ORDER OF SEVEN (23 page)

“How long have you guys been here?” I ask Aadam.

“I hopped a plane from Cape Town to Jo’Burg early this morning and waited for his flight to get in.” Aadam gestures to Aren. ”We got here together around six this afternoon.”

“Cape Town?” Baron says. “Africa?”

“He goes to university there,” Aren says. “He’s doing his doctorate work in astrophysics.”

I whip my head in Aadam’s direction. “Doctorate work? But how old are you?”

Aadam blushes. “Fifteen. Don’t worry. I get that look a lot.”

So our Aussie rune lives in Africa and is some sort of boy-genius.

•◊•◊•

Baron and Aren are completely consumed in a conversation about energy and wander to the other side of the room. At this distance, our energy reaction is a mere annoying staccato. It’s nice to be within sight of Baron, yet not inside the violent plasma globe.

I get a mat and blanket for myself and Mapiya and set them next to Aadam’s. Nodin puts his mat next to mine. It’s late and we should be exhausted from travelling, but the buzz of excitement is too much. We can’t stop talking and getting to know each other.

Aadam is a catacomb of scientific knowledge. With his bubblegum face and Mapiya-like enthusiasm, he rambles like a professor, an astrophysics avalanche spilling out of his mouth.

I can picture him pushing dark-rimmed glasses up on his nose. His whole being strikes me as a contrast, and I’m sort of fascinated with him. He’s only fifteen, yet has authored a book on antimatter—whatever the hell that is—which is evidently so groundbreaking, it’s being used in universities.

Baron walks over and asks Mapiya if she’ll speak to Aren about her ability. He leads her over to him and returns to us alone.

“Is Aren a shaper too?” I ask him.

“Aren,” Baron says with awe, “is amazing. He is a shaper, but he doesn’t have the ability to harness or pull energy from sources.” He shoots me a glance in recognition of conversation regarding my lack of energy reaction with Aren. “He has to work with kinetic energy already in motion at the time he’s using it, like wind. He can concentrate energy flux and control pulse lengths in a way that scientists know is possible—”

“On paper,” Aadam says, interrupting. “But nothing’s been designed yet to test it at the distances he can do it.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” I say.

“I don’t have the ability to keep the energy I propel focused,” Baron says. “Once it leaves my hands, it’s out of my control. It loses its strength, scatters and reacts to the laws of velocity and momentum. In other words, it’s like throwing a snowball. It doesn’t matter that I can throw it with the velocity of a rocket. It’s still a friggin’ snowball. But Aren can focus that energy at massive megawatt pulses over infinite distances.”

“And this is going to...?”

“Well,” Aadam says, “basically it’s goin’ to send a focused mega-blast of energy into space and nudge an asteroid off its future collision course with Earth.”

“Wait, if scientists already know about this asteroid, why can’t they do something about it?”

“To construct a satellite to travel to this asteroid would be a tremendous feat. But then to ever-so-gently push it off its trajectory without bursting it into a thousand smaller rocks would take technology we don’t have yet.”

“I have another question,” I say. “Why didn’t we—” I gesture to those of us who flew in from the U.S, “—know any of this the last time there was a warning?”

Aadam grins. “Simple. There hasn’t been a warning in nearly two hundred years.”

“Two hundred years?” I almost shout. “What happened? Why did the warnings stop?”

He shrugs. “The gods were displeased. Humans weren’t holding up their end of the deal.”

“I bet that’s the real reason the Tabari lost their rune,” I say.

Nodin nods. “And now?” he asks Aadam.

“Now, evidently we’re doing something right. At least enough to receive warnings again.”

“So you’ve always known you are a rune,” Nodin says to Aadam.

He nods and looks around the room. “Which is why those of us who weren’t aware had to be...awakened, I guess is the best word.”

“What was the last warning? What did the runes stop?” I ask.

Aadam’s blue eyes sparkle. “I’ve heard this story from my grandpa my whole life. Four runes. It took four to turn what would’ve been a cataclysmic eruption into one that barely bothered nearby buffalo herds.”

My eyes grew wide. “Which volcano?”

“More like supervolcano. The Yellowstone Caldera. Had it blown at full strength, it would’ve buried the surrounding states in three feet of ash and affected the weather for a decade. The loss of animal, plant and human life would’ve been catastrophic.”

Aren returns with Mapiya and they sit on their mats with the rest of us.

“And exactly where does Keb fit in with the Order?” Nodin asks, scrubbing his fingers through his goatee.

“Keb is a channeler,” Aren says.

“Like me?” I ask, sitting up straight. I’d do anything to meet another channeler.

“Keb channels seismic energy,” Aren says. “Like from faults and tectonic movement. Organic Earth energy. Baron will take what the two of you channel, combine them into a single wavelength and propel it. I will keep it moving in a focused column.”

“And Mapiya?” Nodin asks.

“She’s going to alter the infrared waves so no one sees the enormous blazing light this will produce. If the blast isn’t concealed, millions of people will witness it,” Aren says.

“The bringer of light and dark,” I say, and that reminds me of something.

I grab my iPhone from my bag and ask Aren and Aadam how their names are spelled, explaining Baron’s earth symbol tattoos and how our names correspond. I find that Aadam’s name means metal and Aren’s means wood. We already know Mapiya is linked to the fire symbol since her name means Seven Rays Sun. That leaves water.

“How am I the water sign? The name Devi has nothing to do with water.”

“What does your name mean?” Aadam asks.

“It’s Hindu and means Goddess of Earth and life,” I say.

Nodin nods, “Yeah, life. Devi, you channel life energy, and how is it able to travel to you?”

Water,
I realize with a shiver.

“What about you?” Aadam asks Nodin. “What’s your ability?”

“I’ll make sure no one gets in our way,” Nodin says. “I can manipulate people.”

“He’s already come in handy,” Baron says. “He’s the reason Mapiya is here.”

I look around at all of us and am floored by what we’ll be doing. The power in just one of us is astounding enough, but all of us together? Mind-boggling.

The six of us sit in the circle and talk for hours. Nodin and Mapiya nod off eventually, but the rest of us are up until the sunrise streams through windows.

“I don’t mean to scare you, mate,” Aadam says to Nodin, “but I’ve lived in South Africa long enough to know you have to be careful out here. Not so much in the cities, but when we get out into the bush, you need to cover yourself.”

“What are you talking about?” Nodin asks.

“Witchcraft. Some indigenous peoples hunt albinos for their body parts. They think there’s magic in them. They will straight up kill you.”

Terror harpoons me from all directions. I look at Nodin and his posture changes, riddled with tension and fear.

“What about her? Is she in danger?” Baron asks, gesturing to me.

“No. They won’t bother with yellow-hairs.”

“Well, maybe we shouldn’t go out there. Maybe we should stay in the city, or here,” I say, panic rising in my throat.

“You are safe on Mahtembo land,” Master Tran says.

I hadn’t heard him enter the room.

“No need to worry as long as you stay with them.” He pushes a cart in the room. “Breakfast. I will return for you in half an hour. Be ready to leave, please.” He bows on his way out.

Starving, we quickly encircle the cart and find warm flat bread, a rice dish that resembles grits, dates, milk, tea and something that looks like creamed spinach. We eat, savoring the rich, earthy flavors. Afterward, we take turns in the restroom to freshen up, and change into fresh clothes. Knowing it’ll be hot as hell and we’re going somewhere with no air conditioning, I change into shorts and a tank top.

Not long after that, Master Tran enters with a smile. “Hello. I take you now. Bring your things.”

We grab our bags and follow him into the entranceway where we were last night, but this time a hundred pairs of shoes line the walls. I can hear the monotone hum of a large amount of people chanting at once.

“Morning prayer,” Master Tran says.

It’s the most stilling, harmonious sound I’ve ever heard. I feel Baron sidle up next to me and lean his face near mine, a mischievous grin on his face.

He whispers, “Do I get a New Year’s kiss?”

I smile. “Happy New Year,” I say quietly, and peck him on the lips.

Master Tran leads us out the back door, where we descend another long set of stairs and follow along a paved walkway to a garage, which he opens to reveal a large, black SUV with tinted windows. He opens the back and we pile our bags inside, although some of us will have to carry smaller bags in our laps.

When we’re all situated, Master Tran climbs in the driver’s seat and we head down a long driveway that leads to a street and then a highway.

I’m sitting behind Aren and see he has a tattoo on the back of his neck. It’s that symbol I always see on the signs of yoga studios. I come to the conclusion he’s a yogi.

I watch out the window as the landscape blurs past. Larger, industrial buildings intermixed with primitive shacks. Signs with words in both a foreign language and English.

Wowza, I’m in Africa.

A large billboard approaches and its image catches my eye, instantly filling me with terror. The photo is of an albino woman with short, tight curls of reddish hair. She’s crying and holding out the stump that’s left of her arm. A black woman sits next to her, comforting her. The sign reads:
Every Human Deserves to Feel Safe.

A muffled half-sob, half-whimper leaves my throat. Mapiya’s tiny fingers press into my arm. She hums softy, and I recognize the tune of the prayer she sang to me the night before we left.

Master Tran looks at us in the rearview mirror. “It is okay,” he says, reminding me of his words at the temple. “You are safe among the Mahtembo.”

The others glance around in confusion, which reassures me that no one else noticed the sign. I’m sure as hell not going to tell Nodin about it. I force a laugh and say, “I must look as nervous as I feel.”

I have no idea how long we’ve been driving, because I have zero cell reception and I chose not to wear my watch on the trip. We exit the highway and turn right on a wide, dirt road. Master Tran slows down and the SUV bounces around for a good twenty minutes before the road evens out.

We’re in an area with more trees now and it gets denser the further we drive. I feel more vulnerable here, like albino hunters could jump out any minute and we’d be trapped. I’m incredibly nervous to meet the Mahtembo tribe and Keb, but even more than that, I wonder if I will know someone else in the tribe. Someone like...my father.

I wring my sweaty hands.

We take a left and travel another ten, fifteen minutes until the trees open up and I see miles of open grassland. We go up a big hill and when we come down, I see them: Mahtembo children, maybe thirty of them, jumping up and down and cheering. Both girls and boys are stark naked, skin black as night, with big smiles full of luminous white teeth.

“They very excited by visitors,” Master Tran says with a grin. He turns right by a large boulder and travels slowly through the field to another group of trees, the children following. He parks and announces, “We’re here.”

Doors open and we pile out. We are instantly engulfed by a sea of curious children and barking dogs who jump up to greet us as heartily as the children.

I notice a few children glancing toward a group of trees, when a tower of a human steps out from the leafy camouflage. She looks like a statue chiseled out of polished obsidian. Her hair is cropped short. She wears a thin, red cloth around her chest and waist and her dark skin shines in the sun, accentuating her incredible physique.

“Keb,” Master Tran says with a grin, walking toward the most intimidating woman I’ve ever seen.

•◊
26
ץ

FAMILY SECRETS

M
aster Tran beckons us over to Keb and we all introduce ourselves to the last rune. She’s built like a basketball player with her chiseled features and broad, muscular shoulders, yet somehow retains femininity.

Despite the sense of authority and power that exudes from her, I’m put at ease by her friendly smile and warm handshake. She speaks English beautifully, in a smooth, velvety voice, though her thick accent chops words into concise blocks. I like how she pronounces our names “de-VEE” and “no-DEN.”

Mapiya steps forward, her head turning to face all of us. “Lights,” she says, then repeats it several times with a look of wonder on her face.

“What is it, Mapiya?” I ask.

“It’s us.” Baron makes a triangle shape, first to Keb, then me, then to himself. “Can’t you feel it? There’s an undercurrent.”

When he says it, I do. The hum has intensified. It’s like sitting in an idling monster truck.

Baron clarifies, “My energy is reacting to hers much like ours reacts. She’s a channeler too.”

Oh, special. A little energy threesome,
I think. I know it’s irrational and ridiculous, but I’m a tiny bit jealous. I don’t like someone else having this connection with him, much less a striking woman like Keb.

Master Tran asks Aren and Baron to help him unload the luggage. The children grab what bags they can lift and begin walking toward the field beyond the trees. The dogs follow along, tails wagging.

Keb beckons us to follow. “Come. Your father waits to see you.”

I freeze and grab Nodin’s wrist. We look at each other in disbelief.

“I take you to him,” Keb says.

With each step my heart beats harder and faster. I cling to Nodin, my breath coming in short bursts. I’m thankful Mapiya is led by Aadam, because I can hardly trust myself to walk at the moment.