by Paul Moxham
“Take care,” Muscles said.
“I will.” Sabrina opened the door and disappeared from sight.
Baldy turned to Muscles. “Should I make sure no one sees her?”
As Muscles nodded, Baldy left the room. The others sat in silence as they thought about what Sabrina had said.
“I wonder where they keep all the ammunition in a place like this,” Logan said.
“What are you thinking?” Xavier asked.
“Well, if we somehow got rid of their stockpile of weapons, that would slow down anyone who came after us,” Logan said.
“Wouldn’t the stockpile of weapons be too heavily guarded?” Peter questioned.
“What do you suggest then?” Logan asked, looking at him.
Peter paced back and forth as he thought. A slight smile came onto his face. “I think I’ve got it. What if we split up—”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Logan interrupted.
“Just hear me out, okay?” Peter muttered. “What if right before we rescue Lucy, we cut the power? That would stop any man from going from the lobby to the party room, and it’s a hell of a way to climb, so we’d have plenty of time to get her before reinforcements arrived.”
“How would we escape?” Jet said.
“Well, we could use the stairs,” Peter replied. “Hmm, though the men would be coming up them. I guess it’s not such a good idea after all.”
Muscles frowned. “Wait, hold on a minute. If he’s having a party at seven on the eighty-first floor, why don’t we pay him a visit at eight thirty? By that time, several of the guards should be pretty drunk, and it shouldn’t be too much trouble to gain access. Then we’ll have someone cut the power, so even if someone up there tells the men down in the lobby what’s going on, by the time they’ve climbed up several hundred stairs, we should have the situation under control.”
“By under control, do you mean Sanchez will be dead?” Xavier asked.
Before Muscles could answer, the door opened and Baldy appeared. “She’s safe.”
“Good.” Muscles looked around at everyone. “Best case scenario is to cause chaos around eight thirty, just before the power gets cut. Sanchez will call men up from the lobby who, on finding that the elevators don’t work, will start the long climb up. At nine, with only a small force in the lobby, the hundred or so men can attack The View.”
“And with the men halfway up the tower, they’ll have no idea what’s going on,” Xavier said.
“Exactly,” Muscles said. “Now the only thing that could upset our plan is someone finding us down here, so let’s find a good hiding place where we can wait until eight or so. We’ll need time to assess the number of guards in the party room, so if we leave here around eight, that should give us plenty of time.”
“I’ve just had a thought,” Peter piped up. “Once the power gets turned off, what’s to stop the guards from turning it back on?”
“Ah, yes, that’s the tricky part.” Muscles glanced around the room at everyone. “I’ll need two volunteers to stay down here. It’s essential that the generator is turned off at eight forty, just after we attack.”
“Why don’t we use some explosives and just blow it up?” Xavier asked.
“We could, but that’ll still require someone to stay down here,” Muscles said.
“Not if we set a timer,” Xavier said.
“No, it’s too risky. Someone might come along and disable it.” Muscles looked around, his gaze resting on Peter. “How about you?”
Peter nodded. “Give me a decent rifle and some ammo, and I’ll hold my position against anyone who comes my way.”
Muscles turned to Xavier. “How about you?”
Xavier shared a glance with Logan before nodding. “Okay, but leave us some explosives. If we can’t hold Sanchez’s men off, we’ll have to blow the generator and make a run for it.”
“Understood.” Muscles turned to Logan and Baldy. “You’ll be joining Jet and me in the party room. Any questions?”
“Hadn’t we better check out the generator first?” Baldy asked. “There could be a guard.”
Muscles nodded. “Good thinking. I’ll check it out.”
“I’ll go with you,” Baldy said, standing up.
“No, stay here. I’ll be fine,” Muscles replied, opening the door.
“But—” Baldy said.
“That’s an order.” Muscles glanced at Jet. “Make sure everyone stays here.”
As Jet nodded, Baldy slumped back down on his seat, clearly not happy.
“My father can take care of himself,” Jet said, glancing at Baldy.
“I know that, but this isn’t just about him. We’re all in this together.” Baldy stood up and paced back and forth. “I just don’t like waiting around.”
“Neither do I,” Logan said, “but I’m sure Muscles knows what he’s doing.”
“I guess so,” Baldy said.
Everyone fell silent as they waited for Muscles to return.
Ten minutes later, the door opened and everyone stiffened. Logan grabbed the pistol that was on the table and pointed it at the door. He put it back down when Muscles entered.
“Find it okay?” Jet asked.
Muscles nodded. “There wasn’t a guard, and I also scouted the parking garage and couldn’t see anyone, so that will suit us nicely. As for the generator, it’s in one of the bigger storage rooms on the other side of the garage. Oh, and it’s close to the service elevator, which is good.”
“So now we wait, right?” Peter said.
“Yes,” Muscles said. “Get some rest for an hour or two and then we’ll go over the finer details of the plan before sorting out the weapons.”
Chapter 20
Kenneth laid the map down next to the fire. “We’re here, and Sparks is here. Now, from what you have just told me, your parents were staying here.” He pointed to the town of Great Falls in the northwest corner of Montana.
“Yes, and then they were going to come back through Yellowstone,” Molly said.
Kenneth looked at where the national park was. “Okay, and where to from there?”
“They had a friend in Boise they wanted to visit, I think,” Derek said.
“Who?” Molly asked.
Derek turned to his sister. “You know, the one that Dad called the night before he left? The one who was a plumber?”
Molly nodded. “Yes, of course. The one with the strange accent.”
“Strange accent?” Kenneth interrupted. “What do you mean?”
“It wasn’t strange,” Derek said.
“It was,” Molly argued. “You know, that time he came to dinner—”
“Hey! Does it really matter? Let’s get back to the map.” Kenneth drew a line from Great Falls to Yellowstone, to Boise, and down to Sparks and then to San Francisco. “This is where I think they went. After Boise, they probably would’ve taken the shortest way home, through Sparks. So, when we get there, we can ask around and see if anyone noticed them. It’s a slim chance though.”
“If we don’t have any luck, we’ll head to Boise,” Molly said. “If their friend hasn’t seen them, it probably means they’re still in Yellowstone. From what I recall, just before they left, Mom said something about spending the first week of January at the loveliest place on Earth.” Her eyes got watery. “She always liked Yellowstone. I wasn’t too keen on it, but she adored it. In the summer months, she and Dad hiked on all the trails.”
“Isn’t the park closed off during the winter months?” Kenneth asked.
“I’m not sure,” Derek said. “They still offer some travel tours into the park, but yeah, some of the roads are closed.”
Kenneth stared at the lines that he’d drawn on the map before gazing at Derek and then at Molly, their faces lit up by the flames of the roaring fire in front of them. “Just don’t get your hopes up, okay? It’s been three weeks—”
“We’ve got nothing to lose,” Molly interrupted, staring at Kenneth.
“Molly’s right,” Derek said. “We won’t stop searching for them until we’ve found them.”
“It’s a long way to Boise,” Kenneth stated, “let alone Yellowstone, for kids like you.”
“We’re not kids, we’re teenagers,” Derek said. “And I turn seventeen in a couple of months, so I’ll be a man then. I’ll get us a car and we can drive to Boise.”
“It’s still a long way,” Kenneth said.
“Then come with us,” Molly offered.
“I’ve got to meet with my brother soon,” Kenneth said, “and get this briefcase to Sparks.” He reached into his backpack and pulled out the white rectangular box. It seemed to gleam in the firelight, looking even more mysterious.
“Do you have any more ideas about what it could be?” Molly asked. “Or how to open it?”
Kenneth shook his head. “I don’t know a lot about metals, but I do believe that whatever was used in that material the Seods wear to make bullets bounce off is also used in this, just on a much stronger level.”
“What if that general isn’t in Sparks?” Derek asked.
“I’ll have to cross that bridge when I come to it. In times like this, it’s best to live every day as it comes.” Kenneth stood up and walked to one of the windows. He gazed out at the bay, which was lit by the rising moon. “Tomorrow, we’ll have to decide how we’re going to get to Sparks.”
“If only we had a boat,” Derek said, walking over.
Kenneth gave a wry smile. “If only …” He paused and frowned as he saw a light in the distance. As seconds passed, the light came closer and closer. A motorboat engine buzzed in the night. “Look over there. Do you hear that noise?”
Derek looked where Kenneth was pointing and smiled. “Hey! We’re saved. It’s a boat!”
Molly rushed over and grinned. “Yes!”
“Hey, hold on with the celebrations,” Kenneth said, not looking as excited as the others. “No one except the Seods knows that we’re here.”
Molly and Derek stopped dancing about in joy. Their faces turned to anguish at exactly the same time. “You don’t think it’s Seods, do you?” Derek asked.
“I don’t know,” Kenneth admitted, “but who else could it be?” Hurrying away from the window, he rushed to the fire and smothered it. As piles of smoke rose up from the fire, he muttered to himself.
“Wouldn’t they have seen the fire by now?” Derek questioned.
Kenneth nodded. “You’re right. Let’s hide in the bushes. If we can steal the boat, we can get out of here.”
Quickly putting on their socks and shoes, the teens waited while Kenneth collected everything into the backpack.
Then, with the glow of the moon to guide them, they clambered over the rocks as they climbed down the side of the island. Once they were near the water, they started to head around the side of the island.
They kept as quiet as they could, even stopping for a few moments when some stones crumbled away from Molly’s foot and into the water. But they didn’t hear anything.
“I can’t even hear the motorboat now,” Derek said.
Kenneth listened and realized that he was right. “Hmm, they’ve probably arrived by now. Let’s hurry. If we can find the boat while they are up at the tea house, we should be able to make our escape.”
The group continued walking around the edge of the island.
“Stop!” Kenneth whispered. Taking the binoculars from around his neck, he peered through them. He first tried gazing up at the tea house, but when he didn’t see anything, he tried to find the boat. “I can see the boat.”
“What exactly is it?” Derek asked.
“Some kind of fishing boat. There’s a searchlight on the cabin. I can’t see anyone on board or on the shore. Let’s get a bit closer.”
The group skulked through the bushes and over the rocks, getting quite close to the vessel. For some reason, the searchlight had been left on and it brightly lit up one part of the shoreline.
Kenneth and the teens stopped short of the light. “If anyone is watching the boat, they’ll see us when we sprint to the boat.”
“As long as we can get away quickly, it shouldn’t matter, right?” Derek questioned.
“Well, I haven’t jump started a boat for a long time now, but I’ll give it a go,” Kenneth muttered. “There’s a chance though that the keys will still be in there.” He gazed up at the hill. He could see a faint glow in the tea house and assumed it was from the dying embers of the fire. He stared at the two windows, but saw no shapes. “I wonder where they are.”
“Probably hunting for us. Come on, let’s get out of here,” Molly said, anxious to get going.
“Well …” Kenneth paused as Molly broke for the boat. “Hey!”
As Molly reached the boat, Derek ran after her.
A moment later, Kenneth ran after him. He was halfway across the rocks and right in the middle of the glare of the light when two shots shattered the silence.
Dirt spurted up from the ground, inches in front of Kenneth.
“Stop right there!”
Kenneth hesitated, bewildered. He had assumed, incorrectly, that there were Seods on the boat.
Glancing at the boat, he saw that the teens had climbed into it. As he thought about whether or not to attempt to reach the others, he heard footsteps.
A few moments later, a short man with a baseball cap and a ponytail came into view. He clutched a shotgun in his right hand. “Don’t want to shoot you, but if you try to make off with my boat, I’ll make sure as hell to stop you.”
Kenneth raised his hands up in the air. “Don’t shoot. We thought you were Seods.”
Despite the situation, the man chuckled. “Seods? Do they even know how to pilot a boat?”
“I don’t know,” Kenneth admitted.
The man slung his finger toward the tea house. “That your fire back there?”
Kenneth nodded. “I tried to put it out, but we didn’t have time.”
“Who are your friends?” the man asked.
Kenneth hesitated, but then called to the teens. “Come into the light.”
“Are you sure?” Derek asked.
“I’m sure.” Kenneth looked at the man. “I’ve got nothing against humans.”
As the teens came into the glare of the light, the man lowered his shotgun and walked forward. “I’m George.”
The teens and Kenneth introduced themselves. “So,” Kenneth said after the initial introductions, “can you help us get to Sparks?”
“Well, I can help you get to Incline Village,” the man said. “That’s still a distance from Sparks, but it’s the farthest that my boat will go.”
“Is that where you’ve just come from?” Molly said.
“Yes. I’ll be happy to take you there tomorrow when it’s light, but first, let me get my sleeping bag and we’ll head up to the tea house.” As George went to his boat, the others walked up to the tea house.
By the time the others had explained to George all that they had been through, Kenneth was able to get the dampened fire back to a roaring success.
Over the lingering flames, George told them his news. “I’ve been staying here most of the time, keeping out of the Seods’ way and—”
“So you know that the Seods can’t swim,” Derek interrupted.
George nodded. “A group of them passed through here two weeks or so ago, heading northwest.”
“Where were they going?” Kenneth asked.
George sighed. “I don’t know. There’s a rumor that they have a base in northern California.”
“A base?” Molly asked. “You mean one that they’ve built since landing here three weeks ago?”
“No, I don’t think so,” George said.
The others frowned and stared at the man as he explained. “From what I have been told, there’s some mountain in the north of the state that is littered with dead bodies.”
“What do you mean?” Molly asked.
“I know it sounds pretty wild,
but if the rumors are true, hundreds of dead people surround this mountain.” George paused, as though imagining what it would be like. “I spoke to some soldiers, ah, what day was it? Hmm, three days ago, I think. They were heading in that direction to check out the rumor.”
“What’s the name of this mountain?” Derek said.
“Death Mountain is the only name I have heard it being referred to. If I were you …” George paused and looked at the three. “I wouldn’t head in that direction.”
Derek turned to Kenneth. “What do you think?”
Kenneth stood up and paced back and forth. “I don’t know. It seems far-fetched. I mean how could these Seods have a base here on Earth? Surely someone would’ve seen or heard about it.”
“What about Area 51?” George said.
“That’s different,” Kenneth said with a shrug. “That’s just a conspiracy theory. There’s no substance behind it. Next you’ll be telling me that the reason ships and planes go missing in the Bermuda Triangle is because there’s a Seod base there.”
“The idea isn’t so far-fetched,” George said. “There could very well be a base in the Bermuda Triangle, as well as Area 51. Take my thoughts as you will. It’s a brand new world out there and while some of the rumors will be true, there will, of course, be ones that aren’t.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m going to have an early night.” He stood up. “There are some rugs in my boat if you don’t mind going down to get them.”
“Thanks, we will,” Kenneth said. “Are they in the cabin?”
“Yes, on the right-hand side, just after you walk down the steps,” George said.
With a nod, Kenneth took the flashlight and headed down through the trees.
Chapter 21
Logan knew waiting was the only thing they could do at the moment, but now that it was so very close to zero hour, the tension in the room had increased.
Almost everyone was sitting on crates and staring at the ground as they thought about the night ahead. Only Muscles and Jet seemed like their normal selves as they talked about times gone by.
