Rules of Escape

Chapter 44 - Evan

"Over here! Pass!" Evan calls to Sandeep.

Sandeep turns slowly, not accustomed to playing with others. He stops dribbling, grabs the ball, and turns it over a few times in his hands.

"Come on! I'm open! You'll never make a shot from there," Evan yells.

Evan glances over his shoulder and sees Eliza moving in on him. The ball sails towards him. He catches it, runs towards the net, tosses the ball up, and it drops into the net. "Yes! I did it!"

Evan runs over to Sandeep, "We did it – we won! We make a great team!"

"We do, but you traveled with the ball. I don't think that basket counts," Sandeep says and then shrugs. "Game's over, anyway. I need to get back to work."

Evan follows Sandeep off the basketball court. Initially, he thought paving a section of the orchard, where some of the fruit trees had died, was a bad idea. Now that he's actually played a game on the court, he's changed his mind. Basketball is a great game, even if the rules are confusing and the ball is hard to catch. Ro said they could get a net and use the court for other games like volleyball or tennis, as well.

Things have changed with Sandeep moving into their home, but he is an interesting guy, Evan thinks. His family is kind and generous. They want things to be good for Sandeep, but it is clear that they also want to help Sandeep's friends. They built the basketball court because Sandeep likes basketball, but they asked Joe where they should put the court. They aren't trying to take over everything like Evan feared.

Across the street, concrete trucks and stone cutters work every day and most nights. When the sun sets, tall, powerful work lamps are turned on. Their light extends across the road, filtering through the fruit trees. It is an eerie, cold light that leaves sharp shadows and creates a buzz in the air that can be heard whenever the generators turn off and the machines stop for a few moments.

The plans Sandeep has are very detailed and Sandeep says there is no room for error, all measurements must be exact; and so, the pile of discarded stones grows rapidly. Sandeep inspects and measures every stone himself before it is placed and he is very picky and there are many imperfections. Some of the stones are very large and heavy and can only be moved with machines.Perhaps they can build a wall with the discarded stones or make a rock garden. It seems like a waste to Evan, to just leave them lying there, but he knows the stones will probably continue to lie there until Sandeep is finished his project in months or years. Sandeep is hoping the pyramid will be done in months. He has formulas and strategies for how it can be done. The builders, Sandeep's workers, are very excited which is good because they work long hours and take few breaks.

Evan can see the pyramid now through the trees. It is large and smooth. Sandeep says that he believes pyramids, thousands of years ago, were used to tap into natural energy currents from underground rivers. Sandeep says that pyramids probably glowed at night from the energy they funneled upwards. Hundreds or thousands of years after the pyramids were built, people began using them as tombs for kings because they did not understand the purpose of the pyramids or how to tap into the energy they had once stored.

Sandeep believes that there was probably enough energy to power flying machines and that maybe people flew around the world, thousands of years ago, from one giant structure to the next. He thinks that at one time, humans were connected around the world and lived peacefully as one community. Then something must happened, some terrible disaster or change in thinking, and the knowledge was lost and people were cut off from each other for a long time.

Sandeep's story fascinates Evan, but it is confusing as well. Evan remembers his own mother telling him about God and about Adam and Eve and Jesus and lots of other people. Her beliefs are very different from what Sandeep tells him. Evan wants them both to be correct, but how can they? Evan runs to catch up with Sandeep.