Part 23 (1/2)
”The who?”
”Each Atlantean has a purpose: there is the Mariner, who can locate the Heart of the Terra; the Medium, who can speak to it; and the Aeronaut, who can get you all there.”
”Which one am I?” I ask.
Luk looks at me for a moment, then he glances up.
I follow his gaze. ”What?” All I see are the heavy cloud bottoms, dark, raining ash.
But then a light. A craft drops down out of the black, arcing on the wind. It is large, triangular, with sails billowing off its central mast. It reminds me of a bigger version of the craft outside the skull room. A blue light glows from its center, like a power source.
”Wait, you guys could fly?” I ask.
”You don't map the earth and build a worldwide culture by boat,” said Luk. ”That would take ages. Now, look at the s.h.i.+p and tell me: Why is he listing like that?”
”He's battling probably a thirty-knot crosswind from the southeast,” I answer immediately. Then it occurs to me that I knew that, just like I'd been sensing winds the last few days.
Luk is smiling.
”I'm the Aeronaut,” I say.
”There is a craft in this temple,” says Luk.
”Wait, you're telling me I'm going to fly fly that thing?” that thing?”
”Yes, but I will help you. That's why I'm here. I trained to be an Aeronaut. And that learning will awaken inside you. Now that you've connected with the skull, I will be able to join you in your mind.”
”Like you're going to download into me?”
”More like I have always been there, like memories you didn't know you had. Other things will happen, too. More effects of your awakening.”
”Oh,” I say, ”more of that. that.”
”Yes, but what's important is that we can work on your training without the skull present.”
”Yeah, about the flying... ,” I say. ”I know you can read my thoughts, so you might want to picture what I'm thinking about right now.”
Luk closes his eyes, then frowns. ”That looks like some sort of giant dome structure.”
”Yeah. It's going to be kind of a problem.”
”I'm afraid I won't be any he-wi...”
Luk's mouth is still moving, but his voice is cutting out.
The world around us flickers from dark to white.
”Hey,” I say to him.
”Y...” His mouth moves. ”To make th-”
The world around me brightens. I brighten. The vision is fading. I am leaving the skull.
Everything turns to white, but then suddenly to black.
I feel myself returning, and time and s.p.a.ce begin to solidify.
So does pain.
Chapter 18
I LANDED BACK INSIDE MY BODY, FILLING ITS s.p.a.ces, feeling my heart pumping, my feet on the floor, my hand burning, and my breath- s.p.a.ces, feeling my heart pumping, my feet on the floor, my hand burning, and my breath- Stopped. Pain around my neck. Tension. Everything squeezed tight.
My eyes opened and the room was dark except for light beams. Flashlights. In their sweeps I saw Lilly, held with an elbow around her neck by one of the two Security Forces guards we'd seen earlier.
There was an arm around my neck too.
The lights caught the skull, but its inner glow had gone dark.
”This is fascinating.” Cartier appeared. He walked over and picked up the skull, holding it in both his gloved hands, making little bouncing movements with his arms like he was testing its weight. ”Mr. Jacobsen will be very pleased to know about this.” He looked at his officers. ”His orders are to bring these two and the skull to his lab. Let's go.”
I glanced over at Lilly. Her face was red. There was no way we were breaking these holds. I tried to say to her, with my glance, It will be okay It will be okay, or something like that, even though I didn't know how it could be.
But even though we were caught, I felt fuzzy, only loosely connected to the outside world after my time inside the skull. I could barely make sense of my limbs to walk, couldn't quite pay attention. Despite the danger, it felt like my brain was busy with other things.
Gather round, everyone, a technician was calling, waving his arms. The yellow suits cl.u.s.tered around a bank of consoles, looking at screens full of spiking meters. You know those data vaults we've always wondered about? You know those data vaults we've always wondered about? There were murmurs among the others. There were murmurs among the others. Well, they're coming online. Well, they're coming online.
I shook my head, trying to focus. Through the brain fog, at least a couple things were clear from all that had just happened.
The Nomads had been after the skull, and me. Did that mean they knew that I was an Atlantean? And they wanted to get me away from Project Elysium. So, was that what Luk was talking about? Was Project Elysium the thing that was going to destroy the Heart of the Terra, if we didn't protect it?
My captor loosened his grip and pushed me through the narrow back-and-forth pa.s.sage. I came out on the walkway above the little airs.h.i.+p. He grabbed me by the arm, moving me ahead.
They marched us up the spiral stairs, back to the map room. There, Cartier pulled the jacket off the dead Nomad. When he yanked it loose, her arms flopped. Her head thudded on the marble floor. He took the jacket and wrapped the skull in it.
We climbed up the ladder, back into the mine tunnels, up and up until we were in the long hall with the concrete floor.
Ahead, I saw the side tunnel where Lilly and I had entered. Beyond that was the next ladder, the one that would likely lead us up into the Aquinara, and right to Paul. As I pa.s.sed our tunnel, I thought halfheartedly about making a break for it, but I could barely process how to do that, and I was so tired, the exhaustion of the entire week overwhelming, and on top of that was this fuzzy-headed way my mind seemed to be so distracted.
Lilly, though, had all of her energy, and she had something I didn't.