The Return of the Titans (13 page)

“But you saw him, my
lady.”

She hesitated. “I did. And the test cannot
be in error. DNA cannot be altered to trick us. But how this could
happen...”

“We must give this some
thought,” the harsh voice spoke again. “If he is some sort of
aberration, then he must be terminated, before he can tap into his
powers.”

“What?” Mr. Fitzgerald
stared into the darkness, his face suddenly pale. “We cannot do
that! We cannot kill a Titan!”

“No, we cannot,” said the
female. “Our colleague misspoke himself, Alexander.” Her voice
hardened. “There can be no talk of termination. Let us be clear on
that point.”

“Yes. Of course.” The
voice from the depths of the room sounded almost embarrassed.
“Forgive me. I was startled. Certainly we cannot harm the child.”
Mr. Fitzgerald continued to peer into the gloom with a look of
suspicion on his face. “Do you have any suggestions, Alexander?”
the voice asked.

“Well, my lord, if he is
what we think he is, then he must be watched. If he is educated
properly, taught to tap into his powers gradually, then even if he
is as strong as you think he might be, he could still be all
right.”

“What sort of person is
he, Alexander?” the female asked.

“It's hard to say at this
point, my lady. I have not known him long enough to make a
judgment. However, based on what my people have told me about him
and his classmates, he is a good-tempered fellow. He seems to be
forming close friendships. He isn't boastful or ill-mannered. More
than that I cannot say at the moment.”

“Very well, continue to
watch him. Get to know him if you can. I don't know that a noble
spirit can be passed on genetically, but he may be more like his
forefather than we think.”

“As you wish, councilors,”
Mr. Fitzgerald said. He bowed slightly then turned around and left
the room. The pillar sank back into the ground and the room was in
total darkness once more.

Chapter 9

When they reached the courtyard, the four
teens saw that nothing had really changed, except that none of the
others were hanging around the fountain. Several Sentries were
still patrolling the perimeter. One of the bronze animated statues
stomped toward them slowly, then stopped as it got to within about
ten feet.

This one looked like a winged horse.
Pegasus, Justin thought. Cool. It stared at them with the same
fiery red eyes that the minotaur had and it's wings flared up as if
it were about to take flight.

The group just watched. Justin wondered what
it was thinking, then wondered if it could think at all. After a
moment, the wings smoothed back with a quiet metallic sound and the
Sentinel moved on past them.

“I don't know if I'll ever
get used to those things,” Gerry said quietly as he watched it
pass.

“Same here, Gerry,” Norm
said. “I'd like to know what they are really. Are they robots? Or
what?”

Aaron just shrugged. “Maybe those of us who
stay will be told eventually,” he said.

Justin looked at him and then at the other
two guys. Aaron had reminded him about the decision that they all
had to make. The game and the earlier events had driven it
completely out of his mind.

“So, you guys decided to
stay or go yet?” he asked, trying to sound casual.

Gerry and Norm looked at each other, then
back at Justin. “We're still debating,” Gerry said. “I don't want
to spend a year or more away from my folks, and Norm doesn't
either.” Norm nodded at this. “But at the same time, if we go back
and get caught or...” he hesitated a moment then rushed on “or
killed, well, that won't help my family either. You know?”

“Yeah, good point,” Justin
said. “I'm really worried about my Mom, but if I go back and die,
she'll have no one. And” he managed a weak grin, “I don't actually
want to die anyway.”

Aaron ran his hands through his hair and
sighed loudly. “Actually it's not a hard choice for me at all.”
They all looked at him and he lifted his chin as he looked back.
“Well, it's not,” he said defiantly. “My Dad and I...don't get
along too well. I mean, I love him and stuff but, you know. And I
haven't seen my mother since she left us five years ago.” Then he
looked around, glancing at the Sentries and then at the fountain.
“But here...here I think I could get to like it. I could be
somebody.” He shrugged. “I could learn stuff, have fun. You know?”
He looked directly at Justin who smiled back hesitantly.

“I understand, Aaron.” he
said. “I really do. And I feel the same way. If there was just some
way I could at least contact my Mom, let her know I'm safe. Then I
think I could stay.” Justin paused for a moment. “Hey, I just
thought of something!” he said. The others looked at him
expectantly. “Mr. Fitzgerald never mentioned anything about being
able to get in touch with our families, did he?” They shook their
heads and Gerry suddenly looked interested. “Well, maybe we can! I
think we should ask him, at least.”

“Excellent idea, Justin,”
Gerry said with a grin. Then he frowned. “I wonder where he could
be? You think he has an office?”

“Someone that important
always has an office,” Norm said with certainty. “The question is,
where is it?”

“We'll just ask one of the
adults,” Justin said. “Let's head back to our rooms. There's always
someone on duty there.”

They all agreed and retraced their steps
back to the teen's living area. As they approached the intersection
that led to the boys and girls quarters, they could see Jonathon
standing there, looking slightly bored and staring into space. He
noticed them approaching and nodded.

“Gentlemen, what's the
rush?”

Justin realized they had been almost running
as they got back and stopped, feeling rather breathless.

“Hi Jonathon,” he said. He
paused a moment to catch his breath, then continued. “We wanted to
ask Mr. Fitzgerald a question. Do you know where he is at the
moment?”

The young man thought for a second. “I'd say
he's probably in his office at this time of day,” he said.

“See, told you so,” Norm
muttered to Gerry, who shushed him.

Jonathon looked a bit puzzled at the
exchange but continued on. “You may not have noticed yesterday, but
there are several doors leading off of the Court. Just head in and
take the one furthest from the entrance on the right hand side. His
office is the last one in that corridor.”

The boys thanked him and hurried off.

When they arrived at the Court, they found
the room very much as it was the night before. This time though
they noticed some doors leading from the room and made their way
across to the door leading to Mr. Fitzgerald's office. The hallway
that they entered was quiet. And it was different from any of the
other hallways they had seen so far in Sanctuary.

Instead of carved stone, the walls were
painted with rich scenes. People were depicted going about their
everyday lives. There was a scene of a market, with stalls
overflowing with vegetables and fruits. Some stalls were stacked
with piles of clothing and jewelry. And everywhere there were
people, talking, laughing, arguing. Children were dashing in and
out, chasing each other, chasing what appeared to be pets, several
of which, the boys noticed with surprise, were creatures, not dogs
or cats.

Justin saw a small winged snake being petted
by a little girl. And a bizarre-looking creature that was shaped
like a human but seemed to be made of stone. Yet the painting
caught it in mid step as it seemed to be chasing a laughing
boy.

The teens almost forgot their mission as
they examined the walls, commenting and laughing at all the
outrageous things that were depicted as if they were
commonplace.

Finally, Justin tore himself away from the
paintings and headed for the last door in the hall. The others
followed slowly, still looking at the scenes around them.

Justin reached the door and touched the
button beside it. He heard a chime through the door.

“Come in,” said a man. It
was Mr. Fitzgerald's voice. The door opened and the four of them
edged slowly into the office.

This room was also fascinating to Justin.
Every wall was lined with shelves. But instead of books, there were
piles of scrolls filling each shelf to bursting. A beautiful globe
made of different colored metals was placed in one corner and odd
bits of statuary and carvings were scattered both on the shelves
and on several tables in the room.

Mr. Fitzgerald was sitting behind a massive
wooden desk that was covered with piles of papers stacked neatly,
as well as more scrolls and several bronze figurines. On the wall
behind the desk was another clock and Justin noticed that it was
just after five o'clock. Dinner time soon, he thought.

The boys stood just inside the door until
Mr. Fitzgerald looked up from something he was writing and waved
them to several leather chairs scattered in front of his desk. He
smiled slightly as they sat down, then leaned back and looked at
each of them in turn.

“Yes, gentlemen? May I
help you?” he asked quietly.

The guys looked at each other for a moment,
then Aaron gave Justin a small nudge with his knee. Justin sighed
and cleared his throat.

“Um, sir, we were
thinking; I mean we were discussing whether we were going to stay
or leave.”

The man just raised an eyebrow and Justin
hurried on. “Well, I was saying that it would be a lot easier to
make the decision to stay if I could somehow get in touch with my
mother, directly.”

Before Mr. Fitzgerald could respond, Gerry
spoke up. “I feel the same way, sir and I think Norm and Aaron do
as well. I don't have any reason to distrust you, or what you told
us when you said our folks were okay, but it would make them and us
a lot more...reassured if we could just talk to them for a few
minutes.” He looked around the office. “Don't you have a phone or
the internet or something?”

“No, I'm afraid that
Sanctuary has no outside connections to the rest of the world. For
security reasons, you understand.” He sat there and watched them
for a long moment, tapping his forefinger on the paper in front of
him. Justin and the others began to squirm as the silence dragged
on.

“And you think that
communicating with your families would be mutually reassuring, do
you?”

They all nodded. “Yes, well...I don't know,”
the man said. Justin was holding his breath. It seemed to him that
Mr. Fitzgerald was having some sort of internal debate and Justin
wondered if that meant that there was actually a way to talk to his
mother. Just for a minute, he thought. Give me that and I'll stay.
I really will.

But he didn't say that aloud. He just tried
to be patient as Mr. Fitzgerald continued to consider their
request.

“I'm sorry, gentlemen,” he
said finally and Justin felt his heart sink for a moment. “But it
never occurred to me that a simple message could help so much.” He
shook his head ruefully. “I think I've forgotten what it was like
being young and having a family. Well,” he clapped his hands
together and they all jumped. “I think we can arrange for you to
talk to your families.” Justin stared at the man in disbelief. “You
mean, there's a way, sir? Really?”

“Yes, really, Mr. McLeod.
I can't promise that you will be able to talk for long, and there
are certain conditions that must be present for us to get through,
but I think it is worth a try.”

Justin looked at the others. Norm and Gerry
were grinning widely but Aaron simply sat on his chair, staring
forward with no expression on his face. Justin leaned toward
him.

“Aaron, are you okay?” he
whispered.

The blonde boy shrugged, still looking away.
“Yeah, I'm fine. But I told you, my Dad and I don't get along. And
I have no interest in talking to him.” He turned and stared
intently at Justin. “No interest at all.”

“That's cool, Aaron,”
Justin hastened to reassure him. “No one's going to force you to
talk to him. Especially if you've already decided to
stay.”

Aaron looked ahead again, just watching Mr.
Fitzgerald. “Good,” he muttered.

Mr. Fitzgerald had stood up and turned to
the wall behind him. Justin noticed that one of the round carvings
they had been told about was set into the wall behind the desk. Mr.
Fitzgerald placed his hand on the carving.

“Mr. Denofrio, please come
to my office,” he said. Then he turned to look at the four teens
again. They all looked puzzled.

“Sir, I didn't know that
you could use those to call someone,” Gerry spoke up. Mr.
Fitzgerald smiled.

“You haven't been with us
long enough to learn much about Sanctuary.” He glanced around. “It
has many wonders and secrets. If you stay with us, I think you'll
be amazed at how much you will learn.” The man sat down again.
“Please be patient. Mr. Denofrio will be with us momentarily,” he
said and picked up his pen again.

As Mr. Fitzgerald began writing again, the
guys put their heads close together and started whispering.

“I wonder what this
communication thing is,” Norm said. “Didn't he just say that there
were no phones or computers here?” He sounded puzzled.

“Yeah, really,” Gerry
answered. “I can't see them actually taking us back home. Can you?”
He was looking at Justin, who shook his head.

“Not a chance. They don't
want us to leave, that's obvious.” He thought for a moment. “It has
to be some sort of Titan technology. Maybe like the portals that
brought us here.”