The Portal (A Delphi Group Thriller Book 2)

by John Sneeden

  The girl was only about twenty yards away now, and he projected that if she stayed on course, she would enter the woods just to his right. That presented a dilemma, particularly if she was being followed. If he let her pass, there was a risk she’d see them and cry out. If he attempted to subdue her, he risked putting all three of them in harm’s way if she was armed.

  Zane rose slowly to one knee. He had to bring the girl down. They were well concealed, but she would only be a few feet away. That meant there was a very high likelihood that she’d see them. And if she were armed, she might be able to inflict some damage if she acted first.

  Zane gave Bennett a signal that he was going to act. The soldier nodded then drew a pistol, indicating he’d provide cover.

  Soon the girl was so close that Zane could hear her breathing. It was heavy and erratic, suggesting she was both frightened and fatigued. Where was she going? And who did she think was behind her?

  Finally, she reached the top of the clearing and paused a few feet to Zane’s right, her head turning slightly in his direction. Could she see him?

  Zane couldn’t risk waiting any longer. He launched out of the ferns like a leopard pouncing on prey. He hit her with the full force of his weight, carrying them both out into the clearing. Despite tumbling several times, he managed to wrap a hand over her mouth, stifling the scream that he knew was coming.

  As they came to a stop, Zane rolled on top, pinning the girl to the ground. She screamed again, but it died against the palm of his hand.

  Realizing she might be armed, he pinned one of her wrists with a knee and the other with his free hand. She squirmed and thrashed but soon realized it was in vain.

  “Easy, easy,” he said.

  The sound of his voice seemed to calm her.

  “Do you speak English?” Zane asked.

  She stared at him for a while then nodded slowly.

  Bennett appeared at Zane’s side. As he knelt down, the girl’s eyes widened at the sight of the gun.

  Zane waved him off. “Someone may have been following her. Make sure we don’t get ambushed.”

  “Roger that.” Bennett stood and set up a short distance down the hill.

  Katiya appeared, kneeling next to Zane. The girl looked at her then back at Zane. She was calmer now, but there was still fear in her eyes.

  “If I take my hand off of your mouth, are you going to scream?” he asked.

  She shook her head immediately. It was a good sign.

  “I can be a nice guy, but I may not be so nice if you scream. Is that understood?”

  She nodded, so Zane slowly removed his hand. The girl opened her mouth, but only to gulp in breath. After a few seconds, she said, “Please don’t hurt me.”

  Katiya leaned closer. “We’re not going to hurt you, honey.”

  The girl coughed a few times.

  “What is your name?” Katiya asked.

  The girl paused for a moment, as though unsure whether she should answer or not. “Rebecca,” she finally whispered.

  Zane studied her face. It was hard to read her expression in the dim light of the moon, but she seemed to be telling the truth. “What are you doing up here, Rebecca?”

  Her eyes began to moisten, and seconds later she burst into tears. “Please don’t take me back. Please—”

  “We’re not going to take you back.” Katiya reassured her by rubbing her arm. “We don’t even know who you are or where you came from.”

  Rebecca cried a bit longer. Zane couldn’t tell if she was still afraid or if she was shedding tears of relief.

  A moment later, she stopped, wiped her eyes, and looked up at him. “I told you who I was. Now who are you?”

  “I’m Zane, and this is Katiya.” Zane eased off of her. As he pulled away, he could see that she was dressed in a long white robe, covered with black and green stains. Strange garb for a girl lost in the jungle, he thought.

  Rebecca sat up, flexing her hands to get back her circulation. She took several deep breaths, as though trying to calm herself.

  Katiya laid a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “How do you feel?

  Suddenly Rebecca’s breathing grew labored, then she reached out and grabbed both of Katiya’s arms. “Please, I beg you… please don’t take me back to them.”

  Katiya found the girl’s hands and held them. “Honey, take you back to who? Who are you talking about?”

  The girl’s eyes moistened again, and she visibly trembled. Her mouth opened, but it was several seconds before the words spilled out. “The ones from the craft… the grays.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  “LET US KNOW when you’re ready to talk,” Katiya said as she rubbed the girl’s leg.

  It had taken them twenty minutes to climb back to the ridge. Amanda gave Rebecca a pair of jeans and a T-shirt since they were approximately the same size. They had already been worn but were a welcome improvement over the loose-fitting robe she’d had on before.

  Zane could see the girl better now. Her sallow features and gaunt appearance left no doubt that most or all she’d told them was true.

  Rebecca took another long swig from the canteen, her throat rippling as though she hadn’t had water in weeks. After finishing, she wiped her mouth with a sleeve and said, “I believe they came to get me two nights ago. It’s the third time for me.”

  Zane saw Katiya and Max exchange a knowing glance.

  “Where do you live?” Amanda asked.

  Rebecca turned and looked at her for a moment, as though the answer were hard to remember. “Prescott… Prescott, Arizona.”

  Katiya nodded as though she had somehow expected the answer. At least, it didn’t surprise her.

  Rebecca took another swig from the canteen then said, “They first came late last year. I’d been having trouble sleeping… which isn’t like me. Normally I sleep like a rock. My roommate often stays up late working, and I never hear her. Ever.”

  Katiya’s brow knit together. “So your roommate was or was not in the house on the night you were taken?”

  “No, she wasn’t. They seem to know when I’m going to be alone.” Rebecca stared at the ground for a moment, lost in her thoughts. “Anyway, I tossed and turned that night, and finally—I think it was well after midnight—I began to drift off. Only it wasn’t the way I normally go to sleep.”

  “How so?” Katiya asked with a frown.

  “It was strange, almost like I’d been drugged.”

  Katiya looked at Max and mouthed something that looked like telepathy.

  “So you went to sleep?” Brett asked.

  “Not completely. Right as I was about to, I knew that someone or something was in the room. And then, when I opened my eyes, I saw him… or it… just standing there, watching me with those eyes.” She visibly trembled, so Katiya reached over and rubbed her leg again. The small gesture seemed to comfort her. “I know you’re going to think I’m crazy, but this person, this creature… it looked almost like the ones in the movies. It had a bulbous head”—she held her hands about a foot apart—“and these large, black eyes like bottomless pits.”

  “What did their bodies look like?” Katiya asked.

  “Thin, but you get the impression they’re not weak.”

  “And did they pull you out by force?”

  Rebecca shook her head. “No. I couldn’t move, so they didn’t have to force me to do anything. I tried to scream, but I couldn’t even open my mouth.”

  “Highly advanced telepathic powers,” Katiya whispered.

  “So how did they get you out?” Amanda asked.

  “I just floated. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true. They had the window open, and about the time I passed through it, I just blacked out.” Rebecca’s eyes moistened at the memory.

  “I know this is difficult, but do you remember anything after that?” Katiya asked.

  “A little, but not much. There were times I came to, and when I did, I would soon feel a pinch on my arm, and then I’d pass out again.” />
  Katiya nodded. “It sounds like they were administering something to keep you under.”

  Rebecca pulled her knees up against her chest and stared out into the jungle. As she rested, Zane wondered how much of what she’d said was true. She seemed like an honest girl, and he doubted she’d purposefully lie, but it was also obvious she’d been heavily sedated. No telling how many drugs were coursing through her veins.

  But why else would she be out in the middle of the jungle? The only thing that seemed remotely possible was the sex trade. Maybe she’d been kidnapped at one of the local resorts.

  After a long minute of silence, Katiya asked, “So, did you report this first incident to the authorities?”

  Rebecca shook her head. “The first two times I thought it was a dream, a really bad nightmare. The three people I shared it with told me I should see a psychologist.”

  “How did you ever find out it was real?” Max asked.

  “A couple of things happened.” After taking another sip of water, she said, “After the second abduction, I ran into a neighbor the next day as I got into my car. She asked what was going on the night before, and I asked her what she was talking about. Apparently her dogs had run over to the fence separating our backyards and wouldn’t stop barking. She eventually had to go out and pull them back in.”

  “Did she see anything?” Zane asked.

  “Nothing. Not a light. Not anything. She has some pretty thick bushes on her side, and I have a row of trees on mine, so that didn’t surprise me. But that’s when I started thinking that my dreams might not be dreams after all. I mean, her dogs weren’t even the type to bark. And yet, that night they couldn’t stop.”

  Zane ran his fingers though his hair. “You said there were a couple of things. What was the other one?”

  “Yes.” She trembled briefly but gathered herself. “It was when I got home. I went upstairs to change into something more comfortable, and that’s when I saw that my window was shut on my curtain.”

  Max frowned in confusion. “Why is that so surprising?”

  “Because I have allergies and I never open my windows. I’m also big time OCD, so if I ever did, I certainly wouldn’t shut it on the curtain.” She gave a little chuckle, the first Zane had heard from her.

  “So what happened this time?” he asked.

  “I was abducted again, and once again they injected me with something. After some period of time, I just woke up.”

  “Which is what usually happens, right?” Brett asked. “Then they inject you again.”

  “Normally, yes. But that’s the odd thing… this time they didn’t. As I lay there, I realized that I was slowly waking up and no one was with me.”

  Zane sat up straight, his brow furrowed. “Where were you?”

  “At the time, I didn’t know. All I knew was that I was alone in a room that looked like something out of a science fiction movie. I remember these strange-looking glass panels… and I also remember some instruments on a table a few feet away. They were like nothing I’d ever seen before.

  “Anyway, at some point I realized that I could move my limbs. I was still woozy, but I could move. So I got up and made my way out into the corridor. It was dark, with lots of little red lights in the floor. I heard a soft hum, so I figured I was on some kind of ship.”

  “Then what?” Zane asked.

  “I ran down the hall, and before long I entered this room with a high ceiling. That’s when I saw a door leading to the outside.”

  “So you ran out into the jungle?” Katiya asked.

  “Before I ran out, I heard voices.”

  Zane frowned. “Human voices?”

  Rebecca shook her head. “Not like any I’ve ever heard. It was the strangest thing. The language used a lot of clicks and strange sounds that I’ve never heard before. Even now it gives me the chills.”

  “I’m surprised you were able to move around so easily,” Brett said.

  “I felt the same way,” Rebecca replied. “It’s almost like God was protecting me or something. Those… things… they seemed to be upset about something.”

  “If you couldn’t understand them, how did you know they were upset?” Zane asked.

  “Call it gut instinct, sixth sense, whatever. They seemed to be angry, talking over the top of each other. I’d heard snippets before when I came to, and this was different. Very different.”

  “What then?” Katiya asked.

  Rebecca wiped her nose. “This voice inside of me said to run. I’d like to think it was God. So I ran outside and found myself on a ramp. When I got to the bottom, I didn’t know what to do.”

  “Where were you?” Katiya asked.

  Rebecca nodded toward the valley floor. “I was in a large clearing. It looked like some sort of airstrip. Once my eyes adjusted, I also saw that I was somewhere in the jungle. At that point, I just froze. Then I heard that inner voice again, telling me to turn left and run. So I ran.”

  “And that’s when you ran into us?” Zane asked.

  Rebecca shook her head. “No, sorry… that came later. When I reached the edge of the clearing, I found a path. It’s like that voice had led me to it. So I ran down it as fast as I could because I knew it wouldn’t be long before they came after me.

  “Several minutes later, I came to an opening in the woods, and there in front of me was this huge building.”

  Katiya and Max visibly stiffened.

  “A building?” Brett asked.

  Rebecca nodded. “Yes. Not a modern building though. It was an ancient one like you’d see in Greece or something.”

  Katiya’s eyes narrowed. “So, you’re saying this building is right down the slope from where we are now?”

  Rebecca nodded and pointed down the hill and to the right. “Something about the place scared me, but at the same time, I heard that voice again, telling me to hide there.” She took another swig of water then continued. “There were these big steps leading up the front, so I ran up to the top and entered. I knew those creatures would be there soon, so I started frantically looking for a place to hide. Eventually I found some steps leading to a basement, and as I went down, I noticed these large cracks in the stone walls, so I squeezed into one and backed up as far as I could go.”

  “Did the beings eventually come?” Brett asked.

  “They came so fast it scared me. About a minute or two after I settled in, I could hear those clicking sounds, and I knew they were in the main room right above me. One eventually came down the stairs, walking right past the very place where I was hidden. I could see his shadow darken the opening for a second as he crept by. A minute or two later he came back up, apparently satisfied that I wasn’t down there.”

  “So one of them walked right past you?” Amanda asked. “You were being protected.”

  Katiya looked at Zane. “It may be that the use of technology has dulled their senses over millions of years.”

  “Maybe,” Zane said. “Although the large eyes might be highly developed, almost like some of those animals that live in caverns.”

  “I think it’s to overcompensate for a poor sense of smell and poor sense of hearing.”

  “And yet they didn’t notice me in that crevice,” Rebecca pointed out.

  “What happened next?” Katiya asked.

  “I waited for a few minutes before I moved even an inch. Then, when I went to the opening, I listened for another few minutes before going back up the stairs. I didn’t see or hear anything in the building, so I ran down the steps and out into the jungle. Eventually I found myself going up a hill.”

  Katiya nodded. “And that’s when you ran into us.”

  Rebecca fixed her gaze on Zane. “What about you? I’ve told you my entire story, and I don’t even know who you are.” She moved her eyes to Katiya. “Fair is fair.”

  Zane looked at Katiya first, then Brett. Exhaling audibly, he turned to Rebecca. “We’re here to investigate a sound.”

  “A sound?” Rebecca asked.

&
nbsp; “Yes, a sound,” Zane said. “One that was picked up by the United States government some time back. They weren’t able to classify it and believed it might somehow be related to extraterrestrials.”

  “Do you think it has something to do with what happened to me?”

  Zane nodded. “After listening to your story… it’s certainly possible.”

  “So you work for the government?” she asked.

  After a short pause, Zane said, “We all come from different fields and work for different people, but yes, the government asked us to come here to look into the matter.”

  Rebecca turned and looked down into the valley. “This all seems so surreal.”

  “You got that right,” Brett said.

  There was a long moment of silence. Finally, Zane grabbed the girl’s arm. “Rebecca, you told us about an airstrip and an old building. Can you point to where those are?”

  “They’re both at the bottom of the valley. The clearing and the craft were over that way,” she said, pointing toward the left. Then she gestured to the right. “But the temple was more that way.”

  “How far was it from one to the other?” Zane asked.

  Rebecca shrugged. “Hard to say.” Suddenly she looked back at him. “What a minute… you aren’t going down there, are you?”

  “Don’t worry,” Zane said. “I’m going to leave a couple of our people with you.”

  “No! I don’t want to be left alone again.”

  “You will have someone here with you. I’m afraid we have to finish what we came here to do. We have to find out what’s going on.”

  Rebecca sat up straight. “Then I want to go with you.”

  “I really don’t think—”

  “No, I have to go.” Her eyes flitted around from one person to the next. “I think we all know this is no coincidence. We were brought together for a reason. If I’m with you, then I can do a lot more than just point. I can take you exactly where you want to go.”

  Zane slowly lifted his radio. “How are we looking on the perimeter?”

  “All clear, sir.” It was Bennett. “No sign of hostiles. A few animals, but that’s about it.”

  “Same here,” said Tocchet. “All clear on my side.”