“Care to give a guy a hand?” he asked her.
She reached down and struggled to pull him up as John struggled to give a push.
“What are you doing?” Liz asked, in a tone John wasn't expecting.
“Um, saving our lives,” he replied. “What does it look like?”
“Did you bother trying to talk to them before stunning them with military grade weapons?” Liz asked him.
“This is not the sort of praise you're supposed to be heaping upon someone who just saved your daughter's life,” John began, “but yes, I warned them off. They didn't listen to me at all.”
“Did you ask them in Chinese?” she clarified.
“Of course not,” John replied defensively. “I don't speak Chinese.”
“You don't,” Liz countered, “but how about your Ksync?”
Trapped once again in an argument he couldn't win, he started walking back toward the cart.
“I'll have to thank you for these talks,” John stated as he walked. “My emotions were getting all mushy remembering the finer points of our marriage. Today has been a good refresher course on everything else. If you'll excuse me, I need to jog back to the cart before the cyanide in the air is all I'm breathing.”
Elizabeth was on the cusp of another point, but John’s comment caught her off guard. Cyanide in the air, yes the helmet indicated dangerous levels were all around them. She had banned its use in mining soon after taking over. It didn't make sense.
The rest of the short walk back to the cart was a silent one. When they reached the vehicle, Stephanie was back in the pilot's spot. Though her audio was muted, it was clear that she was sobbing.
They climbed back into the cart and sealed the windshield. John set the ventilation system to filter out the toxins. In a minute the atmosphere was labeled breathable on the dash computer screen. The three of them retracted their helmets, Stephanie tried to wipe away the tears as though no one would notice.
Both John and Elizabeth gave their daughter a hug from their side of the cart. Then Stephanie suddenly let out all her anxiety.
“I'm sorry,” she blurted out, “something inside me just went off when I heard you two arguing. It was like I was five again, and I needed to find a place to hide.”
Elizabeth started to tear up slightly and kissed Stephanie on top of her head.
“Everyone's fine. It's OK,” she tried to comfort her daughter. “We're finished arguing, and we're going to try to be peaceable right, John?”
John tilted his head in Liz's direction as he tried a small amount of humor. “I can promise a truce... at least for the rest of the cart ride.”
That brought out an inkling of a smile from Stephanie as she tried to get her mind back on piloting. John pulled out the admiral's Ksync, having left his destroyed device back in the tunnel. He mounted it and then brought up the same map he had copied over to his own Ksync.
“Ready to rock and roll?” John asked.
Stephanie nodded in agreement.
“Well let's see what kind of music the admiral had on this Ksync,” John added. “She seemed like the classical music type, but who knows, there could have been some AC/DC in her.”
Once again the cart continued down the lava tube. This time, barely audible outside of the windshield, the “sounds of silence” could be heard in song and deed as they went.
Chapter 43 Valid ID
They parked the cart before reaching the last bend of the tunnel. Around the corner were the last footsteps leading to New China. The cavern had transitioned into a mechanical chamber of sorts. Great machines on the walls conditioned the air around them removing any toxins that could travel into the city. Coming out from behind the cart, Elizabeth was dragging her MARC suit having changed back into her white robes.
“I cannot be seen in this,” she stated bluntly tossing the suit into the cart.
John was about to make a comment about fashion before function, but cut himself off. He had made a promise and wanted to keep it...for as long as possible.
“So what’s this lead to?” he asked.
“It's all automated now,” Liz replied. “If it wasn't for the occasional problem in the mines, we would have walled it up some time ago. There's a security door that we'll go through. It leads to an elevator that rises through the processing center and into the city.”
John pulled out his change of clothes from the cart saying. “Do I really need to wear this?” He waved his own white toga in the air.
“Unless you'd like to be shot before I can wave off the guards,” Liz offered, “then yes.”
John took a turn changing behind the cart followed by Stephanie. When the two ladies stood by each other with the same dress, he realized how much his daughter was a reflection of her mother. She had even put away her neuroband and adjusted her hair like her mother's making the resemblance uncanny.
John pulled a device out of the cart that looked remarkably like Jessica's princess holographic projector.
“Amazing how useful they make toys these days,” John commented. “A few tweaks here and there and you have yourself some first rate espionage gear.”
John activated the holographic projector and then calibrated it with each person's face. One by one the projector gave each one of them a new set of facial features.
“Do you think the fact we look like Barbie dolls, and well a Ken doll, will give us away?” asked Stephanie.
“No, but if your father had bought the Chinese version of Barbie, this would be a bit more convincing,” Elizabeth added.
The three of them then started walking around the bend toward the security point.
“You have to be all man to wear this as a warrior,” John joked.
“Warriors don't wear togas,” Liz remarked. “They wear sagums. Only children and elderly men, or cripples wear togas in New China.”
John shot Liz a look of chagrin.
“And you didn't tell me this because?” John asked.
Elizabeth just laughed as she walked on.
Reaching the security point, the three of them stopped while Elizabeth tried her access code. John noticed two vidcams looking in their direction and hoped they weren't being watched too closely.
The security door emitted a green light and opened. The three of them quickly stepped inside.
“Down this hall is the main processing plant,” Elizabeth said. “There should be a workstation just inside. Avoid looking directly at anyone or any vidcams and we should be fine.”
The three of them stepped past a lift and continued to a second security door. Elizabeth once again entered her access code and was greeted by another green light. The door opened allowing them entry. The chamber beyond was a gigantic underground room. The pipeline from the mines emptied into several large pits in the room. The muddy slush churned and then headed down a canal toward one of many blast furnaces. Several people could be seen working the various machines in the room. These people, however, wore reflective suits designed to endure several dangers in processing the ore.
Elizabeth noted her group's fascination with the processing chamber.
“When I started, these people worked in rags,” Elizabeth remarked. “When their bodies couldn't take the rigor of work, they were cast aside and replaced like broken parts in a machine… even the children. Now they have protective suits and safety precautions.”
“Do children still work here?” Stephanie asked.
“Only the oldest ones,” Elizabeth qualified her response. “You won't find any ten-year-olds working these machines.”
Following Elizabeth's prompts the trio reached the maintenance area.
“What about them?” Stephanie pointed across the chamber. “They aren't wearing any suits, and look at that girl, she can't be much older than Jessica.”
Elizabeth shook her head and was about to disagree, but she didn't as her gaze caught sight of the workers.
“That can't be,” Elizabeth said in dismay. “I forbade that practice... like th
e cyanide...” She didn't finish her thought out loud, but instead entered the codes to gain access to a maintenance room.
One by one they slipped into the small room. Sets of pumps and gauges weaved through the room in crisscross fashion. John deactivated the holographic projector and set it down. Searching the room, Elizabeth found a computer workstation.
“Here we go,” she said.
Logging into the system, Elizabeth sent an audio page to her old friend.
“Sophist Gregory,” she began, “I don't expect you to understand, but it's Sophia. You must return my page. I am alive and well. Please respond.”
Elizabeth waited a dozen seconds and repeated her message. She sighed as there was still no response.
As she was about to page another member of the Order, a voice came over the vidcomm.
“O-Sophia, you cannot be,” an elderly voice stated. “Is this yet another cruel trick of the mind? What more could you hope to gain from my broken body?”
Elizabeth was taken aback by the words of her old friend.
“Gregory,” she said with genuine concern. “Are my fears true? Has Dominic claimed my station? What has he done to you?”
After a moment of silence the raspy voice continued. “You're but a charlatan. This trickery will do you no good. O-Sophia was a kind soul until you claimed her life and threw us into ruin. I refuse to play your games Overman. Now be gone.”
“No! Wait!” Elizabeth cried out. “I'm O-Sophia! I can prove it. Ask me anything. You've known me for so long. I can answer it. You must trust me.”
“On fire,” the voice gave a reply. “My mind is on fire from the questions you have asked me, but there are questions that you cannot know to ask. Secrets that she shared, and I shared with her. Tell me O-Sophia, long ago you traded love for a promise. Tell me then, ghost of O-Sophia, what promise did you sell your heart for?”
Elizabeth couldn't help but glance in Jonathon's direction.
“I... I can't tell you that, not here, not with those I am with,” she replied. “Please, choose another question...”
But before she could continue, the voice began to laugh hysterically. “I knew it. You think you're wiser than all of us, but you're not! Just like your tricks, you are a lie, but I see through them, don't I!”
“I promised to take my fight to Mars, my soldiers and my cause, in exchange for one hundred million in gold bullion,” Elizabeth stated as a matter of fact. She starred straight-faced into the workstation, fully comprehending the betrayal she had revealed.
The voice on the other end of the audio began to cough and wheeze.
“Could it be you?” Gregory said hesitantly. “O-Sophia... but he told me himself, that you had been shot dead. A plasma bolt to the heart.”
“Have you forgotten my gift?” she replied.
The voice didn't reply, but a soft choking of tears came across the audio.
By this time, the shock of Elizabeth's admission had worn off. Stephanie moved to her father and put her face in his shoulder, turning away from her mother. John continued to stand like a pillar. His glare would turn Medusa to stone.
“Who?” is all he said.
Elizabeth didn't respond.
“Who gave you the gold, Liz?” John added his tone as hard as his gaze.
“You don't want to know, John,” she replied continuing to look ahead. “Let me finish this with Dominic and I'll disappear. You won't see me again.”
John stepped forward and grabbed her by the arm, twisting her around.
“Tell me who it was!” he shouted angrily.
Tears streamed down Liz's face. “I've already caused you too much pain. Don't make me cause more!”
John let her go. Her empty answer had told more than words could explain. Confirming his suspicions would have to wait, however, as the door to the maintenance room opened. A small flashing device rolled like a mouse across the floor.
“Grenade!” John yelled as he grabbed onto Stephanie then dove for the cover of a nearby desk.
The grenade exploded in a blinding light accompanied by a sonic blast of deafening magnitude. John couldn't see or hear, but he felt the grip of hands on him restraining his movements. He tried to yell to Stephanie, but he couldn't hear himself let alone any reply.
With a yank his body was picked up, now fully restrained by some sort of clasp. He was lugged around for several minutes. At one point John thought he was in a lift, given the telltale shaking of those that held him. He guessed they had reached a destination when they stopped for some time. This was confirmed by the pain he felt from being dropped onto a hard floor. His shoulder had caught the brunt of the landing forcing a yell of pain from John.
John thought he heard a door closing, which meant he was hearing things or getting his hearing back. The latter proved to be true as his sight began to return to him as well. Having his faculties impaired had distorted his sense of time. It felt like hours before his sight fully returned. Examining his surroundings, John found himself in a pure white room. It was furnished solely with a solid slab for a bed. Silver metallic bars prevented him from leaving the room and seeing what was in the corridor beyond. A barely audible hum told John the bars were reinforced with an electrical field.
A clicking sound came from down the corridor. Several clicking sounds, in fact, echoed off the walls. As the clicks grew louder they resolved into three men. Two were dressed in military grade suits much like his MARC gear. The man standing in the middle of them was none other than Dominic Andreou.
“Wait down the hall,” Dominic commanded the men, waving them off.
He looked through the bars at John. “Well old friend, I didn't think we would be crossing paths again.”
“Mars is also a small world,” John replied.
“Yes it is,” Dominic agreed. “Your world, however, should be spread across the North Sea right now.”
“Sorry to have to disappoint you... well, again,” John returned an effective barb judging by the look on Dominic’s face.
“Speaking of disappointments,” Dominic replied, “where is that lovely woman of yours these days? Off mating with other Neanderthals by now?” He cast a taunt of his own in John's direction.
“Nope, I guess having me around makes everyone else inconsequential,” he batted back.
Dominic yanked open the unlocked door and stepped inside the cell.
“Well, I guess having you around is… a problem,” he said, sounding too confident.
“The only problem you need to worry about is what I'm going to do to you if you've harmed Stephanie,” John said menacingly. He stood up. “And where’s Elizabeth?”
“I don't think you fully appreciate your current lack of leverage,” Dominic replied coolly.
John didn't like the fact he had just painted himself into a corner. Like a magician trapped in an iron cage, it was time to show Dom a few of his new tricks.
That idea ground to a halt as Dominic dropped the pieces of his neuroband on the floor in front of him one at a time.
“Missing this by chance?” Dominic asked. “I wouldn't want you crawling into my mind, I hope you understand. Of course, it's not a great loss. Like the pathetic toy you used to enter my city, it has become outdated. I think you'll find my improvements mind shattering.”
“Maybe you'll like my improvements to your face,” John said as he threw a right hook toward Dominic's jaw. The blow, however, never landed as John instead pulled his swing at the last moment. He grabbed his head in pain, falling to his knees.
“That's the position of respect I deserve from you,” Dominic delighted in the circumstances. “I must say most men would be unconscious by now, John. You really are hard headed. No matter, I have a better idea for how you can make amends.”
Dominic clapped his hands and the two warriors returned to the room.
“Take him down to the mines where he came from,” he commanded. “Give him a re-breather and leave him.”
“Zito Andreou!” the warriors
replied as they bowed. After securing John's hands and feet with locking clamps, they started dragging him down the corridor toward the mines.
Dominic was satisfied with his judgment. Their past friendship kept him from shooting John with his pistol. These were leftover hesitations he needed to discard. John would be afforded a challenge to prove he was fit to live. The universal test of the worthy. Either he would show the strength to survive, or he would fall victim to his own inadequacies. Perhaps this would be the trial he used for any who defied him. It warranted more contemplation.
*
Chapter 44 Welcoming Committee
Several anxious hours passed since the trio had left the mining complex. Ashley and Glennay had put the time to good use, managing to revive the abandoned command center computers. It also helped to take their minds off the long delay. They had found several of the facility’s internal and external cameras were still functional. Glennay had even managed to get power to the surface mining operations. Ashley was hesitant to bring the grid back up, but Glennay had insisted she had an idea for the mining machines outside.
Ashley unearthed several new facts about her good friend. Glennay had spent several years growing up in West Virginia. Her family lineage stretched back to the days of strip mining for coal along the Appalachian Mountains. Her fascination with technology been passed down by her father who was a mining engineer.
“All that talk about spas and living the glamorous life was a farce?” Ashley asked Glennay.
Glennay turned to Ashley giving her a patented look of disapproval.
“Of course not,” she denied the entire accusation. “Well maybe if you were talking about the years I grew up in Mingo County. Changing her voice to a rural accent she continued. “I left my heart on the side of those country roads with the kindest people I've ever known.” Switching her voice back she winked at Ashley. “But I picked up my fashion sense years later from walking the Magnificent Mile.”
“You never cease to amaze,” Ashley replied.
Curious Sols (The Sol Principle Book 1) Page 30