by Jake Bible
“Situation?” Kinsey asked as she leaned against the far wall. “What situation? Have you found the rest of Team Grendel?”
“Sorry to say, we have not,” Ballantine replied. “But Darby, Max, and Mike are on that right now, as you know.”
“I’m done here,” Kinsey said. “I’m taking the Zodiac back and going to join them.”
“Not yet,” Ballantine said. “I need a word with you in a minute. Would you mind waiting up on the bridge?”
Kinsey began to protest, but Ballantine gave her a look that stopped the words before she could speak them. She nodded and left the infirmary.
“Those Thornes sure are emotional,” Ballantine said, grinning at Dr. Logan. “So, Will, fill me in on what happened.”
The doctor did. He told everything to Ballantine as he had to Kinsey. Ballantine stood there and took it all in, nodding at the appropriate times, acting shocked at other times, making sure he looked mournful at the mention of the lives lost.
It was a sad story and Ballantine felt bad about it. Felt responsible. Felt like it was entirely bullshit.
“You’re lucky to be alive, Will,” Ballantine said. “All of you are. And you say that Dr. Chen disappeared and you have no idea where he is?”
“None,” Dr. Logan replied. “He was gone the other morning and we haven’t seen him since.”
“So sad,” Ballantine said. “So, so sad.” He glanced over as Gunnar was studying a blood sample under a microscope. “Dr. Peterson? May I have a word in the corridor?”
“Right now?” Gunnar asked. “I’m in the middle of—”
“Won’t take long,” Ballantine insisted.
“Fine,” Gunnar nodded. He nodded to his new patients. “I’ll be right back.”
“Take your time,” Dr. Logan chuckled. “We aren’t going anywhere.”
Ballantine gestured for Gunnar to follow him. He closed the hatch to the infirmary as they stepped into the passageway
“Is that necessary?” Gunnar asked.
“Yes, if I want to make sure they can’t hear me,” Ballantine said. “Let’s step aside so they can’t read our lips through the porthole.”
“Seriously?” Gunnar replied. “Have you gone nuts? These people have been surviving in a jungle cave for weeks and weeks. Because one of your many secret projects went boom. What could you possibly have against them?”
“That is not Will Logan,” Ballantine said. “I know Will Logan. I have known him a very long time. That is not him.”
Gunnar stared at Ballantine then started to peer through the porthole into the infirmary, but Ballantine grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him back.
“A little discretion would be appropriate at this time,” Ballantine said. “I would rather we didn’t tip them off that we know their secret.”
“But that looks like Dr. Logan, right?” Gunnar asked. “It’s not some stranger pretending? It’s actually someone with Dr. Logan’s face?”
“Exactly,” Ballantine said.
“Okay. Just wanted to clear that up so I know what we’re dealing with,” he said. Gunnar was silent for a second. “Uh…what are we dealing with?”
Ballantine clapped Gunnar on both shoulders. “That’s what you get to find out. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
“You do know that I have only maybe ten percent of the equipment I need to do any sort of analysis, right?” Gunnar grumbled. “The rest is fried and the elves haven’t had time to fix any of it.”
“Then go use their equipment,” Ballantine said. “They have redundancies of most of the machines you need down in the Toyshop. They probably have things that work even better than what is broken in your lab. Of course, anything will work better than broken machines.” Ballantine chuckled at his own joke. “Ah, broken machines. The sorrow of our age.”
“You are so fucked up,” Gunnar said.
“As you constantly remind me, Gun,” Ballantine chuckled. “And I thank you for that. It’s good for me to hear. I think it’s why I like you and Team Grendel so much, plus all the crew on the Beowulf III. You never cease to hand me my ass when you feel like it. Others have always kissed my ass, even my most dangerous enemies. You guys? Never. Refreshing.”
“Glad I could be of help,” Gunnar said then looked at the infirmary hatch. “What do I do with them while I’m in the Toyshop figuring out who they are?”
“Leave them here while I go talk to Kinsey on the bridge,” Ballantine suggested. “I’ll be right back and they’ll stay put like good little doctors.”
“You want them here? Unsupervised?” Gunnar asked.
“No one is unsupervised on this ship,” Ballantine said.
“God, you really know how to turn up the creep,” Gunnar said. “Fine. I’ll show them down there and then go see the elves about some working equipment.”
“Good man,” Ballantine said, clapping him on the shoulders again. “The second you have any insight, please come find me.”
“Where will you be?” Gunnar asked as Ballantine walked off.
“On the bridge with Kinsey and Lake,” Ballantine said. “Watching our company get closer.”
“Okay,” Gunnar said and reached for the infirmary hatch. Then he stopped and turned quickly. “Hold the fuck on. Did you say we have company? What company?”
Ballantine just gave him a wave and walked up the steps towards the bridge.
***
Team Grendel turned left so many times that Thorne thought they had to be going in circles, but with every turn came a new corridor, one he knew they hadn’t been in because Darby had been making sure to mark each corner with some of the blood and gore that stuck to her suit. It left a trail for the croanderthals to follow, but it also kept them from returning to corridors they had already gone through.
But that many lefts without going in a circle made no sense.
None of what they had been through made any sense. Dinosaurs, both small and gigantic, living cavemen/cavewomen, a massive hidden island that Ballantine was certain couldn’t be found, basically everything they had been through as a Team for the last two years.
It was all madness in the making.
“Stop,” Thorne said. “Just stop.”
Everyone slowed up and turned to the commander. Darby was obviously itching to keep moving, but even she stopped and waited to see what Thorne wanted.
“Does any of this feel right to you?” Thorne asked, making eye contact with each Team member as he caught his breath. “We should have found a way out by now. Why haven’t we? And why are we always turning left?”
“We’re crossing the island,” Darby said. “These corridors are scorched. You can smell it.”
“She’s right,” Shane said, tapping his nose. “I could smell the damp of being underground, but there is something else. What is it?”
“Fire,” Darby said. “These walls have just been burned. Something very hot happened here and I have an idea I know what. We keep turning left because we are skirting the island.”
“They herded us this way,” Thorne said. “Why?”
No one had an answer.
“Their leader, that woman,” Thorne said. He snorted at calling the Liu croanderthal a woman. “She wanted my help. She wanted to make a deal to get her and her people off this island. I told her Ballantine wouldn’t allow that. Loose ends. She knew what I meant.”
“Ballantine doesn’t care about these loose ends,” Darby said. “These loose ends are insignificant to what else is out there.”
Everyone waited for her to continue, but Darby only stood there. Max cleared his throat.
“Um, deadly death muffin, I think you need to elaborate,” Max said.
“All of this is not a loose end,” Darby said. “It was supposed to be a new beginning. A refuge for us to rest up in until we were at full strength.”
“Full strength for what?” Thorne asked.
“The real mission,” Darby said. “Wiping every one of Ballantine’s enemies off the face of
this planet. There’s a few of them, so we really needed the rest.”
“But we ended up at the island that time forgot instead,” Shane said. “And naked, I may add. Awesome.”
“Great story,” Thorne said. “One I’ll revisit with Ballantine later. But for now, none of that helps us get out of here.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Darby said. “But neither does standing still. If you will shut up and follow me, I’ll get us out of here.”
“How?” Thorne asked. “Do you know where we’re going?”
“I have an idea, yes,” Darby said. “The smell tells me a lot, but the fact that woman wanted your help and is sending us this way then I think I know why.”
“We’re going to that other facility, aren’t we?” Shane asked. “The one that blew up and was being squatted on by the giant T-rex-looking motherfucker.”
“I believe so,” Darby said. “But we’ll only find out if we keep going.” She looked to Thorne. He nodded. “Come on. We can’t slow down.”
***
Kinsey did not like the look of the blip on the radar screen. Sure, it was only a green dot that showed up every couple seconds when the equally green line rotated past it, but it was still a green dot where Ballantine had assured them there would be no green dots.
“What is it?” Kinsey asked. “A ship?”
“Yes,” Ballantine said. “A good-sized one.”
“How can you tell that?” Kinsey asked.
“Ingrid got it all working,” Lake said, pointing to a computer monitor that was streaming data. “The system is analyzing the radar and calculating what type of vessel it could be. Right now it looks like it’s about twice the size of the B3.”
“Military?” Kinsey asked.
“Can’t tell,” Lake said. “Not enough info yet. When it gets closer, we’ll know for sure.”
“If it gets close enough, we can just look through the binoculars and tell for ourselves,” Kinsey said. She glanced at Ballantine. “But I’m guessing you don’t want it to get that close first, do you?”
“I do not,” Ballantine said. “Which is what I need you for. I’d like you and Ingrid to take the mini-sub and go have a closer look. You can drive while she takes readings and surveils the craft.”
“Mini-sub? What fucking mini-sub?” Kinsey asked. “Marty? Since when do we have a mini-sub again?”
“Fuck if I know,” Lake sighed. “I’m only the captain of this goddamned ship.”
“Oh, stop being such a baby,” Ballantine said. “I had the elves fix one up. It’s not the same as the Wiglaf was since we don’t have the manufacturing capabilities to put something that large together. But it’ll do the job.”
Kinsey thought about how cramped their former mini-sub had been before it was lost to the ocean depths because of one of their many encounters with giant sharks. There wasn’t exactly a lot of elbow room in that thing.
“You’ll be fine,” Ballantine said, seeing Kinsey’s hesitancy. “All you have to do is get it close enough for Ingrid to get as much info as possible then come back here on the double. I’m taking as much of a risk as you are.”
“How’s that?” Kinsey asked.
“Well, for starters, that man down there isn’t Dr. Will Logan,” Ballantine said. “I don’t know who it is, but it’s not Will.”
“What are you talking about?” Kinsey asked.
“Why even ask anymore?” Lake said and reached down to open a mini-fridge by his feet. He pulled out a beer and popped the can, took a long drink, and sat in his captain’s chair. “At least Ingrid fixed the fridge too. Nice.”
“How can you drink when Ballantine just said we have strangers on board?” Kinsey asked.
“Seems like the perfect time to drink,” Lake said. “And when don’t we have strangers on board? As far as I can tell, this ship has an open invitation to assholes. Present company included.” He looked right at Ballantine.
“Thank you,” Ballantine smirked.
Kinsey’s shoulders sagged and she looked out the bridge towards the island.
“We’ll find them and get them back to the ship in one piece,” Ballantine said. “But to do that, I need to know what’s coming at us sowe can stay in one piece. If it is military then we are horribly out gunned. If it is something else then we may be out gunned in other ways.”
“You aren’t doing much to boost my mood, Ballantine,” Kinsey said.
“It’s not a mood, it’s an adventure,” Ballantine said and winked. He clapped his hands together. “Alright. Good talk. You can find Ingrid in the specimen bay waiting for you. I’m going to go get Ronald and ask for his assistance with my interrogation of the doppelgangers. Captain Lake? Do you need anything before we get too busy?”
“Got beer,” Lake said, holding up the can. He reached down to a shelf and pulled out a Desert Eagle. “Got pistol. Get lost.”
“As you wish,” Ballantine said. He pointed at the radar screen. “Keep an eye on that.”
“Aye, aye, asshole,” Lake said.
“He really doesn’t like you,” Kinsey said to Ballantine as the two left the bridge.
“What do you mean?” Ballantine asked. “That guy loves me.”
***
The corridor finally came to an end and Team Grendel gratefully stopped to catch their breath. They leaned against the soot-covered walls, coughing at the acrid taste of the air. Darby started searching the wall at the end of the corridor for a latch or some mechanism that would open a door for them. After a few minutes, she gave up and kicked the bottom the wall as hard as she could.
“That couldn’t have felt good,” Max said.
“Wasn’t supposed to,” Darby said.
“Com still out?” Shane asked.
Darby tapped at her ear and nodded. “Went out almost as soon as we entered the facility. They must have a jamming device in place. Makes sense. They’d want to limit outside interference as they take sensor readings.”
“Sensor readings of what?” Lucy asked. “I still don’t know what this island is.”
Darby narrowed her eyes then shrugged. “Fuck it. I’ll tell you what I know.”
She proceeded to fill them in on the purpose of the island. The experiments performed, the scientists and researchers hired to perform those experiments, and the reason Ballantine decided they should come to the island in the first place.
“It’s shielded? Like cloaked?” Shane asked.
“The same as our new suits?” Max asked
“Wait, what?” Shane responded, looking at Max’s suit. “That’s not just a compression suit?”
“Nope,” Max said. “It cloaks us so we blend into our surroundings. Bends light and other sciencey shit.”
“Dude,” Shane exclaimed. “I thought I was just trippin’ when you showed up.”
“There’s a generator on this island that powers a device that keeps this entire place hidden from satellite and other electronic surveillance,” Darby said.
“Then how could we see it when we showed up?” Max asked.
“Are your eyes electronic?” Darren asked. “Pay attention.”
“I wish my eye was electronic,” Shane said, tapping his eye patch.
“X-ray,” Max said.
“Totally,” Shane agreed.
“Shut the fuck up, you two,” Darren said then frowned at Thorne. “Sorry. I should have let you say it.”
“They sure as fuck don’t listen to me,” Thorne said.
“Ah, come on, Uncle Vinny,” Max smirked. “We listen, we just don’t do what you say.”
“Yeah, we are totally listening,” Shane said.
Darby pointed at the Reynolds. “Do I have to castrate you boys?”
“Listening and shutting up,” Max said.
“Totally shutting up,” Shane said.
“This island is beyond off the books,” Darby said. “Part of Ballantine’s personal holdings. He has slowly been amassing them over the years.”
“Them? How many fucking
islands does he have?” Max asked.
“I didn’t say his holdings were all islands,” Darby said. “But there are a few more. This was supposed to be the safest. We rest here then start striking. Didn’t work out that way. Never fucking does with that man.”
“Chaos junkie,” Thorne said. “I’ve learned a lot about junkie behavior. He shows it in spades.”
“In spades. That saying has always—” Shane started then screamed and dropped to his knees, his hands covering his crotch.
“Keep going,” Lucy said.
“Did you just flick him in the dick?” Darby asked.
“Yes,” Lucy said.
“Nice,” Darby said and smiled. The smile lasted one second. “Ballantine has been walking a razor’s edge for a long time. He needed Team Grendel to keep him on that edge. First to clean up the giant sharks that had gotten loose. Then to deal with some of the various mistakes made by South American regimes. Finally to wipe out the last bits of his past. He broke from the company a long time before he put this Team together.”
“They have been hunting him all this time?” Thorne asked.
“Hunting Ballantine?” Darby laughed. It was a terrifying sound. “He’s been hunting them. The company is a broken shambles.”
“But I heard him talking to a man on the inside,” Thorne said. “Back on the beach in American Samoa. He was pretty upset that he had been cut off. He even told us as much.”
“He told you what he wanted you to hear,” Darby said. “Ballantine lies. About everything. The only truth with him is that he never tells the truth.”
“Why are you saying this?” Darren asked. “What’s the point of telling us now?”
“Because he can’t keep it going without getting some or all of us killed,” Darby said. “And I like you people. I like being part of this Team. I don’t want any of you to die.”
She grinned wide and it was genuine.
“Plus, look at you idiots,” Darby chuckled. “Half of you are naked and holding kitchen tools as weapons. You really fucking need my help.”
“So, what do we do after this?” Shane asked. He stood up and made sure he was as far away from Lucy as he could get. “If we live through this shit and get off this island, then what?”
