ORDER OF SEVEN (27 page)

“Yeah, Baron and I noticed it too.”

He nods and points to Aadam, who is pacing furiously and talking to himself like a mad scientist on crack. We find it difficult not to laugh, but then it dawns on me he’s not with Mapiya. I look around and don’t see her, but she was awake when I left the hut. I excuse myself from Aren and run to look for her.

I find her sitting in our hut, rocking and whispering, eyes rolled almost all the way back. I drop to my knees beside her, almost scared to interrupt whatever’s going on, but too worried not to.

I put my hand on her shoulder and whisper her name. The halting ceases and her eyes roll forward. “Mapiya?” I say again.

“Ben sees Joe. He’s in Africa. He speaks to a dark man. We are in danger.” Her voice is monotone and void of emotion.

Goosebumps prickle my scalp and neck. Before I can even think how to respond, she’s back in her cheerful Buddha way.

“Hi, Devi,” she says.

“Hi, Mapiya. How did you know I was here?”

“I see your light,” she says. “I’m hungry. Can we go eat?”

“Yeah. Yeah, sure we can.” I take her arm and lead her to the fire.

When she’s settled and eating, I pull Baron, Aren, Nodin and Ashon aside and tell them what Mapiya said.

Ashon clutches his head. “Not again, please, not again.”

Nodin puts an arm around his shoulder.

“We need a plan,” Aren says. “But first, we need to get out of plain sight.”

“Calmly,” Baron says. “The last thing we need is panic.”

We all agree, although I think that ship has sailed, at least in my case. We gather Mapiya and Aadam and explain the risk of albino hunters has risen
slightly
, so we need to go inside our huts.

Aadam’s eyes are wild with worry, but Mapiya just seems a bit confused. We spend the day talking, packing a few necessities for our morning departure and jumping at every little sound.

•◊•◊•

I awake with a start the next morning.

We will be saving humankind from the catastrophic effects of an asteroid collision in less than twenty-four hours. I replay Ashon’s words over and over, clinging to them, white knuckled.
Trust your gift. Trust your purpose.

I peer through the darkness of our hut, first to my left at Mapiya, and then to my right at Baron. They’re both awake, too.

“Nervous?” I ask, and they both nod.

“Me too.” I swallow hard and squeeze Baron’s hand. His energy webs through mine, viscous like lava, warming me from the inside out.

A wild, blond tuft of hair leans in our doorway. “Time to go, mates,” Aadam says.

Elephants trample the butterflies in my stomach. We hurry to Ashon’s hut, where we’ve planned to meet. Upon entering, I see all the others are here already, but when I see Nodin I let out a little shriek.

What little skin is showing on his face and hands is painted black. Memories from my naming ceremony flash in front of eyes, filling me with sadness and dread.

“We have to keep him safe,” Ashon says.

I nod and remind myself to be strong.
Breathe, Devi.

We go in pairs to the gross-hole-bathroom and then await Master Tran. Ashon hands Baron two black duffle bags.

“One has food and water, the other has supplies,” Ashon says, although I can’t imagine any of us will be able to eat today.

As we sit and wait, it occurs to me I’m arcing with all the others, but I’m not touching Baron. My energy’s intensity is off the charts.

Ama appears in the doorway, her eyes never leaving Nodin’s as she announces Master Tran has arrived. Ashon hugs us with tears in his eyes. We promise him we’ll be back tomorrow safely and file out of the hut, Nodin deliberately last. I glance back and see he’s hugging Ama tight.

The drive is long and quiet, filled with trepidation and anxiety. We’re like seven superheroes being forced to take a cab to save the day. Our abilities are peaking to unfathomable heights. I fight hard not to arc with the others, their nervous thoughts too much for me.

Aadam is so antsy he’s twitching and talking to himself, muttering calculations. I can almost hear the power emanating from Aren and Baron. Nodin is slumped against the door, saturated with our nervousness and fear. Keb’s presence is like a fierce dragon, pumped and ready for battle. And then there’s Mapiya, sitting in silent contentment, milky eyes wandering. I can’t help but wonder what she’s seeing.

Roughly two hours later, we arrive at the preserve’s entrance, unmanned due to the early hour. The first signs of sunrise fan brilliant yellow across the horizon. We exit the SUV and gather near a large, metal gate emblazoned with the words:
Wonderboom Preserve. Hours 8:00am – 10:00pm. Day fee: 80 R per carload.

“I pick you up here tomorrow morning,” Master Tran says. He wishes us a safe journey and bows before leaving, seeming surprisingly unconcerned. How is everyone around us so sure everything will go as planned? I wish I felt their same certainty. Stones and gravel pop under his retreating tires, and then silence.

We climb over the gate, all of us working together to guide Mapiya to the other side, and gaze upon the rolling hills outstretched in front of us.

“Where do we go from here?” Aren asks, his arm linked with Mapiya’s. His voice sounds loud and out of place.

“This way,” Keb says, and we follow her.

We walk for quite some time. The sun crawls further from its horizon nest, heating the day. We share the duty of carrying the duffel bags and take breaks for water. Highways of sweat streak down Nodin’s black-painted face.

After a mild descent, Aadam points to the largest hill across the meadow. “There,” he says and we start walking faster.

“Wait,” Aren’s voice calls from behind us.

Mapiya’s eyes are rolled up, her hands clenched in fists at her stomach as she rocks back and forth.

My pulse quickens as I walk toward her, the others close behind. When she speaks, I hear Ben’s voice simultaneously because I’m arcing with her.

“They’re coming.”

My stomach is in my throat. “Who?” I manage to choke out, but the answer is rhetorical. We all know who and we’re all thinking the same thing.
How do they know we’re here?

“No matter what happens, even if we’re being bloody shot at, we do not stop the Order,” Aren says.

My mind is a cacophony of everyone’s panicked thoughts, heightening my own to near hysteria. I try putting my hands over my ears to shut them out. Nodin’s whole body is sagging with our cumulative fear.

I grab his hand and we walk fast ahead of the others. Distancing ourselves from them is a matter of sanity at this point.

We reach a large hill that Keb and Baron help Mapiya up. At the top we can now see an enormous boulder, at least thirty feet high.

“There’s its twin.” Aadam points to the other side of the peak. He takes off his backpack and removes a folded telescope and other measuring devices, one of which he uses to inspect the boulder closest to us.

“I have a problem,” he says. “I didn’t know the rocks were this tall and smooth. I can’t get to the top. I need this—” he holds up one of his savant-physicist instruments, “up there.” He points to the top of the boulder.

Baron gets rope out of the supply bag and walks past Aadam, grabbing the instrument. “Got it,” he says.

Using the rope, he fastens the instrument to his back and then climbs the boulder. I don’t know how he’s doing it. There are seemingly no foot or hand holds, yet he’s scaling it with the fluidity and grace of, well, the offspring of Spiderman and a ballet dancer.

A few harrowing minutes later, Baron reaches the top and follows Aadam’s instructions on where to mount it. To get down, he slides on his ass, leaving the rock surface about halfway down, but landing on his feet and tucking into a roll. He strolls over to the supply bag, retrieves binocular and says, “Now we watch and wait.”

I turn in a circle, surveying the hilltop. “Where’s the Wonderboom tree? I don’t see it.”

“There.” She points down in the valley below. “See that large mound of foliage? That’s all one tree. It’s more than a thousand years old.”

I gaze at it. “But how am I going to channel down there if the action is up here?”

Mapiya answers. “You, Bear and Keb go to the tree. Bear will throw your channeled energy to Aren up here.”

“How will we know it’s time to start?” Baron asks.

“I will flash light three times, a three-two-one countdown, when Aadam tells me to,” Mapiya says.

“With what light?” Nodin asks.

“I will make light,” she says.

The bringer of light and dark.

“Flash another when it’s time for me to throw to Aren,” Baron says.

She nods. “Got it.”

We glance around at each other. “That should work,” Aadam says, scribbling furiously in his notebook. “Yes. That should work.”

•◊•◊•

At eleven that night, Baron, Keb and I head to the Wonderboom tree. It’s dark, and with the moon our only light we practically slide down the hilltop. Once on level ground, we let Keb take the lead. Her powerful legs glide over the terrain smooth as a panther. Even Baron has trouble keeping up with her confident stride and I trip every two seconds.

Down here, off the hilltop where we could see around us for miles, I feel more vulnerable. Practically running, we arrive at the tree about forty minutes later. It’s much further than it looks from the hilltop. There’s a low fence surrounding the circumference of the tree, which we easily climb.

As we go under the tree’s monstrous canopy, I gasp at its vast infrastructure. “Wow, this is...”

“Epic,” Baron says.

We choose a location with a break in the branches so Baron has an uninterrupted line to Aren.

“How much longer?” I ask.

Keb peers at the full moon. She holds first one, then two fingers horizontal between the moon and the horizon, measuring. “About two hours.”

We wait, sitting in eerie silence, watching for any suspicious movement.

•◊
31
ץ

JANUARY 7, 2011 1:58 A.M.

T
he moon is much lower in the sky than when we first arrived. I glance at Keb and raise my brows.

“Any minute,” she mouths.

I nod and try to settle my trembling muscles. I look at the chosen spot on my tree again, and my eyes notice something through the leaves.

Several figures are standing still as statues on the other side of the low fence. At least fifty of them surround us. A panicked sound escapes my throat.

Keb looks at me and I point. She nods.

I open my mouth to scream for Baron when a flash of light beams from the hilltop. Aren’s words come back to me:
do not stop the Order no matter what.

I am nothing but energy and terror and light.

“Three,” Baron calls.

Keb readies herself to channel seismic energy, sitting with her palms flat against the dirt. But I’m frozen.

“Two.”

I dash to the trunk.

“One.”

I place my hand on its bark and an ocean of energy charges through me like an angry, rogue wave. I collapse to the ground and fight to keep my palm against the trunk. I feel Baron pulling energy from me in swift torrents before I’m lost in a vision.

I’m a child, trembling with fear, huddled on the ground just outside our hut. Lightning blazes across the boiling sky. I squeeze my eyes shut and count, awaiting the thunder. When I get to three, it claps with such ferocity I feel it in my bones. The skies open up and I’m pelted with warm rain. It smells like wet straw. I whimper and pull my knees to my chest.

I hear someone calling my name and see a figure running to me. It’s our Lyriad, our guide, our Paytah.

I jump up and leap into his arms. He holds me and tells me it’s okay, and that thunder can’t hurt me. I am comforted.

He rushes me to shelter and sets me down in front of him. Lightning claps again, followed quickly by a crash of thunder.

I look down, wringing my hands. “I’m scared,” I say.

He takes my small, pudgy hands in his. “Don’t be. I’m here. I will always protect you.”

I shake my head, sadness swelling in my gut. “I lost my Lyriad.”

“You sure about that?” He tilts my chin up to his face and I am shocked to the core.

“Joe!” I gasp, consciousness streaming back.
Joe Bridle.

I search in the darkness for Keb and Baron. Keb is near me, still sitting on the ground. I know she’s finished channeling because I see Baron condensing our combined amount of energy. He growls with effort, pressing and forming it smaller and smaller. The orb glows like a bowling ball of fire.

Another light flashes from the hilltop and on cue he heaves his whole body into his throw. The glowing ball leaves his hand, emitting a sound like a race car speeding by. Baron falls to his knees.

Keb and I run and huddle next to him, taking in the hilltop and the figures surrounding us. A brief flash of red-orange light fills the sky, then disappears as it rockets into space under Mapiya’s concealment.

Aren has estimated it will take about three minutes for the energy to reach the asteroid.
We’re almost done.

I visualize wax-figure Aren on his haunches, focusing the comet-like ball of energy into space. Possessed-looking Mapiya with her eyes rolled up, concealing the blast’s light. Aadam, sweat dripping down his freckled cheeks, peering through his telescope. And Nodin, ready by Mapiya’s side.

To keep from going insane, I count in my head.
One-one-thousand, two-one-thousand...
until I reach three minutes.

It’s over.

We did it.

It’s done.

But we can’t celebrate yet. We’re not alone.

•◊•◊•

We’re clinging to each other, struggling for breath, waiting to be taken or attacked or whatever horrors the hunters have in store for us. The figures don’t move, so we stay huddled and silent. My brain is grappling with the information I know Sahr gave me.

Joe is our Lyriad, Paytah. He didn’t disappear, he’s been protecting us all along.

In a tumble of whisper-panicked words, I tell Keb and Baron my vision.