Evan

Evan spun around in terror to see Kae laughing at him.

“Oh my god. Your face.” She had the phone up to her ear and was wearing the stupidest grin Evan had ever seen. He wasn’t violent, but he really wanted to punch her. Before Evan could complain, Zarg came zooming in out of the dark side of the yard. The wind swirled past him as he shot past Evan into the house faster than he had ever seen Zarg move before.

“Not funny!” Evan yelled at her. But he was more concerned with why Zarg dashed into the house in a panic like he did. He followed him downstairs into the basement. After a little search Evan found him on the cushion in Adelfried’s workshop, ears tucked behind his head as if he was scared.

“Hey Zargy, you alright?” he said, in a soft friendly voice while rubbing his head. He could sense his anxiety, but also that he felt safe now. At the very tip of his nose, he saw the tiniest drop of blood, when examined closer he saw a small slit. “Ouch, looks like a cat got you, huh?” Zarg looked up at Evan and gave him a lick on the cheek. “Come on, let’s go upstairs.” Zarg watched Evan stand up but didn’t move to follow.

“Okay, well I have more chicken up there if you change your mind.” Zarg stared at him with his large aqueous eyes, pleading for him to bring some chicken down to him.

“Evan.” Kae called down to him. “Mom and Dad want to talk to us both.”

“Alright, I’ll be right there.” He gave Zarg one last encouraging tug on the collar, hoping that it would dislodge his butt from the cushion, but he refused to move. “Okay, but I’m putting the leftover chicken in the fridge soon, so you’d better hurry.”

When Evan arrived back upstairs, Kae stared at him with crazy eyes and whispered. “Not a word about Kyle, okay?”

Evan threw his hands in the air and whispered back. “Yeah, I said it’s fine.”

Kae put her phone down on the coffee table and flipped it to speaker mode. His dad was talking, “…that long to get there and then hopefully we will get home sooner.”

“Get where? Why don’t you just get on a plane? You could have been back by now.” Evan didn’t care about his newfound freedom, he was more annoyed his parents had been gone this long.

“Hey Evan, sorry, it’s not that simple. The last thing we want to do is get caught up in border patrol, plus I don’t even have ID on me and anyway, it doesn’t matter. We think we have a way home and you never know, we could be home as early as later today, or well, your time tomorrow morning.”

“Really? That would be—”

“Have you been doing all your homework?” Mom cut in. Evan suddenly felt her disapproving glare from the other side of the planet come through the speaker phone.

“I don’t have any homework yet.”

“I expect to see all of your work when I get home. Don’t think just because I’m not there means you’re off the hook for your schoolwork. Especially you, Evan, I expect you to keep up with the extra reading I assigned you and I expect better grades from you this year.”

“Yes, Mom.” Kae responded for Evan, while holding a hand up to him. She whispered to him. “It’s not worth it, trust me.” Before talking back into the phone. “Don’t worry Mom, we’re on top of it.”

Who was this Kae? Was she looking out for him?

“Is Kyle there now?” Mom asked, coyly.

Kae crossed her arms. “No! I am supposed to punch him in the face and run if I see him at school and if he comes over here, I am supposed to get Dad’s gun and shoot him. Remember?”

“Okay, okay fine,” Mom said, laughing. “I am going to trust you… you may…see him…just please don’t do anything stupid. Okay?” Kae sat quietly, staring at the phone as if someone had just smacked her in the face. “Hello? Kae you still there?”

“Yeah, yeah, I just... okay, thanks for trusting me, Mom.”

Mom replied back in a surprisingly steady voice. “But if you get pregnant, I will shoot him.”

“Okay, that’s enough.” Dad’s voice cut in.

Adelfried spoke up. “Have you seen anything out of the ordinary?”

Evan spoke up. “I think Zarg got scratched by a cat and he’s a little freaked out. It’s funny, he’s actually hiding in your room downstairs.”

Adelfried chuckled. “Yes, I got a new cushion that is extra soft for his bony body.”

“And he appreciates it.” Evan added.

Kae jumped in. “Oh, and there has been a crew working on the gas lines all week, dug up the whole curb area of our yard. But we still have hot water, so I guess everything’s fine.”

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Dad started. “Okay, well, the reason we called so early is we are leaving right now for Ethiopia. The Danakil Depression to be specific. Once we find Sahir there’s a chance we will be home instantly, otherwise there are other ways we will explore to get home. This is a pretty remote part of the world, so cell phone coverage may be a bit spotty out there. But we will call or text you as often as we can. Okay?”

“Take your time.” Kae cracked, with a mouthful of noodles, getting back to her dinner. “Don’t forget to see the sights.”

Dad continued, sounding like a safety video. “So, you two, be safe while we are away, and hey no one comes in the house, except people you know. Right?”

“Dad, we’re not five.” Evan said, picking through his food.

Adelfried cut in. “And make sure you follow all your normal routines, right? Maybe a little extra…” Adelfried trailed off.

“Extra what?” Dad said, muffled.

“Uh, extra careful, you know, with us not being there. Sorry, this English language, you know.” Adelfried added, a little unsure.

Evan looked at Kae and whispered. “What do you think he means?”

“Hey, Kyle is calling, so yeah, be safe, love you and all that. See you soon.” Kae said trying to end the conversation.

“Alright, love you both.” Dad replied.

Mom jumped in. “I’m serious, you better be doing your homework, and be careful, love you, bye.”

After the call ended, Evan swung his head around to his sister who was now mid slurp on a bunch of noodles. He was going to pry whatever she was hiding out of her.

“What?” She replied, with a voice muffled by the wad of noodles.

“Kyle wasn’t calling, what are you not telling me?”

She finished chewing her large bite. “I’m sure Kyle will be calling soon.”

She was hiding something. “Spill it.”

“So, I don’t want to sit here and talk to them all night. So what?”

“Surrrreee.” Evan grabbed a piece of chicken and turned towards the stairs to the basement.

“Uh, clean up your mess.” Kae said, still shoveling noodles into her mouth.

“Maybe when you tell me what’s really going on.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” Kae garbled, mouth still full.

Jim

“What did you your lieutenant say?” Ying said, putting an arm around Jim.

“He was surprisingly understanding, it helps that I have a lot of vacation stored up.” Jim checked his watch again. “Baba’s supposed to’ve been here by now.”

“I’ve been practicing my wire transit.” Adelfried grinned, as they milled about in the hotel cable room not paying him any attention.

Federico sat in the corner doing his usual sob routine while Ying was flipping through pictures of the Danakil Depression on her phone. “This place looks amazing. I’m actually excited. It’s like we are on vacation. Are you excited?”

Jim gave her an impassive glance. “I suppose. We aren’t currently fighting off any evil magicians and the kids are safe. Yeah, I guess I am, a little.”

Adelfried waved a hand excitedly. “Watch.” He dematerialized into the wire and rematerialized a few seconds later.

“That is so weird.” Jim took a sip of coffee from the large travel mug in his hand.

“It is actually quite simple once you get the hang of it. You want to run to the bazaar and back really quick?”

Before Jim could answer, Baba materialized from the same line. “Good morning. Is everyone ready for an exciting day? Baba is!”

“Can’t wait.” Jim was relieved he wasn’t going to have to take the trip down the line with Adelfried. “There’ll be food, right? We don’t need to bring anything?”

“Relax.” Baba threw his hands out. “Everything is provided. Just sit back and let Baba take care of you. Now, everyone take my arm.” As instructed, they all huddled around Baba.

“Uh, forgetting something?” Ying pointed at Federico.

“Crap.” Jim grabbed him, careful to touch only his sleeve. “Alright, let’s go.”

When they reformed on the other side, they were in a tiny brick room, barely big enough to hold them all and with only one cable leading in. On the wall was some Arabic script and below the word ‘Mek’ele.’

“Welcome to Ethiopia.” Baba boomed, as he started to ascend a flight of worn wooden stairs. As they did the temperature slowly rose until it was practically baking. Damn, no rest from the heat, even early in the morning. “From here we take car to Danakil, follow me.” The door at the top of the stairs opened out onto a courtyard surrounded by tan stone walls brightly lit with the orange morning sun.

Jim started to feel a little more at ease. They might make real progress towards getting everyone home. And surely no one would find them all the way out here.

Tucked in the corner of the courtyard under a tree was a vehicle covered with dusty beige cloth. Baba pulled it off to reveal a dark brown SUV that had been well cared for, except for its two flat tires. Jim kneeled by one of the flats. “Uh, Baba…your tires are flat.”

Baba beamed like a proud father. “Ah yes, it’s fine, that is only for show, in case someone discovers the car.” When Baba opened the door, the tires suddenly appeared inflated. “See? Besides we will use the E-Road suspension. Most necessary for where we are going. Please get in, you will see.” He was now spot checking the SUV for any remaining bits of dirt and wiping it with a white cloth. Once everyone was in, Baba pressed a button which lit up the dashboard and started blowing cold, glorious air conditioning, but the car was otherwise silent.

“Say hello to Baba’s girlfriend, Dani. Fully electric, E-Road suspension, range of over two thousand miles and seating for ten small people or six Americans.” Baba laughed at his own joke. “There are seatbelts, but no need, Baba is a very safe driver.” The vehicle shot forward like it was floating on a cushion of air. As he tilted the steering wheel up or down it would float higher or lower from the ground avoiding rocks and the uneven terrain.

They traveled up a rugged mountain pass and then leveled off onto a flat plateau with nothing but desert, rocks, and scrub brush around them for as far as they could see.

“How does this work?” Ying stared in amazement as the car breezed over the rugged terrain without the slightest disturbance.

“Yes, it is called, uh…Quanta? No Quantic, eh I can’t remember but the E-Road locks it to the ground but avoids all the bumps, it really is the smoothest ride and plus, it means we can do this.” He smashed his foot down and the car shot forward pressing them into their seats, the digital speed display now read two hundred and ten KMH and still, not a jostle.

“Wait, Quantum Locking?” Ying said, excitedly.

“Yes, that’s it. You are familiar with it, yes?”

“But this is all still experimental technology, how can you have a car with this already built into it?”

“Eh, talk to the Uncle Bob.” Baba was now typing in coordinates into the navigation system while also barely dodging extremely large rocks. Baba was insane.

Jim stuttered, “Can Adelfried do that for you?” He gripped the back of Adelfried’s seat with both hands.

Baba turned around taking his eyes off the terrain in front of him. “What is that?”

“Look at the road!” Jim yelped.

“What road? There is only desert.” Baba said, turning around and swerving to avoid a boulder larger than the car. “Oh, you are worried about hitting rock. Ha ha, no worries. See?” Baba swerved the car into a large pile of rocks to the left. Jim screamed in horror as his life was about to end.