“There’s too many.”
Kane agreed. “Fall back, but keep firing.”
Like a well-oiled machine, the soldiers moved. They piggy-backed each other, carefully walking backwards. Like before, they’d replace one of their ranks while the other reloaded, but now only three were firing at a time instead of six.
Half the firepower, Kane thought.
“Eh, screw this,” Kane said. “Run!”
On cue, everyone turned and followed Kane as he zigged and zagged into whatever random tunnel he could find. The only constant was that he tried to keep moving in one general direction, hoping to run into the central portion of this place.
If there was one.
They’d lost contact with Hank and could have really used his intel right about now. That is…if he was alive. Kane and Nicole still held out hope, though. They knew, without a shadow of a doubt, it would take a hell of a lot more to take Hank down than just a fall. Even if he was in the hands of this master joker… They had confidence in his ability to come out on top.
“Holy hell!” someone yelled from the back. “We just lost two men!”
“Keep moving!” Kane shouted back. If they could get far enough away, they’d be able to regroup.
He ducked down another corridor to the right, following it for thirty feet, going left shortly after. He heard several sets of booted feet trail him and trusted them to not get lost in a place twice as bad as the Atlantean necropolis. At least you had room to maneuver there. The tight confines and what seemed like an unlimited number of enemies made their current situation all but hopeless.
“I’ve got an idea,” Davey said, stopping. He pulled twin canisters from his combat vest and pulled their pins. As the last of their team ran past him he tossed both cylinders back the way they came and turned and ran. “Flash out!”
“Find a side tunnel!” Kane yelled and dove left, Nicole right on his heels.
As he landed he covered his ears and opened his mouth, doing what he could to negate the punch of the flashbang grenades. It didn’t help much as the twin canisters exploded into two balls of light. Immediately following each quick burst, he heard screeching and next…gunfire.
He peeked around the corner and watched as one after the other, each soldier came out of hiding and started their assaults back up anew. But this time, the enemy wasn’t so ferocious.
They were sprawled all over the floor, making headshots easy, and ammo easy to conserve. Kane and Nicole joined in and soon everyone of the things was down and very much dead.
“Still no blood,” Davey said again. “Not even from headshots.”
Kane just turned and walked away, flopping to the ground. He sat back against the wall and closed his eyes, breathing deep. Through his heavy breaths, he heard a body hit the ground next to him.
“What are you thinking?” Nicole asked.
“I’m thinking…that this may be…a lost cause.”
She was about to say something, but he cut her off.
“But,” he held up a hand, “that doesn’t mean I’m going to give up.”
She nodded and sat back with him, checking her ammo supply.
“Thank God we brought those extra mags, Kane.”
Davey sat across from him, reloading another fresh one.
“Told you so,” Kane said. “I won’t make that mistake again.”
Nicole nodded, agreeing.
“What’s that?” Davey asked.
“Nothing,” Kane said quickly, “never mind.”
“Company stuff…right.”
Thankfully for Kane, Davey was a world-class shooter and a highly recommended soldier. He also had experience dealing with people like Kane before. Need-to-know information was exactly that and Davey didn’t need to know anything to fire a gun.
“Maybe someday I’ll be able to tell you,” Kane said, leaning his head against the wall.
“Just not now,” the man said, finishing Kane’s statement.
Kane just nodded and closed his eyes again.
“You feel that?” Nicole asked.
“Feel what?”
“I think it’s the wall.”
Kane held his breath and felt it. It was slight, but the stone behind him was definitely shaking. A small tremor—a vibration, but it was something. He stood, never taking his hand off the stone. He began to walk further down this particular corridor, but the sensation faded. He quickly pivoted and headed back in the same direction, stopping at one of many cross tunnels. Stepping in, he instantly felt a soft shaking under his feet.
“This way,” he said, cautiously stepping forward.
Everyone fell in line behind him, minus the two men they lost earlier. Single-file, they each walked softly, heel-to-toe, making their way forward as quietly as they could. With each successive foot covered, the ground began to shake and twitch a little more.
“Where do you think—” Nicole began to ask.
“No idea,” he quickly answered, “but we haven’t had any friends since coming this way.”
“Could be the tremors,” Davey said.
“Might be,” Kane said shrugging. “Either way, we need to be on guard and ready to roll.”
“No issues here,” Davey said, “this is what we do.”
Kane just nodded his understanding and kept moving.
They continued another hundred feet, barely being able to walk straight. It wasn’t enough to shake loose the stone around them, but it was enough to make Kane’s feet fall asleep. Eventually, they came to what looked like an opening of some sort. He held up a closed fist, telling everyone to stop. After a minute of silence, he motioned for Nicole and Davey to join him.
The three of them crept closer, holding themselves up while they moved. Each one held on to the wall nearest to them as they came upon a perfectly cut opening. They each peered inside, having to shield their night-visioned eyes from a low glow emanating within the large space ahead.
“Take off the headgear,” Kane said, switching his off, while Davey lifted his off his eyes.
“Is that?” Nicole asked, shocked.
“I think it is,” Kane replied. He looked off into the distance of the arena-sized room and saw a massive piece of Atlantean orichalcum hanging from the ceiling. It was beautiful as well as foreboding. Wherever this stuff existed, so did death.
Davey stepped up next and looked back-and-forth. “Is it just me, or is it a jungle in here?”
35
The Citadel
“We’re here,” Terra says, ushering me forward. She’s standing next to a perfectly cut opening the same size as the corridor we just passed through…and I could have sworn it wasn’t there a moment before.
“You open that?” I ask, stepping closer.
“No, the entrance here is automated.”
“Really?” I ask. “I didn’t expect it to be so advanced.”
She smiles. “Have you learned nothing?”
I’m not sure if it was a jab at me or not, but I get what she means. These beings—human or not—are more advanced than we are now. They may have the advancements in technology to the same level as humanity does, but their other advancements, mostly mental, are off the charts.
They’re an advanced ‘race,’ not an advanced ‘civilization.’”
The word ‘civilization’ implies that they’re human, just a more advanced group of people. And I can one-hundred-percent attest to what I’ve learned that whoever is ultimately responsible for the Citadel and the Source is not human.
I also know what that implies when it comes to Thoth and him ingesting the orichalcum… I also understand what that means when it comes to me.
I look down at my hands and feel the fire tingling under my skin. If I was to push it further, it would fully ignite. Before Algeria, I was all human…now…I’m not so sure. If the changes did, in fact, permanently alter my DNA, then I may be more like Enki and Thoth than I’d like to think.
“Beings from another world,” I say, finally comin
g to terms with what this all means. “Extraterrestrial life.”
I look over to Terra. “And I’ve become one of them.”
“You make it sound like a bad thing.”
“It’s not?” I ask, surprised that she would think the other. Even she has explicitly told me she is ashamed of who she is.
“I do not regret being who I am, Mr. Boyd. I regret who I became. I could have become the same all-powerful being in the same light, but I could have used my abilities for a greater purpose. I am and will forever be Terra, a Judge of An’tala. It doesn’t mean it has to be a bad thing.”
I know what she’s trying to say. You’re allowed to be something else besides what you are. You’re allowed to change your status in life. You’re never stuck with being who you are, or in my case, you’re never stuck with being the “you” I was. I may have changed since gaining these gifts…but has it been for the better? Or the worse?
Maybe something inbetween.
I may not be the same Hank Boyd I was a few short months ago, but look at what I’ve accomplished in that small amount of time. I’ve saved countless lives—maybe the world…twice. I’m in an amazing relationship and have gained some wonderful new friends. None of it would have happened unless I became who I am now.
Has it really been a change for the worse? Is that what I need to accept to reach my full potential? Do I just need to accept my role in all this—accept my fate?
“Come, Hank,” Terra says, motioning me forward.
“You called me Hank again,” I say as I pass her.
She blushes a little. “You humans and your emotions. How I wish they didn’t affect me too.”
“Emotions?” I ask, stopping in front of her.
“I’m allowed to feel them,” she says, stepping up next to me. “I don’t want you to do this, you know? I did offer you a chance to save yourself.”
I nod. You don’t have to be stuck with who you are… Terra really has become one of us.
We enter the Citadel together, stepping over the threshold of where it begins, and where the Kur ends. Another symbol of crossing the brink, maybe? Like the entrance to the necropolis. We went from good to evil there too.
“Mr. Boyd!”
I train my eyes to the center of the large room and see a tall gray figure, standing over a seated one. I recognize the shiny bald head of Ben and take another step forward. He’s alive but looks terrible. He’s obviously hurt, barely being able to lean up against the square cut stone in the floor.
An altar, I decide. My altar…
“Enki,” I say, realizing that this is not another symbol of crossing over. This is a symbol of continuing deeper into the same hell as the Kur—the next level of it.
“Yes, Mr. Boyd,” he says, standing tall, “it is I.” He’s exactly the same physically as the three priests, but gray and gaunt. Enki looks the part, just as the priests looked theirs.
But they were majestic—regal.
Enki is an abomination.
“Welcome to my home for the last 5,000 years, Mr. Boyd. As of today, it will be my last.”
He steps forward again, his humanoid appearance giving me the creeps. Now that I know he’s actually an alien, it makes me rethink the majesties of the priests too.
Will I end up like them…if I survive, I mean?
“Just one way to find out,” I mumble to myself and walk forward. The entrance is cut into a sloping bowl-shaped floor, and I guess I have Enki to thank for the easy access. It honestly looks like the room has been flipped on its head.
That’s exactly what it is! I think, stopping and looking up.
A massive piece of pure orichalcum swirls with power, embedded into the…floor…of the Citadel. The round floor is really the ceiling, and the altar isn’t really an altar after all.
I look back down to Enki and smile. “Next time you come to my planet,” I point down, “you may not want to land your ship on its head. Makes for a tough takeoff later on.” I continue with my ever increasing bravado. “You may want to go back to flight school or something.”
Enki’s eyes narrow as I close the distance, walking confidently, but with no animosity. I won’t make it apparent when I do end up attacking. I truly want it to come from left field.
I take in the Citadel’s interior again, trying to get a lay of the land before my eventual fight. The room is roughly the same size as the one Nannot was held in, but its shape is totally different. That was a naturally formed space. This was obviously built.
Large vines hang everywhere making me think of a forest of some kind. The fact that vegetation could grow this prominently inside, and now underground, is interesting for a whole other reason.
“Hank!” Ben shouts, reaching a bloodied hand out to me, fear gripping his eyes. “The vines… They’re the gardens of Nebuchadnezzar!”
I stop again, looking them over a second time. “So these are the Hanging Gardens?” I whistle, truthfully impressed. “They’re real after all.”
“Very real,” Enki says. “The Source gives them what they need,” he motions to the vines, “as they do me.”
Interesting… So the gardens are what keeps him alive.
I instantly think of my fire and think of setting the whole damn room ablaze…but hold back on the idea. I seriously doubt it would be that easy.
If it works—then what? That big of a fire will drain me for sure. Would I even be able to control it and not kill Ben, I look back at Terra, and her? She deserves a chance at redemption.
I stop ten feet from the much taller Enki, not backing down at all. He may be big, but if I’ve learned one thing from Kane…it’s that size means zilch when it comes to a fight to the death. The smaller and scrappier brawler-types usually have the upper hand. I sneer and flex my clawed gloves. I want to get in close.
I am Hank Boyd—this current body and mind are mine. I am this world’s savior whether I like it or not. I might as well be at peace with that before I die. Seems like the right thing to do.
A strange tingling sensation makes its way from my head to my toes. It’s the first time I’ve truly been okay with what happened to me. Maybe it’s just my emotions relaxing, or maybe something else happened altogether? Either way, I don’t feel on edge anymore and my hands aren’t doing that nervous shaking thing either.
Let’s find out.
I dig my boot into the ground and successfully leap the large gap with zero complications, igniting my entire body like it was second nature.
My full potential.
Enki doesn’t as much as flinch as I lash out with my clawed right hand, going for his midsection. Instead, he hits me with a gust of wind that slams me into the ground, just missing Terra by inches. I land, but roll easily, finishing on my hands and knees. I grind to a halt, digging my claws into the ground like a brake.
He laughs. “Regardless of how strong you’ve become, Mr. Boyd, I will always be the elemental alpha. This planet is so easy to manipulate. All you have to do is become one with it.”
His right hand ignites into a familiar black, ghost-like fire, while his left directs the air flow within the Citadel. Enki controls more than just one element, and I bet if I give him a chance, he’ll show me the rest.
I stand and ready myself, hearing his words echo in my head—the memory of them, not his actual voice.
All you have to do is become one with it…
Could it be that easy? Do I just have to try?
I again dig my booted toe into the ground and think to myself, Let’s do this.
36
The Citadel
Kane, Nicole, and Davey continued to peer out over the hundred-foot drop. They weren’t equipped with climbing gear and sliding down the slightly sloped walls didn’t seem like a good option either. What was the next move?
“Now what?” Davey asked.
Nicole again eyed the vines and got a crazy Kane-like idea.
“We jump…” she said, getting a shocked look from both men, “…to those.”
She pointed to the closest of vines. It was thick enough, although she doubted she could get her hands around it, but it could obviously handle a little extra weight.
Both men answered her in unison.
“You’re serious?”
“Good thinking!”
Kane stepped forward, while Davey just shook his head. He obviously wasn’t used to how they operated. Nicole was getting used to thinking like Hank and Kane. They came up with some off-the-wall ideas sometimes, but almost every single one of them worked.
It’s not like we have a choice.
“Okay…” Davey said, sounding nervous. “It’s y’alls show.”
He then turned and relayed the message to the men guarding their rears. None sounded too pleased, but none openly voiced their displeasures either. Nicole guessed a lot of these guys had done some pretty crazy things in their time fighting the war on terror. This wasn’t asking too much of them apparently.
“I’ll go first,” Nicole said, stepping in front of Kane.
“You sure?” he asked. “Generally, I’m the one willing to do this sort of stuff.”
“No,” she replied, “I’ll do it.” She turned. “If I can’t do this, how am I going to help Hank?”
Kane nodded and took a step back. It would take a running start to reach the nearest of the hanging plants. Nicole did likewise and flexed her legs. She’d need every single ounce of strength to make it. She just hoped her sweaty hands didn’t hinder her grip when she did.
“Just like gym class,” she said aloud, mostly to help convince herself it was nothing overly difficult. She aced the rope climb during her teen years in school back in Sweden. She was always the strongest girl in class—almost as strong as most of the boys too. They didn’t like her for that. Pubescent boys didn’t like it when they routinely got shown up by a girl.
You can do this.
She decided now was as good as any other time and took off, getting four good strides in before leaping out over the ten-story-tall, fifteen-foot-wide gap. As she sailed through the air, arms outstretched, she began to drop. Gravity was still gravity, after all, she’d just have to keep her nerves in check.
Babel Found Page 22