Javier understood. “Get up,” he said. “Now.”
Oz was watching this unfold in sheer disbelief, his gun still drawn. “He’s still alive?” He’d been so sure Rick had taken a fatal shot to the chest. His mind raced with possibilities. Incredible possibilities.
Sofia was concerned. “Are you sure we should be doing this? I think he should rest.”
Javier ignored the question.
She didn’t press the matter. Javier seemed oddly unfazed. He also seemed like he had a plan, which was more than she had at the moment. Her heart pounded in her chest. She had no idea why Rick wasn’t dead. She glanced over at Oz. She watched him step closer to his fallen operative. She wondered, too, if the other man would suddenly spring back to life.
To Rick it felt like he was slowly syncing up to a different state of being. He was in a fog. He tried again to speak, but all the words would not yet come. “Where...”
“Back where you started,” Javier answered in a low voice. “In the cavern, with us. Now get your head clear. Follow my lead or we’re all dead.”
Luis and Diego were too stunned to question Javier.
“Whaa...” Rick answered.
“Help me get him up,” Javier said to Luis.
Rick felt strong hands lift him up to a sitting position, but he could not yet hold himself up. He was getting reacquainted with his own limbs and the tricky physics of moving them accurately through the surrounding space.
Lights started to dim again; he felt his eyes closing. He was tired. He wanted to sleep.
“Hey, no, no, no...” he heard Javier say. “Rick, wake up! Stay with us!”
He felt them shaking his body. They did not want him to sleep. Could they not see how tired he felt?
Javier spoke. “I know the draw you are feeling, but you cannot give in. We need you.”
Mari, Carlos and Juan watched and listened. They knew what their friend was trying to do.
“What’s going on?” Oz asked, inching towards them to get a better look at what was happening.
Memories came flooding back to Rick. This cave. These people. But he hadn’t seen them in a very long time. Or had he? It seemed like decades ago. Then, he saw Oz. It was like a cold splash of water to the face. His mind cleared and he was regaining his bearings. He now understood exactly the position they were in and it wasn’t good.
“Help me up,” Rick asked, as the fog lifted.
Javier nodded.
Javier and Luis each took one arm and gave him a boost up.
As they did, Javier whispered to him. “We need to get him to experience what you just did with the tablet. Do you understand?”
Rick looked at him. “I do.”
Rick, now standing, took a deep breath. He still felt a little woozy, but it was passing. He stood for a moment, feet shoulder width apart, feeling more in control of his body and his mind. “That’s better.” He gave a worn half-smile. “Back in the land of the living.”
Luis gave him some water.
Rick drank it down thirstily. He’d been parched.
Sofia was relieved to see him seeming like his old self. She didn’t know how it was possible, but she was grateful. She took her father’s hand and squeezed it.
Diego whispered silent prayers about the miracle that had unfolded before his eyes.
Oz was shocked. “How is he standing up?” He stepped a bit closer. He looked Rick over. There was no wound on him anywhere. No blood. Nothing. “I shot him. In the chest!”
Javier looked over at Oz, assessing him. He could tell that his shock and curiosity were starting to overwhelm his defenses. This could be exactly what he needed.
“Maybe you missed,” Luis said.
Oz didn’t even bother looking at him or answering. He couldn’t take his eyes off of Rick. He knew he had shot him. He’d seen Rick clearly react to being shot.
Alpha-3 and Alpha-4 were getting nervous. They had also been certain Rick had been fatally shot.
Oz looked from Rick to the wall of tablets, replaying events in his mind. He arrived at only one conclusion. It was a thrilling discovery. And he wanted to find a way to take all the credit for it. “It was the metal tablets, wasn’t it?” he asked. In spite of what happened to two of his men, he recognized the potency of such a discovery. He gazed at the wall before him, shining and golden, feeling the palpable energy emanating from it. It offered him power beyond his wildest dreams.
No answer.
“These tablets, this cavern,” Oz said, marveling at the sight, “Did they somehow heal him? They brought him back to life?”
“No,” Javier said. “Nothing here has that power. This place only offers possibilities. Not absolutes.”
Javier was testing Oz’s reactions. He saw how hungry Oz was for this knowledge. That could mean an opportunity for them to gain the upper hand. It was a massive risk, he knew, since this was all happening at gunpoint, but it was a risk he felt they had to take. Otherwise, they were certain to lose everything, including their lives.
Desire was overwhelming Oz’s senses now. He was fixating on the metallic tablets. Everything he had ever hoped for in his life was now at his fingertips. And he could see that Javier wasn’t about to give it up easily. Oz just had to unlock the mystery, then take it, either by blunt force or finesse. Either option suited him fine. Whichever way was faster was infinitely preferable.
“You’re lying,” Oz said, pushing back. “You’re hiding the truth. We all saw him get shot and miraculously survive. You just want to keep this power for yourself.”
Oz was imagining the myriad of ways such a phenomenon could be used to Ares’ advantage, and more importantly to his own advantage. His power could grow exponentially by exploiting this. His mind raced. He
