Chapter 97
"The Alvar Hanso Foundation?"
Sara shrugged, a little alarmed at their reaction. "I don't know. He just said the Foundation." She looked at Sawyer. "Ana said he'd been there before, that he took a 'virtual tour'." She shuddered as she remembered the look in Locke's eyes when Ana and Jack cornered him; it was scary and insane and she felt another wave of gratitude that Sawyer and Kate had rescued her.
Kate put her arm around her shoulder and led her to a fallen log, helping her sit; she still didn't look good, and Kate imagined she hadn't slept much the night before. "What happened, Sara? How did he know?"
She closed her eyes and leaned back into Kate's arm as Sawyer sat on the ground at her feet. "We made camp a little way in, Ana was having a hard time and Jack made Locke stop." She grimaced; she'd barely been standing and nobody gave a damn. "He kept staring at me and finally he sat next to us, asking me about you," she looked at Kate and shook her head at her frightened look, "Nothing specific, he just commented that I seemed happy to see you, then he flipped out and started screaming that I was helping you destroy the Island."
Kate and Sawyer exchanged glances again, and Sawyer said, "You are."
She looked at him for a long moment, then nodded. "Good. I don't like this place." She sighed and shivered at the image of Locke's eyes bulging as he screamed at her, madly, and she continued. "Jack stopped him, I'm sure he was going to kill me." Kate hugged her shoulder again and she leaned her head against Kate, suddenly very, very tired.
"Did you sleep at all, Sara?" Kate lifted her face and looked into her blackened eyes. "No, you didn't." She glanced over at Sawyer, who was staring into the distance, deep in thought. "James, what should we do? She needs to rest."
Sawyer jerked back to her, shaking his head a little to clear it; at the mention of the Foundation he'd had a flash, a room of bright white light and total darkness, cold gleaming walls and wooden crosses. His eyes focused on Kate and he said, "Huh? Sorry?" Kate smirked at him a little and he threw her a look of disgust. "I was just thinkin' about somethin', Freckles."
"Earth to James. I said, Sara is tired, she needs to rest. What do you want to do?"
He ran his hands through his shock of hair, brushing it from his eyes, and he grinned at Kate. "Well, I ain't in any particular hurry, Darlin', why don't we mosey on back to the hatch and set up housekeepin' for the day?" He glanced at Vincent for approval, and he lolled his tongue out, grinning; let them have another day of happiness. It won't last long.
Kate nodded, looking kindly at Sara; the poor woman was about to collapse. "Let's go, then. James, can you help her? I'm going to go get us some more fruit from that grove. I'll catch up." She caught his look and smiled; he was not going anywhere without her and he was readying himself for a fight. "I'll take Vincent, okay? I'll be fine."
Sawyer glanced at the dog who stared back, his eyes flashing bright white; he nodded and said, "But be careful, Kate." He stood and helped her up, then held his hand out to Sara, who took it gratefully and rose with a groan. Vincent was already on his feet, panting happily at the edge of the trees; Sawyer took Kate in his arms and hugged her tight before kissing her softly and leaning his head against hers. He had a bad feeling and he didn't want to let her out of his sight, but with Vincent with her she would be fine. He whispered in her ear, "I love you, Freckles. Be careful."
She grinned and kissed his cheek. "I will." She slung her pack over her back and with a last smile she disappeared into the woods.
Sara touched Saywer's hand softly as he stared after Kate; he glanced down at her and smiled. "She'll be fine, you know." She ducked her head and said, "Congratulations."
He seemed surprised as he said, "She told you?"
"No." Chuckling, she looked up and met his eyes. "I could tell. She's glowing."
He looked a little proud, and he put his arm around her shoulder, holding her up as they walked back towards the hatch. "Glowing. Yeah."
-----
Kate and Vincent trotted through the jungle, headed for the little grove she had found earlier; she also wanted to take a closer look at the hut before she caught up to Sawyer. Vincent was trotting beside her, his tongue lolling out as he panted and she said, "I thought you'd be in better shape by now, dog."
He looked up at her, chuffing disgustedly between pants and she laughed. "I don't know what you just said, but I'll bet I can guess." She smiled down at him but it faded as she thought about Sawyer's melancholy gaze. "Why is he so sad, Vincent? I can feel it in him but he won't let me in, he won't tell me why." He didn't answer and she rolled her eyes at him. "You wouldn't tell me if you could." She slowed to a walk, her energy suddenly gone because she knew, deep down, why he was so sorrowful; she looked at Vincent, who had slowed next to her and said, "He's going to die, isn't he?"
Vincent didn't look up at her and she nodded. "I knew it." Tears welled up in her eyes and she tried to stifle her sob. "Why? Why does it have to be this way?"
He still didn't look at her and she stopped dead. "Why, Vincent? I want to know."
He stopped and turned to her, then with a deep doggy sigh he began shifting and changing, and like beofre he split apart blasting bright white light across the trees around them; the silvery wings unfurled and Kate gasped, raising her hand to shield her eyes from the glare. She couldn't see a face but she could just make out the outline of a body; it shimmered gray in the dazzling light and she could see the wings extended out into the sun.
He spoke and it boomed through the jungle, shaking the ground below her but it was all in her head; not even the birds chirped at the deep rumble. It is his sacrifice, to die that you and your son may live.
Kate was gaping at him, her jaw dropped; she had never seen something so beautiful. She had never seen anything so terrible. "I don't want to live without him. I'll die." Her voice was shaking and she realized with a start that she was shaking; her entire body trembled with rocketing spasms as he spoke again.
I know you think that way, Kate, but he will always be with you. Your son will ease your pain and you will go on. He flapped his wings and a few silvery feathers floated to the ground. He loves you, Kate, you are everything he ever wanted and you are giving him what he wants most in the world. Don't waste his sacrifice by killing yourself. The voice softened and the light dimmed a little. Accept it, Kate, and do what you can to make him happy now. And have faith; things will work out in the end.
She was breathing heavily and she shook her head, smiling at Vincent grimly. "I won't accept it," she said, trying to calm her tremors, "but I will make him happy."
The light dwindled as Vincent shrank back into himself, snapping together with a soft zip. Kate waited for her eyes to adjust to the sudden dim light as she stared at the dog; he was smiling at her, his eyes sad and brown, and she sighed before kneeling down to him and looking him in the eyes as she held his face close. "Thank you, for being honest. I have faith. He's like Tinkerbelle, maybe if enough of us clap our hands he won't fade away." She bent down and picked up a couple of the silvery feathers.
Vincent woofed, grinning, and she cocked her head at him, smiling back through tear streaked eyes. "And you'd better not tell him I compared him to Tinkerbelle."
Vincent chuffed softly and she kissed him on the nose. "Okay, mutt, let's go get some food. Maybe he can multiply it, like the loaves and fishes." Vincent rolled his eyes at her and they continued through the woods.
-----
Jack and Ana walked hand in hand behind Locke; with Sara gone they made faster time and before the sun was high overhead they had gone more than halfway to the Foundation. Locke called a halt so they could drink and catch their breath and they plopped down in the shade, pulling out their bottles; Jack watched Locke like a hawk, he still didn't trust him especially around Ana, because she could be used against him too.
He wondered where they were going, what the Foundation was; he had an idea that it had to do with the Alvar Hanso Foundation, but what exactly that would turn out to be he head no idea.
"Have you been there, Locke?"
"Have I been where, Jack?"
Rolling his eyes Jack said, "The moon, Locke." He shook his head. "The Foundation."
John cocked his head to the side, glancing at Jack. "Sort of." Jack was apparently waiting for him to elaborate. "I guess you could say I toured someone's memory of it."
"And who would that be?"
A gruff voice issued from the bushed as Bluebeard stepped out, grinning through his scruffy beard. "That would be me, Jack."
"Really." He smirked at him. "And who exactly are you? Because I don't think I caught your name."
Bluebeard chuckled, stroking his hairy chin. "Well that's probably 'cause I ain't dropped it. But, if it will make you feel better, you can all me Al."
Jack was quickly becoming agitated and Old Jack was fighting his way to the surface. "Al. Uh huh. As in Alvar Hanso?"
Alvar nodded appreciatively. "Smarter than I thought. Yes, you are correct, I am Alvar Hanso." He spread his arms wide. "Welcome to my Island."
Jack actually smiled. "Wonderful. Now maybe we can get some answers."
Alvar shook his head. "I wouldn't count on many, Jack. You know what they say about too many chiefs, right?" He wagged his finger in Jack's face, and only Ana's hand on his arm restrained him from knocking the guy's teeth in. "Now, be a good little Indian and sit and listen." It seemed for a minute that Jack was going to lose it, but he sat back in the shade as Alvar began to speak. "My father disappeared when I was very young. I never knew what really happened to him, but my mother always told me that he had vanished into thin air one day when they were walking in the woods; everyone thought she was crazy and that he had just run off with some truck-stop waitress or something. As I grew older even I believed it. Then, in college, I read a book about a young girl who travels across time and space to find her lost father who had vanished. I became obsessed with the idea of actually travelling through the time/space barrier and switched my major from English to Physics, where I quickly rose to the top of the class as I studied different ways to bend the time/space continuum. And I finally found it; magnets."
Jack shook his head in disbelief. "Magnets?"
Hanso nodded. "Yes, you see, the tesseract is a mass of opposites, and those opposites create the wormhole by repelling each other so violently that a hole is torn in the fabric of existence. I recreated the effect by using giant magnets and I opened the door to this Island." He paused, then said, "The opposite sides of it are why it always calls a Savior and a Destroyer, the Light and the Dark."
Jack was staring, trying to take it all in. "So you created the tesseract?"
He shook his head. "No, no. It already existed and the door to this place had been opened many times before I got here, but with the magnets I learned to control it, to use it to my benefit." He paused, looking at John. "You see, the Island cannot live on its own. It needs people to power it, special people, like Walt and your buddy Sawyer, though they are the extreme end of the spectrum; Claire's baby is one, too, as were the children we took from your camp," he nodded at Ana and she shot him a glare, "And all of the others we took. They have faith, and as they are trained to use that faith on the Island then it continues to exist."
"Trained?" Jack shot a nasty look at Locke. "What exactly does that mean?"
Hanso grinned, his teeth white in his beard. "Too many Chiefs, Jack. That is information for another time." His grin widedned. "Maybe." He turned to Locke. "Are we goin' or what?"
Jack took a last wild stab at a question. "What is the button for?"
Hanso looked back at him for a minute, then smiled, nodding slowly. "Okay, Jack, one more question. Locke tells me you've been pushing the button even though you think it's a crock. Well, let me tell you, it's not." He hesitated, then continued. "We discovered eventually that the magnets make the tesseract unsteady, unstable. We had it under control until the last time there was a war." He shot Jack a look. "You know about the wars? There is always one on the horizon, here, as the Island tries to balance itself between good and bad, Light and Dark, and so every few years it calls to two people, two special people." He stroked his beard thoughtfully for a moment. "Bobby Fischer once said, 'Chess is like war on a board.' Well, that's what happens here. Light and Dark square off and battle for the Island, one to save it, one to destroy it." He leaned close, his eyes gleaming even in the bright afternoon sunshine. "But they really aren't all that different, you know? They both want to win, they both think they're right... and they will both sacrifice their pawns to get what they want. Victory." He let that sink in, then he leaned out of their space and grinned. "A few years after I established this base to control the tesseract it called them here. A plane crash, like yours. The war was terrible; many were killed on both sides but in the end the Light won and took back the children and as the Island's power waned so did our ability to control the tesseract. Only quick work by some of our technicians kept it from overtaking the entire Island and sending it to an alternate universe. But one glitch could not be fixed and that is why every so often it has to be reset; kind of like a snooze button on an alarm clock, or it will take control and obliterate the island and everything on it."
Jack held his breath as he asked, "And how long is every so often?"
Hanso smiled, showing his unnaturaaly white teeth again. "No more questions, Jack. And besides, I believe you already know the answer to that."
