Alone in the Crowd (The Chronicles of Anna Foster Book 3)

by Patrick Stutzman

  “Cuff her,” one of the soldiers ordered.

  Anna yelled as the trooper on top of her grabbed her wrists and flipped her over. “No, wait! You’ve got to listen to me!”

  Jason arrived, and a few of the guards to turn their rifles on him. He threw his hands up and moved back a couple of steps.

  “Not going to do anything,” he explained, his eyes locked on the weapons. “But, neither is she. She…”

  “She is going back to the colony,” one of the soldiers interrupted. “Her actions clearly show hostile intent.”

  Jason cringed. “She was ordered by Ms. Armstrong to come here!”

  A trooper pulled Anna to her feet by her shackled arms.

  One of the nearby scientists called out, “Beginning initial scan.”

  “No!” She struggled against her restraints. “You need to stop!”

  The trooper standing in front of her backhanded her across the jaw. “Silence!”

  Another scientist approaching the scene stretched out a hand toward Anna. “Wait a second. Why do we need to stop?”

  At that instant, Anna heard all the heavy machinery around her whine down. The lights that shone on the nearby devices ceased to glow. All the technology in the plaza shut down.

  Anna panned her gaze to the scientist in front of her and said with an irritated tone, “That’s why.”

  Chapter 11

  The clearing exploded with sudden activity and chatter as the scientists inspected their equipment. The military, apparently possessing cooler heads, quickly formed a defensive perimeter around the camp and attempted to reach the dispatch operator at the colony. Those surrounding Anna and Jason dispersed to assist.

  Frustrated, Anna sighed and turned to look at Jason, who stood a couple of meters behind her, a confused expression on his face.

  “Jason, do me a favor.”

  As he nodded, she continued, “Reach into my right hip pouch, pull out my laser cutter, and cut me free.”

  Jason frowned. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. They’re still…”

  “Get over here and cut me loose!”

  He sighed and moved behind her. “Okay.”

  He fished through the tool pouch for a few seconds until the needed device was in his hand. “Watch out.”

  Anna moved her hands apart as far as she could, cueing him to fire the cutter. A second later, the plastic strip binding her hands had been cut.

  “Whoa!” he yelped. “That was close.”

  She turned and rubbed her wrists, letting the cuffs fall to the ground. “Yeah, you have to be careful with those.”

  She retrieved the tool from his hands. “Thank you.”

  “Hey!” someone cried from behind her. Anna looked to see one of the soldiers pointing their way before rushing toward them.

  Rolling her eyes, Anna turned to face the approaching trooper.

  “Yes?” she asked, when he reached them a few seconds later.

  “What do you think you’re doing?”

  She cocked her head and glared at him. “Trying to help you.”

  “You should…”

  Anna interrupted, “I should talk to your commanding officer. Take me to him.”

  “But…”

  “Now!”

  “Yes, ma’am.” The soldier exhaled before he turned, indicating they were to follow him.

  “Captain!” he approached the officer a moment later, who was surrounded by a flock of troops near a bivouac erected several meters behind one of the roofless houses on the north side of the pyramid.

  “Try it again, sergeant!” the officer ordered. “We need to get that radio working!”

  “Captain!” the trooper shouted again. All of the troops in the vicinity turned their heads. The trooper stopped in front of the officer, saluted, and continued after the captain acknowledged the gesture, “Anna says she can help us.”

  “I am familiar with Ms. Foster’s expertise. Thank you, corporal. Carry on!”

  The corporal saluted again and departed toward the pyramid.

  Without waiting, the captain turned toward Anna. “Ms. Foster, what can you tell me about our current predicament?”

  “The pyramid has an automatic defense system.” She pointed at the ancient structure. “It activates an EM field that neutralizes our equipment when a focused scan is directed toward it. You may also find an impenetrable shield now surrounds the area, and we will not appear on any sensors scanning the area from the outside.”

  “Impenetrable?”

  With Anna’s nod as confirmation, the captain turned to one of the soldiers next to him. “Lieutenant, take a squad and check the site’s perimeter. Let’s see if this shield is in place.”

  While the lieutenant nodded and jogged away, another one said, “The EM field she mentioned would certainly explain the equipment failure.”

  The captain ignored his subordinate’s comment. “Do you have any idea what the source of this EM field is, Ms. Foster?”

  “I suspect that it comes from somewhere inside the pyramid, but I haven’t been able to locate it.”

  “Very good. Thank you, Ms. Foster.” He turned to another soldier.

  “Cooper!”

  A dark-skinned soldier turned to face the captain. “Yes, sir.”

  “Assemble a squad of troops and these brainiacs we’re babysitting and take them inside the pyramid. Find the source of this EM field and shut it down by any means necessary.”

  “Captain,” Anna interrupted. “I should go with them. I have been inside the pyramid and can help.”

  The officer looked her over for a second. “Very well.

  “Sergeant, take Ms. Foster with your squad. Do we have an extra set of fatigues here?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Issue her a weapon and assemble your squad.”

  “Sir?” Jason said. “What about me?”

  The captain briefly looked over him. “What about you? Do you have something to contribute to the team going inside?”

  “Well…” he started, but his voice trailed off.

  Anna looked at Jason. She could tell he wanted to go with her, but the officer had a point. The space inside the pyramid was enough to give most people claustrophobia, and sending a group in would make maneuvering difficult at best. She did not think he had any skills that would be useful for the expedition. After some thought, she remembered that he had a good eye for details, and he had noticed many things others would easily miss.

  “Actually,” Anna interjected. “He has good eyes. Considering we are looking for something that I haven’t found over the last ten years, he may be able to spot something I couldn’t. We need him inside.”

  The captain nodded. “Very well. You’re in.

  “Sergeant, issue this man a weapon as well. He’s going in, too.”

  Jason turned to Anna with a smile. “Thanks!”

  “Don’t thank me yet. You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”

  Several minutes later found them at the bottom of the stairs that led up the side of the pyramid along with two scientists and four soldiers armed with rifles. The soldiers were indistinguishable wearing their heavy, camouflaged uniforms and helmets – which would normally have a holographic visor glowing over their face. Anna could only tell them apart from a distance by their nametags. The scientists, on the other hand, were easy to identify. The male sported short, light brown hair and wore a khaki field jacket and cargo pants with a large tool pouch attached to his left hip. The woman, with her black hair tied back in a ponytail, wore a longer white jacket, like a labcoat, over her white blouse and blue jeans.

  Jason hefted the rifle requisitioned to him as if testing its weight and looked over the inactive ammunition readout. Anna shook her head in disbelief at his boyish attitude toward the weapon. He looked like he was playing with his new toy on Christmas morning.

  A sudden outburst of yells and grunts behind them prompted them all to turn toward the source of the activity. Near the edg
e of the clearing, a squad of four soldiers pummeled the impenetrable shield with shovels and other implements of manual labor. The strikes bounced harmlessly off the field, creating no apparent disturbance.

  “It’s no use,” she mumbled to herself.

  Jason stepped toward her. “What?”

  “The shield around the plaza. I’ve tried many times to break through it and failed every time. I seriously doubt that they’re going to succeed where I didn’t.”

  Jason looked back at the scene. “How long does it stay up?”

  She glanced at him. “Only a few hours, but none of our equipment is going to work until that shield is down.”

  He turned to face the pyramid and asked out of the corner of his mouth, “Do you think we can shut it off inside that pyramid?”

  “Doubt it. I’ve looked through it once before but didn’t find it. But, I do believe that those four metal obelisks near the top are responsible.”

  Jason nodded, shouldered the rifle, and breathed in deep. Anna turned her attention to the squad commander, Cooper, a higher-level sergeant from what she could tell of his rank insignia, as he barked in a gruff voice with a hint of a deep Southern accent, “All right! Move out!”

  Two soldiers took the lead up the stone staircase, followed by the scientists, Anna, and Jason. The sergeant and the last soldier took up the rear. Jason and the scientists stopped for a brief rest when they reached the top, before moving into the chamber.

  One of the two troopers in the lead entered the doorway, and Anna quickly followed him. Seeing the room again, Anna remembered the first time she had entered the room. Nothing had changed. The walls of dense stone, the deep shadow cloaking the room, and the air thick with dust was still the same as the first time a decade ago.

  The soldier stopped in front of the lever protruding from the wall and looked it over for a few seconds. His movements brought Anna back to the present.

  “It doesn’t work anymore,” Anna said, prompting a quick glance from the soldier. “I’ve tried a number of times. I only got it to work once.”

  He continued his examination of the wall. “What did you do to make it work?”

  “I pulled down on it.”

  “Let’s wait for our egghead friends to come check it out before we start messing around with things we don’t know about,” the sergeant interrupted as he stepped into the chamber.

  Anna faced him. “I’m not sure what they can do that we can’t. The lever won’t move.”

  “But, you said you pulled the lever before. What makes now different?”

  Anna shrugged. “Something happened with it after I pulled it the first time. I don’t know what happened. Maybe it locked after that.”

  “Maybe it locked.” Anna did not miss the skepticism in his voice. “If it can lock, then maybe it can unlock, too.”

  The male scientist entered and passed Cooper. “Excuse me.”

  He stepped up to the wall and, after attempting to turn on his flashlight and remembering that it didn’t work, turned his attention to the lever.

  “Hicks!” the sergeant barked. “Move!”

  The soldier next to Anna stepped away from the lever, giving the scientist full access to the assembly.

  The female scientist walked in, looked around, and scratched her head through her deep black hair. “It’s getting a bit crowded in here.”

  “Alright, Hicks,” the sergeant ordered. “Move out.”

  The two soldiers left, leaving Anna and the scientists to work. The male scientist examined the lever and the wall for a full minute. “I can barely see in here. Too bad our flashlights don’t work.”

  “I know. If we only…wait a second.”

  The woman reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a compact. Smiling to herself, she walked out of the chamber, opened the compact, and positioned the mirror to reflect the sunlight inside.

  “That’s a little better.” The man dusted his hands off on his pants.

  The woman called, “Ms. Foster, could you hold this while Cary and I work?”

  Anna nodded and took up the same position, keeping the mirror properly positioned.

  Cary cried, “Tomomi, take a look at this!”

  As Tomomi dashed back into the chamber, Jason moved next to Anna and leaned toward her. “Did they find anything yet?”

  Squinting, Anna peered into the chamber. “Maybe. It’s hard to tell right now.

  They and the soldiers, the ones who had taken up the rear earlier, shifted their gazes to look inside the room after Tomomi exclaimed, “Are you kidding me?”

  “What did you find?” The sergeant hustled to the doorway.

  “Well,” Cary started. “The writing on the wall around the lever… Excuse me, sir. You’re in the light.”

  He continued after the sergeant stepped to the side, “The writing on the wall here bears a striking resemblance to Sanskrit!”

  The leader shook his head. “So?”

  “It means that I can understand some of it.”

  “Oh, good!” the lead soldier exclaimed. “I’m glad that we can now have our foreign language lesson for the day.” Clearly not amused, his normal gruffness broke through. “Why don’t you read it and find out what it says?”

  Cary narrowed his eyes. “I’m working on it.”

  The sergeant turned away. “Fuller, get over here and relieve Miss Queen of the Jungle here on mirror duty!”

  “Queen of the Jungle?” Anna muttered before Jason gently took the compact from her hands. Once free, she moved into the chamber to help the scientists.

  The light reflected inside did not illuminate the room very much, but enough to let Cary and Tomomi work with little hindrance. While Cary probed the wall around the lever, Tomomi searched through the hole through which the lever extended.

  Anna looked at the two scientists for a few seconds. “Any luck?”

  Tomomi paused her activity. “I may have found something inside here, but I can’t be too sure without a little more light.”

  “On the other hand,” interrupted Cary. “I believe that I have something that might help. This section of stone wall around the lever has a very thin seam around it. If I am correct about this, the mortar between these stones is newer than anywhere else in this room.”

  Tomomi leaned closer to the wall and studied the stone, while Anna hustled across the chamber to join in her examination of the stonework.

  “Cary,” Tomomi said. “I think you’re right. It does look like the mortar here is a little brighter than…”

  “Come to think of it,” Anna interrupted. “I don’t believe there’s any mortar anywhere else in the pyramid, so this should be a dead giveaway.”

  Tomomi nodded. “I think you’re right, Anna.”

  “Sergeant!” Anna turned toward the door.

  The squad leader and two of his soldiers appeared in the doorway. “What is it?”

  “We need some tools to chip away at the wall. We may have found our way inside.”

  For the next hour, they chipped at the wall. This was followed by half an hour of removing the stone surrounding the lever from the wall. Inside was a complicated stone clockwork mechanism that connected the lever to a switch at floor level. It was immediately evident why the lever had stopped functioning.

  “One of the cogs is missing,” said Tomomi, disappointed.

  “What do you mean, ‘one of the cogs is missing’?” The sergeant looked frustrated.

  Anna shrugged. “One of the cogs is missing, preventing the lever from opening the door in the floor. Also, the lever is stuck in place. It probably has something jammed into its works.”

  “Well, fix it!”

  “Easier said than done. Without the right-sized cog, it may not move properly or at all. Also, a cog made from a weaker material could get crushed between the parts and jam it up even worse. But, I can see if we can bypass it.”

  “Then, quit jawing and get to work!” Cooper turned on his heel and marched out of the chamber.<
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  With a heavy sigh, Anna turned back to the mechanism and continued examining it with Cary and Tomomi. They pinpointed the part that unlocked the trap door about ten minutes later, and opened the way inside.

  “Sergeant,” Cary yelled. “We found it!”

  The sergeant stepped inside and, seeing the open hatch in the floor, nodded. “Alright, boys! Fall in! We’re going inside!”

  Chapter 12

  The group descended the stairs into the dark chamber below. The sergeant and one of his troopers took the lead. As Anna reached the steps behind Jason, who followed the squad leader, she heard the soft sounds of fabric rustling, followed by a snap and something shaking. A second later, a cool green light illuminated the bottom of the staircase.

  “Hicks,” bellowed the sergeant. “Use a light stick when you get down here.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  Jason turned to her, curious. “Do you think we’ll be alright?”

  “There wasn’t anything in here the last time.” Anna shook her head. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

  They were in the first chamber within a couple of minutes. The green light coming from the light sticks bathed the room in an eerie glow and cast multiple shadows across the unadorned stone walls. Anna felt the temperature drop a little after moving away from the staircase, and she rubbed her bare arm with her free hand to warm it. Cary and Tomomi, each with their own light stick, examined the room’s contents as they moved toward the next opening. While Tomomi moved immediately to the pottery standing in the closest corner, Cary pored over the murals of flora and fauna etched on the walls.

  “This is amazing!” His eyes lit up after a few seconds of close examination. “Although it’s faint, it looks as if the creatures in these pictographs have six legs.”

  “Really?” Tomomi diverted her attention away from the urns. “Let me see!”

  As she crossed the cramped room, Cary pointed to one subject in the picture.

  “Look here. If you look closely enough, you can see that they have additional legs on their backs.”

  “Wow! Why would that be?” Tomomi gasped.

  “Can it!” The sergeant’s bellow nearly caused Anna to jump out of her shoes. “We’ve got a god-damn pyramid to explore and some sort of EM generator to shut down! Until that job’s done, shut up! You can admire the decorations later! Anderson, move out!”