‘Chad?’ I called. ‘Chad?’
The only answer was the wind howling across the stone-filled valley. Starting across the plain, I glimpsed a depression in the rockface—a cave. In the doorway, a small fire burned at the front.
Yes! He must be over there!
I flew across to the entrance. Just as I reached it, a figure emerged from the shadows.
‘Chad!’ I yelled.
He ran toward me, relief in his eyes. ‘Axel!’ he said, grasping my hand. ‘You’re here!’
‘I wouldn’t let you come through alone.’
He peered past me. ‘Why did it take so long?’ he asked. ‘Did you have problems getting through?’
‘I came straight after you.’
‘What?’
‘I came straight after you,’ I repeated. ‘Right after you got pulled in.’
‘That’s not possible,’ he said, shaking his head.
‘It was only a few seconds.’
Chad pointed to a nearby wall where a series of lines had been scratched. ‘Axel,’ he said. ‘I’ve been here almost a week!’
Chapter Thirteen
I stared. ‘What?’ I said. ‘You’re kidding.’
‘I thought I was stuck here forever.
Now I took a closer look at him. Chad wasn’t his usual clean and tidy self. He usually took extreme care when it came to his personal appearance. Sometimes I’d even called him Mister Tidy.
Now his hair was in disarray, and his face and hands were smudged with dirt. I looked more closely at one of his hands.
‘Is that blood?’ I asked.
‘It’s rabbit blood,’ he said. ‘Or what passes for rabbits around here.’
I glanced around. ‘Are we on Earth?’
‘I doubt it—not with a sky like that—but I haven’t strayed too far from here because I doubted I’d ever find it again.’
I glanced back to where I’d appeared. There was no sign of the transparent hive. This looked like a one-way trip.
‘Anyway,’ Chad continued. ‘Come and join me in some bunny.’
The little home he’d built during his time here was basic, to say the least. The bed he’d made was from tiny pebbles. They were obviously more comfortable to sleep on. A few sticks lay around. Chad had been using these to help cook over his fire.
‘Come on,’ he said, grinning. ‘Pull up a rock.’
I laughed and dragged a bigger rock over to sit on while he cooked what appeared to be a large rabbit on the fire.
‘There are trees around here,’ he said. ‘But they’re pretty old. I don’t think anything much has grown in this region for a long time. The only living things I’ve spotted are a few birds and our bunny friends.’
‘You haven’t seen any people?’
‘Not people,’ he said. ‘But we’re definitely not alone. There’s a city off in the distance. I decided to wait to see if anyone followed after me—which you did—before I went exploring.’
‘You’ve just reminded me,’ I said, remembering. ‘Ferdy said he was following us through.’
‘He hasn’t turned up.’
I did some quick calculations. ‘Ferdy was right behind me,’ I said. ‘If you’ve been here a week, and I followed you a minute after you disappeared, then Ferdy might turn up later today or tomorrow.’
‘Great,’ Chad said. ‘And I don’t mean great, Ferdy can be trapped here too. I mean, it’s good to have company.’
The rabbit was cooked now, and I took a bite. It wasn’t bad.
‘The bunnies aren’t a sentient life form? This isn’t the world of the talking bunnies?’
‘If they talk, they don’t say much. Just—ugg—and then they keel over dead.’ Chad gave another grin. ‘I’m glad you’re here, Axel. I thought I might be marooned here forever.’
‘Hey,’ I said. ‘We might be marooned here forever. I’m not sure that’s good for either of us.’
‘Yeah, but…’ His voice trailed off. ‘To be stuck here alone would be awful. I couldn’t think of anything worse.’
I could tell he must have been going stir crazy by himself. ‘How about a game of chess?’ We’d started playing the game during the last few months and were pretty evenly matched.
‘That’s a great idea,’ he said. ‘Except we don’t have a chessboard.’
‘Small detail.’ I picked up a small pebble. ‘This is a pawn. Oh, and here’s another.’
It took about an hour, but we assembled our makeshift pieces from the rocks around us. We also constructed a basic board by scratching onto a square flat stone. Chad went first and ended up winning the first game. I won the second. We played two more games. By then, it was starting to get late. The murky sky was turning mahogany red.
‘I’d better make a bed for you,’ he said.
‘Thanks. I’ll go for a quick flight to get the lay of the land.’
I left him to assemble small stones into a basic mattress. Soaring a short distance from our location, I saw the city Chad had mentioned. It was hard to make out from here, but there were no lights to be seen. Maybe it was abandoned.
I considered flying higher but decided not to. The sky was strange; no doubt about it. It had now turned wine red. There was no sign of the sun or any evening stars.
Something tells me we’re not in Kansas anymore!
Landing back at our camp, I saw that Chad had most of my bed put together.
‘Hey,’ I said. ‘That’s not bad.’
‘Try it out.’
I laid down. ‘This is great,’ I said. ‘Very comfortable.’
Chad laughed. ‘Liar.’
We spoke for a few minutes, the fire still burning as the flames cast dancing shadows across the cave walls.
‘What do you think all this has to do with The Alpha Project?’ he asked. ‘Could the hive be it?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Maybe this was all part of Ravana’s plan.’
I thought hard. ‘Ravana sent us to the cabin, but it was the location on that scrap of paper that brought us here,’ I said. ‘I think he gave us a genuine lead, but it got wrecked because of the robot.’
‘And what’s the story with that thing?’ Chad said, shaking his head. ‘It sure doesn’t like us.’
‘It’ll never be the president of our fan club,’ I agreed.
Closing my eyes, I settled into the mattress of stones hoping that things would look better in the morning. My mind drifted back to the conversation with Brodie when she said she loved me. I’d been an idiot. I loved her—so why didn’t I say it?
It might have been because she’d said it completely out of the blue. It was a surprise. Of course, I loved her. She was the only girl I’d ever loved. I never wanted to be with anyone else. Or maybe I didn’t say it because it made it sound so final. Once you say you love someone, you can’t take it back. It’s out there.
But that’s what Brodie had done. She’d been brave and said the L-word.
I was an idiot. I’ll tell her how I feel—assuming we ever get out of here.
I thought it would take me ages to get to sleep, but I was out like a light in minutes. My dreams were filled again with my double in the morgue. I dreamed Glen was chasing me down hallways at The Agency. As soon as I would escape, he’d appear out of nowhere to give chase again.
When I finally awoke, the fire was burning brightly again, and Chad was gone. I peered out at the rocky hillside from the door of our cave. It had rained during the night, and everything was wet.
Chad appeared from around a bend on his fireboard and landed beside me. He had another dead rabbit in hand.
‘You’re awake!’ he said. ‘I thought you were going to sleep all day!’
‘It was such a comfortable bed,’ I said, laughing. ‘Did you find anything?’
‘Only a few more bunnies,’ he said, showing me the dead creature. ‘It’s bunny for breakfast.’
We sat around, and Chad cooked the same meal as earlier, using his power to slow cook the an
imal until it was tender. I tried to imagine what it would have been like for Chad to be here by himself. It must have been frightening to not know if anyone else was ever going to arrive. I was just about to suggest that we search the area when there was a roar of engines and Liber8tor appeared in the stony clearing.
We hurried over.
‘Ferdy?’ I said.
‘Axel and Chad,’ Ferdy said. ‘Ferdy is indeed pleased to see you both.’
‘Do you know what’s happening here?’ I asked.
‘Ferdy has already made an evaluation of the situation,’ he said. ‘The object we’re inside is a gravity sink. Time moves at a different rate inside the hive as opposed to the outside world.’
‘Do you know how long it’s been here?’
‘Approximately a year.’
That’s when we first got our powers.
‘We can get out,’ Chad said. ‘Can’t we?’
Ferdy hesitated. ‘Ferdy has yet to make the necessary calculations to leave the hive,’ he said. ‘But the bigger problem is the date. Time travels at a faster rate within the hive. Leaving it will not return to our current time; we will return to a future Earth.’
‘What do you mean?’ I said. ‘What year is it inside the hive?’
‘The year inside the hive is approximately 2520AD,’ Ferdy said. ‘Leaving the well will take us back to the same year on Earth.’
Chapter Fourteen
Chad and I were speechless.
‘Ferdy,’ Chad said. ‘Let me get this straight. The year inside the hive is hundreds of years in the future—’
‘—and changing all the time,’ Ferdy said. ‘A few minutes here is approximately a year outside.’
I shook my head in disbelief. ‘But that’s not possible,’ I said. ‘Brodie and Ebony and Dan must still be waiting on the other side.’
‘If they were to enter the hive immediately after us,’ Ferdy said, ‘they would likely arrive here in a month or two. But the hive is like a one-way door. It’s possible to safely enter, but leaving it—assuming we can do so—will put us into a time far beyond our own.’
‘So if we left now,’ I said, slowly, ‘Ebony and Brodie and everyone we know would be…’
‘Long dead,’ Ferdy said.
Chad slumped to the ground. ‘Quinn,’ he said. ‘She’s dead? And Dan? Brodie? And Ebony?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘It’s not possible.’
‘Unfortunately,’ Ferdy said. ‘It is not only possible, but that is what is occurring.’
I tried to think. ‘You said going back the way we came in will take us out to the year 2520,’ I said. ‘Then, we need to find another way out.’
‘Ferdy hopes that is possible.’
Chad looked miserable. ‘Come on,’ I said. ‘We’re finding another way out.’
He peered up at me. ‘And if there isn’t another way?’
‘Then we’ll make one.’
Nodding, he got to his feet, and we started towards Liber8tor.
‘Hang on,’ I said. ‘I’ll leave a message in case the others follow us.’
Assembling a pile of stones, I scratched a note on them saying we were heading for the city. We could always come back and change the message if our plans changed. Then we climbed into Liber8tor’s cockpit and started the engines.
A thought occurred to me. ‘Ferdy,’ I said. ‘Why did you follow us?’
‘Ferdy received telemetry from inside the hive when Chad entered,’ he said. ‘That brief amount of information was enough to warn Ferdy that travel would be dangerous to anyone entering.’
‘But you still came.’
‘Chad and Axel are Ferdy’s friends,’ he said. ‘Ferdy would not abandon you.’
Thanking him, we took off and flew high over the mountain ranges toward the city. It was a modern-looking metropolis of gold and silver. I kept an eye out for planes or spaceships, but the skies seemed clear. Likewise, roads led to the shining metropolis, but they were free of traffic.
‘Ferdy,’ I said. ‘Where are we? Exactly?’
‘The hive sits within the glade in Kansas,’ Ferdy said.
‘But it’s enormous,’ Chad said.
‘Gravity is warped at the entry point. The city and surrounds seem to be sitting on a dish approximately a thousand miles in circumference.’
‘A thousand miles? And this is all sitting inside that hive in the clearing?’
‘That is true.’
The landscape below transitioned briefly to savannas before turning into dense forests. Trees a hundred feet high created a dense canopy. Below this lay gloomy shadow.
‘Chad,’ I said. ‘Not many people would be able to create this kind of technology.’
‘You think it’s the Bakari?’
I nodded. ‘This is serious science,’ I said. ‘And Ferdy said it’s been here for about a year. Who else would have the technology to create such a place? And the timeline fits in with when we got our powers and lost our memories.’
‘But what would this place have to do with it?’
‘I don’t know.’
Getting closer to the city, it became apparent it was abandoned. It appeared in good order, but the streets were deserted.
‘I don’t think anyone’s ever lived here,’ Chad said, as we came in low. ‘It doesn’t look like there was any kind of disaster. It looks like it’s never been used.’
Every building was mirrored and modern. There were shops, but it didn’t look like they had any goods. A modern looking monorail system ran through the city, but the trains weren’t moving. They were all parked at stations.
‘Over there,’ Chad said. ‘That looks like an admin building.’
The building had a symbol on the side that looked like an open book.
‘Well spotted,’ I said.
Landing in front, we got out and cautiously entered the building. The air inside was stale and still. There was no one else around. The place was full of books, but they all appeared to be made of plastic.
I picked one randomly off a shelf. ‘I’m not sure how these work.’
‘Perhaps I can help you.’
Chad and I spun about. A woman in long blue robes stood behind us. Her long red hair fell to her shoulders, her skin pale and her eyes blue.
‘Hello,’ Chad said, giving me a sideways glance. ‘Where did you come from?’
‘I’ve always been here.’
‘Do you work here?’ Chad asked.
‘I can direct you to any information you require,’ the woman said.
‘All right,’ I said. ‘What is this place?’
‘This is the Alpha library.’
‘And it’s located here on…’
The woman looked confused. ‘You are on Alpha.’
Placing a hand on my arm, Chad spoke to the woman. ‘Does that have to do with The Alpha Project?’
‘I don’t know what The Alpha Project is.’
There was something odd about the way she spoke. ‘Are you real?’ I asked.
‘I am a hologram,’ the woman said.
‘And where is everyone?’ I asked.
‘Everyone?’
‘The other people,’ I said. ‘There’s no one else here in the city.’
‘There has never been anyone else here.’ She paused. ‘Although there could be others below the city.’
Chad and I exchanged glances.
‘Who are they?’ he asked.
‘I don’t know,’ the woman said. ‘What lies below the city is beyond the range of my programming.’
We thanked the woman, and she disappeared. We spent another hour searching the building but were unable to find anything useful. The books were unreadable. We even tried showing a few to Ferdy, but he couldn’t get anything from them either.
‘You know what this means,’ Chad said. ‘It means we have to visit,’ he made a dramatic horror sound, ‘those who live below the city.’
‘Which I suppose will be super dangerous,’ I said.
C
had rubbed his hands together. ‘The Chad wouldn’t want it any other way.’
Chapter Fifteen
‘Ferdy,’ I said as soon as we got back on board. ‘How do we get under the city?’
‘There appears to be a cavern leading from one of the central buildings,’ he said. ‘And Jeremy Brett played the character of Sherlock Holmes in—’
‘Then I think we should go down there,’ Chad said.
Ferdy said he’d fly us to the entryway. Soon we had taken off and were soaring across the metropolis. A flock of birds took off as we came around a corner, but we saw nothing else alive. We landed in a square near the city’s heart. The building looming over us was a vast square place clad entirely in gold.
Chad and I left Liber8tor.
‘This place is really eerie,’ I said. ‘It’s so quiet.’
A bird took flight from a nearby rooftop and flapped away.
‘Those are the only things we’ve seen here,’ Chad said. ‘A few birds and the holographic woman.’
There was no signage on any of the buildings. We crossed to a nearby doorway and entered a concourse that was spotlessly clean and utterly devoid of people. It was like a brand new building waiting to be used.
An escalator led down. It wasn’t working, so we used it to walk down it to the next level. Fortunately, the lighting was on as we entered an assembly hall. It had seating for a hundred people, but it had never been used. Continuing on, we went down another escalator to a similar chamber, but this time I heard a slight thrumming.
‘You hear that?’ I said.
Chad nodded. ‘Is it music?’
‘More like machinery, I think.’
There was a doorway on the far side of the chamber. The noise got gradually louder as we drew near. The door was locked, but I used my powers to snap the lock. Opening the door released a wall of sound. We were under an overhanging platform that looked out onto a voluminous factory filled with conveyor belts and vats of chemicals with hundreds of pipes running between them.
Some kind of central chamber sat amidst the vats. It vaguely resembled a giant magnifying glass that pointed onto a circular platform.
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