“Uhhh, yes! Manufacturing. That’s where we work.”
“Let me give you a piece of advice,” he said. “Do not make friends with a Batu. They cannot be trusted.”
“Yes, good advice,” I shot back. I figured I’d better agree with whatever this guy said if we wanted to get his help. “When I see Loor I’m going to just… call off our friendship.
No more lies! But I have to find her first, so how do we get out of here?”
“Follow me,” he said, and walked off quickly.
Yes! We were on our way out. He led us along the river-bank and right up to the waterfall. As we got closer I saw that it was possible to walk behind the falling water. We climbed a few stone steps and passed right behind the wall of water. Very cool. We then saw that cut into the stone wall behind the falling water, was a tunnel. The man led us inside and after a few steps we came upon a room that had the coolest, strangest gizmo I think I had ever seen.
The best thing I can liken it to is one of those big pipe organs you see in church, but it was ten times the size. One whole wall was covered with pipes of every different size, ranging from about an inch in diameter to as wide as about ten inches. They ran from the ground, all the way up to the stone ceiling.
The guy put his rolls of paper down and stepped up onto a stone platform that faced a vast array of levers, switches, valves, and knobs. There must have been a couple hundred of these controls. I had no clue how he could tell one from another because none seemed to be marked. He walked back and forth on the platform, expertly flipping switches, tightening valves and loosening others. At one point he picked up one of the scrolls, unrolled it to check something, then tossed it down again and went right for a few more valves and opened them up. Whatever he was doing, it seemed very important. At least to him anyway.
Spader gave me a questioning look. I could only shrug. I had no idea what the guy was doing. I didn’t want to ask him either or it would give away the fact that we didn’t belong here.
“Uhhh,” I interrupted. “Excuse me but, you were going to show us the way out?”
The guy kept working on his levers, but looked back over his shoulder at us. I could tell we were bothering him, but too bad.
“That way,” he said, nodding toward an opening cut into the rock on the far side of the room. “Keep making rights, and remember what I said. Do not trust the Batu. Stay with the Rokador.”
Ohhh-kay, whateverthatmeant. I didn’t ask. “Thank you!” I said, and motioned for Spader to follow me. The man went right back to his work and we got the heck out of there.
We walked quickly through the doorway and, as instructed, kept making rights until we found a spiraling ramp that led up. We climbed and every so often we’d reach a new level and saw corridors that led off to places unknown. But, we didn’t need to explore any more of this underground world. We needed to climb out.
After climbing for several minutes we finally leveled off and found ourselves in a room that was full of light. The walls were made of brown stone, but they were smooth, not like the rock below. It was clear that we were on the surface and the room we were in was man-made, not man-dug. A quick look around showed a doorway that led to the light. It was time to take our first look at Zadaa. I had no idea what to expect, but I was getting anxious to see the territory where Loor came from. I led Spader across the room, stepped out into the warm sun, and stopped short because the sight in front of us was absolutely breathtaking.
It was a sprawling city made entirely out of sand-colored stone. Imagine ancient Egypt before wind and time destroyed it and you’d have Zadaa. We stood on a rise that gave us a pretty great overview. There were soaring temples with sculpted figures that towered over the streets below. There were pyramids and tiered buildings with lush hanging plants draped over balconies. In the distance, beyond the boundaries of the city, there was nothing but desert. But the city within was alive with vegetation. It was like a vast oasis in a sea of sand. Running parallel to many of the streets were stone troughs that carried fresh water throughout the city. There were also ornate fountains everywhere. After having seen the river below, I knew what the source was. I wondered if the system of valves and switches that the guy down below was so busily working on had something to do with controlling the water flow.
This was a beautiful city, and I could easily imagine Loor walking the streets. Yes, this was Loor’s home. It made absolute sense to me.
“Where is the ocean?” asked Spader.
His voice was shaky. After all of the bizarro experiences I had put him through, the sight of this city was the first thing that really rattled him.
“Where is the ocean?” he asked again, more nervously.
It suddenly made sense to me. Cloral was a hundred percent water. There was no dry land. Seeing a place that was just the opposite must have been pretty freaky.
“It’s okay,” I said, trying to calm him. “There is no ocean here. At least not one that I can see. These people live on dry land.”
“That’s impossible! How can you live on dry land? There isn’t enough water for power or food!”
Okay, how weird was that? But I guess if you live in a place where everything comes from the ocean, having no ocean would be pretty scary.
“It’s cool, I swear,” I said. “It’s just a different way of living. You’ll see.”
Spader didn’t look so sure, but I wasn’t worried about him. He’d get it soon enough. It was then that I realized something strange. I glanced back out on the city and realized that there was something very important missing. There were no people! This was a huge city, yet the streets were empty.
“Let’s take a look around,” I said, and started to walk. Spader didn’t follow me this time. He was rooted to his spot. I had to go back to him and say, “C’mon! We have to find Loor.”
Reluctantly he followed. We walked along one of the streets that was paved with stone. Towering statues loomed over us as we made our way through this strange and wonderful place.
“I’m having trouble walking,” Spader said.
I didn’t get what he meant until I saw that he looked kind of unsteady. He seemed almost dizzy and had trouble keeping his balance. I realized that he was going through the reverse process of getting used to being on a boat. My father called it “getting your sea legs.” Spader had lived his entire life floating. This was the first time he was walking on solid ground and it was a strange sensation. Spader was trying to get his “land legs.”
I tried not to laugh and said, “You’ll get used to it pretty quick. But if you’re going to barf, let me know.” I didn’t know how far this landsickness might go.
We continued on a little more slowly and started to see some people, but not as many as you’d think. The people up here on the surface had much darker skin than the guy we saw below. These people looked more like Loor and Osa. Their skin was dark, and they wore multicolored robes that were pretty spectacular.
“I wonder where everybody is?” I said. “Maybe it’s some kind of holiday and — ” That’s when it hit me. The guy in the cavern below had said that the Batu would all be at the tournament! Maybe that was why the streets were deserted. Maybe everybody was at this tournament.
The very next person we saw, I stopped and asked, “Excuse me, which way to the tournament?”
It was a woman. She was tall and stern looking. She stared at me as if not sure why I would be asking such a simple question.
“Not many Rokador are interested in the tournament,” she said coldly. “They do not have the stomach.”
Rokador. That’s what the guy down below had said. Maybe the guys who lived below were called Rokador and the people on the surface were Batu. We must look like Rokador. I wasn’t sure if it was because of our white gowns, or the fact that we were pretty pale compared to the people on the surface.
“I think we can handle it,” I said.
The woman chuckled, but I’m not sure if she was laughing with us or at us. She directed us to stay on this street and it would take us right to the tournament. Excellent. We were happening. Spader and I picked up the pace. I felt certain this would bring us to Loor.
As we continued walking Spader got stronger. He was adapting pretty quickly, so I figured it was a good time to start getting him up to speed on things. I began by telling him about the territories and about how they were all connected by flumes. I explained how Uncle Press and I came from a territory called Second Earth and that we were both Travelers who journeyed to the territories to help out in times of trouble. I explained how Loor was a Traveler as well, which is why I wanted her help. I didn’t go into much more detail. It was better for him to get his mind around things a little at a time. For the first time I understood how Uncle Press felt when he explained things to me and I had so many questions. It really was easier to learn things as you went along.
