The voices and thrashing in the bushes were coming closer. Her heart thudded. How willing would Roman be to negotiate now? Would he be furious? They had guns…
“We need a place to hide.” She spun around, looking, hoping for something to present itself in this patchy jungle. There were areas of thick overgrowth, and other areas of openness—like a lacy patchwork of texture. But what they needed was another temple, a cave, a something. Some hollow, some protective shelter. A hidden embrace from Gaia.
Gaia.
Without thinking too hard about what she was doing, Marina crouched, placing her hands directly on the ground. She closed her eyes and thought the name like a mantra, and felt a sizzle through her…as if something was surging up from the earth through her body. An awareness, a sense of life, consciousness, energy.
She felt the upheaval from the Mother, she felt her pain and confusion and sadness, and the churning heat of her burning magma…and she felt warmth and knowledge. She became as one with her…rooted. Connected.
When she opened her eyes, Marina was breathing hard, lightheaded, dizzy. Eli was staring at her, pain lancing his face, his right foot gingerly placed on the ground.
She blinked, shook off the strange moment, and looked around desperately, aware she’d wasted time going off into a—whatever that had been.
But—there was a massive banyan tree. There.
Conscious of the sounds of their pursuers—who, oddly, seemed farther away, or separated from them by some sort of barrier—Marina curved her arm around Eli’s waist. “This way.”
They maneuvered toward the large tree, with Marina looking beyond it for shelter—and there was nothing. The land was flat. The brush was thin. She searched in the opposite directions, making a small, hasty circuit fueled by fear and anxiety, searching for whatever had drawn her in this direction…
“Perfect,” said Eli, still gritting his teeth. He pulled from her embrace, one hand braced against the massive tree trunk. As she turned, he bent awkwardly to pick up a large stick, and that was when Marina saw the opening beneath the banyan. The roots erupted from the ground, forming a covering shingled with moss and vines. Hidden. Safe.
An embrace.
Eli shoved the branch up inside the opening, thrusting it all along the inside to ensure there were no critters living inside. A few beetles and some other insects she couldn’t identify skittered out, followed by some sort of rodent, and then nothing.
The shouts came closer, becoming distinct once more, and Eli dove inside, pulling Marina along with him. She heard his smothered groan of pain as he used his injured foot to lever himself down into the base of the massive tree.
The trunk itself was hollow, and the root system merely the covered entrance to an amazingly empty and roomy space. Dirt and roots formed the sides, and the hollow tree rose above them. Light filtered in from one side, giving enough illumination so they could see there were no other creatures to disturb.
She looked at Eli, whose heavy breathing indicated the level of pain he’d inflicted on himself. His face was tight, his teeth clearly gritted as he settled himself into place. They were each able to sit upright, backs against a wall of roots threading through earth. He was required to slouch a little, being taller, and they folded their legs into a modified lotus position, knees touching as they sat perpendicular to each other.
“I’m not going to ask how you knew this was here,” Eli whispered after he caught his breath.
“I didn’t,” she said, then hushed when the sounds of rustling and crashing were upon them. Literally.
She and Eli stared out into the jungle from behind and beneath the thick canopy of leaves, vines, and moss, watching for shoes or boots to appear, shouts to announce their presence, gunshots to be fired…
But after a moment, the human sounds that had been just above them faded.
And then there was silence, but for the warning of a bird who’d been disturbed, and the beginning of a sprinkle of rain.
“We need to bind your ankle,” she said, looking at Eli. The pain had eased from his face.
“I have a sock. That might work.”
She helped him remove it in the cramped space, then bound his right foot as tightly as possible. It was already swelling; his shoe would no longer fit. The best treatment would be ice and elevation—but neither were an option right now.
“Thanks,” he said, settling back against his side of the space. “Can’t believe I did that.” His mouth twisted with disgust.
“Even so, nice going on the distraction, Dr. Sanchez,” she said. “Was that really a—whatever you called it? I didn’t catch all the Latin words.”
His dark eyes glinted with humor. “No wonder—I was just making up names. Wanted it to sound good. That hive contained nothing more than a common Ecuadorean honeybee.”
She laughed. “Well, you convinced me. Nice shot, by the way.”
“Yeah. I even surprised myself. But it was a fairly big target.” He shrugged.
Their eyes met. “Well,” she began, suddenly acutely aware of their plight. “I’m not sure what our next move should be. We could go back—I’m sure Roman would be happy to see me.”
“So he’s your father.”
She pursed her lips and nodded. “Yes.”
“And what’s all this about a library? Might as well tell me—we aren’t going anywhere for a while.”
She did. Without a lot of detail, but enough that he got the picture.
“So you weren’t kidding when you said you understood why I’d take the risk to see those beetles. You could make your career with those writings.”
“If I wanted to be one of them—a Skaladeska. That’s the lure they’re dangling for me.” She sighed. “I don’t want to go back, but I don’t think there’s any choice. You’re not going to make it far, and I have no idea what distance we’d have to travel to find civilization—or at least someone who could help us.”
“Maybe we should check the hangar just to be sure there’s no plane in there.”
He sounded hopeful, and Marina didn’t have the heart to tell him there was no way that RV-5 would have fit inside. “We can do that. Later, when we’re sure they aren’t around.”
If that ever happened. Surely they’d be watching the hangar…
Marina tipped her head back against the earthen wall and closed her eyes. Her thoughts spun. They were safe—for now. But what was the plan? How were they going to get out of here, escape not only the Skalas, but the jungle itself?
Especially now that Eli was handicapped…
Despite their predicament, she forced herself to relax for the first time since she’d awakened last night in the clinic room with Eli. They’d been on the go, running and evading and exploring ever since then. Her fingers shook a little and her head was light from lack of food, but they still had the water and, now, a place to rest.
Her mind emptied and she let herself float, safe and protected within the earth. Rain pattered down beyond their hideaway, and she heard and felt the sounds, the sensations of life. She felt embraced. Content.
The ground thudded softly beneath her, like a heartbeat: strong and steady. Yet she sensed the pain and anger the earth felt. It was as if the magma far below her surged and churned with anger and desperation… And the rain was like weeping: soft, hopeless, steady.
She felt light, floating…then heavy, sinking…then light blazed behind her closed eyes. Arms encircled her. Warmth enveloped her.
And then, in the silence, entombed as she was, far from any distraction or man-made noise, she felt Her.
The presence of life.
Marina’s eyes bolted open.
The light was dim. Everything was still.
Eli was there, dozing against his own side of the small cave.
They were alone…except for Gaia herself.
The question was: would Gaia release them, or would she hold them?
THIRTY-EIGHT
Marina wasn’t certain what time it was
. The light was low—as if it were dusk—but it had been raining for a while. She wasn’t certain how close it was to night, or whether clouds lingered. When she thought about the amount of time they’d hiked, hid, rested, and even slept, she thought it might even be the next day, which would make it the 30th. Had they really left Chicago almost three days ago?
She went to pull Hedron’s cell phone out of her pocket to check the time, she realized it wasn’t there. Great. Must have fallen out during their mad dash, or when Eli flung her into Nora. She gritted her teeth. Marina hated to admit how much she’d hoped the phone would eventually work, that it would eventually have been their saving grace—a connection, a GPS map, something.
But now they didn’t even have that.
“Ready to go?”
Marina looked at Eli. “Go?”
“Back to the airstrip. Who knows what’s in that hangar. Maybe there’s a jeep.”
“They’ll be watching for us. And you’ve got a bum ankle.”
He nodded. “I do. But we can’t stay in here forever. I’ll be all right. I once played an entire round of golf on a strained ankle. And we didn’t use carts.”
“Another example of your dedication?”
He grinned. “Or stupidity. Take your pick. I was off my feet for two weeks after.”
Despite his confidence, Eli couldn’t quite smother a groan of discomfort as he crawled out of their hiding spot. After they stood up—for the first time in hours—and stretched, he immediately found a walking stick.
“This way?”
Marina nodded, and used Cora’s knife to hack off the end of a vine. Water poured from its hollow tube and she drank. When she was finished, she cut off another one for Eli. “I think we should approach the landing strip from the back this time.”
“Agreed. So.” Eli squinted, looking up at the sky. “We go west from here. Sun’s there.”
Off they went. Marina was impressed at the speed and agility with which her companion moved—he hobbled, winced occasionally, but kept a fair pace using his walking stick and her to assist. He had to be in great pain, but she couldn’t tell.
It took much longer to make their way back to the airstrip than it had to leave, of course, but they managed without encountering any problems more serious than a trail of fire ants—which, of course, Eli saw in plenty of time to avoid.
They were nearly to the clearing, approaching, as planned, from the far, rear side of the hangar, when Marina lifted an arm to silently halt her companion. This was the test.
Silently, slowly, they began to draw in toward the area—this time listening for any human sound, any warning from the wildlife in the area. From the rear, the metal building seemed even more decrepit and rundown, and Marina had little hope they’d find the plane inside.
Eli grabbed her arm and pointed. Marina caught her breath. Guards. Two men, each at opposite corners of the hangar.
They were either guarding something inside, or watching for her, or both. The men patrolled each side of the hangar, sometimes within sight of the other—sometimes without.
Eli pulled something from his pocket and Marina saw the gun they’d taken from Cora Allegan. Fat lot of good it would do them without any ammunition. He seemed to read her mind, but shrugged and quirked a hopeful smile, making a hitting motion with it.
A few gestures and he made his intention clear: he’d creep up behind the nearer guard, so Marina—who was more physically agile—could try to sneak into the hangar. There was a door on this side, hanging awkwardly from its moorings. She might be able to slip through the wedge-shaped opening without having to move the metal door.
Marina eased away from Eli and watched with her heart in her throat as he moved unevenly through the bushes whenever the near guard wasn’t looking in their direction. She did the same, and both she and Eli reached the edge of the clearing at the same time—spread apart by more than the length of the hangar. The guard turned the corner away from them and Marina dashed toward the building.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Eli lope forward and duck behind a small bush just beyond the edge of the jungle.
The narrow triangular opening beckoned, and Marina bolted toward it. If the other guard came around the corner before she made it through—
But he didn’t, and she did, diving through the lower, wider part of the opening. She slid across the gritty dirt floor on her palms and knees, suddenly in the shadowy interior.
She looked up and around.
The space was larger than she thought.
And there was a plane.
Surging to her feet, Marina dashed across the room, already realizing the aircraft was not the same RV-5 they’d flown in on…but an older model. A much older, abandoned, likely-not-working Cessna.
A sound had her spinning around, her heels digging into the dusty floor. She turned in time to see Eli duck through the opening.
She waited, but, miracle of miracles—he was alone. And she could read the excitement and relief in his movements as he made his way over to her.
“What’d you do?” she asked, smoothing a hand over the aircraft’s wing. Rust spots.
“Didn’t have to do anything. They stopped to talk on the front side of the building, and I took the opportunity to slip in here and join you. No one saw me. Look at this,” he said, delight in his voice. “Can you fly it?”
“If it runs, I can fly it,” she said, opening the plane’s door very slowly in case it squeaked or squealed. “But whether it’ll start up is the big question. And whether it has fuel, and…”
Long shots. Every single question was a long shot.
“All right. Let me poke around and see what else is in here.” He was looking at a long counter with a jumble of boxes on and around it. The whole place looked like someone’s abandoned, disorganized garage.
Marina climbed inside and sat in the pilot’s seat. Something skittered away beneath her feet, and there were plenty of cobwebs to be brushed away. At least no snakes…
How long had this plane been here?
She didn’t dare try and start it, did she? While the guards were just outside? And the door would have to be opened…
The controls were familiar, and everything seemed to be in working order—at least from the cockpit’s standpoint. The engine and its fuel were another situation entirely.
Marina climbed out and began to go through her normal engine check. Dust and dirt coated the engine, but there was fuel. Not enough to get far, but enough to get away. The prop was in good shape; the wings too.
The only question, it seemed, was whether the engine would start. And she didn’t want to try that until they were ready to go.
“Here,” said Eli, appearing at her elbow. He thrust a wrapped granola bar at her. “Found a whole case of these. Hope you aren’t allergic to nuts.”
She took it gratefully. “Anything else?”
They kept their voices low, aware of the other voices belonging to the guards just beyond the metal wall of the hangar.
“Case of bottled water, some beef jerky, and some cans of soup. Those big canisters—fuel, maybe?”
Marina looked over. “Yes. Oh, that’s great.”
The voices outside became more distinct, and Marina and Eli exchanged looks. A soft metal clang, followed by a scraping noise, heralded the opening of the main hangar door—the one large enough for the plane to move through, the one through which Roman had walked.
Without speaking, Marina and Eli separated. She ducked behind the far side of the plane. She didn’t see where he went; her attention was on the single figure walking through the door.
The new arrival didn’t appear to be looking for them; he went directly to the counter where Eli had been exploring the boxes. Maybe the guy was thirsty?
Suddenly, Eli slipped from the shadows and, still clearly favoring his right leg, surged up behind the man and swung the gun at the back of his head.
The man dropped like a stone, hitting his face on the counter as h
e fell. The clatter was audible, and someone—the other guard—called from outside. Anticipating his move, Marina dashed quickly to the other end of the hangar. She grabbed a metal pipe from the ground, and when the second man came inside, she waited until he moved away from the door toward his friend.
She bolted out of her hiding place and cracked him at the back of the head like she was returning a tennis serve.
“Nice work,” said Eli, who was already using something to tie up the first intruder. Electrical tape. That was handy.
Together they tied the two unconscious guards and arranged them in a corner out of the way.
“Don’t know when their shifts change or how soon anyone’s going to be looking for them,” Marina said, unnecessarily. “We need to work fast. I won’t know if the plane will start until I try it, but it definitely needs fuel added.”
She showed him how to do that, then climbed into the cockpit. “If it starts, stand back—there’ll be dust and dirt and wind going everywhere—and open the door wide. If not…” She didn’t bother to finish the sentence.
Drawing a deep breath, she set the controls, readied herself, and pushed the ignition button.
Nothing happened.
Swearing, she tried again, pushing harder—as if that would make a difference.
This time, there was a soft moan, a faint cranking sound.
Then nothing.
THIRTY-NINE
“The magneto isn’t working—no electrical current to start the ignition,” Marina said. “It’s dead as a doornail.”
“Maybe there’s something we can use over here.” Eli limped over to the scramble of things along the counter on one side of the hangar, casting a brief glance at the two guards still slumped in the corner.
“Unless there’s a battery, I don’t know what would help. We need an electrical charge. Too bad there’s no storm tonight.” Marina didn’t try to hide her frustration and anxiety.
She had the feeling they were going to end up back in the hands of the Skaladeskas sooner rather than later.
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