Flight of the Eagles (12 page)

16

The Seventh Sleeper

W
hat a trip that was! Imagine sitting astride a horse, but with no hard hoofs jolting you at each step. Instead, there is only the smooth beat of mighty wings that drive you through the thin air. The flight is so smooth that you hear only the wind blowing across your face!

At first there is fear—for the earth has fallen away into distant geometric patterns, and one slip will end it all. But finally the mind relaxes, and you can sit straight and look down at the earth with the freedom of the bird himself.

The tiny hairline far to the south is the tumbling Roaring Horse River. That far distant gleam is the gold turret of the Temple where the Chief Interrogator, Elmas, sits plotting your doom. But all his dark power cannot rise to the clouds that you now plunge into.

The dream of flight has become a solid reality. You emerge from the clouds to see a rocky needle rising sheer out of the desert, pointing a stony finger to the heavens.

“There it is,” Josh yelled, pointing at the needle. “That's got to be it.”

Kybus pulled his eagle over to the right of Josh as easily as any cowboy ever maneuvered a horse. “Yah—that is Needle. We be there in maybe twenty minutes,” he promised.

Josh was sorry the flight was over when they began to descend. But the sight of the stone buildings, or ruins, where the final Sleeper lay reminded him that this was the end of the Quest.

The giant condors came to earth gently, and all the riders scrambled off onto the ground.

“Now, birds go back,” Kybus said, and Josh watched nervously as the birds took flight. Slowly the huge condors disappeared back in the direction of Kybus's land.

“Wow!” Reb sighed. That was some ride, boy!” He looked over the side of the Needle and whistled low. Watch out for that first step—it's a humdinger!”

So it was, for the flat top of the mountain stopped abruptly and fell away to the desert floor far below. Several footpaths had been hacked out of the plateau's side, but nothing else.

“We'll be safe here—for a while,” Crusoe said. “But the Chief Interrogator will be coming sooner or later. And they can starve us out if they have to.”

“But how will they know where we are?” Sarah asked.

“Dave will have told them. He knows all the locations of the Sleepers.”

“I—can't understand Dave. I thought he was one of us,” Sarah said in a soft, grieved voice.

Crusoe nodded slowly. “He was, Sarah, but there is only one defense against the sin of pride—the shield of humility.”

“Hadn't we better find the Sleeper?” Josh asked anxiously. “You know, I've thought every time we found a capsule that our leader would be waiting inside. But I really think this one must be it. It makes sense,” he argued. “This is the last Sleeper, and here we are, stuck on the point of a needle with no way out. Now Goél couldn't expect the first six of us to do anything like saving the world. We're not even adults yet. So I think the seventh Sleeper will be the one who will pull everything together.”

“Hey, you could be right,” Jake said. “Let's find that capsule.” He pointed at the ruins of an ancient building. “I bet it's there somewhere. Check your heart, Sarah.”

“It's on fire right now!” Sarah said, and she began to run toward the building. “Yes! This is the way.” The stones of the building were old beyond knowledge, rounded and stained with time. The roof had fallen in, and some of the large round pillars that supported it were leaning outward dangerously. But Josh and the others rushed inside without hesitation.

The room inside was very large, possibly one hundred feet square, and arches from the pillars supported the high ceiling. Slits along the apex allowed light inside. The whole place looked like an open air theater. High on one wall was a sentence formed out of carved stones:

YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE

The travelers had not been there for more than a few seconds when one of the Hunters discovered a steel door set in the wall. They all fell over each other to reach it.

Then Josh said, “Sarah, read the words of the song.”

Sarah got out her paper and read the verse slowly:

“‘
I sleep—

“‘
in that thin air
where eagles dare!
'”

The door slowly swung up, and Josh held his breath as they all pressed toward the chamber that held the capsule. There was room only for Crusoe and the Sleepers, but the rest peered in through the entrance as Josh held his finger on the AWAKE button.

“Here we go,” he breathed.

He touched the button. There was the sound of escaping gas, then the cover swung back, and the seventh Sleeper, he who was to lead them all out of tribulation, sat up and stared at them. There was a moment of total silence. Then the last Sleeper spoke.

“So what's happening, people?”

He was possibly the youngest of the Sleepers, certainly the smallest. He wore a pair of rugged jeans, tennis shoes, and a khaki T-shirt. His rich, full hair was bound back by a yellow headband. And his skin was as black as night itself.

“You don't say?” he finally prodded them. “That bad, hm?”

Josh glanced at Reb's face. He saw that his friend's usual smile had disappeared. His eyes had become narrow slits.

“Just what we need—”

“Wait a minute, Reb,” Josh interrupted quickly. “I guess he's as shocked as we are. What's your name? I'm Josh.”

The new Sleeper bowed from his sitting position. “Mine is Gregory Randolf Washington Jones.” His teeth flashed. Then he gracefully climbed out of the box and slid to the floor. “But most just calls me ‘Wash.'”

“Well,” Josh said a little lamely, “you're not exactly what we were expecting, Wash.”

“So I see.” Wash grinned. “Likewise, I was expecting the new world when I came around.” He stopped when he spied Reb's suspicious face. “But this looks pretty much the same as the old one to me.”

Sarah moved a little closer to him and smiled warmly. “Don't worry, Wash,” she said and put her hand out. “I'm Sarah. And I believe you were right, thinking you'd see some kind of new world. All of us human types are minority material in this place. Let me introduce you to the real Nuworld folks out here.”

She led them all out of the tiny chamber and said, “First, your fellow Sleepers. This is Abbey, Jake, and Reb —you've already met Josh. That's Volka, and Tam and Mat, and Amar and Rama, and these three are the Hunters, and this is Kybus.”

Wash's small face was a study as he looked at the giant, the dwarfs, and all the rest of the strange crew. Finally he screwed his face up into a squint and said, “I can see I've got some catching up to do.”

“And we've got some rethinking to do,” Reb said sullenly. “Is this your great leader, Josh? Cause I ain't havin' none of it. We need
him
like a pig needs a saddle!”

“I don't understand it either, Reb, but Wash isn't here by accident—none of us are.”

“The House of Goél won't be filled with one color, Reb,” a voice said. They turned to see that Crusoe was sitting with his back against the stone wall, his face pale as paper. “It will be a large House, and it will have people in it far different from us. Goél is not for one people, but for
all
people!”

But Crusoe's words fell on dull ears. Paradoxically, it was just at this point that Josh—and the other Sleepers and travelers—should have been most confident. Their mission was complete, wasn't it? The prophecy had said that when the Sleepers awoke, the House of Goél would be filled. But nothing seemed to have changed. In the face of their apparent failure, the group was plunged into the deepest gloom.

Perhaps they had all expected too much from the last Sleeper, for all looked a little angry or disappointed at the innocent Wash. They had been tuned to open the last door and have victory walk into their arms. But instead, there seemed to be no answers and only more problems.

The disbelief in their faces seemed to infect the very air of the ancient temple. Josh tried to fight against it, but
the hopelessness of the situation swamped his heart with despair. I—I guess it's all for nothing,” he said, with a catch in his voice.

“Yeah, it's a real puzzle,” Jake echoed. “Nothing to do now but wait for the redcoats to swarm us.”

“Huh!” Reb snorted. “You'd complain if'n they hung you with a new rope.”

There was a weary consensus from everyone.

Even Sarah appeared defeated. “It would take a real miracle to save us now.” She moaned and slumped to the ground.

Suddenly Josh said angrily, “What did they bring us all here for if there was no hope? No one has told us the truth.”

“No one, Josh?” Crusoe sat up a little straighten “Not one person?”

“My own father lied to me. He said he'd be near me—‘I'll be near you'—that's what he said. He lied to me!” The tears that he could not hold back ran freely down his face.

Josh knew that this had been in him for a long time—his bitterness at being forsaken in a strange world by his father. He lied to me! He's not near me now and—”

“Isn't he, Josh?” Crusoe softly cut in.

Then Josh finally recognized it—something in Crusoe's voice tugged at the old memories buried deep in Josh's heart.

Josh stopped breathing and turned to look at the twisted form of Crusoe, at the piercing eyes that looked out from the old man's gnarled face.

“Isn't he near you, Josh? Right now?” Crusoe prodded.

Suddenly Josh knew! Why had he been so blind? he asked himself. He took a hesitant step toward Crusoe. His voice trembled as he spoke.

“Dad?”

Crusoe smiled, and Josh saw that beneath the beaten body it was indeed his father. Josh stumbled across the stone floor and fell into his father's frail grasp.

As the old man reached out and embraced his boy, there was much clearing of throats and looking off into the distance to avoid intruding on the moving reunion of father and son.

Finally Josh pulled away and wiped his face. Why didn't I see?” he said. Why didn't you tell me?”

“I didn't expect you to know me, Josh. The explosion changed me so much that not even your mother would have known me. She died in the explosion, son. And I didn't tell you because—well, I didn't know if you were strong enough to accept this.” He gestured at his broken body and scarred face. But now you can—and just in time.”

Suddenly the pale face twisted with some hidden pain. Josh saw that the old man was paler than death.

“I—I think we have only a little time, Josh—”

“Dad, what's wrong!” Josh cried out and held the thin hand lightly, as if to keep his father from slipping off.

Suddenly Crusoe closed his eyes for a long moment as if he were listening to a distant call. Then he opened them, and a beautiful smile came to his lips. “It's time for me to go, Josh. I want you to know something. I'd always been proud of my boy, but now I'm proud of you as a man, for that's what you're becoming. Your mother would be proud of you too. Now be a strong man, Josh. Don't be afraid of anything. You will be guided by the wisdom of Goél—and he will keep you wherever you go.”

Josh's father gave a little gasp at the end of the words, and then he squeezed his son's hand and smiled. I'll see you in the morning, Josh.”

The old man's eyes closed, and Josh knew that he was really alone on the earth.

17

Traitor Redeemed

J
ake, how long are we going to have to stay in this place?”

The wiry redhead rolled over on his stomach and looked at Abbey, who was pouting a little.

“I dunno—but we better enjoy it while we can,” he replied.

“Sure enough yes,” Reb added. He pulled himself up from where he had been lying lazily on his back. He looked out into the distance. “I figure them priest fellers will be here soon enough.”

“Well, I think somebody ought to do something!” Abbey said sharply.

Jake smiled. He and Reb both were drawn to Abbey's startling beauty, but they had quickly learned that she was spoiled to the bone. She seemed to take for granted that everyone would cater to her every whim.

Wash grinned at her and whispered to Jake, “I heard that Queen Victoria never looked to see if they was a chair behind her. Just sat down any time, like she figured it was somebody else's business to take care of those little details.” He shook his head and then moved on.

Abbey seemed totally unaware of Wash's assessment. She was staring up at the highest point of the rim. There Josh and Sarah could be seen outlined against the sky, talking.

Then Jake spoke to Abbey, asking in a casual tone, “Well, who do you think ought to do something—and what?”

“Well, I'm not the one to say.” Abbey hesitated. “But if Joshua would get his mind on the problem and stop spending so much time sulking around—” She suddenly paused, then smiled. “I mean, it is his responsibility, isn't it? Why doesn't he do something instead of wasting time?”

She looked up again at the couple on the high ground and shook her head. Then she glanced slyly at Reb, adding sweetly, “But I know that the rest of us could handle things quite nicely if Josh is just too busy.”

With that, Abbey fell back into her own private thoughts.

∗ ∗ ∗

Sitting on the ledge of the Needle, Sarah and Josh were unaware that the others were watching them.

“Josh, how many days has it been since we got here?”

Looking at the scratches he had made on the wall, Josh counted. “Nearly two weeks,” he announced. “If we hadn't been able to snare those rabbits—and find those greens and onions—we'd have starved to death.”

“Are we going to wait here much longer?”

“I don't know, Sarah. I guess after Dad died I was kind of shook up. But even now I don't know what we can do. I think I'm waiting for a miracle, and I don't even know what kind of miracle we need.”

He tossed a stone over the edge, and they waited long moments before they heard it strike far below.

“Even if we left here and got away from Elmas and his crew, where would we go?” Josh wondered out loud.

“I don't know, Josh.” Sarah drew a little closer. There was a loneliness and mystery in the vastness of the desert and the sky. “Everyone is getting restless—me too, I guess.”

Suddenly Josh sat up and peered hard into the night, then let loose a long breath.

“Well, I guess we won't have to worry about what to do much longer. Look over there—see that light?”

“Way over there? Yes, I can barely see it. What is it?”

“I think it's the enemy. Two days ago, I sent the Hunters out to see how close the Sanhedrin were. I think the Hunters will be back by morning—with the bad news.”

“Let's go inside, Josh. I'm getting cold.”

They found the others sitting around a fire.

Josh broke the news at once. “I can see fires across the desert. I don't think it will be long now.” Then he saw with surprise the Hunters sitting close to the fire, eating hungrily.

“Well, you must have snuck in the back way. Are they coming?” Josh asked Kybus.

“Maybe two days—maybe less.”

“Josh, there ain't no way we can keep them fellers out of this roost,” Reb complained. “It ain't a bad place to fight—if you got lots of help. But they's maybe ten paths that lead up here, and we can't watch all of 'em.”

“Well, we'll just have to fight here—in this old building.”

“But we'll be pinned down for sure,” Jake said.

“We are anyway.”

Josh looked around, then began to outline a plan. “Let's get all the food and water we have and move it in here. Volka, you start rolling the biggest rocks you can find into the openings. Just leave us enough room to shoot through. Some of you start clearing the stones and the bushes from around the building. Let's be sure they have to cross a wide open space to get at us.”

“You believe it's going to do any good, Josh?” Wash asked.

“Nothing but a miracle will do any good now,” Jake said.

“And miracles have been out of fashion for a few hundred years in Nuworld,” Mat said grumpily.

“Ho, maybe we start them again.” Tam grinned. “Come, we go clear the way.”

One of the Gemini followed Josh. The other stuck close to Mat.

There was a great deal of activity the next two days—sharpening swords and arrows, storing food, moving stones. At dusk, no one was shocked when the Hunters announced that troops were coming up the passes.

“They're doing it smart too,” Mat translated. “Using all the paths so we can't block them. Guess it was the best thing to move in here, Captain Josh.”

Mat grinned at Josh almost cheerily.

Josh was amazed. “Well, Mat, if you start saying nice things, I guess a miracle can't be too far off.”

Mat's face darkened. “Better not be. We're in trouble. I figure we can hold out maybe three or four days at most.”

Late that night they got their first taste of the Sanhedrin. There was no warning—just a ball of fire that suddenly smashed against the side of the building and set the world aglow with blazing light.

“It's burning oil,” Josh said. “Nothing we can do to put it out.”

He dodged back as a small ball whizzed through one of the narrow ports. It fell on the floor and blazed up at once.

“They're fire bombs,” Jake yelled. “Throw some of this dirt over the blaze.”

They managed to put that one out with only a few singed fingers. Fortunately, the other bombs missed the ports and shattered on the outer walls.

“Can't see to shoot,” Mat yelled. “That fire makes us blind as bats, and they can see us if we raise our heads.”

“Everybody keep low,” Reb warned. “We'll get 'em if they come through the winders—” He turned to Josh, and his eyes were alight with the joy of the battle. “Just like the Battle of Shiloh, ain't it, Josh?”

As Reb spoke, Josh saw a steel-helmeted guard dart through one of the side doors and launch a wicked spear straight at the young Southerner's back.

Wash with a yell threw his small body straight at Reb. The blow knocked Reb to the floor, and the spear passed harmlessly through the exact spot where he had been standing. Only Wash's quick action had saved his life.

Reb looked up to see Volka throw the soldier out. Then Volka rolled a large stone in front of the door.

Reb slowly got to his feet. He checked himself for injuries. Then he caught a glimpse of the spear embedded in the wall—the spear that would have killed him had it not been for Wash.

Reb looked at Wash who was now lying on the floor. He looked at the still black face steadily, then smiled. He put out his hand and said slowly, “Thankee, Wash.”

Wash rose to his feet unaided and stared quizzically at Reb's outstretched hand.

But Reb didn't withdraw it. He continued to look at his friend for a long time and then said again, “Thankee, Wash.”

Wash nodded and took Reb's hand. “Well, Reb, maybe in Goél's House everybody will be equal,” he said.

And they turned to fight side by side.

It was a long night, for the troops of Elmas spared no trick to enter the besieged fortress. Their dead lay stacked like cordwood in the narrow openings.

Both sides had suffered heavy casualties. Sarah, nursing a spear cut in her left hand, was binding up Josh's thigh where he had suffered a sword wound. And the others were either getting medical attention or standing guard against the next attack.

Josh gazed at the wreckage of the room—bodies piled high at the entrances, blood over most of the floor, the defenders creeping painfully back to their posts.

Perhaps it was the utter hopelessness of their plight that made Josh suddenly grin and say to Sarah, “Wait till you hear my plan!”

She looked up at his smile, then said, “Well, let's hear it.”

“When things get really bad we go to Phase Two.”

“What's Phase Two?”

“When in danger or in doubt run in circles, scream, and shout!” he declaimed.

Then they both laughed as if they were back in Old-world.

“Josh, it's pretty futile, isn't it? I mean there's really no way out of this place, is there?”

Josh pulled the battered old black book out of his pocket and riffled the pages, then looked across at Sarah.

“We seem to be lost, Sarah, but the leaves of this old book are rustling with some wind. And I hear the wind say, ‘It just isn't so.'”

“That sounds like something your dad might say.”

“Probably is. You know, the odd thing is I'm not scared.”

“Well, I'm not either. I think all the scare has been scared out of me.”

“Maybe that's good. Maybe Goél has to get us to the brink of disaster before we listen to him.”

“I think that's right, Josh, but—”

Sarah's words were cut short by a warning cry from Tam, who was watching one of the openings.

“Wake up! Somebody's coming!”

Now it was so quiet that Josh could hear what he thought was the sound of someone approaching the entrance.
But this sound was different from footsteps. This was more like a slow scraping. Closer and closer it came.

Finally Tam whispered, “Get ready! They're here!”

Everyone stood poised with bows drawn and swords in hand.

The scraping noise grew louder. Then someone came slowly through the narrow opening, someone who was painfully crawling on bloody hands.

Josh watched with sword raised to strike. But as the figure crept into the dim light, he dropped his sword with a clatter and ran to the one who had collapsed on the floor.

“Dave!” Josh called.

The battered face of the missing Sleeper was touched with the silver moonlight.

“Is it really Dave?” Sarah cried. She fell down beside Josh, and they began to carry the still figure inside to a safer place.

Josh and Sarah placed Dave on a stone ledge, and Sarah held his head carefully. Dave was so still that Josh thought he was dead.

Suddenly, however, he opened his eyes and looked round at the battered little band. Then he smiled. “Well— I'm—I'm back,” he whispered weakly.

“My land!” Reb breathed. “He looks like he's been sackin' wildcats and ran outta sacks!”

“Dave!” Josh cried out again. “How'd you get here?”

“They wanted me to—tell everything—about the Sleepers—and they made me—they made me—” His thin voice trailed off, and he turned his face to the wall.

Quickly, Josh reached out and took his hand. “Doesn't matter, Dave. You're back with us. That's all that counts.”

“I'm so glad you're back, Dave!” Sarah said.

And then the other travelers began to gather close and spread warm little expressions of welcome and friendship.

As Dave turned his head to see them, his eyes glistened. “I've come,” he whispered painfully, “I've come— to the House of Goél.”

He pulled Josh down to whisper in his ear, but they all could hear his words. “Do you think that Goél—I mean, I know that I—I betrayed all of you, but do you think—he'll let me—in his House?”

“Sure! Sure he will, Dave!”

Immediately everyone chimed in with words of support.

Then Dave sat up and looked at them all. A smile lit up his broken features. It was as though a torch suddenly glowed brightly, then quickly faded, as his eyes closed. Now he had left them for good.

“He's gone, Josh,” Sarah whispered.

“Not really,” Josh answered as they laid him gently down. “Not really gone, Sarah.”

In the middle of the silence, Mat said all of a sudden, “Well, there is our miracle—if we need it.”

“Yes.” Sarah shivered. “It's going to be easier to believe in Goél after this.”

“If we could just get out of here!” Josh said. “I think we could really change this Nuworld some.”

“
But you can leave here—anytime you wish!
”

The voice that suddenly rang out was familiar, but even Josh was suddenly struck dumb when a tall figure in a simple cloak stepped out of the shadows. There in the wan light of a port opening he saw Goél!