* * *
Sumita sat very still in the white van, bent over the mirror. From time to time, tears rolled down her cheek. She did not wipe them away. Nisha sat by her, patting her shoulder awkwardly, murmuring consolations, but Sumita seemed unaware of her. Perhaps she was reliving the incidents she had been forced to forget for so many years. Or perhaps the mirror was showing her visions of her lost people. The sadness on her face made Anand feel hollow inside. A longing to help her rose in him, but he forced it aside. He had a greater responsibility. Even here, hidden in the depths of the slums, they were not safe. Any moment now, Dr. X would discover that the conch was missing. Then he would scour Kol with his Finder machines. Anand had to take the conch back to the Silver Valley before that happened. He was no longer angry with Sumita for her part in the devastation, but he could not—as the hermit had warned him—afford to get embroiled in her problems.
“Dr.—uh—Sumita,” he said, “I thank you for helping us bring the conch safely out of Futuredome. But now we—and the conch—must return to the valley and try to set it to rights. The mirror, too, must be sent back to its rightful home.”
Sumita did not look up. She just clutched the mirror tighter.
“We can’t leave her like this,” Nisha whispered to Anand. “She’s in shock. If the scientists find her and realize that she took the conch from the vault, I don’t know what they’ll do to her.”
“But if we stay here, they’ll recapture the conch—and us, too. We can’t fight them. Their machines are too strong. You’ve seen it yourself.”
Nisha scrunched up her forehead, the way she did when she was thinking very hard. When she opened her eyes, they shone with excitement. “Let’s take Sumita back to the valley with us. She’s smart and hard working—and a good person besides. She could become an herb healer like me!”
“Are you crazy?” Anand cried. “Have you forgotten that she’s the one who caused all the damage in the first place? The healers would never accept her.”
“I’ll talk to Master Somdatta myself,” Nisha insisted. “I’ll explain to him that without her we wouldn’t have been able to recover the conch. Please! We can’t just abandon her.”
Anand, too, felt guilty about leaving Sumita to face her fate, but he still had misgivings. Even if she were accepted by the Brotherhood, could Sumita be happy in the valley, where life was so different from everything she had known?
Conch, he inquired. Is this the right thing to do? But the conch did not answer.
Time was seeping away, like water through a cupped hand. Every moment of indecision increased their danger. Anand pushed aside his doubts. “Come with us,” he said to Sumita.
Nisha touched the scientist’s face with gentle fingers. “You can stay with me in the women’s hut and learn about the healing herbs from Mother Amita. We’ll be like sisters. You’ll be able to use your skills to help many people.” When Sumita did not respond, she added, “There’s nothing left for you here.”
Sumita took in a deep, shuddering breath. “You’re right,” she said. She did not look at Nisha but gazed vacantly over her shoulder. “There’s nothing for me here, in this world that we’ve divided and destroyed with our greed. I might as well go with you.”
“That’s decided then,” Anand said with some relief, although he was disappointed that Sumita did not sound more enthusiastic. He took out the conch, wondering again why it had not responded to his question.
“Please, Conch,” he said, “let’s go home.”
11
THE ANNOUNCEMENT
Anand felt the conch come to life in his hand, vibrating faintly. From previous experience he knew that the vibration would increase. Then the conch would send out a dazzling radiance, an energy field within which it would envelop them before transporting them where they wanted to go.
“Quick!” he called to Nisha and Sumita. “We have to hold hands.”
But Sumita was staring as though hypnotized at the small sphere on the dashboard of the van, a miniature version of the Pods Anand had seen at the party. A red light had begun to flash from it.
“A red message on the Pod!” she said. “That’s the highest urgency level. I’ve got to see what it is.”
Nisha pulled at her arm. “Don’t!” she said. “Let’s just leave. You yourself agreed there’s nothing for you here.”
But already a hologram had formed above the sphere. A woman in an official-looking purple bodysuit announced, “All citizens on the alert! As you know from our last Podflash, a group of magicians broke into the main laboratory of Futuredome a few hours earlier. They stole an extremely hazardous energetic object that the scientists had procured with great difficulty to fuel the machines that keep Kol alive. With this act of sabotage, the magicians have placed all our lives in danger. Additionally, they have kidnapped Dr. S, the senior scientist in charge of the lab. No one knows what they’ve done to her.”
A hologram of Sumita, frowning sternly, hovered above the sphere, and then disintegrated, to be replaced by an image of Dr. X.
“The esteemed Dr. X, creator of the X-Converter, without which this city would have been doomed long ago, has sent an ultimatum to the magicians,” the announcer continued. “If the saboteurs do not return the energetic object to Futuredome within twenty-four hours, all imprisoned magicians will be executed publicly, in the Maidan. He has also announced a reward for anyone who can provide information regarding the whereabouts of Dr. S. And now, here is a response from the magicians—”
A hologram of Commandant Vijay wavered above the Pod. Whoever had created it had taken pains to make it particularly unflattering. He looked gaunt and hungry, with red-rimmed eyes and unkempt hair that flew madly about his face. “We didn’t do it!” he shouted. “The scientists messed things up once again, and they’re trying to frame us! But this much is certain: If they harm even one of our people, it’s out-and-out war. This time we won’t stop until they’re destroyed, even if that means—”
He was cut off in mid-sentence. The announcer, looking harried, stated, “Anyone who has information that might help the Security Council deal with this volatile situation is urged to activate the contact button on your Pod and speak with us immediately.”
With a click, the Podsphere turned itself off, leaving the three people in the car in stunned silence.
* * *
Anand was the first to speak. “I wish we hadn’t heard that!” he said with a sigh. In his mind he saw Basant’s earnest face. If it hadn’t been for his advice, Nisha and he might still be stuck inside the rehabitational. He remembered Basant’s mother, too. Just before they had left the magicians’ den, she’d grasped both his hands in hers.
“I hope you find your object of power,” she had said. “Please ask it to help us bring our prisoners home.”
What would she say now, if she knew that Anand was the one responsible for this execution order?
“I’m sorry!” Sumita said. “I shouldn’t have listened to the Pod. But it’s an old habit, dinned into our heads from the time the scientists brought us to the dome. The two of you should go back to your world. Once you’re safely away, I’ll turn myself in and take the blame for the loss of the conch. That’ll stop the scientists and magicians from fighting.”
It would be so simple to just say yes, Anand thought. He longed to leave this mess to those who had created it. But he shook his head. “I can’t let them punish you for something we asked you to do. Besides, Dr. X won’t believe you—especially since you won’t have any proof. He’ll still blame it on the magicians, claiming they somehow forced you to steal the conch. It’ll give him the perfect excuse to destroy them. No, we have to stay.” Regretfully, he replaced the conch inside his shirt. As it left his hand, he felt warmth pooling into his palm, as though the conch approved of his choice.
“But how can we help Sister Sumita?” Nisha asked.
Anand said, “Our best bet is to meet with the scientists and the magicians, both groups at once. We’ve got
to make them see the madness of what they’re doing, using up their resources to attack each other when they need to band together to help Kol.”
Sumita gave a short, mirthless laugh. “You’re the one who’s mad, to think they’ll listen! They won’t even bother to meet with you.”
“They will if they know I have the conch.”
“If you take the conch to them,” Sumita replied, “you’ll cause an even bigger fight as each group tries to gain control of it. And whoever gets it will use it against the other faction. No. It’s best you leave. We’re beyond helping here.”
Nisha looked apprehensive, but she said, “No one is beyond helping. That was one of the first things they taught us in the valley. And sometimes, just by trying to help, we change the situation. Don’t worry about us. Remember, we have the conch. Just its presence will make us more powerful than the scientists and magicians combined.”
About time someone gave me a little credit! The conch’s beloved, wry voice sounded in Anand’s ear. You’re right about trying to get everyone together. Ask the scientists and magicians to meet you for negotiations in the Maidan tomorrow. Tell them to come to the center of the field, to the raised platform where in older times concerts were performed. They must be there by noon.
Noon? Anand said uncertainly. But it’s almost morning already! That leaves us only a few hours.
Noon is when my power is at its fullest, the conch said, and I’ll need that. This place where air and earth have turned to poison saps my energy.
What if they refuse to come?
Tell them you’ll demonstrate my power. That’ll entice them. Invite as many of the common people of Kol as you can gather. Demand that the prisoners be brought there, too. If a lasting solution is to be worked out, everyone must be present.
I’m so glad you’ll be there to make them do what’s right, Anand said in relief.
Whatever gave you such an idea? the conch said. My job is merely to provide you with a barrier of safety so no one can attack you. You’re the ones who’ll have to convince all those pigheaded people to cooperate, you and Miss Impatience and that weepy scientist woman.
* * *
Things moved rapidly after that. Once Anand told her what the conch wanted, Sumita activated the Pod and sent out a message urging all citizens to join them for the meeting at the Maidan. She invited scientists and magicians and councilmen, addressing each group separately. “If you come with an open mind,” she said, “I promise to show you something so amazing that it’ll change your life.”
Hoping they had access to a Pod somewhere in the Terraces, she invited Ishani and the teenagers that roamed the ruins and asked them to bring all their friends. “I want your voice in the decision we make,” she said.
She even pleaded with the guards at the rehabitationals to bring their prisoners. “We’re offering you the hope of a world where your only contact with people won’t be to stun them with your Electrotubes,” she told them, speaking as earnestly as she could. “Wouldn’t you like it if people were actually happy to see you?
“I hope the Podcasters will relay the messages,” she said to Anand and Nisha after she had finished speaking into the pod.
“I think they will—it’s bound to be the most sensational piece of news they have!” Nisha replied.
“Now we need to get away from the van as quickly as possible,” Sumita said. “Once the Pod’s messenger system is activated, the Finder machines can locate it in a matter of minutes. Then the Security Council will surely—”
Before she could finish her sentence, the Pod began to flash. This time the light was a soothing blue, pulsing in a particular rhythm. Sumita’s mouth set in an angry line as she watched it.
“That’s Dr. X’s personal code,” she said. “That was quick!”
“Don’t listen to him,” Nisha said. “It isn’t safe to stay here any longer—you said so yourself.”
But Dr. X had already started speaking, his voice deep and mellifluous and oddly riveting.
“My dear S!” he cried. “I can’t tell you how thankful I was to hear your voice! At least you’re alive—even though from your message it sounds like the magicians still have you in their power. Will they allow you to speak to me?”
“No one’s stopping me from doing anything,” Sumita said. “I’m here of my own will.”
There was a pause. “I can’t believe that,” Dr. X said. “They must have put a Hypnospell on you.”
Anand and Nisha had jumped down from the van. “Come on,” Anand whispered, tapping Sumita’s shoulder, but she was totally focused on the Pod.
“No Hypnospell here,” she said in a hard, bitter voice. “But maybe I’m just waking from one—the one that you and your cohorts put on us children when you took us from the slums so that we’d forget our people. So that we wouldn’t ask any inconvenient questions when you sent them away to die.”
There was the slightest of pauses. Then Dr. X said, “That’s not how it was. Don’t you remember the personal interest I took in you ever since you came to live in Futuredome? Didn’t I make sure you always got the best—from food to clothing to the latest equipment for your schooling and then your research? Why, I loved you like my own child!”
Nisha pulled at Sumita’s arm. “Come on! Don’t talk to him anymore!”
Sumita flicked her hand away. “Don’t use that word!” she cried into the Pod, her voice shaking. “You don’t even know what love is, you and your colleagues. You did your best to cut all loving out of us. You pitted us children against each other so we saw the others only as rivals for your attention. And as for taking care of me, you did that merely because I was good with machines. You used me.”
“Calm down, my dear,” Dr. X’s voice soothed. “You’ve misinterpreted the facts. Once I see you face-to-face, I promise to clarify everything to your satisfaction. You’ll see then that everything I did was for the good of Kol. Just stay where you are and I’ll send my own personal hovercopter to pick you up. Uh—do you still have the object in your possession?”
“That’s what you’re really interested in, isn’t it?” Sumita said through clenched teeth. “Yes, I have it. And I’ll die before I hand it over to you!”
“That would be a pity,” said Dr. X, his voice mournful.
There was no sound, but some sixth sense made Anand look up into the night sky. Hovering directly above them was an aircraft shaped like a disc. The guards must have traced the conversation and taken up their position while Dr. X distracted Sumita. Something black and diaphanous fell from the disc, widening into a huge circle.
“It’s a net!” Nisha cried.
Anand grabbed Sumita’s backpack and pulled her from the van. “We’ve got to get to the Terraces,” he shouted. “They’re our only hope. Once we’re in the corridors, we can hide. Maybe Ishani and the others can help us.”
The three of them sprinted toward the ruins, which were, fortunately, not far. Anand thought they had a good chance of reaching them. But then, glancing over his shoulder as they fled, he saw that the net was larger than it had first appeared. Perhaps it was equipped with sensors, for instead of falling straight down, it glided swiftly toward them. Now it was only a few feet above their heads. Worse, guards equipped with parachutes were jumping from a door that had opened up on the bottom of the aircraft. Tubeguns gleamed in their hands as they floated down lazily, not bothering to hurry.
Anand ran until his lungs felt as though they would burst. He could hear Sumita and Nisha panting close behind. The dark silhouette of the Terrace was only a few paces away. They had made it! He ducked into a doorway and leaned his head against the jamb, panting.
Just then Nisha fell to the ground with a grunt of pain. In her hurry, she must have tripped on a chunk of rubble. As Anand watched in horror, the net dropped over her.
“Keep going!” she shouted. “Save the conch and the mirror!”
Anand had thought he couldn’t move another inch, but a wave of strength surged over him a
s he saw his friend struggling with the net. There was something strange about the net, for her struggles slowed and finally ceased. He rushed back to her. Behind him, he could hear Sumita shouting something, but he ignored her. He grabbed the net, trying to lift it off Nisha. It was very heavy—and sticky, like a monster spider web. Now both he and Nisha were stuck to it.
No wonder the guards hadn’t needed to hurry!
“It’s an Adhesa-web!” Sumita, who had reached them, said. “That’s what I was trying to warn you about.” She pulled out a pocketknife and sawed at the netting around them, careful not to get her hands entangled. But though the netting looked delicate, it was amazingly tough. She could barely cut through a strand. There was no way she would be able to free them in time.
Nisha twisted her head to look up at Anand, tears of frustration on her cheeks. “I’m so sorry! I’ve ruined it all. You shouldn’t have come back.”
“Don’t be silly,” Anand said. In his head he added, We live or die together. He pressed a finger against the web and clumsily wiped the tears from her cheeks. Even in the midst of the great danger he was facing, his heart expanded. He did not want to move his eyes away from her dirt-streaked, beautiful face.
“They’re on the ground,” Sumita whispered. “They’ll be on us in a few seconds.” Her face was full of despair, and she dropped the knife. It struck Anand that, being a scientist, she knew exactly what the guards would do to their victims.
Conch! he called in despair. Help us!
The answer reverberated in his chest like a thundercloud. Foolish boy! To trust your safety to those weak, stumbling human legs when all the time you carried the gateway on your back!
The gateway? On my back? thought Anand, confused, then realized that Sumita’s backpack was slung over his shoulder.
“Quick!” he cried to Sumita. “Pull out the mirror. Press it against the net so that we can all touch it.” A part of him quailed with doubt. What if he was wrong and the mirror, too, got stuck to the net?
Shadowland Page 12
