by Siegel, Alex
Eppinger shuffled forward. The dome was quiet now, and Hanley expected all the survivors were in hiding. He could hear their heartbeats through the walls. He guessed he had about two hundred captives, and now he had to decide what to do with them. For the moment, the dome would serve as their prison.
Katie, he thought, how is it going out there?
Fine, Katie replied. Some escape pods popped out, and I put them back. A rescue submarine tried to come down from the drilling platform. I crushed it.
Hanley nodded.
They arrived at Eppinger's laboratory which was impressively large and well equipped. Scientific hardware filled shelves and covered workbenches. Hanley didn't know what most of the stuff did, but it looked very sophisticated. This is why we need assistants with technical skills, he thought.
"I just realized," Eppinger said, "I can't do it."
Hanley raised his eyebrows. "Do you need another visit to the Mistress of the Black Mist?"
"No!" Eppinger held up his hands defensively. "I'm telling the truth! The Red Eye radio uses a fleet of secret satellites to relay signals. They are the heart of the system. To build a tracer, I need a special transcription module, and those are only inside the satellites. It's a critical security feature."
"No problem. I'll just pluck one out of a satellite."
"You're going into space?"
"I've been outside the universe," Hanley said. "A space-walk is no big deal. How do I find one of these secret satellites? Tell me exactly what to do, and no tricks."
* * *
Hanley looked down at the Earth. The blue orb was startlingly beautiful when seen from outer space, and it made him appreciate how precious and fragile life was. There was a lot of responsibility on his shoulders.
He turned towards the stars and flew upwards. A gadget in his hand guided him towards the target satellite. The device had a small display with a map like a navigation system, except the coordinates were in three dimensions. Dr. Eppinger had quickly put it together. The man was undoubtedly a genius, and his death would be a waste, but there was only one punishment for those who conspired against God.
It took just a minute for Hanley to locate the satellite. It was the size of a small school bus and roughly cubical. Gleaming gold foil covered the exterior. It bristled with hundreds of antennae which reminded him of the quills of a porcupine.
Eppinger had given Hanley specific instructions for how to retrieve the transcription module. He tore open an access panel despite bolts holding it in place. The interior of the satellite was tightly packed with electronics. He shrank his body until he could fit through the gaps, and he flew inside. He located a gray box in the center. Explosives surrounded the module, and as soon as he removed it, the bombs would explode. The Pythagoreans were a paranoid bunch.
Hanley simply grabbed the module and teleported back to Eppinger's lab in the same instant. Hanley imagined the bombs detonating in the empty space he had left behind.
"Here." He handed the module to the scientist.
Eppinger's eyes widened. "I don't believe it. Getting this was supposed to be impossible."
"There are different grades of impossible. Build the tracer, quickly. We're in the middle of a mission."
Eppinger got to work, and Hanley stepped back to watch.
He still heard the heartbeats of all the other people in the dome. They had gathered in the lowest levels, probably behind defensive barricades.
He frowned and turned to Ipo. "We have to do something with all these prisoners."
"Ask the boss," Ipo said.
"Sure. Lady, can I have a moment of your time?"
Marina appeared in the laboratory, and she was in her default form. Her skin was white, smooth, and shiny. Her red hair was a solid piece, and it wiggled like a block of gelatin. Her eyes glowed green, and her pupils were just black dots. She had eyebrows, but they looked like they had been drawn with a black marker. By the standards of the new Society, her appearance was relatively human.
She was still wearing her crown. The silver plates gleamed under the bright laboratory lights.
She looked around. "What is this place?"
"A secret laboratory owned by the Pythagoreans," Hanley said.
"Then it must be completely destroyed."
"Yes, ma'am. We have many prisoners below. What should we do with them?"
"Pick out the five with the highest rank, and take them to Tawni for interrogation," Marina said. "Kill the rest."
"Yes, ma'am." Hanley paused. "About Tawni, she could become a... problem."
"Aaron and I have already had this conversation. We'll keep a close eye on her."
"Thank you, ma'am. This scientist is building a device that will let us trace Red Eye radios." He pointed at Eppinger. "It should lead us to the Goddess. Her real name is Iris by the way."
"Excellent. When you find her, I want to be the one who confronts her. I have something special in mind for her." Marina vanished.
Eppinger was staring at the spot where the Lady had stood.
"Get back to work!" Hanley ordered. "We're not here for your entertainment."
Eppinger focused on his equipment.
"And I'll pick out the five," Ipo said.
"They're all in the bottom level," Hanley said. "I can hear them."
Ipo nodded and vanished.
A moment later, Hanley heard screams and gunshots.
* * *
Hanley, Ipo, and Katie were flying over Rio de Janeiro. Hanley had never seen the city before, and it was certainly different from any American city. Houses and apartment buildings were packed together even more tightly than in San Francisco, and they were sometimes built on top of each other. Tall fences with spikes or barbed wire were the rule everywhere. The street layout was chaotic with major roads coming together at odd angles. Some neighborhoods hardly had streets at all. Narrow, dangerous alleys provided access to the decrepit homes. It was still night, and parts of the city had no street lights.
Katie was using the tracer device Eppinger had built. The doctor was back with Tawni, but her orders were to just hold him instead of torturing him. His cooperation had earned him that much.
"That way." Katie pointed to a forested hill overlooking the city.
She led Ipo and Hanley in that direction. They flew to a small cluster of buildings on top of the hill. A tall stone wall surrounded the compound. The architecture was classic Spanish Colonial down to the red tile roofs and stucco walls. Hanley judged it was large enough to serve as a mansion for a family and a few servants.
"That's it?" he said.
Katie tapped on the display of the device in her hands. "Yes, according to this."
"I was expecting a little more."
Two armed guards stood by the front gate, but otherwise, the security was minimal. Hanley saw only a few surveillance cameras.
Nonetheless, he cautiously landed outside the walls. The dense, lush forest made a dark night even darker. Ipo and Katie touched down beside him.
Hanley heard sounds through his feet. Mechanical noises were emanating from deep underground, and he picked out several distinct sources.
"They're inside the mountain," he said. "The buildings on top are just for show."
"How many?" Ipo said.
Hanley listened carefully. "Lots."
Katie touched the dirt and closed her eyes. "Murder. Torture. Imprisonment. Slavery. This is a very bad place."
"Our first priority is capturing Iris, and then we'll deal with the rest. I don't want to scare her off, so let's keep a low profile until she arrives."
"How do you want to proceed?"
He thought for a moment. "We'll locate Grupo, and we'll observe him until Iris shows up. Let's go down."
"Follow me," Ipo said.
He began to sink into the dirt. Hanley knew Ipo had retained his gift of changing his mass, but the aperture had magnified it. Hanley wondered how heavy Ipo could get.
Ipo crushed his way through solid rock as h
e made a vertical passage straight down. The walls exactly conformed to the bulbous shape of his body. The incredible pressure made the rock glow red.
Hanley listened to the sounds below. "Stop. We're getting close."
He put his hands against the wall and triangulated on a humming noise. It sounded like an electrical transformer. He shrank down to the size of a gnat and teleported to the source.
Hanley found himself inside a circuit breaker room. Katie and Ipo popped in beside him, and they were also tiny.
The legionnaires flew out through a crack under the door and made a quick tour of the underground facility. As Katie had predicted, it was a horror show. People were imprisoned in cells or cages, and some were just children. Women were chained to beds and obviously being used as sex slaves. Hanley passed sweat shops full of sewing machines, but nobody was working at this hour. The stale air carried the scent of raw sewage. One room held two cremation ovens because apparently, one wasn't enough for the job.
Grupo needs to meet Tawni, Hanley thought.
Definitely, Ipo thought.
They buzzed through the facility until they found a man sleeping in a king-size bed in a private bedroom. His sheets were made of fine red silk, and he had a beautiful woman on either side. All the furniture was gold-plated or covered in gold leaf. A collection of antique guns decorated one wall. A glass case held a gigantic diamond which must've cost millions of dollars. Six guards stood outside the door even though the facility seemed very secure.
This must be Grupo, Hanley thought.
Yes, Katie thought. I recognize his face from my vision.
Now we wait for Iris.
The three legionnaires settled silently on a shelf.
Chapter Twenty-four
A jostling woke up Iris. She had fallen asleep in her chair during the long flight. According to her watch, it was 6:30 AM. She had been in the air for over twelve hours.
She stood up, and pain in her back made her wince. She looked out the window and saw Rio de Janeiro below. Her jet was coming in for a landing.
She gave Laurence a shake, and he groaned. She kept shaking until his eyes opened.
"Are we finally there?" he mumbled.
Iris nodded. "Wake up. We want to be sharp when we meet Grupo. We're in a weak negotiating position as it is."
She sat and buckled her seatbelt.
The airport in Rio was on an island in the middle of a large bay, and for a moment, it appeared the plane would crash into the water. At the last instant, a runway appeared, and the plane touched down.
There were two public terminals, but the plane taxied past them. It continued to the far corner of the airport where cargo was handled. Finally, the plane stopped.
"We're here," Iris said.
She grabbed a small suitcase and walked to the cockpit. Her two pilots looked up at her, and both had bags under their eyes. It had been a long night for everybody.
"Hide the plane someplace safe," Iris said. "There are unofficial airports in Brazil which should do. Then lay low for a while."
"How long, ma'am?" one pilot said.
"Hard to say. It could be anywhere from days to months. The situation is fluid. You'll continue to receive your regular paychecks of course."
She heard the hatch opening. She turned and saw Laurence at the threshold with his own suitcase in hand. He was carrying his laptop in the crook of his arm like a baby.
The airport staff drove a staircase over. Iris and Laurence climbed down, and the warm, muggy air made her sweat immediately. It was the middle of summer in Brazil, and even in the early morning, it was like a sauna.
A black stretch limousine was waiting. Iris and Laurence climbed inside, and the air-conditioning instantly chilled the moisture on her skin. Four men in black suits were already in the vehicle. Their brown faces had very serious expressions, and they wore guns openly.
Grupo is already trying to intimidate me, Iris thought.
The limousine glided through the city. She looked out the windows at the crowded, dirty neighborhoods and the poorly dressed people, and she was reminded of her childhood. She had grown up in a trailer park surrounded by white trash. She had come a long way since then, but insecurities still haunted her.
Eventually, the limousine reached the hills on the far side of Rio. It climbed a steep, winding road, and she marveled that the long vehicle could get around the tight turns. At the higher elevations, the citizens lived in shanty towns rather than real houses. Some homes used duct tape as a primary construction material.
Finally, Iris saw the walls of Grupo's compound. She had visited the place once before. The most interesting parts of his home were hidden deep inside the mountain, and the people who went down there often didn't come back up. He ruled his private underworld like an absolute tyrant.
And that's where I'll be living for a while, she thought, at Grupo's mercy.
The limousine drove through a gate and parked. Everybody stepped out into air which felt like a warm, wet blanket on her face. The group entered a guest house. There was a living room, a bedroom, and a bathroom, all nicely furnished. One of Grupo's men twisted the head of a marble sculpture of Jesus Christ on the cross. A hidden panel slid open revealing an elevator.
The elevator took the group down, but Iris didn't know how far. It only had two stops: the top and the bottom.
The doors opened, and Grupo was waiting there. His black, curly hair was long and wild. His mustache was so big and thick, it didn't look real. He was wearing a red suit with gold threads sewn into the shiny fabric.
"Iris!" He smiled. "It's good to see you again. I trust you had a pleasant journey."
"Not really," Iris said, "but at least we're far away from San Francisco. Can we have breakfast? We haven't eaten in quite a while."
"Of course. My cooks have prepared a feast for us."
* * *
Hanley, Ipo, and Katie were flies on the wall. Their quarry had finally arrived.
Iris wasn't physically impressive. She had pasty white skin and a scrawny body. Her hair was an odd silver color which wasn't quite gray. Big brown eyes looked out from a boney face. She was wearing a blue gown and a diamond necklace suitable for a formal ceremony.
Her male companion had even less meat on his bones. He was wearing a ridiculous black cape over of black suit cut in an old-fashioned style. He looked like a character out of a historic movie.
Armed guards accompanied Iris, and more guards surrounded Grupo. Even though they were deep underground in a secret installation, he was ready for trouble.
Lady, Hanley thought, Iris has arrived. We're with her now.
Aaron and I will be there shortly, Marina replied from Chicago.
* * *
Marina walked into the bedroom of the Paris hotel suite. Jia and Olivia were sleeping under a pile of comforters, and they were close together like mother and daughter. Marina smiled and felt a touch of envy.
Yang was standing and watching from the corner of the large bedroom. The new legionnaires never grew tired or bored, so staying awake all night wasn't a problem for him. He could've stood watch for a million nights if necessary.
"Ma'am," he whispered, "I have a request."
Marina raised her eyebrows. "What?"
"I want to marry Jia and adopt Olivia as our daughter. I want them to be my family."
"You're immortal. They'll get old and die."
"I understand that, ma'am," Yang said. "I'll deal with the grief at that time."
His proposal made sense to Marina. Olivia already thought of Yang and Jia as her adopted parents, and Yang was Olivia's permanent guardian. Marina didn't want to stand in the way of his profound love for Jia either. It seemed destiny had put the family together.
"Let me consider it," Marina said. "You could be setting a dangerous precedent by marrying a mortal. Marriage vows are serious business to me. I might consult with Wesley."
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you."
She walked over to the bed
and jostled Olivia's shoulder. "Wake up," Marina said softly.
Olivia opened her eyes. "Marina! You're back!"
"Yes, and I have a treat for you."
"What?"
"It's a surprise. Get dressed." Marina looked at Yang. "When I call for her, bring her to me, and stay close. The treat might be dangerous."
"Yes, ma'am," he said.
She vanished.
* * *
This is nice, Iris thought.
She, Grupo, and Laurence were eating at a table big enough to seat fifty people comfortably. The plates were made of beaten gold, and the silverware was real silver. Five servants in spiffy red uniforms attended each diner. The brown-faced men and women were cowering fearfully as they stood off to the side.
Real oil paintings decorated the walls of the large dining room. Iris wasn't an art aficionado, but she knew expensive things when she saw them. She actually recognized a piece by Velazquez.
The banquet fit the setting. There was corned beef hash with eggs, exotic fruit salad, smoked salmon, fresh-baked cinnamon buns, pancakes with maple syrup, Spanish omelets, waffles, and so on. There was ten times more food than they could possibly eat.
Iris was starving after her long journey. She began to fill her plate without waiting for an invitation. Laurence frowned at the food instead. He was a notoriously picky eater, and most of the dishes were much too fancy for him. He eventually grabbed some slices of plain white bread.
The door of the dining room opened, and the last person Iris expected to see walked in. It was the woman with red hair and green eyes from under the Golden Gate Bridge. She was a member of the Gray Spear Society.
A man accompanied her. He was tall, very muscular, and handsome. He had straight brown hair and a strong jaw. Heavy eyebrows cast dark shadows over his eyes.
"What a delightful breakfast," the woman said. "Mind if we join you?"
Iris stood up and screeched, "Kill them! Kill them both!"
Ten armed guards drew their guns. The woman made a sweeping motion with her hand as if she were shooing a fly. Black bullets shot from her fingertips and hit the guards in the foreheads. All ten died before they had a chance to fire. Iris couldn't believe her eyes. The woman obviously had incredible powers.
