Water.” Gunny winked at them, asking them to play along.
Fayne said, “I thought about that too! I mean, they live like animals. They could have all sorts of diseases.”
“That’s why we need this tank hooked up to the irrigation system. When the gars arrive, we can send this… this…”
“Disinfectant?” Bobby offered.
“Right, disinfectantthrough the entire system. It’s very mild, but it will kill any germ that might cause trouble.”
Gunny handed the tank to Fayne. Fayne examined it suspiciously and said, “You say Aron wants me to do this?”
“He’s very concerned that the Advent goes smoothly,” Bobby offered. “And he wants everybody to be safe.”
Gunny looked Fayne right in the eye and used his most convincing Traveler voice to say, “It’s very important that you feed it into the system right now. If you don’t hurry, it will be too late. Can you do that?”
They all watched Fayne to see if she would accept the ruse.
“Sure,” she said with a shrug. “Don’t want none of them germs getting us sick or nothing.”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as Fayne took the tank to the irrigation controls. Spader went with her, just to be sure everything went well.
“We’re almost there,” Courtney said, barely containing her glee.
Bobby stepped away from the group and looked over the vast room full of plants that were growing in air. For the first time since he set foot on Eelong, he felt as if he had a little bit of control back. It was a relief, yet strangely disturbing to him.
“What’s the trouble, shorty?” Gunny asked, walking up to him. “We’re about to save Eelong and knock Saint Dane back down a peg or two. You should be happy.”
“I am, but I’m worried about Mark,” Bobby answered.
“Try not to,” Gunny said. “I’ll bet Boon is watching out for him right this very minute.”
Bobby nodded. “And I’m worried about the future.”
“Why’s that?”
Bobby looked up to the hole in the glass ceiling. “Have the rules really changed, Gunny? I can’t stop thinking about what Uncle Press said. We weren’t supposed to mix the territories.”
“I thought we went through this,” Gunny said. “If Saint Dane can do it, why not us?”
“I know, but what if that’s the whole point? We’re the good guys. We’re supposed to do things the right way. I mean, when is it okay to break the rules? When it’s important enough? But who’s to say what’s important?”
“I think saving a territory is pretty important,” Gunny said. “I hate to bring up a sore subject, but you remember theHindenburg. If we had saved that ship, it would have been doomsday for Earth.”
“This is different,” Bobby said quickly. “TheHindenburgwassupposedto crash. Who knows? Maybe Black Water is supposed to be poisoned?”
Gunny didn’t have a reply to that.
Bobby continued, “What I’m saying is that if we start playing on Saint Dane’s level, I meanreallyplaying on his level, where will it end? What else will we have to do in the name of stopping him? If we have to keep doing things that aren’t right, does that make us as bad as he is? Is that the way things were meant to be?”
A dark, worried look crossed Gunny’s face. Bobby’s words had struck a frightening note of truth.
“She’s ready!” Spader announced. “Let’s put Saint Dane out of business.” He led them all over to the irrigation controls.
“We’re gonna beat him with seconds left on the clock!” Courtney said to Bobby.
Bobby didn’t react.
All eyes went to Fayne, who was adjusting the antidote tank. The tank itself was lying on its side, underneath a panel that had a series of valves and gauges. Fayne had attached a heavy, metallic tube to the nozzle.
“Is this going to work?” Bobby asked abruptly.
“Sure,” Fayne answered confidently. “I’ve never seen a valve like this, but I made a few adjustments. The seal is solid. Are you sure there’s enough juice in there to do the job? I mean, the tank is pretty small.”
“No worries, the antidote is very powerful,” Spader said.
“Antidote?” Fayne asked.
“Disinfectant,” Gunny said quickly. “Fayne, can you release a small amount to make sure it’s all hooked up properly?”
“It is,” Fayne said.
“Humor me,” Gunny said more forcefully.
Fayne shrugged and said, “Whatever you want. I just do what I’m told.” She stood up to the control panel and twisted a few heavy levers.
“What’re you doing?” Courtney asked.
“Opening up the valves so the entire system is activated. That’s what you want, right?”
“It has to reach all of Black Water,” Gunny said.
“And that’s what it’ll do,” Fayne assured him. “Here we go.” Fayne took hold of a large, black lever and turned it from left to right.
Nothing happened.
Fayne stared at her gauges with a frown. She reached forward and flicked her finger on one gauge to unstick it. The needle didn’t budge.
“This doesn’t make sense,” Fayne said. She flipped a few more levers and tapped a few more gauges. Her frown deepened.
“What’s the trouble?” Gunny asked.
“Hang on,” Fayne snapped. She left the control panel and pulled the tank out from underneath. She lifted it up on end and unscrewed the metallic hose. The others exchanged nervous looks. Fayne removed the connector and examined the tank’s nozzle.
“Ah! Here’s your problem,” she announced. “There’s a crack at the base of the nozzle.”
“A crack?” Courtney shouted in dismay.
“It was fine when we left Cloral,” Spader said. “Nothing happened to it since.”
“But it did!” Courtney said” nervously. “It got hit with an arrow on the wippen field. And, and, I landed on the tank when I fell off the zenzen during the rockslide. I got hammered! It could have damaged the nozzle!”
“Can you fix it?” Gunny asked.
“Sure,” Fayne answered.
“See?” Spader said. “No worries.”
“But it won’t do no good,” Fayne added.
“Why not?” Courtney asked.
Fayne answered by unscrewing the nozzle and throwing it to Courtney. “Because your tank’s empty. The juice inside leaked out through that crack. I hope you got another one because there ain’t nothing in here.”
They all exchanged stunned, helpless looks.
Something caught Bobby’s eye. It was on Kasha’s face. Something was happening that didn’t make sense. Kasha’s black fur had suddenly changed color. He stared at her for a moment, not comprehending what he was seeing, until Kasha lifted her head and looked to the ceiling.
“Oh, no,” Kasha whispered.
The truth hit Bobby hard. Kasha’s face hadn’t changed color. The change happened because she was suddenly bathed in light. Light from the sunbelt. The greenhouse was soon aglow with bright light that shone down through the crystal ceiling. Everybody raised their eyes to the sky, all thinking the same thought:
The gigs had power.
EELONG
