As they left the scene, Cormac looked behind him to see if they were being followed. They weren’t. I suppose the last thing the Kats would suspect is for us to escape in one of their own choppers. You had to hand it to these Black Lotus guys. Whoever they were, they knew what they were doing!
Through his headphones, he heard Kate speak. “Those other drivers on the highway, they were Black Lotus too?”
“Some of them,” said Makoto.
Across from him, Kate glanced at Ghost and then Cormac. “What will happen to them?”
“I don’t know.”
She hesitated. “They’ll die?”
“We just have to hope they get away.” He turned to Kate. “They were doing their job: protecting you.”
Her eyes widened. “Were we the targets?”
“We don’t know, exactly,” replied Makoto. “It could’ve been opportunistic. They might’ve followed one of you and taken the chance to strike.”
Cormac pulled the headphone mic down. “Why is your headquarters in the middle of the Empire? Why not somewhere else, like America?”
“We have a saying: Sometimes the best place to hide is perched on your enemy’s eyelashes. We’ve survived here for hundreds of years. But all the time, the Kyatapira net closes in.”
“So those guys could’ve died for us?” asked Kate.
“For the Black Lotus,” replied Makoto. “You are our future.”
Suddenly the enormity of the situation hit Cormac with a force that made him want to throw up. People were willing to die to get him here. There was no going back now.
The conversation stopped as they flew over tree-covered hillsides, mountaintops studded with sharp outcroppings of rock, meandering rivers, and gushing waterfalls. Cormac wondered where exactly they were going, and what would be expected of them once they’d gotten there.
After about an hour, the helicopter banked sharply to the right and descended toward a forested mountainside. A clearing opened up beneath them. They had no sooner landed than Makoto opened their door, beckoning them out. When everybody had disembarked, the machine took to the sky again.
“Where are we?” asked Kate.
“This is the safe zone,” Makoto replied. “We call it Niwa.”
Cormac knew that word. “Garden?”
Makoto smiled, clearly impressed. “So you have been listening at school.”
He shrugged. “Reluctantly.”
Makoto looked at Kate and Ghost. “We have quite a bit of ground to cover. So we had best get going.”
He headed into the forest and up the mountain. The others followed. The air was spiced with the scent of pine, the ground soft underfoot. There was no path, and yet Makoto seemed to know exactly where he was going. The kids walked three abreast, with Ghost in the middle.
“Can you believe this?” asked Kate.
Ghost smiled. “Maybe we chewed off more than we bite.” His thick accent suggested English wasn’t his native language.
Kate laughed. “I think you mean ‘bit off more than we can chew.’ ”
“Yes,” said Ghost. “My English isn’t so good.”
“It’s very good,” said Cormac. “Did you learn it in school?”
Ghost shook his head. “I teach myself. I have a book.”
“You’re a dark horse, Ghost,” said Kate.
Ghost looked at her blankly.
“I mean, you’re full of surprises,” said Kate. “Like back on the highway—you didn’t even look scared.”
Ghost shrugged. “I don’t have a life like you. I have no family. I live alone. My life is scary. This is exciting.”
A seedling of hope sprouted in Cormac. “You’re Hinin too?”
“No.” Ghost shook his head. “I’d die before I go to one of those places.”
His reply crushed the seedling like a heavy boot.
“I know that word,” said Kate. “It’s like an orphanage, right?”
Cormac nodded.
“You live in a Hinin House?” asked Ghost.
Cormac swallowed and looked away. What could he say? He was embarrassed.
Kate touched his arm. “Nothing to be ashamed of, Cormac. I live on the streets.”
“What?” asked Ghost, clearly as surprised as Cormac, who presumed a smartly dressed, well-spoken American girl like Kate came from a nice family and had a pet dog and a pretty house with a backyard.
“I guess we all have something in common,” said Kate. “Which makes sense. I mean, what parent in their right mind would let their kid come here?”
Ghost put a hand on Cormac’s and Kate’s shoulders. “We’re like beans in the pod.”
“Peas!” chorused Kate and Cormac together.
The three laughed, causing Makoto to turn around and scowl. “Just because it’s safer here, that doesn’t mean you should draw attention to yourselves,” he said sharply.
Cormac raised his palms in apology. Makoto continued walking. But Cormac stared into the trees.
“What is it?” asked Kate.
“I thought I saw something.”
“Where?”
He pointed into the undergrowth, to where he was sure he’d seen movement—a furtive shift of light and shade. “Probably just an animal.”
“Let me check,” said Kate. She closed her eyes and tilted her head sideways, as if she was listening for something.
“What are you doing?” asked Ghost.
Kate kept her eyes closed but held up her hand. “Shh!”
Confused, Cormac glanced at Ghost, who shrugged.
When Kate finally opened her eyes, she said, “That’s weird. There’s not an animal within a thousand feet of us, not even a bird.”
Cormac frowned. “How can you tell?”
“It’s my thing.”
“Your thing?”
“Yeah, you know, my special ability. I can communicate with animals.”
“No way!”
“Yes way. Like you can run abnormally fast.”
Cormac blushed.
“Sorry, but we all saw you sprint away from that highway.”
Cormac bowed his head. He was normally good at hiding his talent, but when bullets and missiles are being fired at you, instinct kicks in. It felt weird to hear people discussing his skill openly.
His mother had told him that even as a baby he’d been “different.” He’d sat up at two weeks and walked at two months. She had ended up lying about his age so he’d seem normal. By the time he started school he was an expert at keeping his abilities secret. Life was easier when you were the same as everyone else.
Again, Kate seemed to sense his discomfort and changed the subject. “So what about you, Ghost? Do you scare people or something?”
He didn’t reply but was staring at the place where Cormac thought he’d seen something move.
Cormac followed his line of sight. “What is it, Ghost?”
“I think I see something move too.”
“He’s kidding,” said Kate. “He just doesn’t want to answer my question.”
Ghost started walking in the direction of the movement. “No, I see something.”
Cormac looked up the hill, but there was no sign of Makoto. Ghost was pushing aside plants and stepping over branches, heading toward a group of trees. Cormac and Kate glanced at each other, then followed Ghost.
When they reached him, he raised his finger, signaling for them to be quiet. He stepped closer to the gnarled trunk of an old tree, his eyes squinting into the murky shadows. He crept closer and closer, until it looked like he was going to walk right into the tree. Looking puzzled, he raised a hand to touch the bark …
The tree suddenly came alive, taking human form, grabbing Ghost’s extended hand and twisting it sharply. With a cry of pain, he fell to the ground.
Cormac was about to shout when a hand clamped firmly over his mouth, stifling his cry. A searing pain shot through his bicep as his arm was forced up behind his back. A kick to the back of the legs brought him to his knees, b
efore his face was shoved into the dirt. A foot pinned his neck to the ground.
Then he heard a distant shout, and the pressure lifted. He sat up, spitting out dirt and leaves. Nearby, Kate and Ghost struggled to their feet. Four figures wearing weird bodysuits surrounded them, watching through slits in their face masks. Their boots, suits, and masks were all made from the same strange material. It changed color as they moved, reflecting the forest around them. When they weren’t moving, they seemed to disappear into their immediate environment.
Makoto burst through the trees. “What are you doing?”
Kate’s eyes narrowed. “You said this was the safe zone!”
“It is,” replied Makoto. “But that doesn’t mean you can wander off on your own.”
He raised his arm and called out.
More masked figures dressed in the same reflective suits stepped from behind tree trunks, rolled out from under bushes, and dropped silently from overhead branches. Cormac gasped. There were twenty, at least, but he hadn’t spotted a single one until they chose to reveal themselves.
“They are what makes this the safe zone,” explained Makoto. “They are the Black Lotus shinobi.”
“Shinobi?” Even Kate knew that word. “Ninjas?”
Makoto smiled. “Ninjas have always been highly respected saboteurs, deadly martial artists, trained assassins, and expert spies. Many fought injustice, but others became mercenaries, hired by the Empire to do their dirty work. Those who wouldn’t do the Empire’s bidding were hunted down and many were killed. A small group continued to fight against the Empire. They were called the Black Lotus.”
Makoto raised his hand, and with a flick of his wrist the shinobi melted back into the trees, as if they’d been nothing but a mirage.
“It’s like magic,” breathed Kate.
“Not magic. Skill.” Makoto gestured to their invisible watchers. “And one day, you will join their ranks.”
Cormac frowned. We’re going to be ninjas?
“Now, we must go,” said Makoto, turning to leave. “Our master is waiting.”
Cormac stared into the trees but could see no trace of the hidden people.
“Come on,” said Kate, pulling his arm.
He followed, unsure how he felt about becoming a ninja. His natural instinct was to immediately reject all things Japanese. But it seemed Japanese wasn’t always the same as Empire.
“And there I was,” said Kate, “thinking I’d be heading up a team of scientists to breed an army of mutant penguins to fight the Empire.”
Cormac laughed, suddenly banishing whatever doubts he’d had. Although the shoot-out had shaken him, something felt right about what was happening: Wherever he was going, or whatever he was to become, it couldn’t be any worse than his life in Ireland. He didn’t know why, but this felt like his destiny.
Eventually they crested the mountain and came to a grassy clearing. The sky stretched out above them, an uninterrupted blanket of blue, and all around were forested slopes in varying shades of green. Distant snow-topped mountains traced a jagged horizon across the sky.
“Wow!” Cormac gasped.
Kate picked a purple flower off a tree. The twisted vines of wisteria hung from the branches, filling the air with sugary sweetness. She held the delicate petals to her nose and inhaled deeply.
“You can see why we call this place Niwa,” said Makoto.
Ghost spun around slowly, taking in the breathtaking panorama. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“If you are having second thoughts about joining us,” said Makoto, “speak now, before we step inside.” His gaze moved from face to face, but nobody spoke.
Inside where? Cormac looked around.
Makoto tapped the communication device on his chest and spoke into it. Something clicked nearby, followed by an electric whirring noise.
Four hydraulic rams pushed a square section of the ground into the air. It stopped at head height, making it look like a weird pagoda with a grass roof and four steel legs. A black hole yawned beneath it with steps leading down into the darkness.
“Welcome to Renkondo,” said Makoto. “Renkon means ‘lotus root.’ ”
“Root? The Garden? Black Lotus?” said Kate. “What’s with all the gardening terms?”
Makoto smiled, the sun sparkling in his single brown eye. “The lotus flower only grows in muddy water. It shows that beauty and hope can blossom in the darkest of places.”
Kate nodded.
“Black is the color of night, the color of shadows. It doesn’t call attention to itself—it goes unseen. A black flower is a paradox, a contradiction. It cannot grow naturally but can be cultivated.” He pointed down the steps into the darkness.
“Renkondo,” said Kate, finally understanding. “The root grows underground.”
“And eventually lives in the garden,” said Makoto, gesturing at the curtains of purple wisteria hanging from branches all around them. He bowed to her and disappeared down the steps.
Kate looked at Cormac and Ghost, who were both smirking. “What?”
“The root,” imitated Cormac in a dreamy voice, “grows underground and blossoms in the garden of life.”
Ghost burst out laughing.
“Get lost!” Kate said, following Makoto down into the darkness. But if they could have seen her face they’d have known she was smiling.
Cormac and Ghost followed Kate to the bottom of the steps, where she saw a chamber constructed of giant stone slabs that wouldn’t have looked out of place in an Egyptian pyramid. A heavy steel door was set into one of the slabs. It had no handles, locks, or hinges, just a picture of a flower embossed into the metal: a lotus. An electronic panel beside the door reminded her of Star Trek.
Makoto stood in front of the panel and placed his hand on a pad. A green light glowed beneath it. At the same time, an infrared beam scanned his single eye. Finally, there was a beep, and the door slid to one side.
They followed Makoto down more steps lit by feeble bulbs overhead. The roughly hewn rock walls dripped with moisture. Kate shivered, her breath clouding in the dank air. At the bottom of the steps Makoto used a keypad to open another door and they were immediately hit by a blast of warmth.
Beyond was another ancient-looking tunnel, but unlike the stairs it was bright and dry. As they walked, Kate felt fresh air being pumped into the tunnel through ventilation shafts in the ceiling. Long fluorescent lights lit the passageway. At one point they passed a doorway that led into a vast cavern, but they were walking too quickly for her to see what was inside.
They finally arrived in a large circular room with a high rock ceiling from which more tunnels led off in different directions. Kate counted them—eight in total, each marked with a letter or letters. “Compass points!” she exclaimed.
“That’s right,” said Makoto. “Renkondo is laid out like a wheel, each tunnel being a spoke, and this is its center.”
He pointed toward the tunnel they’d just come down. “The South Tunnel leads back out, but you must never leave Renkondo without permission.” He turned around to look at them, his face deadly serious. “Understand?”
Kate and the boys nodded.
Makoto continued. “You’ll soon get used to the layout. All tunnels lead back here, so it’s impossible to get lost. Let me show you around.”
The kids followed Makoto into the Northwest Tunnel, where they heard distant voices echoing. The farther they walked, the louder the voices became. And the tunnel became more modern too, with tiled floors and concrete walls.
“Renkondo has grown over the centuries,” explained Makoto. “This is one of the more recent extensions.”
A sign hung on the wall, pointing toward the dining room. There were also notice boards, lists of rules, trash cans, and a fire extinguisher.
“This is just like a school,” said Kate.
“Because it is,” said Makoto. “A school for shinobi.”
He stopped outside a door with a small glass window in it. He mo
tioned for them to look through.
Inside was a classroom with a dozen students sitting at desks. Some of them looked to be the same age as Kate, but others looked older, and they all wore the same bodysuits that the shinobi in the forest had worn, except without the face masks. An Asian lady with bobbed hair and wearing a yellow dress wrote English verbs on a whiteboard at the front of the classroom.
“Cool,” said Ghost, looking confused.
Kate rolled her eyes. “It’s a classroom, Ghost.”
He stared through the window. “I’ve never been in a classroom before.”
Cormac raised his eyebrows. “We’ll see how cool you think it is after spending a few hours in one.”
Makoto led them down the corridor past more classrooms. Through the glass windows, Kate saw kids in bodysuits reading, writing, doing science experiments, meditating, and practicing first aid. Ghost beamed from ear to ear.
At the next junction, Makoto pointed to the left. “Dining room is that way,” he said, before turning right.
They passed more doors, including a metal one with a keypad and a “No Entry” sign.
“What’s in there?” asked Kate.
“Nothing,” said Makoto, clearly not wanting to discuss it.
Cormac and Ghost exchanged mischievous grins.
“What?” whispered Kate as Makoto walked ahead.
“Obviously something is in there,” replied Cormac.
“Something important?” added Ghost.
Kate sighed. “It’s just a door. Are you guys gonna get excited about every door and classroom you see?” She pointed ahead to where Makoto was waiting for them at another junction. “Come on.”
They ran to catch up as Makoto turned right into a long corridor with numbered wooden doors on either side.
“We’re now in the North Tunnel,” said Makoto. He stopped outside a door marked “23” and opened it. “Cormac and Ghost, this is your room.”
The Black Lotus Page 4
