Lost Contact (The Bridge Sequence Book One)

by Nathan Hystad

  The light shone from behind us, and for a second, I thought it might be the Bridge, finding us instead of the other way around, but the wind that blustered around the rocky clearing told me otherwise.

  “We have to go,” Tripp said, but two soldiers emerged from the pathway twenty feet from him. They were tricky to discern in the fog, the bright spotlight of the helicopter adding to the hazy effect.

  The rush of the wind finally cleared the low-lying cloud from the vicinity as the helicopter landed, and the two armed soldiers wearing black uniforms walked closer, guns aimed at the four of us. Their faces were obscured with masks, and they meant business.

  They motioned with their guns. “Stay put!” one barked over the noise of the helicopter.

  It was easier to see with the mist scattered by the rotors. Marcus backed up, raising his hands. The black light shone into the sky.

  “What do we do, Rex?” Veronica asked, her voice muddled with fear.

  This was the third time in a week we’d faced the Believers, and I was growing sick and tired of it. We were so close, and here they were again, jamming guns in our direction.

  “I’ll tell you what we’re going to do!” The voice was confident, but somehow recognizable.

  The rotors slowed, and out walked a man. Someone struggled behind him, and I saw another Believer soldier holding a woman inside the helicopter. It was Beverly.

  My entire body clenched, like a snake about to strike. That was my sister. “Why is she here?” I shouted, and suddenly, the mountaintop grew silent. With the chopper off, the fog began again, but not as thickly as before.

  “Rex, it’s…”

  “Fred.” I said the name with disdain, my lips sticking together as they went dry. I charged toward him, uncaring about the guns pointing at me.

  “Rex, hand the Bridge over—”

  I punched him in the face as hard as I could. My fist stung, but the pain scarcely registered. “What have you done? Where are the kids?”

  A solider stepped between us, and Fred shoved the man aside. “The kids? My kids are fine, Rex. They’re at the lovely little retreat you booked, sleeping it off until we retrieve them.”

  I stared at the man, blood dripping from his nose. He appeared so different in this light. “Why, Fred? Why the Believers?” I wanted to buy some time. Tripp’s gun had vanished, telling me he’d concealed it when the soldiers had arrived. He was full of tricks. He was either guns blazing or quiet as a mouse, lingering like a shadow.

  “Why? Why is it okay for millions of people to have faith in their god, but when we’re absolutely confident the Unknowns exist and are coming home, it’s insane? We’re a cult. A group of fanatics.” He wiped his upper lip, then broke into a smile. “Too bad you won’t see what’s to come, Rexford. When the world learns how deep the Believers go, there will be no turning back.

  “We’re everywhere. We control governments, stock markets, and corporations. The Believers are the Earth’s only hope, Rex. That’s what you should understand. When the Unknowns come”—he tapped his watch—“and they’re on the way. They will destroy us unless the Believers are present to greet them. Can’t your doctorate brain comprehend this?” Fred had a gun in his hand, and he tapped it to his temple.

  I peered past him at the helicopter. The pilot held Bev, and she was crying with heavy racking sobs. Her husband wasn’t who she’d thought he was, and her world was devastated. “Why the charade?”

  “I was told to position myself close to the family. The famous Dirk Walker’s kids. At first I thought about working at your school, becoming friends with you, but I hated the idea of teaching this generation of youth with their fragile egos and self-righteous opinions of everything.” He pointed at Marcus, who was protectively standing beside Veronica. “I happened to meet Beverly one day at her workplace. I asked her to coffee, and a year later, we were engaged. Can you imagine? True love.” He laughed, a delirious sound that cut short in the thickening fog.

  “You son of a bitch,” I said, moving for Fred again, but his gun lowered as the laughing ceased.

  “One more move and you’re dead.” He said it flatly, without emotion, and it was obvious he wasn’t lying.

  “What’s the plan? You take the Case and then what?” I asked.

  He motioned to the helicopter, and one of the soldiers ran to it, patting a crate. “We send a surprise to the other side.” Judging by the markings on the surfaces, it was a high-tech bomb, maybe a thermonuclear device. I cringed at the implications. He was banking on the Bridge working, and planned to send a nuclear bomb through the portal.

  “Who’s across the Bridge?” Fred and the Believers probably didn’t know for sure, but I had to ask.

  “Someone you don’t want to meet,” he said with so much self-assurance, I found myself trusting his word on it.

  “Jerry, prepare the device. We’re going in,” Fred called to his soldier.

  The only problem was, this wasn’t the entrance to the Bridge. He’d followed us to the wrong location. It gave us an opportunity, albeit a slim one.

  “Why don’t you go scope it out, Fred? Let us help you. If what you say is true, I won’t fight you on this. I’ve been tricked by Hunter Madison. He lied about everything.” I hoped my acting classes from the ninth grade were paying off.

  Fred stared at me, walking closer. “Cliff, go up the path. Check if there’s an entrance nearby.”

  The soldier nearest Tripp jogged off, gun barrel bobbing as his helmet’s light guided his path toward the mountain peak. He was quickly swallowed in the fog.

  We didn’t have long. Once Cliff realized there was no cavern, he’d return, and we’d be in trouble. I nudged Marcus with my elbow, and he must have sent a signal to Tripp behind him.

  It was three against four, five if you counted my sister, but they were each armed.

  Beverly shouted at Fred, cursing him for what he’d done to her and the kids, and he started to turn. I took the chance.

  I barreled into Fred and heard the gunshots behind me as Tripp fired at Jerry near the helicopter. Fred’s gun fell to the rocks, and my own wound stretched, a pain tearing through my stomach. I scrambled over him, but Marcus was there, snatching the weapon. Tripp had a handle on Jerry, who was crumpled to the ground, dead eyes watching the clouds.

  Fred spun on his back, and he jabbed a punch into my gut, sending me reeling. I gasped as the air shot from my lungs. I squinted through the blackness and heard muffled shouts.

  “Marcus, now!” Veronica shouted, and I opened my eyes to see my sidekick standing over Fred.

  The gun lowered. He couldn’t do it.

  “I’m sorry, Rex,” he said. For a second, I thought Marcus was telling me he was with Fred. A Believer. Then I understood. He’d already killed someone, and he couldn’t do it like this. Point blank with the man staring him in the eye.

  Tripp shoved Marcus out of his way and hauled Fred to his feet. He pressed his pistol against Fred’s temple, using the man as a shield while walking toward the helicopter and the last remaining soldier in the clearing. “Hand her over or your boss gets it!”

  The soldier helped Beverly out and removed his mask. His frame was massive, and he was older, maybe mid-sixties, with gray hair and white stubble. “Kill him. If you don’t, I will,” the guy said, releasing Beverly. For a moment, she just stood there, tears streaming down her face, and then she ran past Fred and to the spot where I lay on the rocks.

  Tripp still had Fred, and Beverly’s husband fought to escape. Tripp clubbed him over the skull, sending him to the trail. “Let’s see it, then,” Tripp said.

  The big soldier pulled a gun, but instead of pointing it at Fred or us, he aimed toward the cliffs. He ran off, and half a minute later, we heard three gunshots. He came back, dragging Cliff’s body with him. He dropped the Believer soldier and shoved his gun in its holster.

  “Who are you?” I asked as Veronica assisted me to my feet. The gunshot wound was reopened, bleeding through my shirt and i
nto my jacket.

  “A friend.” His voice was gravelly.

  “What the hell are you doing, Saul?” Fred asked with a laugh. “You’re all going to die! They won’t stop until you’re gone and the Bridge is closed forever. The Unknowns are coming! Then you’ll see!” He clawed his way to his feet, dashing toward the crate in the rear of the helicopter.

  Tripp and Saul raised their guns at the same moment, but it was another gun that fired, hitting Fred in the back. He slid forward on the stones, his breaths coming ragged. Beverly walked toward him, the gun taken from Marcus in her grip. “I like to think I’m a reasonable woman, but what you did was unforgivable. Our children, Fred… What were you going to do with them?”

  He managed to roll over, blood spilling from his lips. “I love them, Bev. I love you too. It would make sense when the Unknowns came. I wanted to save you…”

  More tears spilled from her eyes, and she shook her head. “You aren’t my husband.” She walked away, leaving him sputtering, and a minute later, his chest stopped moving.

  “We need to go,” Saul said. “I take it you realized this isn’t the Bridge entrance?”

  I nodded, hardly able to stand. Veronica was there to brace me as we rushed for the helicopter.

  Tripp aimed at Saul. “We can’t trust this guy. Who the hell’s to say he’s not the Sovereign?”

  “Thank you for helping us,” I whispered to Saul.

  “No problem, kid. I only wish I could have exposed my presence to you sooner. I was deep undercover,” he told me.

  “But Tripp’s right. How can you prove your story?” I asked.

  Saul unbuttoned his shirt, pulling it apart. The tattoo on his chest stared back at me. I unzipped my jacket and tugged my shirt open too. They matched.

  Beverly gasped. “That’s what Dad had, isn’t it?”

  “It is,” I said. “And Hardy told us there were four of you with them. Clayton Belvedere, Dirk Walker, Brian Hardy, and…”

  “Saul Goldstein.” He stuck his hand out. It was like shaking hands with a stone. “When we learned what the Believers were doing, I went in. Haven’t broken character for almost four decades.”

  “The tattoo. It looks like a P over a T. What does it mean?” Veronica asked.

  Saul smiled, the expression frightening on the tough older man. “Promissa terra. The promised land.”

  6

  We ultimately discovered a flat spot to land near the Bridge’s cavern. It was higher in elevation, and the low-lying clouds were below us as we descended to the narrow landing strip.

  “Have the Believers sent reinforcements?” Tripp asked Saul, but the other man shook his head.

  “The Sovereign didn’t believe Fred was ready, but they figured a nuke and three of the best soldiers would do the trick if he did find the Bridge. Only I selected the soldiers, and they were greener than spring grass,” Saul said.

  We landed, with Beverly managing to keep it together despite everything that had just occurred. Her children were at the house, and they’d be safer there for a few hours.

  She cleaned my wound, with Veronica reapplying a bandage and wrapping gauze around my torso. I popped a painkiller, chugging some water, and hoped I’d have enough strength to finish what we’d started.

  It was well past midnight, and I glanced behind me at the crate, cringing at the thought of sitting so close to a nuke. Tripp was the first to dash from the helicopter.

  “Rex, who do you want to enter with you?” he asked, leaving it up to me.

  I glanced around the group, scanning from face to face.

  Marcus was the first to speak. “I’ll stay here, Rex. If you’re trapped on the other side, I’ll use the Case to bring you home.”

  Tripp nodded. “I should stay too. On the off chance more of the Believers come.”

  I assumed he also didn’t completely trust this newly-admitted turncoat, but there was something about Saul that I instantly respected.

  “I’ll go,” Veronica said. “I want to see what’s across this Bridge as much as anyone.”

  And it was settled. Beverly stayed at the helicopter, her hands clasped tightly together. “I’ll be okay. With any luck, I’ll be right back.” I placed a palm on her stacked grip. “I’m sorry about everything.”

  She didn’t respond. The shock was sinking in.

  I peered around the area, and despite the adrenaline racing through me, I admired the view. The ocean was twenty or so miles away, but we could see the stars reflecting from it as the clouds parted under us. There were a few sparse trees, but mostly rock at this high point in the hillsides.

  Marcus used his black light again, scouring the rocky area, and called me over. An arrow was drawn, pointing to a spot in the cliffside. “This is it! Hunter did mark it for us.”

  Thousands of stars gleamed above us. I’d seen a lot of night skies in the middle of nowhere, far from the light pollution of a populated metropolis, but this was special. I was drawn to it. Hunter’s riddle described it well. Where the water flows, the pathway glows. Seek a star’s flight on a cloudy night. I listened, catching the sound of the trickling water running along the fissure at the base of the peak.

  The moon was a half-crescent, reminding me of one of the Tokens, and I basked in the radiance for a moment. Veronica helped me as we walked for the rocky hillside, and Marcus located another arrow. We amended our direction, and when we were twenty feet from the entrance, it jumped out at us.

  I slowed and Tripp dropped the bag, pulling the Case out.

  Saul walked toward me, but Tripp stepped in his path. “I don’t think so.”

  “I just want to see it again. It’s been years,” he said.

  “Why didn’t my dad ever mention you in any of his journals?” I asked.

  “We had the idea to send me to the Believers. It was tougher than you’d think to breach, but I did it.” His chest puffed up a bit at his self-praise. “Did you ever see Dirk mention an ‘S’ in his excerpts?”

  I thought about it, and did recall him referencing someone named S on occasion. “I think so.”

  “That was me. He couldn’t know who would end up with the journals, after all, and I didn’t want to be detected by the Believers,” Saul told me.

  I had the Case in my hands, with the solo Token in my pocket. I showed Saul, and he let out a high whistle. “Your father would be proud of you, kid.”

  “It’s been a while since anyone’s called me ‘kid’,” I advised him.

  “Get to be my age and see what I’ve seen, even your elders seem like kids. Well, on with it. Don’t forget this.” Saul pulled a gun, flipping it around deftly, and passed it to me.

  “What do you think we’re going to find?” I asked him.

  “We never did figure that out. We could only hope”—he patted his chest over the tattoo—“that it led to the promised land.”

  “Let’s do this, Rex.” Veronica took my hand and walked with me. The air was thin, and with my reinjured bullet wound, I was struggling to stand properly. I fought the urge to bend over protectively and kept my spine straight, limping for the cavern entrance.

  We paused before ambling in, and Veronica smiled at me. “I never told you my secret.”

  It seemed like an odd time to bring it up. “Can you wait until after we find out if we’re alone in the universe?”

  We stood a foot apart, and I felt the stares from everyone on my back. “It can wait.”

  “Would you two hurry up?” Tripp called from behind us.

  I’d forgotten anyone was watching and stepped into the room. Our flashlights shone around, discovering etchings on the walls and unlit torches set into metal holders. “Anyone have a lighter?” I asked, and Saul jogged over, passing me one. His eyes were huge as he stared past me.

  “Stay here,” I warned him, and Veronica and I walked through the cavern, lighting the four torches. They lit easily, and soon the room was inviting in its orange glow. “Look.” I pointed at a life-size carving of an alien be
ing on the cave’s wall beside Veronica.

  “My dad stood here. He held this.” I lifted the Case. “He saw this depiction.” The figure was human-like, resembling many ancient cultures’ take on a god from the stars. Elongated forehead, stretched limbs.

  This was all I’d ever wanted, to end up where my father had disappeared. Now I was attempting to travel to the same place. Would I share his fate? “You should go,” I whispered to Veronica as I hesitantly stepped up to the stone podium. The surface was flat and polished, and I drew my gaze upward to the opening in the cavern ceiling. The stars shone brightly above.

  “You know I can’t,” she said.

  “Why?” I didn’t quite understand why someone who’d just started this adventure a few weeks ago would be so invested in the Bridge. “It’s not worth your life.”

  “Is it worth yours?”

  I didn’t answer and set the Case on the table. The Token fell from my weakened grip, clattering to the ground. Veronica retrieved it, returning the hexagon to me. “Do you think this was what it was like for them?”

  “Dirk and Clay?”

  She nodded.

  “I don’t know. I can only imagine it was similar.” I glanced upwards again. “Are you ready?” The room was stuffy, and wind howled from above us, sending a light layer of dust across the table.

  She picked up a bag of supplies and draped it on her shoulder. If we were heading somewhere far away, we’d brought provisions. Suddenly, I felt like a fool. What if the Bridge brought us to space, and we died in the terrible freezing vacuum? What if we couldn’t breathe the air on the other world? What if the Case did nothing, and we’d been chasing our imaginations?

  “I’m ready,” she finally said, and I judged she was running through her own series of reservations.

  The last Token slid into its designated holder, and I released the Case as the corners began to burn brightly. Wind circled around us, and Veronica cried out, her hair flying over her face. I grabbed for her hand, squeezing it tight as the torches extinguished, temporarily leaving us in the dark, until blue light filled the entire cavern and I shouted, a desperate shriek of anticipation.