Firestorm:
“Time is the most mysterious substance in the universe,” I explained to Jackie. “It works differently in the Slipstream. I hope you’ve seen that by now.”
Jackie’s lower lip trembled, and her eyes glazed over. “Grace is my mom?”
I nodded. “Yes. That summer on Bennu Island was from the past. Ages ago.”
“Why did she abandon me?”
“She didn’t have a choice about leaving you with Baxter. It was for your protection, but who is protecting her?”
“I don’t know. I thought she was already dead.” She ran her fingers through the red streak in her hair.
“Let’s travel back in time to Bennu Island, where we left off.”
“How do we get back there?”
I kicked the broken door down, exposing the surrounding inferno. Smoke poured into the warehouse.
“Focus on the fire. Meet me back in the void.”
Jackie coughed. “Wait. I’ve never left a stream on my own. It kicked me out last time.”
“You’re a natural, remember?”
I left the stream and waited for Jackie in the Slipstream void. Sometimes kids need to be dropped in the deep end to learn how to swim.
“You’ve got this, Jackie,” I mumbled, the seconds stretching unbearably long.
“Took you long enough,” I joked when she finally exited the stream.
She rolled her eyes and followed me through the tunnel of probabilities.
Back to Bennu that fateful summer in the past.
I left Jackie on the outskirts of the stream so she couldn’t meddle. I needed her to see everything play out to understand who she really was and why she was so important to my mission.
I returned to where we left off with Zayne and Grace.
Despite being caged for years, Zayne knew the way back to his village as if he had walked that path minutes ago. He led Grace through the thicket, brushing against prickly thorns and stubborn brambles.
Still scared of the Bennu birds and their radioactive eggs, Grace gripped his hand until it lost circulation.
The touch of her warm, soft skin melted his heart.
“This is home.” Zayne paused at the village gates with tears in his eyes.
A group of women slowly drifted their arms above their heads in sync, practicing Ni Cree.
“What are they doing?” Grace asked.
“Ni Cree flows with All. We thank All for everything. Move as one.”
“Kind of like Tai Chi?”
Zayne didn’t know what that meant and focused instead on the details of the village he longed to return to; the sweet smell of dinner cooking over the fire, the moon greeting the night behind the Grid, the joyful noise of simple village life.
Everything changed in the years he was gone. Employment opportunities at the complex led to the construction of more homes made of sturdier materials.
It was dusk, and several men prepared food in an outdoor kitchen covered by a wooden shade structure. Others gathered at the long family-style table to share the bounty with their neighbors.
Small houses lined the grassy knoll that children played in, not ready to settle for dinner. They ran after each other with arms outstretched, flapping their pretend wings. Bennu Tag was great fun for the children.
Zayne’s grandmother sat at the head of the table, her silver-streaked hair pulled into a loose bun that framed her face lined with decades of laughter and quiet wisdom.
He dropped Grace’s hand and burst into a sprint. He could wait no longer.
“Nannu,” he called out as he ran to her.
His grandmother turned to look. Her wrinkled face exploded with shock.
“Zayne?”
He scooped his grandmother’s feeble body into the biggest hug.
She grabbed his cheeks with her weathered hands and searched his face for answers, amazed he had miraculously returned to her.
They spoke in their language as Grace sluggishly walked toward the table, unsure of her place there.
The kids playing nearby stopped and joined the growing circle around Zayne. It surprised everyone to see him.
Stolen story; please report.
The villagers made their beautiful clothes from Bennu birds; leather jackets, dresses, and pants made from their thick skin, jewelry from their teeth and talons.
Nannu nodded toward Grace and asked Zayne about her in their native tongue. He explained where he’d been and how Grace had helped him escape.
Jappa, another teenage boy, grabbed Zayne and put him in a headlock.
Zayne pulled away. He bobbed, weaved, and pushed Jappa to the ground. Prepared to punch, Zayne stopped when he recognized his old friend.
“Jappa!” He helped the boy up, and they hugged.
After a lively exchange in their language, Jappa turned to Grace. He pointed at himself and said, “Friend.”
Grace smiled. “Nice to meet you. Jappa, is it?”
“Yes, I’m Jappa.” He grabbed her hand and kissed it, bowing his head as if she were royalty.
Tinga, a tall man with brooding features, broke through the crowd. He had a deep and hideous scar down the middle of his face. His left eye had been replaced with a white marble.
“It’s him.” Grace stiffened at the uncomfortable sight of the scarred man.
Tinga spoke in a loud, aggressive voice. He grilled Zayne with questions in their native language.
Nannu answered for Zayne, putting Tinga in his place. All the villagers took a seat at the table on her command.
Zayne grabbed Grace’s hand and led her to a bench. He sat between her and Nannu.
Tinga sat across from them. His good eye examined Grace; her gold tennis bracelet, her dewy skin, and unwelcome presence.
The villagers grabbed each other’s hands and bowed their heads while Nannu led them in a prayer.
Grace bowed her head, but kept her eyes open, still taking it all in.
After the prayer, Nannu grabbed Grace’s hand.
“Welcome,” she said with a warm smile.
Grace offered a tight smile. She looked at Tinga and tensed again.
“Nannu gave thanks to save me,” Zayne whispered to Grace. “She welcomes and invites you to eat.”
A woman wearing a beautifully embroidered dress put a platter in front of Grace and Zayne. She pulled away the cover, revealing a feast of radioactive Bennu eggs.
Grace gasped when Zayne grabbed a handful of eggs and shoved them in his mouth.
He spoke with his mouth full. “We found an egg bounty in the cave of clover.”
Tinga grunted.
Nannu nodded, pleased with her newly returned grandson.
She said to Zayne, “Your English has improved.”
She turned to Grace and added, “You must be an excellent teacher.”
Grace tried to smile through her disgust at the villagers eating the glowing radioactive green eggs, but couldn’t force it.
“You eat these?” Grace whispered.
Zayne said, “Bennu eggs boost vitality.”
He offered her one, and she took it.
Grace inspected the gooey green egg before taking the tiniest bite.
“You like?”
“It tastes like fish with the texture of jello.”
“You like.” Zayne smiled.
“Yum, fish jello.” Grace tried to hide her disgust, but failed.
“Bennu eggs have a power that we must protect,” Nannu informed Grace. “We protect them always, but Bennu is angry. Balance has been lost.”
Grace shrugged and said, “What a beautiful necklace.”
Nannu touched the Merkaba symbol made of Bennu teeth that hung around her neck. The sacred geometry symbol merged two tetrahedrons together.
“That’s a lovely symbol. What does it stand for?” Grace asked.
Nannu caressed her necklace. “An ancient sign of divine protection. This union of light is most powerful.”
Grace smiled. “How lovely.”
“Zayne, you must make her one,” Nannu instructed.
“Yes,” he agreed.
Tinga pounded the table, startling Grace.
“Enough little talk. Tell me of your captor,” Tinga said to Zayne with glowing egg spitting out of his mouth. “Not attacked by Bennu?”
“I bathe in the river when darkness comes over my eyes. I was taken by a man, locked away for many moons. Trapped and tortured.”
The whole community listened to Zayne with bated breath. Parents held their children closer to their heaving chests.
“Man is more dangerous than creature,” Tinga spat. “When my son disappears, Malcolm whispers these truths to me.”
“Malcolm?” Grace whispered to Zayne.
“God of wisdom,” Zayne replied.
“How many sons will they take?” Tinga shouted. He stood to address the table. “Eat of the Bennu bird, and strength will be yours. Tonight, we storm the complex. No more sons lost to man.”
Everyone looked to Nannu for her reaction. She was clearly in charge.
She questioned Tinga in their native language, and he argued his case.
Zayne chimed in.
Grace didn’t understand their words, and neither did Jackie.
After a heated exchange, Nannu turned to Grace. “Tell me all you know.”
“Why would you storm the complex? We’ve trapped the man responsible for this. He’s in the cage. We need to interrogate him and find my parents. They’ll fix this,” Grace promised.
Tinga huffed at her suggestion.
“The guilty man is in the cage,” Grace pushed. “Tell them, Zayne. We caught him.”
Tinga, Zayne, and his grandmother spoke in their language again.
Tinga said to Grace, “Daddy is not lost. I cooked him dinner tonight.”
“What?”
“They’re looking for you, little girl.” Tinga squinted his good eye.
Grace shook her head. “No, that can’t be. They’ve been missing for days.”
Tinga addressed Nannu. “After they built the complex, Bennu turned on us. If they take our sons to torture, what will they do to Bennu?”
He pointed at Grace with one hand and grabbed a Bennu egg in the other. “Vitality in their hands is dangerous. We must protect Bennu.”
Nannu nodded in agreement.
“Tonight, we storm the complex,” Tinga screamed, “for our sons and for Bennu.”
On Nannu’s nod, the villagers clapped to support Tinga’s plan.
“Finem maluma,” Tinga yelled with a fist in the air.
The villagers chanted “finem maluma” as they gobbled the last Bennu eggs and left the table.
Grace turned to Zayne. “What’s going on, dear?”
“Tonight, we take our island back.”
Jappa handed Zayne an axe.
“But my family owns…” Grace looked around at the villagers preparing for war and chose not to complete her sentence.
Zayne gripped the axe handle, found a rock on the ground, and sharpened the blade.
If you lived in the village, would you storm the complex?
