The Portal (A Delphi Group Thriller Book 2) (33 page)

“Which is what usually happens, right?” Brett asked. “Then they inject you again.”

“Normally, yes. But that’s the odd thing… this time they didn’t. As I lay there, I realized that I was slowly waking up and no one was with me.”

Zane sat up straight, his brow furrowed. “Where were you?”

“At the time, I didn’t know. All I knew was that I was alone in a room that looked like something out of a science fiction movie. I remember these strange-looking glass panels… and I also remember some instruments on a table a few feet away. They were like nothing I’d ever seen before.

“Anyway, at some point I realized that I could move my limbs. I was still woozy, but I could move. So I got up and made my way out into the corridor. It was dark, with lots of little red lights in the floor. I heard a soft hum, so I figured I was on some kind of ship.”

“Then what?” Zane asked.

“I ran down the hall, and before long I entered this room with a high ceiling. That’s when I saw a door leading to the outside.”

“So you ran out into the jungle?” Katiya asked.

“Before I ran out, I heard voices.”

Zane frowned. “Human voices?”

Rebecca shook her head. “Not like any I’ve ever heard. It was the strangest thing. The language used a lot of clicks and strange sounds that I’ve never heard before. Even now it gives me the chills.”

“I’m surprised you were able to move around so easily,” Brett said.

“I felt the same way,” Rebecca replied. “It’s almost like God was protecting me or something. Those… things… they seemed to be upset about something.”

“If you couldn’t understand them, how did you know they were upset?” Zane asked.

“Call it gut instinct, sixth sense, whatever. They seemed to be angry, talking over the top of each other. I’d heard snippets before when I came to, and this was different. Very different.”

“What then?” Katiya asked.

Rebecca wiped her nose. “This voice inside of me said to run. I’d like to think it was God. So I ran outside and found myself on a ramp. When I got to the bottom, I didn’t know what to do.”

“Where were you?” Katiya asked.

Rebecca nodded toward the valley floor. “I was in a large clearing. It looked like some sort of airstrip. Once my eyes adjusted, I also saw that I was somewhere in the jungle. At that point, I just froze. Then I heard that inner voice again, telling me to turn left and run. So I ran.”

“And that’s when you ran into us?” Zane asked.

Rebecca shook her head. “No, sorry… that came later. When I reached the edge of the clearing, I found a path. It’s like that voice had led me to it. So I ran down it as fast as I could because I knew it wouldn’t be long before they came after me.

“Several minutes later, I came to an opening in the woods, and there in front of me was this huge building.”

Katiya and Max visibly stiffened.

“A building?” Brett asked.

Rebecca nodded. “Yes. Not a modern building though. It was an ancient one like you’d see in Greece or something.”

Katiya’s eyes narrowed. “So, you’re saying this building is right down the slope from where we are now?”

Rebecca nodded and pointed down the hill and to the right. “Something about the place scared me, but at the same time, I heard that voice again, telling me to hide there.” She took another swig of water then continued. “There were these big steps leading up the front, so I ran up to the top and entered. I knew those creatures would be there soon, so I started frantically looking for a place to hide. Eventually I found some steps leading to a basement, and as I went down, I noticed these large cracks in the stone walls, so I squeezed into one and backed up as far as I could go.”

“Did the beings eventually come?” Brett asked.

“They came so fast it scared me. About a minute or two after I settled in, I could hear those clicking sounds, and I knew they were in the main room right above me. One eventually came down the stairs, walking right past the very place where I was hidden. I could see his shadow darken the opening for a second as he crept by. A minute or two later he came back up, apparently satisfied that I wasn’t down there.”

“So one of them walked right past you?” Amanda asked. “You
were
being protected.”

Katiya looked at Zane. “It may be that the use of technology has dulled their senses over millions of years.”

“Maybe,” Zane said. “Although the large eyes might be highly developed, almost like some of those animals that live in caverns.”

“I think it’s to overcompensate for a poor sense of smell and poor sense of hearing.”

“And yet they didn’t notice me in that crevice,” Rebecca pointed out.

“What happened next?” Katiya asked.

“I waited for a few minutes before I moved even an inch. Then, when I went to the opening, I listened for another few minutes before going back up the stairs. I didn’t see or hear anything in the building, so I ran down the steps and out into the jungle. Eventually I found myself going up a hill.”

Katiya nodded. “And that’s when you ran into us.”

Rebecca fixed her gaze on Zane. “What about you? I’ve told you my entire story, and I don’t even know who you are.” She moved her eyes to Katiya. “Fair is fair.”

Zane looked at Katiya first, then Brett. Exhaling audibly, he turned to Rebecca. “We’re here to investigate a sound.”

“A sound?” Rebecca asked.

“Yes, a sound,” Zane said. “One that was picked up by the United States government some time back. They weren’t able to classify it and believed it might somehow be related to extraterrestrials.”

“Do you think it has something to do with what happened to me?”

Zane nodded. “After listening to your story… it’s certainly possible.”

“So you work for the government?” she asked.

After a short pause, Zane said, “We all come from different fields and work for different people, but yes, the government asked us to come here to look into the matter.”

Rebecca turned and looked down into the valley. “This all seems so surreal.”

“You got that right,” Brett said.

There was a long moment of silence. Finally, Zane grabbed the girl’s arm. “Rebecca, you told us about an airstrip and an old building. Can you point to where those are?”

“They’re both at the bottom of the valley. The clearing and the craft were over that way,” she said, pointing toward the left. Then she gestured to the right. “But the temple was more that way.”

“How far was it from one to the other?” Zane asked.

Rebecca shrugged. “Hard to say.” Suddenly she looked back at him. “What a minute… you aren’t going down there, are you?”

“Don’t worry,” Zane said. “I’m going to leave a couple of our people with you.”

“No! I don’t want to be left alone again.”

“You will have someone here with you. I’m afraid we have to finish what we came here to do. We have to find out what’s going on.”

Rebecca sat up straight. “Then I want to go with you.”

“I really don’t think—”

“No, I have to go.” Her eyes flitted around from one person to the next. “I think we all know this is no coincidence. We were brought together for a reason. If I’m with you, then I can do a lot more than just point. I can take you exactly where you want to go.”

Zane slowly lifted his radio. “How are we looking on the perimeter?”

“All clear, sir.” It was Bennett. “No sign of hostiles. A few animals, but that’s about it.”

“Same here,” said Tocchet. “All clear on my side.”

As Zane lowered the radio, Katiya said, “I think we’ll all be safer if we stick together.”

Zane exhaled audibly then nodded in agreement. “I think you’re probably right.”

COLONEL ZHENG LEE could see all the way to the valley floor from his position atop the flat boulder. The Americans had occupied this very spot just twenty minutes earlier, and Zheng could still smell their lingering scent.

Thankfully the mole had been able to send out a message earlier, warning them of the carnivorous plant that guarded the ravine. A few well-placed bombs and a bevy of grenades had cleared a path to the entrance, allowing them to march through. Zheng had lost two men to the plant, but that was the cost of war. He still had a dozen soldiers left, more than enough to finish the job.

Zheng lifted a pair of thermal imaging binoculars and trained them on the slope below. He was still unable to pick up any heat signatures. He lowered the glasses and kicked First Lieutenant Shi, who was lying prone next to him. “What do you see?”

Shi looked up from his high-powered scope. “They’re almost at the valley floor.”

“Excellent,” Zheng said.
That’s obviously been their destination all along.

Suddenly Shi muttered an oath.

Zheng’s head swiveled toward him. “What?”

“They just… disappeared.”

The giant Ho, who was sitting on Zheng’s right, grunted his disapproval.

Zheng kicked Shi again. “What do you mean they disappeared? People don’t just disappear.”

“It’s difficult to tell from this distance. Something must be blocking my view.”

Zheng wasn’t overly concerned, at least not yet. So far, following the Americans had been child’s play. After exiting the mountain tunnel, Zheng’s men had donned special suits that prevented the release of body heat, allowing them to approach to within a hundred meters without being detected by thermal imaging equipment. Just an hour earlier, Zheng had watched as two American soldiers stared right at him, completely oblivious to his presence.

But what if the Americans had just put on their own suits? Maybe they were using them to set up a trap? After all, most countries had this technology. After considering the possibility for a moment, Zheng quickly dismissed it. Their mole would have told them of such a plan, assuming he hadn’t been playing them the entire time.

Zheng narrowed his eyes. “Do you see them yet?”

“No, not yet.”

“What do you think is blocking the view?”

Shi shrugged. “Buildings, rocks, another ridge perhaps.”

Zheng wondered what was so special about this mountaintop. The last transmission from the mole had been brief and hadn’t contained much information. Only that they had exited the tunnel and were going to check the summit.

Shi made a little noise. Zheng looked down at him. “What is it?”

“I’m getting a few flashes of heat again.” He continued to turn the focus wheel. “It’s hard to say what’s going on. I see walls… it looks like they’re walking through some sort of village.”

Zheng’s pulse quickened. “Get up.” He kicked Shi a third time for good measure then turned toward the others spread along the ridge. “Get ready to depart.”

Ho stood, his massive frame momentarily blotting out the moon. He looked at Zheng, his face showing the hint of a smile. “We kill them now?”

Zheng nodded. “Yes, we’re going to kill them now.”

As Zheng turned to walk away, Ho grabbed his shoulder roughly. The colonel cringed. If any other soldier had done that, he would have killed them on the spot. But this was Ho, so he bit his tongue.

“Let me have the long-haired one, the leader,” Ho said.

Zheng hesitated. He had wanted to fire that shot himself, but how could he deny Ho the pleasure? It’s what the brute had been trained for. “You must promise me one thing.”

“Promise you what?” Ho asked.

“If you get the opportunity, make him suffer first.”

Ho smiled.

BY THE TIME the group reached the clearing where Rebecca had been found, a thick fog had settled over the jungle. It seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, billowing through the trees like some vaporized serpent intent on slowing their progress.

As they reentered the forest, Katiya used her binoculars to scan the canopy above. She was startled at the sight that met her eyes. Not only were the orbs more numerous than before, but most seemed to have gathered over the group. Was that a coincidence or was there some dark purpose? Thus far they seemed benevolent, so she decided not to raise the alarm.

About twenty minutes later, Zane slowed at a fork in the path. The primary trail continued down the slope, while a narrower branch led off to the left.

As had already been planned, the group divided into two teams. Zane, Bennett, Brett, and Jorge would take the pathway to the left. Rebecca said the alien craft was situated at the north end of the clearing, so they would travel in that direction and approach from above. Tocchet would then lead the others in search of the temple where Rebecca had hidden earlier that evening. For her part, Katiya was happy she was going to be a part of the group examining the building, as she had a feeling it had great significance.

After giving a few final instructions, Zane led his team off into the fog. Once they were out of sight, Tocchet reminded everyone to avoid using their lights then led them straight down the slope.

A few minutes later, the slope leveled off, and they found themselves standing in the large clearing Rebecca had described. But instead of walking on a path of clay and rocks, their feet now rested on short grass. As everyone spilled out, Katiya tried to take in her surroundings. The fog was thicker than ever, but she still sensed that the area they were standing in was quite large, perhaps the size of several football fields.

Tocchet looked at Rebecca. “Can you get us there from here?”

“I believe so.”

With a surprising boldness, she led them south along the right side of the clearing. When they arrived at the end, she turned to the left along the southern edge. “The trail should be somewhere along in here,” Rebecca whispered as they crept through the fog.

Katiya thought it odd that the clearing had such a distinct shape. It seemed like a perfect rectangle, at least the portion she’d seen so far. Perhaps the girl had been right about it being some sort of airstrip.

“Look,” Artur said, pointing to a gap between two trees.

Tocchet turned on his light briefly, illuminating a trail that disappeared into the jungle.

“That’s it,” Rebecca exclaimed.

As they entered, a knot developed in Katiya’s stomach. Was it just a case of nerves? Or was her body trying to warn her that all was not well? She tried to brush it off. They were here, and they certainly weren’t going to turn back now. The strange feeling was likely just the jitters that came with being on the verge of something so big, and nothing else.