This time, when Gualu turned his ear toward the tunnel, his expression told me Frank’s team had broken through. Gualu cupped his hands around his mouth and bellowed in their direction, “Death awaits all who enter!” The rumble of his voice shook the floor, and I knew the threat had spiraled down the tunnel and spewed from the breached entrance. Dad’s grip on my hand tightened, and when Gualu repeated the warning in a native tongue, I bet even Trumak hesitated.
Gualu listened again. His eyes narrowed. “The first of the jaguars has arrived. I’ve done all I can.” He turned his focus on us and the mini levitated, its energy enfolding us and tickling my skin. Gualu grabbed our hands. “Give yourself to the power,” he said, drawing a deep breath. “I will do the rest.”
He closed his eyes, threw his head back, and our minds were joined. Thoughts, memories, and emotions swirled together like fragments in a funnel cloud. Images and scenes bombarded my consciousness—too swift for me to latch on to except for a few, but not so fast that I didn’t feel the drawers in my head filling up as each was stored in my memory. I saw Mom, Sarafina, and Ahmed in a variety of scenes from the past, first through my own eyes and then through my dad’s from before I was born.
And then Gualu’s memories assaulted me, of a childhood bereft of fun, love, or caring. I even saw his memory of me seated with my brother and sister at a long dining table in the Chinese monastery with the monk, Little Star. I realized it was Gualu who’d guided Little Star to rescue us on that bridge in the jungle. Then there were flashes of strange places, unusual species, and of a neverending universe of stars and planets so immense that it made me feel small. Microscopic.
It all happened within a tiny part of a moment, until Gualu’s presence took charge of the energy flow and bent it to his will. Our joined thoughts became more organized. I felt a tug deep inside me, like a fishing hook had embedded itself in my gut and the tension on the line was growing with each passing moment. I resisted it, my body instinctually recognizing a threat to its well-being. I sensed my dad’s resistance as well, and the flow of energy between the three of us began to shimmy like an out-of-balance washing machine.
“You must let it happen,” Gualu’s voice urged in my head. “I will protect you both. Trust me.”
I felt the truth of his words, but it did little to dispel my fear. When my dad lowered his walls, though, I thought of Lucy, Ellie, Mom, and everyone else who would die if we weren’t successful—and I let go.
There was a mental sigh from Gualu. As Dad and I gave ourselves to him, our life forces combined to fuel a series of commands Gualu directed into the dome. That was when I realized Gualu’s walls were gone as well. Though I had given over control of my self to him, that didn’t mean my brain wasn’t absorbing every detail of what he was doing, what he planned to do, and how he intended to accomplish it. The command sequences, calculations, and supporting data—and the physics behind it all—were revealed to me and my dad. Gualu’s plan could actually work, right down to how to deal with Frank and the others after we called off the grid. It all hinged on the three of us generating enough power to emulate the force generated by a trio of Gualu’s kind. Whose brains were five hundred thousand years more advanced than mine and Dad’s.
Time shifted, and what happened next was no longer occurring between heartbeats. Minutes passed, and if we didn’t hurry, Frank and the others would arrive while we stood helpless within our trance.
I willed my life force outward, pouring every ounce of it into supporting Gualu’s efforts. Though my eyes were closed, I could still see the 3D scene that flashed between the crystal pillars on the platform. It was an interplanetary view of a black pyramid rotating slowly above the rings of Saturn. The image zoomed closer, and in the reflected light of the sun, I could see the object was composed of a thousand or more smaller pyramids—the same ones that had formed a grid around Earth.
Gualu directed a transmission at the entire structure. The pyramids split from one another, twisting and undulating like a swarm of killer hornets waiting for targeting information from its queen.
But something was wrong. The pyramids weren’t responding in the way Gualu had expected. His thoughts said it was because our combined power was insufficient. If we didn’t correct that immediately, the grid would rocket back to Earth to complete the original mission. I sensed Gualu’s panic as he powered more of himself into the effort. Dad did as well. I bared my soul in a desperate attempt to keep up with them. A surge of power burst forth from us. My pulse pounded, my chest tightened, and something cracked inside me. A blinding pain ripped through my bones. I wanted it to stop, but the pyramids had slowed their movements so I pushed even harder. My insides were boiling but the pyramids were glowing now. It’s working! I pushed one more time with all I had…
Darkness. I was alone, drifting, no up, no down. The pain had vanished. My body was elsewhere. Is this death?
“Alex!” My dad’s voice pierced the veil. With a start I was back in my skin, and the pain returned tenfold. I still held my Dad’s hand. He gave me the last spark of life force he still had, exchanging his life for mine. “I love you, son…”
Dad’s hand went limp.
I screamed, “Nooo!”
Suddenly Gualu was within me, and my dad’s hand twitched, my pain subsided, and I knew Dad was going to be okay. The mental connection between the three of us was breaking up, but before it collapsed, a final blast of images streamed across my consciousness:
Gualu’s command sequence to launch the mountain into space, retrieve the grid, and leave our solar system. His opening the gate to his world, a MISSION COMPLETE message, along with a warning to avoid Earth because of an unusual virus Gualu had acquired from the planet’s atmosphere, one that even their advanced technology could not cure. One that would kill Gualu in moments.
My emotions twisted at the thought of all he’d sacrificed on our behalf. I shoved my sadness aside, though, when my mind glimpsed the fierce battle going on outside the tunnel, between soldiers, jaguars, and two tribes of natives—arrows impaling, claws raking, and fangs digging into necks. Gualu’s native friends and the jaguars were taking the worst of it, several of their bodies lying riddled with bullet holes. Gualu transmitted a vision to those still alive. He thanked them, blessed them, and healed those he could. They turned away as one and melted back into the forest. They’d bought us the time we’d needed.
But then Frank’s people turned eyes full of hatred back on the tunnel entrance. Frank and Trumak were running down the tunnel with a bunch of mercs and natives. Frank still had a firm grip on Lucy’s wrist.
I opened my eyes to see my dad’s astonished expression. He’d witnessed everything I had. Gualu lay on the floor beside us, his hands holding the mini against his chest, as if its power might keep him alive a few moments longer. His eyes fluttered.
We kneeled over him. Dad cradled his head.
“You did it,” I said, my heart aching.
His voice was ragged. “We did it.”
Dad said, “You gave your life force so I could live.”
Gualu’s breath wheezed. “As you did for your son.”
I placed my hand on his shoulder. “We’re not so different, then, are we? When emotions guide our actions?”
A tear leaked from Gualu’s eye. He frowned, and found the strength to reach up and touch it. He stared, awestruck, at his fingertip. It was probably the first time he’d ever spilled a tear. When he looked back at us, he said, “You’ve given me much.”
His eyes closed, and I tensed. But then he blinked, and a surge of energy from the crystal dome warmed me from the inside out. I looked at my dad and his disfigurement vanished. Gualu had used the power within the crystalline structure to heal him, too.
There was a flicker of merriment in Gualu’s expression. He struggled to inhale and whispered, “Happiest day of my life.”
He sighed, and his body went limp.
Dad lowered his head gently to the floor. As we rose to our feet, I felt a power surge from the dome. We edged back as Gualu’s body began to glow. It rose and moved toward the platform. The gate opened to reveal a lush valley, with a variety of colorful plant life I’d never seen. Gualu’s body drifted from our world into his, and with a blink the scene vanished. Gualu the Overseer had returned home.
Dad locked gazes with me. We both knew what had to be done.