D. MacHale - The Rivers of Zadaa

“Evil s-spirits!” he repeated nervously. “He is an evil spirit! Evil!”

Teek wasn’t okay. I had to think of something to say that would keep him from going totally insane.

“He’s no spirit,” I said. “It was a trick. He’s full of tricks to fool people.”

“He… he transformed! And flew!” Teek chattered.

“All a trick,” I lied. “But you’re right about one thing: He is evil.”

Loor got to her feet. She was wobbly, so Saangi had to help her up. “We must get Pendragon to the flume,” she said. “He must be kept safe.”

“No,” I said. I looked at Loor, then Alder, and Saangi. “Saint Dane thinks he’s proving a point on Zadaa? I can prove one too. We’re seeing this to the end. All of us.”

‘Are you sure?” Loor asked.

I nodded. I could see her relief.

“The end may come sooner than you think,” Saangi said. “Why’s that?” I asked.

“That is another reason we had to come,” she answered. “The Batu have entered the underground. The attack has begun.”

Loorknew the plans for war, as did Saangi. The Ghee had been preparing for this day for a long time. The invasion would be overwhelming.

“It will begin with dygos,” Loor explained. “Ghee spies have stolen dozens of them, of all sizes. They have been kept hidden in the desert. The plan is to drive them into the underground and use them as shields against the defenses of the Tiggen guards. Each dygo will be followed by hundreds of warriors. The dygos will break through any resistance, whether it be rock or Tiggen, clearing the way for the Ghee warriors.”

“How do they know where to go?” I asked. “I mean, isn’t the underground like a huge spiderweb?”

“It is,” Loor answered. “But there have been scouts. They know the general direction of Kidik. They know this is the seat of power. This is the target. They will travel through the tunnels that take them in the proper direction. If there is no tunnel, they will drill one. The attack will be relentless.”

“Yeah, until they reach the ocean,” I said.

“What will happen then?” Alder asked.

“It’s a trap,” I answered. “The Rokador are going to flood the tunnels and drown every Batu who’s in the underground.”

Saangi shot me a look of surprise. Alder looked just as stunned. I hated to have to put it so bluntly, but we were way past worrying about tact.

“That will be thousands of Batu,” Saangi said, her voice suddenly sounding like that of a frightened, little girl.

“Can they truly do that?” Alder asked.

I looked to Teek. He still looked shaken, but his senses were returning.

“What did you find out?” I asked him. “How is this gonna work?”

Teek answered with no emotion. It was as if he were in a trance. His world was crumbling around him, in more ways than one. “The Kidik Ocean is nothing more than a giant holding tank,” he began. “It is fed from the north by many distant rivers. The engineers control how much water is let in with giant gates. To the south, near the city, there are many small gates that control the flow to the rivers beneath Xhaxhu. Those are the gates that have been closed to choke off the water and create the drought. The plan is to throw all the gates to the north open, allowing the ocean to rise. The engineers have already begun. I can see that the ocean level is far above normal.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” I asked. “I mean, if they let too much in?”

“No,” Teek continued. “The next step will be to open the gates to the south. The rivers of Zadaa will flow again, higher and faster than ever before.”

I thought back to the deep, dry riverbed near the flume. When I first saw it, the water moved through quickly and powerfully, fed by the tall waterfall. Now the water was long gone, but I could envision water suddenly spewing from the top of the waterfall and crashing down into the dry trough, filling it with a violent, relentless surge. The same would happen to all the dry riverbeds. The water would quickly find its way up to the streets of Xhaxhu, filling the troughs and recharging the fountains. Some on the surface might think this was good news, signaling the end of the drought. They’d be right, at least about the drought being over. Those below would quickly learn that the return of water wasn’t such a good thing.

I looked to Loor and said, “When the Ghee see the water suddenly return to the rivers, what will they do?”

Before Loor could answer, Teek said, “They will die. Even if they decide to call off the invasion, there will not be enough time to escape. That is when the final step will be taken. There are giant overflow gates throughout the underground that lead to runoff tunnels. They were designed to carry off excess water should there be a flood, or the control gates malfunction.”

“I’ve seen those,” I said. “Giant silver disks built into the tunnel walls?”

“Yes,” Teek said. “Today they will be used for another purpose. When the control gates to the south are opened, the gates leading to the runoff tunnels will also be opened. These tunnels will quickly fill with water.”

“There is enough water to do all of this?” Loor asked.

“So they say,” Teek answered. “The gates to the north will all be opened. Thousands of water sources will be channeled into the ocean. It will take only minutes to fill the overflow tunnels. That’s when the overflow gates will be opened, flooding the entire underground.”

“Drowning every Batu below,” I said.

“And leaving Xhaxhu open to attack by every marauding tribe on Zadaa,” added Loor.

“It’s a hideous plan,” Teek said. “But the elite are convinced it’s our only chance of survival.”

“They are wrong!” Loor shouted. “Killing the Batu will be their own suicide!”

“Saint Dane has convinced them otherwise,” Teek said. “I believe it is a horrible mistake. So did Bokka. He died trying to warn you. I would do anything to stop it, but it is too late.”

“Maybe not,” I said.

Everyone looked at me with surprise. As Teek was explaining the Rokador plan, I got an idea. It may have been a long shot, but at least it was a shot.

“We cannot stop the Batu,” Saangi warned. “It is too late.”

“She is right, Pendragon,” Alder said. “Saangi showed me the dygo machines gathering in the sands outside of Xhaxhu. There were hundreds of them. We watched as they rose up on legs and began drilling into the ground. They are coming. The only reason we arrived here before them is we had a map. I would not be surprised if they are nearing Kidik as we speak.”

Teek added, “With so little time, there is no way to convince the elite of their mistake. The water gates to the north are open. The ocean is rising.”

“I know,” I said. “We can’t stop the attack and we can’t stop the Rokador. Our only hope is to control the controller.”

“I do not understand,” Loor said.

“This all comes down to the water-control device in the center of this building,” I said. “If we can’t get the elite to stop the flood, maybe we can do it ourselves.”

Loor’s face brightened. She said, “You mean, seize control of the machinery?”

“Exactly,” I said. “Shut it down. Reverse the flow. Whatever.” I looked to Teek and asked, “Do any of the other Tiggen guards agree with you? Do they know what a mistake this is?”

“Many do,” Teek answered.

“Find them!” I ordered Teek. “Bring them to the master control station. Now!”

“But-“

“Go!” I shouted.

Teek took off running. My mind was in overdrive. This seemed to be our only hope. There was no time for debate. We had to act.