other two goons from the farm. At least I assumed they were the same two guys. They didn’t drop their hoods last time so I suppose they could be different characters. But it was definitely Bokka. Handsome, confidant Bokka. He didn’t wear his goggles down here, so this time I got to see his eyes. They were a unique shade of light green. I had never seen eyes like his before. A quick glance at Teek and the other Tiggen guards revealed that they all had light green eyes. I figured it had something to do with living underground.
Bokka scanned us all in a way that told me he was sizing us up in case there was trouble. His eyes fell on Alder. “And who is this new guest who dresses like a Rokador and carries our weapon?” Bokka asked.
Loor took the lead, saying: “He is from Pendragon’s tribe. He, too, has come to help.”
“The Yankees tribe?” Bokka asked.
At first I didn’t know what the heck he was talking about. I guarantee Alder didn’t have a clue either. But he knew enough not to say anything.
“Right,” I said, suddenly remembering. “The Yankees tribe. Scourge of the American League.”
Nobody had any idea what I was talking about, which was kind of fun.
“Welcome, Alder,” Bokka said warmly. “We’re honored to have you.”
Bokka’s friends didn’t look all too pleased. They stood there, staring at us like we were the enemy. What a bunch of clones.
“What’s with your buddies?” I asked. “Don’t they trust us?”
Bokka glanced back to his pals. “Forgive them,” he said. “They are Tiggen guards. It is their job to be suspicious of outsiders.”
“Then why aren’tyoususpicious of us?” I asked.
“Because Loor tells me I shouldn’t be,” Bokka said. He looked at Loor and smiled. Loor smiled back and looked down like some freakin’ girly-girl. This guy was a little bit too charming for me.
“I understand you had an accident,” Teek said to me.
Accident? I could use a lot of words to describe what had happened to me. “Accident” wasn’t one of them.
“Yes,” I said. “I ran into the club of a Ghee warrior a couple hundred times. But you know, accidents happen.”
“I’m sorry to hear you went through so much pain, Pendragon,” Bokka said. “But I’m happy to see you’ve recovered.” He sounded like he meant it too. I wanted to not like this guy, but couldn’t come up with a good enough reason, other than the fact he had a longtime relationship with Loor and she acted like a girl with a crush whenever she was around him. But that wasn’t enough reason not to like him. At least that’s what my brain told me. My heart was pushing me the other way.
“This switching station has been closed for quite some time,” Loor said.
“Without water it will not reopen,” Bokka said somberly. “But I have more disturbing news.”
“It gets worse?” I asked.
“There has been a general retreat,” Bokka explained. “The Tiggen guards have been ordered back from outlying regions of the underground.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means we are preparing for war,” Teek said.
Bokka added, “The fear is that if we are scattered when the Batu attack, we will be slaughtered. Right now all Rokador are gathering in the city of Kidik in anticipation of an attack. We are the last of the Tiggen guard who are spreading the word and rounding up stragglers. The future looks grim.”
Nobody said anything for a while. The idea of being on the verge of a war tends to stop conversation.
I finally said, “So what you’re saying is that unless there’s a huge rainstorm that fills the rivers, it’s war.”
“The answer to that lies with the Batu,” Bokka answered. “The Rokador are simply preparing to defend themselves. We are victims of the drought as well. We have little water and the Batu no longer bring us crops. I understand they barely have enough to feed themselves.”
“It is true,” Loor said.
“Then the future does indeed look grim,” Bokka said.
“What do your leaders say?” I asked. “Can’t they bring water from someplace else? I mean, all of Zadaa can’t be dry.”
“We ask the same thing,” Bokka answered. “The elite tell us they have done everything they can. They can’t reach out to all of Zadaa. We are at the mercy of the weather, just as the Batu are…only we are being blamed for the problem.”
He looked at me and asked, “I know you are here to help, Pendragon. I’m not sure how you can do that, unless you have a way to make it rain. Do you?”
The guy wasn’t being sarcastic. He really hoped I could doit.
“Afraid not,” I said. “The Yankees are good, but notthatgood.”
Bokka nodded in acceptance.
“Can you bring us now?” Loor asked. “Yes, come,” Bokka said.
Bokka turned on his heel and walked off quickly, followed by Teek and the other two goons. Loor followed them, and the rest of us went with her.
“Where are we going?” I asked Loor.
“To a safe place away from prying eyes,” she answered.
Bokka and his buddies led us through a series of tunnels, each of which looked exactly like the last. They were passageways that were dug right out of the sandstone. Some were barely wide enough for Alder’s shoulders; others were as wide as a school corridor with various pieces of equipment and pipes running through them. We passed several wooden doors, all closed. It was amazing to think that these people had created an entire world underground. It wasn’t like the fabulous underground of Third Earth. No way. This was all very crude. But there was light. Every few yards I saw small domes imbedded in the wall that gave off a soft, yellow glow. I didn’t think they had electricity, so I figured it had to be some kind of phosphorous. The result wasn’t exactly bright, but I had no trouble seeing where I was going.
After three turns I wished I had done a Hansel-and-Gretel move by dropping breadcrumbs to mark our route. There was no way I could find my way back. If I got ditched, I’d be lost. We had been walking for about ten minutes when the tunnel opened up into a larger cavern that had several other tunnels leading off it.
“This is called ‘the crossroads,’” Loor announced.
The name fit. What stood out most though, was a set of heavy, wooden doors that had to be twenty feet tall.
“What’s in there?” I asked.
Bokka looked at us, as if debating whether or not to answer.
“You do not have to tell us, Bokka,” Loor said.
Bokka let out a tired breath and said, “No, we’re friends. We should be honest with one another. It is a central water-transfer station. This station controls many of the smaller stations, like the one near the waterfall. My team has been assigned to stand guard here.” He nodded to Teek and his other pals. They immediately stood in front of the closed doors with their arms folded, looking all sorts of menacing.
“It’s okay,” I said. “We don’t want to go in.”
Bokka said, “We’re afraid this would be one of the first targets if the Batu attack.”
“No offense,” I said. “But if a whole bunch of Ghee warriors come charging down here, those guys won’t be able to stop them.”
“Then they will die trying,” Bokka said, staring me right in the eye.
D. J. MacHale
The Rivers of Zadaa
He was totally serious. These guys were willing to die to defend their tribe. It was a weird situation. Bokka and Loor were friends, but technically they were also enemies. If a war did erupt, this would get interesting…and not in a good way.
Bokka looked to his pals and announced, “I will return shortly. Teek, you are in command.”
Teek gave a quick wave to acknowledge. The others didn’t react, no big surprise. We continued on, following Bokka into one of the tunnels off the intersection. We had only gone a few yards when he stopped at another
