Behind the windows of the sealed doors Harlan smiled at his son. The doors slid apart and with purposeful strides he stepped towards them.
“This is it, son, the day our ancestors longed to see.”
“Well, the day’s not over, yet,” Deagan replied.
He knew full well that his father was not going to be pleased. They had to jog solely to keep up with his race-walker speed as he led them down the corridor and onto the elevator. On the third level, the doors hissed as they opened and they entered his office. The look on Wesley’s face was priceless.
“Tell me you have good news,” Harlan demanded. He noticed Jayde seated off to the side along with Travis’s father as he made his way to a glass table that held several bottles of brandy and whiskey. Glass clinked against glass, followed by the sound of a bottle slowly pouring out its contents.
“Sir, I can explain.”
Oh, this was going to be good, Deagan thought. He took a seat beside Jayde, rested his hand on her knee and lay back with a smug grin to watch the show. Jayde tried to move her leg but the glowing shackles restrained her.
“Did you get the serum?”
“Yes sir, but—”
“BUT?”
“Well—”
“WELL?”
It was like a verbal tennis match and that weasel, Wesley, was about to be served a serious curve ball. Deagan could tell it was going to be a lengthy excuse; Wesley was never one for getting straight to the point.
Deagan decided to lean in to Jayde and leer at her. “Tell me, what do you see in Marshall?”
Jayde wouldn’t entertain his question, keeping her eyes fixed forward.
“Hm—the silent type.” He lit another cigarette and then squeezed her knee and she jerked. “Yeah, I think me and you might hit it off.”
“Over my dead body.”
“That can be arranged. Though I think I’ll skip the necrophilia.” His nose scrunched up. “Not my thing.” He ran his fingers up her leg, knowing full well that she couldn’t do anything. “You’ll warm up to me.”
Deagan turned back to the feature presentation, which was beginning to get good. He couldn’t tell what he liked more, Wesley’s pitiful blubbering or the fact that his father hadn’t gotten his way. He was just waiting for his shining moment, when he would jump in and steal the spotlight. He studied his father’s cool and collective manner, wondering when he was going to put an end to the worm that stood in front of him. His father wasn’t one for getting emotional or conveying uncontrollable rage. In his eyes that was a weakness, a flaw that he said your enemy could use against you. No doubt his manner was off-putting to those that he killed. They assumed he was hearing them, and when they let their guard down, he would strike.
Deagan didn’t deal with it that way. He wanted them to know what was coming; that was half the fun of it. Like a dog showing its teeth before it sank them in. Instilling fear in people was an art form, like brandishing a hot iron in front of their face. Watching them holler was short-lived. Watching them cry as they saw what was coming—now that could be drawn out.
“How can you be sure it’s not the correct one?”
“We had the lab run some tests.”
“And the subject?”
“Well, we didn’t use a subject.”
Harlan shook his head giving a look of disappointment. “Bring me the serum.”
Oh,
this has got to be it
. Deagan entertained the notion.
Before Wesley could retrieve it, an alarm suddenly went off. A screen came on behind his father. It was one of the security officers.
“Sir, you need to see this.”
The screen changed to an outside view from the top of Mount Archuleta. The camera zoomed in close on two dark figures, making their way up on bikes. Travis and Ty.
* * * * *
As they ascended the bumpy and winding trail, the air became thinner. Travis glanced down at his watch; the digits flashed one hour and forty-one minutes. Travis could feel his strength beginning to fade. His vision would move in and out of focus. The surrounding trees and undergrowth would jerk as if they were alive. He squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them, attempting to correct what he was seeing. One thing he was sure of, if he was going out he would take as many of them with him as he could.
If it weren’t for their lights on the dirt bikes, they would be consumed in total darkness; it truly was in the middle of nowhere. The mesa itself was huge. The silhouette of the mesa cut into the sky, and it was hard to tell but it had to have been at least five miles wide and Mount Archuleta was only a portion of that. A perfect place to conduct their activities, far away from Los Alamos Labs, and yet within spitting distance when using a maglev train.
Other than the sound of their bikes idling, it was completely silent. They cut the engines and began scouring the area.
“So refresh my memory, what’s the plan?” Ty asked.
“Plan?”
“Yeah, you know—what’s our angle here? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I dig the whole let’s charge headfirst through the front door instead of creeping in the back entrance, but correct me if I’m wrong here, that kind of takes away the element of surprise. Don’t you think?”
“There is no plan.”
“What?”
“Look around you, Ty, it’s not like we have an army. The clock’s ticking and you can bet your left nut they have eyes on us,” he said. “We have what they need, that’s our inroad.”
“You think he really has a cure?”
“Probably not. It doesn’t matter. What matters is I get my father and Jayde out of there.”
“What are we looking for?”
“The entrance.”
“I don’t mean to point out the obvious but this place his huge and it’s pitch dark. God, you love to make it difficult.”
“KAINE!” Travis bellowed loudly. His voice echoed back.
He reached into his pocket—lifting the serum above his head, he waved it around.
“KAINE. You wanted it. Here it is.”
Still there was no sound or movement.
“They might not even have an entrance.”
“No, they do. KAINE!” he yelled again, turning in circles while still holding the serum in the air. Nothing but a tense silence and the faint sounds of the forest could be heard. Hanging it out in anticipation, the ground beneath them began to vibrate, like the early stages of a mild earthquake, and then about thirty feet from them a pillar of white light shot upwards. The sound of mechanical wheels could be heard turning from below the pillar. They raced over to it; the ground had split like an elevator door, revealing a huge circular granite tile large enough to hold several vehicles.
Travis stepped onto it and moved into the middle. Ty joined him. It started to descend and a gust of cold air blew up around them, sending a chill down Travis’s spine. They looked up to see the ground covering over them; dust and small particles of dirt fell on their faces, making them cough. Who would ever have known? There were no doors to this elevator; everything around them was exposed, as if someone had melted a hole down into the earth. Embedded within the smooth rock were lights. They flashed on as they passed them; as they dropped down deeper an uneasy feeling came over Travis. This was it.
Out the corner of his eye he could see Ty moving around. Travis glanced over to see him looking unusually at ease. In fact, he was tapping his foot and jerking his head.
“They really could use some elevator music.” Ty smirked.
Travis raised an eyebrow and shook his head. It was as if nothing seemed to faze the guy. Not even walking into the lion’s den.
Slowly, light emerged from glass walls around them, creeping up their legs as they continued descending. They were beginning to see one of the levels. It was filled with craft of every shape and size: the classic saucer, cigar shaped, egg shaped, and several huge black triangular ones the size of an entire football field. All of them were suspended in the air, hovering off the ground. There were people working on them; in comparison to the size of the ships they looked like ants. Some craft were moving towards a giant opening that looked like vertical water streaming down.
“Oh, this is the mother lode,” Ty said gleefully.
Travis recalled his conversations with Ryan and the stories Ryan’s father would tell them about unidentified craft, and now he couldn’t believe his eyes. This was the real deal. No sooner had they taken in that level than they had dropped below it. Nothing could have prepared him to see the next level, which was filled with humans for as far as they eye could see. Contained within illuminating blue chambers, they wore looks across their faces of either lifelessness or horror. It was like a nightmare, or watching a scary horror movie alone. How could they? There were adults, teens and kids of every ethnicity.
“Oh, my God.”
Travis squeezed his eyes closed and then opened them, hoping that maybe he would wake up and realize this was just a bad dream. Looking over at Ty, whose eyes were stone cold, he noticed how unfazed he still was. He obviously was used to seeing abductees held, tortured and used like guinea pigs.
They continued moving. It was now gaining speed, each level whipping by not even giving them time to see what they contained. No doubt it would have been unbearable to see. They came to an abrupt halt. Travis saw a sign on the wall that read Level 1. The level was filled with metal chemical barrels that gave off a rancid smell. Rectangular pillars of concrete divided up the room. Then he heard a voice echoing around them.
“You really are a fool.”
“Coward,” Travis spat. “Even on your own turf you hide. Where are you?”
“The third floor.”
A screen lit up in front of them. Travis momentarily felt relief as he saw, behind Kaine, his father and Jayde still alive. The level they were on began to fill up, surrounding them with military personnel and watchers. Among them were the men that had come to his school.
Ty leaned over. “When I say, jump,” he said in a half whisper.
“Glad you finally came to your senses,” Kaine said. “As you can see, your father and lady friend are well.”
Deagan stroked the side of Jayde’s face and she flinched away.
“Bring them out.”
“All in good time. Show me the serum.”
Travis pulled it out of his vest and then tucked it back in.
“Listen, Kaine—let my father and Jayde go and you get the serum.”
“Really? As if you’re in a position to negotiate with me?” he said. “You’ve got guts, boy. And I would love nothing more than to continue playing your games, but all good things must come to an end. Hand over the serum to one of my associates.”
Travis was eyeing the men surrounding them.
“No.”
“So be it. Kill them.”
“JUMP!”
Travis leaped into the air as Ty’s fist came powering down on the floor, smashing it and sending a violent shockwave reverberating throughout the room. The ground split and fissures shot outwards, sending barrels in the air and men off balance. Like a building being taken down by a demolition team, a plume of dust rose up, darkening the room. As Travis landed he pulled out two handfuls of ED5s, pressed them between his palms and threw them in all directions. An ear-piercing sound rang out followed by a blinding light.
Looking as if they had both climbed out of a soot-filled chimney, Travis and Ty positioned themselves back to back, pulled their weapons and began firing, turning rapidly in a circle. The spit of bullets going off at a high rate followed by the rebounding into walls was deafening. Barrels exploded violently, creating a domino effect and sending fiery shrapnel through men like hot knives through butter. Both boys hit the ground, taking cover behind one of the large concrete pillars to reload. They pressed against the pillar, the steady thumping of guns being fired at them never letting up as bullets impacted the pillar, sending large chunks of plaster raining down on them.
“The disruption won’t last long. Go, get up to the third floor. Kill anything that tries to stop you. I will cover you.” Ty slammed his fist against a square metal button on the side of the pillar. The circular elevator began to lift. Travis stole a quick look at it and hesitated. With the amount of lead flying around, chances of making it were slim.
“Go!”
Travis jerked up, continuing to fire both handguns as he leaped up onto the platform, while Ty, without any effort, made several of the pillars collapse, crushing Watchers in a ceiling of stone. As the hail of bullets continued, Travis shot several military personnel approaching Ty from behind before he had risen above the ceiling. In all the commotion Travis hadn’t seen three of the men climb on to the opposite side of the elevator until he felt himself being pistol-whipped from behind. He fell to the ground, his head throbbing with pain. On his knees with his face down on the ground he saw feet behind him. He pulled the trigger on his gun and shot. The man fell to the ground, screaming in agony as the bullet ripped apart his foot. Travis flipped over on to his back, ripping the two boomerang-shaped weapons off the front of his suit and hurling them at the two men that were now charging him. Having no clue what to expect, he watched as a trail like the kind seen behind planes in the sky, formed in the air, yet this was an intense glow of neon blue streaking its way through the air. Like a python curling its way around its prey it encircled and ensnared the men from their feet to their heads. The sickening sound of cracking bones and suffocation could be heard as their bodies were crushed in the coils of its death grip.
Travis heaved himself up, still reeling from the knock, which was hard enough to make his head bleed. He turned the gun on the one writhing around in the blood of his colleagues and fired several times into the military personnel’s skull. He could still hear Ty fighting below as Level 2 passed by. There were thousands of humans, more than he had seen on the previous level. This time many were grouped together in lines of illuminated cages while others hung in liquid-filled chambers.
Level 3’s opening arrived and as he moved towards the outer part of the circle it seemed to know that he was getting off and stopped. He was now completely alone in a maze of dimly lit corridors, each room divided by clear glass, some given to laboratory experiments and others offices and boardrooms. The place was empty.