like we can get lost. We’ve got about a mile to go.”
He turned right and started walking. Elli followed him and I followed Elli. It was tough getting my bearings after that breakneck cab ride courtesy of our night guide named Maddie. I figured that if we were headed toward the Ravinian fortress, then we were walking under the river. That was kind of creepy. But if this ancient tunnel had lasted through multiple centuries and a devastating war, the odds of it collapsing and trapping us were pretty slim. We didn’t say much on our journey. I think we had all retreated into our own heads to prepare for whatever we might find on the other side. Every so often we’d come upon an area where the tunnel widened. These areas seemed to be where connections were made and service people worked. Kind of like crossroads. I could see that these areas had been used as homes. There were crusty, crumpled-up blankets, empty cans of food, and some long-forgotten books.
“Did the homeless live down here?” I asked.
Mark didn’t even look back when he answered. “We’re all homeless, Bobby.”
Oh. Right. I started getting a clearer picture of what life was like for the non-Ravinians on Third Earth. They were in constant fear of being discovered by the Ravinians and lived like rats. They kept to the dark tunnels and could only move around without fear at night. They really were like vampires.
“So sad” was the only comment Elli made.
It wasn’t much, but I was glad to hear that she hadn’t checked out completely. Her head was with us, in the moment.
Our journey took about half an hour. It felt endless, since there wasn’t much to look at. We reached another juncture point, where the only difference between it and all the others was a painted symbol on the cement wall. It was a crudely drawn red star. The star that marked the gates. The Ravinian star. Mark saw that I was staring at it.
“We painted that to mark the spot,” Mark explained. “Kind of fits, don’t you think?”
I nodded. I knew what he meant. Every trip I had taken through Halla had begun at a spot that was marked by a star. This time would be no different.
Mark continued, “Going up here would get us into the conclave. You want to start here or check out the chopper factory?”
“I want to see what Antonio saw” was my answer. “Then we keep moving.”
Mark led us another few hundred yards until we came to another juncture. Our last. A narrow, metal ladder led up into the unknown.
“This is where it gets risky,” Mark explained. “This is the route we sent Antonio’s team on. The maps show that this comes up outside the fortress wall, next to the factory. We’re going to climb up to a manhole that’s buried under dirt and rubble. The thing is, there’s no way to know if a Ravinian guard is standing nearby until we lift it up.”
“So we might climb up into the middle of a bunch of dados?” I asked.
“Yeah, pretty much. This is outside the fortress, but it’s inside their security perimeter. They don’t expect anybody to be popping up out of the dirt. So if we run into somebody, it’ll be bad luck.”
“And what if our luck is bad?” I asked.
“Then we come out shooting.”
I had to smile at my friend’s bold statement. He hadn’t only grown up, he’d become a guerrilla. “Are you sure you’re Mark Dimond?” I asked.
He laughed. “I haven’t been sure of anything for years. You guys ready?”
I looked to Elli. She nodded.
Mark went to another electric panel. “Gotta kill the lights. Too risky to leave them burning. Put your hands on the ladder.”
Elli and I grabbed the ladder and Mark threw the switch. It was a good thing we were holding the ladder, because the juncture went pitch-black. I couldn’t see an inch ahead of me. We would have bumped into one another looking for the ladder in the dark.
“Me first, then Bobby,” Mark commanded.
I sensed him move past us and up the ladder.
“You going to be okay?” I asked Elli.
“I’m fine down here” was her answer. “It’s what’s outside that has me worried.”
That made three of us.
We all climbed up. And up. And up. We kept reaching higher levels, where we transferred to other ladders. Luckily, the ambient light grew as we got nearer the surface, so it wasn’t like climbing through ink. I kept glancing back, afraid that Elli might freeze. But she was right there with us. No problem. So far, she was rising to the occasion. We hit yet another level, and Mark waited for us to join him.
“This is it,” he whispered. “The manhole is at the top of this next ladder. I’ll go up and push the cover. Bobby, you stay behind me, but keep your eyes down. Dirt’s gonna fall. Once I’m up, I’ll check to see if it’s clear, then call for you guys to follow.”
“I should go first,” I suggested. “This was my idea.”
I was actually thinking that if we were to climb up under the feet of some dados, I didn’t want them to get Mark.
“Sorry. I’m calling the shots here.” He cuffed me on the arm. “Besides, I can’t let anything happen to the lead Traveler.”
I wanted to tell him that he didn’t have to worry, but it was clear that his mind was made up.
“Fine. What do we do once we’re on top?”
Mark shrugged. “Beats me. The map only gets us to here. After that we wing it.”
I turned to Elli and said, “Stay down here on the platform. We’ll call for you to come up.”
Elli nodded and backed away from the ladder. “Ready?” Mark asked.
I hitched the two guns up onto my shoulder and nodded. Mark scrambled right up the ladder. I followed close behind. In no time he was at the top. I leaned back and looked up to see the circular outline of the manhole cover. Mark waved for me to look away. I waved back for him to keep going and not worry about me. He shrugged and raised a hand up to the circle. Manhole covers are heavy to begin with, and if this thing was covered with dirt, it must have weighed a ton. I saw Mark strain to push with one hand. It barely budged. He had to use both hands, which wasn’t easy while balancing on a ladder. He climbed up one rung higher so he could use his legs as well. Yet again, I was amazed at how much my friend had changed. He was now a powerful, confident guy. I hoped he was powerful enough to get us the heck out of there. I was about to climb up, to see if I could help, when I felt the first trickle of dirt fall in my eyes. I looked away, and not a second too soon because Mark had the cover in motion and a load of dirt hit me on my head. I saw Elli on the platform, looking up. She had to step back to avoid getting hit with the dirt shower. The sound of metal raking across metal meant that Mark was pushing the cover aside. More dirt fell on my head, but I didn’t care. I wanted out of there. Fast. If there were any dados hanging around, we were in the worst possible position.
The scraping stopped and so did the cascade of dirt. I took a chance and looked up, to see a crescent of gray sky. Mark didn’t waste time admiring the sight. He popped his head up and did a quick three-sixty around.
“Bring her up,” he whispered down to me.
I looked down to Elli and motioned for her to climb. By the time I looked back up, Mark was already gone. I climbed quickly and squeezed myself through the sliver of an opening. Mark was right next to me, on his belly, his head near the open manhole.
“Stay down,” he whispered. “It’s clear, but who knows for how long?”
I scrambled out and got down on the ground next to Mark. The whole world looked gray, mostly because of the early-morning light that comes before the warm rays of the sun sneak over the horizon. We were in a wide alley between two high walls that ran parallel to each other. One, I realized, was the outer wall of the Ravinian fortress. It towered high over us like a skyscraper. I guessed that we were a couple hundred yards back from the front wall where the huge doors were. This wall had no doors. Or windows. Or anything. It was a sheer, stone facade that looked more like a giant dam than a wall. About thirty yards across from the fortress was the wall of another building. This wasn’t anywhere near as tall. I’d say it was about four stories high. But it was still pretty huge. We were maybe fifty yards from the front of this building, but it stretched back the other way for several hundred more. I looked at the massive building, then to Mark.
