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Back Whirlwind Save as PDF
Chapters (95)
  1. Title Page
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. 50
  52. 51
  53. 52
  54. 53
  55. 54
  56. 55
  57. 56
  58. 57
  59. 58
  60. 59
  61. 60
  62. 61
  63. 62
  64. 63
  65. 64
  66. 65
  67. 66
  68. 67
  69. 68
  70. 69
  71. 70
  72. 71
  73. 72
  74. 73
  75. 74
  76. 75
  77. 76
  78. 77
  79. 78
  80. 79
  81. 80
  82. 81
  83. 82
  84. 83
  85. 84
  86. 85
  87. 86
  88. 87
  89. 88
  90. 89
  91. 90
  92. 91
  93. 92
  94. Also by DAVID KLASS
  95. Copyright Page

What you were born to do, she tells me. Save the forest. Save the future. It’s all up to you.

I step past her, to the foot of the platform. Look down at the old man lying flat on his back. I think I’d have better luck trying to rouse King Tutankhamen. “Okay, old fellow,” I whisper. “Hocus-pocus, wake up and focus. We’ve got to save P.J. and stop that spidery colonel from destroying the earth, so rise and shine.”

There’s no response. It’s like trying to wake up a slab of marble. I reach down and touch his sandpaper-dry forehead, and try contacting him telepathically. Yo, Kidah. Time to get vertical. Snap out of it!

Still nothing. Faintly, behind me, I hear the tribal chants rising and falling.

I turn back to Eko and the shaman and shrug. “Sorry.”

They’re staring up at me. Way up. I realize that I’ve levitated off the floor! I’m floating above Kidah.

A pulsing blue light glimmers from my father’s watch and flickers over the walls of the hut.

I look down at Kidah, and with the help of that magical blue light I’m suddenly very close to him, touching him, probing the inside of his mind. I sense how extraordinary that mind is, or was. Because it’s not there. Just a yawning and empty abyss.

The dark emptiness of it starts to swallow me. I pull back, crash hard to the floor, and black out.

71

71

I wake to the heat of a roaring fire. I register that I’m outside, that it’s late afternoon in the rain forest, and that something is crawling through my scalp.

I open my eyes and see Eko’s beautiful face looking down at me worriedly. She has my head on her lap and she’s stroking my hair. She looks relieved that I’m awake.

“What happened?” I ask her.

“You tried your best,” she says softly. “You literally knocked yourself out.”

“You did, too,” I tell her. “He almost opened his eyes. I really thought you were going to wake him.”

“I touched him,” Eko agrees. “But I couldn’t find his essence.”

“I know what you mean,” I whisper. “I felt like I was about to establish contact. And then I tumbled into some kind of chasm. Do you think he’s brain-dead?”

Eko shakes her head. “No, he’s still there, somewhere. The Dark Army has awful techniques of twisting people’s minds. Kidah would normally be able to fight off such an assault, but when he traveled back through time he exposed himself, and they must have taken advantage of his vulnerability.”

I remember poor Gisco, and what the colonel did to the thought processes of my dear canine traveling companion. “Is there any way we can untwist it?” I ask.