CHAPTER TWENTY
The Lost Children
After a lengthy pause, Obi hesitated and lowered his sword, his eyes thoughtful.
‘What is your worry, brother?’ questioned Bromie.
‘Perhaps we’d better wait for assistance. We don’t want to stir a hornet’s nest.’
Connor’s lip curled. ‘Huh? You think it’s a hornet’s nest?’
‘No!’ smiled Obi. ‘ But something else, something evil. I don’t want to release a demon alien species and have to fight them. We can’t be one hundred per cent sure it is the missing children behind these walls.’
‘Lets deal with one cell at a time. Together we can deal with anything,’ smirked Bromie.
‘Okay. It’s agreed. Let’s prepare ourselves.’
Bromie moved to the right of Obi, keeping his distance. With his sword, he widened his stance. When they were contemplating the next plan of action they were similar, but when it came to fighting they were like chalk and cheese. Bromie generally fought in silence with an occasional grunt due to effort, whereas Obi’s voice fought alongside his sword, ridiculing those he killed.
With his decision made, Obi strode forward and pressed his ear to the wall. ‘Stand back from the wall!’ he shouted.
The haunting shrieks subsided at once. Obi lifted his three-foot sword in the air as he’d done so many times before and brought it down onto the hard surface of stone. The blade sparkled as a large crack appeared in the wall. The crack continued to the ground where the wall in front of them crumbled and collapsed into a heap of rubble. The deafening noise of bricks tumbling, caused the startled cries to turn to panic.
Connor protectively positioned himself at the rear. As the red dust settled the cries diminished and the corridor became deadly silent. It was unclear what was worse: cries of despair or an unsettling silence.
Bravely, Obi prepared for action. He peered inquisitively at the hole he’d made. He blinked his eyes free from dust and saw movement on the other side of the wall. Slowly emerging into view were five children: three boys and two girls, dirty and wearing nothing but stinky, torn rags. Their eyes were filled with distrust and bewilderment. They emerged wild with matted hair and their skin torn in places, covered in rags.
‘The lost children!’ gasped Bromie.
Obi immediately altered his warrior pose to one less threatening. He knelt so as not to appear too intimidating and replaced his previous expression with one full of empathy. Connor left his hiding place.
The larger boy placed the smaller children protectively behind him and spoke in a language they didn’t understand. He tried again but Obi shook his head.
‘It’s no good. We don’t understand.’ Obi turned to Connor. ‘I can speak several different languages but English from this planet. Can you speak any other language?’
Connor shook his head.
‘Someone must speak English,’ muttered Bromie.
‘I do,’ uttered a small voice from the back of the cell. ‘I can speak English.’
Obi’s eyes blurred with tears, to see scared children torn away from their families to a place offering nothing but fear.
Obi greeted them warmly. ‘What’s your name?’
A small girl stepped forward towards him. ‘I’m Debbie. Have you come to help us?’
Obi widened his eyes. ‘Yes, we’ve come to take you home.’
The little girl looked distraught. ‘My mummy will be angry I chased Scampi, my puppy. He ran away and then the birds brought me here.’
‘The birds?’ quizzed Bromie.
Obi continued kneeling and talking to the youngster.‘ It’s okay! Your mummy won’t be angry. She’ll be happy, trust me.’
The giant’s voice had a calming effect and the children scrambled across the rubble for the first time since they’d arrived. For a giant to speak so gently, Connor suspected he could tame the wildest of animals.
The children clutched each other desperately, having formed a close relationship with one another. They were able to communicate largely by a method of sign language they had developed.
‘How long have you been here, Debbie?’ asked Obi.
‘I don’t know.’
‘Can you remember a date when you were last at school?’
She bit her lip. ‘I wanted to watch the fireworks but the birds took me away.’
So roughly three weeks, he calculated. Debbie’s face was tearstained and muddy. ‘Well, you’ll be okay now. Don’t worry. You’re going home today and no harm will come to you. Do you understand?’
‘Yes.’ Debbie’s dark brown eyes were trusting and when tears came to them, Obi scooped her in his arms where she sobbed, her little body shaking with relief. The other children came closer to Bromie and Obi wanting a cuddle too. Some other’s were sobbing too.
Bromie turned to his brother. ‘We must let them go straight to the AAA. They’ll require medical help and besides the AAA will be able to track their families faster than the police can.’
‘You’re right.’ Obi gently released one of his arms from the children and took his corbee communication device from his waistcoat jacket. ‘Don’t be scared.’ He pressed a button and a second later a hologram image of a man’s face appeared glowing blue. The children screamed.
‘A ghost!’ cried Debbie, shaking. She tried to run but Obi held her securely.
‘No, don’t be frightened. He’s on our side. He’s going to help us, to help you.’
‘Agent Obi,’ came the voice. ‘How’s the mission proceeding?’
‘We’ve located the lost children,’ Obi explained. ‘The corridor we’re in is filled with them. Open a portal to the AAA hospital wing. These children require help.’
‘Give me your co-ordinates.’
Again Obi reeled off various letters and numbers.
‘Good work team,’ Arbtu congratulated. ‘When your work is done make sure you get home safely. Any sign of Sparkie or Tookar?’
‘Not yet, sir,’ said Obi. ‘But we’re getting closer to them. I can sense it.’
‘I wish you luck.’ With that, Arbtu vanished.
Obi replaced his corbee in his pocket. A slight breeze filled the corridor. The children stiffened and tightened their grip on the adults. A small pinprick of light magically appeared in front of them. Slowly it grew to the size of a huge hula-hoop. It shone and shimmered a liquid-grey, mercury colour.
‘Wow!’ gasped Connor. ‘It’s amazing.’
‘Go through now!’ Obi urged. ‘People are waiting for you on the other side. They will give you clothes and food.’
Debbie made a face as she glanced past the portal to the other side of the corridor. ‘But there’s nothing on the other side,’ she whispered disappointedly.
‘This is a magic doorway,’ Obi explained. ‘It’ll take you to a special place where you’ll be safe and reunite with your families.’
Debbie bit her lip.
‘If you go first, you can help the others understand,’ Bromie suggested.
Debbie faced her friends and beckoned them to follow her. One by one the children held each other’s hands to form a link. She pointed to the portal and pointed to her stomach, pretending to eat. Their hunger drove them forward and was enough for any of them to take a blind leap of faith through a magic doorway. At the portal Debbie paused, the shimmering light reflected on her cheeks.
‘Thanks,’ she said, before vanishing.
As the children walked through the portal, they disappeared one by one. As the last child departed, Obi smashed the walls connected to the small dirty cells.
The corridor teemed with dust and rubble. The small hazy figures of children emerged from their confined cells, frightened and confused. Several of them were coughing as they struggled through the dust. For a second, they reminded Connor of chimneysweepers with their dirty faces and filthy, ragged clothes. More children appeared by the second.
They didn’t know what was happening. Gradually, when they realised they were being rescue
d, their voices increased. The corridor filled with many different languages gabbling at once.
At the end of the corridor a collection of strange men appeared, wearing black leather trousers and waistcoats. Obi greeted them. It occurred to Connor, after noticing the bizarre appearance of these men, they weren’t human – for one resembled a rhinoceros. After a brief conversation, the strangers charged along another corridor.
‘This operation is larger than we first anticipated. It seems several more corridors are housing imprisoned children. We have five other groups operating on different levels to empty the other cells,’ Obi explained to them. ‘If Tookar and Sparkie aren’t on this level, others will find them.’
Wasting no time, Obi inquired if anyone could speak English; several other children stepped forward. These children communicate to the others of the safe place waiting for them on the other side of the portal. In a massive line the children shuffled towards the shimmering portal. The younger children were hesitant. Fifteen minutes later, having watched hundreds of children pass through the portal, Obi sighed.
Unfortunately, his satisfaction was short-lived. A band of elderly people and younger adults were discovered huddling in their cells, refusing to leave. These people were the ones responsible for crying so insanely beforehand. Their eyes appeared blank – soulless and destroyed inside. Now and then they’d tilt their heads back, open their mouths and cry desperately. Moving in a zombie-like fashion, they had to be physically pushed through the portal. Otherwise they’d have remained where they were, staring into space and banging on the nearest wall.
Connor was nervous of the older people and watched Obi and Bromie assist them through the portal. The older people didn’t have a clue where they were going. Connor’s throat tightened. How long had those poor people been huddled and forgotten in this desolate world, becoming shadows of their former selves? With hunched backs and fragile movements, they shuffled through the portal like a herd of timid sheep. These were the last people to be sent through. Once completed, Obi communicated with Arbtu again.
‘Mission accomplished,’ he smiled.
‘You’ve done an excellent job,’ Arbtu praised them. ‘Terrible business, absolutely terrible – poor souls. We’ll provide them with rehabilitation. Thank goodness you found them in time. Ah – good to see you, young Connor!’ Arbtu smiled. Connor tingled with pleasure. ‘May the light guide you home safely.’
The communication ceased and the portal disappeared.
Bromie spoke first. ‘Come on. We’d better continue on the lower level. We’ve exhausted all avenues.’
Obi nodded in agreement. As they were leaving the corridor, a small grey figure staggered round the corner. A deep growl rumbled from Obi’s throat, who pointed his sword towards the creature and charged towards it. Panicking, Connor grasped the giant’s arm.
‘No, don’t!’ he urged. ‘It’s the rock dweller who helped me escape.’ Connor ran towards the youngster.
‘Careful. It might be a trap,’ called Bromie.
But Connor threw caution to the wind, seeing how De-ma gripped the wall. His battered and bruised face, showed signs of weariness and his breathing was laboured. His body bore the signs of torture: deep whiplashes had cut deep across his back and shoulders, from where red blood poured freely. He staggered to Connor and collapsed by his feet.
‘They knew…I’d helped you,’ he rasped, ‘and they punished me. I’ve come to warn you of a trap on level five… be careful of Sheen…she’s powerful…and can control minds…don’t make eye contact with her…or she’ll control you.’
‘Where are our friends?’ asked Obi.
‘On the next level. It’s exactly…like this one. With as many prisoners…I’ve been helping them…as best as…I could….I’ve been secretly feeding the humans so they didn’t starve…Definastine has destroyed my people…he made them cruel…he made them the way they now are.’
‘Can you show us?’ asked Bromie.
‘I’m not strong enough…I struggled to come this far.’ De-ma’s voice faded. He pulled something from his pocket. ‘I stole this…it’s a map of this place. Use it to find your friends…help as many people as you can.’
Bromie used his ointment to sooth on De-ma’s back. ‘You did a brave thing helping us. Thank you, De-ma.’
‘I’m glad you’re saving the children…I only did…what was right,’ he whispered, his eyelids closing. He took a last breath before his body fell limp.
‘No!’ cried Connor. He ran his fingers across De-ma’s warm forehead.
‘Come on, Connor. We have to go.’ Bromie pulled Connor away, but he refused to budge.
He shook his head. ‘No, I want to save him,’ he insisted. ‘He saved me.’
Ignoring Bromie’s words, Connor held De-ma’s hand and closed his eyes, half expecting to sense an electric shock, similar to the one he’d experienced when he had healed Tookar, but nothing happened. Connor opened his eyes. A bright light encircled De-ma’s body accompanying his soul body as if left the physical one. De-ma’s ghostly image floated upward towards the light above. Floating weightless, he smiled and waved to Connor before vanishing peacefully into the blinding brilliance.
A single tear fell and he wiped away. Unable to explain what he’d seen, he kept it to himself. No visible light shone in the corridor and no one else had witnessed De-ma’s soul departing his body.
Tears filled all eyes for the child who lay before them. They barely knew him, but their grief wasn’t lessened. This brave child had saved so many lives. He’d risked his own to save others. Connor was overcome with guilt. If De-ma hadn’t helped him, he might still be alive. He wished he could repay him in some way.
‘He’s a brave little warrior,’ Obi gave a little sniff. ‘But he’s gone to a better place now.’
‘Better place?’ whispered Connor. ‘What do you mean?’
‘He’s returned home to the place where life is created – to the land of the spirit. To the place where we were born.’
‘You mean heaven,’ Connor corrected him.
‘People call it different names,’ replied Bromie. ‘We call it the land of the spirit. The funny thing is, we fear death but it’s our true home, from where we were born. We have nothing to fear and no one is excluded.’
Connor remembered the smile on De-ma’s face and knowing the land of the spirit existed, comforted him – a place after death. Death wasn’t the end, but a simple process people needed to pass through to travel to another dimension. Connor brushed away his tears.
De-ma had inspired him in so many ways. With utter determination, De-ma had struggled despite his pain, to offer them help. Ashamed at his own behaviour of shrinking away from helping those old people – the same people De-ma had been secretly feeding, Connor would try to make up for it.
Something stirred deep inside of Connor. The humble rock dweller had unknowingly provided Connor with an experience, which would help him grow into a more mature person. His own example now shone inside Connor.
Obi whispered a short prayer. The others closed their eyes briefly in respect. He finished with: ‘May his journey into the light be complete.’
While Connor knelt by De-ma, Obi examined his gift – a small red sphere, with a yellow button. Obi pressed it and a map magnified to mammoth proportions in a hologram image in front of them. A red pointer flashed repeatedly, to mark their position.
‘Let’s not waste what precious time we have left.’ As Obi spoke, De-ma’s body decomposed, grew older by the second. They watched in silence as his body crumbled into dust.