Seeing Samantha’s plight with Polly, Suki immediately traced her teammate’s feet with the chalk before she toppled under the weight of terrier and spear-gun, then reached back to trace her own. The other team members did likewise before taking a step.
“Polly!” Samantha yelled as her dog scrambled off of her, then clapped her hand to her mouth. Silence would, of course, be advisable in the enemy’s citadel. “Bad dog!” she shout-whispered, looking around nervously.
Marvin was already at the time machine’s controls, moving obsidian pieces and referring to his notes on several sheets of paper that he’d brought to aid him in his task. Suki and Brianna, too, were quickly effective at locating the central computer and attaching their specially-fitted communicators to the appropriate ports after a brief discussion as to which ones were the correct ones. It looked like Polly was staying, for better or worse; there was no time to discuss a change in plans. Someone would have to scoop her up and hold her while they prepared to transport back. If they transported back...
“Okay, Professor,” Brianna spoke to no one, as her communicator was now in use, “here it comes.” She pushed the talk button.
Instantly, there was a huge BOOM, and they were all knocked off their feet as the entire building shook. Marvin swore as his arrangement of obsidian pieces was scattered onto the floor, leaping off of their pedestal, and he scrambled to his feet, trying to pick them all up and start over.
“Professor!” Samantha piped into her wrist-communicator, “what was that!?”
“Working on it,” his voice came back. Suki and Brianna’s communicators were still hooked into the central computer and presumably transmitting information to their leader.
Things got worse quickly, however. The temperature in the room was rising dramatically, and it looked as though cracks were forming in one area of the domed roof.
“All right,” Smythe’s voice came back through all the communicators (evidently Suki’s and Brianna’s could still receive). “Listen. You seem to have triggered something bad.”
“No Duh!” Brianna yelled.
“I’m afraid it’s a bit of a self-destruct mechanism for the entire base. I didn’t anticipate this, I–I’m sorry. According to some of these files, you can try to stop it by replacing a... wait a minute... a... crystal relay. That must be what we fried by tapping into their computer.”
“What’s happening!?” Samantha asked hurriedly.
“It’s–it’s opened a channel into the volcano. We can try to close it again with a new crystal relay. There’s–there should be one in a compartment–on the floor, ah, um, under the main control panel. Suki, I’m sending back a schematic of the circuit you’ll need to put it in–it should pop up on a screen there. Marvin, as soon as you could finish that, ah, well, that would be jolly good.”
“Yo, I’m goin’ as fast as I can! You want me to screw it up!?”
“No! I mean–take your time, then.”
“I’ve got the crystal–uh–relay-thingy! I found it!” Brianna beamed.
“Good. Suki - do you see the schematic?”
“Got it,” Suki replied. A diagram of the circuit board and its location appeared on the huge main video screen.
Another BOOM occurred, and everyone again went flying. Marvin managed to fling himself over the control panel so that most of his work was preserved, but the crystal relay flew out of Brianna’s hand and over toward the time machine’s central stone platform. The most ominous result of this latest blast, however, was that a chunk of ceiling had fallen in where the cracks had begun forming, and glowing, molten lava was now oozing into the chamber.
“Professor, there’s lava dripping through the ceiling!” Samantha spoke into her communicator, “and it’s getting really, really hot in here!” Marvin was dripping sweat at the time machine’s controls and Brianna looked as if she might pass out.
“Hmmm. Not good. How are you doing, Marvin?”
“I–I think I’m about halfway there, as long as there are no more quakes or explosions.”
“Cover your work, NOW,” Samantha said decisively, wiping sweat from her forehead, “there’s going to be one more.” She shouldered the NEPTUNE-60 and aimed it at one of the high windows in the domed ceiling. She gritted her teeth, released the safety as The Professor had showed her and squeezed the trigger.
The building shook again, and this time a major spurt of saltwater became a powerful, steady stream through a large crack in the window that Samantha had fired at. It was amazing to her that the entire window hadn’t shattered, the explosion had been so loud. She could see now, though, that it was made from glass or plastic that was at least eight inches thick, and only a chunk of about a foot square had been totally blown out by her explosive-tipped spear. The rest was still holding, for now.
“Samantha, what are you doing!!?” Suki screamed, almost fainting from the heat.
“She’s being resourceful,” Smythe’s voice came over the communicators, sounding pleased. Indeed, her idea had been a good one; the jet of water that was spraying across the room was cooling the lava–and the air–to a more tolerable level. The flow of lava was slowed and a large puddle began forming on the floor. Also, the room was filling with steam from where the water actually came in contact with the lava and evaporated, instantaneously. In a way this was good–it meant the base would take that much longer to fill with liquid water, which would eventually drown them, though the excess of steam did coat them all in condensation and was beginning to cause visibility problems.
There was, in addition, the fact that there is only so long that a team of adventurers will go unnoticed after breaking into an enemy’s central computer and triggering a self-destruct sequence for their entire evil undersea base. This amount of time had, sadly, run out.
“Uh-oh... ” Brianna shrank as all the sliding doors in the room slid down, sealing them in to either be encased in burning lava, drown in very warm water or scald their insides by breathing if the atmosphere in the chamber became too highly saturated with steam. And–they were no longer alone.
The circuit schematic disappeared from the main video screen and was replaced by the image of a shadowed figure, shark-like in profile but seated in what looked like a high-backed, Victorian armchair. It appeared to be smoking through a long, plastic cigarette filter, and wheezing or chuckling or something–it was a most unsettling sound, in any case.
“Welcome, humans,” a voice half-choked, half-hissed. “Rather inconsiderate of you to arrive in such a fashion, toting guns and making such a mess.” Its accent sounded British, but not like The Professor’s. Possibly it was Australian–though in fact it could hardly be called human at all. “I suppose I’ll have to leave you to your fates here–though I’m afraid I’m going to need that time machine, and any of that fabulous chalk I’m sure at least one of you is carrying. We’ve really had to ‘rough it’ without our own, as I’m sure you know.” Samantha shivered as she watched the gruesome silhouette through the steamy haze. She looked over at Marvin and gestured to him with the ‘let’s get it rolling’ hand motion, as he had become somewhat (understandably) distracted by the sinister onscreen presence.
“You’re not getting any chalk, and your time machine is minutes from being history,” Samantha said boldly. Somehow it was easier to be brave with an explosive-tipped spear-gun slung over one’s shoulder.
“Of course I am, tadpole,” the figure chuckled or gurgled. “Jordan will be by momentarily with some friends. They can be very persuasive, Jordan’s friends. I’d suggest you give them what they want, or else they might decide they want your legs instead.”
“Bring ’em on, Slane,” Samantha barked back at who must be Jordan’s mysterious father, Vassily, hardly believing it was she who was speaking the words. “The world is a place that evolves naturally–maybe the fact that your kind exists is even proof of this. But you can’t force it. You can’t make the world into something that only supports your kind. I know you think that’s what we
humans do but, well, there are a lot more of us. You’re a freak, Slane, an evolutionary accident, one that knew it was it was a mistake and so cut off its own development.”
“You know nothing, child,” Vassily Slane’s voice grew angrier. “My kind is genetic perfection. There are only more of you because you are persistent little bacteria that must–and will be eradicated.” The screen went blank, to everyone’s shock. Samantha looked at her teammates and then back at the blank screen, indignant.
“He hung up on me,” Samantha said in disbelief. She nodded for a second and bit her lip a little, then slung her NEPTUNE-60 down and fired another projectile straight into the massive video monitor. It blew into tiny fragments and cracked the wall behind it slightly, and another chunk of thick glass broke through on the already damaged window, increasing the flow of high-pressure water into the now sealed room.
“Watch it with that thing!” Brianna yelled, getting up from a crouching position that she and Suki had assumed when their ‘cool, level-headed team leader’ suddenly decided to fire a rocket right over their heads.
“Yeah, jeez, Samantha!” Suki registered her astonishment, brushing debris off of her jacket.
“I knew I shouldn’t have given you a NEPTUNE-60. I knew it!” Professor Smythe’s voice piped in over the communicators.
“Sorry,” Samantha smiled a slightly crazed smile. “I’m better now.”
“Yo, da girl smells somethin’ fishy, her trigger-finger gets itchy on the NEPTUNE-60, the walls get crispy ’cause Sam Smart’s no sissy... ” Marvin broke into a nervous rap.
“Okay, Marvin, thanks,” Samantha said curtly.
“Almost there, girl,” Marvin said, feverishly shuffling through his reference sheets and comparing them with his own arrangement.
There were now at least a few inches of water covering the floor, and Polly, having an aversion to deep water, was starting to ‘bug out’ a little. The steady influx of ocean had mostly stopped the lava from flowing, though small cracks were opening in new spots in the domed roof that glowed with the orange intensity of molten rock. Suki was sliding out circuit-board panels, trying to locate the one they needed, from memory, since The Professor’s transmitted diagram had been cut off by Vassily Slane; there was also the fact that there was no video screen left to view it on now, thanks to Samantha’s unexpected cowboy assault. Brianna was over by the time machine trying to find the crystal relay, which now lay somewhere under four inches of water. Samantha held the NEPTUNE-60 at the ready, looking back and forth between the three doors in the chamber. They would have company soon, she wagered.
It was even sooner than she anticipated. They did have a few seconds of warning from The Professor, who was apparently still wired into the central computer and could presumably monitor the movements of anyone or anything within the base.
“Samantha, I’m reading several things in motion, just outside the chamber and closing in on you. They’re opening all the doors. Forget the crystal relay. Suki, Brianna, find your footprints and stand in them. Samantha, cover Marvin for as long as you can and then get to the footprints yourself.”
Smythe’s orders were firm and deliberate. Suki and Brianna did as they were told, abandoning their respective tasks and searching for the footprints through the haze. Samantha fidgeted nervously with her trigger finger. Then the doors opened.
An immense wall of water poured in from three directions, almost knocking them all off their feet. Samantha planted hers wide and braced herself for the impact of thousands of gallons of extra liquid, standing her ground with much difficulty. She only weighed around a hundred pounds, if that, though the NEPTUNE-60 probably added another forty, which helped her to stay put.
The other girls, equally small, were knocked over, and began swimming to get back to the footprints. Marvin, who was fairly heavy for his age and was out of the direct flow of the impact, had little trouble maintaining his position. Polly, of course, took the worst of it. She was practically washed out one of the chamber’s doors, but fortunately was washed back toward the center of the room by an opposing wave. She swam with all her might toward the stone platform in the center of the time machine’s ring of stones.
The water level now stood at just under two feet deep, thanks to the recent addition of thousands more gallons from outside the chamber. Samantha figured that some other windows or walls somewhere in the base must have cracked in the quakes–They must be bigger holes, she thought, on the edge of panic. She did not relish the idea of drowning with her dog and all her friends, faces pressed against the ceiling as they gasped for the last two inches of air. There would be no escape. They were miles beneath the surface of the ocean. Hurry up, Marvin, she prayed silently.
Her attention was diverted quickly, though, albeit not by anything happy or reassuring. Through the haze of steam she could see dorsal fins moving through the shallow but rising water. She wiped the sweat from her brow and hefted the NEPTUNE-60. Steady... aim... fire. BOOM! Water and shark flesh flew into the air. Aim... fire. BOOM! Another one went to meet its maker, or at least the wall. Samantha kept going.
It was like one of the video games that her brother played. One was going for Suki and Brianna and–BOOM! Two went after Marvin, perhaps sensing the importance of his actions or somehow alerted to them by their more evolved masters. BOOM! BOOM! Two more splatters on the wall. Another went straight for Polly, sticking its nose and open jaws up out of the water and about to snap her up like a bite-sized morsel of chocolate and cheese. BOOM! Don’t mess with my dog, Samantha’s voice sounded in her head. The shark exploded all over the time machine’s stone platform as well as Polly, who calmly licked some of its fishy remains from her own face and gave a little dog smile, panting. This caused Suki and Brianna to make disgusted faces and sounds of great distaste.
This went on for several minutes, sharks almost reaching Alpha Team members and Samantha picking them off with the NEPTUNE-60 until what looked like a special, much larger shark appeared in the doorway closest to the time machine. She fired at it but missed–it moved like lightning–and the spear exploded part of an internal wall, further weakening the structure. She jerked her head up for a split-second as another chunk of window broke away, and then the entire window. There was now a huge, high-pressured stream of ocean water pouring into one side of the room, which no doubt would have filled the chamber in minutes if its three doors had still been shut. As it was, the water level was now rising by an inch a minute. The huge super-shark morphed, changing into the handsome young image of Jordan Anderson/Slane, and stood, clothing-free, in two and a half feet of water. He was... beautiful.
“Hello, Samantha,” he smiled, his flexing muscles in an unfair assault on her hormonal response mechanisms. “It doesn’t have to be this way,” he said gently, raising a hand and glancing nervously over at Marvin. “We can figure out a way to share the world, if we must.”
“Sharing doesn’t seem to be in your nature, Jordan,” she sneered at him, keeping the NEPTUNE-60 leveled at him. There were only two spears left.
“It’s my father,” he said almost pleadingly. “It’s not me, Samantha! I don’t–I don’t really care if we share the planet with humans–all I ever wanted to do was sing, and live, well, as normally as someone like me could live. I know I’m different,” he continued emotionally, “I’ve–I’ve always been different, but I wanted to–to fit in, to be human, to be loved and to love... to love... somebody like you... ” His hands fell to his sides in a gesture of symbolic surrender, a perfect specimen of humanity who wasn’t even human. Samantha’s heart was torn.
A few months ago, she would’ve been in heaven to have heard Jordan Anderson of Heatwavvve say those words to her. Every fiber of her being ached, wanted to believe him. Was he just another pawn in this game, dominated by a powerful, abusive father who was more likely the real villain here? He had a genuine air about him, the air of someone who was lost and was just looking, indeed searching desperately for meaning, for a home or a purpo
se. Samantha looked at Suki and Brianna, who stood in a similar state of confusion. They had all been Heatwavvve fans, and looked equally uncertain as to what the best course of action would be at this point.
She looked back at Jordan. Beautiful, naked, helpless-looking Jordan, hardly an adult himself and begging for forgiveness, direction and any sense of belonging that someone could give him. She stared, closely, at the iris of his eye–it was as black as the obsidian beads that Marvin was moving around on the time machine’s control panel. He stared back. A minute passed, another inch of water filled the room. She bit her lip. He shot a quick glance toward Marvin, who had almost completed his task. Something gleamed through the haze, a reflection of a tooth–a very sharp, pointy tooth.
“Jordan,” Samantha smiled at him calmly. “Your band sucks.” With this she squeezed the trigger of the NEPTUNE-60, firing a spear straight into his incredibly toned, tan abdominal muscles. He tried to avoid it, half-morphing back into a shark and making an awful, loud, inhuman sound of anguish and evil, but it caught him right in the gut before he could react and exploded, blowing a massive hole in his half-man, half-shark torso and throwing what was left of him back against the wall behind the time machine. He floated there, not moving. Everyone stared with mouths open at what had just happened. Samantha wiped a tear from her face and sniffled, turning abruptly toward the stone platform.
“Polly!” she yelled, “come here girl!” Polly ran in circles on the stone platform, whose surface was now only an inch or two above the waterline. She looked around, disoriented in the haze, and whined.
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