She couldn’t figure out why Mike couldn’t keep his mouth shut and his hand off of things. She reached him in two long strides and shook his shoulder. “If we get caught, our fate’s sealed. Do you want to get dissected on a cold slab of metal? Please don’t touch anything.”
He took a step back, his eyes widening. “Well, it doesn’t look like any security system I’ve ever seen.”
“And you’re the expert?” asked Casey, smirking. He was right, though, because the thing was too elaborate for a single purpose of waking up the ship. There were hundreds of tiny icons on it, pictures of landscapes. She took her time, staring at each image as it slowly dawned on her. “Oh my goodness! These are pictures from Earth.”
Mike shook his head. “Guess they really want to get to know their new planet.”
“They’ll never get the chance,” said Jack.
Casey pointed to the tiny icons. “I recognize these places. See the pyramid? That’s a desert in Egypt. And that one’s from the Swiss Alps. Wow. There’s Africa.” Her eyes welled up with tears as she studied the beautiful images of her home planet. Suddenly, her desire to save Earth, to defend her home, was stronger than ever. “Look. That’s Iceland, with all those glaciers and mountains.”
Mike touched the square picture. “Or it could be Alaska.”
They jumped as an electronic female voice echoed from the control panel. “You’ve chosen to run the environment simulation projector.” A series of beeps followed. “Dining room program is activated. Program 6, Antarctica, Frozen Desert.”
“Oh man!” Casey punched Mike’s shoulder. “What the heck did you do? Why must you mess around with all this alien technology? I told you not to touch anything.”
“I didn’t mean to…” Mike’s gaze darted around the room. “Hey, what’s that noise?”
The sudden clicking sound grew in intensity. Casey swallowed as she scanned her surroundings, trying to figure out where it was coming from. “I hope we can fix whatever you screwed up.” Again, she vowed to kick his butt when all of this was over. The dimmed lights went black. Casey lifted her arm to find the control panel, but she couldn’t see anything in the darkness. “This can’t be good.”
Mike let out a huff. “You would think the aliens could afford to pay their electric bill.”
“I think we’re okay…this time,” said Jack. “The computer said it was only a program.”
Wings fluttered around Casey, and a gush of wind swept across her face. High-pitched squawks echoed in her ears, making her jump. Her heart pounded harder as her brain tried to make sense of what was going on around her, because no program she knew could turn a high-tech room into a wildlife conservatory. “Something’s in here with us,” she yelled, drawing her gun, but she had no idea where to point her weapon when she was blind as a bat. She blinked as light suddenly flooded her. A large seabird with a long neck, short legs, and webbed feet swooped down from a blue sky. Casey ducked, taking cover, but the bird just squawked and flew by.
Images appeared on the walls, floor, and ceiling. Casey squinted against the brightness as her eyes tried to take in the fantastic array of colors. Hundreds of sparkling blue glaciers stretched out as far as she could see while fog poured in from the right. Seals splashed around icebergs that shifted and cracked in the warmth emitted by a rising sun.
Casey let out a silent scream and nearly toppled over as a whale exploded out of the water, spun twenty feet into the air, and crashed down with a spectacular splash. She put out her hands to protect her face, but tiny droplets slipped through her fingers like a hologram. It was all pretend. “Jack, you’re right! None of this is real.” She sighed, then placed the gun back in her holster. A cool breeze brushed over her skin, making her shiver. The seals quieted, and the beautiful, eerie cries of whales played in the background. Casey spun in a circle, slowly taking in detail after detail. “What is this place?”
Shrugging, Jack flipped his visor up, and their gazes connected. “Some sort of virtual reality environment. Never seen anything like it.”
“Do you know how close I came to shooting a hologram bird?” asked Mike.
“Me too,” Casey whispered, glancing down at the ice under her feet. The floor seemed clear and cold, like a sheet of ice. It was hard to believe that just a minute ago she had been standing on black glass. She laughed and nudged Mike. “I should’ve brought my ice skates.”
“It’d be the perfect place to practice your figure eights,” he said.
The computer voice ran through her head: Frozen desert. The program wasn’t kidding. If she didn’t know any better, she would have sworn somebody just dropped her off in the middle of Antarctica.
Blurs of brown swirled underneath their feet. Casey knelt down and yanked Jack’s sleeve. “Look at this.”
“It’s fish—like a school of arctic cod or something.” His eyes widened as he jumped up and down on the ice. The thin layer started to crack beneath his weight. Wincing, he put a foot forward and tapped the water.
Mike pounded his boot on the exact same spot. “See? It’s a glass floor. Did you actually think you’d fall through and become a member of the Polar Bear Club?”
“I’ve always wanted to know how those people can just plunge into the cold ocean for a swim.” Jack motioned around him. “Even though this is all just an illusion, it’s so lifelike. It seems so real.”
Casey’s teeth chattered. She wrapped her arms around her middle to stop the sudden shivers. “If this is all just virtual reality, why’s it freezing?”
“I dunno,” said Mike, rubbing his hands together. “Think warm thoughts.”
She blew out a breath. “That isn’t helping my frostbite.”
A group of penguins climbed up the ice floe and waddled past them. Jack stuck his hand back and forth through one of the penguin images, making them blur and distort around the edges. “This is crazy and cool, but we gotta shut this thing off before it attracts attention.”
Casey slid her arms up and down the smooth walls feeling for the control panel. It was as if it never existed, and she wondered how it could have possibly just disappeared. As the temperature dropped, she could see her own frosty breath. She felt around until her fingers grew numb, but it just wasn’t there. Large, fluffy snowflakes started to gently fall from the sky. She expected Mike to try and catch one with his tongue any minute, and she glanced over at him. “Some technology they got, huh?”
Mike slid off his helmet and set it on a table. “I didn’t know it could snow when the sun’s shining.”
“Yeah, if it’s cold enough,” she said. “And it is.”
His messy head of blond hair shone in the bright sun. He put his arms around her and pulled her close. “Maybe we can get warm if we snuggle together.”
Their kiss and all that magical glitter falling down on them like soft snow flashed in her mind. The moment was so beautiful…so perfect. Why wouldn’t Mike ask her to be his girlfriend? Why was he such a jerk? But really…he wasn’t a jerk, if you stayed his friend only and didn’t become romantically involved. I deserve so much better. I should’ve never crossed the line of friendship. She knew she could easily move away, but his body heat felt wonderful.
“Any warmer?” Mike asked.
“You’re like my very own winter blanket.”
“Just two friends trying to stay warm.”
Good. He gets it. Maybe next time he’ll know better than to throw away a good thing.
Jack let out a sarcastic chuckle as he continued his search. “Friends? Could’ve fooled me.”
Casey shrugged and rolled her eyes. There were more pressing matters to deal with, such as whether or not Thorn had been discovered. She looked at the time on her radar device, and she was sure he would have been back already. “Where the heck’s Thorn?”
“Let’s hope kid brother isn’t reminiscing over photo albums with the big screwball, himself, Commander Tio,” said Mike.
Her stomach churned. “If he is, we’re screwed.”
>
Mike nodded, his blue lips turning downward into a frown. “If he’s caught, he’ll play the family card to save his butt. We’ll be put to sleep, and when we wake up—”
“Surgery by aliens.” The hair rose on the back of her neck. “You’re so not helping my nerves right now.” She jumped as hundreds of nesting seabirds squawked from the right, swarming around the steep, vertical cliffs. “And neither are these birds.”
“Time for a change in subject then.” Mike gave her a gentle squeeze. “I have to say, this is fine dining at its best. It must be so cool to eat dinner in a virtual reality environment. I just hope their food is real.”
Casey grinned. “This even beats the Star Trek Holodeck.” She glanced at the cafeteria tables in the middle of a winter paradise. “But why couldn’t you pick Hawaii?”
Mike kissed her hand slow and tender. “Because then we couldn’t build a snowman, go sledding, or wrestle a giant polar bear.” He smirked. “But most importantly, you wouldn’t be snuggling up to me like this.”
She hoped he wasn’t getting the wrong idea. Part of her longed to wrap her arms around him in a romantic way, but she knew why she shouldn’t date the biggest player in California. She had a list a mile long in her head of every single reason. The number one reason—the words still cutting her like a knife—was that he didn’t want her as a girlfriend. Even if he changed his mind, he’d just trash their relationship. That was the nasty little habit he had when it came to girls, and if it happened, it would kill her and they would never be able to be friends again. She’d lose him forever. Keeping Mike as her best friend was the right thing to do, even if her heart did scream for him.
“You two wanna hug all night, or do you want to help me?” came Jack’s voice.
She shot Jack a look, and he smiled. His blue eyes sparkled from across the room.
“And we rescued him why?” asked Mike, between chattering teeth.
Casey gave Mike a playful punch, then blew out a few frosty puffs of breath, her eyes hunting for an exit along the walls. It had to be there somewhere. She decided to retrace her steps from the door.
“Wait! There’s something.” Mike craned his neck and squinted against the wind. “I bet it’s the kitchen. I’m so making myself a big, fat, juicy burger.”
Casey peeked through the patches of dense fog and glaring snow. A set of double doors stood in between a spectacular maze of jagged peaks and spires, overcast with a light mist. “Looks like a door. Why couldn’t the control panel glow like that?” She walked over, her gaze fixed on the ice-covered mountains glittering in the sun.
“It’s probably designed this way so the waiters can find their way back in after serving a meal.” Jack whipped out his gun and pushed open the swinging door. “I can’t see a thing.”
“Me neither,” said Mike. “We need to find a light.”
Surrounded by darkness, Casey took a few tentative steps inside, warmth immediately bathing her. “I know one thing. I’m waiting for Thorn right here where it’s nice and toasty.” She reached for her backpack and fumbled for her flashlight. With her hands, she felt for a long, thin device. Her fingers wrapped around it and turned the switch on.
Casey waved the beam around the spacious room. A silver kitchen island stretched from one side of the room to the other. The room looked like a chef’s kitchen with clean, gleaming countertops, only way more high tech, with space-age appliances, control panels, large screens, and computers nestled in the walls.
“Where’s the fridge?” asked Mike. “I could go for a soda.”
“Hard to say. When did Apple start designing kitchens?” said Casey, swinging her beam around.
Jack chuckled. “Sure this isn’t the bridge?”
They all laughed.
She shifted her light beam, and it caught a pair of blue eyes glowing eerily in the dark. Her jaw dropped. “You guys see that? Please tell me that’s just a huge space-rat.”
“Nope,” said Mike.
“Get out!” shouted Jack.
A deep, menacing rumble filled the air, causing Casey’s heartbeat to spike again.
To be continued…
Persevere: Book 6 in The Trapped in the Hollow Earth Novelette Series Page 6