Wooden Ships

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Wooden Ships Page 9

by Donald Piazza


  The escort walked Adam down a long hallway with doors on either side. The hallway ended and then they made a right turn, there in front of them were elevator doors where they paused; the agent pushed the down arrow. Hum, we’re going down thought Adam, so we must be on the upper floors of this place, he made a mental note of this. While they waited for the elevator doors to open Adam asked the agent; “Are you excited to see how the device works?” The agent said nothing and looked straight ahead; suddenly the elevator doors opened and the agent pushed Adam in. The agent pushed the button labeled Level-4 and the doors closed, the elevator started to descend. Trying to talk with the agent again, Adam asked, “How tall is this building?” The agent finally said, “Most of this building is underground.” Concerned he might have said too much the agent was silent and didn’t speak again.

  The elevator door opened and both Adam and the agent walked down a short hallway about ten feet to a vault door that was made of steel, and standing on either side were armed guards. The armed guards checked the agent’s credentials, when confirmed he punch the secret code into the cipher key pad and with a whoosh, the steel door opened. As they walked into the observation room, the door quickly closed behind them. Immediately Adam noticed it was a large circular room, the center portion was lower by about five feet, the upper portion was separated by windows where an army of scientists in white lab coats were all sitting in front of consoles monitoring electronic equipment, they were all there to see the big show, thought Adam. In the center of the observation room were other scientists milling around, there were chairs and an examination table, similar to the ones found in the operating room of a hospital. He kept thinking about what the Entities told him, about surgically removing his left hand, this spectacle made him nervous. It must have shown on his face because the agent told him to relax. As he continued to look around, he saw additional personnel, busy connecting wires and adjusting electronic equipment. One scientist approached him and asked if Adam would follow him to a chair, he then told him to sit down. Frightening Adam even more, were agents, tucked away in the back of this laboratory with bullet proof vests carrying M16-a1 assault rifle with thirty-round magazines and bayonets.

  Adam was looking around for Jen when Reynolds walked up to him and asked, “Are you ready?”

  Still looking around Adam said, “Where’s Jen?”

  In the corner of his eye, he noticed Reynolds turn and nod to someone near the back of the observation room. When he turned and looked, he saw a guard bring Jen into the room. When she saw him, she started to cry and reached out to him, her hand shook uncontrollably. They brought her over to him and he said, “I’m so sorry I got you involved in all this.” She looked very tired and scared, but she said; “It’s alright, I am so glad to see you; I love you very much.”

  Adam looked her straight in the eyes and said; “I love you too.” Then he gave her a quick wink. Adam repeated with another wink, and said, “It’s going to be alright.” He was certain she understood he had a plan of getting out of this place, but she seemed terrified about it, he hoped she would be ready for what his plan was.

  Reynolds asked one of the scientists close by to begin attaching the sensors; the sensors looked like the ones they used for electrocardiograms. Not asking why they were doing this, he told Reynolds, “I want Jen close by.”

  Thinking nothing of it, Reynolds sat Jen in a chair next to him.

  Wanting Adam to think he was a good guy, he said, “Ok, I have kept my end of the bargain, now show us how the device works.”

  An agent standing close-by removed the restraints from his arms as the scientist pulled open his shirt then continued to attach additional sensors to his chest with tape. They pulled a skullcap over his head that looked as if there were a thousand wires coming off it; Adam guessed they wanted to see what his brain activity showed during the demonstration. They plugged all the wires into electronic equipment that scientists were getting ready to monitor from the other side of the window.

  Adam looked at Jen, “Did they harm you in any way?”

  “No,” she said, “I didn’t know what had happened to you, and when I asked, no one would tell me anything. I’m just happy to see you.”

  With a reassuring smile Adam said; “Everything is going to be Okay, I promise.”

  Reynolds asked the scientist, “Are we ready to proceed?”

  “I just need to attach a couple more to his left hand then make some adjustments to the instruments and then we’re done.” They plugged all the sensors into a rack of equipment; next, the scientist flipped a switch and touched a couple of display screens to make some adjustments. Adam could see display lights start to flash. The scientist then looked up at someone behind the window and signaled; Adam looked up and saw a scientist give a thumbs-up, “Okay Reynolds we’re ready.”

  Reynolds turned and looked at Adam and said, “Are you ready?”

  Looking around Adam noticed all the scientists began to get excited; then he asked Reynolds, “Okay, so what exactly are you expecting the device to show you?”

  “I want to see anything, just activate the device and think of anything so we can see it in action – Okay?”

  Not seeing the device anywhere, Adam asked; “Okay, where is my device?”

  Reynolds leaned over and picked up a metal box that was sitting on the floor then carried it over to a table next to his chair and set it down. On a chain around his neck was a key he used to unlock the box. Reynolds looked up and signaled for everyone in the room to get out, Adam guessed this was for precautionary safety reasons; quickly everyone went to the other side of the windows to watch, except the armed guards, they stayed.

  With a sharp voice, Reynolds said; “Adam, I am going to step behind that metal wall over there with a small window where I will observe and when I do, I want you to open this box and take the device out. Over on the wall is a timer,” Reynolds pointed, “it is set for twenty minutes. I want you to active the device, and when the timer goes off, I want you to stop and put the device back into the box and close it. Do you understand?”

  Adam looked at the timer on the wall and then at Reynolds, “Yes, I understand.”

  With a concerned look on his face Reynolds warned, “Adam, there are agents with automatic rifles surrounding the area, and on my command they will use them if you try anything, do you understand?”

  “Is that really necessary? I’m not going to try anything, I want to show everyone how the device works and then I want to take Jen home and forget about you and this place, do you understand me?”

  Reynolds looked at him for a few seconds trying to detect any trickery and then said, “Yes, I understand.”

  Adam glanced at Jen and she looked as if she was going to faint at the idea of deadly force.

  Reynolds said, “Ok, let’s do this;” Reynolds announced to everyone in the laboratory, “places everybody, we’re ready.” Then he walked around the steel wall and watched through the small window.

  Adam took a deep breath and smiled at a worried looking Jen. Looking around he could see everyone had their eyes glued on him waiting for the fantastic event to occur.

  He opened the lid of the metal box and looked in, laying in a crevice he saw the device surrounded by black velvet, it was glowing a pale blue. Adam did one last quick look around and saw everyone wide-eyed and watching him. He slowly reached in the box with his right hand and grabbed the device. He forgot how light it was as he picked it up. As soon as the device was visible, Adam saw the excitement in the faces of all the scientists behind the glass window. There was a beehive of activity as they quickly began to monitor the electronic equipment. There was a host of other scientists taking pictures and videos using the cameras mounted on the walls in the observation room. As Adam looked at Reynolds, he saw excitement in his eyes too. Everyone was sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting in anticipation for the activation of the device. Ad
am looked at Jen and smiled, but he could tell she wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

  He looked down at the device and transferred it from his right hand to his left and it immediately formed into the shape of his hand like a glove and activated, in the center of the device a small half dome of energy grew that covered Jen and himself like an igloo.

  Adam began to think of simple things so the device would begin to project holographic images for the observers, this would distract everyone for a while until he chose the right moment to put his escape plan into action. He thought of historical places on Earth such as the Pyramids and the Grand Canyon, the device then started to project images of those places.

  You could hear gasps of excitement coming through the windows from everyone watching from the control room, obviously in awe at what they were seeing. People in the observation room jumped off their chairs and were standing, pressed up against the window, what they were watching was almost magical. All the scientists were stunned and Adam could tell they were trying to understand the advanced technology they were observing.

  From behind the wall, watching the event was Reynolds, who was thinking, this device was miraculous and this was the most incredible thing he had ever seen. He began to think of different uses for this device, the possibilities would be endless.

  Seeing this as a good opportunity to set his escape plan in motion, Adam slowly raised his left hand straight up, made a fist and changed his thought processes from historical scenes, closed his eyes and clearly and distinctly thought, STOP! Instantly there was a blinding purple flash. “I hope this works!” If it doesn’t, he thought, the guards would be shooting at us any minute. With his eyes still closed and shaking with fear, Adam thought nothing had happened. He carefully listened and heard only the hum of the electronic equipment. No one was talking. He opened his eyes and looked around, that’s when he noticed everyone was paralyzed where they stood. It was the oddest thing thought Adam, everyone standing still, they weren’t blinking their eyes; they weren’t doing anything; they were just paralyzed. He quickly looked at Reynolds and saw he still had the stupid grin on his face from watching the device, but he wasn’t moving either. Now, concerned about the armed guards, Adam quickly scanned the area for them, when he located them, they too were just standing there at attention not moving.

  All of a sudden, he heard Jen call out, “Adam! What just happened?” Taking a deep breath Adam said, “I’ll tell you later but right now we need to get the hell out of here before they all snap out of it!”

  “What was that purple flash?” asked Jen.

  “That purple flash came from the device, that’s what put them all in a trance.”

  With a bewildered look on her face, Jen said, “Everyone seems to be just standing there staring, it’s sort of creepy.”

  Adam kept looking around the area to make sure no one was coherent; he expected to see someone moving, however, everyone were still in a trance.

  Then Adam confirmed, “The device paralyzed everyone.”

  With a puzzled look on her face, Jen asked, “What else can this device do?”

  Adam chuckled, “You haven’t seen anything yet! I want you to stay close to me; we are going to walk out of here before they come out of it, but first there’s something I want to do.”

  Adam stopped the device from working and the dome that surrounded them vanished. He put the device in his pocket and then proceeded to rip all the sensors from his body, next he pulled the skullcap off his head and threw it. A very nervous Jen watched Adam quickly walk over to where Reynolds was standing behind the protective wall.

  Adam wanted to leave Reynolds with a little memory of his visit. He looked around for something he could use when he noticed a black hood and a syringe labeled M-19a lying on a table next to him. Adam could only surmise that Reynolds was going to use it on him after he finished, so he took the syringe and ruthlessly stabbed Reynolds in the neck then injected the solution until it was empty. Without pulling it out, he grabbed the black hood and slipped it over Reynolds head, “See how you like it, asshole!” Then as one last parting gift, he unbuckled Reynolds pants and pulled them down around his ankles, he heard Jen say, “What are you doing?” Adam quickly ran back to Jen and with a smile on his face said, “Let’s get out of here before they all wake up!”

  Jen always knew Adam had a twisted wit, and said, “Ok, let’s go!”

  Adam took the device from his pocket and placed it in his left hand; an energy dome instantly grew and surrounded them.

  Both Jen and Adam walked to the steel door, that’s when Jen noticed the cipher lock; “We don’t know the combination, how are we going to open it?”

  “Listen to me carefully, I don’t have time to explain now, but this device will make us invisible and when we are, we will be able to walk through solid matter!”

  “What?” Not totally believing what she heard, she said, “ah... yeah okay!”

  “I want you to follow me closely!”

  “Where do you think I am going to go?” she quickly grabbed the back of his shirt.

  Adam focused his mind on one thought - we are invisible. Something different happened to the dome that surrounded them, exactly what that was could not be explained, except it was like looking through a slightly distorted window that slowly swirled around them.

  “Let’s go!” Not really sure this was going to work Adam first pushed his hand through the steel door as a test, there was a slight resistance as his hand slid through, but he was shocked to see it actually penetrated the door. He cautiously proceeded by pushing more of his arm through, however, as their bodies started to go through they experienced an odd sensation. Since every one of their atoms was slipping through the empty space of the solid structure, the electron’s and neutron’s that orbited each atom in their bodies became perturbed, this made them feel as if they were actually part of the solid structure; one can only describe it as similar to being suspended in jell-o. Next as their brain passed through the solid structure, they become slightly light-headed and they heard a whooshing sound.

  “Holy shit! This is actually working.” Adam heard Jen gasp as they both walked right through the steel door. It took some getting used to the sensation, but as soon as they passed through, the odd sensation faded away.

  Finally, through the door they both stopped for a moment to catch their breath but were immediately alarmed because standing right next to them on both sides were two armed guards. These guards were not aware of their invisible guests coming through the closed door. Moreover, they were not even aware the blinding purple flash paralyzed all the scientists in the observation room.

  Quietly Adam and Jen walked past the guards and toward the elevator. Adam worried they would be detected as they walked by, so every couple of steps he looked over his shoulder to make sure the guards were still oblivious to their presence.

  Then Adam heard one of the guards say to the other guard, “Did you feel something? The other guard said, “Feel what?” Thinking nothing of it, they both went back to standing guard.

  At the elevator door still hidden within the invisible dome, Adam and Jen slowly walked through the closed doors of the empty elevator. Now they were standing in the elevator and so far, no one has detected their escape. To rest his mind, Adam stopped thinking that they were invisible, rendering them visible again. Still wrapped in the energy dome from the device, an excited Jen whispered, “Did we just walk through closed doors? The sensation felt so weird.”

  Not having a moment to marvel over the incredible device Adam excitedly said, “We need to be perfectly silent... I am not sure if we can be heard when we’re invisible.”

  Their next challenge was to make their way to the ground level, since this facility was under ground the floor numbers displayed in reverse order, Level-G was located at the top of the button selection and Level-4, where the observation room was located, was at the bo
ttom. Adam reached and pressed the button labeled Level-G, hoping this meant ground level. The elevator sprang into action and started to go up.

  Watching the floor indicator move up, Adam waited until the elevator reached Level-G then resumed thinking, “I am invisible.”

  Again, the dome that surrounded them reacted to his thoughts and rendered them invisible. When the elevator door opened, Adam could see it led into a lobby. Slowly they walked out, Adam was petrified when he noticed a stern-looking guard sitting at his desk looking in their direction and he seemed puzzled when he saw no one come off the elevator. Being concerned the elevator came up with no one on it he decided to contact the guards on the lower level.

  “This is the desk guard at ground level, is everything alright down their? The elevator doors opened and no one came off.” Guards on Level-4 said, “Everything is fine here, but we’ll check with the guards in the observation room, please stand-by.”

 

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