Protocol 7 (56 page)

He felt as if he would lose consciousness at any moment. Then the voice command module in the Raptor spoke.

“Diagnostics complete. Ready for detachment. Course set for zero altitude.”

“-153…-79…+347…Confirm coordinates, confirm ignition.”

All Simon had to do was speak the words. He took a deep breath and forced the words out.

“Coordinates confirmed,” he rasped. “Ignition confirmed.”

Eight audible beeps later, the Raptor exploded forward, thrusting its massive form into the cavernous tunnel ahead. It shook the surrounding ice like a fighter jet.

The G-force almost knocked Simon out in the first five seconds. All he could feel were the vibrations in the interior of the cockpit as the force pressed him against his seat like a falling stone wall.

* * *

Four hundred eighty feet behind, Blackburn barely opened his eyes. He felt the pain in his back where the bullet had struck, but the bulletproof clothing he wore had saved his life. Again, he thought grimly. And probably not for the last time.

He did not have the strength to move, but it didn’t matter. He had already lost the Raptor, he knew that. He would have to wait for an evac team in any event, assuming one could get there.

We’ll get him on the outside, he told himself. We’ll get him.

And only then did he hear the woman’s voice-deep, accented, cutting through the fading vibration of the disappearing Raptor. He saw no one, but he heard.

“Goodbye, my brother.”

Then she disappeared—toward the elevator shaft.

* * *

The Raptor blew through the smooth-sided coring tunnel at 135 miles per hour. It started accelerating upward as the pitch increased to more than forty degrees, curving upward toward the top of the ice continent.

Simon’s eyesight began to fade. He felt consciousness slipping away as he moved at breakneck speed.

* * *

One thousand feet above where Simon was now traveling, Hayden felt a sudden vibration below his feet as he struggled to help Samantha.

“Come on Sam,” he pleaded, hauling at her one more time. “We’ve got to keep moving before we freeze to death.”

Samantha had no more strength; the blast had nearly killed her, but she was not ready to die.

She forced herself up and barely recognized Hayden. Much to her own surprise, she was glad to be alive.

He held her for a moment as the recent memory of Ryan’s death took hold of her emotions. Holding her tightly in his arms, Hayden said, “We’ve got to keep moving before we freeze Samantha. With the Spector destroyed, I have to find a way to get us out of here.” He looked at the communication device strapped on his wrist, and realized Max was trying to find them. The message read:

Stay where you are. Coming toward you.

Hayden was glad that Max was alive. He spoke softly into the device. “We’ll wait for you at the encampment.”

We are going to make it out alive.

* * *

Max sat watching Oliver in the dark room. The man had been a father to him. Now he wondered why it had come to this.

What Nika had shared with him had changed everything. He looked at Oliver and knew at that moment that there was a greater purpose. That’s why he had let her go.

Then he read the incoming message from Hayden and realized he needed to get to him quickly. Grateful for the sound of his own voice in the frozen silence, he said, “I need to find Samantha and the others, and we’ll soon escape this hell.”

He thought of his best friend, rocketing away from him, miles above.

Just get to the surface Simon. Just get there!!…

* * *

At almost one thousand feet below the surface of the ice continent, Simon started hallucinating. The force of the Raptor was too much for his wounded body. He could barely remember what had happened. He had started to feel calm. All he wanted to do was sleep.

Moments later, the Raptor started to slow, just as it was programmed to do at this elevation. It broke through a thin hatch covered with ice that concealed the opening of the tunnel and emerged onto the surface of the icy continent.

It was black as night everywhere: no stars, no moon. The only thing Simon felt was the sudden pressure as the vehicle came to a complete stop.

The unmarked black rescue helicopters that were programmed to dispatch upon the Raptor’s detachment thrummed over the horizon and descended to pick up their cargo. Everything had been planned; the crew in the chopper expected that the leader of Vector5 waited for them in the vehicle.

Simon felt the noise and vibration of the choppers as blue lights shone into the cockpit. His vision was almost completely blurred. The next thing he heard was his cockpit door decompressing, and his body was detached from the harness, pulled free. He felt multiple hands and voices. It all felt like a blur.

His father’s words still echoed in his mind: Find Leon.

The frigid air cutting through the Antarctic plateau felt welcome against his skin and helped him stay awake for a few minutes longer. He felt his body being strapped down. A gurney, he thought. I’m on a gurney.

He heard the voices and started seeing lights. “Move it. Move it. Let’s go. We’re out of here.” A few immeasurable moments later, Simon felt warmth all around him, as if he was inside a room. Then he heard what seemed to be the blades of a chopper.

“Life support! I need life support,” he heard a voice say.

“Wind’s picking up,” said another voice—a woman’s.

“Disengage, disengage.”

He noticed what seemed to be multiple forms around him and what seemed to be random holo-displays inside some sort of vehicle. It’s a chopper, he noticed, dizzy from the loss of blood. Then he felt the subtle vibration on his wrist. He knew that Max and Hayden had found each other. A momentary sense of calm took hold of him as his body began to lose all feeling.

If you can only get to the surface, you will be fine. He remembered Oliver’s words. He felt calm. He knew that even though he was the only one to escape, Max and the others would soon be rescued. He knew that the operation would be blown and the world would go to the rescue of the captives. What he had done would stop the great atrocities toward the world and the human beings that were being held captive. He realized that the purpose of his mission was greater than himself, greater than the need to find his father—it was about world and humanity.

He thought about the secrets Oliver had told him, but he didn’t care, it didn’t matter. They were too great for anyone to fathom. His friends were all that mattered, and they’re alive.

His eyes were fading as he felt an inner peace. The last thing he remembered was the chance he had been given, to hold his father for one last time.

Armen Gharabegian graduated from t
he Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, with a Master’s of science degree in Industrial Design. He has been professionally designing furniture and environments for the past fifteen years. Armen continues to work on his fine arts in painting, sculpture and installation work. In 2006, he began his project Arctica and started the trilogy of books, which became his newfound passion. He now diligently writes and is currently working on books II and III of the Arctica trilogy, due to be released in 2014 and 2015. Armen lives with his wife, two sons, and Great Dane in Los Angeles, CA.