Clan World

by Jim Kochanoff

  “Unlawful entry. Intruder was eliminated. Only the door opener can enter with guest specifications,” the computer announced dispassionately. The Zombie clan immediately let us go.

  “He was vaporized!” Lucaz exclaimed, amazed.

  “And only you can enter,” Saul commented, “with a guest. Pick me! Pick me!” He began to jump up and down with excitement. I realized that there was only one person I wanted to enter with.

  “Computer — take visual.” I quickly pulled Jinn in front of the computer screen before even asking her.

  “Scanning.” A white light went from top to bottom. It happened so fast that no else could react. “Completed. User and guest may now enter.”

  “I guess that settles who goes in,” Lucaz replied. I turned and felt his lips on mine. My eyes widened as he kissed me!

  “I obviously can’t go in with you. I need to get back to Spider clan and make sure my dad is okay. Once you go in there, the birds can’t reach you.”

  “And the kiss?” I asked incredulously.

  “For luck. I hope you find what you are looking for.” He turned and was swallowed in the sea of people who were fighting the oncoming birds.

  Abraham looked at me but had no words. I felt like we were no longer enemies , and his recent support was his way of saying sorry. But like a typical boy, he couldn’t say so. He nodded at me and ran toward an incoming bird, already moving on to the next fight. Jinn looked at Saul, who seemed disappointed I hadn’t picked him.

  “Saul — go find any of the Armor clan. Tell them that we need them at the entrance of the Cradle. Find my father if you can. It’s a matter of life and death.”

  Saul nodded, looked at us, and ran. He zigged and zagged around bodies, and I hoped he would be okay.

  “Are we ready for this?” Jinn gulped.

  “Do we have a choice?” I answered. “Tuko, I’m sorry I picked Jinn over you. I just felt that if I had to do this with someone, I wanted it to be her.”

  “I understand. And although I am so jealous right now, there is no one more deserving than Jinn. Now, get going before time runs out. I’ll secure this entrance so no one else will get vaporized trying to chase after you. Go find whatever answers lie inside.” He grabbed one of the spears that the guards had been using. Suddenly he was no longer Jinn’s annoying brother. He was ready to be a clan leader.

  “I love you, brother.” Jinn beamed.

  “Thank you, Tuko.” I gave him a hug. “Don’t get yourself killed trying to guard this entrance. Whatever is inside is not worth your life.”

  He playfully pushed me away. “Come on, you’re wasting time. You already have less than thirty minutes. Get going.”

  Jinn and I didn’t need any more motivation. I stepped into the doorway and walked through. Intact. I reached back through and grabbed Jinn’s hand. She closed her eyes and held her breath. She stepped through and remained whole on the other side. We waved to Tuko, who stared back at us as we ran into a dark hallway and away from the battle. Suddenly the chaos of the clans and the pterodactyls were gone, replaced by the silent tomb of a strange stone hallway.

  The air was stale. It seemed like no one had been here for a very long time. The passageway was dark, but there was illumination from above. I guessed that sunlight was shining through cracks in the rocks. Jinn stepped gingerly, as if not wanting to break anything. I put my hands in front of me and almost swallowed a spider’s web. At least it wasn’t one of Lucaz’s traps.

  Gradually, the tunnel widened and I saw a large space ahead. It opened into a wide lab with a high roof. There was a large monitor at the far end of the room and rows of computers in a semicircle around it. It felt like a control center where dozens of people could work toward some hidden goal. I rubbed my finger on a console and drew a happy face on the screen. The dust was so thick, I didn’t know if anything would work. I tried anyway. I tapped the power button on the computer screen. Nothing came up.

  “Either there is no power supply, or these computers are toast,” Jinn commented. She walked over to a red switch adjacent to a fuse box. She pulled it down, and a low hum reverberated through the hall. Nothing changed except for a green light that flashed at the bottom of the main monitor. I went from computer to computer, trying to get one of them to turn on. Same result — nothing would boot up.

  By the red switch was a large plastic lid over a table. It covered a map and laptop. I tried to lift the cover, but it was too heavy for me.

  “Can you help me with this?” I asked. Jinn took one corner, and we lifted the plastic cover and dumped it on the floor. The cover bounced off the concrete. I popped open the laptop and plugged the cord in. It had a faded screen, but I when I hit the power button, I heard the computer booting up. The plastic cover must have kept the dust out.

  “What are you trying to do?” Jinn asked.

  “I don’t know. Our time is short to figure out what this place was. I’m hoping this can tell me.” The laptop flashed green, and then the huge monitor in front of us turned on. I guessed we wouldn’t have to crowd around the laptop. The laptop main screen appeared, as if no password was required to enter.

  Jinn pointed to a folder. “Try that.” She motioned to video labeled “Operations.”

  “Good idea,” I answered. The video was black and white and the frame rate seemed off. The movements were very jerky. The background was this lab, only it seemed much brighter and cleaner. A young man in a lab coat faced us. He wore his glasses on top of his head like he had forgotten they were there.

  “Welcome to the command center of World 56-a18. A population of about fifty thousand residents has been seeded in warlike clan structure to see how long they can peacefully coexist. We have created twenty clan-like entities but anticipate that more will splinter off. To facilitate the survival nature of the world, dinosaurs have been introduced to create fear amongst the residents. This will either make the clans combine forces or fight for resources. Either way, it will be our job to analyze the results and report.” The footage stopped, and I looked at Jinn. She was trying to absorb what was happening, Her entire home as she knew it was a lie. Or this video was a hoax. Either way, since I had come from a world that was constantly being observed, I felt I needed to prepare her.

  “In my home, we were constantly observed. We were safe to a point but could never really leave my city. Your home isn’t much different. Starting at some point in history, your actions were observed and analyzed.”

  “You’re telling me that we are rats in a big maze? How is it that no one else has ever discovered this before?” Jinn asked.

  “How would you know? In bunkers like this, you would never see the ones watching you. In my home, we had a barrier that prevented us from leaving home, although no one seemed to realize it was there.” I turned to Jinn, who looked like the wind had been knocked out of her.

  “My home isn’t much different. There are natural barriers that prevent us from going beyond our world. From the Cradle wall to the gorge in the west to the desert in the east to the mountain in the north, we have always been hemmed in. But why? Time is running out. Fast forward to the middle of the video.”

  I clicked farther into the video and the scientist appeared again, this time with at least half a dozen other people in lab coats. He had some gray in his hair and a beard. Several people appeared behind him and were working on video consoles as well.

  “The clans have been very resourceful and grown more cohesive as a society. Although there have been battles, it has not been as warlike as we had hoped. To create conflict, we have augmented the dinosaurs’ intelligence as well as found ways to sabotage the clan members’ technology.” The scientist paced around the room as if playing to the camera and to whatever authority he was reporting to.

  “The animals are easy. We have found ways to surgically enhance their brains, increasing their abilities to solve problems and pushing their aggressiveness. Sometimes they attack each other , but we are having success in focusing them
on the clans. They are easy to control, but the clans are another issue altogether.” He reached for something off-screen and brought it over. “We have been manufacturing this incense and using one of the clans as a distributor. They have no idea of its results. The incense has a special chemical that makes metal brittle and affects all electronics. Car and computers will break down, pushing these clans into the dark ages. Future generations will move backward, and technology they used to count on will continually break down. The incense will delay any technological advances.” I stopped the tape and considered his information. I had smelled incense everywhere I went. These clans were literally destroying their technology by the smoke. Jinn made a big sound as she slumped into a chair.

  “You mean we have been ruining our vehicles for decades? No wonder computers always broke down. Thank god Dad never used incense,” she said. Then she was very quiet — like the wheels were turning. She was scaring me.

  “What are you thinking?”

  Before she could answer, an alarm rang with a digital clock appearing on one of the video screens. “FIFTEEN minutes before door shutdown,” an automated voice said from one of the speakers. Super annoying.

  “Time’s running out. Let’s keep watching.” Jinn gave a terse nod.

  I scrolled to the end and hit play. The scientist was alone and covering up various pieces of equipment.

  “The lab is being scuttled, at least for now. Don’t know when we might return. We must prepare everything for storage in case we’re gone for a while. One of the clans has been contacted and will act as caretakers for the others. I don’t agree, because it gives them too much knowledge and power over the other clans. But the decision was not mine to make. I hope they know what they’re doing, otherwise we’ll return and that clan will change the future of this world. And it might not be for the best.” The screen froze, as if the tape had run out. It backed up our theory that one of the clans was controlling this place.

  I considered what I had seen in this world since my arrival. I had travelled from end to end. I had been to the dinosaur camp, but Dero didn’t seem intelligent enough to be designated the architect clan by this lab. Chycle had the brawn but not the brains. If Luther or Hunter clan was controlling the strings, why go though the trouble of persuading the other clans to support them? They could just release the dinosaurs to do their bidding. Then I considered the most obvious option.

  “Jinn — it was really lucky that you happened to be exactly where I entered your world.”

  She was silent. Was she listening or ignoring me? I couldn’t tell with her back turned. I pushed away from the desk and rolled a short distance in my chair.

  “You mentioned that the area you found me in was fairly isolated. Was it really on the way for you?” Still no reaction. Her quietness was unsettling.

  “I never did question how Tuko found me in the dinosaur base when Lucaz had told me that no one would dare venture into the Wasteland. I didn’t question his explanation.”

  Her posture was more slumped now, and I thought I could see her shaking.

  “I never did ask how your father found us at the Orphan town. Almost like he knew we would be there.”

  I thought I heard a sob.

  “Are you going to tell me what is going on?” I reached over to touch her on the shoulder.

  “No,” said a male voice, “but I will.” I turned and saw that Strika had entered the room. His tall frame was less kindly now. He looked like a predator about to pounce on its prey. “Jinn, go back to the entrance. We’ll discuss this later.” Jinn looked at me. Tears had welled up in her eyes. Her expression told me everything.

  “I’m sorry, Pene. I knew you were coming, and I was told to look after you. To keep you safe. But you became so much more to me. I was hard on you about your secrets when I had plenty of my own.”

  “You knew everything!” I said incredulously. “Your dad and Armor clan have been pulling all of the strings?”

  “No!” she yelled back. “I knew who you were when you arrived. Dad had been contacted before and told that there may be a visitor from outside, and I was to protect you.”

  “Protect! You mean endanger and use me,” I yelled back.

  “No. We kept you safe and have been in contact with my dad the whole time. He’s been able to track your whereabouts so that we could always find you.”

  “But the dinosaur camp! The incense! You knew and agreed with what he is doing?”

  “I didn’t know about the dinosaur camp until you discovered it. I didn’t learn about the incense until a few minutes ago.” She turned to her father. “I’m going to tell the other clans what you are doing.” I could tell that she meant it.

  “You’ll do no such thing,” answered Strika. “You do that and you will have written a death sentence for your mother and I and the rest of the clan. You don’t understand. We were contacted by the Others. They put us in charge. If we didn’t follow their instruction, there would have been widespread genocide unless we agreed to be caretakers. You don’t understand. Armor clan has always protected the other clans!”

  Maybe Strika was protecting the other clans by following his orders. I didn’t know, and I didn’t have time to understand.

  “How to you get in? You should have been vaporized.”

  “There were ways,” he answered cryptically. “As a caretaker, I have certain access. Now step away from daughter.”

  “Why? I want nothing to do with her. She lied to me!”

  “Don’t blame her. I put a lot of pressure on her and Tuko. I need them to step up and replace me and their mother one day. I was in contact with those outside our world and prepared for your possible arrival.”

  “So you control the Chycle clan and the dinosaurs they torture? Your actions kill people of all the clans.”

  “What happened at the stadium was a mistake. Dero was supposed to scare, not destroy. He was an idiot. Part of me was glad when Tuko told me he was killed. But time is short, Pene. I’m not here to explain all my reasons. I do what I’m told, and as a result my clan has a seat at the table. Without my support, my people would have next to nothing and our world would be destroyed. I do what I need to do to keep us all alive.”

  “And it’s convenient that your choices give you power,” I added.

  He refused to be drawn into my conversation. “It’s okay. I don’t need you to understand. I just wanted to thank you for taking care of my children. You looked after both of them. And for that I owe you my gratitude.”

  “You mean Tuko didn’t know?”

  “No. He’s a bit more idealistic than realistic. I gave him direction to find you in the desert. He doesn’t know about my contact with the outside world or the choices I’d had to make. Jinn is the one I knew I could trust. Someday I will do the same for Tuko.”

  “Ten minutes before door shutdown,” the computer voice whined again.

  In the minutes that were left, I had no hope of understanding why he had made the choices he did. But I knew what he was going to do next.

  “You’re not going to let me leave here.”

  Strika’s eyes left no doubt of his answer.

  “Dad?” Jinn asked. Strika pulled out a gun and pointed it at me. It was a first time I seen one in this world, and it looked as evil as its holder.

  “I can’t risk you coming back to our world. The truth would tear our clans apart. You would destroy us.” He cocked his gun. He had made his choice.

  Jinn stepped between us. She had also made a choice. “You can’t do this, Dad. This goes against everything you and Mom taught us. She’ll promise to be quiet. Won’t you, Pene?”

  I nodded, but I wasn’t very convincing. I would be a risk. My interference already had proven that.

  “I can’t take the chance. I’m sorry. Move aside.” He motioned with his gun.

  “I’m sorry too, Dad. I don’t have a choice either. Catch.” She pulled something from her pocket and threw it. Her dad instinctively caught it with his other
hand, and its contents spilled over his fingers. He screamed as his eyes turned white.

  “I can’t see! I’m blind,” he yelled as the liquid took effect. While he was blinded, Jinn pulled the gun out of his hand. She looked at me.

  “I watched you beat the Zombie clan with that stuff. I wasn’t going to leave it behind.” She smiled, and even though she had saved my life again, our relationship had changed. Our friendship remained but was different now.

  “I wasn’t the only one with secrets. It’s easy to think you’re the only one with private thoughts. I guess we all have things to hide.”

  “I’m sorry I broke your trust, Pene. I am your friend and always protected you. But my family has it share of secrets, and I chose to be part of them, even if I don’t accept them all. Now you need to come with us. Despite what my dad says, I can protect you.”

  “No, she can’t. If she tells them what she saw, our clan structure will fall apart. Thousands will die,” Strika yelled, turning toward our voices.

  “He’s right about one thing. I can’t stay here. The exit is here. I just need to find it.” I hugged Jinn. We both knew that we would never see each other again. She grabbed her dad and guided him out of the lab. Before they exited, she said, “I will wait by the door. If you can’t get out in time, come to me.” And then she was gone.

  “Five minutes before the main entry is closed. Please exit the lab.” Five minutes before I was stuck in this tomb. Should I take Jinn up on her offer and leave now? The monitor blinked back at me. Oh, why didn’t I spend more time in my computer class? I wiped a tear from my eye. I always was a loner, never reaching out very much for help. But I had liked Jinn and Lucaz, even Tuko. And there were so many other good people in this world. But had my visit made it better, or would it make it worse? Would I ever know?

  I had to get my brain working. One entrance into this place didn’t make sense. How did the lab coats leave when they scuttled this place? They sure didn’t walk out into the desert.