The Return

by Jennifer Torres

  Walking to the kitchen, he took out his wallet and removed a small photo of his sons: Luke with his jet black mop of hair—and Aidan, who was blonde with pale skin. Aidan had been very weak as a baby, and it only seemed to get worse as he grew. He was always sick, and by the time he reached the age of seven, he was simply unable to thrive any further. Luke was only five when it happened, followed shortly after by the loss of his mother—Rusty’s wife, Lenore.

  It had been a very sad time for them both. There had been no good way for him to explain to Luke why he lost both his brother and his mother so close together. Perhaps one day.

  “Hello, anyone home?”

  Rusty walked slowly back to the front of the house.

  “Max?”

  “Hi, Mr. Eller. I’m sorry to bother you again but . . . hey, are you okay?”

  Rusty realized he was suddenly sweating profusely.

  “Max, are you alone?”

  •••••

  Tim couldn’t believe he was looking at the Reef Institute.

  The opening was covered under some brush. He could see he was in some kind of enclosed courtyard. There were two guards close by, so Tim quickly ducked his head down to avoid being seen. He could hardly believe where this door had led him. While it did feel as though he had been walking awhile, it certainly didn’t feel like he had walked this far.

  If the tunnel had a door to this facility, where did all the other doors lead?

  He carefully lifted his head through the hole again and saw that the guards had moved away. He looked around and could see he was definitely inside the gates of the facility in a yard with a bench and a few tables.

  He was inside the fence.

  Feeling nervous, he lowered himself back down, gingerly moved the cover back into place, and climbed back down into the tunnel.

  Tim could see that the tunnel went on from here, but for how long? The questions were endless, and he had no answers. Then he remembered the box of keys.

  He decided he was going to find out where the other openings led. He raced back down the path the way he had come. When he reached the beginning, he opened the box and removed the ring of keys. He walked until he came across the first opening. Climbing up, he felt around in the dark until he found the opening. Key after key didn’t fit—and then finally the chamber turned and he heard a loud click.

  It was unlocked.

  It took some effort to move it aside, and as he did, sand poured in on his head.

  It was the beach. As he lifted his head up, he could see it was on an isolated stretch to the right of Paradise Beach. He didn’t waste any more time on that one. He closed it up and continued on.

  When he got to the next opening, he reached for the cover and pushed up, slowly moving it to the side.

  Carefully, he lifted his head out of the opening. He was in some sort of room, a storage area?

  A sharp pang of terror gripped him as he realized what the room was. It was Luke’s basement. He was peering into Luke’s house.

  Tim quickly lowered himself, replaced the cover, and without locking it, went on to the next. It was quite some distance from the first, but following the same procedure, he found the key and moved the cover.

  This time, he was in another room, another basement? But whose was it? he wondered.

  Hearing a noise from somewhere upstairs, he quickly replaced the cover, not taking the time to lock this one either. Tim decided to skip a few of the openings and go past the place where he had seen the Reef.

  As he ran along the path, it seemed to go deeper and deeper underground. Knowing that his friends would be looking for him, he decided to try the next opening he came upon.

  He climbed the rungs and pushed the cover over to the side.

  It was very dark, but he could tell he was once again inside a room—or maybe a closet. Sensing he was alone, he climbed completely out of the hole and pulled a chain, illuminating the small room. A storage closet of some sort, and there was a door.

  As quietly as he could, Tim tiptoed over to the door, grabbed the knob, and gently turned it, cracking the door open ever so slightly. There were people everywhere, bustling back and forth, completely unaware of him. Opening the door just a bit more, he could see there were signs hanging everywhere that read “Secure Area.”

  But it was a sign across the room that caught his attention. It said something different, and he strained his eyes to read it. A gasp escaped his lips as the words came into view:

  “Shuttle to Nomad”

  Chapter 7

  Don’t Mess With Texas

  Her collection of knickknacks was extensive: a mug in the shape of a guitar she had picked up in Austin, a small boot made of brown glass with a tiny map of Texas imprinted on it, and of course hanging above her bed, a huge banner that read “Don’t Mess With Texas.”

  Ms. Duvall scanned the room often to remind herself of where she came from and why she was here. Opening a drawer in her nightstand, she took out a T-shirt that was once bright yellow but now faded and worn. She slipped it on over her head and gazed in the mirror above the dresser. Etched on the front was a picture of Willie Nelson, the old country singer who was born in the same small town she was, Abbott, Texas, population 328—but currently 327.

  Then her eyes drifted to her face.

  Yikes what a sight, she thought, and quickly removed the special makeup that made her look much older than she was.

  When she was done, she reached further into the nightstand and removed her most prized possession: the Silver Star she earned as a member of the elite Texas Ranger Reconnaissance Team, which specialized in covert missions in out-of-the-way areas where traditional enforcement is ineffective.

  Rummaging through the drawer a bit more, she found a locket she had forgotten was there. Engraved in very small letters was a quote known by all Rangers by former Ranger Captain Bob Crowder:

  “A Ranger is an officer who is able to handle any given situation without definite instructions from his commanding officer or higher authority. This ability must be proven before a man becomes a Ranger.”

  Or in her case, a woman.

  Lost in the past, she almost didn’t notice the slight sound of movement from downstairs. She returned the star and the locket to the drawer and hurried down the steps to the first floor.

  The blinds were all closed, and the doors were locked.

  The sound came again—kind of a scratching or like something being moved. Could it be coming from the basement?

  Within seconds she was descending down the dark, cramped stairs to the cellar.

  A shovel hung on the wall at the base of the steps, so she grabbed it.

  Looking around, everything seemed to be in place, but she quickly went to check the entrance to the catacombs. She bent down and tugged gently on the lid. It slid away easily.

  It was unlocked!

  Duvall was good at keeping calm, a trait that served her well in her line of work. But a slight wave of panic rushed through her as she realized no one with access to this entry point would ever leave it unlocked—at least no one who was supposed to have access.

  She bounded back up the stairs and conducted a room-to-room search, looking in every nook and cranny of the house until she was certain she was alone.

  Walking back down to the basement, firmly gripping the shovel, she reached the bottom of the stairs just in time to see the lid from the underground passage move to the right and a man’s head pop out.

  “Mr. Kull!” Duvall called out. “You almost got your head knocked clean off.” Kull surveyed the room carefully before pulling himself up out of the hole.

  “We have a problem,” he said gravely. “Someone else is in the tunnel.”

  •••••

  Tim couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

  This was the transport station to
the underwater city of Nomad. Access to this was supposed to be completely impossible unless you had a credential to travel on the network like his dad and others who needed it for important business travel.

  Yet here he was, standing right in the midst of it. And if he wasn’t mistaken, he was past the security check area, because the shuttle to Nomad was directly in front of him. If he ran fast enough he might even be able to board it without being seen. But that was a theory he was not at all interested in testing out. All he could think about this moment was getting back home fast.

  Ducking back into the closet before anyone could see him, Tim lowered himself back into the hole, locked the lid back into place, and hurried back down into the tunnel.

  His mind reeled as he raced down the path for the exit. But he had traveled much farther than he realized, and the end was nowhere in sight. His gut told him that whoever was behind this tunnel must have something to do with the disappearances.

  Suddenly, Tim was tumbling, landing hard on his stomach and slightly bumping his head on the ground. Dizzy, he looked up from the dirt and could see he had caught his foot on a slight dip in the path that sent him flying.

  He dragged himself back to his feet and put a hand to his forehead. There was a bit of blood from a small cut, and his knee was really sore.

  He wanted nothing more than to get out of this place now.

  Walking this time, Tim resumed his trek to the beginning of the labyrinth. It took a while, but he eventually reached the place he first entered.

  Placing the key ring back in the box, he climbed to the top and out of the tunnel. He moved the cover back into place and began walking home through the woods, this time in the right direction.

  Within a few moments, he was running—running as fast as he could, faster than he had ever run before.

  Chapter 8

  Lost

  They were waiting at his house.

  Nina and Emily looked relieved as he turned the corner and ran up the front porch steps.

  “Where have you been?” Nina shouted. “Do you realize how long you’ve been gone? What happened?”

  Breathless, Tim bent over at the waist and grabbed his knees.

  “I would like to tell you where I’ve been,” he managed. “But I’m not sure you would be able to handle it.”

  “Your parents aren’t home,” Emily said. “Wait, where is Max?”

  Tim stood up straight.

  “What do you mean? He was with you.”

  “No,” said Emily. “He went back to get you.”

  “Back, back where?” Tim stammered.

  Nina eyed him curiously.

  “The cabin of course,” she said.

  •••••

  The search for Max began small.

  Everyone assumed that he simply lost track of time and would return home—everyone except Tim.

  The police had paid a visit to see Tim’s parents. They were not happy to learn he had been back to the cabin. Neither were Emily’s or Nina’s folks.

  The authorities had asked all three kids to come down to the station so they could get a better handle on who had seen Max last. As Tim walked into the stark office of investigations, he heard a familiar voice.

  “Nope, Max never came back,” Rusty was saying to a young, nervous-looking officer. “At least not that I saw.”

  Noticing Tim, he waved.

  “It’s a pretty big cabin, and if I’m upstairs, it’s hard to hear anything.”

  Tim just stared at him from across the room.

  This was a man he had trusted. First the phone call, and now Max was suddenly gone after he had gone back to the cabin. How could Rusty be involved in this mess?

  A chill began to form at the nape of his neck and slowly spread down to the base of his spine. There was no way he was telling anyone about the tunnel yet, but he knew he had to tell the authorities what he overheard when he had gone back to the cabin.

  “If you don’t get the other kids out of here and back on Earth soon, the whole plan could be ruined.”

  It could only mean one thing. Rusty was involved.

  But that seemed impossible. Tim had known Rusty all his life. He loved the man like a second father. All the kids did. And there’s no way he would ever hurt anyone—especially his own son.

  They all trusted him.

  They all trusted him.

  The missing kids were not foolish. How could they all have been taken by the man with yellow hair—a complete stranger?

  But they all trusted him.

  Canary had been talking to someone on the phone that night. Could it have been Rusty?

  Max had gone back to the cabin to find him —and now he was gone. Max certainly knew how to find his way to the cabin. There was no way he would get lost heading there.

  Rusty must have taken Max. But why, where?

  He felt a hand on his shoulder.

  “He’ll turn up,” Rusty said with a smile and a pat on the back. “You know Max, he probably just got turned around in the woods. They’ll find him.”

  Tim turned to face him.

  “I’m not so sure about that,” he whispered. “I heard what you said at the cabin. So tell me right now where he is—tell me what’s going on—or I’ll tell everyone what I heard.”

  Rusty looked like someone had just punched him in the gut.

  “I’ll tell you exactly where he is,” Rusty replied. “He’s behind you.”

  Tim turned just as Max came walking through the front door of the office. His parents followed closely behind.

  “Max!” Tim called out. “Where have you been?”

  Emily and Nina ran over to give him a hug.

  “I just got lost, man,” he mumbled. “I just got lost.”

  Rusty walked over to him and held his hand out.

  “Glad you were found,” he said.

  Instead of taking his hand, Max gave Rusty a hug.

  “Thanks, man.”

  Tim watched as the police escorted the family into an office and then dropped into the nearest chair, covering his face with his hands.

  He was exhausted and confused. When he finally composed himself, he looked up to find that Rusty was gone.

  “Come on, Tim,” his mother called from the door. “Let’s go home. It’s late, and Max is going to be okay.”

  On the drive home, he couldn’t stop thinking about Rusty. The look in his eyes when he accused him of taking Max was hard to erase.

  After all that, Max had just gotten lost. But that didn’t seem to make sense either. And where did all the other openings in the tunnel lead to? Who was using them?

  His head was spinning.

  He reached in his pocket to grab his phone.

  Not there.

  Checking the other pocket, he found it was empty.

  His heart sank as he realized it must have dropped out of his pocket when he tripped and fell in the tunnel.

  His phone was in the tunnel.

  If the people who used the tunnel found it before he did, they would know he had been there. Someone had gone to great lengths to hide the tunnel, what would they do if they found out he had been in there without permission?

  He had to get that phone back.

  Chapter 9

  Silence Is Golden

  He hadn’t spoken a word in fourteen days.

  Not one, single, solitary word.

  It wasn’t easy. He certainly enjoyed talking and often did too much of it according to some people.

  His training kicked in as the investigators questioned him relentlessly on a daily basis about the missing kids. But they already knew what was happening. They just didn’t know who else was involved. At least he hoped that was still the case.

  Canary’s home for the last two weeks looked more like a
small office than a cell—minus the desk and chair of course. His little abode was furnished with a rather comfortable cot, a toilet, and a window that despite not having any bars was impenetrable. The walls were bright white; the whole thing seemed to glow.

  The food wasn’t bad. But he never touched the stuff made with bugs. After all this time, he still couldn’t comprehend how they managed to eat those nasty critters on this planet.

  Disgusting.

  Not that he hadn’t had his share over the years. As a member of Special Forces, it was required that everyone adapt to the alien diet. Some creepy crawlies actually had more protein than steak. Out in the field, you did what you had to do to survive. Swallowing the bugs whole was the best method. You didn’t need to taste them to get the benefit of the protein. Thank goodness for that.

  But eating them by choice? Nope, that part he would never understand.

  Different strokes for different folks.

  And these people were different. Could he even call them people?

  The heavy latch on his cell door cranked open and a guard walked in.

  He placed a tray of food on his cot.

  “You really should try the grubs,” the tall, stalky man whispered. “I think you’ll really like the way they made them special today.”

  Then he quickly left the room.

  Canary immediately grabbed the tray and thumbed through the grubs until—yes, there it was—a note.

  It said: “CY. 24. Red.”

  Even with all his training and experience, it still never failed to impress him how his team could infiltrate any organization.

  Beautiful, he thought.

  A guard was on their side. The cryptic message meant he was being extracted from the courtyard in twenty-four hours. Now came the hard part of figuring out how he was going to get there.

  He walked over to the door and started banging loudly.

  “Hey!” he yelled. “I’m ready to talk!”

  •••••

  Mr. Kull walked the length of the tunnel until he came across the phone.