Then he spent an entire day on the phone—bless his heart—trying to track down information on my mother. I watched him the entire time and when I finally saw him smile and his eyes light up, I hugged him as he confirmed the news: She is alive! He set up a video conference with her right away, and I was able to see and talk to her and Elsey again. We swapped each of our own crazy stories from the last few days, cried tears of joy, and discussed what was happening in each of the Realms we were in. Toward the end I told them what Tristan told us above the earth’s surface. My mom just nodded like she wasn’t surprised, told me she’d suspected something like that was happening, and told me to be careful when I went above, which I told her we were planning.
I said I knew about the microchip but didn’t slam her with questions. She said she was sorry and that was enough for me. Ending the call was the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do.
The fourth day we prepared for our trip above, by gaining access to his father’s most confidential files. We read everything we could about the New City. Most of it was disturbing. You see, although Tristan’s father had given him a tour of the New City, had bragged about it, had told him all kinds of amazing things, he hadn’t told him the whole truth.
He’d made it sound like he wielded control over the New City, that he ruled above and below the earth, when in fact, he didn’t. The memos and bulletins we read in his files painted a very different picture. Although he still had complete power over the Tri-Realms, the New City was governed by its own president, a man named Borg Lecter. Not long after the New City was built, the people had rebelled against Nailin’s control and unwillingness to live aboveground. So they selected their own leader and started running things the way they wanted. However, they continued to trade with President Nailin—swapping solar energy for gemstones and iron ore—and allowed him to come up to visit whenever he wished, under strict supervision, of course. In a memo, President Nailin himself admitted to having very little interest in the affairs of the earth dwellers, and, in fact, preferred to maintain the status quo belowground. Clearly he knew that if he told the people of the Tri-Realms about the earth dwellers, it would ruin everything he’d worked so hard—off the sweat and blood of the moon and star dwellers—to build.
In other words, on Earth Tristan has no power, which changed everything when it came to our approach to going above. Initially we had planned to just go up the same tube that his father had once taken him, through the quarantine and cleansing, and into the city. Now that sounds like a huge risk. Who knows how President Lecter will receive the son of the President, who is now the President, a potential rival to him. And if he starts asking questions, he might not like the answers. Like what if he learns of Tristan’s decision to tell the citizens of the Tri-Realms about the New City? That may not go over so well.
So Tristan spoke to his father’s secret engineers, the ones who control access to aboveground, and learned of an alternative entrance, one that his father built in the event that he wanted to attempt to seize control of the New City once more, or if Borg Lecter ever tried to deny him entrance or access to the abundant flow of energy provided by the sun.
So now, on the fifth day since fulfilling our mission, that’s where we’re headed, to the alternative entrance. We’re in a car, being sped along the sun dweller streets by his driver, passing the typical sun dweller sights that I’m still not at all used to, like flourishing clothing stores and packed restaurants. The artificial sun is high in the sky and providing yet another perfect day in paradise.
As I take in the sights, I think about Tawni and Roc, who we’ve had to leave behind. Appropriately, Tristan ordered all his vice presidents to report directly to Roc and Tawni, who have his full authority while he’s gone on a “short business trip.” Roc is on the mend, but while his body’s still a long way from his usual, athletic self, his mind is as sharp and good as always, and of course Tawni is there, too. She’s proven she’s come a long way from the tall, skinny girl who was around for moral support and the occasional hug. She saved us all.
We reach the outskirts of the city, drive along the edge of the cavern wall for about fifteen minutes, and then stop randomly in what appears to be the middle of nowhere. The driver reaches up and presses a button on a small controller attached to the roof. Gears churn and cycle to my right, where the cavern wall opens up like a giant door. The transition from the wall to the door is so seamless, so well hidden, that I barely notice it.
We pull into the hidden tunnel, where we are immediately flanked by two men in dark gray lab tunics, who promptly open our doors. “Welcome,” one of them says to Tristan. He nods. “Are you sure you want to do this?” the guy asks.
“You have your orders,” Tristan says.
The man escorts us to a tube much like the one Tristan described when he first told us about the earth dwellers. The tube is thick glass and extends straight up and into the rocky roof fifty feet above. At the base is a pod with an ovular opening on one side.
Before we get in, the man says, “On your orders, we’ll keep the transport pod aboveground, so when you’re ready to return to the Sun Realm it will be waiting for you. All you have to do is press the button inside and we’ll have someone standing by twenty-four hours a day to get you back.”
“Thank you,” Tristan says, holding my hand as we step in. The inside of the tube isn’t that different than that of a train car, except there are no seats. The doors close.
Neither of us speak as the pod starts to rise. The engineers grow smaller and smaller and then disappear entirely as we enter the vertical tunnel. Everything is black now except for the inside of the pod, which glows softly, powered by some unknown source.
I have so many questions to ask him about aboveground, about the earth dwellers, but I know what his response will be if I ask him—“Just wait and see”—so I don’t speak. I don’t really have anything else to say as my complete focus is on what I’m about to experience.
As he warned, the trip takes about thirty minutes, during which time we just sit in silence, holding hands, gently rubbing our fingers together, just like the first night we spent together, after Cole died. It seems like ten lifetimes ago. In fact, I feel like it happened to a different person—not me.
Eventually, the pod slows and then creeps to a stop. The doors open, casting an eerie glow into the dark space beyond. Tristan grins and steps out, pulling me behind him. As we learned from the engineers when we were planning our trip, this pod concludes in a cave a few miles south of the New City, well out of range of their city watchmen.
Although we know it’s daytime, the cave is pitch-black so Tristan flicks on a flashlight. The cave appears to be natural, but clearly someone—Tristan’s father’s engineers most likely—has leveled it out and excavated an easily travelable tunnel to the outside. As we head down the path, I feel as much at home as if I was back in subchapter 14. Tunnels and caves are as normal as it gets for me.
But then I see it: a light. A circle of white-yellow, as bright as I’ve ever seen, like a halo, streaming into the end of the tunnel.