemed condensed into a few priceless moments, compared to the life of the Shtuttgarts.
Evan looked down at her right foot. Her left foot was immobilized, bandaged and propped on a chair. She felt she needed to provide and explanation, but at the same time she wanted to keep her secret, if possible. Her parents didn’t have to know she was exchanging letters with Kevin.
“H-hm, excuse me, professor,” Zander said. “She was with me. I wanted to show her the baby parrots, then I took the wrong path on our way back and—”
“There, there.” Evan’s mother seemed satisfied with the explanation. She touched her husband’s arm and continued
, “See, I told you. Once I learned that both of them were missing I was sure that it was a childish thing. It is good that you were with her, Zander.” Agatha helped Evan get up. “Come on, missy. You are grounded indefinitely. You are not allowed to be away from me or your father for at least a month. Come on, you’ll be staying in our tent for a while.”
Grounded for a month! Evan couldn’t believe her ears. If we were back home in Massachusetts, I would’ve been grounded for no more than a week. Being grounded, even for a day, in this dismal and forgotten place, will make my life even more miserable.
Evan got up and supported herself on her parents. Trying to not use her injured foot, she headed reluctantly toward their tent. Her scrambled thoughts rushed between Kevin’s letters, her punishment, the Mort Enterprises internal mail, her injury, the crawling in the dark, and the unfinished letter to Kevin she still had in her backpack.
She looked over her shoulder for Zander. His chair was empty. He had already left the medical area.
What was all that about the baby parrots? Why did he take the blame for me?
Evan couldn’t fathom why anyone would do that. He didn’t know her. She hadn’t spoken to him since their trip back from Jose’s store. Then it hit her.
He protected me. No-o, he saved me, and then he protected me. Like a knight in shining armor. If only he had shining armor, or at least Kevin’s looks.…
She wondered how to classify Zander that time.
Chapter 11
Inside a Mayan pyramid, Zull Mort and Amanda were waiting for Kevin. They could hear the thunder and the power of the rain falling outside.
“Sir, here is the Mort Enterprises internal mail for today,” Amanda emptied the mail bag on the folding table in front of Zull Mort. He slapped her tight shorts.
