Subterranean (12 page)

“Yes, we can. We completed our mission.” She spoke without looking at Flynn behind her. “Now we must return.”

“But there’s something out there, Vale.” He stomped a foot down. “You guys didn’t even look at what it was!” His fists clenched; they were still walking away. “Damn it, Vale! What the hell’s going on?!” Rolan?!”

“Get in the vehicle, human.” She approached the buggy and threw her weapon inside.

Flynn didn’t know what he was thinking; maybe he wasn’t. But it just seemed right at the time. He was tired of being left in the dark for reasons unexplained to him. There was already the secret of the hidden hangar looming darkly over his friendship with Rolan and Vale, and now this strange occurrence had forcefully pushed his limits of trust over the edge.

And so he did it.

They stopped abruptly, about to heave themselves into the buggy when they heard the click of a rifle behind them. They spun their heads around to see Flynn, who held his weapon ready to fire with his two friends squarely in his sights.

“What the hell is going on?” He said coldly down the barrel of his gun. “Tell me now, or I’ll shoot you both.”

“Do not be so dramatic, Flynn.” Rolan said with a reassuring smile. “Come, let us return to the city and laugh about this over dinner.”

“Shut up, Rolan!” He fired an energy blast shy of their feet; the symphonic zap of the gun seemed intensely more menacing to him as his two friends threw their arms up in defense. “No more lies!” His fingers gripped the gun tighter and jerked the barrel redolently in their direction. “The spaceships in the hidden hangar. You knew about them, didn’t you?!”

Vale and Rolan glanced at each other in the corners of their eyes with furrowed brows. “Spaceships?” They looked back at Flynn. “What spaceships?”

“Oh, stop playing stupid! The spaceships in the hangar!” He elaborated further. “The hangar so cleverly hidden in the back of the restricted storage area.” His head fumed hotter when they continued to show signs of ignorance. “Oh, come on! If a simple scientist knows about Tural’s little secret, how the hell do his own top officers not know?!”

“Flynn,” Vale put a hand up to keep Rolan silent, “we do not know about these ‘spaceships’ you speak of. We are as much surprised to hear about this as you.” She slowly peeled her HTS-500’s off her face and gazed at Flynn with her unshielded black eyes. “I promise.”

Although Flynn’s heart and arms trembled with apprehension, he decided to lower his weapon. He believed them, despite the throes of paranoia still raging in the back of his head. Something otherworldly infused in him, something that intervened and would not allow him to shoot Rolan or Vale.

Whether or not his clairvoyance was right, he liked to believe that they were his two best friends on the Subterranean planet, and therefore he should give them the benefit of the doubt when it mattered most.

“Okay,” he relaxed his muscles and headed towards them, sighing with relief, “let’s get out of here. But promise you’ll give me an explanation about all of the weird stuff happening around here. An honest explanation.”

In the wild whistling of the cold winds forever carrying their symphony of nature, the radio in his pocket suddenly whirred to life with chirping static and strange noises that resembled the unknown alien language Flynn heard when he first took the device from his ship. They both turned to look at him fumbling around in his pocket to turn it off, eyeing him with disbelief. Rolan, who was previously fairly calm, became quite distraught.

“What is that?! Is that a radio?! You brought a radio out here?!” His words sounded demonic through his gritted teeth as he rocketed himself out of the buggy and into Flynn’s face.

Flynn took a step back in defense. “Yeah, that’s right. I took a radio from my ship.” He spoke over the incomprehensible noises coming from the radio, ignoring them completely. “You know why? Because it’s
my
ship!”

Rolan swung his frustrated head high in the air. “No! Shut it off! They detect radio signals! They are probably down here scanning for us right now!”

Chapter 11

Breaking and Entering

Radovan and Lisa stood casually in a dark corner of the city with a clear view of Tural’s chambers. Lisa rubbed her knuckle against her lip and looked on at the imposing metal doors with anxiety.

“Why do we have to do this?”

“Because,” Radovan groped around at the collection of tools encased in an attachment of his belt, “this is the only way we will learn what information is stored on that computer core.”

“I guess so.” Lisa said, still not convinced she was doing the right thing.

“Now,” he pointed a thick finger at the two guards patrolling the entrance, “I need a way to infiltrate his chambers so I can hack into the computer undetected.”

“What about Tural? How do you know he’s not in there right now?”

“He visits his favorite restaurant every day at this time; it is located in the city square. We should have plenty of time before he returns.”

“That’s a little creepy that you know that.” She pictured Radovan standing in this corner almost every day watching Tural’s movements.

Radovan ignored her, simply groaning in thought as his eyes deconstructed the scene in front of him. “Yes, that will work.” He said after a few silent moments. “If you distract the guards, I will enter his chambers undetected.”

She moaned. “I don’t like being the distraction.”

“You effectively distract Flynn on numerous occasions.” He kept his eyes locked on the stationary guards.

“Was that a joke?”

He looked at her worriedly, like he had transgressed, and then turned his face away. “No.”

“Right… So how long do I need to distract them?”

“Long enough so I can get in undetected. Which means you must lure them away from the entrance. Far enough away so the opening of the doors will not alert them.”

“How am I supposed to do that?”

“I do not know. If you truly desire to help me, and therefore help Flynn, then you will think of something.”

“I don’t know…” She detested dangerous situations, especially ones that involved manipulating others. But then she thought of Flynn, and how he would smile upon hearing her tell him all the useful information that Radovan gathered, thanks to her. Filled with thoughts of Flynn by her side, she picked herself up and took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“Good.” Radovan hunched over to keep his profile low, a sight Lisa found strangely disturbing. “Remember to lure them
far
away.”

“Um, hi…” She approached the guards tentatively, with her usual sheepish eyes announcing her discomfort during social interactions. “Could you please help me with something?”

“Please move along.” The guard stated in a rehearsed manner. “If you require assistance, ask someone else. This is Tural’s personal chambers and we are not to leave them unattended for any amount of time.”

She swallowed hard, uncertain of what to do; she considered fleeing right there, as her heart was already beating fast enough to break out into a run, but much to her surprise she spouted a response. “Could
one
of you come help me, at least?” Her eyebrows furrowed nervously.

The guards looked at each other, and then sighed. “What is it you require assistance with?” The one opposite from the control panel approached her.

“It’s, um, it’s right down here.”

She led him away from the doors, thoughts racing through her mind of what she should do next. She had expected to get both of them to follow her, and then ask them all sorts of tedious questions about the city using the overlook as a dazzling reference… yet here she was: leading only one of them there without a plan.

What should I do?
She kept asking herself.

“What is the problem?” The guard stopped and stared at her warily.

“I, um, I had a question about the… city,” she pointed at the sprawling metropolis down below, “I got lost a few times around this area,” she circled the location of the research facility with a finger, “and I want to know how to get back to the hospital from there.”

“Hmm.” The guard leaned against the railing and peered out into the lightshow; he took the bait. “If you follow the route through the market streets, it will take you directly to the hospital. Look for the tower with the three blinking lights; that is how you will find your way.”

“Um, thank you.” Her heart raced, the guard was returning to his station and it had only been a few minutes. She tried desperately to think of something else to distract him with, but it wouldn’t help even if she did; the other guard was still there… or so she thought.

“What has happened here? Where is Kralan?” The guard stood in disbelief, his comrade was gone. Instantly, he spun around and leveled an accusing finger at Lisa. “You! What have you done?!”

“I-I-I… I don’t know; I didn’t do anything to him!”

“Liar! You distracted me so your accomplice could get inside!” He approached her and took her roughly by the neck. “You will pay for what you have done!”

“No, please! I didn’t do anything, I swear!” She shook in terror, certain there was no escaping the situation.

The guard growled and threw her to the ground, where she landed with a thud, most definitely bruising the side of her leg. He tried typing in the passcode on the control panel of the door, but nothing happened. It beeped unwaveringly with a red glare on the screen, refusing entry.

“Open up!” His fists slammed hard on the metal door in a pointless effort. “Tural,” the guard pressed a button on his communicator, “one of the humans has infiltrated your chambers. Please respond to the situation immediately.” He grunted approvingly and held his rifle aimed at Lisa still lying on the ground.

In a matter of minutes, Tural was walking up the stairs to the scene. Lisa had a strong desire to flee before that, but was afraid the guard would shoot her as she ran, and then things would be even worse.

“Well,” Tural’s frightening figure appeared and stood over her, “I knew you
humans
were trouble. I should never have allowed Rolan and Vale convince me otherwise.”

“Tural,” the guard said in a servile tone, “the passcode to the door is not working. I believe something is jamming the system.”

“What the hell does that mean?!” He slashed an angry fist at his subordinate.

“We cannot get in.”

“What?!” He stared down the guard, and then seized Lisa up in his meaty hands. “You are telling me this pathetic female tricked you?! Idiot!” He slapped the guard with his one free hand, turning his gaze back on Lisa once he had the satisfaction of watching the defenseless guard fall to the floor. “Now, tell me, female, what is your human friend looking for in my chambers?” The words dripped from his mouth as a monstrous whisper.

“Get away from me!” The feeling of his slimy hands on her was revolting; she thrashed around to break free, but his grasp was too tight. “Get away!”

With a violent shake he disoriented her and pulled her right up against his face to inquire again, louder this time. “What is he looking for?! …Answer me!”

“Ugh!” She swung her head to the side, away from him and his disturbing appearance, and then back, spitting defiantly in his eye.

That caused some damage.

He dropped her immediately and clawed at his salivated eyes, screaming for someone to help him while spewing threats in native phrases. Lisa hit the ground hard, knocking the air out of her lungs, and then crawled as far away from him on her back as she could, stopping when she felt the cold metal of the railing against her spine. The guard recollected himself and primed his rifle, lining up the sights directly on her and prepared to fire.

She closed her eyes and tensed her muscles as she waited for the blast, but it never came; the unmistakable sound of weapons fire rung in her ear, yet she never felt the impact. Opening her eyes behind cupped hands, she parted her fingers and saw the unconscious guard lying on the ground and watched in fear as the Subterranean leader flopped about on his hands and knees cursing her. She suddenly jumped in fright when a hand touched her shoulder.

“Come, Lisa,” the figure wielding a pistol said, “we must hurry.”

She shot a look at him and gave a great sigh of solace. “Radovan!” She let him pull her up and tow her away from the madness, all the way back to the research facility, where she thought she could still hear Tural’s enraged shouts from afar.

“Are you okay?” Radovan asked while his fingers danced across the access panel to the research facility. They scurried inside and shut the door behind them.

“What happened?!” Lisa clung to the wall, still trying to ease her nerves; she discovered she was crying from the stress.

Radovan heaved tables and heavy equipment against the doors like they were paperweights, barricading themselves inside against potential visitors. “It will not take them long to discover where we are, but we should be safe for now.” He noticed Lisa was sobbing and moved towards her. “Here,” he withdrew an energy bar from his pocket and handed it to her, “it is not much, but your body will probably require sustenance after such a traumatic event.”

Regaining control of herself, she took the slab of synthesized protein with a sniffle and a head hung low. “Thanks.”

Radovan said nothing in response, returning to his lab and plugging a device into the computer on his desk. After a few minutes of heavy breathing, she wiped her nose on her sleeve and quietly stepped into his lab where she saw vivid images and walls of text flying across his screen in bursts.

“Did you get the data we needed?” She asked innocently through her congested sinuses.

“Yes.” He answered, already fully engulfed in his analysis.

“How?”

“I incapacitated the guard you did not distract, borrowed his weapon, and gained entry to Tural’s chambers with a network spike. Once I was inside, it was a simple matter of transferring the data; Tural did not have any countermeasures in place, contrary to what I had suspected.” He stopped scrolling briefly. “I completed the mission before you came back with the other guard.”

Lisa frowned. “You were out before Tural came?”

“Yes. I reactivated the security system and changed the passcode when I left.”

“So, you were just going to leave me with Tural?” Her victimized tone swept the room in pity.