Chapter 35
CHAPTER
THAD
Another day on Nil, another round of lugging an unconscious person back to the City.
Looking at the girl on the slapped-together-piece-of-island-crap stretcher, I hoped she fared better than Rory.
But I had to admit, it didn’t look good.
We’d been walking for hours, and the girl hadn’t opened her eyes or made a sound.
At least she was breathing. Taking in her ashen face, I thought, Whoever you are, please don’t die. I was sick of death and burials.
Charley walked beside me, her eyes straight ahead. She’d been quiet since Natalie missed the gate. Something had gotten to her; I just didn’t know what. Nat missing her shot? The girl on the stretcher, the newest Nil contestant? Or Li’s death, haunting us all?
Maybe all of the above, or maybe she just couldn’t fit a word in around Natalie, who wouldn’t shut up.
About an hour ago, Natalie had dropped into rapid-fire Nat-speak, babbling about teams and timing, strategies and gate waves.
As much as I liked Natalie, right now I wished she’d just stop. She was borderline Nil nutty.
“Nat,” I breathed, “give it a rest, okay?”
“Please,” Jason muttered.
“Okay. Sorry. I’m just really excited about Charley’s charts and the idea of a gate wave.
I’ve just never thought about the order and the spacing, or the timing between each gate or sets of gates.
It’s like they always come at noon, but I never really thought about the gap between gates that flash in the same place, like the ones at Black Bay, so—”
“Nat,” I broke in, wondering how Nat talked like a machine gun and still managed to breathe, “please.”
“Okay,” she said, “but you gotta admit Charley’s theory is awesome.”
Nat fell silent, and no one filled the gap. Charley’s eyes hugged the ground.
“Crowder,” I said, “you okay?”
“Yeah,” she answered.
No, you’re not, I thought, reading her face. But now was not the time to press. Not with an audience, not with a girl clinging to life in our hands.
“Hang in there” was all I said. For a second, I wondered exactly who I was talking to. Charley, the girl, me. Or all of us. Then I focused on walking and not dropping the girl. My legs burned, my arms shook, but I refused to take a break.
Near the City, smoke drifted into the night like a beacon. I sent Jason ahead, and as we staggered into camp, Rives came running.
I filled him in on the girl.
“Where’re you gonna put her?” Rives asked.
“With me,” Nat said. “It’ll be tight, but we’ll fit. Or”—now she smiled at Charley—“you could always bunk somewhere else. There’s someone I know who doesn’t have a roommate anymore.” Natalie winked at me, then turned back to Charley, beginning a new round of questions about the charts.
While Natalie monopolized Charley, I slipped into Nat’s A-frame and gently laid the girl on a bed. Nat had one of the smallest houses; I had the other. The bigger A-frames could bunk up to six, but our max was two.
Back outside with Rives, I cut right to the chase.
“We found Li. She didn’t make it.”
“Damn.” Rives blew out a hard breath. “You know, she was the first person I met on Nil. Where was she?”
“The black field, near the tubes. We took care of her. I gave her a coral cross.”
Rives nodded, then glanced toward the Wall. “I’ll carve for her. And I’ll tell Quan.”
“You sure?” I asked.
“Totally.” He looked back, his face set. Dark planes in a black night, touched by Nil’s demons. “You’ve been taking care of us for a long time, bro. Now take care of yourself. You hear?”
I nodded. “Where’s Jason?”
“Crashed out. Said he took second watch last night. I bet he’s already asleep.”
“Good.” I squeezed Rives’s shoulder, then went to find Charley. The City was quiet, like it always was when a large group had left on Search. Charley sat by the fire, alone, watching the flames. She didn’t look up until I stood right beside her.
“Where’s Nat?” I asked, taking a seat.
“Getting supplies for the girl. And talking to Talla about my charts.” Charley sounded less than enthusiastic.
“Hey.” I took her hand in mine; her fingers were chunks of ice. “You’ve said three words all afternoon. What’s wrong?”
“I think I made a mistake telling y’all about my theory.
I shouldn’t have said anything, not until I really know something.
I mean, I’ve been here all of three weeks, and y’all looked at me today like I had the answers to the final exam, ya know?
” Charley tried to smile, but it came out a wince.
“But I don’t. I only brought up my idea of how the gates might roll in sequence because Jason looked so darn upset when a gate didn’t flash, and I wanted Natalie to have a ray of hope.
But she ran with it like it was solid, like it was more than a theory. ”
I chuckled. “That’s Nat. She tends to get a little excited.”
“But that’s just it. Now I feel like I’ve given her false hope. Like I’ve given everyone false hope. Thad, my maps are rough, and my wave idea is just a guess. What if Natalie misses a gate? Because of me?” She bit her lower lip.
“Look, no one’s expecting you to swoop in and save the City.
Your maps are great, and your theory is, too.
And yeah, it’s just an idea. But it’s a starting point, and it gives us something to work with.
To prove right or wrong, okay? You gotta understand.
Your wave idea beats the shotgun approach any day, which is all we had. Your idea can’t be any worse.”
Then I winked. “But hey, if you want to sit here and beat yourself up, go right ahead.”
Charley rolled her eyes, but stayed quiet. I realized she had a point.
“Tell you what. Over the next few days, we’ll toss around your theory and gather gate information from everyone. Make it a City effort, not just a Charley effort. Would that take the pressure off?”
“Okay.” She sighed. Reluctantly, she unrolled her main map and weighted the edges with pebbles from her satchel.
The island’s rough outline looked like a fat diamond.
“Rives described the east coast, just to give me a starting point, but it’s not to scale yet, not even close.
And I know that the southeast portion has the active volcano, behind Mount Nil.
Lava’s not shooting up in the sky, but it’s flowing, dropping into the water and cutting off the coastline.
Rives told me it looks like thick tar with a layer of fire.
Plus, there’s steam and active vents. So the southeast corner is out of bounds. ”
I nodded, and she continued. “And from what I hear, the northern tip has cliffs and rock beaches. No sand. Tough for running. Past the north shore, due east, past the hills, the rain forest is here.” Her finger dropped a little.
“While it’s great for gathering twine and other stuff, it would be tougher to see a gate because of the growth.
Not to mention you’d have to be there on a day it was sunny and due a gate, so it lowers your odds even more.
The sun is always shining when a gate flashes, right? ”
“As far as I know,” I said.
“So, from what I can tell, the best place to catch gates—and still eat—is this area.” Charley swept a large arc around the City.
“The west coast—White Beach above Nil City, south to Black Bay, South Beach below the Arches until the South Cliffs—and then inland: the lava fields, the meadow, the hills, and possibly the groves. It’s basically what you’ve been doing.
I guess all I’m saying is that heading to the northeast corner—the rain forest—is a three-day hike, and I’m not sure it’s worth it.
And Jason says that coastline is narrow. No running room.”
“I hear you. But people have caught gates near the rain forest, so it’s not hopeless.”
“Not hopeless, just harder. Again, just guessing here.” She shrugged.
For a minute we stared at her map.
“I wonder how long it takes for the gate wave to cross the entire island,” I said. “From tip to tip.”
“I’ve wondered the same thing. And does it cross the whole island every time or just sweep across part?
The only given is that once gates flash, they roll on straight longitudinal lines, always north.
” She paused. “We know gates never flash in the same exact spot two days in a row, and I’m guessing they don’t even flash on the same latitude two days in a row.
Hence the wave. But how many days before a latitude is repeated?
Could be three weeks, could be two, could be four.
Or more. And what’s the gap between different latitudes?
Take the beach at Black Bay. Two gates, one day apart.
Same beach, different latitude. Maybe even same longitudinal line, or does that change daily, too?
And did I even see a gate at all?” She looked unsure.
“And Rives said there hadn’t been a gate at Black Bay in months, but I also know it doesn’t mean one wasn’t there.
It just means no one saw it, at least no one we know.
Then, after Jason missed, the gate wave jumped north, above the Arches, to the beach at Nil City, where Sabine caught it.
” She sighed. “I’m also not sure how far apart the individual gates of a noon set are.
I think it varies, and I don’t know why.
Does it relate to the speed of the gates? Or something else?”
She chewed her bottom lip. “My gut says it takes around two weeks to cross the island before the wave starts over, but within that stretch there might be clumps and rogue sets, which could affect the overall timing. Ugh.” She looked frustrated.
“Don’t you see? I don’t know anything. I’m trying to make the pieces fit, but I don’t even have all the pieces.
And maybe they won’t ever fit. My whole idea might be junk. ”
“Then we’ll figure it out.”
She looked at me.
“We’ll walk Nil, mapping the island and charting gates. We’ll time the gates, test your theory. It’ll help everyone, including us.” Leaning back, I pointed to the pebbles scattered around the map and smiled. “Nice rocks.”
“Thanks. I found them in the Cavern, on the way to Black Bay.” She pointed to one that looked like a dirty ice cube. “That one’s my favorite. It reminds me of the island. It’s murky, like something mysterious hides inside. But others are clear, like diamonds.”
I chuckled, picking up her favorite and holding it up to the firelight, trying to see it through Charley’s eyes. “They are diamonds, Charley. Raw, uncut diamonds. But unlike us, they’re not going anywhere.”