Gates of Neptune (14 page)

“I think I hear somebody coming,” Wash said.

“I hope it's Aramis,” Abbey said. “What will we do if it's some guards?”

“We'll have to try to jump them,” Josh said. “Dave, you and Jake and Wash and I—if it's just two—will take one apiece.”

“OK.” The boys got ready on each side of the door, ready to jump.

The door swung open.

Sarah, who was standing in the middle of the room, blinked and raised her hand to her mouth in shock.

Val entered and with him a tall man wearing a dark green cape. Behind them stood at least twenty armed mariners, spear guns at ready.

Val turned to the tall man. “Here they are, Duke Lenomar. Remember our agreement.”

Duke Lenomar, tall and somehow threatening-looking, ran his dark eyes over the Sleepers. He seemed to pay little attention to Val's words and murmured absently, “Oh yes, our agreement.”

Sarah said, “This isn't Aramis, is it?”

Duke Lenomar laughed aloud. “No, my dear young lady, I am Duke Lenomar, adviser to Aramis.”

All eyes went to Val, who suddenly flushed. “Look, I can explain all this.”

“How can you explain bringing these guards?” Josh demanded.

Val tried to explain, the words tumbling out of his mouth. “Nothing else would have worked. Don't you see that? We have to make an arrangement with Aramis, and the only way to do that is through Duke Lenomar.”

“That wasn't what Goel told us to do,” Sarah said sharply, tears in her eyes. “You betrayed us, Val, after we trusted you.”

Val came at once to stand beside her and put his hand on her arm. He spoke rapidly. “You have to look at it this way—we're fighting for our lives here. Whatever we do is done for Atlantis.”

One look around the room showed Sarah that the others were staring at Val with dismay.

At that moment there came the sound of footsteps, and a tall, blond man wearing a green robe and a gold medallion stepped into the room. Without being told, Sarah knew this was Lord Admiral Aramis.

He stopped inside the door, and Duke Lenomar said, “We have captured the Sleepers, my lord, just as I told you.”

Aramis looked carefully at the Sleepers. Sarah felt, as his bright blue eyes bored into her, that Aramis was looking deep inside her heart. But she met his gaze boldly, without blinking.

Finally Aramis said, “Well, Valar, we meet again.”

Valar at once went on his knees before Aramis. “I have come to join you, sire.”

Aramis looked down at the young man. “What about your king?”

“Like yourself, Lord Aramis, I am forced to choose between my love for him and survival for Atlantis, for I realize, as you tried to tell us long ago, we must join ourselves to the strongest force.”

Aramis stared at him, then looked back at the Sleepers. “We will speak of this. Come with me, Valar.”

Lenomar stepped forward, saying, “We must do away with the Sleepers!”

Aramis whirled and glared at his lieutenant. “No, let them live. Keep them under close guard.”

“Your Majesty, we must—”

“Those are my orders, Lenomar.” Aramis glared even more fiercely. “If anything happens to them, I will hold you accountable.”

Lenomar looked dismayed as Aramis walked away. Then he rested his eyes on the Sleepers and said to the guards, “Take them to the cells.”

The young people were taken, each with a guard on either side, to a compartment large enough for all of them. There were separate cells for sleeping.

Lenomar's eyes were cruel as he said, “I know who you are, the servants of Goel.”

“Yes,” Sarah said at once, and Josh spoke at the same time.

They glanced at each other, and Josh went on. “We
are
the servants of Goel, and I can tell that you are the servant of the Dark Power.”

Lenomar whispered, “Perhaps you will carry that secret to your grave.” He then walked out, and the Sleepers were left alone.

Sarah moved to a chair, fell into it, put her arms on the table, and then buried her face against them. Sobs shook her body.

At last Josh came over and touched her shoulder and said, “Don't do that, Sarah.”

“I can't help it. It was all my fault.”

“We're not blaming you.”

Sarah lifted her head. Tears ran down her face. “It's all my fault! Yes, it is, because I … I …”

“What is it, Sarah? What's the matter?” Josh asked. “It'll be all right. We're just doing what Goel told us to do.”

Sarah's voice trembled and became a whisper. “But Josh, I lied about what Goel said.”

“You did what?” Dave demanded, and the others looked at her with shock. “How did you lie?”

Sarah looked around. “It was all true except one thing.” She bowed her head and bit her lip and tried to restrain a sob. “It was all true except what I said about Valar. Goel didn't tell me to bring him.”

“Why did you do it then, Sarah?” Abbey asked.

“Oh, I don't know, Abbey. Why do I do crazy things, anyway? I guess I liked him, I trusted him, and—” she raised a hand to her mouth “oh, now I know!”

“What is it?” Josh asked.

“Do you remember before we left the mountain, the last time we saw Goel? Do you remember what he did?”

Josh nodded. “He gave each of us some kind of message—prediction, you might say.” His eyes lighted up. “Oh. I guess now you understand—” He broke off and looked down at his hands, apparently not knowing what more to say.

It was Sarah who spoke. “I had forgotten what he said to me, but now I remember, just like he was saying it. He said, ‘Daughter, your role will be lonely. Those you trust most will betray you.' You remember he said that to me, and I've done exactly that. I trusted Valar, and he betrayed me.”

As the others stood looking on, she put her head back down on the table, racked by sobs again.

Abbey came over and patted her and whispered encouragement. One by one, each Sleeper came by and gave her words of comfort.

Last of all, Josh came. “Sarah, I want you to know one thing—well, two things really.” He waited until she lifted her head. “First of all, none of us hates you for the mistake you made. Any of us could have done it. We all love you as much as ever.”

“Do you, Josh? I don't see how you can,” she said in despair.

Then Josh said, “The second thing is, do you think we're better or more loving than Goel?”

“Why, no. Nobody is,” Sarah said in surprise.

“Then if we're willing to love you and forgive you, in spite of the mistake, don't you know that he will be?”

Shock ran through Sarah, and somehow a ray of hope came to her. She bit her lip and opened her eyes wide. Then she whispered, “Oh, Josh, do you really think so?”

“I know so.” He sat down and put an arm around her. “After all, he's forgiven me for worse.”

The two sat there together for a long time, and finally Sarah began to feel that Josh had spoken the truth. Still, there was sadness in her heart. “To think that Goel could have warned me so plainly, and I just ignored the warning.”

“Well, that's the way it is with us human beings,” Josh said. “We make mistakes. We must trust Goel to get us through despite them.”

What must have been less than two hours later, the door opened, and Duke Lenomar came in. “I've come to tell you you have forty-eight hours to make your peace with whatever god you serve, for in exactly two days, at this hour, you will be put to death. It will not be an unpleasant death—at least not a long death.”

“What's going to happen to us?” Wash whispered.

“Oh, our method of execution is fairly merciful, I think.” Lenomar's thin lips smiled. “We have some hungry sharks that we keep in a tank. Traitors and rebels and heretics are thrown to them as an offering to our god. You will make a fine offering. The Seven Sleepers, an offering to the Dark Lord!” He laughed, then turned and slammed the door.

The seven looked at each other. The door's hollow, clanging sound reminded Sarah of a funeral bell.

T
he voice seemed to come from very far away. At first it was so faint that Sarah barely hear it. It came out of the quietness, somehow, disturbing her sleep. Finally she recognized that someone was calling her name.

Sarah. Sarah!

Sarah squirmed in the chair where she had fallen asleep. She tried to close her consciousness, for sleep was a refuge. When she was awake, all she had been able to think about was the shark tank where Duke Lenomar had promised they would be thrown. In sleep, she was at least unaware of that.

Sarah. You must wake, Sarah.

The voice was louder this time, more insistent, and with a start Sarah pulled herself out of deep sleep. She was still groggy, but she had more of her mind about her now. She saw that everyone else had fallen into at least a fitful sleep. She wished she could join them. But as she closed her eyes, the voice came once more, and this time she could not ignore it.

Are you awake, my Sarah? Do you recognize me?

“Goel,” Sarah whispered inaudibly. “Is that you, Goel?”

Yes, it is I. Listen carefully, Sarah, for I have a difficult task indeed for anyone to perform.

Sarah's heart sank, for she knew some of the hard things that Goel demanded. But she had also learned what it meant to disobey, and that came to her mind now. She whispered, “Oh, Goel, I lied about your message. I was
wrong about Valar. It was my stubbornness and my pride. I'm so sorry.”

I know that, my Sarah, and I forgive you. I believe you have learned through this to trust me. Have you not?

“Oh yes, Goel,” Sarah said thankfully. A burden seemed lifted from her now that she had been forgiven.

That is good,
the voice said. It was a warm voice, full of hope and cheer, strong and steadfast, and as long as she heard it there was no fear at all in her.

Listen carefully now,
Goel went on to say,
for upon your obedience depends the fate of many things, the lives of your friends for one.

Sarah whispered, “Oh, tell me, Goel. I'll do anything.”

For the next few minutes she sat still. Those in the room, had they been awake, would have heard no voice, but it came to Sarah as clear as any spoken word she had ever heard. She sat bolt upright, and as the voice went on, her eyes sprang open with shock.

At last Goel said,
Have you understood my commands, Sarah?

Sarah swallowed hard and said, “Yes, Goel. I will do it, no matter what happens.”

There's my fine Sarah.
Goel sounded pleased.
Remember, never take counsel of your fears. Remember the promise—I will be with you and keep you safe. Even under the deep.
I am there as well as I am under the open sky.
Go now, Sarah, and obey my command.

The voice faded away, and Sarah sat there, every bit of sleep driven from her. Slowly she arose and looked over at the other Sleepers. She wanted to speak to them, but could not, for Goel had commanded otherwise.
This is something you must do alone, Sarah.

She stepped to the door of the prison, put her hand on the bar, and pulled. She was not surprised when it
swung soundlessly open, for so Goel had said. Stepping outside, she drew the door to and noticed that the guards on each side were staring straight ahead, completely motionless, as if they were frozen in position.

Quickly she went down the corridor, passing through two more doors, and at each point the guards stood in that strange frozen attitude.

She reached the door to the holding room, which the tunnel entered, opened it, stepped inside. Without hesitation, she opened the door to the tunnel, went through, and closed it behind her.

The light green fluorescence glowed around her, but Sarah did not wait to think or to look. She hurried forward and did not stop until she had reached the mouth of the lower part of the volcano.

She grasped the edge of the ladder and looked up. It seemed a million miles to the top, and she was already exhausted. Still, she remembered the words of Goel and began to climb. By the time she reached the top and threw herself on the ground, she was completely winded and had to sit there for several minutes until she caught her breath.

Then Sarah climbed to her feet and walked steadily to the campsite. Once there, she removed her diving suit from the case, put it on, and walked out into the water. The sea beasts were gone, and she remember Val's words, “They're trained to eventually go back to the base in Atlantis.”

She stood waiting, for Goel had promised that she would be taken from this place. Soon a fin cut through the water, and there before her was a large killer whale. He was so huge that she could not comprehend his size, but somehow she felt no fear as he stopped beside her. There was a saddle on his back, and she immediately mounted
the huge beast, grabbed the leather strap in front, and bent forward.

Without a word of command, the beast plunged ahead. He was much faster than any shark, and he knifed through the water, leaving his fin high so that Sarah was not underwater for most of the time. As she sped along, she thought,
This might be fun if it weren't so deadly serious.
The sea beast plunged on through the green waters, and she began to whisper, “Oh, help me to help my friends.”