D. MacHale - The Rivers of Zadaa

“Wait, stop!” I called to Teek. He put on the brakes. “Are there any dygos here on Kidik Island?” I asked. “Yes, there are two housed on the far side of this building.”

“Good. Go!”

“Why do you want a dygo?” Loor asked. “To attack the control station?”

“No,” I said. “I want a chance of getting our butts out of here after it all hits the fan. We’ve got to do what we can to save Zadaa, but win or lose, if we’re trapped here, Saint Dane wins. The whole thing. Halla. Before we make another move, you all have to promise me something. Whatever happens, there’s going to be a point when we’ve done all we can. Promise me when that time comes, we’ll all get out together.”

“I agree,” Alder said. “That is the wise thing to do.”

I looked at Loor. She didn’t answer right away. This had to be tough for her. Finally she said, “I understand, Pendragon. You are right. When you say it is time to go, we will go.”

I looked at Saangi, and she nodded in agreement. “Good,” I said. “Saangi, can you drive a dygo?”

“I drove here, did I not?” she answered. “Perfect. You heard Teek. Find one. Bring it here.” Saangi looked to Loor. Loor gave her a reassuring nod. “Of course,” Saangi answered brightly, thrilled to be part of the plan. She turned and ran off. It was down to the three of us. Me, Loor, and Alder. We exchanged nervous looks. It was a brief moment of calm and a chance for us to catch our breaths.

“Seems like old times,” I finally said.

The two nodded knowingly. We had been here before. The three of us. We had become different people than the three kids who fought to save Denduron. Though it had been only a short few years since that battle, we had each gained a lifetime of experience. I could only hope we would be as successful-and lucky.

As the three of us stood there, on the edge of that vast cemetery, there was only one thing I was certain of. These would be the last few quiet moments we would have for a very long time.

Inspite of all my bold talk, I had absolutely no idea how we were going to take over the master water controller, or what we would do next if we were lucky enough to pull it off. There was no time to form a plan. No chance to weigh all the options and make the smart choice. We had to go for it, taking it one step at a time and making decisions as we went. One consolation was that I couldn’t think of two better people to have with me than Loor and Alder. We had saved one territory together. It was time to save another.

We worked our way back through the maze of tunnels in search of the master control station. Loor’s instincts and memory were incredible. With no wrong turns, we soon found ourselves outside the steel door that led to the catwalk over the massive room full of machinery.

Loor gave us both a cautionary look, with a finger to her lips as a signal for us to be quiet. We nodded in understanding. She opened the door, and we stole quickly onto the catwalk that ran high over the master control station. There was more activity going on below than when we were last there. Four engineers were at the controls. Even from as high up as we were, I saw the tension on their faces and in their body language. No big surprise. Carrying out genocide would tend to put people on edge. I wondered what they were thinking. Did they fully understand that their actions would result in the death of thousands? Were they convinced that killing so many was the only way they could save themselves? Or was the reality weighing heavily on them? It didn’t matter. They had to be stopped.

Preventing us from doing that would be a handful of Tiggen guards. They stood on the floor of the control room, each at the bottom of a set of steel stairs that led up to the control platform. They seemed pretty relaxed. They weren’t expecting an assault on the station. Good news for us.

Looking down on the control-room floor, I knew there would be guards. I knew there would be engineers. I didn’t know we’d be joined by a third group. Seated together, in special chairs that had been put there for the occasion, were the ten members of the Rokador elite. They had been gathered, I suppose, to bear witness. Most of them sat attentively, looking edgy. I didn’t blame them. The engineers up on the control platform may have been the ones flipping the switches, but the decision to destroy the Batu came from the odd group on the floor. The really old guy was slumped over in his chair again. Asleep and drooling. The two kids fidgeted and poked at each other. Unbelievable. I wondered if their votes counted as much as the others’. I also wondered if they were worried about Saint Dane not being there at the final hour. They must have thought it was strange. I, on the other hand, knew it was perfectly normal. I knew that their buddy, the architect of this horror, had probably hit the flume already, bound for his next territory after a job well done.

The last difference I noticed was the sound. I already told you how this room had a hum to it, like it was full of energy. Now the powerful sound was even more intense. It filled the vast space, making the catwalk vibrate. I could even feel it in the pit of my stomach. I was pretty sure that this machinery had never been put to this kind of test. It was staggering to think that it had the power to move the massive underwater gates that controlled the flow of an entire ocean. I had a brief hope that the machinery would malfunction and save us all a lot of trouble. But we couldn’t rely on that. We had to act.

We heard a soft, screeching sound to our left. The door to the catwalk was opening. Loor, Alder, and I sprang to attention. We had been discovered. A second later two Tiggen guards entered. Loor and I pulled out our weapons. Alder shouldered his crossbow, ready to shoot. A third Tiggen guard entered-Alder fired-and I knocked his aim off with my elbow. The steel arrow flew, but embedded itself in the wall over the door, harmlessly. I had thrown off Alder’s aim just enough so that he missed killing his target. It was Teek.

I instantly recognized the other two Tiggen guards. They were with Bokka when he brought us to the crossroads. They were friends. The three Tiggens looked up at the steel arrow in the door above them, then back to us with wide eyes that said, “What the heck did you do that for?”

Alder shrugged an apology. I nudged him and Loor to follow me and ran quickly and quietly toward Teek. We all left the catwalk and the machine room, closing the door behind us.

“The water level is rising,” Teek said nervously. “And I hear sounds. Across the water. I believe the Ghee invasion is growing close.”

“Are you willing to help stop this thing?” I asked, looking at Teek and the others.

Teek answered for the group, saying, “We have trusted Bokka since we were young. We have no reason to stop now. He knew this was wrong. It should be stopped. The question is, how?”

“Do any of you know how that control panel works?” I asked.

The Tiggen guards looked at one another. None seemed ready to jump in with expert advice. Finally Teek took the lead.

“Come,” he said, and opened the steel door.

“Wait here,” I said to the others. I followed Teek back onto the catwalk where we could look down on the control platform. As I wrote before, this platform was built on top of the huge, horizontal pipe that was half-buried beneath the floor. I’m guessing its deck was about twenty feet off the floor, with metal ladders that led up to it. The control panel itself was centered along the length of the platform, so that the engineers could walk around it. The panel had two sides, was angled like the roof of a house, and each side held a long row of steel handles that looked as if they could be turned one way or the other. Over each handle was some writing that I’m sure described what the control did. Above the writing looked to be gauges of some sort that measured…whatever. There were also three white lights over each handle. I saw that in some cases all three lights were lit. Others had only one, still others two or none. The only difference between the sides was that one had larger handles. There seemed to be twice as many of the small handles as there were large ones. Two engineers were on each side, monitoring the gauges, looking tense.