11

September 30

Selah stood behind Bodhi’s command chair, staring out at the landscape. The sun came up behind them, spreading the transport’s ominous long shadow across the barren landscape. At first it seemed like an exaggerated pointer leading the way, but as the sun rose, the shadow shortened until it was trailing them. From Study Square she remembered seeing vintage images of the moon’s pockmarked landscape. Those could have been pictures of the terrain in front of her.

“Are you too busy for a visit?” Mari strolled onto the command deck and wrapped her arm around Selah’s shoulders.

Selah leaned her head to touch her sister’s. “No, nothing to do until we reach the first dome. How are the kids behaving for my mother this morning?”

“They’ve both had their noses stuck in that storybook. Actually being able to touch the paper and turn the pages has them enchanted. I bet they’ll know those hundred pages by heart.” Mari laughed.

“I’m glad they’re behaving. I worry about Rylla teaching Dane some of the things she learned when she was his age.” Selah moved to sit at one of the navigator stations.

Mari sat at the second station. “She’s a hard-shell little girl. I’d pit her survival skills against any ten grown men. I hope she does teach him.” She pointed toward the front shield. “Have you seen any signs of life yet?”

“Not one. When we first crossed through the pass this morning it had been scrubbed clean by the torrential rains. The flood did a good job of clearing a noticeable trench for quite a few miles. If we’d come by land it would have been the opening we needed.” Selah paused. “If the events at the Mountain hadn’t triggered the flood, could we have flown over it?” She wondered if sealing the Mountain might have been avoided. She felt guilty about trapping that society—for the rest of their lives.

“Even if we didn’t need the flood to fly through the pass, everyone who comes after us will now have the ability to pass to the West. I guess this was the method of setting society free again once the novarium had come,” Taraji said from her console.

“I can see why land travel would have been impossible before now, but why did no one ever fly?” Selah stared out the front of the transport.

“Because the earthquakes and volcanic explosion changed the landscape, pushed up new mountains, made new sinkholes, and moved water sources. There were stories that back at the beginning airplanes tried going west, but communications with them were lost and they never returned. After a while no one else tried, and since the majority of aeronautic technology came from the West, eventually civilian flying ceased altogether,” Mojica said.

Taraji turned from her console. “Truthfully, the farther we’ve come, the less ash there is. The majority of it drifted against this side of the mountain range. But as far as the eye could see from the highest point on our side of the Mountain, there was nothing but ash and barrenness. If they’d have known . . .”

That didn’t make Selah feel better. She trained her sights on the horizon as they flew toward Cleveland and the first dome. What did she expect to see—a gray desert with a half-moon dot? What would she like to see—people, buildings, trees? She thought about home. She’d like to see forests of trees. Her eyes strained to see farther. Her heart fluttered. No! Was it wishful thinking? She saw sticks like the bristles of a brush. A hint of color.

A grin crept across her face. “Don’t laugh at me, but I think I see a tree, an evergreen.”

Bodhi spun around in shock. “I’m not even going to ask you the distance you’re seeing that at because there is nothing in front of us. Where are you seeing a tree?”

“The horizon, maybe twenty miles.”

Taraji and Bodhi stared at each other.

“Twenty miles?” Bodhi said. “Do you realize how fast that change came about? How do you feel?”

Selah concentrated on the tree. “I see the top of another one!”

“I’ll spread the word below so they can turn on screens to follow along.” Mari darted from the command deck.

“Can we go any faster?” Selah’s hope blossomed for the first time since the sun had risen, shedding light on this world of emptiness. At first she’d seen just gray, petrified tree trunks splintered to their dead cores, surrounded by the bleak landscape of yard-deep gritty ash from 150 years of no disturbances—no signs it had been subjected to any kind of weather.

But now she could see life.

“Not at the moment. I’m getting some strange readings from transport integration. Ideally this system should have been field tested before we took it across the country, but we didn’t have the luxury, so we may have a few kinks,” Taraji said.

“This problem seems a little different,” Bodhi said as he ran his hands across several sensors in the halo-control. “The power variations are tacking up on several systems at the same time, and none of the systems are related, but then the surge vanishes—”

“Like now!” Taraji threw up her hands as the monitor’s hot lights each cycled down to normal. “This is going to drive me to distraction.”

Selah didn’t understand the control problem, so she remained fixated on what she did understand—the growing size of the tree. “How close to Cleveland are we?” They approached the edge of a ridge.

“About twenty miles,” Bodhi said as he concentrated on monitoring the other systems.

The transport moved to the end of the ridge, hovering over the sloping valley leading toward the waters of the southern edge of Lake Erie.

Selah stared out over the barren gray landscape sloping toward the waters. Her mouth opened in awe and disbelief. Was it a mirage? She squinted and refocused her eyes. The sloping gray turned to an oasis of green spreading out in all directions. On this side grew a forest that had expanded out of the valley and up the ridge. Those were the evergreen treetops Selah had seen.

Her gaze traveled along the tree-lined slope and into the valley where the green rolled on for at least ten miles. At the far end of this oasis sat the shimmering pearl-colored dome. Selah felt something, not a flash or tremor, but a feeling of familiarity that welcomed her with a shiver of anticipation.

“That is nothing like what I expected,” Bodhi said. He keyed the scanners, looking for any military-type intervention. “Nothing hot in the area.”

“Good, then we’ll skim into the valley.” Taraji maneuvered the transport into a slow glide into the valley. “I agree about the looks. I expected the domes to be small like Petrol City.”

Selah was still in awe. “It has to be five or six miles across. It looks like solid material. Is that really just energy?”

Mojica strode onto the command deck. “It’s a pure energy field, and the harmonics are so strong that we can’t use the shielding technology to camouflage our look without the risk of burning out the cylinders.”

“Is that so bad? We could just hide the transport in the woods,” Selah said.

Taraji nodded to Bodhi and he spoke. “Even if we can hide in the woods, we have to get to the area of the dome. The transport is too large to travel that far through the woods.”

Selah heard the whoosh of the rising lift. Brejian exited and stopped in the doorway of the command deck. “May I come onto the floor?”

“Please, join us,” Selah said, smiling at her formality.

“I’ve been watching on the smaller screens below and I wanted to see the dome in real time. I’ve waited for this for a very long time. I would like to view it on approach since I don’t intend to come outside again,” Brejian said.

“We’re going to be a moving target for quite a while until we find out if we’re welcome,” Taraji said, “and we can still make the transport impenetrable. If it’s far enough in the woods no one may notice it.”

“I don’t think we need to worry about all that. Try this.” Brejian held out a slender eight-sided crystal.

Taraji took the tube and looked it over before sliding it into an identically shaped receptacle in the security panel. “You’ve had a security beacon all this time, and you let us worry about having the children in harm’s way—”

“I’m sure Brejian has a logical reason for the omission.” Selah tried to hide her sarcasm as she pulled the woman from Taraji’s line of sight.

Brejian stared at Selah. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know if you’d be as trustworthy if you had access to the keys ahead of time.” She blushed and lowered her head. “That eight-sided purple one slides into the security—”

“Yes, we know where it goes, but how did you get it, and what other ones do you have?” Mojica asked.

“The Cleveland dome was founded by my ancestors before the Sorrows,” Brejian said. “Each of us was given a mandate and the means to return someday.”

Selah pushed her way into the conversation. Why had Brejian kept her relationship to the dome a secret? “So you’re coming home,” she said. “I can understand you not trusting me, but you didn’t trust Mojica and Taraji enough to let them know the dome was your home?”

“I regret that now,” Brejian said.

Taraji and Mojica exchanged worried glances.

“So do I,” Taraji said. “We are of the same clan. I wouldn’t have expected you to hold back important details about this dome. What are you trying to hide?”

Brejian pressed her lips together. “I’m not hiding anything. I haven’t been to the dome since before the Sorrows. I didn’t even know if it would still be here, and you surely don’t expect me to know anything about the present internal society. Details from 150 years ago are not going to be of much use.”

Bodhi’s brows drew together. “I don’t care if you’re Kinship, with this omission you’ve proven to be untrustworthy as far as I’m concerned.”

“No Kinship would dishonor our clan by causing harm to a novarium,” Mojica said.

Selah looked from Mojica to Brejian. She trusted Taraji and Mojica and would have to give Brejian the benefit of the doubt . . . until something changed her mind.

“You said there were keys. What are the others for?” Taraji steered the transport over the rolling slopes and around several stands of evergreens.

Selah watched out the front shield as they slid lower into the lush green valley extending northward from the edge of the volcanic ash.

“One is the magnetic lock that will give us admittance into the dome,” Brejian said.

“Activating this security beacon will ensure Selah’s family’s safety in here while we’re inside,” Mojica said.

“Are we’re sure that this is all legitimate?” Bodhi asked as he turned to Selah.

Selah shrugged in resignation. “We’re out of other options. We have to trust Mojica and Taraji.”

“You have to find the Keeper,” Brejian said. “He will guide you through the pearls to find the Third Protocol.”

“You know who we’re supposed to see? Do you know how we can find this Keeper?” Selah planted her hands on her hips.

Brejian’s eyes darted back and forth. Selah tried to read her body-speak, but there was no noticeable impression. “I don’t know anything about the present Keeper or how he or she operates.” Brejian shrugged. “I don’t even know if they still have a Keeper. I’m repeating what I once knew.”

“Information about the pearls would have helped while we were looking for clues in Glade’s documents.” Growing anger flushed Selah’s face. Taraji and Mojica couldn’t have known about this—or did they? She tried to read their body-speak, but there was nothing. Was this lack of impression new, or had she never been able to read Kinship? “We could’ve been better prepared if you’d let us know this was your home.”

“Waiting until we actually saw the dome intact became the next objective,” Brejian said. “My information would have been useless if the dome had been destroyed.”

“Our enemies have tried diligently to thwart the novarium process, so we may run into a dead end,” Mojica said. “That could even be the reason no one else has completed the process. It was designed for only a true novarium to be able to decipher. So your information could have relieved some of the anxiety we felt about the trip without compromising the outcome.”

“As I said before, I’m sorry. I won’t make that mistake again,” Brejian said.

“I don’t know anything about this process. How can I decipher anything?” Selah chewed on her lip in frustration.

Taraji turned from her console to face Selah. “There will be things that only you can understand.”

“What if I’ve broken down by the time those things come about?” Selah rubbed her fingers across her forehead. “What will become of my family and all of you?”

“I’ll keep you safe,” Bodhi said softly.

Selah spun around and planted a kiss on his cheek. “I like that you feel that way, but I’d rather you tell me that you’ll keep Mother, Dane, and Mari safe.”

“Let’s not think that far ahead. We have a clear-cut objective with this dome in front of us,” Taraji said.

“We’re leaving Pasha and Mari here with the kids while we’re inside,” Mojica said.

“I’ll be staying when you continue on,” Brejian said. She turned to Selah. “Your mother has all of the records from the Repository, and we’ve verified the data points of this dome and the Chicago dome with the other information from Glade’s bag.”

Selah was excited about seeing the inside of the dome but apprehensive about Brejian’s connection to it. The new uncertainty made her eager to continue west. She worried about the Chicago dome. It was considered home to the Blood Hunters.

She turned to Mojica. “Should we carry weapons?”

“I think we could holster laser darts, and if they won’t allow weapons we can leave them at the entrance,” Mojica said.

Selah heard the familiar whoosh of the lift as it rose. The door slid open to admit Mari carrying a large box of devices and laser dart sidearms.

Mojica took the sidearms to pass out while Taraji and Bodhi took turns navigating and strapping on equipment.

“Everybody gets their own scrambler. I’ve keyed units from WoodHaven to each one of your biological frequencies to cancel any type of audio or microwave energy aimed at you,” Mari said. She laid the box on the console and handed out devices.

“Do we have communication through this one?” Mojica asked. She strapped on her laser dart and wrapped the scrambler strap around her arm.

“Yes, I transferred our present frequencies into these sets, and I think you’ll be happy with the increased range,” Mari said. She grabbed the handful of earpieces. “I’ve calibrated these communicators to sync with the scramblers. They should reach anywhere inside the perimeter of the dome.”

“We’re pairing up my way. Do you hear me, Selah?” Taraji glanced over her shoulder.

Selah rolled her eyes in mock disgust. “What have you decided?”

Taraji smiled. “Bodhi’s traveling with Mojica, you’re with me, and Brejian will separate from us once we get inside.”

“Why can’t I pair with Bodhi?” Selah wanted to be close to him. They hadn’t spent any quality time together since they’d entered the transport, and she felt disconnected from him. With Bodhi at her side, Selah’s fierceness strengthened.

Taraji lowered her head but raised her eyes, making them look larger. “Are you going to press me on this issue? I’m pretty sure you’ll agree that Mojica and I are the most capable combat fighters here. So it doesn’t make much sense for us to have most of the experience on just one team.”

Selah ran through the logic, and as much as she wanted to argue, there wasn’t anything she could say other than, “No, I’m not going to press you. Are we ready to find the Keeper?”