She wasn’t going to tell them that, though.
“This old mine has lots of chambers down below. Men and women have dug out the tunnels since 1864. Granted, a lot of the three lower levels are flooded, but old support beams give out every so often. Then the ceilings collapse.”
Her intentions were good, but she was in danger of scaring herself. She’d never felt the rattle inside her mine, but if there were collapsing passages, she guessed they’d feel like explosives.
“Are we in serious danger?” Audrey asked, as if reading her thoughts.
“No way. C’mon, let’s keep going. We have a few stairs to go down to get to the second level, then I’ll show you why I brought you down here.”
They walked in silence for several minutes. Audrey managed the flashlight, but she enjoyed shining it everywhere except at her feet. The thirty-foot pillars of stone seemed to come out of the darkness like stone giants holding up the ceiling. The light barely pierced the black void beyond the first, however, but she knew the others were there.
The total darkness almost gave the impression they were walking on rocks under a nighttime sky. Drops of water and the reflection of minerals on the roof caught the light and reminded her of stars.
The others didn’t seem to appreciate it as much, especially when they got to stairs going in the wrong direction.
Donovan was distraught. “I don’t wanna go down there,” he whined.
“Can we wait here?” Audrey said matter-of-factly.
Without missing a beat, Peter added, “I’ll stay with her.”
Tabby sighed, not knowing which of the tour guide rules she wanted to break.
Nearby, her little light barely penetrated the narrow stairwell. It reminded her of a sickly mouth with rocky teeth and a multi-stepped tongue leading her into the stomach below.
Suddenly, the mine was more creepy than beautiful to her. She thought it was because the lights were off and she’d caught some of the kids’ fear, but a few moments of reflection cleared that idea from her brain. She’d been in the mines lots of times when the power was shut off. It was part of the tour, actually, to show people what absolute darkness was like.
Talking about her mom and dad so much made her realize how much she missed them. And, looking into the abyss, something grabbed her heart and wouldn’t let go.
Like Donovan, she desperately needed to see her mom and dad.
CHAPTER 6
Newport News, VA
“Sorry,” the woman Marine said without much sympathy. “You got in the way of my foot when I came down the ladder.”
Kyla rubbed her right cheek, certain it now had a boot print on it. She was also pretty sure she kicked her on purpose. Before she could say, “No problem, and by the way, it’s stairs, not ladder,” more Marines came down the stairwell like a pack of vicious dogs.
“Identify yourself!” a bulldog-stout Marine bellowed.
“They’re civvies,” the boot-wielding woman called back. “I took her out on accident because she didn’t have a uniform. Figured she was one of them.”
Five or six men spread out at the bottom of the stairwell, battle rifles up and pointed along the axis of the main hallway. Kyla looked back and forth, unaware she’d been in such immediate danger.
“She’s dressed like a fast-food cashier,” another Marine joked. “How’d you mistake her for a threat?”
Kyla hated wearing khaki long pants and her maroon polo shirt, but it was company dress code. The honking big name tag did make her look like a Burger King server.
“F-U,” the woman replied with an impish grin.
A man Kyla figured was the leader took off his combat helmet to wipe away sweat from his forehead. “Sorry, ma’am. We’ve taken fire from unknown elements. We can’t take any chances.”
The man’s uniform looked like it had been painted by a computer. Tiny squares of brown, green, and black assembled into swatches that appeared as leafy camouflage. The name tape on his right breast pocket said Carthager.
The woman’s last name was Meechum.
Ben put his hands up. “Don’t kill us. We’re computer geeks. Not threats.”
Kyla put her hands up, too.
“What’s in your purses?” Carthager pointed to the laptop bags hanging from their shoulders.
“Computers,” Kyla answered calmly, ignoring the insult.
Carthager laughed at Ben. “We aren’t going to kill you, guy. We’re fucking Marines. It would be better if you were a pair of damsels in distress, but we deal with what we’re given.”
“I would have preferred a pair of hunky firemen,” Meechum said without looking at Ben. “But not while I’m on duty.”
The leader scowled but didn’t do more.
Kyla felt like she was in a dark comedy. The Marines aimed their rifles to cover her and Ben from whatever enemy was out there, but they talked like they were sitting in front of computer screens playing video games.
“Meech, take point again. Go aft.” Carthager motioned for her to travel along the deck toward the back of the boat.
“Aye, Sergeant. I’ll keep my eyes open for sunbathing hookers if you want?” The tough-looking woman spoke dryly and could have been serious.
“You do that,” the leader replied.
Meechum finally turned to Kyla and seemed to read her like a tech manual. She spoke in a low voice. “They’re cool. We just work together.” Louder, she added, “Sorry about your face, but I think I did you a favor. Now you look like Sarah Conner.”
“Who?” Kyla replied. She couldn’t mean the woman from Terminator, could she?
The Marines snickered.
Carthager slapped Meechum on the back. “Get going.” He turned to Kyla and Ben. “Follow us, ladies and gents. We’ve got to clear the rear of this deck, then we’re going back up toward the hangar and the levels above.”
“We have to get off the ship,” Ben said with worry. “We were told everyone is dead up top. There’s probably a virus or something.”
“It isn’t a virus,” the sergeant said with authority. “And you aren’t leaving. Not yet. We don’t know who’s firing on us. No one up top is on the comms, so we’re trying to figure this out as we go. Now, enough talk. Move.”
Kyla and Ben fell into the line of heavily-armed Marines and fast-walked along the suffocating metallic hallway. Being told he couldn’t leave seemed to make Ben skittish, and Kyla sensed the fear emanating off his Greek skin like expired yogurt.
Meechum trotted at the front, while some of the others checked hatches and connector hallways on the left and right. They kicked at some of the random clothes spread on the floor, but they didn’t stop and go into each compartment or the side halls. It seemed to leave a lot of threats behind them.
Kyla knew better than to tell any military person how to do their job. As a civilian contractor working for the Navy, she’d had plenty of time to learn that lesson. She kept her mouth shut and held her breath while praying no one would jump out and shoot her in the back.
Carthager called out after a couple of minutes of travel. “Hey! Meech. Hold up.”
The Marines came to a halt, spread out along the walls, and covered each other.
Gunfire rattled from far down the hallway, or it could have been from another level. The cramped interior continued to make it sound distant and muffled.
Kyla pretended she was relaxed so she didn’t look like a scared idiot in front of the fighting men and woman, but she wasn’t so sure she’d succeeded. However, she felt like she’d kept it together better than her partner.
Ben acted like he’d soiled himself and didn’t want anyone to notice.
“You okay?” she asked him.
Ben jumped with fright. “Damn, K. Don’t sneak up on me.”
“Sorry.” She gently tapped him on the elbow intending to soothe his fear. “When you woke up this morning, I bet you didn’t know you’d be running around a carrier with guns like this, did you?
Ben seemed to rela
x, and even laughed for a moment. “I do my duty for king and country by hitting computer keys. This running and gunning isn’t what I signed up for.”
“We’ll be fine,” she reasoned, “by staying with the Marines. In the movies, these guys are always the ones who fight like hell until the job is done. None tougher.”
Carthager laughed. “We’re going to start charging for rescues. A hundred bucks for dudes with laptop bags. Fifty bucks for a doggie. Ladies are always free.” He smiled at Kyla in a friendly way.
“No, ladies are two hundred,” Meechum hissed from the front. “No one should need rescuing. Not even women. Learn to take care of yourself.”
Kyla wasn’t sure how to take that. Was she suggesting Kyla needed to do better taking care of herself? Ever since Uncle Ted gave her the heads up, she felt like she’d been doing something for her own rescue. It wasn’t her fault the Marines found her before she got Ben to the gangplank off the ship.
The other Marines snickered again. Kyla was left wondering how the hell they got anything done with all the banter, but Carthager held up his hand and everyone stopped talking.
He used some hand gestures that seemed to indicate there was trouble down the hallway they’d recently passed.
Kyla and Ben were pushed through a door.
She held her breath again, certain the gunfire was about to be a lot closer.
Air Force Two
Ted followed the VP and her shaky hands into a cabin big enough for a wooden conference table. It could seat maybe twenty people, but there were only two there now.
“General Charleston, Mr. Auger, this is Ted MacInnis. He saved my life.”
The two men stood up and everyone shook hands. By the time he was done, the VP took her seat at the front of the table, between the two men. She motioned for him to sit next to the man in the suit.
“Mr. Auger is the head of my Secret Service detail.”
He knew the section leader by face and name, though they’d never met.
The man turned to Ted. “Please, sir, call me David. Thank you for the assist.”
It was the same sentiment as the guard he’d spoken to. They were obviously a proud service, not used to setbacks like this.
“No problem, uh, David. I’m a major in the Air Force, so I know a little about self-protection. As I told Ms. Williams earlier, she’s really the one who saved herself. She pulled out the snub-nosed wheelie-gun and put that asshole down for us both.”
“Yeah, I’ve complained about her walking around with that piece since she’s been in office. It may be the only time I’ve been glad she didn’t listen to me.” He turned to face the VP.
“Gentlemen,” she said, “now that you know each other, I need options for where we can land near DC.”
“You’ve given up on Europe?” Ted asked out of turn. She’d already given the order to the pilot to fly to D.C.
Emily closed her eyes. “I’m sorry. We can’t fly backward and blind. There is something intercepting our communications with the mainland. There are boats below with missile launchers. There could be a hundred between here and London. We can practically see the coast already, so we should just go home.”
The general rolled his fingertips on the table. “Would you consider going as far back as Iceland? We could also invite ourselves into Nova Scotia. We should figure out what’s going on in DC before we return.”
“I can’t guarantee your safety,” David remarked.
Emily’s face was cheery, but her eyes were hardened gems. “There are no guarantees anymore. Not even on my own plane.”
David acknowledged her statement but went on. “What I mean is, we won’t have an advanced team in any of those places, and that might be for the best. We are scheduled to land at Andrews, so we’ll have coverage there, but if there is a threat to your life from inside the department, ma’am, they will know that’s where you’re going next.”
She snorted. “They attacked my plane. They attacked me inside my plane. I’m feeling pretty damned lucky right now. I say we stick to our original flight plan and get ourselves to Andrews. Major MacInnis said the news broadcast the attack in real time and that it happened from coast-to-coast, but I’m sure your boys were prepared, right, General? We’ll get military backup when we land.”
The gray-haired man was attentive and alert, but his face did not convey the can-do attitude Ted hoped to see. “If I can’t get through to my boys at Andrews, I can’t ensure they will be at the doorstep when we arrive. However, I’m sure they’ve been watching our flight pattern go sideways up here. I’m confident they’ll be ready with a whole rifle brigade.”
“Excellent. We have a plan: get this bird on the ground and then get some backup.”
Ted was conflicted. He desperately wanted to get the VP to safety, but he also thought about his sister’s daughter. The Marines had called after the event had passed. Kyla could still be alive on the JFK. “Excuse me, ma’am, but why am I here?”
The senior man in the Secret Service looked as if he wanted to say something, but he kept his thoughts to himself.
Emily appeared genuinely happy he asked the question. Then she spoke to the other two men. “Mr. Auger. General. Please excuse us.”
Ted stood at attention while the general and David exited the room. Emily rocked in her chair with fingers steepled together, like she was about to reveal her diabolical plan.
“Sit back down,” she said dryly.
Poor Sisters Convent, Oakville, MO
Sister Rose spent the next fifteen minutes of her life carefully picking through the piles of clothing spread around the convent. The order of nuns wasn’t very large, so she was able to account for all ten of the women based on their manner of dress and the colors of the vinyl covers for their pocket Bibles.
Two were in the kitchen. Four, including Abbess Mary Francis, were in the great room. One was in bed up on the second floor. The remaining two were in the patio grotto, presumably praying at the statue depicting their patron saint.
All of them were gone.
Over that short period of time, she’d come to a conclusion about what had happened, and it didn’t involve a childish prank.
The women of her order were a tight-knit group. She expected as much when she walked in and signed up to become a member over five years ago. She was twenty when she started, making her by far the youngest resident. The next youngest was Sister Margaret, and she was in her forties.
Sister Rose thought about her situation as she walked slowly to the chapel.
Abbess Mary Francis often chided her for minor infractions of the rules. Those smarted, because she worked so hard to fit in. The abbess told her time and again not to take it personally. She was the “new girl” and as such would naturally garner the most attention. It was all done with love.
Rose entered the chapel and flicked on the lights. When she was satisfied no one was inside, she walked down the short aisle and kneeled in the pew in the front row.
“I’ve failed you, Lord. I’ve failed you.” She kept her words to herself, but she couldn’t stop the flow of tears.
“Please, don’t forsake me because I broke the rules one too many times.”
She clenched fingers inside her folded hands.
“There was that time I waited five minutes after my alarm went off. I missed part of the morning prayers.”
Tears formed under both eyes, and soon rolled down her cheeks.
“And that time I swept the leaves into the shrubs, rather than into the compost bag, as instructed. I was lazy.”
Rose crushed her folded hands together.
“Lord, forgive me. I took a private meal in my room and did not give thanks to you. I was certain you already knew how much I loved you, and was thankful for all your gifts, but I had been praying all day. I didn’t think another line was necessary.”
Each passing minute enabled her to recall dozens of specific instances where she cut corners, ignored orders, or failed to acknowledge the role of
God in her life. Individually, none of them were worthy of notice, but when she stacked them all on top of each other, she realized it was a tip-over-tall pile of papers documenting her life as a failed nun.
She almost spoke aloud but wasn’t ready to surrender that unwavering devotion. So far, she’d managed to hold her vow of silence for one solid year. A minor victory among what she now viewed as a string of defeats.
The reason the other nuns were gone was simple. When God called them to Him, they were all found worthy.
“I wasn’t,” she thought.
She’d missed the Rapture.
CHAPTER 7
Air Force Two
The guard shut the door after General Charleston and Mr. Auger passed through.
“I don’t know you,” the vice president began, “but I trust you. In the circles I frequent, that is more valuable than the gold-crusted flatware we use for state dinners.”
He nodded. “The Air Force has its own complicated pecking order. I understand where you’re coming from.”
She frowned. “This isn’t about promotions or duty stations. I’m talking about life or death. Do you know how many threats the Secret Service takes care of every year?”
“A few a month?” he guessed.
“Nope. Not even close. If Mr. Auger were here, he’d stop me from giving away the store, but I’m going to tell you anyway. They receive literally thousands of threats. Only a small percentage of those are actionable, but they are a significant number.”
He whistled in awe.
“You see, I depend on the Secret Service for my existence. The president, more so. And now, out of the blue, one of them tried to put a bullet in my spine. Do you see my dilemma?”
It wasn’t hard to figure out.
“You can’t trust the people who watch over you while you sleep.” He didn’t say it to be funny, but she laughed.
“You got it. I let Mr. Auger in here because I have to trust someone in his department. I can’t lock them all out at the same time. However, I can bring in new blood.”
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