The Travelers, part 14

Hello, everyone! As you can see, The Travelers have returned, and their journey continues. I'm sorry I left you hanging for so long. Thank you to my friend Preciosa for her continuing support with this story; her unfailing fondness for this story and her suggestions have been instrumental.
By the time Taylor and Falcon arrived by Rita's side, Thoren and Frank were already there, looking confusedly at what Rita was holding.
"It looks like crumbled rock." Frank said, raising his eyebrow at Rita's hand.
Thoren looked closer. "Is that..." Recognition suddenly flickered on his face. "Is that krecken?"
Rita nodded, and one corner of her mouth went up in a smirk. Falcon began to laugh in relief.
Taylor looked at Frank, who shrugged at her as if to say, you'd know better than me. Taylor shook her head.
"What do you mean?" She asked them.
Thoren looked over at her. "It's a type of rock, found only in the deepest parts of the ground," he explained. When combined with charcoal, flint and steel, it creates an explosion."
Frank still looked confused. "But, if it's explosive, why haven't we heard of it before? We've had so many wars in the history of our country, but I've never heard of krecken."
Thoren smiled. "It's what you might call a best-kept secret," he explained. "Sort of like--what do you call it? Area 51 in your state of Nevada. In other words, your government knows exactly what krecken is and what it can do, but considers it too important and too dangerous for everyone to know about." Thoren turned grim now. "That's one of the things the Emperor, Headmaster and the other traitors are trying to take advantage of. They know your government has not told your kind about krecken. It is only found in your country; no other country knows about it. Once it comes out that what might be thought of a common rock can be used as an explosive, your people, and the people of other countries, will rebel against their governments, and descend upon this country, and begin mining. It's the ideal situation for the Emperor to take over your world. Turning this world's people against each other will weaken the strength of all governments. Also, Faeldor exhausted its supply of explosive material, one that is similar to krecken. The Emperor is ready to fight against your people for control over not only the world but of your supply of krecken."
"But," Rita said, smiling wryly at Thoren, "the short version is that we can also use the krecken to get ourselves out of here, and hopefully, stop the rebels from gaining control of your world."
"The sooner, the better," Falcon said, "I want to go back to Faeldor and my shoe shop."
Taylor closed her mouth tightly to keep from gaping at Falcon. He was a shoemaker? It was hard to believe, looking at this grimy, stooped over, wishy-washy soldier, that Falcon had ever had such a humble job. But neither she nor Frank said anything about it, glad that finally, they all seemed to be on the same side.

Rita told the others to sit and be quiet while she gathered up the materials she needed and reminded herself of the correct combination needed to create an explosion. Then Thoren went to help her, and the two muttered to each other about what size explosion they would need. Taylor sat down next to Frank and leaned her head on his shoulder, suddenly feeling very tired. Falcon paced until Rita told him sharply to sit down; he did so, but sat looking, unblinking and distrusting, at Taylor and Frank. Taylor wanted to try to talk to Frank about what had happened after the crash, but before she could come up with what to say, she drifted of into an uneasy sleep. She dreamed, but she still heard the noises of Rita and Thoren muttering, Falcon's uneasy foot tapping, tapping on the floor of the cave, and Frank's steady breathing beside her. She felt his hair against the side of her head as he leaned his head onto hers, and her dreams became a little more pleasant, and she began to feel as if her dream was reality and she was actually dreaming of the situation she was in, but then, she was troubled by urgent muttering in the cave, now not just that of Thoren and Rita, but of Frank and Falcon as well. Then she realized she no longer felt Frank's head next to hers, and his breathing was sped up. She forced her eyes to open and blinked in the light of a match which Rita had lit. Her four companions were obviously not angry at one another; they were staring at each other in a similar, nervous manner. Taylor touched Frank's arm.
"What's the matter?" she asked rather groggily.
"The explosive is ready," Rita said grimly.
"Then what's the problem?" Taylor said, looking from one face to another.
"Your friend pointed out something important," Falcon said, "we can use this explosive to get out of this room, but we risk being found out."
Taylor groaned. Of course! Why hadn't they thought of that sooner?
"But do we have any other choice?" Taylor asked.
Rita shook her head. "We either take our chances with the explosive, chip away at the rock door, or stay in here until your world has fallen."
The Travelers, Copyright 2012-2013, by Katy Allie. All rights reserved.