“Con, don’t man. I don’t want this. You don’t want this.”
“You’re right, Pitch, I don’t,” Connor replied. “I don’t want to fight you. I thought we were starting to be friends, but I can’t stay here. I don’t want to fight you man. I like you, but I’m going to walk out into the desert. If you choose to get in the way of that, the fight’s on you, not on me.”
A heavy stone, about ten pounds, hit Connor a glancing blow on the side, just enough to knock him off balance.
Pitch said, “That’s what you’re bringing down, man. Don’t do this.”
Connor stared at his friend – newfound and now former. Without another word, he turned and headed toward the desert.
In front of him, a massive boulder levitated off the ground, hovering there.
Pitch said, “Please, Connor. Don’t make me.”
Connor kept walking, not sure what he was going to do. Maybe the steel skin thing would really work. Maybe Pitch was too good to sink this low. Maybe he could dodge.
The boulder flew forward, coming right at him.
What happened next made his ears ring.
The brightest light he had ever seen ripped the night in two.
A boom louder than the loudest gunshot hurt his eardrums.
And the boulder splintered into a million shards, flying in all directions, clattering to the ground.
Connor whirled around, gasping for air.
Behind him, Spark stood grinding his teeth, lips pressed into a straight line, clenched fist held out in front of him, tiny little bolts of electricity still sparking off it.
“You will not touch us,” he said through gritted teeth.
Pitch had been knocked off his feet by the blast. Now he staggered back up.
“What just happened?” he asked.
Connor replied, “Spark hit your boulder with lightning. Game’s a little different now, isn’t it? Let us go, Pitch.”
With an angry roar, the Legionnaire picked up another boulder and heaved it at Connor. The wind that came up this time was so strong it felt like a tornado. It blew the boulder back down to the ground and continued to swirl around Spark like a dust devil.
Each time one of his attacks was thwarted, Pitch grew angrier and angrier. Gone was the gentle, pained look of a young man who didn’t want to fight his friend. In its place were facial features twisted into an expression of rage.
All at once, rocks flew from every direction, aimed at Connor. They came in like iron filings all drawn to a magnet at once.
In reply, the wind grew to hurricane force. Connor felt his clothes wanting to rip off him. He actually felt himself being lifted off the ground by the beginnings of a tornado.
But none of the stones touched him.
“I’ll kill you!” Pitch shouted. But instead of attacking Connor, he charged straight at Spark.
Spark’s eyes grew wide, and Connor knew the conflict going on inside him. He didn’t like using lightning on people.
But there was a simpler solution. Connor stepped right in front of Pitch and drove a straight punch into his solar plexus. Between Pitch’s momentum and Connor’s martial arts training, the blow hit like a freight train. Pitch collapsed onto his side, retching.
“Run, Spark!” Connor called.
Together, they dashed off into the night, leaving Pitch moaning on the ground.
Behind them, both boys clearly heard, “Next time I see you, you die! You die Connor! I’ll kill you!”
Once they had run a few hundred yards straight out into the desert, Connor turned to the right.
“What’s up?” Spark panted.
Connor was in better shape and breathing easier, so he didn’t sound so winded when he spoke.
“If we just run straight in the same direction the exit tunnel points, it’ll be too obvious. They’re going to come looking for us, so we need to think strategically. If we double back and actually head up the mountain they’re under, that’s the least likely place to look for us.”
“OK,” Spark got out between gasps. “But we may need to pace ourselves. Not sure how long I can keep up.”
Connor dialed it back but said, “Speed is life man. Give me everything you can. Get ahead of me and set the pace. I’ll tell you when to turn.”
***
As dawn broke, they were high in the mountains and hiking south at the best pace they could manage. They had run, then jogged, then walked all night, and Connor had no intention of stopping until they couldn’t move another step.
The good news was, during the night, he had discovered that his navigating abilities wouldn’t matter as much as he feared. The neon lights of Las Vegas couldn’t be missed. They had to head south and a tiny bit East to get where they were going.
The bad news was the Cessna that flew overhead at about nine in the morning. No doubt Wings sat in the cockpit. Connor and Spark dove under the nearest cluster of rocks, hoping for the best. But aerial surveillance was only the least of their worries. He had no doubt Kila and Spooky and whoever all else were busy using their powers to look for them.
At noon, they gave up and found a cluster of rocks to hide under.
Connor said, “Well, not like I’m experienced at this, but based on how Vegas looked at night I’m betting we’ve got a 40 mile hike in front of us. If we can make ten miles a day, that’s four days. On the other hand, I think humans die of thirst if they don’t get a drink for about three days.”
Spark smiled and said, “Well, we don’t have to worry about dying of thirst, anyway.”
As he spoke, a black cloud gathered in the clear blue sky, and rain poured down. Both of them stuck their heads out from under the rocks with their mouths open, catching big fat drops.
After a few minutes of getting his tongue wet, Connor said, “Cool, but we better be cautious about doing that too often. We’re in the middle of a desert. If a rainstorm keeps showing up, and slowly moves toward Vegas at about the speed a man can walk, Sebastian’s going to know exactly where to find us.”
As he spoke, the clouds vanished on the wind, as if they had never been.
Spark said, “Right, but if we get close to dying of thirst, I’ll make us more rain. Maybe it’ll be safer at night.”
The trek to Las Vegas took less time than Connor estimated. They hid in whatever shade they could find during the day, trying to avoid the heat of the desert sun. At night they walked as far and as fast as they could. Spark used his power to bring a rain storm a time or two every night to keep them from getting dehydrated.
Eventually they found a highway and successfully hitched a ride into town.
***
Sol Tower. In the glory days of Las Vegas, everyone had been excited about the construction of the tallest skyscraper in town. The hotel-casino within it reeked of opulence, the showroom had glamorous performances, and the gleaming structure rocketed high above the other hotels in town.
The tourism business ebbs and flows. Las Vegas was no longer at the top of the wave, and Sol Tower was no longer new and exciting. The corporation that owned it had gone through several changes of management and ownership structure.
Walking through the casino to get to the elevators, Spark and Connor’s ears underwent an assault of clanging coins, wailing sirens, flashing lights, and other attention-grabbing efforts to lure people to the slot machines. The gambling came as a noisy din. Both boys stared around themselves in awe.
Silently, Connor re-examined his mental image of Ethan Moses and Anna Wales. They had talked about God and the bible. This seemed like an odd place to find them.
Worse, when they found the elevators, there was no button for the 76th floor. Standing in the first car that opened, looking at the vast array of buttons, the two young men looked at each other and shrugged.
“He said 76th?” Spark asked. “You’re sure?”
“Well, he said the top floor,” Connor replied. “And all the Vegas locals know Sol Tower has 76 floors. It’s an urban legend here. All the publi
city material for the hotel talks about 75 floors, but there’s a secret floor at the top that no one has ever been to. They’re supposed to be for the elite of the elite high rollers. Only super super rich people who gamble a lot of money ever get to stay there.”
Spark replied, “Maybe we should just go to the 75th floor?”
At that moment the elevator car doors closed, and it began to move.
Spark looked at Connor, and Connor looked at Spark. The latter said, “I sure didn’t push a button.”
“Neither did I,” Connor replied.
The ride went faster than either of them had expected, with no stops at intermediate floors. The elevator moved up at such a rapid rate of speed that when it finally dinged and stopped at the top floor, both of them felt off balance.
The doors opened.
In front of them, smiling, stood Ethan Moses. He wore a very formal navy blue suit with a shiny red single-color tie.
“Mr. Merritt. I’ve been expecting you.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
The two boys stepped off the elevator and stared around them. Sunlight streamed in through the unbroken glass of the ceiling. They stood in a wide antechamber with oak-paneled walls, brass lamp fixtures, and a roof that left no doubt that they had indeed reached the top of the building. It was completely glass and offered an unobstructed view of the sky.
Behind Connor, the elevator doors closed with a bell. In front of him, two massive wooden doors waited silently.
With a wave, Mr. Moses turned around and opened those doors.
“Welcome,” he said and walked in.
Connor and Spark followed him, staring in awe. The place they entered was the most luxurious thing either boy had ever seen. The floor was marble. The walls were wood. The ceiling was all glass.
Oil paintings and statues lined the walls.
“Whoa,” Spark said. “You must be seriously rich.”
Connor felt a little embarrassed. It seemed like a crass thing to say.
Mr. Moses didn’t act offended. He looked over his shoulder and smiled. “Once, I was rich as the world reckons rich. Today, I have a better kind of wealth.”
He led them out of the grand foyer, down a hall, past several different doors, and into what looked like a conference room.
There was a massive, long black table in the center of it, with chairs along either side. It must have been in the corner of the building because in addition to the glass ceiling, two complete walls were made of glass. The bright desert sun poured in, making it almost too bright. Connor had to squint at first when he came in.
When he opened his eyes, Anna Wales was standing there.
Her dark red, straight hair hung loose and shone in the sun. Those eyes that sparked with intelligence watched them walk in. She wore jeans and a white blouse. She was every bit as beautiful as Connor remembered, if not more.
How did I ever say no when she asked me to take her hand?
“I don’t think I had a chance to properly introduce you two the last time we met,” Moses said with a smile. “Anna Wales, Connor Merritt. Connor, Anna.”
Connor smiled and said it was nice to meet her. Silently, he hoped she didn’t realize he had already learned her name and been thinking about it a lot.
Moses then turned to Connor’s companion and asked, “And you are?”
“Spark,” he said.
Moses gave no sign at all of thinking that a strange name. He just said, “I’m Ethan Moses, this is Miss Wales, and you already know Mr. Merritt. Well, now that we all know each other, let’s talk.”
Soon, they were all seated around one end of that giant conference table. Although the boys had availed themselves of every drinking fountain they could since they made it to town, they still took full advantage of the frosty crystal pitcher of ice water that Mr. Moses set out. And when he added a heaping plate of cold cuts and rolls, they attacked it with gusto. Eating and drinking as much as they could, with plenty of interruptions for more, they listened to their host as he talked.
“The Bible is filled with stories of people doing amazing, superhuman things,” Moses began. “Of course, being murdered and getting back up again is the biggest of them all, but there are many others. Touching a person and seeing them healed is the most common example. Storms and waves were tamed. Earthquakes came when they were needed, Moses parted the red sea or called water out of a stone, and people got in and out of locked buildings. Once two disciples suggested punishing people who turned away Jesus by calling down fire from heaven on a whole town. Of course that wasn’t the kind of thing of which Jesus would approve, but it probably explains how those disciples got the nickname Sons of Thunder.”
“People in this modern world would call these kinds of gifts psychic powers, or ‘magic,’ or some other mumbo jumbo, but the truth is the Holy Spirit gives gifts to God’s people as they are needed to benefit all believers.”
He indicated the red-haired girl. “To Anna here, God gave a gift we call Transportation. She teleports from place to place when she asks God to take her there.”
Connor smiled at her. She nodded but then looked back at Mr. Moses.
“In my own case,” he said, “God gave me a gift of prophecy. I can know and speak truths that God gives me. That’s how I knew to come push the button to bring that elevator up here, just in time for you and Spark to be in it. That’s how I knew there was a black-haired young man who knew how to fight being held prisoner in the Government’s testing facility where they study people with the Gifts.”
He paused and then added, “It was Anna’s idea to pop in and get you out. She has strong feelings about not ignoring people who need help.”
Connor turned to the girl and smiled again. She looked away, embarrassed.
Looking at Connor, he continued, “Tell me about you, Mr. Merritt. When we first met, you mentioned someone shooting you, and you suffering no ill effects from that. Is that your Gift?”
Connor shifted in his seat. “I don’t know. It happened once. That’s all I really know about it. I’ve been afraid to try it again. I mean, how do you ‘try’ to be bulletproof? You have to let someone shoot at you, and there’s a lot that can go wrong with that if I’m wrong.”
Mr. Moses replied, “If that is indeed your gift, then it’s like I told you in your cell. It appears to be most like one that was given to the apostle Paul. Stoning was a common punishment in the ancient world. It was truly horrifying. It meant to kill someone by throwing heavy rocks at them. On one occasion, Paul was stoned. The perpetrators finished the deed and left him for dead. Then he got back up again and walked away.”
With a wink at Connor, Mr. Moses concluded, “A bullet, after all, isn’t that much different from a stone.”
Connor nodded uncomfortably. He didn’t feel ready to talk about his doubts, especially not in front of a pretty girl. In front of her, he wanted to sound perfectly confident.
Ethan Moses turned his head to Spark. “Somehow, it doesn’t seem like you’d be here with Mr. Merritt unless you had a gift, too.”
Spark didn't answer right away. Finally, he said, “Like you said about storms being controlled. Wind, rain, lightning. Whatever.”
Mr. Moses smiled at him. “What an amazing blessing. Let’s call it the Gift of Taming Storms.”
Spark did not reply. After a moment, Moses stopped waiting for it. He turned to make eye contact with each young person around the table. Then he began his own story.
“Not long ago, I was reading in Corinthians twelve about spiritual gifts and miraculous powers and about how they were given by God for the common good. A thought was suddenly in my head, in a way I couldn’t possibly ignore.”
“‘Find them.’ It wasn’t like an audible voice, and it wasn’t like my own thoughts either, but it was so strong and clear that I couldn’t take my mind off it. ‘Find them.’ It was so dominating that I couldn’t sleep. I just lay awake all night in my bed, praying and asking God what he meant by that. And finally, a little before
five in the morning, I gave up trying to sleep. I got up and went out for an early morning walk. I walked and walked until long after the sun was fully up. And as I walked, eventually I passed a church. Since I was trying to figure out what God was trying to tell me, I went ahead and walked in.”
He stopped for a smile and a nod at Anna and then said, “And as I stood there, looking at the empty pews and the stained glass windows, all of a sudden from out of nowhere this young lady appeared in front of me.”
He waited silently until Anna took over the story. Her voice was high and light. Connor thought it was the best sound he had ever heard.
She began, “The government found me for their testing facility when I was running late for class because we'd had some drama going on in my family. We’re like that. Ugh, they frustrate me so much sometimes. Especially my sister…”
She interrupted herself and said, “Never mind, save it for later. Anyway, I was late for class, and I was praying to God to get me there faster and all of a sudden I just showed up in the front of the classroom while everyone was already seated and the professor was lecturing.”
“You can imagine it caused a stir. The stir reached the government’s ears, and they came and took me away. I sat in their cell and listened to this lady named Flake. She told me her theories about people with abnormal abilities.”
“I met her,” Connor interrupted.
Spark didn't speak, but the angry look on his face made it clear he knew exactly who Flake was.
Anna nodded at both. “Well, I listened to her and when I wouldn’t sign their papers consenting to tests, she left me there locked up overnight, and I used that time to pray. I talked to God about how I didn’t really understand how I wound up in front of my class or why. But I told him, the last time I prayed to be somewhere else, he did it, and could I please be somewhere else again?”
“And suddenly there I was, in that church, looking at a nice old man in a suit and tie. Mr. Moses has been helping me ever since. He’s been teaching me about how to use the Gift of Transportation.”
Sons of Thunder Page 9
