“NOOO,” I SAID. My fingers still tingled from touching the dome when Gualu had activated the 3D function. The mercenaries were outside the tunnel. Somehow Frank and Trumak had gotten free to lead them here. And they had Lucy.
“It’s impossible,” Dad said. “We left Frank’s place less than an hour ago in a plane. How could they have caught up with us?”
“Time moves differently here when the gate is used,” Gualu said. “It’s been many Earth hours since you left.”
The scene at the gate was like looking out a window. It was so real, a part of me wondered if I could simply jump through it, grab Lucy’s hand, and pull her in here with us. And then I realized if Frank was free, then something bad had happened to Mandu. Trumak’s tribe must have found him, given him an antidote for the drug, and then retrieved Frank. My stomach hurt at the thought of Lucy losing her mom.
My brain went into overdrive. Because of our proximity to each other, my mind had connected to Gualu’s when he activated the device. I’d witnessed the complicated string of mental commands he used to unlock the machine before issuing the command to display the scene. It was like a password. That’s why my mind had felt like it was being probed when I thought I’d activated the device on my own to see my family in the safe house, and also later when I’d used it to see Ellie and the others. Gualu had needed to confirm my intentions before unlocking the device so I could use it. Now I’d used the password to turn on the sound.
“Partial breach. Another charge or two should do it.”
“We’ve got to save her!” I wanted to create a gate and pull Lucy through, so I turned back and reached for the dome. This time, Gualu grabbed my wrist. But he’d activated the device by only extending his hands over it, so I closed my eyes and—
“You must not!” He said in a growl that rattled my insides.
“Its capabilities are beyond your comprehension, Alex.” His voice was quieter now. “Not only could you kill Lucy, but you could kill us all.”
“We’ve got to do something,” Dad said.
“And we will,” Gualu said. “But time is running out. And we must complete our task without distraction.”
“Distraction?” Dad pointed at the screen, where the two soldiers were planting more charges. “Once they blow that entrance, they’ll be on us in three minutes! That’s a tad more than a distraction.”
Gualu waved his hand over the dome while he spoke. “They will never get through. I’ll simply raise the shield and—” He frowned and waved his hand again.
My mind was still connected to Gualu’s. I knew we were in trouble before he spoke.
“What is it?” Dad asked.
“The shield is not responding. It’s been in place since the probe landed here twenty-five thousand years ago. I lowered it for the first time today so you could enter. But for some reason it won’t reactivate. I have many skills, but equipment repair is not among them.” He waved his hand again, and his face tightened.
“Terrific,” Dad said. “We’re screwed.”
Gualu shook his head. “I will not allow the circumstances to deter us. We must act immediately.” He closed his eyes and held both palms over the dome. He knew I was still connected to him, but he made no effort to block me. The screen shimmered, and an ancient-looking village flashed across the screen, barely illuminated by a central campfire. Tribe members spilled from their huts, and in a matter of moments, dozens of pairs of eyes stared up toward the mountain in wonder. Gualu had wrapped them all in a vision, just as he had done with me and Dad before.
“They are friends of the mountain,” Gualu’s thoughts flashed into my head. “It is the tribe I sent Lucy to summon when you first arrived. I imparted the ritualistic words she needed to convince them to help, but she was obviously intercepted first. I’ve never reached out to them in a vision before, for fear of frightening them, but they revere the mountain so they will come. They are fierce warriors, and they don’t take kindly to trespassers. They will delay those outside.”
I wondered what chance bows and blowguns would have against bullets, but Gualu had already made clear his belief that sacrificing a few for the many was justified. My connection to his mind allowed me to sense the tribe’s position relative to where Frank and the others were trying to break through. “Even running at full speed, it will take them ten minutes,” I thought.
“Yes, we’ll need swifter help before then.” Gualu motioned again, and on the screen appeared a series of jungle locations, where gold eyes blinked from the darkness in response to his summons.
“Jaguars!”
Gualu waved and the images vanished.
Dad blinked. “Were those jaguars?”
“They’re coming to help,” I said, remembering how I’d received similar help in the South China jungles when I rescued the bears.
Another explosion echoed from the tunnel, this one louder than the last. Dad pressed the shotgun to his shoulder.
“There’s no time for that,” Gualu said, aiming an ear toward the tunnel. “They are still not through, and the first of the cats is quite close. I’ve purchased us some time, but not much. We must join now.”
“And hope that jaguars can dodge eight hundred rounds per minute spewing from an M249 light machine gun?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Gualu said in a tone that made the air vibrate and my knees wobble.
Dad kept the shotgun pointed at the tunnel opening, but when he slowly swiveled his head in our direction, I saw the incredulous look on his face and guessed Gualu’s resonance had gotten through his skin as well.
Gualu continued, his voice softer. “We must join together, and we must do so immediately.”
My dad and I looked at each other. Reluctantly, Dad set the shotgun on the ground, pulled out the mini, and joined us. He extended the mini in an open palm, then took my hand. “Okay. Let’s do this.”