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Chapter 14

  Alex spent another two hours in the small space. He’d managed to choke down the bowl of food, some sort of fresh-water fish. Although he wanted to gag from the very first bite, he didn’t know when he would have another chance to eat, so he forced himself to swallow every last morsel.

  Three small, quarter-sized holes in the ceiling brought in fresh air and snatches of conversation. He could never make out what was said, only the tone and cadence. Above his shelter, hundreds of feet up, he could see a ceiling of solid rock through the small holes. It was coated with a greenish fungus or algae that gave off a steady glow—light for the entire cavern, albeit a muted light.

  There was nothing to do except wait, and Alex had never been good at being patient. Every second that passed was another second not knowing what his Dad was going through, and down here the concept of time was tough to gauge because the light never changed. It made the waiting even worse, made the moments seem twice as long. Up above, on the surface, he couldn’t begin to guess what time it was.

  Finally, exhaustion sunk in and Alex dozed off. He awoke abruptly as the door to his prison ground open and Tabitha re-entered. He clambered to his feet awkwardly, brushing the dust off his clothes.

  “Please come with me,” she requested politely, “and I will escort you to Sanctuary, where you will meet with Winston.”

  Just like that? They lock him up for hours and then expect him to go where they tell him because they ask him oh-so-politely? No way. He didn’t do anything to them, they took him prisoner. He wasn’t going to do anything they wanted until he got some answers.

  “No,” Alex crossed his arms. “I’m not going anywhere except home. Who is Winston? Why does he want to talk to me?” In truth, he wanted nothing more than to be free of the claustrophobic space. But for all he knew she was taking him somewhere worse. It might not be comfortable in the small stone cell but it was safe, and he had no idea know what was outside. He might not need to be afraid for his life—they wouldn’t have fed him if they were planning to kill him—but he wasn’t going to take any chances.

  Tabitha lifted her chin proudly. “Winston is our leader,” she told him. “He protects and guides the community. It is he who has ultimate authority in Domus.”

  “And what does your leader want from me?”

  Tabitha looked furtively over her shoulder again. “We do not have far to go. It is very close,” she spoke hurriedly, beckoning with one hand as she did. She seemed nervous, as if Alex’s reluctance could land her in trouble. “It is at the edge of the Great Lake. Sanctuary is the heart of our community, where all our leaders have lived and governed since the Arrival.”

  Alex shook his head. “What Arrival?” he asked.

  “Please,” Tabitha replied, a note of desperation entering her voice. She looked once again toward the door. “If you will come with me, I am certain that Winston will answer all of your questions.”

  Alex didn’t care if this girl could get in trouble because of him. Why on earth would he? He had half a mind to just lay back down on the floor and make this Winston person come to him. But as satisfying as it would be to do that, Alex had to wonder if it might put him in an even worse situation. Tabitha certainly seemed concerned about incurring Winston’s wrath.

  What had he gotten himself into? He should have listened to his father and destroyed the suit, the basement lab, all of it. Maybe he would have lived the rest of his life regretting that he hadn’t tried to find his dad, but at least he would have lived his life.

  Unbidden, an image of Leeann’s practical face popped into his mind. When they were little, whenever he would call her a chicken for not agreeing to do something dangerous her answer would always be, “At least I’m a live chicken.”

  Maybe she’d had a point.

  So far, no one had hurt him. In fact, they’d been overly courteous. Aside from making him wait for so long, they had been solicitous and kind.

  And he’d never find his dad if he stayed locked in this tiny cell.

  “Okay,” Alex smiled thinly and gave his escort a forward wave. “After you.”

  Tabitha surprised Alex by letting out a pent-up breath, visibly relieved. “Please,” she motioned. “I will follow.” She stepped back to allow him room to pass.

  Alex hesitated briefly before moving. She kept her eyes averted as he passed, maintaining military rigidity. He climbed the steps and stepped through the stone doorway, nearly stumbling over his own feet as he got his first view of Domus.

  He gaped in wonder, awestruck.

  The cell where Alex was being held was at the farthest edge of the community, on a slight rise that ended against a sheer, stone wall. Behind it, steps were carved into that wall, winding upward until they ended at a dark tunnel entrance, presumably the one he’d arrived through when they brought him from the cavern with the red glow.

  In the other direction, ahead and below him, Alex gaped at the underground city of Domus. It sprawled on the floor of an enormous, natural, underground cavern with a ceiling at least two hundred feet high, every inch of it coated in the glowing green fungus that he’d seen from inside his cell.

  Every structure in the city was made of stone. Most were chiseled from irregularly-shaped formations on the rock floor, but some were dug into the floor itself, human-sized holes marking entrances with smaller, window-sized holes close by.

  For Alex, the time and effort it must have taken to create such a place was incomprehensible. He’d seen the weapons they’d been carrying—there hadn’t been a single scrap of metal. How had they managed to create something on such a scale as this?

  Looking further into the distance, to the edge of the city, he understood why they’d chosen to build their home in this cavern. As still as glass, an enormous underground lake lapped at the farthest boundary of the city, a natural barrier against intrusion. Now he knew where the smell of water had come from.

  “Wow,” Alex finally breathed, shaking his head and blinking his eyes. The sight of something so magnificent momentarily made him forget he was standing between two armed guards who, together with Tabitha, were taking him to someone who or may not mean to do him harm.

  Tabitha emerged from the cell and pointed toward the lake’s edge. Centered at that far boundary was the city’s largest structure, a natural, square-shaped mountain of rock more than twice the height of anything else in the city, imposingly solid.

  “That,” Tabitha told him simply, “is Sanctuary.”

  As if her words were an unspoken signal, the guards took up positions in front of and behind them in two quick movements. Tabitha gave them an uncomfortable glance, and then lowered her eyes.

  It was clear that something was going on with Tabitha that made her uncomfortable among her own people. Alex gave her a quizzical look, but she either didn’t notice or ignored him.

  “We are ready,” Tabitha said, her eyes still downcast, and the guards stepped into motion.

  A wide path, more like a narrow road, sloped downward into the city. The ground quickly leveled out, the path following the natural contour of the cavern floor as it meandered between mounds of rock that had been hollowed out for shelters. Peering into a few of them, Alex saw that many were just as small as the one he’d been in. It gave him pause. Maybe it hadn’t been a jail cell, but simply the best place they had to offer while he waited to speak to their leader.

  They moved forward as a group, almost formally, like a procession. As they approached, people filtered out of their homes to line the roadside. They came out gradually at first, but with greater numbers the further Alex and his small escort went. Soon people were standing shoulder-to-shoulder, watching as if a parade had come to town. There were hundreds of them—men, women, and children.

  They watched with wide eyes and silent curiosity. Eerily, none of them spoke, not even the young ones, and it did nothing to alleviate Alex’s sense of unease. Their stares were inscrutable, as if they didn’t know how they felt about Alex being here. He didn�
�t feel any hostility or anger directed toward him, but he certainly couldn’t call this a warm welcome.

  “Is this everyone?” Alex asked.

  “All but the Core Guard.”

  More information to store away and ask about later. “Don’t they live in Domus?”

  Tabitha gave him a curious look. “Of course they do. They’re just out guarding the Core.”

  Oh, Alex thought with an inner roll of his eyes. Of course that’s what they’re doing. “The core of what?” he asked.

  Tabitha started to answer, but the guard walking behind them made a low, growling sound in his throat. Tabitha cast a quick glance over her shoulder, blushing with embarrassment.

  “The core of the world,” she replied brusquely. She stood up straighter and looked directly ahead, her body language a clear signal that she would not be answering any more questions.

  Alex looked back at the guard who’d made the noise. The guard stared back with burning intensity, clear dislike painted on his face, and Alex quickly turned back around.

  The core of the world… Alex was no star pupil, but he’d paid enough attention in school to know that if they were anywhere near the core of the earth, they’d be a lot warmer right now.

  Where was he?

  They rounded the last curve in the road and Alex got his first up-close look at Sanctuary. From this vantage point it was even more massive than it had been from outside his cell. The architecture was that of an ancient Middle-Eastern building, like the ruins at Petra. It was rudely formed, yet elegant at the same time.

  Armed guards flanked both sides of a wide set of steps that climbed toward massive front doors. They stood with stone blades gripped firmly in their hands, held at an angle across their chests.

  Each and every one of them stared a clear warning down at Alex.

  Alex faltered and then stopped. He flexed the fingers on his right hand, feeling with his fingertips for the activator that would turn on the laser pointer. The thought that he could use the suit to escape was reassuring, but he wasn’t ready to use it yet. His dad could be in Domus somewhere.

  He turned to Tabitha, the severe stares of the guards suddenly making him feel as if he needed to reassure her that he hadn’t come to hurt anyone.

  “I’m not…” he began, but didn’t know how to finish the sentence. I’m not what? Not a threat? Not sure what they expected of him? Not supposed to be there?

  Tabitha waited with a clear, patient expression, but the moment dragged out and Alex was still at a loss.

  Just when it seemed it couldn’t get any more awkward, Sanctuary’s doors ground open. Tabitha’s body went ramrod straight as Alex’s other two escorts snapped stiffly to attention.

  From within Sanctuary emerged the leader of Domus, one of the most fearsome men Alex had ever seen. He was a giant man, well over six feet, with shoulders that seemed half as wide as he was tall. He was clad in the same mismatched skins as everyone else, but also wore a thick, white fur mantle draped over his shoulders. In his hand, drawn and held at the ready, he carried a short, black blade. It gleamed metallically in the phosphorescent light cast down from the ceiling’s glowing fungus. It was the first weapon Alex had seen that wasn’t made of stone.

  Winston gazed down with penetrating eyes. Alex fought the urge to squirm and forced himself not to look away. It felt as if the man’s gaze burned a straight path directly into his soul, capable of measuring his worth in a single look. Without understanding why, it stoked a small ember of courage in Alex’s gut. He stood straighter and glared back challengingly.

  And then the spell of Winston’s gaze was broken. The leader of Domus looked up, his eyes sweeping over the assembled crowd. In a loud, booming voice, he spoke, and though his words were for Alex, his eyes remained on everyone else.

  “Welcome,” Winston said. “While you are among the people of Domus, we will do you no harm so long as your blood remains true.”

  Alex glanced around. Every eye was on the giant man. What did that mean: as long as your blood remains true?

  “He has been tested,” Winston announced. He looked hard into the eyes of his people. To Alex, there seemed an immediate lessening of tension with that declaration. “I know you have many questions,” Winston shouted. “We all do. When I have been given the answers, I will share them.”

  Now some of the people of Domus turned their attention toward Alex.

  Winston gestured with his free hand, beckoning. “Please,” he invited Alex, “join me in Sanctuary so that we may have a chance to acquaint ourselves with one another.”

  Alex hesitated, but Tabitha whispered fiercely from one corner of her mouth. “You must not defy him! Please! Do not bring shame upon me!”

  Defy him? Alex was scared to death! His immediate reaction was to tell Tabitha that her shame meant nothing to him, but as soon as she spoke the guard behind him made that low, growling sound again.

  Was Tabitha some sort of pariah in Domus? He pursed his lips thoughtfully.

  It really didn’t matter. Whether it brought Tabitha shame or not, Alex’s only choice was to do as he was asked unless he was going to make a run for it. Reluctantly, he climbed the steps toward Winston, who was still waiting with an outstretched hand. With each upward step, the guards lining the sides silently closed rank and fell in behind him. The movement seemed automatic, possibly ceremonial, but to Alex it only mattered that they had blocked any chance for retreat.

  When he reached the second-to-last step, Winston came forward with his free hand held open and flat. Alex automatically took it, his palm fully engulfed in the giant man’s grip.

  “I am honored to make your acquaintance,” Winston told him, his fierce eyes unblinking as he executed a short, curt bow.

  “I,” Alex looked over his shoulder for Tabitha. He had no idea why he did it—she was one of the ones keeping him prisoner, after all. She was standing where he’d left her, wide-eyed and alarmed that he had turned away from her leader.

  “Please,” Winston said, “join me in counsel.”

  Alex took a deep, shaking breath and stepped through the threshold, only to be brought up short by an interior wall with an additional set of doors. Two guards stood in front of the doors, blocking the way.

  Winston stepped up to them and held his black blade across his chest in a salute. “As Marshall and Protector of Domus, I request entry for myself and a guest of the city.” He kept his eyes forward, his stance rigid.

  “As Guardians of Sanctuary,” the guards replied in unison, “Your authority is recognized and passage is granted.”

  This was obviously a ritual, but to Alex it was over the top and a bit much. The overt courtesy and blatant civility everyone in Domus displayed seemed forced and fabricated. People just didn’t act that way all the time. It ground on his nerves, like a bad episode of a sixties television series.

  The guards stepped to the side, giving Alex an unobstructed view of an intricate design that covered the majority of both doors. Two halves of an enormous shield had been chiseled into each one. Embossed in the center of the shield was an engraving of the planet earth.

  Alex leaned forward to get a closer look, but the guards were already taking firm grips on the chiseled handholds set into the outer edges of each door. Their muscles strained as they pulled them aside, the stone slabs slowly grinding open. Beyond, Alex was surprised to see a wide, open space as well-lit as the cavern outside. Winston swept a hand forward in invitation.

  Alex stepped through the threshold and saw that the reason it was so bright inside was because there was no ceiling, it was wide open to the glowing cavern ceiling. The walls were high, easily over twenty feet, and extremely thick. Along the length of the walls were a number of arched doorways leading into darkness.

  Sanctuary was laid out like an amphitheater, a set of steps climbing to a raised section of the floor on the far side, like a natural stone stage. Rows of stone benches faced it, the closest row ending only a half dozen paces from the entra
nce. It was hushed, quiet, like a cathedral, the enormous walls blocking the sound of the city out completely.

  As far as Alex could tell, there was no one else inside. Behind him, the entrance doors ground closed.

  “You stand where only citizens of Domus have ever come,” Winston told him quietly. “Sanctuary is our most sacred and protected place.”

  Alex could see why. He could feel why. There was a stillness to the place, a feeling of safety that he couldn’t describe but could feel nonetheless. A holiness. On either side of the stage were life-sized sculptures of a man and a woman, both dressed in ancient garb and wearing severe expressions. Carved into niches in the walls were bas-reliefs of other men and women in various poses and, covering most of the back wall, was what appeared to be an enormous map of the tunnels.

  Alex took slow steps down the center aisle, studying the carvings.

  “It’s like going back in time,” he murmured, more to himself than to Winston, and was startled when Winston’s deep baritone replied from right behind him. He hadn’t heard the big man move.

  “Yes,” Winston answered quietly. “They are representative of our history. Symbols from above to remind us where we come from, why we fight, and what we protect.”

  Alex turned. “And what are you fighting? Who are you protecting?”

  Winston looked surprised. “You,” he replied earnestly. “We fight in order to protect you and everyone else on the surface.”

  Alex blinked and took a step back. “Protect us from what?”

  Winston’s penetrating gaze bore relentlessly into Alex’s, studying him, measuring him again. He appeared on the verge of answering, but apparently changed his mind.

  “Tell me, Alex,” Winston drew out the ‘x’ in Alex’s name, as if the short, abbreviated name did not sit well on his tongue. “What does it mean to you when I tell you that I know you are not Nocuous?”

  “Uh…” Alex faltered. Winston’s gaze was intense, demanding, but Alex had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. “I… nothing?” Briefly, he felt like he was back in school talking to one of his teachers. He was afraid that by giving the wrong answer he might land himself in trouble. “I don’t know what Nock… I don’t know what that is.”

  Winston’s intensity was unrelenting. “Then how is it that you come to be here? There is only one man who has ever found the way, and now, suddenly, we see two Arrivals in the space of two-score days—”

  “Wait—two arrivals?” Alex interrupted, the adrenaline of hope immediately surging through his veins. Was Winston talking about his father? “There was someone else? Is he here?”

  Winston became as still as the statues along the wall.

  “Do you know of the other?” His voice had gone low and dark.

  “Where is he?” Alex demanded, ignoring the wary look he was getting from Winston. “You have to tell me!”

  Winston’s mouth set into a grim line. “Who is this other to you?” he asked quietly.

  “He is my father. I came here to find him.”

  Winston’s eyes grew hard. “Your father,” he repeated, as if in confirmation. Alex took another step back, nervous at the way Winston’s attitude had changed. “Your father is with Rasmus, working for him, in league with him.” Winston also stepped back, flexing his grip on the black blade. When he spoke next, he practically spat the words. “Your father does the bidding of the Devil’s acolyte.”

  Although Winston made no move toward him, Alex was terrified and couldn’t take his eyes off Winston’s blade. He rubbed his fingers against the activator in the wrist of his suit. In return Winston was regarding him warily, as if Alex might be dangerous, and that worried Alex even more.

  The Devil’s acolyte? What was this man talking about? Whatever it meant, Winston’s opinion of Alex had taken a drastic turn.

  “Can you take me to him?” Alex asked cautiously. “I just want to go home. Both of us do.”

  Winston’s mouth twisted. “Never! I will not risk myself or my people for such a foolish endeavor,” he said severely. He gripped his still-lowered blade, his knuckles turning white. He took an aggressive step toward Alex. “And I can never allow you to leave, with or without your father. There is far too great a risk.”

  Before he knew he’d done it, Alex had stretched out the fingers of his right hand and activated the laser, its red beam piercing the air between him and Winston. Winston flung up his blade and crouched, battle-ready, eyes wide.

  Alex backed off, his arm and the laser held at a downward angle toward the floor. He frantically scanned the walls for an exit.

  “Please,” Winston reached out with his free hand, “we have no wish to harm you.”

  And no wish to let him go, either. Alex had to find a way out.

  The walls were solid. There were plenty of doorways set into both sides of the room, but they all led into darkness. They didn’t look like a safe escape.

  “If you would allow me to explain,” Winston urged, “you will see that our cause is a righteous one.”

  Sure it is, Alex thought to himself. His eyes roved upward, to the tops of the walls. They were thick—they were very thick. He looked back at Winston one more time and then swung his arm in an arc, aiming for a flat section along the top of the wall near the entrance.

  In the last second before he closed his fist, Winston roared and surged toward him, only to charge through the empty space where Alex had been moments before.

  Standing atop the great wall now, Alex looked over his shoulder as Winston shouted for his guards. The wall shuddered under his feet, the entrance doors grinding open beneath him. He briefly locked eyes with Winston and then turned, once again splaying his fingers and shining forth with the laser.

  Far away, all the way across the city, he saw the entrance to the tunnel behind the cell where he’d been held. If it was the tunnel that he’d come through when he arrived in Domus, then somewhere beyond that darkened passage was the red glow and the cavern with the shimmer on the ceiling. He needed to find that shimmer again. It was his only way home.

  Would the suit teleport that far?

  Below him, the guards rushed into Sanctuary and Winston pointed up at Alex. They paused briefly, shock and disbelief on their faces. And then as a group they sprinted for one of the side doors.

  There must be a way to the top of the wall through that door, a way to reach Alex.

  Taking careful aim at the far-off tunnel, unable to see whether the laser reached the entire distance, Alex calculated his options. If it didn’t reach the entire way, he could find himself re-appearing in mid-air, above Domus, halfway between Sanctuary and the tunnel. And then it would be ker-splat.

  With an explosion of movement, the guards burst onto the wall at the far side and rushed toward him.

  Heart in his throat, Alex squinched his eyes shut and closed his fist.

  And in the next moment, he was in a free-fall.

  But thankfully the fall was only a few feet. Landing with a thud, he stumbled onto a rock floor in near-darkness. Reaching out, he found a rough wall with his right hand and grabbed at it to keep from falling to his knees.

  He blinked, seeing the rough shape of the tunnel stretching away into darkness. He’d made it! Over his shoulder, he saw the open expanse of the cavern of Domus and heard the faint cries of its people as they shouted the alarm that he’d escaped.

  Feeling ahead blindly, not trusting to use the suit in the darkness, Alex stumbled forward as quickly as he was able.

  The going was slow. He had no idea whether he could outdistance himself from the people coming after him, even with such a head start. Surely his pursuers knew the tunnels intimately, but he had to try. Whoever it was that Winston had said his father was with—Rasmus, was it?—sounded even worse than the people in Domus. It gave Alex even more reason to continue the search for him.

  The air cooled quickly as he moved deeper into the tunnel, and the sound of the city faded away to nothing. Soon all Alex could hear was
his own panicked breathing as he groped his way forward.

  At some distance into the tunnel, it curved to the left. Following its arc, Alex leaned against the right-side wall to keep from losing his point of reference. Suddenly the wall was no longer there. He nearly fell into the blackness but caught his balance. Wind-milling briefly, he inadvertently activated the wrist beam on the suit.

  Immediately, the area before him was cast in a red glow. Of course! He should have used the beam from the start! It didn’t mean he had to teleport, but he could use the light and travel much faster.

  He turned in a slow circle, getting his bearings. He’d come to an intersection, tunnels on four sides, none looking any more promising than the next. Not a single one of them showed any sign of the red glow he was searching for.

  And then he froze.

  From only a few feet away in the last tunnel, two large points of silver light glowed back at him. Had they already found him? What was it?

  Alex slowly raised his arm and pointed the laser directly at the two points.

  And then the points blinked.

  A thundering growl burst from their direction.

  With a shriek of pure terror, Alex spun and ran for all he was worth, the laser swinging wildly about the tunnel.

  He only made it a half-dozen steps before he ran full-tilt into the tunnel wall and fell flat on his back.

  He lay there, dazed from the impact, waiting for the certain death he knew was in store for him.

  But it never came.

  Instead, he heard battle-cries mixed with squeals of pain from something that wasn’t human. In the final seconds before he lost consciousness, Alex craned his neck to see the stealthy approach of a group of Domus warriors, their hands outstretched toward him.