The Fourth Sage (The Circularity Saga) (36 page)

After thirty years of study, after extensive research on the subject, the one aspect that, I believe, was the main point of the letter, is such an astounding statement that it is still not possible for me to fully grasp to this day. It is the statement that time is not linear. That it does not, as commonly believed, flow from point A to point B as it unfolds before us, from the past and into the future. Far from it. According to this, the individual string we happen to be on at any given moment, is but one of an infinite number of possible strings that lie parallel to each other, like the many tracks leaving a train station. As I write this, I may—as I do now—have my right leg crossed over my left. In another string, I might sit with my feet stretched out. In another, I might not be here, might not have escaped my captures alive. In yet another, you might not read this, or you might have read it a long time ago. I have known Amber for only a few hours but she has left a permanent impression, one that will never leave me for as long as I live.

//q.8892_81_13xtl.ut **upload complete//

* * *

The rhythmic stomping sound echoes through the tunnels. It seems to come from all directions now but according to Born-of-Night's scouting, one of the main paths is still free and clear.

"Maybe we should stop," Aries says to the others. "Maybe they want us to go to a certain area, but what if we refuse to go there? What if we were to stop right here and see what happens? Let them catch us. I'd rather get this over with." The last ten minutes or so have probably been the longest in Aries’s life. She hadn't wanted to lose hope but right now there's nothing left.

We should fight until we can't fight anymore,
Max replies in her thoughts.

Max. A beacon of hope where there is none. They have given it their best shot. But now it's time to look at the inevitable, accept what has been laid before them. She sees it in the faces of the others. Fear has taken hold. It's palpable. Aries can feel it almost physically. Her legs are heavy, paralyzed almost. The others don't look any better. Ty, held up mostly by Seth and sheer willpower, can barely walk anymore. Sam carries Tevis on his back. He shows the least exhaustion of all of them.

You see this?
Born-of-Night's thought reaches Aries.

Aries closes her eyes. Through the hawk's eyes, she sees that the tunnel ends in a large open area. The ceiling is domelike. On its sides, there are at least another dozen tunnels going in all directions.

"I think we're close," Aries says.

"Whatever happens, we have to stay together," C.J. says.

"Good idea," Seth says.

Aries pauses, realizing that she had completely forgotten their first encounter in the cafeteria. He is not that boy anymore. The last three weeks have made a man out of him. From Seth, her thoughts go to Kiire and to the still-lingering thought that she should never have brought him into this. She had wished for a friend for so long that when he came along, she hadn't considered the consequences. She simply took it, glad he was there, glad he was able to watch the hawk. None of this should have happened.

None of what is happening right now is happening by chance.
Born-of-Night's thoughts interrupt her own.
You think finding me was by chance? Ending up in Kiire's room, finding the Forgotten Floors and being here now? None of it has anything to do with chance.

What is it then, fate?

You think there is only fate or chance and nothing in between?

What else is there?
Aries asks.

How about choice?

Choice?

Yes. Choice. I called to you, remember? I came into your dreams. You could have chosen not to answer me. You could have chosen to ignore it. It was your choice to save me. It was your choice to go down that air duct and into Kiire's room. You could have chosen the one before it, but you didn't. It would have given you more time. And what about Ty? He chose to come with you. It wasn't some strange power. You saw him. You witnessed it. The children that are with us right now. You think they are here because of fate? They could have stayed with the others. They could have given up two years ago. They had enough reasons to do so. But they kept going. Why? You ask why enough times, everything comes down to choice.

What if the children were waiting for you?
The hawk continues.
Maybe they didn't know it but what if they were, in fact, waiting for you, Aries? And what if you found them because you needed to, you wanted to? Part of you called to them as much as I called to you. And what about Max?

What about him?
she asks.

From the moment you met him, he was there for you. He didn't even know you. We are all here because all of us, all of us, are here by choice. We're here for something that we can't grasp yet. Something bigger than ourselves. We just don't know what it is. We are blind to it. That's why we need you. You are the one that will put it all together.

The rhythmic sound and Born-of-Night's thoughts move together in her. The pounding of the mechanical feet in the tube echoes in her mind, reinforcing the hawk's thoughts, making them stronger, more believable.

But how?
she asks.

Given everything that happened, all I can tell you is that it will come to you in time. At the right time. Trust yourself and trust that whatever your life was has prepared you for this.

Through the hawk's eyes, Aries sees herself and the others reach the end of the tunnel.

Stay out of sight,
she tells Born-of-Night.

They enter the large space. The floor is made of polished black stone, a deep black that seems to swallow the light around them. In the center of the room a circle is chiseled into the surface, about fifteen feet in diameter.

"I know this place," Amber whispers.

And then they see them. Across from where they are, a dozen androids step in from another tunnel. As Aries and the others cross the cave, more and more of the dark figures pour into it, enclosing them from all sides. When the friends reach the center, they huddle together, their backs against one another. The androids have taken position around them, leaving one narrow passageway open.

"Guys," Ty says. "It has been a distinct honor and privilege to have known each and every one of you. I have met a lot of people over the course of my life, but you are the greatest."

Tevis kisses Ty's forehead and whispers something to him.

Max, standing next to Aries, takes her hand. She holds his willingly, thankful that he is there.

"El alis lo slejanta," Amber begins to whisper. "No Re Tori Go La. La stan lo stan hid."

"What are you s-s-saying?" Jeremiah asks.

"I don't know.
Slejanta
means passageway. That's all I remember."

Something approaches.
Aries hears Born-of-Night.
It's the one I got the images from.

Aries can sense the terror in the hawk as a figure carves itself out of the shadows, walking straight toward them.

"El alis lo slejanta. No Re Tori Go La. La stan lo stan hid,"
Amber whispers again. She looks around as if trying to figure out where she is.

"Aries Egan," the android says. He is easily six feet five inches tall. He looks like a regular, albeit muscular, man. Except for his eyes. His dark irises are not round—more like triangles. And whereas the regular androids have masks over their faces, he only has a small triangular shape mounted on each of his temples. The shapes are dark, almost black, and emit a slight glow.

"Aries Egan," he repeats. His voice sounds like the low vibrations of glass. "Step forward."

When Aries goes to make a step, Max holds her back.
Don't!

The E-9 comes closer. Max pushes Aries behind him and steps in front of her. The E-9 stops in front of Max. Without warning, he grabs Max's throat, lifts him, turns, and throws him. Max lands hard on the stone floor several feet away. Aries lets out a scream and runs toward him. She kneels down.

"Max! Max, can you hear me?"

She can almost physically feel his pain.

I can hear you,
Max thinks.
I just can't breathe.

"Love," the E-9 says. "The most predictable of all the human emotions. You don't need to find the one you are looking for. You only need to find the one she cares for."

I'm okay,
Max thinks.

"No Re Tori Go La. La stan lo stan hid,"
Amber whispers.
Her words have become louder now. Her eyes begin to flicker. She looks like she is going into shock. Something underneath their feet begins to glow. Jeremiah sees it.

"Amber," he says as quietly as possible. "L-l-look down."

Amber looks at her feet, then kneels.

"What do you want?" Aries asks the E-9.

"Bring you to them," the E-9 answers.

"To whom?" she asks.

The E-9 grabs Max, pulls him up.

"You will come with me," he says to Aries. "Otherwise your deaf friend here will not be alive for much longer."

Max gives his head a barely perceptible shake. Inside the circle, the symbols in the floor begin to glow brighter. They are arranged in several overlapping circles.

"No Re Tori Go La. La stan lo stan hid,"
Amber says again, and begins to touch the symbols in a seemingly random sequence.

"Let him go!" Aries says.

"Of course," the E-9 replies, lifting Max and throwing him back toward the group. Sam and Seth catch him but go down with him as well. There is a low vibration in the stone beneath them.

"No Re Tori Go La. La stan lo stan hid."

The E-9 grabs Aries by her neck, pulls her close. When her face is right in front of his, he says, "Kill them. Kill them all."

The androids step forward, raise their rifles. The faces of her friends are in utter shock. The low humming sound increases in volume.

"No Re Tori Go La. La stan lo stan hid."

"Fire!" the E-9 says.

Thirty androids fire their rifles into the group. At that moment, what at first looks like a glass wall shoots up, building a domelike hemisphere around the group. The blue high-voltage charges get absorbed instantly. Aries can see Ty's terror. Sam has grabbed Tevis and is pulling her toward the center, exposing his back to the charges. Inside the circle, Amber gets up, looks around, unable to comprehend what is happening. The charges stop a few feet before them, absorbed by the force field. Then the area they stand on begins to sink into the ground. The force field stays but a platform inside, carrying all of them, slowly disappears into a shaft below.

"Aries!" Seth cries. Then they're gone.

The E-9 still holds Aries by her throat with one hand. He raises his other hand to the side of her neck. A small needle shoots from his finger, penetrating her artery. The last thing Aries sees is the hawk circling overhead.

Save yourself,
she thinks.

Born-of-Night's cry echoes through her mind. Then blackness engulfs her.

Chapter 18 — Below

"What awaits you in the dark is but yourself."

[
The Book of Croix
— Vol. 11]

"What the hell is going on?" Seth asks.

They are huddled together on the dropping platform. The opening above them grows smaller and smaller as the walls rush by. Other than escaping air, there is no sound.

"Must be some kind of an elevator," Ty says through the noise.

"Amber, what was that?" Tevis asks.

"I don't know. I don't know," Amber replies, her voice anguished. "I didn't mean to leave her up there. I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened."

"We must be dropping very fast," Seth says.

Then the walls surrounding them are gone as the platform drops through and into the open air. Far below, a valley extends in all directions far into the distance and into what looks like a massive cave. Dim light illuminates parts of it while leaving others in shadow. There are large pillars reaching all the way from its ceiling to its floor. Their massive proportions make the cave appear even vaster. The ground is far below them. In Jeremiah's estimation, it must be at least three thousand feet. Mila lies on her stomach, inches forward to see over the edge.

"There is some kind of a column below us," she says.

Seth lies down next to her.

"Looks like it's made out of light," he says.

"They are taking her." Tevis translates Max's hand signs.

"Did you tell her we're okay?" Tevis says, while signing to him.