by Mikayla Lane
Haruki swung the bokken’s, and within moments only a trembling Mike remained standing in front of the door that had been open earlier.
“Don’t kill me,” Mike whined as fat tears slid down his ruddy cheeks. “I can make you rich.”
Haruki allowed the bokkens to be reabsorbed into his body and grabbed Mike by the back of the head, forcing him back down the tunnel.
“Don’t kill me!” Mike shrieked in fear. “My friends . . . my friends will pay you to let me go! They’re powerful people, they can give you anything you want! Please!”
Haruki stopped and jerked Mike around to face him before slamming him against the wall of the tunnel. Haruki’s eyes swirled with menace and fury as he glared at the sniveling man.
“There is nothing I would ever want from you,” Haruki growled. “I do owe you this.”
Before Mike even realized it was coming, Haruki’s fist smashed into his face. Blood had spurted from Mike’s nose before his eyes rolled back in his head and his body went completely limp.
“Figures the son of a bitch has a glass face,” Haruki growled in irritation before he slung Mike over his shoulder and stomped out of the pyramid.
He threw Mike to the ground outside and nodded at Dog, Deanna and Harry who were zip tying the still unconscious guards on the ground and dragging them to the mess hall.
“Are the other two locked outside?” Haruki asked.
“Yeah, we’ve got everything covered out here,” Dog replied. “Are the other three still inside?”
Haruki turned back towards the pyramid and nodded.
“I’ll go get them,” he said as he headed back inside.
“I’ll give you a hand,” Dog offered as he followed Haruki into the tunnel.
They reached the other three men and quickly bound their hands and feet. Dog leaned down and grabbed one of the men by his hands and began dragging him down the tunnel. Haruki laughed at the idea.
“No use breaking my back carrying them,” he muttered before seizing the two remaining men by their shirt collars and following Dog back outside.
Harry ran over to grab one of the men from Haruki, and the three of them dragged the unconscious men to the mess hall where the others were being secured to chairs while guarded by Deanna and the older men in the group.
Haruki looked curiously at one of the men who was screaming behind a thick piece of tape that was over his mouth. He quirked a brow at Dr. Jack who shrugged.
“He was being mouthy and trying to scare everyone with talk of impending death and doom,” Jack said.
Haruki laughed and clapped the doctor on the shoulder.
“Good call,” he said before turning to Dog and Harry. “We have to get the two outside now.”
“What’s your plan?” Harry asked.
“Open the door and let them in,” Haruki said with a grin.
Dog and Harry had shared a puzzled look before Dog cleared his throat.
“I realize your unconventional plans have worked so far, but I’m not seeing where this one will,” Dog admitted, concerned that they would lose what little leverage they had.
“Aren’t they using radios or some form of communication?” Haruki asked.
“Nope. Once communications were shut down, their radios went dead. I warned them that the money saving new system they were giving us had major flaws, but no one listened,” Dog said with a self-satisfied smirk.
Haruki chuckled and strode to the door.
“Where are you going?” Deanna shouted as she headed after him.
Haruki turned at her voice and the fear he felt in her energy. He waited until she stood in front of him before he pulled her closer and leaned down, his head resting on her shoulder.
Deanna instinctively put her arms around him and sighed at the warmth that radiated from him. She was so cold and afraid of what would happen to him. To all of them.
“It will be all right. I won’t let them hurt you. Stay here and keep watch over the others. I’ll be back in a minute,” Haruki promised, place a light kiss at her temple before he pulled away and hurried out of the door.
Deanna touched her hand to her face where her skin still tingled from Haruki’s kiss and fought the urge to follow him.
“He’s going to be OK. Help us get these idiots secured,” Dog whispered, putting his hands on her shoulders and giving her an encouraging squeeze.
Deanna turned away from the door and nodded, blindly following Dog while she prayed for Haruki to come back to her.
Please, don’t take him, she begged.
Haruki ran towards the main door as his body funneled the energy through his cells more rapidly than ever before. He was learning how to use the energy and the more he used, the more power it gave him.
He reached the door in minutes and laid his head against the single door, trying to hear any sounds before moving to the roll-up door and listening intently for signs that the two men were close.
Haruki turned abruptly when he heard a noise behind him and faced a terrified Harry.
“Whoa, there! I was just coming to give you some backup,” Harry said with wide eyes, his hands in the air.
Haruki reabsorbed the throwing knives he’d instinctively manifested in his hands when he heard the noise and turned back to the door.
“I don’t hear them. Is there another way in besides these doors?” he asked.
“No, that’s it. They were too afraid of drilling another entrance with heavy machinery. At the time no one knew if it could destabilize the mountain shell surrounding the pyramid,” Harry explained.
“You don’t have any vehicles or helicopters anywhere?” Haruki prodded as he listened at the door.
“We have four jeeps, some snow machines, and a few all terrain vehicles. They are all in the big gray metal building right there,” Harry said as he pointed to the structure. “The only other way would be a little over a mile from here where a small plane could land.”
“So the backup team has to parachute here or come from the airfield?” Haruki asked.
“Yes. Trust me, they’ll be waiting at the landing zone for the vehicles to come get them,” Harry replied with a chuckle.
“It would be more hired thugs and not the military, correct?” Haruki asked as he unlocked the regular door and listened for footsteps.
“The government personnel left when Mike came on board and took over,” Harry assured him. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Haruki admitted as his mind raced for a solution that wouldn’t leave the humans dead.
He hadn’t heard anything from outside for several minutes and swung the door open quickly. He blinked at the early morning sun and scanned the area for any movement or sound before he ducked back inside.
“Do you think they would come out for you?” Haruki asked.
Harry drew his brows together in concentration before he shrugged his shoulders.
“They might. We can try,” Harry answered.
He stepped outside before he could change his mind and moved a few feet in front of the door before letting out an ear piercing whistle.
Damn, I bet they could hear that at the airfield, Haruki thought with a grin.
Several minutes passed with no one coming and Harry let out another whistle then moved closer to the door.
“I’m not hearing anything. They probably heard the gunfire and found the doors locked. When they couldn’t get in, I bet they headed towards the airfield to wait for backup,” Harry whispered.
“Don’t you have a surveillance system?” Haruki asked as he stepped back from the door and let Harry back in.
“In the communications shed. Dog knows how to work it,” Harry replied as they re-locked the doors.
“Back to Dog.”
Haruki headed back towards the mess hall, and Harry fell into step beside him.
“What’s the end game here?” Harry blurted out.
“To stay alive,” Haruki replied, unsure what the man was asking.
> “Easier said than done for us,” Harry said with a snort. “You’re a ghost and can disappear again. The rest of us will remain alive as long as Mike, his board of directors or corporate friends don’t find us. This is only a temporary reprieve for us. Just promise me you’ll get Deanna out of here safe.”
Haruki stopped and waited for Harry to turn to him.
“I will find a way to give all of you some kind of life back. I don’t know how, but I will,” he promised, unwilling to let such good people die like this.
Harry moved to stand within inches of Haruki and stared into his strange eyes.
“You just get that girl out of here and don’t worry about the rest of us. We knew years ago when we kept declining to ship out of here that we’d be buried in this place. It’s kind of fitting since it’s where we’ve spent the majority of our lives,” Harry said with a sad smile.
“Do you regret it?” Haruki asked as they resumed walking.
“Not a moment. I lost my wife while I was on a training exercise. We never got a chance to have any kids, and I knew I’d never find another gal like my May, so this place became my home. With all it’s frustrations and orneriness, I wouldn’t have missed seeing it come alive for you, for nothing in this world. I just wish we could have finally learned it’s secrets,” Harry admitted as he stared in awe and respect at the pyramid.
Haruki looked over at Harry, and he grinned when he realized he had a solution to that problem at least.
Now if I can just figure out the rest of our mounting problems, he thought as he held the mess hall door open for Harry.
The moment he stepped inside the now conscious men began screaming behind the tape generously plastered across their mouths courtesy of Dr. Jack. Haruki ignored them as Deanna came striding up to him, a look of concern on her face.
“Are you all right? Did you find them?” she asked as she stopped within inches of him.
Haruki couldn’t help but reach out and brush a lock of hair behind her ear before he gently cupped her cheek.
“I am well. They weren’t there. Harry thinks they went to meet the backup at the airfield,” Haruki replied.
“Do we have a plan for them yet?” Dog asked.
“Not yet,” Haruki admitted, hating the way their spirits plummetted at his words. “Don’t panic, and don’t get discouraged, I have a backup of my own that can be here just as fast if we need them.”
“Why don’t you call them now? We could use the help,” one of the scientists muttered.
“Because the last thing we need right now, is more people in here. That door will hold them off for at least a day before they call in something that can get it open,” Haruki explained.
“So we sit here and wait for them to come in and kill us?” someone asked from the back.
“No, we go inside, and you do your jobs while we figure this place out. If we don’t find anything that can help us defeat them, then I’ll call for help,” Haruki proposed.
“How the hell you going to do that if we took down communications?” Dog asked.
“We bring them back online so we can hear what they’re saying and when they plan on trying to breach the door. Someone can stay in there and monitor everything and report to those of us in the pyramid,” Haruki suggested. “We need a few in here to guard these idiots, and the rest of us can see what else will open in the pyramid.”
“I’ll watch these guys,” Harry volunteered.
“I’ll take communications,” Trevor said.
“You think whatever is in there can help us?” Deanna whispered, unsure why he was risking so much to get back inside the pyramid.
Haruki briefly channeled more energy, the task becoming easier the more he did it. He flipped his hands, and two grapefruit sized spheres danced in his palms as gasps echoed around the room.
“I think whatever is in there is powerful enough to take care of anything they got coming,” Haruki assured them.
He enlarged the balls in his hands then made them smaller again before throwing them into the air and catching them with his head, allowing the energy to absorb into his cells.
The silence hung heavy in the room while everyone considered their options. Even Mike and his gagged friends remained quiet while they waited to see what everyone would decide to do.
“I already told him I want to see what the place does before I die, so I’m in. I’ll keep an eye on these bozos while you guys head inside, but someone better damn well come out here and tell me all about it,” Harry said, breaking the building tension in the room.
Mike and a few of his men screamed into the tape and nodded their heads while half a dozen scientists stood.
“We’re too close to stop now,” one older man said as he worried the hat in his hands.
“We’ve never been this close,” another added.
Haruki grinned at the determined group before looking down at Deanna. His heart thudded at the trust shining in her eyes before she placed her hand in his and nodded.
“Let’s see what this place really is and what it can do,” Deanna said with a smile.
Haruki gently squeezed her hand, his heart swelling with pride at her courage and faith in him before he turned to Harry.
“We’ll be back to tell you all about it,” Haruki promised before he turned and led Deanna and the others out of the mess hall.
*****
Mikal paced the entertainment room, his concern for his brother mounting by the moment. He knew something wasn’t right and could feel it in every cell of his being. The only thing keeping him from going to Haruki was the promise he made to stay away for 24 hours. He was so deep in his own thoughts it had taken several minutes before he realized that Shane, Dante, and Gun were calling him.
“Dude! What the hell are you thinking about? We’ve been calling for you,” Gun asked from the comm station they were surrounding.
“It’s nothing. What do you need?” Mikal asked as he strode over to them.
“You have to look at this shit! I’ve never seen anything like it. Dante said he’s seen it before, and there’s a lot of it posted online, but this is new for me,” Gun explained as he moved to the side so Mikal could see the vid screen.
Mikal stared at the screen wondering what it was that he was supposed to be fascinated by.
“It’s a city surrounded by mist,” he said, waiting for someone to explain what was special about it.
His three brothers laughed while Dante played with the view and Mikal’s eyes widened in surprise. It wasn’t a city surrounded by mist, it was a city floating in the clouds above another town.
“That’s got to be a trick, right?” he asked Dante, figuring his computer geek brother would know.
Dante only grinned broadly and shook his head.
“That was filmed live only an hour ago. Thousands of people saw it, and it lasted in the sky for more than a half hour. They’re calling it a mirage or fata morgana, which is a high-tech version of a mirage, but that doesn’t jive either,” Dante said as his fingers flew across a keyboard and put more images on the screens.
“The one you’re looking at now was only an hour ago in China, these other ones I’ve put up have been in the last ten years and all over the world,” Dante explained as he pointed at each image. “Africa, England, China, Croatia and several states here in the US.”
A shiver of dread raced through Mikal.
“What states?” he asked.
“Over the Great Lakes region, New York, there’s video of a few over the Denali area, but there're reports of what they called ‘Silent Cities’ that go back to the mid-1800s in Alaska,” Dante replied as he pulled up more pictures and stories.
Mikal’s mind raced with the information as he tried to figure out why it was “speaking” to him. He narrowed his eyes at his brothers as a thought occurred to him.
“What is your fascination with this?” Mikal asked.
“I don’t know,” Dante said honestly. “It’s just so damn intriguing and we
ird as hell. It’s right up my alley.”
Mikal knew it was, but his brother’s reaction was more than that this time. He knew because it was affecting him as well. It was like a puzzle piece fitting into place, and he was driven to find the next one.
Gun stared at Mikal for a moment before shaking his head.
“Yeah, it’s got you too, doesn’t it?” Gun noted with a shake of his head, understanding how Mikal felt.
“What do you think it means?” Shane asked.
“It means I want a lot more information,” Mikal said. “Take this into the basement conference room and don’t breath a word of it to anyone else. I’ll meet you there.”
“You want us to investigate paranormal phenomena? Or mirages or whatever?” Shane asked, incredulous that their most level-headed brother was getting caught up in it.
“Get downstairs and keep your mouth shut,” Mikal ordered, then disappeared before they could argue with him again.
He reappeared in Tristan’s room in Dillon, Texas and knelt next to the sleeping boy. Within moments he was swept into Tristan’s dream.
“What troubles you so deeply that you came here to find me,” Tristan asked, appearing in his winged warrior form.
Mikal watched as Tristan’s dream world changed from a dark pyramid into the familiar mountain top that he and Tristan had always spoken privately on.
“If I didn’t think you already knew, I wouldn’t have come,” Mikal countered before taking his brother into his arms and hugging him.
Tristan pulled away and gave Mikal a secretive smile.
“Ah, but you came prematurely, didn’t you? You’ve not made the connections have you?” Tristan replied evasively.
“Is Haruki in danger?” Mikal asked bluntly.
“Haruki is . . . doing well at the moment,” Tristan said cryptically.
“This mountain is Denali, isn’t it? Where Haruki is right now?” Mikal asked as he looked around at the familiar landscape.
“We’ve been coming here to talk for years, and you’re just now asking why I’ve always preferred it?” Tristan asked with a grin. “There is a fantastic place nearby and I like it here.”
Mikal rubbed a hand down his face in frustration.
