The lights and power shut off throughout the entire compound. That should give Maverick the advantage and time to get his father.
My body is filled with a new kind of flowing vitality, and I feel invincible. I race through the open ground and knock out the remaining agents with sharp blows to their heads. Dr. B still hasn’t moved, and he forces his eyes open.
“We must go,” I say to him. “One of the guards radioed the other agents in the helicopters, and they are on their way back.” I try to send the same message to Maverick, still feeling his essence within my range, but he doesn’t reply.
“What about Maverick and Dr. Ashe?” Dr. B asks.
Dr. B had been affected by my thought projection, even though I had warned him ahead of time. He is still terrified and doing all he can to not wet his pants.
“Maverick will meet us at the river.”
We exit the unguarded gate and make it to the woods. After one last look at the Red Top compound, we start toward the river. There’s no way they will be getting power up anytime soon. The transformer and electrical lines are too heavily damaged.
My entire being feels rejuvenated. All of my life I’d believed the only way I could live was by killing others. The energy coursing through me is different from the kind taken from humans. It’s not as fulfilling, but it is more raw and intense.
We continue to head east toward the river, but something familiar brushes against my mind. We are being followed. I search as far as I can, but the sensation eludes me.
“Is Maverick coming?” Dr. B asks me.
“I can’t feel him, yet.”
“I don’t like the look on your face.” Dr. B’s breathing was already labored, but now his lungs are stinging. “What is it?”
I mentally reach out again, but my energy is being blocked. “We need to keep moving.”
Like an alarm going off in my head, the feeling rushes within me again. I whisper, “Run, Dr. B.”
His adrenaline flows and the fear takes over. The heavy dread surrounds us both. Dr. B forces his legs to speed up, but whatever is following us likewise picks up the pace. We will not be able to beat it, and it senses our presence.
Astid, it’s me. Marcus’s voice rings inside my head. Wait up.
I grab Dr. B’s shoulder and pull him back. He falls backward into me and nearly collapses. “What the—”
“It’s Marcus,” I say.
He rights himself and relaxes a bit. “Thank God. I’ve never felt him give off that vibe before. I thought we were being pursued by Balor.”
The closer he gets, I immediately become aware of the other two entities with him. It wasn’t Marcus’s vibe I had sensed first. It was Kren’s.
“Kren and Garn are with him.”
“Holy Hell!” Dr. B stumbles backwards again, this time falling onto the ground.
Marcus breaks through the foliage first, flanked by Kren and Garn just behind him.
Hello, Sister. Kren stops next to Marcus who seems oblivious to the danger we’re all in.
Marcus, what’s going on? I shield Dr. B from the others.
I prepare for a fight, summoning my newly found strength.
Kren tells me, We didn’t come here to fight. We came here to rescue you. Level 6 has been hunting us, killing several of us. If we don’t work together to end it, none of us will survive.
It’s true, Astid, Marcus adds. Balor is after all of the BEKs. Level 6 is using it to do their dirty work.
Kren gives Marcus a slight shove. Stop calling us Black-Eyed Kids.
Marcus smiles nervously. “Sorry dude.”
“I’m assuming there’s a conversation taking place I can’t hear?” Dr. B asks us.
“We should kill him.” Kren points to Dr. B. “After all the torment he has caused us.”
“Dude, we talked about this,” Marcus says. He pats Kren on the head. “You be nice and not kill our friends and we help you destroy the monster. That was the deal.”
Kren swats his hand away. “If I had known Dr. B was a friend of yours, I would never have made that bargain.”
“Kren, I understand your feel—” Dr. B starts.
I cover his mouth. “Not now.”
“How can you possibly even stand next to the scum responsible for all of this?” Kren steps towards us. “Mother would still be alive if it wasn’t for Dr. B.”
I stand my ground. It is not as easy as you think for me either, Brother, but we need his help in our battle against Level 6.
Kren knows he can’t win. We saw when the power lines exploded and the agents fled into the forest while the others lay strewn about on the ground. Did you do that?
Yes, I reply. I am helping Maverick locate his father, who might have information that could ruin Level 6.
“Whoa, what?” Marcus asks. “Mav’s dad was in that place? Oh, man. Tell me they didn’t…you know.” He points to his eyes. “Did they turn him into a Black-Eyed…Man?”
“No, his father wasn’t taken by them. He was working for them,” I answer.
Marcus staggers under the weight of this revelation. “Holy shiitake!”
My impatience makes me snap, and I’m anticipating Kren making a move against Dr. B. “I will fill you in on the details later, Marcus.” I close my eyes and try to clear my head. “We are glad you are safe. Maverick will be happy to see you. We are meeting him and the others at the river.”
Marcus points to Kren and Garn. “I ran into a group of Black-Eyed Superhero Cool Kids running from Level 6 and Balor, too. He could have left with the others to find safety, but when he found me and learned I was with you, your bro couldn’t leave until he knew you were safe.”
“What others?” I ask Kren.
“Others from different locations,” he replies. “I found many of them. There are even more out there, trying to survive. I can’t fully explain how we did it, but I needed to find you. A large group of us summoned our power together, and as one, we knew in what direction to travel to find you. The closer we got, the more assured I was that we were going to reunite.”
Marcus interrupted with, “Yeah, but they found something else, too, Frankenmonster.”
Balor is tracking us. All of us. He has the power of a dozen of us. He is somehow able to seek out our energies. The young ones aren’t equipped to fight this beast. Marcus said you’d help. He said you were here to destroy Level 6, which includes that abomination.
“Marcus should not have promised anything. We ran into Balor out here, too.” I force my mind into my brother’s throughts, and his feeble defenses are no match for my power. “The moment we take our eyes off of you and Garn, you will kill our friends without a second thought.”
“If we work together, we’re stronger,” Marcus says. “They could have killed me, yo. If he wanted, Kren and his little band of Black-Eyed Awesome Peeps could have taken me out, but they know they need our help to win.”
Kren mentally backs off. I can’t let more of our people die.
My brother is being completely sincere when he talks of protecting our people. “There’s a way to survive without taking human life.”
“You serious?” Marcus lets out a weak chuckle. “Not that your energy drink is terrible, Dr. Beck. It tastes like watered down Sprite, which I could live with.”
Kren attempts to seek the truth from my mind, and I allow him in. “I am able to take the energy from plants and other artificial power sources, like the electrical transformer. I discovered I can also give energy to living things.”
“Shiitake!” Marcus claps his hands. “That’s un-flipping believable.” Despite his initial doubt, Marcus is relieved. His strength had been diminishing, and the hunger was becoming unbearable. “Are you sure?”
“I know you are weakening,” I say. “Let your gaze soften, and let yourself be led to the nearest source of energy.”
Dr. B peers over my shoulder. “Nearest source of energy that isn’t a human.”
Marcus closes his eyes halfway, and he walks to th
e edge of the forest. He reaches out and touches a large tree trunk. The tree is ancient, and its aura is bright and strong. The energy flows through him, and after several moments, the tree trembles with death. The roots retreat from the ground, and the once vibrant tree crumbles to the ground into a heap of dust.
“It worked!” Marcus’s aura is restored, and I can feel his intensity radiating from his body. “Shiitake, that feels good.”
Dr. B’s eyes look as if they will pop out of his head. “That erases any doubts I had. If he can do it, you and Garn can do it, too.”
Kren and Garn exchange nervous looks, but they try the same thing with two other trees. They place their hands on them and draw the raw energy into their bodies. Both trees wither and die, and my brother and Garn are nearly fully restored.
“It feels different,” Kren says, shaking his arms. “I do feel energized. Will this last as long?”
I shake my head. “I do not think so, but this is how we can restore our humanity. This is our future.”
“This puts a new spin on the entire deforestation thing,” Marcus says. “But, I feel much better.”
Kren, we should tell the others, Garn says. This will be better for all of us. We can stay in hiding without interference from the humans. We can absorb energy from other living entities and power sources.
Agreed, but we must kill Balor first, Kren says.
“I do like it better when you speak aloud,” Dr. B says.
“Sorry.” I step away from him now that I’m fully assured Kren will not hurt him. “If we fight him together, we stand a chance. We need to get to the river and wait for Maverick. Maverick’s father is central to all of this. We can figure it all out together.”
Kren still has many questions, but he agrees.
We walk in silence toward the river. Every once in a while, I turn to see if I can sense Maverick, but I feel nothing. I’m tempted to turn back and help; however, I have this feeling he is OK. I don’t know what I have to base that instinct on, but I’m confident Maverick will meet us at the river.
Or maybe I’ve become too good at fooling myself.
19
MAVERICK
BEFORE I GET one word out, Dad throws his arms around me so hard, I lose my breath. A million questions explode throughout his mind. His analytical-self eventually manages to break through all of his relief, and he lets go of the embrace to look me in the eyes.
“How…how did you get here?” Confusion now dominates his thoughts. “You, Tarick, Cadence, and Marcus…no one could find you.”
As I’m about to answer him, the lights flicker. The two engineers I had shoved in the corridor hurry towards us, but Dad waves them off.
“I can explain everything,” I say.
With one last flash, all the lights turn off altogether, leaving us in complete darkness.
“What’s going on?” Dad asks. “Carl? Robert?”
One of them says, “That’s not supposed to happen.”
I push dad further into the office until he legs run into his desk. I whisper to him, “Dad, we need to go, and I have a million questions for you.”
“Mav, we need to stay put—”
“Not now, Dad. You need to come with me.” I switch on my flashlight and start toward the office door.
He’s still perplexed by my sudden appearance and the lights shutting off. Despite the mass of confusion bouncing around his head, he’s damn sure about not letting me out of his sight again, which feels comforting. Despite his reservations, he decides to come with me.
The two engineers block our way out.
Even Dad can sense the tension, so his flexes his authority. “I’ll be back. You both stay put until I can get the back-up generator to kick on.”
Both men move out of our way reluctantly, and we hurry back down the dark hallway towards the main door. We push it open, and I blink until my eyes adjust to the light. Dad likewise is temporarily blinded. He scans the area and notices the downed power lines and the transformer blackened with smoke and a smoldering fire.
“What the hell happened out here?” he asks more to himself than to me.
“Come on,” I point toward the first bunker. “I have something to show you.”
“Mav, what’s going on?” Dad notes both helicopters are still gone, and the only agents around are two unconscious ones.
“Two teams of agents took the choppers to search for one of the escaped experiments,” I say. “But, I’m sure they’re on the way back now, given we destroyed your power lines and stuff.”
Dad refuses to take another step and he’s about to get tough with me. “You need to tell me what’s going on. Right now, Maverick.”
“Look, I’m leaving this place, and if you don’t want to come with me, then I’ll assume you knew about all the fucked-up shit Level 6 is involved with, and this will be the last time you’ll ever see me.” I refuse to back down, and I let my ultimatum sink in. “I know everything, Dad. Level 6, Project Aurora, Project Hero, the Majestic 12. All I need to know is your whole part in all of this.”
“How? What?” Dad’s face turns pale.
Since he can’t find the right words to say, I continue with, “Level 6, the secret agency you work for, is the reason Mom’s dead. You hear me? We don’t have time to go over this now. If you come with me, we can figure it all out. We’ve got a lot to talk about. Or, you can stay here with your Level 6 monkeys and I’m gone. Out of your life forever, this time.”
Without saying a word, he nods in agreement. I carefully jog towards the first bunker, and Dad follows me. I can’t help but listen to his thoughts swirling in his mind. I can feel the pain in his heart at mentioning Mom’s death. He still loves her after all. He’s also relieved I probably wasn’t kidnapped by some cult, but he needs know how I’ve come to learn about all of his top-secret work.
As we run towards Bunker One, the two unconscious agents’ bodies come closer into view. Dad wonders if I’m solely responsible for all this mayhem, or if I had help.
“No, Dad, I didn’t do all of this.”
His mouth drops open. “How?”
“Yes, I can read your thoughts. Like I said, we’ve got a lot to talk about.”
The power outage disabled the security system, and the door to Bunker One opens easily. Dad follows me into the pitch black. I switch on the flashlight and start toward the opposite end.
“Maverick, why are we here?” he asks as he follows me. “I thought we were leaving this place.”
“Not yet, Dad. I need to show you something. Have you ever been in this bunker before?”
“No, but there’s nothing in here. It’s just storage. We talked about possibly moving some unused equipment—” He stops himself from saying too much. He’s not permitted to talk about his classified work.
“What? Maybe to house a part of Project Aurora in here? Maybe move some parts from Pumpkinseed or Astra in here?” I stop and turn to him, shining the light in his face. “I know everything, Dad.”
He shuts his eyes. “Are you actually reading my mind somehow?”
I remove the flashlight beam from his face and continue to the door. “I don’t need to read your mind to know everything. The moment I was captured by the Black-Eyed Kids, I got involved with Level 6. The moment they killed Mom, I became Level 6’s enemy.”
“Black-Eyed Kids?”
Dad truly has no idea what that is, and I’m more than relieved at his ignorance.
“Maverick, I’m serious. How did you hear about Project Aurora?” He becomes more concerned for my safety the moment he realizes I know all this classified information. “Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?”
I descend to the next floor down. “The government funds Project Aurora, but you know damned well there other projects going on, don’t you? I mean, you’re the one who helps funnel the funds to the other Deep Black Projects, so I’m assuming you know Level 6 works on things other than Project Aurora.”
“All of this is so
mething you’re not supposed to know anything about,” Dad says.
“You didn’t answer the question.” I open the door to the second floor and usher Dad through. “Do you know what other projects you’re funding?”
Dad’s mind wanders towards the Deep Black Projects under him, but he’s not thinking of any one in particular. It’s difficult to pinpoint his thoughts. It’s as if he’s starting to put up a mental wall to lock me out. Is he doing this on purpose?
I stand in front of the last door, preparing myself for the worst. “What do you know about Project Hero?”
“I knew I was funding Project Hero and the purpose was to make a better solider, yes.” Dad is having a hard time talking to me about this. Every word coming out of his mouth is difficult, yet truthful.
“Do you know anything specific about Project Hero?” I ask.
“Specifically? No, not really. I’m solely involved in Project Aurora. I don’t have access to classified information on Project Hero, or any of the other initiatives for that matter.”
He’s telling the truth. So I ask him, “What do you know about Level 6?”
Again, his first reaction is to keep his mouth shut. “Level 6 is an umbrella organization, touching many of the Black Projects. They are the gatekeepers. They enforce compartmentalization and security of all the sectors. They oversee the deep-seeded Black Projects even the President of the United States has no idea about.”
I continue to monitor his thoughts for even one shred of deception, and I find none. “Outside of Project Aurora, you don’t know any specifics about the other projects, including Hero?”
“That’s right. Level 6 makes sure I keep my nose buried deep into Project Aurora. I earmark a certain percentage of our funding going to other initiatives. What they do with that money, I don’t know, and Level 6 makes sure I never find out.”
I open the door and a burst of cold air greets us. I walk in and Dad follows.
Black-Eyed Kids: The Complete Series Page 38