The Daykeeper's Grimoire (31 page)

“Barbara, can you first explain what the Global Consciousness Project is?”

“The Global Consciousness Project was started by a lab at Princeton known as PEAR, and it uses sensitive equipment around the world to determine whether human consciousness can be measured. They’ve shown that when people around the world focus on the same event or idea—such as the events of 9/11—patterns form in otherwise random ‘quantum noise.’”

I hit Alex on the chest. “PEAR is the place where Tenzo knows someone!
Tenzo
made that happen!”

“And what does this tell us?” the newscaster asked.

“Well, Janice, the data lead scientists to speculate on whether humans have a ‘collective mind’ of sorts.”

“And they had something to say about what happened today?”

“The Global Consciousness Project reported a strong and distinct pattern in the otherwise random output, a coherence they say they have not seen since news of Princess Diana’s death.”

“Barbara, does this indicate that there were more people involved than just those at the four sites we mentioned?”

“That has yet to be seen, but according to experts, quality is more important than quantity. If these young people were able to really connect, to quite literally ‘get on the same wavelength’ so to speak, then they could have had this kind of effect.”

“Fascinating, Barbara, thank you. Now to add yet another interesting twist, apparently there was an unusual response in animals that use sonar, such as bats, dolphins, and whales. Joining me via satellite is Carol Countryman, a specialist in animal sonar.”

Alex puts his hand on my knee and says, “Bloody hell, Caity, you’ve managed to disrupt the whole animal kingdom!”

I try to focus on what they’re saying, but it’s hard while also trying to catalog the feeling of Alex’s hand on my knee in my database of Alex touches.

“Carol, what went on today?”

“Well, it was a strange day for those of us who study animal sonar and echolocation; today we found that these animals were, for lack of a better term, humming along together.”

“And this coincided with this teleconferencing event that so many young people dialed into today?”

“It began precisely when the phone call started, according to the teleconferencing site, but lasted much longer than the call. These animals were in phase with each other for nearly an hour, the equivalent of us chanting the same word in unison for sixty minutes.”

“And this was found all over the world?”

“Yes. I collect live streaming data from labs all over the world and it only took me a few minutes to see the coherence. Although these were all at different frequencies—each species has its own—but because the frequencies were coherent, they formed a
pulse
.”

The screen goes black for a moment and Alex moves his hand from my knee. When the news comes back on the newscaster looks flustered and the “Cult Watch” label at the bottom of the screen is gone.

“For those of you who have been following this story, we’re just received information that this was all an elaborate hoax. I’m not sure what parts, if any, are true, but we’ll deliver the news to you just as fast as we get it. Back in a moment.”

“That’s bizarre,” Alex says. “What would make them say it was a hoax? There was actual footage of the kids in Egypt!”

Would the
Fraternitas
be able to snuff a story like this? “Every time I think it can’t get stranger, it does.”

“Aye,” he says with a laugh. “You never know what’s going to happen next with you …”

“I’ll tell you what’s going to happen next with me: a huge tray of room service and then bed. I feel like martians have sucked my brain from my body.”

“Well, I best be getting back to the room to check on Donald. Make sure he drinks the rest of that tea.”

“Hey! You know what? Maybe you could get him to miss the plane tomorrow! How perfect would that be?”

“Nice,” he says with a big smile. “Consider it done.”

“So then I’ll meet you and only you in the lobby tomorrow morning at 7:00?”

“Aye,” he says, pausing for an awkward moment while he’s looking at me.

Slowly he reaches up and holds my face in his warm hands. My body goes into some sort of shock mode and all I hear is the sound of the blood rushing through my ears like a busy freeway.

He looks in my eyes and says, “Caity Mac Fireland. Master of dolphins and bats the world over.”

Then he slowly bends his face down to kiss me. Our noses touch first, for a split second, and then I feel the soft, warm pressure of his lips. I have to concentrate so I don’t hyperventilate.

Time both stops and speeds up and I savor every millisecond.

When he pulls away I stand still as a statue. Frozen.

“Sleep well,” he says as he leaves the room, walking out backwards.

I am too stunned to say anything back.

Just as I sit down on the edge of the bed to process the weirdest day in my entire life, my cell phone rings. I see Justine’s number pop up.

“He kissed me!” I say into the phone, instead of hello. “Like a hands-on-face-deliberately-slow kiss …”

“Duh! Who wouldn’t after that speech? I mean, uh,
talk
?”

“Really? Honest? It made sense?” I know Justine will tell me the truth.

“Are you kidding me? You don’t even understand how many kids showed up—seriously, there are like thousands of people here all hanging on your every word.”

“Three thousand, CNN said.”

“Oh my God! We made the news?” Justine screams. “I was so proud of you, I yelled to the audience, ‘That’s my best friend!’ and they cheered. These people are amazing. I
love
Peru.”

“I’m so glad you had fun because I still can’t believe you went there for me.”

“Anytime, my friend,” she replies.

“Hey, guess what?”

“What?”

“He kissed me.”

“So I’ve heard …” she replies. “Now it’s my turn, wink wink.”

“Ha! Well, have fun.”

“Sweet dreams, Caity. Heart ya, mean it.”

“Heart ya more,” I reply.

The only other person on earth I want to talk to is Uncle Li. I dial his number but only get his voicemail, so I leave a message to call me back as soon as he can.

After a weird room-service meal of Easter Island’s twist on American food, I fire off a quick email to the girls.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Subject: You pulled it off!

Holy hell, did you see that we made international news? I would never, NEVER have been able to pull this off without your help. THANK YOU. I hope I didn’t sound like too much of a lunatic; hope the kids wherever you were understood some of what I talked about. Honestly, I don’t know where a lot of that came from. It was like my brain was reading a ticker tape or something. Anyway, I hope you all get home safely and I am in deepest debt to you. ANYTHING you ever need, please ask! Big big hugs, Caity

Finally, I settle in to bed to make my last call of the evening—my parents. It’s late there and I’m hoping I’ll just get voicemail, but Mom answers, sounding totally awake.

“Hey, I was just about to call you!” she says. “How are you?”

“Good! So nice to be back in San Francisco. What are you doing up this late?”

“Having a good laugh over the news. Have you been following this cult thing?” she asks.

“Pretty crazy, huh?”

“Isn’t it amazing that we were just talking about the Mayan calendar at dinner and now it apparently had something to do with it?”

“Really? That’s part of it?”

“Well, this might be part of the hoax too, but they said there’s a Mayan calendar website that was the most visited site on the web today. Developed by a company called ‘Bolon’ that no one knows anything about.”

I have to cover my mouth with my hand to keep from laughing. “Wow, I’ll have to check that out,” I say. “Well, just wanted to say hey. I know it’s late, you probably want to get to bed.”

“Love you, Caity.”

“Love you too,” I say. My voice catches and I’m afraid I might cry if I’m on the phone much longer. “Give Dad a hug for me. And lock your door.”

“Excuse me?” she says.

“Bolt your door tonight. Please? For me?”

Mom laughs. “Okay, I’m walking … walking … hear that? I just bolted the door. For you.”

All I can think about is getting home to see my parents. I know that Tenzo and Uncle Li are both there and aware of what’s happening, so they could help if Barend Schlacter came back for my parents, but I still have a horrible, acidic feeling in my gut.

Just as I’m drifting off to sleep, the hotel phone rings and I bolt upright in bed and answer. Before I even say hello, I hear, “Caity, this is Bolon. You need to leave immediately.”

What time is it? What do you mean?” I say. My jaw clenches so tightly it feels like my teeth might disintegrate.

“The
Fraternitas
is on its way to Easter Island. You must leave the hotel until I can get to you.”

“But where do we go?”

“Not
we
, just you. Write a note for Alex. Tell him you had to take an earlier flight for security reasons.”

“I can’t leave Alex! He’s sharing a room with a spy.”

“I’ll handle that. You just get out of that hotel.”

I am silent.

“Caity, this is important. Get a pen. Get a piece of hotel stationery. Write the note.”

I set the phone receiver down on the table and do what he says.

“Okay, now what?” I ask. I’ve turned into a robot.

“Take only what you need, slip the note under Alex’s door, and walk down the staircase. Leave from the staircase door, not through the lobby. I will call your cell in a couple of minutes.”

I pull on some clothes, throw what I can in my backpack, and scribble a note for Alex that I wrap around my room key in case he wants to move to my room. I leave it in front of Alex’s door, knock quietly, and then run down the stairwell like Bolon told me. The staircase door leads out to the side of the hotel property, which is undeveloped. Just lots of lava rock and a path down to the sea.

As I wait for Bolon’s call I start to hear something in the distance. At first I think it may be thunder, but as it gets closer I realize it’s the
fwap fwap fwap
of a helicopter propeller. I try to think of all the things this could be other than the
Fraternitas
: Medical evacuation? Army training? Food drop?

The sound of my phone ringing startles me so badly that I bite my tongue. I should have put this thing on vibrate. “Hello?” I whisper.

“Stand with your back to the staircase door. Now walk straight to the outcropping of rocks directly ahead of you.”

“Bolon, I’m scared! It’s completely black out and I heard a helicopter a minute ago.”

“I know. Just follow my directions. Walk to the rocks.”

I walk like in a nightmare when you’re in slow motion; each step takes concentration. “Okay,” I say when I finally get there. “I’m at the rocks.”

“Do you see the big flat one? Step over it and jump down to the sand. Now look to your right—you will see a small opening, a lava tube cave. I want you to kneel down and crawl in.”

“No way! I’m not getting in a cave in the dark!”

“Caity, this is serious. Get in the cave.”

I stand for a moment contemplating what to do. In the distance I hear dogs barking.

“Caity, I can hear the hounds. I’m on my way, but they will get to you before I do …”

Tears stream down my face as I crawl into the small cave about the size of a tube on a playground, just big enough for me to get into and almost sit upright. “Okay, I’m in,” I say.

“Good, Caity. Now keep going,”

“Going? Going
where
?”

“There’s an extensive lava tube cave system under Easter Island. This cave will go about a quarter mile inland and then come up through the grass. I’ll have landed when you get there.”

“How do you know?” I scream. “How do you know I’m even in the right cave? I could be lost down here forever!”

“I just know, Caity. I do, I promise you that. I’ll tell you
how
I know later. Right now I just need you to crawl as fast as you can through that cave.”

I peek my head out of the cave to see if I could swim out into the ocean, but then I hear the dogs getting closer. I look back into the darkness of the cave and decide I have no choice.

The glow of my cell phone is the only source of light, so I hold it in my mouth as I crawl on all fours. After a few feet I stop to see if Bolon is still there. “Bolon? You there? Bolon!” There’s no answer; the cave is blocking the signal.

I keep my front teeth on the phone keys so that the light will stay on, but it makes that horrible shrill sound, which, in the small cave, reverberates like a fire alarm. But at least the faint green glow helps me along.

I crawl on all fours as fast as I can. The bottom of the cave is mostly sand, so it doesn’t hurt too much. Thankfully the tunnel gets larger and I’m able to walk upright if I duck a little. It feels good to straighten my legs and really run. Then it gets small again, even smaller than it was at the beginning and in some places I have to scoot through on my belly.

I am somewhere underneath one of the world’s most isolated islands and only one person knows vaguely where I am. If anything happened I would never be found.
Never
. My stomach convulses but thankfully nothing comes out. I just dry heave.

When will this end? I try to work out in my head how long I’ve been crawling and walking so I can figure out how far I’ve gone, but between my crying and the key-tone noise, I can’t keep a train of thought going long enough to do it.

Then I hear the barking of dogs echoing in the tunnel—they sound far away but I know how fast dogs are. When I get to a really small spot, I scramble around for rocks to block the way and I’m able to make a pretty solid wall that would probably stop dogs but if there are any people with them it will have been wasted time.

The cell phone light is slowly fading and the once-shrill tone winds down like a toy with a failing battery. This sound is even more disturbing than the shrill one, with its connection to something dying. I crawl as I’ve never crawled before.

The glow gets dimmer and dimmer and dimmer until there is no light at all. It is completely black and completely silent except for the echo of my sobs and my uneven breathing. I have to slow down to feel my way through.

Then the sound of the dogs returns, distantly at first and then closer, which means that people are with them! Some sort of autopilot takes over and I get mechanical about feeling my way through. My brain turns off and my body takes over.