by Maxey, Phil
“Stairwell to the left, in the lobby,” said Evan.
“Move down to the basement and the generator,” said Marina.
“Yes, there are no cameras down there. So you shouldn’t be seen when you cut the power, but when you do all hell is going to brake loose.”
“We know the plan,” said Evan. “We’ll get it done.”
“You sure no one here has seen someone like me?” said Sasha.
Alfredo turned around in his seat, with a smile. “I have never seen one like you!”
She smiled in reply.
“Yeah, she’s real rare.” said Carla. “We doing this or not?”
Alfredo nodded and Sasha opened the door and got out immediately becoming translucent.
Evan spotted the former king’s reaction. “Yeah, still freaks me out as well.”
A strong gust of wind monetarily dispersed the mist that she consisted off until she reformed, then jogged forward towards the entrance.
They watched as the guard, at first not sure what he was looking at, raised his rifle instinctively, then lowered it as she became completely invisible. He scratched his head, then yelled as she appeared right next to him, then ran off. He broke into a run trying to catch her and both moved into the forest beyond the road.
“Lets go,” said Carla.
They got out, most moving towards the entrance, but Alfredo paused, looking at the fast-moving clouds above.
“What is it?” said Marina.
“A storm is coming. We need to get this done.”
He went to take a step forward, but Marina stood her ground, while the others waited impatiently in the shadows. “If the spy finds out who you are…” she said.
“Then they will try to kill me… again. I know.”
“And if that’s the colonel or the general, then that’s going to be a problem…”
He placed his hand on her arm and smiled. “It wouldn’t be the first time an authority figure has tried that.”
He jogged forward around the corner of the building and with Carla opened the glass entrance doors and walked to the soldier in the lobby. He immediately pointed at the lack of guard out front, while Carla held the door open. Bemused, the young man came out from behind his counter and walked outside. Alfredo pointed to where the first soldier ran, and to plan, the other soldier moved in the same direction. Alfredo then opened the stairwell door and with Carla, followed two blurs as they swept inside.
The four nodded to each other, then Marina and Evan descended while Alfredo and Carla moved the other way, quickly getting to the second floor, where he gained access to the main corridor and walked to the lone soldier at the end of the space.
“Can you believe I left my research papers here!” He said to the guard, who remained silent. “Anyway, I won’t be long.” He keyed in his code and walked inside, while Carla stayed outside with the muscular man, two inches taller than her.
Three floors below Marina listened to the metal door for any sign of life beyond, and not sensing any, pulled it open, then with Evan ran along the narrow gray hallway doing the same again at another door.
This time they emerged into a wall of humming machinery. They quickly navigated through the channels of pipes and valves coming out to a wall of boxes of blinking lights.
Evan pulled open a small door and tried to make sense of the sea of wires and switches. “We can die from electrocution right…”
Marina walked forward with a metal chair. “Stand back.” He did, and she smashed the seat into the box sending sparks into the air, and after a moment of flashes, the room and every other in the building fell dark.
The guard outside the lab went to speak into his headset, but stopped when he collapsed to the floor unconscious.
“Sorry, buddy,” said Carla with her handgun in her hand. She quickly typed Alfredo’s code into the door, pulled it open and dragged the soldier inside. Then stood trying to make any details out in the absolute darkness. Images of the textile warehouse in Jankle tried to edge into her mind, but she fought the fear. “Where the fuck are you? I can’t see anything!”
A rustling sound came from ten feet ahead of her, and she spotted a red glow which she moved towards, painfully walking into a desk, then taking a step to the side, saw an open door to a room-sized vault. “Alfredo! Are you there?”
He appeared in the doorway, his eyes wide and walked quickly towards her. “We have to go.”
She tried to see if he was carrying anything. “Have you got them?”
“No, and we got sixty seconds before the backup generator kicks in.”
“What do you mean you haven’t got them? Where are they?”
He keyed in the code once more, pulling the door open. “They’ve been moved. You staying or coming with me?”
They moved back into the hallway and then the stairwell where Marina and Evan were waiting.
Marina immediately noticed the lack of anything in Alfredo’s hands. “Where’s the tablets?”
“They moved them,” said Carla.
“To where?” said Evan.
“I don’t know,” said Alfredo. “But if we stay here, we’ll never find out.”
The hybrids could hear the panicked voices and increased heartbeats in the floors above and below. Luckily, there weren’t many of them.
“Shit, someone’s coming into the stairwell!” said Evan beating Marina to saying the same thing. Before they could open the second floor door again, the one on the ground floor swung back, with two soldiers running inside then without pause move down the steps towards the basement.
“Lets go,” said Marina. They quickly descended, Alfredo listening to the door to make sure the lobby was clear, then pulled it open and waited for Carla to walk to the main entrance and do the same. There was a blur as Marina and Evan ran outside, the other two quickly joining them at the humvee.
“Where’s Sasha!” said Evan looking around the parking lot while the lights on the headquarters building lit up the night once again.
“I’m here!” said the young woman already seated in the back.
Evan shook his head, and with the others got inside. Angry voices came from inside the building as they drove steadily back to the main road.
Carla swore and slammed her hands down on the humvee. “Where could they be!”
“We got a bigger problem,” said Marina. “If Galloway is working for the king’s, she’ll now know that you and Alfredo just tried to steal the tablets.”
*****
A beeping came from the panel in front of Joel as he threw a hand out to steady himself.
“Got no idea what that is, but I think it’s trying to tell me we shouldn’t take a superyacht out in the—” The deck tilted the other way, making him catch himself falling to his left. “— Ocean, when there’s a tropical storm.”
The boat crashed back down into another wave, the engine straining to keep the vessel on the correct heading. He glanced at Anna doing her best to hold on with only one hand. “How’s the kids doing?”
“I always forget how much a kid can throw up.”
He smiled and they both burst out laughing.
“Everyone else?”
“Dalton’s handling it like the kids, Kizzy can’t stop laughing, which I think has something to do with what she found in one of the cupboards and Amos appears asleep.”
“Barry?”
She looked back to the main living area to make sure no one was paying her attention, then unsteadily moved closer to Joel. “It’s a miracle. That’s about the only word I can think of. He’s completely healed. Even hybrids can’t heal completely.”
He frowned. “Tell me about it.”
She smiled and kissed his cheek. “You look fine… but we both got scars. Barry doesn’t have anything there. No scar or muscle tissue damage, and somehow… his body appears to have replaced the blood he lost.”
“I thought the body did that anyway?”
“Not that amount of blood, this quick.”
“I gu
ess we just add it to the long list of things that don’t make sense about the scourge.”
She nodded. “What did Hector say when you talked to him?”
“He thinks she’s an angel.”
“If I hadn’t seen her eyes go black I might have agreed. She must be another type of Alkron, but extremely rare. Either way, Hector was right to protect her like he has… Nobody other than those on this boat must know what she can do.”
“Agreed.”
She looked at the array of neon dials and displays in front of the wheel. “How long until we got there?”
“If we don’t sink, we should see the island by the morning.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The humvee skidded to a stop outside Alfredo’s home as the gate at the bottom of the driveway automatically closed.
They all got out and walked quickly to the already open door. Without stopping Alfredo moved through the hallway to another door under the stairs, an entrance Marina had never seen opened before. As the others argued behind him, he produced a small key, unlocked the door, a light automatically coming on, and looked back. “Can you all come this way.”
“I knew you had a cave under this place!” said Evan.
They descended at least two floors, coming out to another corridor with a door at the opposite end, which was quickly opened and they all followed Alfredo into a much larger version of his study in the house above. The brick the walls were constructed from reminded Marina and Evan of what they had seen in the temple, and the ceiling similarly but on a smaller scale, was chiseled into a dome.
Sophia and Shannon stood near a large fireplace containing an already raging fire that lit multiple shelves, some containing old volumes and weapons, the rest, food and supplies. Jess and Jasper, immediately stood from a small circle of toys and ran forward, hugging their mother. Flint barked, while Shadow’s tail swept across an ornate rug.
“Tell me you got the tablets?” said Sophia.
Alfredo shook his head, leaning forward on the back of a chair. “They weren’t there. I don’t know where they are.”
“So what do we do now?” said Shannon.
Sophia looked at Alfredo. “They’re going to be coming for you.”
“For all of us,” said Carla.
“This is a big island,” said Marina. “We can run. Find a town.”
“Did you use your abilities?” said Sophia.
“No.”
“That’s something. So they know you tried to steal the tablets, but they don’t know who you are, and they don’t know why you wanted them.”
Alfredo nodded. He looked at Carla. “I can say you were acting on my orders. The soldier was only lightly concussed.”
“And what reason are you going to give for trying to steal them?”
“He was afraid they were going to be taken by the corporation’s spy…” responded the other archeologist.
Marina looked at those around her. “Are you all forgetting that Galloway might be working for the corporation?”
Footsteps came from the corridor outside, with Zelma appearing in the doorway. “There are military vehicles pulling up outside the main gate.”
Alfredo moved across the room between bookshelves to a wall of monitors, one of which showed a view of the gate. Two humvees sat facing each other just outside.
Marina stood behind him. “Is there another way out of here?”
He looked over his shoulder with a frown then back at the black and white image. “There is, but now is not the time to use it. I’m going to give myself in.”
“That’s a risky plan,” said Carla.
Marian looked at both of them. “Plan? What plan? You get thrown in jail, or if she works for the corporation, worse!”
Alfredo turned and held her hand, which the others tried not to notice. “They don’t know who I am, and if there are spies on the base, there’s only one or a few of them. I’m not willing to give up what we have created here just yet. We just need to find out who they are, and we can act.” She looked away not totally convinced. He looked at Carla. “I’m going to need you to come with me. You ready?”
She sighed then nodded.
*****
Daniel Copeland sat beneath the cockpit window. His back up against the hull, his clawed feet gripping the deck and his green box gripped by one of his huge arms, the other being used to stop him from being washed into an angry sea. There was just about enough room for him to fit inside the main deck area but he knew he wasn’t wanted there. And that was fine. He was trapped with his enemies, but at least he was free. A wave crashed over him and he held the box firmer, nothing on earth could make him part with it.
By time he had been pushed out into the prison yard he wanted to kill whoever they put in front of him. Days of continuous light and little blood had made him delirious. The kings were torturing him for his betrayal, but the visions of his son, Jasper were worse. The young boy with white eyes would stand in the corner of his tiny cell and ask him, why he had left. Over and over. He knew it was his mind breaking apart but strangely as time went on, it also became his hope. A reminder that his son was out there, being cared for by people that… cared. They had not given up on the old world like he had. They still gave a shit.
He hadn’t recognized the young people he was tasked to kill for the pleasure of his captors, nor the wolf-man that charged at him. It was only when he had been struck down by the king’s witch that within the searing pain a moment of clarity allowed a memory to emerge. He had met the young mind reader before. He had escaped with the others, eventually joining up with those that had his son.
It was in that moment that he realized through finding his son, there would be salvation.
At first he had made sure to sleep away from those that he was traveling with, and with each rising sun when he slept he expected not to wake again. Surely they would take their pound of flesh? But slowly by observing them, usually when they did not realize, he had come to see them for what they were. Flawed, but determined to fight for a better life. The scourge had turned some humans into heroes, and others into villains. He had become the latter.
Another huge wave battered the hull and washed over him. But that was okay. He was enjoying nature’s display of power. A reminder of how little he always had. And perhaps, somewhere out there in the darkness was a little boy who would want a father again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Alfredo sat in a small interrogation room. One of a few in the basement of the headquarters, where the military police for the base were located. They took him at gunpoint, amongst shouts and accusations, and he and Carla had calmly nodded then allowed their hands to be bound. He had not seen any rank higher than a sergeant so far, but his enhanced hearing picked up the sound of footsteps and heart beats he recognized.
The door opened with Galloway standing in the doorway. She told the soldiers outside they do not need to be in the room, and walked in, closing the door and sat confidently in the other chair, across from the small table.
She let out a breath before starting. “So you wanted to steal the tablets… I gotta admit when I was told I was surprised. As was Winston. It was only when I told him you had admitted to trying to take them that he started to believe it.” She leaned forward. “But we still don’t know why… are you working for the kings?”
It was back in the room beneath his house that the idea came to him of how to out the spy. And he was about to find out if he was right. He smiled, looking directly at her. “I know you’re working for the kings, because I’m working for them too…”
He sensed her increased heart rate, but that wasn’t confirmation. “You’re working for the kings?” she said.
“Yes, and they told me about you.” His senses absorbed all of hers. He had had a few thousand years of reading humans, and was pretty good at it.
She gazed into his eyes, trying to find any hint of a lie. “If what you say is true, then why did you feel the need to steal the tablets? If I
’m working for them, why not just tell me who you—”
Alfredo leaned back. “Because they do not trust you general. They did not trust you to destroy the tomb and they do not trust you to return the tablets to them.” Her heart was now racing and the anger she was having a hard time controlling told him all he needed to know.
“I did what they—”
Before another word left her mouth, he had snapped the plastic straps and had his hand around her throat. Despite her hybrid strength, he was stronger. Her eyes spoke of shock as she struggled to be free. Rasping sounds came from her throat in an attempt to shout for help.
He leaned in closer and her eyes widened. “If you shout for soldiers to come to your aid general, I will tell them who you are working for, and if you think it will be your word against mine? I will tell them I can prove it. Which I can.” It was a lie, but one he felt confident to tell. “If I release my grip. Will you be willing to talk?” She nodded and he relaxed his clawed fingers.
“They sent you to kill me!” she croaked.
Disgust welled up within him, the temptation to snap her neck overpowering.
“I did what they asked. I took care of the last king! They made me a promise!”
“What promise?”
“That they would leave this island to us! That we would rule it how we wanted!”
“I have seen how you want to rule general. Humans used as cattle for their blood!”
She looked confused and he internally chastised himself for making such an obvious slip-up. “What do you care about the humans?” she said.
His grip tightened for an instant, her eyes starting to bulge, but then he let her go taking a step away. She immediately coughed, bending over, trying to get air into her lungs.
“You’re… not… going to kill… me?”
He turned back to her. “You have been lied to general.”
She looked up, not understanding.
“The kings had no intention of leaving this piece of land for you. They just used you to destroy the last tomb.”