Apparition (The Glitch Book 3), page 10
Mike looked back. “No.”
“Your bosses know where you are?”
He hadn’t given a thought to A.D Ward, or Turner for days.
Daryl…
“Do you know if there was any way through the AI’s wall on the north or east sides?”
Corolla shook his head. “Not without going over it. You’re thinking about the people you left in Roswell?”
“Yeah…”
Corolla walked over to him, picking up his blazer from the back of his chair on the way. “There’s every chance they found a small town and a place to hide. Now I need to go meet the president.”
Mike made his way, via the elevator to the living quarters. He pondered on the general’s words. Could Daryl, Dawn and the others be safe somewhere? He then remembered Joan, Noah and Gabe and sighed.
I just left them…
Despite his frustration of not knowing their fate he was more focused on someone he could help. Alexis. Her new found enthusiasm for the AI had to be due to what she went through. Maybe a form of Stockholm syndrome? But then if anyone would recognize that condition it would be her…
He walked along the bland corridor, hewn from the rock and pushed open the main door to the part of the complex that housed hundreds of people. A din of people talking, eating and some even laughing filled the air as he walked into the large dining hall. Cutlery and plates clattered together near the kitchen area of the florescent lit room, and he immediately spotted Brad in a far corner, seated with two others, a man and a woman.
He went to walk towards them when his stomach reminded him that he hadn’t eaten in almost a day. He grabbed a plate from the counter, and dropped onto it some bread rolls, cheese, beans and something which smelled like meat but he wasn’t sure it was. He scooped up some plastic utensils and made his way over to Brad’s table.
“Hey!” said the big man, who was just finishing his own meal. He looked at the two people seated at his table. “Mike, meet Captain Cody Buckner of the United States Marine core, and first lieutenant Patricia Navarro of the USAF.”
“Hi,” said Mike sitting down.
The man had sandy brown short hair, the woman jet black and tied back. They both looked at Mike and nodded.
“How did you—” As if the entire room had been plunged into oil, darkness flooded the space between Mike and those he was addressing. Before his brain could fully react, Brad’s face as well as fearful others around him, suddenly appeared bathed in a red light.
*****
“Wake up!”
Elias threw his fists at whatever was shaking him but his attack just moved through the ethereal body of Travis. “I’m awake! Get off me!” he shouted at the teenager who physically wasn’t there.
“It’s here!”
Elias blinked and sat up, swinging his boots heavily to the floor. “What’s here?” He looked around the room. “Why’s the lighting red?”
“The AI, it’s got through their defenses!”
Elias smirked. “Are you—” Suddenly he was looking down at a corridor with dead soldiers, then just as quickly being sucked into a multicolored tunnel of some kind until he was looking at a similar scene elsewhere. Finally he was back in his own body looking out of his own eyes at Travis’s back. The young man was examining the clear wall that divided them from freedom. “How did it—”
“Doesn’t matter how. There was always a good chance it would get in. Now I have to understand, how to get out.”
Elias stood. “We have to get out of here.”
“That’s what I just said. Come over here and place your hands on the glass.”
Elias walked over and placed both palms on the cool surface.
“This might feel a bit uncomfortable, but just keep your hands where they are.”
“Yeah yeah, get on with—” A jolt of energy surged through his arms, then wrists and finally out of his extended digits. Not exactly electricity but something flowing and painful nonetheless. Heat began to build up beneath his hands, quickly feeling like his skin was burning. The smell confirmed it. He grimaced. “How much longer!”
Pools of light emanated from where he was touching the glass wall, which then became streaks, and the whole surface shattered like it was made of ice.
Elias looked at his hands, which were unharmed, then at the young man who was now on the other side of the once formidable obstacle. “You couldn’t have done that before?”
“We didn’t need to escape before.” Travis walked to the door, then waved his hand over the small box near the frame and the door sprung open. “Come on, this way, we have to be quick. It’s going to be coming for us.”
Elias stepped over the shards and jogged to the open door, then looked out into the small corridor. “It knows we’re here?”
Travis was already at the other door ten feet away. “Yes, quickly!”
Elias ran to him. “So what’s the plan, where we going?”
The young man repeated his trick, and the second door opened. Elias pushed it all the way and looked into a large hallway, with the elevator entrance at the end.
“There is only one possible path. And that is up. But we cannot take the elevator, head towards the door near it.”
Elias ran forward, ignoring the other closed doors.
“Stop!” shouted Travis.
The older man did just that, slamming his boots into the solid floor. Then looked angrily at the young man who was now standing in front of the elevator doors. “Stop why! Why...”
The doors to the vertical transport slid open and Elias looked frantically at the doors to the left and right of him, and went to move towards the closest.
“Don’t move!” Travis shouted at him, making him freeze in mid-stride. He slowly turned his head at two soldiers looking directly at him from the inside of the elevator.
They’re looking right at me!
“I’m cloaking you. They can’t see you! Just don’t move!”
The soldiers stepped out of the elevator and marched towards him. Even from a distance of fifteen feet or so, he could see the blue light dancing within their eyes.
They’re going to walk right into me!
When they were only feet from colliding with him, he tensed his muscles ready to defend any blow, but instead they stepped to the side and kept on walking to the door he had just left.
What the hell…
“They saw you as storage containers.”
Neat trick.
The sound of the previous door opening then closing echoed around the hallway.
“Now, quickly, into the stairwell.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Emergency lighting’s come on,” said Cody.
“Everyone stay calm!” shouted an older male voice from somewhere in the room.
Mike looked at the Captain. “What would cause this?”
The younger man looked at the first lieutenant, then back to Mike. “Not sure.” He sprung up. “I need to get to the command levels above.”
On the other side of the room, one of the double doors swung open, causing a ripple of gasps from the civilians in the room. A soldier ran inside. “Elevator’s not working and comms are down.”
“We might as well sit here and wait for the AI to show up.” Mike quickly turned around and frowned on seeing Holland a few tables across. The colonel spotted him too and leaned back in his chair. “This is on you and your girlfriend.” He then placed a piece of chicken in his mouth and started chewing.
Alexis…
A voice at the back of his mind screamed for attention, but he pushed it aside. People rose and ran to the exits, some of which were corridors to the sleeping areas, while those in uniform headed to the main doors.
“You should both stay here,” said the Captain to Mike and Brad.
Brad scoffed. “Like that’s going to happen.” Then got to his feet as did Mike.
“Okay, we’ll take the stairs up the command floor. It’s two levels up.”
“Shouldn’t we secure armaments first?” said Mike.
“It could be a test to see if we’re prepared,” said Cody. “No need for us to go to defcon one until we know it’s for real and to know that I need to get to the CIC.”
“Ain’t no test son,” said Holland, still eating. Cody ignored him.
“Where are the guns,” said Brad. “In case, you know… we need them?”
“Level below. But you couldn’t get access to if even if you wanted too. You don’t have the clearance.”
They made their way outside, along the wide corridor but took the last door before the elevator into an equally large stairwell.
“One thing that is a bit weird,” said Cody climbing the stairs.
“What?” said Mike trying to keep up.
“If we are in a drill there should be an alert status siren, but I’m not hearing it.”
Mike exchanged a brief look with Brad as they arrived at the next landing, and then went to keep moving up when the door burst open and without stopping two soldiers ran past them, descending.
“Hey privates, what’s happening?” shouted Cody.
A young man breathlessly turned around while the other kept on running down the cream colored steps. “We’re under attack!” He turned and went to follow his friend.
“Wait!” shouted Cody moving down a few steps. “The AI’s are here?”
“I don’t know but all hell broke loose in the CIC about ten minutes ago!” shouted the soldier now almost a floor below.
“Where you going!”
“We’ve been ordered to the armory!” said the fading voice amongst the clatter of boots.
Mike looked at Brad. “Go with them, get what you can. I need to go—”
Brad nodded. “I get it. Go.” He then started down the stairs.
Mike looked upwards. “We need to get to the president.”
Cody looked shocked. “The president is here?”
“Corolla went to meet him at the main entrance.”
The two men and the lieutenant scampered up the steps as fast as their muscles would allow, and without pause pulled open the door to the command level. The wide corridor contained at least five slain soldiers, their torso’s riddled with dark seeping wounds which under the red lighting just looked like dark ragged patches. Mike checked the pulse of the nearest soldier and shook his head to Cody, then pulled the dead man’s rifle from his arm and quickly checked the magazine. Cody and Patricia did the same then all three walked slowly along the corridor with the captain taking the lead.
He pointed to the door at the end of the corridor and Mike nodded, recognizing the entrance to the CIC.
Their boots were the only noise any of them could pick up from their surroundings and for the first time since entering the mountain complex, Mike felt the weight of being so deep underground. Cody pushed down the handle and slowly pushed open the green door. A faint odor of smoke and burned plastic hit all of their senses, and blackened monitors which sparked confirmed the source. The edge of the cavernous room was draped in shadow, pushing against the red hue which covered everything else.
Mike spotted a figure on the ground and ran forward, while Cody and Patricia spread out along the other aisles moving towards the back of the room. A man in a black suit lay strewn in a pool of liquid. Mike reached down and grabbed a small laminated card from it, and squinted to make out the name and photo.
Secret service…
*****
Elias grabbed the handrail of the stairs and pulled himself up another step. “How many we got to go up?”
Travis was impatiently waiting on the landing above him. “We’ve only climbed two floors! We have to climb higher!”
Elias frowned but pulled his tired legs up another set of stairs, stopping on the landing.
Travis was standing facing the door, which appeared particularly solid compared to the others they had passed.
“We need to go in there?”
“Yes, hold on, their firewall is stronger on this level because of what—” The sound of another door opening far below echoed around the stairwell. Travis seemed to be waving his hands over the nearby door’s mechanism more frantically.
Elias looked over the handrail. Legs and arms in military uniform could be made out amongst the crimson shadows a few floors below. “They good or bad guys?”
A buzzing rang out, and the door to the armory sprung open. “Bad. Quickly inside!”
Elias turned and ran into the narrow corridor.
“Close it! Quickly!”
He spun around and pushed on the door but it was heavy and slow moving. The clatter of boots now filled the stairwell outside. He leaned into the steel door, his face up against the small glass window. Two soldiers, the men that had walked right past him ten minutes earlier, scrambled around the bottom of the stairs, then charged up them.
A buzzing rang out as the door closed and the locking mechanism secured it in place. The soldiers skidded to a stop. Elias looked at them, their eyes almost completely covered in shadow, apart from the sparkles of blue light within them.
“Come on!”
“They can’t get in here can they?” said Elias looking at the two men whose faces were full of hate.
“Yes they can!”
As if they heard Elias’s question, a clanking noise came from the door he had just passed through. Travis was moving from closed to closed door, each one with several digits and letters painted on the outside. He suddenly stopped in front of the fourth door, about fifteen feet away. “This one.”
Elias walked forward, glancing back at the entrance before studying the door in front of Travis. “What’s in there?”
“Prototype weapons.”
The sounds from the first door were getting louder.
“Prototype? As in they might not work?”
“Aggh!” said Travis. Elias looked at him with surprise he had never seen the young man show such emotion. He didn’t even know he was capable of it.
“What is it?”
“They have doubled the encryption on this storage room… it’s… proving… tricky…”
A buzzing came from entrance, and Elias felt the rush of air past the back of his head, before he heard the first boom of a semi-automatic rifle. Travis Grabbed him and pulled him forward into the door which he crashed into, but it opened at the same time and he stumbled into a stack of green containers as bullets pinged off the doorframe.
“Open the top container!” shouted Travis.
Elias’s hands searched for the opening handle, held it then flipped the lid revealing a gun of sorts. A long wide barrel, with large magazine full of wires which connected to a black molded box.
“Get down!” shouted Travis.
He crouched and spun around at the same time as bullets flew through the space where his head just was. The first of the two soldiers was standing in the doorway. Was he smiling? He raised his rifle directly at Elias’s head.
A boom rang out and a spray of blood and brain matter hit the side of the door. The soldier fell to the ground as more gunfire rang out in the corridor outside.
Elias sat frozen.
“Quick, get the prototype!”
“Err. yeah…” Elias stood unsteadily, pulled the heavy weapon from its case and jogged to the front door. The other soldier was facing away from him, involved in a firefight with others in the stairwell.
“Just—”
I know how to fire a gun!
He raised the newly created weapon and pulled the trigger. There was no recoil, but he heard a faint whooshing and the air shimmered like heat rising from a hot road. The soldier fell forward dropping his weapon, just as bullets tore into him, collapsing him to the ground.
“Who’s in there!” shouted a voice from beyond the half open door to the stairwell.
“Brad?” said Elias.
The big bearded man pushed open the door, keeping a handgun aimed at the solider on the floor. He walked inside with two younger faces in uniform just behind him.
“You got the X1-Rad?” said one of the soldiers.
Elias looked at what he held in his hand. “Yeah, guess I do.”
The soldiers looked confused, but then ran forward, disappearing into the storage room.
“We got to get back up to the upper levels. Looks like there’s been an attack on the president.”
“The presidents here?”
“Yup.”
Elias walked forward. “Take this, you can move quicker than I can.” He handed the weapon to Brad, just as the two soldiers emerged from the small room, with their own prototypes. Brad handed his handgun to Elias, then they all started back to the stairwell.
Suddenly the world for Elias turned white. He was standing in a white room, which then dissolved into a sun bathed river bank. The sound of the undulating water was pierced by Brillo barking. Elias looked down at his pet jumping up at him. “I… what’s happening…”
“I have to tell you something, and you won’t like it…”
Travis’s voice came from behind Elias. He spun around to face the young man. “Why have you brought me here! I need to get back! I need to help...” Travis’s face held an expression he had never seen before. Sadness. “What do you need to tell me…”
“When I entered your skin on this river bank, I scanned your system—”
“My body?”
“Yes, and found… well I found things that mean you are extremely unwell…”
Elias looked confused. “I feel fine!” It was a lie. He had been feeling tired on a daily basis since before seeing the young man in his garden, but put it down to age and his lack of exercise for a few years. He had always been one of the fittest in his platoon.
“I know what you really think Elias…”
Elias looked away and shook his head. The young man was right. There had been a nagging voice at the back of his mind for some time, but the world ending kind of meant there were more important things to think about. “So why you telling me this now? Am I about to drop dead or something?”
“No. You will still see more sunrises and sunsets if you so wish, but there is someone who you can help if you let me leave you and enter them…”
