The Navel of the World Read online

  “You’re not fine,” Heidi said. “Look at your hands.”

  He looked down. The skin of his palms was red and blistered and hurt. He immediately started the healing exercises they’d gone over in science class and the blisters began to fade. But his head still ached.

  “Sorry about your pendant.” He motioned with his throbbing head over to the far wall.

  Heidi turned to look and gasped. The pendant which had been glowing red just a minute before had burned away to nothing but ash.

  “What just happened?” Andy asked.

  “I saw you here, Iva,” Benjamin said. The pounding blood in his head started to subside. “I saw you here in Delphi a long, long time ago.”

  Iva’s mouth fell open. “What?”

  “You were an oracle.”

  Iva shook her head. “I didn’t pick up on anything like that. You must be wrong.”

  “I’m not wrong,” Benjamin said. “I watched you walk out of this temple and head down below to the oracle spot. You sat in the chair down there and started telling people their futures.”

  “Maybe it wasn’t Iva,” Heidi said. “Maybe it just looked like Iva.”

  Benjamin shook his head. “No, it was Iva. She opened her eyes and looked at me. There’s no doubt it was Iva.” He thought about the forced smile she’d given, but decided not to mention it. He looked back at the wall. “I think it was that pendant. It just kept getting warmer and warmer.”

  “What kind of telemagnifier is that—I mean was that—anyway?” Gary asked.

  “I’ve been trying to figure that out,” Heidi said. “It was some sort of empathic telemagnifier, but I hadn’t gotten it to work.”

  “Guess you won’t be able to now,” Andy said.

  Iva creased her brow. “I don’t have any plans of being an oracle in ancient Delphi. And we won’t even be traveling back here next week. We’re going to Troy, right?”

  “I know,” Benjamin said. “It doesn’t make any sense. All I know is that I saw you here in ancient Delphi, and you were an oracle.”

  “Did you see anyone else?” Iva asked. “Was there anyone else you recognized around?”

  “No,” Benjamin replied. “Did anyone else see anything?”

  They all shook their heads.

  “So does what you say about telegnosis hold true for the past too?” Benjamin asked.

  “What’s that?” Iva said.

  “You said that in telegnosis what you’re able to see is only one possible future of many. Is what I just saw only one possible past?” he asked.

  Iva pursed her lips. “I don’t think any of us can answer that question.”

  “Yeah, that gets way into the whole temporal phasing debate,” Gary said. “Can we change time by going back, or do the things that occur happen the way they do whether we interfere or not?”

  “Like were we destined to change time and so we do?” Andy said.

  “Exactly,” Gary said.

  “I have to be honest,” Iva said. “Having Benjamin see me in the past here at Delphi kind of freaks me out.”

  “You’d be crazy if it didn’t,” Andy said. He turned to Benjamin. “Was she a lot older or anything?”

  Benjamin shook his head. “No. She looked exactly like she looks right now.”

  CHAPTER 18

  Coincidental Eavesdropping

  The week ahead dragged, so to pass it faster, Andy started tutoring Heidi and Gary in telekinesis. He and Iva had pretty much told Benjamin not to help. Not so directly, but that was definitely the message.

  Benjamin sat with Iva at a back table studying. Okay, actually, he was watching. It still irked him that Andy was tutoring Gary and Heidi. It still bothered him that Andy was better than him at telekinesis and that everyone thought so. Especially Andy.

  Andy stood up in front of Heidi and Gary. “Maybe think of it like this.” A chair began to levitate beside him. “If I couldn’t levitate objects, how would I be lifting this chair?”

  “You’d walk over and pick it up,” Heidi said.

  “Exactly. I would make contact with it using my hands and pick it up. Let’s compare this to our Internet connections at home. Most of us have wireless connections, but you know when you go to the libraries and the computers are all plugged into a wall jack?”

  “Yeah, but that’s really old technology,” Gary replied.

  “And so is me walking over to pick up the chair. It’s old technology. If a computer is hooked to a wire into the wall to get the Internet, the signals flow down the wire. If a computer is wireless, the signals flow through the air. It’s the same with telekinesis. A telegen sends electrical signals over to the chair without using a wire. Get it?”

  “Yes, I get it,” Heidi said. “But that doesn’t make it any easier to do.”

  What in the world was Andy talking about? Wireless technology? Was he trying to help Heidi and Gary or just confuse them even more? Benjamin tried to force himself to look back down and study but couldn’t.

  “I’m sure you could be as good as Andy if you practiced more,” Iva said silently to Benjamin.

  “Whatever.” Benjamin didn’t even bother looking over at her.

  “And you have more important things to do than to teach telekinesis,” she continued. “You have to save the world.”

  “No, we have to save the world, Iva. Not me. And wouldn’t me helping my friends improve at something be good for the Alliance? It’s ridiculous that I have to sit here and watch Andy. I’m totally better than he is,” he lied.

  “It’s not about who’s better,” Iva said.

  “Yes. It is. If you hadn’t thought he was better, you would have let me teach them.”

  “Andy doesn’t have two brothers he needs to find.”

  “Yes, he does. My brothers. He has as much to do with it as I do,” Benjamin said.

  “Benjamin, this is ridiculous,” Iva said. “Heidi and Gary don’t need that much help. It’s really not that big of a deal. You’re making so much of it. If you want, we can talk about Saturday’s plans.”

  “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m traveling with Gary and Andy, and that’s all there is to it.” Standing up, he telekinetically shoved his chair aside and walked away.

  Benjamin left the practice room. Turning the corridor, he ran into Jack.

  “Telekinesis got you down?” Jack said.

  “How did you know?”

  Jack smiled. “I can read your mind. Remember?”

  “Do you think Andy’s better than I am?”

  “Yep,” Jack said.

  Benjamin sighed. “That’s not supposed to be your answer.”

  “I can sense your ability levels though,” Jack said. “You could be better if you tried. But you never try at anything. That’s your problem.”

  “That’s not true,” Benjamin said.

  “It is true, and you know it,” Jack said. “You’ve coasted through life at everything so far, and if you don’t change your habits, you’ll coast through life in the future.”

  “So what?” Benjamin said.

  Jack threw up his hands. “So telegens who coast through life never amount to much.”

  “But I’m destined to save the world,” Benjamin said.

  “You’re not going to save anything if you don’t start applying yourself,” Jack said.

  They walked in silence for a while. Actually, Jack levitated. Was Jack right? Was Benjamin really a coaster? Life had been pretty easy so far, and aside from being annoyed that Andy was better and Ryan Jordan was nearly as good, Benjamin hadn’t worked any harder trying to improve.

  Continuing to walk, they finally sat on a bench. “Can I learn to sense other telegen’s ability levels?” Benjamin asked. “That seems pretty cool.”

  “Of course,” Jack said. “I can teach you if you want. I could teach you lots of things if you’re interested.”

  Benjamin nodded his head.

  “How do your evenings look?” Jack asked with a smile.

 
; Benjamin grinned back as thoughts of Andy and telekinesis moved to the back of his mind. “Let’s just go ahead and start now.”

  Funny enough, when Saturday morning rolled around, Iva didn’t complain about not time traveling.

  “That’s okay,” she said. “We have plans with Aurora today, anyway.”

  “So take your time.” Aurora walked over to join them at the Deimos Diner.

  Andy raised an eyebrow. “You’re not mad?”

  Iva shook her head. “So where are you guys getting the TPT this time?”

  “The Temple of Saturn in Rome,” Andy replied. “It’s probably the most popular place for Kronos worship around.”

  “Won’t that make it hard to find the telemagnifier?” Heidi asked.

  “Maybe,” Gary replied. “But maybe it’s popular enough that Kronos leaves more than one TPT lying around.”

  “What are you going to wear?” Aurora asked.

  Benjamin looked down at his ripped jeans and t-shirt, then looked back up. “This?”

  “Three thousand years ago!” Aurora laughed. “I don’t think so.”

  Gary’s face fell. “That’s a good point. We can’t travel back to ancient Greece wearing jeans and gym shoes.”

  “So what are we supposed to do?” Andy asked. “It’s time to go.”

  “We could stop by the lava tube,” Aurora said. “My dad has so many costumes from different times we trip over them. I think my entire closet is jammed with ancient Greek stuff.” She stopped and thought. “Isn’t that about the time of the Trojan War?”

  “Exactly,” Benjamin said.

  “Then we’ll have to dress you like fierce warriors.”

  Once they’d teleported to the volcano, Benjamin wasn’t sure what he thought. Even with the lava flow going through the middle of her living room, Aurora swore to them the volcano was safe. And since her dad happened to be time-traveling back to the hippie era for work, they had the place to themselves.

  Aurora stood up and stepped into the outer tunnels. “Make sure you guys duck. My dad gets bummed out when any of the stalactites or stalagmites break off. They have thoughts and stuff stored in them.”

  Iva glanced around at the emptiness. “What kind of thoughts would there be in a lava tube? Does anyone else live around here?”

  Aurora laughed. “Not hardly. But this volcano is part of the advance warning system around Lemuria. You know—the Ring of Fire.”

  “Really?” Heidi asked.

  Aurora nodded. “Yeah. So all the thoughts the volcano receives are transferred to Wondersky City for analysis.”

  “Aren’t your thoughts transmitted, also?” Andy said.

  “If we’re here in the outer tube they are,” Aurora said. “But we spend almost all our time in the inner chambers. There’s a special barrier around our place.”

  Aurora put her finger to her lips as she led them through the network of tubes. She smiled and motioned at the stalactites and stalagmites again. And that’s when Benjamin’s felt his pocket start vibrating.

  “Hey, why’d you stop?” Andy ran into the back of Benjamin.

  Benjamin didn’t reply. He wasn’t sure why he’d stopped. He reached into his pocket, trying to figure out where the buzzing had come from, and pulled out the lumitube.

  Not only was the small, glass rod vibrating, it threw off such a beacon of red light, Benjamin actually had to squint his eyes.

  “Where’d you get that?” Aurora grabbed the lumitube out of his hands.

  Benjamin had the strong urge to grab it back but didn’t. “I got it as a birthday present.”

  “No way!” Aurora ran over to the wall and slammed it into a hole Benjamin felt pretty sure was a lumitube socket like Minnolo Midas had mentioned. “My dad would kill me if he knew what we were doing.”

  Benjamin walked over to join her. “What are we doing?”

  “Spying!” Aurora said. “What else?”

  “But how’d you know what it was?” Heidi asked.

  “I used to have one,” Aurora said. “Then my dad lost it on one of his trips back in time. In most of Lemuria, that wouldn’t matter, but here in the Ring, it was a bummer to see it go.”

  “What’s the difference?” Gary asked.

  “It’s the technology,” Aurora said. “Most of Lemuria is built with new technology—so new the lumitube won’t work.” She looked at the lumitube socket and smiled. “But in The Ring, things are different. Here, we still have the old technology and lumitubes work great.” She motioned to a holographic screen materializing on the wall. “See what I mean?”

  Benjamin glanced over and saw the images.

  Andy’s eyes were glued to the holograms. “How do you control it?” He reached up to touch the screen.

  “Simple,” Aurora said. “You just think about who you want to spy on, and then you touch the screen.”

  Gary—of all people—walked over and slammed his palm on the screen. “Show me that snake Walker Pan,” he commanded the lumitube screen.

  And true to Aurora’s word, Walker Pan appeared on the screen.

  Heidi sucked in her breath. “What’s he doing there?”

  The screen showed Walker Pan sitting in the Ruling Hall—with Helios and Selene Deimos, Joey Duncan, and Magic Pan.

  “What’s Joey doing there?” Benjamin said. “And Selene isn’t even around these days.”

  “And what’s Walker doing in the Ruling Hall?” Gary said. “Doesn’t Helios realize he’s sitting with the enemy?”

  “Just watch,” Iva said.

  But it seemed that whatever meeting had been going on had come to an end. Walker stood up and stared at Joey. “Just make sure you don’t screw up your part of the plan.”

  “What plan?” Andy said.

  “Shhhh,” Aurora said.

  Joey stood and got right up into Walker’s face. “Don’t imply that I’m not capable of the job.” Joey looked over to Helios, then back at Walker. “If anyone screws anything up, it won’t be me.”

  “Boys,” Selene said, “must we argue over every little detail? As long as everyone knows what part they play, there won’t be any problems.”

  Walker glared at Joey. “There better not be.” And without another word, Walker Pan left the Ruling Hall with Magic in tow, and the holographic lumitube screen went blank.

  “What happened?” Gary asked.

  Aurora hit the socket, but it didn’t come back to life. “It must’ve run out of power. That’s the problem with these old lumitubes. They only have a certain amount of power and it takes them a while to recharge.”

  “Wonderful. So it told us nothing.” Benjamin pulled the lumitube out of the socket and stuffed it back into his pocket. “Anyway, where’s your closet?”

  By the time they changed, Benjamin was more than ready to teleport away. “I feel ridiculous.” And really, with the short tunic and leather belt, the only consolation was that neither Ryan nor Jonathan was around to see him. But at least he had a sword. And a shield.

  Heidi smiled. “I think you guys look brave and handsome.”

  “You do?” Well that changed everything. Brave and handsome. That didn’t sound too bad.

  Andy said nothing. He’d set his shield down and flexed his muscles at it to see his reflection.

  Iva nodded. “Definitely. In a very fierce kind of way.”

  “So when we’re done, should we come back here?” Benjamin asked. “Please?”

  “We won’t be here,” Aurora said. “Meet us back at the Deimos Diner. We’ll bring your clothes.”

  CHAPTER 19

  X Always Marks the Spot

  They arrived at the Roman Forum around noon.

  “What makes this temple so special?” Benjamin asked as they walked toward the columns in the distance. He tried to ignore the stares their costumes drew—from everyone.

  “Well, it’s really old and really big,” Gary said. “It was built around 500 BC, but actually, it got destroyed a couple times after that. The Romans jus
t kept rebuilding it. They kept all their money here under a podium.”

  “But there are rumors the podium actually leads to the ruins of the previous temples underneath,” Andy said.

  Gary inclined his head. “Where do you hear your rumors, Andy?”

  Andy put on a sly smile. “I have to keep my sources secret. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be good sources anymore.”

  They walked right past the surrounding temples. Sure, Mercury and Jupiter were famous, but they weren’t the reason they’d teleported to Rome. It was for Kronos and his temple alone.

  Andy looked around. “You said the last telemagnifier you found was a plate?”

  Benjamin and Gary both nodded.

  “So where do we look?”

  “Just anywhere,” Benjamin said. “But maybe away from tourists.”

  “That’s gonna be kind of hard,” Gary said. “Don’t you see how they’re all looking at us?”

  Sure enough, they’d drawn a crowd. Whether it was the shields, the swords, or the entire ensemble, people gawked.

  “I feel like we should take out our swords and start fighting.” Benjamin’s hand moved to his sword though he kept it sheathed.

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Gary said. “I always wanted to join the Society for Creative Anachronisms.”

  “We should keep moving,” Andy said. “And I want to check out the podium first.”

  “It’s closed to the public.” Benjamin nodded his head toward a sign.

  “Exactly.” Andy moved toward it, stepped over the chain barrier, and they were in.

  At the bottom of the ten steps, the tunnel curved to the left.

  “How far in are we going?” Gary asked.

  “As far as we can or until we find the TPT.” Andy led them through the series of tunnel, down more steps, around more corners until they came to a dead end. In front of them was a wall inscribed with a giant X.

  “Is this like X marks the spot?” Benjamin asked. “Because there’s nowhere else to go.”

  “Yeah, maybe we should head back and look around outside,” Gary said. “Last time the telemagnifier was sitting out in plain view.”