“Mitchell? The juvi doofus?”
“Nothing is right with the world anymore” was Mark’s answer.
Courtney nodded soberly. “I hear you. Things aren’t working out the way I thought they would, either. On any level. I may be totally dumb about this, but as huge as going to Cloral may be, at least it’s something we have control over. I’m going, Mark. Will you go with me?”
Mark looked into Courtney’s gray eyes and saw the intensity and confidence that had been missing lately. The old Courtney was back and she was ready to roll.
“Can I ask you one thing?” Mark said, though his voice was shaky.
“Sure.”
“Wh-What exactly are we going to tell our parents?”
Courtney laughed. “We’re going to ride a flume to another time and territory on the other side of Halla to try and save humanity from total destruction. I don’t know about your parents, but if I told mine, they’d lock me in the basement until a team of psychiatrists turned my head inside out . . . or I turned forty, whichever came last.”
Mark chuckled nervously and said, “Yeah, my mom barely let me out to go to the library tonight.”
The two laughed, but it was nervous laughter.
Courtney added, “We’ll deal when we get back.”
Mark nodded. He wasn’t sure which he feared more: jumping into the flume or telling his parents why he’d disappeared. Talk about things changing! Once they took this step, there would be no turning back. When they returned to Second Earth, if they returned, they’d have to ‘fess up about everything. They’d have to explain about Bobby, and his uncle Press. They’d have to confess to the police that they hid the truth about the Pendragons disappearing for fear of being locked away in a nuthouse. Of course, Mark figured, after revealing all that’s been happening, they’d be locked away in a nuthouse anyway. It was a scary step for all sorts of reasons, but the more Mark thought about it, the more he felt Courtney was right. There was no choice. They had to travel.
Courtney walked to the wooden door to the root cellar. She looked at the star that had been burned into the wood, marking it as a gate to the flume. She reached up and touched it, feeling the smooth, burned edges of the symbol.
“Ready?” she asked.
Mark took a deep breath and walked for the door. “Last chance to talk me out of it,” he said.
Courtney smiled, opened the door, and said, “Let’s go to Cloral.”
SECOND EARTH
(CONTINUED)
Seegen’s body sat motionless in the mouth of the flume, his lifeless eyes staring straight ahead, seeing nothing. Mark and Courtney entered the root cellar and stood in front of this latest casualty in the war against Saint Dane. It was a grim reminder that this was no game. The stakes were high. People died.
Courtney broke the silence by saying, “I’ve never seen a dead person.”
“He’s a cat,” Mark said softly. “Does that count?”
“Close enough,” Courtney answered. “What should we do about him?”
“We should send him back to Eelong,” Mark offered. “It’s where he belongs.”
“Can we do that?” Courtney asked.
Mark shrugged and said, “We can try. But we should say something first. Out of respect.”
Courtney nodded and dropped her head. Mark did the same and said reverently, “We only know a few things about Seegen. He came from the territory of Eelong; he has a daughter named Kasha; he was a Traveler; and he died in the battle to protect Halla from Saint Dane. For that, he was a hero. There’s nothing else we can say except that we’ll do all we can to make sure he didn’t die for nothing.”
The two kept their heads down for a moment. “That was perfect,” Courtney said.
Mark nodded. “Wait here,” he said, and ran out of the root cellar. He quickly returned with a plastic sandwich bag full of carrots from his backpack.
“You want a snack now?” Courtney asked in wonder.
“Hang on,” Mark answered, taking out the note he had written to the acolyte from Eelong. He knelt down next to Seegen and cautiously brought the paper close to the dead cat’s mouth.
“What are you doing?” Courtney asked nervously.
“We’ve got to be sure,” Mark answered. He used the paper to pull out some of the fur from around Seegen’s mouth. “There will be traces of the poison on his fur. On Cloral they can examine it to see if it really is the same plague.” Mark stood up and folded the paper several times, making sure the hairs were trapped safely inside. He dumped the carrots out of the plastic bag and put the folded paper inside, being careful to seal the bag up tight.
“That’s pretty smart,” Courtney said.
“Yeah, I’m a smart guy.” He put the bag in his pocket and said, “A really scared, smart guy. Now what?”
Courtney shrugged. “Now we see if this is going to work.” She looked into the flume, took a deep breath and shouted, “Eelong!”
The flume sprang to life.
“Oh man,” Mark said in awe. “What if it takes us, too?”
Courtney pulled Mark to the side of the flume. The two hugged each other as light filled the root cellar along with the sweet musical notes. The flume shivered slightly. Mark and Courtney felt the ground move, as if they were in a small earthquake. They shared a quick look, but didn’t think about it again. Both waited to be tugged into the flume. They weren’t. The light diminished; the music grew faint; and they were still on Second Earth. Courtney let go of Mark and peered around the mouth of the flume in time to see the light disappearing in the distance. Seegen’s body was gone.
“Good-bye, Seegen,” Mark said.
The two stood staring into the empty flume. Neither made a move for the longest time. Finally Mark said softly, “Courtney, I am really scared.”
Courtney said, “Yeah, me too.”
Neither made a move.
“It seems like so long ago,” Mark said wistfully. “And sometimes like yesterday.”
“What does?”
“The night Osa came to my bedroom and gave me the ring. I put my head back there sometimes. Back before Bobby left. Before we found out about Travelers, and territories, and Saint Dane.”
“Me too,” Courtney admitted. “I always think about the night Bobby left. It was like a whole different life.”
“Yeah, a whole different life,” Mark echoed.
The two stood in silence for a few moments, then Mark said, “Are you sure we’re doing the right thing?”
“I don’t know, Mark. I’d be lying if I said I was absolutely sure. But from all we know, I don’t think we have another choice.”
Mark nodded thoughtfully. “You know what I think?”
“What?”
Mark stood up straight, looked Courtney square in the eye, and said with as much confidence as he could gather, “I think we’re on the wrong territory.”
Courtney broke out in a wide grin. “Then say it,” she said.
Mark Dimond was ready for an adventure. He was about to get one. After watching Bobby for so long from the safety of the sidelines, he and Courtney were about to step onto the playing field. Mark looked into the flume, took a deep breath, and said in a strong voice, “Cloral.”
The flume woke up. The walls began to crack and groan. Mark and Courtney could actually feel it moving beneath their feet as it writhed and twisted like a sleepy snake.
“I’ve never felt it move before,” Mark said nervously.
“I don’t think it has,” Courtney replied.
The light appeared far in the distance. It was on its way in to sweep them up and bring them on a ride that had been long in coming. The jumble of musical notes were heard faintly at first, but grew steadily louder while drawing closer. Mark grabbed Courtney’s hand. They both fought the instinct to back away. In the past they would have. Not today. Today their job was to stay put and let the flume take them. They saw the gray rock walls melting into crystal. Soon the entire tunnel would become clear and they
’d be off.
Thunk!
Mark and Courtney jumped back because a piece of rock the size of a basketball had cracked away from the tunnel over their heads and fallen at their feet. It was heavy, and it nearly hit them.
“That can’t be good,” Courtney said.
“Something’s wrong,” Mark said nervously.
Clunk!
Another piece of the flume cracked away from the wall and rolled past them.
“Maybe we should bail,” Courtney offered.
Too late. They both felt the tug at the same time. The powerful energy of the flume was gently pulling them in. They couldn’t back out if they wanted to. The light blasted into their faces, the sweet notes danced around them, the walls turned totally crystal . . . .
“Here we go!” Courtney shouted.
“Whoooooooo!” Mark yelled.
And a moment later, the two were lifted up on a bed of light and rocketed into the tunnel.
CLORAL
The ride was everything they hoped it would be . . . only better. All that Bobby had described to them in his journals was now theirs to experience. The sensation of floating on warm air, the twists and turns with no fear of bashing into the crystal walls, the vast star field beyond, the musical notes that whipped past—it was all exactly as Bobby had explained it. Mark and Courtney held hands as they flew along. At first they held tight out of fear, but it only took a few moments for them both to relax and enjoy the ride.
“It . . . it’s incredible,” Mark exclaimed. He looked to Courtney, who floated alongside him, her eyes wide, taking in every detail.
“Look!” she exclaimed while pointing out to the star field.
They saw what looked like a giant fish swimming right up to the crystal shell of the flume and traveling along with them. It was the size of a house, with nearly transparent skin through which they could see the stars beyond.
“It’s one of the images Bobby wrote about,” Mark exclaimed.
The immense fish shot away and flew toward the stars.
“What is that?” Mark asked, while pointing to the other side of the flume. There was a vast, pyramid-shaped object spinning across space. It too was semitransparent so that stars could be seen through it.
“Maybe it’s a Lifelight pyramid,” Courtney suggested.
“What does it mean?” Mark asked.
Courtney laughed and said, “Are you kidding? What does any of this mean?” She let go of Mark’s hand and did a somersault like an astronaut in zero g. “Just go with it.”
Mark actually laughed and tried to do a somersault too. But he only got halfway around and the two of them ended up sailing along with Courtney’s head up and Mark’s head down. They looked at each other and burst out laughing. A moment later they both heard something far ahead. The musical notes grew more furious, along with a new sound that was like . . .
“Water!” Mark exclaimed while scrambling to get his head back upright. “I forgot! The flume on Cloral dumps out into a—”
He couldn’t finish the sentence because they were shot out of the flume, twenty feet in the air. Gravity kicked back in and both fell toward a pool of water. Since Courtney’s head was up, she was able to get her feet together and hold her nose. But Mark was launched out of the flume head down. He flailed his arms to try and right himself, but it was too late. Courtney knifed into the water, nearly vertical. Mark spun himself heels over head and hit the water with a full-on belly flop that sounded like a cannon going off. Courtney surfaced first, looking for Mark.
“Mark?” she called out. “Mark!”
A moment later Mark surfaced, his long dark hair covering his eyes. He floated there for a second, making Courtney wonder if he was hurt. He then uttered a simple, profound, “Ouch.”
Courtney laughed. So did Mark. They had made it. The two swam to the side of the pool and pulled themselves up and out, to sit on the rocky ledge and survey their surroundings. It was exactly as Bobby had described. They were in a rock cavern that had vines laden with colorful flowers growing from its walls.
“We’re here!” Mark exclaimed. “I can’t believe it.” He leaned over and plucked off a dark green, cucumber-looking fruit from a vine. “Bobby made these sound delicious,” he explained while snapping it in half. The fruit inside was bright red, like a tubular watermelon. Mark took a greedy bite, the juice dripping down his chin.
“Well?” Courtney asked.
Mark smiled. “Sweet, crunchy, excellent. Bobby’s words didn’t do them justice.”
Mark handed Courtney the other half. The two of them took a moment to enjoy the strange fruit that could only be found on this territory. While they ate, both looked around the cavern, awestruck.
“Cloral. Unbelievable,” Courtney said.
Mark added, “It’s like we stepped inside a book.”
They both dangled their feet in the warm pool of water that was their welcome mat.
“I hope Wu Yenza got the message,” Courtney said. “If not, this is as far as we go.”
Both knew that in order to get out of this cavern, they would need air globes and swim belts, because they were far below the surface of the waters of Cloral. No way they would be able to hold their breath long enough to swim out. Even if they could, they’d find themselves in the middle of the ocean, with the possibility of quig-sharks lurking around. Courtney was right—if Wu Yenza hadn’t gotten their message, the mission to Cloral would go no farther than the gate.
“I think she got the message,” Courtney announced.
“How do you know?” Mark asked.
Courtney made her way carefully around the edge of the pool until she came upon a mound of vines. She tugged at them to reveal . . .
“Clothes!” Mark exclaimed. “Cloral clothes!”
Courtney picked up a bright blue shirt that looked to be made of a lightweight, rubbery wet suit material.
“We were expected,” Courtney said.
“Awesome!” Mark exclaimed. “I guess all we have to do is wait and—” Mark didn’t finish his sentence.
“What’s the matter?” Courtney asked.
Mark held up his hand. The gray stone in the center of his ring was starting to sparkle. “We’ve got mail.”
Mark took it off and put it on the rocks while Courtney quickly scampered around the edge of the pool to join him. The light from the stone shot out of the ring and lit up the flower-filled cavern, making it look as if they were standing inside a giant Christmas tree. The ring grew wide as the musical notes bounced off the walls. As always the entire event took only a few seconds. When it was over, Mark and Courtney were left looking at a ring that had returned to normal, with Bobby’s next journal lying beside it.
They had been so focused on the event, they hadn’t noticed the dark shadow that had been swimming toward them underwater. The shadow moved to the center of the pool and silently surfaced directly behind them.
Mark picked up the rolled-up parchment and said, “At least we’ll have something to do while we wait to see if anybody comes for us.”
That’s when the shadow spoke, saying, “No need to wait.” Mark and Courtney jumped in surprise. They spun quickly to the sound of the voice to see . . .
Treading water in the middle of the pool was a guy wearing a clear air globe that was form fitted to his head. He pulled off the globe and it instantly returned to its normal, round shape. Now that the globe was gone, Mark and Courtney saw that the guy had long black hair that fell almost to his shoulders. His eyes were almond shaped and he had a dazzling smile that lit up the cavern.
“You must be Mark and Courtney,” the guy said. “Sounds as if you’ve found yourselves in a bit of a tum-tigger.”
Mark stammered, “A-Are you—”
“Who else would I be?” the guy laughed.
Courtney uttered, “Spader?”
“Hobey-ho, mates,” the Traveler exclaimed. “Welcome to Cloral.”
CLORAL
(CONTINUED)
Mark
and Courtney felt as if they had stepped inside a dream.
They had experienced the wonders of Cloral through Bobby’s journals, but now they were seeing it for themselves. Firsthand. For real. It was everything they had imagined.
“I’m proud to meet you, mates,” Vo Spader said as he pulled himself out of the pool of water in the cavern. He laid his air globe on the edge of the pool and stood up to his full six-foot height. Mark and Courtney saw that he was wearing his jet-black aquaneer uniform with no sleeves. He held his hand out to Mark and said, “You’re both just as Pendragon described.”
Mark shook Spader’s hand while staring at him with his mouth hanging open, like he was looking at a celebrity. Spader gave him a reassuring wink, then shook Courtney’s hand. “That’s a right strong grip, Courtney,” he said. “Pendragon said you were a handful.”
Courtney held eye contact with him and said with a confident smile, “He wasn’t lying.”
Spader gave her a big smile in return, and said, “I’ll remember that.”
“D-Did W-Wu Yenza get our note?” Mark asked.
“Yes indeed,” Spader answered. “Can’t say I was happy about what it said, though.”
“There’s big trouble, Spader,” Mark said quickly. “Saint Dane somehow got hold of the Cloral poison and—”
“First things first, Mark,” the Traveler said. “Let’s get home and take a look at that new journal.”
“Really?” Mark asked in awe. “Home? You mean to Grallion?”
“Is that a problem?” Spader asked back.
“No, I think it’s great!” Mark exclaimed. “Can we have some sniggers, too?”
“Mark!” Courtney scolded. “Could you be any more of a geek?”
Spader laughed warmly. “No worries. This must be strange for you, splashing around a territory you’ve only read about.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty bizarre,” Courtney admitted.
“I’ll try to make it as comfortable as I can,” Spader said with a wink. “Right?”
“Right!” Mark answered.
The first task was to get Mark and Courtney into Cloral clothes. They each chose a matching set of bright blue two-piece swimskins from the pile. They also picked out pairs of soft swim shoes.