Decker looked like he was going to refuse, but then he sat down and took off the strap from his neck that held his carine. Lainie moved closer to Decker. He smiled at her, and continued to play.
I had never felt quite so unwanted. I moved so I couldn’t see them and watched the fire as I listened to the music, thinking of Mira.
Chapter 12
It has begun, but I do not have the strength to record it.—Erimik, Historian of the Family
During the night, I dreamed of a volcano exploding and of me trying to escape from the ash and the lava. I woke suddenly, aware of a sharp stinging smell and a feeling I was crowded into a small space. I opened my eyes. Ansun stood over me, surrounded by Fosaanians who filled the room. All of them were completely silent, their faces lit by the torches topped with skele shapes which burned and sparked with a red fire. The odor of sulfur permeated the place so that I wanted to gag. I leaped to my feet but then sank back against the wall, my knees nearly collapsing on me. A Fosaanian had Lainie in his grasp, her arms pulled behind her, a red mark on her face like someone had hit her. There was no sign of Decker or Mags.
Ansun’s eyes glittered as he pointed at me. “This Earther is contaminating one of our ancient places. The Earthers come where they do not belong, take what is not theirs to take, and expect all to follow their way and only their way.”
A Fosaanian dragged me upright, and another one bound my hands behind my back with something that felt like coarse rope. As my vision adjusted to the gloom, I was shocked to see Mira behind Ansun. I couldn’t believe she had betrayed us. Her face was completely expressionless. She acted as if she had never even seen me before. I felt sick. How could I have trusted her? Had it all been an act?
Ansun made a slight motion of his head and the man holding me dragged me to the back wall of the room, the Fosaanians clearing a path for us. The one holding Lainie came after us. Ansun followed.
When we reached the wall, the men turned us around so we faced the crowd. I tried to catch Lainie’s eyes but she didn’t look at me. I wondered if she was in shock. In the flickering torchlight, I could see the older people stood around the perimeter, still and serious, but the younger ones gathered in the middle looked excited as if they were anticipating something. They were murmuring to each other and moving about like they couldn’t stay still. I recognized all the ones I had seen at the village. Mira’s grandmother and her grandfather were not there.
“The time had come,” Ansun said and then stopped. He waited until everyone was listening and then pitched his voice louder. “The time had come to bring back the old ways. The way of the Mind, the Body, the Clan.” Ansun stopped again and I could feel the tension in the crowd, as if they couldn’t wait to hear what he said next.
Ansun’s voice grew even louder. “It is what brought Fosaan to greatness, and it will bring us to greatness again.” His voice reverberated through the chamber. It had a power to it I had never heard before and when Ansun raised his arms and shouted, “Greatness!” the crowd took up a chant of its own.
“Mind, Body, Clan! Mind, Body, Clan!” I could see the exhilaration on the faces. The ones holding the torches raised and lowered them in time with the chanting, sending sparks flying around the room.
Ansun let them chant for a few minutes and then held up his hand for silence. “It is what will make us strong again. We will not let the tragedy of the past beat us down nor will we allow others to control us.” He raised his fist in the air and yelled, “Fosaan will rise again!” The chanting turned into a roar and the people began stomping their feet, the noise echoing off the walls.
When it had gone on for what seemed like a long time, Ansun again raised his hand and motioned to Mira with the other. The man beside her took her arm and led her into the open area next to me. It was Sato, the sentry.
Ansun’s voice dropped and he spoke directly to Mira. “The people will expect you to take the test, but it’s not the right time. Just act the way I told you.” He moved a step toward the back wall and then faced the crowd again. “The Passage shows us who are true Fosaanians, but it is also a warning for those who oppose us. Go against us and this is what awaits.” Ansun laid his hand on one part of the inner wall and an opening appeared.
The chanting started again, “Mind, Body, Clan, Mind, Body, Clan.”
I could see nothing but darkness inside. Ansun motioned to us and when we didn’t move, two Fosaanians came and got us, picking us up and bringing us to the entrance.
Ansun turned to the soldiers. “Throw them in.”
In my mind, I knew that struggling was futile, but my body reacted to the soldiers by fighting against them as we were dragged to the entrance.
“It is not tradition for outsiders to face the test.” I recognized the voice. It was Mira’s grandfather. He was here after all. The old man stepped forward and the chanting stopped. I could hear a few mumbled voices. I had a surge of hope, but then Ansun said, “Enough! This is a new day for the clan and it has been agreed. You had your voice earlier.”
“At least unbind them,” the older man said. “Or are you afraid Earther children can pass the test?”
“They would never be a strong as a Fosaanian!” Ansun snarled. “Unbind them and then put them in. Now,” he said to the soldiers. Mira didn’t say anything.
I felt the prick of a knife on my wrist and then the rope fell away. The soldiers pushed me closer to the opening, and I felt, rather than saw Lainie next to me. A dark opening loomed in front of us. I could see nothing but blackness inside. A dank smell flowed from it, like something old and decaying was in there. I couldn’t believe this was happening to us. I had a crazy thought that Ansun wasn’t serious. He was just trying to scare us.
At the last second I wanted to yell, but before I could there was a shove and I fell forward, putting out my hands to stop myself from hitting whatever was below me. I was under water struggling for breath before I even realized I’d hit water. It filled my mouth and nose, so foul I instinctively coughed it out and clamped my mouth shut, fighting to get to the surface. I could hear sounds of splashing from Lainie but couldn’t see her. I coughed again and reached for something to grab onto. There was nothing. The walls of the room were perfectly smooth. I fought to keep panic under control, moving my hand along the wall as far as I could, but it was all the same, slick and flat. Treading water, I managed to yell, “Lainie!”
I felt the movement of water close to me and then her voice came through the gloom, “I’m here.”
It was so dark I couldn’t see her even though I could feel her breath warm on my face. “Are you okay?” I asked, trying to breathe slowly enough to calm my heartbeat down.
“I don’t know.” She gave a strangled little gurgle. “As well as can be expected after being thrown in a dark pit of disgusting water. I don’t even know what happened exactly. I just woke up to find some Fosaanian pulling me up and then all that bizarre chanting and then this. I can’t believe Mira gave us away.”
“I can’t either,” I said, relieved Lainie sounded almost like her normal self. “We’re going to have to figure out something. Check the walls in your direction,” I said. “See if there is something we can grab hold of.”
I doubted we’d find anything. That would be just too easy. The room was small and in no time I met Lainie on the other side. It was a shock to actually be able to see the outline of her head and shoulders. “I can kind of see you. Is there light coming in?’
“Look up,” she said, and when I did I could see the roof had some tiny holes in it, like stars in the night sky. “It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing.”
“Wait, I’m such an idiot.” I reached one arm up to my opposite shoulder and pushed the flashmark on it. The room brightened. The relief I felt disappeared fast as I examined our surroundings. There was nothing but smooth walls. I could see the outline of the door far above the water line. There was no way we could reach it, and I suspected even if we could, there
was no way to open it. And opening it meant coming face to face with a bunch of Fosaanians.
“Mine isn’t working,” Lainie said, pushing at a mark on her own shirt. “I think some of the holes I cut messed up the circuitry.”
“At least we have some light.” I tried to clear my mind and concentrate on the problem at hand. “I don’t suppose the test is to just make us tread water until they decide to get us out,” I said. To keep the panic under control, I tried a feeble joke, “I don’t think this is going to be a popular tourist attraction.”
“No,” There was a waver in Lainie’s voice.
“Look, if Fosaanians could make it out of this, so can we,” I said. My anger at Ansun and at Mira was giving me some energy. “It wouldn’t do them any good to build something that half their population couldn’t survive.” At least I hoped they wanted more than half their population to live.
“That’s true.” Lainie’s voice strengthened. “And we know our choices. We either go up, go down or find something in the sides to go through. Did you feel anything that might be an opening in the wall?”
“No,” I said, “but we should look again now that we have light.”
“Let’s stick together, so we can make sure one of us doesn’t miss anything.”
As we moved, I realized there was absolute silence. The room let in no sound from the outside world. The walls were an even matte black, no dents, no discolorations, no lines to show a carefully concealed opening. We swam, trying to press against the wall with one hand while using the other to keep afloat.
We went around once more until Lainie stopped. “There’s nothing here.”
I hated to admit it, but she was right. “We have to think of something else then. We can’t tread water forever.” I could already feel my leg muscles tiring.
“I just don’t get it,” Lainie said. “How is anyone supposed to figure out what to do?”
I couldn’t stop thinking about Mira and her face when everyone else was chanting Mind, body, clan. Mira had said it too when she had told me about Cadia. Maybe that’s what had made her betray us; the clan was more important than outsiders. “Mira told me Fosaanian citizens had to be strong in mind, body and clan,” I said, an idea forming in my head. “If this is normally a test to become a citizen, maybe we have to use a combination of those three things.”
Lainie turned to float on her back. “I didn’t think of that,” she said. “I get the body part. You have to be strong enough to stay above water while you figure it out. And the mind part must be because you have to think of a solution. So what’s the clan part? Does that mean someone outside, someone from your family has to help you? If that’s the case, we’re done for.”
“I don’t know.” I didn’t voice it, but I had a suspicion that in the old days someone from the clan who had already been though the test was supposed to help those enduing it. We had no one. Did Ansun even know what the test involved? And what kind of strange civilization would think this up? It was barbaric.
I hadn’t realized my treading had slowed until the water touched my chin. It spurred me to move my legs and arms faster. Eyeing the ceiling, I said, “There’s no way we can go up, nobody could, so that just leaves down. Maybe there’s an opening in the bottom. We don’t know how this water got here.”
“If we can actually reach the bottom. I suspect it’s really deep. I dread to think of what may be down there.”
I did too. “I’ll try first,” I said, because I wanted to stop treading. My leg muscles were aching with the repetitive motion. “If we take turns, we can save a little bit of energy.” I took a breath of air and held it, then dove down, one hand out in front of me. The light from the flashmark only lit up a small area in the murky water. Beneath me was utter darkness. I kicked as hard as I could, making myself go down, my ears popping. My lungs protested, and I desperately wanted to take a breath. There was no bottom that I could see. Turning toward the surface, I kicked hard, knowing if I didn’t reach it soon, I would take a breath of water. I broke the surface and gasped for air.
“Anything?” Lainie asked.
I could only shake my head.
“Let me try,” she said.
“Wait,” I took a few more breaths and then managed to say, “Take my shirt so you have light.” I pulled it over my head, going under as I did so. When I came back up, I handed it to Lainie and supported her while she tied it around one arm, She pushed off from the wall with her feet as she dived down and I saw that gave her a little extra push of speed. I watched the light grow dim as she moved away from me. It seemed as if she was underwater forever. I strained to see but could only make out the wavering light.
She came back up, sputtering. “I touched the bottom! There’s something there, pieces of stone sticking up all over the floor, like handles. They have to be important. I tried one but then I ran out of air.”
“Maybe they are levers to open up the bottom so the water will drain out. We’ll go down together,” I said, feeling a small amount of hope. This time I made sure I took in as deep a breath as possible. We both pushed off from the wall, Lainie gliding ahead of me. When I reached the bottom, I spotted the handles. There were almost imperceptible, even with the light, the same color as the floor. I grasped one and pulled, but nothing happened. Lainie touched me on the arm and shook her head, pointing up.
It felt like it took longer to get to the surface. I didn’t know how many more times I’d have the strength to dive down. I couldn’t believe just a day without enough food or sleep had worn me out so much.
Back on the surface, when I had enough air in my lungs, I said, “We have to figure out the mind part, which means use our brains. This is a test of how smart we are. I wonder what Fosaanians learn?” I tried to figure out some sort of mathematical thing that might be related to where the handles were placed, but all the math I ever knew seemed to have deserted me. I flipped around so I could float on my back for a while, wondering how long I could keep this up.
The light coming in from the tiny openings in the ceiling made me wish I was back in my own living unit, the scene setter surrounding me with a night sky. Something in the pattern of lights caught his attention. The brightest ones were in the shape of the three-sided skele. Mind, body, clan.
“Did you see any pieces of stone in the shape of the skele?” I said, turning around to face Lainie again.
“No, but the flashmark only lights up a small area.”
I realized the flashmark had dimmed. It was supposed to be waterproof, though whatever caused the murkiness of the water might be causing it to malfunction. I couldn’t imagine swimming in almost total darkness, trying to figure a way out. But the Fosaanians in the old days might not have had lights. If there was something on the bottom in the shape of skele, the person undergoing the test would have had to have found it by touch alone.
“I’ll look again,” Lainie said. I let her go by herself, trying to save my strength in case she found something. My arm was shaking again, more than it had before. I suspected the cold water was making it worse.
“It’s there,” she said when she surfaced. “There is one stone shaped like a skele, but nothing happened when I pulled on it.”
“We’re still forgetting the clan part,” I said. “It has to fit in somehow. What’s important about a clan?”
“Well, I suppose everyone in a clan works together like a family.”
“So maybe they had more than one person take the test at time?”
“Maybe it takes two of us.”
We went down and pulled together. Nothing happened. I signaled up and we swam back to the surface. This time, I had to take several gulps of air to get my breath.
“We’re still missing something.”
“I want to go back down,” Lainie said.
I couldn’t believe she had the endurance for another dive, but she was under before I could stop her. All that running around with Saunder made her stronger than I had rea
lized.
She resurfaced. “There are two more, arranged in three points the same distance from each other.”
“Of course! I should have realized there would be three in total. I know what it means. There would have been three in here at once, three to help each other. How far apart are they? If they are some sort of lever to open up a drain, we probably have to pull on them at the same time.”
“I can’t reach between them,” she said. “They’re too far apart.”
“Let’s try again.” We didn’t have an alternative. “You concentrate on one, and I’ll see if I can reach between the two. Can you point down and show me about where they are?”
She swam to three different spots in the water, stopping at each one. I realized the spots made the shape of a triangle, and they were about five feet apart. I knew I couldn’t reach two of them at once, but if I pulled on one, then moved quickly to the other, it might be enough.
When we reached the bottom, an idea came to me. I hooked my foot under one and struggled to move my upper body down enough to reach the other, stretching between them, hoping I still had enough strength in my legs. When I grabbed hold of the remaining one, I pulled as hard as I could, using my feet to pull on the other. I thought both moved a fraction, but I couldn’t tell. My lungs were screaming for me to take a breath. I couldn’t stay under any longer.
Letting go, I tried to push off from the bottom but my legs were too tired. Lainie was already swimming above me, the light illuminating her as she rose. Using my arms, I tried to swim upward, focusing on the light. The surface seemed too far away. I had to take a breath. Without being able to stop myself, I opened my mouth and let the water flow in. As my mouth filled, I felt Lainie grab my hair and yank me up. When I broke the surface, I coughed and gagged, Lainie struggling to hold my head above water. My flailing around took us both back under a few more times, until I finally managed to breathe without coughing.
“I’m sorry,” I gasped. I almost wished she hadn’t pulled me up. I knew I would sink back under the water as soon as my legs refused to move anymore and Lainie would eventually wear out too. “I don’t know what else to do.”
Station Fosaan Page 15
