“Come with me,” he said, letting us walk in front of him. He didn’t ask to take our weapons, but when I glanced back at him, his grip on his gun looked tight, and he eyed me with suspicion.
We neared the same building Kareem had been in before. When we got to the door, the sentry knocked and was let in. Another guard came out, watching us as the first sentry disappeared into the big structure.
“Nice morning,” I said to the newcomer, getting a grunt in return. “Not a big talker? Sorry for waking you guys up. We didn’t have a choice.” I swear the guy cut me a smile, and if I wasn’t mistaken, that was the first smile I’d seen from their race. It was nice to see the commonality.
“You’re Dean, right?” he asked, his voice quiet.
“My reputation precedes me.”
“Terrance and Leslie have been waiting for their friends.”
Guilt washed over me. Just a second ago, I’d been making jokes; meanwhile, the hybrids were probably dying in the Russian prison on Earth.
“I’m sorry. I failed them,” I said somberly. Mary set her hand on my forearm.
“They won’t be happy. I hope you have better news for them and Kareem,” the pale hairless guard said, his smile wiped away.
The door swung open, the first sentry waving us inside. “He’ll see you now.”
We followed them into the large space we’d first been in when Mae had escaped in Leslie’s ship. They took us farther, through a doorway at the far end of the room. It smelled sterile in there, reminding me of a hospital. I’d spent enough time in one of those with Janine to recall it vividly.
The door opened into a hallway. Wooden floors led us to a series of rooms; some doors were ajar, with Deltra and other races milling around, getting an early start to their days. No one stopped us, but all of them stared curiously as we passed their bedrooms. I wanted to stop and look at the different aliens, to talk to them and learn about their people. There would be time for that eventually. Other things were more pressing now.
“In here,” the first guard said, ushering us through the doors. The room was dimly lit but was a good size, with a bed on the side. Machines beeped softly, and I wondered why they’d brought us there. Then I saw the bed wasn’t empty. Kareem was in it. His skin was even paler, if that was possible, and as I walked to the edge of the bed, I knew something was wrong.
“Kareem?” I asked.
His eyes opened, and he looked from Mary to me. “We meet again. I wasn’t expecting this. Have a seat.”
The guards slid a couple chairs over, and the lights in the room brightened by a few watts.
“Are you okay?” Mary asked the sickly-looking Deltra leader. I could just make out his tattoos peeking out from under the thick blankets.
“No. I’m dying.”
“I’m sorry.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say to his calm statement.
“Tell me why you’re here,” he said.
Where did I start? “We need your help. We think the Bhlat have invaded our planet.”
“You think they have? What does that mean?”
“Many of us have moved on to a new planet, at Proxima. But our communications with Earth take two months to relay, and our leader went back when the messages ceased to come.” I explained to him what had happened after we’d last met. How we thought Mae had died crashing into an asteroid, and how we found the device he’d described to us. He seemed pleased it still existed but was surprised the Bhlat knew of it and were waiting there.
Mary took over and talked about us chasing Mae to the Bhlat outpost. She skipped over the intimate details of who Mae was to me and cut the murderous part I had in killing all of their innocents on the base.
Kareem listened, asking few questions. When the tale was over, he asked one simple but important question. “How did you get here? We had no signs of a ship arriving, or they would have told me.”
“The Shandra.” I used the Shimmalian word for the portal to see if this had any meaning to him. His otherwise calm demeanor changed drastically. One of the electronic monitors beeped loudly, causing a small Deltra to enter the room, pushing us out of the way. Kareem shooed him away with a flick of his wrist. “I’m fine,” he said in Deltran before switching back to English. “Where did you hear that word?”
“From Sarlun, the Gatekeeper of the Shandra on Shimmal.” I didn’t flinch. This seemed to flummox him even more.
“Then it’s out.” He sank back in the pillow, almost disappearing into the bed.
“Is that such a bad thing?” Mary asked.
“We spent a lot of hard work to isolate the portals. We blocked off all that we could. The Theos were short-sighted creating these back-door accesses into so many worlds. It was like giving the Kremlons a key to the barn,” Kareem said, his reference not hitting home, but I imagined it was something like giving a fox a key to the hen house.
“We need the portal to the Bhlat homeworld.” I leaned forward as I spoke. I said the words just loud enough for Kareem to hear them.
“Preposterous!” he yelled, sending his frail body into a coughing fit. When it finished, he wiped his thin lips with a slender arm. “What would that accomplish?”
I told him our plan, and he didn’t interrupt once. A few times, he looked like he would interject, but each time he changed his mind, and sat back. When it was over, he looked at Mary. “You agree with this plan?” he asked her.
She nodded, but I noticed a hesitation to it. “What choice do we have?”
“There’s always a choice. There’s always…” He coughed a few more times. “A choice.”
“I think it’s our best bet. Unless we can rally enough support from your allies out there.” Magnus, Mary, and I had discussed this, but ultimately, we didn’t have the contacts or time to attempt such an endeavor.
“Their portal was blocked off centuries ago. The Theos Collective fought us on the decision, but the long-running religion ended up dissipating as the years went on, and eventually, they forgot about it, just like everyone else. Now there are only a handful of races that even know of their existence. Your friend Sarlun is one of the last remaining Gatekeepers in the universe.”
“Something’s been bothering me. If there was a portal on Earth, why didn’t you use it to help your cause with the Kalentrek?” I asked.
“How do you think we got it there? Through the portal. We were a captured race, so few of us were left outside the Kraskis’ clutches. All we could do was wait for the right time.” His face took on a look of heavy loss. He noticed my reaction and spoke to me softly. “Dean Parker, you are an honorable man. I don’t blame you for the destruction of my people. The plan was to rid ourselves of the Kraski with your help, not destroy you all and take your world. We deserved our fate.”
“You’ll help us?” Mary asked.
“I will. But you have to do something for me first.” Kareem’s words gave me pause. We didn’t have time for favors.
“What? We’ll do anything,” Mary answered before I could counter.
“You told Leslie and Terrance that you’d get their people here.” He looked me in the eyes. “Your people now by blood.” He sniffed the air, and I wondered if he could smell the hybrid blood running quickly through my veins. “Go get them. Use the portal and bring them here, to their new home.”
“We don’t have time for this!” I stood up, knocking my chair over. A guard came in, gun pointed at me.
“It’s okay. We’re fine. Just having a discussion,” Kareem said to the guard. “Aren’t we, Dean?”
I righted the chair and sat back down, getting a glower from Mary.
“We’ll do it,” she said firmly.
“Wait.” I started to speak, but she set a hand on my knee.
“I said we’ll do it. We owe them that much. We left them there when we took off, and it’s weighed on us long enough. They need our help too,” Mary said. Instantly, I knew she was right.
“Sarlun showed me Earth’s icon but didn’t know if it was still function
al. Is it?” I asked, sweat forming under my arms.
“It is.”
“Where is it?” Mary asked.
“You call it Egypt. Under a large pyramid. The Theos planted it there before humans wandered the dust, and when it was discovered by your people many years ago, they built a tower to protect it. They didn’t know what it was, only that it was clearly ancient, and alien,” Kareem said. “Do you have your…?” He left the question unanswered, his eyes glancing at the pin on my uniform’s lapel.
I almost barked out a laugh. For so long, we’d imagined the pyramids had a link to aliens, and they did. Machu Picchu was rumored to involve aliens, and it did. I wondered what other rumors were true. Area 51?
“From the pyramids to a Russian war camp. We’re going to need help,” I said.
“Patty told me to contact Jeff Dinkle if we ever make it to Earth and need someone on her side. Magnus knows how to reach him.” Mary looked ready to leave.
I turned to the door as I heard a familiar voice demanding to be let in. Terrance came pushing past the guard, toward us.
“Not in here!” Kareem called, stopping the angry hybrid in his footsteps.
“Where are they?” he asked, his face dark red.
“Earth,” I said, ashamed I didn’t have better news for the man. “We’re going to get them now.”
“I’m coming with you,” he said.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said, but Kareem spoke up.
“Take him. He’ll be helpful. Bring them back, and I’ll expose the secrets my people worked so hard to hide. I want the secret to be yours, and yours alone. It will die with you, do you understand?” he asked, a grave look over his gaunt face.
I did understand and told him as much. He nodded and closed his eyes. He didn’t speak again, and we stood up to face Leslie and Terrance. Leslie had shorn her hair short, but otherwise was the spitting image of my now dead wife, and of Mae. My heart ached for a second as I looked her in the eyes. “Let’s go. If you’re coming, can you fly us back to the portal?”
“What portal?” Leslie asked.
“Come on, we have a lot to talk about.”
SIXTEEN
“Are you sure you can make this trip with us? What about Natalia and your boy?” I asked Magnus.
“She wants me to go. She said if she can’t be there to protect you guys, I’d better be.” Magnus opened the transport’s door, and the cool air rushed inside. It was still cold by Terran Five standards, but it was in their spring season. Snow was melting, leaving a sloppy mess near the cavern entrance that would lead us to the portal.
Leslie and Terrance were suited up and hadn’t spoken much on the cramped ride from Terran One to the mountainside. They were anxious to help their friends, and I could completely understand the feeling. We all got out, bringing a vast array of supplies. The small Kalentrek device was in my breast pocket, though I didn’t expect to have to use it yet. Mary was the last to get out, from the pilot’s seat, and I gave her a kiss as she stepped onto the slushy ground.
“One thing at a time. We can do this, get the Bhlat world icon, and finish this once and for all. What do you say? Another ass-kicking mission for old time’s sake?” I asked.
Magnus gave a hoorah and stuck his hand out. I settled mine on his, flat-palmed, and Mary followed suit. Terrance rolled his eyes but joined in, followed by Leslie. “Let’s go kick some ass!” Magnus said. We all repeated “kick some ass!” and raised our hands. It felt good to be part of a team, even a desperate stitched-together one, off doing someone else’s mission. I reprimanded myself for thinking that. I had promised to help the hybrids, and I was about to follow through on that. Their lives were just as important as the people of Earth’s.
Magnus went first, blowing the air horn. Terrance did the same at the rear of our line as we entered the cavern. I took over the lead, taking us down the tunnels I was becoming very familiar with. Magnus hadn’t been there before, and he gave a low whistle as we entered the room. The hieroglyphs lit up, and Leslie and Terrance looked a little less sickly than they had at their new planet’s portal. Apparently, it had affected them like it had affected me the first time I’d been led here, but because they weren’t fighting the urge, they didn’t have the same out-of-body reaction.
The symbols on the walls glowed as we approached the gemstone in the table. We all gathered around, knowing what to expect, as I scrolled to find the icon for Earth on the screen. It was there: two horizontal slashes, one large circle, and one small circle, which I now attributed to Earth’s sun and moon.
“Everyone ready?” I asked, and when no one commented, I hit the icon and closed my eyes.
When I opened them, we were in a different room. This one appeared twice as large as New Spero’s portal room, with the same etchings on the walls, which dimmed within seconds of arriving. I noticed their placement on the walls was different than they had been in New Spero, and different yet from Shimmal.
“I’m not sure I want to get used to this,” Magnus said, already exploring the dark space. We all had our suits’ LEDs on, lighting up the room. It looked basic – ancient, even – untouched by anyone in a long time.
We were still wearing our helmets, just in case the room was sealed off or some deadly gas had seeped through the ground, ready to kill us on arrival. The sensors showed there was air, oxygen levels normal. I unclasped the mask, the hiss loud in the quiet area.
The air was stale. It was like walking into the back of my grandfather’s barn when I was a kid. Layers of dust had covered countless items he’d stored away from the turn of the century. The only living things to even go into that room were the spiders, who made happy homes of their own on the old oak furniture.
I assumed spiders would be prevalent here as well, but when I looked for them, I saw nothing but dirt walls and dust particles floating around as we disturbed the portal room.
“The door’s over here,” Leslie said, in her more than familiar voice. “It looks like stone.”
We didn’t know just which pyramid we were under, or if we were going to be stuck trying to get out. I’d had nightmares the night before that we arrived, only to have the doorway inside covered by fallen rocks. It had been a few centuries since the portal had been used, so we had no idea what the condition was on the other side of the door. I pushed my fear of the unknown down, not letting myself worry.
“Open it,” I said, and walked to them as Terrance used his weight to push on the large stone wall.
“It won’t move!” Terrance grunted.
Magnus moved beside him and started to push. After a minute of exertion, they gave up.
“Wait. It wouldn’t be on hinges. It’s probably round. We need to roll it away,” Mary said, and I pictured a large stone circle on the other side. I lowered to the ground and saw slight openings at the corners of the doorway.
“She’s right. We need to roll it.”
“Which way?” Leslie asked. We had no way of knowing.
“Look up here. I think these are handles.” Magnus ran his hand over the stone slab and showed us where a couple of handholds were recessed. “Not much room, but I bet we can get enough leverage, as long as there isn’t something jammed on the side of the circle out there.” I went beside him and jammed my fingers into the second opening. We pulled to the left, and after ten seconds of hard yanking, it started to roll. We kept pulling, and it rolled open.
My heart hammered from effort and joy at our success. It was short-lived when I thought about how much further we needed to go before we could come back to this room to leave. It wasn’t going to be easy.
We all ushered out of the portal room. “Should we close it up?” Mary asked me.
“Good idea. I doubt anyone’s coming down here, but better safe than sorry. Mary, can you pin our location on your GPS?” I asked as Magnus and Leslie rolled the door back closed. The hallway we’d emerged into was shallow and went beyond the room in both directions.
All we
knew was we were underground, a pyramid on top of us. We just needed to get to higher ground, and then we could find our way out.
“Look for elevation changes in the pitch of the ground,” Mary said, and we chose to go left from the room, because it seemed to rise slightly as you walked along it.
The ceilings were low, and Magnus had to duck a few times to avoid hitting his head on jutting rocks. The halls were primarily dug from dirt, but rock was stuck into both the walls and ceiling, probably to help support the opening. We walked along the path for ten minutes, slowly moving and breathing in stale air. Mary had elected to put her mask back on her helmet, and Terrance joined her. If we didn’t get out of the basement here soon, I’d need the fresh air as well.
“I’ll be damned,” Magnus said, stopping so suddenly that I walked right into his broad back.
“What is it?” I asked, stepping around him to see for myself.
The hall opened to a room, this one with more hieroglyphs. These looked different from the Shandra ones and were most likely done by ancient Egyptians. It showed small figures bowing on the ground to large people in animal masks, presumably their representations of the Theos they wouldn’t have ever seen.
“At least they were smart enough to seal the portal and build a pyramid overtop it,” Mary said, running a gloved hand over the stone walls.
“Do you think…?” I started to ask and let the question fall quiet.
“I know what you’re thinking, and I bet some sad soul was lost on the other side a few times before they assumed their friends were just being killed.” Magnus was filming the room with his suit’s surveillance.
I pictured an ancient Egyptian child playing with his sister, chasing her down a tunnel they’d found in the desert. She made it to the room first, awestruck by the glowing gemstone. She stood still, the game all but forgotten. The walls began to glow as she neared the table, and the pretty drawings put her into a trance. Her brother called to her from the doorway, older, more aware of danger. She ignored him, her heart pounding so loud she could hardly hear his words. She touched an image on the screen. The room shone brightly, and when it subsided, the boy was left alone.
The Survivors Box Set Page 55
