The Return of the Titans (28 page)

Aaron hurried into the room and sat down
beside him. Norm and Gerry sat on the opposite couch. Aaron reached
out and gently turned Justin's hand over to look at the palm.

“Ah, it looks so much
better,” Aaron said as he looked at the pink scar on Justin's palm.
“Weird how it's shaped like that rune, isn't it?”

“Yeah, the doctor said
that it split along the lines of that mark. Maybe when it heals,
the rune will be gone.” Justin stared at his palm for a moment. “I
hope it will,” he muttered. He glanced at Aaron who smiled
tentatively.

“You okay?” Aaron
asked.

“Yeah, I'm fine.” He
looked at all of them. “How about you guys?”

Gerry grinned. “We're good, Justin.” Then he
became serious. “You heard that we lost some of the Guardians?”

Justin nodded. “The doctor mentioned it, but
he wouldn't tell me any details.” He hesitated. “Was it anyone we
knew?”

They all shook their heads and he felt a
guilty sense of relief. “So how many did we lose?”

“Six, according to Mr.
Fitzgerald,” Aaron said quietly.

“And how did they get here
in the first place?”

“They haven't told us,”
Norm said. He sounded irritated. “It's like they don't trust us or
something.”

“Maybe they don't, Norm.”
Gerry stood up and wandered nervously around the room. “What if
someone in Sanctuary helped them get in?”

Norm stared at Gerry. “What?” he asked in
surprise.

“What if it was one of
us?” He stopped and looked at Norm. Justin and Aaron looked at each
other in confusion then back at Gerry. Norm shook his head but
Gerry kept on speaking. “Norm, you know what you heard. And I think
it's suspicious.”

“You're crazy, Ger. You
really are.” Norm turned away and stared at the table between the
sofas. He reached out absently and slid his finger along the runes
of the Arena square and watched the small walls rise from the
table.

“Wait a minute,” Aaron
spoke up. “You heard something, Norm? About the attack?”

Norm continued staring at the Arena and
finally Gerry walked back and sat down beside him. He glanced at
Norm then looked at Justin and Aaron.

“No, not about the attack.
At least, not directly. But...” he looked at Norm again but his
friend just stared at the table. “But he did overhear Benson
talking with one of his little admirers.”

Finally Norm looked at all of them. “He was
just being a big shot as usual. I'm sure of it.”

“Well, what did he say,
Norm?” Justin was getting impatient and his hand was starting to
throb a bit.

“I was in the library,”
Norm said hesitantly. “A few weeks ago. You know how much I like
reading about the Titan's history. Anyway, Benson and some of his
buddies were there. They were whispering and kept looking at me but
I guess after a while they forgot I was there. Anyway, I heard him
talking about the Titan technology and how much his father's
company could make if they got a hold of it.” He looked around at
his friends. “It sounds like Benson wants to impress his Dad. Said
his older brother was a big shot in the company but that his father
would finally notice Benson himself if he brought him some of the
Titan secrets.” Norm shrugged. “I guess with a company like that,
it would impress Benson senior.”

Justin stared blankly at Norm. “Company like
what?” he asked.

Norm looked puzzled. “Don't you know who
Benson is? Who his dad is?”

“Not a clue,” Justin said
and shrugged. “Haven't really cared either. So who is he,
Norm?”

“Gees, you guys,” Norm
said, exasperated. “You really need to read the papers sometimes. I
recognized him straight away.”

“Yeah but Normie, you're
so much smarter than the rest of us,” Gerry said with a huge
grin.

“Knock it off, Gerald.”
Norm's ears reddened. “Well, if you really want to know. Benson's
dad is Richard Benson, CEO and major share-holder in Bendar
Armaments. It's one of the largest arms manufacturers in the world.
Mr. Benson and his partner, George Darnell started the company
about ten years ago. A couple of years ago, Benson bought out his
old partner. There were rumors that Darnell was unhappy with the
way that Benson was getting hold of some of the company's newest
weapons technology.” Norm lowered his voice, seeming to forget that
there was no one else in the room. “Apparently, Benson has no
problem stealing other people's designs and claiming them for his
own company.” Then he sat back. “So that's the story. It sounds
like junior would like to impress daddy and the technology from
Sanctuary would definitely help.”

The friends looked at each other. “Do you
think he would betray Sanctuary if he could?” Aaron said to Norm.
The other boy shrugged.

“No idea,” Norm said. “I
don't know the guy. He could have just been talking big for his
little friends, you know. “

“Maybe,” Justin muttered.
“Or maybe he's planning to lead his Dad to Sanctuary. Or steal
something and take it with him.”

“I think you're taking
this guy too seriously,” Norm said. He stared at Justin solemnly.
“There's no way he could lead him back here, because none of us
knows where it is. As for stealing any plans or whatever, how would
he get them out of here? We don't even know where the exit is, do
we?”

Aaron and Gerry watched the other two but
didn't say anything. Justin thought about what Norm had said. Then
he thought of something and looked at Norm in surprise.

“But we do know where the
exit is. Or at least one of them. That Guardian told us the day of
the attack, remember?”

The others looked puzzled and Justin felt
exasperated. “She told Denise that if things looked bad, to take us
to the Ocular chamber. That there was an exit there!”

Norm's eyes widened. “Of course! How could I
have forgotten that.” Then he frowned. “But where in the Ocular
room? I don't remember seeing any other doors in there, do
you?”

Aaron and Gerry shook their heads, but
Justin remained quiet. “Justin? What are you thinking?”

“I'm remembering what Mr.
Denofrio said that day we talked to our parents.”

Aaron frowned while the others looked
thoughtful. “What did he say, Just?” Aaron asked.

“He said not to fall into
the pool, that the consequences would be unfortunate.” He glanced
at Aaron. “At the time, I thought he meant dangerous. But what if
he didn't want us to fall in because that's an exit from
Sanctuary?”

Norm just stared for a long moment. “Wow,
Justin. You're brilliant!”

“Now there's a statement
you don't hear every day!” Aaron said with a grin. Justin aimed a
mock punch at him that Aaron easily dodged. “But I agree with Norm,
Justin. And you may be right. After all, we know that the Titans
used water to travel. Makes sense that the Ocular pool might be a
doorway, doesn't it?”

They all agreed.

The door chime sounded and Aaron called for
whoever it was to enter. The door slid back and the boys saw Mr.
Fitzgerald standing there.

“May I come in,
gentlemen?” he inquired politely.

“Yes, of course,” Aaron
said, clearly startled. Mr. Fitzgerald smiled slightly and entered
the room. He looked over at Justin.

“Ah, Mr. McLeod. How are
you feeling?”

Justin forced himself to sit up straighter.
“I'm fine, sir. Thanks for asking.”
“You're welcome. Dr. Smythe has been keeping me informed of your
progress, but I wanted to see for myself.” He looked around at the
other teens then back at Justin. “Do you feel up to a short
walk?”

Justin looked at the man in surprise but
nodded. “Yes sir, of course.” He tried to get to his feet smoothly,
but almost fell over. He grabbed Aaron by the shoulder to steady
himself, then let go and stood on his own.

“Mr. Fitzgerald, I really
don't think Justin is in any condition to go walking around right
now,” Aaron told the man with a frown.

“I'm sorry, but it's
rather important. I'll have him back as quickly as I can and I will
try not to let him overexert himself.” Mr. Fitzgerald turned his
back on Aaron and walked out into the hallway. He stood there and
waited for Justin to join him.

“I'll be fine, Aaron,” he
told his friend who was still staring at Mr. Fitzgerald with an
angry look on his face. “I'll be back soon.”

“Fine,” Aaron replied
through his teeth. “But if you start getting weak or dizzy, make
sure you tell him. And get back here as soon as you
can!”

“Yes, mother,” Justin said
and grinned widely at Aaron's scowl. After a few seconds, his
friend smiled slightly.

“Don't be such a
smart-ass. Now get going before Mr. Fitzgerald gets
mad.”

Justin waved and joined Mr. Fitzgerald in
the hallway.

“Thank you for joining me,
Justin,” the man said as they set off down the hall toward the
courtyard. “I know you need to rest but there's something that I've
been meaning to show you and, since the attack, I think it is even
more important that you see it.”

“Yes sir,” Justin panted
as he struggled to keep with Mr. Fitzgerald's long
stride.

They made their way through the courtyard,
where Justin saw that any evidence of the attack had been repaired.
No one was sitting around the fountain and he wondered briefly if
the others were nervous of sitting here since the invasion.

He did not have much time to think and
concentrated on keeping his feet as they descended the steps that
led to the Ocular room. At the base of the stairs though, they did
not turn toward that room but continued straight ahead. Justin
realized that they were heading toward the water portal that had
led them to several areas in Sanctuary.

Once they were standing in front of the
waterfall again, Mr. Fitzgerald turned to look at Justin.

“Catch your breath, lad,”
he said kindly. “Are you okay? We can go back if you
wish.”

Justin would rather have collapsed than
admit to the man that he was tired so he just shook his head and
continued to breathe deeply.

“Excellent.” Mr.
Fitzgerald reached out and touched the water, which turned cloudy.
“We are heading into the bowels of Sanctuary. The portal will take
several seconds to transport us. Please don't be alarmed by this.
Just be patient and we will arrive safe and sound. Are you ready?”
Justin nodded. “Very well. In you go.”

Justin took a deep breath and stepped
forward into the water. As usual, he did not get wet, but he wasn't
immediately transported to another location and he was glad that
Mr. Fitzgerald had warned him. He might have felt more nervous than
he did. He counted seconds in his head. As he slowly reached ten,
there was a flash and he was standing ankle deep in sand, with a
hot dry wind blowing around him.

He blinked several times as gritty sand
swept past his face, and then turned slowly and looked around, his
eyes almost closed.

He was in yet another dome-shaped space.
This one was large, as most of Sanctuary's rooms were, but the
floor was covered with fine powdery sand that was constantly
swirling in a wind that had no source that Justin could see. The
walls that stretched up over his head and met in a dome were the
same rusty color as the sand and Justin could not really tell where
the floor ended and the walls began. There were no doors and, to
Justin's surprise, no sign of a return portal. How will we get out
of here, he wondered.

With a flash, Mr. Fitzgerald was standing
several feet away. He looked at Justin and nodded.

“You are calm, Mr. McLeod.
That's good. Others who have visited here seem much more
nervous.”

“Where are we, sir?”
Justin asked.

“In a place where only a
handful of people have ever been, lad. Only the leader of Sanctuary
can come and go here with impunity. It has various names but I call
it the Hall of Remembrance.”

“Remembering what, sir?”
Justin asked. He looked around again, puzzled by the idea that a
sandy round room would be constructed to remember
anything.

Mr. Fitzgerald chuckled. “Not remembering,
exactly, Mr. McLeod. Perhaps recalling would be a more appropriate
term. From here, if you know how, you can look back into the past.
You can see those who came before. You can examine historic events.
You can even, under certain conditions, communicate with those who
have passed on.”

Justin's eyes widened, even with sand
swirling by them. “But how, sir?”

“I will show you in a
moment. Come, let's walk over to the wall.” He led the way and
Justin struggled to follow, becoming more and more tired as he
slogged through the deep, slippery sand.

Once they had reached the wall, Mr.
Fitzgerald turned and indicated the center of the room. “That is
where the past will reveal itself, Mr. McLeod. As to what we will
see, well, it concerns you actually.”

“Me, sir? But I'm no one
important. And looking at my past will be very boring.”

The man chuckled. “Not your past, Justin.
But past events that concern you. Or rather, concern the heir of
Cronus. And that happens to be you. Now watch.”

Justin looked at Mr. Fitzgerald. Once again,
he did not see the man reach for a pendant and his wrists were
bare. How does he control any powers without either of those to
channel his commands, he wondered.

Mr. Fitzgerald raised his arms and looked
out into the blowing sands. He did not speak but Justin became
aware that the sound of blowing sand was fading. He looked out at
the room and watched in awe as the sand was now moving, twisting
and turning into patterns and shapes, rising up from the ground. He
gaped as walls were formed, trees and plants arose and before his
eyes a town or village came into being. The sand changed color and
texture and suddenly he and Mr. Fitzgerald were standing at the
edge of a community of some sort.