“Is this going to help me find my dad?” I asked.
“Mr. Bishop,” the Insider said with resignation. “I know you want to find your father. I understand, believe me. But you simply aren’t equipped for it yet. What if you were to find your father right this minute? What would you do about it? What could you do? If your answer was ‘nothing’, then you win the prize.
“But if you learn about yourself, and your abilities,” he continued. “Then you could very well walk into any installation in the world and rescue him. You’d have the ability. Make sense?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. You worry about yourself. Let me worry about finding your father. Now,” the Insider said, “drive to the back of the Helix building where the dumpsters are. You know the place. There is an entrance there used by the janitorial staff. Park in the space next to the walled-in dumpster.”
I did exactly as he said, barely breathing. The Helix building sat dark tonight, like a majority of the night staff was gone. “Where is everyone?” I asked. “Usually the place is lit up like Christmas with the late shifts.”
“Mass carpet cleaning,” he said chuckling. “Though the layoffs actually helped quite a bit. The only people inside are the janitors and a skeleton crew of security. The noise from the cleaning machines will help mask the sound of your movements, and there isn’t really anybody there to see you. Take your father’s access card and punch five-three-three-seven-nine-one-zero-five on the pad. Oh, and take the empty duffle bag from the back seat. I imagine you’ll need it.”
I reached back and grabbed the bag, then turned off the car and walked up to the building. After I swiped my dad’s access card I punched in the eight-digit code. The light on the door’s electronic lock went from red to green. Just like that I was inside Helix.
“Walk straight ahead until you have passed seven doors on your left, then turn right down the next hallway. Don’t run. Walk at a steady, but not overly fast, pace.” I started forward, walking like I would from class to class at school. “Perfect,” he said. “Before you ask, yes, I am watching all of this through the security feed. I have access to everything through a backdoor program. Don’t say anything. The cleaning machines may mask some of your noise, but people will notice if it looks like you are talking to yourself, or on an earpiece.”
Counting off the doors, I reached seven then came to hallway just like the Insider had promised. I turned right and continued down the hallway. The walls here were sterile white and polished like glass. No windows marked any of the rooms, just unlabeled, identical doors. There was no sound from my earpiece, and a flutter of nervousness tickled my gut. Had my phone—or even his dropped the call? I reached up and tapped the earpiece.
“Stop that,” he chided. “You will draw attention to yourself. This is one of those times where you want to be as anonymous as possible. Remember, I will not help you get out of this mess if things go badly. You are not my only option. My best option? Yes. But not my only one.”
How comforting.
I kept my pace even as I walked down the hallway. The hallway seemed unnaturally long. The rational part of my brain figured I should have already run out of space. But hey, if ESP was real then maybe so were weird, elaborate, magical, seemingly-endless hallways.
Still, it was nerve racking. And the Insider’s lack of communication wasn’t making it better.
“You look edgy, Mr. Bishop,” he said. “Stop worrying so much. The walkway beneath you has subtly moved you beneath ground, which is why the hallway seems unnaturally long. Now clear your mind and try to act norm…enter the door on your right immediately.”
His voice was tense and commanding. No room for argument. I obeyed instantly and closed the door swiftly behind me. I forced myself to control my breathing. Slow breath in, slow breath out.
“Stay in here for a moment. Don’t make a sound. A security patrol is walking down the hallway. I apologize, Mr. Bishop. They were ten and a half minutes early on their rounds. Don’t touch anything in the room.”
There was only one thing to touch; a sphere of smooth, polished metal the size of a large beach ball sat on the floor in the middle of the room. Nothing visible held it in place, but my senses started to tingle. Something weird was going on in this room. I took a step closer to the sphere, feeling drawn to it. Connected to it.
“Exit the room now,” the Insider said into my ear. His voice snapped me back into reality. “Quickly, you don’t have all night. The timetable on this heist just became much narrower.”
I pulled open the door and turned right, heading the direction I was initially told to go. The vision and feeling of that sphere stuck with me as I walked. It was dangerous, that much was obvious. But what was it?
“Open the next door on the left.”
I was through it a moment later and feeling much calmer. This wasn’t so bad. It was kind of a rush actually. I was in another hallway, only this one felt older. The white walls weren’t quite as polished. They were a little closer to gray than the pure white.
No. Not gray. Dull, faded purple.
The entire surface of the walls, ceiling, and floor were covered in an extremely light layer of psychic residue. It was an old residue. Older than me. A door on the right, a few dozen feet ahead, seemed to glow a little brighter to my eyes—well, to my mind if Alex was right. But that was beside the point. I knew instinctively my grandfather’s belongings lay behind the door. I walked straight towards it.
“On your right, a few feet ahead is a door…” he trailed off as I reached the door and pushed it open. “Apparently you knew which door already. That is what I call progress. You have ten minutes to look at the room before we need to pack things up. There are no cameras in there, so don’t die or anything. I won’t have any contact with you in the room. Grab what you can and get o—”
His voice cut off as I went inside. The room lit up when I walked in, activated by motion sensors. Inside the room another, smaller room of glass was sealed off by a single door. A separate hose connected to the side of the glass room, which I figured was some sort of air circulation system. Inside the glass room stood shelves lined with movie reels and old books. There were old artifacts that looked like they belonged in an Indiana Jones prop shop.
This was easily the most awesome experience ever.
There was no keypad on the door to the glass room. The people here must have figured these rooms were so safe and secure they didn’t need extra security. I pulled the handle on the door, and it opened easily. I dropped the duffle bag on the ground and turned in a slow circle in the small, glass room. Where the room lacked in actual size, it made up for in content.
Even with the air constantly purified and recycled, I could smell the age of the materials. The musty scent of used book store mixed with metal from film canisters. The question I had to ask myself was what should I take? There was far too much here for me to carry away in my bag, and I somehow doubted I would be making a second trip.
The film reels were organized in nice rows, each labeled in faded black marker. I grabbed one called “Field Tests” and another with the label “Discoveries”. There was an old gun belt—old west style—on one of the shelves. It looked just like the one I had seen in the old photo of my grandfather. In the holster was an antique looking revolver. I left it where it was. As awesome as the belt was, when was I going to need a gun?
I didn’t know what was important here. Well, I assumed everything was important, but that didn’t exactly help the situation. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimmer of purple. A bit of residue a bit fresher than the rest. No, not fresher. More…saturated? Denser? The residue covered four thick books. They didn’t have any marking on them, but I felt an instant connection to those books. I put them in the bag, too.
I’d got what I came for. I couldn’t say how I knew, but I did. Even the film reels, I realized, were icing on the cake. The real score here was the four volume set of books. I could weigh myself down with more books and
metal film canisters, but that would make it more obvious to the casual glance in here that something was missing.
The bag wasn’t too heavy—the first days of school were way worse than this—as I pushed through the glass door. I hadn’t had contact with the Insider the whole time I’d been inside, and he had no way to warn me if the coast was clear on the other side of the room’s entrance.
Whatever. No guts, no glory.
I pulled the door open and stepped into the hallway. No monsters, security guards, or worse—Alex—were there waiting for me. How was I going to explain all of this to her? It’s not like I could lie, so I guess the truth would be the way to go.
“That took less time than I expected,” the Insider said in my earpiece. “I trust you got what you needed?” I nodded. “Good. Now, getting out is going to be a little tough. After that Hound came tearing through the place, Helix had to block off some areas for repair. They also had to destroy some other unrelated, less secretive areas of the building to act as a cover for reporters and employees. One lie after another. All to cover up what got loose. Ah well. Oh, go through the door at the end of the hall and go left.”
Left? That way went even deeper into the building. How was I going to get back to the car? But I did what he said. He’d got me this far.
“Mr. Bishop, I need you to pick up the pace a bit.” Was that nervousness in his voice? Oh man. Next he’d be telling me pleasantly to run like my life depended on it. “In fact, I’m going to suggest you make use of those young legs of yours and run. The security rounds have been changed from what I was expecting. I estimate you have thirty seconds to get to the hallway sixty-yards ahead of you.”
Crap.
I hitched up the bag and broke into an all-out sprint. As it was, I almost missed the narrow hallway. The white of the walls made everything blend together. I slid to a stop wanting to gasp for breath, but worried the sound of it would attract guards.
“Huh. Twenty seconds. Not bad considering you were carrying that bag. Give me a moment while I look for an alternate route.”
I wanted to scream in frustration, but I figured that would be bad for my current situation.
“Ah, here we go,” he said. “Yes, this will do nicely. Are you claustrophobic?” I shook my head. “Excellent! There’s an emergency exit leading out to the woods beyond the perimeter fencing of this building. You’ll have to climb a bit, but the good news is no security is coming your way. Just walk straight ahead, then take the fifteenth door on the left.”
The fifteenth door led to a series of metal rungs embedded in a wall. The climb was long, and I had to balance myself to swipe the security card along a strip at the hatch that presumably led outside.
No lights marked the outside of the hatch when I climbed out. Behind me I could see the exterior lights and the fence surrounding the Helix building. “How am I supposed to get back to the car?”
“You aren’t,” the Insider replied. “That car was stolen from a tourist at a camp ground fifty miles away. Don’t worry, no one will find any of your finger prints on it. Trust me. Walk south—away from the Helix building behind you—and you should come to the highway. There will be a rest stop right at the edge of town, and another car waiting for you that you can use to drive home.”
“Is it stolen too?”
He sighed on his end of the call. “Considering you just stole some obscenely valuable items from a room the U.S. Military’s Generals don’t even have clearance to see, I hardly think you should have any issues with two car thefts. Get the car, drive home, and get some rest. Trust me when I say you won’t be getting much sleep the next few days. I’ll call you later to check on your progress.”
With that he was gone. I took off the earpiece and shoved in my pocket. The forest around me obscured the moonlight, making it hard to see more than a few feet in front of me even after my eyes adjusted to the low-light. The only thing I had guiding me was the dwindling light at my back from Helix. Soon even that light was gone.
Aside from the small twigs snapping under my steps, all I could hear was the occasional sound of a car driving by. One of the things about living in the Redwoods is that tourist season is never really over. Oh sure, the main attractions closed down for parts of the year, but some people just liked driving the Redwood Highway. There’s something about the look and smell of the Redwoods people love, no matter the time of year.
The woods opened up ahead of me onto a rest stop. A dozen cars were spread out in the various parking spots, and all of them but one would be filled with people trying to catch a few hours of sleep before continuing on to wherever the heck they were going.
I made my way as stealthily as possible past each car, glancing in to see if it was full or empty. The sixth car I checked—an older model Ford Focus—was empty. I tried the handle and it popped open. The keys were lying on the seat. After carefully placing my bag of stolen goods in the passenger seat, I sat down and pulled the seat forward. Whoever had stolen the car—the Insider?—must have had long legs. Or maybe that was just to mess with me.
No one from any of the other cars seemed to have noticed my arrival from the woods. I thought about waiting just to be sure. Yeah, that would be the safe thing. The cautious thing.
Instead I shoved the key in the ignition, started the car, and floored the accelerator. I left a cloud of smoke and a trail of burned rubbed behind me.
Chapter Fourteen
“We’ve had a break-in.”
Alex fought off the urge to throw her phone against the nearest wall of her bedroom. She hated talking on the phone to anyone. Couldn’t get a proper read on their thoughts. If she couldn’t get a proper read on a person’s thoughts, then she lost her advantage. When Alex lost her advantage, she became cranky.
‘Queen Bitch’ was the phrase everyone else used when they thought she wasn’t listening. Fools. She was always listening to people’s thoughts…
…except when on the phone.
“When did this happen?” she asked, keeping her voice as smooth and flat as possible. She pulled a notepad in front of her so she could take notes in case this was actually important.
“An hour ago.”
And? So? She wanted to scream at the guy on the other side of the connection. Was he purposely holding back on details to piss her off? Was this some sort of power-trip against a girl who was likely a quarter of his age? Was he a complete moron? She couldn’t take it anymore.
“Details! Stop screwing around and give me details before I have you shipped off to our installation at the northern tip of Alaska.”
“S-sorry, ma’am,” he stammered. Was that fear in his voice, or laughter? The phone creaked in her hand as her grip tightened. She took a very brief moment of satisfaction that, as a teenager, she was so effectively intimidating a guy who would likely be her superior in the normal world. “Th-the break-in wasn’t reported until f-five minutes ago.”
Weird. “Any idea why?”
Something in her tone must have calmed him down. His words began coming out more clearly. She had half a mind to get in her car and drive to Helix just so she could read everyone with accuracy.
“Someone hacked into our security feeds,” he said. “No one even realized what had happened until one of the security guards went into the surveillance room and saw himself still on patrol.”
“Unbelievable.” Alex rubbed her face with her free hand. “What's your name?”
“Harrison Raynes.”
Ah, she thought, the new kid. “How did this happen, Raynes?”
“The tech guys are trying to figure that out right now, ma'am,” he said. “I'm in the security room, and the only thing they can agree on is there is no way this should have happened. They are saying something about there not being any record of the intrusion, and the hacker must have had direct and official access to the system.”
“What was taken?”
“That's the thing, ma'am,” Raynes said. “We have no clue. We've searched in all the main
areas and don't see anything.”
“Then stop looking in the main areas and look in the places no one is supposed to ever reach.”
“But ma'am, no one can possibly get into those places.”
“Just like no one could have gotten access to our security feeds, am I right?” Her pen was tearing through the notepad, then a soft click, and the fine tip of the pen snapped. She threw it across her room. In the history of the Calm Waters location of Helix, there had now only been three break-ins; one five years ago, and the others within the last two weeks. No matter how good a security team, they were bound to get lazy when they were never tested. Jack's father had brought up that point more than a few times.
But still, patience only went so far.
“Call me when you find anything useful,” she snarled, and hung up before he could respond.
She sat heavily on her bed and glanced around her bedroom. It had no personality, she realized. Not like Jack’s. The walls were a light tan that matched the slightly darker colored carpet. She had a bed, a desk, and a computer chair. No posters lined her walls. None of the popular books girls her age read were stacked on her desk—her laptop and a simple desk light were the only things perched there. Alex had tried numerous times to decorate to her tastes, but she always came upon the same realization:
Alex didn't know what she liked. She was starting to think she didn’t have any personal tastes.
Every time she thought she was interested in some movie, CD, or random bit of decoration she would remember one of the students at school thinking about it. Was the sudden interest actually her own, or had it just been pilfered from someone's mind?
So she never bought anything to brighten the place up. What was the point?
Her watch beeped, announcing 1am. Tomorrow was going to be brutal. Since the initial incident at Helix the prior week, sleep rarely came before two in the morning. Her mind was too keyed up.
Residue Page 9