Flora counted backwards from twenty, worried that his eyes would suddenly spring open and catch her hanging over him. Then she made her move. She stepped forward, grabbed the Portkey from the pillow and slipped it into her robe. It was surprisingly easy. She slowly and deliberately walked to the door, careful not to make any noise as she crept across the floor. As she placed her hand on the doorknob, she heard Romulus murmuring. She turned to see that he was still asleep, his face lodged deep inside his pillow. She opened the door and then slipped outside. As she closed the door behind her, she heard Romulus speak once more. “Don’t leave me,” he repeated. “Don’t leave me...Mai-lin.”
************
“It’ll take me about a week to stockpile all the supplies we’ll need.”
“Thanks Aster,” Flora said. “You know, you guys don’t have to come with us. Mendel and I will be just fine.”
“No,” replied Kava. “We’re in this together.”
“Of course,” agreed Bunsen. “And actually, making a trip out to the Port sounds way more interesting than the stuff Devindry has us doing now.”
“The question is, do we think a week from now is early enough?” asked Mendel.
The five conspirators were gathered in Flora’s room. Two days had passed since Flora had returned triumphantly with the Portkey. Early the next morning she had gone out and hidden the Portkey, not telling anyone else where it was, not even Mendel. The secrecy was for their own protection, for the next morning, the searches had begun.
“Yeah,” said Bunsen. “It’s clear that Romulus doesn’t think he just misplaced the Portkey. The guards have been looking everywhere.”
“Well, he hasn’t actually announced that someone stole the Portkey,” Kava said.
“That would cause too much embarrassment,” Mendel said. “He needs to keep this information quiet. Flora, how secure is your hiding place?”
Flora scrunched up her face in thought. “We better be ready to leave in two days.”
Aster sighed. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“I better get back to the lab,” Bunsen said. He got up and walked to the door. Just as he put his hand on the doorknob, the door swung open, knocking him violently onto the floor. He was still struggling to get up when three guards burst into the room. They had clubs drawn.
“Where is it?” the eldest of the guards demanded.
“What are you talking about?” asked Flora.
“Which one of you is Flora?” asked the guard.
Aster raised her hand. Flora started to object, but Mendel restrained her with a hand on her shoulder. “I am,” said Aster. “Why are you looking for me?”
“We know you have the Portkey,” the guard said. “If you return it to me now, there won’t be any trouble.”
“The Portkey?” Aster said, sounding a little too shocked. “Why would I have that?”
“Enough with the charades,” the guard said. “Your friend talked. We know you stole it. Just hand it over.”
Aster exchanged glances with Flora. Mendel looked at Bunsen, then Kava. They all had the same thought. Crick.
“My friend?” Aster said, thinking quickly. “Oh, you must mean that boy Crick. He’s had a crush on me for ages, but I turned him down.” Aster didn’t have to try very hard to look outraged. “He must be trying to get back at me by accusing me of crazy things. How could I, I mean, why would I do something like that?” She batted her eyes at the guard. Flora had no idea that Aster had a girly side to her, but she managed to play the part convincingly.
But then her mouth dropped. Flora watched in stunned silence as Grandmaster Romulus walked into the room with Garland right beside him. “That’s enough Aster,” Garland said. “Why don’t you guys just return the Portkey? Romulus has promised not to punish you if you return what you stole and pledge your support.”
“You bastard!” Aster cried. “You arrogant prick!” The flirtatious look on her face transformed instantly into anger. Mendel was too slow to stop Aster before she launched herself at Garland. The lead guard, however, was plenty fast and grabbed her around the waist as she clawed at the empty air inches from Garland’s face. The other guards moved quickly towards the others, clubs drawn.
“On the floor, all of you,” Romulus demanded. As the guards tied them up, Flora looked up at Garland. “Why?” she cried, the betrayal striking deep into her heart. Tears rolled down cheeks so red that they evaporated before they reached her chin. She was angry, but more at herself than at Garland. How could she have liked him? How could she have trusted him? She hadn’t just let herself down. She had also let down her father, her mother, Sagerius and Jane.
“Look Flora,” Garland said, uncomfortably, unable to look at any of them directly. “I know you guys are mad, but believe me, this is for the best.” Even the guards noticed that Garland, unable to look them in the eye, was mostly addressing the wall. “Were you really going to run off on some crazy quest based off of some dreams? You guys could have gotten hurt. Romulus is right. It’s time that the Institute stopped focusing on the past and started focusing on our future. And it’s time for all of us to start living in the present and take care of our own world.”
“You selfish bastard,” Kava muttered, somehow remaining rather calm as her sister remained locked in an internal struggle to keep from ripping Garland’s head off.
“I’m doing this for all of us, Kava,” Garland insisted. “Someday you’ll understand that. Now Flora, where did you hide the Portkey?”
“Like I’m going to talk to you?” Flora said venomously as she turned her head away.
“Lock them up,” commanded Romulus. “Some time in a cell should soften them up.”
“But you promised not to throw them in jail,” protested Garland. Romulus glared at him. “Grandmaster sir,” Garland added, bowing his head.
The dark cloud left Romulus’ face. “You’re right of course,” he said with a gracious smile. “I am a man of my word.” He turned to the guards. “Lock them inside the records vault. It’s more secure and discreet than the jail cells anyways. No food or water for forty-eight hours. Then we’ll see who feels like talking.”
************
The vault smelled like despair. Or maybe it was coming from Bunsen who sat despondently in the corner. “Who’s going to water Bonsai?” he muttered to himself. “Who’ll keep him company?”
Kava and Aster hugged each other in the opposite corner near the shelf of ancient books. Flora sat by herself, shivering in the freezing vault. She felt terrible. She had led them down this path. They were her friends, and she had betrayed their trust by getting them locked up and starved. Why had she done such a crazy thing?
Only Mendel looked spirited. He flipped excitedly through the ancient texts. How could he be studying at a time like this?
“Look at this one,” Mendel said. “Beyond Carbon: Understanding the World Before we Destroy it. By Jane Ingram!”
“Yeah, I know,” Flora muttered dejectedly.
“This is amazing,” Mendel said.
“How so?” she asked.
“Well, now we have solid proof that your dreams are real,” he explained.
“What does that matter?” she asked. “We’re locked in a vault deep underground behind a ridiculously large metal door where we’ll probably spend the rest of our lives.”
“Yes, but there’s more knowledge locked up in here with us than exists outside in the rest of the world,” Mendel replied.
“That’s right,” Bunsen said. His eyes brightened as he somehow forced a smile on his face. “At least we won’t get bored.” He picked himself off the floor and started examining the rack of random ancient artifacts. “We haven’t even explored all this stuff yet.” He picked up some of the mug-shaped clay blobs that Flora had seen the last time she was here and started throwing them up in the air. “Bet you didn’t know I could juggle,” he said.
“Careful,” she cried out, grabbing the clay blobs and putting them back on the
rack. “That’s dangerous.” Bunsen looked at her oddly, and for good reason. Flora was usually the one who was always touching things. Before Flora could process why she had reacted so strangely, Bunsen had picked up another object. He was holding a gray block about the size of his head by the handles that protruded from either side of the block. He peered into the hole with the red ring around it.
“I wonder what this thing does,” he said as he started pressing buttons randomly.
Realization hit Flora a second after she impulsively pushed Bunsen’s head out of the way of the laser’s opening.
“What the hell?” cried out Bunsen. “What did you do that for?”
“I just remembered what that is you’re holding,” Flora said.
“What is it?” Mendel asked.
“It’s our way out of here.”
************
“Ready? Now.”
Flora pressed the switch as the others averted their eyes, expecting a blinding flash of light. Bunsen and Mendel each held one handle and pressed the laser up against the crack in the door at the height of the locking bar. Kava and Aster stood back from the laser while Flora pressed the button. “Is that it?” Aster asked. Mendel, Bunsen, and Kava opened their eyes to see a tiny wisp of smoke rise out from the door crack.
“Don’t worry,” Flora assured them. “It’s working.”
“Oh wow,” Kava said. There was now a thumb sized hole expanding out from the door crack.
“Okay, now move the laser down slowly,” Flora directed. A few minutes later, they heard a thud. The bar had broken. “Now for the other side.” They repositioned the laser and soon cut through the bar on the other side of the door, allowing the door to swing inward easily.
“Awesome,” Bunsen said. He grabbed the laser. “Can I keep it?”
“Not likely,” said Mendel. “Our focus should now be on running, and its weight makes it more of a detriment than a contributor to our mission.” Bunsen dropped the laser, miming sadness.
“But these will be useful,” Flora said, grabbing a few plastic explosives and a detonator. They were a little ungainly, but they fit in the pockets of her robe. “Let’s go.”
“Where to?” asked Bunsen.
“There’s only one place to go,” she replied. “The Port. Let’s head towards the stables.”
Luckily, the corridor that led to the records vault was rarely used. They walked carefully through the empty hallways at first. They didn’t run into anyone, so they started to run, eager to make their escape before someone eventually came to check on them. They were jogging around a corner when they ran directly into a security checkpoint. Everyone froze and stared in stunned silence for a second before one of the guards shouted. “Those are the prisoners. Stop them.”
Four guards started towards them. Bunsen ran directly at them, screaming loudly while waving his arms like a human windmill. “We’ll distract them,” Mendel said, giving Flora a push. “Keep running.”
“But,” Flora said. “We’re in this together. I can’t do this alone.”
“Just go.” Mendel said as he tackled a guard that was advancing towards her. Flora ran. She glanced back just in time to see the guard batting at Mendel with his club as Mendel raised his arms helplessly. Blood flowed from his temple. The other guards were busy trying to pull Kava, Aster, and Bunsen off of them. It wasn’t much of a fight, more like children refusing to let their parents leave the house. Except these parents had weapons, and they were starting to use them. She was staring behind her in horror when she ran her shoulder into another guard.
The guard was easily twice her size and barely flinched from the collision. Crap. She wouldn’t make it. The guard raised his club. The coming blow would end her dreams, her promises, and possibly her life. Like a coward, she closed her eyes and braced for the inevitable. But it never came. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see Crick standing over the fallen guard, club in hand. He looked almost as surprised as she did,
“What are you doing?” she asked.
Crick was still staring down at the guard, as if just realizing what he had done. “Just go.” He said without looking up. “Get out of here.” He walked towards the rest of their embattled cohort.
Flora didn’t hesitate. She sprinted past Crick towards the exit. Hopefully he could protect their friends. She didn’t look back this time but kept running towards the stables.
Along the way she ran past some scholars. Perhaps some of them recognized her. She couldn’t tell. She didn’t have time to think about it. Were there guards chasing her? How long would it take Romulus to find out that she had escaped? What would he do to pursue her? She headed down the final tunnel that went to the outdoor stables. She could see the spot of light up ahead that promised freedom. When she reached the end of the tunnel, she finally stopped and took some time to catch her breath.
She looked back down the narrow tunnel back to the Institute. Certainly the guards had alerted Romulus of their escape by now. There could be a dozen or more guards on the other end of the tunnel coming to capture her. It didn’t look like Mendel and the others would be able to join her. They had sacrificed themselves for her, and now she had no other choice.
Flora walked a few feet back into the tunnel. She pulled the blocks of plastic explosives from her robe and started wedging them between rocks along the walls. Then she wired leads into each block of explosives and routed them to the detonator. Flora found that if she didn’t think about it, her hands just seemed to know what they were doing. With the timer set to sixty seconds, she flipped the ignition switch and then walked quickly away from the entrance.
Boom! From fifty feet away, Flora watched as a cascade of rocks fell from the arch of the tunnel into the passageway, effectively sealing off the exit. That should buy her some time. “What’s that?” someone cried.
Flora turned to see Chase running out of the stables, a look of surprise on his youthful face.
She froze in place. Crap. Her grand escape was going to be foiled by a little kid. He kind of reminded her of Ashton when...That’s right, she knew how to deal with children, and the answer wasn’t panic.
Flora gathered up her courage and ran toward him. “There’s been a rockslide,” she said, trying to sound authoritative. “I need you to grab me a horse so that I can bring a message to the Mayor”.
“But,” Chase said suspiciously. “Why are they sending you? You’re no messenger.”
Flora lifted her chin slightly and gave him a withering glare. “This is an emergency,” she insisted, trying to sound more like Jane. “Romulus sent me. Now hurry.”
She must have finally struck the right cord, for Chase immediately stopped protesting and went back into the stables. Meanwhile, Flora quickly ran to the corner of the fence that surrounded the practice yard for horse training. She grabbed a stick, knelt down next to the post and started digging at the dirt around the post. Buried just three inches below the surface was the Portkey. She sighed with relief. She slipped it into the inner pocket of her robe just as Chase walked out of the stable, leading Chestnut by the reigns.
“What’s that you got there?” Chase asked curiously.
She ignored his question. “Is she fed?” she asked harshly as she grabbed the reigns from him.
“Just this morning,” Chase replied. He glanced up at the sun. “You should have six hours of light left, barely enough to make it into town. Chestnut isn’t the fastest horse, but she’ll get you there.”
At that moment, a brilliant white horse walked gingerly out of the stable. “Blizzard!” Flora said in awe. Flora remembered her first time seeing the gorgeous creature, seemingly an eternity ago. She had made a promise to herself then that she would ride him. The horse walked up to Flora and nuzzled her hand. Flora almost fainted.
“How did you get out of your stable?” Chase asked as he moved to grab Blizzard’s reigns. “Back in you go. Come on.”
“Wait,” Flora said impulsively. “I’m going to take
Blizzard.”
“Are you crazy?” Chase asked. “I don’t think you can handle Blizzard. Just take Chestnut.”
“No, I can handle him,” Flora said, feigning confidence. A promise was a promise. “I’ll need his speed to get to the Mayor as soon as I can.”
Chase looked unconvinced, but Blizzard shrugged off Chase’s attempt to pull him back towards the stable and walked around him to Flora’s side. Before Chase could object any more, she vaulted onto Blizzard’s back and trotted out of Chase’s reach. “That wasn’t so hard,” she thought proudly to herself. As Romulus had said, she was a natural. As Blizzard trotted out to the field, Flora leaned forward to rub Blizzard’s neck. “Good horse,” she said. She was in heaven.
Suddenly Blizzard took off across the field. Flora tried to reign him in, but all she could do was hold on for dear life. Blizzard was the one in control, not her. He stopped suddenly and reared up, letting his front legs paw at the empty air. Then he was back down again and running in a completely different direction. Flora could imagine the smirk on Chase’s scrunched up little face. Bastard. After a few more quick dashes, Blizzard slowed down. He didn’t try to throw Flora, in fact, he seemed quite happy to have her on his back. Maybe he had just been stretching his legs.
As Blizzard trotted over to the trail that led towards Terrene and started down the mountain, Flora’s arm instinctively reached to her waist to feel for the globe that she no longer kept there. It was back at the Institute along with all her friends and all her hopes and dreams. She paused and considered turning back for just a second. If she brought him the Portkey, Romulus would welcome her back and might forgive her for her rash actions. But no, she had to do this for all the ghosts in her head: Jane, her father, and Sagerius. She spurred Blizzard onward, leaving Mendel and the others behind, perhaps forever. Blizzard was now her only companion, and her only guide.
Chapter 15: The Loss
“Oh crap!” Tony threw up his hands in frustration. The dissected guts of a satellite radio amplifier lay spread out on the table in front of him.
“What’s wrong, dear?” Mai-lin asked.
“The circuit’s blown,” he replied. “I need my soldering tools to fix it, but I left them at the clock tower.” He sighed. “I remember telling myself that I needed to bring them back with me to HQ, but somehow I still forgot.”