Maia and the Xifarian Conspiracy (The Lightbound Saga Book 1) (27 page)

“What are you three doing back there?” Miir’s sharp voice stopped the man mid-sentence. He strode up to the group, looking curiously at the old man who shot back a furtive glance.

“Er . . .” Kusha stammered.

“We were showing this man the way out; he seemed to be a little confused,” Maia jumped to the rescue.

“We are leaving now,” Miir said, casting another doubtful glance at the man who tottered away toward the front gates, still grinning crazily to himself.

43: At the Grotto

Miir kept eyeing the wayward trio on the way back to the Resthouse. Nafi and Ren suspected that the others had found some clues, but they kept their curiosity in check. After a long, weaving journey through the rapidly swelling crowd, the group reached the Resthouse. The building dazzled. Lamps shone in every corner; the streamers hanging from the ceiling caught the light and sparkled and shimmered. Guests streamed in and out, the harried owner buzzed around, and a few sorry-faced workers scurried as he yelled and bellowed. On noticing the group, the owner waddled over and apologized profusely to Miir.

“I’m so sorry for the conditions here today. It’s not something I want the XDA to know . . . people are going crazy about the display this year . . . they promised free rations for a month to all who collect the stardust . . . hardly have anyone around . . .” he went on and on until Miir recovered from the mournful siege and cut him off, politely but sternly.

“Please, calm down. We are not going to report anything to the academy,” he said, eager to get past the apologies. “If we could get something to eat, and quickly please.”

“Yes, yes, of course.” The man scooted away after seating them at a table in one corner of the dining area.

Plump loaves of bread, a large carving of meat that was tastefully decorated with colorful pieces of vegetables, and small pots of garnishments were served quickly. There was also a plateful of rainbow-hued pastries on one side. But the flavor of the food did not live up to its looks. The salty meat was cold and hardly edible; the bread was tough and left a stale taste in Maia’s mouth. Nafi almost spat out the first bite, gagging and choking on a piece of meat, and eliciting a severe look from Miir. The owner returned to the table from time to time, his wails making the ordeal even harder to bear. Yoome soon excused herself and went up to the room, and Miir left the table to pay for the food. As soon as they were alone, heads crowded together to share the story of the nutty old man and the gate behind the trees.

“So, we know where the Grotto might be, but how do we know when they’ll try to sabotage the Stabilator?” Nafi voiced the question on everyone’s mind.

“We nearly had the answer.” Kusha hit the table with his fist in frustration. “The man was just about to tell us when the Sanctuary is least guarded. I’m positive that those hooded thugs would choose that exact time to raid the Grotto.”

“Are you done playing with the food?” Miir was back at the table followed by Yoome. “We should start walking back to the Square. Just to remind you, the place will be very crowded, so please stay together. I would not enjoy trying to find you in the dark among thousands of sightseers, and I doubt you would enjoy being lost in such conditions either.”

They had scarcely stepped out through the doorway when a pair of grubby hands accompanied by a wail threw themselves at Miir.

“Oh no, sir.” It was the mournful owner again. “I couldn’t possibly take any payment for what we served you today. These idiots hardly know what they are doing. It’s all about the new policy . . . will kill off my business in a night . . . have to let people off for the display . . . for the entire show . . . it’s their birthright it seems . . . and those free rations . . . doesn’t matter how important or critical their work is . . . a while later it’ll only be me around here . . .”

“All right,” Miir was quick to interrupt. “We can adjust the payment tomorrow. Thank you for being so considerate.”

“If you don’t mind doing it now,” the owner pleaded, his droopy eyes and sagging mouth clearly portrayed his misery. “Might be busy again tomorrow, so . . .”

“Okay,” Miir sighed as he gave in to the man’s appeals. He turned toward the group, sulking as he spoke. “You stay here. I will be back soon.”

The owner forced a tired and weak smile before retreating into the building with Miir. Yoome threw a glance at the five and decided to follow Miir inside. Ren slipped away at the same time, reappearing soon, holding Kusha’s satchel.

“Got some cakes that looked somewhat better, in case we get hungry,” he explained before handing the bag to Kusha.

Kusha winced as he slung the bag over his shoulder. “Are the cakes made of stone or something?” he said, rubbing his back gingerly.

“No,” replied Ren.

As Kusha continued to stare at him, Ren shrugged apologetically. “Thought we could use some private entertainment. It’s Doob and Daab.”

“It’s who now?” Kusha almost yelled.

Dani giggled, slipped an arm into the satchel, and pulled something out. “Meet Doob,” she said smiling, voice brimming with pride.

On her palm sat the tiniest model of an Onclioraptor, meticulously designed to the smallest detail.

“And Daab,” Ren held in his hand another miniature Raptor, identical in build except for the complementary silver coloration to Doob’s gleaming black.

“We built them during the first challenge. We were done early and had so much time to kill.” Dani flashed an apologetic smile.

“We have programmed them for the most intricate maneuvers, and they work like a dream,” Ren announced as Maia leaned closer, trying to get a good look at the little Raptors.

“So that’s why you kept disappearing on us?” Maia let out a chuckle. She felt happy to finally know what Dani and Ren had been up to, but then she worried that Ren might have done something truly inexcusable. “You didn’t swipe these parts from the project rooms, did you, Ren?”

“Oh no, he bought the parts with his own money,” Dani was quick to reply.

“Good use of my not-so-hard-earned money, don’t you think?” Ren added with a mischievous smirk.

He took a pair of razor-thin control sticks and proceeded to demonstrate an easy Spiral that Daab executed with perfection. Everyone cheered with the exception of Kusha. As the tiny Raptor came to a stop on Ren’s outstretched palm, Kusha shook his head and turned away.

“Won’t you look at them, Kusha?” Dani playfully tugged at his sleeve.

“Would it have killed you to tell me what you had been up to?” Kusha said.

“We wanted it to be a surprise,” Dani said, flashing a sheepish grin. “Don’t be so angry.”

Kusha sighed. By the time Dani cajoled him again, a small smile had crept on to his face. But the smile only lasted a moment. A frustrated yell from Miir made everyone forget about Doob and Daab. Their mentor had returned, and so had Yoome. They rushed in his direction, and together they set out for Central Square, treading frantically through the crowd. Halfway through their arduous walk, Kusha stopped abruptly. Thankfully, Miir was leading the way and Yoome was close behind him, so the only one who was remotely offended was Nafi, who bumped headlong into the boy.

“Can’t you even walk right?” she glowered.

“I . . . know,” Kusha replied, his face awash with a bright smile.

“Since you know, maybe you could try to learn,” Nafi shot back before walking past him.

“No,” Kusha shook his head, trying to keep his voice as low as he could when he spoke. “I know when it’s going to be . . . the attack.”

The other four slowed at once.

“Remember the old man said something about changing policies that made the place less secure? And then that hotel owner said that because of the new policy he had to let everyone go so they could watch the display tonight. And remember, the free rations to everyone who collects stardust?”

“When the stardust falls,” Ren’s eyes sparkled as he spoke, “the sentries could possibly go as well, leaving the Grotto unguarded.”

“Yes, and with all this commotion, no one is going to notice if a bunch of people break in,” Kusha added.

“But what are we going to do? How will we even get away from those two?” Maia asked, pointing toward Miir and Yoome who strode ahead of them.

“Don’t you see how Miir is ignoring us? And that girl simply doesn’t care,” Kusha reasoned. “It’s too dark out here for anyone to notice immediately that we are missing. By the time he realizes we’re gone, it will be too late to track us down in this crowd.”

“Even if we somehow manage to get away, what will we do at the Grotto?” Dani looked worried. “I mean, we’re unarmed, we hardly know what’s in there, and it’ll be dangerous to just walk in unprepared.”

“What else can we do other than try and catch them in the act?” Kusha asked. “We can’t speak about this to anyone; no one will believe us. And if Miir is right, which he always is, they might just put us in prison for knowing state secrets.”

Maia eyed Nafi, worrying how she would react. If she didn’t agree, they would probably carry on without her. But she hoped and wished that Nafi would understand.

“You do understand that this could mean risking everything we have achieved so far,” Nafi said, taking time to look each of them in the eye. No one replied. It was clear that everyone had made their decision. Nafi quickly glanced away and fell silent for a bit. What she said next made Maia smile in relief. “I agree. Trying to get in there is the only option we have. I just hope we can catch them red-handed.”

They scuttled along again, trying their best to keep up with Miir and Yoome. On reaching the Square, Miir herded them to a side until they were snuggled between a rowdy bunch of workers from the settlement of Kiigyzhid and a cheering horde of pilots of the Royal Fleet Squadron 44. Lively exchanges between the groups made their squished existence a little bearable, and the five continued to make their own plans in hushed tones.

Soon the Sedara dimmed. As the skies turned a deep shade of purple, the crowd transformed. Maia held her breath, blinking in disbelief as she took in the scene—incandescent Xifarian eyes were lighting up all around them, growing more numerous by the moment, until it felt like she was floating in a sea of embers.

Murmurs grew louder, reaching a crescendo when the pre-display show started on a raised stage at the center of the field. As the crowd roared, Kusha slipped away from the group followed by the rest of the team. Maia left last, backing away slowly from the unsuspecting Miir and Yoome, whose attention was focused on the group of flying acrobats in the central arena. She found her friends waiting at the Sanctuary gates. A wild party raged there—music played, couples danced, babies screamed. It was perfect mayhem.

“Now, how are we going to get inside?” Kusha asked, feeling the thick girth of the bars on the gate.

The bars were very closely spaced, Maia noted. There was not a chance that they could slip through them. The only other way was to climb over, but they stood tall, over three times Kusha’s height.

“Master Ren,” someone shouted. “Found ya, Master Ren.”

A strange, swarthy man, who looked positively inebriated, strolled over to the five youngsters as they stood at the entrance, his eyes shining with the joy of finding a long lost friend.

“Adienos,” Ren grinned happily. “Thanks for showing up, buddy.”

They shook hands for a long time and talked about some game night over and over again until Nafi cleared her throat very loudly.

“The task at hand,” she nudged Ren. “Remember?”

“You want to get in, right?” Adienos leaned forward to look at Nafi.

Nafi blinked and stared. “Uh hum.”

“Got provisions, just like Master Ren asked,” the man winked and turned to yell at a group of well-built men who had gathered around. “Boys, get the ladder up, will ya?”

In the blink of an eye, a rope ladder was slung over the fence. Kusha wasted no time in climbing up, and Maia scampered up next. Soon, all of them were inside and the ladder was off. Adienos shook hands with Ren, whispered a hasty, “We’ll wait around here for ya,” and returned to their revelry.

“Who was that?” Nafi demanded of Ren as soon as they had stepped away into the shadows. “And how did he—”

“Just an old associate. I had him come and meet us here in case we needed assistance, which we did,” was all Ren had to say.

Nafi stared at him for a few moments and then sighing loudly, she stomped forward.

“This is a madhouse,” Kusha whispered as they made their way to the back of the building. “A bunch of people simply climb over the fence and no one cares. Yet, if we even talk about this place, we run the risk of getting arrested. This is what they call security?”

It was indeed surprising to see that the place did not have a single guard on duty. A lone, weak light shone on the top floor of the building. Maia assumed those were the curator’s living quarters. Worries flooded her mind as she made her way to the back garden.
Maybe the crazy old man was right—this was all part of a big conspiracy.
She quickened her pace. Striding past the curtain of trees, Maia and her friends came to face the entrance. The small door engraved with Xifarian insignia stood slightly ajar. After a moment’s hesitation, Kusha pushed it open. It swung wide, revealing a flight of stairs that wound downward.

“Stop.” Dani clutched Kusha’s arm. “I can’t let you do this, guys. It’s too risky. I should rather go and talk to the curator.”

“This is the only way, Dani,” Maia whispered. “The curator will never listen to you until you have proof.”

“Now is not the time for a debate,” Nafi said impatiently. “And deal with it, Dani. We’re not letting you do this all by yourself.”

“Together we are stronger than we will ever be alone,” Maia said in a steely voice. She stretched her arm to the center of their small huddle, her fist closed in a tight ball.