by Michael Todd
Alice nodded her head with slumped shoulders. “But why us?”
He looked at her strangely. “Who else is going to know if the tools and inventions are working correctly? It’s only the ones who designed them, isn’t it?”
“I can’t argue with you on that one. You had to go and teach me the dark arts of theoretical dimensional data acquisition. Now I’m finding a nice vacation to hell as my reward.”
The doctor put down the stack of papers in his hand and walked to Alice. He took her hands in his and looked at her seriously. “I know this is scary stuff, Alice. I do. But think about the reason you began studying all of this in the first place. You’ve dedicated yourself to science. You’re not looking at the stars, but instead, you are focused on saving the entire human race from annihilation by the demons. Be proud that you’re going on this adventure. Be honored, and be brave. If this works, your name will be known around the world, right alongside mine. We will be the most revered scientists in history. We are going to be the first humans to set foot on this new world. Don’t think about it in a biblical sense, think about it in a scientific sense.”
Alice narrowed her eyes. “I suppose you’re right. It would be pretty sweet to end up coming back a hero. When the world is saved, I can move on to any research institute I want to. They’ll let me head up teams. And on top of it, if you eliminate the fear constant, which I have to say is hard to do because the fear is pretty constant right now, it’s pretty exciting. I suspect this is how an astronaut feels before going into space. Only without the visions of demons ripping their limbs off and eating their entrails as an afternoon snack.”
The doctor chuckled and shook his head. “Focus on sorting through the pile of gear over there. Just call things out, and I’ll say ‘Yes,’ or ‘No.’ If you know already, then put them in the right spots.”
Alice grimaced and dug into the pile. “You know, if I lose a limb, you are totally inventing some incredible replacement for me. I want to be fucking Cable or something.”
Doctor Thorough nodded as he got lost in his own pile of gear. “You got it. Best superhero robot arm ever.”
Alice mumbled to herself as she tossed one of the gadgets in the “go to hell” pile. “Better be the best arm ever.”
She reached into the pile and pulled out a long rod with several wires flopping at the top. She squinted one eye and then nodded, reaching down and pulling up a large orb that attached. “Low-sensor-radioactive-charging-synthesizer. Yep, that’s going with us.”
She reached down again, coming up with a flat plastic rectangle. Alice looked around for the doctor, but she didn’t see him. “Dr. Thorough, do we need the high-molecular-bandwidth-distribution-and-atom—fuck, what was the last word?”
The doctor’s voice echoed from somewhere in the room. “Don’t remember, and no!” There was a moment of silence, then quick footsteps from the back room. The doctor stuck his head out of the back corner and narrowed his eyes. “Wait. That project weighs nine thousand pounds and is bigger than this room. How would we bring that?”
She looked down at the item in her hand and turned it over, slapping her forehead. “Oh, this is the remote control. How was I supposed to know? That was Trent’s project!”
The doctor’s face fell. “For a top-of-your-class Ph.D., you sure have your share of blonde moments. Let’s try to keep those at a minimum in hell. And if you had tried a little harder to get along with Trent, then maybe you would have remembered that.”
Alice stomped her foot, throwing the remote over her shoulder. “Hey! I can’t help it if he wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box. I tried to be nice to him, but he always thought he was right, even when I proved he wasn’t. He nearly melted down the entire core of the R-27 Hadron project that we worked nine months on. I don’t control stupid, doctor.”
Doctor Thorough chuckled and picked up a black case, opening it to reveal three glass cylinders of bright green liquid. “There you are, my babies. Alice! I found the demon blood we were experimenting on.”
“Perfect! Don’t drop it. You know what happened last time. They had to rebuild the entire south wing. Thank God, it was closed at the time. It was genius, though, absolutely genius to combine their blood with the molten special metal and hydrochloric acid. You can literally kill them with themselves.”
The doctor shrugged. “Yeah and melt a hole in the Earth to the core.”
Alice waved her hand dismissively. “Meh, that won’t matter in hell. If we get attacked, just have the merc chuck one of those at the demons and throw us through a portal. Bye bye, hell. Hello, Tahiti.”
Thorough closed the case and carefully set it on his desk. “I think I’ll ask them about it for next time. Don’t really want to test the stability on our first trip to hell. Don’t need it blowing up in my hand from the heat, either.”
“Probably a good idea. Save it for the big finale. Make a huge fireworks show out of melting demons.”
“Maybe you should have written movie scripts for a living.”
Alice stood up quickly with excitement. “Look! The atomizer I built when I first started working with you. We got the results for that first specimen that was brought to us. That woman who had the nasty demon that tried to chomp fingers off.”
“Oh, yeah. I forget what happened to that specimen.”
Alice laughed. “She nearly took Trent’s nose off, and he put a bullet in her head.”
Thorough shook his head. “That’s right. I came in to find a pile of dust on the examination table and Trent whistling in the back.”
Alice smiled. “Hey, the best kind of demon is a vaporized one.”
The avalanche skidded down the side of the mountain, taking droves of trees with it. It finally came to a stop at the base, pushing dunes of snow for about two miles. The cracking of the ice didn’t stop, and before long, large chunks were toppling down the mountainside. The echo of the snapping could even be heard two towns away from the mountain and all over the military base.
Hundreds of feet up the side of the rocky terrain, a crack formed in the ice, splintering across to the other side of the large block. It sat for a moment, slowing to a stop until suddenly, a huge fist slammed through it from underneath. The large, long talons stretched wide before slowly receding back down below the surface.
Again, the hand blasted through the ice, sending chunks flying every which way. The balled fist swung from side to side, pushing the ice out and over the edges of the mountain. The beast rumbled angrily inside, working as hard as he could to get himself free of his icy coffin. What was stirring below had awoken, and his bright red eyes beamed up through the shattered ice.
“Everyone got everything they’re going to need?” Brock asked, pulling the straps to his rucksack tighter.
One of the guys looked up, holding a picture in his hand. “They’re going to store the rest of this, right? And if something happens to us, they’ll send it to our families?”
Brock shrugged. “I’m assuming so, but I don’t know what the deal with this assignment is. It might be a disavow kind of assignment if we don’t come back. Most likely, it’ll be one of those ‘Died in a training accident,’ things. Yes, I think your family will get your stuff.”
Turner tossed a magazine into the trash. “Just in case. I don’t need my mom seeing my wrinkled-ass 1983 copy of Playboy. Might make her upset.”
The other guys laughed, and Brock shook his head. “Listen, guys, this is no different than before. We get to work alongside Katie, and you know she’s going to watch out for us. Now come on, we got to get out to the pads so when the choppers arrive, we can get the hell out of this jungle.”
They all finished packing up their things and headed outside, carrying only what they would need for the mission. They lined up near the helipads to wait, the choppers not quite there yet. Several of the guys in their unit walked to shake their hands.
“Good luck, guys,” one of them volunteered.
“Seriously, let’s end this bu
llshit. And if you see Lucifer, tell him I’ll see his ass soon, and I’m gonna have words.” Brock chuckled and slapped the guy’s hand.
The last guy in their unit nodded his head. “Give them hell…in hell. Shit, that’s redundant.”
14
Katie tapped her fingers against the arm of her seat. She looked out the window at the base approaching in the distance. She was in the middle of Colorado, the mountains looming in the background. It was gorgeous and definitely looked a lot colder than it was in New York.
Pandora was excited to get on the ground. I’m freaking starving. Let’s get this over with, so I can dive into some donuts.
Katie smiled. We have a lot of work on our hands, so just chill out, okay? You’ll get your food, I promise.
Better. Oh, look, an old ass base. Great.
Katie leaned forward for a better look. Coming up beneath them were two massive hangars. They were large enough to hold old blimps and had concrete buildings on each side. Katie knew those buildings led to the underground area of the base. Katie had gotten very used to underground bases and had come to like them better than most.
In the distance, dozens of heavy large electrical lines swooped down from tall poles about half a mile away all the way to the base. She wondered what all of them were for since her last base hadn’t had anything quite that extensive. At the same time, they didn’t have military money to work with, either.
Pandora was not at all in the mood for what they were planning. You know, this is a decent idea. I’m not going to say it’s not.
But?
But what I really want right now is an Italian dinner, a tight dress by an Italian designer, and an evening in a nightclub with a bunch of Italian men.
Katie rolled her eyes. Work and then play, Pandora.
You were all about play a few days ago.
I was all about sleep. That’s different.
They both involve lots of time in bed. Katie could almost hear Pandora’s grin.
Work now. Bedroom activities later.
Ugh, I feel like I’ve done enough work in my life.
The plane began making its descent, hitting the runway gently and quickly coming to a stop near one of the large hangar bays. She grabbed her bags and exited the plane. The place was quite a bit louder than she’d thought it would be. Shirtless men were maneuvering all around her, cleaning and prepping the base again. Katie lifted an eyebrow as two of them walked by. I think I found you the hot men you wanted.
That one kind of looks Italian. Do you think he can make me lasagna?
I’ll just grab a radio and bam! Club on the go.
Pandora sniffed. Although I prefer the ones who wear cologne and buy me drinks, these specimens will do.
One of them walked up to Katie, wiping his forehead on his T-shirt—that was in his hand. Steam rose off his skin, and Katie just stood there staring. He nodded toward the plane, oblivious. “We’ll get you unloaded and put your stuff in the secure hangar bay. If you head to the main building, they’re waiting to take you to your room.”
“Thanks. And nice uniform, by the way.”
Katie left him grinning on the tarmac. Pandora whistled loudly. Look at you getting all sassy pants hours before you voluntarily roll into hell. I guess you are feeling yourself today, sister.
Katie laughed. I guess I am.
They headed across the base and to the main building. One of the staff, a woman this time, was waiting to show Katie to her bunk. Pandora didn’t like the sound of “bunk.” It better be nicer than a fucking cot. I’m a queen.
Katie rolled her eyes. You used to be a queen. Now you’re a demon living inside a volleyball player. Plus, you’re on our side.
Don’t say that too loud. You’ll ruin my reputation.
The soldier led them into the underground base. They walked behind her hurrying to keep up. The base seemed to be all empty rooms and dimly lit halls. Wires snaked along the walls. Some were attached, and others just dangled from the ceiling. They passed by a large room full of computers and monitors, but none of the lights were on inside. A thick coating of dust covered almost everything in the room. Katie wrinkled her nose. This was probably mothballed decades ago.
I wonder if any of it works anymore. Hell, I’m wondering if we’re even breathing clean air. Pandora coughed dramatically.
Katie ran her hand over a small, broken screen on the outside of one of the rooms. It’s kind of like a ghost town. It’s weird.
Pandora grumped. Yeah, well, all I know is the general better come through with his promise of donut delivery every three days or Momma is going to be so pissed off. If it wasn’t a ghost town already, it would be when I got through with it. I’ll work from fucking New York City. It’s a civilized place. There are comfortable living arrangements, donuts down the street, and it doesn’t look like a sunken ghost ship.
“Here’s your room, but feel free to explore. The general left instructions that you had free reign. Please let us know if you need anything.” The soldier offered her a smile as she handed her a key.
“Thank you,” Katie replied, and the soldier left them alone.
She turned and stared at the door, almost too afraid to go inside. How about we explore first, and then maybe our room won’t seem so terrifying?
Pandora sighed. Yeah, probably a good idea. I don’t smell donuts in there anyway.
They took a tour back through the hallways. The hallways led to rooms mostly filled with empty bunks and abandoned equipment. They traveled back to the top of the base. Katie took in a lungful of fresh air.
No donuts up here, but no ghosts, either.
Katie froze a moment, startled. Ghosts? Can you really smell ghosts?
Not yet.
But if they were here?
They’d probably pay us to exorcise them from the spooky old base. This place sucks.
Katie snorted laughter and walked to the other hangar bay. Inside, there were people everywhere wearing welding helmets. They were working on creating steel walls for more protection against anything that might follow them out of hell.
Pandora looked around the room, impressed by the work they’d done so quickly. Guess this is the transfer room. We’ll work from here.
Katie scoffed, staring at the high ceilings and expansive space around her. More like the transfer hall.
“Katie.” The deep voice came from a tall man with a bushy mustache and perfectly pressed uniform as he walked over.
Katie smiled and shook his hand. “That’s me.”
“I’m Commander Ellison. I’m one of the men in charge here. I’m sorry I didn’t greet you as you got off the plane. As you can see, we’re working around the clock to prepare everything for you and your team.”
Katie looked around with him. “I see that. It looks like it’s really coming along.”
The commander looked proud. “It’s an old place, but it’s perfect for the cause. Have you been to your quarters yet?”
“Yes. Well, kind of. We decided to do some exploring first.”
He smiled. “Of course. I hope you find everything comfortable. We didn’t have a lot to work with. It’s not quite up to par with the base you just moved from, but it’s getting there.”
“I’m sure it will be fine.”
Commander Ellison put his hands behind his back. “I can make sure we get you whatever you need. You will tell me if anything’s missing?”
Do it. Do it. Do it.
Katie bit the inside of her lip and shrugged. “Donuts?”
Yesssss.
Timothy smiled at Stephanie and tapped her on the butt as he walked by. She was putting a fresh coat of paint on the walls of the new barracks.
“Lookin’ good, sister.”
Stephanie gave him a huge smile. “Thanks, girl, just trying to make it feel less Top Gun and more Vogue Homes.”
Timothy’s room was on the third floor, and the comms room was in the basement. He’d spent several hours down there already, testing equipment,
getting everything moved around, and getting caught up on what he’d missed.
“Mm-hmm, I know that’s right. Hey, where’s Calvin?”
Stephanie pointed down the hall. “Third door on your right.”
“Thank you,” he replied, blowing her a kiss.
Timothy sauntered down to the room and peeked his head inside. “Yoo-hoo, Calvin.”
Calvin groaned as he finished hanging a shelf and climbed down off a ladder. “Is that straight?”
Timothy tilted his head to the side. “Straight enough.”
Calvin lifted an eyebrow at him. “That’s not really what I was hoping for, but all right. What’s up? Did you get everything set up? It’s been on my mind, but I didn’t really want to come down there and harass you about it.”
Timothy nodded. “That’s appreciated. I don’t work well with big black men standing over my shoulder.”
“It’s a race thing?”
“It’s a concentration thing. I need my private time. Trust me, whatever anxiety you’ve been feeling about the new digs, triple that, and you have me. I went right down to my home away from home and set up the system first. We’re working for people, here. Then I got down to the real work. I added all my antivirus stuff, encrypted a bunch of text, and made sure all the cables were neatly stowed. The last thing I need is for you or Korbin to come stumbling in there like the oafs you are and trip over some crucial wiring. It could crash the whole damned system.”
Calvin sighed with relief. “Good, and we’re not oafs. I was really worried about the security and IT stuff. I know it’s the basis of almost everything we do. I was afraid we would be shut off from the world out here. The move was risky. We don’t know who could have been watching. It would have been the perfect time for an attack. Do you need anything extra out here since we’re even farther from the main strip?”
“Nope. I have all the computers running, and everything is humming along perfectly. I even got to see the different sectors. There were small portals but nothing too big. The backup system I placed at the station in New York kept everything going for them while we were down. I have to say, I’m pretty proud of it.” Timothy lowered his voice conspiratorially. “Between you and me, I didn’t have a chance to test that thing after installing it.” Timothy put his hands behind his back and followed Calvin around the room.
