The Gravity Keeper (13 page)

Simon and Owen flinched away from the destruction. There was no way they could run—the ground around them was being torn apart, and beyond that, the street was still melted and sticky. They were trapped.

Explosions rang out closer and closer and then stopped. “No. That's not the way. I don't want to risk damaging the Book.” Sirabetta sighed. “Come on, kids! I'm trying to give you a choice,” she snarled. “Something
I
never had. No more games. Will you give me the Book?”

Simon and Owen, too scared to speak, shook their heads. No.

“Still you reject my kindness? Fine.” Sirabetta looked back to the formula on her leg; it resumed its glow as she gestured with both hands. The lawns nearest Owen and Simon ignited, and soon all the grass on the block was on fire. Then the street began to bubble again in earnest, causing black smoke to billow upward.

The strip of asphalt between Simon and Owen started to burn, separating the boys. They moved farther from each other and coughed at the toxic fumes coming off the street. Sirens shrieked in the distance; someone had called the police and fire departments.

Sirabetta frowned at Simon. “No help will reach you in time. Like I said, I won't risk the Book and I won't kill you, Keeper. However, I
can
destroy this little one.” She pointed at Owen.

Then Owen screamed and jumped around as his sneakers burst into flame!

“No!” Simon shouted. He spoke his gravity formula, and Sirabetta braced herself for the effect.

When nothing happened, she laughed. “You're losing your touch, boy.”

Simon looked on with concern as Owen stamped his feet wildly, trying to put out the flames.

Sirabetta snapped her fingers, and Owen's sneaker fires went out. “Have I made my point? Are you ready to give up?”

She shrieked as something struck her leg. It was a metal lid from one of the toppled garbage pails. “What kind of trick is this?” Sirabetta pulled off the lid and tossed it away, but it stopped several feet away in midair and spun back to her. She groaned as it smacked into her stomach. Then she turned and gulped—a manhole cover was hurtling toward her.

“What…what have you done?” Sirabetta asked. She quickly found a tattoo—this one silver—below the knee of her other leg. She pointed as she spoke the formula; the tattoo glowed as a softball-size ball of light flew from her outstretched hand. It whizzed at the rapidly approaching metal disk and exploded on impact, shattering the manhole cover into pebble-size pieces.

She turned back to the boys but then shrieked as the metal chunks struck her in the back. She swatted at them but couldn't brush them off—they only slid along her body. Another manhole cover scraped off the blacktop down the block and zoomed toward her. Sirabetta repeated the silver formula. The globe of light cracked the cover in two, flinging both pieces away.

Simon and Owen stared in the other direction, and Sirabetta whipped around to see various small items from the neighborhood flying through the air toward her. There were fragments of charred envelopes and jagged pieces of metal from the big mailbox, fallen trash cans (and their contents), litter from the street, and even seared toys that had been left out on one of the lawns before it burned.

Sirabetta switched legs so she could read from her heat tattoo; the oncoming paper burned to ash, the plastic melted, and the mailbox shards glowed bright red, then white, before dissolving at what must have been horrifically high temperatures.

She turned back to Simon and Owen, fists clenched, but suddenly screamed out in pain as two heavy slabs of metal—the halves of the second broken manhole cover—slammed into her. The impact knocked her over, and she fell to the ground with a clank. “What have you done to me?” she screamed in fury.

“Simon, what
did
you do to her?” Owen whispered with awe.

“Affecting her weight wasn't working, so I made
her
the center of attraction for the area's gravity. It's spreading slowly, but everything that's not bolted down—except us—is going to fall toward her as if she was the ground.”

Owen laughed. “Look at her. Guess she's not so tough after all!”

Sirabetta glared at them from the ground, where she was still struggling underneath the manhole cover pieces. She used her heat formula to incinerate more small, random items flying toward her. “You think you've won?” she yelled. “This is what I get for showing mercy. I won't make that mistake again!”

She pointed toward Owen, who stared with horror as the blue heat formula on her leg glowed brightly. But they were all distracted by the sound of groaning metal. The three of them froze as Sirabetta's sleek red car flipped onto its side. It scraped toward her, quickly picking up speed as it dragged along the pavement.

“NO!” Sirabetta cried and scrambled to shift one of the manhole-cover halves—it was covering the silver tattoo she'd used. She couldn't move it enough and instead read a formula on her forearm. It glowed blue as she streaked into the air.

Simon and Owen gaped as the car changed directions; wherever Sirabetta flew, her car followed her. She soared higher, but the car just picked up speed—she was the ground to it, and the law of gravity said it had to fall to her.

Even as she fled from her car, Sirabetta shouted at the boys, “You think you're safe? You haven't stopped me! I'll never stop until that Book is mine.”

“I believe her!” Owen whimpered.

Simon stared, frozen for a moment, but swiftly recovered. “We've got to get out of here,” he said. “We'll have to jump like I did in the woods.”

Owen nodded wildly. “Anything! Whatever it takes!”

Simon quickly lowered Owen's and his personal gravity, and they leapt over the melted street, covering hundreds of feet with their first jump. They landed far down the block and chanced a look back: Sirabetta was zigzagging through the air, trying to outrun the car. The look on her face was murderous.

Simon and Owen jumped a few more times, each leap bringing them closer to Town Plaza. “I don't know how long the gravity formula will work if I'm not there,” Simon said.

They heard a distant crash and a huge explosion, followed immediately by the sound of Sirabetta shrieking, “My car!”

Simon grabbed Owen's arm to keep him from leaping again. “Change of plan; follow me.” Simon shifted their gravities to be just right for reaching the roofs of the two-and three-story houses in the neighborhood. They went from rooftop to rooftop. A few people glanced out of their windows, but Simon and Owen were going so fast they probably just looked like a blur.

The boys reached Simon's house. Owen looked at Simon. “You okay?”

“I'm exhausted. Too much gravity control.”

Simon's parents weren't home, so the boys went up to Simon's bedroom and called Alysha on speakerphone.

“I can't believe it! That was just a few blocks from me!” Alysha exclaimed when they told her what happened.

“Don't go outside! Ever!” Owen said.

“She's probably gone by now,” Alysha said. “A bunch of fire trucks and emergency crews are out there now. My dad says it was probably a gas line rupture or something.”

“No, just Sirabetta.” Simon sighed wearily. “She'll never let up, will she?”

Owen took a deep breath. “At least we know two of her weaknesses.”

“Two?” Alysha and Simon asked at the same time.

“Yeah,” Owen said. “She can only use one formula at a time, and she can't use a formula if she can't see the tattoo.”

“How do you know?” Alysha asked.

“When the manhole cover was stuck to her leg, it covered her silver tattoo; she couldn't use it to blow up her car, so she had to fly away.”

Alysha whistled. “Wow. I'm impressed, Owen. Only problem is, how do we cover her other tattoos without her killing us first?”

“Hey, I can't do everything,” Owen said. “I'm the scaredycat, remember?”

“First thing is, we've got to practice our formulas more,” Simon said. “We've got to be ready next time.”

They hung up after agreeing to talk more the next day and, if they felt it was safe, meet.

Owen called his mother to pick him up. He waited inside Simon's house until she got there and then sprinted for the car. As soon as he was inside, he ducked down.

“Oh, Owen.” His mother shook her head. “What are you hiding from this time?”

“Trust me, you don't want to know,” Owen muttered.

Once Owen was out of sight, Simon went back to his room and put the Book down on his desk. He was drained from the day's activities; just thinking the word
gravity
made him want to collapse. As he crawled into bed, he had to wonder…what if things got worse?

The next morning, I munched on a piece of toast and sipped a cup of tea; although Simon was still sleeping off his exertions from the day before, the Chronicle continued.

Back in Dunkerhook Woods, the Order of Physics had been called in for another meeting. Aside from Ralfagon, everyone who had been at the last meeting was back, including Mermon Veenie. They were all seated on their stumps, raincoat hoods tossed back, and were talking among themselves. I couldn't see Sirabetta, but she might still have been there. That baffling hooded coat of hers had managed to hide her from me in the past.

Eldonna Pombina walked over to Ralfagon's stump and stood in front of it. She wasn't much taller than it, however, so nobody took much notice. She clapped three times.

“Attention, everyone. Please.” Nobody heard her over the din of conversation. She sighed, cleared her throat, and spoke a formula. “YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE!”

Her voice exploded across the clearing with the impact of a two-hundred-foot giant coughing into a loudspeaker. Trees swayed, leaves fell, and three hairstyles were badly messed up.

Eldonna waited until everyone pulled their hands from their ears and then reversed her formula. “Thank you,” she said in her normal voice.

Willoughby Wanderby raised his hand, and Eldonna pointed to him. “Yes?”

“I believe I speak for everyone when I say, ‘What?'” Willoughby shouted, his ears still ringing.

Eldonna frowned and spoke more loudly. “Sorry about the Sound Boost and any inner ear damage I may have caused. But honestly, people, this isn't a cocktail party. We're here to discuss serious matters.”

“Oh, really?” Mermon Veenie growled. “Then why did our all-mighty and just leader terminate this Order's meetings in the first place? And speaking of the all-knowing man, where is he? Where is our
great
leader?”

Many faces turned and cast unfriendly glances at Veenie. Eldonna glared at Mermon and turned away from him before speaking. “Ralfagon is part of the reason I called this meeting. There's been a terrible…accident…and”—she took a deep breath—“Ralfagon Wintrofline is in the hospital.”

Several members let out worried gasps and started sputtering questions, but Eldonna held up her hands to call for silence. This time, everyone hushed quickly, and she reported what she had seen at Milnes University.

The Order members were stunned, but Eldonna wasn't finished. “Campus police have called it a freak accident.” Her voice turned cold. “But we know that such things are truly rare. The truck sped up to hit him, but it was driverless! And I'd swear that something prevented Ralfagon from using a formula to stop the truck. I think this was a deliberate attack!”

Confused and angry murmurs spread through the clearing. Even Veenie pretended to be upset.

“I'm sorry I didn't contact any of you,” Eldonna said, beginning to sniffle, “but this is the first time I've left his side at Mountain Hospital in Stoneridge. I kept hoping he'd snap out of it. That he'd be able to tell me what to do. But now…” She took a deep breath. “Now I don't know. Their best doctors are watching over him. They don't know when he's going to wake up. Or even if.”

Willoughby Wanderby raised his hand. “What now?” he solemnly asked when Eldonna nodded at him. “Will you guide us with the Book?”

Eldonna took another deep breath before answering. “I couldn't even if I knew how. That's the other terrible news: the
Teacher's Edition
is missing.”

There was an outburst of fury and fear from the Order members.

Eldonna raised her arms, and after a few minutes, everyone quieted down again. “Please, there's still more. Someone, perhaps more than one person, entered Dunkerhook Woods after Ralfagon disbanded the Order last Sunday. I arrived early today and found some damage.” Dunkerhook Woods had begun to heal itself, but the signs of the fight were still quite clear. “There are grooves in the dirt right by that chasm. And look at those bushes and that tree,” she said, pointing at the stripped shrubs and the tree that had been injured by Mermon's lightning.

Myarina Myashah, a slender, dark-haired woman, spoke up. “Do you think that these intruders were Outsiders? Perhaps people from the town?”

“How?” Robertitus Charlsus replied, shaking his head. “The woods are protected from them.”

Willoughby raised his hand again.

“Willoughby,” Robertitus said. “We can cut the hand raising, dontchathink?”

Willoughby cleared his throat, embarrassed. “Sorry. Comes from working at a grade school. Eldonna, is it possible that someone from another Order came in and caused the damage? The formulas don't keep out other Union members.”

This caused a commotion. Some shook their heads in protest; others grumbled and rubbed their chins with suspicion. The noise got louder as more members considered the possibility of another Order causing trouble.

“Perhaps we should take action,” Wanderby said. “Refuse to communicate with the other Orders in the Council of Sciences. No, with every group in the Knowledge Union. Even the Board of Administration!” The Order broke into excited chatter. Wanderby continued more loudly. “Think about it, people! We can't trust anyone but ourselves. We need search parties for the Book! And security for Ralfagon. Someone has declared war on our Order; we can't just sit quietly!”

Eldonna waved her hands again, trying to restore calm. “Everyone, please. PLEASE!” she shouted. “There's no need to get hostile toward anyone yet. We don't have any suspects or clues. Besides, I was thinking we
should
seek help from the other Orders. The Biology Order has members who can heal injuries. Ralfagon always spoke of their Keeper as a friend. If they can heal Ralfagon, he might be able to tell us who attacked him or what has happened to the
Teacher's Edition
.”

The members murmured as they considered this, but Wanderby slammed his doughy fist into his palm. “No! We have to be on guard against the culprits. Look around you, Eldonna! You pointed out the destruction yourself. Who else but Biology could damage Dunkerhook Woods like that? They're waiting for us to let our defenses down so they can finish Ralfagon off.”

More murmurs rose among the Order.

Loisana Belane frowned. “Wait a minute…if they have the Book, they also have access to all our formulas.”

“That's not exactly true,” Eldonna said. “They'd have to figure out how to read the Book, which should be impossible. There's no need to overreact.”

Mermon stood up. “No need to overreact? Look what they did to our woods! And my neighborhood!”

There was another gasp throughout the Order. Veenie nodded. “Yesterday the local police and firefighters had a real mess to deal with. The street was torn up, property was scattered, a car was blown up, and several lawns—those that gave this town its name—were set afire! The Outsiders all think it was some freak accident, but I don't believe in coincidences like that. We have enemies in the Union, and it looks like they're coming after us!”

The Order members were clearly aghast; many had heard about the explosions but had believed the Outsiders' explanation. Most forgot their long-nurtured dislike for Veenie in their need to learn more. They shouted out questions about the type of damage and if he'd seen anything.

“You see?” Wanderby said. “This is what I'm afraid of!”

“Okay, our first task is—” Eldonna started to respond.

Wanderby interrupted again; he'd apparently gotten used to skipping the hand-raising process. “We must stop them before they can master the Book! We must search out members of other Orders. They're surely roaming about as spies. We must protect our leader, our Order, and our lives!”

Order members shouted, clapped, and cheered. The ground in Dunkerhook Woods rumbled, the trees shook, and the air was filled with bursts of light and color, random weather changes, and tiny bursts of fire and electricity.

Eldonna looked on in shock as the meeting spiraled out of her control. I was equally stunned. These people, usually mild-mannered as they spent their time thinking of Physics and related matters, were acting like a bunch of soccer hooligans! I glanced at Mermon Veenie and rubbed my chin (I had an itch there). This turn of events served Veenie and Sirabetta's needs perfectly. In fact, if Veenie had suggested this, I'd have thought it was part of their plans. But Wanderby had been the one behind this chaos. And Wanderby was no friend of Veenie's and Sirabetta's…was he?

 

Flangelo, in sparrow form, observed from a nearby branch. Two things were clear to him: Mermon Veenie and Sirabetta no longer had to worry about the other Orders interfering with their plans, and Simon and his friends would find many more enemies if they got caught using their abilities.

Flangelo shifted from one leg to the other. He needed to know more about this Sirabetta before he would even consider trying to contact Gilio. He didn't want his Keeper meeting the same fate that Ralfagon had.

Still, he didn't like the thought of the children facing more trouble. He flew back to Simon's house to warn them.