Upbeats

by Erin Sheena Byrne

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The warehouse was just a big, open construction with panelled walls painted black with darkly coloured velvet curtains hanging as if they were leaning against the walls, half-heartedly and a rusty tin roof that only stopped rain from getting in. A couple of industrial lights hung from the ceiling, shedding just enough light for us to see where we were.

  The air inside the warehouse smelt dusty and stale, as if no one had been in here for ages, let alone set a cleaning tool to any of the surfaces.

  "Now, stay hidden," I whispered, adjusting my mask. "The longer they don’t know we’re here, the better. And remember: we just want to get in, get done and get out. And these are innocent people. No one does anything to harm anyone else. Watch out for each other and compensate if something, anything, goes wrong. You all got it?"

  Everyone nodded.

  "Good. Then we have to get into Gemini’s office, find his computer and tell the Monmia to—"

  "Get lost?" Ned supplied.

  "Yeah, that’ll work. Smithy, if you’re having trouble with the communication, just look to me or one of the others, we’ll help."

  "Okay," he said.

  "Then . . . let’s rock and roll, people."

  "See? You’re already starting with a catchphrase!" Ned pointed out as we sprang from our hiding place.

  "Not now, Ned," I said through gritted teeth.

  We ran to the far wall and pressed our backs up against it, as if that would make us invisible.

  The warehouse was just one big open room. There was nothing else to it. Inside, there were just some towers of wooden crates and a variety of huge props used in theatres. Cardboard cut-outs of aliens, monsters and horses. Big foam sculptures of teddy-bears, castles, trees and marble pillars. I could guess smaller props were held in the crates.

  There was no office, much to my disappointment. I don’t know what I expected to find there but I had at least hoped that what we found would assist us in our quest.

  "We have to find an entrance to a basement," I eventually said. "It’s the only possible explanation. He must have set everything up in a basement."

  "Do warehouses even have basements?" Brooke asked as she started running her hands over a foam marble pillar, feeling for an entrance.

  "He’s an evil criminal from space," I said. "Anything’s possible."

  "Not ‘anything,’" System stated. "We are bound by a lot of rules and regulations, too, you know."

  Spreading out, we started our clandestine search for an entrance to a basement.

  As quiet as possible, we checked every prop, every tower of crates and every inch of wall.

  "Find anything?" Brooke called out in a whisper.

  "Just an abandoned spider web," Ned answered. Then a second later: "Ow! No, not abandoned. That little spider just bit me!"

  "Great, now you can be Spiderman, at least," Brooke muttered.

  "I heard that."

  "Check the floor," I ordered. Everyone dropped to their hands and knees and started feeling for a trap-door.

  The floor was cold to the touch and coated in a thick layer of dirt and grime. I’m not a germaphobe but I hate things being dirty. But I pressed on.

  I couldn’t find anything. I was starting to wonder if maybe it wasn’t a basement we were looking for when I heard: "Hey, guys! Over here!"

  Music to my ears.

  Grateful and thankful that I didn’t have to spend another moment on the icy ground, I abandoned my search and ran over to Ned’s success.

  He had lifted up a fairly small rug of fake grass, revealing a small, square door underneath.

  "Jackpot," he said, his eyebrows dancing.

  I checked my watch. "Quarter to midnight," I announced, gravely. "Gemini will be here any minute and raging like a midsummer storm when he sees we’ve stopped the guards sending the message. Let’s get going."

  I tried to lift it but only ended up stumbling backwards. My first attempt of lifting it only ended with the conclusion that the door was heavy: solid concrete.

  "Need a hand?" Ned offered.

  Everyone bent down and assisted in trying to budge the stubborn door.

  It took all of us to lift it. Once it was up, I could just faintly see a ladder leading into complete darkness.

  I held the door up while everyone else climbed down. System clung to the back of Brooke’s shirt as she lowered herself down.

  When they were all down, I started to follow. I slowly let the concrete slab of a door lower till it sealed us in. Getting out was going to be a bit of an issue but that was far enough away for me to not worry about it.

  There was another problem facing us, anyway.

  "It’s dark," Ned stated, unimpressed.

  "Thank you, Captain Obvious," Brooke grumbled. I couldn’t see, but I could tell she was rolling her eyes.

  "Would those matches of yours work, Ned?" I enquired.

  "They might . . . but I think they’re too wet."

  "In future, water-proof may be a better idea," Robyn said, gently.

  "Yeah. But I didn’t think we’d be trying to foil an alien plot to turn us all to dust when I bought them."

  I turned around, slowly, taking in the complete darkness. It was the kind of darkness you could feel, the type that hurts your eyes because they can’t adjust.

  I was thinking of retreating when I saw a small, red LED flashing a small distance away from me. I carefully made my way to it, walking as if through molasses, and feeling in the empty darkness for any piece of furniture that would potentially trip me over.

  I thought against using my power and going through the furniture in case I missed something vital.

  I calmly touched the little light. I ended up nudging something else. Suddenly, a bright white light exploded, blinded me.

  I shut my eyes, instantly.

  "Hey! What’s the big idea?" Robyn demanded.

  As I opened them they adjusted, gradually, to the light.

  It wasn’t as bright as I thought it was.

  It was just a computer screen. I must have nudged the mouse, deactivating the screen saver. But the sudden change from total darkness had startled my eyes, making them think I was suddenly staring at an exploding star!

  "Aha!" I exclaimed. "Take that, Gemini!"

  I don’t know why I said it. I sounded like Ned.

  I looked over my shoulder. The others had responded the same way to the sudden light.

  "Hey, close the door, I feel a draft," Ned said, blinking like crazy.

  The computer background was a metallic grey. I clicked a couple of links and typed on the keyboard.

  "Do you really think a highly intelligent alien overlord would use a computer to communicate?" Ned asked, flatly.

  "Yes," I replied. I clicked a few more buttons and then found the message link. I opened it. It took a while to load.

  "You think it would be harder," Brooke commented.

  "It’s as easy as buying an elephant off e-Bay," I muttered.

  "Have you ever tried doing that?" Brooke mumbled in a dead tone.

  "Twice. Ten dollars I’ll never get back."

  "Would that really be so easy?" Robyn asked.

  "You’d be surprised."

  "Okay . . ."

  The link opened. "Smithy, quick: sit here and everyone else, out the picture," I instructed, urgently, as I backed away from the computer.

  Smithy wheeled a swivel chair in front of the computer, adjusted the height and sat down, positioning himself perfectly. He squared his shoulders and signalled to me that he was ready.

  "Three, two, one . . ." I whispered as the video loaded. "You’re on."

  The video burst into life.

  And that’s when I saw my first, or third, alien.

  This one actually looked like an alien, though.