Spheria (31 page)

“Thank you, Elder,” the others said in unison.

Chapter 39 - Mala Sanctis

“If you die in an elevator, be sure to push the Up button.” - Sam Levenson

Min knew she was screwed. Max was much stronger than her, and she was essentially trapped in this room with him.

Her adrenalin kicked in. She braced her back against the inside of the cabinet and her feet flat against the door. As Max turned the handle, she kicked it open with all her might. It smashed hard into his face, crushing his nose and knocking him backward. He tumbled into the ladder, which fell on top of him. He began flailing, not knowing what had just happened.

Min took the opportunity to dart toward the door. She didn’t get far. As she exited the cabinet and took a step, Max was able to stick out a leg and trip her. She fell forward into the center of the room. Furious, Max threw the ladder toward her. But his aim was wrong, and it crashed into the panels on the right side of the room. It knocked loose several hundred Qubes, and they spilled across the floor toward the door, turning dark. The ladder clanked down next to Min.

Min pushed herself up onto her hands and knees and tried to move ahead. As she pulled her foot forward to crawl, something held it back. She lost her balance and fell sideways onto her hip, now able to look back toward Max. He had rotated around, still on his back, and was grasping her ankle with one hand. She kicked at it with her free foot.

His grasp was firm, and her feeble attempts to get him to release her were futile. He pulled her along the floor toward him and tried to grab her other foot with his free hand. He missed, and she pounded her shin into his face. He released her ankle and covered his eyes with his hands.

“Ahhh!” he shouted.

She didn’t wait to have a conversation, and spun again toward the door. She moved too quickly and fell immediately over the prone ladder. She tucked and rolled into a ball, feeling jabs in her back from the pointy corners of the spilled Qubes. She had too much at stake to let pain slow her down, and she quickly stood again right next to the door. She hit the unlock button.

The door beeped, and the lock disengaged.

“Stop!” yelled Max as Min grabbed the handle. He was there before she could open it and placed both hands on the door to hold it shut.

“Let me out!” she yelled.

“What the hell are you doing in here?” he demanded.

“I'd ask you the same thing!” Her heart pounded. She didn’t want to be talking, fearing for her life.

He took one hand off the door and reached for her neck. This was her opportunity. She pressed down on the handle and yanked the door open. For some reason, Max wasn't prepared for this, and it forced him to take a step back. His foot landed awkwardly on a single Qube and slid sideways. He tried to steady himself with his hand on Min, but his grip closed around the thin strap of her gris-gris, which snapped under his weight. Max fell backward and hit his head, with a dull thud, right on the side of the ladder.

A part of Min wanted to run over to him, to put a cold compress on his head, to soothe his pain. But she fought the instinct and darted through the door. It led into a small dark room filled with filing cabinets and storage boxes. There was one other door that said “Exit” above it. She pulled that open and it led into the main hallway. As she left, she glanced back as the inside door was closing. She saw Max lying on the floor, rubbing the top of his head. He was conscious.

#

Max tried to rise. A sharp pain shot through his brain, and he literally saw stars. He sat for a second, trying to regain his orientation. He quickly recovered and realized he had to stop Min. Finding her in the room was the last thing he expected, and it was imperative that he prevent her escape.

The urgency compelled him to push through the pain and stand up. He crawled to the door, worked through the locking mechanism and exited the computer room. In the storage room he called out “Min!” No answer, not that he expected any. She might be hiding in here, but he doubted it. He ran to the other door and exited.

Just as he stepped into the sixth-floor hallway, he heard a ding. Turning toward the elevators, he saw Min enter one of the two.

“Wait!” he shouted and began to run toward her. Each step was met with a jolt of pain in his forehead.

Hearing his voice, she turned and saw him charging toward her. Her previous look of panic was replaced with calm deliberation. She pressed an elevator call button, then stepped in the one that was open. It closed just as Max reached it.

Damn,
he thought.

He watched the numbers over the elevator change from six to five and pressed the down call button. The up button was already lit.

Double damn.
She’d pressed up. It would cause a delay, but only one floor since the building had seven floors.

He watched the second elevator rise through the numbers, stopping for what seemed a little longer on five. Finally, it opened, and he jumped in. He pressed button one, and that was when he noticed the problem.

“God dammit!” he shouted, and kicked at the number panel.

#

Moments earlier, Min watched Max charging at her. She knew what had to be done. She pressed the up button. It would call the second elevator, which usually parked on floor one. That would give her enough time.

She got in and pressed five, then one. The doors closed. She heard Max’s footsteps outside as the elevator began to descend.
Ding.
The doors opened on five. Min opened the utility door inside the elevator and pulled the stop lever. The elevator locked in place. This was a seldom known feature of elevators, but one she used before loading dorm items, not wanting it to take off without her. She jumped out into the hallway and pressed the up button, just in time, too. The second elevator door opened.

She ran in, holding the doors open with one hand, and pressed every button on the panel.
That should help,
she told herself. Returning to her elevator, she disengaged the stop, and the elevator began descending once again. Max would take a ride to seven, then on the way back down he’d have to stop on every floor except for six. That should give her a couple of minutes of lead time to get to Dana.

Chapter 40 - The Machine

“Imagination and invention go hand in hand… Shift a few pieces of furniture around the living room, and you have yourself a fort.” - Alexandra Adornetto

In the dim, hazy light, Fa∙ro rested in the chamber at the apex of the largest structure in the Colony. It was spacious when empty. Looking around, he recalled the carnage that filled this room when the Council was eliminated. It was his Chamber now. As the sole ruler of the Colony, sitting on his throne, he was truly the greatest Polyan in the world.

He heard footsteps approaching from outside. He stretched his legs long, intending to intimidate any who entered. He awaited an arrival.
 

Ga∙zo appeared and approached the throne. The leader of the Soldiers never wavered from his loyalty to Fa∙ro. As such, he was one of the few allowed to approach without permission. Still, it was early, and Fa∙ro wasn’t fond of being awakened. Ga∙zo stopped in front of the throne, bowed, then looked up at Fa∙ro.

“Your honor,” said Ga∙zo, “we have a problem!”

Fa∙ro eyed him wearily. He grumbled, “A problem?”

“Yes, the Workers… the Workers are gone. All of them!”

“What do you mean?” inquired Fa∙ro, not comprehending.

“Gone. There are none in the Colony. They seem to have vanished during the night.”

Fa∙ro, only caring about a possible delay to his project, jumped off his throne. He ran through the columns to where he had a perfect view of the tower and the mountains beyond. The tower stood majestic in the dim light of the morning Source, a silhouette against the world beyond. It rose halfway to the Source, the tallest erection that ever existed. Taller even than the mountains.

He activated his artifact and scanned the horizon. The outline of the tower appeared yellow in his vision, as this was the thing he’d tuned it to observe. However, he could also sense, even through obstructions, every living creature, outlined in violet.
 

Not far beyond the tower, he could thus see a milling herd of Zalisk.
Very dangerous
, he thought,
even to a god
. Then he noticed them, a large mass of Workers huddled around the base of the tower. They were moving about, forming lines of some kind. Something was happening, something he hadn’t approved.

#

Hi∙ma stood at the base of the tower, facing the Rift, which was nearby. The next bubble, green, was just rising over the edge. She followed its trajectory with her eyes to the Source. It was still dim from the previous night. Soon the bubble would hit the Source, and the world would be filled with green light causing the plants to grow. Her gaze shifted to the tower. It was so tall, even half finished, that the top seemed to vanish at a single point. It would never be completed.

Several more Workers arrived from the foliage. They made their way through the crowd to Le∙ma, who stood beneath the tower.

“It’s done,” said Pu∙ma, “The perimeter is secured.”

“Good,” said Le∙ma. “That’ll buy us the necessary time. Is anyone else there?”

“No,” answered Pu∙ma. “I walked the length and it’s complete. I was the last one out.”

“Then things are going smoothly.” Le∙ma had a bad feeling but didn’t want to show it. Sa∙ma should have been there by now. They definitely didn’t have unlimited time to execute their plan.

As if reading her mind, Hi∙ma asked, “Where’s Sa∙ma?”

“He’s completing the last piece of the plan and will be here shortly.” Trying to distract her questioners from his obvious tardiness, she changed the subject. She stepped on a pile of beams to speak over the crowd and said, “It’s now or never. Whether this plan succeeds or fails, we’ll never be accepted back into the Colony. Any caught by Fa∙ro will certainly be killed. If any of you are having second thoughts, now is your chance to return to the Colony.”

“There is no return,” said Pu∙ma.

Le∙ma realized she was right and the error of her words. Before she could form a response, Hi∙ma did. “Nobody wants to return; we’re in this to the end. One way or another, Fa∙ro will oppress us no longer.”

“For the Colony!” they all said in unison. Le∙ma didn’t miss the irony.

As if on cue, the foliage on the far side of the tower began to flutter. Sa∙ma emerged, pulling some sort of contraption. The gathered Workers stood motionless, not comprehending what they were seeing. It wasn't a structure like a building, but an interconnected series of various colored stones, similar to a sculpture. It resembled a cylinder, lying horizontally, but wasn't completely solid. The shape was formed by six long segments. Each was a sandwich of colored rock: brown on the outside, then red and blue toward the inside of the cylinder. Between the blue surfaces was a hollow tube-shaped space.

Sa∙ma dragged this jumble of parts toward the tower. Others, overcoming their surprise, rushed to help him.

“Grab the base,” he said. The structure was supported by a brown rectangular platform, which behaved like a sled. Those who could fit pushed it along. Sa∙ma guided it up to one of the legs of the tower. He shifted it so that it formed a line with both the closest leg and the one beyond it.

“All, gather over there and take hold of the rope trailing behind it,” directed Sa∙ma. Those who’d been pushing it moved behind as told. Indeed, a line was dragging on the ground. It fed through the cylinder and emerged from the front as well. The length inside floated in the air, repulsed by the surrounding blue rock. Sa∙ma took a beam from the construction pile. He attached the front end of the rope to it and held it near the sculpture.

“Pull,” he said, “and don’t let go.”

The Workers began to pull on the rope, and it easily slid backward. The beam touched the front, and a massive amount of tension developed on the line. The blue crystals were pushing the beam away. But since there was a space between them, the beam slid inside, suspended in the center, as had the rope.

“Pull!” commanded Sa∙ma again.