The Seat of Power (The Securus Trilogy Book 3)

by Anthony Maldonado

  I back away from the door. My muscles involuntarily tense when hearing footsteps above us. The steps are initially rapid, but the pace slows as they grow near. Just before the person comes into sight, the steps stop. Auden timidly peeks his head over the edge of the stairs. He cracks a nervous smile when seeing us waiting for him alone. Now that we are all here, Rylan opens the door, leading us into the next room. As soon as we enter, the distracted behemoth inside jumps to his feet, appearing ready to charge.

  “What are you doing down here?” he asks in a deep and forceful voice. “I wasn’t informed of any expeditions.”

  The Guard’s dark, scrutinizing eyes size each of us up one at a time. I am dressed exactly like Rylan and Bynah, but for some reason the man seems to focus more on me. Surprisingly, he shows no deference to our rank. I expected someone more like our Guards in the Detention Center, happy to have some company for once, so his intensity surprises me. Rylan steps forward, pointing the rest of us to the bio-suits resting on steel shelves fixed to the wall. We put on the bio-suits while straining to ignore the fiery eyes of the Guard.

  “I can explain everything,” Rylan says in a calm voice while nudging the Guard back to the outer door, as if to gain privacy. Even with the movement, we hear every word. “What’s your name?”

  “Tauren, sir,” the Guard answers.

  “Well, Tauren, we recently learned of a tunnel within one of the pools out there. The passage leads to another cave system. We have reason to hope the new system may not be contaminated by The Agent.”

  Suddenly, Tauren stops fidgeting and listens intently to Rylan.

  “As you know, this would be a significant find for us, but we need to secure the area before we can perform additional testing. We don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up for returning to The Caves until we know for sure the area is uncontaminated. That’s why we’re coming this late, and why it’s imperative to keep this quiet until we get the test results,” Rylan explains.

  His lie is a brilliant one. Rylan came up with a plausible reason for three high ranking Leadership members and a Guard to make an unexpected visit. More importantly, he gave Tauren a good reason to keep our visit a secret. After considering Rylan’s words, Tauren nods in understanding and sits back in his chair.

  Rylan comes over to put on his own bio-suit. When he is ready, we walk out the door. To my surprise, the area outside the door remains separated from The Caves. The room is dark, but as soon as we turn on our bio-suits’ lights, the all too familiar decontamination chamber becomes discernable.

  Once we pass through the decontamination chamber, the ceiling vaults up sharply. The chamber we enter has a nearly spherical shape. To my left lays a massive pile of boulders that looks to have crushed many of the natural formations on their way down. On the right is a narrow tunnel that appears to be the only exit from this chamber. Having only a single entrance makes me nervous, especially seeing the size of the collapsed boulders nearby. Even if the tunnel is reinforced, an earthquake could easily trap us out here. Still, this may be my only chance to prove the air down here is not poisoned by The Agent.

  Rylan leads us into the lone passage. We snake through the tortuous path, and luckily, after about twenty yards it opens up into another chamber. This cavern has surprisingly smooth surfaces. The area would be completely unremarkable if it were not for the pool of water next to another tunnel on the far end. The others are obviously nervous down here and have not spoken a word so far. Keeping quiet is better for now. I have no intention of disturbing the silence until we are far enough away to be sure Tauren cannot overhear anything we say. When we approach the next tunnel, to my surprise, the others turn away from it.

  Bynah notices my confusion and comes close enough to whisper. “We’re going though there.”

  She points to the water, which only adds to my surprise. Auden goes into the pool first, followed by Rylan. Apparently they were serious about going through the water. This is going to be interesting.

  Chapter 14

  “Is it far?” I ask Bynah while stepping into the water. If the distance is too long, I may actually need to power up my life support system for the swim.

  “No, there’s a wide opening just below the surface. It’s only ten yards to get to the other side,” she reassures me.

  Wanting to get the swim over with, I dive in. Even with insulation of my bio-suit, the cold water sends shivers through me. The lights from my bio-suit reveal a large tunnel under the surface. Even from here, the others’ lights are visible shining from the adjacent chamber. While swimming, a disturbing memory comes to me. My eyes dart around, searching for the ghostly fish that attacked me recently. Thankfully, they do not appear now.

  As soon as I reach the other side, I step out of the water and take off my helmet to get some fresh air. Rylan and Auden scream out to stop me, but my helmet is already off. They stare at me with fear in their eyes, waiting for something to happen. Nothing does.

  “I feel better with that thing off,” I tell them, flashing a satisfied smile.

  Bynah emerges from the water and yelps when she sees me. She rushes over to help, not realizing nothing is wrong. Their reactions amuse me. Even seeing me on the surface without the bio-suit did not convince Auden that The Caves are really safe. The one thing that assured me of its safety was the records on Rylan’s computer indicating the presence of The Agent. We know the bio-weapon is no longer active. So, it stood to reason that if there really was a poison down here they would simply say so and not resort to using The Agent to keep people away.

  “I told you guys The Agent was a lie,” I tell them. “Now do you believe me?”

  “Or maybe you’re simply immune to it,” Rylan says with a shrug.

  Bynah reaches for the lock on her helmet. “There’s only one way to find out for sure.”

  Before she takes of the helmet, Rylan stops her. “Remember what happened to me before? What makes you think it will be different this time?”

  “Because Kagen isn’t lying to us. I can see it in his eyes,” Bynah says with firm determination.

  Rylan rests his hands on her shoulder while looking into her eyes. I was unsure if they were more than friends at first, but the gentleness in his touch removes any doubt.

  “Fine, then let me do it,” Rylan says before turning to me and Auden. “If anything happens, you two need to get me back to the decontamination chamber fast.”

  I do not see how that would help anything, but agree anyway. Rylan reaches to his control panel to deactivate his life support system. After unlocking his helmet, he slowly lifts it off and holds his breath for a few seconds before daring to take in some air. Rylan sniffs around as if testing for anything unnatural. When nothing happens, his eyes widen in surprise. He even cracks a small smile.

  That smile does not last long however. After only a few more seconds, he reaches up to his chest. Rylan’s breathing becomes shallow, dropping him to his knees. He looks to be choking. Auden reaches for Rylan’s helmet. I help put it back on. As we lock the helmet in place, a blue discoloration covers Rylan’s his lips. The color change quickly spreads to his already pale skin. The change is something I have seen before. This reaction has nothing to do with The Agent, but the cyanosis is unmistakable. Something is keeping oxygen from reaching his bloodstream, effectively suffocating him.

  With the helmet secured, we drag Rylan into the water and pull him through the hidden passage. Bynah passes underneath us while we swim, moving surprisingly fast. By the time we reach the other side, Rylan has already lost consciousness. We need to hurry. Auden and I each wrap one of Rylan’s arms around our shoulders and run. Rylan’s feet drag behind us as we race back to the decontamination chamber. I cannot believe this is happening. They’re gonna think I did this on purpose. They’ll never trust me again, I lament in my own mind.

  In my rush, I forgot to put my own helmet back on. Now water sloshes around in my bio-suit with each step. There is no time to go back or stop to pour the water o
ut, so we keep going. When we reach the narrow tunnel, Auden goes in first, dragging Rylan behind him. I grab his feet to help move faster. Now in the spherical chamber near Munitus, Bynah runs beside us. Even with her suit on, the tears in her eyes and tremor in her hands are easily visible.

  We drag Rylan’s limp body into the decontamination chamber. He no longer breathes at all. He has no time to spare, so while Auden goes to activate the chamber, I rip Rylan’s helmet off. My hand instinctively moves to his neck, feeling for his carotid pulse. My fingers press against an unmoving artery, filling me with dread.

  “Help him!” Bynah screams as she throws off her helmet.

  I start chest compressions, trying to stimulate his blood flow while the sterilizing mist of the Decontamination Chamber fills the room. Bynah kneels down next to Rylan.

  “Wake up, Rylan. Don’t leave me,” she sobs.

  I instruct her to give him mouth to mouth breaths in-between my compressions. Her breaths will be filled with the chambers sterilizing mist, but there should still contain enough oxygen to be useful. The work of doing the compressions makes me breathe deeply, intensifying the burning in my lungs from the chemicals. The resulting pain sends a spasm through my chest, nearly flooring me. The only thing keeping me upright is the knowledge that Rylan’s life depends on us. I keep pushing down on his chest while Bynah tries to breathe life back into him. Rylan does not move. After a couple of agonizing minutes, the cyanosis recedes, returning the normal color to his skin.

  I stop my compressions and again feel for his pulse. This time a rapid pounding pushes up against my fingertips. His heart has restarted and is going strong.

  “Hold on Bynah,” I tell her, wanting to see if Rylan will breathe on his own.

  She sits up, looking down at him with her tears dripping onto his forehead. Behind her, Auden paces back and forth with his eyes fixed on Rylan. We all hold our breath, not daring to move. Just as I feel ready to pass out, Rylan breathes in deeply. Soon after, he opens his eyes and looks around. He made it! I shout in my mind while slumping to the floor.

  “Let’s not do that again,” Rylan says, gazing into Bynah’s eyes.

  Now that he has regained consciousness, we need to finish the second step of the decontamination. We open our suits and I let the water drain out of mine before initiating the second cycle. While waiting for the decontamination to finish, one thought swirls through my mind. The Agent is definitely not down here, but there has to be some hidden trigger affecting the people of Munitus. It cannot be the food like in Securus since I already ate some. There has to be some other way they are secretly poisoned.

  Unfortunately, our commotion has not gone unnoticed. The shaved head and dark eyes of the bulky Guard fill a small portal in the door. Tauren watches us with the intensity of one of the mountain lions stalking its prey. The instant the decontamination completes, he throws the door open.

  “What’s going on?” Tauren demands before any of us has a chance to speak.

  “Turns out we were wrong,” Rylan says in a matter-of-fact tone.

  Judging by the lack of concern in his voice, no one would ever guess he nearly died only a moment ago. Before Tauren interrogates us further, Rylan gets up. He puts his hand on my shoulder to use as a brace as we walk past the Guard.

  “Where’s your helmet?” Tauren asks as we pass.

  “My team is not your concern,” Bynah snaps from behind him. “Munitus is safe, and that’s all you need to worry about. You should know better than to question Leadership.”

  Tauren’s jaw clenches, and his face turns red. Having this little thing admonish him nearly sends him over the edge. He clearly wants to reply, but does not. Instead, Tauren stiffens his posture to stand at attention. He knows he is outranked, and the consequences of disobeying Leadership would be severe.

  “I’ve got my eye on you,” Tauren grumbles to me as I put the rest of my bio-suit in the waiting containers. His stare does not falter, following me until we are back into the stairwell.

  “That’s one suspicious Guard,” I tell the others, relieved to no longer be in the same room as him.

  “I’ve never met him before, but Tauren has a reputation with the other Guards. He’s known for his forceful approach and suspicious nature. From what I heard, he always follows protocol, so he shouldn’t be a problem,” Auden says more to Rylan than to me.

  As we continue up the stairs, Rylan’s normally calm exterior shifts. He does not say a word to me. His attention stays focused on the stairs in front of him. That makes me worry. Bynah may be visibly shaken from what happened, but she is not ignoring me like Rylan. It is hard to fault him for being angry since he nearly died because of me. If he does not believe what happened was not deliberate, things are going to get even more complicated. When we reach their quarters, I immediately plead my case.

  “I didn’t know that was going to happen, you have to believe me.”

  “Really?” Auden says, looking at me suspiciously.

  “What good would that do?” I snap back at him.

  “Think about it, what would secretly killing one person in The Caves accomplish for someone if they had a hostile intent?” Bynah asks, coming to my defense.

  “I believe you, Kagen,” Rylan says, now looking at me for the first time since we revived him. Now that he actually looks at me, I realize there is no anger in his eyes, only confusion. He grabs at his beard for a second before continuing. “The real question is why you weren’t affected. Maybe you really are resistant to The Agent and didn’t know it.”

  “No, we’re not. Remember, our Leadership has used The Agent to kill some of our people,” I say in a somber voice, remembering the many vials of the deadly weapon hidden within our Research Department. “But what happened out there had nothing to do with The Agent. I am well aware of its effect on our physiology, and what happened to you was nothing like an infection from The Agent.”

  “According to our researchers, the weapon has mutated, making it kill slower. That’s why they’ve been able to design some chemicals in the decontamination chamber to inactivate it,” Rylan says, looking more confused than ever. “But if that were true and your people are susceptible to the original form of it, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be just as vulnerable to this one.”

  “Unless it’s not The Agent at all,” I say, finishing his sentence.

  “It could be something like the poison Caelum uses in your food,” Bynah says, searching for another plausible explanation.

  “But I already ate some of your food, so that can’t be it,” I answer. “There has to be something else I managed to avoid. Maybe they put something in your medical vaccinations or air filtration systems.” That thought triggers another to race through my mind. My jaw opens wide from the possibility.

  “What is it?” Bynah asks cautiously.

  “There’s something else I wasn’t exposed to out there,” I tell them. “I never turned on the life support unit in my bio-suit. Think about it, what better way to introduce a poison than when people are confined within an airtight suit? They could easily keep the poison under control since you have to use the decontamination chamber before reentering Munitus.”

  Rylan’s legs seem to give out. He falls onto his bunk while letting the thought sink in. Bynah opens her mouth to speak, but is cut off by a chime from her personal communicator. Her eyes roll when seeing the message sent to her.

  “We have to go, they’re having another meeting about the attack,” Bynah tells Rylan.

  “Kagen, you stay with Auden while we’re gone,” Rylan says, forcing himself to his feet.

  After they leave, I head down the stairs with Auden. This time, there are many more people around when we exit into another corridor. Only ten meters from the stairwell waits the entrance to a dinner hall. The room inside is filled with much more life than the one I saw earlier. The roar of their voices permeates the outer corridor. When we get a little closer, the muffled tones intensify, turning into a song. The melod
y draws me to the hall. Auden notices my distraction and follows me to the door.

  “This is our only release,” he says, pointing to the circle of people in the center of the room.

  Even with a few generations blending the people together, they still show features originating from an eclectic mix of ethnic origins. These people could easily be confused for those of Securus. What stands out most to me is for the first time since I have been here, the people do not appear exhausted. The words of their song are difficult to decipher, but the tone of their voices is unmistakable. Shining through the melodic rhythm of their song is something I was not sure they possessed. It is hope. This moment demonstrates something precious shared amongst our separated people. Even though they are given little reason to believe, the strength of the person next to them helps foster a glimmer of hope. The people of Munitus may be weary, but they are not as far gone as I initially suspected.

  Auden nudges me back down the hallway to his quarters so no one will notice us. Inside is a bare room with only a single bunk and no color on the walls. With the rest of Munitus being so colorful, seeing his quarters so bland is weird. Then again, this area makes me feel at home given its similarity to Securus.

  “Can I ask why your quarters is the only room with no color on the walls?” I ask.

  “Leadership lets us pick the color. Most people choose cheery colors to brighten up their spaces. Leadership thinks it distracts from the situation we’re born into. I didn’t want to hide the truth from my eyes, so I removed the paint,” Auden explains.

  I guess in a way, this simple decision explains why he was willing to believe me. He does not want to be fooled by false amenities. Auden wants a way out of Munitus. My offer is the only opportunity he has to fight back.

  “If you’re right about the life support systems, the song they were singing in the dinner hall is much closer to being a reality than any of them know,” Auden tells me, still standing next to the door.