The Candy Shop War, Vol. 2: Arcade Catastrophe (38 page)

“It would be futile,” Jonas assured him. “The other Jets look to you for leadership. They expect you to join them on this mission. I want you to join them as well. But I want you to understand what will happen should you attempt to cross me.”

“I’m listening.”

“I have simulacra of them, too,” Jonas reminded him. “And you know I currently hold Trevor here, and Pigeon, as well as Victor Battiato, John Dart, and the illustrious Mozag. Cross me, and they all perish, Nate. I’ve killed before. I won’t hesitate. Are we clear?”

Nate felt stunned by the man’s bluntness. He nodded weakly.

“Serve me well and you’ll be rewarded,” Jonas said. “Do I keep my promises, Conner?”

“Yes, sir.”

Jonas gave a sickly smile. “It’s important to keep your promises when dealing with mercenaries. My word matters to me for many reasons. For example, I set rules to the contest between the clubs. The Jets won the contest, therefore the Jets will retrieve Uweya.”

“Makes sense,” Nate said.

“Once I have Uweya,” Jonas continued, “you and your friends will no longer be threats to me. Serve me well, and you will all go free. Your families will be spared. Even though you never had my best interests at heart, I’ll reward you. Defy me, and it’s not just your own life you’re gambling with, Nate.”

“I get it,” Nate said. “I’m not crazy.”

Jonas wagged a finger. “Yet children sometimes do crazy things.” He waved a dismissive hand. “Very well, Nate. Off you go. Serve me well. Fetch Uweya. Your friends are depending on you.”

“I understand.”

Conner opened the door.

Nate jerked a thumb at Conner. “In the interest of employee feedback, this guy needs to work on his people skills.”

“Conner wasn’t hired to do customer service,” Jonas said around a smirk.

Nate followed Conner out of the room.

*****

The SUV climbed a steep, rutted dirt road that made Nate cling to the door for support. Cleon drove. A small woman named Jeanine rode shotgun. Seat belts fastened, Nate, Lindy, and Risa sat on the bench behind them. Chris reclined in the far back.

The SUV rocked and reared over the challenging road. A couple of times Nate thought they were going to tip over. In her middle position on the bench, Lindy flopped from one side to the other with all of the jostling.

“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Nate asked.

“Don’t tell me you can’t handle a little bump or two,” Cleon replied.

“What happened to the regular drivers?” Lindy asked. “The guys you used to cart around the other clubs?”

“This mission is too sensitive for anyone but family,” Cleon said with a grin.

A particularly strong jolt sent a shockwave through Nate’s spine. “We might have a hard time getting Uweya if we’re paralyzed,” he complained.

“This is nothing,” Cleon said. “You’re just used to driving like city kids. You need more off-roading in your life. It’s good for the soul.”

“But not the spine,” Nate muttered.

They continued to climb the shoulder of Mt. Diablo. The sun was now well above the horizon. Cleon had said that due to the daylight, he was under orders to escort everyone to their destination instead of letting them fly.

“You guys found a tunnel last night?” Nate asked. Cleon had not yet fully explained.

Cleon yawned, his fillings visible in the rearview mirror. “I deserve a big, fat nap after all of this is done. So does Jeanine. Those in the know have searched for an entrance to Mt. Diablo for years. Several of the mines in the region secretly had that as a goal. But everybody dug too low.”

“Are we going to the top?” Lindy wondered.

“Closer to the top than you might have guessed. See, if you drop the Protector, he always falls facing the direction to Uweya. We spent much of the night fumbling in the dark. In the end, we found the entrance.”

“Where are the Gate and the Protector now?” Nate asked. “We’ll still need them, won’t we?”

“They’re up ahead, ready and waiting,” Cleon said. “We left them there last night. Figured it beat losing them in a hijacking today. Mr. White likes to play it safe.”

The SUV continued up the mountainside. From time to time, with a rough shake and the grinding of metal, the SUV would get high centered and become immobile. Cleon would look over at Jeanine, who would close her eyes and make the SUV wobble until the wheels got traction. Nate assumed she must be the Crusher Ziggy had mentioned.

At length they reached a steep, rocky point where the SUV could proceed no farther. Cleon killed the engine and got out of the vehicle. The others climbed out as well.

Cleon stood with his hands on his hips, teeth bared as he glared up the slope. “We’re not too far from the entrance. A little hike might do us some good.”

Nate levitated a few inches off the ground. “Do
you
some good,” he corrected. “Daylight or not, I don’t see anyone around, so I’m saving my strength.”

“Kid has a point,” Jeanine said, her voice a bit huskier than Nate would have predicted. She rose half a foot off the ground. “It’ll cost me less exertion to float there than to walk.”

“How about floating me?” Cleon suggested.

Jeanine arched an eyebrow. “Drop a few pounds and we’ll talk.”

Cleon pressed his lips together, as if biting back a sharp reply. He nodded, rubbed his lips, and started plodding up the long slope. The others hovered around him like a flock of ghosts.

Risa drifted over to Jeanine. “You can fly?”

Jeanine considered her coolly, but answered. “In a sense. I can do tricks with gravity that enable me to float.”

“Why not fly Cleon?” Chris asked. “Is he really too heavy?”

“Messing with gravity takes finesse,” Jeanine said. “I’ve learned to float myself efficiently through lots of practice. Floating others requires more energy and concentration.”

“You were making the car float back there?” Lindy inquired.

“I was shifting gravity enough to let us get traction,” Jeanine explained. “Lifting the entire SUV would wipe me out before long.”

“Do you really want to specify your limits?” Cleon huffed.

“Are you really out of breath already? You need to slow down on the ribs and nachos.”

Nate tried to choke back his laughter. Muffled giggles surrounded him.

“Yuck it up,” Cleon complained. “We’ll see how funny old Cleon is once the trouble starts under the mountain.”

“If we’re attacked by corn dogs,” Jeanine said with a straight face, “our enemies will be doomed.”

As they progressed up the slope, the observation tower atop Mt. Diablo came into view above them. Nate had once enjoyed the view from the solid structure on a day trip with his family. It had never crossed his mind that he might be close to an ancient magical treasure.

Cleon paused, staring up at the observation tower and wiping sweat from his brow. “Folks might be able to see us. You freaks might want to get back down on the ground.”

“That building is still a long ways off,” Jeanine protested. “No way can anyone see the six inches between my toes and the ground. I know misery loves company, Cleon, but we’re going to keep hovering. Pick up the pace if you can. Boss wanted this accomplished today.”

Grumbling angry words under his breath, Cleon sped up a little. He kept his eyes on the ground in front of his feet.

At last they arrived at a dark cleft in the ground sheltered by a boulder. The cavity didn’t look like much of a cave. Nate wouldn’t have expected it to extend back more than a few feet out of view.

“We had to excavate this,” Cleon said, his lungs working hard. “Jeanine didn’t pitch in. She sat back and watched. Everybody who wants to criticize my hiking should keep in mind that I was up most of the night uncovering this entrance.”

“We’re very proud of you,” Jeanine consoled. “It’s a majestic hole.”

Cleon gestured at the cleft with both hands. “In we go.”

Chris ducked inside.

“Watch out for that first step,” Cleon called, one hand beside his mouth. “It’s a doozy.”

“The kid can fly,” Jeanine pointed out.

“It’s an expression,” Cleon growled.

“Watch your tone,” Jeanine said. “You’ll need my help before long.”

Cleon gave a little nod and tipped an imaginary hat. “No disrespect intended.”

Risa hesitated, crouching at the entrance of the cleft.

Cleon waved for her to enter. “Go on, girl. You’ll be fine.”

“They left light in here,” Chris called from inside. His voice already sounded kind of distant.

Risa entered. Nate followed, squirming through the narrow opening. He wondered how a big guy like Cleon could fit. He probably couldn’t squeeze through without getting scraped up.

The deeper Nate progressed into the cleft, the more it opened up, until he was no longer squirming and could walk comfortably. The air smelled of minerals. Up ahead he saw Chris silhouetted against an electric lantern.

“Come here,” Chris called, waving.

Lifting off the ground, Nate flew along the cave to where Chris stood by the lantern. Nate caught up to Risa, and they reached Chris together.

Where Chris waited beside the lantern, the cave widened considerably, forming a large, craggy chamber. A massive hole dominated the floor. Chris lingered a few paces from the brink of the yawning crater.

“Looks like we go down from here,” Chris said.

“I don’t see any other openings,” Risa agreed.

Nate drifted out over the void. “Hello,” he called, tilted downward, hands cupped around his mouth. The acoustics of the echoes suggested that the hole was extremely deep.

“How can you hover over all that emptiness?” Risa asked with a shiver.

“I don’t know,” Nate replied. “The same way I can swim in deep water, I guess. It’s a long way down, but I can fly.”

“I can’t,” Cleon remarked, striding toward them. “That’s why I need Gravity Girl.”

“And why you had better be nice to her,” Jeanine reminded him.

Lindy glided out over the void to hover beside Nate. “Wow,” she murmured. “Now,
that
is a deep hole. It’s like staring down the throat of a volcano.”

Jeanine cracked a chemical light stick, then shook it until it emitted an even, green radiance. She tossed it underhand into the crater. Nate watched as it fell and fell, shrinking to a faint green spark before vanishing entirely.

“It has a bottom, right?” Nate asked.

“I can’t confirm,” Lindy said. “It extends a long way and then elbows a little to the side. I can’t see through the rocks here.”

“It has a bottom, all right,” Cleon said. “The Gate and the Protector are down there right now.”

“How’d they get down there?” Risa asked.

“We had a busy night,” Jeanine said.

“Are we ready?” Cleon asked.

Jeanine cracked more chemical light sticks, distributing one to each of them. Then Jeanine and Cleon floated out over the pit. Cleon wobbled and waved his arms for balance.

“Keep still,” Jeanine advised. “You’re messing up my concentration.”

Cleon obeyed without comment.

“I’ll lead the way,” Lindy offered.

They started downward. Nate regretted his lack of opportunity to strategize with the others. Somebody employed by Jonas was always present to overhear. He hoped that when the time came, Chris and Risa would help hold back Jeanine and Cleon so he could race ahead to Uweya. He would have to pick his moment with care. If he failed today, Jonas would win.

Nate stole glances at Cleon and Jeanine. If he made it to Uweya ahead of everyone, what would he do? How much time would he have before others caught up? This was not the sort of situation where he wanted to trust to luck and improvisation. But what else could he do, considering how little he really knew about Uweya? What else could he expect, with so little time to collaborate and plan? A nervous, fluttery feeling persisted in his belly.

The air grew cooler as they descended. The gentle glow of their light sticks seemed a feeble weapon against the thick darkness above and below. They didn’t rush—the ominous obscurity around them forbade haste. Nate felt like a deep-sea explorer sinking into an oceanic trench.

The profound shaft elbowed once, then again. After the second bend, the bottom of the pit came into view, illuminated by various electric lanterns.

“Katie Sung is waiting for us,” Lindy announced.

“Jonas wanted his best people along,” Cleon said.

“Is that why you’re here?” Jeanine said, straining to resist laughter. “Don’t make me crack up, Cleon. I wouldn’t want one of his best people to fall.”

“You calling me minor league?” Cleon challenged.

“We’ll let your performance today do the talking,” she replied. “Now let me concentrate.”

“Welcome,” Katie greeted warmly as Nate touched down between a pair of lanterns. Her form-fitting outfit emphasized her athletic build. Nate noticed the cot where she must have slept. “Turns out the Jets were the top squad after all. A few of us employed by Mr. White lost some money on that outcome.”

“Don’t remind me,” Cleon grumbled.

“You bet against us?” Chris exclaimed.

“Nothing personal,” Cleon said as his feet reached the ground. “I figured that racer plus tank equaled domination.”

“Don’t bet against the delinquents,” Katie said. “Nate and especially Lindy earned their stamps through suspicious means. The kind of person who beats the system once is likely to do so again. I have my eyes on them.”

Nate didn’t miss the message—Katie was there to ensure that Nate and Lindy would perform as expected. When he tried to make his move, she would be there to stop him.

“What now?” Risa asked.

“You’ll see,” Katie promised. “This way.”

They followed her down a passage away from the base of the shaft. The passage opened into a cavernous room, lit by glowing crystals in the walls and ceiling. A colossal stone gate dominated most of one wall.

“It looks exactly like the Gate,” Lindy realized. “The one we took from the Hermit.”

“The Gate is a simulacrum,” Katie said. “As is the Protector. No doubt the Gate will open the way once placed on the pedestal. How the Protector will be employed remains to be seen.”

A pedestal composed of white stone flecked with gold
projected up from the floor in the center of the room. The Gate and the Protector rested on the ground near the base of the pedestal.