by Kelly deVos
Right.
Off.
The.
Cliff.
And...whoa.
Onto a path?
A weird lightness comes over me. A strange relief.
LEAD: Student journalist and her brother survive driving off cliff.
Fact check: It was too soon to conclude we’d survive.
It’s kinda clever, actually.
There’s an angled, paved road about five feet in width. It’s been painted the same color black as the rocks of the cliff and decorated with plants here and there. It blends in remarkably well. You’d never find the thing if you didn’t already know it’s here.
LEAD: The Opposition runs a secret operation in the Yucatán wilderness.
For a couple of seconds, I’m happy to still be alive. But cold adrenaline returns and kills that feeling almost immediately. We’re in the middle of nowhere, and these guys have a team and a base and an impressive infrastructure. They aren’t poachers or hunters or mercenaries. They’re The Opposition. Who else has these kinds of resources?
I consider throwing myself off the cart.
But what good would that do? I’m all tied up, and the supersoldiers would still have my brother, and I have to help Dad if I can.
So I sit here. Like a piece of furniture.
We descend into a valley between two cliffs made of black rocks that create a break in the thick overgrown forest. Below us, I can hear a river, the sound of water flowing like the soundtrack they play at the spa when I get my nails done.
Um. Back when I used to get my nails done.
The path zigzags down, down, down and appears to come to a dead stop at an enormous rock wall. We’re coming along at a fast clip. Like we’re gonna run right into it.
There’s some yelling.
I can’t tell who it is.
Any second now, Soldier Two is gonna ram us into a jutting, jagged rock.
Instead, he again reaches in his pocket, this time for a little key chain. He presses a button, and a low thud sounds out. A wide hydraulic door, perfectly concealed by rock cover, rises up. Once it’s high above our heads, Soldier Two enters a code on a keypad.
A second door opens, and Soldier One drives our cart through the opening.
OTHER IMPORTANT FACTS:
-The Opposition (or whoever) has built a base out here
-They’ve created, like, a lab...in a cave
Goose bumps break out on the back of my neck.
It’s beautiful.
Sharp, yellowish-green stalactites drop from the ceiling and cast long shadows on the cave floor. Worktables covered with modern-looking computers sit between stalagmites shooting up from the cave floor. The area is really well lit by stand lights placed every few feet. On one side, a small pool of green water shimmers. Next to it, there’s a long table with stacks of e-tablets, a row of printers and even a 3D fabricator.
How is this possible?
On the other side from the printers, several soldiers sit at a long table. It almost looks like a techie reenactment of The Last Supper painting by Leonardo da Vinci. They’re all leaning in toward an older figure, sitting in the center.
It’s a cave with power and computers.
Jinx would be in heaven here.
Crap. Jinx might be in actual heaven if The Opposition has already killed her.
“Where’s the Professor?” Soldier One asks them.
Without looking up from his screen, the older guy says, “He’s in C. We caught three more of them.”
Caught.
Not killed.
Dad and Jinx and Navarro are still alive, for now. Relief fills me.
Soldier Two goes to a stainless-steel refrigerator, pulls out two cans of soda and tosses one to Soldier One. It whooshes over my head before I hear the sound of it smacking into a palm. Soldier One resumes driving the cart.
“You can’t take the Bullfrog,” Soldier Two says. “I need that stuff. I gotta get everything restocked.”
Soldier One grunts. “So, what? I carry these two lumps over to C?”
When Soldier Two says nothing, Soldier One adds, “I’ll bring it right back.”
“Fine. But, Phil, if dinner is late, it’s your ass.”
We move past Soldier Two, sliding smoothly on another paved path that passes through a network of connected caves. The place looks like a more sophisticated version of Dr. Doomsday’s bunkers. I catch a glimpse of a kitchen and a room full of bunk beds. Everywhere we go there are TV screens tuned to some kinda procession in the capital. Long lines of cars drive slowly past all the familiar monuments.
Continuing on, there are doors marked with large letters. A, B and...
C.
The door to C is another massive hydraulic door that requires a code to get through. This door leads to a more conventional-looking cave that’s mostly filled with water. Light pours in through a wide mouth at the front.
Dad and Jinx are up there, next to several soldiers who have their weapons drawn. Tension radiates off their tight, military-like postures, and they’re all sopping wet. Navarro leans up against the wall and he doesn’t look so good.
They’re in trouble.
Toby groans.
We’re in trouble.
A thin figure stands up ahead. He’s got his hands on his hips.
There’s something familiar about him.
He turns at the sound of the squeaky wheels of the cart.
It’s...it’s...
It’s Harold Partridge. Or Terminus, or whatever stupid name he’s given himself. Jinx’s weirdo hacker...um...friend? I mean, if you can call someone a friend after you try to strangle them with a phone cord. Jinx and Terminus knew each other from computer camp. Last time we saw him was at Goldwater Airfield when he was working for The Opposition and going on and on about how Dr. Doomsday practically walked on water.
And Jinx was trying to murder him.
Sure, he did help us escape from The Opposition. But he also helped The Opposition frame my dad in the first place. How much could we really trust the guy?
He’s changed a little since the last time we’ve seen him. Terminus cut his purple hair into a cropped style that matches the rest of his crew. Like everyone else we’ve seen, he’s wearing green fatigues and a camo windbreaker. There’s something about him though. Something...well...he’s not like other guys.
Soldier One...or uh...Phil...hoists Toby up and puts him in a seated position next to me. My brother’s face is horribly red from pretty much being face down on the cart all this time. Toby gives me a nod that I think is meant to be reassuring.
Jinx stands about five feet away from Terminus, and her gaze is darting all over. I know what she’s thinking. She wants to go for a weapon.
So no, I guess they’re not friends.
Terminus comes my way and peels the duct tape off my mouth.
“What is this place?” I ask through the sting, the instant I can talk.
No one answers me. Jinx continues to scowl.
Okay, try again, Mac.
“I guess you’re the Professor?” I say.
Terminus shrugs. His face turns red. “Ah. Yeah. That’s what they call me.”
I speak louder. With more authority. Fake it ’til you make it. “Okay...so...if you’re the acting commander, who is the real commander? Like, who’s in charge here?”
He smiles. An odd, off smile. He chuckles like a villain in a sci-fi movie. “Who’s in charge here? Who. Is. In. Charge?”
Harold Terminus Partridge is SO weird.
There’s an odd pause. He jerks his chin in Jinx’s direction. “Technically? She is.”
Terminus glances at the soldiers who brought us in.
“Welcome to Fort Marshall.”
The bravest of us are always the fi
rst to fall.
By the time we recognize our heroes, they are already gone.
—Statement by PRESIDENT AMMON C. CARVER,
on the death of DR. MAXWELL MARSHALL
JINX
I will not kill Harold Partridge.
I will not kill Harold Partridge.
I repeat this silently to myself.
First, there are the practical issues.
There are five soldiers in this cave and at least another three outside. They brought Mac and Toby in from another room. It’s reasonable to think there are more people in there. I’ve only got seven rounds in my .45. I couldn’t shoot them all even if I wanted to, and I certainly don’t want to.
Second, we don’t know who they are. Who they report to. Or what they know. If this really is Fort Marshall, then these guys aren’t with The Opposition. But who are they with? We need to get that intel.
Third, MacKenna is giving me a look that says, Be nice.
Sigh.
She’s right. I try to remember the days when Terminus and I were friends. The old summers at computer camp. Our late nights playing Republicae. Those days when my biggest problem was balancing video games and my homework. When I felt like I could count on him.
Terminus gets the soldiers to untie everyone and gives us water. They make sure to check us all for weapons and take all our remaining guns. Toby and Mac seem okay. Shaken but okay.
We’re in a modern computer lab built in a network of scuba diving caves. “You’re saying my dad built this place?” I ask.
Terminus pulls a candy bar from his pocket and bites into it. “Yep.”
It’s almost like a city in a cave.
It is impressive.
Even for Dad.
One of the guys, Phil, is also a medic. He eases Navarro into a folding chair and goes for a first aid kit. I dab at the gash on Navarro’s forehead with a gauze pad.
“I’m fine,” Navarro says, but he doesn’t stop me from cleaning the cut.
“What happened to him?” MacKenna asks.
“He got hit on the head with a rock,” I say.
She grimaces. “It looks kind of bad.”
Navarro scowls. “I. Am. Fine.”
“Lucky the rock didn’t hit his pretty face though,” Mac says with a teasing smile.
In spite of everything, I laugh. I think I’ve gotten a bit slaphappy, because I laugh too hard and for too long.
“I’m happy you two are happy,” Navarro says, but he’s more relaxed than before.
Phil covers the cut with liquid bandage and gives Navarro a pain reliever. “We need to watch for signs of a concussion. Keep me posted if your headache gets worse.” The soldier returns to his cart and goes to leave.
Navarro gets up from the chair. “I am—”
“Fine,” Terminus finishes. “Okay, tough guy. We get it.”
I’ve never seen Terminus wear anything other than video game T-shirts and khaki shirts. I don’t think he’s brushed his hair...ever. “So, what are you doing here?” I ask.
“I might ask you the same thing,” he says, continuing to eat his chocolate.
There’s a pause.
A sort of stalemate that exists because neither of us wants to be the first to give anything away. MacKenna makes a small nod of encouragement. There wasn’t much point in keeping things from Terminus. He is in control of Dad’s lab.
We need his help.
“I was able to assemble the key to unlock the data Dad encrypted on the First Federal computers. The code block contained a note to come here. I assume that’s because my dad left computers capable of interfacing with the bank’s mainframe,” I say.
“Yeah. He did.” Terminus hesitates and his shoulders slump. “You want the tour?”
I nod and follow him, skirting a gorgeous pool of green water to a door on the wall opposite the cave’s mouth. “Dad told you about this place?”
Terminus shoves his candy bar wrapper into his pocket, enters a code on a keypad and then presses his thumb onto a small screen. Dad replicated the same security system as in the bunker. “He had to. Marshall was secretive and one hell of a guy. But he couldn’t lay miles of concrete or assemble all the furniture or install the networks by himself.”
It’s still so hard to think of my father in the past tense.
“Where does the power come from?” Jay asks as we pass a row of stand lights.
“Marshall came up with a network of solar generators. We have some gas ones for backup,” Terminus says. He turns toward me, and his face goes pink. “That’s what I worked on. I wrote the code that distributes power between the transformers, storage batteries and gas generators. It was the last thing he asked me to do, actually.”
Terminus is silent for a minute.
The way he looks at me. Somehow he must already know that Dad is dead.
My eyes water a little, and I hope no one sees.
We enter a narrow hallway that’s ordinary and gray. Stuff you’d expect to find in an office building and not a remote series of caves. We stop at a door labeled A. The room is a much larger version of the sleeping area in the bunker, with rows and rows of bunk beds that must sleep dozens of people. Here and there someone has tried to tape photos to the rocky wall. This doesn’t appear to be working very well, as the pictures hang askew and a few have fallen to the floor.
“These are the barracks,” Terminus says.
Toby enters the room, going farther inside than the rest of us. “How many people can this base accommodate?”
“Fifty, comfortably,” Terminus answers. As if anticipating the next logical question, he adds, “We’ve got about thirty soldiers here now.”
Through the door marked B, we find a large kitchen that opens into a wider mess area filled with steel picnic tables.
Toby’s lips form a thin line. “So, you’ve got thirty people from The Opposition here?”
Terminus runs a hand through his now short hair and his face turns red. “From The Opposition? No. This place has nothing to do with The Opposition.”
Confusion spreads across Toby’s face. “But you... Then why...”
Terminus sighs. “Look, if you’re going to ask me what Marshall was thinking when he designed this place, the short answer is, I have no idea. But he kept it off The Opposition’s radar. We’re absolutely sure of that.”
“How do you know?” MacKenna asks, smoothing her ponytail.
There’s another odd pause. “Because everybody in here is wanted by The Opposition. And they haven’t found us yet.”
Terminus walks past a door marked DATA CENTER, and my heart soars. I’m desperate to go in there. Dad clearly spent a ton of money and resources on this place, and I’m dying to know what type of hardware he chose for a bunker of this scale.
But MacKenna wants answers to questions that are probably more important than which servers my dad chose for his secret base.
“Wait. You’re wanted by The Opposition? But you were helping them,” she says.
She glances at Jay. We’re the only two people who know that Terminus is the one who wrote the code that framed Jay for mass murder. That his work helped kill thousands of innocent people. I’m not sure why we didn’t say anything. Actually, I do know. I was ashamed of being betrayed by a friend. I was supposed to know better.
A range of expressions run across MacKenna’s face. She’s trying to decide whether or not to say anything. She must decide against it, because she becomes very interested in fixing the zipper of her jacket.
Harold’s face goes red and runs the color of one of my old ugly Christmas sweaters. “Well. I wasn’t helping them good enough. First, I couldn’t crack the encryption. Then, I helped all of you escape. I had to leave Goldwater right after you did. I vaguely remembered this place, so I came here.” He bites his lower lip. “So, you crack
ed it, huh?”
I nod, also flushing with embarrassment. “But Dad left me decent instructions.”
Navarro snorts. “Don’t be so modest. He left us next to nothing. You figured things out on your own.”
Terminus shrinks down even farther. “Marshall was right. I’m a crap coder.”
Sigh.
Terminus did a lot of terrible things. He should feel bad.
But.
I’ve done terrible things too.
“Dad never said that, Harold. I did,” I tell him. “He thought you were brilliant.”
Terminus manages a weak smile and leads us out of the bunker. Up ahead is the MAIN LAB door. He pauses for a second. “Thanks. But, Jinx. Do me a favor. Please don’t call me Harold. Especially around the general.”
“The general?” Jay repeats as we resume walking.
“Yeah,” Terminus says. “When I arrived, there were a bunch of people already here. Mostly ex-army. Recruited by Marshall at one point or another. The general is the highest ranking. General Harlan Copeland.”
“Copeland?” Jay’s eyes widen. “He’s here?”
“You know him?” Toby asks with interest.
Jay nods. “He was the commanding officer of Operation Cedar Hawk. A five-star general. If there’s a medal, he’s won it.”
Terminus frowns. “Oh sure. He was an all-American hero. Until he told Carver he wouldn’t round up supporters of The Spark and put them in death camps or shoot citizens trying to cross the border. Then he became the same as the rest of us. Wanted for treason.”
Jay continues to squint in confusion. “But...if the general is here, why did you say that Jinx is in charge?”
Terminus points to another keypad. “Care to do the honors?” he asks me.
I’ve been wondering the same thing. Whether my codes that open the other bunkers will work here too. I enter my code and press my thumb to the pad. The door clicks open.
The smile slides off Harold’s face. “Well, when we first got here, there were a bunch of instructions from Marshall, addressed to Jinx. He clearly intended to leave her in charge. Although good luck dealing with the general.”
I give Navarro a sharp look. My father was leading me here.