The Yanti (39 page)

Nevertheless, Ali was on the verge of flying down to check it out when she heard a noise in the cave. Stepping inside, she put
an ear to the stone wall and listened intensely. There it was again! An echo. Metal hitting metal. Sheri must be inside. She must have the bomb with her.

Ali shuddered with excitement. She did not know if it was a good day to die, she just knew one of them must. Her fear was matched only by her desire to attack. Yes, to kill the witch, and end the war . . .

However, Nemi had told her . . . what? She had to somehow coordinate her attack with Geea’s attack on Doren? Sounded good in theory, but how was she supposed to do it? Geea might be able to read her mind, but the reverse was not true. For all Ali knew, Geea could be eating lunch right now.

No, Sheri was in the cave with the bomb and it was time.

Time the witch paid for her mother and Steve.

Drawing in a deep breath, letting her field swell to maximum potency, Ali allowed her shimmering green bubble to lift her off the ground and carry her down the length of the black cave. She did not need a flashlight to see. Her powerful green eyes generated their own soft glimmer. And she did not care that Sheri would see her coming. It was good her sister should know that her queen had stopped by to say hello.

Again, they were in Geea’s bedroom, and again Ra, Trae, and Amma sat on the floor at the feet of their queen, as Geea rested on a corner of the bed, her gaze somehow near, somehow far off as well. To Ra, when he was with Geea, he felt he was with Ali as well. Geea’s next words only confirmed that fact.

“She moves too soon,” Geea whispered.

Ra sat up with a start. “Ali?”

“Yes.”

“Is she going after Sheri Smith?”

Geea nodded. “Too soon, and she is not well-armed . . .” Her voice trailed off as her eyes went to Amma. “I remember what you did for me.”

Amma nodded. “The question is, does she?”

“Nemi has warned her. She does not listen. She acts without thinking.”

“Is Sheri Smith capable of killing her?” Ra asked, anxious.

Geea nodded. “Just as Doren is capable of killing me.”

Ra stood, frustrated with how calm they were all acting. “We have to help her!”

Geea spoke patiently. “All her life I’ve tried to help her, whispering inside her heart. It’s the same for all humans. In each there’s a voice that resides in the silence of their innermost being—a voice they can choose to listen to whenever they wish. The trouble is, most never stop to do so.”

“But Ali . . .” Ra began.

“Is very human,” Geea said. “That’s her strength and her weakness. On the Isle of Greesh, she dared what I was afraid to try. She is bold and fierce. Yet she is reckless and not always wise. Right now, as we speak, I tell her to back off, to let events unfold further, but she does not listen.”

“Because she cannot hear you,” Ra protested.

“Because she is
human
. The Entity is accurate when it says you are reckless when it comes to your own world. The majority seldom pause to look around and let the Earth tell them what it needs to survive. In the same way, Ali needs . . .”

“Send her a stronger message!” Ra shouted. He could not believe he had just interrupted Geea. Yet she smiled down at him, and brushed a lock of dark hair from his eyes.

“Nira and Nemi have given her enough messages to guide her. If she survives this encounter with her sister, then she’ll
have more time to reflect upon them.” Geea stood and walked to the south-facing window. “The truth is, we have to help ourselves.”

Amma stood and came up behind her. “What do you see?”

Ra could see only black smoke and flying dragons out the window. The dragons’ whips of flame steadily destroyed what were left of the dark fairies—the unfortunate ones who had not been trapped inside Mt. Tutor.

The shift of the elemental army to Uleestar went smoothly. Already the boats had docked at a harbor not far from the fairy capital. With Lord Vak, Lord Balar, and General Tapor guiding the elementals through the exotic woods of Karolee, it would not be long before Uleestar was a place of concentrated power. Surely, Doren would not dare attack the Earth with such a threat at her back, Ra thought.

Yet Geea was troubled. “I see something on the back of a dragon.”

“Is it a scab?” Ra asked.

“Yes.”

“That should not worry a dragon,” Trae remarked, also coming to the window. Geea glanced his way, then back out the window.

“This one is big,” Geea said.

“How big?” Ra asked, standing behind her.

“The scab on the back of the dragon is as big as a house,” Geea replied.

Sheri Smith did not seem surprised to see her. Sitting on what looked like the tail-end of the bomb, she glanced up as Ali came near. At the same time, she lifted a beautifully polished
silver sword—the golden hilt studded with a dozen different jewels—and pointed it in her direction.

“Stop,” she called out.

Ali stopped.
Near
was a relative term. There was still a hundred yards between them. But the gap felt smaller, because Ali could fly, and cover it in less than a blink of an eye. Plus the sheer size of the bomb made it—and its owner—appear much closer than the length of a football field. But no matter how you looked at it, the distance remained, and it was important to Sheri that Ali did not cross a certain line.

The bomb was an ugly contraption. The basic design was of a grossly overweight torpedo, but it was way too thick and bulky to fit in a submarine. The dull gray paint and the wide rear fins made it look very fifties. But why should it look pretty anyway? It had been designed to kill as many people as possible.

Ali studied her surroundings. In numerous spots in the walls, it looked as if holes had been drilled, then covered over with cement—which had now hardened. There were many such “buried holes” on Ali’s side of the bomb, and on the far side of Sheri and the weapon. These holes had been carefully drilled on
either
side of the six tunnels, but far from them as well.

Ali understood. Whatever her sister had placed in the holes—it was probably dynamite—she didn’t want it
damaging
the six tunnels. The holes and the tunnels had to be far enough apart to keep the tunnels safe.

On the other hand, the bomb had to be in the precise
center
of the tunnels, which was where Sheri now sat. The logic behind her plan was simple. Sheri needed the power of the blast to flow equally through the tunnels. It was her intention to blow off the tops of seven mountains, and create seven fresh volcanoes.

Yes, there would be
seven
, not six.

Because Pete’s Peak would explode with the others.

It all got a little confusing in Ali’s head. The reason was the queer nature of the mountain’s interior. It not only possessed doorways into other dimensions; the tunnels somehow
folded space
over the surface of the Earth. That meant a straight line was not necessarily the shortest distance between two points. Somehow, the tunnels superseded that basic law of physics.

Ali could never forget the shock she had felt—when she had raced down one of the tunnels to escape the dark fairies—and she had ended up in Tanzania! And just a minute before she’d been in Breakwater . . .

Ali cautioned herself to focus on the problem at hand.

She could not let her sister detonate the bomb.

“Looks like you’ve been busy,” Ali called. The truth was, with their supernatural hearing, neither of them needed to shout. It was old human habit, Ali supposed.

Sheri wore a fine red gown, as befit a fairy princess, and her sword-belt was studded with rubies. The latter matched the ruby necklace she wore around her neck.

Unfortunately, Ali could stare at neither her sister’s gown nor her jewels without seeing Sheri’s scars. The veil of beauty was simply too transparent for her now that she had been to the Isle of Greesh and back. Not all the “gifts” the Entity had bestowed on her sister were potent.

Sheri studied Ali’s own scars.

“The violet ray proved too much for you?” she asked.

Ali nodded. “You tricked me. Clever.”

“I heard my trick saved your life. Old Kashar couldn’t swallow the Yanti.”

“True. But he tried.”

Sheri shook her head. “Stupid old dragon.”

“His was not an easy death.”

“Burning is no fun. You must know that by now. But I’m confused, why the scars? Was Queen Geea stingy when it came to her healing touch?”

Ali drew her long red hair back from the right side of her face.

“I kept a few out of respect for you,” she said.

Sheri snorted. “Please! You break my heart!”

“Your heart doesn’t break so easily. But like you said, at least now I know what it feels like to burn.”

“Ha! You didn’t like me calling you a fool at the police station.”

“Trust me, that was not my motivation,” Ali said.

“Then explain yourself. We have time. Not a lot, but some.”

Ali took a step forward. “Why not stop the clock on the bomb? Then we can talk as long as we want.”

“Sorry, sister. You never were my favorite company.”

Ali took another step forward. Sheri interrupted her in midstride.

“Stop! You’re keen-eyed, and you’re not stupid. You must have noticed the holes in the walls. You must have guessed what’s inside them.”

Ali nodded. “Explosives.”

“Very good. So stand back. There’s no reason for you to lose your head, is there, little sister?”

Ali stopped. “I visited the Isle of Greesh. Had a chat with the Entity.”

Sheri studied her forehead, and Ali knew she searched for a purple crystal that she would not find. “You lie,” she said.

“You can hear what is true and what is a lie. While trying to inspire me to sign up for its unholy cause, the Entity showed me a short film of you and Tulas. I saw how the Entity manipulated
you into accepting the implant. It helped me understand why you kept going to Hector, to see him, even after Lucy Pillar was supposed to be dead.”

“Don’t talk to me about Tulas or Hector!”

“Why not?”

“Neither of them means a thing to me now.”

“Doren . . .”

“And don’t call me by that name!”

Ali nodded. “Should we add Nira to your list of unmentionables? When I was with the Entity, Father came and helped. He saved me from their grip, and at the same time provided me with the key to unlock those you’ve marked. Nira speaks now. You should hear her. The first words out of her mouth were orders. You would have loved it. She contradicted everything I’d told the others!”

Sheri showed interest. “I’m happy to hear she’s not your stooge.”

“She’s no one’s stooge. Certainly not the Entity’s.” Ali paused. “I gave her the Yanti. She knows how to use it in ways neither of us imagined possible. With it, she could remove that implant in your forehead.”

Sheri sneered. “That was placed inside Doren, not Lucy!”

“Don’t lie to me. It’s in both of you. Even from here, I can see it.” Ali paused. “What was the name of the man who came to visit you at the hospital?”

Sheri chewed on that one. Did not answer.

“Your mother told me about him,” Ali offered.

“I suppose she talks now, too?”

“In a sense, she talks less.”

Sheri was amused. “Mom never knew when to shut up.”

“She showed me your paintings. You’re quite the artist.”

“General Kabrosh showed me his arm. You would have made a lousy doctor.”

“How is the good general?”

Sheri shrugged. “I hated to see him suffer.”

“So he’s dead. And Tulas . . .”

She raised the sword angrily. “I told you to leave him out of this!”

“You cannot pretend you were not manipulated! You cannot act like this is what you wanted! You’ve become a thrall, nothing more. When you were young, and still had dreams, was this one of them? I don’t think so! Admit it, it’s all become a nightmare.”

Sheri stood away from the bomb. “You surprise me, Geea. With everything you’ve seen and experienced the last few days, you still act the fool. You say you’ve spoken with the Entity. It must have explained to you why it’s here. Without help, this planet is doomed.”

“With their kind of help, humanity would be better off dead!”

“So you just decide that for everyone on Earth? Sorry, but I think if it was put to a vote, the vast majority would choose life rather than extinction.”

“You are not talking about life. You are talking about slavery.”

“Slavery is better than death!”

“Humanity
abhors
slavery!” Ali snapped. “They’ll fight to the last one of them to get out from beneath it.”

“That’s just your opinion. To me, most human beings are cowards.”

“You just don’t get it, Doren. You’ve decided the very destiny of the human race without asking another soul their opinion.”

Sheri threw up her arms. “Who was there to ask? Tulas was gone. Father was gone.”

“No. Father was there, inside the purple cubes . . .”

“Then why didn’t he help me?” Sheri interrupted, and there was more anguish in her tone than hatred.

“You didn’t reach out to him the way I did,” Ali said in a gentle tone. “That’s how I survived my encounter with the Entity. Not because I’m smarter than you. But because I asked for help, Doren, and help came.”

“I told you not to call me that!”

“You’re my sister. I can call you by your real name. And there’s no reason we can’t talk about Nira and Tulas and Hector. These are people you still love.”

“Didn’t the Entity give you its lecture on the uselessness of love?”

“I chose not to listen to it. Why don’t you stop listening to them?”

“No.”

“You have the choice. It still exists. Doren . . .”

“No!” Sheri shouted, shaking her sword in the air, causing waves of purple light to convulse the air. Or did they come from her head? Ali could not be sure, only that it felt as if something evil had suddenly entered the cave. Dizziness swept over Ali, as her sister ranted on.

“The time to choose has passed. It passed for Doren when Tulas caught fire. It passed for Lucy when she caught fire. After that kind of pain, nothing matters. There’s survival and that’s it. In the coming days, the world’s going to learn that lesson.” Sheri paused to catch her breath. “Now go, Geea, just leave. Or I’ll kill you where you stand. I swear it.”