The Deep Beneath

by Natalie Wright

  When they arrived at the center of A.H.D.N.A., instead of going right and taking the first hallway that would lead back to H quadrant and the H.A.L.F. program, they took the second hall to the right. Tex had never been down that hallway.

  Freeman walked briskly despite carrying Tex. They walked down the corridor for about a hundred yards when they met a set of double metal doors without windows. A guard slid an ID card with a magnetic strip through the card reader beside the door. The card reader buzzed once, and the guard held his thumb to a small plate on the reader. The unit buzzed, this time twice, the large metal doors slid open, and Freeman carried Tex into what looked like a small 1950s town that had been plucked from up top and planted in the cavernous underground space. Tex looked up, and his sensitive eyes hurt as he was blinded by artificial sunlight. He quickly closed his eyes and blinked a few times.

  They walked past what looked like a central courtyard complete with a stone fountain trickling water. Red and white flowers and green shrubs surrounded the fountain. Tex could not tell if the plants were artificial or real. A brass plaque that read ‘Aphthartos’ was affixed to the base of the large concrete fountain. And above the plaque was a strange symbol. Tex squinted and tried to make it out. It looked like two snakes intertwined, each eating the other’s tail, emblazoned on a pyramid in the background. Or was it a depiction of DNA? It looked like there were rungs like a ladder strung between the snakes. Above the symbol another inscription. ‘The Makers.’ Tex had no idea what it meant.

  They walked on a cobbled street to a tree-lined sidewalk. They passed by shops and a movie theater, but the sidewalks and streets were empty save for them. Tex smelled paint fumes, freshly cut wood and newly poured concrete. It appears to be newly built.

  Freeman carried him for about three hundred meters and stopped when they reached a building that had a sign above it that said ‘Recreation and Leisure’. The same soldier that had gained them access to Aphthartos once again swiped his card but apparently did not need a thumbprint this time. The double doors swung open, and Freeman walked inside while the other soldier stayed outside.

  Tex’s nostrils were immediately assaulted with the smell of chlorine. The humid air in the pool room was like a foul toxin winding its way through his nervous system.

  He was gripped with panic. He had never been submerged in water, but if merely being in a high humidity environment weakened him to the point of being unable to move, what would happen to him if they put him in a pool? Tex wanted to jump out of Freeman’s arms and run. I cannot go readily to my own death.

  But he was growing weaker by the second. He did not have the strength to escape.

  “Are you able to sit up on your own?” Freeman asked. His voice was low and gruff, but there was no hint of sarcasm or annoyance.

  “Yes.” Tex’s voice was a low, feathery whisper.

  Freeman sat Tex down on wooden bleachers that flanked the pool and stood beside him. He was glad to be sitting. His legs were so wobbly and weak, he was not sure he would have been able to stand. Though his eyelids were becoming heavy, Tex looked around. He and Freeman were alone in a room with a huge, blue pool in the middle and rows of bleachers on one side.

  Tex wanted to remain awake and alert, but the moisture acted on him the way a sedative works on a human. He did not know why he had been brought to this place, and he wanted to ask Freeman, but he was unable to keep his eyes open. He dozed off, his chin resting on his chest.

  The doors to the pool room banged open and startled Tex awake. There was the familiar clicking of Commander Sturgis’ heels on the concrete floor. Through the slit in his blanket, Tex saw Commander Sturgis’ black pumps and another pair of plump feet that looked like they’d been stuffed inside a shoe casing. The labored breath was a clue that the fat feet belonged to Sewell. Another pair of feet padded quietly to a stop beside Sturgis’ shoes. Who is that? Tex wanted to open the slit in the blanket and look, but he decided his curiosity was not worth the expenditure of effort it would take. I just want to go back to my quarters and sleep.

  Dr. Randall had explained to Tex when he was still a small boy that his alien ancestors had apparently evolved on a very dry planet. They had adapted to the arid environment and could pull moisture directly from the air through their skin. They needed very little water to survive and could, in fact, go without drinking at all. Dr. Randall had told him that the grey that had been recovered in the New Mexico desert back in 1947 had been accidentally killed when they had hooked it up to an IV of saline solution, thinking it in need of hydration. The influx of water had, in fact, drowned the being, but not before it had revealed the plans for an alien invasion.

  Tex was half human, so he was not as sensitive to water as his alien cousins. But the humidity of A.H.D.N.A. coupled with the high moisture content of the pool room meant that he was unable to flee or to read Sturgis’ thoughts. Does she mean to kill me? I thought she needed me for her beloved ‘project’. Tex shivered uncontrollably from a combination of bone-chilling cold and fear of what Sturgis intended for him.

  “You can go back to central command, Freeman, and assist in the remaining cleanup efforts up top.”

  “But … don’t you think maybe I should stay, you know, in case he tries to –”

  “Escape again? That won’t be necessary. As you can see, he is as helpless as a newborn kitten. You are needed elsewhere, Freeman.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said. Freeman’s footsteps retreated and the door slammed closed.

  “Sewell, Newcomb – help 9 out of the blanket,” Sturgis said. Her voice was stern, but Tex also thought it sounded more tired than usual.

  Tex did not open his eyes or attempt to help them. Someone on his right pulled the heavy blanket from his grip, and someone on his left yanked hard and whisked it from beneath him. Tex was once again completely naked. His skin prickled from the cool air that flowed over him.

  Being akin to a lab animal for the whole of his life, Tex was used to being unclothed in front of humans. He had never developed modesty about his body and made no move to cover his nakedness. His only thought was the terror of what he guessed would be next for him.

  “That’s good. Now, gentlemen, get him up.”

  Newcomb and Sewell each put one of Tex’s arms over their shoulders and put their arms around his wiry back. They raised him up onto his trembling legs. If they had not been holding him, Tex was sure he would have fallen over. He wanted to run from them, but he couldn’t even stand.

  “Take him to the pool.”

  His heart beat so hard that he feared Sturgis would be able to see it through his thin chest wall and papery skin. An involuntary whimper escaped his lips. Do not show your fear. Never show her your fear.

  The men carried Tex toward the pool, his feet dragging. He tried to get a grip on himself, but it was next to useless. Rational thought fled his mind. His lungs felt as though they were filling with liquid. He gasped for air like a fish pulled out of water. His head was like a boulder on his shoulders. He was drowning before he stepped into the pool. I will die if forced to soak in water.

  The men stopped walking but continued to hold Tex up. Sturgis walked over to them, lifted Tex’s head with a finger hooked under his chin, and looked into his eyes with her steely blue ones. “Come now, 9. You did not think that you would get away with your insubordination unscathed, did you? You were a naughty boy and must be punished. This is as hard on me as it is on you. You are one of my creations. One of my children.” Sturgis removed her finger, allowing his head to droop again. A cool finger stroked his cheek. The touch sent a shiver up Tex’s spine. He was overwhelmed with the desire to rip the finger from her hand, but he was too exhausted to act on his wish. “Be a good boy. Do not make me have to call those soldiers back in here to force you in.”

  The men led him across the pool decking and to the first step. Tex tried to force his feet backward, but it was as though his limbs no longer obeyed his commands. They moved him again, and his naked feet h
it a step and were covered in cool water. He concentrated on his room and wished himself to be there. But he could hold the thought for less than a second before it faded into the panic that swelled within him. He would not be able to translocate himself out of the pool room.

  “That’s it,” Sturgis said.

  One of the men had let go, and he was held up only on the left side. His right arm flopped at his side as he was pulled further into the pool. His calves were covered by water. His veins felt like they were filled with ice. Tex floated in the cool water, and he felt someone’s arms beneath him, supporting him. He looked up through his drowsy lids. A large man dressed in a black, neoprene suit held him.

  “That’s right, Newcomb. Get him completely covered.”

  Newcomb’s muscles were hard and solid beneath him. He was glad that Newcomb was there, holding him up. If Newcomb were to drop him into the water and leave him, Tex would be unable to pull himself out.

  As he lay in Newcomb’s arms, surrounded by water on all sides and unable to move, he assumed he was dying. He no longer shivered with the cold. His breaths were so few and shallow that he thought any second his respiration would cease completely. Though he welcomed the idea that death would free him of A.H.D.N.A. and Commander Sturgis, he did not truly wish to die. The greys were coming for him. He still had a chance for liberation. He wanted to punch his fists against Newcomb’s chest and break free. He imagined dragging himself from the pool and running back toward the center of Aphthartos. But he could not even lift his hand to scratch his fingers against Newcomb’s face let alone wiggle his way free. His body was a paralyzed useless shell. His mind trapped in a muck-filled swamp. He was alert enough to know that he was dying but unable to do anything about it.

  “Remember what I told you, Newcomb. I do not want a dead hybrid. This is about discipline. It he begins to lose consciousness, get him out of the water quickly.”

  “Got it.”

  Tex’s body sank deeper into the calm water around him. His mind sank deeper as well. Into the black. Toward the empty void. Toward a place where he no longer cared whether he lived or died.

  He heard Sturgis’ voice as if it came to him from a far off time and space. “I am a forgiving person, 9. I will give you another chance. But I can give you only one more. I can only protect you if you help me.” Her voice lacked its usual bite. It was soft and lilting, almost soothing to his ear.

  Tex opened his eyes briefly. He saw only the wet black of Newcomb’s suit. It took too much energy to keep his eyes open, so he let his lids close again. Sounds diminished. There was only the gentle lapping of the water and the slow beating of his heart.

  “Commander, we’re losing him,” Newcomb said.

  Tex shivered again as cool air swept over his skin. He was enveloped in something warm and slightly rough.

  Someone held him. Their body heat seeped into him and warmed him. The shivers stopped as he regained body heat. But his mind still ached and felt dull.

  “You will be all right,” a voice said. “It is over.”

  After a few minutes out of the water, Tex had the strength to open his eyes. When he did, he stared up at the face of Commander Sturgis. They were seated, and she held him in her arms against her chest. He was wrapped from head to toe in a warm, soft cotton blanket, and it was Sturgis who cooed softly to him. “Are you going to be a good boy now? Are you going to cooperate with me?”

  Tex felt himself nod gently.

  A smile crept across Sturgis’ face. “That’s a good boy. Do not make me have to do this again. You will be obedient, won’t you?”

  He nodded again though he did not want to. He wanted to kick the blankets off, free himself from her grasp and run as far from Commander Sturgis as he could. But he had nearly drowned in three feet of water. Tex was too weak to run or fight for his freedom. He allowed himself to rest fully in Commander Sturgis’ arms as she gently rocked him back and forth.

  “That’s my boy. Welcome back home, H.A.L.F. 9.”

  16

  SOLITARY

  Erika, Jack and Ian rode at gunpoint in an unmarked, windowless white van. Erika didn’t know where they were going or what would happen to them. She knew only that she was sick nearly to death of being in a moving vehicle.

  She desperately wanted to talk to Jack and Ian. But the stoic guards with AK-47s trained on them killed the conversation before it began. I wish I had telepathic powers like Tex. She wanted to talk to the guys. To know what they were thinking. To formulate a plan.

  Erika looked to her left at Ian, but he did not return her gaze. His jaw was set and his jaw muscles twitched. Erika couldn’t tell if Ian was fighting back tears or trying to plot a way to fight himself out of the van.

  She glanced up at Jack, and he turned his head toward her. His lips curled into a weak smile, but his eyes were red and watery. Jack was a lover, not a fighter. Erika nearly burst into tears with the pain of knowing that Jack was likely thinking about how his mom was probably worried sick that he hadn’t come home. Jack’s dad had taken off when he was pretty young, and he and his mom had become close. Erika looked away from him to keep herself from crying.

  Despite what Commander Sturgis had promised Tex, Erika had a feeling they weren’t going to be allowed to leave. Whether it was fear or intuition, Erika couldn’t tell. But despite her anxiety, exhaustion finally took over and she drifted off to sleep.

  She was jostled awake when the van turned onto a washboard road. After bouncin in their seats for what seemed like hours, they finally stopped.

  “We’re going to blindfold you so you don’t see the location,” one of the soldiers said. “Before you think about running, know that we’ve been authorized to shoot to kill if you try to escape.”

  So much for running. But hope soared in Erika’s heart anyway. Why would they blindfold us if they mean to kill us?

  A guard pulled her to her feet and shoved her roughly. “Walk,” he said. Erika did as told and stumbled a few times, but she made it out of the van. The sun beat down on her face. From the heat, Erika could tell it must be close to midday. Beads of sweat broke out on her forehead within a few minutes out of the air-conditioned van.

  “Move it,” a voice said.

  She walked and tripped occasionally on rocks, but there was a hand on each elbow to keep her upright. Blindfolded, stumbling and hot, it was slow and difficult going. They walked for what seemed like an hour but could have been only a few minutes. Summer had refused to let loose its grip on the desert, and the neck of Erika’s shirt was soaked with sweat. Gritty dust and a few tendrils of her hair stuck to her wet face. Despite the grumble of her empty stomach, Erika wanted a shower more than she wanted food.

  The guards turned her sideways, and she felt like she was being squeezed through two boards. One of the guards told her to shuffle her feet sideways, and she did as she was told. For a second her foot skittled forward and she felt only air beneath it. Erika’s heart was in her throat from the intense panic at the thought that she was being thrown into a crevasse or perhaps shoved over a cliff. But her toe touched the ground, and she let out a breath of relief. Where are we?

  “You can walk normally now,” a voice said. Erika walked forward no more than twenty steps when an arm held her back. She stood still and waited as she had no choice to do anything else. There was the whoosh sound of doors opening, and she was nudged to move forward.

  Other feet scuffled behind her, and she hoped that some of those feet belonged to Ian and Jack. Soon she had the sensation of going down. We’re in an elevator. Erika counted in her head. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi … She stopped counting when she got to one hundred, but they were still going down.

  When they were waiting by the elevator, the air was almost cool compared to outside in the sun. But as soon as the elevator doors opened, she was hit with a blast of warm, humid, musty-smelling air. It’s like Florida down here. We must be in A.H.D.N.A.

  They were ordered to keep moving. The
soldiers’ boots clopped on what sounded like a tile floor. Erika’s lungs were heavy with the moist air. How does Tex survive this?

  They walked for what seemed like many minutes. Erika wasn’t much for working out or exercise. Her legs ached. She wished that she had made physical fitness more of a priority. Finally they halted. It sounded as though a card was swiped through a card reader followed by beeps.

  “Move it forward,” a voice said.

  She walked forward. The air was less humid and cooler. It was more like a cellar than a tropical rainforest. Are we still in A.H.D.N.A.? They continued to trudge along for a few minutes when a voice commanded them to stop.

  Another swipe and the click of a lock.

  Hands at the back of her head removed the blindfold. Erika was glad to have her sight back. “Ladies first,” a voice said.

  Erika blinked her eyes. They were blurry from the length of time they had been covered. She was in a long, dreary corridor dimly lit with small lights inside wire mesh located along the concrete ceiling every five feet or so. The walls, floor and ceiling were all made entirely of grey, formed concrete. There was exposed conduit along the ceiling, presumably carrying water and electricity.

  Ian and Jack were indeed with her and still blindfolded. She looked to her left and saw that the door had been opened to what looked like a small, windowless jail cell. One of the guards behind her nudged her in the back with his rifle.

  “Wait. Aren’t they coming with me?” Erika indicated Jack and Ian with her head.

  “Commander Sturgis is treating you to luxury accommodations. Each of you gets your own room.” The guard that spoke smirked at her when he said it. “Go on,” he said.

  “But what about Jack’s gunshot wound? He needs medical attention.”

  “What’s she talking about?” asked one of the guards.