Maia and the Secrets of Zagran (The Lightbound Saga Book 2)

by S. G. Basu

  Since that afternoon, Ren was transformed into the happiest person around. Maia’s spirits lifted on seeing her friend’s happy face, even the disappointment of not being able to meet Bikele had faded away.

  37: Under the Ice Pack

  “What’s that you’re building? Doesn’t look like a regulation unit,” Nafi said, peering at Ren’s desk one morning as the teams built their converter units during Palak’s session. Nafi had a habit of walking around her teammates’ workbenches, observing them work.

  Ren sat with a small silver-blue cylinder in his hand that looked a lot like the micro-converter hydrosol units. But when Maia looked closely, she realized that Nafi was correct. As alike as the cylinder seemed from a distance, it was definitely not the regulation units they were required to build.

  “Nothing important,” Ren said quickly before slipping the questionable piece of equipment into his pocket. Then he casually picked up a set of tools and bent over some pieces of metal, ignoring Nafi who stood there for a bit before turning away sullenly. She grumbled for a while, but no one else was eager to press matters any further. A new announcement came soon after, one that brought enough excitement to make Nafi forget all about the silver cylinder. The trainers announced it was time to visit the energy farm where the teams were expected to install their micro-converters. They led the fifteen teams to the Dive Bay on the 200th floor, and into a giant gray Aqumob similar to the one they had made the journey up from the Karnilian Caves.

  Their path lay in a direction away from the Karnilian Caves, Maia noted. First they went sharply upward and then north from Zagran, skimming along below the waves. They could see the sun shining above the surface, its golden rays seeping through the light blue waters and making it sparkle like a liquid gem. Maia sat spellbound, fascinated by the tiny ripples that caught the light and glistened. Numerous fish swam alongside the Aqumob, their bodies glittering, transporting Maia into a magical world.

  A little way through the journey, Palak handed out maps. Maia realized she was right; they were indeed headed north toward the Third Tansian Continent. The Aqumob was following the Intercontinental Cold, a strong northward stream of currents between the First and the Third Continents.

  “As you might have already deduced from the maps, we are heading northward,” Dill said. “Our destination is the Roqowist farm on the continental shelf of the Third, where we have one of the biggest near-surface installations of hydrosol converters. These micro-converters use both the power of the sun and the force of the water to generate energy. Since these are small units, we have to install millions of them to generate enough usable power. As you should know by now, these units are mounted along the reef walls and along the stream of currents. The Intercontinental Cold, being one of the strongest currents up north, was an obvious pick for a Roqowist farm. Unfortunately, however—”

  “There . . . I can see them,” an excited shout filled the air. A girl was pointing eagerly to the left of the Aqumob.

  Maia peeked outside, as did everyone else around her. The Aqumob had drifted close to the gray rocky walls of presumably the Third Continent. Perched on the wall were tiny units similar to the ones they were building themselves, in never-ending rows that stretched in all directions.

  “Well, not exactly,” Palak said. “These are the Challowist farms. A Challowist farm is like a giant recharging station. The units used here are micro-converters also, even smaller than the units you are building. These, however, are used to power smaller devices that we carry around.”

  “Like the LumTorch,” Maia exclaimed, remembering what Dani had mentioned about the Challowist farms.

  “You are right.” Palak smiled. “A LumTorch is powered by three micro-converters that have been charged in a farm like this. Once a micro-converter runs out of its stored energy, it can be brought back here to be recharged and reused. Any questions?”

  “Are the Roqowist farms built differently from these Challowist farms?” Karhann asked.

  “Yes,” Palak replied. “Roqowist farms, like the one in the Karnilian Caves or the one we are about to visit today, are much bigger sources of energy than these. The power from a Roqowist farm is fed into a power grid that runs through our cities, supplying energy. Now, let’s allow Trainer Dill to continue.”

  “Thank you.” Dill said. “As I was saying, unfortunately—”

  “That doesn’t look like a rock,” Kusha exclaimed, squinting at the Challowist farm. “It seems like a metal enclosure of some kind.”

  Again, Dill was forgotten as every head peered to look at what Kusha was talking about. It was barely noticeable, and Maia had to gaze for a while before she spotted it. It was true—something metallic formed the walls of these farms, gleaming and shining in parts as it caught the light.

  “Hmm . . . good observation. You are correct. These units are hung on a metal backing, not on the natural rock surface. However, I am not sure if I could explain it all to you,” Palak commented. He looked inquiringly at Dill, who nodded gravely. As if reassured by the gesture, Palak started.

  “That is the Seal of Separation,” he said, grimacing. “It was built after the Collapse, around the time when the land was scorched and the Solianese civilization fell. The Third Continent was the seat of Solianese power; the biggest megalopolis, the capital of Korobieltes, sat right on this shelf. As the city fell to ruins, gases and corrosive acids flowed out of the cities and into the land, poisoning the terrain and everything on it.”

  He paused for a moment and shot a quick glance at Dill, who looked on pensively. Maia wondered what was making the trainers so anxious and if it was because of Aerika’s directive of not discussing politics. But this was hardly that; it was more of a history lesson. She could not fathom what harm could be caused by knowing more of their pasts.

  “Since all the poison that was already destroying the lands could flow into the ocean and kill the living waters that we called our home, we, the Jjord, decided to seal the walls from the top to a certain depth. We started slowly, cordoning off one area at a time, eventually building a whole wall around the seas. There was a time when the shorelines used to be patrolled routinely to prevent any accidental contamination. Then we built these walls to rise high up along the coasts, to keep anyone from entering the waters.”

  Maia remembered a visit to the shores of Miorie long, long ago. There were the four of them—Cousin Sana and Uncle Alasdair, Herc, and Maia. It had taken a day to get their passes to see the seas, and they had only been permitted past the walls after each person was carefully sanitized.

  “What if something falls from the sky?” Ren asked. “How will you protect the waters from that?”

  “Well, we have ways—more effective and efficient ways to shield ourselves now,” Palak replied. “But at the time though, this was the only way we could think of, so we did what we had to do.”

  He paused briefly. Maybe it was the way the light fell on Palak’s face, Maia thought it brightened suddenly.

  “Maybe someday, when we have nothing else to worry about, we shall bring down those ugly walls.” Palak smiled and turned to Dill. “Now, no more interruptions until we have finished with the details of the Roqowist farms.”

  “Yes, I hope I get to finish this time,” Dill said with a loud chuckle. “As I said, it is unfortunate that the Intercontinental Cold stream is strongest along one of the most difficult terrains on Tansi. It is along the Ice Shelf of the Polar North, the frozen expanse named the GeiFonz Icecap. The GeiFonz Roqowist farms line the sides and the bottom of these ice packs, and that is where we are heading.”

  Dill stopped, looked around at the worried faces, and grinned.

  “You may now ask questions,” he said.

  There were no questions to be asked; what they had heard so far was thought provoking enough. Maia was anxious now for a glimpse of the ice packs of the Polar North. Soon the Aqumob sunk lower, maintained depth for a while, and then rose upward again. Maia gasped out loud when they came close to what s
eemed like an infinitely long roof above them. It was a roof of solid ice, and its bottom was jagged. In every fold of the serrated bottom sat the metallic body of a converter. This went on in all directions, as far as their eyes could see.

  “That, my dear children, is the GeiFonz Roqowist farm,” Palak declared. “And that is where you will install your hydrosol converters.”

  Maia held her breath.

  This is a long way from Zagran and the waters will be cold. How would we—

  Dill pointed at one corner of the farm that looked lighter. It was only the green-blue shadow of the ice, there was no dark metal installed into it yet. Engraved in nooks and corners were plaques that bore the names of each team. Ren spotted their name; Core 21 had been assigned a particularly narrow ledge that curved upward into the ice, a space that looked challenging to reach.

  “Nice,” Dani sighed. “We’ve been allotted the toughest corner.”

  “Of course,” Nafi scoffed. “Bones likes to take special care of us.”

  Maia was scared herself, but she still had to reassure her teammates. “We just have to train harder, that’s all.”

  No one replied. A nerve-wracking silence had just about engulfed the insides of the Aqumob when a voice rang out.

  “Excuse me, sir?” Jiri was waving frantically at the trainers. “Do we have to use Aqumobs to get here during the challenge?”

  Palak and Dill shook their heads in unison. Then Palak replied, chuckling loudly, “Oh no, you will ride with your aquatic partners.”

  “A-all the way from Zagran to . . . here?” Jiri clearly was having trouble even comprehending the idea, and Maia could not blame him—what Palak just said was unbelievable.

  “Yes, of course,” Dill chimed in. “That is why it is important to take good advantage of your upkeep lessons. Improve your endurance, you shall need it.”

  No one spoke much after that revelation. Soon after the viewing, the Aqumob turned around and headed back to Zagran. After worrying a while, Maia decided to enjoy the ride instead of fretting over what tasks lay ahead. There was enough to agonize about at the moment; the not-so-immediate future could wait.

  38: The Ladders

  Aerika stopped by every now and then. She usually walked around the room supervising the activities, talking to the instructors, collecting feedback, and observing everyone. The days she came by—her eagle eyes scanning every person—passed slowly. There was no opportunity for conversation, no chance of giving in to a moment of slack, and no fun. It was on one such day in Palak’s classroom that the unthinkable happened.

  It started with an earsplitting scream. Maia dropped everything and sat up straight, alarmed beyond belief. Then the scream came again. It came from right behind them. Before Maia could turn around, Nafi burst into a fit of loud giggles. She pounded the desk with her fists, her mad chuckles growing louder with every passing moment. Maia tore her eyes off the girl and gulped hard to stop a chuckle from escaping her own lips as she stared speechlessly at Loriine.

  Loriine sat frozen. Her eyes were wide with terror, her face pale and mouth agape. It was her head. It had turned into a pincushion of sorts, as each hair stood on its end. Her hair crackled strangely, and it seemed like the strands were electrified. Next to her, Karhann sat blinking rapidly. All eyes were on Loriine, who seemed fine in every way other than the shock of getting an unexpected hairdo. Soon, bouts of giggles spilled from every corner of the room.

  “Are you all right?” Aerika had marched over quickly. She spoke in a very serious tone and cast an annoyed glance at the still wildly cackling Nafi. “What happened?”

  “I . . . I don’t know, I just picked this up,” Loriine howled. Tears streamed incessantly from her eyes. In her hand was a small silver-blue cylinder, something Maia remembered seeing with Ren not too long ago. She looked at Nafi, who must have recognized it as well, for she stopped laughing immediately and her eyebrows knit into a frown.

  “Let me see it.” Aerika reached out for the offending object. Maia held her breath when the instructor touched the device, and she heard Ren inhale sharply behind her. But except for a sharp crackle at the instant Aerika picked up the cylinder, nothing untoward happened.

  “Seems like a static electricity generator,” Palak said. He had walked up to Loriine’s desk and was now peering closely at the small device. “Where did you get this?”

  “It was . . . sitting here . . . on my desk,” Loriine wailed. She kept running her hands through her hair, trying desperately to tame her mane, but the effort only made it stand up even more.

  “Okay, no harm done, you will be fine soon,” Aerika tried to comfort the girl. She turned and shot an angry look around the room. “And I have had enough of this senseless laughing. I do not know how this thing got here, but if I find any of you responsible for this silly prank, you can definitely count on some punishment.”

  The session returned to normalcy soon after that, normal in all respects that is except for Loriine’s endless sniffles, the stray giggles that arose from all over the room, and the angry glares from Aerika that followed. It was not until they were walking back to the RC that anyone got a chance to talk to Ren.

  “Are you crazy?” Nafi went first. “Pulling a prank like that . . . as if we’re not in enough trouble already.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Ren shook his head and walked on, looking unruffled.

  “Weren’t you building that thing the other day?” Maia asked, stopping to face Ren. She was concerned. While the trick was definitely funny, they could not afford to get another strike. Ren looked away. Then he looked back at Maia again.

  “Yes, it was. I built it just to get back at Loriine. It was harmless, just a shot of static, that’s all,” he replied. “It’ll keep her quiet for a while, don’t you think?”

  Kusha laughed and patted Ren on the back. Dani did not say a word, but Nafi was more than eager to express her candid disapproval when a still-sniffling Loriine walked by, her hair still winning its fight against gravity. She looked accusingly at Core 21 as she passed, with Baecca throwing a dirty glare in their direction as well.

  “I know it’s them,” Loriine sobbed.

  “Ignore those worthless tramps,” Baecca replied. “We’ll get them in the next challenge.”

  “Serves her right,” Nafi said when the troupe had disappeared from sight.

  “Told you so,” Ren commented wisely.

  No one in Core 21 spoke on the topic after that. Loriine remained relatively quiet from then on; the days followed an easy, regular pattern right up to the evening of the meeting with Bikele. So far, no one had come up with a single sensible solution to the problem of getting to the tenth floor. Maia had given up on the plan. It was disappointing, but she bore the dejection stoically.

  ***

  Late that evening after dinner, Maia and Nafi sat poring over some problems related to their hydrosol convertor. Dani, who had been suspiciously missing since the afternoon, burst into the room and balanced herself at the edge of Nafi’s bed. She held a piece of paper in her hand. Nafi sat up immediately.

  “We have to talk.” Dani waved the roll of paper. “Outside, now, the boys are waiting.”

  Nafi was out the door in an instant, as if she had known all along what exactly to expect. Maia was confused; she shuffled slowly out of the room, ignoring the stares from the three other occupants, particularly the hostile looks from Loriine and Baecca.

  Kusha and Ren were at the atrium, waiting for the girls to arrive. Dani kneeled in front of the bench facing the glass and spread out a hand-drawn cross-section of Zagran.

  “This is the fiftieth floor.” She tapped on the top floor of the drawing. “This is where the elevator ends. Now, getting from here to the remaining floors below is possible, as we all know, only through the—”

  “The waterways,” Nafi piped up.

  “Yes, you’re correct,” Dani said.

  “But?” Ren blurted. “There’s a ‘but,’ right?”<
br />
  “Yes.” Dani laughed. It was a carefree laughter, a Dani-like laughter Maia had missed hearing for the longest time. “There is indeed a ‘but,’ as I found out tonight.”

  Maia leaned closer; the map looked complicated. A maze of what appeared to be staircases ran through the sides of the building, ending in the lowest level of the city.

  “There are ladders.” Dani took a deep breath before pointing at the complex series of markings on the map. “These haven’t been used in a while, practically abandoned except for maintenance work or some such thing. So, we don’t know if they’re safe at all. And—”

  “We’ll try,” Kusha interrupted. Dani looked up at him, and her face dimmed like a light had been put out. A stifling silence fell.

  “Other than the ladders not being safe, what else should we worry about?” Ren wondered aloud.

  “Bones, of course,” Nafi chimed in. “But then, she has become quite a buddy of yours.”

  “Shut up, Nafi.” Ren glared at the girl before turning back to Dani. “Dani?”

  Dani drew a deep, long breath. “We’re talking about climbing down forty floors.” She looked squarely at Ren, Nafi, Maia, and then back to the diagram, specifically avoiding looking at Kusha. “The question is, can we endure the climb down and back up?”

  “No!” Maia said emphatically. There was no way she was going to take her friends down a set of broken-down ladders into a situation likely filled with danger. She could live without knowing a little less about her mother, but she would die a thousand times if anything happened to any of her friends on this crazy adventure. “I will not agree to this. We are not going anywhere.”

  “Well, too late now.” Nafi made a face. “Poor Dani has been into so much trouble finding out all this for us.”

  “Yes, I agree. We can’t back off now.” Ren shrugged and looked away quickly when Maia frowned.