It took only a few minutes for the sunlight to charge the solar batteries. James noticed smoke coming out of the batteries and realized that the batteries were overheating.
“That’s enough!” he shouted.
The Scavenger closed his eyes again and muttered a spell. Concentrating his energy again, he destroyed the wormhole.
“I don’t think I have the energy to destroy the wormhole at the Sun!” the Scavenger said.
James shook his head. “You don’t need to. Let it remain. Without any wormhole connecting it, it is useless.”
James pressed some buttons and yanked some levers. The space shuttle started to move. Everything was going great, but the solar energy it had taken from the wormhole was too much. Some parts were overheating.
The shuttle started to free fall, gaining velocity by the second.
James knew what was to be done. The blue wire was required to be cut for the shuttle to lose its thrusters and, eventually, its speed.
He shouted at the Scavenger, “Cut the damn blue wire!”
Meanwhile, the scientists at the Brentinute waited with bated breath, watching everything on their Control Centre screen. They prayed for everyone’s safety.
If only they knew.
The Scavenger ran towards the battery. He could see millions of wires. Where was the blue one?
The scientists gasped. The shuttle was plummeting straight towards the ground. It seemed they were losing the mission.
The Scavenger finally located the blue wire.
With a swipe, he cut it. All of a sudden, the shuttle lost speed.
But was it enough?
With an almighty crash, the shuttle hit the vast waterbody. The impact was massive. Water rose from all sides. The scientists gathered on the shore and waited.
Buoyancy-providing machines activated in the shuttle, bringing it out of the water. Big cranes lifted the space shuttle out of the water, placing it onto the sand.
A door creaked open.
A lone figure carrying three small bodies stumbled out.
The Scavenger knelt on the ground and grinned.
“We did it!” he whispered.
Then he blacked out.
11
Archer awoke.
He was feeling numb and was staring at an expanse of white.
Archer realized it was a ceiling. He tried to move but he couldn’t.
“Cool it,” a voice spoke.
A man appeared in Archer’s vision.
“You’re safe,” the man said. “I am Dr Carl, the head of medicine at the Brentinute. You’re in our hospital.”
Archer tried to sit up, but Dr Carl stopped him. “Just relax. Your friends are safe. The special herbs have done wonders. The Scavenger is already back on his feet. His resilience is more than anything I have ever seen. I’m giving you a sedative. A few hours of rest and you’ll be as good as new.”
Dr Carl’s words proved right. After eight hours of sleep, Archer, James and Daniel were good to go.
The scientists, the Greenies, the Scavenger, the children and the others celebrated their achievement with a feast.
After the feast, the Scavenger’s group assembled in Staler’s office.
“What do we do with Cayden?” Staler started to speak. “He has been interrogated, subjected to starvation and what not. After all that, he keeps saying only one thing: I am not the traitor.”
Pyros shrugged. “I am not surprised. Cayden’s been trained well. He will not admit anything. Let him remain in the prison. He is no more a concern for us.”
The Scavenger said, “Osay must have already known our exploits by now. We should rather start worrying about what Osay will do next. I suggest we review the safety of the Brentinute.”
“It’s a valid observation,” Staler said. “We can’t be complacent. We should always assume that Osay is ahead of us all the time.”
Daniel chuckled. “Osay was almost spent in trying to get the First Page from us. Imagine, now he has to get both the Pages from us. He needs to be two steps ahead of us.”
Everyone laughed.
The Scavenger continued, “We should first secure the Brentinute. Then plan for combining the two Pages and opening the dimension to retrieve Matt.”
Pyros said, “I’ll share several books with you, Staler. They are about standard security practices. The Brentinute must remain secure.”
Staler nodded. “All right. Pyros and I will work here at my office. I suggest everyone else should take some rest.”
The Scavenger and the children left for their rooms to rest.
Within minutes, a clattering noise awoke Archer.
The noise seemed to be coming from outside. Archer dismissed it and tried to get back to sleep.
Suddenly, the door crashed open.
Archer shot up.
The Scavenger was standing there, his face betraying nothing.
“Wear your armour,” the Scavenger said. “The enemy has attacked.”
In a few minutes, Archer was dressed in his armour. He ran outside and barged into Staler’s office.
All his friends were already waiting there.
“Take a seat, quick,” Staler said, sweat pouring off him.
Archer sat down.
The Scavenger stood up. “Our worst fear has come true. Osay has attacked the Brentinute. The guards are holding up, but for how long I don’t know. We need urgent reinforcement.”
“I don’t see the problem,” James said. “Just call the Greenies with your bracelet.”
The Scavenger glared at him. “That’s the crisis. I can’t find my bracelet.”
A shocking silence engulfed the room for a few moments.
The Scavenger broke the silence. “It isn’t lost. I was wearing it when I went to sleep. The fact is, it has been stolen.”
This was even more shocking. Stealing anything from the Scavenger was next to impossible.
“Who could do this?” Daniel exclaimed. “Is Cayden out of prison?”
The Scavenger shook his head. “He’s still in prison. And even if he were out, he’s too weak to do this as he is pumped with sedatives.”
Staler thumped the ground. “There’s no use bickering! Act fast or the Brentinute will fall to the enemy.”
The Scavenger nodded. “James, go to Gronene. Tell him to find a way to call the Greenies. Staler and Pyros – take the families and secure them in the underground bunkers. Others, follow me to the front gate. James will join us later. We need to take on the enemy head on till the Greenies arrive.”
James rushed towards Gronene’s room and
