“It is like a mine car,” Alder said.
“Exactly,” Loor answered. “This is how the Rokador travel long distances and remove rock when they are tunneling.” That reminded me of something.
“I heard Bokka talk about Kidik City,” I said to Loor. “Does that mean there’s an entire city underground?”
“Yes, it is the seat of Rokador power,” Loor answered. “I have not seen it for myself. Few Batu have. Please, take a seat.”
I put aside my curiosity about how a city could be underground, and boarded the little train with the others. I flashed on going to the Quassy Amusement Park at home when I was a kid. They had this cool miniature train that traveled all around the property, through the woods and over bridges. I suddenly wished I was there instead of somewhere underground on a territory light-years from home that was on the verge of a civil war. Oh well.
“You know how to drive this thing?” I asked.
Loor sat in one of the seats in the engine car and said, “I have been on this tram many times as a child. Bokka and I used to ride it at night, while others slept.”
Now I knew what Bokka meant when he asked Loor if she knew how to handle this. I could picture her as a mischievous little girl, sneaking around and hijacking this train for a joyride. Unfortunately I could also picture Bokka doing it with her. I gotta get over this.
With a sudden lurch and screech of wheels on metal track, the little train chugged forward. Seconds later we were out of the cavern room and rolling through a narrow tunnel that wasn’t big enough to stand up in. Alder had to bend over or he would have scraped his head along the ceiling. The engine made no sound, which was weird. “How is it powered?” I asked.
“The Rokador are ingenious,” Loor said. “They have created many mechanical wonders.”
“But how does it work?” I asked again.
Loor hesitated, then admitted, “I do not know.”
That said a lot. Not about Loor, but about the Batu versus the Rokador. From what I’d seen so far, the Rokador were more advanced technologically than the Batu. After all, they had devices that could control the flow of rivers; they worked with metal to create weapons and tiny trains; they somehow brought light to tunnels that were far beneath the surface; and for that matter, they dug tunnels using machinery. The Batu, on the other hand, were a much more primitive tribe. They built these great pyramids and knew how to farm and were pretty good at the warrior business, but the two races seemed as if they were centuries apart on the technology scale. I guess the only real question I had was if the Rokador were such geniuses, why the heck did they live underground like moles?
We rolled along on these tracks for several minutes. Every so often we’d pass through a cavern room, kind of like going by subway stops. I didn’t even bother to ask Loor where we were going. I figured I’d find out soon enough. I’d guess that we traveled along for about another ten minutes when the train rolled into another cavern, and stopped.
“We are here,” Loor announced.
We all got out, and I asked, “Where is here?”
“This is Mooraj, the camp where Bokka and I trained as children,” Loor answered. “All Rokador and Batu youths spent time here as a test to see if they should be groomed as Ghee warriors or Tiggen guards.”
Saangi added, “I spent time here as well.”
Loor continued, “When tension between the tribes mounted, the Rokador were banned. When the drought came, Mooraj was abandoned.”
“The Rokador were banned?” I asked. “How can that be? I thought they controlled the underground?”
“Mooraj is not underground,” Loor answered.
She led us to a doorway across the cavern and up a winding set of stone stairs. As we climbed I could feel the air getting warmer. We were leaving the cool underground and heading back up to the baking heat on the surface. We finally emerged to find ourselves in a stone hut that was barely big enough for all four of us to stand in. I guess you could say it was a primitive subway station. Very primitive. There was one doorway, beyond which the light was so bright I had to squint. It now made sense to me why Bokka and his boys wore goggles on the surface. After spending so much time underground, coming out into the sun was pretty rude.
“Your eyes will adjust in a moment,” Loor said, as if reading my mind-or seeing that I was squinting like a mole under a spotlight.
After about a minute I said, “Okay, I’m good to go.”
“I am as well,” Alder added.
“Then welcome to Mooraj,” Loor said.
She stepped out into the light. Saangi was right behind her. I was about to follow, when Alder put a hand on my shoulder.
“Are you certain, Pendragon?” he asked. “About what?”
“You wish to train as a warrior. Is that wise?”
“Only if I want to stay alive,” I said. Alder thought about that a moment, then nodded. We followed the others.
Mooraj wasn’t your typical kid camp. I had been to camp. I remember bunk houses and a lake full of canoes and an archery range and tennis courts and horse stables and lots of trees and a swimming pool and a snack bar where you could buy candy and…you know. Camp.
Mooraj looked more like a fort in the middle of the desert.
The hut we had come out of was about thirty yards away from the main camp. From where we were, it looked like a six-foot wall surrounded the camp itself. As we walked across the hot sand, Alder pointed off to our left where I saw the tops of the pyramids in the distance.
“The city of Xhaxhu,” I said to him. “Where the flume is.”
I guessed we were about two miles away. Two miles across a blistering hot desert. Loor was right. We wouldn’t be disturbed here. The Batu and Rokador had more important things to worry about.
We entered the camp, and to be honest, it didn’t look much different than the abandoned farm we had visited. There were several low buildings against the walls. I guessed they were the barracks where people slept. The center of the compound was wide open. There was some strange apparatus around that looked sort of like playground equipment. You know, jungle gyms and monkey bars and what not. But it didn’t look all that inviting. I couldn’t imagine little kids playing on this stuff and laughing and having fun. This place looked…serious. And there was sand everywhere, building up in the corners and blowing across the center of the compound.
“I’m guessing there’s no snack bar” was all I could think of saying.
“We will need provisions,” Loor said. “Saangi, you must return to Xhaxhu and bring us food and water.”
“That is not fair!” Saangi complained. “You said I was to be part of the training.”
“Thatispart of the training,” Loor said sharply.
Saangi looked as if she wanted to argue, but a stern look from Loor froze her. She backed off and said, “Very well.”
“Go now,” Loor said. “Be careful. Make sure you are not followed.”
“I know!” Saangi pouted and turned to go back for the subway hut.
“And try to return before the sun goes down,” Loor added.
“Iwill,” Saangi assured her. “Thank you, Saangi,” I said.
This made Saangi stop. The young Batu looked at me and said, “I hope you are ready for this, Pendragon.”
“Yeah, me too,” I said with a chuckle, trying to be light.
She didn’t laugh. Oh well, so much for getting her to loosen up. Saangi turned and ran out of the compound.
“Is she okay?” I asked Loor.
“She is restless, and scared,” Loor answered.
“Join the club,” I replied.
“I would like to know what has been happening here on Zadaa,” Alder said. “What is this war the guard spoke of?”
“We must find a place to settle in,” Loor said. “Then we can explain everything to you.”
Alder nodded. That was fine by him.
Loor asked me, “How do you feel?”
“Nervous,” I answered. “But confidant. And a little tired. I haven’t been running around so much lately.”
“Now you will rest to restore your energy,” Loor said. “Tomorrow you will need it.”