Olympus: It's Not Just a Game

Chapter 15

Nancy and the rest of the party had spent the night in their own beds on earth, but they returned to the arcade as soon as it opened. When they reentered Olympus, the gates to the city were just opening. They nervously slipped past the giant guards and followed Benjamin's misdirections all the way to a vast stone fortress in the center of the city. "Is he in that building?" Nancy asked the peasant.

"No, ma'am," Benjamin answered, sadly.

"Can we break in there?" asked Noah.

"Oh, yes," he smiled.

"Rats," muttered Nancy. "He's in there, and we can't get him out." So they waited, impatiently, as the sun climbed higher in the Olympian sky.

Mr. Huber suddenly realized how much money he was feeding the meter to keep them all just sitting around and began grumbling and growling at everyone, but just then, one of the huge iron doors finally opened, and a colossal court official stepped out. Swiftly and unerringly, he strode toward their party. They shrank back, looking for a place to flee. "Jacob Huber!" the bailiff called and pointed right at him. "I have a sub poena for you to appear in court!"

"A what?" Jacob spluttered. "Who, me?" He rotated swiftly, ready to bolt, but giant guards were converging on the square.

"What's this all about?" Nancy exclaimed. "Is Jacob in trouble?" The bailiff did not answer, so she scampered around in front of him to block his way. "I want to know!" she insisted.

The bailiff still ignored her, sidestepping as he advanced inexorably on Jacob. Nancy chased around after him, shoving her way back into his path. She might as well have run in front of a bulldozer. He thrust her to one side. "Jacob Huber!" he called out again.

Nancy was nothing if not spunky. She hustled around for the third time. "What's up?" she demanded, and stomped — hard! – on his giant, sandalled, toes.

He deigned to notice her at last. "This man is wanted as a witness," he thundered. "Get out of the way or be charged with obstructing justice."

"I'm not obstructing justice," Nancy replied, moving ever-so-slightly out of his way. "I'm just trying to find out what's going on! What kind of witness?"

"A witness at the trial," the bailiff answered, hoisting her out of the way. Jacob tried to make a break for it, but he ran head-on into the rock-hard belly of a guard. Huge hands seized him and propelled him toward the fortress.

"Whose trial?" Nancy called after them. "Who is the defendant?"

"Karl Huber," the bailiff answered over his shoulder. Then the enormous doors clanged shut.

Karl had spent the night in a dungeon. It was an evil place, and rats kept him awake most of the time. The night seemed endless. When morning finally came, it brought another of the giant guards who flung open his cell door, hoisted him under one arm, and marched him away.

The guard had climbed stair after stair, spiraling up from the depths of the dungeon to the heights of the mighty tower that dominated the city. They passed a window with each successive turn of the stairs, and Karl watched the buildings dwindling away below them. There were narrow streets that sloped down toward the harbor, which was crowded with shipping around busy, bustling piers.

At last they reached their destination. It was a courtroom. The giant had flung him down in a heap, then kicked him with one hobnailed boot, roaring, "Up!" The ponderous black doors of the courtroom opened, and a giant bailiff escorted him in. Karl sat in the dock, trembling as he waited for the trial to begin.