by Skye Knizley
He smiled, and Cadence smiled back. It had been one of the worst days of her life, maybe one or two below the day Phoenix died, and it was nice to have a friend. Even one as strange as Ethan.
She put the car in gear and headed back the way they’d come as fast as she could. She didn’t want to spend any more time in the dark with the monsters. At least not until she’d had a cheeseburger or three. Cheeseburgers made everything better.
CHAPTER TEN
The address Cadence had for X-Delta-Five was vague; it was supposed to be located in Telegraph, Utah. Unfortunately, no map listed any such town, and though Ethan recalled having seen the name somewhere, the best he could do was ‘near Salt Lake City,’ which didn’t narrow things down much. Most of Utah is centered around Salt Lake City.
Two days of searching through Reno newspapers and maps confirmed that Telegraph was supposed to have been destroyed in the 1940’s and turned into some kind of military testing facility, then abandoned in the early 60’s. Not much was known and there were no recent articles, nothing after 1961. It was as if the whole town was simply swept off the map, and it was still technically a “no fly” zones so airplanes never flew over the area. There could be something huge out there and no one would ever know.
Ten hours of driving put them a few hundred miles outside Salt Lake City at a small motel called the Wagon Trail. It had a horrible Old West motif with a bevy of wagon wheels, cow skulls and toy guns that even Ethan thought was too much. Fortunately, the attached restaurant served an “all you can eat” buffet and the motel offered free television and hot tubs, which made the twenty-bucks-a-night flop a bargain as far as Cadence was concerned.
After stuffing herself with roast beef, chicken, salad and pie at dinner, she excused herself and walked across the street to the ‘76 gas station, where a telephone booth stood on the corner beneath the station’s squeaking orange sign. She fed the phone from the handful of change she’d gotten from Ethan and waited, listening to the clicks while it tried to find the connection in New Mexico. A male voice picked up on the third ring.
“Hello?”
Cadence closed her eyes and said a silent prayer to the Goddess. “Mr. Bennet, is Nikki home? Could I talk to her, please?”
“CJ… is that you?” Jerry asked.
“Yes, Mr. Bennet, it’s me. How are you?”
“God, girl! Everyone’s been worried sick about you, the way you lit out like that, are you alright? Do you need money to get home?” Jerry asked. “The sheriff looked for you for weeks before giving up.”
Cadence couldn’t help but smile as tears formed in her eyes. She’d always imagined that the whole town hated her, that they blamed her for Phoenix and Nikki.
“I’m alright. I’m so sorry for how I left, after dad died and Nikki got hurt, it was too much. I couldn’t deal and needed to clear my head. Is Nikki alright? Are you?”
“We’re fine, CJ, just worried about you. Nikki insisted you were out there looking for your dad’s killer, she said you called and were afraid to talk,” Jerry replied.
“I did, she’s right. Does she want to talk to me?” Cadence asked.
“Of course I do, dork,” Nikki said. Cadence could imagine that she’d snatched the phone out of Jerry’s hand.
“I’m so happy to hear your voice,” Cadence said.
“I’m happier to hear you, too. Where are you and when are you coming home?” Nikki asked.
Cadence could hear the tears in her voice, and it made her throat tighten.
“I can’t tell you and I don’t know. Soon.”
Nikki blew her nose noisily. “I miss you so much, why did you leave? Why did you run away without saying anything? I would have gone with you.”
Cadence couldn’t fight the tears, they ran down her cheeks freely and stained her tee shirt. “I didn’t think you wanted to see me. You got hurt, Phoenix was dead, I didn’t know what to do and I just… I just ran.”
“You are such a nerd,” Nikki said. “You’re my girl, of course I wanted to see you. Why on earth wouldn’t I want you with me?”
“Because I got you hurt, almost killed,” Cadence said. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve, then turned to watch the headlights of a truck pulling into the motel.
“You did not! Ceej, that wasn’t your fault, it was that man, that thing you were fighting with. I was there of my own free will,” Nikki replied.
“I should have protected you.”
Cadence was still looking at the truck. It seemed sort of off the beaten path, the highway technically went to Salt Lake, most roads in the area did, but the interstate was a better, faster option.
“I don’t need protection, I need my soulmate,” Nikki said. “You listen to me, Cadence Jasmine, you come home as soon as you can. Dad said you can stay as long as you want. We’ll get jobs, find our own place, go to college, whatever you want. I just want to do it with you by my side, okay?”
“I can’t tell you how happy that makes me, Niks. I was so afraid, I held out hope, its why I kept calling, but−”
Nikki cut her off. “I get it, honey. There hasn’t been anyone but you, either. When are you coming home?”
The truck was parked and the driver, an older man with deep grey hair, flannel shirt, jeans and trucker’s boots, had gone into the diner without even a glance in her direction.
“Soon. I’m checking out a lead near here, then I’ll come home,” Cadence said.
“For good?” Nikki asked. “To be with me?”
Cadence paused. She desperately wanted to see Nikki, to hold her and to explain everything. But did she want to spend the rest of her life in Lobo? She didn’t think so, not after seeing so much of the country.
The pause went on so long, Nikki cleared her throat and said softly, “We don’t have to stay in Lobo, we can go somewhere else, just say you’re coming home for a while, coming to get me.”
“I am, Niks, I promise. I have to go, I’ll call you in a few days, okay?”
“I’m going to hold you to that promise, Ceej. I love you, ya know,” Nikki said.
That little sentence made Cadence’s heart explode with joy. She smiled and held the phone tighter. “I love you too, an I’ll be home soon.”
She hung up and stepped out of the booth, so happy she could almost skip. She walked back across the silent street, glanced at the empty truck, then hurried down the row of rooms to number nine, the one she shared with Ethan. She knocked first, just in case he was doing something she didn’t ever want to see, then entered.
The room was a double, large, as motels went, with two double beds, a single shared night-table and a wide dresser with a color television bolted to it. The sink was positioned behind a half-wall, the bathroom itself lay behind a door and contained their free hot tub. Cadence planned to soak in it for an hour after their long drive across Utah. Desert summers were hot and she was covered in gelled sweat.
Ethan was lying on his bed, boots off, book over his face stifling soft snores. Cadence closed the door softly, locked it then rummaged through her bag for clean clothes. She chose a tee shirt with a blond pop star on the front, black jeans, boots and matching bra and panties. She didn’t normally care, but talking to Nikki had made her feel a little excited, and that seemed to call for matching undies.
It never occurred to her not to sleep in her clothes. She’d been caught pants down, as it were, once in Arizona, and it was never going to happen again. She also didn’t want Ethan getting any funny ideas about a half-naked girl in the room.
The bath was delicious, a welcome reprieve from the dirt and sweat of the road. She turned the whirlpool function on with her toe and settled into the swirl of sweet-scented bubble bath the hotel had provided. She was normally not a fan of things that smelled girly, but the candy scent was pleasant and relaxing.
She was d
ozing in a happy cloud of bubbles when a chill began to rise. At first, she chalked it up to the air conditioning, which Ethan always set on deep freeze, but after a moment she realized it was far too cold for just the ac. It was in a different room and she was in a hot tub.
She opened her eyes and looked to the corner of the room, where a figure was beginning to take shape, a ghost that she didn’t recognize. Cadence concentrated, trying to bring it into sharper focus, but nothing happened. It was as if the spirit was coming from some great distance. After several moments, it disappeared.
Cadence watched the spot to see if it would return, but the spirit did not reappear and she settled back into her bubbles. The joy had gone out of the bath, however, and soon she rinsed off, dried her hair and got dressed. She needed a few hours’ sleep before they went to Telegraph.
***
The road to Telegraph ran far into the wilderness and was supposed to be impassible to anything without four wheel drive. The reality was that the road was open and, in fact, recently paved once you were past the Danger: Do Not Enter roadblock. The blue Mustang made good time over the smooth pavement and soon the wilderness opened up to what had once been merely another mining town in the middle of nowhere. There should have been nothing but discarded military gear and craters where the testing facility had once been. Instead, there were several well-lit buildings set in the center of a wide concrete paved area. Even in the middle of the night, it was almost daylight in Telegraph.
“Pretty sure that ain’t supposed to be here,” Ethan said. “Pull over, let’s go in on foot and get a closer look.”
Cadence nodded and pulled the Mustang into a clearing off the side of the road. Trees and scrub ensured it wouldn’t be visible from the facility, they would have to hope no one came from the other direction and noticed it sitting there in the desert.
As they descended into what Cadence thought must be an old crater, Ethan suddenly pushed her down behind a pile of rocks. A large helicopter passed by overhead, so low its wake blew dust and sand over them, and he kept her covered until it was gone. It landed on a helipad between two of the buildings and several people dressed in suits climbed out, only to vanish into one of the buildings.
“How is this possible?” Cadence asked.
Ethan raised an eyebrow. “How is what possible?”
“All of this! These are, what, Russians? KGB operating on American soil? How does that even happen?”
“Money,” Ethan said with a shrug. “Money turns eyes, radar and satellite away. For many people, patriotism is just a word, these days. Love of country has been replaced with love of money, and nobody cares.”
Cadence glared at him. “That doesn’t bother you? You’re a veteran of World War II!”
“You really want to have this conversation now?” Ethan asked.
He had a point. Not twenty yards away two men in camouflage uniforms were patrolling the perimeter. Others followed at regular intervals, constantly watching for people doing exactly what she and Ethan were. The assault rifles they carried left no doubt as to what would happen to anyone they caught.
“And people are worried about illegal Mexicans,” she muttered. “These bozos are probably here legally.”
“This way,” Ethan said.
Cadence followed him along the edge of the crater. They stuck to the shadows of rocks and shrubs as much as possible, moving closer between the patrols then waiting for them to pass before moving again. The night moved on as they spiraled in behind the largest building, a three-story structure of metal and concrete pressed up against the edge of the crater. There was no door in the back, but that didn’t bother Ethan, who simply shuffled his deck and threw a card at the blank concrete. As before, the wall unfolded, only this time it simply made a passage through into the darkened hallway on the other side.
The inside of the building smelled like cleaning products, a nose-burning mixture of ammonia, bleach and anti-bacterial sprays that made Cadence’s eyes sting and run. She wiped the tears away and pressed herself into the wall while Ethan ended his spell and left another in place. They’d discussed on the way that they might need a quick escape. The card he stuck to the wall in the shadows of the empty corridor would be that escape, or at least part of it. All either of them had to do was tap the card and it would give passage back to the waiting car and, hopefully, a head start over any pursuit.
“Ready?” Cadence asked when he was finished.
Ethan shuffled his deck in one hand. “Lead on, CJ.”
The corridor they were in was dark, lit only by an emergency light far overhead. The walls were made of black metal and the floor was covered in a sort of rubber material that served as carpet and muffled noise. It was kind of like walking on gelatin.
Cadence proceeded down the corridor to the next intersection, where she spotted a surveillance camera on the far wall. She chewed her lip in thought, then decided to try something she’d only done a few times. She extended her finger like a gun, held it in her other hand and concentrated on sending a shot, for lack of a better term, of sound wave at the camera. To her astonishment, the camera lens shattered in the shock wave of sound but left the camera itself in place.
“See? Subtlety,” she said with a grin.
Ethan made a face. “I can do subtle, it’s just not as fun. Night’s burnin’, let’s get a move on.”
The next corridor was much the same as the first; same metal walls, same low-light conditions, but ahead she could see a lighted area that looked more promising and for more occupied than they’d expected at this hour. Two women in white uniforms were at computers behind a high counter; nurses on the late shift. There was no sign of anyone else, but Cadence had no doubt there would be more not far away.
“What do you think?” She asked Ethan.
He stroked his beard with the tip of a finger and watched the two nurses. “If they catch us, all of this is for nothing.”
“It’s for nothing if we don’t actually learn anything,” Cadence argued.
She looked back at the nurses, then squared her shoulders and walked into the light, her best smile in place. The nurse’s station was in a large octagonal chamber with corridors leading in four directions. High above was another level, the same shape, with four balconies overlooking the lobby.
One of the nurses, a dark-skinned woman with a severe bun and serious expression, raised her head and cocked an eyebrow in query.
Cadence kept walking, smile in place. “Hi, my name is CJ, and I’m here to find out where I came from, do you have a moment for me to root through your files?”
The nurse blinked in disbelief. “I beg your pardon?”
“Oh, don’t mind me, I just needed to get closer,” Cadence replied. She raised both hands and used her shield to send waves of sound into both nurses, not enough to hurt them just enough to knock them out and send them spilling to the floor.
In a shot, she vaulted over the desk and rolled the closest nurse under the desk while Ethan leaped over the other side and did the same. Both women were out cold, and CJ guessed they would be that way for an hour or so.
“How did you do that?” Ethan asked, turning to one of the computers.
Cadence shrugged. “I knew it was possible, in theory. It’s not the sound, it’s the vibrational intensity that causes their brains to sort of… switch off.”
Ethan kept typing, but Cadence caught the look he gave her out of the corner of his eye.
“And you learned that how?”
“Advanced placement physics,” Cadence replied.
She turned to the other computer and began her own search of the files. They didn’t have much time, sooner or later someone was going to notice the nurses napping under their station and sound an alarm, and that would complicate things.
“Got something,” Ethan said. “Project MK-Delta.�
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He turned the computer so Cadence could see, and her mouth fell open. On the screen was a photograph of her standing in some kind of glass-fronted tank.
“What is that?”
“Search me, kid. No clue,” Ethan replied. “Its supposed to be on the sixth sub-floor, though. We should take a look.”
He closed the file and twisted to look at the map pinned to the cupboard behind him.
“Wait, this place has more floors below ground?”
Ethan gave up and took the map. “At least seven. Come on, I think the elevator is this way.”
Cadence followed him down the north-eastern corridor, which reminded her of something out of a sci-fi movie. The walls were of hardened black steel, but the floor was some kind of grey metal grating back-lit by red emergency lights. Or were they some kind of warning, either way she thought she was looking for cell bay AA-23 and would later jump down the garbage chute.
Halfway down the walkway, Ethan slowed and ducked into one of the doorways to the side of the corridor. Cadence huddled up behind him, trying to see what was wrong.
“Guards at the end of the hallway,” he whispered.
“Great. Stormtroopers,” Cadence muttered, craning her neck to see the two white-uniformed men at the end of the hall.
Ethan gave her a look. “They don’t look anything like Storm Troopers, did you hit your head? Storm Troopers wear all black with the death’s head symbol.”
“Never mind. How do you want to play this? Should I try to get close enough to zap them or is there something in that deck of cards of yours?”
“I think I can manage these two,” Ethan said.
He shuffled his deck and extracted two cards, one was an Ace of some description, and the Queen of Hearts. He put the deck back and threw the cards in a sideways motion, like tossing a Frisbee. Cadence wouldn’t have thought they would make it half the distance to the cards, but to her surprise they twisted around each other and landed in the middle of the floor just behind the two guards and began to billow grey smoke. Three seconds later, both men slumped to the ground, asleep.