Timestone

Chapter Twenty ϟ Cave

"Don't they use these hooks in the mine?" asks Vela as she inspects her pack.

Marco awoke early to prepare two packs with portable lights, food, water, blankets, cloth bandages, and even rope with a grappling hook attached.

"Just take it," says Marco. "It could come in handy on the mountain."

Vela protests that the packs will make climbing the mountain too difficult, but Marco insists we take them as a final condition for letting Vela accompany me.

Vela and I head out, making a quick stop at Aunty Evelina's cavern. Once again, finding nothing suspicious other than an empty cavern, we proceed on our way.

We stand at the mountain's base in the spot where I mysteriously appeared after nearly getting struck by lightning. I still haven't told Vela about that, the voice, or any of the other strange things.

Staring at the steep black slopes and the raging storm, I grow apprehensive. But we cinch our packs and begin the upward hike.

It takes longer to ascend than I expected. We stop frequently to rest our legs and drink. At one point, we reach a vertical ledge impossible to climb. It towers three or four times my height. I become disheartened, knowing we'll have to backtrack down the mountain to find a different route. Then, Vela reminds me of the grappling hook in her pack. But scaling the ledge with nothing but a thin rope doesn't exactly excite me. However, I worry that I'll lose my drive to keep going if we turn back.

We tie knots in the rope every two feet and then take turns throwing the hook to anchor it to something on top. After a dozen or so attempts, Vela lands a hit. We pull on the rope together to ensure it will support our weight. Vela insists on climbing first since she secured the hook. She scurries up, making it look easy. I struggle and pause halfway to rest my arms.

"Payaso," yells Vela, "I didn't know you hiked all the way up here just to hang out," she says with a laugh. "I can't believe you roped me into this," she says, laughing even harder.

I don't respond—not in the mood. Finally, I pull myself to the top with a bruised ego. Vela pulls the rope up and stuffs it and the hook back in her pack.

We hike until we're exhausted. I begin to worry that we're off course. But after an extended break to eat lunch and another short climb, the steep slope transforms into a gentle sloping plateau. This place looks familiar. I spot a broken-up, charred area with scattered rock fragments—like lightning has recently blasted it.

"This is it!" I shout excitedly to Vela. The noise from the storm is so loud we can hardly hear each other. A bolt of lightning suddenly strikes the slopes above us. We jump in fright. The hairs on the back of my neck and arms stand on end. Chills course through me.

"We should go back!" shouts Vela. I've never seen her truly scared until now. I scan the slopes above, knowing it can't be much further.

"Look!" I shout, pointing to the cave entrance. "We're almost there."

Vela sighs and nods, her eyes still full of fear. We dash up the rocky slopes for another few minutes and slip inside the cave, out of breath.

"This . . . is it, Miro?" Vela asks, breathing heavily.

I nod, too winded to speak.

I haven't fully embraced my new name. I think I would prefer her to keep calling me Payaso.

We loosen our packs, pull out the portable lights and water, and spend a few minutes drinking and catching our breath. We don't speak as we walk through the narrow, jagged cave. As we plod deeper into the mountain, the sounds of thunder and static fade, but my anxiety grows.

Vela is the first to see it. "Jupiter," she says in awe. "What is that?" The soft blue lights still glow from the capsule's undercarriage. She eyes it with wonder.

"This is where you awoke?" she asks. "How did you fit in there? It doesn't look comfortable." The strangeness captivates her. She slowly runs her hands along the capsule's smooth curves.

I search the area, but it's empty except for the capsule. The shard of rock that fell on my face still lies inside. I toss it into the air. Like any typical rock, it obeys the law of gravity and clatters to the rocky cave floor. I shrug my shoulders—I had to try.

Vela kneels to inspect the capsule. The rectangular head holds a small powered-off display I hadn't noticed. Of course, blood was running into my eyes, and I could scarcely think at the time.

At the foot of the capsule, she finds a button. When she presses it, nothing happens. She pushes it several more times, but still nothing. She moves to the other side, and I slip into her place. Even though the button doesn't do anything, I push it because—button. A panel slides open. "Vela!" I exclaim.

I shine my light and lean in for a better look. I pull out a pair of shoes. "Those would have come in handy," I remark. Next, I lift out a silver metal cylinder and feel liquid sloshing. I unscrew the lid and dump out some of its contents. "Water. Yeah, that would have been nice, too," I say. Next comes a pile of five sealed pouches labeled freeze-dried potato flakes.

"A taze," I say to Vela as I pull out a gun and hold it in the air.

Vela furrows her brow. "That doesn't look like a taze," she says. "At least not like any I've seen."

"Yeah, it does look funny," I agree. I place it aside for now in the capsule's bed.

The storage compartment appears empty now. I shine my light and crane my neck to ensure I haven't missed anything. Two cubes are hiding in the back. They look identical to the map and game cubes Tanek showed me.

I hold them in my hand for Vela to see. She pokes at them with her finger. "Well, I don't see anything here that Tanek would be desperate to get his hands on," Vela says, sounding defeated.

I explain to her how the cubes work and that Tanek might be after the information they contain. We decide to return to Vela's cavern, where we'll have more time to inspect everything.

I retrieve the weapon from the bed. Vela's right; this thing doesn't look like other tazes. I feel a shallow button on the bottom of the handle, so I press it. A blue light, the same shade that lights the underside of the capsule, glows from the gun's barrel. But that isn't all.

"Whoa!" I exclaim.

"What is it?" asks Vela.

I don't have answers yet because I'm trying to understand what I see. Two crisscrossing lines made of thin strands of yellow light appear. They dance around my field of vision. I soon realize they're tracking the gun in my hand. The lines faithfully follow my aim around the cave. I lower the weapon, and the lines vanish.

"How is it doing that?" I ask.

"Doing what?" Vela questions.

"Making those lines," I answer.

"What lines?" she asks.

I look at her, confused, wondering if she's toying with me. I wave the gun around and see the lines flitting around the cavern. But Vela really can't see them. It occurs to me that the mark in my head must be producing them. The gun must be sending a signal to my brain to make me see the lines.

We hear a distant clattering, so we hold still and listen. Vela puts a finger to her lips. "We should get out of here," she whispers.

"Yeah," I agree. I stuff everything into my pack but keep the weapon in hand. We make our way back to the exit in silence.

Cautiously, we step out.

Vela screams.

A man stands just to the side, aiming a taze atus.