Part 25
Jordyn pursed her lips and twitched them back and forth, surveying the scene. Her eyes slid to Derrick.
Derrick crouched down and began grouping certain implements together. "I mean, I know how engines work so yeah, in theory..." He stood up quickly. "But no."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
Derrick beckoned us in closer, and his eyes shifted to the men mumbling into their comms above us. "There are some important components missing. Small ones: a piston or two, the fuel pump, stuff like that. Nothing huge, but things we definitely couldn't jury-rig, or be able to move without."
I could feel the panic building in my chest. "What does that mean? Did somebody overhear us and take this all apart to trap us here?"
Tony nudged my shoulder.
"Hey!" a deep voice barked. We heard the click of a gun being chambered.
We all froze and very slowly looked up to see Herrin glaring at us from the top of the trail. He held his gun lightly across his body, but ready for any sudden moves.
"What are you kids doing here?" he barked. "Shouldn't you be eating lunch with the rest of them?"
Herrin's hand went to his side, to the switch on the radio strapped to his hip.
"Do you know why the boat's all taken apart like that?" I asked, hoping to distract him before he could alert anybody.
It worked. Herrin let his hand dropped as he answered, "Kaity came down earlier and did that. Said there was a problem with the motor. She's still working on fixing it." His suspicious squint returned. "Why do you need the boat, anyway?"
Kayce gave him the biggest grin I'd ever seen on the surly teen's face. "Swimming!" he declared. He twisted to show his backpack. "That's why we brought the extra clothes."
Herrin rolled his eyes and waved to his men.
I felt a surge of relief wash over me--that was some quick thinking on Kayce's part, and the great thing was, the grumpy soldier actually bought it!
Behind us, Derrick had boarded the boat and started pulling stuff out of the cubbies and hatches.
"Hey guys," he said evenly, "I think I can use some of this stuff to rig up replacement parts for the components we need."
"Brilliant!" cheered Jordyn, tossing her bag onboard before stepping onto the boat. "Here, everybody toss me your stuff."
Derrick set about reassembling the motor, all the while I watched the edge of the trees. Somewhere just over the ridge, Professor Silver was probably just reaching the beginning of the lunch buffet, wondering where all of his students went. We probably had twenty minutes before he would reach the tents and find out that we were actually gone, and another ten or so to figure out where we went--
A scream split the air over our heads.
"You there! Blakas! Ti nomízeis óti káneis? Stop right there!"
Athanasios came stumbling down the steep, narrow path, waving his arms and shouting so hard we could see the spit flying under his mustache. He spoke in broken English phrases peppered with Greek epithets as he thundered down the dock and grabbed the nearest student: Tony.
"You do not touch!" He shoved my friend back by his collar, rocking the dock as he stared in horror at the pieces of motor strewn about us. He jabbed a finger at Derrick. "You come out right now! You have done this! It is sampotáz! Get out! All of you, get off, get out--ágrioi ilíthioi! Go! Go now!" He just about dragged Derrick and Jordyn off the boat himself, and herded us all back onto land.
Another voice cut in above. "Athanasios--Ti symvainei edo?"
To my relief, Alexandros came loping down the path, a curious gleam in his eye.
Athanasios growled and spluttered at him in Greek, while our onetime guide gave answers and responses, getting the full story from him.
Once the angry dig chief started running out of steam, Alexandros turned to me and pointed to the demolished motor. "He says you have done this," he explained. "Is it true?"
I shook my head. "Not at all! It was like that when we came down here."
"Herrin said Kaity had seen a problem with it," Derrick supplied, his voice laced with a subtle suspicion.
Alexandros conferred with Athanasios again, pointing up toward the camp and asking him questions. Athanasios nodded and gave his response.
Again, Alexandros looked around at each of us. "He says that he doesn't believe you, that there is no problem--but if you weren't the ones who did this, then there is no cause for alarm. It was no doubt dismantled by someone who knew what they were doing. These kinds of things happen all the time." He pointed back up toward the main area of the dig site. "Come, I will bring you back to camp. I think the others are eager to get you all back out to the dig site for more learning. You can stow your gear back in your tents on our way." He paused to wink at me before turning as if it had never happened.
I looked back and saw Derrick, Kayce, and Jordyn all shooting glances at one another. There went our window of opportunity for getting to the mainland--who knew when we were going to get another?
As soon as we arrived in the main area with our bag of sandwiches, Stephanie waltzed up with Professor Silver beside her.
"Oh, there you are!" Stephanie greeted us brightly, as if we hadn't disappeared for an entire hour, and she knew exactly where we were. "When you disappeared from the lunch line, we got worried that somehow all of you had fallen sick or snuck off to the dig site without checking in."
The professor smiled. "Glad to see you're all on your feet, more or less! I was about ready to call the school and arrange for the trip to be cut short, if everybody came down with something!"
"Oh, by the way," Stephanie's grin got even wider and she looked straight at Tony, "nice job on those translation suggestions. I just heard from Drea and the second shift--turns out you were right."
He blinked, the brief alarm showing as he apparently didn't quite understand what she might be insinuating. "I was?"
"Yeah, about the inscription?" Stephanie reminded him. "Poor Greg was so convinced it had something to do with the coastlines of the island, when all they had to do was face Pylerion, the Tide God, push it off to the side, since that would be the direction of the sun, or East, and that opened up another passageway even deeper into the island! We want to make sure you kids--I mean, young adults--are down there when we start the initial inspection, in case there are more puzzles or inscriptions to solve!" She glanced at our fallen faces, and then at the bag dangling by Kayce's side. "But we'll let you eat lunch first, since you kind of missed the regular shift."
We had no choice but to move on to the last table still set up, saved for us, apparently.
Stephanie waited till we all had our sandwiches out of the bag and started eating.
"Well," she said, "I'm going to be in the research RV, come get me when you're ready to go, and I can radio down to let them know you're coming."
She walked away, but Professor Silver decided to pull up his own chair. He glanced over both shoulders as if he was in on some big secret and said in a low voice, "Okay, fess up--what were you really trying to do down there?"
We all chewed slowly on our bites. Kayce swallowed first.
"Swimming," he mumbled, taking another bite.
Behind us, a tall woman carrying two first-aid kits headed from Stephanie's RV out to the bank of tents.
Professor Silver shook his head. "I'm not buying it. If you wanted to go swimming, why not ask me first? You're not here to relax, remember?"
I glanced at Jordyn. Had he gone to our tents to look for us, and found the note she left?
A burst of chatter erupted around the RV that stored all the tech, and I heard the generator motors revving. Why would they need generators in the middle of the day? I noticed Derrick staring in that direction, and figured he thought the same thing.
"Come on guys," the professor begged. "You can trust me. I'm your chaperone, after all. Why were you headed for the boat? Were you trying to get to the mainland without anyone noticing?"
My heart thudded in my chest. How did he guess so close to our real intentions? Who or what gave us away so easily?
In the stunned silence, we all heard a furious bout of retching and coughing from the forest beside us. This was followed by the wet gurgle of vomit splattering on the ground.
"Hold up! Everybody stop!" Stephanie came sailing out from among the RV's waving her hands, running toward us. "Put down those sandwiches!" she cried.
Kayce had already finished his, Derrick was down to the last crust, while the rest of us were only halfway through. We all froze guiltily.
Stephanie took a few moments to catch her breath. "Did... did any of you... take... the chicken salad?" she asked.
We all shared confused looks.
"I had turkey," I answered.
"Me too," Jordyn chimed in, opening her sandwich to show Stephanie.
"I think we all got the turkey sandwiches," Derrick answered. It made sense, since he would have been the one to pick them up.
Stephanie sighed with relief. "Oh good. Seems that the chicken salad went bad before they even set it out--everyone who ate it is now showing signs of food poisoning." She waved a hand at us. "But if you all are still okay, then we can still salvage this day. Unfortunately, we won't be able to go very far down the new tunnel, since we're having a little problem with some of the equipment out at the dig, but at least we can--"
Her voice was cut off by the loud wrenching of a motor. Kaity had apparently abandoned the boat, and was now fussing under the hood of the ATV, alternating between making adjustments in the motor, and then going over to start it up--to no avail. It gave a series of choking whines, and then went silent altogether.
Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Oh no! Dammit, that was the last one." She pulled out her radio. "Base camp to dig sit, Drea--do you copy?"
Drea's voice came back over the speaker. "Copy, Base Camp--are you headed out anytime soon?"
Stephanie replied with pinched lips, "Negative, Drea. Mechanical difficulties, half the crew under the weather--shut it down for today. We're going to have to sit this afternoon out."
"Copy that. I'll pass the word along."
Stephanie wagged her head. "Well, I guess I could find something around here for you guys to do. Sorry that today turned out to be such a bust."
She couldn't know that inside, we were all feeling a sense of relief, as the mistrust over their operation had grown over our attempt to sneak off.
"Tell you what," Professor Silver sat forward. "I'll look through the research they've done and come up with a questionnaire for you guys to fill out, and that will be the schoolwork assignment for today, how would you like that?"
Kayce snorted. "Do we have a choice?"
We all chuckled while the professor glared at him. "Ha-ha, very funny. I'll meet you back at this table in two hours, okay? See what you can brush up on, from everything that you've learned so far in the meantime." He slapped the table and bounded to his feet, walking away in those ridiculous shorts and thick boots.
Jordyn watched him go with her arms folded over her chest. "What we've learned so far," she echoed his words, "is that these people don't have any idea what they're dealing with."
Kayce leaned in. "Not to mention that now, what--half the camp is down with food poisoning? How likely is that to happen?"
Tony squinted. "What, are you guys saying this camp is, like, accursed or something?"
"I don't really believe in that sort of thing," Jordyn replied quickly. "But I have to admit... If I did, I think the signs are definitely there!"
I shook my head and shivered uncomfortably. That irresistible drive to get away still ran strong through my whole nervous system--but get away from what? I still couldn't be sure where the demon might be, if indeed he was "here" still... I would have thought that trying to escape to the mainland would ease the sensation, but it still made my feet twitch as I sat there at the table. And how would I get away, exactly? We couldn't use a boat, they weren't going to do a supply run anytime soon...
A breeze tickled my ear, and I reflexively twitched my head to the side. Movement caught my eye--a lone, bizarrely-tall tree waving like a big green arm above the canopy behind us.
I pushed away from the table and stood.
"Where are you going?" Jordyn asked.
Map. The map will show how far. Look at where we are. "I just have to check something," I muttered over my shoulder, headed for the storage RV.
Some of the same crates still stood around it--a few had things added to them, but others had been unpacked more, and I quickly saw why: the earthquake had damaged some of the lighter pieces, so now everything had to be double-reinforced to ensure that it didn't happen again.
I saw a new map posted under the one of the dig site. It showed the whole island, and on one side, an X mark labeled "CAMP" and another marked "DIG." On the other side of the island, I saw a red circle, with lines like ripples radiating out from it, reaching all the way back to overlap both X's. I ran my finger over the circle. What did it show?
"Huh," someone mused behind me. "That must be the epicenter."
I turned around to see Kayce watching the map over my shoulder.
"Epicenter?" Jordyn's geology-loving ears caught the word as she scurried the remaining distance toward us. "Like the earthquake this morning?" She squinted at the position of the circle. "I doubt it," she said. "If the epicenter started that close to our location, why haven't we experienced any aftershocks?"
Something about that location... I checked the scale posted in the bottom corner, trying to gauge just how far it would be from us.
"Wait, back at the dig site," I turned back to Kayce. "Haven't you been saying for the longest time that the records they're using for reference seem to suggest that this," I pointed at the dig, "Is the wrong spot for that super-special temple they're looking for?"
Kayce shrugged only one shoulder. "Yeah, but that's not really important--"
"What if it is?" Tony said, picking up my drift. "We already don't trust these people because they know more than they're letting on, and they're definitely up to something they shouldn't be..."
"What if it's there?" I said with a nod, pointing to the red circle. Yes, this felt right! "Think about it--the earthquake could have been revealing the actual location, and if we just find our way there, we could be the ones to uncover the actual temple site!"
An errant gust of wind sent a chill down my spine. When I looked around the circle, I could see the others getting more and more excited at the prospect, too.
Jordyn thrust her hand into the middle of our tight little circle. "Okay, I'm in!" she gushed with a grin. "This sounds too awesome to miss!"
Kayce studied the map, tracing a path and gauging the distance from various points around the island. "You know, Pris," he mused, "I think you do have a point. I'd have to look back at the records we saw, but when I see this landmark here," he pointed to a spot of several tight topographical rings, indicating a change in altitude, "I think that's probably the site of a hill the worshippers regularly traveled around, or used for their direction finding to make sure they were headed in the right direction."
"Let the brothers stand to watch, as under the eye we might pass through the waves," Tony blurted.
Kayce looked at him quickly. "Yeah, that's exactly the passage--how did you remember it?"
I glanced at my friend, looking for the flash of orange glow around his eyes, but Tony's face looked absolutely normal as he shrugged. "I dunno, I guess it just stuck," he muttered.
Jordyn squinted at the tiny text printed on the map, around a grouping of these circles. "Ta Adelphia," she read. "The Brothers?"
Kayce nodded. "And the reference to the eye no doubt means that it was during mid-afternoon, when the sun--" he pointed upward and toward the tree I had indicated, that was still swaying in the high wind, "is on that side of the island."
Derrick's hand landed on my shoulder. "Oh man! We could find this thing today, guys!"
"Today?" I retorted. "Dude, that's at least thirty miles! We're not going to make it in a day!"
Tony blinked. "We could if we had the ATV," he said.
"That broke down, remember?" Jordyn pointed out.
"Besides," I sighed, "I don't think telling anybody about what we've figured out just now is a great idea."
Tony shot me a glance as he slowly backed away from us. "What, you're saying we should head out alone?"
"Why not?" I demanded, turning to face him. "We're all pretty darn near adults here--Jordyn's the youngest, and she's nineteen. We can handle survival situations, right? It's what we were trying to do this morning, anyway."
"I can grab a couple of those radios they use," Derrick said. "I know where they are, Kaity showed me. I could also get a GPS tracker so we'll at least know where we are the whole time."
Jordyn snapped her fingers. "Okay, if we're doing this, we'll need more survival equipment than just what we were bringing on a quick boat trip to the mainland." She started pacing back and forth, counting off items on her fingers. "We're going to need something to cut with, like a knife or a small hatchet, we'll need a small folding tent, some rope, some water jugs, a few meal packs--"
I nodded. "Okay, we're doing this. I'll get our bags from the tent, Jordyn, and you try to find the equipment we'll need. I'll bet there's some kind of utility storage around here somewhere. Derrick, you get the radios and the GPS tracker. Let's meet on the path just beyond the tents."
Around the circle, everybody nodded. We dispersed in different directions. I made it to the spot under the trees first, glancing up at the sky, where a high, wispy cloud crossed over the sun just briefly.
This is either the stupidest thing I've ever done, I thought to myself, or the bravest. How would I know the difference, though? On the one hand, it felt so wrong to be slipping around behind the backs of everyone responsible for us... but on the other hand, it also didn't feel right to be sticking around and complying with absolutely everything--especially when there could be a demon (or at least his followers) at work behind the scenes of everyone.
Tony was the next to arrive, carrying the other three bags. He caught my eye and let out a small chuckle. "Get this," he muttered softly. "Professor Silver had the chicken salad."
A pang of guilt shot through me. "No! Is he sick now too?"
Tony nodded. "I had to tell him there was something in the bottom of my bag I needed to grab, so he'd let me take it out of the tent due to the noise. Then I just waited till he fell asleep."
I wagged my head. "I hope we're not causing too much trouble, heading off like this."
Tony just shrugged. "I don't think so--it's not like we're leaving the island, or going to some inaccessible point far in the unexplored region."
I heard a bunch of chatting and laughing, and I immediately grabbed Tony and ducked further into the trees. A whole group of workers waltzed by, talking loudly about their experience and complaining about sore muscles. In the group, I saw a crop of frizzy dark hair, and the bushes in front of us crackled and snapped.
"Guys?" Derrick hissed.
I stuck my arm out and waved. "Over here!"
Both Jordyn and Derrick carried canvas bags. Derrick reached in and handed each of us a radio. "The rest of the camp uses the first three channels, so I think if we all switch to channel four, we should be clear."
"Let's hope we don't take too long and run out of battery!" Jordyn said, clipping hers onto her belt loop.
"We don't necessarily need the radios unless we're splitting up anyway," I mused.
Derrick was still holding two radios after we all had one. He looked around with a frown. "Where's Kayce?"
"Here!" said a low voice, and the tall blond guy waved from deeper in the trees. "I slipped back to the RV to pick up one of their maps. I figured it would be good to trace out our path, in case we get lost or the GPS stops working."
Derrick already had the small yellow device out, and was fiddling with the settings. "Great idea--and, speaking of which, what were those coordinates we're headed for? I want to get them dialed in so we know when we're getting close."
I offered Jordyn her bag, and she immediately unzipped the top and began stuffing it full of meal packets and a few water bottles from her bag. "Everybody take some," she directed. "I think it would be best if we each had a little food and water in our own packs, just so one person isn't carrying it all, and if we get separated, we'll still be able to survive, at least."
Once the food was portioned out, Kayce straightened and looked around. "All right, which way are we headed?"
Derrick slapped the side of the GPS unit. "Almost got it... There!" He grinned. "Okay, so the coordinates are about forty miles northeast of our position." He pointed off into the distance, over roots and vines and thick trees.
I winced as I saw the grungy, uneven trail and thought of my flimsy tennis shoes. "Great," I groaned. "Are we sure there isn't a path we could follow up to this temple area?"
Jordyn clomped ahead a few paces in her sturdy hiking boots. "It's probably overgrown because no one's been over here for decades--centuries, even!"
Kayce grinned. "Yeah, and according to the weather patterns, the side of the island we're headed too stays pretty wet--so the overgrowth really thrives, while the soil stays soft and squishy."
"I just hope we're not going to have to do any rock climbing," I said, following Derrick as he picked out the clearest and most straightforward path.
"Actually..." Tony spoke up from behind me. "There's a good chance the Inner Temple is located at a lower elevation, not up high on a hill or a cliff, like the place where the others are digging."
"How do you figure?" I glanced over my shoulder at him.
My friend shrugged. "Just something the records said, about the Temple being wrapped in the heart of the storm."
"Storm?" Jordyn caught his comment. "As in Fourtouna?"
I skirted to avoid a rustle in the bushes that was no doubt some wild animal disturbed by our presence. "That must be why the other temple site is located on a rise, but at the same time, it delves downward so much."
"There could be an entire cave system right under our feet--in the heart of the island!" Derrick concluded.
Just the thought of it inspired a burst of energy within me. I had no idea what we were in for when we got there, but I was determined to find out what it all meant!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Back at camp...
Athanasios scowled as he headed for Stephanie's RV. Those children! He had always suspected, but no one listened. Now they would be certain!
"Come in," Stephanie called, and Athanasios slipped through the door.
She had a screen in front of her and a remote with a series of joysticks. She toggled these back and forth. Athanasios watched the bright green X slide along a sea of rugged foliage.
"What is it?" she asked.
"They're gone," he answered.
The woman didn't even flinch. "Any idea how or when?"
Athanasios shrugged. "I thought the motor would have stopped them, but apparently they were desperate enough to leave on foot. I have Herrin's team trying to figure out which direction they went--we should have them back by nightfall."
The slim brunette allowed herself a small smirk. "What's your hurry? If they're going to lead us to the true Inner Temple, we want them to get there successfully, don't we?"
Athanasios blinked. "But if we don't know where they are..."
The X on the screen blinked, and Stephanie flipped a toggle to zoom in closer. Now the screen showed a perspective just under the treetops, scanning the ground below. "We'll know where they are very soon. I had a feeling they'd start heading toward the site of the epicenter of this morning's earthquake... so I sent a drone up to look for it, and scan the area all around it."
Athanasios blinked. The view on the screen flickered again, and there they were: five figures with full backpacks, winding their way through the jungle.
Stephanie smiled. "We'll track them, follow them, and if they locate the Temple, the drone can send a signal back that will pinpoint its location, and finally we'll be able to get what we came here for."
Athanasios rubbed the back of his head. "And what would that be? We've found plenty of incredible historical artifacts at the other site anyway."
Stephanie rolled her eyes and toyed with the end of her ponytail. "Yes, but that's still just the secondary temple. This Inner Temple is infinitely more valuable, because it's designated to the main gods Trikymios and Auraea."
"But why are you looking for them, specifically?" asked the dig chief. He'd known of foreign archaeology groups searching for specific zones that were rumored to contain vast wealth, or digging in specific areas because of significant events that were recorded as taking place there, or significant people groups used to live there--but this? What was this group's obsession with a couple of obscure minor gods?
"You'll understand when we find it," Stephanie said. "Now go back to watching over the dig. I have some surveillance to do."
Athanasios left the RV, scratching his head. This American group was a strange one, to be sure!
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