Velata had kept the map with them just in case they needed another look before entering the sewer system, and at this point, he had it opened up to show Perry the path they needed to take.
“You came out of the Point Light tunnel here,” Velata said, pointing to the tunnel that led out of the maze the map presented. “There are other tunnels and exits out of Carburast, but since you saw this one before, it’s as good a place as any to use especially since you noted it wasn’t guarded.”
“The Point Light tunnel isn’t on the map,” Perry said looking over the layout and pointing to where he thought they had exited with Gerard and Dorin three days ago.
“It wouldn’t be,” Hector said. “Those sorts of things are all over the place, but they’re never on the official plans. Someone usually knows someone else and can work their way into the construction to build the extras.”
“Naturally,” Blake said. “I do still have the route memorized, though, so we won’t need the map.”
“You’re certain?” Velata asked with some doubt in his voice.
“Yes,” Blake said with a nod. “My concern is that we’ve not come across any of this resistance Hector was so concerned over.”
“Maybe he gave up,” Hector said unexpectedly. With a prior attitude that bordered on fear mongering, it seemed almost out of character for Hector to suggest such a thing.
“No,” Blake said, “I suspect your fears were well founded, especially considering the Gestapo-like actions we’ve seen. If turning this off not only puts him out of a job, but could result in criminal charges, then he’s likely to fight us at some point.”
“This is our fight if it comes down to it,” Hector said. “Once we reach the opening to that underground, you just run. We’ll try to keep him out of your way until you’re inside.”
“We cannot say whether Halloway knows the sewers are safe or not,” Velata said. “We cannot even say that ourselves to any real extent. Once you go far enough, he may well let you go. This would also mean that he will be ready to stop you from getting that far.”
“You think he knows where we are?” Perry asked.
“Almost certainly,” Velata said. “He knew you were coming. He had guards posted. They will know we abandoned the vehicle we stole from them, but they’ll assume we’ll find something, so they will be ready.”
“Once we get there, what will you do?” Perry asked.
“Stop him,” Hector said.
“How?” Perry asked.
“Whatever it takes,” Velata replied. “This has gone on long enough.”
Blake looked over the faces of Hector and Velata and found a mixed bag of hope and determination. It appeared that equal parts of them believed and disbelieved that this could be the move that finally set the inhabitants of Carburast free. Blake nodded.
“We will make the most of it then,” Blake said.
“Uh-oh,” Hector uttered, his attention drawn forward. Blake looked out ahead of the vehicle as Perry inquired as to what was going on, and they found a pair of the large military troop transport vehicles parked back to back in the road blocking their path along with several soldiers standing in the road flagging them down. In response, Hector pushed the accelerator forward.
“What are you doing?” Velata asked with a bit of panic in his voice.
“Going through,” Hector said. “Letting this vehicle do a little of what it was clearly designed to.”
“I agree this thing appears to be built like a battering ram,” Blake warned, “but hitting a wall is never pleasant, no matter how you do it.”
“If I hit them dead center, it won’t be so bad,” Hector suggested. “No engine back there.”
“What about the men?” Velata asked.
“They’ll move,” Hector said.
“Everyone brace yourselves,” Blake warned as Hector pressed a button on his control stick that produced a familiar car horn sound that blared as they continued increasing their speed. Everyone prepared for the inevitable impact, and the soldiers ahead of them waved their arms more desperately before ducking out of the way.
Kelvin’s massive vehicle smashed hard in between the rear of the two trucks forcing the two blockers’ back tires skidding along the street out of the way to make a path and barely denting the front of their vehicle. They proceeded full speed through the metal carnage as the bodies of the vehicles scraped each other, and in short order, they had broken through the roadblock.
The three who were not driving looked back to check the reaction of the soldiers on the road and found that they were being followed by two other vehicles. Blake figured these two were undoubtedly waiting for them on the side of the road to pin them in, but now, this second pair of vehicles was following them through the broken roadblock.
“Looks like we have more company,” Perry noted.
“You were right about a fight,” Hector said.
“People are universal,” Blake shrugged. “How far to the opening?”
“Just around the next bend,” Hector said. “I’ll stop with your door to the opening. You and Perry just run.”
“Understood,” Blake nodded.
“What if they’ve anticipated this?” Perry asked.
“Then we’ll do what we always do,” Blake replied with a smile. “We’ll improvise.”
They drove around the next turn, but ahead of them was a larger squad of military vehicles and soldiers, but this time, they were armed and ready to fire. For the first time since they had met him, Hector looked worried.
“I don’t think this thing is bulletproof,” Perry noted.
“This is bad,” Hector said. “Hang on.”
Given the sheer number of vehicles blocking their path, rather than risking their vehicle to attempt to break through that line, Hector steered onto the shoulder to bypass them. The soldiers opened fire on their truck and riddled it with holes, shredding one of the tires.
Hector did his best to control the severely imbalanced vehicle, but before they could get any further, what was left of the wheel buried itself in a rut causing the vehicle’s momentum to bring the rear around which sent the large vehicle into a roll on its side. Inside, they braced themselves as well as they could while the momentum rolled the vehicle several times into the breach outside the sewer system until it finally rested on its side about thirty yards from the sewer’s opening.
When everything stopped moving, Blake took stock of his own extremities, and finding no real damage, he looked to the others.
“Everyone all right?” he asked as he unbuckled his seatbelt and balanced himself to the ground outside what was left of his window.
“I’m fine,” Hector said. “Little help?” Blake helped Hector out of his seatbelt, and he balanced himself on his side of the vehicle but kept his head ducked inside the window.
“Had worse,” Perry said getting himself loose as well. Blake looked back to Doctor Velata, hanging limply from his seatbelt.
“Doctor Velata?” Blake asked. He climbed through the vehicle and felt of Velata’s neck. “He’s alive. Just unconscious. Help me get him down.”
Hector was stuck behind his seat, and they did not trust the military not to shoot at them if they popped their heads out of the door windows, so it was up to Blake and Perry to get Velata loose. Perry held him from below as Blake unbuckled his seatbelt and together, they lowered him to the ground on Perry’s side of the vehicle.
“You think Kelvin will still want it back?” Perry asked with a smirk.
“I’ll let him know what happened,” Hector said. “Not pleasant, but we did warn him.”
“I suspect its size and construction saved us,” Blake said. “I’m not sure that little sedan we had before could have done it.”
“Come on out,” a voice from outside interrupted them. It was Halloway’s voice, but amplified, like he was using a bullhorn. “Don’t try anything.”
“He would cut us down as soon as we get out,” Perry said.
“I would ex
pect him to,” Blake said.
“He hasn’t surrounded us,” Hector observed.
“I noticed that,” Blake nodded. “Wonder why. What’s he got out there?”
“Last chance before we simply turn you and your worthless vehicle into a charred hole in the ground,” Halloway’s voice echoed.
“I’d say they’re keeping their distance,” Blake said. “You know, just in case.”
“He expects us to just surrender?” Perry asked.
“We can go out what’s left of the front windshield so we don’t expose ourselves,” Blake suggested looking to Hector. “Solid kick, don’t you think?” Hector nodded, so they adjusted their positions to get the best kick on the shattered, but still intact, windshield.
“Count of five,” Halloway warned. Blake and Hector looked at each other for timing, and then kicked the windshield out. The three of them left Velata behind and stumbled out the front windshield, carefully staying behind the hood before taking a few steps away from it and kneeling down, keeping themselves concealed.
“One…”
“This is too easy,” Blake said surveying the distance between them and the sewer.
“Two…”
The ground appeared wide open, but since they had not been surrounded, Blake reasoned there had to be something there to keep them back – something that was not there at the time they had left Point Light. He reached into his pocket and retrieved his scanner. Setting it to look for something in the ground, he saw several red dots appear on the screen covering the ground between them and the opening. He changed the setting to clarify the substance, and found it was explosive. Now it made sense.
“Land mines,” Blake declared. “Or at least their version of them.”
“Three…”
He put his scanner away and surveyed the ground once more. With the locations of the mines fresh in his mind, he could distinguish points on the ground where the soil had been overturned and then replaced.
“You ready to move?” Hector asked.
“Proximity or pressure?” Perry asked.
“Pressure,” Blake said, having taken note of the design indicated by his scan. “Running between them will get us through. Just pay attention to the ground. That’s why they left us alone. He expects us to run for it and blow ourselves up. Much cleaner for them.”
“Except for the mess it leaves,” Perry said.
“Nobody’s perfect,” Blake said.
“Four…”
Blake turned to Hector, and said, “Go out there and tell him we’re all knocked out inside the car.” Hector started to nod, but then paused.
“The what?” he asked.
“Vehicle,” Blake clarified, figuring that the translation matrix was working to fix their language to whatever future variant of Standard English these people were actually speaking.
“Right,” Hector said with a nod. He affected a limp, pulled his sleeve back from his gunshot wound, and stepped out from behind the hood of the vehicle with his hands over his head.
“Wait, wait,” Hector called out to the troops they could not see beyond the vehicle. “Sorry.”
“Where are the others?” Halloway asked predictably.
“This is our chance,” Blake said quietly to Perry. Observing the locations of the buried mines, they made their way quickly across the minefield across the sewer entrance.
“The crash,” Hector said, sounded more out of breath than he did before. “It almost finished us off. I barely crawled out before you finished your countdown.”
“Then how are they running off behind you?” Halloway said, his voice raising in anger.
“I dunno,” Hector shrugged. “I guess they woke up.”
Neither Blake nor Perry paused to look back to find out what happened next. Blake pulled his scanner from his pocket to use the small flashlight built into the top of it to illuminate the unlit areas of the sewers ahead of them. He knew the first leg of their journey was straight in before a left turn, so they had to just keep going. Part of him wanted to help Hector and Velata, but they were potentially risking their lives to save Carburast. The only thing they could do to honor that was to keep running into the concrete labyrinth.
* * * * * * *
Hector had affected his best acting chops in holding off Halloway just long enough for Blake and Perry to escape. Knowing they had run into the sewer behind him gave him a little more room for the shallow remark over their just waking up. Halloway, however, was not amused by this turn of events, and without the amplification on his voice, Hector could see him ordering a half a dozen soldiers to give chase to which they immediately complied and rushed Hector’s position.
Hector stood in their path with his arms out in an attempt to slow them down at least a little. “You know, there are mines in the way,” he warned them, but they ignored his warning, and pushed him down as they passed. He rolled over and grabbed the trouser leg of one of them, but that one turned and without so much as a pause, shot Hector in the same arm that was hit earlier.
He cringed and cradled his reinjured arm into his body as he powerlessly watched the six soldiers dodge the mines and disappear into the tunnel after Blake and Perry. With some effort, Hector fought the pain and sat up as he heard someone walk up next to him. Halloway stopped and pointed his weapon at Hector’s head. He knew he could not fight back, so he sat on the ground, staring defiantly at his captor.
“Traitors are shot,” Halloway declared.
“How have you survived so long then?” Hector asked in response. Halloway tensed his arm to fire. Hector closed his eyes, but another voice sounded.
“Halloway! Don’t do it,” Doctor Velata said weakly. Hector felt a wave of relief, but when he looked over to Velata, the doctor was not looking very well. He held one arm like it was broken and one of his trouser legs was awash with blood. Still, he held himself as well as he could. “Don’t add to your sins by killing him.”
“This ends now,” Halloway warned, turning the pistol to Velata.
“Think about what you’re doing,” Velata begged, holding out his good arm in surrender. “Those people deserve to live.”
“So do I,” Halloway selfishly remarked.
“Those two are going to shut it down,” Velata said. “I believe in them like I’ve believed in no others before, so when you say this ends now, you are right. But it will end with their victory, not yours.”
“Not if I have anything to do with it,” Halloway said, and with that, he turned for the tunnel. With every ounce of strength he had in him, Velata charged Halloway from the side and managed to tackle him as he hit the mine field. Halloway crashed to the ground hard, but when the dust cleared, he held completely still.
“Stop!” Halloway yelled, almost begging. Coming out of the sudden silence was a high pitched beep. “Velata, you idiot. In your haste, you landed us both on one of the mines. The beeping means we’ve depressed the pressure switch on it and activated the explosives. Once released, it’ll explode and take both of us with it.”
“What does either of us have to lose?” Velata asked.
Hector looked at the pair of them and found that Halloway was on his back with Velata lying across him like an X. The beeping was under their arms to the right of their bodies. Based on what Halloway had said, they would have to maintain pressure on the switch to prevent it from going off.
Hector climbed to his feet and called out to some of the soldiers defending the back lines around them. “Your Major is on a mine. We need someone to disarm this thing.” He noted some disbelief on the faces of some of the soldiers, but eventually, they shuffled around to get whoever might be the best at dealing with this. While they were working that out, Hector turned back to Velata and said, “Hold still.”
“What if I don’t,” Velata asked drawing a look of concern from both Hector and Halloway.
“You die,” Halloway said threateningly, although he was speaking as much of himself as he was for Velata, and his eyes clearly indicated
that he was not interested in losing his life.
“And they get away,” Velata said.
“I already have some men after them,” Halloway said. “They won’t succeed.”
“Major,” Velata sighed, “I think we’ve outlived our usefulness. I’ve done my part in bringing this system down. You will have nowhere to go when it happens.”
“You don’t have the guts,” Halloway sneered. Velata appeared to be considering this carefully before he looked back to Halloway without an ounce of fear in his eyes. The look faltered Halloway’s confidence.
“We all have to atone for our sins someday,” Velata said quietly, his mind set. “Perhaps this is the day.”
“Don’t,” Halloway begged, but it was too late. Velata moved his hand from the mine which immediately exploded. The shock wave threw Hector and other soldiers who had approached off their feet and away from the mines along with knocking the vehicle back down to its wheels with a crash.
Hector coughed as dust settled all around him and reluctantly, he looked back to the tunnel where Velata and Halloway had held their final showdown and knew that their part in this was over. He had gotten the strangers the information they needed to shut down the phase shield and brought them to Carburast. From this point on, they were on their own, and he prayed that they would be able to reach their destination and finally put this nightmare behind them.
He heard the soldiers groaning around him and slowly coming around. He did not know how they would react to his part in this, so he did the only thing he could. He ran. He ran in the direction of Point Light to the west and hoped that they would be so distracted by the chaos of the explosion that he would get away from them before they realized it. His legs were rubber as he made his way across the uneven ground toward the trees beyond the paved area that led to the sewer tunnel.
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