Final Quest (11 page)

- 28 -

A SCHOOL SHOOTING

Jasmin, Jamie, Michael and I huddle together in our school cafeteria at lunch. Our conversation immediately turns to Drew.

“We’ve got to go back tonight,” Jasmin insists. “Drew’s life is in danger.”

I have no doubts that Drew’s life is in danger if he hasn’t already been killed. The major point that Jasmin is missing is that in order to save Drew we will be risking our lives, and based on what I know about the Zelareans I’m not sure I really want to meet any of them in person.

“Yes,” I agree. “We’ve got to save Drew, but we also have to honor the request made my Zol that we wait a few days before returning.”

“No,” Jasmin says. “We can’t wait. We have to go today.”

“One more day,” I offer. “Tomorrow night. I promise.”

I sense that Jamie is about to join our conversation when Mr. Tarmarken, one of our vice-principals, rushes into the cafeteria and begins to shout, “This is an emergency. This is a lockdown.”

The fear on Mr. Tarmarken’s face clearly shows that this is not a practice lockdown. This is the real thing. I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do. The confusion around me suggests that the other students are also unsure how to respond. We have all practiced emergency responses while we were in the classroom, but it would appear that being in the cafeteria is a whole new ballgame.

Mr. Tarmarken is rushing here and there telling students to get under the tables. He races to the cafeteria doors, slamming them shut. He locks them. His erratic movements are fueling a nervous hysteria in the cafeteria.

Some students drop to the floor, hiding under the tables. Others are running around aimlessly.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” I hear someone say nearby say.

A window explodes.

Students are trying to escape.

Mr. Tarmarken is shouting, “Stay where you are! Don’t leave this room!”

His words come too late. I hear an ugly scream

Turning in the direction of the scream, I see a girl about my age covered in blood.

Was she shot?

Is there a shooter in the cafeteria?

Panic is now rampant.

Amidst the pushing and shoving, a boy is pleading for his life.

“I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.”

My fingers are touching my emerald. If I can find the shooter, I can stop the carnage before it gets worse.

Suddenly a hand grabs my arm and pulls me downwards.

It’s Jamie.

As I hit the floor, I notice that Jasmin and Michael are already there.

Before I say anything, Michael says, “There’s no shooter here.”

“What do you mean?” I say. My eyes and ears are telling me a different story.

“It’s not happening here,” Michael says. “I just got a text from my father. There’s a shooting in progress at Archway.”

Archway is the nickname we have for another high school that is about five miles away from us. It’s located beside a large archway leading to a subway station, thus its nickname.

“What do you meant there’s a shooting at another school? I just saw a girl covered in blood.”

“She probably cut herself trying to escape through a window,” Jamie says. “Our school must be under a lockdown due to the shooting at the other school.”

I realize that there’s no need to panic. There’s no danger at my school, other than Mr. Tarmarken mishandling the situation.

“We’ve got to help,” Michael says.

I look at him as though he’s crazy.

“My father says a group of students are trapped in a classroom with at least one gunman.”

“Touch my arms,” I say, without any further thought as to what I’m doing.

My friends place their hands on my arms.

I peer into my emerald.

Imagining the subway arch adjacent to the high school, I say, “Sandarium, Archway.”

We have gone from a room of false panic to the site of the real terror.

Police are running everywhere, although I don’t see any students at first. Then I notice the terrified faces of students pressed against classroom windows.

A SWAT team of at least a dozen heavily armed police officers is cautiously approaching the front of the school.

Overhead I hear the drone of a helicopter.

Sirens are blaring as more police cars arrive.

On a street adjacent to the school, there is long line of ambulances.

Several fire trucks are arriving. Smoke is pouring out a classroom window on the ground floor of the school.

Jamie and Michael are using their spy-pads. They must have launched their nano-drones when I was looking in another direction.

“What do you see?” Jasmin asks.

“I’m at the entrance of the school,” Jamie says. “The SWAT team is entering. I’ll follow them.”

“I’m trying to get through the broken window where the smoke is coming out,” Michael says.

The increasing black smoke suggests that the fire in the school is growing.

“The SWAT team is moving slowly along a hallway,” Jamie says.

“I’m in,” Michael exclaims.

“What do you see?” I ask as I push against Michael to see the screen on the spy-pad.

“There are about twenty students huddled with a teacher in the corner of the room.”

I see what Michael is describing.

As Michael maneuvers the nano-drone, there’s a guy dressed in army fatigues who is holding a gun aimed directly at the teacher and students. As the drone continues in another direction, there’s another guy in fatigues.

“He’s got dynamite,” Michael says. “He’s going to blow up the school!”

The youth is taking stick after stick of dynamite from a backpack. No one has to tell me that there are enough explosives to cause a horrendous disaster.

A few steps away from the youth is a garbage pail with its contents on fire. Books scattered around the garbage pail have created a bonfire. It’s almost as though the youth is trying to attract the police and firemen.

There’s no time to talk to my friends about a plan to stop the unfolding tragedy.

I hold my emerald in front of me.

“Sandarium, burning classroom.”

I cough from a cloud of smoke.

My eyes water.

“Freeze!” a menacing voice shouts.

A teenager, dressed in army fatigues, is pointing a gun directly at me.

“Make one move and I’ll blow your head off.”

I quickly survey the situation.

“Where did she come from?” another angry youth asks.

“She must have been hiding under a desk.”

In the back corner of the room, a terrified group of students and a female teacher are huddled together on the floor.

A large piece of black paper has been taped over the inside of the classroom door window. I guess that the door is locked.

If the SWAT team attempts to break the door down, I’m sure the assailants will light the dynamite.

“Put your hands above your head,” the guy with the gun orders. He looks nervous.

I know that I have to be careful with him. One sudden move and he’ll pull the trigger.

I slowly raise my hands.

The other youth is stacking the dynamite in a pile.

I have a horrible decision to make. If I try to use my emerald to stop the guy with the dynamite, I will likely be shot by the guy with the gun. If I use my emerald to stop the guy with the gun, the other guy will ignite the dynamite.

“Let’s get on with this,” the guy with the dynamite says.

“Please stop,” the distraught teacher says in an attempt to protect her students.

Immediately the youth with the gun shoots her.

As some of the students begin to scream, both youths begin to laugh.

“Think there are enough cops in the building now to blow it up?” the guy with the gun says.

“Absolutely.”

“Let’s do it then.”

The guy near the dynamite takes out a cigarette lighter. He ignites it and reaches for a stick of dynamite.

Suddenly a small object flies directly into his face, shooting a piercing beam of light into his eyes.

It’s one of Michael’s drones.

The guy falls to the ground, screaming in pain.

Grabbing my emerald, I shout, “Abruella!” at the guy with the gun.

Before he can react, a bolt of lightning smashes him against a wall. His gun clatters harmlessly to the floor. He’s out cold.

At the same instant, several police officers appear at the classroom window.

“Nobody move!” a police officer shouts.

“Sandarium, Jamie,” I whisper.

- 29 -

ERASED

Days after the school shooting, the media are still talking about the SWAT team heroes. How a SWAT team rescued eighteen students and a wounded teacher. How a SWAT team burst through a classroom door and disarmed two youths who were planning to blow up the school.

There’s no mention of me. Or how one of the attackers was blinded by a laser beam from a small drone.

The students and the teacher who were in the room have not participated in any interviews about what happened. I wonder how much longer the power of my emerald will remain secret.

Once the legal process finds it way into a court, I don’t know how the students and the teacher who were in the classroom will be able to avoid mentioning me.

Obviously someone in a very powerful position doesn’t want my identity or my special powers to be made public.

Someone with significant authority is protecting me.

I’ve watched countless news shows about the school shooting. No matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t see any evidence of me or the drones near the school. In fact, regardless of how hard I looked, I couldn’t see any trace of Jasmin, Michael, or Jamie standing near the subway entrance. It was as though we had been erased from the pictures.

It’s Friday night. My mother has gone to visit my father for the weekend. She invited me, but I managed to excuse myself by saying that I had a huge homework assignment that was due on Monday. She didn’t make any attempt to talk me into going with her.

My parents are facing some difficult decisions. If my father were to ever appear in public, he would be instantly recognized as Santtonnice, the guy who caused bedlam in Rome a few weeks ago, the guy who tried to destroy our world.

My father could never appear in public. My parents are facing the impossible problem of how to handle this. I know they are considering plastic surgery to alter his face, but they are concerned that no doctor on this planet would consider doing this surgery without notifying the police that they were in contact with a man whom they mistakenly thought was the most wanted person in the world.

There’s a beep on my computer.

It’s Jamie.

WISDOM: When do you want to leave?

We’re returning back to Drapesia tonight. Maybe we should have returned much sooner, but I don’t think any of us are too thrilled about the dangers we’re going to face.

GLOW: I’m ready now.

As I wait for Jamie’s response, there’s another beep. Michael has joined our chat.

WISDOM: Isn’t it strange that we don’t exist in any of the reports about what happened at the school?

COMIC MAN: Maybe someone’s protecting us.

Another beep signals the arrival of Jasmin in our chat room.

DRAMA: Let’s get going.

I know it’s time to return to Drapesia.

GLOW: I’ll come and get each of you.

* * * * *

Arriving in the Hall of Mirrors, as we are now calling the fabulous room in the caves on Elpis, Capurni, along with Suu, greets us.

“It’s so good to see you again,” Suu says as she hugs each of us. Capurni stands nearby smiling warmly. I wonder if the leaders on Elpis doubted if we would return.

“Before we outline a plan for rescuing your friend Drew, I would like to teach you a little more about Drapesia. This could be helpful to you in your efforts to save Drew,” Suu says.

Suu turns towards the wall behind her. A large globe that appears to be a 3-D hologram appears in front of us. There are various shapes of land on the globe.

“The largest island that you see in front of you is Zelares. Zelares is the second largest landmass on Drapesia. Underneath Zelares you will notice a smaller island. This is Elpis, the island where we are right now.”

Suu pauses. “Any questions so far?”

We shake our heads.

“And Drew,” Jasmin says, “is a captive on the island of Zelares.”

“Yes Jasmin, we believe that is correct.”

Jasmin looks eager to get going. She’s not interested in a geography lesson. She wants to rescue Drew.

Suu continues, “The surface of Drapesia is approximately 86% water and 14% landmass.”

Some distant memory from school tells me that my planet is about 70% water and 30% landmass.

“Zelares,” Suu continues, “is the home of the elite ruling tribe of Drapesia. Everyone else on this planet exists to serve the needs of the Zelareans.” For the first time there is anger in her voice.

“How did you end up on the island of Elpis?” Jamie asks.

“I was a scientist,” Suu replies. “I’m from the island of Thoth. One day, about a year ago, I made the mistake of openly criticizing the Zelarean emphasis on creating new weapons. There was no need for more weapons. Within minutes of making my comments, I was arrested by the
Stapols. After torturing me to determine whether I had any knowledge of anyone who had opinions similar to mine, they forced me into a X-25B and dropped me into the jungles of Elpis. I was brutally attacked by several wild beasts,” Suu says as she lifts her robe to show her horribly scarred legs. “Fortunately the Forgotten People rescued me before I was killed.”

I almost pass out as I look at Suu’s legs.

“I’m glad you were rescued,” Jamie says. “What is a X-25B?”

“Thank you Jamie. The X-25B is an air vehicle that can hold up to four people. The air vehicle that I believe you have already seen is the X-24B which holds up to two people.”

“Do the Zelareans have any air vehicles that hold more than four people?” Michael asks.              “

Suu begins to nod, but then she hesitates. She glances at Capurni. If I’m not mistaken, his eyes are telling her to stop.

“Maybe we could save the answer to that question for another time.”

Suu looks back at Capurni, and then continues, “There are seven major landmasses in total on Drapesia.”

The globe that is hovering in front of us rotates.

“At the bottom of the globe you can now see another small island. This is Ananke. A little over 10,000 people live on Ananke. These people work harvesting fish and other food from our oceans.”

Suu hesitates once again to see if we have any questions.

“Above the island of Ananke is the island of Cantil. Cantil was once one of our more beautiful islands. Unfortunately it was completely destroyed by the Zelareans and it has never recovered. Now it is nothing more than a barren wasteland.”

I look at Capurni. He’s a descendant of the Cantils. His face is filled with anger.

“Above Cantil is the island of Thoth where I come from. Thoth is the home of all the scientists.”

“Does this mean that if you are a scientist you have to live on Thoth even if this means that you have to move away from your family?” I ask.

Suu doesn’t appear to understand my question.

“Emily,” Capurni says, “I have learned that the Zelareans control the breeding of people. No one on this planet has a parent. Every person is created in a laboratory according to the needs of the Zelareans. Some people are designed to be farmers. Some are designed to be scientists. Some are designed to be members of the Stapols. No one on this planet has a choice in what they will become as an adult. Every person’s future is carefully programmed into their genes before they are born.”

Capurni’s comments shock me. The people on Drapesia are nothing more than clones who have been turned into mindless robots.

“When any discarded beings are rescued on Elpis, we have developed programs to help them begin to think for themselves,” Suu says. “We have also developed programs to help people live without requiring trichoma. It is the hope of all Forgotten People that someday we will free all the people of Drapesia from the tyrannical rule of the Zelareans.”

“Are the breeding laboratories on the island of Thoth?”  Michael asks

Suu shakes her head. “No, the breeding laboratories are located on the island of Zelares in the Palace of Life.”

“Palace of Life?” Michael says.

“The Palace of Life,” Suu says, “is where all life begins and all life ends.”

The globe begins to slowly spin again.

When it stops, Suu says, “You can now see the final three islands.”

The three islands are in a line, one above the other. The top island is small; the next one is a little larger; and the final island is long and narrow.

“The top two islands are deserts,” Suu says. “They were once tropical paradises.”

“What happened to them?” I ask.

“Global warming changed our planet. Three of our seven islands have become wastelands.”

“Is global warming still a concern on your planet?” Michael asks.

“A good question,” Suu replies. “Actually our scientists believe we have reached the end of the warming trend, but there are some who now predicting another dramatic climate change.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Another ice age is coming,” Jamie answers for Suu. “Once a planet warms to its extreme, it might rebound very quickly to become a planet of ice.”

“Is that really possible?” I ask.

“Yes,” Suu replies. “All the ice on our planet has now melted. The cold water from the ice has formed a massive river flowing along the bottom of our oceans. It is predicted that this gigantic river of cold water will surface causing a huge drop in the surface temperature of our planet. Such a shift in temperatures could quickly lead to another ice age destroying most of the life that currently exists on our planet.”

If this is true, I think, how is anyone on Drapesia going to survive? Do either the Zelareans or the Forgotten People have some sort of plan?

“The final island you see is Triptola. As you can see, Triptola is long and narrow. This is our largest island. Much of the food is produced on Triptola. Most of it is created in factories although some of it is grown in the ground. Triptola is also where hundreds of thousands of people live.”

Suu looks like she’s finished her presentation as the globe rotates back to the position where it started from.

“What about the children?” I ask. “You haven’t mentioned anything about them.”

Suu looks surprised by my question.

“Who cares for the babies? Do children go to school?” I ask.

“Everything in the Palace of Life is automated,” Suu says. “Children stay there until they are ten years old.”

“And at the age of ten, what happens?” Michael asks.

“At the age of ten, the children go their separate ways to become whatever kind of worker they were created to be.”

For a moment, there’s a pause in our conversation. Jamie and Michael are looking at each other in disbelief.

“Do people have relationships with each other?” Jamie asks.

“What do you mean?” Suu says.

“Do people have friends? Do people get married? Do people have any form of recreation or entertainment? Do people have any form of fun?”

“No,” Suu replies. “Everyone, except for the Zelareans, works during the day and spends their evenings in the fantasy world provided to them by trichoma.”

“What about the Zelareans?” Michael says. “How do they live? Do they work?”

“The Zelarean live a different kind of life. They have various forms of entertainment and sports.”

“What about Drew?” Jasmin says, bringing our thoughts back to the reality of why we returned to Drapesia.