Eighth Fire (8 page)

“Yeah, I was just going to get something for
it.” Mark walked through the door.

“They don’t make aspirin for what I’ve got.
There’s only one thing I can do.”

“What are you talking about?”

LeOmi stepped out, bent her head down and
turned in a slow circle. She started walking toward the mall. “Why
don’t you just go get some aspirin?”

Mark caught up and started walking beside
her. “What’s going on?” Something deep inside him, almost an
instinctual feeling, told him he was right to go with her. She
stopped in the mall, bent her head again and turned in a slow
circle again before resuming a course toward the recreation area in
the center of the mountain.

“My brother has the rescue ability. I’ve
evidently got it too. I was just a kid when I overheard him talking
about it to our dad. Right now, somebody is going to die if they
don’t get help soon. I sense that. That’s why I have a headache.
You probably just need aspirin.”

“How can you be sure?” Mark knew that was a
stupid question. His feelings told him she was absolutely right,
not about the aspirin, but about someone needing help.

“I’ll tell you what: you go get some aspirin
and we can talk about this later.”

They had just passed the area of the
elevators, reaching the first of two cobblestone roadways
encircling the interior of the mountain when LeOmi stopped and
turned in a circle again.

Mark asked, “Why do you keep doing
that?”

“I’m trying to figure out which way to go.
The pain is less when I’m facing in the right direction.”

Mark bent his head and turned in a circle.
The pain was substantially less when he was facing toward the
interior of the mountain. He pointed and said, “That way.”

They jogged to the next intersection just
past the tennis courts, paused to determine the direction and
continued past the baseball fields to the center of the mountain
next to the Council of Elders’ chamber.

Mark said, “I feel it stronger now; this
way.” He went to the left, around the chambers and took the third
road; the one leading through the botanical garden. He jogged
beside LeOmi and noticed his headache had been replaced by a strong
sense of urgency, verging on panic. They didn’t stop at the next
intersections to determine their path; there was no need. Which way
they needed to go was as easy as picking out where one of many
conversations in a crowded room was coming from.

They reached the exit and slammed through
the door. Mark saw The Island to his right. He stared at the wall
circling the mountain about a mile away and knew immediately where
they had to go. In his mind he saw himself and LeOmi running full
out on horseback toward the wall. He pointed at the wall and said,
“The Wastelands, that’s where we need to go.”

Mark, along with Chenoa, Jamal and Nick had
toured The Wastelands last year with Mrs. Shadowitz. It was the
last section beyond the wall they had explored and that had been
just before Christmas vacation. Mrs. Shadowitz said she had saved
this section for last since the daytime temperatures in that area
stayed well over 120
^°
during the summer and well into
the fall. The temperatures didn’t become tolerable until the end of
fall or early winter. It had been over 90
^°
when they had
been in there.

He turned to look at LeOmi and to his
surprise two horses were standing beside her. She was in the
process of mounting one of them. One of the horses was The General,
lead horse for all the Seventh Mountain horses and the other was an
Emerald Tribe captain, distinguished by the single emerald stone in
its headdress.

LeOmi yelled, “Yah!” and started her mount
galloping toward the wall with her cloak flapping behind her.

Mark jumped on The General and took out
after her, his sense of urgency was increasing. He yelled, “Hold
up! You’ll die in there! We need protection!”

LeOmi showed no signs of stopping or even
slowing. Mark caught up with her and about a minute and a half
later they were at the wall. No matter how hard LeOmi tried, she
couldn’t get her horse to go between the overlapping wall sections
to the other side.

Mark yelled again, “You need protection! Or
you’re going to die in there.”

LeOmi slid off and ran through the opening.
Mark followed.

Mark had no hope of catching her; she was
very fast. Twenty yards on the other side of the wall he stopped
and watched. The sun began to roast his face and neck. He had a
strong urge to follow her, but he’d been here before. He knew the
rock strewn sand would soon be as hot as a griddle, if it wasn’t
all ready. He saw LeOmi stop, pull a bottle from Aaron’s Grasp and
pour the liquid on her head. She started running again. Less than
fifty yards later she stopped, crumpled to her knees and then fell
face forward, catching herself on her outstretched arms. A moment
later she stood and started stumbling back toward Mark.

Mark ran back out. The temperature
difference between the two sections was extreme and it was only a
little after nine a.m. The Wasteland was well over 120
^°
while the school grounds were just over 70
^°
Mark noticed
a stiff breeze blowing through the opening and thought how good it
felt. He emerged on the other side and saw the Emerald captain
backing away from the opening. The General was standing where he
had been when Mark left him.

He said to The General, “I need your help!
She’s going to die if we don’t get her out!”

The General stamped his hoof and shook his
head. Mark saw in his mind the image of an auto-car racing toward
LeOmi. “I know I need an auto-car, but you’re all I’ve got. She’s
not more than three hundred yards in there. I know you can do
it.”

The General shook his head and stamped his
hoof again. The image of the auto-car persisted in Mark’s mind.

Mark said, “I’m going in with or without
you,” turned, put his hood up and walked back in. The General
followed. Mark hopped on The General’s back and started him on a
fast trot toward LeOmi. In the short time it took to reach her, the
horse’s legs, chest and neck were covered with a sweaty froth. Mark
slid down, hoisted the lethargic LeOmi across The General’s back
and tried to hop back up himself. His legs didn’t have the strength
and he fell to the ground. He tried again. This time he was able to
make it up high enough to lay across the horse’s back next to
LeOmi.

The General made his way back to the
opening, stumbling to one knee or the other a couple of times,
rising again each time with a steadfast determination to make it
back.

Mark felt the breeze from the opening and
slid off of The General’s back, landed awkwardly and fell to the
ground again. He tried to stand but thought it better just to crawl
out. The General continued out, still carrying LeOmi.

He looked up when he saw a large shadow just
this side of the opening; it was an auto-car.
How in creation
did that get here?
He continued crawling and remembered his
first experience with an auto-car. Emily, the lady that had given
the group a tour of the engineering section had turned and spoken
toward the building wall when she called for an auto-car. He
remembered saying to The General, ‘I know I need an auto-car’ and
that he was next to the perimeter wall when he said it.

He pushed the thoughts of the auto-car out
of his mind, eased himself up and went to LeOmi. She was still
groggy. The right side of her face was red and lightly blistered.
She’s going to need some fresh aloe on that.

He eased her off The General’s back and then
to a sitting position on the ground. She tried to push him away
while mumbling like a drunk, “I’m all right. I’m all right.” He
eased her over on her side.

“You’re not all right. You’re exhausted and
you’ve got a bad sunburn, not to mention you’re likely dehydrated.
You lay right here and rest for a minute while I check The
General.”

Mark walked over and rubbed The General’s
chest. The froth had dried to a sticky paste and he looked
dog-tired. Mark made his way around the horse while checking him
over and finally said, “I’m sorry big guy, but you did great. I
didn’t know I could call an auto-car from here. If I’d known, I
wouldn’t have made you do that.” After he was satisfied that The
General was going to be okay he said, “You can head back on over to
the stables. I’ll get the other horse to take LeOmi back to the
mountain.”

He looked to where LeOmi had been. She was
gone. He glanced around and didn’t see her. That left only one
possibility: she had gone back in. Mark ran and got to the opening
just in time to see LeOmi climbing into the auto-car. He ran to the
side of the vehicle where LeOmi had entered and grabbed the door
just before she closed it. “What do you think you’re doing?”

LeOmi was rubbing her hands over the
dashboard, pressing and pulling in different spots. She even
checked the air conditioning vents. “Somebody is going to die if I
don’t help them. Don’t you feel it?”

“I feel something, but what I
know
is
that
you
need medical attention.”

“I’m just a little over heated, that’s all.
I’ll be fine; I just need to cool down a little.” She continued to
search the dash board for controls. “How do you work this
thing?”

“LeOmi, what we need to do is get back to
the mountain, tell someone what’s going on and get that burn on
your face looked after.”

“No! I’m going to find out who needs my help
and help them. Do you understand?” She pounded the side of her fist
into the dashboard. “How does this thing work!”

Mark knew he wasn’t going to win this
argument. “Slide over, I’m driving.”

Mark got in and said, “Take us to The
Seventh Mountain.”

LeOmi screamed, “No! No! NO!”

The car’s voice said, “Destination may be
reached from subway in Magi City.”

Mark said, “Why can’t we just go straight to
the mountain?”

The car’s voice said, “That function is not
available.”

LeOmi opened her door and started to get
out. Mark said, “Hold on a minute. You can’t get to where you want
to go without a car.” There was no way she’d listen to reason and
he knew she wouldn’t give up. The only way for her to stay
relatively safe was to use the car. “I’ll take you there.”

“You’d better!”

Mark frowned. “Let me see a map.”

A three dimensional holographic map display
appeared in front of Mark. “Map function active,” said the car’s
voice.

He touched the section where they were, and
ripples spread across the map. “Zoom in to this area.”

The display did as he requested.

He looked at LeOmi. “Where would you like to
go?”

She examined the display, finally touching
it over a small body of water about fifteen miles away. “I think we
need to go here.”

Mark asked, “Is there a communications
function?”

“Emergency communication function is
available.”

“Good! This is an emergency. I need to tell
someone what’s happening.”

The map display went blank and a moment
later it was replaced by the image of a man with a handlebar
mustache. It was Mr. Müeller, an engineer Mark had met last
year.”

“Hello Mr. Müeller. Is there any way you can
contact Mrs. Shadowitz or anybody else at the school and let them
know we need help?”

“Sure. What’s going on?”

“LeOmi and myself feel the urgent need to
rescue someone in a pond in The Wastelands. I don’t understand
what’s going on, but I know we need help.”

“I’ll make the notifications. You do know
today is a testing day, don’t you? We’re prohibited from assisting
in any situation.”

“I thought that was just for the testing in
The Oasis.”

“Sorry, I’ve said too much already. I’ll
make the notifications.”

The screen went blank, followed by the map
reappearing.

LeOmi said, “I thought so. This is some kind
of test, so don’t expect any help.”

Mark thought she was probably right.
“Destination here,” he touched the map where LeOmi had indicated,
“as fast as possible.”

The mechanical voice said, “Please sit back.
You will experience six gees while I accelerate.”

No sooner than the voice ended, the car
started to accelerate. For a brief moment they were pushed back in
their seats hard and just as quickly the pressure relented. The
landscape whizzed by and a moment later the car said, “Rotating to
decelerate. You will experience six gees on deceleration.” The car
rotated and decelerated. “Destination reached. External temperature
one two six degrees Fahrenheit. Exiting not recommended.”

Mark said, “This is the place, in the water.
I feel it. He’s about fifty feet down.”

True to form, LeOmi didn’t say a word; she
just opened her door. A blast of heat filled the interior of the
cab. She put her hood up and stepped out. Mark did the same.

LeOmi went to the water’s edge, knelt and
put her hand in up to the wrist, pulled it right back out, started
waving it around and yelling.

Mark said, “I don’t get the sense he’s in
any immediate danger of dying. Let’s get back in the car and talk
about what we can do.”

LeOmi glared at him for a second, shrugged
and went back to the car.

Once inside Mark said, “I’m driving. Is this
vehicle submersible?”

“Submersion function is available.”

Mark saw a slight smile cross LeOmi’s lips.
“Take us fifty feet down, fifty yards out.”

There was a faint hiss followed by a low
click before the vehicle moved. The car’s voice said, “Submersion
function active. Fifteen minute air reserve.” Fifty yards from the
bank the vehicle slid below the surface.

Twenty feet down a rocky peak appeared
outside the front glass and at fifty feet they could see a small,
upside-down submarine trapped in a rock slide, nose up with the
tail section buried in the rubble.