Jonathan and Martha padded out of the bedroom, dressed for the day, and they stopped when they picked up some familiar aromas wafting down the hall. The two of them glanced at each other, a little confused, before they headed toward the stairs; they heard the sound of pots and pans clinking in the kitchen, as well as soft voices. The adults quietly made their way down, stopping near the foot of the stairs.
Linda wore an apron over her clothes and had a light coat of flour on her cheeks as she mixed beaten eggs in a bowl. Jimmy stood next to her in front of the stove, some of the yellow concoction on his nose. He carefully watching two skillets on the stove, both with a mixture of raw eggs, chopped peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, and grated cheese cooking in them, using a spatula to keep the food from burning.
"This is a nice surprise," Martha spoke up. Linda and Jimmy looked over, a little startled, but they quickly relaxed when they saw the adults smiling. "What's the occasion?"
"Well, we figured since Mom is going to be cooking tomorrow," Linda replied as she and Jimmy went back to making breakfast, "we thought we'd pitch in a little today."
"Well, I certainly won't complain," Martha said as she and Jonathan walked over.
"How long have you two been up?" Jonathan asked, trying not to appear concerned.
"Long enough for Linda to do all the chores," Jimmy answered, "and then build ten snowmen, sculpt a snowcat and a snowdog, and then to beat me at a snowball fight before we came in to work on breakfast."
"So, what do you think of snow, Linda?" Martha asked.
Linda grinned. "It's amazing," she replied. "I hope it lasts a while; I can't wait to have another snowball fight."
"Yeah, well, I'm not playing with you anymore, Miss Cheater," Jimmy replied.
"You picked a snowball fight with a girl who has telekinesis," Linda countered.
"Yeah, but ten snowballs at once is overkill," Jimmy retorted as he grabbed a nearby plate and used his spatula to transfer the cooked eggs to a plate; he put the plate aside then grabbed another and repeated the process with the other eggs. He took both plates and set them on the island in front of Jonathan and Martha, then grabbed a couple of forks from a nearby drawer, handing them to the adults.
"Jimmy, this looks and smells wonderful," Jonathan said, smiling as he and Martha dug into their food.
"And it tastes amazing," Martha replied around a mouthful; she quickly swallowed, smiling, before looking over at her husband, nodding appreciatively as he chewed. "Jimmy, this is really good."
"You think so?" Jimmy asked, surprised.
"Jimmy, would we lie to you?" Jonathan asked. His fork stopped mid-way to his mouth when he saw everyone looking at him, and he sighed. "Aside from Clark and Linda."
"Told you they'd like it," Linda replied, patting Jimmy's shoulder before she started gathering dishes and put them in the sink.
"Aren't you two going to eat?" Martha asked.
"Already did before we made yours," Jimmy answered.
"So, since the chores are done," Linda said, "and I've already done all my homework, I was wondering if I Jimmy and I could go exploring today."
"And where would you two be doing your exploring?" Jonathan asked as he and his wife continued eating.
"The Kawatche cave," Linda replied. Jonathan and Martha both stopped eating and looked up at the teenagers.
"I should have known there was a hidden agenda," Jonathan muttered as he glanced up at the two.
"Why do you want to go to the cave?" Martha asked.
"Because Jimmy hasn't seen the inside of it," Linda answered, "and, despite everything that's already happened, it's still a piece of my heritage—and Clark's too." She saw her parents glance between themselves; she was tempted to scan their minds, but she knew better. "Look, I promise we'll be careful."
Jonathan saw his wife shrug, and he sighed. "Okay," he said, "but only if you be careful."
"And after you clean the kitchen," Martha added.
Linda blurred around the kitchen; in a few seconds, the food had been put up, dishes had been washed and dried and put in their place, and the counters and stove wiped clean. "Done," she replied.
Jonathan sighed, trying not to smile. "Get out of here, you two," he said. Jimmy and Linda glanced at each other and tried not to grin as they grabbed their coats from the coatrack, shrugging into them as they headed out the door. "And don't be gone all day."
"You know they're only going because of Dr. Swann's paper," Martha replied. Jonathan nodded. "Jonathan, you're not worried they could get into trouble."
"I don't know," Jonathan replied, "but I feel better knowing where they are instead of them sneaking around." He raised an eyebrow. "Besides, if something happens, Clark is just a phone call away."
Jimmy raised an eyebrow as he looked around the cave, his mouth slightly open as his gaze fell on the cave drawings. "Wow," he said softly. He had remembered Linda telling him about the drawings before, but it was whole different ballgame actually seeing them. "So, these are them, huh?
Linda nodded. "Yeah."
"Are you sure you disabled all the security measures?" Jimmy asked as he looked around uncertainly.
"Jimmy, if I hadn't," Linda replied, "you'd know." She walked over to the back wall, staring at the large symbol; Jimmy noticed and joined her.
"Isn't that the symbol from Dr. Swann's paper?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
"Yeah," Linda replied softly.
"So, is it 'Crusade' or 'Fire' here?" Jimmy asked.
"I don't know," Linda replied before sighing. "To be honest, I thought it meant 'Stronghold,' but I'm not so sure anymore," she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her octagonal key, "but I think there might be a way to find out for sure." She headed over to a nearby wall with a key slot.
"Okay, what are you doing?" Jimmy asked slowly he followed her.
"Trying to get some answers," Linda replied as she let go of the key. Jimmy stared in awe as the key floated at chest level, turning over and rotating before flying into the wall. The symbols lit up on key in red, blue, and yellow, and the wall symbols lit up in bright white before rotating in alternating circles.
Linda stared at the symbols, watching them for a few moments, before she reached out and touched some symbols in each of the circles; they lit up in alternating colors of red, blue, and yellow. The symbols stopped, and Jimmy could have sworn he heard the sound of metal clicking into place echoing around him; he glanced around briefly, expecting to see him, before turning back to the wall. His eyes widened as he saw a wide beam of light enveloping Linda, her eyes clouded over.
"Li oferti ili aspekti cxe la cxielo kaj levi ilia al la stelo," Linda's voice resonated loudly through the caves, but Jimmy could tell she hadn't raised her voice.
A small silvery object floated above the earth, undetected for years by the inhabitants below; it was damaged, waiting in silence. Suddenly, its interior lights turned on, its circuitry powering up. The ship began repairing itself, knowing it was just a matter of time.
A man in dark clothes walked silently down the city sidewalk, keeping to himself. He wasn't tall or bulky, but he had a presence about him that indicated he was not someone to be trifled with. He suddenly stopped and narrowed his eyes as he looked skyward, lips straight, his body tensing.
"And so it begins," he said, his voice low with edge.
Jimmy continued staring at Linda as he reached out to her shoulder. The moment his fingers touched the light, he felt an electrical charge surge through his fingers; he yelped in pain and reflexively pulled back as his fingers instantly numbed. He heard a groaning sound behind him and turned to see the symbol on the back wall lighting up in; he watched as a crack formed in the center of the symbol and grew up and down in a straight line. Once the crack had reached the ceiling and floor, the two parts of the wall separated like a pair of sliding doors.
Holding his injured hand, Jimmy quickly looked over at Linda in time to see the light around her disappear; they symbols darkened and stopped rotating, and the key flew from the slot and into Linda's outstretched hand. Her eyes returned to their normal vivid blue color—right before she collapsed to her knees, breathing hard.
"Linda," Jimmy said as he hurried over and knelt beside her.
"I'm fine," Linda panted softly.
"Really?" Jimmy asked. "Because from where I'm at, you look like hell."
Linda gave him a wry smile as she glanced over; her smile faded when she saw Jimmy holding his hand. "Your hand."
"It's nothing," Jimmy replied dismissively.
"Now who's lying?" Linda asked.
Jimmy was unamused. "Fine," he said, "I got zapped by a light surrounding you while you were in a trance, speaking what I assume to be Kryptonese, after you touched those rotating symbols, which happened after you put your key in the slot—which, by the way, you seemed to have forgotten to tell me you brought."
"Are you okay?" Linda asked softly, looking apologetic as she took his hand and examined it.
"I'm fine," Jimmy said, "but let's get something straight: if you wanna keep looking into this, then I'll help you—even if I think we should also tell Clark and your parents—so, you might want to start being honest with me."
"Okay," Linda replied.
"Now," Jimmy continued, "first question: why did you bring the key?"
"Because it's the only way to activate the cave," Linda said, "like a power switch."
"And the symbols?"
"Commands," Linda replied, "or questions; sequences to activate the cave."
"What did you press?" Jimmy asked.
"I asked 'What is Crusade?'" Linda answered before shrugging. "Thought I'd give it a shot."
"Well, that must have been the million dollar question," Jimmy replied as he looked toward the back wall, "because I think it gave you one hell of an answer." Linda glanced over Jimmy's shoulders, and her eyes widened when she saw an open space behind where the back wall had once been. The two glanced at each other before they stood up and carefully walked into the space, looking around.
The room was circular, about fifteen feet in diameter, with lines of Kryptonian symbols covering the walls; it honestly didn't look much different than the rest of the cave, but the striking difference was the circle of symbols—matching the ones on the walls—on the cave floor.
"'Li oferti ili aspekti cxe la cxielo kaj levi ilia al la stelo,'" Linda said, reading them.
Jimmy furrowed his eyebrows. "What did you say?" he asked.
"'He bid them look to the sky and lift their faces to the stars," Linda replied. She indicated the symbols on the walls. "It's the Kryptonian translation of the Latin phrase, the same message, repeated over and over again."
"You said that in your trance," Jimmy said, "when you had that light around you." He watched as Linda just stared at the walls of the small room. "Do you think it means anything, being on both the paper and in this room?"
Linda glanced around the small room. "Probably," she replied. "To be honest, I think whatever's going on here is only beginning."
(End of Chapter 11)
