Chapter Fourteen
The Answer
Llol and Llaeli, as it turned out, were the two Macana closest to Linda and the others as they stumbled into Evertime. Llaeli was riding the top of the van that was launched after them when Lallura was found in the airlock. Llol rode in the chamber in the rear, ready to jump out without taking the time to cycle away the air. He fumed in the small chamber, furious at Lallura for putting them in this position. He had counseled her as soon as they found these humans to terminate them, but she refused. Her burning curiosity, her aching need to know where these children came from now placed the entire Macana fleet in jeopardy. Lallura seemed to believe they were just simple little creatures, no threat at all, but Llol knew wherever they were, there were more of them. Older ones, bigger ones, more dangerous ones.
Of course, if these four were not allowed to depart the world of the Mitimae, if they never returned home, then they could never warn their people. There would be nothing to worry about.
The vehicle lurched to a stop and the hatch blew open to the void. Llaeli was jumping down from the roof, and Llol heard a voice crackle in his helmet-radio. “The children are making for the pool we found them in,” he said in the melodic language of the Macana. “Hurry!”
He jumped out into the vacuum. Other vehicles were approaching – they had spread out to search for the humans – but it would be some time before they arrived. If the humans did have some sort of transportation device, the others would be too late.
He rounded the van just in time to see the force-bubbles containing the children roll into the very pool they’d burst from. Llol and Llaeli smiled. They had performed subsurface radar tests on the water to make sure there was no tunnel beneath it – no place for them to escape to. There was not. They could stay down there for a little while, but those bubbles would be out of air fairly soon, if the force field didn’t run out of power first. They could afford to wait.
And wait.
And wait they did, but long after the power-cell in the emergency pod should have shut down, there was no sign from the glassy surface that anything was coming to the top. There weren’t even any bubbles of air to signify that the force fields had shut down, leaving the humans exposed to the water. This wasn’t making any sense at all.
“It’s been too long,” Llaeli said. “Maybe they died down there.”
“Don’t you think there’d still be bubbles if they had?” Llol said. “There’s no place down there for them to hide. Come on.”
“Come on?”
“They’re only younglings. We can outsmart them, if they haven’t gotten themselves killed already.”
“You want to jump in?”
“Unless you know of a better way to get down there, yes.”
Llaeli frowned, apprehensive, but nodded. Together the two Macana tossed aside their lightning-rifles – taking them into the water would short them out at best, electrocute them all at worst – and they each dove into the water after the children.
But in an instant, the very instant Llaeli’s feet went under the water, his helmeted head burst out of the water in the center of the pond. He frantically swam to the shore and ran for the van, screaming to the driver through the radio. “Turn around! Back to the ship! Go! Go!”
“What’s going on?” the driver asked. “Where is Llol?”
“I don’t know! Lost! Vanished! We must go back!” He climbed into the open back of the vehicle in a crazy, blind panic.
“Where are the humans?”
“Gone! Turn around! We must tell Lallura!”
“Tell her what?”
“JUST GO!”
* * *
Rolling her force-bubble out of the pool next to the Infinity Bar and Grille proved to be just as difficult as rolling out in Evertime, and Linda felt exceedingly grateful when she found the “off” switch for her emergency pod with a few feet left to go up the banks. The others were coming up behind her, struggling as well.
“There’s a switch on the side of the pod,” she called out. It felt so good to see Gene and Gail coming up from the water with her. Evertime is a very lonely place to be alone.
The other two bubbles vanished and the three children slumped down at the edge of the pool, catching their breath before they went in to see Murphy. “Is everyone okay?” Linda asked.
“I’m fine,” Gene said.
“Me too,” said Gail.
“What about Kevin?”
There was no answer.
“Where’s Kevin?”
“He didn’t come up,” Gene said. “Kevin?”
“Maybe it took him longer to get through,” Gail said. “His leg was hurt.”
“That shouldn’t make any difference,” Linda said. “No matter how long he was walking around, he should have come up right behind us. He did make it to the pool, didn’t he?”
“Yeah,” Gail said. “I saw his bubble rolling in after mine before we got… pulled apart by the currents.”
“Then where is he?” Gene said.
Linda shivered. “He must have come out through another pool – another world. He could be anywhere.”
“Maybe he just got turned around somewhere,” Gail said. “He stopped along the way to rest. He probably jumped right back in and he’s resting for a few minutes and he’ll be here soon.”
“Yeah,” Gene said. “I’ll bet that’s it. What time is it, Linda?”
“8:35. It’s only been a couple of minutes.”
They waited.
They waited some more.
By 8:40, they were concerned. By 8:45, they were perturbed.
By 9 p.m., they were terrified, because it was clear no matter where Kevin wound up, it was not some place where he could just turn around and meet up with them here.
Kevin could be anywhere. Anywhere in existence. And existence itself was a lot bigger than it seemed to be a few days ago.
* * *
A blue bubble of energy dissipated beneath the blanket of yellow-green trees. Kevin slumped to the dirt and grabbed his leg. He could only hope it would start to heal up soon… or at the very least, that it would stop hurting long enough for him to make it to Lewiston.
* * *
Linda, Gene and Gail finally left the edge of the pool and joined the teeming mob of people in the Infinity Bar and Grille. Inside, things looked pretty much the same as the last time they were there. This time the most rambunctious group in the pub was a trio of small women dressed like Witch Hazel from the old Bugs Bunny cartoons. Beneath their pointy hats they could see one old and plump one, one old and timid one, and one young and beautiful one who seemed to be the target of intense criticism from the other two. At the next table sat a young man with brilliant red hair and what appeared to be a female werewolf eyeing the witches with intense suspicion. Linda wondered if she’d ever get the hang of this.
The three of them stepped up to the counter, where Murphy was chatting with what appeared to be a small monkey that was curled up next to a frothing mug. “The boy just can’t do anything right, Murphy,” it was chirping. “I’m getting to the end of my rope…”
Murphy’s face lit when he noticed the children approaching him. “Um – yeah, that’s a real pickle you’re in there, bud. Look, I’ve got some business to take care of.”
He slid several feet away from the monkey to where the kids were. “Glad to see you guys – that little furball was driving me nuts. Hey, weren’t there four of you when you left?”
“Yes, there were,” Linda said. “Now there’s three.” She plucked the small metal cartridge that represented the spent emergency pod and tossed it to the counter. Murphy picked it up.
“Where the heck did this come from? The Mitimae weren’t nearly technologically advanced enough to create something like this.”
“We didn’t get it from the Mitimae,” Gene said. “There were other people waiting there for us.”
“And Kevin may still be with them for all we know,” Gail added.
“Okay, how about you guys tell me what went on over there one at a time? I figured you would be over there an hour or two at the most, but it’s been over a day.”
“We were unavoidably detained,” Linda said in as sarcastic a tone as she could muster. She told him about everything that had happened to them since they left him behind the day before. Gail and Gene contributed a detail or two along the way, and Gail kept quiet during the recollection of their escape, ashamed of what she said to Kevin, even though Linda left that part out.
Murphy, for his part, listened intently, clearly getting more concerned as she told him about their narrow escape into the Evertime pool and how Kevin had failed to meet them on this side of the journey. As their story led them to the door of his bar, he spoke for the first time.
“Did they see you jump into the pool?”
“I don’t know,” Linda said. “Probably. Geez, they can figure out how it works now…”
“Don’t feel bad about that, Linda. If they were that close to the pool they’d have figured it out soon enough anyway.”
“You don’t seem too surprised by all this,” Gene said.
“Kid, when you’ve seen the stuff I’ve seen, you don’t get surprised. Angry, yes… frustrated eight days a week… but not surprised. As for Kevin, you’ve got to keep a chin up. It feels like a long time since you’ve seen him, but you’ve got to remember, it’s really only been a few minutes.”
“There’s a lot of things that can happen in just a few minutes,” Gene said.
“You’re a smart kid, Gene. It stinks to be smart so young, doesn’t it?”
“It’s starting to get on my nerves, all right.”
Murphy put the emergency pod back down on the counter. “Well, maybe this will help. It’s easy to get lost in Evertime, but nobody stays lost forever. This bar here has a sort of… pull. Wherever Kevin is, if he can find his way back into a pool, he’s got a good chance of making it here eventually.”
“Not much help, Murphy,” Linda said.
“Sorry, kid. Right now, it’s the best I’ve got.” His face, with its bizarre, ageless quality, melted into a small, respectful smile. “Buck up, Linda. You did what I asked – you have a question coming to you. What’s it going to be?”
Linda’s jaw dropped open to ask her question, but she couldn’t get any words out. She’d been planning this question since they left the day before, but suddenly it didn’t seem like the right one to be asking. Suddenly, she found herself much more sympathetic to Gail’s position.
“Give us a minute,” she said.
“All the time you need,” replied Murphy, who went back to polishing a glass.
“What do we do?” Linda asked her friends.
“What do you mean?” Gene said. “Didn’t we go through all that so we could find out how to save your brother?”
“But now Kevin’s missing too, and we’ve only got one favor to trade in for a question between the two of them.”
“Maybe Murphy has another favor we can do,” Gene suggested.
“I’d rather Murphy gave the rest of his favors to someone else,” said Gail.
Linda sighed. “Benny’s been out there for so long now… over a day. Who knows what Baliwick has done to him?”
“But Kevin’s hurt, wherever he is,” Gail said.
“How do we know Murphy even knows how to find Kevin?” Gene asked.
“He’ll know,” said Linda. “I don’t know how, but he’ll know.” She looked Gene in the eye. “You know Kevin better than us. What would he want us to do?”
Gene pondered for a moment. “Kevin’s older than Benny. He figures he can take care of himself – not to hear Gail tell it. Plus, I know that if we went through all that so we could find out how to save Benny and then used the question on him instead, Kevin would say everything we just did was a waste of time.”
“So you’re saying…”
“I think we should go find Benny. You heard what Murphy said – Kevin will probably find his way here sooner or later. We can meet him again after we’re done.”
“Gail?” Linda said. Gail was practically quivering. Linda imagined her friend wrestling over this in her head. If they went after Benny, they would almost certainly be going headlong into danger. If they went after Kevin, she’d be back where she was when she used up her own question before.
“Okay,” she said. “If Kevin would want us to, let’s go find Benny.”
Linda nodded. “Murphy?” she said.
“Coming right up, Linda,” he said, handing a drink to something with green skin and what appeared to be a computer motherboard protruding from his forehead. He meandered back to where the children were. “So, you’ve got one question coming to you. What’ll it be?”
“How can we find and rescue my brother Benny?” Linda asked. Murphy grinned.
“Somehow, I just knew that would be the one.”
He reached down under the counter and produced another map, not unlike the one that led them to Mitimae. Linda took it, but cautiously, as though it may carry with it some of the same bad luck as its predecessor.
“This map will take you to the world called Nogard. It’s where Baliwick brought Benny. You’ll recognize it by the tree with the yellow fruit on it.”
“This tells us how to get there,” Linda said. “I asked how we save him.”
“Yeah, I know, you’re a sharp kid. But you’re also impatient. I wasn’t finished. Once you’re there, you’ll find a road near the Evertime pool. Follow it east for as far as it will take you. Eventually, you’ll find a castle. Once you’re there, you’ll meet a man named Edward. Just tell him your story and I promise, he’ll know what to do.”
“How do we know we can trust Edward?”
Murphy nearly laughed uncontrollably at that one. “Oh good grief, you kids. Baby, in all the worlds of Evertime, my man Ed is the one person you can trust for just about anything, if you can only find him.”
“How comforting,” Linda said. She was about to hop off the stool, but instead rolled open the map and studied it. “I need a pen,” she said.
“I lost mine in the forest,” Gail said. Wow. She couldn’t believe that had just happened yesterday.
“Here you go,” said Murphy, producing a black Sharpie from his apron. Linda opened up a napkin from the bar and carefully reproduced the map as best she could. At the bottom of her work she scribbled, “Kevin – went to find Benny. Try to meet us. Linda.”
She folded the napkin back up and wrote Kevin’s name on the outside. “If Kevin shows up, Murphy, can you give this to him? Or would that require another ‘favor’?”
“Favors are traded for questions. What you just gave me was a request. Don’t worry kid, you’ll get the terminology down eventually.” He tucked the napkin carefully into his pocket. “I’ll see that he gets it.”
“Thanks. Okay, now we can go.”
They hopped to the ground and headed towards the door, Gail sparing an occasional glance over her shoulder at the bartender.
“There’s just something you’ve got to trust about that guy,” she said.
“I know,” Linda agreed. “Isn’t it annoying?”
* * *
Even though another trip through Evertime was the last thing any of them wanted, none of them hesitated this time to take each others hands, Linda in the center, and jump into the quiet pool.
The trip through the water somehow didn’t feel as turbulent this time. Perhaps that was just a symptom of how Linda was feeling. Resolute. She was determined to get Benny back this time, she knew it was coming. She knew whatever happened next, they were approaching an ending. She was wrong, of course. She had no way of knowing what they would find in Nogard, that even after she found her brother, Fate had plans for her and the others that were only beginning. All she knew was that it was time to bring Benjamin Watson home.
Gail looked back in the direction they had come from Mitimae, her eyes drooping. “Kevin’s out there somewhere,” she said. “Maybe we could just look for him for a little while – it wouldn’t take any time.”
“It won’t do any good, either,” Gene said. “We don’t know where he is. We wouldn’t have the slightest idea where to start looking, and even if we found some sort of clue, we’d have to go into another world to follow up on it, and that’s when the clock would start ticking again.”
“We all want him back, Gail,” Linda said, “but we can’t do it this way.” She checked Nancy’s watch. “It’s 9:35 Saturday night,” she said. “Who wants to bet we have Benny home in time for Church tomorrow?”
* * *
Llaeli was quaking in the medical hold of the Macana ship. Things were looking bad – they were missing one man, two of the Medibots were inoperative and a third had become markedly disobedient. Lallura would never admit it, but it seemed as though her command was falling apart around here.
“Again, Llaeli, what did you see when you jumped into the water after the humans?” she asked.
“I told you,” he sang. “A vast plain full of pools of water, identical to the one on the surface. Lots of trees. No sky. I wandered around for a dozen cycles, I tell you, but I couldn’t find the humans anywhere.”
“That’s preposterous, Llaeli. We were watching the pool. We have a digital image of you jumping into the pool with Llol and then surfacing a nanosecond later without him.”
“I was in there for a long time, I tell you! Read the chronometer on my vacuum-suit.”
“We did, Llaeli. It shows exactly as much time elapsed for you as did for us.”
“What? That’s impossible, Lallura.”
“Impossible or not, it is true.”
This was a most disturbing sequence of events. It was bad enough Llol had vanished, but for Llaeli to be losing his mind as well…
She summoned another Macana guardsman to the medical hold. “Send another team into the pool. Tell them to conduct a thorough search for the children and report back here.”
“They’ll find the same thing I did, Lallura,” Llaeli said.
“We shall see about that.”
They waited for some time before the survey team, rattled, returned to the ship and gave an account similar to Llaeli’s – a vast array of ponds, each banked by an improbable tree of some sort. As they touched the water, they were separated from each other and not reunited until they came back to the surface of Mitimae.
Could this be real? Could Llaeli’s mad description be true?
“Very well,” she said. “Prepare another scouting team. And this time, lash them together.”
Next: Chapter Fifteen-The Road
Evertime Realms 
People are saying…