Professor Milton and James now got back to business. They entered the room, which was full of all kinds of scientific gadgets. The room was large and set off from the rest of the headquarters. This was because, in the event of an emergency, the laboratory needed to be put into isolation. They tested a lot of dangerous elements down here and could not run the risk of contamination. The room had three scientists inside conducting experiments. One of the scientists spotted the pair as they entered and walked over to greet them.
“Professor, I heard you were coming. So good to see you sir,” said the scientist. He was around five feet six inches tall and wore a long white jacket, as scientists commonly do. He wore small tinted glasses and had long dark hair that fell to his shoulders.
“James, let me introduce you to John Stewart. He is the head of our science department,” said the professor.
“Nice to meet you,” said James, shaking the scientists hand.
“Ah James, the professor’s told me a lot about you. Your skills as an agent are legendary already.”
“Thanks,” said James, feeling slightly embarrassed about the high praise he was receiving. Legendary? I’ve only been with the organisation two years.
“How have the tests been progressing?” asked Professor Milton.
“Progress had been slow sir. The item is like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” replied John Stewart. “Item?” enquired James, who had no idea what they were referring too.
“Computer, bring up item 297” said John.
“Bringing up item 297 onto deck 5,” spoke a voice generated from within the computer.
“Come on, over here,” said, John gesturing for the two men to follow him. James, Professor Milton and John Stewart made their way over to a containment desk in the laboratories corner. A hatch opened from within it, and up rose a sword, the same blade that Lucius had used during the battle in Sydney.
“A strange object,” said the professor as he examined it closely. The sword was placed in a metal box container, which was connected to the computer mainframe at the headquarters. “Computer, run a match on this object against every known element.”
“Beginning search now,” the computer replied.
“What are you looking for sir?” asked John Stewart.
“I’m matching the material of the item against any other known material. I’m eager to find its origin,” answered Professor Milton.
The computer began to make a quiet beeping noise. “Search complete, I have ran simulations with every known element known to mankind. The object is not made up of any man-made or natural material and has a zero percent match with all,” said the computer.
“It’s just as I thought,” said the professor.
“What is it sir?” asked James.
“All in good time my boy. I have a theory.” The professor now spoke to the computer once more. “Computer, run a match on the unknown item, with item 297.”
“Conducting match,” said the computer. James attempted to speak, but Professor Milton gestured for him to hold his tongue. “Match completed, 72 percent match with sample 297.”
“I knew it!” The professor was pleased that he had been correct in his hypothesis.
“You knew what?” asked James, who had become very confused at this point.
“Come with me James,” said the professor.
The professor and James said their goodbyes to John Stewart and headed out of the laboratory. The pair ventured down to the restricted section of the headquarters building, which was located deep within the underground levels of the structure. The pair walked down several long narrow corridors and every so often, Professor Milton would have to scan his identification card through a security device or enter a pin number into a numeric keypad to proceed any further through several reinforced doors. James was a little surprised by how heavily locked down the area was.
“I’m guessing whatever it is you’ve got down here, it’s not for prying eyes?” said James sarcastically as he looked at cameras high up on the walls. The cameras were armed with guns that were attached beneath them, presumably to see off any intruder that dared to venture down into the area.
The two men reached a huge steel door, which was over six feet thick. It was similar to that you might see on a safe at a bank. The professor turned to James. “Listen to me carefully James. Down here the deepest, darkest secrets known in all corners of the world are kept. Do not tell anyone about this place. There are those that would pay much to obtain the secrets possessed in this facility.”
James nodded, not quite knowing what to make of it all.
“The reason I have brought you down here, is to show you this.” The professor keyed in another pin code into a numeric pad to the right of the steel door and swiped his card through the slot next to it. The steel door opened slightly. “Let us go inside,” said the professor and the pair entered the room.
James made his way inside and stopped dead in his tracks. He looked around all corners of the area. He looked upwards, downwards, to his left and to his right. I’ve seen this room before.
“You recognise this place, yes?” the old man asked him.
The room had been made into an exact replica of the room from the tower in which James had discovered the mysterious dragon headed dagger during his agent examination two years ago. The room had the exact same interior, all the way down to the materials in which the computer had simulated.
“Yeah I know this room…but why have you done this?” asked a very bewildered James.
“It’s because of this,” answered the professor who began to advance into the middle of the room. He reached a huge stone, around three feet tall and similar in width. The stone was covered with an old sheet, which Professor Milton unduly removed. Underneath was the dragon headed dagger, which James had uncovered on the small island near Puerto Rico.
James had not seen the object since that day. He had long forgotten about its existence but instantly recognised what it was. James remained silent, still unsure as to why exactly the professor had brought him down to the lower levels of the base.
“You remember this I take it?”
“Yeah,” James answered casually, nodding at the same time as he spoke.
“I remember your report on this object all those years ago. You spoke of it giving off a strange glow am I correct?” asked the professor.
“That’s right,” said James, who kept his answers short. He wished to let the man speak for he wanted answers as to why he had brought him here.
“Well, this dagger has not had any sort of glow since that day, over two years ago. We have run countless tests, tried all sorts of things.”
James, who was becoming very intrigued by what the professor had to say, continued to listen.
He carried on. “The object seems invulnerable to everything we have. We’ve tried to melt it, freeze it, even laid it beneath four tons of solid steel, but still the object escapes without so much as a scratch. It reminds me of something or someone.”
“What’s that?” asked James.
“You,” replied the Professor.
How does a dagger remind you of me?
“Much like this object, you seem to have the extraordinary ability to come out of even the most impossible scenario’s unharmed. You are not invulnerable of course, as your latest battle has shown, but those were exceptional circumstances.”
James interrupted, “I don’t follow you.”
“My theory is this. This object, in my opinion, is not of this world. It is different from every known element and matter form I have come across. Then there is you and Chad, again totally unique in your incredible abilities to do things I have not seen any other man or woman come close to replicating.”
James folded his arms, deep in concentration.
“You only show vulnerability to something or someone of a similar level. For instance, you show vulnerability against Chad, would you agree?”
James nodded. Then a rather disturbing thought
began to enter the agent’s mind. “Professor…you don’t possibly think that I could be…” A ringing phone cut James off mid-speech. Professor Milton picked out his mobile phone and answered it.
“What? When did this happen? I’ll be right up.” The professor hung up and looked at James. “Come on, we’re needed upstairs.”
“Yes sir,” said James, and the pair left the room. Just before James exited, however, he took one last look back at the dragon dagger. His mind wondered in all directions. He had so many questions. Where did these mysterious items come from? How am I connection to them? What is my connection to Lucius? James tried to bury these thoughts for now though, after all, he had a job to do.
Up in the main control room stood Sergeant Cooper, along with several numbers of intelligence staff, who were manning their computer stations. The control room was a large area, full of the most highly advanced gadgets and technology the world possessed. Some of the technology on display had not even been made available to the general public. The World Order used the advanced equipment to aid them in their missions to maintain its control over he planet.
Professor Milton and James entered the control room. Sergeant Cooper, who was leaning over the shoulder of one of the intelligence staff’s computer screens, waved them over.
“What is it?” asked the professor.
A woman, in her mid-thirties, sat at a computer turned her seat around to face the three of them. “Sir, there’s been some sort of unnatural disturbance in the southern region of South America.
“Disturbance?” asked the professor. “Let’s take a closer look shall we? Computer, magnify the image to the main screen.”
A large touch screen was stationed just behind where they stood. The screen was huge, over eighty inches in size. The computer loaded up a large holographic map of the world onto the screen, taken from satellite images up in space. A red dot flashed on and off around the southern region of South American.
“What is it?” asked Sergeant Cooper.
“Let’s have a look. Computer, magnify image two hundred per cent,” said the professor. The computer zoomed in on the South American region of the map.
“It looks like it’s coming from Argentina,” said James.
“You’re not wrong,” Professor Milton replied. The man placed his hand on the touch screen mechanism and enlarged the country of Argentina onto the map. “Interesting…”
“What do you see Milton?” asked Sergeant Cooper.
“It seems that small tremors, like those made from an earthquake are forming here.” The professor pointed to the southern part of Argentina. “But still, something is wrong. These readings are not compatible with that of an earthquake. The landscape has been altered.”
Sergeant Cooper and James shared a quick glance; clearly both of them were as confused as the other about what was taking place.
“Rio Gallegos? Such a remote place for an unnatural occurrence,” said the professor, who was now thinking aloud.
James and the Sergeant had learned long ago that it was better to remain silent and let the man ramble on, rather than interrupt him. He was more often than not right with his hypothesis on such things.
“Wait, what’s this?” The professor zoomed in on the Rio Gallegos region. He brought up the Silva Jungle onto the full screen. “Interesting, very interesting.”
“I don’t get it,” said Sergeant Cooper. “It’s just a jungle with some sort of a building in the middle.”
“Ah but you’re missing an important point here my friend,” said Professor Milton. “This pyramid structure…it wasn’t here twenty-four hours ago.”
“What? How can that be? James asked.
“If my calculations are correct, the unnatural tremors in the area are a result of this structure, and it’s sudden appearance,” the professor explained.
“Wait a minute,” said the sergeant, who sounded less than convinced. “You’re telling me this damned…pyramid just rose up from the ground out of nowhere?”
“Precisely,” said Professor Milton. “Another thing that intrigues me about this, is this.” The man magnified the image further so the group could now see clearly the top of the pyramid that was visible from above the jungle. “Look familiar?” asked the professor, who pointed to the upper part of the image. At the pyramid’s top, were strange symbol like images.
“Wait, I’ve seen these before,” said James.
“So have I,” the sergeant added.
“The dagger?” asked the professor.
“And the sword,” added James. “Do you think HE is there?”
“You mean Lucius? The man who kicked your rear end in Sydney?” said Sergeant Cooper.
“Yeah,” answered James, who sounded a little despondent with the reminder of his defeat.
“With everything that has transpired so far, and now the sudden appearance of this pyramid building, one would likely assume him to be in connected to this in some way,” said Professor Milton.
“Right then, let’s get out there!” said James. The discovery that Lucius might have some of the answers to his past had James eager to cross paths with the white haired man again.
“Are you sure you’re ready? You haven’t made a full recovery from your injuries,” said Sergeant Cooper.
“I’m fine sir. I’m ready for assignment.”
The sergeant looked him up and down. “I’m not sure…”
Professor Milton intervened. “If Lucius is involved then it would be unwise to despatch agents onto the scene unless James is in the party.”
Sergeant Cooper agreed with the old man on that point.
“I also think it would be wise to send the other one,” said Professor Milton, who referred to the currently imprisoned Chad. The sergeant agreed less with his colleague on this subject, but he too recognised that despite his flaws, Chad was an expert in combat, surpassing even James.
Through gritted teeth, Sergeant Cooper agreed to release Chad and assign him to the upcoming mission. “I’ll go and let him out myself,” said the man as he walked out of the control room, in the direction of the detention area where the holding cells were located.
“Let him out? Sir is Chad locked up?” asked James. What has he done now?
Professor Milton sighed. “Yes…he is.”
“What happened?”
“Well…” replied the professor, recognising it was now time to tell James what had transpired whilst he had been sleeping.
#
Chad sat on a small wooden bed inside the holding cell. The cell was dark and damp and water dripped slowly from the roof, the sound of which had annoyed Chad for hours. The living conditions reminded him of something he might find in a third-world country. This was no accident of course. The World Order had purposefully downgraded the facilities of the entire wing the holding cells were located in, so as to make the occupants stay as uncomfortable as possible. It was widely thought by many that making prisoners feel uncomfortable would aid the organisation when it came to interrogation.
Down the corridor, a creaking sound could be heard. The main door to the prison wing opened up. Light from the outside partly lit up the darkness of the corridor, not that the darkness had been bothering Chad too much. There had been several other prisoners on the wing who couldn’t see a thing, but this was not the case for Chad.
The agent seemed unmoved by the sound of footsteps that could be heard walking along the corridor. The footsteps gradually became louder and louder. The other captives had risen to their feet and stood at the bars of their cells. Not Chad, though. He had so many other things on his mind that he didn’t even bother to stand.
A shadowy figure walked through the dimly lit corridor, passing by each cell. The figure did not glance at any of the cells as it passed them. Then, the figure came to a halt outside of Chad’s cell, the shadow cast the agents cell into darkness once more. The agent slowly turned his head to look at the figure. Through the murky light, Chad’s enhanced sight enabled him to cl
early recognise the person’s identity.
Sergeant Cooper stood at the other side of the metal bars. Chad expected to get another lecture from his superior at any moment, however to his surprise, the man placed a key into the cell door and opened it. “Time to suit up agent.”
Chad stood up from the small wooden bed he had been sat on. He didn’t know quite what to make of this. “So…I’m free to go?”
“You’re not a prisoner here boy, you’re one of my soldiers and are needed on assignment.”
“You’re here with a mission sir?”
“I am. You have a problem with that?” said Sergeant Cooper.
“No,” answered Chad, taking the moment to step out of the cell before his superior had a chance to change his mind.
#
James gathered his gear in preparation for the upcoming mission. He was inside the equipment room within the base. Each agent had a designated section of the room, containing their own individual items and weapons. James was half way through putting on his uniform when Sophie walked into the room. The Irish girl noticed his muscularly ripped half naked body once more. “You know, I’m sure you hear me coming and take your clothes off on purpose,” she said, jokingly.
“Or maybe you just keep walking in on me to see it!” James responded, slightly taunting her.
The girl became a little flustered and attempted to hide her embarrassment. “Yeah right,” she said, walking over to her section of the room.
As an expert in dagger throwing, Sophie’s area was filled with all kinds of knives of different makes and sizes. She was already dressed in her agent’s uniform, which was dark skin-tight leather, which showed off her slender figure. The suits were fire proof and enabled enhanced flexibility to aid movement. The Irish girl began gathering her gear as well.
Clash Of Worlds Page 27