RISE

by R. D. Brady

  Somewhere Over the Western Half of the United States

  The plane was quiet. Martin was still out cold. Jasper apparently packed a pretty good punch. According to the files that Penny had managed to find on Martin’s computer, the Draco owned a series of warehouses on the edge of the state of Washington. But according to Martin’s notes, any prisoners would be held in the tunnels underneath the warehouses.

  Norah shivered at the thought. Apparently the Draco had difficulty with bright light, so they tried to stay in darker areas, at least the Draco that did not look human. Adam was sensitive to sun as well, but he seemed to be fine with sunglasses.

  Adam had disappeared back into the cockpit after sharing his story. Jasper had explained how Adam had saved a young Wernher von Braun’s life, and von Braun had kept him with him from that point on. He also told stories of Adam’s other heroic deeds, trying to drive the point home that Adam was on their side.

  Norah didn’t need as much convincing as the others. She’d been as shocked as they were that Adam was a Draco, but at the same time, she’d known there was something different about him. She’d expected it to be more of a super soldier kind of thing than a renegade alien, but unlike Sandra, who stared at him with suspicious eyes, Norah knew Adam was on their side. Even before the story about his family—if you could call them that—she’d known that he would do whatever was necessary to protect Iggy. To protect the triplets and Alvie.

  There was something almost old-fashioned in his loyalty.

  She supposed the same was true for the Draco. They had unbending loyalty to their cause. She pictured one of the Draco leaping and landing on a soldier at the R.I.S.E. base. Norah hadn’t even been able to raise her weapon in time before he’d ripped out the man’s throat. And then he’d looked at her and smiled. She shivered, remembering that smile.

  She’d heard about the belief people had that lizard people existed. She knew that polls had been done, and about four percent of the population believed that lizard people controlled the government. She thought they were crazy. Now she realized that they were just premature in their thinking. They didn’t control the government yet, but they were aiming to.

  Jasper appeared in the aisle. He pointed at the seat next to her. “Do you mind?”

  “I guess not.”

  As he took a seat, she studied the man, trying to figure out what his angle was. She understood Sandra’s, Chris’s, even Adam’s. But Jasper was a hard read.

  “How you doing?” Jasper asked.

  Norah just shrugged and looked out the window.

  “I have to say, I thought it was pretty amazing how you managed to protect that Maldek. And the way he’s bonded to you, I won’t lie, I’m a little jealous. That guy loves you.”

  Grief welled up in Norah, and she took a shaky breath, trying to clamp down the emotions. She couldn’t let the dam burst now.

  Jasper seemed to recognize her precarious position. “Sorry. Just thought you should know I think it’s a good thing you did, protecting him.”

  Yeah, but not good enough.

  Jasper settled back in his seat. “You know, there have been rumors about lizard people for eons. According to theosophists, they actually existed in the ancient times of Lemuria and Atlantis. They were called Dragon men and had an advanced civilization on the continent of Lemuria. Others, of course, speak of lizard people in UFOs who are violent and destructive. It seems to be a mixed bag. Do you know there was even an attempt in the twentieth century to excavate down to the lizard people’s warren of tunnels?”

  Norah looked over and raised an eyebrow.

  Jasper smiled. “It was back in the 1930s. A man by the name of George Warren Shufelt was convinced that lizard people were living underneath Los Angeles. Now, you have to remember that this was right after World War I and right before World War II, not to mention the Great Depression. The U.S. was in an unusual place.

  “Anyway, he got all the correct permits and everything else and started to dig a tunnel right underneath Los Angeles. He believed the lizard people were linked to the Mayans and had a magical chemical that could burn through rock easily to create these tunnels. And of course, Shufelt believed there was gold in the tunnels.” Jasper grinned.

  “So Shufelt, in 1933, gets permission to dig based in part on an old sheepskin map he had that purported to show where these tunnels are. Shufelt made it 250 feet down before the project was abandoned.”

  “So he never found anything?”

  “Nope. Not a thing. But the interesting thing is if he had dug just a few feet to the left or a few feet to the right, he would have run into the tunnels. He dug a perfect hole right in the middle of them.”

  Norah frowned. “How’s that possible?”

  “I looked into that. There were reports of a very attractive blonde woman who helped him figure out where to dig. She had light, almost white-blonde hair, long.”

  “You think it was Tatiana.” Jasper had explained about Tatiana Brecknoff, the leader or queen of the Draco. All the information on her had been on Martin’s computer.

  Jasper nodded. “I think she’s been maneuvering things behind the scenes for decades. Setting herself up to take over one day.”

  “To take over what?”

  “Everything.”

  Norah looked up as the cockpit door opened. Adam stepped out. He hesitated for a moment, noting Chris and Sandra sleeping, and made his way to Jasper and Norah, kneeling down in the aisle. “I received word from Penny. The strike has been green lit. They are going to take out the bunker in Edmonds.”

  “How long?” Jasper asked.

  “Three hours.”

  Norah frowned. “When do we land?”

  “Two hours.”

  Oh crap.

  Chapter Ninety-Five

  Edmonds, Washington

  It had been two hours. Eight Draco guards were arranged along the perimeter of the room. None of them came close to where Maeve and the others sat in the center of the room. A breeze blew through the windows, for which Maeve was grateful. It made her feel free, even though she was so far from that it was laughable.

  The Draco completely ignored them. The only time they paid attention to them was if they stepped beyond the boundaries of the sitting area.

  So Maeve made sure no one did. As time wore on, everyone fell asleep except for Maeve and Greg.

  Greg moved over next to her, keeping his voice low. “I don’t get it. What are they waiting for? How exactly are we bait? I mean, if they’re putting out some sort of call for ransom, there’s no need to move us here.”

  Maeve just shook her head. She didn’t understand it either. There was no reason to bring them to the surface. She glanced up at the windows. It seemed odd that they had left them all open. The fresh air made her feel as if there was a chance maybe she might get out of this, but she doubted they were giving them fresh air just so that they had a sense of hope.

  Maeve nodded toward the windows. “Why do you think they left those open?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe they’re stuck.”

  “Really? All the resources the Draco have, and you think they left windows open because they couldn’t figure out how to close them?”

  Greg grinned. “Doubtful, but it would be nice if they were that stupid, wouldn’t it?”

  Maeve couldn’t help but smile back. “Yeah, that would be nice.”

  The breeze once again ruffled her hair. She frowned as the wind tugged on the kids’ clothes. She glanced up from window to window on either side of the building. “Scents.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We’ve been thinking about this wrong. We keep thinking that this is aimed at humans. And it makes no sense for them to use us as bait this way for humans. But what if it’s not humans they’re trying to attract? What if it’s one of the creatures from Area 51?”

  Greg’s mouth fell open. “No, not Hank or, God, one of the Blue Boys.”

  The shadow of a bird drifted across the window bef
ore disappearing quickly. Maeve shook her head, her eyes locked on the window where the shadow had been before focusing on Luke. “No, I don’t think it’s either of those that the Draco are trying to attract.”

  Chapter Ninety-Six

  Gray clouds greeted them as they touched down at a small airport outside of Edmonds. Chris stepped outside as a strong gust blew, bringing a crisp shot of air. He glanced toward the horizon. Darker gray clouds were moving in beyond the light gray, and they were moving fast. A storm would hit in another hour or two if they were lucky. Just as the bomb hits.

  Chris felt like his skin had electricity running over it. He’d felt that way ever since he’d been informed about the countdown. They had a little under an hour to get to Edmonds, get their people out, and get far enough away to avoid getting caught in the blast. Chris didn’t think it was going to be enough time. No one thought it would be enough time, but no one said so out loud.

  Besides the news of the countdown, the flight had been uneventful. But prior to landing, they’d had to take care of one small problem: Martin. They couldn’t bring him with them because they couldn’t trust him. And they couldn’t leave him behind for the same reason. Which left two options: killing him or figuring out a way to make sure he couldn’t interfere.

  They came up with a compromise, based on Sandra’s earlier threat: They shoved him out the plane with a parachute. They’d flown out over the Pacific, twenty miles from shore. He would probably survive. And if he didn’t, well, no one was going to lose sleep over it.

  Chris hustled down the stairs and made his way to the cargo hold. Everyone pitched in, unloading the crates into the back of the SUVs Jasper had arranged for them. One was an old Durango and the other was a Land Cruiser. Both had seen better days.

  “These things run, right?” Norah asked as she pushed a crate farther into the SUV.

  “Don’t let their appearance fool you. They have been tried and tested.” Jasper pushed another crate into the back.

  Norah gave the rusted bumper a disbelieving look. “Uh-huh.”

  Chris, however, appreciated the disheveled appearance of both SUVs. It would help them blend in better than some brand-new, top-of-the-line automobiles.

  And when Chris hopped behind the wheel and turned the engine, it purred like a racecar. He glanced over at Jasper in the passenger seat.

  “Told ya.” Jasper grinned.

  “Yes, you’re wonderful,” Mike grumbled from the back seat.

  Chris looked past Jasper at Norah, who was at the wheel of the other SUV. Adam was riding shotgun, while Sandra was in the back. Chris was a little concerned about Sandra. Adam’s revelation had shaken all of them, but Sandra kept watching him. Chris hoped it didn’t cause any problems

  A few minutes later, they were on Highway 99 South, heading toward Edmonds. The wind was pushing hard, and occasionally Chris would have to correct to make up for the gusts that seemed to be trying to shove them off the road. It was late in the afternoon. People trying to get home early from work were already on the road. But as they exited the highway onto 196th Street, the traffic lightened, and especially once they neared the business district, where the warehouses were located.

  Five miles from their destination, they pulled over into the parking lot of a truck stop. It was a ten-minute drive, probably less, to the warehouse from here. Now was where things got dicey. They would need to move quickly. None of them had any doubts that the Draco would have security in place and eyes on the waterfront and the building surrounding them. They needed to go in hard and fast.

  Chris pulled up the map of the area on his tablet. He quickly shuffled through the exterior shots to bring up the layout of the labyrinth of tunnels that Penny had forwarded them. She’d gotten them from Martin’s files. Apparently Martin had sent one of his agents in on a suicide mission. Martin’s people had then plotted out the tunnels based on the doomed agent’s recordings.

  We should have shoved him out of the plane without a parachute.

  He pointed to the entrance underneath the middle warehouse. “Okay. There’s only one entrance from here. Some of the other tunnels branch off, eventually leading to city streets. Those connect with the sewers.”

  Norah leaned forward. “Why are we going through those?”

  “There’s no direct access to the tunnels, which is where Penny believes our people will be kept. It would take too long to get to them, and by then the Draco could make their escape.”

  “I’ve already set up blocks for each of those entrances,” Jasper said.

  “What kind of blocks?” Sandra asked.

  “I paid some of my contacts to park right on top of them. They won’t be getting those entrances open anytime soon. My people will stay there until we’ve given them the all-clear.”

  “So how are we getting in?” Sandra asked.

  “We have to assume that they’re going to have armed guards on duty. We’re not going to slowly take out the guards. We don’t have time for that, and even if we did, it increases the likelihood that they’ll know we’re there.”

  “So we’re sneaking in?” Norah asked.

  Chris shook his head. “No. Stealth isn’t an option. We’re going in and they’re going to know that we’re there, which means we need to move. You see anything move, you blast it. There is no time for second-guessing. Our people are in there, and we are going to get them out. Jasper and Mike, secure the perimeter. The rest of us will be going on the rescue.”

  Norah met Chris’s eyes and flicked a glance at Jasper and Mike. He knew she didn’t trust them, but at the same time no one else would be willing to stay up on the surface when their loved ones were below. Adam would probably agree, but Chris wanted him down below. If he had to choose only one person to take in with him, no offense to anyone else, but it would be Adam, Draco or not. Their chances of successfully getting everyone out greatly increased with Adam’s presence.

  Chris went over the details for another few minutes until finally he stopped and looked at everyone. “Any questions?”

  Everyone shook their heads. Chris picked up the tablet, shutting it off. “Then let’s suit up. It’s time to get to work.”

  Chapter Ninety-Seven

  The waiting was growing intolerable. Maeve wanted to pace around and stretch out her legs and her arms, but each time she moved, she felt the Draco’s eyes slide over her. She felt like a mouse in a cage while the snake slithered around outside, watching.

  The Draco seemed to be growing more uncomfortable. Maeve noticed that they stuck to the darkest parts of the room, moving when the sun shifted.

  They really didn’t like the sunlight. It was a small weakness, but it made her feel better to note it.

  Luke, Alvie, and Snap all opened their eyes at the same time, jolting on the couch. Maeve frowned. Something was wrong. A shadow wafted across the windows.

  Maeve looked up, wondering if it was another bird.

  Not a bird. Sammy.

  Maeve had to swallow her gasp. Sammy. She was careful not to look at Alvie. Are you sure?

  Yes.

  Why is he here?

  To set us free.

  Greg looked around, and then his mouth fell open. Alvie must have clued him in. Greg reached over and rubbed Iggy’s back, who was still sleeping in Luke’s lap. Iggy opened his eyes lazily and then stretched. He caught sight of Greg and gave him a small grin before his smile disappeared as he took in their surroundings.

  The shadow passed over the windows up above. Iggy hopped on the back of the couch. His movement stirred the Draco into action, and they were now staring up as well.

  Greg leaned closer to Maeve. He kept his voice extremely low. “What do we do?”

  Maeve shook her head. She had no idea. She didn’t like the idea of being used for bait. But she couldn’t think of any way to warn Sammy without endangering the rest of them.

  Apparently Iggy didn’t share the same quandary. “Ig! Ig! Ig!”

  His cries rang out through the wareh
ouse. One of the Draco near them let out a snarl. Greg grabbed Iggy and pulled him into his chest. “Shh, shh.”

  Iggy wants to help. He doesn’t want the Sentinel to be hurt.

  Maeve took Alvie’s hand and squeezed it. Snap crawled over Alvie and into Maeve’s lap. Maeve rubbed her back, feeling the small tremors run through her. Once again, she felt helpless. Helpless to help those with her and helpless to help the creature coming to try and save them.

  Maeve looked at the doors and the windows, trying to figure out where Sammy would enter. Or if he even would. Maybe he would just stay outside until an opportunity presented itself.

  A slight spraying of paint chips from the ceiling was all the warning they had. Sammy crashed through the roof of the warehouse, dropping to the floor.

  Chapter Ninety-Eight

  Sammy landed next to the couch, his wings curled around him. Up close, he was even more intimidating than from a distance. His wings looked sharp and impenetrable. His skin was a dark maroon color. His shoulders were easily four feet across, not including his wingspan.

  He looked up, his gaze sliding over all of them on the couch before he looked to the creatures lining the room. He opened his wings to a full twelve-foot wingspan as he stood and let out a bellow that shook the windows. Maeve covered her ears at the pressure of that scream.

  The Draco cowered against the walls at the sound. But they didn’t stay down long before they attacked. She grabbed Alvie and Snap, pulling them to the floor and covering them. Greg did the same to Luke. He reached for Iggy, but Iggy bounded out of his grasp, flinging himself at one of the Draco sneaking up behind Sammy.

  Iggy plunged one of his talons into the creature’s knee, and it let out a bloodcurdling scream. He used that talon as a lever to swing himself up, plunging the second talon into the creature’s groin before climbing up its chest and plunging both into its eyes.

  Three Draco jumped on Sammy at the same time. Sammy’s wings spread out, flinging them away. One crashed into the couch, shoving it toward Maeve and Greg.