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by James Phelan


  “Sam,” Mac said, his voice calm once more, confident he had the upper hand. “It really doesn’t have to be this way. I’m happy to have you share in what we’re doing here, in our research into the Dream Gate.” He pointed at a technician who replaced the screens showing Sam’s parents to overhead shots of Egypt. “A while ago we found two undiscovered pyramids in Egypt. And here, we’ve found sites in Saudi Arabia. And this, in Antarctica, and in Russia.”

  Sam looked at all the images playing on the screen, then said, “So?”

  “So, Sam,” Mac said. “We’re unlocking all the secrets of the past with you and your dreams. This is bigger than anything the Professor and the Dreamer Council, or even the Director of the Enterprise has ever imagined. This is so much more than world changing. In the wrong hands, it’s world ending.”

  “Who, in your eyes, are the wrong hands?” Sam asked.

  “Anyone but me.”

  “You’re crazy,” Sam said. “I’ll never, ever, side with you.”

  “You’ll come to see that what we’re doing is right. You’ll see.”

  Sam said, “Whatever is beyond the Gate needs to be shared.”

  “By who, the Professor and the Academy? The Council of Dreamers?” Mac said. “We all answer to someone. And I think the American people know best.”

  “The American people?” Cody said. “Whatever treasure and secrets lie beyond the Dream Gate, it’s just going to be locked away in this vault, never seen again. It belongs to us all!”

  “You have no idea of the ramifications—” Mac said.

  “You’ll never be able to keep it locked away,” Sam said, his voice quiet. “We’ll find it.”

  “Sorry?” Mac said.

  “The Gears, the Dream Gate,” Sam said. “You don’t know how we 13 dream when we’re around them. And it’s not just me and Cody, there are others.”

  “Oh, believe me, I know …” Mac said, the maniacal expression back on his face.

  “You may get a step ahead of others,” Sam said, “but you won’t be able to stop Solaris.”

  The lights in the bunker flickered, and then all the screens in the room went off. The lights too.

  The emergency lighting blinked on. A siren began screeching somewhere.

  Sam smiled.

  Maybe right now the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

  “It’s too late!” he said over the noise. “He’s here!”

  37

  EVA

  Lora and Eva’s helicopter was forced to land well short of the airport.

  “Oh no …” Lora said.

  “What is this?” Eva asked.

  “The flight space around Denver is shut down,” the pilot said.

  “Why?” Lora asked.

  “No idea,” the pilot replied. “But orders are orders. We wait here until the airspace is cleared.”

  “They’re evacuating the city,” Lora said, reading a news update from her phone. “Some kind of emergency procedure at the power plant.”

  “What?” Eva said.

  “It’s Mac,” Lora said, not believing the news report. “It has to be.”

  “How can he evacuate a city?”

  “Because he’s working for the government—or at least, they think he is.”

  First Stella, then Hans and Mac. Now the US government is against us. And if they want the Dream Gate, other world powers will too. Things just got a whole lot more complicated.

  “How do we get to Sam?” Eva asked.

  “We go back,” Lora replied.

  “Back?”

  Lora called Jedi, and when he answered she said, “Jedi, I need eyes on Mount Blanca.”

  “On it,” he replied.

  “There’s another way into Bureau 13.” Lora punched the name of Alamosa County into the GPS on her tablet computer. “Via Mount Blanca—it’s a huge mountain surrounding the San Luis Valley here in Southern Colorado. Not far from here.”

  “What’s there?” Eva asked.

  “A secret military underground base at the foot of the mountain, built into the lava tubes that run all the way up to Denver,” Jedi said. “There are supposed to be underground waterfalls there bigger than Niagara. A very interesting place, and more importantly, for us, it’s linked underground to the Bureau 13 site via their emergency evac protocols.”

  “We’re headed there now,” Lora said, and showed the pilots their new destination. “Have you heard about road closures into Denver?”

  “It’s all over the news,” Jedi said.

  “What is it?” Lora said.

  “Authorities won’t say, but it’s suspected to be a nuclear accident at one of the weapons plants there.”

  “Got those pictures yet?” Lora asked.

  “Coming through now,” Jedi replied, and the image of his face was replaced with overhead real time shots from Mount Blanca. “This place has been mothballed, even since it first opened.”

  “I don’t get it. Why?” Eva asked as the helicopter took off again.

  “It was always intended to be a backup site,” Lora explained. “It needed to be ready but with just a skeleton crew to keep things secure and working, that’s it.”

  “Something’s not right …” Jedi said. “There’s not even a skeleton crew. There’s nothing.”

  “What is it?” Eva asked.

  “We’re not the first ones to think of it, obviously …” the image zoomed in. Guards were lying on the ground at the security gates, out for the count.

  “This place doesn’t look mothballed anymore,” Lora said.

  “I agree,” Jedi said. “Proceed with maximum caution.”

  “We’d better get there as quick as we can,” Lora said. “Eva, buckle up tight.”

  38

  SAM

  “You’ll dream forever, and we’ll be getting each and every dream,” Mac said.

  “I don’t think so,” Sam said. “My friends will come for me!”

  Mac smiled and pointed to a clock counting down on the wall: 59:21.

  “In less than an hour,” he said, “a small nuclear device built into this complex will be detonated. Your friends will be mourning your death, and we will be a long way away.”

  “But you’ll kill everyone in the city above!” Sam said.

  “It’s being evacuated as we speak,” Mac replied. “Sold as a leak from the local nuclear plant. Don’t worry, this will hurt nothing but your precious loyalty.”

  “You’ll never evacuate everyone in time!”

  “There may be a few casualties of war,” Mac replied.

  “You’re insane!” Sam yelled.

  “Quite the contrary, Sam. I’m a genius.”

  “You’ll never get away with this. And you’ll never get my dreams from me. I’ll hold out.”

  58:56

  58:55

  58:54

  “I don’t think so,” Mac said. “You see, Sam, I helped to create you. I was involved with the DNA sequencing and the discovery of the Dreamer Gene.”

  Sam stopped straining against the straps.

  58:42

  “At least warn Lora and the Academy team not to try and rescue me.”

  “They control their own destiny,” Mac said, casually.

  “But killing innocent people?”

  “If Lora knows you are here, then Solaris will, and probably Stella and Hans too,” Mac said. “It’s a move we have to make to ensure that we are left to do our work.”

  “Work?”

  “You will dream, Sam, hard and fast.”

  “You’re dreaming,” Sam said. “The dreams of a madman.”

  Mac smiled. “We have ways, you know. Hard, painful ways. Make it easy on yourself—you dream of the next six Dreamers, and with our guidance I think we will be able to do that in, oh, forty-eight hours. Dream of them, we get the remaining Gears, and we hold the power to unlock the Dream Gate. You can stop anyone else getting hurt, Sam. If that’s what means most to you.”

  “You’re forgetting that so
me of the Gears are in other people’s hands.”

  “A small matter that our operatives in the field will remedy,” Mac replied.

  “Solaris has one,” Sam said.

  Suddenly a louder klaxon sounded and red lights flashed above.

  Mac finally looked startled.

  Sam couldn’t help but smile.

  At last, something’s not going to plan.

  “What is it?” Mac asked an aide, who got onto a phone and then said, “Sir, there’s been a security breach. All our cameras are down, but we’ve had radio reports of an intruder in a black suit that resembles our stolen dream-flage suit.”

  “Solaris!” Mac said, grinning. “That’s how he’s getting into the last 13’s dreams! Where is he?”

  “Inside the complex, the east wing.”

  Mac looked pleased. “Excellent … keep tracking him and form a welcoming party.”

  39

  ALEX

  “Alex, are you OK?” Phoebe asked.

  “I’m fine, Mom,” Alex said, catching his breath.

  This trade had better work.

  “Mom?” the Marine sniggered.

  “Shut up, fool,” Alex said to him. He stood with the empty assault rifle pointed at the Marine, having just bound his wrists behind his back with electrical tape, his darted buddy unconscious by his feet.

  Across the room at the base of the Washington Monument, four soldiers stood guard over the dozen Enterprise Agents they’d captured, along with Phoebe.

  “Untie them and send them over,” Alex commanded.

  The Marines did so, the Agents crossing quickly to Alex. He passed his dart gun to his mother, along with the Marine’s phone.

  “How’d you find us?” Phoebe asked.

  “I asked this guy nicely as we walked down from the top of the Monument and he carried his unconscious friend,” Alex replied. “Oh, and I, ah, disconnected the wires. For good.”

  “Disconnected?” Phoebe said.

  “Yeah, I actually, um, well, I should probably apologize to America sometime soon.”

  His mother looked puzzled.

  “Here,” Alex said, cutting the Marine’s ties and letting him drag his comrade with him. “And next time,” Alex called out, “be man enough to question your superior officer when it comes to actions against your own civilian population!”

  The Marine gave him a final, filthy glance.

  “That goes for the rest of you too!” Alex called out as the group of Marines retreated. He passed the assault rifle to one of the Enterprise Agents, who kept it trained on the soldiers. “It’s not loaded,” he whispered to him.

  “Come on,” Phoebe said. “I just called in, the Director’s up in the Mall with a small army of Agents and Guardians.”

  They rushed up to the surface, and raced across to the rendezvous point to the side of the National Museum of American History.

  “Over here!” the Director called, standing by a convoy of blacked-out SUVs.

  There were several police cars acting as escort, though Alex wasn’t sure if they were real cops or Agents in disguise. Either way, it was an impressive looking turnout.

  “But how did you take care of the Monument?” he asked.

  Alex pointed to where the heavy aluminum capstone had smashed deep into the paving outside the Monument.

  “Kinda used some of the Marine’s explosives,” Alex said. “I thought it might just damage it—the wires. But I guess I used too much. I blew the capstone off like a rocket!” He could barely suppress a sheepish laugh.

  “Excellent work! Destructive, but effective,” the Director said, clearly pleased with the result. “Let’s move, we have no time to lose.”

  “What is it?” Phoebe asked as they piled into the cars.

  “It’s Sam, and the next Dreamer,” the Director replied.

  Alex’s heart skipped a beat. “What about them?”

  “They’re at the old Bureau 13 headquarters, in Denver,” he said. “And the city is being evacuated. There’s been a nuclear fallout threat.”

  The convoy was already underway, speeding through the streets, the way ahead cleared thanks to the cop cars.

  “How long do they have?” Alex asked.

  The Director looked grim as he replied, “Not long enough.”

  40

  SAM

  57:42

  Sam looked at the others in the room, still being held tight by Marines. He knew that they too were scared, and that they now realized that this man, Mac, was certainly not working in the best interests of any country.

  57:34

  “Finally,” Mac said, rubbing his hands together like a giddy child. “I can’t wait to see who’s behind that mask.”

  “He’s already breached sector seven, sir,” a Marine called out.

  “Then grab all the security you can find and follow me,” Mac said, leaving Sam and the others alone in the control room. The technicians hesitated only a moment, then fled the room, not eager to remain to find out the cause of the alarm.

  Stolen dream-flage suit?

  Sam thought about it.

  Is that how he can enter other people’s dreams?

  A loud blast echoed from the corridor where Mac had just headed.

  “Keep an eye on them!” the Marine in charge said, leaving just one soldier to guard Sam and the others. He drew his pistol to warn them to comply.

  56:17

  Another booming blast came from outside the door, this one closer, and the soldier instinctively turned to the sound—

  It was all the time Sam needed. He threw himself at the soldier, forcing the gun from his hand and knocking him out with two fluid jujitsu moves. He bent down to scoop up the gun as—

  PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!

  “Sam …”

  That voice. Electrifying, horrifying.

  Solaris.

  Sam turned and looked up. That’s when he realized something was different.

  Solaris was dressed in what looked like an armoured suit. The voice remained the same but the vision was even more terrifying.

  Sam looked for Cody and his parents, but they were on the ground—passed out—darts sticking out of their chests like feathered daggers.

  “Don’t, Sam,” Solaris said, his hand outstretched with the lanyard holding the three Gears, as if offering them to him.

  Sam realized he had the gun pointed at Solaris’ face.

  “Why shouldn’t I?” Sam asked. “You’re a ruthless villain.”

  “Thank you.” He continued to hold out the Gears and Sam reached forward tentatively and snatched them from Solaris’ grasp, pulling back immediately.

  “What are you doing?” Sam asked, slipping them over his neck.

  “If they get you,” Solaris said, “we all lose.”

  “So what, we work together now? You think we’re going to be some kind of team?”

  Solaris stared at him. It was impossible to know what was going on behind that mask, but Sam almost thought that he sensed a smile.

  “You’ll keep, Sam,” Solaris said, as the world around them started to fill with pieces of dust and smoke as Mac’s men returned, shooting their way back into the room.

  “What do we do?” Sam said.

  “We leave,” Solaris said, then moved to a panel with a key in it—where Mac had switched on the nuclear charge.

  Solaris turned the key.

  The countdown clicked over from 52.55 to—

  05:59

  “No!” Sam cried.

  05:58

  05:57

  05:56

  Be sure to read the next thrilling adventure in The Last Thirteen series:

  01

  SAM

  05:55

  05:54

  Sirens wailed as flashing emergency lights strobed overhead. Sam ran out of the control room into the corridor of the underground complex. There he saw the trail of destruction Solaris had left in his wake. Among the huge chunks of concrete that littered the ground, Sam saw several M
arines sprawled on the floor, their bodies at jarring angles. Closest to the door, Mac was slumped over, motionless, his hand still clutching his chest.

  Is he out cold? Or is he …?

  Sam put his fingers to Mac’s neck. No pulse. He struggled to latch onto one emotion as conflicting thoughts ran through his mind.

  Mac deserved this end, but still …

  What about the others?

  A severe, robotic voice rang out above the wailing sirens—

  “T-minus five minutes until detonation.”

  “Sam!” a voice called out.

  Sam could just make out Cody at the other end of the long corridor, staggering forward with his parents. Despite the smoke haze, their faces were clearly etched with shock and fear. Cody pointed meaningfully toward the outside wall and then waved at Sam, gesturing for him to look at the wall where he stood. He shouted something but Sam couldn’t make it out. Sam turned to see a line of doors next to him.

  What’s behind these doors?

  Sam took a small, cautious step forward to read a sign at the nearest door. Two words were printed above an electronic control pad, illuminated by a bright red light:

  He looked back to Cody and his parents and saw that the light next to their door was green.

  An escape pod must still be in there, ready to go …

  “Go!” Sam shouted to Cody without thinking, waving wildly. “Go!”

  Cody hesitated for a moment, then gave a quick nod and hurriedly followed his parents through the open doorway. Sam scanned the corridor. The sirens echoed through the deserted complex. All security personnel had disappeared what seemed like a long time ago, even though only minutes had ticked by.

  All the doors close to him showed red lights. If he squinted to see down the still-smoky hallway in the other direction, he could just make out a few tiny green lights in the distance.

  Sam went to sprint toward them but suddenly felt a tight grip around his arm.

  “No,” Solaris said. “We stick together.”

  Sam jumped. He slowly turned back to look at Solaris, fear rising in his throat.

  I thought he’d gone, left me for dead.

  Sam stood straighter to counter his fear. “To go where?” he said.

 

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