Secrets

by Shannon Pemrick

  We had expected this place to be lit up better, and had planned for such an experience, but we learned quickly that the military really wanted to make this place look like a simple storage house.

  I looked back at Argus when something clicked and he waved me to follow as he opened the door. With quick steps, I closed the distance between us and was careful to shut the door quietly behind me.

  “You’re moving around rather well in this dark environment,” he complimented in a hushed voice.

  “Heat sense,” I replied. “Allows me to see heat signatures, making it a little easier to move around.”

  “That’s handy. Wish I could see. This place is ridiculously dark.”

  I grabbed his hand. “Just follow me. When we get to a good room, I’ll keep watch and you can use a flashlight.”

  “Okay.”

  I led him down the long hall, until we came to the first door on our left. I forced Argus to touch the door so he knew I was choosing this room, and he checked to make sure it wasn’t a secured door. Discovering it wasn’t, he opened it but found it to only be a utility closet. We moved on and tried the next door, only to find it to be a bathroom.

  I sighed and Argus chuckled. “Third time’s the charm?”

  I led on and we tried the next door, but it was an empty room.

  “Guess not this time,” I muttered.

  “Something is weird about this place,” Argus observed. “This hallway feels rather long, and there have only been three doors, with only one leading to a room that happens to be empty?”

  “There are also no sounds of people, or any heat signatures indicating someone has walked or patrolled down here recently.”

  “Do you think it would be unwise to use a flashlight?”

  “We should be extra cautious.”

  “All right.”

  We proceeded on until Argus stopped suddenly.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “I hear the humming of a computer,” he said.

  I blinked. “I only hear a weird buzzing noise, but it’s faint.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about,” he said. “How long have you been hearing that?”

  I shrugged. “Since we passed the utility closet.”

  I watched as he started inspecting the walls. I couldn’t see how that was going to give us an answer, but I let him do his thing. He was the master genius here. To my surprise, he found something. A click behind the wall sounded and then a section of the wall slid away. A hidden door? We peered in and found a large, dark room. Argus turned on a flashlight, to find the room filled with computers and tables with projects in progress.

  I nodded. “You actually found a room. Impressive.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “It wasn’t much, really. I just figured because we hadn’t found any rooms yet, and you said you had been hearing the computers pretty much this whole time, they had to be hidden. It’s a smart move on their part since few would think about hidden rooms.”

  I grinned. “But they didn’t think we’d have a genius on our side.”

  His face reddened a bit and he headed into the room. “I’m no genius. Just a little smart.”

  “Right.”

  Argus went about his job, and checked out the computers while I looked over the projects on the tables. There were several plans laid out that appeared to be weapons, or potential weapons, though I couldn’t read what any of them were. I snatched them up anyway, knowing they’d either be useful to us, or, at the very least, could hinder Zarda’s force a bit if they went missing. The last plan I grabbed caught my eye particularly, and I started to looked it over. The papers depicted large gauntlets, and what looked to be elements coming out of it.

  I looked back to see Argus going to town on the giant computer and I smiled. He looked amused, as if he were enjoying his job. Cute.

  My communicator crackled, pulling my attention away. I adjusted my signal and connected with Rylan as he was finishing his sentence. “Come again? I had signal interference.”

  He sighed. “No wonder you hadn’t heard me call in these last three times.”

  “Three? Wow, I just heard the tail end of this last one and it was rather fuzzy,” I said.

  He chuckled. “Right, right. I was just checking to make sure things were going smoothly in there. It’s quiet out here. Raikidan decided to fly around the compound as an owl just because he’s bored.”

  I chuckled. “Well things are a bit more exciting here. Took us a while, but our resident genius found a hidden room with a lot of good stuff.” I watched as Argus started to become very excited. “And I’ll have to signal you back. It looks like Argus found something of interest.”

  “How good?”

  “Imagine Ryoko in a four-story candy store.”

  Rylan laughed and then cut the connection. I strolled over to Argus and peered over his shoulder. Numbers, symbols, and what I assumed were words ran over the device he was using to hack into the computer.

  “You’re awfully happy.”

  He chuckled. “I’ve found some nice information. I’m pretty sure I can singlehandedly create a few things from most of it.”

  I grinned. “I like the sound of that. Care to share what you found?”

  “The only complete ideas are some new weapon styles that are far more powerful than anything in use now, which use a type of ammunition that would be easier to obtain, or even make. The incomplete ones are mostly weapons, but there’s a plan about special communication devices I’m pretty sure I can work into our communicators.”

  “I’d definitely agree those are some promising finds. But are you sure the files are safe?”

  Argus nodded. “I have a few trace killers running on this device. So if any sort of tracer is attached to any piece of information I’m taking, it’ll be killed immediately.”

  Argus never ceased to impress me. “That’s rather interesting. I had no idea that kind of thing existed.”

  He chuckled. “We smart people don’t like to share the programs so I’m not surprised. The one I created can also destroy the original file if I want.”

  I grinned. “Would you be willing to do that? Not to everything, but anything that would really put a halt to some plans that could give us trouble.”

  He nodded. “As long as you’re okay with these researchers getting into trouble.”

  “I can live with that.”

  Argus shook his head while smiling. “All right.”

  I watched him punch a few buttons on his portable device, and then watched as some of the files on the computer started disappearing. The process fascinated me. Watching Aurora work did the same thing to me. I knew quite a bit about the technology we had, but not like Argus and Aurora. They were something else.

  “Did you find anything?” Argus asked as he continued to punch away on buttons.

  “A few plans,” I replied. “One I think that would be a great idea to consider building from the looks of it, but I’ll give it to you later to decide for yourself.”

  “I’m okay with that.” He then removed his device from the computer. “I’m done. There was a lot of information, including a map of this place and a few other places that I’m sure will come in handy down the road.”

  “Really?”

  He pulled up a map and showed me. “This one is of this building. We’re in the largest room.”

  I nodded. “Makes this find that much more impressive. Do you want to go into these other rooms?”

  He chuckled. “No need. The computers are networked together, so I was able to steal all worthwhile information without needing to leave the room.”

  I almost laughed. “Nice work. I guess we’ll get out of here then.”

  “Might as well, while the odds are in our favor.”


  I nodded and led the way out, making sure I was still cautious and aware of any potential dangers.

  Chapter 17

  Iclicked the power button to my communicator. That had gone well. I knew she’d be happy, but happy would be an understatement for what actually happened.

  Ryoko looked at me eagerly. “Well?”

  “Everything is good,” I said. “She’s excited to have volunteers. Based on her excitement, I’m thinking she hasn’t had any for a while.”

  Ryoko grinned. “Great! I’ll go pack the car up with supplies.”

  I nodded. “Good idea. Grab Rylan and Raikidan to help. The faster we get things packed up, the sooner we’ll get there. I’m going to go tell Genesis everything is good to go, and I’ll grab Raid. I think he’s still sleeping.”

  She nodded and headed for the basement to pull the boys from their little sparring practice. I poked my head into Genesis and Seda’s room, but before I could say something Genesis spoke. “I heard. Glad it’s going to work out. Those children need the help.”

  I nodded. “That’s why I thought about it when Ryoko and I passed it the other day. I could hear she had a lot of kids to take care of, and it sounded as if she had very little to no help.”

  Genesis nodded. “It’ll also be good face for our cause too.”

  “I’m more concerned about the children than our face,” I stated. “Not like we’re going to tell her who we are anyway. Now, I’m going to get Raid.”

  She sighed. “Okay.”

  I had been a bit rude, but I didn’t like that she had been thinking about our cause at the moment, instead of what really mattered. This wasn’t the time.

  I headed down the hall, and when I came to Raid’s room I listened. It was rather quiet but I knocked anyway.

  “Yeah?” The reply surprised me. Even though I hadn’t heard snoring, which he was known for, I didn’t think Raid was awake with how quiet it was in there.

  “It’s me,” I said. “Need to ask something of you.”

  The door opened and Raid smiled at me. “What’s up?”

  “A couple of us are going to volunteer at the orphanage. You wanna come?”

  Raid’s eyes sparkled. “Yeah I do!”

  I chuckled. “Glad you’re excited about the idea. Ryoko, Rylan, and Raikidan are all loading up the car now with supplies.”

  He nodded. “Okay, great. I just have one request.”

  “Okay, what is it?”

  He paused for a moment. “Do you think I can go in my dog shape? I’m having some difficulties controlling my ability today. I promise I won’t talk.”

  “Was that why you were so quiet in here?” I asked.

  He nodded. “I was trying to concentrate and keep things under control.”

  I chewed on my lip as I thought about his request for a moment. “Let me ask the Matron. Some of the children might be afraid of dogs. Or allergic.”

  He nodded and waited as I unclipped my communicator from my belt loop and searched for the right signal again.

  “Hello?” came the answer when I found it.

  “Matron Lyra?” I asked.

  “Oh, Eira, hello again,” she replied pleasantly. “What can I do you for?”

  “My friend, Ryoko, had the idea of bringing our dog with us for the children to play with and I was wondering if that’d be okay. He has all his shots, is friendly, and gentle with small children.”

  “Oh, that would be wonderful!” Matron Lyra said. “The children have been asking for a pet for some time so I think this will be a nice treat for them since I can’t get them one.”

  “All right. I’ll get Raid prepped for the ride. Thank you, Matron Lyra.”

  “I look forward to seeing all of you.” She laughed and I thought I could hear some quiet voices near her. “And the children are getting excited too.”

  I chuckled. “I’ll try to get everyone out the door soon.”

  “See you then.”

  I turned my communicator off and smiled at Raid. “Looks like you’re good to go.”

  Raid’s eyes lit up, and he instantly shifted to his dog form. I laughed as he jumped around and barked with excitement.

  “Careful, I might get the impression you like kids,” I teased.

  He held his head high. “And who says I don’t?”

  I smiled and went to go get him a collar and leash. Hearing that was actually rather nice. I didn’t know many men who were so open about their opinion of children. At least, not in a positive way. As much as I knew I made a terrible parent, I liked children. They were innocent, and most of them were cute. But it was also expected of women to like children. It may be built into our DNA to care for and like them, but it was society that expected more from us. It was a harsh expectation I wasn’t too thrilled about. So hearing men say they cared just as much, or more, about children without those expectations placed on them was a nice thing.

  I grabbed a collar and leash from the closet, as well as a few toys for the kids to choose from. Just as I turned around, Raid jumped up and took the leash and collar from me and took off for the basement. I chuckled and shook my head before following. When I managed to catch up, we were in the garage and he was sitting patiently while the others were loading the last bit of supplies into a SUV. We had collected a lot from other groups, and I hadn’t realized how much had been given until I watched Rylan struggle with shutting the trunk without bending the hatch. The back seat was full, and it appeared some of the items were threatening to spill into the front seats.

  “Ready?” I asked.

  Ryoko nodded. “Yeah that was the last of it. We’re definitely going to have to take more than one car.”

  I snickered. “Yeah I can see that. Raid and Raikidan can come with me.”

  They nodded and I headed for my car while Ryoko and Rylan hopped into the packed SUV. Raid’s tail thumped happily as he tried to sit still as I pulled out of our parking spot, but I wasn’t paying attention what he was doing. I was more interesting with Raikidan. He was quiet and almost looked upset.

  “You okay, Rai?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied. “Just thinking.”

  “You know what we’re doing, right?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, Ryoko told me.”

  “Okay.” I got the feeling he didn’t want to talk. Whatever he was thinking about was making him a bit irritated, and I didn’t want to make it worse. I laughed when Raid started pacing. “Raid, calm down. Your pacing won’t speed up the time it takes to get there.”

  He huffed. “I know. I’m just excited.”

  “I think this is honestly the first time I’ve seen you so excited about something,” I teased.

  Raid ducked his head as if he were embarrassed. “Yeah, so what?”

  “So nothing,” I replied with a small laugh. “It’s just an observation.”

  Raid snorted and went back to his pacing, but Raikidan wasn’t so okay with it. “Will you stop that? It’s annoying!”

  Raid immediately stopped at his outburst and I just stared at Raikidan. “What is your problem?”

  “Nothing,” he muttered. “It was just annoying.”

  “Do you dare lie to my face.”

  “I’m not lying.”

  “Yeah, bullshit.”

  “Hey, Eira, it’s okay. If the pacing is bothering him I’ll stop,” Raid defended.

  “Except your pacing isn’t bothering him. Something else is, and he’s taking it out on you,” I said as I glared at Raikidan before turning my eyes back to the road.

  Raikidan crossed his arms and didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what his problem was, but he had no right to take it out on Raid.

  I pulled up to the orphanage and parked the car. One look at the building and
it had me upset. It looked worse close up than when I had seen in from afar while walking with Ryoko. We may be in the third sector, and the orphanage may look like a real house, but it looked as if a first quarter house had been dumped into the third quarter.

  There was a broken window with plastic over it, and another window that was boarded up. The front porch was broken, and frankly looked unsafe for anyone to step foot on, and the roof looked liked it needed more than a bit of patching. This place needed work, and I couldn’t believe these children had to live here.

  “This place looks awful,” Raid murmured, mirroring my thoughts. “I can’t believe it could be allowed to get to this state.”

  I snorted. “You really think Zarda cares about orphans?”

  “Well, no, he pretty much hates kids, but you’d think the citizens would help out every now and then. At the very least they wouldn’t let this place get into such a state.”

  “Why would they? All they care about is themselves,” I muttered as I climbed out of the car.

  Raid hopped into my seat and waited while I fastened the collar around his furry neck and clipped the leash to him. Rylan walked over to us as Ryoko went about unloading the SUV.

  “Looks like the supplies we brought weren’t what they really needed,” he said.

  “If this place is in this condition, I’m pretty sure they’re going to need the supplies we brought, and more,” I replied.

  “Hey,” Ryoko called. “You going to give me a hand or what, Rylan?”

  “Sorry!” he called back.

  Just as he ran over to help her, the door to the orphanage opened and a slim woman with blonde and gray hair, cerulean eyes, and alabaster skin stepped out. I figured she was Matron Lyra.

  She smiled. “You must be Eira.”

  I nodded. “I am. This is Ray, and the two by the other car are Ryoko and Rylan.” Raid barked and I laughed. “And this is Raid.”

  Two young children poked their heads around Matron Lyra when they heard Raid, and they squealed with joy. Before she could stop them, they ran out to us, and Raid started jumping around with excitement. But to my surprise, the two girls didn’t start petting him right away. They stopped when they got to us and looked at me with pleading eyes.