The Lost City of Faar (11 page)

“Big day tomorrow, mate,” he said with excitement. “My father is coming by. Can't let 'im think I live like a dirty old crocker fish!”

This was the first I heard about Spader's family.

“Where does he live?” I asked.

“He's an aquaneer on Magorran,” he said while continuing to clean up. “It's a manu habitat. Schedule has it swinging by tomorrow for supplies.”

“Manu habitat?”

“They build things. Pieces for machinery and skinners and whatnot.”

“Is that your home?”

“Home? No, mate. Home is Panger City. Lived there my whole life until I went to the Aquaneer Academy. My mum's still there. Haven't seen either of 'em for . . . hobey, can't remember. It's been a while.”

I was beginning to get the bigger picture about what life was like on Cloral. These habitats were like cities and people
left home to work, just like back on Second Earth.

“Dad's a real spiffer,” Spader continued. “Gave me the aquaneer bug. Had me around skimmers my whole life. They wanted to make him an officer but he turned 'em down—didn't want to leave the docks. His tour's up soon so he can get back to Mum. Hobey, I can't wait to see his face again. Give me a hand here mate, would you?”

I helped him lift a couple of large water sleds he had been working on and put them into a closet.

“You never told me about your parents,” said Spader.

Uh-oh. Up until now I'd been able to dodge questions about home. I'm not a good liar. Uncle Press and I made up a story about how we came from a distant habitat that was a university. We said it was full of intellectuals and professors, which explained why I needed to learn so much about working in the water and how the “real world” worked. Whenever Spader couldn't believe how little I knew about Cloral, I'd shrug and say: “I didn't get out much.”

I hated lying to Spader, but I knew the truth would come out soon enough and hoped that when it did, he'd understand. But now he was putting me on the spot again by asking about my parents. I was going to have to come up with some version of the truth, because the whole truth would have blown Spader's head off.

“Dad's a writer,” I said. “Mom works in a library.”

That was the absolute truth, and it made my heart sink. This was the first time I had spoken about my parents in a long time. What made it worse was I had to pretend as if nothing was wrong. I couldn't tell Spader that they had disappeared, along with my sister and my dog. I think Spader must have sensed my anguish, because he didn't ask any more questions. That was good for all sorts of reasons.

“It's tough being away from loved ones,” he said softly.

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

“Tell you what, come with me to meet Dad tomorrow! You'll get a knock out of him, you will!”

“Sounds good,” I said, but with a touch of sadness. I missed my family.

Uncle Press said that Spader was the Traveler from Cloral. I wondered if his parents had raised him to be a Traveler the same way Uncle Press said my family did for me. If so, did that mean they would disappear the same way my family had? Spader obviously cared about his parents. As we worked to make his house a little neater, I hoped that when the habitat of Magorran arrived the next day, his father would be on it.

The next day Uncle Press and I made the long walk forward to the transport docks to be there when Spader's father arrived. I could tell that Uncle Press was disturbed about something. As I told him of my previous day's adventures under the waters near Grallion, he stared straight down at his feet and didn't say a word. His mind was definitely somewhere else.

“What's up?” I asked.

“I don't know,” came his thoughtful answer. “I'm feeling . . . uneasy, and I can't put my finger on it.”

“What? Now you're psychic?”

“It's just a feeling. Don't you sense it?”

I thought. I felt. I looked around. Nothing.

“Uhh . . . no. Should I?”

“Maybe,” he answered. “It's a Traveler thing.”

“You mean we can predict the future, too?”

“No, but you'll start to realize you can pick up on things. It's like walking into a room and knowing right away that there's an argument going on, even though you haven't heard
a word spoken. It's just picking up on the signals that people send out. No big deal.”

“And you're picking up bad signals right now?” I asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

“I'm not sure. I just have this sense of . . . dread.”

“I don't like dread,” I shot back. “Dread is bad. Could this have anything to do with Spader's parents?”

“We'll find out soon enough,” he said while pointing forward.

I looked to where he was pointing and saw it.

Magorran.

The manu habitat had appeared on the horizon and was steaming toward Grallion. Though it was still far away, I could tell that it was a different type of habitat than Grallion. It didn't seem as big. It might have been a third of the size. But the buildings on deck were taller. I guessed that these were some of the factories that Spader told me about. The closer it got, the larger these buildings loomed. It was pretty impressive. Uncle Press and I picked up the pace and hurried to the forward dock area to be there when the first advance boats arrived.

When we got there, we saw that several aquaneers stood on their skimmers, ready to shoot out to meet the advance boats. Uncle Press saw something down on the dock and pointed it out to me. I looked, and couldn't help but smile.

It was Spader. It wasn't weird for him to be down there or anything. It was the way he was dressed. Spader wasn't much for wearing his aquaneer uniform: the black long-sleeved outfit with the yellow stripes on the cuff. He normally wore his sleeveless shirt that was cut off at the shoulders. But today was different. Today Spader was here to greet his father and he was decked out in his best uniform. It was clean, too. I even think
he took the time to comb his hair. To use one of his sayings, he looked pretty spiff.

As we stood above the docks, waiting for the first boat from Magorran to arrive, I began to have the same sense of dread that Uncle Press was feeling. I wasn't being overly insightful or anything, it was because I sensed a stirring among the aquaneers who were gathered below on the floating dock. Up until now they had been casually chatting and laughing. Suddenly their body language grew more tense. All eyes were focused out on the water and at Magorran.

I then looked up at Magorran. The habitat was drawing nearer. Most of the habitats that came to Grallion for supplies stayed far away. Grallion was anchored and stayed in place while the other habitats hovered about a half mile away. It was a safety thing. The habitats were so big that they didn't exactly turn on a dime and you never knew when the current would change. So all things considered, it was smart to keep the habitats far apart and send smaller boats between them.

But now something was wrong. There was confusion. It looked as if the aquaneers weren't sure of what to do. I didn't know what was going on, but whatever it was, it was bad. The answer came quickly. Wu Yenza, the chief aquaneer, ran out onto the upper platform near us. Her eyes were wild with excitement—and fear.

“Perimeter breach!” she barked out. “Warn them off!”

The aquaneers scattered. A moment later a piercing horn sounded long and loud.

“What's going on?” I asked Uncle Press.

Uncle Press didn't look at me. His eyes were focused on Magorran. When he spoke his voice was soft and calm. It was the voice of someone describing the inevitable.

“It's not stopping,” was all he said.

I looked out onto the water and saw what he meant. Magorran, this giant habitat, was headed right for us. It had already passed the half-mile safety border and was showing no signs of slowing down. Even if it threw its engines into reverse, it was already too late. There was going to be a crash.

A second alarm sounded that was even louder and more piercing than the first. Where the first alarm sounded like a warning to Magorran, this new alarm sounded more like a warning to Grallion. Impact was inevitable. The only thing that could be done was to prepare for it.

The habitat of Magorran was looming closer. I could now look onto the deck and was surprised to see that there were no people. Wherever they were, I hoped they were doing whatever they could to slow themselves down.

The aquaneers below us began to stream up the stairs to get on deck. That is, all but Spader. Spader just stood there, staring at the oncoming habitat. It looked as if he were mesmerized by the behemoth that would soon crash into Grallion.

“Cast off lines!” shouted Yenza. “Everyone on deck! Move!”

Spader didn't move. Somebody had to kick him into gear. I started for the stairs to go down to him, but Uncle Press put a firm hand on my shoulder. I looked up to my uncle and saw that he was calm. He shook his head no, telling me not to go. But something had to be done.

“Spader!” Uncle Press called out to him.

Thankfully, Spader heard him. He turned around and looked up to us. On his face was a look of confusion. Not fear, just concern.

“Time to go, son,” Uncle Press called to him. His voice was firm but unpanicked. It cut through the frenzied energy around us louder than any siren. Spader gave one quick glance
back at Magorran to see that it was nearly on us, and then he broke for the stairs. He was the last one up.

“Let's get out of here,” commanded Uncle Press. “We'll be safest on deck.”

Spader joined the other aquaneers while Uncle Press and I ran for our lives. We climbed up the stairs as quickly as possible until we got on deck. I didn't dare look back. I didn't want to see what was about to happen. All around us was panic. Several different alarms were sounding. Aquaneers were everywhere, desperately trying to cast off the heavy lines that kept Grallion in place. Those who didn't have specific jobs in an emergency were doing the same thing we were—running back to get as far away from the impact zone as possible.

It was going to be ugly. I briefly wondered if both these giant habitats could withstand a collision without sinking. The thought of these huge vessels both going to the bottom was too horrible to even imagine, especially since I was on one of them. I tried to get that out of my mind. One thing at a time, and right now, the best thing we could do was keep running away from the impact zone.

On the deck in front of us I saw a frightening sight. The shadows cast by the buildings on Magorran were chasing us across the deck. It was right behind us. Impact was imminent. I finally couldn't stand it anymore and had to turn and look. What I saw made me gasp. The sheer size of Magorran was mind-boggling. The buildings on its bow must have been seven or eight stories tall, and they were headed right for us. Seeing something so big took my breath away. Knowing that it was going to hit us made me think I'd never take another breath again.

“Keep moving!” ordered Uncle Press.

I turned to continue running with him, and that's when it happened.

Magorran collided with Grallion, full steam ahead into a world that would never be the same.

END OF JOURNAL #5

SECOND EARTH

“How can he end a journal here?”
shouted Courtney in dismay. “That's not fair. He can't leave us hanging like that!”

Courtney looked to Mark, expecting him to be just as outraged as she was. But Mark had other things on his mind. He had finished reading the journal several minutes before Courtney and was now busily leafing back through the pages of Bobby's Journal #5 and rummaging in his backpack. The frown on his face said that something was bothering him.

“He's messing with us,” added Courtney. “He knows we pore over every word of his journals and he gave us a cliffhanger. That's just . . . wrong. This isn't a game. Why did he . . . What are you doing?”