The Crystal Clipper (9 page)

At the base of each magnificent crystal mast of the Moon Singer is a band of solid gold rings that encircles it, much like a necklace. Using a unique cutting tool that he himself designed, Ishtar cuts through a ring on each of the three masts, freeing them at the ends. He then links the three necklaces together to make one continuous chain.

Tentatively, as he has not been aboard any sailing ship in years, he climbs the perilous 15-story rope ladder to the crow's nest with one end of the lengthy chain firmly in his grip. Because the chain is pure gold, it is light enough for Ishtar to hoist as he climbs. With each sway of the ship Ishtar halts his step and grabs onto the rope ladder for balance, repeating a mantra of faith and determination to shore up his courage.

Finally Ishtar stands in the crow's nest, overlooking the vast black ocean, and fastens the end ring of the chain to another gold band surrounding the top of the mizzenmast. He then climbs the long, precarious rope stairs down to the deck. Gripping the bottom end of the gold chain, Ishtar carries it to the railing at the ship's bow. He pulls it taut and fastens it there. Stepping back to examine his handiwork, Ishtar's face registers satisfaction. The rest will be up to David.

* * *

David stirs restlessly on the stiff cot in his sleep chamber. Awakening, he tries to sit up, but his head feels as though it's been pummeled from the inside out.

“God. What a nightmare.” Is his speech slurred from the grog of sleep, or has he been drugged? He isn't sure.

He tries to rise quickly, but the room whirls around him and he slumps back down onto the cot. Looking around the room, examining his strange clothes, a grim realization comes over him that he truly is in some dark and evil place, that he may never go home again, that he has failed in his mission to find Sally. He has failed himself, his family, everyone who ever believed in him. He hasn't a clue where he is, or how or why he is enmeshed in this weird scenario.

“What's happening to me? I can't believe any of this. I've made a mess of it,” he ruminates sorrowfully. “I'm sorry, Dad. Oh, Sally, Sally, I'm so sorry. God, I wish Mom was here.” David covers his eyes with trembling hands balled into frightened fists, and begins to cry. He is just a boy, after all, ill equipped to understand let alone prevail in this harrowing adventure.

“Don't give up now, David.” A voice, reassuring, encouraging, kind. David moves his hands from his eyes and looks up to see the hologram appear. Eagerly, he sits upright on the cot.

“Dorinda! Oh, God, I was never so happy to see anyone in my life.”

“And I, you. But you mustn't let Jaycina distort your reality, or make you believe you cannot accomplish what you set out to do.”

“But I can't!” he rails, angry mostly at himself. “I can't do it. Ishtar was right. I didn't know what I was doing. I should never have messed with that gridwork stuff.”

“Your instincts are flawless even if your knowledge is limited. You must believe that through the crystals you have the power to succeed.”

“What power? The Moldavite is gone and I can't communicate with Ishtar. I'm definitely no match for Jaycina,” David denigrates himself. “And I'll never find Sally, not here in this madhouse.” He shakes his head ruefully. “Why did I ever let you talk me into this?”

Dorinda is sincerely contrite. “I confess, I deceived you in the beginning, David. All I wanted was Saliana's freedom and I would have done anything, used anyone, to achieve that end.”

“Everybody wants something from me, but I just want to find Sally and go home.”

“But things are different now, David. We are all connected - you, me, Ishtar, Saliana, and your Sally. We are one, eternally linked together.”

David feels a familiarity, an awesome recognition of some unfathomable truth. “That's what Ishtar said.” He holds up his hand as though to dismiss what he cannot figure out. “But I still don't know how my being here is going to help my dad get his job back, or get Sally out of her wheel chair.” He winces at the irony, realizing that Sally is, at least in this bizarre nightmare, out of her wheel chair. But where?

“You have started a chain reaction and you cannot stop it now,” Dorinda implores him. “You must be more clever than Jaycina, stronger than the Glass Snake -”

“I can't do that if you're not telling me the truth,” David suddenly snaps, “especially about Saliana. Jaycina says her music can't make anyone immortal, that she's only a channel for a higher source.”

Noticeably unsettled by this, Dorinda asks quickly, “Did she - did she say what the source was, David?”

“No. She didn't know. But she said whoever could discover it
would
be immortal. What did she mean? What is it?”

“I must go now, David,” Dorinda says hastily, her image already beginning to fade. “You shan't hear from me again. Now, you must let the magic of your gleaming crystal clipper work through you.”

David moves toward her desperately. “Dorinda, no! Wait. I don't understand.”

“Hold the Singer in your hand, David. Listen to its song. Listen to what it's trying to tell you…” Then, she is gone.

Nearly shattered by Dorinda's disappearance, feeling more deserted than ever, David retrieves the Singer crystal from the pocket of his tunic. He holds it tightly in his hand, willing it to speak to him, to sing to him.

“Say something, please. Let me hear it. I don't know what I'm listening for. But let me be worthy to hear the mysteries you hold.” With a deep sigh and a silent prayer, he listens, and listens…and listens…

* * *

Jaycina stands watch as the palace guards drag a writhing resistant Judiah to the pedestal at the mouth of the Glass Volcano. He has been dressed in a white sacrificial garment and ornamental breastplate of precious metals and gemstones. The guards stand at either side of him, each holding one of Judiah's arms to keep him from bolting free.

“Don't do this, Jaycina, please,” Judiah cries, struggling fiercely. “Send me to the mines. Anything but this!”

“The mines are for peasants, Judiah.” Jaycina's smile is a flash of white teeth and ruby lips. “For you, the end must be glorious.”

At the far side of the Glass Volcano, the huge lodestone is moved into place. The powerful energy of the Volcano is activated, creating an arc of electrical current. Swiftly, Judiah is pulled into the air by the magnetic force of the lodestone. He hovers, screaming, over the center of the Volcano's hungry mouth.

“Jaycina, I beg of you. Can you forget how well I have served you? Will you let one minor transgression taint my record? I don't deserve to die. Think about it!”

Dragging out Judiah's agony a bit longer, Jaycina recants. “Hmm. Perhaps you are right, Judiah. I have been hasty in deciding your fate. I will, indeed, think about it.” She turns to leave, but turns back a moment to hear yet another plea from Judiah.

“No! You can't leave me here. JAYCINA –” his terrified voice echoes across the valley.

Flamboyantly, the High Priestess twirls her cape closed around her and walks away, leaving Judiah dangling like a marionette in mid-air between life and death.

* * *

Feelings of peace and calm flow gently inside David. Although no great revelation has occurred, no sounding brass or flashes of insight, an inner strength shores him up and he decides to make one last valiant effort to rescue Saliana. As he slips quietly from his sleep chamber, he is amazed that no guard stands at the door. And as he retraces his steps up the spiraling staircase, no one appears to stop him.

Warily, David moves through the Palace to Saliana's chamber in the Tower, grateful that he hears no sounds indicating the Glass Snake is near. He hesitates for a moment outside Saliana's door and listens, completely enchanted by the exquisite purity of her voice. Is this the song his crystal sings? The one his heart sings? Both, he knows. Both. And each has brought him here to this place.

Remembering the urgency of the moment, he snaps alert then strides quickly through the door. Saliana turns with a start and gasps at the sight of him.

“Oh - David. I'm so glad to see you.” She rushes to his side and grasps his hands, pulling them gratefully to her tear-stained face.

“Don't sing anymore, Saliana.”

“But, Father said -”

“It was just a trick. That wasn't your father.”

Saliana's lips quiver. “Then it's true. Father is dead.”

“No. It's not true. Believe me.”

Saliana swoons with relief and David's arms sweep around her to steady her. She feels strangely comfortable to him, someone he embraced long ago, or dreamed he did, hoped someday he would. In turn, she slips her arms around him, silently holding him for a moment. She steps back slightly, head tilted expectantly. Their eyes search each other's with longing, yearning, questioning. David moves closer to her waiting lips, but suddenly Saliana's eyes reflect uncertainty.

“David. You
are
David now, aren't you? Not under Jaycina's spell?”

David shakes his head, also feeling doubtful about his state of mind. “No. I think I've come to my senses. But I don't know what will happen if I encounter Jaycina again.” He takes a firm hold of Saliana's hand. “Come on,” he says, leading her to the door. “We don't have much time.”

“Where are we going?”

“Home.”

Following the blue mirrors as Ishtar had told him to do, David leads Saliana through the winding, seemingly endless Palace corridors. The sonorous chanting, that so intrigued David earlier, again resounds through the walls, the mantras enveloping him with their primitive urgings. With an overwhelming desire to succumb to their enticements, David halts his step. Yearning fills him, and a yielding expression crosses his face. He lets Saliana's hand slip from his and makes a slow move away from her.

Alarmed, Saliana cries out. “Come back, David. Come back!” The strong tone of her voice strikes a protective nerve and David tenses his body, fighting the impulse to follow the chanting and to be drawn into its womb of mystery and magic.

David summons his inner strength and orders her sharply, “Just keep moving.” Saliana grasps David's hand with both of hers as they proceed further along. Nearing Jaycina's chamber, an eerie shimmering presence dances in front of them. Saliana lets out a small cry and shields herself behind David's shoulder.

“What is that, David? It's like a mirage or something.”

“That's just what it is. Hurry past,” David urges her as beads of perspiration dot his face. “Where is that damn staircase?”

They scurry along as a haunting, lilting voice echoes David's name. David grits his teeth and clenches his fist resisting, resisting, shutting out the enticement.

“David,” the voice intones seductively. “It's Jaycina. You hear me, don't you?” “No! I won't listen!”
Why can't I be deaf now?
David wonders desperately.

Jaycina's voice reverberates from high and low, from far and near, from every nook and cranny, but David presses on valiantly until he finds the hidden staircase.

“We're here.” David's voice breaks under the stress. “It's the hidden stairs your father told me about. Come on.”

But Saliana hesitates a moment and looks back up the corridor. She freezes when she sees the High Priestess standing but a few feet away. Suddenly, a door slides across their path, closing off the staircase to freedom. David pushes on it with all his might, but it doesn't budge.

“No, Jaycina,” David hisses vehemently through clenched teeth, “not this time. We're leaving and you can't stop us.”

“Of course, I cannot stop you, David. You are free to go anytime.”

“Oh, sure. What are we supposed to do, just walk through this door?”

“The door will open easily if you truly want to leave. So, obviously you wish to stay and learn more of the wonders of the Prism Palace.”

“I've seen all I want to see of you and that monster you worship. The two of you deserve each other.”

At her manipulative best Jaycina proclaims, “The Prism Palace is just the beginning for us, David. Soon there will be the temples of healing and science that Ishtar dreamed of.”

“All monuments to lies and greed, built on the blood and tears of helpless people,” Saliana injects bitterly, coming out from behind David's protection.

“You misunderstand my intentions,” Jaycina replies, with carefully disguised condescension. “I only wanted to give the Islanders a chance to live a purposeful life, to save them from their primitive existence of idleness and useless fantasies.”

“You're the one who lives in a fantasy, Jaycina,” David sneers, “to think I would stay here in this crazy world with someone like you.”

Jaycina's shrill laughter sends shivers through David's body, then her words pierce his heart like a knife. “You are so naive, my David. Is your world any different? Lies and greed have all but destroyed your own father. Did he not choose his work above all else, killing your mother and crippling your sister in the process?”

“No!” David screams, clutching his stomach which feels like it's being ripped out. Saliana is taken aback at his outburst and stands frozen in shock.

“It's not true. It's because of Fischbacher, that slave driver, that –
snake
. And I'll get even if it's the last thing I do!” David lunges at Jaycina threateningly, but his hands slip right through her. She is there, but untouchable, like a ghost, an illusion, an elusive fragment of a dream.

“The only way to overthrow the powerful is with greater power, the kind of power I can give you,” Jaycina baits him. “Isn't that why you are here?”

Why am I here?
David asks himself the unanswerable question, wondering if he will ever comprehend this odd interplay of his life with the lives of Ishtar, Saliana and, most of all, Jaycina.
What is it I'm trying to prove, anyway?

“But it takes time, David,” Jaycina continues to cajole him. “And if Saliana will sing for all of us, we will have the time. We will all be immortal, you and I as well as the great Serpent Ruler.”

“Immortal? That's an even bigger lie,” David confronts her. “You told me yourself Saliana's music can't make anyone immortal.”

Jaycina circles Saliana like a hungry tiger stalking her prey. “But she holds the key. Somewhere in her song is the answer to all things. And I MUST HAVE IT!” Jaycina is shrieking now, venting an anger that springs up like a geyser of resentment finally bursting free. Stark terror emblazons Saliana's eyes and she places a protective hand over the Rose Crystal Pendant.

Jaycina rails on. “For a thousand lifetimes I have subjugated myself to kings and conquerors, denied the status that I truly deserve, that is my birthright. The Crystal of Wisdom is rightfully mine,” she insists, not knowing she speaks of the singer David carries in his tunic. “I will find it and I will reclaim it, if I have to crush everyone in my path.”

David moves between Jaycina and Saliana, guarding Saliana from this madwoman who stands before them. “Even me?” he challenges the High Priestess. David's forthright stare triggers something in Jaycina, and she becomes quiescent, yet her eyes are strangely pleading.

“No, David. Not you. We are friends, you and I. Don't you see? I wasn't always corrupt. I have been corrupted by
them
. I have had to play the game their way to

survive.” Jaycina grabs David's arm fervently. “But survival is not enough. I want to live again, David. I want to live again to fulfill my destiny as I choose.”

David's heart swirls with a tidepool of confusing emotions, the same conflict he felt when he confronted Janice Cole. Once she had been his friend, someone he could trust. But she, too, was corrupted, by Nathan Fischbacher at the expense of her own free will and dignity. The remembrance of Janice's intent to marry Nathan Fischbacher raises his hackles and any ambiguity of emotion dissolves.

“You can stay dead for all I care.” David pulls his arm fiercely away from Jaycina and begins to lead Saliana away.
Stay dead? Why did I say that?
David wonders why he didn't say
drop
dead.

“Wait, please, David.” In her desperation, Jaycina's approach transforms to an appealing softness. “What about Sally? I will give you your Sally if you will leave Saliana with me.”

David halts and turns to Jaycina. “You don't know where Sally is. It's another one of your tricks.”

“Look, David. Look into my eyes and see. See your Sally.”

Belligerently, David strides over to Jaycina and stands inches from her. He peers deeply into her glistening black eyes, believing he will see nothing save for her piercing glance. But, magically, there she is. Sally - laughing and happy, just as she used to be. She whirls and dances gracefully to a merry waltz like a princess, just like a princess…

“Sally - Sally -” David whispers. He swallows the thick lump that grows in his throat. Jaycina extends her hand invitingly. David reaches out and takes it in his own. Jaycina's smile emits a look of conquest.

Now, David.
The voice in his head urges him. Ishtar's voice.
Now. You know what you must do.

In a remarkably deft move, David pulls the diamond ring from Jaycina's finger and forces the pyramid ring on in its place. Taken completely by surprise, Jaycina struggles to remove the ring, but it will not come off.

“No! No! It's can't be! It can't be!” Jaycina wails. Anger, disbelief, and terror intermingle in her eyes and cries of protest. Mystifyingly, Jaycina transforms into the formidable and awe-inspiring form of the Glass Snake, then back to Jaycina again. She is a shimmering wave of color, she is smoke and fire, she is passion and fury, darkness and light. She is everything real and yet fantastic, everything imaginable but inconceivable.

David and Saliana recoil in horror and rush to the hidden staircase. Amazingly, the barricading door opens wide and they pass through the portal.

“What did you do to her?” Saliana asks, breathless as they descend the dozens of marble steps.

“I exchanged rings - put on the one your father gave me. He said it would make her change.”

“That was an understatement.”

“She was supposed to change for the better.”

At last, they reach the bottom of the stairs, then stop short of the archway.

“Wait,” David cautions her. “Let me see what's out there.” He passes through the archway, then quickly returns. “It's the way out, to the front of the Palace. It's clear.”

David and Saliana run, their feet barely touching the ground beneath them, the Prism Palace illuminating their way in the darkness. As they approach the perimeter of the Palace grounds, Saliana stops abruptly. Before them is Judiah, hovering over the mouth of the Glass Volcano. He is conscious but weak.

“Holy cow,” David exclaims.

“David - help me - help - me -” Judiah whimpers.

Saliana is frantic. “What do we do!”

“I don't know,” David says, completely at a loss.

With surprising alertness, Judiah begins screaming. “He's coming. He's coming.”

Saliana and David turn to see the Glass Snake thundering across the Palace grounds toward them. He moves quickly on massive clawed feet, despite the stubby thickness of his legs. His powerful gait shakes the ground, nearly knocking David and Saliana off their balance. They scramble to the pedestal at the mouth of the Volcano and climb up on it. The Snake is mere yards away, his wild eyes two red mirrors of doom. Saliana shrieks hysterically.

David is unexpectedly struck with a sharp, searing pain in his ear and he reaches up to hold it. The pain then turns into an unbearable ringing and David pulls his hearing aid out, cutting off all the sounds of panic that surround him. As he does so, the din becomes a hum, then a soothing hush, like the tranquil ebb and flow of the ocean tides he loves so much. Immersed in this secure cocoon, David realizes instinctively what he must do and reaches into his tunic for the Singer crystal. He holds it high, like a cross of “good” opposing the forces of evil.

Instantly, the Singer is ignited with the crackling energy emanating from the Glass Volcano and emits a dazzling, prismatic spray of multi-colored light, which then emblazons the Star of David on David's tunic.

“His tail, David. Cut off his tail and he will die!” Judiah yells.

David points the Singer toward the Snake's tail and the little crystal clipper spews out a hail of incendiary sparks. The Snake's scaly tail explodes into a million pieces, sending fragments of shattering multi-colored glass into the sky like a Fourth of July fireworks display. The Snake roars violently, one final gasp for life before the instant of death, then collapses in a thunderous heap.

In the explosion, a glorious burst of light hurtles through the sky like a meteor toward the Moon Singer. The energy hits the gallant clipper ship's railing, slithers along the conduit Ishtar fashioned from the gold rings, and connects to the clipper's mizzenmast full force. Her sails burst open and, regaining full power, the Moon Singer begins to glide along on the water.

Ishtar runs up and down the main deck, whooping victoriously, as a misty spray of water washes away his grateful tears. “You did it, David! You did it. You remembered, my boy. You remembered.”