The Twelve Stones (48 page)

Red swore under his breath as he drew nearer to the boss’s domain.
Yep
, Red thought to himself as he withdrew a handkerchief from his jeans pocket to wipe the sweat off his brow, the sooner he was done with this job
,
the better it woul
d be for all of them. The seven
-
figure bonus he would bring in would ensure he could take a long vacation on a white and sandy beach somewhere far away from this nightmarish humiliation.

Red r
aised
his hand to knock when suddenly the door buzzed, indicating
that
the door had unlocked
itself
. Hesitating, he glanced up, seeing a video camera installed on the doorjamb above. Kline had seen him coming.

Shaking off the instinct to turn tail and run, Red reached for the doorknob and opened the door, stepping inside the luxurious trailer.

In the corner nearest the desk, a small Asian woman was locked in handcuffs to a me
tal chair. Her mouth was gagged
with shiny duct tape. Her soulful black eyes pleaded with Red’s as he
lowered
his own to the ground. He only wanted to be gone with a check in his hand
,
and nuts to the rest of the lot. He swallowed his fear and looked up at Kline.

“
Mr. Howell, I trust you have good news for me?” Kline asked without looking up.

Red swallowed
.
“Yeah, as a matter of fact – we got through the gas pocket
.
I’ve never seen anything like it
.
W
e tried to go forward, but I’m afraid we can’t go any farther.”

Kline clucked his tongue, “Mr. Howell, you knew I needed you to…”

“
I’m afraid you don’t understand
,
Mr. Kline,” Red interrupted Kline before he could get angry enough to repeat his earlier feat of strength. “We continued to drill like you ordered to, but we hit something at the end.” Red paused, un
certain how to put it. “And it’s... Well, here, take a look
.”

Red took out his PDA and brought up the photos of what his team had drilled into. In front of the massive drilling machine was a solid wall of crystal. Undamaged by the heavy punishment inflicted by the drilling machine’s massive scrapers, the wall appeared uniform, with only the slight impression of an entrance.

Barely able to contain his excitement
,
Kline grabbed the PDA from the foreman.

“
How many people have seen this?” Kline asked.

“
Five, including myself
,
” Red nervously replied. “We wouldn’t dare say a word
,
of course…”

Kline turned, his face
masking his worry
.
“Well
,
of course not. You’re valuable members of my team. I know things get a little tight around here. But business is a pressure cooker
,
is it not?” Kline laughed heartily and slapped Red on the back. “Am I right?”

Red chuckled, more out of nervousness than any real sense of Kline’s humor. “I suppose.”

“
Excellent, excellent,” Kline purred. He rose from the desk and raised his arm
,
showing Red out.

Red hesitated for only a moment
;
if he was going to say something
,
the time was now. “Mr. Kline, I believe it’s best that you and I part company now.”

Kline turned
to
Red, somewhat forcefully
,
and smiled broadly. “You know,” Kline said quietly, “I believe you’re right.”

Red panicked
.
S
omething
warm began trickling down his leg.
Not again
, he screamed in his head,
not again, I can’t…

“
Mr. Howell, are you all right?” Kline asked, his face a mask of concern.

“
Yeah, I’m sorry
,
” Red replied
.
“It’s the desert heat
.
I
t gets to ya, you know?”

“
Come outside with me
,
” Kline instructed
,
grabbing his jacket
.
“I want you to show me
what you found
. We’ll talk about your bonus on the way down.”

Red sighed in relief. He was going to be OK. He stepped out of the trailer, nearly bumping into Kline. Kline had stopped and was looking up at the starry night sky.

“
Beautiful
,
aren’t they
,
Mr. Howell?” Kline said wistfully. “You ever think there’s anyone else out there?”

Red didn’t reply. Kline looked down next to him. “Well, Mr. Howell? Do you believe there’s someone out there looking down on us?”

Remembering Kline’s earlier mode of questioning, Red knew he couldn’t keep silent. He had to give an answer
,
right or wrong. Kline seemed to respect honesty, so he’d stick with that. “No
,
” Red replied.

“
Really?” Kline looked surprised. “You think
,
in a galaxy made for life, that with billions upon billions of stars, with billions upon billions of galaxies
,
you think you’re so lucky that you alone are allowed to experience the universe in this form?”

“
Just haven’t seen any evidence, yet.” Red replied, shamefully. “I guess that’s what it comes down to
,
ain’t it? Stuff you can see with your own two eyes.”

“
Proof is only an agreed
-
upon set of facts
,
is it
not
,
Mr. Howell?”

Red nodded. Kline didn’t say a word, only stared up at the stars.

For a moment, Red didn’t say anything. He cleared his throat
.
“The crystal?”

“
Yes, of course
,
” Kline said, his gaze returning to the mountain ahead of him. “Lead the way
,
Mr. Howell.”

The jagged scar that
Red Howell’s drilling team
had ripped into the Joshua Tree Mesa was beginning to taper close
d
, as the massive tons of rock and earth began to settle, constricting the tunnel entrance. The drilling machine was being backed out of the tunnel now, and parked away from the entrance. It was no longer needed, now that they couldn’t move any further into the Mesa.

“
Watch your head here,” Red said, handing Kline a helmet as they neared the entrance. “The rock bed above us is settling.”

“
It’s not stable?” Kline asked, somewhat worried. Not that he was worried for his own safety, but for the sake of his prize at the end of the tunnel. If the entrance were to collapse, Kline was unsure that even his incredible strength would be of much help.

Red glanced at Kline. “You wanted speed. I delivered. You might have two hours before the whole thing comes down around your ears, so I suggest whatever it is you’re after down here, you get it fast.”

Kline grimaced slightly. It was a
short
timeline, but still doable. Red and Kline approached the end of the tunnel, and for the first time, Kline looked at the magnificent crystal wall.

It stood monolithic, imposing against the two men. It was a perfectly square outline of beautiful white crystal. In the middle, a slight indentation formed a rectangle impression, a perfectly suited entrance for whoever needed to get in. There was no handle or discernible way to open the door
,
however
;
unfortunately
,
the lines remained frustratingly smooth.

Kline approached the door reverently. The stone in his ring began to pulsate with energy as he drew nearer to the crystal. Reaching out, Kline touched the crystal, feeling it lightly with his hands. He closed his eyes as he felt the energy flow down his arm and
travel
to the stone in his finger. It was intoxicating
,
Kline decided. He could feel the power from the second stone, only a few feet away, locked behind a few feet of crystal.

The only trick was getting in to retrieve the second stone. He pushed, feeling the structure with his fingertips. He was unable to penetrate inside. His ring
,
glowing brighter than he'd ever seen it
,
was keeping him from stepping inside the crystal. He pushed harder and harder
,
and yet the field being created by his ring was preventing him from getting any closer into the crystal door.

“
Did you try and cut into it?” Kline asked still examining the flawless crystal in front of him.

“
Yeah, we threw everything we got at it. Nothing opened it.” Red replied nervously. “Look
,
we’re going into triple overtime here, and I think my guys really need to get home.”

Kline waved Red off. There were more important things at hand
than
bureaucratic nonsense. “Charge me whatever you like. Just get me into this crystal.”

“
That’s not really the point.” Red said, nervously. “We were hired to get you into a specific set of coordinates within the mountain and I delivered. As far as I'm concerned, our contract is over and completed
.
E
ven
if I wanted to, I don't think I could cut into it anyway.”

Kline edged his glance away from the crystal wall for the first time, and fixed his intense stare on Red. “What is your point
,
Mr. Howell?”

“
We can’t get in there.” Red said simply. “Whatever that crystal is, it’s not natural. The laser cutter I brought with me should have sliced through anything formed here on
E
arth like a knife through warm butter. But this…” Red shrugged
.
“We got nothing for this.”

“
What about explosives
,
then?” Kline intoned. “I refuse to believe…”

“
Sir,” Red said forcefully, “
t
his is something you need a key for. There’s not enough huff or puff in this world
,
short of a nuclear explosion
,
that’s gonna break down that door. You need to consider something else.”

Kline sighed. His foreman was right. His gut told him there was only one way into the crystal chamber. Through
out
his life, he had made a good living listening to his instincts
,
and he wasn’t about to stop now. He grabbed his radio off his belt and opened a channel.

“
Mr. Tate, bring our two guests into the borehole. I have something I want to show them.”

Kline put away his radio. Turning to Red,
he said,
“You’re dismissed.”

Red could hardly believe his luck. For the last few hours, he was sure the man would kill him for some imagined slight. Now that he was getting out, Red wasn’t planning on looking back.

“
Thank you
,
Mr. Kline. Please let me know if my company can be of any further assistance to you in the future. I’ll send you the bill.” He motioned to his men
,
who began packing up. Red decided to let them take care of the small stuff. He needed a drink, and they could meet him later.

Red turned and began to walk out of the mine. When he reached the entrance, he stopped, as he looked up again at the stars above him, and thought for just a second,
W
hat if?
Grunting, he removed his flashlight from his belt and flipped it on. It was still twilight out, but getting down the Mesa without one would be murder.

Suddenly, something flew past his head at an incredible speed. It flapped and howled mournfully as it passed overhead. Red
,
shocked, shined his flashlight all about.

“
Hello?” Red called out
uneasily
into the desert air. Nothing answered back. In fact, Red began to realize, the usual sound of his men talking
and
joking around as they cleaned was missing.

Again, something shot over Red Howell’s head and landed several hundred feet away.

Red turned and found the source of the mysterious noises. Rupert Kline was walking out of the mineshaft, carrying two of Red’s now
-
dead employees by their belts. Smirking as he ignored Red, he took the man in his right han
d and began spinning him about in great revolutions
. Releas
ed
at the pinnacle of the
spin
, the lifeless body of Red’s former drill man flew silently through the cold desert air, a nightmarish glider that landed deep in the desert.