Ethan was so happy to see Aleena that he didn’t realize she looked like an Elf again until he was halfway across the clearing. She’d even removed the long-sleeve shirt and khaki pants she usually wore. They were lying on the ground in a jumbled pile, while she sat in her almost dazzling dark green armor.
Ethan looked at Grant, then back to Aleena. “I guess the secret’s out.”
Grant looked like a kid in a candy store as he gazed at Aleena. “This is the coolest thing that could’ve ever happened to us. It’s like the Lord of the Rings, only real. And even better, she’s way hotter like this!”
Ethan rolled his eyes. Grant had been worried to death that morning when he found out Aleena was missing, but now he was clearly back to his old self. Ethan sat in the circle with the others and then looked at Aleena. “Did you get it?”
Aleena’s weariness seemed to melt away from her face, “Yes, I know where he is, and even better, the Urlowens haven’t figured out how to get inside.”
“Where is it?” Allison asked.
“Where’s what? Who’s he?” Grant asked.
“Not now, Grant,” Ethan said.
“He’s north of here, in the mountains,” Aleena answered.
“Who?” Grant persisted.
“Valaan,” Aleena said, then continued. “It’s probably a two-day hike.”
Allison sat a little more upright. “Is he alive? Did the chamber work?”
“Who’s Valaan?” Grant asked.
“I don’t know,” Aleena said, answering Allison. “We’ll have to find out.”
“But if the Urlowens don’t know how to get inside, then how did Eric get the chip? Someone must’ve taken it from the chamber,” Allison said.
Tired of being ignored, Grant raised his voice just a bit. “Seriously guys, who is Valaan? And what does Eric have to do with any of this?”
Aleena put her hand on Grant’s shoulder and slowly slid it down his arm to his wrist. She gave it a little squeeze. “I’ll tell you in just a minute.”
Grant looked at Aleena’s fingers softly curled around his wrist. A shy smile creeped onto his face. “Um, okay, I can wait.”
“Thank you,” Aleena said softly.
Grant was gone, smitten and lost in Aleena’s eyes. Ethan had experienced a similar look from Aleena once before, just after she’d come out of stasis, and nearly lost himself in her eyes. Never had a chance. He almost felt bad for the guy, or maybe a little envious. He wasn’t sure which.
“I don’t know how Eric got the chip,” Aleena said. “The records I found were pretty clear. They know where the chamber is, but they don’t know how to get inside.”
“Something strange is going on,” Allison stated. “Doesn’t anyone else think this was all a little too easy?”
“It didn’t seem very easy to me,” Aleena snarked, remembering the feeling of burning alive the drugs induced. Worse, it wasn’t all in her memory. Her muscles felt a little of the fictitious heat even still. She rubbed her thighs, trying to soothe them and lessen the sensation.
“Does it matter?” Ethan asked. “If there’s even a chance Valaan is alive, we have to take it.”
“Oh, we’re going,” Aleena said, “and we have to go soon. Before they can figure out how to get inside. We have to get to Valaan first before they can kill him.”
“Assuming he’s still alive or still in the chamber at all,” Allison replied. She hated being the buzzkill, but their last adventure didn’t work out so well.
“He’s alive,” Ethan replied. “I can feel it.”
Allison gave him an incredulous look. “We should at least go in with a plan this time.”
Grant looked around the circle at each of them. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m in. I’ve gotta get away from the cave for a while.”
“It’ll be dangerous,” Aleena told him.
“I was born for dangerous,” Grant said with a sly grin.
“All right,” Allison cut in, “we should tell someone what we’re doing this time.”
“No way!” Ethan exclaimed. “If anyone finds out about this, there’s no way they’d let us go.”
“We’ll have to tell them something. If we go missing for four or five days, they’re going to notice,” Allison replied.
Ethan had to admit she was right on that account. “Okay, I’ll come up with an excuse to tell Micah, but I’m not telling John. He would flip a lid no matter what I come up with.”
With a plan forming, Aleena’s excitement began to wane again. She leaned against Grant for support. “I need to sleep. The drugs still haven’t completely worn off, and I don’t really want to move.” She looked at Allison. “How about you and Ethan go get us supplies. We can leave in a few hours.” She angled her head up to look into Grant’s eyes. “Will you stay here with me?”
He put his arm around her waist. “Of course,” he said, a little too eagerly.
Chapter 25
Micah walked through the cave’s dimly lit corridors with a faster stride than usual. The more he thought about Jason’s and Eric’s accidents, the more uneasy he became. It just seemed too unlikely. All his training told him there was more to those events. Jason’s just not that clumsy, and Eric? Well Eric’s stupid, but not that stupid. He could’ve called for help.
He followed a Y-shaped split in the path to the right until he came to his room. In the far corner, he removed a stack of medium-size rocks from the base of the wall, revealing a small recess. Reaching into the space, he took out a black phone the size of a thin wallet, placing his thumb on the front face of the display and his other four fingertips flat on the back. A moment later, words appeared on the screen.
All fingerprints accepted, enter personal identification code (IDC).
He adjusted the phone into a more comfortable position in his hand, then entered 351294801. The readout on the display changed again.
IDC—Accepted. Connecting…
Micah walked back to the room’s entryway and stuck his head out. There was no one in the corridor. Sitting down on a small, nearly flat stone, he raised the phone to his ear.
“Colonel Renin, sir,” the voice on the phone greeted, “this is Major Stentson, Alliance Intelligence. We were starting to think you were dead. It’s good to hear from you. What do you need?”
“I need an extraction,” Micah said.
“We’re a little tied down right now, but we should be able to arrange a vehicle drop for you,” the major answered.
“No, not just me—all of them. I’m not going to leave these people to die.”
“That’ll be a lot trickier, sir. I’ll have to check with the general.”
“You do that. I’ll call back in three hours.”
“Acknowledged,” the major said just before the line disconnected.
Micah put the phone back into the wall and stacked the stones in front of the opening. He noted the time on his black leather wrist watch, then headed into the hallway back toward the infirmary. He hadn’t checked on Jason since the previous evening and was anxious to know his progress. Jason had only woken for a few moments so far and seemed to have lost a week’s worth of memories. Abby insisted it was only a concussion and that he’d be fine, but her forehead crinkled each time she said it, betraying her words and divulging her true feelings. She was worried.
Micah was becoming fond of Abby. Even in dire situations, she kept her cool. It was a trait he admired. Living in a cramped, close-quarters cave was beginning to unnerve most of the others, but not her—at least, she didn’t show it. He rounded a corner, then poked his head through the curtain concealing the medical room. Jason was still sleeping. He looked at the empty bed next to Jason. Eric must’ve made it back to his room.
Micah had questioned Eric about the fall and got the distinct impression that he was hiding something, but so far had no luck getting him to disclose it. Pulling his head out of the room, resigned to let Jason sleep, Micah felt his stomach growl. Better grab something to
eat.
Thoughts of the past year ran through his mind during the walk. In particular, he thought of the late nights he spent teaching Jackson about politics and leadership. We’ve lost too many. The Madison City resistance is dead. They will still be able to help the Alliance, he thought, but in a more formalized manner. He’d trained them the best he could in the field; now it was time to bring Leon and his men into full service. The Alliance would finish their training and probably put them on the front lines. He hated to think what would happen to them there, but this was war. Every able-bodied man and woman had to do their part to save humanity.
Honestly, I’m surprised we made it this far.
Micah was just about to enter the dining cavern when he noticed Allison and Ethan approaching in a hurry. “Why hello, you two. Why are you in such a hurry?”
Ethan looked at Allison, his face flushed. “We were, um… well, we were just coming to find you.” Since leaving the clearing, he’d been racking his brain to come up with an excuse that would explain their approaching departure, but so far had nothing believable.
“Well here I am,” Micah said. “You found me.”
“We certainly did,” Allison replied, just as awkwardly as Ethan had started the conversation. She glanced back at him, her eyes pleading. She knew they weren’t doing anything wrong, but she felt incredibly guilty for lying to Micah. To make it worse, she felt like he had a way of seeing straight through people into their souls. He was incredibly perceptive, and she didn’t think he’d buy any lie they offered.
“I, uh… well,” Ethan began.
“Just spit it out,” Micah said. “Where are you going this time, Ethan?”
And there it is. He already knows. Allison subtly motioned for Ethan to go ahead, but saw her subtlety wasn’t needed.
Micah noticed that too.
“Yeah, uh, it turns out that, uh, Aleena… well, Aleena has an uncle,” Ethan stammered.
“Interesting,” Micah said. “I have an uncle as well.” His tone was playful. He was rather enjoying watching Ethan try to form an excuse for going on some half-cocked mission of his own design.
A story was beginning to form in Ethan’s mind. “Well, Aleena’s uncle, he lives in the city, and Aleena is worried about him. We all are, really.” He looked toward Allison for support and she nodded in agreement. “You know what would happen to him if they found out that Aleena’s joined us.”
“Indeed I do,” Micah said, more somber than either expected. His demeanor shifted palpably.
“Yeah, exactly,” Ethan continued. “So we thought….” He hesitated a moment, knowing just how crazy this would sound. “We thought we would go get him. You know, get him and bring him here. Where he’ll be safe.”
To both Ethan’s and Allison’s surprise, Micah seemed to be considering the idea. He couldn’t blame them really. They were all supposed to be fighting the Urlowens, but for the past few months had been relegated to hiding with their tails tucked between their legs. It’s about time somebody does something. The risk of exposure was minimal. Micah was certain he could get the extraction setup relatively fast—being old buddies with the general ensured at least that much—though he was certain that whatever Ethan had planned, there was no actual uncle involved.
“All right, I’ll tell you what,” Micah said. “I doubt I want to know what you’re planning, but I won’t get in your way if you can promise me three things.”
Ethan beamed. He couldn’t have imagined this conversation going better in his wildest dreams. “Anything.”
“Don’t go alone, just the two of you. Take a small team.”
“Aleena and Grant have already volunteered to go with us.”
“Of course they have.” Now Micah was sure he didn’t want to know what they were up to. He was already going against his better judgment, but knowing their plan would certainly make him change his mind. “Second, don’t come back to the cave.”
“Don’t come back?” Allison cut in. “We have to come back—”
“Calm down, Allison, and let me finish.”
She stopped midsentence but still looked horrified.
“I haven’t explained this to the others yet, but we’re going to get out of here. I haven’t been entirely open with all of you. It’s true that I retired from the Alliance Intelligence Service many years ago, but I didn’t exactly stay retired.”
“Wait, you work for the Alliance?” Allison said.
Micah shrugged. “I wasn’t going to sit around and watch our planet fall to a bunch of terrorizing aliens. I asked to be reinstated shortly after the war began, and it was clear the Alliance needed all the help they could get.”
“Then what are you doing here with us?” Ethan asked.
Micah grinned. “Well, I thought that should be obvious. I’m training you, all of you.” He motioned toward the others chatting away in the dining room. “Not the children, of course, but the rest of you. If we’re going to win this war, then everyone’s going to have to help.”
“So, you’re teaching us how to hide?”
“Now come on, things were going pretty well until your friends got taken out and our hospital became a pile of rubble. There’s a lesson in that as well. Know when to retreat and yes, even hide. It was clear we’d been grossly outmaneuvered. Better to retreat and survive than die out of foolishness.”
“Sorry,” Ethan apologized sheepishly. “It’s just been tough being stuck in this place.”
“I agree,” Micah answered, “which is why I’ve called for a pickup. I’m going to get us all extracted so we can rejoin the fight, and since we’ll be leaving this cave, there isn’t much risk to the community if you get caught while retrieving, who was it again, Aleena’s uncle?” Micah winked at Allison.
“We, um—” Allison began.
“Like I said before, I don’t want to know. Just don’t get yourselves killed.”
“But if we’re not coming back to the cave, where should we go?” Ethan asked.
“How long are you going to be gone?”
“Probably four or five days,” Allison offered.
“Make it five and I’ll get the extraction set up so you can meet us at the pickup site. I’ll need a way to give you the coordinates. Follow me.” Micah started down the hallway.
Ethan and Allison trailed close behind until they reached Micah’s room, where he walked to a corner and opened the hidden recess in the wall. Turning around, Micah handed what looked like a small black phone to Ethan. “This is a paired quantum encryption handset, a QueSet.”
“A what?” Ethan said.
“It’s a phone. A very special phone.” He turned around and pulled a second identical handset from the wall. “It’s a two-unit system. Your handset is entangled with this one.” Micah’s lips tightened a little. “Well, the handsets themselves aren’t entangled, but a small subset of the particles inside the devices are. At least, that’s what I was told when they were issued to me. I really have no idea what that means, other than they’re an extremely secure way to send messages.”
Ethan looked down at the device. “Just looks like a phone to me.”
“That’s the point,” Micah said. “Anyway, it works like a two-way radio, with the advantage that we’ll know if anyone else is listening.” He turned the devices on and the screens displayed a big green button in their center. “Hold that button to talk to me. As long as it’s green, the line is secure. If it turns red, then someone else is listening.”
“Seems easy enough,” Ethan told him.
“It is. I’ll send you the coordinates for the extraction four days from now. That’ll give you one day to make it to the location. When you get my message, send me a response so I know it made it to you without being intercepted. If it is intercepted, then the handsets will automatically cycle to the next encryption packet, and we’ll try again. It can do that several times before we run out of packets.”
“What happens if it runs out of packets?” Allison asked.
“Then we’re out of luck, and you’ll be on your own. The devices would need to be brought back into physical contact to restore the packets. I’ve never heard of that happening in the field, so don’t worry about it.”
Allison didn’t feel much better.
“You said there were three things we needed to promise you. What’s the third?”
“Right, the third is don’t tell John you’re leaving. Let me handle him. That’ll give you time to leave without him trying to get the others to stop you. Unfortunately, I’m probably going to have my hands full convincing him and the others that an extraction is worth the risk it imposes. The children will be safer in the long run, but leaving the cave will expose us for a brief time.”
“I wasn’t going to tell him anyway,” Ethan admitted.
“I figured as much, but I thought I should mention it just to make sure. I’ll count tomorrow as day one.” Micah held out his hand to both Ethan and Allison. “Good luck.”
“Thanks,” Ethan said, shaking Micah’s hand, and Allison did the same.
They left Micah in his room and started down the corridor.
“I’ll grab the food. You grab some weapons,” Allison told Ethan.
“One more thing,” Micah called down the hallway after them.
The two turned to see him standing just outside his doorway. “Yeah?” Ethan called back.
“Give ’em hell,” Micah replied, “for all of us.”
Chapter 26
Aleena was sleeping in the grass when Ethan and Allison returned with the supplies for their journey. Grant was sitting next to her, whittling a stick with his pocket knife. On hearing approaching footsteps, he reached for his rifle and raised to a crouch, scanning the perimeter of the clearing until Ethan and Allison emerged. Grant raised his finger to his lips. “She’s still sleeping,” he whispered. “What all did you get?”
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