“You fool!”
Antonio was panic-stricken as he desperately opened and closed the fake silver box.
“I swear, Corrado. I took this from Drew myself. This has to be it. It has to be!”
“Even your friends know what a fool you are. They tricked you and sent you to me, knowing I would destroy you for your foolishness.”
“No. No, they wouldn’t. Oh God, no. Please. My family, spare my family. Kill me, but please spare them.”
Images once again flooded his brain of his wife’s pain and pleasure as Corrado lashed out in anger. His growl shook the entire compound as the guards looked on in silence and cringed at the sound of Antonio’s screams.
***
Cait’s Raptor veered suddenly left as she reached up to grab her head. The pain was unbearable, but it wasn’t her pain that she felt. Drew quickly grabbed the wheel as the Raptor slowed and eventually rolled to a stop.
“Cait, what is it? What’s the matter?” asked Kirby.
Gene saw the other Raptor fall behind and immediately turned and headed back.
“What’s going on? We have to keep moving.”
“I don’t know. She’s in pain,” snapped Drew impatiently.
Drew disconnected her harness and lifted her out of the seat. He sat her gently down on the rock floor as she struggled to find her equilibrium.
“Cait. What is it? Are you okay?”
“You did it, Father. Didn’t you? You switched the box,” said Cait angrily.
Kirby looked at Drew, knowing their secret plan probably had doomed Antonio and his family to a horrible death.
“Yes, I did, my dear.”
“Cait, it had to be done,” said Drew. “Kirby suspected something when Antonio admitted everything, and this was the only way to know for sure. We had a replica made right after, and that’s what I kept in my jacket from that moment on. I intentionally left it where I knew he could get it if he wanted it. We had to know if he was on our side or not.”
“Corrado is torturing him horribly, I can feel his pain,” said Cait, wincing.
“I’m sorry,” said Kirby. “I really am. Antonio was a good man, but he’s been corrupted out of fear for himself and his family. While I don’t blame him, he can’t be allowed to bring death upon us all.”
“He’s in such pain,” said Cait, truly heartbroken.
“Look, Antonio made his bed as far as I’m concerned,” said Gene. “He could have stayed with us to whatever end we’ll all have, but he chose his own path. Now we can sit here and lament it, or we can get our asses moving. Drew, maybe you better drive for a while, until she feels better. Just keep tight on our tail. We have about seven hundred miles to go, based on my estimate. If we can keep up a good pace and don’t hit any unexpected guests, we can be there tomorrow afternoon.”
Kirby helped Cait into the passenger seat and secured her harness before climbing into the back.
“Where is it, Father? Where is the real box?”
Kirby reached into his inside jacket pocket and removed an old used handkerchief. As he unraveled it, the shiny silver box dropped into his hand.
“I have it, Cait, and I’ll hang on to it for now. Drew and I agreed that it would be best for now, for safekeeping.”
“He still wants it. I can feel it. More than before, now that we’re getting close to the tomb. He knows that this is the only power we have against him. We’d all be dead now if it wasn’t for this. You did the right thing. I know that now. You both did.”
Drew looked at Kirby and smiled. He embraced Cait and kissed her gently on the lips.
“One more thing. He is extremely paranoid,” said Cait, still rubbing her head in pain. “He knows where we’re going but doesn’t know why. He’s desperate and scared that we know something he doesn’t. He’ll do anything to get to us and keep us from stopping the awakening. We have to be extremely careful.”
“We will be. We’ve gotten this far, haven’t we?” said Drew as he winked at Cait and Kirby. He could see Gene signal that it was time to set off again. He cautiously started the Raptor rolling and was much less confident in his driving skills than Cait was. As they slowly picked up speed, he nervously gripped the wheel and said nothing for hours. He could see out of the corner of his eye that Cait had fallen into an exhausted sleep, and in his rearview mirror, he could see Kirby had been studying his notes intently. Drew finally felt confident enough that he could drive and speak at the same time.
“Kirby, what are you working on?”
“Ah, Drew, my boy. Are you feeling better?”
“Yeah, I can talk and drive now. I guess that’s a start. I don’t know how she does it.”
“We all have our gifts. Hagiel’s gifts were engineering, mathematics, and construction. I’ve been trying to piece together the notes on his escape and make sense of them without having seen the chamber in person. I fear it might be the difference between life and death for all of us.”
“What do you mean?” asked Drew.
“As I told you before, he was able to construct the pyramid in a way that allowed him to escape. He had to be so covert as to not draw suspicion and then have his escape route so camouflaged that no one could find it but him when the time was right. In the end, it worked, and we have to figure it out.”
“What can I do to help?” asked Drew.
“Just get us there in one piece, for starters; I need more time to put this together.”
“I’ll do my best,” he said, looking uncertain.
Several more hours passed, and Drew could see Cait begin to stir as she seemed to fall into a dream. She was standing over Khaheet’s tomb. She walked slowly to the sarcophagus and put her hand out. As she touched the cold stone, she felt a presence there with her. She saw a brilliant light reflect off of the wall in front of her. The source came from behind her. As she turned slowly, she saw a luminescent figure watching her. She had to cover her eyes as she strained to see who or what this was.
“Who are you?” she shouted loudly. The brilliance of the light seemed to get even more intense, as did the high-pitched sound that accompanied it. “What are you, damn it!” she shouted even louder this time.
“I am part of you, Cait,” said the voice of a woman as the light and sound began to subside. Standing before her was a beautiful young woman in a white, flowing gown. Angelic was the word that came to her mind, but she had fought that imagery and everything to do with her religious upbringing since Tom died.
“In life, I was the person in that sarcophagus, the one you knew as Khaheet. What I am now is hard to explain. I have been with you all of your life.”
“You’ve been with me? What do you mean?” asked Cait.
“We all have the essence of many others as part of our being. It helps to guide us, to show us the way, and most importantly to show us the meaning of existence.”
“Which is what, exactly?” asked Cait.
“Love. Existence is love; you’ve felt it many times. I know you have because I’ve felt it too, along with you. We’ve shared it together, you and I, your love for your mother and father, for Drew and for Tom. Yes, Cait, I know. He is with us even now. He is part of you. His life was meant to show you a love you never knew could exist. He still shows you to this day, and he’ll be with you until the day you pass on to be with us.”
She didn’t know how, but she felt that she’d known this all along. She began to cry at the thought of Tom being with her all this time. That he might know of her deep and undying love for him brought her comfort.
“He supports you even now as you discover new love. Do not feel guilt or sadness. It was meant to be this way, for all of us to guide you on this path toward understanding. You’ve felt my love too, Cait. My love for Adrian is strong, which is why you feel for him too. It is also why he’s drawn to you; he feels my essence in you. He’s forgot
ten how to love for a very long time. He’s run from the source of all love, from his Father. I fear that if we don’t bring him back soon, he’ll become like Corrado. Corrado is beyond help now; nothing can be done for him. Adrian’s heart is open; we’ve both felt it. It’s not too late to save him. That was his Father’s plan from the beginning, to channel our being through mankind. To find a path to his heart as I did thousands of years ago and bring him home. It would have been done then if Corrado hadn’t interfered, but after that it was too late. He’d gone into the earth’s core and into hibernation until now. That is why we need to save him from the coldness of hate, from the treachery of his brother. Otherwise he will be doomed to live here forever, never again knowing the love that waits for him. The endless cycle of the awakening will go on into eternity. You and I will watch with sorrow in our hearts as one we love suffers endlessly.”
“I think I understand, but how…”
“You will know the path when the time comes. But remember, nothing is guaranteed. He is free to follow whatever path he wants. It may mean your death and the death of all humanity, but you will be with us then. Do not be frightened for yourself; be frightened for him if he chooses the wrong path. We’ll be with you; do not fear.”
She saw the light in Khaheet’s essence begin to fade and concentrate in a large rectangular rock on the sidewall of the tomb. For an instant, she saw Tom’s smiling face looking at her, and it too disappeared into the same place along the wall. She sobbed on her hands and knees before the stone upon which Tom’s image had appeared. The warmth of his presence was filling her up; he was with her now and forever. There was no more guilt or remorse; she had so much love to give Drew. It was like an endless well that now existed in her soul.
Chapter 19
“What are you going to do when this is all over, Gino? Assuming we get through this,” asked Don over the low hum of the Raptor’s motor.
Gene concentrated on the path ahead as he pondered the thought. “That’s a good question, Donnie. Luckily I haven’t really thought about it, because the odds of us getting through this are so slim that I haven’t had to worry about it.”
“Seriously, can you ever go back to the life you had before? I’ve been thinking about it. This has changed me. Life is too short to waste away trying to make a buck with that damn mine. If we get out of this, I’m selling everything and buying a ranch or some damn thing.”
“I can see it: you in a tight shirt and a cowboy hat in the summer heat,” said Gene, laughing. “I don’t think you’re ranch material, Donnie.”
“Okay, maybe not a ranch, but something to enjoy my life. There has to be more than just slaving away day after day.”
Gene became more serious as he knew the point his friend was trying to convey.
“I hear you, Don. The problem is that guys like you and I can only do nothing for so long. We are what we are, and we’re doers. Why do you think I bought that place in Quicks Bend? I felt the same way as you after the service. I was looking for a getaway, a place to live the quiet life. Yeah, it’s good for a few days now and then, but once your mind starts working on you, you’ll want to be on to the next challenge. As much as I like to bust your balls, you know there is no one I respect more when it comes to mining. You’re the best. Can you just walk away from that?”
“I don’t know. The quiet life sounds pretty good to me right now,” said Don.
“I’ll make you a deal. If we get out of this, I’ll run the mine for a month. You go and look for your peaceful place, and if you find it, I’ll buy the whole operation from you. If not, it will be there waiting for you when you get back.”
“Okay. That sounds like a plan. But if I do get a ranch, you aren’t invited. I don’t need some smart-ass critiquing my cowboy attire,” said Don with a laugh, happy to have something to look forward to and keep his mind off of the present.
“I’ll bet you’ll be back in no more than a week, pissed off at the way things are running and thinking you can do it better.”
Both men started laughing, but their laughter quickly turned to screams as the Raptor approached a narrow crevice in the cavern floor. Gene tried to skid the Raptor to a stop, but it was too late. It went airborne for several feet and landed in the crease in the earth, eventually skidding to a stop.
“Oh shit!” cried Drew as he saw the first Raptor disappear, and he immediately skidded and spun out of control, almost slamming them into the wall. Cait was jolted awake and had little time to recount her dream and the meaning of it.
“Are you both okay?”
“Yes, I think so. What happened?” asked Cait, still feeling the effects of her vision.
“I don’t know. The other Raptor just disappeared. I was keeping us at a good distance so I didn’t slam into them if they stopped suddenly, and they just disappeared.”
“What do you mean, disappeared?” asked Kirby.
“I mean one minute I saw the lights in front of me, and the next it was gone. Let’s try and raise them on the radio. Gene, are you there? Can you hear me? Are you guys okay? They aren’t answering,” said Drew.
“We must be cautious,” said Kirby. “Why don’t we turn the spotlights on and roll forward slowly.”
Drew handed Cait a rifle and pulled a pistol from his belt. He nodded at Kirby and backed the Raptor off of the wall and back onto the path he was following. They could see the tracks from the other Raptor and the recon vehicle on the dust-covered floor. After one hundred feet, one set of tracks veered slightly left around a large crevice and the other dead-ended at the edge.
“Oh no! They must have fallen in here,” said Cait.
“Drew, can you shine a light down so we can see how deep it is?” asked Kirby.
Drew detached one of the spotlights from atop the Raptor and walked cautiously over to the edge. As he shone it into the void, he could see that it wasn’t that deep. He also saw the dust-covered faces of Don Brazzo and Gene Luntz as they climbed toward them.
“What the hell happened?” he asked.
“What does it look like? We fell in a hole,” shouted Don, still scared out of his wits. Drew reached down and helped both men climb out.
“So much for your recon vehicle, GI Joe,” said Don sarcastically as he lay on his back, panting heavily.
“Was it the vehicle’s fault, or the knucklehead watching the view screen? I seem to recall someone talking about retiring to a ranch and not watching the road ahead of us. Does that ring a bell?” barked Gene.
“Are you men okay?” asked Kirby, trying to diffuse the growing tension.
“I suppose we are,” said Gene. “We have to use the winch on the other Raptor to get us out of there. I don’t think we can drive it out.”
“What the hell is this, anyway?” asked Drew.
“I know exactly what it is,” said Gene as he walked to the edge and surveyed it with the spotlight.
“Well, would you care to share it with the rest of us?” asked Don.
Gene threw him a dirty look, still blaming him for getting them into this predicament.
“When I saw the creature back in the mine, it tried to get me with one of its tentacles. It swung it up at me and missed, thank God. It hit the rocks next to me and burned a crevice into it. This has the same shape as that, but the creature that made this one must be at least ten times as big as the one I saw.”
Cait stared into the opening on the smooth cavern floor and began to think about her dream.
“What’s the matter?” asked Drew as they walked a few feet away from the others.
“We’re getting close now, Drew,” said Cait as she turned and embraced Drew tightly. She savored the softness of his lips as she kissed him gently.
“Wow, what was that?”
“I love you, Drew. I’m not afraid to feel that anymore. I’ve been afraid for a long time, and I’ve shut you out. I love you s
o much, and I want you to know that in case…”
“I love you too, Cait. I’ve always loved you…from a safe distance of course. Don’t give up hope just yet; we might still have a chance to stop this,” he said.
“I know, but in case we don’t, I want you to know that our love for each other will continue into whatever existence there is after this. I can’t explain how I know, but I want it to comfort you as it does me.”
Cait once again kissed him, knowing they wouldn’t have much more time together before they reached the tomb.
“Come give us a hand,” shouted Gene as he connected the winch’s cable to the roll bar on top of the Raptor. “Okay, Don. Pull it up slowly,” he shouted over the whine of the winch motor.
As Don engaged the lever, the winch began turning faster, and after a few minutes the second vehicle emerged from the earth, banged up and covered in dust. Gene silently assessed the damage as he looked under the vehicle.
“Well, what do you think?” asked Don.
“I think you better not take your damn eyes off of the view screen the next time, or we might not be this lucky. I think we’ll be okay. There are a few things we’ll have to fix, but I don’t think it’s anything we can’t handle. The way I figure it, we’re only one hundred and fifty miles out now. We might as well camp here for a while, and we’ll make one more run to get there. We’ll want to slow the pace as we approach, as I suspect we might have company. I’d say midday tomorrow, the action starts.”
“Great,” said Don. “I’ll start unpacking the food and get some sort of dinner going.”
“How did I know you were going to say that?” said Gene with a laugh.
They proceeded to set up several tents, and Don took the propane stove he’d packed and attempted to make the MREs into something a bit more palatable. They lit a small fire, and all gathered around to eat as the recon vehicle watched the path ahead.
The Awakening Page 18