A World Without Heroes (21 page)

“It was probably a good thing,” Rachel consoled. “The conscriptor had turned it into a monster.”

Jason shook his head. “Nothing deserves to die like that.”

“It was disgusting.”

“Thanks, by the way,” Jason said, “for helping me keep my balance.”

Rachel smiled. “I heard you stumble. You might not have fallen. I hope I didn’t slow you down.”

“I probably would have fallen,” Jason admitted. “You pretty much saved my life.”

“What are friends for?”

Jason stood up. “We should keep moving.” He could hear the crab snipping frantically at the narrow gap again, probably drawn by his open wounds. The passageway curved, so Jason could not see Macroid from his current position. He wondered if the dog had already been devoured; then he tried to shut down his imagination.

Jason and Rachel examined the room. Off in one corner a wooden platform attached to a chain dangled perhaps a foot off the ground. An iron lever projected from the wall beside it. Jason crossed to the platform and looked up. Most of the rocky ceiling was dark, but daylight spilled in through a single tall shaft. The chain from the platform stretched up the center of the shaft, which had to be nearly as high as the cliff. Sunlight came in through an opening in the side near the top. In the lofty sunlight he saw where the barbed chain disappeared into the rocky ceiling.

“A primitive elevator?” Rachel asked, gazing up as well.

“Looks like it,” Jason said. “Should we see if it still works?”

“Give me a second,” Rachel said, lacing her hands behind her head and blowing out air. “I’ve never almost died before. Not really.”

Jason noticed that her eyes looked a little misty. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. No. I don’t know. I mean, a giant man-eating crab? Seriously? What have we gotten ourselves into?”

“A big mess,” Jason agreed. “At least we survived. And we already have a third of the Word.”

She took a shuddering breath. “Way to find the bright side.”

Jason fingered the iron lever. “Think the lever will make the elevator rise?”

“I sure hope so,” Rachel said. “If we have to climb a barbed chain, I might walk back to Galloran and ask to be put on his secret farm.”

“Hop on,” Jason suggested. “I’ll lean over and pull the lever.”

“I’ll throw the lever,” Rachel corrected. “I should do something.”

Jason almost argued, but stopped himself. “Fine. Then we’ll be even.”

“No. I still jump off the next cliff.”

“I’m hoping we’re finished with cliffs.”

“You know what I mean. I’ll take the next big risk.”

“I really was trying to be nice.”

She studied him skeptically. “I think it also had a lot to do with getting your own way. If we want to succeed, we need to be able to trust each other. I can be stubborn too. But we need to be teammates.”

“You’re right that I like getting my way,” Jason admitted. “But sometimes stubbornness can be a good thing. Like when Coach Bennion tried to quit.”

“Who? What?”

“I was in seventh grade, playing baseball with a club team. Coach Bennion was an assistant. He really helped me with my swing. Anyhow, our real coach was very strict. One day he had to go out of town, so Coach Bennion was running practice. Bennion was more laid back, and a bunch of the guys started goofing off, since Bennion wasn’t much of an enforcer.”

“Were you one of those guys?” Rachel asked.

“We were all guilty. Bennion tried to put his foot down, but we smelled weakness, and some of the guys talked back to him. I’d never seen Bennion mad, but his face went red, and he told us he was done; we could coach ourselves. I felt horrible. I followed him off the field, apologizing and telling him we’d do whatever he wanted to make it up to him. He told me to run a hundred laps. He wasn’t being serious. He was just trying to get rid of me. He got in his car and left.”

“And you ran a hundred laps?” Rachel asked.

“Most of the other players went home. A few ran part of the way. But I ran a hundred laps. I mean, I walked part of it. When my mom came to pick me up, I explained what had happened, and she let me keep going. It took until after midnight. Somehow Coach Bennion heard. And he decided not to quit.”

“That’s pretty cool,” Rachel said.

“Being stubborn can be good!”

“Not if it makes you a bully. I’ll never be able to trust you during a coin toss.”

“True, I may do something terrible like risk my life instead of yours.”

“You had good intentions,” Rachel acknowledged. “It was even sweet. But with the kind of danger we’re in, trust matters a lot.”

Jason folded his arms. “Okay. I’ll make you a deal. Next time instead of taking matters into my own hands, I’ll argue until you give up.”

“That would be better. But don’t count on me always giving up.”

Jason stepped onto the platform. Splintered and rotting, less than three feet square, the planks thankfully felt solid. Rachel
climbed on as well, gripping the heavy chain below where the barbed wire links started as the platform gently swayed.

“Should we do this?” Jason asked.

“I’m ready,” Rachel confirmed, leaning over and placing a hand on the lever.

“We don’t know how this will work,” Jason warned. “Might be a rough ride.”

“I’ll hold on tight. You do the same.” She pulled the lever and quickly gripped the chain with both hands. A tumbling sound rattled inside the walls of the cavern, and the platform started rising.

The chain and platform hauled Jason and Rachel upward, accelerating alarmingly, clattering ever louder as the speed of the ascent increased. Jason squeezed the chain. Pulleys shrieked. The chain vibrated. Near the top the speed decreased. For a moment the chain slackened in his hands as inertia continued to carry them upward. After they reached the weightless apex of their climb, gravity took over, and they fell until the chain jerked tight again with bone-wrenching abruptness, nearly breaking Jason’s desperate hold.

Jason and Rachel stood face to face, separated only by the chain. Her eyes were shut. The platform pendulumed calmly in a weird silence broken only by the dreamy sounds of the surf. Glancing down, Jason beheld the dizzying drop to the stone floor below.

Rachel opened her eyes. “Are we alive?”

“For now.”

“That went faster than I expected.”

Jason heard a clicking sound. He noticed a simple iron dial on the wall, like the hand of a clock. It had pointed upward at first, but it was turning downward as the clicking continued.

“I think we have a time limit,” Jason said, jutting his chin at the dial.

A large, irregular opening in the wall of the shaft beside them overlooked the ocean. The afternoon sun shone down on the ranks of approaching swells.

“Should we pump?” Rachel asked.

Jason nodded.

Synchronizing their efforts, Jason and Rachel began to lean backward and forward, swinging the platform in the direction of the opening. The clicking continued as the dial passed the three o’clock position. Before long Jason kicked out a leg and hooked his foot against the side of the opening. Rachel hopped off the platform to the narrow shelf. Bracing herself against the side of the opening, she steadied Jason as he released the chain and stepped onto the shelf beside her.

They stood high on the cliff face. A small flock of gray gulls hung motionless, gliding into the breeze. A few worn handholds led up to the top.

When the dial reached six o’clock, another tumbling sound came from within the walls of the rocky shaft, and the platform rapidly descended. Once the platform had reached the bottom, the dial reset, pointing upward. Staring at the barbed links of the chain, Jason was glad he didn’t have to descend this way. He looked up the final portion of the cliff face. “I guess we climb.”

“It isn’t far,” Rachel encouraged. “It looks easy.”

“After you.”

Rachel reached for the first handhold and started up the remainder of the rocky face. After taking a few seconds to steady himself, Jason followed, the sea breeze tickling his naked back. Teeth chattering, he tried not to think about the drop behind him, or to heed the churning surf far below. By focusing on finding secure places to put his hands and feet, he was soon pulling himself over the lip of the cliff.

Standing, Jason scanned the area. The trickling stream lay at least fifty yards off to one side. Rachel was jogging toward where they had left their gear. Nobody else was in sight. His clothes lay scattered around the bush where he had stashed them. Jason ran to catch up to Rachel.

Crouching near the bush, she held up the crystal globe with the orantium inside. “Safe and sound.”

“Looks like Puggles chewed on my clothes.”

“He was probably excited to get a full dose of your scent. At least he left our gear alone.”

Jason collected his clothes, fingering spots where they had been torn or punctured by boarhound teeth. It felt good to put on clothes and wrap up in his cloak. His boxers only retained a trace of dampness.

“Are you cold?” Jason asked.

She had bundled up in her cloak. “Not with my cloak on. My clothes are still damp, so I was feeling that wind.”

Jason surveyed the area. “I don’t see anybody else.”

“We should take advantage of the daylight while it lasts,” Rachel said. “Get away from here, find a place to camp.”

“We should have asked for directions to Trensicourt,” Jason said.

“We’ll keep following the road,” Rachel replied. “It has to lead somewhere. Eventually we’ll find someone who can tell us.”

They walked back to the road, and began hiking eastward along the cliffs. Gazing back, Jason felt immense relief to have the ordeal of the sea cave behind him.

“Can you believe we survived?” Jason asked after they had been walking for some time.

“I know . . . Once the boarhound showed up, everything happened so fast,” Rachel responded. “Now all I can think about is how close we came to ending up just like Puggles.”

Afternoon dwindled to twilight, and twilight deepened toward night. They found shelter in a recessed thicket. After a hasty meal Rachel insisted on taking the first watch.

“I won’t fall asleep,” Jason promised. “I had a big nap, and you didn’t.”

Rachel eyed him warily. “Are you sure? If we both fall asleep, we might wake up dead.”

“We probably wouldn’t wake up. We’d just be dead.”

“No, I think you’d wake up just long enough to feel incredible pain and realize the shame of your failure.”

Jason chuckled darkly. He raised his right hand. “I’ll stay awake. I promise.” His mind flashed back to the image of Macroid tearing apart the boarhound, and he gave his head a shake. He couldn’t let himself think about what either creature would have done to him and Rachel if given the chance. “I’ve been scared straight,” he reassured her.

“Let’s decide on a punishment if either of us dozes. You know, extra motivation.”

“Besides a possible death penalty?” Jason paused, then smiled. “How about whoever messes up has to smell the other person’s socks?”

Rachel raised her eyebrows and cocked her head. “Not bad. I would have a much smellier punishment than you, but I’m not going to mess up. Okay, here it is—whoever naps while on watch has to smell the other person’s sock
and
stick it in their mouth.”

“You’re disgusting!”

“The punishment needs to be brutal, or it will be worthless. Remember, our lives are at stake.”

Jason sighed. “Fine. I’m not going to mess up either. If you want to eat my socks, that’s your business.”

“Is it official? Deal?”

“Deal.”

CHAPTER
9
TARK