Chapter 15

XNASHA’S TALE

“Thousands of years ago, when the Egyptians had yet to build the pyramids, contenting themselves by constructing very large stone cubes instead,⁵⁶ mammoths still roamed in the northern wastes—”

“One still does,” Mimi interjected.

“Shoosh!” Cara hissed.

“I’m just sayin’,” Mimi grumbled but fell silent again.⁵⁷

“… and the world was greener and the sea bluer, before all the great civilizations of China, India, and Greece had risen above the Stone Age, Atlantis was already a noble and powerful nation. From our island capital in the centre of what you now call the Mediterranean Sea, we travelled the world in our ships above and below the waves, mapping the world and bringing enlightenment to our benighted human relatives across the face of the globe. We taught farming and building techniques, studied medicine and science, mathematics and astronomy. There was no problem that we couldn’t bring our superb intellect and culture to bear upon. We were proud. We were confident … too confident, as it turned out. We sowed the seeds of our own destruction.

“Our scientists began to dream of reaching other worlds, other planes of existence just beyond the surface of our own. They began to experiment with potent and dangerous technologies that might open a gateway to these other planes and perhaps contact creatures that might live there. In our defence, we believed that any intelligent creatures in these other planes would be benevolent like ourselves. Such foolishness is its own punishment.

“High atop the highest peak on the Island of Atlantis, the Atlantean scientists constructed a vast machine. Drawing on the power of the molten core of the Earth, we opened a gateway, a rip in the fabric of space, and punched a hole into another plane of existence.”

“You found the Grey Agents’ world,” Cara breathed.

“Yes.” Xnasha nodded, her eyes reflecting the soft glow of the crystal instruments in the cabin. “And it was a bleak and hungry place populated by voracious, evil beings. Their world lacked life and energy. They had drained it of all its vitality. By opening a gateway to their world, we invited them into ours, and they must have thought their prayers were answered. They poured out of the gate and immediately began to possess our citizens, turning them into the kind of creatures you know as the Grey Agents.

“The destruction they wrought upon the Earth was appalling. We Atlanteans were not a warlike people. We were not prepared for the attack. Quickly, we turned all our energies into creating weapons to combat the threat. We fought a war with the Grey Agents, and there was devastation on a scale that is impossible to imagine. Tidal waves shattered whole cities. Earthquakes altered the geography of the world. Fire rained from the skies. The moon, once a vital, living planet, was turned into a lifeless ball of dust.

“At last, we were victorious. We forced the remaining evil invaders back into their own plane and destroyed the gate forever. Yes, we were victorious, but at a terrible cost. Our civilization was in ruins. Most of our people were dead.

“With our remaining resources, we built this refuge in the sunken ruins of our capital. The dome was built and the shields went up. We went into hiding. Our great achievements were forgotten by the surface world, and the name Atlantis faded into myth and legend.”

Xnasha heaved a great sigh and fell silent. Mimi and Cara sat lost in their own thoughts. Mimi tried to imagine the beautiful world as it had once been—the glorious city shining and alive, filled with magnificent wonders instead of the faded shell that now remained—but it was hard to grasp the magnitude of what Xnasha’s people had lost in that long-ago war.

“So the Grey Agents have been here before,” Cara said, finally breaking the silence. “How did they manage to come back if you destroyed the gateway?”

“I don’t know. I can only guess that once they got a taste of the life and energy in this world, they have striven ever since to return. As I said, the gateway was a massive undertaking requiring all the resources of our great and powerful civilization. Perhaps it has taken them this long to find a way to return—and even then, managing only a small breach allowing just a few to come through—but I’m sure it is just a prelude to a much larger invasion. My belief is that they are trying to build a permanent gateway somewhere in our world, and then they will come in strength.”

Cara turned to Mimi and nodded. “It has to be in Providence.”

“Providence?” Xnasha asked.

“Thur Headquarters in Rhode Island,” Mimi explained. “It’s a state in America.”

Xnasha clapped her hands in delight. “I’ve heard of it. They make chickens there!”

Mimi laughed. “I guess they do, kinda.”⁵⁸

Cara folded her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair. “That’s something I find curious.”

“What?” asked Xnasha. “That Rhode Island has a chicken named after it?”

“No … although that is weird. But what’s weirder is that you know anything about Rhode Island and chickens and that you speak almost perfect English.”

“Oh that! That is easily explained. Come with me.”

A few minutes later, after being led back up to the city square, they found themselves in one of the strangest places they had ever seen. Considering how many strange places they’d been in before, that was quite an accomplishment.

“So that’s how y’all know how to speak American,” Mimi cried in amazement.

“English.” Cara rolled her eyes. “The language is English.”

“Whatever.” Mimi scowled. “Just answers a few questions, is all.”

They were standing in a vast stone building beside the temple. Stacked haphazardly around the space were piles of artifacts from the surface world. There were cars, tires, wagons, and chariots. There were suits of armour from every era of history: plate mail from Europe, coats of metal rings, rusted and rotting, swords, shields, and helmets. There were licence plates and kitchen appliances. There were farm tractors and furniture. In short, almost every aspect of surface life was represented in some way. Most of it was the worse for wear from soaking for a long time in the salty depths before the Atlanteans scooped it up for their weird museum. All the junk was stacked willy-nilly in tottering piles, but one piece had been lovingly restored, cleaned, and polished. Standing in the most prominent place in the centre of the hall on a marble pedestal,⁵⁹ its shiny chrome gleaming in the torchlight, was a radio.

A soft glow shone from the dial. The radio looked as though it had been ripped out of a larger housing. Perhaps it had once been in a boat or car dashboard. A bent, twisted aerial sprouted from the top. Currently, it was picking up a gardening program.

“I’d give those rhododendrons a good watering in the morning once a week, Doris. Anything more and you’ll have root rot on your hands,” a cultured voice advised from the speaker.

“Thanks, Reg, for taking my call,” a lady answered.

“Thanks, Reg, for taking my call,” Xnasha mimicked the voice perfectly. She reached over and turned down the radio by twisting a black knob. “I listen all the time. I love it. I would love to garden, wouldn’t you?” Her pale eyes danced with excitement. She danced in a circle, her arms swept wide to encompass all the strange relics of the surface world. “All these treasures, so mysterious and amazing. Rhododendrons and root rot. It’s just so exciting!”

Cara and Mimi exchanged a look. “You got some weird ideas about what’s amazing and what ain’t! You live in this amazin’ place surrounded by amazin’ things and yer listenin’ to the radio?”

“What’s the matter? Don’t you like rho-do-den-drons?” She turned the tuning knob with her knobby fingers, filling the air with static as she searched for another channel.

“It ain’t the subject matter,” Mimi began, but she stopped when the confident voice of a female newsreader came in loud and clear.

“Leading off the international news this morning, geologists are still puzzled by the freak eruption in the Swiss Alps two days ago. Mount Nutterhorn, until recently thought to be completely stable, has now spewed molten rock over hundreds of square kilometres, raining ash and debris as far away as Brussels. Relief agencies are heading into the area, which is sparsely inhabited by humans. The region is home to many dairy farmers and local fauna such as the Alpine Puking Rabbit, an endangered species. More on this story as it develops. Now to Bill in New York, who has a fascinating story about a cat who can type his own name! Bill?”

Mimi reached over and turned the radio off. “They wrecked it. They wrecked the Hollow Mountain.”

Cara’s face was ashen. “George, the King … everything is gone.”

Mimi’s face reddened with fury. She slammed her hand down on the pedestal. The impact knocked the aerial askew. “We gotta make ’em pay.”

“Careful of the radio,” Xnasha yelped, leaping to adjust the wire.

Mimi grabbed the woman’s shoulder and spun her around, glaring into her pale blue eyes. “That was our home. We gotta get outta here and get back at the Grey Agents.”

Xnasha shook her head. “You can’t do anything. They’re too powerful! They crushed our whole civilization …” She pointed at the radio. “They destroy whole mountains, remember.”

“We gotta try! We need your people to help us.”

“No.” The Atlantean shook her head, rattling the shells in her hair. “We can’t help you.”

Mimi clenched her teeth to stop herself from shouting. She took a breath and said, “This place is amazing. You people of Atlantis are powerful, too. Why are you sittin’ around here listenin’ to the radio?”

Xnasha looked confused. “But … but … the radio is amazing! There’s a whole world that I will never know. All I have is this radio. We can’t go to the surface, so I listen to the radio and learn what I can.”

“Can’t go,” Cara said. “Why can’t you go? Is the light of the sun deadly to you? Is the air poisonous?”

Xnasha shook her head, suddenly quiet.

“No,” Mimi said sarcastically. “The only thing keepin’ them out o’ the fight is fear. They’re afraid. It’s a good thing you heard about the Rhode Island Red ’cause yer a chicken yerself!”

Xnasha looked at Mimi with a puzzled expression. “I’m a chicken? I don’t understand. You have the strangest manner of expressing yourself.”

“I mean, you ain’t got no guts!”

Again, Xnasha was confused. “I believe I have guts inside my abdomen.”⁶⁰

“Aw, ferget it. I cain’t even insult ya proper.” Mimi turned on her heel and stamped out of the museum and into the night.

Xnasha turned to Cara and asked,

“She was insulting me?” “She was basically calling you a coward,” Cara said gently. “But don’t listen to her. She’s a little upset right now. I think you have good reason to be afraid of the Grey Agents. You know better than anyone what they’re capable of.” Cara yawned. “I’m so tired. Let’s go and find Mimi before she gets lost. I need to sleep.”

Cara began walking to the door, but Xnasha stood still, looking at the floor. Cara went back and touched the woman’s arm. Xnasha raised her face and there were tears shining in her eyes.

“What’s the matter, Xnasha?”

“I … I am not a coward. I want to help you. I want to see the surface but … my people are few. How can we hope to make a difference?”

Cara looked her in the eye, pursed her lips, and shrugged. “I don’t know. We all do what we can. I know that if my people were driven underground by a gang of evil creeps and forced to live in hiding for thousands of years, I’d want a little payback.”

Cara turned and went out the door, leaving the Atlantean woman alone in the museum. For a long moment, Xnasha thought about what Cara had said. She looked around at all the piles of objects and saw them for what they were: stacks and stacks of junk, evidence of the lives of others. What about her life? Xnasha realized then that she could no longer sit idly by as a spectator. She could no longer hide while the world above moved on. She took one last look at the place she used to find so fascinating and decided it was a dead end. She wanted to see the living world instead. She set off to catch up with the girls.