Cities of the Forgotten

by Rayne W Grath

  “Come on. You’re not making this any easier you know. My career could be over in the blink of an eye if I’m not careful here. The government could drop me in Quantico for all I know,” added Aarik, laying on the guilt to get Taylor on board, as they approached the next opening.

  “Alright, alright already, quit pouring it on. I highly doubt they would drop you in Quantico, but they might make it nearly impossible to work in any archaeological area. So...point taken,” Taylor commiserated, before he added, “I can only hope with the whittling time I have left, I discover something of importance then.”

  “This location, in and of itself, is an important discovery,” added Aarik, pausing in front of the doorway to turn on the lights. He wondered if the room would be similar to the crystal room at the Sphinx when he heard Taylor gasp at his side, choking on his own saliva in the process. Turning to clap him on the back, Taylor pushed him away with tears streaming down his face as he walked into the room in a daze. Aarik followed him in and laughed at the grandeur of their find before he said, “I guess that Cayce guy was wrong, the Hall of Records isn’t located in Egypt under the Sphinx, but rather in Mexico.”

  Taylor wiped his eyes and shook his head. Opening and closing his mouth several times before he uttered, “I know this could mean insubordination, but I’m not leaving this room until someone drags me from here screaming, or I’ve had my fill.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  KIYA

  Anna had just introduced Kiya to Captain Keenan Bolten when Director Sorr called, making a stink about Aarik’s camera act and demanded the captain assign a bodyguard to detail him. A small part of Kiya laughed internally at Aarik’s misfortune, but she quickly changed her mind when she realized how much of a hindrance a bodyguard would be in completing their mission. As Keenan announced he would be watching Aarik, Kiya gasped from the unexpected impact of Anna’s pointy elbow. When he looked down at her quizzically, she coughed into her hand in an effort to cover up Anna’s enthusiastic reaction to working with him so closely.

  Captain Bolten swore at his cell as the call ended abruptly, and stuffed it into his pocket. He grumbled under his breath about the impossible woman, as he took his time gathering together some things. He managed to explain the rules of the gym in the process and offered to give Kiya a crash course on defensive measures as they entered the elevator. It wasn’t long before Anna made an excuse about needing to get back to work as she asked Ailla to drop her off. Leaving the elevator, Anna batted her eyelashes at the captain and said, “Behave yourself, Keenan. Commander Rais is not due back for another two weeks.” She looked guilty as she left the elevator and whispered a simple sorry before she scurried off to her office.

  The captain seemed preoccupied and stared off into space when the elevator doors closed, remaining silent for the rest of the ride. Kiya followed behind him as they exited the elevator, attempting to avert her eyes from his muscular backside as they entered the Terra Locke. Not that it was bad to look at, but she didn’t want to get caught ogling another man, less than an hour after their fight, just because she was pissed at the one she had. While diverting her eyes she couldn’t help but notice Aarik and Taylor already in the terracraft from her peripheral vision. Even though he had warned her, Kiya didn’t truly believe he would go without her until she saw it with her own eyes.

  Kiya didn’t want Aarik to see how much she was affected by his actions, so she averted her attention to Captain Bolten and pretended to be interested in his conversation with the director. As a look of anger swept across the director’s face, Kiya could only assume Taylor and Aarik were teleporting away without her permission and she was pissed. Her assumption was proven correct when Sorr held up her hand to stop Captain Bolten from speaking and said, “When he returns I want you to place him under house arrest.”

  “House arrest? Don’t you think that’s going a bit overboard? What did he do to deserve being arrested?” blurted Kiya in exasperation.

  “He assured me he could stop before he teleported away,” Sorr replied with a scowl, as she studied Kiya intensely, trying to decide if she belonged in the conversation.

  “Not sure if he has ever tried stopping mid-teleportation before now, so it surprises me he promised you something he had never attempted,” Kiya said with conviction, as she gazed between the two government employees hoping to sway their opinion.

  Sorr blinked a few times, like Kiya’s comment did not compute with her robot-like mind, making Kiya curious if the woman was even human. She opened her mouth to respond, with what Kiya could only assume was a nasty retort, when she was interrupted by Keenan, “I think you need to reconsider your command. I have no plans on sitting outside a locked bedroom while you assuage your pride. In fact, while we wait for their return, I believe a call to Commander Rais’ secretary is in order. I do believe he will be interested in knowing how prohibitive you are becoming in the discovery of new and exciting technologies. Wasn’t that the purpose of bringing Dr. Landon here?”

  “That will not be necessary. I do believe the commander is in the middle of some important negotiations at the capitol and I wouldn’t want to interrupt him needlessly. There’s no reason to distract him from his original mission. I agree I overreacted initially and am willing to consider a compromise without his involvement if you will assign someone to observe this floor, during operating hours only of course,” said Sorr, in a half assed apologetic voice, while she rung her gloved hands nervously.

  “Surely you could assign a robot, or Ailla for that matter, to monitor the operations of this room?” Keenan replied, raising his eyebrows as he stared down at the director with a powerful gaze.

  “If only it was that easy. Unfortunately when Ailla tried to access her own internal recordings from her visit to the ninth floor earlier this morning, it too was affected by his voice. We need a live body, that will not be easily sabotaged, to monitor the progress in the room,” argued Sorr with a slight slip in her friendly demeanor near the end of her rant.

  “I’ll see about assigning someone on a more permanent basis when I have time to return upstairs, but only until I am able to speak with the commander after his arrival in a couple weeks. I look forward to his reaction,” answered Bolten with a stern expression, as he scanned his military issued watch quickly before turning to observe the room with eagle-like precision.

  “I’m sure he will agree, advancement that is undocumented and unproven is a benefit to no one,” flouted Sorr disdainfully.

  “I would so love to be a fly on the wall for the coming conversation. I haven’t met this Commander Rais fellow, but I have a feeling he really commands a room,” inserted Kiya jokingly, regretting it immediately when Sorr’s eyes migrated her way with eagle-like precision, seeming to pierce her very soul with her dark-eyed gaze.

  “Ms. Brown, I did not solicit your feedback and will remove you from the room if your next verbal outbreak crosses the line like your last,” Sorr bit out forcefully, before huffing out a large sigh as she strolled toward the empty craft bay impatiently.

  “No need, director. I only followed Captain Bolten back down here to retrieve my stuff. After the morning I had, my bed is calling my name,” answered Kiya truthfully, quickly bending over to pick up her laptop and backpack to avoid further questioning. There was no reason her present company needed to know she wanted to miss Aarik and Taylor’s return more than she wanted her next latte, and that was a lot to give up in her opinion.

  “Aarik didn’t have a chance to fill in all the gaps of what happened this morning on your adventure to the Sphinx. Was a ten-minute trip so exhausting that you need to lie down? Or would you say teleportation might have a negative effect on the body?” questioned the director, as she paced back toward the podium slowly, like a panther getting ready to attack.

  “I can’t say for sure, we only went the one time, but I would venture a guess that my present state of being has more to do with being knocked out and the attempted kidnapping. Which, thankfully, Aarik
thwarted but the whole ordeal played a huge contributing factor in the equation of my exhaustion,” offered Kiya in a serious tone, as she rubbed the back of her head for emphasis and commiseration.

  “Why must I drag every single detail from your lips? Something of this importance should have been the first thing uttered out of your mouth when you entered the conversation like an unwanted bystander. I shouldn’t have to pull it from you like a stubborn tick nestled in for a deep feeding. Who tried to kidnap you?” Sorr replied with a sneer as a nervous twitch settled in over her left eye.

  “Surprised you would need to ask that question, Director Sorr, but since you seem to have forgotten, let me remind you. We have an enemy out there. He called himself Th’ael and said he was the God of Darkness. He’s probably gaining more power as we speak and happens to be dead set on wiping humans from evolutionary history,” Kiya countered, barely controlling her rage with the obnoxious woman.

  “So you’re saying Th’ael knocked you over the head and was attempting to kidnap you, but Aarik was able to stop him so you two could escape? He doesn’t sound so all-powerful to me,” said Sorr with a scowl, as she stopped in front of the podium and peered down at Kiya.

  “It wasn’t Th’ael. I wouldn’t be here if it was. I didn’t get a chance to look at my captors before the cowards hit me from behind, but Aarik made it sound like they were working for Th’ael. I’m thankful he was able to overtake them with the element of surprise and able to bring me back here without them following,” answered Kiya, exhausted.

  “What makes you so special?” asked Sorr with a sneer.

  “Ouch, that was harsh. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure what he was after. I’m a nobody. My only guess is he wanted to use me to get to Aarik,” lied Kiya, as she stood up to her full height, towering over the director. Staring down at her, she met the director’s eyes and refused to look away first, knowing her lie relied on it.

  “Now I understand why you were not in the room when I arrived,” Sorr said with a wicked smile, as she backed away from Kiya slightly and brushed at invisible dirt on her sleeve.

  Taking in a deep breath, Kiya returned Sorr’s smile and said, “Not like it was a secret, but I guess it was kind of obvious when I showed up with Captain Bolten, huh? I thought it would be a good idea to accrue some self-defense moves before I head back out into the field. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  A look of surprise flashed across Sorr’s face when her snide remark appeared to have no effect on Kiya. Straightening her suit jacket absently, she broke eye contact briefly before she raised her eyes and said, “I do. Being weak could mean disaster for the rest of your team.”

  Before Kiya could respond, Bolten cleared his throat and said, “I know you don’t respect my opinion, but I’m sure Kiya will be able to hold her own after some practice. She’s scheduled to start tomorrow. However, what we should be talking about is how long ‘til they’re back. I have things to take care of if you expect me to find proper coverage for this room over the next two weeks.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Captain; I promise to show up in every way tomorrow. So you better bring your A game,” Kiya said with a smile. She nodded her head toward the director and added, “Always a pleasure, Director.”

  Kiya didn’t wait for Sorr’s response before she looped her pack over her shoulder and headed toward the elevator bay at a brisk walk. Ailla must have been eavesdropping on their conversation because the elevator doors were open when she arrived, like she was expecting her. Stepping inside, she was opening her mouth to ask for level three when Ailla interrupted her, “No need, Ms. Brown. I’ll take you to the commons. I believe Doris has lunch prepared if you’re hungry.”

  “Thank you, Ailla,” Kiya replied with a sigh. Slumping against the elevator wall, she closed her eyes and fought to stay awake long enough to make it to her room. Doris was nowhere to be found as Kiya made her way through the commons with sloth-like speed. She felt guilty for being thankful she didn’t have to talk to another person as she fled to her bedroom to lick her wounds.

  Flinging open the door to her room, she dropped her bag on the floor and staggered over to the bed. Collapsing backwards, she sprawled out and flung her right arm over her eyes, letting out a slow breath of relief. She felt strange; on one hand she had pent up energy, bubbling under the surface just waiting to explode, but on the other she felt drained and could barely form coherent thoughts, let alone make plans that would save the world.

  She had just decided she would take a shower, to rinse off the deluge surrounding her thoughts, when her grandmother’s ringtone could be heard emanating from her backpack. Surprised they had any cell coverage underground; she fished around for her cell and answered the phone with a smile. “Good morning, Grams. I love your spidey senses sometimes. I didn’t realize, until I heard you calling, how much I really needed to talk to you.”

  “Well then, it should be a bit disappointing to hear my voice instead,” crooned Diego in a gravelly voice.

  “What have you done to my grandmother?” Kiya growled into the phone.

  “Nothing yet, I assure you, but that will change the longer it takes for you to bring us what we want,” threatened Diego.

  “What is it that you want?” Kiya spoke quietly into the phone.

  “The crystal around your neck, delivered by you, to the secret entrance by the broken Dolmen in Washington by midnight tomorrow,” countered Diego, like he was ticking off his wants on his fingers as he repeated them.

  “I’m surrounded by government employees, how the hell do you expect me to get there?” asked Kiya cupping her hand around her forehead in frustration.

  “Not my problem. You’re a resourceful girl, I’m sure you’ll figure it out if you want to see your grandmother alive again,” replied Diego indifferently.

  “How do I know you haven’t already killed her? I want to talk to her first,” Kiya pleaded desperately.

  “She’s not available to speak right now,” edged Diego, with uncertainty in his voice.

  “Make her available or we have no deal!” demanded Kiya angrily. No longer exhausted, she paced the room as she waited for Diego’s response. She could tell he was covering the mouthpiece of his phone, as muffled voices could be heard in the background before he came back on the line and said, “Just a second.”

  Grandma Tashina’s voice came on the line, “Kiya, are you there? Can you hear me?”

  “Thank the gods. Are you alright? Have they hurt you?” In her relief, Kiya tripped over her words.

  “No not yet, but please hurry. I fear I don’t have much time,” replied Grams, in a flat-toned voice. Kiya could hear Diego say in the background, “That’s enough. Give me the phone back.”

  “Proof enough for you, sweetheart? You have a little over twenty-four hours, I suggest you don’t waste it, or your grandmother will pay the price,” warned Diego, before the call ended abruptly, leaving Kiya to stare at her phone momentarily before she looked around her room for answers in desperation.

  Grabbing her backpack, she filled it with a couple of outfits, as well as her toiletry bag before she slung it over her shoulder and headed towards the door. She was in the middle of devising a plan to sneak out, by somehow using her womanly wiles on the guard’s upstairs, when a knock on her door brought her back to reality. Dropping the pack to the floor, she nudged it behind the door before she opened it and was surprised to find Anna smiling at her creepily.

  “Hey there. I was just about ready to take a shower. What can I do for you?” Kiya offered, nervously wiping her hands on her jeans.

  “I found those items you were looking for earlier and was hoping to strike a bargain with you. Say, inventory for labor?” suggested Anna jovially, offering her hand like she was either ready to strike a deal or pull her from her room.

  “Wow, thank you. Not that I’m complaining or anything, but I thought I told I wasn’t going to start on it until tomorrow?” questioned Kiya, carefully trying to figure out a w
ay to politely get rid of Anna so she could leave.

  “I know but I found the perfect material and wanted to help my new best friend,” offered Anna with a wink, before she tacked on, “Grab your laptop bag, and we’ll see if what I had in mind will work for you.”

  “Can it wait until tomorrow or maybe later tonight? I’m exhausted. I plan on taking a shower and catching a nap before I face the world again,” implored Kiya, adding in an exaggerated yawn for emphasis.

  “NO, it can’t wait. The material is slated for…. for disposal, tomorrow,” added Anna with a slight pause, like she was searching for a valid excuse.

  Frustrated and confused by Anna’s insistence, Kiya bent over picked up her bag and said with a sigh as she stood up, “Fine. Lead the way. I’ll take a nap after we’re done. Shouldn’t take more than an hour, right?”

  “I wouldn’t think so. We’ll head to the fourth floor after I pick up my tablet. I need Ailla’s team to take a look at the connections. It doesn’t seem to be taking a charge,” Anna added, as they walked into the common area and headed towards the elevator in the center of the room. Anna asked Ailla to take them to her floor, repeating what she had said moments earlier. When the doors closed Anna turned around, pulled out a note from her bra, holding it out for Kiya to read as she said, “Since you’ll have more free time perhaps we could set up a workstation on my level for you to work at.”

  Kiya scanned the scribbled note, which read: Sorr is onto your escape plan and sent me to distract you while they prep your prison cell. If you want to save your grandma, follow along. I have a plan. Kiya swallowed the lump in her throat, nodded and said, “Sure. I...I would like that.”

  Tucking the paper back into her bra, Anna gave her a brief smile before she said, “Perfect. I know just the place. I’ll show it to you while we’re here, if you don’t mind a short detour?”

  “Sounds like it’s on the way, so I don’t have a problem with it,” replied Kiya nonchalantly, as she followed Anna out of the elevator, barely containing her excitement.