Black Knight

by Christopher Pike

  “A pity,” Kyle says with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, like he doesn’t believe Sam—which makes no sense considering the fact that Sam didn’t have to volunteer the information. Nevertheless, our paranoia being what it is, I, too, begin to wonder if Sam is lying, if he knows exactly what it says on the wall and is keeping it to himself. Hell, maybe the Tarora writings do explain a secret way of getting off the island.

  “Let’s study the pictures,” I say, standing and taking a step away from Marc, scanning the images more closely. Whoever drew them had a skilled hand and access to a variety of colored paint or chalk. The symbols take up more space than the writing and are arranged in four distinct rows.

  The first image in the top row shows a diagram of our solar system. The sun is depicted as a bright white star, with only a faint hint of yellow, which I know from my high-school astronomy class to be accurate. I find the attention to detail interesting, as well as the fact that there are ten planets circling the sun instead of nine—never mind that poor Pluto is technically no longer supposed to be called a planet. Between Mars and Jupiter is a blue-white planet that resembles the Earth. It occupies the orbit of what is now the asteroid belt.

  The fifth planet intrigues me. I know that many astronomers believe that the asteroids were created in the distant past when an unfortunate fifth planet exploded. It is in fact the leading theory for the existence of the space rubble.

  It makes me wonder how old these images are. And if the artist who created them had a different set of science books than modern man has.

  In the second picture we see a close-up image of Venus, Earth, Mars, and the unnamed fifth planet. There are signs of green on all of them except Venus, which all modern astronomers agree has too hostile an environment to support life. Yet, as a semiscience nerd, I find the image exciting because a large number of scientists do speculate that Mars had life on it in the past.

  Also, it’s fascinating, although frightening, to think the mysterious fifth planet could also have supported life. I wonder if it was inhabited.

  The third image is strange.

  It shows a featureless black wall ringing half the fifth planet. I say half because only half the planet is depicted in the picture. The other half is just . . . gone. It doesn’t exist.

  The image makes no sense.

  How could half a planet orbit the sun?

  Maybe it couldn’t. In the fourth and final image of the top row, the mysterious fifth planet is nothing but rocks tumbling through space; the rocks obviously representing the asteroid belt. Basically, the fourth image is a diagram of how the solar system looks today.

  The second row starts with an overhead painting of the Field. I can tell it’s our island because half of it is identical to the half I’ve seen. There’s the volcano, the huge valley, the raging river, the smaller valley where we landed, the cliff with the cave where we first slept, the rocky beach, and so on.

  The six following images show close-ups of six spots on the island. I immediately recognize two of them. They show where Sam’s group and our group landed. Yet I’m confident the third image is Kyle’s landing spot based on the description he gave me of where they set down on the beach.

  That leaves three pictures of the island that depict spots I’ve not been to but nevertheless vaguely recognize. Two appear to be set in the forest where Shira died, where I first encountered the ghosts and Nordra. The third location is on the barren side of a hill, which I only spotted in the last hour when we neared the top of the volcano.

  The superficial meaning of the pictures is clear. They list where we, the contestants in the Field, were placed on the island. A deeper meaning is implied, however—that every contestant, throughout time, is placed at one of these six spots. Certainly, whoever created these pictures knew these six locations were important.

  But why were they important? And why were none of the six landing spots located on the other side of the island? The third row, which has only one image, might provide an answer to my second question.

  Like the picture at the start of the second row, it shows an overhead view of the island. But only half the island is present, the half we’ve been running around on for the past three days. The other half is missing. It’s just gone, there’s nothing there.

  The fourth and final row has three images in it. The first shows the black wall that was depicted in the picture of the mysterious fifth planet. Only here, the image is a close-up of our volcano and the wall. The picture appears to have been cropped for some reason; it doesn’t extend far in either direction.

  But it is drawn from the perspective of someone staring at the wall from roughly our position on the side of the volcano, or at least from our altitude. And it makes it clear that if we hike farther around the cinder cone, we’ll run into the wall.

  The next image shows a female, who bears a resemblance to Cleo, approaching the wall and pressing a red bracelet to its side. The picture gives the impression this is the proper way to touch the wall, instead of with one’s fingertips.

  The third and final picture in the bottom row is odd. It shows the same young woman as before, holding her bracelet to the wall, only now there are countless images of other people who overlap with each other as they stretch alongside the wall. These people are drawn more like ghost figures—we’re able to see through them. The original female remains clear, only now there’s a faint white light around her head, something akin to a halo.

  “What the hell?” Marc mutters from his place on the floor. I was so busy studying the images that I hadn’t noticed he had reopened his eyes and was doing the same thing. I kneel by his side.

  “How do you feel?” I ask.

  “Would you please quit asking me that.” Marc points to the pictures. “We came all the way here for that?”

  I have to smile. No matter how dire the situation, Marc is always still Marc. “Got any profound insight on what the pictures mean?” I ask.

  Marc closes his eyes and leans his head back. “It means that black wall is one freaking weird barrier,” he mumbles.

  I stand and look at the others. “I agree with Marc.”

  “You’re saying it’s not a way off the island?” Kyle asks.

  “I’m saying we’re not going to figure out what it is by standing here and talking about it,” I reply.

  “I’ve already been to the wall,” Sam says suddenly, his voice anxious. “I’m not going back.”

  “What?” Kyle exclaims. “You’re the one who told us about it! Who got us all excited about it! Now you just want to chicken out and stay here?”

  Sam shifts uneasily, lowers his head. “It’s different once you’ve touched it. It gets under your skin. It’s hard to explain but I sort of forgot about it after I left this place. But now that we’re back here—I don’t know, the thought of getting near it creeps me out.”

  Kyle shakes his head. “I can’t believe this.”

  I speak to Sam. “Are you saying you’re not going with us to check it out?”

  Sam hesitates. “I don’t want to go.”

  “You don’t have a choice!” Kyle snaps. “We don’t know where Viper and Nordra are, but we have to assume they’re close. We have to stick together. It’s the only way we stand a chance of fighting them off.”

  Sam turns to me and points to Marc. “He’s in no condition to hike, not at this altitude. And Li’s in bad shape. She’s hardly said a word all day. If you two are serious about going to the wall, then I can stay behind and guard them. I can keep an eye on Jelanda as well. Someone has to—you can’t take them all with you.”

  Sam has his eyes fixed on me, waiting for my approval. He must know I have doubts about him. He may even suspect I’ve heard about his history with his murdered boyfriend.

  My gut is still too twisted in knots to tell me whether I can trust him or not, but what he says makes sense. Marc can’t
travel and Li’s a mess. At least one witch has to remain behind.

  If we are determined to study the wall.

  It’s a big if. Our first priority is survival and we’re stronger if we stick together. But what’s the point of remaining in the cave? Sure, it can provide shelter for the night. But then what? Are we going to huddle here forever and wait for Nordra and Viper and the ghosts to attack?

  No, I have to make a choice. A tough choice.

  “Kyle and I will go to the wall,” I say. “Sam and Chad will stay here and keep an eye out for you know who. At the first sign of trouble scream at the top of your lungs. Kyle and I will be traveling light and we’ll be able to get back here in a hurry.”

  Chad raises his arm like he’s in class. “Excuse me, Jessie, I have a suggestion.”

  “Don’t say it,” I warn.

  Chad continues. “I respect you’re in charge and all that but you have to take me. This wall—it’s obviously a phenomenon mankind’s never run into before. And by ‘mankind’ I’m including witches, too. It’s an enigma and I’m the only scientist in this group who’s been trained to study enigmas. You need me.”

  Kyle glances at me. “He might be useful.”

  I’m a far from objective leader. I don’t want to take Chad because I want him to stay and keep an eye on Sam, to make sure he doesn’t harm Li or Marc. Yet, if Sam is a traitor, he’ll have no trouble overpowering Chad, so in a way leaving Chad behind is an exercise in futility.

  Once again paranoia fills the air.

  “Fine, you can come,” I say.

  * * *

  As we hike toward the back of the volcano, what we call the west side, we angle for greater altitude. According to Sam, the wall is higher than the cave. The moon has climbed farther into the sky since we entered the cave, and to our night-adjusted eyes we have all the light we need.

  That’s why we can’t understand why we have yet to catch a glimpse of the wall. Granted, Sam told us he didn’t notice it until he stumbled upon it. Yet once he did find it, he realized it stretched for miles, north and south.

  Talk about a confusing story.

  The volcano’s molten crown continues to throw out streams of red flares, and the guys begin to joke that it’s happy to see us. But the sudden activity continues to haunt me. Besides, I don’t like them talking and tell them to hush.

  We hike for half an hour straight, no breaks.

  Then we see it. No warning. It’s just there.

  It’s tall and dark and at first glance it appears to be massive. There’s no question it stretches for many miles in both directions. I wouldn’t be surprised if it divides the island in half. But I don’t see anything supernatural about it and wonder why it spooked Sam so much.

  Until I take a closer look.

  From our position on the side of the cinder cone, we should be able to see over the wall, even though it’s far taller than Sam described. Still, we’ve hiked way up and we definitely should be able to see the wide ocean far beyond the western edge of the island, especially in the brilliant glow of the moon. East of us the sea is sparkling like a veritable lunar field.

  Yet we can see nothing above and beyond the wall.

  We can’t even decide how tall it is. Chad says two hundred feet. Kyle says it’s over four hundred feet. The guys both believe we’re not seeing over it because it’s too tall. Yet we all agree we can see the top of it—sort of. Kyle and I turn to Chad for an answer.

  “You’re the science nerd,” Kyle says. “Explain how it’s screwing with our eyesight?”

  Chad frowns. “I wish we’d come here during the day. We’d probably spot the problem in a minute. There’s something about the way it reflects light or the angle it’s built at that throws off our sense of perspective.”

  “Hate to break it to you, mate,” Kyle says, “but that wall ain’t reflecting no light. It’s swallowing the bloody moonlight whole.”

  “I think Kyle’s right,” I say.

  Chad holds up a hand. “Let’s not jump to any conclusions. There are plenty of objects in nature that, at first sight, give the wrong impression of what they really are.”

  “Name one that’s as big as this fucker,” Kyle says.

  “I can’t, not off the top of my head,” Chad says, turning to me. “We have to examine it.”

  “Maybe I should go alone,” I say.

  “Jessie, this is every scientist’s dream,” Chad pleads. “It’s a genuine enigma. To the naked eye, it makes no sense. But our eyes are only one sense. I need to touch it, I need to examine it.”

  I nod. “All right, we’ll go closer, all of us together. But no one lays a hand on it until I say so. Agreed?”

  We walk toward it until we’re standing thirty feet away. That would be a first down in football. Stretching our necks back, we have even more trouble figuring out exactly where the top is.

  Again, we turn to Chad for an explanation.

  “It’s definitely hard to estimate its height. Our main problem is a lack of proper tools. You need a microscope to see germs or a telescope to see galaxies. In the same way, if we just had a long measuring tape . . .”

  Kyle interrupts. “Smart boy, we’re stranded on a tropical island. We don’t have any special tools to work with. But I can tell you something—my whole life, I’ve never needed more than my eyes and my wits to tell how tall a building is. What’s so special about this thing that we can’t even guess at a height?”

  “Well?” I say finally, when Chad doesn’t answer. But then I realize we might be putting too much pressure on the poor guy. He suddenly takes a step toward it.

  “Fair enough,” he says. “Let me at least figure out what it’s made of.”

  I grab his arm. “I just told you, no one touches it until I give the okay.”

  “At least let me feel for its temperature. I can do that without actually touching it.”

  “Fine,” I agree reluctantly.

  Chad and I step to within three feet of it. Kyle stays where he is. He says he doesn’t care if it makes him look like a coward, he knows when something isn’t natural. This is from a witch with supernatural powers.

  Chad raises his hand, moves his palm toward the surface.

  “Careful,” I warn.

  Chad brings his palm within three inches and stops. He frowns.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask.

  “It has a normal everyday temperature.”

  “Normal is good. Why are you frowning?”

  “Because it’s freezing up here. When I said it has a normal everyday temperature, I should have said it’s at room temperature.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I can feel its warmth.”

  “How’s that possible?” I ask.

  “It must have an internal heat source. Or . . .” Chad doesn’t finish.

  “Or what?” I ask.

  “It’s not really here. Not in the conventional sense.”

  “That doesn’t sound very scientific.”

  Chad shrugs. “You wouldn’t say that if you were a student of string theory, which I am. Modern physics believes there are a lot more dimensions than the standard three. In fact, your witch world is proof that physicists are on the right trail. For all we know this wall is the product of a highly developed civilization.”

  “We talking aliens here? ’Cause I’m not into aliens.”

  “You spoke about how your witch’s Council knows about advanced races that lived here before us. And back in that cave, the drawings clearly showed a depiction of our solar system with an unknown fifth planet.”

  “Not following you, mate!” Kyle calls.

  “Will you get over here,” I snap.

  “Happy where I am!” Kyle replies.

  Chad continues. “What I’m saying is that it’s possible that human beings
lived on more than one world in our solar system in the past. The idea isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds. There are many signs that Mars had a thick atmosphere and open water in the past. And when it comes to the fifth planet, even the most conservative astronomer will admit the asteroid belt was probably a complete world thousands or millions of years ago.”

  “And you’re saying this advanced race of people built this wall?” I say.

  Chad nods. “It’s more likely than saying aliens built it.”

  “Interesting,” I mutter.

  Kyle snorts. “If they did build it, their wall didn’t do the people on the fifth world any good. Since their planet exploded.”

  “You’re missing the point,” Chad says. “Whatever this structure is, it’s amazing.”

  Kyle grumbles. “Who gives a shit? All I want to know is if we can use it to get off this island.”

  “Let me do another test,” Chad says, lifting up his spear. He looks to me for approval.

  “You can touch it with the tip as long as you keep as far away from it as you can,” I say.

  Chad grips the spear by the end and tries to scrape it against the wall. But the instant the wood touches the dark material, his face goes blank and he stops moving. I immediately shove him aside and he drops the spear and lands on his butt. Kyle runs over as I kneel by Chad’s side.

  “What happened?” Chad mumbles.

  “You tell us,” I say.

  Chad looks around as if surprised at his surroundings.

  “How long was I gone?” he asks.

  “You didn’t go anywhere,” Kyle says. “You just fell on your ass.”

  Chad stares at me. “That makes no sense. I remember doing things. Going places and talking to people.”

  “Who? Where?” I demand.

  Chad goes to speak and stops. “I’m not sure. But I know I left here and was gone for a while.” He looks around some more. “It’s dark.”

  Kyle groans loudly. “Now we know what the wall’s good for. Shorting out your brain. I’ve got pills back home that can do the same thing, only they take a little longer and they give you a lot more pleasure.”