by Curtis, Gene
“I filled the pockets with rocks so I would sink fast in the lake. I slid out of it so I could swim to the other sub when Gerod showed up.”
“What was it like, I mean when you ran out of oxygen and thought you had to surface?”
“Well, I was mad at LeOmi. I knew it was probably a test of some kind; all the clues were there that it was a test. LeOmi knew it had to be a test too, but she tried to push herself past her limits. There’s a good chance she would have drowned if Gerod hadn’t shown up when he did.”
“Are you mad at me?”
Mark glanced sideways at her and chuckled. “Yeah, a little. That’s some temper you’ve got.”
“I know, but I’m going to beat him. One day I’m going to beat him, but good.”
“I don’t doubt it, but why’d you go after him today? He was just after me.”
“I know, but he was making you and Nick out to be the bullies. I just got mad.”
“Remind me to never make you mad at me.”
Chenoa smiled, took Mark’s arm and stopped walking. She looked at the floor and said, “I want you to know this.” She looked back up at him. “I’ll stand by you, no matter what. Even if I think you’re wrong, I’ll stand by you.” She took her necklace off and held it up for Mark to see. “My father gave me this when I was seven. I want you to wear it so you’ll always remember; I’ll stand by you, even when nobody else will.”
“Chenoa, I don’t know what to say. I can’t take that.”
“Listen, from what we’ve seen today, there are going to be some tough times ahead. I want you to take this so you’ll always remember; you’re not alone in this. Remember, I was pre-chosen too.”
A tear rolled down Mark’s cheek. He took the necklace and put it on. “You’re right. Today has been a tough day. Guys aren’t supposed to cry, but right now I just want to bawl my eyes out. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. It just did.”
Chenoa put her arms around Mark and he returned the embrace. It felt good to actually hold someone, someone who cared. He kissed her forehead and said, “Come on, let’s go before we draw a crowd.”
She released him and let her hand fall down to his for the briefest moment. He didn’t take it.
Mark started walking. “Last year you said you lived in Virginia. Where abouts?”
“Just outside of Clarksville, on Buggs Island Lake.”
“Hey, that’s near where I live. My parents go to Clarksville for groceries. Maybe we can get together and do something in the summer.”
CHAPTER SIX
Dreams Remembered
It was just before eight thirty p.m. when Mark and his group sat down in a booth in The Oasis. Though LeOmi was a welcome addition to the group, she’d already made plans to have dinner elsewhere.
Shana walked up to the table, looked at Mark and said, “None the worse for the wear I see.”
“No ma’am. Can you give advice now, or do I have to wait until morning?”
“We measure days from sunset to sunset, so technically right now it’s Tuesday.”
“How can I stop them from attacking us?”
“Well, from what I know about you, you already know the answer to that question, so I’ll just remind you. Remember the Greenies?”
Mark nodded his head. Indeed he did remember how he’d given the Greenies something else to think about by letting it ‘slip’ that he knew where another group of boys kept their ‘stash’. Of course he didn’t let on that the boys were much older and much stronger than the Greenies. He’d also made sure the other group caught the Greenies red-handed, raiding their stash. In gratitude, the older boys gave Mark protection. All he had to do now was figure out how to apply that model to this situation. “Thanks. I think that might work.”
Shana smiled. “You’re welcome. Now, this is strictly voluntary. I want you guys to go to the barracks tonight around midnight and pick one or two of the new student’s clothes to wash. Just make sure you get them back to the right student. I’m sure you remember how that happened for you last year.”
Chenoa said, “Girls for girls and boys for boys.”
“Naturally, and there’s counselors on duty all night there to see to it.” Jeremy stepped up beside Shana and after glancing at him, she continued, “Be back here tomorrow morning at ten. Now, if there’re no more questions, I have to go see to the rest of my students.”
Jeremy had his pad in hand. “You guys ready to order?”
Jamal said, “From New York: I’ll have a mixed vegetables salad with balsamic dressing, New York strip steak, medium, onion rings and iced tea.”
Chenoa said, “That sounds good, except I’d like a green goddess dressing.”
Jeremy asked, “Is a ranch dressing all right if we can’t get the green goddess dressing?”
“Sure.”
Nick said, “Minnesota: beef stew, biscuits and tea.”
Mark turned over the phonebook sized menu, closed his eyes and brought his finger down on the map. He looked and asked, “What’s good from The Netherlands?”
“Generally I’d say that Europe is closed right now, but I know this all night place in Amsterdam. I recommend the kibbeling met friet. It’s the Dutch version of fish and chips and it comes with a sweet garlic dipping sauce. It’s best to have milk with that since the fish is really spicy.”
Mark said, “I’m not a big fan of fish.”
“If you don’t like it, you can always order something else, but I promise you’ll like it.”
“Okay, I’ll try it.”
Jeremy wrote it down and started to leave. Mark said, “This afternoon, you said you couldn’t talk about Slone’s group being my friends until after sunset.”
“They are your friends. You don’t want them to die and they don’t want you to die, so you’re not enemies. They’re not just acquaintances either. If they saw you in real danger, they’d come to your aid and you’d go to theirs. You are friends, just with a difference of opinion. You need to get rid of that difference of opinion, or make it so that it doesn’t matter; that’s all.”
“I tried that. You saw me try.”
“Yep, I saw you try. I didn’t say it would be easy.”
“Any suggestions?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Sometimes a gift and another apology works. Show ‘em you’re sincere. Do it one on one.”
“That might work with everyone but Slone.”
“Slone’s only the leader by popular consent.”
“Thanks Jeremy. Between you and Shana, I’ve got a lot to think about.”
“You’re welcome, and I hope you work it out.”
Shana was waiting along with other counselors just inside the back entrance to The Oasis at ten minutes until ten in the morning when the group arrived. She said, “Well good morning. In case you forgot, this year it’s two points per minute for being late. Go ahead and get breakfast and I’ll see you at your table in a few minutes.”
The group sat at one of their usual booths and ordered. Jamal asked, “Have you figured out what you’re going to do about Slone’s group yet?”
Mark answered, “Not completely. I plan to apologize to everyone that got slopped last year that didn’t deserve it, but I don’t think it’s going to have much of an effect on Slone’s core group.
“It looks like LeOmi wants to teach us about sword fighting, so I’ll see how big a group she is willing to take. Maybe we can make our group larger than Slone’s group. That might work if we can do it, but that’ll take time.
“I can’t think of any group here that might offer us protection. Last year Ms. Vanmie said we have to learn to fight our own battles. Slone is after me mostly, so if I have to, I’ll drop out of the group.”
Chenoa snapped, “That won’t work!” She leaned across the table toward Mark with her hand at the base of her neck. “We stand together! There isn’t any other way.”
Nick and Jamal exhorted, “She’s right.”
Mark saw Chenoa smile when he used his thu
mb to feel the cross under his tunic. “We stand together then.”
Chenoa, Jamal and Nick chorused, “We stand together!”
“I’ll come up with something then.”
Shana walked up and said, “Since you guys have already had the tour of the areas beyond the wall, you get to go into Magi City this week. Jamal, Nick and Chenoa, you meet up with the second level sophomores at the entrance to the engineering section. Counselor Foran will be looking after you while you’re on this excursion. Mark, you have a noon meeting to attend. After the meeting, just go to the engineering section and take an auto-car into Magi City to meet up with the group. Any questions?”
Mark asked, “How will I find the group?”
“The car will have their location. As always, just tell the car where you want to go.” Shana looked the group over and nobody else said anything. “Well then, I’ll see you later this evening. Have fun and try not to get into any more fights.”
Mark frowned and nodded. “That’s my intention,” and immediately thought of Mr. Thorpe’s words. “Intentions have no substance…”
Shana tilted her head, “Quite right. It is actions that have consequences. Might I ask where you learned that?”
“It’s something Mr. Thorpe said.”
“I see. Tonight, I’m going to ask you to expound on that. Do you think you’ll be ready?”
“What do you mean expound on it? It’s obvious what it means.”
Shana’s Irish accent became pronounced. “Is it now laddy?” She turned, started walking away and said over her shoulder, “We’ll see.”
Nick said loud enough for Shana to hear, “I think we’ve narrowed down the place in Mark’s dream.”
Shana spun on her heal and walked straight back to the table. “That was pretty quick.”
Nick answered, “Well, logically it has to be in or around Canyonlands National Park based on Mark’s description of the river. We can’t be sure since Mark only saw the area from above. We were heading to look at some online aerial photos yesterday, but we got a little sidetracked.”
She asked Mark, “What’s your feeling on this?”
“The way Nick figured it out makes sense, but I don’t know for sure. I don’t recognize any of the pictures in the books.”
“Well then, right after breakfast I want you to go look at those aerial photos. If you recognize anything, anything at all, you come back here and tell Jeremy since I’ll be in the stable area with the rest of my group. Even if it makes you late for your meeting, you come back and tell Jeremy first.”
“Yes ma’am. Can Nick come with me? I don’t know anything about the Internet.”
“Sure. As a matter of fact, all four of you can go.”
Chenoa said, “How on Earth can anyone not know how to use the Internet?”
Mark frowned at her. “I was just never interested.” He shrugged. “It’s not a crime.”
Nick frowned, “It should be.”
Jamal sided with Mark. “I never bothered either. I’d rather be outside doing something than sitting in front of some computer screen all day.”
Nick retorted, “I get some of my best ideas from the Internet. If it hadn’t been for the Internet, I never would have–”
Shana cleared her throat. “Mind you, the Internet is useful, but people made out just fine without it for thousands of years. I’ll see you guys tonight.”
Nick brought picture after picture up on the computer screen while Mark, crouched at his side, watched intently. Mark shook his head. “I want to think some of that looks familiar, but what I saw was two thousand years ago.”
Chenoa gasped. “You never said that before. How do you know it was that long ago?”
“I don’t know. I just know it was. But you’re right; I didn’t know I knew it until just now.”
Nick said, “So this is the place.”
“It makes sense that it should be, but I just don’t know for sure. These pictures were taken from a lot higher than I was.”
Nick turned back to the screen, “No problem,” tapped a few keys and the image zoomed in.
Mark nodded, “That’s about right, but it still doesn’t look familiar.”
Chenoa said, “Zoom out.”
Nick did as she requested. She pointed at the screen just north of where the Colorado and Green Rivers split. “Zoom in here.”
“I think that might look familiar,” Mark hesitated, “but not really. Everything looks kind of the same from the air. What I saw in the dreams had a lot more bushes and stuff.”
Jamal asked, “Was there any point in your dreams where you were on the ground?”
“I don’t remember. I don’t think so.” Mark put his hands on the sides of his head, turned around and started walking away. “I just don’t know!”
Chenoa called after him. “Mark! This is important. We have to figure this out.”
Mark continued walking. “Leave me alone!” He’d felt this same type of pain earlier. Someone was in imminent peril. When he reached the hall he turned in a full circle searching for the direction he should go. The pain subsided to almost nothing when he turned to the right. He started walking. The pain returned to its full intensity when he passed the short corridor leading to the school grounds. He immediately turned, walked down the hall and then outside.
About a hundred yards from the entrance LeOmi, crouched low and with her sword poised in front of her, stepped left as her opponent did the same. Her challenger was a large, cloaked and hooded figure wielding a two-edged sword of a style Mark didn’t recognize against LeOmi’s Spanish steel. LeOmi blurred for an instant and her opponent’s sword and right hand fell to the ground. She raised her sword for what looked like the coup de grâce and Mark yelled, “Hey!”
LeOmi glanced toward Mark and the hooded figure disappeared. She turned back to where her opponent had been, grimaced and shook her head. “I wasn’t going to kill him!” She reached down and picked up the sword and hand. She examined the signet on the hand’s middle finger, confirming it was the same signet design as the one the man that had killed her mother had worn. When she walked past Mark she said, “I just wanted some answers.”
Chenoa, Jamal and Nick had just reached the exit when LeOmi, followed by Mark, walked back into the school.
Chenoa looked anxious when she saw the sword with the hand still attached that LeOmi was carrying. She gasped, “What happened?”
LeOmi kept walking but Mark paused and said. “Someone tried to kill her!”
“Who?”
“Don’t know, but I want to find out. Come on.” He started jogging after LeOmi. “LeOmi, hold up.”
LeOmi kept walking.
The group caught up with her and Mark asked, “What’s going on?”
LeOmi quickened her pace. “You saw what happened.”
“Yeah, but—”
“You know as much as I do.”
“We have to tell a counselor.”
“Duh! You think?”
The group strode into The Oasis and LeOmi plopped the sword and hand down on the first table she came to, curled her lips inward and whistled loudly. “I need a counselor!”
A crowd of older students formed around the table, all whispering their speculation about what was going on. A moment later a counselor Mark had only seen in passing, a tall, skinny, red-haired fellow in standard wait-staff white shirt and black slacks, pushed through the crowd, took one look at the signet and exclaimed under his breath, “Neo-Phylum!”
At the back of the crowd Jeremy cleared his throat and everyone turned to look. On seeing who it was they stepped aside, forming a path for Jeremy to walk to the table. After seeing the signet on the hand that was still clutching the sword, he said, “David, get this to Council Chambers right now, and anyone involved. I’ll make the notifications.”
David, the first counselor that had walked up, nodded smartly to Jeremy, turned to LeOmi and asked, “Anyone else involved besides you?”
Jeremy walked out and
LeOmi pointed to Mark, “He saw me being attacked. That’s all I think.”
David gestured toward Mark and LeOmi. “Both of you; follow me.”
Chenoa asked, “Can we come?”
David rolled his eyes toward her, tilted his head and frowned, “Don’t you have some place you’re supposed to be?”
“We’re supposed to be with him and he’s got a noon meeting...”
“Well, that’ll have to wait. You can wait here.”
David left Mark and LeOmi standing in the middle of the room. The large double door closed behind him when he left.
Mark didn’t feel much different this time than he had last year in his first experience being in the Council Chambers. Even though he knew he’d done nothing wrong, his stomach was knotted and he felt like he wanted to be sick. This chamber was designed to make anyone on this level tremble with respect at the power and authority of the twelve council members sitting high above. There was but a single small area in the center of the floor illuminated by a single shaft of intense light projected from above. There was no furniture, not even a single chair to sit in, making anyone on this level feel they were under extreme scrutiny from the powers above and with no place to hide.
LeOmi stood beside Mark with her hands clasped in front of her and looking around.
Mark leaned toward her and whispered, “First time?”
She didn’t answer. The stark lighting made her look somewhat surreal, like an animated manikin on stage waiting to perform in some kind of robotic play. She looked up when the sounds of people taking their seats started.
A couple of moments later Mrs. Shadowitz’s voice began, “LeOmi Jones, would you begin by telling us what happened regarding the man that accosted you?”
“Yes ma’am. I was on my way to find Mark so we could go to our meeting together. I saw a man wearing a Magi cloak running toward me and he was calling for me to stop. He wanted to know where someone was. I don’t remember who he was asking about. He reached out like he wanted to shake hands and I saw his signet. It was just like the signet that Compton wore. I drew my sword and he drew his. I’d just cut off his sword hand when Mark yelled at me. I turned to see who yelled and the man remanifested. I wasn’t going to kill him, I just wanted some answers. If Mark hadn’t interrupted me, he wouldn’t have been able to escape.”
