It was hard to describe my feelings at that moment. I was excited, tense, and downright frightened all at the same time. I felt like I was so close to going home, yet I feared that those that opposed me would not just stand by and let me complete my mission unopposed.
I strugglng to maintain control in a situation that was rapidly going out of control. Never before had I done anything like I had done now. I'm not talking about my explorations on Myst, or my travels through the Books. What I meant was, never before had I rebelled on a scale like this. I had never challenged authority on a level that would be considered criminal back on Earth. I didn't want to consider what the consequences of my actions would be.
Less than half an hour ago, I had captured the ruthless dictator of an Age that he himself created. I had no nobel visions of liberating the Rivenese, or rebuilding a more stable political environment. My only original goal was to rescue Cathering; and yet in doing so, I have played a major part in the rebellion started by the Black Moiety.
Gehn would never finish his next Age. What would happen to the villagers now?
As I walked up the steps towards the tunnel leading into the great tree stump, I felt a sense of anticipation. My job was nearly complete. Once I freed Catherine, Atrus would come and help me get home.
I entered the elevator cage and looked over the bell mechanism in front of me. There were three buttons underneath connected to push rods leading under the bell, and a lever going horizontally across the middle. The left button made a "ding" sound, the middle button made a "clank" sound, and the right button made a "bong" sound.
I took the timepiece out of my bag and listened to the notes it played. "Bong, ding, bong, bong, clank". The sounds were identical to the three possible sounds made by the bell. I tried replaying the same series of notes using the buttons in front of me. When I replayed the sequence, I pulled the lever on the bell from the left to the right.
The cage bars in front of me began to rotate to the right until they were behind me. They locked into place and the platform began to ascend the elevator shaft.
When the elevator arrived at Catherine's cell, she was nowhere to be seen. I was about to call to her, when she appeared from the balcony. She stopped when she saw the cage was open and tried to control her surprise. Then without saying a word she slowly turned left towards the table, and then slowly walked towards the elevator platform.
Catherine was worried we were still being watched.
When she felt sure that she was out of range of the scope, she walked onto the platform and pulled the handle. The elevator began to descend into the base of the tree. "We have to move quickly," she said in a hushed whisper. "Gehn's people may already know what's happening. Once we're back with the Moiety we'll have time to regroup."
The Moiety? Wait, the last thing I wanted to do was go back to Tay.
Her eyes focused on my pouch; she could see the Prison Book sticking out of it. "Can I see the Book?" I took the Book out and offered it to her. She opened it to the page with the gateway image and read the inscriptions. Since the Book was open, Gehn could probably see us now. He could see Catherine escaping with me, and there wasn't anything he could do about it.
"You did it," she said. "We're all free. You captured Gehn."
The elevator stopped at the tunnel entrance and the cage rotated counter-clockwise to let us out. Catherine paused for a second as if she just realised something. She closed the Book, unknowingly stopping Gehn from seeing us. "But there's still his followers," she said. "I'm not sure what they'll do once they realise he's gone. We'll have to get the villagers to safety as soon as possible."
I thought about that for a second. Gehn's ministers might start making examples of the villagers like Gehn did before shortly after Catherine arrived. His loyal subjects would probably assume that Gehn had finally been caught or killed by the Moiety. Innocent people could still come to harm once they realise Gehn was missing.
And yet, they were too foolish to understand that Gehn didn't really care about any of them. If Gehn had deliberately left Riven with a real Linking Book, the Riven Guild Leaders would have still reached the conclusion that the Moiety were involved in Gehn's disappearance. They could end up destroying their own civilization in retribution for an attack that never happened.
"You go back to the Temple Island and re-open the fissue," Catherine said. "I know it's risky, but it's the only way to signal Atrus. I'll try to make it back there as soon as I can, but don't wait for me."
She turned around and ripped the control rods apart from the bell, preventing anyone else from being placed in the prison cell. She turned back towards the tunnel, but before she took off she spoke again. "Don't forget, the portal combination is in my journal."
Catherine ran down the tunnel. "Good luck," she called out and then disappeared down the steps. I realised then that she still had the Prison Book. I didn't need it anymore; in fact, I preferred that someone else took responsibility for it. I didn't want to keep it if I couldn't guarauntee that sometime in the future, someone may accidentally release Gehn.
I ran down the tunnel, towards the steps. Ahead of me I could see the fire marble dome close around Catherine's figure. I ran down towards the kinetiscope and used it to open up the dome. I entered the stolen combination into the slider rack and the dome closed around me giving me access to the Linking Book.
When I linked to Gehn's Age, Catherine was nowhere to be seen; and the cage was raised, preventing me from going anywhere in the office. Did Catherine do this? Or was it one of Gehn's advisors?
I looked on the floor and noticed a couple of torn pages sitting on the floor. All the Linking Books were vandalized, except for the Temple Island Book. Cathering was forced to use this Book, as was I. If anyone else Linked here, Temple Island would be their only means out as well.
I Linked through the Temple Island Book and found myself back in the fire marble dome. I pressed the floor switch, and the dome opened up to let me out. Catherine's concerns about the Guild Masters had me more on edge than ever before. If any of them linked to Gehn's Age, their only way out was to come back the way I came. They would find me in a matter of minutes.
I ran down the steps and summoned the lift. I rode the lift up to the basewall of the giant dome and ran down the path leading to the west side entrance. The interior of the dome was still rumbling from the sounds of the generators being left on.
I left the dome from the east entrance, ran through the Gate Room, and made my way down to the scope mechanism. It was just like it was when I arrived. The link trap was broken, the giant knife cast a long shadow across the ground, and the area was deserted.
I looked over the lid covering the portal. There were five blank buttons next to the handle on the lid. According to Catherine's journal, the combination to open the lid was 3, 1, 1, 3, 4. I pushed the third button once, the first button twice, then the third and the fourth. I heard a small clicking noise underneath and the lid popped up. I lifted the handle exposing the portal window. Although the image was dark, I could see tiny points of light from an unknown distance.
I used the control button to lower the scope. I lowered it until the base of the scope was resting on top of the portal. One more descent, and the tip of the scope would break the portal glass. But before I moved it any more, I decided to take a look through the scope.
The scope revealed a field of stars surrounding a black patch of emptyness. It was beautiful. What did the Moiety call it? The pool of stars. It was like staring into the night sky. Was this what it was like for all Ages? For Earth? Did the D'ni know the secrets of this vast void that lay in between the normal existance of the Ages?
I stepped back from the scope and pressed the button again. The scope mechanism tried to lower itself but failed. The gears of the motors made clicking noises as they struggled to move. I ran my hands along the inner rails of the scope mechanism. On the left hand rail, there was a small stopper that prevented the scope from breaking the portal window. I lifted the stopper and pressed the button again.
The scope lowered itself and the glass portal shattered. The glass fell into the fissure and an air current began flowing into the open portal. Sand and debris along the ground started to get sucked in and I could feel the wind pulling at my hair.
I stepped back from the portal as the metal skin surrounding the portal began to weaken and get pulled down into the fissure. The twin rails supporting the scope bent under the stress and the scope toppled towards me. I backed out of the way just as the entire assembly was sucked into the fissure, leaving only the guardrail and a rubber hose releasing compressed steam into the fissue.
The sky suddenly became dark and the ground rumbled. The wind was picking up and the air became colder. Rocks were falling from the mountain surrounding the great dome. Two large rocks fell from the mountain and smashed into the metal skin shifting it loose enough to fall into the fissue as well. The giant Moiety knife that had been placed there to hold Riven together was shook loose as the Temple Island was being split apart. It tumbled into the fissue closely following the scope assembly.
This had to be enough of a sign for Atrus.
I watched as the bricks around the giant fire marble dome cracked, and the entire structure shifted. While the foundation crumbled, the dome still maintained its shape. Finally, enough of the underlayment crumbled, sending the dome tilting off the far side of the island. The conduit pipes that were connected to the sides of the brick twisted and snapped. Arcs of electricity sprang from the smaller inner conduits until the distance was too great to maintain an electron flow. I saw the inner mechanisms of the dome fall into the pool of water and short out, bringing the grinding noise of the generators to an abrupt halt.
Off in the distance, I heard creaking noises coming from the south side of the island. A MagLev was coming to this island from the Jungle Island. I could only really see it from its headlight. The car was being hit with ocean waves and high winds making for a very turbulent journal. The nacelles of the car made a screeching noise as they banged against the rails. The rails were beoming twisted in the increasing tremors, and the foundations of the supports were being severly tested by the increasing tidal waves. When the car disappeared from view, the rails finally broke apart preventing anyone else from using it.
And then I heard something new. It sounded like somebody was Linking in. Atrus' body came into view inside the shelter of the link trap. He stepped out of the cage and put his arm up to his face to block the fierce winds. Above me I heard the wooden bridge swaying in the wind. I ran towards Atrus just as the bridge collapsed on the ground behind me, and tumble into the fissure.
The pressure in the air had now become equalized. Objects were no longer being blown into the fissure, so we were safe standing near the ledge. Atrus came over to me and pulled his goggles down.
"There isn't much time," Atrus yelled over the wind. "Where's Catherine? Where's the Book?"
"Atrus!"
We both turned to see Catherine running towards us from the staircase. She was holding the Prison Book and the Tay Book. "Catherine," Atrus yelled. Atrus ran towards her and they both met in the middle, embracing each other in a hug that no earthquake would have been able to stop.
After a few seconds they finally let go of each other and stared into the eyes of their other half. Atrus reached out and stroked Catherine's cheek.
Catherine looked my way, and ran towards me smiling. "The villagers are safely in the Rebel Age," she said. Atrus walked up behind her and put his arm around her shoulder. She looked up towards her husband's face and smiled. "I thank you."
"As do I," Atrus said. It took him awhile to find the words. "You've accomplished more than I could have hoped for. You've given me back my life."
The Temple Island shifted again, sending a hailstorm of pebbles raining down on us from above. We all shielded our faces and Atrus took a Linking Book out of his pouch. "The path home is now clear for all of us," he said.
The pebbles stopped just long enough for Atrus to open the Book to the descriptive window and held it out towards Catherine. Catherine's face was overcome with emotions. She caressed Atrus' cheek, running her fingers through his beard, and turned to me and smiled. She placed her hand on the window and Linked.
Atrus closed the Book and turned to face me. The wind had died down some, so he no longer had to yell. "This is where our paths must part. Perhaps we'll meet again someday. You know where to find me."
"Wait," I said. I reached into my satchel and took out the two framed photograhs I had taken from Gehn's Age. "I thought you would want these."
Atrus looked at the two photos and a smile came across his face. He didn't say anything, but his expression told me that he was grateful. He quickly put the pictures into his bag. Atrus walked to the ledge of the fissue and held the open Book in his outstretched hand. He turned back to me. "Goodbye my friend," he said. He placed his other hand on the page and vanished. The Book hung in the air for a split second and then fell into the fissue.
I watched the Book tumble down past the rocks into the starry void. As I saw the Book disappear I knew then how I was going to get back home. This was where the Myst Book fell, during that confrontation long ago between Atrus, Catherine, and Gehn. If I were to follow the same path, it should take me back to Earth.
I stood at the edge of the ledge. Should I jump? Could I clear the rocks easily?
But before I could decide, the ledge underneath me gave way. The rock skidded down into the fissue with me still standing on it. Rocks were tumbling all around me as I fell at an alarming rate. The crevice extended down about 20 feet, and beyond that was the emptyness of space. The rock slipped out from underneath my feet and I found myself free-falling down the rest of the fissure.
And then everything became calm.
The first thing I noticed was the sudden silence. And then it was the absense of everything around me. I could see thousands of stars all around, and yet they were lightyears away. I had a mild sensation of falling but there was nothing close enough to give me a visual indication as to how fast my descent was.
I twisted my body around until I could see the fissue. It stood out in middle an empty void in the pool of stars, slowly fading away into the distance. I could make out flashing lights inside the fissue from the violent final moments of Riven's existance. I had no way of knowing for sure, but my suspicions had told me that Riven was finally collapsing.
Farewell, Atrus.