A few rocks broke free from under Cameron’s feet, falling into the pool, and he flung his arms out to catch his balance. “I don’t usually get cold. My mom says it’s my hyperactive blood, which is absurd, of course. Hyperactivity plays no role in the rising or dropping of body temperature.” He laughed, evoking a slight smile from the otherwise reserved Nika.
“Is everyone still off-line?” Devin asked.
Trevor checked his visor and saw the bright red letters. “Yup.” He whistled. “VIC? Can you hear us?”
No response.
Trevor squatted and dropped his gloved hand into the pool. The water was freezing cold, and he could feel it in his fingertips, despite the layer of neotanium shielding his skin. Rising to his feet, he wiped his hand on his thigh and examined the mountain.
“How do you explain all this water, Cameron?” Trevor asked. “Did they build a gigantic swimming pool inside the Globe?”
Cameron sighed. “Must I explain everything?”
“You’re the genius,” Trevor said. “But with what you were saying earlier, this probably isn’t even a real mountain, right?”
“Of course not.” Cameron gave Trevor a sympathetic expression. “We’re simply seeing a projection. That is most likely the inside wall of the Globe. Fine work indeed, but clearly not real.”
“What do you think?” Nika asked Devin. “Do you agree with him?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care about any of this,” Devin said, his teeth chattering. “I just want to be done. We’ve made it to the waterfall, and VIC’s not back online. I’m telling you, something’s not right. How are we supposed to know where to go without help?”
Trevor couldn’t understand why Devin was being so dramatic. So what if the adventure was going longer than expected? They could still have fun figuring things out on their own. “Maybe we’re supposed to swim to the bottom of this pool, you know? Maybe there’s like a secret passage we have to open while holding our breath.”
“Oh, and you’re going to dive down there to find out?” Devin sneered.
“Yeah, why not?”
“Well, it’s freezing cold for starters, and…” Nika hesitated, averting her eyes from Trevor’s. “I can’t swim.”
Trevor’s face contorted into an expression of shock. “How is that possible? Aren’t there pools in Russia?”
Nika glared. “Of course there are, and it’s none of your business why I can’t swim.”
Cameron exhaled a loud sigh. “Well, that’s a relief to me. Because I can’t swim either. It’s just too difficult working lessons into my busy summer schedule.”
“Are you serious?” Trevor turned his attention to Devin, who held up his hands.
“Don’t look at me. I can swim just fine,” Devin said.
“Thank goodness!” Swimming was one of Trevor’s favorite summer pastimes. He loved leaping from the top of the pool house into the deep end. When no one was paying attention, of course.
“But I’m not volunteering to dive into that frigid pond,” Devin added.
“We could explore here first before someone swims to the bottom,” Nika said. “Maybe there’s something behind the waterfall. A room, perhaps, or a way through.”
Nika was right. There was, in fact, a cave behind the waterfall. Ensconced on either side of the opening were flickering torches. Trevor wiggled his fingers through the flames and instantly felt searing heat as the moisture on his gloves sizzled.
“If that’s real fire, then you’ll probably ruin your suit by sticking it in there,” Devin warned.
Something chirped in Trevor’s helmet. It might have been static, but he could’ve sworn he heard a voice trying to come through. The word off-line disappeared for the briefest of blips before returning in the upper left corner of his visor. “I think VIC’s trying to get through to us.”
“First of all, VIC doesn’t try anything. It’s a computer. It either does or doesn’t,” Cameron said.
“You sound like Yoda,” Devin said.
A wide smile stretched across Cameron’s lips. “Really?”
Trevor moved past the torches and into the cave. Loud static once again crackled in his ears, accompanied by a few garbled words. “I bet you anything the reception out here is just really poor, and that if we go in there, we’ll be able to hear through our helmets again.”
But as they all began moving into the cave, Nika suddenly cried out. “Stop it!” she shouted in alarm. Devin had shoved her into Trevor and Cameron. She nearly fell, but managed to catch herself. “Don’t push me!”
“Hurry!” Devin urged. “We have to go now!”
The ground began to shake as rubble dropped from overhead. Before Nika could protest any more, Devin pushed her completely through the opening, just as the ceiling collapsed behind him.
THICK, HEAVY BOULDERS now completely blocked the cave’s opening, shutting off the outside world and the torrential flow of the waterfall. Devin stumbled out of the way of a few falling rocks, searching the ceiling for signs of weakening. They were all lucky he’d acted when he did. Devin’s premonition came within seconds of the actual roof collapse, and Nika would’ve suffered the worst of it. The vibration in Devin’s chest subsided, and he scanned the room, checking on the others. Nika stood close by, less than a foot from the crumpled pile of stone. She was breathing heavily, but she looked to be okay. Cameron lay on top of Trevor, huddled in a ball.
“How did we end up on the ground?” Trevor asked, uncurling Cameron’s body and pushing him to the side.
“I fell,” Cameron mumbled.
“That’s not how I remember it,” Trevor said.
“That almost fell on us,” Nika said, her shoulders quivering. She fixed Devin with an inquisitive gaze. “If you hadn’t pushed us through when you did, we would’ve been crushed.”
Devin shrugged. “Maybe. We just got lucky.” He kicked a rock, sending it clacking across the stone floor.
Trevor stood, knocking away the film of dirt that had collected on his suit. “Yeah, how did you know it was going to collapse?”
Devin sniffed. “I heard a rumble.”
“I think the rumble came after you shoved Nika into the cave,” Trevor said. “Did you notice that the ceiling was about to fall?”
Devin looked up and shrugged. “Yeah, that’s it. The ceiling was starting to break apart. That’s why I pushed you in,” he said in a monotone. But by the way Trevor stared at him, Devin knew he wasn’t about to drop it.
“What about earlier, when we were in the cart, and you started freaking out about aborting the ride?” Trevor asked. “What was that all about?”
“I just wanted to get off the ride, okay? It’s no big deal. Do you think there’s a back door to this mountain?” he asked, wanting to change the subject.
Nika moved next to Trevor. “What are you not telling us, Devin?”
“Nothing, all right?” Devin glared at the both of them. “And you’re welcome, for saving your lives. If I hadn’t done anything, you all would’ve been buried.”
“Devin’s a clairvoyant!” Cameron suddenly burst out, hopping up and down excitedly. “I’m sorry!” He pressed his hands to the sides of his helmet and looked mournfully at Devin.
Devin groaned and clamped his eyes shut. He knew it was too much to hope that Cameron would just keep quiet. “You little snitch!” Devin hissed. “You said you wouldn’t say anything.”
“I know, but seeing how we’re in this together now, I thought it would be good to share.” He wiggled his fingers and scratched his armpits, tugging at the neotanium suit.
Devin swallowed and shifted his eyes to Trevor. What would he say now? Someone like Trevor would be a jerk about it. Devin knew plenty of kids just like him. Always trying to be funny.
“What does clairvoyant even mean?” Trevor asked.
Cameron’s eyes almost bugged out of their sockets. “It’s like he’s a psychic—”
“Not a psychic,” Devin snapped. “Don’t look at me li
ke I’m some freak.” He whirled on Trevor and Nika, daring them to make a sound. “I don’t read palms or burn weird candles. I just—” He sighed, glaring once more at Cameron. “It’s called having a heightened sense of anticipation, okay? I can kind of see things before they happen. Sometimes.” He stared at the floor and waited for the jokes to start.
“So you saw the ceiling collapse before it actually did?” Nika asked. “In your mind?”
Devin leaned his shoulder against the rock pile. “Yeah, sort of. It’s easier when my mind’s clear and not all fuzzy with everything else going on. I’m pretty spectacular when it comes to video games too.”
“Video games?” Trevor asked with a spark in his eye.
“Yeah. They’re much easier to figure out because they’re preprogrammed, you know? I haven’t played a game I couldn’t beat in one sitting.”
Trevor nodded. “Cool.”
“Cool?” Devin studied Trevor’s expression. “Or do you really mean weird?”
“Well, sure, weird, but not in a bad way,” Trevor said. “I’ve seen commercials that show wild-eyed crazies saying they can see the future. But you don’t match that description. So, it wasn’t just a coincidence bumping into you the other night on the elevator, huh?”
Devin shook his head. “Not exactly.”
“Why did you really want to abort the ride?” Nika asked. “What did you see about to happen?”
Devin looked away. “I don’t know. That was different. It was some other type of feeling. I just knew that if we didn’t abort the ride right then, something bad was going to happen.”
“To you?” Cameron asked.
“Not necessarily. It could’ve been to any of us or none of us at all. It could’ve been to someone else.” Devin puffed out his cheeks.
“An actual psychic?” Trevor gawked at him in disbelief.
“Don’t call me that.” Devin squared his shoulders, his hands clenching into fists. “No one was supposed to know.”
“Then why did you tell loudmouth over here?” Trevor jabbed his thumb at Cameron.
“I didn’t tell him. He came and found me last night in the arcade. Started jabbering about how he read all about me online.” Devin narrowed his eyes at Cameron. “He probably knows something about each of us. Isn’t that right?”
Cameron innocently pointed at his own chest.
“Yeah, you.” Devin stepped toward him and pointed at Nika. “What can you tell us about her?”
Nika straightened and unfolded her arms.
Cameron swallowed. “Um, the Pushkins own several diamond mines in eastern Siberia.”
Trevor stared at Nika, impressed. “Diamond mines?”
“So you’ve got money,” Devin said.
“A little, I suppose,” Nika said.
“Her grandfather has accrued several billion dollars’ worth of assets,” Cameron added. “He’s listed as one of the richest men in the world.”
Nika’s shoulders sagged. “Could you please not talk about my family’s financial situation?”
Cameron sucked back on his teeth. “Sorry. It’s hard for me to know when not to share.”
Devin had never met an actual billionaire before. Nika acted normal enough. If Devin had that kind of money, he definitely wouldn’t be wasting his time begging for followers on his YouTube channel. He would just own YouTube and be done with it.
“Why did you even enter the contest?” Devin asked.
Nika flinched. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“You could’ve just flown in and ridden whenever you wanted. But instead, you took the place of someone else. Someone who will probably never get a chance to try out the Adventure Machine.”
“Hey, lay off her, man,” Trevor said.
“Why? Because she’s your girlfriend?” Devin sneered.
“No, because you’re acting like a jerk. And it’s not like you really care about being here either. You’re just trying to become famous.”
Nika laughed. “Is that why your dad is always filming? Is that why he tried to sneak a camera with you on the ride?”
“Shut up about my dad!” Devin said. “You don’t know anything about him or me.”
“Cameron does.” Trevor pointed at Cameron.
Devin regarded Cameron with a look of contempt. “Just because he spends all day on his computer, looking people up. It’s like you’re a spy or something.”
Cameron stepped away from Devin. “I’m sorry that I enjoy research, but I needed to know a little about everyone. It’s not like you’d willingly share with me.”
“Definitely not now that you’ve broken my trust,” Devin said. If Cameron hadn’t meddled, no one would have known. Now everything had changed. Devin hated being stared at, and even though they acted as though they didn’t care about his condition, eventually one of them would say something. They would poke fun at him. Devin whirled on Cameron. “Why don’t you spill the beans about Trevor too? Tell us his deep, dark secrets.”
Trevor glanced over at Cameron, but Cameron simply hunched his shoulders.
“No,” Cameron said quietly. “I never read anything about him.”
“All right, let’s take it easy on Cameron,” Trevor said. “He’s not trying to be a know-it-all. He just knows it all. And we need to work together to get out of here. Does anyone have any thoughts on how we do that?”
“I suppose we could start removing the rocks from the opening,” Nika suggested.
“That seems like unnecessarily heavy work. Especially if we were intended to end up here to begin with,” Cameron said, followed by a long, frustrated sigh. “Let’s just think about this for a moment. VIC instructed us to go to the waterfall, which we did. But we didn’t have any further directions, so we explored and discovered this secret passageway. That suggests to me that we’re obviously in the exact spot where we should be.”
“How did you come to that conclusion, Einstein?” Devin asked.
“Well, why would there be a need for a secret passageway on this ride? My guess is that it could be for one of two reasons, both of which should work in our favor. This is either part of our adventure and the roof collapse was intentional, to push us farther in, which I think is most likely the case…”
“And the second reason?” Trevor asked.
“This is some sort of service closet or a maintenance exit for workers to use to make their way in and out of the Globe.” Cameron sniffed. “Personally, I would much rather it be that. I’m kind of growing tired with this whole ordeal.”
“A service closet?” Nika questioned. “And then we just see what the ride wants us to see, correct? When in truth, there could be doors or regular lights on the ceiling, but it’s covered with special effects.”
“Precisely,” Cameron said.
Devin frowned. “Why would they have special effects in a service closet?”
Cameron puckered his lips in thought. “Fine. Then we’re sticking with my first choice, I guess. Either way, we’re in the right spot.”
“That actually does make sense,” Devin said, easing his tone a bit. Maybe he had just overacted. It wouldn’t have been the first time. “But I can’t see a way out. It’s too dark.”
In an immediate response, the walls inside the cave began to emit a soft blue, phosphorescent glow. Devin’s eyes rapidly adjusted to the change, and he noticed the source of the unusual light. Spongy mushrooms, the size of hubcaps, clung to the wall. The mushrooms pulsated as though alive, and with each deep, quivering breath, the light expanded to fill in the gaps of the mysterious cave.
“That’s eerily convenient.” Cameron squinted, leaning close to a nearby mushroom to examine it. “I wish lights went on whenever I commanded.”
“Yeah, it’s like the Clapper.” Devin looked at Trevor, who stared back in confusion. “You know? Clap on, clap off, the Clapper? I watch old commercials on the Internet.”
“And play tons of video games too, apparently,” Trevor added.
; Devin waggled his eyebrows. “And watch all sorts of scary movies.”
“Like Morlock of Mars?” Trevor asked.
Devin shuddered. “Don’t remind me.”
Cameron poked the mushroom, and the light flickered. “With the manifestation of these radiating fungi, I think it’s safe to say my theory was correct.”
Nika stretched out a hand and gently patted Cameron’s shoulder.
“What was that for?” Cameron asked.
“I guess it’s nice to have you around,” Nika said. “Like a good luck charm.”
“Oh, well, okay.” Cameron looked away.
Despite everything in the cave possessing a bluish tint, Devin could actually see the younger boy’s cheeks flushing from embarrassment. As annoying as Cameron could be with his constant barrage of data and unsolicited statistics, Devin agreed with Nika. It was great to have him along for the ride. He decided he would give the others the benefit of the doubt.
“Sorry, guys,” Devin mumbled. “I kind of freaked out back there. It’s just…my dad spends so much time on his phone. He’s always filming me. Telling me to act a certain way. When I realized I lost it, I knew I was in big trouble and I just blew everything out of proportion.”
“We’ll all tell him that it wasn’t your fault,” Cameron said. “The sheer velocity of the Adventure Machine made it impossible to maintain a grasp on any accessories.”
Devin smiled at Cameron. “I think I know what you just said.”
Trevor playfully slugged Devin in the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. Seriously, Devin, we’ll stick together on this. Your dad will understand. And there will be tons of interviews after we get off the ride that you can use on your channel.”
“It’s not just that,” Devin said. He sighed. “I don’t think I even want to have my own channel. I mean, it was cool at first. The idea of becoming famous. But that was before my dad went all crazy filming everything. He’s always sneaking up on me and trying to knock my drink off the table or jump out from closets and surprise me.”
“Why would he do that?” Nika looked appalled. “My grandfather strictly forbids anyone to sneak up on me.”
Devin shrugged. “My dad wants to show the world just how accurate my ability can be. He wants to show everyone how cool it is to be psychic. He thinks we’ll get super rich.”
The World's Greatest Adventure Machine Page 10
