“Hurry,” Dean urged her as he tugged her waist. Riley couldn’t stop him. He practically lifted her right off her feet. Up ahead Riley caught a glimpse of Anna’s cold visage, her features carved into anger, before the heaving crowd moved between them.
“I have to get William,” Riley gasped.
“He’s with Kholar. He’s safe.” Dean didn’t even turn around.
“You don’t understand,” she cried, gasping as a stitch caught in her side. Dean sped up, as did those around them. It was hard to see where to put her feet. If she fell, she’d be trampled.
“The island is collapsing,” Dean shouted. “Run.”
Galvanized by the sudden fear of millions of tons of water rushing into the tunnels in a swirling, churning wall of death, Riley sprinted forward. Her throat constricted with fear. “Where are we?” she started to gasp, but Dean’s sharp tug on her wrist silenced her. The tunnel turned abruptly to the right, and up ahead, the solid metal door of the underwater craft was wide open. The bright light of the ship spilled into the tunnel like a welcome. Riley put on a burst of speed.
Behind them, a distant roaring was growing from barely perceptible to massive. No need to ask what it was.
“Go,” Dean yelled.
Riley’s arm was nearly pulled from her socket. The advancing roar grew louder. It drowned out Dean’s next shout.
Riley couldn’t help herself.
She turned around.
Several operatives passed her, shoving her into the wall in their desperation to reach the ship. Dean lost his grip on her wrist. She was slammed against the wall for a second. Her head rang.
She looked up.
A colossal wall of water, churning over itself like a moving Niagara Falls was rushing up the tunnel. Foaming death, tinged pink by the wall lights, bubbling and frothing wildly. The roar filled her ears. A lone figure was running unbelievably fast in front of the water, heading towards her and safety.
For a second, she was paralyzed with fear and awe. Whoever he was, he wasn’t going to make it.
The man put on a sudden impossible burst of speed, dashing towards her into the light. It was Tyrell. He didn’t slow as he grabbed Riley around her waist. She was lifted up. Thrown over his shoulder. The wind was knocked out of her lungs.
The last few jarring strides brought her into the brightness of the ship and the awaiting crowd. The small entryway to the underwater craft was dark metal and crowded with the Tyons who’d reached safety before them. She craned her neck over Tyrell’s shoulder, gasping to get her breath back.
The water was almost upon them. The advancing gust of air pushed her bangs off her forehead. The spray hit her face.
The metal door slammed shut with a resounding clang, only inches away.
The water hit the door with the force of a bomb. There was a groaning, tearing sound all around them that made Riley’s heart stand still. Another massive shudder of the rocks around them and the ship itself sent Tyrell towards the floor. They both fell hard. Riley’s left arm ended up awkwardly underneath her, and Tyrell landed heavily across her hips. She lost her breath. She tried to suppress the cry of pain. Tears filled her eyes.
There was a hissing all around her. Someone shouted several words from farther inside the ship. There was a massive lurch, as if they were breaking free. Several Operatives toppled to the floor.
Tyrell struggled to get to his feet. The ship continued to roll sideways. His hand reached out to hit a small reddish button on the wall next to the door. He barely depressed it before gravity tugged him downwards. He slid towards Riley, unable to stop himself. The roll continued. Several screams filled the air.
A shrill whistle echoed throughout the tiny chamber of the craft. The lights flickered. A second time. Riley scrabbled to grab onto something to stop her progressive slide onto the wall, which was now underneath her. Tyrell, unable to stop himself, hit hard as he fell.
Suddenly, the power failed and they were plunged into absolute darkness.
38
Alec was squished into immobility by the press of bodies around him and the unstable floor of the ship, which was tilting dangerously at a forty-five degree angle. Another few degrees and they’d all fall onto the wall to his right. At least he thought it was a wall. It was too dark to see.
He had no recollection of his previous trip in one of the Tyon’s underwater ships and his surroundings didn’t look at all familiar. He’d had a brief impression of the narrow hallway into the craft, the warm brown metal floor and walls, opening suddenly into a wide room also formed in metal. There were protrusions from the walls, which might be seats, but otherwise everything was strangely alien. There were no windows, no command center, and no periscope dangling from the ceiling. Everyone was crowded together in the center, except for those who arrived last and were still behind him in the entrance hall.
Someone just ahead of him was shouting what sounded like numbers, but Alec couldn’t hear him clearly over the background hissing and the exclamations of the Tyons all around him. From the shuddering of the ship, it was clear the tunnel had collapsed. He could only hope those who were running behind him made it inside in time. Where was Riley?
He struggled for a moment, shoving the warm bodies around him away with some difficulty. The ship lurched again and the lights flickered weakly back on.
Alec reached out to brace himself as the floor inched further to the right and he lost his balance. His hand came directly in contact with Paran’s broad chest, and only the desperation of trying to stay on his feet prevented him from pulling back in disgust. Paran gave him a sharp look but said nothing.
The ship lurched massively. A horrible tearing sound echoed through the walls, and Alec’s hair stood on end. The floor gave way as the ship rolled onto its side. Alec fell. The lights went out again.
The Tyons shouted and grunted around him as they were all tumbled onto the sidewall of the craft and the floor shifted up. Someone fell onto Alec, his shoulder thudding against his chin painfully.
“Hold. Stabilize.” Tyrell’s deep voice shouted above the noise and instantly there was silence around him.
“Monitor on,” someone to Alec’s left called back. “Powering up.”
The lights flicked, once, twice, then returned to half brightness.
Alec twisted to see what was happening. Most of the operatives around him had their orbs out and were focused on their internal work. The orbs pulsed steadily. Eyes were closed. Several operatives had managed to struggle to their feet. Underneath Alec, a growing furrow between Paran’s eyes indicated his temper was near to exploding.
Alec mumbled a half-hearted “sorry,” and rolled to his left and onto a narrow strip of metallic wall. He pushed with both hands and managed to get up. Beside him, Paran was already on his feet and shoving other Operatives out of his way. He bulldozed through the crowd, leaving Alec to watch in uncomfortable interest as no one reacted negatively to Paran’s strong-arm techniques. Alec watched as Paran reached Kholar’s side, reached down into the mass of bodies and plucked his boss from the pile. Kholar was instantly in charge, brushing at his sleeve where Paran had grabbed him.
On the other side of the room, Tyrell was also making his way through the group, although he was helping others to their feet with his free hand. His orb glowed so brightly, Alec could barely look at it.
“Righting,” Tyrell called out.
The ship gave a series of hiccupping lurches. The Tyons around him shuffled along the wall towards the floor as it slowly moved into position. Only Alec fell as the ship righted itself. He scowled as he pulled himself to his feet.
Tyrell dropped into a chair in front of a panel of instruments that Alec would have sworn a moment ago did not exist. Waving his orb over the screens, which seemed to glow into life as he did so, Tyrell inched the craft forwards. Alec felt the subtle vibration of some type of power system engage beneath his feet and the slight resistance of inertia. Several Tyons were standing close to Ty, clustering behind
his seat and holding their pulsing orbs close together.
Behind him, the last of the survivors limped into the main room from the entry hall. Alec caught a glimpse of Riley almost dwarfed by Dean’s concerned embrace, her white face dripping with water, her body shaking with reaction. He was too far from them to hear what Dean was whispering in her ear, but whatever it was made him mad. He whirled away and watched the rest of the company.
Kholar spoke and the room hushed to an instant silence. “As many of you are aware, the tunnel to my ship collapsed before we were able to reach it. This vessel will serve temporarily until we are able to contact Logan and transfer to his unit. Our Sensors,” his eyes veered towards the several Tyons holding their orbs, “have only enough power to maintain us below water. Tyrell has already begun signaling Logan’s ship. We expect contact and ship to ship transfer within several hours.”
Alec shifted his feet and forced himself not to look back at Riley.
“Report status.” Kholar directed his query towards Tyrell.
“The island above Home Base is collapsing. The Base has fallen into the rips or has been crushed. There will be no evidence of our inhabitation.”
“Casualties?”
“Four Operatives. One Terran fishing vessel with five hands aboard was scuttled with the force of wave motion secondary to underground collapse. Extreme wave action on the surrounding shore likely. Danger at seven point three.”
“How high are the waves gonna be?”
Alec whirled around to face Riley. She didn’t look back at him. Her eyes were locked on Tyrell and almost black against the pallor of her skin.
Tyrell gave a slight shrug of one shoulder. “Eight to eleven meters. Approximately. It is currently high tide.”
“So you’re saying that some monster wave is going to crash into the shoreline here, right?” Riley’s jaw clenched.
“Correct.”
“And have you warned anyone? This part of the world is crammed with little fishing villages, just clinging to the shoreline. Rogue waves like that could kill tons of people.”
“We do not interact with the population of this planet,” Tyrell replied.
Riley pulled away from Dean’s arms in her anger. She didn’t seem to notice Kholar or Paran who had begun to move unobtrusively through the group in her direction. “You’ll just let them die. Heaven help you if you actually help anyone.”
“The Tyon Collective stays secret. No exceptions.” Tyrell wasn’t even looking at her. His concentration focused on his screens.
Riley’s voice rose. Alec cringed. They might not read the danger signals but he sure could. “Yes, your precious secret. We all know just how important it is not to let the secret out, don’t we, Ty? You’re loyal to the chief, aren’t you? Never thought of letting anything slip, maybe a word in the ear of the wrong person, totally an accident—”
She didn’t finish. Dean had slipped in behind her and, with his right hand, clasped Riley across the mouth. Alec saw Riley struggle for a moment while Dean whispered something in her ear. The anger faded from her face and she quieted in Dean’s arms. He didn’t move his hand but his body shielded her from the rest of the group as Anna stepped out of the corridor next to them. Anna gave a sharp glance at Riley then turned towards Kholar.
“I would speak to you,” Kholar said.
Anna inclined her head and without another word, slipped back down the small hallway she had just come from. Kholar followed. Alec gave Riley a quick glance. She was deep in private conversation with Dean now, encircled in his arms, her head bowed. Alec caught the brief dark look Dean gave Kholar’s back before the commander disappeared after Anna. Alec tried as innocuously as possible to cross the threshold and follow. He was just inching his way behind a Tyon whose eyes were closed with concentration as she powered her orb when he bumped into Paran.
The broad-shouldered bodyguard was standing directly in the middle of the hall, his bulk effectively blocking the way. Alec pretended not to care and continued past, coming to an eventual stop at Ty’s shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye he noted that Paran was staring directly at him. Alec feigned curiosity in the steering of the ship and hoped Paran would lose interest.
“What kind of engines do you have?” he asked Tyrell.
“None,” Tyrell responded tersely.
“How’re we moving then? Magic?” Alec scoffed.
“I’m busy.” Tyrell waved his orb in a complicated series of moves over the far right screen and frowned. The ship gave a sickening shudder and Alec grabbed the back of Tyrell’s chair to avoid falling.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. Tyrell ignored him. A second Operative, orb already glowing, dropped to the seat next to Tyrell and began to wave his orb over the instrument panel. He didn’t look happy either.
“Section twenty-eight, time/space anomaly present and following,” one of the Operatives spoke from behind Alec. He turned to look. The woman’s eyes were still closed but her orb glowed a sickly yellow colour and was pulsing brightly.
“All Sensors, focus on rips and raise barriers. Ennis, maintain monitor on obstructions between us and Logan.”
The man next to Tyrell nodded and said, “Order accepted,” while the cluster of Tyons behind him raised their orbs to shoulder level and moved them closer together so the crystals were almost touching each other. The hair on Alec’s arms rose and a strange sensation coursed down his spine, as if he’d touched electricity. The power being generated by the Tyons Tyrell referred to as Sensors was amazing. There was a sensation of the ship slowing somewhat but with no windows and no speed dial on the instrument panel, it was impossible for Alec to determine if it was just his imagination or not. And if rips were following them, shouldn’t they speed up?
“How many are there?” Alec asked.
No one answered for a moment. Then the Sensor behind spoke again. “Second located. O-two-seven.”
“Evasive maneuvers,” Tyrell instructed Ennis. Both waved their orbs and the ship tilted slightly to Alec’s right.
“Can you outrun them?” Alec leaned over Tyrell’s shoulder.
“They shouldn’t even be following us.” Ennis’s terse reply was low and Alec barely heard it.
“One followed me before,” Alec said. “It moved pretty fast but I was on foot. You should be able to outrun it in a ship. How fast can we go?”
“We have only two Operatives on board that power the ship,” Ennis replied. He ignored the sharp look that Tyrell gave him and continued. “Neither is experienced. Speed is unknown.”
“You mean you guys power this thing?” Alec was aghast. Who in the world designed a method of propulsion that required brain power? “Can anyone do it or do you need to be trained?”
“Third rip. Seven-four-six.”
Alec didn’t turn at the Sensor’s words. Tyrell’s knuckles were whitening and that told him all he needed to know.
“Extensive training,” Ennis muttered. “Hold tight.”
This evasive move was anything but subtle. The ship nosed upwards at forty-five degrees and tilted to the left, jarring everyone. Two Tyons behind Alec started to fall and were grabbed by several others who were not using their orbs to sense the advancing rips. The ship rolled over whatever was in its way, steadied itself, and continued on. Tyrell’s grip didn’t lessen a fraction.
Kholar and Anna suddenly appeared at Alec’s side. Kholar pointed at a screen.
“There.”
“Yes, sir. We see it. That too.” Tyrell pointed at the screen at Ennis’s elbow.
Alec watched Kholar out of the corner of his eye, keen not to attract probing attention. Kholar appeared calm and focused but he clearly wasn’t. Surely a commander in the Tyon Collective had dealt with rips before?
“Explain the occurrence of excessive numbers of rips,” Kholar said.
“Unexplained,” Tyrell answered promptly. “Unprecedented.”
“This region has never experienced one one-hundredth of this activity before,” a v
oice came from within the cluster of Tyons near the back of the room. “Our monitoring noted no such previous infiltration of rips at any place or time on this planet or any other.”
“It’s like they’re chasing something,” Ennis muttered just loud enough to be heard.
“Say that again,” Kholar barked.
Ennis looked a touch embarrassed but his voice was steady. “Supposition, sir. The rips behave as if they’re being brought into existence for a purpose.”
“Rips are naturally occurring phenomena which the Others use to gain access to a world’s vulnerable population. During an invasion the number of rips increases as the fabric of the time/space continuum deteriorates. This planet has not yet been attacked,” Kholar lectured. “Rips are not capable of thought or planning, nor do they react to situations.”
Alec’s stomach dropped. Earth had been attacked. Kholar just didn’t know it. He trained his eyes on the back of Tyrell’s neck and gripped the chair tighter. Two people inside the little submersible knew it too.
“Logan’s report indicated early contact with the Others,” Tyrell interjected. The room was entirely silent as they digested those words. The ship swerved to miss something and for a second everyone concentrated on staying upright.
“Elaborate,” Kholar ordered.
“File Alpha seven thirty-four. Last file updated to the main repository before the rips began underneath the base. Indicated unusual activity for a rip in Ireland.” Alec’s stomach hit his knees. “The rip was reported to maneuver around himself and others. The rip was unusually large and demonstrated tracking properties.”
Kholar stroked his short beard. He was frowning.
“There is more, sir. Perhaps more important than stealth capabilities.”
Alec held his breath. How was he going to explain this?
“Go on,” Kholar said.
“Verbal contact was made with the Others.” There was a suppressed gasp throughout the ship. Alec’s heart stopped. Tyrell continued, unaware that every word was a nail in Alec’s coffin. “Logan indicated that the Others made a request and spoke directly to a Terran. The Terran called it by name.”
Time of Treason Page 23
