Six Sacred Stones Part 42

"Zoe! Is that you in the Clipper? It's Sky Monster!"

"Sky Monster!" Zoe grabbed a headset. "Yes, it's us! Where are you!"

"I'm right above you,"came the reply.

AS THE BIG Clipper seaplane soared over the jungle, an even larger plane swung in low above it, descending from a higher alt.i.tude.

The Halicarna.s.sus.

"Sorry it took me so long to get here,"Sky Monster said. "Had to go via Kenya!"

"How did you find us?" Lily asked.

"We'll discuss that later!" Zoe said. "Sky Monster, we've got a bunch of angry pa.s.sengers downstairs who are trying to bring our bird down from the inside! We need extraction, p.r.o.nto!"

"Roger that. I see you got no windshield. Are you all mobile?"

"Yes."

"Then let's do a dogsniffer. Zoe, power up to four hundred knots and then send everyone over."

"Gotcha."

"What's a dogsniffer?" Lily asked.

"You'll see," Zoe said, turning sharply.

More gunshots were echoing out from downstairs.

The two planes flew over the Congo jungle in formation, the ma.s.sive 747 looming above the smaller Clipper seaplane.

Then the Halicarna.s.sus powered forward in front of the Clipper and, with its rear loading ramp open, lowered itself in front of the seaplane's smashed c.o.c.kpit.

From her position inside the Clipper's c.o.c.kpit, Zoe saw theHali 's enormous tail section lower into place in front of her, filling her field of vision.

Its rear loading ramp yawned before her, bare yards in front of her own plane's nose cone.

"OK, Sky Monster!" she yelled in her mike. "Hold her there, I'll bring us forward and send everyone over!"

Zoe then powered up and edged the seaplane closer to theHalicarna.s.sus 's rear ramp, until the Clipper's nose was literally sc.r.a.ping against the edge of the ramp.

Then she yelled, "OK! Wizard, grab Lily, Ono, and Dr. Ca.s.sidy, and go!"

Wizard didn't need to be told twice.

He quickly slid up over the c.o.c.kpit dashboard and stood out on the nose of the Clipper, in the battering wind,between the two flying planes!

He pulled Lily, Ono, and Ca.s.sidy out after him, and after a few hurried steps across the nose of the Clipper, they hopped up onto the rear ramp of theHali and found themselves standing in the relative calm of the 747's rear hold.

This left Zoe alone in the c.o.c.kpit of the seaplane.

She hit autopilot and left the controls, sliding up and out onto the nose cone just as the Neetha managed to hit another of her engines and it exploded and the entire plane lurched wildly.

Too far gone to go back now, Zoe jumped, diving for theHali 's rear ramp at the exact moment that the seaplane beneath her just fell away, banking downward at an extreme angle.

Zoe landed awkwardly, her forearms banging on the edge of the ramp, her fingers clutching for a hydraulic strut but missing, and to her utter horror she felt herself drop off the edge of the ramp and fall into the wide blue sky...

...at which point no fewer thanthree sets of hands grabbed her outstretched arms.

Wizard, Lily, and Ono.

All three of them had seen her leap from the flailing seaplane, seen her clasp the hydraulic strut with one hand, and then seen her grip begin to falter.

And so all three of them had lunged to her rescue, diving for her outstretched hands at the same time.

Now they held her, together, while far beneath Zoe the pilotless Clipper seaplane veered wildly downward and-with its cargo of fanatical Neetha warriormonks-crashed into the forest, exploding in a great billowing fireball.

Wizard, Lily, and Ono hauled Zoe up into the hold while Diane Ca.s.sidy closed the rear ramp. The ramp thunked shut, and they all sat there for a moment on the floor in the wonderful silence of the hold.

"Th..thanks guys," Zoe gasped.

"You're thanking us?" Wizard said in disbelief. "You'rethanking us? Zoe, did yousee yourself these last few days? You killed a warrior on the Fighting Stone, you deciphered an unconquerable maze, you flew a Neethacovered plane out of h.e.l.l and almost died to make sure we all got off it safely.

"Honestly Zoe, I've never seen anything like it. What you've done was.e.xtraordinary. Jack West Jr is not the only outandout hero I know. When he was gone, you stepped up to the plate. You're an absolute wonder."

Zoe bowed her head. She hadn't even thought about what she'd done. She'd just done it.

Lily gave her a huge hug. "You were awesome, Princess Zoe. Fivestargirl power. Grrrr!"

And for the first time in days, Zoe smiled.

BACK AT THE Neetha village, through sheer force of arms, Wolf's people had taken control of the town.

Neetha villagers and warriormonks were gathered together on their knees, bound with flexcuffs and guarded by Congolese Army men.

Switchblade came striding over to Wolf.

"Sir, we have it," he said proudly, stepping aside to reveal the Delta man, Broadsword, who held the Second Pillar.

Wolf's eyes sparkled at the sight. He took the cleansed Pillar and held it reverently in front of his face.

"We also found this young gentleman." Switchblade shoved Alby forward, clutching his wounded shoulder. "Name's Albert Calvin. Says he's a friend of Jack West's daughter."

Wolf eyed the little boy before him and snuffed a laugh. "Tend his wound. He comes with us from here."

Switchblade went on: "Rapier's up in the inner sanctum above the maze. He says he's found the Firestone, the Philosopher's Stone, and the First Pillar, all laid out on altars.

He's bringing them down."

"Splendid," Wolf said. "Splendid. The Neetha took them from Max Epper. This is turning out to be an excellent day."

He turned suddenly to Switchblade. "What about the Orb, the Delphic Stone?"

"It's gone, sir. As are Professor Epper and his group."

Wolf snorted. "Alive or not, Epper won't be happy. Because he knows that we now have every trump card in the deck: the first two Pillars, the Philosopher's Stone,and the Firestone."

"There's one more thing, sir," Switchblade said.

"Yes?"

Switchblade nodded to someone, and from the crowd another prisoner was brought forward.

Wolf's eyebrows arched in surprise.

It was the warlock of the Neetha.

The gnarled old man's hands were cuffed, but his eyes blazed with rage.

"And just how canyou helpme ?" Wolf said, knowing the old shaman couldn't possibly understand him.

To his surprise, the old man answered him. But he didn't speak in Thoth. Rather, he spoke in a language that Wolf recognized: Greek, cla.s.sical Greek.

"The Second Corner of the Machine,"the warlock drawled in slow but perfect Greek. "I have seen it. I will take you there."

Wolf leaned back in surprise, a sly smile forming.

"Switchblade, Broadsword. Fire up the choppers and call our people in Kinshasa. Tell them to prep a plane for Cape Town. It's time to get our f.u.c.king reward."

AS THE HALICARNa.s.sUS soared southeastward in glorious peace, Zoe and the others joined Sky Monster in the seating area immediately behind the c.o.c.kpit.

Ono and Diane Ca.s.sidy were introduced and Sky Monster explained what had happened to him since they'd left him in Rwanda.

"After Solomon's boys arrived with some startup fuel, I flew to the old farm in Kenya and gave my baby a full checkup and refuel, even had a brandnew engine mounted."

"You keep spare jetengines there?" Zoe asked.

"I might've...found...some in my travels and kept them for a rainy day," Sky Monster said bashfully. "Anyway, I've been tracking every aerial scramble in central Africa, and sure enough, earlier today, I spotted these Congolese guys on the satellite scanner-in some Clipper transports and escorted by a few US choppers-all heading to this region.

Figured they'd found you, so I tagged along from a distance. Then when I saw you take off in the other direction, I figured it could only be Zoe flying."

"Hadehaha," Zoe said.

Sky Monster said, "Hey, where's Solomon? I gotta thank him for sending that fuel."

Zoe shook her head.

"He died defending me," Lily said, her eyes downcast.

"Oh," Sky Monster said softly. "And Alby?"

"Don't even ask," Zoe said, rubbing her temples, clearly still dealing with that issue.

"Hopefully, he's not dead, too."

She glanced at Lily as she said this, and their eyes met. Lily said nothing.

While they talked, Wizard tapped away on a computer, posting an encoded message on theLord of the Rings noticeboard he, Lily, and Jack used for such communications. If Jack was somehow alive, he would check in on the noticeboard eventually.

"You think Daddy's still alive?" Lily said, moving behind Wizard as he typed. "Even after that man showed us his helmet?"

Wizard turned to face her.

"Your father's a very resilient fellow, Lily. The most resilient, stubborn, brilliant, loyal, caring, and difficulttokill man I know. As far as I'm concerned, Jack West isn't dead until I see his unmoving body with my own eyes."

This didn't seem to encourage Lily.

Wizard just smiled. "We must always retain hope, little one. Hope that our loved ones are alive, hope that good will prevail over evil in this epic conflict. In the face of powerful opponents and overwhelming odds, hope is all we have.

"Never lose it, Lily. Deep in their hearts, bad people like Wolf have no hope and so they replace it with l.u.s.t: l.u.s.t for dominance, for power-and if they ever gain that power they're only happy because now everyone else is as miserable as they are. Always have hope, Lily, because hope is what makes us the good guys."

Lily looked at him. "That Wolf man said on the phone before that he's my grandfather, Daddy's father. How can Daddy be so good and Wolf be so bad?"

Wizard shook his head. "That I cannot explain. The path a person takes in life is often determined by the strangest, most incidental things. Jack and his father are alike in many ways: both are fiercely determined and incredibly intelligent. Only Jack acts for others, while his father acts for himself. Somewhere in their lives, they eachlearned to act in these ways."

"What will I be like then?" Lily asked nervously. "I want to be like Daddy, but it seems that's not guaranteed. I don't want to make the wrong choice when it matters."

Wizard smiled at her, tousled her hair. "Lily, I cannot ever imagine you making the wrong choice."

"And now that Wolf man has got Alby," Lily said.

"Yes," Wizard said. "Yes-"

At that moment, something pinged in the c.o.c.kpit and Sky Monster went to check on it.

Two seconds later, he shouted: "What in the name of...?"

Zoe and the others raced into the c.o.c.kpit to see what had upset him.

They found Sky Monster pointing at a satellite aerial map of southern Africa.

Dozens of little red dots filled the air above the northern border of South Africa. Many more blue dots flanked the western coast just off Cape Town.

"What is it?" Zoe asked.

"See all those dots," he said. "The red ones represent military aircraft, the blue ones warships. And there's a repeating message coming in over all frequencies: the South African Air Force has blockaded South African airs.p.a.ce to all foreign air traffic-military and commercial. At the same time, their Navy's formed a perimeter around Cape Town, Table Mountain, and half the Cape of Good Hope."

He pointed to a few whitecolored dots on the ocean south of the Cape. "Those white dots, they're the last civilian craft that were allowed in about an hour ago. Judging from their transponders, they're South Africanregistered fishing trawlers returning from the Indian Ocean. They're the last ones they've let back in. Now all the sealanes are closed."