The Tellurian Threat: A Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Thriller (The Tellurian Archives Book 1)

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The Tellurian Threat: A Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Thriller (The Tellurian Archives Book 1) Page 13

by Debashish Das


  “Whatever lengths he goes to, I will go one step beyond further. We have to stop him, Rohan. But we can’t unless we get out of here.”

  “Yes, he has to be stopped. Especially with the madness he’s planning…”

  The headache still hammered away, but Kyle forced himself to ignore it. There had to be a way out of this. Rohan didn’t seem much better off than him, judging from his voice, but he could hear him shuffling around. “Rohan, can you can move around?”

  “Barely. I am tied up, just like you. But I managed to get my hands in front of me, so I can crawl around a bit. That’s how I found you.”

  “That’s better than nothing.” They could use this to their advantage, but to do what? “Lights, we need lights first. Rohan, can you stand up and reach over me? If I’m on a bed, there have to be some light switches on the wall beside me. Can you find them?”

  Rohan didn’t reply, but Kyle felt him grab the edge of the bed to stand up. He could tell Rohan was leaning over him, hear him feeling for the switches on the wall. Suddenly, something slammed into his stomach.

  “Sorry,” Rohan mumbled, trying to untangle himself. “I stumbled. Are you okay?”

  “I’m okay,” Kyle groaned. “No switches?”

  “None that work. I think they cut the power to the room.”

  If there was a bed and switches above it, they were in an apartment, for sure. But if there was no power… “No, that won’t work. Without the power, the door won’t lock. They have to have shorted an internal fuse.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “It seems we are in an apartment in the lower levels. The kind I used to live in when I first came to Waylain. They have shorted the lights and disabled the control panels to turn it into a prison, but you can still hear the air-conditioning if you listen carefully. That means the apartment still has power.”

  Rohan was silent for a while before asking, “You think you can find a way out of here?”

  “I think so,” Kyle said, smiling through the pain. “But first, we have to cut ourselves loose.”

  “Okay, but you’re unable to move, so you’ll have to guide me to do whatever it is that you want to do.”

  “Yeah, it’s not like we have any other option. But before doing anything, could you just try opening the door. I mean, it’s unlikely that we’ll be able to open it, but just in case.”

  “No harm in checking, but any idea where the door might be?”

  “Just a second.” Kyle squirmed along the bed as best as he could, and after a few painful moments, his feet hit the wall. He stopped and tried to visualize the layout of his old apartment. “There will be a gap between the bed and the wall; in the direction where my head is right now. Head into the gap, and you should find the door.”

  Kyle heard Rohan shuffling around again, the noise moving in the direction he had pointed. Stop fooling yourself; you’re not getting out of here. You couldn’t do anything then, you can’t do anything now. He fought hard against the panic, trying to push it down. He thought he had left it behind, but his past still haunted him.

  “Found it,” Rohan exclaimed. “But it’s locked. What now?”

  It took a few moments for Kyle to collect his thoughts. “Right, okay. Now, face away from the door and walk along the wall on your left until you reach the other end of the room. Tell me when you get there.”

  “If you’re going to make me crawl around the whole room, you better have a plan.”

  Kyle’s laugh ended up in a coughing fit. His throat was so dry that it hurt to even speak. “You’re asking the most helpless guy in the room for a plan,” he finally croaked out. “I wish they had left us some water.”

  “That would have been great,” Rohan said. “And while they were at it, maybe some food and painkillers too.”

  Kyle was about to laugh when he realized something. Whoever had kidnapped them couldn’t expect them to survive without food and water, maybe for a few hours or a day, but not beyond that. If the kidnappers hadn’t killed them, they would definitely come back to check on them again. “Rohan, how long do you think we’ve been here?”

  Rohan stopped shuffling. “I don’t think it’s been more than a few hours, but honestly, I have no idea. Why do you ask?”

  “If they want to keep us alive, which it seems they do, they will come back with food and water or at least, to check if we’re still alive. If they were to walk in now…”

  The panic he had been trying to suppress started rising again. He heard Rohan shuffling along more urgently. His thoughts were starting to drift again, as they did every time he was alone in the dark. Even sleeping with the lights off in his apartment had been impossible at first, but he had slowly gotten over it. He was struggling to hold back those fears now.

  He had been a kid when the protests started. They had been going on for a few weeks, but everything else had been normal. But that day, the protesters started rioting. He had been at home when the sirens went off. His father rushed in a few minutes later and told them about the riots. He remembered his mother’s confused expression, but when both of them turned to look at him, he had felt truly afraid. His father reached him in two strides and grabbed him by the arm. “You keep quiet, and do as I say,” he growled. He could only nod, but when he saw his mother with the ropes, he tried to run. But his father had an iron grip. He remembered scratching and screaming at him until they taped his mouth shut. Then they tried to tie him up with the ropes. He struggled, but in the end, his father’s strength defeated him. They carried him to the small closet and dumped him there. “You stay here, and don’t you dare make a noise.”. His father had always been a hard man, but never cruel. It was his mother’s expression that scared him into silence. She whispered, “This is for your own safety, for your protection.” She had tears in her eyes as she shut the closet door.

  “Kyle? Kyle, what’s wrong?”

  Rohan’s voice cut across his thoughts and he was thankful for it. He couldn’t afford to lose himself now and focused on the headache instead, hoping that it would help him forget, at least for now. “Sorry for zoning out like that. Did you find it?”

  “Find what? I’ve reached a corner. What am I looking for?”

  “About two feet up from the floor, you will find a metallic plate. That’s the maintenance access to the air-conditioning and lighting system. Go slow; the panel is flush with the wall.”

  “Found it,” Rohan almost shouted with excitement. But after a few minutes of grunting, he said, “I can’t open it. There are no edges or gaps to pry it open.”

  Kyle swore, more to himself than at Rohan. “My old apartment used to have a bent corner on the panel. I’d completely forgotten that. Can you try to kick it and see if it comes off?”

  “With my feet tied together? I doubt I can get enough leverage, but I’ll try.”

  Kyle heard more grunting noises in the dark, followed by the dull thumps as Rohan tried kicking open the panel. If they couldn’t get the panel to open, they really had no chance. Maybe he could ask Rohan to look in the closet. There could be something there that might help. The noises stopped suddenly, and all he heard was Rohan’s panting. “Did it open?”

  “No,” Rohan said, gasping. “I seem to have dented it a little, but it’s still in place.”

  Kyle groaned again, thinking about the time they were wasting. It dawned on him that Damian might only want them out of the way for a few hours. The faster they escaped, the sooner they’d be able to go after Damian. He was about to ask Rohan what exactly Damian was planning when Rohan made a whooping noise. “What? What happened?”

  Rohan laughed delightedly. “I found a small gap that I can wriggle the tips of my fingers into. With a little more effort, I might be able to open the panel.”

  That brought a smile to his lips. He could have cheered, but he wasn’t in any condition to. Instead, he told Rohan what to expect after he opened it. “All the control systems of the room are routed through there. There will be fuses fo
r the lighting and the door and other systems. All you have to do is reset the fuses, and we’ll be free to leave.”

  “With our hands and legs tied together?” Rohan grunted, still trying to get the panel to open.

  Kyle grinned, even though he knew Rohan couldn’t see him. “That’s the best part. There should be an emergency fuse replacement tool inside the panel. It’s got a couple of sharp edges that we can use to cut these plastic ties.”

  “You, my friend, might just have put a big dent in Damian’s plans. He’s going to regret getting you involved.”

  “You are forgetting that we wouldn’t have ended up here in the first place without me.”

  Surprisingly, Rohan laughed. “Then you don’t know Damian. He would have seen his plan through to the end, with or without you. He would never have imagined that the person who he used to execute on his plan faster would also be the one who would lead to his failure. Without you in the picture, we might never even have found out about it.”

  He considered what he knew about Damian and realized that Rohan was right. But first, they had to get out of here. “Is it open, yet?”

  “Yes, hold on,” Rohan said, his voice sounding closer than before.

  He sensed Rohan reach his bedside after some time. “What happened? Why didn’t you reset the fuses?”

  “I couldn’t get my fingers in there. Not with my wrists tied. But I did get the tool and thought I could free you first. Can you turn over, so your wrists are toward me?”

  He did what Rohan asked, hoping that it would work. It was just a tool to replace fuses, not a blade. But it was better than nothing. He felt Rohan’s fingers on his wrist, they seemed wet. That was weird. “Rohan, why are your fingers wet?”

  “It’s nothing,” he said. “I cut myself while trying to get that panel open. Don’t worry, it’s not too bad. Now, I’m going to ask you to stay still. And be prepared for a few pricks.”

  Pricks were nothing; he just couldn’t wait to get the ties off of his wrists and ankles. As Rohan tried to saw through the plastic, he remembered opening his eyes and seeing the closet door slide open. He shut his eyes against the sudden brightness. He heard some voices, and when he opened his eyes, he saw a big woman in a uniform and a helmet holster her weapon to reach for him. He tried to scream, but his mouth was taped shut. She must have seen the fear in his face, so she took off her helmet, smiled and said, “It’s okay, it’s okay. We’re here to help you, to get you out of here.” For some reason, he had believed her. She gently eased the tape off his mouth, and he gulped in air with relief. Then she took out a knife and began to cut through the ropes. He fell into her arms, weak and thirsty, not knowing how long he had been in the closet.

  “Here we go,” Rohan exclaimed with relief.

  His hands were free. A sense of relief flooded his body, the panic seemed to decrease instantly, and he breathed easy. He rolled onto his back and tried to work some feeling back into his hands. “And I didn’t even feel a single prick. You, my friend, have magic in your fingers.”

  Rohan laughed weakly. “I seem to have run out of my magic. I’ll leave it up to you to do the rest.”

  Kyle still had no explanation for why his parents had left him tied up and in the dark during the riots. He never asked. Even when he was reunited with them a couple of weeks after being rescued. They never cared to explain either. But he wasn’t going to play the silent, helpless victim this time.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” he said finally, resolving to get to the bottom of this and stop Damian no matter what it took.

  Chapter 16

  The table was strewn with empty water bottles that they had gone through between the two of them. Kyle’s clothes were wet, as was the floor in front of him. He had choked when the first swallow hit his parched throat. They had been waiting here for quite some time, but without any watch or mobile, he didn’t know how long it had been.

  He had wanted to go to the police first, but Rohan had convinced him to come here instead. His last meeting with Patrick seemed to have taken place ages ago even though it had only been a few weeks. He wasn’t quite sure what, but there was something about Patrick that still rubbed him the wrong way. He had not liked it last time and had a feeling that he was going to like it even less this time.

  To his left, Rohan was sprawled out on the couch, staring into the distance. He could almost hear the wheels turning in his brain. “What are you thinking?”

  Rohan turned around slowly. “Just trying to solve the puzzle Damian has left behind. It makes no sense. He might be fanatic about the cause, but his methods were always rational.”

  He’s still out of it, Kyle thought to himself. He didn’t know if it was the blow to the head or the fact that his friend would have him kidnapped that had affected Rohan so much. When they had walked in here, and the assistant had told them that Patrick wasn’t in his office, Rohan had panicked. He had started blabbering, and Kyle had to step in before the assistant called the guards to have them thrown out. He had not been in a much better condition either, but the water and the comfortable couches had helped. Even the bitter memories of his past were fading away. “What do you think…?”

  The door burst open before Kyle could finish and Patrick stormed in. His face was a thundercloud, and his eyes narrowed in displeasure. Suddenly, Kyle felt like the prey caught loitering around the predator’s cave. He realized why most people who knew Patrick seemed to fear him almost as much as they respected him.

  But Patrick barely glanced at Kyle before his gaze settled on Rohan. He walked to the couch facing Rohan and sat down without even taking off his jacket. “Brenda mentioned kidnapping,” he said in a level voice.

  “It’s true,” Rohan replied. “We were kidnapped, but we managed to escape.”

  Patrick glanced at Kyle before turning back to Rohan. “Strange, most people would have gone to the police.”

  “The police wouldn’t have been able to help. Just like last time when he disappeared.”

  Patrick’s face became darker, but his voice stayed level. “Damian. He has returned?”

  “I don’t think he ever left. You were right. He is dangerous, and we should have tried harder to find him.”

  Kyle looked from Patrick to Rohan. “You mean to say you knew Damian was going to do something like this?”

  Rohan looked at him and smiled sadly. “Patrick warned me, but I didn’t believe it. I should have known that without someone to keep him in check, he would…”

  “There’s no point worrying about what could have been. Let’s make sure we get him this time. Why don’t we start with how you got dragged into this?” Patrick asked Kyle.

  He didn’t know what to say, but Rohan came to his rescue.

  “Coincidence. It just so happened that Damian met Kyle when he was being transferred to OneTech. He must have figured it out, and then used him to hack us from within.”

  “Hack? What hack?” Patrick’s voice had dropped an octave.

  It was Rohan’s turn to look uncomfortable. Kyle wondered if he should say something, but he didn’t know half of what had happened.

  Rohan drank some water from the bottle he was holding. “Damian managed to hack into the OneTech servers. It didn’t take long for Haraki to find out about the hack, but I guess Damian knew exactly what he was looking for and stole it.”

  “He stole it? By breaking through all your security layers?”

  “Yeah, he found a way in. He planted a malicious script on Kyle’s phone. It lay dormant until sometime after we had upgraded Kyle’s security and then created a back door for him to sneak in.”

  “You assured me that your security was unassailable. How could you let this happen?”

  Rohan laughed sarcastically. “You’re forgetting that when we told you that, Damian was in the team too. Even he couldn’t have attacked it directly and gotten through. But he knew enough to figure out its weakness. There was nothing we could have done.”

  Patrick stared at
each of them in turn, as if he was judging the truth of their words. The silence stretched uncomfortably until he finally spoke. “It is beyond me to puzzle out how you went from getting hacked to getting kidnapped.”

  Rohan looked at Kyle, and he nodded. They had decided to come to Patrick, there was no point in holding anything back from him. If they wanted his help, they had to tell him everything. Rohan launched into explaining how they had planned to meet Damian in secret and all the things that had transpired since. Patrick listened to it all without even moving a muscle. But hearing Rohan say it out loud made him realize how stupid they had been. What could they have hoped to accomplish by meeting Damian? His anger flared up every time he thought about how he had been duped and made a pawn in a game he didn’t quite understand. If only I had called the police the moment I saw him…

  “If it weren’t for Kyle, we would never have escaped. It seems that dragging him into this might work against Damian,” Rohan said, finishing the retelling of the events.

  Patrick looked daggers at both of them. “As glad as I am that you two escaped, relatively unhurt, but what the fuck were you thinking? You knew Damian had hacked you, but you decided to keep it quiet and even went to fucking meet him. Why?”

  Rohan looked a little guilty. “I went hoping to meet a friend. The data that he stole was as much his work as mine. He had been missing for two years, and now that I knew he was here in person, I wanted to see him. I wanted to see if he was okay; if he needed help. For all I knew, this hack could have been a desperate move, a plea for help.”

  For the first time since he had seen Patrick, the anger and displeasure melted away from his face, only to be replaced by weariness. He leaned back and sighed. “I made a mistake,” Patrick said shaking his head. “I thought I was protecting you, and OneTech, but I should have told you about what happened just before Damian’s disappearance. I knew he had been planning something for quite some time, I even asked you to keep an eye on him, but you didn’t listen. Not entirely your fault, though. I had nothing concrete against him.

 

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