Standing Page 12

  A small breeze made her blue cloak dance and whirl around her legs. Hope was incredibly strong in the crowd. A cheer rose into the cold morning air as the people charged the Center of Operations. Gale joined the rushing crowd. With that, a panicked-looking officer hit a button and a very loud alarm sounded. Her heart pumped with adrenaline. The foreboding silver dome rose into the sky. The people in the front line began fighting with the loyal guards who were guarding the first door. More sentries streamed out of buildings to help them. They held electric stun guns and began to shoot at the attacking people. Grunts and cries rose into the air as about a thousand highly trained soldiers fought back the throng of common people. Gale looked around in the chaos and saw Tivia fighting a guard with some unexpected and well practiced martial arts. Gale raised her eyebrows, Whoa!

  Suddenly she felt a wind and streak of anger behind her. Instinct told her to duck, so she did. A blow grazed her shoulder. She tottered off balance and then fell down. Gale jumped up then whipped around. A red faced man was swinging a fist at her! Again, she avoided it by ducking. I should have thought this through better! I don’t know how to fight! But I can’t exactly just run when all of these other people are fighting! That would be cowardly! Gale used her size to her advantage against the big man. She dodged around to his back and threw a blow at his head. As it made contact he sank to the ground. Gale winced. Sorry, I don’t enjoy this.

  Off to her right, good old Lynn was bringing dark brown twisted ropes out of thin air and literally tying up the enemy. Gale smiled as she watched the bent over old woman take down six guards at once. To her left, Junior was flying towards guards, then using his momentum to knock them over.

  She made her way through the crowd toward the front to see who was winning. As she pushed through, something caught her eye. She stopped. Gale was almost positive that someone had just disappeared into thin air. That’s crazy! I must have imagined it. She shook her head. All of these emotions are starting to get to me.

  She continued toward the front. Then all of the sudden a woman that she was about to pass gasped in surprise. Then she just...dissapeared. One minute she was there, the next she wasn’t! A couple of people were staring at the spot where the woman had just been. Gale’s face was full of surprise. No! It’s real, I didn’t imagine it! Another ten people disappeared at the same time.Then it hit Gale like a wave, Oh no, someone is unhooking the mindsplitters! As if to confirm Gale’s theory, two of the same person in front of her dissipated. As she looked around in panic, more and more people were dissolving. Then more guards started to appear. They’re hooking the soldiers up to the mindsplitters! This is not good!

  They had been winning. But now soldiers were appearing everywhere and more citizens were disappearing every second. Gale could feel the desperation as they all got pushed back farther from the entrance of the Center Of Operations. The groans and cries of people getting knocked out by the stun guns bombarded her ears. Their inner pain filled her heart with tears. It was terrible. We can’t give up, but what choice do we have, thought Gale as she looked around through the burning tears trailing down her cheeks. She saw a guard aim his stun gun at her and fire. She jumped to the side. The electric volt hit her side, causing her to fall to the ground in pain. The electricity zapped and zigged through her. She closed her eyes.

  There was a sound. A very loud sound. Then the earth trembled as a boom rang through the sky. Gale slowly opened her eyes and looked up. Instantly, recognition crossed her face. Metallic-blue, football-shaped ships hovered in the sky. The Dellinian ships! Mermaids wearing the tail changers started sliding down metal ropes to the ground! Gale stood up and smiled. Thank you Keed.

  Then she raised her arm above her head and cheered, “They’re here to help us!”

  A shout of joy and renewed vigor cut the air as the people once more rushed the growing number of guards. The mermaids started tossing down stun guns to everyone.

  Gale tilted her head, smiled, and said, “That’s totally awesome!”

  Then she rushed forward and swept up a stun gun. The mermaids fought side by side with the people, forcing the guards back inch by hard earned inch. Jubilation was the word. As each guard was stunned, the group surged towards the entrance to the Center Of Operations. Then there was one guard left. He was unconscious. They were at the door. Gale looked intently at the entrance and thought, It’s not over yet, we still have to capture Ginvay and free Force. A Dellinian fastened a small brown disc to the door and then quickly twisted a little cap. Gale heard a small pop, then the first door opened. Gale and a few other people quickly walked through it to the next door.

  The red-haired mermaid gave her the device and said, “Good luck,” with a smile, then exited.

  Gale latched the door-opener onto the second entrance. Her movements gained a rhythm as she opened the next four doors. Her breathing became more rushed and her heart pumped faster the closer that they got. She was focused. Her intent was upon getting through those doors and capturing Ginvay. Finally, they were at the last door that would take them to the heart of the Center Of Operations. She quickly popped the door. Then it opened.

  Gale ran into the big white dome room. Her heart sank. Ginvay was nowhere to be seen. She must have escaped somehow. Gale quickly turned around to face the others in the room.

  “Okay, everybody fan out and look for escape routes,” she said.

  She turned around and started knocking the walls to search for a hollow space. The people in the room trusted her. She could feel that. They did as she had said. They quietly and intensly focused on their work.

  “I’ve found something!” a man’s voice rang out.

  Gale quickly made her way towards the sound of his voice. Along the wall he had pulled away a panel. There was an opening. Gale was the first one to climb into the narrow tunnel. It was coated with some material that made her steps quieter. She ran down it, her feet hitting the sound-dampening ground so quickly that she was almost tripping over herself. She was followed by the others, including Liam. She ran as fast as she could. I won’t let Ginvay get away.

  After about ten minutes, there came a place where the tunnel branched out into two. Hope sprang into Gale as she saw a glint of black go down the right tunnel.

  She looked at the people behind her and called, “Down the right.”

  Then she rushed down it.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Her adrenaline was pumping even harder every second. She rounded a corner and stopped. There was Ginvay, bent over panting. She looked up with a cool calm, her black shiny hair running wild. Gale could feel her panic and anger. She’s a good actor. Ginvay gracefully stood up straight, and with a coy smile, revealed a square pad with a button on it. Uh oh, what’s that? I don’t like the look on her face.

  She clicked her teeth and shook her head in feigned sympathy. “Unfortunately, with one push of this button a continent will explode. Oh yes — I just oversaw the completion of this bomb yesterday. I can’t believe how naive you were! You actually thought that you could overthrow me? I have been ruling half of the world and putting down rebellions for twenty years, dear. One little girl. Can’t. Defeat. Me.”

  She was a politician, and she was highly skilled at propaganda and persuasion.

  “Now, back to the button. I’ll get straight to the point: if you don’t comply with my wishes, then I will push it, and thousands of people— perhaps millions — will die. And I’m sure, Miss Goody-Goody, that you wouldn’t want that to happen,” she said with disgust.

  Gale shuddered in horror.

  “What are your demands?” Gale asked.

  She was pretty sure that she didn’t want to “comply”, but she needed time to think. The fate of the world was in her hands at that moment.

  “I want to take my rightful place as ruler of Keesen and the world. First, you must call your people off. Then, you must reinstate my guards. Finally, you must turn over your leaders to my guards and me to be killed. Once that is done, I will destroy
the device. Quite simple really.”

  Gale felt faint. Aaa! Which is the worst of two evils? Making everyone in the world suffer for years, or killing a vast percent of the worlds people? I can’t trust her. As soon as she kills us, she will probably deploy it anyway. The weight on her shoulders was huge. The tension and horror of the people behind her made her wince. A tear leaked out of the corner of her eye.

  She thought for a minute, the rubbery smell of the tunnel reminding her of her brother Norm’s room at home. A memory of him gnawed at the edge of her mind, giving her an idea. Maybe there’s a third choice. It’s desperate, and there’s only a small chance of it working, but at least it’s a chance.

  Ginvay looked at her impatiently, as though she had something better to do, “Come now, I can’t wait all day.”

  Unseen by Gale, she quickly stuffed a piece of paper in a large crevice in the wall.

  Gale casually put her arms behind her back. “I have my own conditions. I will agree to your demands if you will submit to a counsel that will have a say in the major decisions.”

  Gale signaled behind her back in sign language, hoping that someone knew how to read it, and that she was making the correct words. As she was doing it, she remembered learning the motions from a book and practicing with her brother Norm for a school project. She recalled the look on his face as he continually messed up the signs, and then finally gave up to go get some ice cream.

  Ginvay looked at her in amazement. “Do you really think that I am going to agree to that? You’re not in any position to make demands!”

  Very funny. “I…” began Gale.

  But then Liam and another man ran by Gale and knocked Ginvay down to the ground. They understood! The button dropped out of her hand and smacked the ground with a thump.The woman screamed in fury and twisted and writhed.

  “You will suffer the consequences of your pitiful conscience and your stupid head!” Gale watched in horror as Ginvay managed to push the button with her elbow.

  “No!” Gale screamed as she lunged toward it.

  A loud whirring filled the air. Liam and everyone in the chamber gasped. Liam quickly tied Ginvay’s hands behind her while she laughed maniacally, “Are you sorry yet? Thirty seconds until the bomb hits!”

  At that moment Gale realized, There’s no hope this time! We can’t stop it. It’s all my fault! Millions of people are going to die because of me! Tears poured down her face.

  She faced Ginvay and shouted, “You should be absolutely appalled at what you have just done! You pushed that button dooming many people. At least everyone is finally free of your rule. Don’t you understand that your “empire” would come crashing down anyway! One person physically just can’t rule the world,” the pain burning in her eyes. Gale turned away. “Take her to the prison and make sure that four people are guarding her at all times.”

  “Five...Four...Three…Two...One. It’s all your fault!” shouted Ginvay, as four of the rebels nodded and began to haul her away.

  Then it hit her again...The continent bomb. It detonated. She gave some orders quickly, then traveled back up the tunnel. Gale’s tears poured quietly. She wanted to be strong, but how could she when so many lives had just been taken. Liam caught up to her. Gale could feel his heart aching sadness.

  “It’s going to be okay. Look at what you have done. Everyone is free!” said Liam, trying to comfort her.

  She didn’t reply. They walked along in silence as the other people dispersed to go attend to various duties. Finally they got back outside.

  Tivia rushed up to them looking elated, “You’ll never guess what just happened!”

  “What?” asked Gale half-heartedly.

  “I...actually a scientist, one of Ginvay’s. She was a weapons scientist and…anyway we just stopped a continent bomb!”

  Liam and Gale looked at each other quickly, then back at Tivia. Is it possible?

  “Tell us the whole story!” said Gale eagerly.

  Tivia didn’t seem to notice their anxiety or eagerness. “Well, so this scientist who had been working on a continent bomb for Ginvay came and got me. She said that she needed my help immediately. So I followed her. She explained on the way to the launching site that she wanted to disable it. So we had just gotten there and had been working on it for about five minutes when the launch sequence began. It started whirring and it was so loud! You guys probably wondered what it was. Then it started down the runway!”

  Runway? For a bomb? Hm, I guess they do things a bit differently now, thought Gale.

  Tivia continued, “It was about to launch. To tell the truth, it was scary to think what would happen if it became airborne. So right down to the last few seconds I was helping her. Then it stopped! I was so relieved. It was really exciting!” Tivia beamed.

  Gale exhaled. She could feel the excitement flowing from Tivia. The tremendous relief that she felt was double, as she could feel Liam’s also. She started laughing with joy. Liam joined her.

  “What did I miss?” asked Tivia in confusion.

  “We have a story of our own to tell you later,” said Liam as he smiled, “Now, let’s go get Force.”

  Gale was filled with excitement, and restrained joy and hope. Our mission is complete! We succeeded! Now if only Force is okay, she thought anxiously as she rushed towards the prison entrance with Liam and Tivia. The entire entry room was made of cold black metal. It was covered in persian rugs. A small screen perched on the wall opposite a big soft leather chair, and maps covered the wall helter skelter.

  “The decor is...fascinating,” said Gale as she surveyed the room for useful items. She found a map of which cells prisoners were being held in, and where those cells were. She started opening drawers in the desks and rummaging around.

  “What are you looking for?” asked Tivia.

  “The passcode to open the prison doors,” she answered.

  A black piece of paper with big red numbers on it caught her eye. She smiled as she pulled it out from other papers.

  “Here it is!”

  She used the map to navigate her way to the cells that held prisoners. The hard floors echoed as she walked down them, every vein in her body wishing, hoping that Force was alive. She approached the first cell. An old man sat there shivering. Her heart went out to him as he looked up in fear.

  “It’s okay. Keesen isn’t in Ginvay’s control anymore. You’re free,” she said softly as she punched in the code and opened the door. She went in and reached out her hand. He looked at her in amazement and disbelief. He slowly looked back and forth at her and her hand, and then finally accepted it.

  Tivia came and took his arm. “We’re going to get all of the prisoners, and then go to the surface. Okay?”

  The man nodded in shock. With the entourage of four in tow, Gale went through the halls of the prison freeing people. Each time she looked into a cell, she desperately hoped for it to be Force. Gale took a deep breath and slowed herself down when she looked back at the recently freed prisoners. She realized that in her eagerness and anxiety to find Force, she was going faster than these people were able to at the moment. Some of them were young and some were very old, but they all wore tatters. She loved seeing and feeling the new hope and freedom of each released prisoner as she opened the doors, but was still terribly impatient to find Force.

  As she opened each cell door and there were fewer and fewer cells that held prisoners, the tension inside her grew. They were at the next to last cell. She came around the corner, her heart took a nose dive. Inside were two girls.

  Gale let them out, then continued on to the very last one. She held her breath. She could make out a form in the corner, but she couldn’t see any of the details. It was pitch black down there, and even the flashlight-like device that Gale held couldn’t reveal the corners. She started pounding at the keypad, continuing until she heard a sharp crack and the door swung outward. The form got up and emerged into the light.

  It was an old woman. The bag of tears that Gale felt i
n her soul and had been holding back finally burst. She couldn’t cry here and spoil the joy of these happy people. She quickly turned away.

  “Liam and Tivia, take all of these people to the surface,” was all she said before rushing up through the cold levels of the prison out into the city.

  She emerged and then kept running through Keesen. The joy and amazement that filled her were not her own, as she fought to hold back the tears that bit her insides. On she ran, right out of Keesen, across the snow covered ground, and to camp.

  The echoing walls of the mermaid cave welcomed her. She sank down against the firm rock, buried her head in her knees and cried. For every tear that spilled out, two more built up inside her. Force. He’s actually gone! The throbbing pain and hurt coursed through her like a burning river. It just kept flowing. She didn’t know how long the tears poured from her aching eyes.

  Something touched her shoulder gently. She whisked around. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the vast amount of light coming from outside the cave.

  “Why are you crying?” asked a figure that she couldn’t quite make out.

  It took her a moment for it all to register. She could feel worry and happiness coming from him simultaneously. Then she recognized his voice. The wave of joy that overtook her soul was the purest and most beautiful that she had ever felt. She leaped up and hugged him. He was soaking wet! Gale didn’t care that now she was wet, but she was curious as to how he had become this way. Water was starting to pool at his feet.

  They stood in silence for a few minutes, Gale staring at him, then Force asked, “What’s the crying for, and where is everyone?”

  Gale smiled at him, “Well, I’m happy that you aren’t dead, which I have been thinking for the past hour!”

  “Didn’t you know that I’d get out?” he asked teasingly.

  Gale rolled her eyes, “We took over Keesen!”

  He looked amazed. “Really! How did you do that?”