Episode #1: Across the Pacific

Mendoza's cell sat three strides by four, but he sat defiantly, almost without care, in his suite of iron and stone. Pedro, standing just outside, had seen his leader laughing merrily in worse situations.

In those situations, of course, it would only be a few moments, and then there would be no more situation to speak of. Mendoza had been sitting in this cell for what seemed like a very long time indeed. Weeks? Months? Pedro had not counted, Sancho hadn't counted, and if Mendoza was counting he didn't show it.

"It's not been so bad, Pedro," said the navigator in a dulled yet self-satisfied tone, "If the jailer hadn't been one of my former crew, I'd be in a much smaller cell. Or perhaps in a much larger one, a pit in which I hang from my fingertips. All compliments of Captain Perez, naturally."

"That fibber! No wonder the sharks didn't eat him. He'd leave a bad taste!"

Mendoza didn't really listen to this. Or so it looked, not that that was any indication of Mendoza. Instead he smirked lifelessly, wiltedly, and commented.

"Liars of such enormous degrees should be stricken by the Plague… but as it stands I'm doing pretty well. What do you think, Pedro?"

Pedro had nothing more to say. Mendoza glanced over to Sancho, who was watching outside for a jailer's signal. Seeing no sign of alarm, Mendoza leaned forwards.

"Perhaps they'll just leave me to rot in this cell. Or maybe they'll get around to a trial, and passing sentence. Then perhaps I'll get a more fitting room. Perhaps they'll use the whip or the slow burning fire, and maybe even execute me." Mendoza laughed, and the sound gave Pedro an ounce of hope. Perhaps this journey would not be in vain after all… but Mendoza was still speaking. "…when I don't even know what crime I've committed. If he means to try me for the death of Commander Gomez, things could get very interesting indeed." He smiled vaguely, and leaned back. Pedro suddenly felt like dancing, at least until he heard the next words.

"Well, let them do so. Perez has the right idea, even if he's got the wrong intentions."

Pedro slowly turned his head back to Mendoza, who was lying crosswise on his plank of a bunk, face up, his hands folded behind his head. Pedro opened his mouth, and nearby Sancho finished the statement when nothing came out.

"W-w-w-what about your wife and ch-ch… children?"

"Really, my friends, I thought you knew my infamy well enough. To keep a wife? Laughable with my status out there. And the only children I would ever call my own were those three." He bit his lower lip and paused for a moment. "Those three," he repeated. "For them, I shall sit in this place. My secret shall be safer that way."

He made no further efforts to move, even when Sancho spun and signaled wildly to Pedro, who quickly changed his talk to lighter things -- Yucatan, gold, their old adventures. It was on a very curious subject indeed -- the Pacific -- that Pedro was elaborating, when the defense, flanked by two guards, entered the block: a sure sign that the visit was over.

The jailer -- a short stocky man, balding, with a black beard -- lead the two sailors away from the harsh scrutiny of the strangers. When the door closed Mendoza got back to his feet, pausing only to wonder where in the world Esteban, Zia, and Tao might be.

~~~

"I think we're at… umm…" Tao fiddled with the astrolabe, then put it down. "Great. I have no idea."

"Mendoza said that we should take it at noon, from the ground, if we want to get anything out of it," replied Esteban without looking back.

"Be patient," said Zia with an utterly straight face, "remember that Mendoza never tought Tao anything about navigation."

"Yeah… that's right. Too bad, we could use someone else to check our figures. I'm a little worried myself, but…"

Zia broke in. "You have no reason to worry, Child of the Sun. I'm sure your calculations are right, I checked them myself."

Esteban smiled, then spoke. "But when it comes to navigation you're just as skilled as I. Maybe we should have offered to take Mendoza with us."

Zia merely folded her hands and looked out the side. Great streams of air slipped by the Condor, and beneath lay a matte swath of vibrant blue.

"If only I could take that blue with me…" thought Zia, smiling. Suddenly she felt a strange tickling around her nose, and before she could help it sneezed. A golden cloud emerged from her clothes before resettling, some upon her outstretched hand.

"Gold dust!" said Tao, laughing at Zia's expression. "We must have picked some up when the world was ending!"

Zia scowled. Gold was not her favorite color. Gold set against blue, on the other hand… the thought brought back the nicer of her dispositions.

"By the way," she said to Tao, who was busy cleaning himself of gold dust, "what have you been writing? (Here, let me help you with this.)"

"(Thanks.) I've just been editing my encyclopedia," said Tao as he successfully got the rest of the dust off his poncho. "Just making some small changes here and there, because the world's a lot different now than it was when the Emperor of Hiva lived. Just adjusting the documented worldly facts, writing them in the corners… like that… and leaving the old where it is. Just in case we need it."

Zia nodded again. As she began the mind-numbing process of brushing the dust off her own clothes, she turned to Esteban. A curious frown covered her face as she realized that there wasn't any gold on his own tunic, and in fact that it had been there but had disappeared just before their farewell voyage. She thought of Gomez, Pizarro, and Cortez, all in love with the stuff, and a feeling of sudden, unexpected dread seized her. She attempted to console it by walking over to Esteban, her guardian from the beginning.

"How is the Condor?"

"I'm still not sure we're heading in the right direction, but pretty soon we'll have to land anyway. Look." He pointed out the window. Giant rain clouds were coming, threatening to cut off the direct sunlight essential for the Condor's operation.

"Oh no! Can't you wish the clouds away?"

"I've tried!" replied Esteban bitterly.

"Well, try again. Please."

"I am… and will…" Esteban sighed. He was never sure he could fully understand Zia's viewpoint. She always saw things so differently.

Zia walked away, turning to her calculations as she did so. A smile played over her face. "He probably just brushed it off back at the village."

~~~

The cloud had refused to go away. It had closed dangerously in, though some fateful wind was holding it back, keeping the Condor alive, though no one could tell for how long. Tao had discovered a map in his encyclopedia, marked with numerous lines of latitude and longitude, yet without landmarks and definitely without the locations of any of the Cities.

Zia spent the precious time working out positions and landmarks on the map, pausing only to shout a question to Esteban. Between the two, they finally discovered their position --

"We're off course…" reported Zia, showing Esteban their current bearing and location. "Just slightly, but we must change course now."

"Guys!" shouted Tao. "The clouds! They're finally moving in!"

Amidst the commotion, Esteban gritted his teeth. "Hang on, this'll be tight… Fly, my Condor!" As the other two sat in their seats, he pushed the lever, letting the Condor dive down. As he reached the sea, he leveled off and upwards, skirting the ocean, picking up speed at an alarming rate. Esteban was putting his all into this flight -- they couldn't afford to waste a second.

Even so, they were just too late.

"Our power's gone!" said Tao from his panel. "We're running entirely on our momentum!"

Esteban struggled to keep the Condor airborne, but it was not long before even the accelerated Condor stalled and began a bumpy downwards descent. Grey fabric belts fastened themselves around the three, only adding to the feeling of panic as they each realized they might not be able to escape if it crashed. But just as the children thought it was over, that they would plunge into the sea, rainbow lights sprang from the panel.

"Wh… what's going on?" puzzled Esteban.

"Oh, look!" answered Zia as she pointed with her finger. "A rainbow!"

As if gripped by newfound power, the Condor lifted its head, switched to autopilot and slid effortlessly *into* the rainbow. Tao scratched his head. "This doesn't make sense… according to my encyclopedia rainbows aren't even real, just optical illusions! There's no way we can enter one… so what's happening here? And what was --?"

"Only one way to find out. You two'd better brace yourselves, we don't know how the Condor will react at this speed!"

In a flash of light, the Condor burst through the "rainbow" and followed it to its base… an island! As it sped towards them alarmingly, Zia attempted to reach for Esteban, only to find that she was suitably restrained.

One terrible flash of light and force later, the Condor slid across the ground, thankfully still on its wheels. The children, as of yet unused to the speed at which they traveled, blacked out.

~~~

Esteban was a long time in waking. When he opened his eyes, he had to close them and open them again just to be sure: the world around him was pitch black. He reached out and rubbed one sore hand against the ground. It felt cushioned. With a shock he realized that he was still strapped safely in the Condor.

He looked around him. The fabric belt now came away at the slightest touch, freeing him to move about. He made a slight check of his possessions; all were there except for his sword and something else.

He retrieved his sword, then gingerly picked up and opened the pouch that had fallen from his tunic. Just as he had left it, it was full of gold dust. Esteban smiled once again at the ethereal beauty of the substance, before closing it up and hiding it again from view. He wanted to share it with everyone, everyone back home, everyone here, maybe even his father once he found him. Just as he finished this task, a sudden feeling of guilt washed over him.

"What am I doing?"

He rushed over to his two friends, Zia and Tao, who were still unconscious. He freed them and brought them outside, on the strange island he found. He peeked briefly at the gold he carried, glinting off a small portion of moonlight, and he looked at his friends, as though in a peaceful sleep, illuminated by the very same light. His eyes squeezed shut, and he began to sob just as Zia awoke, looking at Esteban with something like peace in her eyes.

Around them the world was silent and judging.

[In the next episode of MCoG, the children set out to explore the island they landed on. (Appropriate scene) They encounter a temple, a temple of Bali, filled with gold… (appropriate scene) and other mysteries (Tao reading the walls). What will they discover on this island? (an underwater support crumbling and the children rushing away as the earth beneath both them and the Condor crumbles) Don't miss the next episode of MCoG!]

Documentary: Lombok is an island in present day Indonesia, inhabited by the Sasak people and once ruled by the grand kingdom of Bali. Islam originally came to Bali in the early 16th century, and with it came wealth and power. Before long, Bali had swallowed up many of its neighbors -- Lombok included -- and with these participated in a golden cultural age. Though Dutchmen had visited Bali in 1597, and other adventurers had traveled the vicinity earlier, Europeans did not bother with thoughts of conquest until the 1800s. By 1894, the Dutchmen returned with armies, allying with those of Lombok to drive away the Balinese. They succeeded... and Lombok came under Dutch rule.

"Goodbye... 'till next time."