A large stone makes her trip and fall. She sits up and says laughingly, “Ow!”
Jerry shouts at her, “Watch your step, Phoebe! You can get hurt if you're not careful!”
David chuckles and asks, “Don't you mean damaged?”
Phoebe's hair changes to pink while observing the figure of a man approaching from a distance. She looks at Jerry while pointing at him and yells, “There's a man over there, Jerry!”
He stares in curiosity and says, “Strange. No one's ever gotten this close.”
David uses his heightened sense of smell and discovers that the man does not have a scent at all! How is this possible? Unless it's not a real human. He tells Jerry, “Get Phoebe and go inside, Jerry.”
He nods in agreement and calls out, “Phoebe! It's time to go inside.”
Phoebe becomes extremely sad and her hair fades to blue. She yells, “Nooooo! Just a little longer...Please!”
“Now!”
Phoebe sticks out her tongue at him and, while picking up Fluffy, says, “Fine. We'll play inside.”
While she begins running, David growls and his eyes begin to glow a bright yellow as he continues observing the odorless man. Jerry picks up Phoebe and says, “I knew you could do it.”
At this point, while Jerry is running towards the entrance of Area 51, Phoebe raises her head to gaze at David in curiosity. Upon witnessing his frightening transformation into a werewolf, she hides her face in Jerry's chest and whispers in his ear, “Are we there yet, Jerry? I'm scared.”
They enter the facility and Jerry immediately tells Phoebe while lowering her to the floor, “We're safe now. Just stay close to me, okay?”
He then looks at the security personnel and shouts, “We have an intruder! Alert Dr. Frankenstein immediately!”
Indrid is walking beside Barbara when she suddenly hears Dr. Frankenstein's voice saying, “Indrid. Are you with Barbara?”
“Yes, Ludwig.”
Indrid stops walking and gives Barbara a confused expression. Barbara turns around and sees the look on her teammate's face. She asks, “What is it, Indrid?”
All of a sudden, a black mist begins to rise from Indrid's feet and consume her body. She replies, “No time to explain. We need to go.”
Near the entrance of Area 51, David is fully transformed and is on all fours as he cautiously approaches the now motionless man. It is at this point that he realizes that this man reminds him of Phoebe, in a way. Is he an android like her? That would explain how no one was able to detect his presence when he was in close proximity of the highly advanced military installation.
David decides to make his move and lunges at his target with lightening quick speed. Normally, this maneuver would catch any opponent by surprise but the man easily dodges it and counter-attacks with a swift blow to his stomach. This results in David getting the wind completely knocked out of him and gets sent flying several feet away. The tall man's eyes can now be seen. David gazes at the inhuman stare and his previous assumptions about this thing has been confirmed. It is highly similar to Phoebe with the exception of her self-awareness. It's just a robot executing the commands being given to it.
Just as David prepares himself for another attack, he notices the shadow of a large, winged creature increasing in size by every passing second. He looks up to see Indrid Cold in her moth-like form flapping her wings as she descends.
The android reaches into his jacket, pulls out a gun and aims upward at Indrid. Suddenly, Barbara's hand appears and grabs his wrist. She says, “No you don't.” and pulls with such a force that it causes him to miss his target.
David shouts in a guttural manner, “Hold on to him, Barbara!”
She looks at him as he gets up and rushes toward them. At this point, she tightens her grip and, within seconds, David tackles the android to the ground. Barbara then realizes that she is holding the now detached arm of the robotic assassin. It's been completely ripped off from the shoulder socket!
David sinks his sharp teeth into the android's head and, with a swift movement, tears it off of his body. Barbara stands inches away and looks down at the android as he twitches. Indrid reverts back to her normal form and lands on her feet. She says to Barbara, “Hmmm. That was easy.”
Barbara tosses the limb aside and replies, “Yeah. Too easy?”
Indrid hears Dr. Frankenstein ask, “What is the status, Indrid?”
She replies by thinking, “The threat has been neutralized, Ludwig.”
“Already? Hmmm.”
Barbara kneels down and observes with curiosity at the quivering body on the ground. For some odd reason, she finds herself actually feeling sorry for this mutilated hunk of advanced machinery. Suddenly, she hears several clicks emanate from its chest and watches it stop twitching and remain still. Could it be what she thinks it is? David, while still in his werewolf form, asks everyone, “Did all of you hear what I just heard?”
Barbara nods in response and proceeds to rip the shirt off of the android. She is shocked to see something glowing a reddish color inside of its chest. Indrid says in a loud tone, “It's going to self-destruct!”
Barbara quickly lifts up the body and tells them, “You guys head on back! I'm gonna give him a toss and be right behind you!”
Indrid and David look at each other in a state of bewilderment. Barbara yells, “Go!”
David growls and runs away as fast as his legs can carry him. Indrid's body once again becomes by the black mist and she transforms into her moth form. Barbara then carries the android on her back and proceeds to distance herself from Area 51. In a matter of two minutes, she is already fifty miles away and screams as she throws the ticking bomb up to the sky with all of her might. Her cybernetic analyzes the trajectory and curses at herself for not being able to throw it any farther. Barbara becomes shocked to see Indrid flying toward the android and shouts, “Indrid! What the hell are you doing?”
She hears Indrid reply, “What must be done. The explosive contained within it is comprised of plasma energy. It must not detonate here.”
Plasma energy? So whoever did this had the intention of wiping Area 51 completely off of the map. This is an obvious assassination attempt on the entire team. Possibly by the same individuals responsible for hacking David's panic room access panel. Indrid reverts back to her human-like form and dives directly at the android. She extends her arm and opens her hand. A minute later, she grabs onto the shirt and throws the ticking body upward. All the while, Barbara watches and whispers, “Come on. Get away from there.”
As she free falls, Indrid looks at the android disappear into the clouds above. A bright flash followed by a thunderous explosion startles her and she gasps in response of the resulting detonation wave. The tremendous force will undoubtedly tear her apart. She needs to distance herself from it...and fast. Barbara is staring in awe at the sheer size of the blast in the sky. The intensity of the brightness rivals that of the Sun itself! It's almost as if a star is falling from the sky. She shields her eyes with her hand and yells, “Indrid!”
Barbara attempts to scan the sky in hopes of spotting her. To her dismay, she is nowhere to be seen. She then gets blown back by a very strong force. This must be from the explosion. It feels as strong as the winds from a class two hurricane! If Indrid did not escape in time, she is dead. Without question.
Meanwhile, inside of the main headquarters of Area 51, Dr. Frankenstein is stroking his goatee while in deep thought. He has been calling out to Indrid for the last five minutes and has not yet gotten a response from her. He hears someone bark out, “Here it comes! Brace yourselves!”
The entire building begins to shake violently and the lights flicker randomly. Phoebe's hair turns white and she grabs onto Jerry's shirt tightly. She then says, “I'm scared, Jerry.”
He places his hand on her head and says comfortingly, “Don't worry. It'll be over soon.”
In Frank's hospital room, the staff look at each other nervously while Frank remains stoic as he looks up at the
flickering lights. This is not indicative of an earthquake, he thinks to himself. No. Judging by the way the whole room is shaking violently, this must have been a significantly powerful explosion which occurred several miles away.
A couple of minutes pass and the trembling finally subsides. Dr. Frankenstein remains completely still while wondering if Indrid is still alive. An explosion of that magnitude can destroy anything within its path. From his ear bud, he hears Barbara shouting, “Doctor! Is everyone okay?”
“Yes. We are fine, Barbara. Is Indrid with you? I am unable to contact her.”
After pausing for a moment, she replies, “No. Last time I saw her, she was pretty near the explosion.”
“I see. Do me a favor, will you? Can you look for her?”
Barbara does not know how to reply to the doctor's request. He should be able to figure out Indrid's fate for himself given the facts she just provided. Perhaps he is simply refusing to accept the grim possibility that she may be dead. She finally replies, “Uh, yeah. Okay.”
“Thank you, Barbara. Keep me posted.”
The call disconnects and she is left wondering where exactly to begin searching for Indrid. For all she knows, the explosion may very well have disintegrated her body within seconds. She looks up at the sky and whispers, “Damn it, girl. You better be alive.”
Chapter XIV
Rikki Hillman is sound asleep in one the nearby motels. She never realized just how exhausted her body really is. It's typical for her to stay awake two days in a row running solely on coffee and energy drinks. Not particularly a healthy lifestyle but she inadvertently becomes so consumed with her work that it happens from time to time. Her cell phone suddenly rings and she mumbles incoherently while blindly trying to grab a hold of it. After fumbling for a minute, she places the phone next to her ear and says with a raspy voice, “Agent Hillman.”
After listening to the agitated voice of her superior, she quickly sits up and alertly says, “I'm sorry, sir. I overslept. I'll be right there.”
Rikki swiftly removes the covers and hops out of bed. They're about to remove Adam's bandages from his face and he's going to need a lot of emotional support in order to cope with his drastic transformation.
An hour later, Rikki arrives at the doorway of Adam's room and her jaw drops open at how radically his facial appearance has changed. They even operated on his eyes making his eyeglasses useless now. Gone are the looks of a bashful nerd. Now, he has looks that would melt any girl's heart. A veritable Adonis. Although, it is rather noticeable that he has still not fully recuperated. She stands beside him and warmly says, “Hey, Adam. Lookin' mighty cute, there.”
He grins slightly and replies drowsily, “Thanks. The narcotics are making me feel cute inside.”
“I bet. Good news. This time tomorrow, you'll be living at my place.”
“Really? I thought you said it wasn't possible.”
Rikki places her hand on his head and tells him, “It's not a one hundred percent done deal yet.”
“Is Melanie still here?”
After a brief pause, she explains, “No. She left a few hours ago.”
Adam turns her head to look away from her and remains silent. She has no idea what to say that can even remotely comfort him. This is the reason why she feels so uncomfortable around kids. These exact moments when you need to walk on eggshells. Just as she turns around to walk away, Adam grabs hold of her wrist. This makes her look at him in a concerned manner. He grins again and says in a low tone, “Thank you, Agent Hillman.”
Rikki blushes at what he just told her and she smiles as she replies, “You're welcome, Adam. Oh, and I think it's okay for you to skip the formalities. Call me Rikki. Now...get some rest. Tomorrow's gonna be a big day for us.”
Adam nods, releases his grip and lowers his head onto the pillow. Rikki walks out of the hospital room and takes a few steps before stopping to rest her back against the wall. She folds her arms and begins pondering how much her life may change soon. She whispers, “What the fuck am I doing?”
Several light-years away from Earth, Indrid awakens to find herself inside of her ship. Her plan of beaming herself aboard and using the singularity device to create a small black hole worked. But not without suffering some damage to both her body and space craft. She soon realizes that most of her clothing has been ripped off of her heavily bruised, half-naked body. She attempts to raise herself up to a sitting position which results in an intense pain in her chest as well as the coughing up of blood. Her injuries are more severe than she realized. She may, indeed, have several fractured ribs and her right leg feels like it's on fire. Her healing process is faster when compared to that of a human's, but this may require at least four or five hours. She asks the ship's A.I., “X-301. What is your status?”
The ship does not respond. Indrid will need to perform repairs as soon as she has completely healed. Was this all somehow planned in order to keep her away from Ludwig and the others? If this is the case, she must force herself to at least reestablish communication with the ship. After that, it will repair itself and head back to Earth. There is no telling how time works here. If an hour here is a day over there. Indrid screams in agony as she turns her body over and proceeds to crawl toward the cockpit. She says while gritting her teeth, “Damn it.”
Back on Earth, Barbara finishes her final sweep of the entire area. Unfortunately, she finds no trace at all of Indrid. While approaching the entrance of Area 51, she sees Dr. Frankenstein patiently waiting for her. This must be tearing him apart right now. After all, they pretty much grew up together and formed a special bond similar to that of brother and sister. Barbara stands in front of him and says dourly, “I'm sorry, doctor. I just can't find her.”
He looks up at the sky and replies, “It's fine. She's alive somewhere, Barbara.”
Deciding on not diminishing his hopes, she asks, “Did any civilians get hurt or killed?”
“There was an airliner full of passengers heading towards McCarran International airport. It got obliterated.”
Barbara covers her mouth with her hand and shakes her head in disbelief. With tears in her eyes, she mutters, “Shit. What now?”
“Major General Avery is undoubtedly at the American Institutes for Research with his team preparing a cover story for this tragedy.”
“A cover-up? Really?”
“Yes and the masses will believe every single word.”
Barbara watches Dr. Frankenstein turn around and begin to slowly walk. After a minute of thinking about what was just said to her, she walks until she is beside him and asks, “They're willing to risk innocent lives just to kill us?”
“I do not believe that their intention was to kill us. No. Something else is happening here.”
Barbara does not respond and continues walking beside him. She will need to conduct the interrogation of Frank Garrison on her own now. He has to know more about what's going on. She just hopes that after what has happened, he'll be more forthcoming.
As they both step inside, Barbara feels something collide with her legs followed by what seems like tiny arms applying pressure around them. She glances down to find a yellow haired, happy Phoebe looking up while shouting, “Barbara! You're okay!”
She can't help but grin at Phoebe's enthusiasm and gently pats her head. The fatal accident she suffered has made her sterile making it impossible now to have children of her own. For a brief moment, however, she feels like a mother. Suddenly, she receives an incoming call and her cybernetic eye provides her with the caller ID. Barbara touches her ear-bud and asks, “Haruka?”
“Yeah. He's ready to talk.”
“That was fast.”
“He's a wounded puppy, now. He only wants to talk to you, though. He's so stubborn about it.”
“Shit. It's a long story but Indrid's missing. It'll take me a while to get there.”
“I understand. I'll see you when you get here, then.”
Barbara disconnects the call and looks up at both Dr. F
rankenstein and Henry. She says, “I need to find a way to get to Kabuki-cho, doctor. Our prisoner's ready to talk.”
“Very well. I'll make the arrangements.”
As the doctor walks away, Henry approaches Barbara and asks, “Mind if I tag along?”
She is surprised by his request and asks, “Don't you hate flying?”
“Yeah. I'm tired of being cooped up in here, though.”
Barbara feels Phoebe tugging on her jeans and looks down at her. Phoebe asks, “Can I go, too?”
Jerry immediately replies in an irate manner, “No, Phoebe! It's too dangerous.”
She folds her arms in frustration and her hair color changes to a fiery red. Barbara feels a sense of remorse for her and kneels down. She tells her calmly, “Hey. I promise I'll take you there at another time. Okay?”
Phoebe's hair fades to a dark yellow and she replies with a smile, “Okay.”
Meanwhile, Joshua and Alexandria enter the hospital room to find Frank intently watching the television screen. Joshua greets him by saying, “Hey, grandpa. What you watchin'?”
Frank raises the volume and replies, “Hey, Josh. The news is reporting something about a commercial airliner that disappeared here in Nevada.”
Alexandria grabs onto Joshua's arm and asks, “You think that explosion had anything to do with it?”
Joshua gives her a frightened look as he ponders that horrific possibility and, instead of replying, focuses his attention on the news report. She gets a shiver up her spine and joins everyone by also watching the live broadcast.
“Once again, to everyone that's just tuning in, we are receiving word that United Airlines Flight 736 has completely disappeared from radar detection in the area of Nevada. It is not known, as of yet, whether or not this is a case of an engine malfunction or a hijacking. We are receiving word from the FAA that they are investigating this unsettling incident at the present moment and has suspended all flights as a precaution.”
Rise of the Fallen: Ascensionis Page 24
