“I understand you are still recovering from the cold,” the man said. “For that I will forgive your apparent rudeness.” Jane stiffened at the reprimand. She was hardly a teenager and didn’t need a lesson in manners. Bombing a town wasn’t exactly proper etiquette. “My name is Mr. Chou.” He nodded towards Jane. “It is a pleasure to meet you. As to your question, perhaps more accurate to ask, why are you here.”
“We live here,” Jane said. “This is our colony, our peaceful colony. What gives you the right to attack us?”
“Better to ask, who gave you the right to settle on these lands?” he countered, still quite calm.
“We have made arrangements with the government of Bhutan,” Jane said. “We have the right to be here.”
“Ah,” Mr. Chou continued calmly. “But these lands do not belong to Bhutan. They belong to the People’s Republic of China. We are reasserting our sovereignty over these lands. They are much too valuable to leave in the hands of one such as Mr. Kandari.”
“How do you know about Bryce?” Jane said.
“The people of China know many things,” Mr. Chou said. “It is necessary that we know things to safeguard our future. Where other governments fight and squabble, debating endlessly on matters most trivial, we of China are strong and united. For the past fifty years we have had the most extensive foreign surveillance program in the world. We have a vast network of tracking devices, unrivaled by Western technology. It is easy when you produce fifty percent of the world’s consumer electronics.” Mr. Chou’s eyes glazed over as if reminiscing about a first love. “It has been a most suitable way for me to serve my people.” His eyes locked onto hers. “So yes, we know about Mr. Kandari’s little project.”
A cold draft swept the room as the door opened. Jane turned, expecting, or at least hoping, to see Tony burst into the room, ready to rescue her. Instead her mouth dropped as she watched a giant Asian man carrying a dark jacket in his arms stumble into the room. He took off his hat to reveal a completely bald head and a wrinkled face. Jane’s mouth dropped. It was Ming the giant. Now she knew there were no coincidences. He had been following her for nearly three decades.
“Any trouble, Gai-fung?” Mr. Chou asked.
“Not anymore,” the giant said, dropping the jacket heavily onto the ground. The jacket flipped open, revealing the face of Tony Martin, his body completely still. She wanted to run to him, but a heavy hand on her shoulder let her know that the conversation was not over yet. Instead she glared at Mr. Chou, the sense of civility that had crept up on her suddenly gone.
“Why are you here?” she said between clenched teeth. She glared at the giant who was now standing impassively against the wall. “Why have you been following me?”
Mr. Chou shrugged. “I must admit, it was mostly an accident at first. Your research at UCSF did not spark much interest in our leaders. But then you went to Washington. You joined the ICCF, met with important people. We became very interested. We continued to watch your meetings with Bryce Kandari. We became more interested. And that is how we learned about his most interesting projects, and of course, this place.”
“Why me?” she repeated. “Why did you put a tracker on me?”
Mr. Chou stood up and walked towards her. The hands on her shoulders tightened to remind her not to do anything stupid. Mr. Chou leaned forward, nearly touching her head with his own. “Not you, Dr. Ingram,” he said softly. He reached towards her and pulled her globe pendant out before she could object. Mr. Chou’s eyes softened. “This was one of our first trackers.” He touched it, almost lovingly. “I gave this pendant to my brother, to keep track of him. I never thought he would part with it.”
“In fact, when we realized that you had it, my bosses wanted to deactivate the tracker.” Mr. Chou stuttered with the tiniest hint of emotion. “Perhaps I was nostalgic, saddened by my brother’s death. Or maybe I just wanted to see my nephew. I never married myself. Never had children.” Jane was not going to feel sorry for this man. “Either way I insisted that we keep tracking you.” He chuckled, the polite smile back on his face. “It was a very good investment on my part. I thank you for that.”
She launched herself at Mr. Chou with all her strength. This man had followed her for decades. This man had destroyed Terrene. This man had killed Mai-lin. And if that wasn’t enough, this man had now betrayed the memory of Paul. His guards grabbed her by the waist, but not before she had grabbed his throat. Her fingernails left long bloody scratches as they pulled her away. The last thing she saw before fading into unconsciousness was the fear in his eyes as the arrogantly polite smile disappeared from his face.
Chapter 16: The Flight
Flora woke even more confused than normal. She had gotten used to and even welcomed the dreams coming to her at night. They seemed to have spared her the constant blackouts. But this time she didn’t even remember going to sleep. The dreams no longer announced their presence with blue dotted vision but just took over her consciousness at will. And each time she woke, she suffered the painful emotions of a woman many times her age.
Flora had managed to stay on Blizzard’s back as she dreamt, her arms draped around his neck. Blizzard’s head was pitched forward as he drank from a gurgling stream. Flora slid off of Blizzard’s back and looked around. She recognized the flat fields and the Arum plant of Waypoint Meadows. It had only been seven months since she was here with the rest of her cohort, but it felt like a lifetime ago. Back then she would have never imagined that she would now be running away from the Institute on a horse with the most precious of ancient artifacts in her possession.
Blizzard came and nuzzled her hand, having drunk his fill from the stream. She had nothing to feed him or herself for that matter. The sun had already set, but she didn’t have time to make camp. On Blizzard’s back, she should be able to reach her old home in just a couple hours. Her mother would give them food, shelter, and supplies. The thought of seeing her mother warmed Flora’s heart and gave her strength. She pulled herself back onto Blizzard’s back and spurred him down towards the valley. Flora was going home.
Blizzard was fast. In just two hours, they reached the outskirts of Podek. She gently coaxed Blizzard to slow to a trot, not wanting to run over an innocent passerby. The town looked different from horseback. Everything looked so small and flimsy, like it had been put up for a staged show. She recognized all the stores she had visited excitedly as a child. Back then, the town had been the most wondrous thing she had ever seen. Now, compared to the wonders she had witnessed in the last half a year, the town had lost its magic.
The few people who were out on the streets peered at her with interest, but they stayed oddly distant. It took her a while to realize why. In her white robe and riding a brilliant horse, it was clear that she wasn’t one of them. They weren’t allowed to speak to her, for she was an Institute scholar.
Blizzard slowed to a walk as they entered the town square. The grand clock tower stood silhouetted against the moonlit sky. In the air, Flora smelled a hint of smoke, and suddenly it all came back to her. The clock tower exploding in a flash of light, the smell of burnt flesh and melted metal, the pain of loss...Flora pushed the thoughts away. Those were someone else’s memories and someone else’s pain. All this had happened centuries ago. The town had been rebuilt, and Terrene had thrived.
But still, a chill crossed her spine as she passed through the quiet town. Mai-lin. Even the ghosts in her head had ghosts. As they headed down the Southern Spoke Road, Blizzard faltered. Only now did she hear his ragged breaths and feel the limp in his walk. He was exhausted. Had she pushed him too hard?
With what strength she could muster, she pushed herself off Blizzard’s back, almost collapsing when her feet hit the ground. “Sorry friend,” she said. “I’ll carry myself now.”
But each step was a monumental endeavor. She had been starved even before the escape, and her legs had spent the last full day wrapped around Blizzard’s back. They refused now to move, forcing her to wa
ddle like a duck. But her back muscles complained the most, having held her body up throughout the bumpy ride. She found herself leaning on Blizzard even as she tried to walk herself.
She trudged down the familiar path, eyes focused on the range of mountains before her. The Port lay in those mountains. How much of a lead did she have on Romulus? Was he even chasing her? She blinked. Her eyes refused to open though her legs continued on through the cold. On and on she walked, and then the pain disappeared, warmth wrapped around her body, and she stopped.
************
Flora smelled mushrooms and garlic. Was she dreaming? She sat up just as a blond angel walked through the door, the morning sunlight bathing her in a blinding light that forced Flora to look away. Suddenly, strong arms encircled her, threatening to crush her in a desperate embrace.
Flora tensed and then relaxed. “Mom?” She let all the emotions of the last several months; the frustration, the anger, the confusion, and the doubt, she let them all flow out of her through salty tears that stained her face. Flora said nothing about Jane Ingram, Sagerius, Romulus, or his guards. And yet she felt like her mother understood. She too had struggled to achieve the purpose of the Institute. She too had suffered loss, and she too had left the Institute.
After what seemed like an eternity, her mother pulled away and led her to the kitchen. Flora scarfed down the mushrooms hungrily, her mind slowly reawakening. The Institute, Sagerius, and even Romulus all seemed like a distant dream. Flora reached towards her chest, felt the shape of the Portkey. No, it was all too real, and being here was dangerous, not just for her, but for her mother as well.
“How long was I asleep?” Flora asked urgently.
“Well, when I found you, you were already curled up around the leg of a horse out on the road,” her mother explained. “You’ve only been asleep for a couple of hours here.”
“I’m sorry Mom,” Flora said. “But I need to get going.”
“Where? Why?” her mother asked.
Flora explained as best she could as she hunted around for supplies. She would have to be much better outfitted in order to make the journey into the snow-topped mountains. When Flora was done, her mother hugged her close.
“I’m sorry dear,” her mother said. “You must be mad at me for keeping such secrets from you.” Flora shook her head, still locked in her embrace.
“It’s okay Mom,” Flora said.
“I was just trying to protect you,” her mother continued. “But I guess I was really trying to protect myself. I had already lost your father, and I just couldn’t stand losing you. I was hoping we could just live happily in Terrene.”
“Now I sort of wish that as well,” Flora said.
“What you’ve done...” Flora stiffened as she waited for her mother to finish. “I’m proud of you.” Flora relaxed. “We’ll go to the Port together,” her mother said soothingly, “right after you eat your breakfast.” Flora just wanted to stay in her mother’s embrace forever. She longed to be a child again, protected by her mother, without a care in the world. Much too soon, they were interrupted by a knock on the door. Flora tensed. But no, Romulus’ men wouldn’t have bothered knocking.
“I better go get that,” her mother said, wiping away the tears from her face as she left to answer the door.
After only a few seconds by herself, Flora felt the familiar pull of curiosity and stepped out to see who had come to visit.
“Flora!” The Mayor’s secretary, Lucy, was standing inside the door. She looked uncharacteristically disheveled and out of breath, as if she had run all the way here from the Mayor’s office. “It’s true,” she continued. “You did run away from the Institute.” She must have seen the look of worry on her face and then continued to explain. “Don’t worry. I came here to warn you.”
“This morning a group of fifty armed men from the Institute arrived at the Mayor’s office. Their leader, some man named Romulus, declared that he was now the ruler of Terrene.” Lucy was getting so indignant that she had to pause before she continued. “They manhandled the Mayor and locked him in his office with Jerry and the other constables. I was outside tending to the garden when they came. They didn’t even notice me.” She sounded outraged that she hadn’t been deemed important enough to be imprisoned as well. “But that’s just as well. I heard one of them mention that they were looking for Flora, so I ran here as fast as I could.”
The blood drained from Flora’s face. Romulus had already followed her to Terrene. In fact he had already taken over the Mayor’s office. He could be on his way right now. She couldn’t hide here any longer. She had to get to the Port.
“How much time until they get here?” asked her mother as she started gathering all the food and clothing she could find. “Do they know that Flora’s here?”
“I have no idea,” Lucy said, shrugging. “But it won’t be too hard to find you. That horse of yours leaves quite a recognizable trail.”
Flora groaned. If she rode Blizzard, Romulus would be able to track her easily, and there was no way she could outrun him or his soldiers. But on foot, it would be even worse!
Her mother must have known what she was thinking. She put her hand on Flora’s shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry Honey, I have an idea.” She turned to Lucy and said, “When the guards come, don’t put up a fight. Tell them that I went with Flora, and that we headed east on the horse, but we wouldn’t tell you where.”
“But,” Lucy began to say.
“No time to explain,” her mother said. “Just do it please.”
“Okay,” Lucy said, but she looked very worried.
Flora’s mother led her outside, continuing to load her up with the clothes and provisions that they had hastily gathered. “But they’ll know we’re not going to the east,” she said. “The tracks will lead straight south.”
“No dear, the tracks will lead east,” her mother said. She gave her a big hug. “I’m sorry. I’m not going to be able to go to the Port with you. You’ll have to get to the Port on foot. I’ll take Blizzard and lead Romulus and his men in the wrong direction. You can’t climb the mountain on horseback anyways.”
“But what if they catch you?” Flora asked worriedly.
Her mother grinned, looking twenty years younger. “Where do you think you got your horse riding skills from? I can stay in front of them. Now go.”
She gave Flora a smack on the butt and then launched herself gracefully onto Blizzard’s back. As she rode off towards the east, she called back, “Be careful, honey. I love you.”
************
Flora ran for the first mile. She jogged for the next two. Finally she settled for a brisk walk. Then she tried jogging again. She managed to reach Pompous Rock in just over an hour, but she was so out of breath that she collapsed onto the ground. She lay on her back and stared up at the vertical rock face that stretched toward the sky on her right. She had a long way to go.
What would she find at the Port? What would she do with the Portkey when she got there? Flora had to admit that she had no idea. But she had to believe that there was a way to save the world and to bring back the amazing, wondrous world that haunted her dreams. This was the purpose of Terrene. It was what the Institute had worked towards for centuries. And it was what Sagerius had died for and possibly her father as well. She would find the answer.
Flora stared up at Pompous Rock. This is where it had all started, less than a year ago. This was where she had found the cave and the snow globe that had brought her Jane. She lifted her left hand slowly and traced the rough texture of the stone with her fingers. On impulse, she walked along the rock to the right as she had so many months ago. She reached the seam where the mountain met the rock, where a tiny cave led to a magical room.
She glanced up at the sun. It was close to noon, and it would take several hours to reach the top. She had better keep going. She let her subconscious take over, allowing Jane’s memory to guide her actions. Jane had passed the Institute ent
rance exam. Jane had helped her through her studies and taught her how to ride Blizzard. Now Jane would lead her to the Port. Flora just had to stay out of her way.
While Jane led her up narrow passageways and weaved her way up switchbacks, Flora’s mind wandered into the past. Her father had left the Institute by himself, and now twelve years later his daughter did as well. It looked like she was keeping a family tradition. But her father hadn’t just left the Institute, he had left Terrene completely, going into the Barren Lands.
The ancient texts claimed that all land outside Terrene became desolate, but that sounded a bit extreme. Someone else must have survived out there. Perhaps her father had found another village beyond the Barren Lands. Maybe he had lost the ability to find Terrene again but had started a new life on the outside. When she reached the Port, the Barren Lands would become habitable once more. She could cross them and explore a whole new world. And maybe, just maybe, she would find her father.
Flora smiled at the thought. Suddenly the smell of soot brought a frown to her face. Fires were strictly controlled in Terrene and quite rare. Fields were sometimes stripped, all the biological materials used for construction, clothing, or compost, but they were never burnt. But Jane knew the smell well. It was the smell of death and destruction. As Flora gazed out upon the valley of Terrene, she saw a column of gray smoke rising into the air. It was coming from Podek. “Romulus,” she thought, anger rising up in her chest. She had to get to the Port.
The trail was challenging. Soon Flora was too tired to even think. She could just barely focus on placing one foot in front of the other. As she made the final ascent, her fingers and toes began to burn. She never knew that cold could feel so hot. The landscape around her turned into a snowy desert, the air too cold even for trees. But she kept pushing. She was almost there.
At the peak, she lifted her head up into the chilling wind just long enough to look out towards what Jane told her must be Bhutan. But all she saw was the gray backdrop of the sky, almost as if the cold wind had thrown a curtain across the rest of the world. She walked out to the edge of the gorge and looked down. There, just a couple hundred meters away was the Port. It was just how she remembered it: a small metal dome tucked beneath an arch of granite. She was so close, but so tired and so weak.