The Search for the Eoz Potion

6. Skeptics and Doubters

Once everyone had something to eat, Zack took a stack of what looked like old fashioned parchment from Josef. The girls were still desperate to ask him if he knew Dr. Hampton, if he was the Zack Miller they'd been told about, but there hadn't been a good time. Even Hailey realized there was too much else going on to bring it up right then. Zack began to make another circle around the room and set one of the papers in front of each of the Searchers.

"These are maps of the garden," Josef explained. "Normally we would give you these and allow you to use this headquarters and other locations we have set up around the Garden while you search for the potion, but we can't do that right now. It's not safe to have you all wandering around out there with the army in the forest. So, I'm giving you these for a different reason. Like I said, we have bases hidden throughout the garden. If you get separated from us, these will help you get to safety, hopefully before General Drawde finds you."

"Who's that?" asked one of the Searchers.

"He leads the Human Robot Army. He's brutal and you don't want to meet him," Josef said gravely.

"So, let me make sure I understand," Hailey interrupted, trying not to sound too snarky, "they have robot soldiers and we have a log cabin?" She was genuinely trying to assess their odds.

"That's what I'm talking about," shot Evan. He had been quiet ever since leaving the carriage, but this perceived protest from Hailey rekindled his dislike for the situation.

Josef ignored Hailey for the moment and focused instead on responding to Evan. There was something more concerning to him about the way he pushed back against everything Josef said. He could tell Hailey was mostly looking for information and having a hard time believing what she learned. That was typical among Searchers. But Evan seemed not to be looking for facts as much as weaknesses in the truth.

"They have a lot of interesting technology they don't share with anyone else," Josef informed them all by way of speaking to Evan. "But we have ways of evening the fight."

"Like what?" Evan asked. "A map?"

His concerns did not seem all that far off the mark to Hailey. Claire, however, was becoming increasingly uncomfortable by this exchange. She lowered her head and looked down at the map as a way of removing herself from the situation. It looked a lot like the one Dr. Hampton had given them except that in this one all the SG bases were marked. She also noticed two areas on the other side of the river that formed the northern border of the garden that were not on the map the doctor had given them. One was a field of quick sand pits and the other, shaded in a dark color, was called "No Man's Land." She wanted to ask Josef about this, but the back and forth between him and Evan was continuing and she did not have a chance to raise her concerns.

"If you look at that map," Josef said to them all calmly, "you'll see, right in the center, the Capital City. They built this as a center of power when they took control of Yllop. They tore down a huge section and turned it into a city. Almost all the garden natives have moved there. The garden itself is pretty much uninhabited now. We use that to our advantage."

Evan listened skeptically as he looked at his map. Every now and then, Hailey glanced over at him to see if Josef had been able to ease his concerns. She noticed, instead, that he was becoming more and more upset as the conversation went on.

"In the center of the city are three skyscrapers that house the control centers for the army and a base for the soldiers. But more importantly for us, on the ground around the tower is a prison. We need to take out that prison." The group was full of questions, but Josef kept talking. "Before it's safe to go back out searching for the Eoz Potion, we need to free Tellis Olliver..." after saying her name, Josef paused. His mind wandered for a moment as the Searchers waited anxiously for him to continue. "...And the others."

All of the Searchers looked at him confused, but Evan had finally reached his breaking point.

"I didn't come here to free your friends," he said angrily. "I'm here to help mine. I don't care about this prison. My cousin is in the hospital dying and you want me to worry about this Tellis person?"

The other Searchers sat silently, not knowing what to say. Zack also said nothing. He was confident that Josef could handle the situation without his help.

"You're right," Josef said after a thoughtful pause as he sat down at the table.

His tone took a softer direction. Where he sounded driven and confident earlier, he now was more empathetic, recognizing for the first time that Evan and the others had no way of truly understanding the complete depth of the situation. The change took Hailey and Claire by surprise and drew them both a little closer to him.

"No one came here for this," he continued, "I get that. But we have a crisis right now and we need to take care of it or we won't be able to help you with what you did come here for. This is all new for us right now too. So we're just asking you for a little bit of help so that we can keep helping you."

Josef was worried that the rest of the group would side with Evan, and he needed them all working together if his plan to take out the prison was going to work. He didn't like talking to people like this. He prefered black and white facts, but there he was, in the gray area of emotion trying to navigate his way as best he could. It was an awkward conversation, but he had no choice.

"Tellis is one of our most powerful and wisest Searchers' Guides," Josef informed them. "She helped me create this group. But she's been in jail for a few months now. We've been coming up with a plan to free her, and now with them pushing into the forest, we can't wait any longer. Drawde's been trying to take control of the portal for years. Now it looks like he's figured out how. Tellis will know how to stop them, so that you all aren't the last Searchers. We need to protect the garden first, then we can help you find the potion. I apologize to all of you for this. I know this isn't what you came here for."

"I'm not doing this," Evan announced, standing up and folding his arms in front of him. "You're leader's in jail, your enemies are closing in on you, and you want us to blindly follow along with you? No way."

Recognizing that he was failing to win him over, Josef looked down at the table with a sigh. He knew that Tellis was their best hope for stopping the rise of the General's army and giving the Searchers their best chance of finding the Eoz Potion, but he also understood he wouldn't be able to convince everyone to come along with him.

"We need as much help as we can get, but as I told you in the carriage, you're free to go whenever you want."

"Yeah, well, I want," Evan said sarcastically. "This is ridiculous. My cousin is dying. I need to find this potion and get out of here."

Josef stood up and walked toward the door without saying a word to lead Evan out. Evan did not immediately follow. Part of him did not believe that Josef would actually let him leave. But when Josef finally opened the door, Evan left the table. He took one last look back at the other Searchers to see if there was anyone else as frustrated as he was. All of them except Hailey looked down at the table to avoid the awkwardness of having to be recognized refusing to join him. Hailey met his stare and considered a lot of things in that brief moment. She was not crazy about delaying the start of the search either, but what Josef was saying did make some sense to her and she wanted to know more.

"So what's so great about this Tellis lady?" Hailey asked before Josef and Evan could leave. "I mean why's she in jail anyway?"

"Because she used to be the leader of the HRA," Josef said. "Zack will go over the plan with you. We need every last one of us helping for this to work. You're all new here and I'm sorry you got thrown into all this, but we don't have a choice. We free Tellis and the others, then it will be safe to go searching again."

He left the room with Evan and all eyes turned to Zack back at the front of the room. There was a noticeable absence when Josef left. It was not that Zack didn't also inspire confidence, but all of the Searchers had been impressed by how Josef handled the mini uprising that Evan tried to lead. Hailey was the only one who had some lingering doubts. She found it difficult to believe that the former General of the Human Robot Army, the very people who were now hunting them, could somehow help them find the Eoz potion.

"The plan is pretty simple," Zack assured them as their eyes bore into his face. "The hardest part's getting to the prison."