by Paul Moxham
Frank let out a ragged breath. “We’re in. I can’t friggin’ believe it.”
“So what do we do now?” Derek asked.
Frank looked out of the glass screen and watched as the pilots climbed out of their Strikers and headed for the doors that led out of the hangar. “We wait until everyone is gone. We can’t afford to be seen leaving the hangar. If we’re seen now, we’ll never complete our objective.” Frank fussed over his watch. “But we don’t have much time to play with. A maintenance crew normally comes along ten minutes after everyone has left and checks out each aircraft, so we’ll have to be out of here by then.”
“But won’t we be spotted when we leave the hangar and go into the next room?” Molly asked. “It’s not like we look like everyone else.”
“I know. I’m just trying to think of a solution to that.” He gazed down at the floor and closed his eyes.
Derek looked at the few remaining Seods still talking near the hangar door. “If only we were invisible.”
Frank perked up and looked at Derek. “What did you just say?”
Derek hesitated. “What?”
“Just repeat what you said just then!”
Derek made eye contact with the others before clearing his throat. “If only we were invisible.”
Frank stood up and looked through the glass at the Seods by the door. “Why didn’t I think of that earlier?”
“Think of what?” Lucy asked, not quite sure what Frank was talking about.
“We can be invisible. At least, not all of us, but Molly can,” Frank said.
“I don’t understand,” Molly said, confused.
“Yeah, me too. Molly looks a lot different from a Seod,” Derek said.
Frank nodded. “She does now, but she won’t soon.”
“What do you mean?” Molly asked.
Frank left the cabin and went into the other one. He came back half a minute later with a white suit, just like the ones that Seods wore. “These are specifically designed for the height of our species, which, in your terms, is around five feet one inches.”
“But I’m a bit taller than that,” Molly said.
Frank shook his head. “That doesn’t matter. Just try to slump a bit. As long as you look relatively the same as everyone else, no one will take any notice of you.”
“But what is Molly expected to do?” Lucy asked. “She doesn’t know the first thing about the Conqueror. None of us do.”
“That’s why I’ll be with her,” Frank answered.
“Will you be wearing a suit as well?” Lucy asked.
“No, I only have one,” Frank said.
“Then how can you?” Derek asked. “You look like a human.”
“I know.” Frank handed the suit to Molly. “Just try putting it on.”
As Molly attempted to put the white suit on, Lucy looked at Frank. “What about Derek and me?”
“Stay here,” Frank said. “The maintenance crew will come—”
“So what do we do then?” Lucy said. “It’s one thing to stay here and hide, but if someone’s going to come—”
“They won’t find you if you’re quiet.” Frank dashed to the middle of the cabin and knelt down. He plucked at something in the floor, and for the first time, the others noticed that there was a hatch. He pulled up the hatch. “This is where the hand-held weapons go. For now, it is empty. And that being the case, there should be enough room to fit the both of you.”
“Should?” Lucy peered down into the dark expanse. “I don’t like small spaces.”
“Good thing there are two of you then,” Frank replied, smiling and trying to lighten the mood. “Anyway, it’s the best we can do under the circumstances.” He turned to Molly, who was now dressed in the suit and looked like any other Seod. He grinned. “That’s pretty good. It should pass most tests. Now put the helmet on.” As Molly put the helmet on, he whistled. “You look just like the real thing.”
“What if someone talks to her?” Lucy said. “She can’t speak your language.”
“That’s why I’ll be there,” Frank said. “Now, before you wonder why I don’t go by myself, I want to say that I might require the help of someone if things don’t turn out the way that they should. And, as you two are too tall, Molly is the only choice.”
“But how can you be with her?” Derek said. “You told us that we can’t go out there because of the way we look, so how can you?”
Frank pressed a button and a slot in the wall opened up. He took out a silencer and handed it to Molly. “Be careful with this. Whatever you do, don’t press the trigger.” As the girl took the weapon, Frank explained. “Molly will be transporting me as a prisoner.”
“A prisoner?” Lucy frowned. “Do you mean that there are other humans on board this aircraft?”
Frank hesitated for a moment before he replied, “Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell us that earlier?” Lucy said. “There’s no way we can blow this aircraft up without rescuing them.”
Frank shook his head. “No, we don’t have time. We’re late enough as it is.” He turned to Molly. “Let’s get going before the maintenance crew arrives.”
Frank covered the door and peeked out, but he snapped his head around as Molly just stood there like a statue. “What’s wrong now?”
Molly took off the helmet and looked back at the others before turning to Frank. “Lucy’s right. We have to rescue the prisoners.”
Frank stared at the three of them. “Are you serious? Do you know how much chance of success we have now? There’s no way we’ll be able to destroy the armory and rescue the prisoners. Besides, I don’t even know how many there are.”
“Why were they taken prisoner in the first place?” Derek asked, curious.
“I don’t know,” Frank admitted.
“What do you know?” Lucy questioned.
“Not much. One of my contacts told me that an order had gone out to collect a certain number of people. I know it’s not much, but that’s all I have at this stage. We can’t save everyone. Too much is at stake.”
“This is our planet,” Lucy said. “And they’re humans. One of us.”
“I feel sorry for them, but we would be risking—” Frank said.
“Let’s just try,” Molly interrupted. She glanced toward her brother. “I wouldn’t be standing here if someone hadn’t helped me, and I don’t want anyone to have that feeling of hopelessness, not if I can help it.”
Frank strode to the glass screen and looked through it. No one could be seen. “We have to leave now. We don’t have time to discuss it. Besides, it’s one thing for me and you to blow up the armory and escape, but another thing to have ten or so humans joining us.”
Suddenly, two Seods entered the hangar.
Derek noticed the aliens weren’t in the white suits he’d always seen the others wearing. “Hey, they’re wearing different clothes.”
Everyone studied the close-fitting, olive-green silk garments. Frank gazed as the Seods strolled toward them. “That’s what they wear underneath the suits. The suits are mainly designed for warfare, so there’s no need to wear them inside an aircraft.” Frank drummed his thumb on the sight of his weapon. “Hmm, I wonder why they’re heading our way.”
Everyone fell silent as the Seods kept on walking toward them. Fortunately, they stopped next to the runway.
“I wonder if …” Frank peered down the runway and noticed a Striker as it entered the Conqueror. “Of course, they must be waiting for that.”
“Maybe there’s someone important in it,” Derek said.
They all watched as the Striker slowed down and came to a stop in front of them. The door opened and a Seod stepped out. He held a silencer.
Two humans were pushed past him and scampered out of the aircraft. Everyone on the Striker gasped when their grim faces came into view.
Chapter 15
As the seconds passed and no one appeared at the small cave, Logan’s cheek twitched more and more. There’d been too ma
ny close calls in the last week. Every single time, the first indication that the plan was in trouble was when someone didn’t show up on time. Logan checked his watch yet again and took a ragged breath. The contact was only two minutes late after all. Maybe Seods weren’t as punctual as humans, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was up.
Logan peered down the tunnel, listening carefully. Only silence greeted him. Deciding to give their contact the benefit of the doubt, he nudged Mike. “Is the rest of the base like this? Just a lot of small winding tunnels?”
Mike shook his head. “The tunnels are a large part of this structure, but there are quite a few massive caves in the center of this base.” He touched the wall of the cave that they were currently standing in. “As you can see, this is pure rock. No support from wood or metal or anything like that.”
“Are you not afraid of it falling down?” Jet asked as he tried to see how stable the wall was.
Mike shook his head. “No. It’s been this way for some time, even before we came here.”
Kenneth frowned. “What? Before you came here?”
“But I thought your species built this place?” Logan asked.
“No, we didn’t. Actually, we took it over from …” Mike paused as he heard a noise in the tunnel. He peered out and smiled in relief as his contact sauntered toward them. “I was beginning to wonder—”
“Run!” the newcomer bellowed. “They’re …” The Seod stumbled and hit the rock floor hard as green bolts tore through him.
Mike froze in shock. His mouth was wide open. He couldn’t believe it. He was shaken out of his shock as a green bolt hit his arm. “Aaggh!” He drew his body back into the cave.
“What the hell happened out there?” Jet said, looking at Mike.
Mike took out his silencer. “Someone betrayed us.”
“Who?” Kenneth asked, worried.
“I don’t know.” Mike paused as green bolts hit the cave entrance. He edged back a foot to avoid the broken bits of rock and shouted at the others, “All I know is that we’re being shot at.”
Logan tried to peek around the entrance of the cave, but he could only do so for a second or two before more green bolts shot toward him.
“What did you see?” Kenneth asked.
“It was too dark to see much,” Logan admitted. “However, I think I saw three Seods.”
Jet spit out a mouthful of pulverized rock dust. “Is there another way out of this cave?”
“No,” Mike muttered as he glanced toward the cave entrance. The green bolts had stopped momentarily. “Whoever is out there is to the left. If we were to go to the right, we could escape. The tunnel splits into two just around the next bend, so if we can get to the intersection, they won’t know which way we will have gone.”
Logan slapped his knees. “That sounds like the best plan. But what’s to stop them from coming after us straight away?”
“I’ll stay and give them a taste of their own medicine.” Mike edged closer to the cave entrance. “When I start shooting, run as fast as you can. Once you get to the intersection, head left. Got that?”
“Sure, but what about the backpacks?”
“They’ll weigh us down if we take them,” Jet stated.
“But we need them to blow up the weapon emplacements,” Kenneth said. “We can’t afford to leave them behind. Without them, our mission is over.”
“Fine. We’ll take them, but dump everything except the demo charges.” Logan stuck out his hand. “We’ll wait for you just after the turnoff.”
“Thanks. Good luck to you all.”
Gripping the silencer tightly, Logan peered forward and got the shock of his life as he came face to face with a Seod in a white suit. He hollered at the others, “Go!”
Mike fired point-blank at the Seod, who, as he wore the protective suit, was somewhat protected. The Seod reached for his silencer and fired back.
Without the suit to protect him, and being so close to his opponent, the energy bolts went right through Mike. Blue liquid spilled all over the cave floor as he collapsed to the ground, his weapon dropping to the ground, out of his limp hands.
As the others raced down the darkened hallway, their flashlights lighting up the darkness, the Seod fired green bolts in their direction.
The blasts smashed against the rock wall, narrowly missing most of the group as they fled, but Jet wasn’t so lucky. A green bolt caught his leg. He tumbled to the ground and cried out.
Hearing Jet cry out, Kenneth twisted his neck around. Seeing his friend in danger, he rushed back, only to be met by a stream of green bolts as more Seods in white suits appeared from within the darkness and converged on the fallen body.
“Shoot!” Kenneth skidded to a stop on the loose rock. He didn’t like leaving Jet, but it would be suicidal to try to rescue him. He reached the intersection and charged left, fighting back tears. He raced down the tunnel, the light from his flashlight bobbing to and fro. Catching sight of another light, Kenneth prayed it was his brother and not another Seod.
Luck was with him. “Where’s Jet?”
“He didn’t make it.” Kenneth glanced back. “I don’t know how many there are, but there sure seemed like a lot. I think we might have met our match.”
“As long as we keep moving at the same pace as them, they can’t catch up,” Logan said.
Kenneth followed his brother as they wound their way down the tunnel. Soon, footsteps sounded behind them. “They’re catching up,” he muttered, glancing anxiously at Logan.
Logan increased his pace and tried to go as fast as he could in the tunnels. The brothers still heard the footsteps. In fact, they seemed even closer.
“Damn!” Logan thrust his backpack onto the ground. He took out a silencer and muttered to Kenneth, “Drop yours as well. If we’re going to get out of here, we’ll have to be as light as possible.”
Kenneth did as Logan suggested, and the brothers raced down the tunnel. It was a long, long tunnel, and Logan knew that it would have to end sooner or later.
Before long, they spotted a light up ahead and Logan switched his flashlight off. Slowing down, he approached the exit, hoping that he would be able to see some way of getting out of the mountain.
He came to a stop just before the exit and his face fell. The tunnel led out to a massive cave. It was the largest Logan had ever seen.
Even though Logan knew that he was deep inside Mount Shasta, it seemed light. Really light. Glancing up, he spotted a patch of blue sky above him. He frowned at Kenneth. “Hey, that must be the hole the general saw in those photos.”
“Hmm. I wonder if they created it for that thing?” He pointed to a rocket-shaped object that was lying in the center of the cave. It was massive, half the height of the cave and as wide as two helicopters.
The cave was abuzz with Seods in olive green. They appeared to be doing a variety of jobs that all involved fixing up the rocket.
A noise flooded Logan with adrenaline. The Seods would see them in just a matter of seconds. He hurriedly looked around the cave. Several of the aliens in white suits milled about, chattering amongst themselves.
Suddenly, a green bolt grazed the wall of the tunnel as their pursuers caught up with them. Logan and Kenneth quickly stepped out into the cave to avoid any more green bolts.
Logan quickly hid his silencer in his pocket. The Seods in the cave halted what they were doing and whipped their weapons up at the two humans. Before any of them could shoot them, Logan and Kenneth raised their hands.
“Don’t shoot!” Logan flapped his arms and hissed to Kenneth, “Don’t try anything. There’s no way we can blast our way out of this mess.”
Kenneth nodded as the Seods who had been chasing them through the tunnel advanced toward them. All five were dressed in white suits and carried silencers.
Logan and Kenneth were herded in one direction, and with the eyes of everyone in the room on them, the humans followed two of the Seods through the massive cave while the other three
brought up the rear.
Logan kept his hands up, as did his brother. This wasn’t the time or place to try and start something. As he passed the rocket, he spotted two Seods putting some liquid through a hole in the side of the rocket. Before he could see anything else, he was pushed to the right and toward another tunnel.
This tunnel was lit by some kind of object that protruded from the tunnel roof. Logan was in the middle of thinking of a way he could distract the Seods when they paused by a door set in the cave wall.
After thrusting the door open, a Seod pushed the two of them inside and closed the door. As Logan and Kenneth stood still, wondering what was going to happen next, most of the Seods, all except one, continued down the tunnel.
The remaining Seod took one look at the humans before he moved to the left of the door and leaned against the tunnel wall.
Logan’s heart sank. Maybe if they had been left alone they could have had a chance of escaping, but not now. One sign of attempting to escape and the Seods would be alerted.
Logan glanced across at his brother. “We’ve been in tight spots before, but this one tops them all. There is no way at all that we can escape.”
“What about the door?” Kenneth stretched his hand out to it. “If—”
“No.” Logan put an arm on his brother’s shoulder and stopped him from reaching for the door. “Let’s just go and lie down. They’ve beaten us. If you run, you’ll just die tired.”
“What the hell is wr—”
“For once, just don’t argue.” Logan gave him a wink, slumped his shoulders, and shuffled to the back of the cave. Kenneth growled, but like always, he soon followed.
~*~*~
As General Loreto and Lieutenant Davidson marched toward the entrance of the hangar, Molly saw that their uniforms were bloody. “They must have had a rough time.”
“Who wouldn’t have?” Derek muttered. “Redding was wiped out. I’m surprised they’re still alive.”
“What will happen to them?” Lucy asked, watching as the two soldiers were led toward the main doors of the hangar.
