“Why the hell would we want to go back there?” Rip asks. “It’s sealed off. We’re trapped in here.”
Alyx shakes her head. “There has to be a release lever or something to open the door.” She thinks about this. “Unless it’s only located outside. The black rock.”
“So, our only hope is that ginger soldier out there? Um…whatever his name is.” Gerty looks away, obviously trying to remember the boy’s name.
“Connors,” Alyx says.
“Huh?”
Alyx smiles. “His name is Connors.”
Gerty’s eyes light up. “Oh, yeah.”
“But yes,” Alyx says. “If there’s no internal release, he’s our only hope, I think.”
“You don’t think there might be a backway out?” Rip asks.
She ponders this a moment. “Maybe. There’s usually a few exits in temples, but this is different. This is more like a slaughter house. A sacrificial building.” She cocks a thumb over her shoulder. “That creature is supposed to feed on whoever gets put in here. It’s also like a giant puzzle. If the sacrifices can figure it out, they go free. But that’s just a theory.”
“Makes sense with that orb in the room back there,” Rip says.
Alyx nods. “And I think if we can find more releases like that, we’ll get out of here.”
Gerty gives her a wan smile. “Well, here goes nothing.”
They backtrack to the first passageway Alyx noticed in a blur the first time. It stretches out into complete darkness.
Gerty laughs nervously. “I’m getting sick of these things.”
“You’ll do fine. Remember, think of your favorite open space.”
The girl nods, though her face is sullen. Alyx knows the last thing she wants are more tight spaces, but if this is a way out, then it’s a way out. She can almost see the gears turning in Gerty’s head right now. Weighing pros and cons.
“Whatever we’re doing, let’s get it done,” Rip says. “He’s starting to get heavy.”
Without another word, Alyx leads them into the narrow passageway.
About ten feet from the opening, the floor trembles and a stone door slams down, shutting them in.
“You gotta be fucking kidding me,” Gerty says.
Alyx sighs, turns to face the long darkness ahead and says, “Traps. I hate traps.”
SEVENTEEN
All around them, the building groans. A low, ominous sound that slips under the skin like slivers of ice.
“What is that?” Gerty asks.
“The place is waking up,” Alyx says.
“Waking up? It’s not alive, it’s a goddamn building.”
Alyx doesn’t respond as her mind churns with thoughts. Maybe it’s not alive, but it’s definitely a working machine. An old machine, yet one still very much functional. And like any machine, it has an off switch. It has a way to stop it. The trick is finding the off switch before they all die in here of dehydration and starvation. And that switch just might very well be in the main chamber. Maybe she’s wrong, but checking it off the list will help move her in another direction. Process of elimination. Or something.
She’s just happy the batteries on their shoulder lamps haven’t expired yet. Without light, this venture would be much slower. Military grade batteries are wonderful things.
The walls of the passageway are covered in strange glyphs.
If she had more time, maybe she’d try to decipher them.
But she doesn’t have time. All that matters is getting out of this place.
“Hold up,” Rip says. His face is sheened with sweat and he’s breathing heavily. “I need to set him down for a minute.”
Alyx and Gerty help lower Sully to the floor.
The man mutters, “The…gates.”
“Gates?” Alyx props him up against the wall and kneels in front of him. “What gates, Sully?”
But the old man’s head droops. His face tenses, as if in pain. His body shudders. A muffled, yet shrill beep sounds from inside his chest. A thin whine from within. A sound she’s never heard before but can assume it’s not good. And the way Sully slouches against the wall, she really doesn’t have to assume much at all.
With a trembling hand, she reaches out and presses her fingertips on Sully’s neck, right over the artery. Nothing.
She draws her hand back quick, as if touching something extremely hot…or cold.
“No,” she whispers, tears welling in her eyes. Her vision blurs, and someone, maybe Gerty places their hands on her shoulders.
Alyx shakes her head. “No. He can’t be gone. Not now.” She slaps Sully across his pale face. The sound is sharp, loud and brimming with sorrow. “Wake up! Wake up, damn you! Your daughter needs you!” She slaps him again and again. “Wake up, Sully, you hear me? Wake up!”
Hot tears cascade down her cheeks and she goes to slap the man again. A large hand catches her by the wrist, and when she looks up, she sees Rip’s face swimming in tears.
“He’s gone,” Rip says in a low, gentle tone.
“N-No,” Alyx says. “Check him. He’s alive.”
Gerty steps over Alyx, crouches, and places her fingers over the same artery as Alyx had. And when the girl doesn’t move for almost a minute, hope springs inside Alyx. Then Gerty looks at her sullenly and shakes her head.
“He’s gone, hun.”
Alyx bites back a sob. She wants to hit him again. If he knew of his condition, then why the hell did he accept such a dangerous mission? If he needed money so badly, why hadn’t he gotten ahold of her? Surely he’d been keeping tabs. All he had to do was reach out and she would’ve given him the money he needed.
But would you have? Really? The voice inside sounds too much like the emotionless pirate side of her. And she hates it. No. You wanna know what I think? I think you would’ve bought him coffee, talked the old days and sent him packing without a dime.
She hates it, because it’s the truth. She’d been so hung up on money and retiring to her own private island on some lazy planet she would’ve had a few laughs with the man. Reminisced a bit, then they’d go their separate ways.
God, when did she become such an asshole?
“Come on,” Rip says, helping her to her feet. He turns her to him, large hands firmly on her shoulders. “I’ll incinerate him to go with the others, if you want.”
She spares a final look at Sully. Her mentor. Her good friend. The one who taught her more than just exploration and archeology. He’s the man who taught her how to remain human.
“No,” she says. “He’d want to stay here.”
“He would?” Gerty lifts an eyebrow.
Alyx pulls away from Rip and kneels in front of Sully. She rests a hand on his sunken chest. “He never wanted a funeral. He told me once, that if he ever died while working, to leave him where he lay.” She wipes away a stray tear. “So he can continue the adventure in a new life.” She pats his chest and something metallic glimmers from the inner pocket of his jacket.
Blinking, she brings the cylinder object out of his pocket. She turns it over in her hands.
“What’s that?” Rip asks.
“A voice recorder, I think,” Alyx says and slips it into the pocket of her pants.
She stands, sighs and smiles. “Happy venturing, Sully.”
Then she walks away, leaving Gerty and Rip to gape at her as she goes.
She can’t linger around the old man anymore. Sully wouldn’t want that. He—
A loud roar crashes down the passageway.
“The fuck was that?” Gerty asks.
Alyx, upholstering her revolver, says, “Something hungry.”
“I thought it was just one,” Rip says.
“Me too,” Alyx says, pointing her gun at the darkness.
But after a few moments of nothing, she holsters the gun and turns to her friends. “Probably the building and all the pressure going on.”
“Wait, is thing going to explode?” Gerty’s gaze shifts to the ceiling.
“No,” Alyx says. “It’s like a pressurized machine.”
“I see. Can we get the hell out of here now?”
Alyx smiles. “Let’s go.”
They hurry down the passageway, leaving Sullivan White’s body where it lies.
EIGHTEEN
The passageway breaks off into smaller tunnels. Too small for anyone to fit through comfortably, until they come to a T-intersection.
“It’s like the damn tunnels all over again,” Gerty spouts.
Alyx checks out both passageways. They’re the same in width and height. Neither one appears better than the other.
Shit.
She stares at the left passage for a long time. In any other situation, this one will lead them back to the main chamber. But…seeing how this place is a machine of sorts, then…
“We go right,” she says.
“You sure?” Rip asks. “Left makes more sense.”
“It does. But everything in this place is rearranged. Nothing ever moves, yet it does. It uses illusions, I think. Like the tunnels.”
“So everything is the opposite?” Rip asks.
“Something like that. But I’m not sure.”
She enters the passage on the right. For as far as the shoulder lights shine, the passageway is clear.
They walk for what feels like forever. Hours, probably. The passage appears to have no end. As they walk, Gerty and Rip chat quietly. Something about transferring to a different base.
Alyx brings out the voice recorder. It’s about four inches long with a narrow screen embedded in it. A mesh section toward the top indicates the microphone. Toward the bottom is another mesh section. The speaker.
On the screen, there are three options. Play. Record. Transmit.
Frowning, she touches Play. A list pops up.
She saw Sully talking into it twice and decides to play the second to last recording.
Soon, Sully’s weary voice floats out of the speaker.
“The dead await us on the other side of these walls. It’s the only explanation which makes sense. My esteemed protégé, Dr. Alyx Wick, is assisting me on this discovery. I am glad to have her here, for her talents exceed my own. I just hope the Marines of Company 3 will respect her more. It saddens me to see her struggle with them. If they only knew how great she truly is then maybe they’d listen to her. I now stand before the opening to the sacrificial area of the city and expect death to greet us as I know no matter how much I prepare them, the others won’t be ready for the sight. Sullivan White, out.”
Tears threaten to fill her eyes again and Alyx forces them back. Barely.
“Wow,” Gerty says. “He was like a dad, wasn’t he?”
Alyx sniffles, smiles. “Y-Yeah. He taught me everything I know.”
Beside her now, Gerty nudges her lightly. “Not everything. Besides, you rock.”
Alyx shakes her head, chuckling. Praise is something she’s not used to.
“And we’re here for you through it all,” Rip adds.
“Thank you,” Alyx says.
Who knew she’d make friends out of Marines? They were just people, but strictly trained people. People made to fight and kill. People made without emotion. How Rip and Gerty retained their emotions is beyond Alyx.
She plays the last recording.
“Thanks to Dr. Alyx Wick’s intuition, we have gained access to the inner building, for which I can only assume is made for sacrifices. We were in a large chamber lined with oval protrusions. Next to each is the entry to a passageway. Like tunnels, I suppose. And when Dr. Wick lifted the artifact from the altar, we found ourselves in a smaller chamber. Something was breaking free of one of the protrusions. I fear there is more than meets the eye in this place. I just hope Dr. Wick feels it too. I hope, because my heart equalizer is stalling. I’m not sure how much longer I have left. I want all listening to this to know Dr. Alyx Wick is the answer to all explorations.”
Alyx blinks away more tears.
He knew something wasn’t right the moment they stepped into the smaller chamber. He knew and he tried to warn her. The muttering he was doing. He was trying to tell her to watch out. Trying to get her attention, because he knew the place was built in a way to surprise and slaughter those trapped inside.
She’s about to pocket the recorder when she notices a new message under the transmit option.
Her thumb hovers over this for a moment, then she touches it.
“Dr. White, this is Vilas. How are things down there? The rescue team has arrived. I am stalling. Hopefully you retrieve the artifact soon. I’m not sure how long I can keep them distracted. If they continue pushing, I may have to kill them. I know you said you didn’t want any more death, but…”
Vilas’s voice cuts off into static.
Alyx opens her mouth, closes it, not sure what to think or say. She sets the recorder in her pack.
“The shit?” Gerty pushes around Alyx to face her. “He was working with Vilas?”
Alyx’s hand brushes along something cold inside the pack. Her eyes widen and she brings out the octagonal artifact. “I guess he was. But it must have been for a good reason. Sully didn’t have a bad bone in his body.” She holds up the artifact. “But without this, Vilas won’t leave us here.”
“Okay, only none of that made sense,” Gerty says, rolling her eyes. “He was working with that bastard up there. Nothing about that feels right.”
“And Vilas still has Lance,” Rip says.
“That’s if Lance isn’t already dead,” Gerty nearly shouts.
“He’s not,” Alyx says, returning the artifact to her pack. “Now let’s get out of here.”
The passageway veers to the left. The curve getting sharper and sharper.
A scream echoes through the passageway. She stops, trying to see around the curve. A series of short-burst gunfire trails the scream. Then…silence.
“If you tell me that was pressure build-up, I’m gonna punch you in the face,” Gerty says.
“Definitely not pressure build-up,” Alyx says. “Keep moving.”
They round the curve and find themselves about ten feet from a stone door.
“Great,” Gerty says. “It’s like being stuck in a tube.”
“Shh,” Alyx says and carefully approaches the door.
Her sight slips over every spot on the floor, shifts to the walls, the ceiling, until finally resting on the door itself. There’s no sign of any way to open the door. At least, nothing visible quite yet. Alyx traces her fingertips along the sides of the door.
“Finding anything?” Gerty asks.
Alyx chokes back her irritation. Having her full focus is important. She needs to connect with places. Needs the quiet. People talking interrupts the connection. It—
A small piece of the wall to the right of the door flakes off, revealing a red gem. Something similar to a ruby only littered with blue flecks.
“Everyone stand back. Not sure what’s behind this door,” Alyx says, then presses the red gem. It shakes under her finger, sinks into the wall, and disappears.
She steps away, heart whip-cracking against her ribs. But nothing more happens. Where the gem used to be is now but a hole in the wall.
“Huh,” Gery says. “Well, that was—”
The door drops into the floor. Dust plumes, cutting off their sight into whatever awaits beyond.
Alyx draws her revolver, just in case and—
“Hey,” Gery says. “It’s where we started. You did it, Alyx!”
Alyx waves a hand to clear the dust away from her face and smiles. The main chamber sprawls before her. Her sight glides over the white altar, the partial metal cage on the floor, and she can’t help but think about Sully. Dear, kind Sully who only wanted to get enough money to save his daughter from the awfulness of ALS. Sully who—
Then her gaze falls on the broken oval. The section of wall the beast broke out of. A translucent substance drips out of the crater. The thing this entire temple, or whatever, was built for, no doubt.
Well, at least it was only one and…
But her sight drifts to the next oval protrusion. Like the one beside it, it’s broken wide open. More of that translucent substance oozes out onto the floor. She can’t help thinking about eggs. And the stink as they enter the chamber is something like spoiled milk. Milk months old opened for the first time. A sour reek.
Alyx turns slowly, taking in the scene. All of the oval protrusions are broken open. All eight of them.
“Um,” Gerty says. “Weren’t those other ones solid before?”
“Yeah.”
“This isn’t good, is it?”
“Nope.”
Alyx hurries to the main door. It’s much wider than the others, but she checks out possible ways to open it from the inside. There’s no orb in the ceiling. Likewise, there’s no red gem on either side of the door. She even has Rip brush along the top, above the door, just to make sure. Nothing.
She drops to her hands and knees, inspecting the floor, but again, there’s nothing. And apparently Private Connors hasn’t either noticed, or figured out how to open the door.
“Shit,” Rip says. “So, what now?”
Alyx stands, shakes her head and looks around. The large chamber is what Sully would call an empty cell. Meaning, there’s absolutely no puzzle to solve. A dead end. Or a way to distract…
Her eyes widen.
But she’s too late. The creature skids into the chamber from one of the passageways. It slams into the altar, rebounds and faces Alyx, Gerty and Rip. Its wolf-like head lowers, muzzle peeling away from long teeth. It’s about the size of a male lion. Drool drips onto the stone floor. A low growl rumbles through the chamber. Its white skin ripples as it slowly moves toward them.
Rip steps in front of the women and open fires.
Alyx steps aside, points her revolver at the thing and shoots. She hits it twice before it darts to the right, hops onto the altar like a grotesque gargoyle, and leaps at them. Gerty joins Rip, pumping laser sonic rounds into the beast. Black blood mists the air as the thing’s momentum carries it directly into Rip before he can move away.
Both beast and man slam to the floor. Still alive, it clamps its maw onto his shoulder. Rip roars in mingled pain and what Alyx can only assume is rage. He slams the muzzle of his rifle into the creature’s temple and pulls the trigger. Its head explodes into an inkblot, splattering Rip and Gerty.
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