by Paul Moxham
“Don’t you trust him?” Logan questioned.
“Don’t tell anyone I said this, but a week or so ago, when I couldn’t sleep, I wandered around aimlessly and ended up in a tunnel that leads off from the main cave. There was a light coming from one of the tunnels that has been closed off since I’ve been here, so curiosity got the better of me.”
“Was Hugo down there?” Logan asked.
Kumi gulped. “Yeah. The tunnel came out into a small cave filled with all this electronic equipment. Hugo was at a desk, talking quietly into some kind of speaker.”
“Could you hear him?” Logan asked.
“Unfortunately not,” Kumi replied. “I didn’t dare stay long, for I knew that whatever was going on wasn’t something that I, or anyone else for that matter, was supposed to know about.”
Logan raised an eyebrow. “Why do you say that?”
“Well, because one of the reasons that Quinn gave us for staying put is because the military doesn’t know where we are and that we have no way to communicate with them,” Kumi replied. “That communication system I saw looked very powerful and sure seemed to be working fine to me, so why wouldn’t he have mentioned it?”
“Maybe Quinn doesn’t know about it,” Logan said.
Kumi guffawed. “No, Quinn knows everything that happens around here. It’s creepy how much he knows. It’s almost like he has cameras everywhere. One time someone tried to steal some food so they could leave the place. They were caught within minutes of their escape.”
“What happened to them?” Logan asked.
“No one knows.” Kumi glanced around the cave, and as she saw Quinn approaching them, she smiled at Logan. “Just be careful.”
~*~*~
“I’m going for a little walk,” Molly stated. “My legs need a stretch after sitting down for so long.”
As the girl stood up, Derek did the same. “I’ll join you.”
“Stay with each and don’t go near the farmhouse,” Kenneth ordered. “Oh, better leave the dog with me. You don’t want to be chasing after rabbits.”
“No, we don’t.” After patting the animal, Molly put the lead on the dog before handing the other end to Kenneth. Then, waving goodbye, she led the way down the hill. They were soon near the farmhouse. However, just as they reached it, she turned away in the opposite direction.
Derek grabbed his sister’s arm. “Wait! Let’s go closer and see if we can see anyone.”
“But Kenneth told us—” Molly said.
“I know what Kenneth said,” Derek interrupted. “But he’s not the boss of us. Besides, how are we going to know if the Seods are gone if we don’t go near?”
“Well, I’m sure Kenneth would check the out the farmhouse later when it’s closer to Logan coming back,” Molly stated.
“But what if Logan comes back early?” Derek questioned. “He could already be on his way right now. And imagine what would happen if he landed while the Seods were still here.”
“You do make a good point,” Molly admitted. “Okay, let’s get a bit closer. But we can’t go into the farmhouse.”
Derek hurried away in the direction of the farmhouse, his sister on his heels.
~*~*~
With a rucksack on his back and a Glock in his pocket, Logan followed Hugo through the woods. “So, how well do you know Quinn?”
“Why do you ask?” Hugo asked.
“I just thought you two seemed to get along a bit better than anyone else did,” Logan replied.
“If you’re asking me if I met Quinn before the invasion happened, the answer is yes,” Hugo said.
“How did you meet him?”
Hugo stopped walking for a moment as he turned toward Logan. “The only reason I’m here with you right now is because of Dahlia. She means the world to Quinn and it’s only because he asked that I’m here with you. If I had my choice of partners, you wouldn’t be here.”
“If you dislike me so much, why not do this rescue mission yourself?”
“Because one of us needs to provide a distraction while the other rescues Dahlia. And, since Quinn believes you’ve got the resourcefulness and skill within you to rescue his woman, I’m willing to abide by his way. Now, if we’re quite done talking, let’s move off, we still have a fair way to go until we reach the place.”
“So what exactly is this place? A cabin? A farmhouse? Quinn hardly told me anything, just handed me this rucksack and wished me luck.”
“You’ll get all the answers once we reach the place.”
Logan fell silent as he followed Hugo through the woods. It was clear that he wasn’t going to get a solid answer about the mission quite yet. He would just have to wait and see what happened once he got there.
His thoughts turned to Kenneth and the teenagers. If Quinn had welcomed him with open arms, Logan would have told him about the others, but since this group of people weren’t exactly friendly, he didn’t want to tell them anything more than he had to. At least Saco was friendly. And she seemed willing to let her guard down when she talked to him, something which Hugo obviously hadn’t.
He didn’t know for how long it would take Kenneth to realize that he wasn’t flying back to meet them at the farmhouse, all he could hope for was that when he did come to the realization that something had gone wrong, that he would head for Stinson Beach. With any luck, the four of them, along with Lucy, would all be together at the lodge within a matter of days from now.
As the terrain becoming increasingly more difficult, Logan had to focus all his attention on keeping up with Hugo, who was obviously an experienced hiker.
It took a while, but finally Hugo slowed down and glanced behind him. “We’re here.”
Excited to see what their objective was at last, Logan hurried up to his companion who was resting against a pine tree which grew quite close to a cliff.
Logan came to a stop by the side of the cliff and peered over. In the valley below, nestled next to the cliff was a large wooden house. There was no road leading to or from the structure, but there was a clearing just in front of the house and that was where a small plane sat. “Is Dahlia in the house?”
“Yes.”
“How many guards are there?”
“Depends. Last time there was five, the time before that there was three.”
Logan frowned. “How many times have you attempted to rescue this woman?”
“Enough to know that the only way down is for you to rappel down the cliff.” Hugo took off his backpack and rustled deep in its pockets. A moment later he pulled out a chunk of rope and started tying one end around the trunk of a pine tree. “I’ll keep guard up here while—”
“Wait! Is that the big plan? For me to go down there while you stay up here?” Logan shook his head. “That is a dumb plan. Why don’t we—”
“Do you want to help Lucy or not?” Hugo interrupted. “If so, you follow my orders.”
“But I don’t even know what Dahlia looks like,” Logan muttered. “I mean, I know she has black hair, but that’s all. What if—”
“There’ll only be one woman in the house,” Hugo stated. “But if you are unsure, have a look at her hands. She only has four fingers on her left hand. Now, do you have enough bullets for that Glock?”
Logan nodded. “Yes, as long as there’s not an army down there.”
“When you get Dahlia, bring her over by the rope,” Hugo ordered. “I’ll pull her up while you keep the guards busy. Once she’s up, I’ll do the same with you. And remember, Quinn won’t be happy until Dahlia is by his side, so don’t slack off at any point in this mission, understand?”
“I’ll do my best.” Logan took off his rucksack and, after grabbing two smoke bombs, which he placed in his pockets, he prepared to rappel down the cliff.
A few minutes later, once everything was in position, he held onto the rope with both hands and started rappelling down the cliff.
Chapter 25
Molly gazed at the farmhouse. “It looks like they’ve gone
.”
Derek nodded. “Yes, so let’s go closer.”
“But Kenneth told us not to,” Molly argued.
“Yes, but …” Derek frowned. “Hey! Is that smoke?”
“Yes, it is!” Molly exclaimed, seeing the billowing of smoke exiting the kitchen window.
Derek rushed forward, Molly close on his heels. “I wonder what could have caused it.”
“Maybe the Seods ransacked the place and, in doing so, accidentally started the fire,” Molly suggested.
“Possibly.” Derek pushed open the back door into the kitchen. He saw with surprise that the fire was small, really small in fact. There were hardly any flames at all, mainly smoke.
He rushed over to the kitchen sink and, after grabbing a bowl and filling it with water, tossed the liquid onto the bundle of fire which was smoldering on the kitchen floor. With Molly helping him, it didn’t take long before the flames and smoke had stopped completely.
Molly wiped a hand across her brow. “I don’t understand it. Why would someone do something like this?”
“It wasn’t just anyone,” Derek muttered. “It was the Seods.”
“But why? It doesn’t make any … ” Amy froze with fear. “You’re not thinking what I’m thinking, are you?”
Derek slowly nodded as he cautiously glanced around. “It’s a trap.”
The teenagers darted to the back door without another word but skidded to a stop as it was open from the other side and a Seod emerged.
The creature held up one hand and uttered one word in perfect English. “Stop!”
Derek spun around and ran down the hallway to the front door, his eyes darting this way and that, sure that the other Seod was in the vicinity.
As the teenager caught sight of the other Seod by the living room door, he grabbed hold of an umbrella and threw it at the alien.
Derek then slammed his body into the front door. With an ear splintering crash, the timber smashed apart and he tumbled onto the gravel outside. As he stumbled to his feet, he saw Molly approach and offer her hand. “Go!”
Molly didn’t argue, but it didn’t matter. As she ran down the driveway there was a soft whine and a hovercraft type thing emerged from the barn and glided toward her.
Molly skidded to a stop and glanced behind her. As she saw a Seod standing next to Derek, her shoulders sank and she dragged her feet back to her brother.
As Derek watched the hovercraft thing glide toward them, he marveled at how quiet it was. Only a soft whine emerged from the square vehicle. While the bottom matched the look of a hovercraft, since it was rubber looking, the upper part looked more like a tank. It was white, and looked like it was made of the same metal as the briefcase had been made out of. A turret with some sort of cannon protruded from the top.
As it came to a stop beside them, the side door opened and another Seod emerged. He stalked toward the teenagers, his right hand clutching a silencer.
~*~*~
As Logan’s feet touched the grass, he quickly untied the rope that had been around his waist and, after giving a wave up to Hugo to show that everything was okay, he hurried over to the building.
A few trees grew here and there, but there was no garden to speak of. Curtains were pulled closed on all the windows and not a single sound could be heard.
He strode quickly but quietly to the back door. Deciding he didn’t have time to waste, he clutched his gun firmly in one hand while he knocked on the door with the other.
The seconds passed but the door remained shut. He waited until he could wait no more. After testing the handle to make sure it wasn’t unlocked, he raised his leg up and kicked the door open.
With a crash of broken timber, the door flung open. Logan spun to one side, expecting a hail of bullets to follow. But none came.
Still wary, but now suspicious, he entered the lodge. He stealthily went from one room to the next. While it was daytime, due to the closed curtains in all the rooms, it made it seem as though it was dusk.
However, it was still light enough to see the blood on the floor and walls. There had clearly been some kind of fight recently. While most of the blood was red, some of it was blue. That could only mean one thing.
Seods had been in the house and not that long ago.
How much did Hugo really know of this? Was that why he had sent him down alone? Or would he be as surprised as he was when he told him what he had found? Logan was unsure, but there was only one way to find out.
As he reached the final room and didn’t find anything of interest, he walked back down the hallway. There wasn’t anyone the house so there wasn’t any point in staying any longer.
However, just as he passed the kitchen, a noise brought him to a standstill. It was a cat meowing. Was it just his imagination or was it really a cat?
With his hand back on his gun, he turned around and inched his way back down the hallway, his head turning this way and that as he tried to determine where the noise had come from.
As he reached the next room, a study, the sound became quieter. So, he turned around and tiptoed back to the kitchen. Halfway there he came to a stop.
One of the floorboards didn’t have any nails on it. In fact, two of the planks didn’t. He walked forward and knelt down. Listening closely, he realized he was right. The sound was coming from below the planks.
There was only one way he was going to find out who or what was hiding below the planks. Gambling that whoever was down there was on his side, he dropped his weapon and grabbed the first plank with both hands.
As he tossed the plank aside a moment later, he gazed down into the face of a woman who had long, black hair.
~*~*~
Kenneth awoke the sound of Toby barking. He quickly sat up and patted the animal who was pulling tight on the lead which had been tied around the nearby tree. “What’s wrong, Toby?”
The collie barked again and again. As much as Kenneth tried to quiet the animal, he couldn’t. A feeling of dread filled his heart. Something was wrong.
Wanting to know why the dog was barking madly, he untied the lead from the pine tree and proceeded to walk down the hill. However, he didn’t get far before the animal yanked on the lead and the end that Kenneth had clutched onto was torn out of his hand.
As the dog bounded down the hill, Kenneth ran after him, desperate to know what was happening to make the dog act so. A few moments later, he began to smell something. It took him another second to realize it was smoke.
It was coming from the farmhouse. “Those fools!” Kenneth ran through the woods, getting closer and closer to the farmhouse. However, when he emerged from the tree line, he came to stop.
Smoke billowed high up into the sky while orange flames tore through the outer frame of the farmhouse. As the wood crackled and glass splintered from the outside, Toby continued barking and pawing at the ground.
A desperate thought tore through his head. Were Derek and Molly inside? Was that why Toby was going crazy. He yelled out. “Derek! Molly!”
There was no answer. He ran around to one of the side windows and shouted again. “Derek! Molly!”
There was still no answer. He hurried forward and gazed through the study window. The room was ablaze. The fire was everywhere. On the curtains, on the carpet, on the walls. It would be madness to attempt searching and he knew it.
Disheartened, he slunk back to the driveway. He had told the teenagers to not head back to the farmhouse, but what if they had disobeyed him? Surely he would have seen them by now if they had been hiding in the bushes.
Also, who started the fire? Was it an accident, or deliberate? Had the Seods done so? But what would they have had to gain by doing so?
Kenneth had no idea. He sat down on the grass beside the driveway and watched as the roof collapsed onto the rest of the farmhouse.
~*~*~
“Can you tell me what happened?” Logan asked, gazing into the face of the woman.
“I’m not sure.” The woman cradled a blank cat in her
arms as she rocked in a chair. “I heard stuff, but I didn’t see anything. And even some of the stuff I did hear I couldn’t understand.”
Logan raked a hand through his brown hair. “Can’t you tell me anything?”
“Can we get out of here?” the woman asked. “This place gives me the creeps.”
“Sure,” Logan replied. “Mrs.?”
“Dahlia. Just Dahlia,” the woman replied.
Logan held out his hand as Dahlia stood up. “Here, let me help you.” As the woman took his hand, he glanced down and was satisfied to see that what Hugo had said was true. She had four fingers on her left hand.
He had no idea how she had ended up in the hole below the floorboards or why she had even been in the house in the first place, but at least she didn’t look too disheveled. And anyway, he had now completed his mission. All he needed to do was to return to Quinn with her in tow.
As they emerged outside, Logan took a moment to gather his surroundings. Seeing it looked the same as before, they walked towards the cliff face. As they got closer, Logan saw the rope dangling in the breeze, just like he had left it.
However, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Maybe it was because it had been too easy. Not that he wanted it to be hard, but it had been exactly has Hugo had said. Well, not exactly, but close enough.
Logan suddenly was brought to a stop by the sound a gun going off. A second later, the black cat dropped from the woman’s arm, blood pouring out of the middle of it. Logan yanked the woman to the ground and they tumbled onto the grass.
A second later, the weapon rang out again. This time, the bullet lodged itself in the dirt a foot away from Logan’s head. He whipped his head toward the sound of the weapon and was startled to see Hugo standing on top of the cliff with a rifle in his hand.
