Loading up in a Compound Jeep, Kala made sure she had two handguns strapped underneath her suit. Cronus had stopped anyone from teleporting in, but he may have put some kind of no magic zone in as well. She didn’t even know if he could do that, but Kala wanted to have a way to defend herself. Prepare for all possibilities. It was her way of life before becoming Atlas. Now it was more vital than ever. Dealing with humans was one thing, but dealing with the supernatural? Best to be ready for anything.
They were silent as Derek drove toward their destination. He was taking back roads to avoid any contact with the public and more importantly, surveillance. Clifton utilized anything and everything, including traffic cameras, so they didn’t want to take the chance of alerting him of their approach. Although covered by the darkness of morning and driving with no lights, made it easier to stay hidden.
After thirty minutes, Derek parked under an outcropping of trees about a mile from the Compound’s warehouse front. Turner assured them that the phase-suits were capable of passing through the special black metal of the Compound, but Kala was a little apprehensive.
Derek went around to the back of the car and pulled out a round piece of metal two inches thick and about thirty inches in diameter. Kala wanted to ask what it was, but she figured she’d find out soon enough. With her phase-suit and goggles, what was another gadget to add to the undertaking? At least all these things were grounded in science. Magic and powers were still hard for Kala to wrap her head around. It probably explained her lousy success rate at teleporting. Tangible inventions were much easier to swallow.
“We have to stay low to the ground. There’s some tree cover that will hide us.” Derek didn’t wait for a response as he led Kala forward toward the warehouses, holding the large metal circle under his arm.
Kala figured the device had something to do with reaching the walls of the Compound itself. Since there was about a half a mile of dirt between her and the first wall, the biggest problem would be getting down. Derek and Turner seemed positive that their way in wouldn’t alert Clifton. She didn’t know what a metal circle would do, but at this point Kala had to rely on trust. She had no choice. There was no other way. She really wanted to send a lightning bolt up Cronus’s arse for being such a baby. The fact that the Titan was doing all this to make the world end because he was too scared of human immortality was such a pouty-toddler move.
But she couldn’t think about that now. She needed to focus on finding and freeing Roberta. The Atlas mission was always lingering on the outskirts of her thoughts, but it wasn’t something Kala wanted to think about. It was priority number two and as a soldier, she had to complete her tasks in order of importance. Roberta was number one. It occurred to her how stupid that sounded, since saving Roberta accomplished nothing in the big scheme of things, whereas destroying Fortski’s cure would save the world.
It was amazing though, how her brain could rationalize why rescuing Roberta was more important. Atlas missions were too painful. Kala needed to feel the rush of doing something good. Something right. And saving Roberta would accomplish that. The woman had saved her life. She had taught Kala how to fight Demons and Malaks when she was a vulnerable human. Kala owed Roberta, and she wasn’t about to desert her. Not now. Not ever.
“Here it is.” Derek stopped about a quarter mile from the first building. They were in a section of trees that weren’t as dense as the others were, but Kala still felt safe behind the large trunks, especially in the darkness. Derek had picked this location because it was one of the few blind spots of the main camera system that Clifton had access to.
He dropped the metal disc on the ground. Kneeling down, Derek touched its surface; a small keypad lit up. He punched in a code and the circle started to spin, making almost no noise. Then it dropped, fast, through the dirt like a silent missile.
Derek explained, “It has a sensor for the type of metal the Compound is made of, so it won’t make a sound to alert anyone. The area we’re above is mainly for maintenance, but we still have to be on our toes.”
Within seconds, the device hovered back up to the surface and Derek pulled it aside, revealing a perfect thirty-inch diameter tunnel with a small cloud of smoke coming out, drifting into the wind. Kala could only assume that the dust was what was left of the dirt that had magically disappeared. Technology that could dissolve soil was pretty darn cool in Kala’s book.
She was definitely impressed, but it still didn’t answer the question. “How are we going to get down a 2,600 foot shaft?”
“Oh, ye of little faith,” Derek teased as he threw her a black metal box.
“Ah, got it.” Kala grabbed the box. She had used one once before, on a mission overseas, when she had to rappel down a castle wall. It was a dangerous escape and without this little gadget, Kala probably wouldn’t have made it. It was small in size, only three inches tall on each side, housing a cable the circumference of dental floss inside. The box could attach to any solid surface and hold up to five hundred pounds of weight.
Kala turned to the nearest tree and placed the apparatus on the bark. Like superglue on metal, the invention stuck to the tree with no chance of pulling it off. The thin cable popped out with a tiny half-inch carabiner attached to it. She secured it to her phase-suit and was ready to rappel down.
Derek was already equipped and on the lip of the tunnel by the time Kala joined him. “Me first.” He smiled.
“If you recall, I’m the one who has better recovery time with phase-suits.” Then she smiled back. “And I am kind of a god now.”
He moved aside and Kala started the lengthy trek down the rabbit hole.
It wasn’t long before Kala’s feet touched the smooth black metal of the Compound’s roof. Never in a million years did she imagine she’d be breaking into this place. She honestly didn’t think it was possible, not by mundane means anyway.
Being down in the cylinder of dirt, Kala felt the raw energy. At first, she thought it was her adrenaline pumping for the task at hand, but it was the earth itself.
Gaia.
She hadn’t processed the whole Gaia-being-a-part-of-her revelation just yet. The only perk seemed to be shocking the hell out of all the big guns like Cronus, the Grigori, and… Zeus.
Thinking of him made her cringe. He was back and at full power. The god had drained her like a battery then left to do who-knows-what. Nothing good, of that, Kala was sure.
Derek hung above her head. The two of them couldn’t stand next to each other in the small circumference, so she’d have to go in first.
Activating her phase-suit, Kala felt the familiar sensation of passing through a solid surface as if it were made of liquid. Teleportation was easy compared to this. Talk about something not being natural. The wall was thicker than she expected, well over four feet, so at one point most of her body was encased in the ceiling. Kala remembered to stay still and let gravity pull her the rest of the way through. It was more claustrophobic than being buried in the dirt by Cronus.
Finally, Kala dropped to the floor. She pulled back her hood, taking deep breaths to relieve herself of the side effects of phasing. A moment later Derek was by her side.
No one was in sight.
So far so good, Kala thought.
She just hoped she wasn’t jinxing herself.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Kala made a quick rundown of the space they were in. It was definitely some kind of storage area. The doors were closed, but marked with signs indicating what was inside. Mainly cleaning supplies and science equipment. Nothing that required surveillance or sentries. Turner certainly knew the Compound inside and out to drop them into one of the few areas that didn’t have security. She was still on guard, though, never underestimating Clifton or her circumstances.
Derek wasted no time as he popped open the small metal egg filled with the nanobots and let them loose. “You can contact Mrs. Turner with your mind, right?”
Kala nodded, but internally she wasn’t so confident. Head-jumping
was still new to her and she didn’t feel she could rely on it.
Roberta? Kala called out in her head. She felt like some kind of crazy person talking to her imaginary friend.
Waiting was also strange, as if a phone was ringing and no one was picking up.
Relief washed through her when Roberta’s voice answered, Are you in the Compound?
Yes. We’re on the west side. Do you know where Clifton has you?
No. I’ve never been here before. Harry is acting like he’s keeping me for my own protection. He told me that Geoffrey is on a mission and may not make it out alive. I can tell he’s lying, but I have to know: is Geoffrey safe? Roberta tried to hide the worry from her voice.
Kala remembered Turner saying that Clifton secretly wanted Roberta for himself. Maybe this was some kind of ruse to convince her that Turner was dead so she’d be with him. How pathetic.
He’s completely safe. He’s at your house watching from his surveillance room. The room where Clifton is holding you isn’t on his radar though. Can you tell me anything about where you are? Kala knew the Compound as well as any soldier, which meant about a quarter of it. But anything could help.
Let me think. Roberta paused. After his men took me from Fortski’s lab, we went up at least one, maybe two flights of stairs, then we walked for at about ten minutes. I just don’t know in which direction. I’m sorry I can’t be more useful.
No, that’s a good start. We’ll be there soon. Kala tried to comfort her.
Harry is treating me well. Tell Geoffrey not to worry about me.
And then Roberta was out.
Derek had waited patiently while setting up the nanos and adjusting his goggles accordingly. “Where we headed?”
He reached over to Kala and flipped a couple of levers on her goggles. She saw the tiny pricks of red light. They looked like microscopic ants, all legs, ready to invade.
“She’s either one or two floors up from the lab. She said she walked for about ten minutes, but she doesn’t know which direction. Any ideas?” Kala surveyed their area, making sure no one was coming.
All clear.
“There are only two ways they could go on the second and third floor. We’ll have to divide the nanos.” Derek placed his thumb on the opened egg and a small holographic screen popped up.
“Whoa.” Kala was fascinated. She had thought holo-technology was off in the future, but seeing now that Turner already utilized it made her understand just how advanced his research was.
“Pretty cool, huh?” Derek was amazed as well. He punched in a couple of numbers and the holograph turned into a flat map of the Compound. “We’ll send them through these spaces here... and here.” He pointed to a long line of rooms to the north and south of Fortski’s lab on the second and third floor. “These are the areas Turner doesn’t have eyes on. She has to be in one of them.” Derek traced a line over the two sets of rooms.
Before Kala could react, the nanobots were off, moving faster than she expected. She could see both her perspective and theirs. Kala had to close her eyes because she was seeing double and it made her sick. It almost felt as if she was in an Atlas memory.
Derek apparently could see her discomfort; he leaned over and adjusted a lever on her goggles. “You can lower the opacity on the image. It won’t be so disconcerting. I know you and your motion sickness.” He smiled.
The image faded and now appeared as a light overlay. Kala’s head cleared after a few moments of deep breaths. “I’m good.”
More than good. The whole thing was fascinating. The nanobots traveled straight through every wall as if the surface was made of liquid. Kala watched what looked like a faded movie as the nanos raced through each room. She could see scientists, guards, soldiers, all working, none of them the wiser. If they only knew there were tiny robots crawling above their heads and flying through the walls.
“They’re about to split. Keep your eyes out for Roberta,” Derek instructed.
Kala and Derek stayed off to the side of the hallway so they’d be out of view from anyone who happened to pass by. Kala knew that once they found Roberta they’d be on the move. When the nanos moved in different directions, the screen in Kala’s goggles divided in two so she could see both views. Staring straight ahead helped her to see both nano aspects objectively.
“Got her,” Derek announced.
Kala saw Roberta a second later. She sat on a couch in a small room on the south side, two guards stood at the door.
Derek controlled the nanos through the metal egg device. He made both teams of bots join back together to survey the entire area.
Kala had to blink hard a few times to keep herself from succumbing to nausea. Being Atlas and having the use of teleportation was actually a boon to Kala, who had always turned a bit green when travelling by conventional methods.
Derek made the nanos seek out every possible way into Roberta’s prison. The path of least resistance was through a couple of empty storage rooms coming in through the west wall, which meant at least ten more phases.
Kala had never done that many in one mission. Usually it was one wall and she was in. Being a Titan, Kala knew her body could take it, but she was more worried about Derek. “Maybe I should go alone. I don’t want the phase-suit to wreck you,” Kala volunteered.
“I’ll be fine. They’ve been rated for twenty entries. This is ten.” Derek left no room for argument.
So Kala didn’t bother.
“Roberta doesn’t have a phase-suit, so we can’t go back the way we come in. Also, there are twenty soldiers between her room and the lab.” Kala pointed out the obvious.
“That’s why we’re phasing into her room. There are two guards.” Derek looked at her with a smile, but he might as well have said, duh.
“But we’ll be recognized.” Kala saw the genius in having the soldiers on the inside of the room so no one would suspect a switcheroo, but at some point somebody would identify two of Clifton’s Most Wanted. They didn’t exactly blend.
Derek tapped his chest. “I have another toy from Turner. It’ll make us look like the soldiers we swap with. If anyone stops us, we’ll just claim that we’re moving the prisoner.”
“Right. I’ll just shut up now.” Kala wished he had told her earlier about the magic-disguise gadget, but right now she was just relieved he had it. “Couldn’t we just use it now and disguise ourselves?” Kala tried to think of all possibilities.
“Kala, seriously. You don’t think I’ve thought of all this? We need to scan their faces and these two soldiers are Clifton’s main guys. It’s why they are personally guarding her. We couldn’t get in pretending to be anyone else, except Clifton himself, and we don’t know where he is.” Derek’s patience was wearing thin.
“Fine. You could have told me all this before we left, you know,” Kala muttered defensively.
“I thought you’d trust me, Kala. I know I betrayed you, but I thought I’d proven myself by now. Think of how many times since then that I’ve blindly trusted you. I got this.” Derek shook his head.
“I do trust you.” Kala’s pang of guilt was spreading rapidly. Yes, Derek had turned her in to Clifton and Turner, but he had thought he was doing the right thing. She had more than forgiven him. Derek had been through a lot because of her and had to believe a lot because of her. Questioning each other wasn’t a part of their modus operandi. “I’m ready.” No more questions. Whatever happened, happened. Kala vowed to be prepared for it and protect Derek at all costs.
Derek steadied the nanos like surveillance cameras, forming them into one group in each area where they were headed, creating thirty small screens in Kala’s goggles. It was faded enough that she could still see well enough to move freely and comfortably. She kept the mesh covering of the phase-suit pulled back until they actually had to pass through a wall.
Pocketing the controlling metal egg, Derek led Kala through the belly of the Compound.
The path the nanos found was the path of least resistance, which Kala w
as grateful for. She didn’t like hurting her fellow soldiers. They were only following orders, and if the situation had been reversed, Kala would do the same thing. As far as Clifton’s men were concerned, the two of them were enemy invaders. If only they knew what was really going on. Kala barely believed it – and she was an actual Titan – so the possibility of explaining themselves was out of the question.
The first two phases went off without a hitch. Sneaking into empty rooms and avoiding hallways was the only reason why alarms hadn’t gone off. It amazed Kala at how much of the Compound didn’t have cameras. It only proved to her the distrust between Turner and Clifton. If anything happened to Roberta, Turner would obliterate Clifton. Saving her would only delay the inevitable, though. At some point, the Turner/Clifton relationship would come to a head. Kala just hoped she wouldn’t be around to see it.
After the third phase Derek pulled back the mesh covering on his face and puked. It was so out of character for him, Kala didn’t react right away. Then her protective instinct kicked in. “You’re staying here. I’ll get Roberta.”
Derek wiped his mouth and shook his head. “I’m good.” He placed the mesh back over his head and walked through the fourth wall before Kala could stop him.
Kala sighed in frustration, following close behind. She knew Derek long enough to know the guy wasn’t going to back down.
After the eighth wall, Derek dropped to the floor. This time he puked up blood.
Kala rushed to his side, but by the time she arrived, he was already half-way to standing. “Derek, this is ridiculous. You’re going to die. Stay here and I’ll come for you when I can teleport back in here,” Kala pleaded.
Derek shrugged her off with his hand. “No. I can do this.”
“The blood-vomit on the floor disagrees with you.” Kala was tempted to knock him out and come back for him later, but she was afraid it would injure Derek more. This must have been how Owen and Talan felt about her when she was in the god hideout.
Grigori Returned (The Atlas Series Book 2) Page 20