by S. G. Basu
“We’ve arrived,” Ren announced, breaking her train of thoughts. “But I don’t know how or where to get in.”
His questions were answered momentarily when the speakers crackled to life and Aerika’s voice sounded.
“Congratulations, Core 21, you are the first team to successfully reach the Karnilian Caves. You will be on autopilot mode from here.”
The wild cheer that broke out in the Aqumob drowned everything else she said afterward.
33: The Sage of the Deep
A gray-haired man welcomed the team as they got off the Aqumob. The craft had been towed in by autopilot and securely moored at the landing platform of the Karnilian Caves.
“I’m Gustin, one of the overseers of these caves. You can call me Gus,” the man quickly introduced himself before congratulating and praising the team as lavishly as he could. “I would’ve loved to show you around, but I need to be here to receive the other teams and Training Supervisor Aerika. You can walk around as you please—just stay away from the ‘danger’ signs.”
“Awesome.” Ren grinned. “Thanks, Gus, we’ll walk around.”
There was not much to see if one was looking for beautiful sights. The place was like a huge factory full of complicated structures. Beams, trusses, columns, and spires rose from the floor and crisscrossed the walls. The quiet was a little unnerving, as was the lack of people. The sounds of their footsteps, echoing across the cavernous hallways, were their only company. Large signs hung all over the place, most of them with arrows pointing in the direction of the “Converter Galley.”
“What’s the Converter Galley?” Maia asked Dani.
“It’s where the hydrothermal converters are installed, basically a big room full of them,” Dani explained. “Let’s go check it out.”
“It’s strange that there are so few people around here,” Nafi observed thoughtfully as the group walked toward the Converter Galley. “Hardly any guards either.”
“What’s the point of having guards?” Dani replied. “To be allowed access to the dive bay in here, you’ve to clear multiple biometric scans. The gates won’t budge if it detects unauthorized access. And remember, it’s not easy to even reach these gates.”
“True, but still . . .” Nafi did not seem remotely satisfied. “Since this is such a big source of energy, I’d think it would be more protected.”
“Don’t worry, Nafi. There are complex alarm systems in place. Look at those red buttons,” Dani said, pointing at a noticeably bright red button on the wall. There were a hundreds of them scattered randomly across the walls. “They are connected to the central security system of Zagran. You simply have to press one of them and there will be guards swarming all over the place in no time.”
“I don’t know, Dani,” Nafi sighed. “I still think they ought to have more people down here.”
“Hey, look,” Kusha exclaimed.
They had arrived at the Converter Galley. The converters were behemoths, standing like an army of giants in never-ending lines as far as Maia could see—row after row of gigantic upside-down funnels—their wide base resting on the floor and the chimneys touching the roof. Cables as thick as the chimneys led out from their bottoms and into a long line of square silvery boxes that stood in the middle of the hallway. Iron staircases looped around the funnels and rose to the ceiling. Wireframes spread over the tops in an intricate mesh of hanging walkways. Maia felt miniscule, like an ant standing at the edge of a forest.
“Wow,” she said. “Each of these is a converter?”
“Yes,” Dani replied.
“And how many of them do you have here?” Nafi asked.
“I don’t know. Thousands, maybe,” Dani said with a shrug.
“Wow,” Maia said again. She could have stared at the gigantic installation forever—it had more than awed her—but she suddenly remembered Aerika. “I think we should get back now. Aerika might’ve arrived.”
“Hey, guys, come here. Look at this.” Ren sounded so excited that everyone forgot about Aerika and rushed over to him instead. He was hunched over a porthole that overlooked a small courtyard across from the entrance of the Converter Galley. The yard was bare except for a few plants stacked on one side. On the other end was a door, and light flickered through it. A flight of stairs led up from the courtyard to the nook where the group stood watching.
“What’s that thing?” Ren exclaimed.
A bright shiny disc circled the yard continuously, alternately spiraling inward and then outward.
Ren seemed spellbound by the motion. A moment later he traipsed toward the stairs. “I’ll go check it out.”
“I don’t think we should go in there,” Dani cautioned, and Maia agreed right away, but the boy was already halfway down the stairs.
Ren leaped forward, jumping into the courtyard with the careless abandon of a child, his eyes fixed on the spiraling disc. His curiosity was quickly overcome by fear when the disc stopped abruptly in the middle of its repetitive course and headed in his direction with surprising agility and speed.
“Ren, get back,” Maia screamed as the disc plunged toward the boy, aiming for his head.
It would have been an unthinkable mishap if Kusha had not dived forward and knocked Ren down on the ground. But that only helped for a brief moment. The disc hovered as the boys scrambled. Then it plunged toward Kusha.
As Kusha rolled over toward the inner end of the yard, the disc missed striking him, but only by a whisker. Once more, it paused and then charged. The girls had pulled Ren out of the yard and they huddled near the stairs watching, still shaken. The disc ignored their presence completely.
“Kusha, don’t,” Maia shouted as Kusha pulled out his sword and stood defiantly, ready to take on the menace. “Just get out of the yard.”
Kusha took aim at the disc as it dove for him. His first swipe touched the rim, deflecting it. But then the disc changed direction and came back. Kusha swiped again and missed. The disc whirred toward his face as Kusha fell back against the wall. Someone screamed, someone sobbed, and Maia closed her eyes.
“Bravery wasted on nothing,” said a sweet, tranquil voice.
Maia opened her eyes and looked around. Kusha stood pinned to the wall, the disc buzzing incessantly in front of his face, and barely the width of a hair separated them. The man who had spoken stood at the lighted doorway. His slight frame was covered in a flowing multihued robe. His wispy, long beard hung over his robe, and his long white hair cascaded past his shoulders. He smiled at Kusha, who stood perfectly still. The old man raised his hand in the direction of the disc; it abruptly turned and swooped on the man’s chest. A gasp of terror rose from the watching group, but the disc simply melted into the man and disappeared behind his robes.
“There.” The man smiled again. “Nothing more to fear now.”
For a while they stood frozen, and then Dani took a few tentative steps toward the old man.
“You must be the Sage of the Deep,” she said. “It is true what they say then.”
“And what do they say?” the old man asked, sitting down near the doorway.
“That deep in the abyss lives the one who wields a chakra, one who can foretell the future, the one who has lived through it all, through the centuries of rise and fall of Tansi,” Dani said breathlessly as she kneeled in front of the man.
The man’s laughter echoed across the yard.
“They do call me the Sage of the Deep,” he said pleasantly. “But I do not know if I can foretell the future. Although I do see greatness in you all, as long as you have faith in each other.”
The sage beckoned Kusha. “You, brave one.”
Kusha walked over with slow, deliberate steps.
“You confronted my chakra, which is no mean feat.” The sage’s eyes studied Kusha’s face. “You have the power in you to fulfill your desires. Do not question the gift you have been given, embrace it.”
“What gift?” Kusha asked.
“You will know in time,” the sage replied.
; Kusha sat transfixed for a moment before speaking. “Where is the chakra now?”
“Here.” The sage held out a bright blue crystal pendant that hung from his neck. It looked as harmless and as innocent as could be, far from the terrifying weapon that had been intent on harming the two intruders.
“But that’s not what chased us,” Ren said.
“What chased you was the morphed form of this water crystal,” the sage explained. “This crystal is made from the Tourmaline waters of the spring of life and it is sworn to protect me. As soon as it detected your presence, it morphed into the chakra. I have long debated giving it the power to morph on its own, but seeing the terrible situation I put you young children in, I know I was mistaken after all. Your days of freedom are over, my friend,” the sage affectionately brushed a finger over the crystal. “I shall be the judge of friend and foe from now on.”
His tender gaze flitted over each face before it came to rest on Maia. A small frown played on his forehead before it disappeared and he smiled again. He reached out and touched Maia’s hand briefly. “Having too many nightmares, hmm?”
Maia’s simply stared, stunned by his words. She hesitated a while before nodding slowly. It had been relentless lately; the dreams, and mostly the nightmares, that made her toss and turn through the night.
“Is something wrong with me?” she asked.
“Nothing is wrong with you, my child,” the sage said softly, reassuring her. “If you can see things, consider it a blessing.”
“You mean . . .” Maia hesitated to ask. “You mean these things I see are . . . real? They could really happen?”
“Sometimes fragments of the past and the future have a way of making their way into the present,” he replied in a vague sort of way.
“Won’t they ever stop?” Maia asked.
The sage sighed and shook his head solemnly. “I am sorry, child. I wish I could help you, but I do not know how,” he said. “Although I do see you with the one who could help . . . the one who treads the snow. Maybe he will set you free. But until then you shall need strength, all the strength in the world.”
As Maia struggled to understand the meaning of his words, none of which made any sense to her, the sage rose to his feet.
“And now, I believe it is time for all of you to leave. Your training supervisor is rather anxious for your return.”
There was not a moment to spare, not an instant to lose. After the sage bade them good-bye, they ran up the stairs and rushed toward the entrance of the Karnilian Caves.
34: The Note
They were halfway to the entrance when the sound of heavy footfalls came from the other end of the path. Gus and another man came striding toward them, their brows knit and fists clenched.
“There they are, Bikele,” Gus exclaimed when he saw the group. “I told you there was nothing to worry about.”
The man named Bikele looked livid. He glared at the group long and hard before making a loud grunt to show his dissatisfaction. He was very tall. Dark circles ringed his sunken eyes, and his dusky complexion had an unhealthy pallor. His greasy hair was unkempt—strands fell across his face in a stringy, jumbled mess.
“Let’s go, kids,” Gus said cheerily as he led the way. Bikele had fallen a few steps behind and Maia felt his lingering gaze at the back of her head.
“We’re done for. Aerika will be all over us now,” Maia sighed as she walked quickly alongside Dani.
“We shouldn’t have gone down there,” Dani whispered.
Aerika stood at the bay; she did not look pleased. She strode up to the approaching group, tapped her feet a few times, and shook her head.
“What is it with you?” she snarled. “Waylaid again?”
As everyone else fell silent, in an unexpected and unnecessary urge, Maia blurted out a lame defense.
“We lost track of time, Trainer Aerika,” she said earnestly. “We really did.”
“That’s unfortunate, Miss Maia,” Aerika snapped, “I wonder why such calamities keep befalling your team in particular.” Aerika was not one to buy into justifications or excuses, certainly not from a group of kids who had done nothing but repeatedly annoy her.
“Into the transporter, all of you.” She whipped a bony hand toward a much larger Aqumob that was anchored at the dock. The vehicle they had arrived in was nowhere to be seen, neither were the crafts assigned to any of the other teams—Maia assumed they had already been towed back to Zagran.
“And by the way,” Aerika turned back from the sheaf of papers that Gus had handed her to sign. “This counts as your third strike.”
“But please . . .” Nafi wailed, but Aerika did not even spare her a glance.
Disappointment of being punished with yet another strike wiped out all the joy of their victory. Maia headed toward the waiting vehicle, dragging her feet as she walked. It seemed impossible now that they could survive the next three months with only two strikes remaining.
“Maia?” A gruff voice made Maia jump and turn around.
Bikele stood with a small piece of folded paper in his hand. “You dropped this.” He held the paper out in her direction.
Maia was sure she had not brought any paper with her, let alone dropped it. She shook her head and had started to explain that the paper did not belong to her when he spoke again.
“You want to take this, Maia.” There was no friendliness in his voice; it was almost an order. Maia was about to turn away when a hand snatched the piece of paper from Bikele.
“I’ll take it for her,” Nafi said before she dragged Maia away toward the Aqumob.
“Nafi!” Maia protested.
“We don’t have time for this,” Nafi replied, frowning. “Do you want Bones to shout at us again?”
“But you didn’t have to take that paper from that strange man,” Maia chided.
“Don’t read it if you don’t want to,” Nafi said, and turned her nose up in the air. “I will in any case.”
“No, you shall not.” Maia voiced her objection loudly as she followed Nafi into the hulking Aqumob. Inside, all the other groups were scattered—some looked sad, some happy. With the exception of Loriine and Baecca, who threw a nasty look at the duo when they entered, no one bothered to glance in their direction. Maia followed Nafi to the back of the Aqumob where the rest of their team was already seated.
This Aqumob was laid out like a transporter vehicle with alternate rows of seats facing each other on both sides. Kusha and Ren sat on one row facing Dani who stared out at the dock. Nafi sat down beside Dani, rested her leg on the seat in front of her, took out the piece of paper, and grinned naughtily at Maia. Maia simply shrugged; there was no point fighting when they were going to hear all about it from Nafi anyway. She slumped down next to Kusha and laid her head back. The doors of the Aqumob closed, and as it gradually immersed itself into the waters, Nafi spread out the paper on her knees and frowned.
“Maia,” she said right away. “You should read this.”
While Nafi hastily explained their encounter with Bikele to the others, Maia looked at what was written in the small piece of paper. It only had a few words, scribbled in a hurry.
IF, AND ONLY IF, SOPHIE MEANS ANYTHING TO YOU, MEET ME IN 15 DAYS—MIDNIGHT, 10TH FLOOR WATERLOCK, ROOM 24
Maia read it out loud as her friends listened with rapt attention. Even after she had finished, no one spoke. Maia sat still, unable to think, almost unable to feel anything. After a while, the questions came in an overwhelming flood. Who was this man? Had he been a friend of her mother’s? Or was he trying to lure her into some trap? How did he recognize who she was? What if he was R’armimon? Or a Xifarian spy?
“Who was he?” Kusha voiced the biggest question of all.
“I don’t know.” Maia did not know what to say. Not only did she not know who he was, she did not know if he meant to do her harm.
“You’ll meet with him, right?” Ren asked.
“You can’t go alone, we’ll come with you,” Kusha declared.
“We shall see about going,” Maia said. It was too soon to decide whether it was a chance worth taking. She had not liked the man at all, and if going to meet with him meant risking another strike from Aerika, it probably did not make sense. “We have fifteen days to think about it.”
Very little was spoken after that. Thoughts weighed heavily on Maia’s mind all the way back to Zagran.
35: The Upkeep Exercise
Palak and Dill organized a little party to honor the performances during the first challenge. There was no end to the praises they showered on Core 21, but they also mentioned the fabulous effort of Core 13, who coped with the last-moment loss of their fifth member, Anja, and still made the second best time, making their feat even more impressive. Core 7 came in third, but the members of that team did not look happy at all. Loriine and gang not only refused to congratulate the other teams, but also openly scowled at every word of praise the trainers had for anyone else. Amidst all the celebrations, it was sad to see that five of the lowest ranked groups had already left and only fifteen teams remained. It was a reminder that this was not all fun; they were being evaluated and judged every moment of their stay.
The training sessions changed rather drastically. As soon as the teams met after the first challenge, Palak brought up the new topic of building energy converters, machines that ranged from miniscule to gigantic, that could change energy from one form to another.
“All your assignments going forward will be in preparation of your second and final challenge,” the trainer announced. “You will be given three tasks. I shall explain the first two now, and the third one will be explained by Trainer Dill.”
Palak paused to take a breath and a wave of murmurs swept through the room. Maia savored the tingle of excitement in her brain. She sat up straight, ready to devour every word.
“First task! Each team will construct a mini hydrosol converter—one that will be capable of capturing energy from the waves and the sun.
