‘This.’ Tahir replied quietly as he reached into his bag for a small plastic box with three lights at one end.
‘And what’s so special about this box?’ Hebro asked as she held out her hand and took the box.
‘It’ll connect to the security system in the palace and allow us to get a view in there.’ Tahir replied reaching back into his bag for another box of tricks.
‘Why would we do that?’ Hebro asked shaking her head. ‘I can take us into any part of the palace.’
‘Mary said the dog was looking at her, I think your powers aren’t as complete as you’d like to think.’ Tahir replied softly as if not to hurt Hebro’s feelings.
‘Charming.’ Hebro chuckled as she passed the box to Marissa who slipped her finger under the edge and lifted the lid slightly before she pushed and revealed a compartment with batteries.
‘If you can get that onto the outer contacts we should be able to see inside the entire palace.’ Tahir whispered as he turned to see the dear return and start to forage by Marissa’s feet.
‘How come he’s not afraid of us?’ Marissa asked as she reached out and scratched the dear under the chin.
‘Firstly, it’s a she, secondly I’m clouding her mind and suppressing her fight or flight response.’ Hebro replied softly as she stepped forward and scratched the dear behind the ears.
‘Why would you do that?’ Tahir asked quietly as he reached down further into the bag.
‘She runs away, she startles other creatures which could reveal our presence.’ Hebro replied softly as she turned to look at the palace.
‘Could we use her to get close to the palace?’ Marissa asked as she allowed the dear to start rubbing alongside her.
‘How?’ Tahir asked as he pulled his arm back producing a small shaft of silver metal. ‘What’s this?’ he asked as he looked at the rod carefully.
‘Ah I wondered where I’d left that.’ Hebro replied quietly as she held out her hand and took the rod. As her fingers wrapped around it her hand began to glow gently before the rod vanished.
‘What was that?’ Marissa asked as she looked at Hebro and smiled.
‘A little keepsake.’ Hebro replied as her eyes flashed briefly before returning to their original bright blue.
‘Hebbie, anymore little keepsakes you’ve left around?’ Tahir asked as he reached back into his bag and produced a small length of brown wire with a crocodile clamp on one end and a USB connector on the other.
‘Not that I can think of.’ Hebro replied quietly as she extended her hand splayed her fingers and allowed arcs of blue power to run between them.
‘Ok, so can you get me to where the power and security systems enter the palace?’ Tahir asked as he looked at Marissa and smiled. ‘Just like the old days.’
‘Yeah, I miss them too.’ Marissa chuckled in reply as she looked across at the dear and smiled. ‘You thinking what I am?’
‘Probably not.’ Tahir smirked as he looked at Hebro and smiled.
‘What?’ Hebro asked as she looked across at the other two and shrugged her shoulders.
‘I’m guessing the security system here isn’t that sophisticated. Yes, it’s an important place but not national security critical, so it can probably tell when something tries to get in but allows animals to wander freely around the grounds.’ Tahir replied quietly as he held out his hand for the dear to come closer.
‘You reckon these creatures could get us close enough to the system?’ Marissa asked as she looked at the number of creatures now appearing in their little pool of light.
‘What’s happening?’ Hebro asked as she looked at the variety of creatures around her.
‘I think you’re having an effect on a greater number of creatures Hebbie, far more than you could imagine.’ Marissa chuckled as she ran her fingers through the fur of a badger that was now nuzzling at the ground by her feet.
‘Careful, it could be nasty.’ Hebro said softly as she looked at the creature curiously.
‘It should be running a mile from me, but I can tell it’s completely relaxed.’ Marissa whispered as she reached for her feet and wiped down her trousers.
‘Ok, let’s get this over with.’ Tahir chuckled as he looked at Hebro and smiled. ‘By the kitchen there’s a junction box, can you get me there?’
‘Done.’ Hebro whispered as their surroundings vanished and they were stood under a small tree by the corner of the building by the river.
‘Right can you get your animal friends to start running around in the grounds at the front of the building.’ Tahir said quietly looking up at the building and tracking a wire tracing down to the ground.
‘Done.’ Hebro said softly as her eyes flashed light blue.
‘Right, Mary do you think you can get this connected onto that box there.’ Tahir whispered softly as he pointed at a small black box fifteen feet above their heads.
‘No problem.’ Marissa chuckled as she started to climb up the drain pipe.
‘Where did she learn to do that?’ Hebro asked as she tracked Marissa up the pipe.
‘University, she was always sneaking in and doing something crazy.’ Tahir smirked as he saw Marissa attach the clip to the wire and start the trip back down.
‘Done.’ Marissa whispered as she rejoined Tahir and Hebro at the bottom of the pipe.
‘Ok.’ Tahir muttered to himself as he plugged in a small black box to the base of his table and ran his finger over the screen.
After a few seconds the screen flickered into life and displayed views from several cameras around the palace.
‘There.’ Marissa hissed softly as she pointed at the screen.
The image of a large glass fronted cabinet with several items on display filled the screen as Tahir checked it with his finger.
‘Could that be what we’re searching for?’ Tahir asked as he turned the screen towards Hebro who just shrugged her shoulders.
‘I don’t know, I can’t remember, this is so frustrating.’ Hebro replied softly as she looked out over the garden and saw a large bird with an enormous train of feathers walk along the path. ‘What’s that?’ she asked as the bird stopped moving and looked straight at the little group.
‘It’s a peacock, don’t worry about it.’ Tahir whispered as he glanced up briefly before returning to his screen.
Hebro watched as the bird seemed to stamp its feet a couple of times before raising its train of feathers and displaying them. ‘Wow.’ She whispered as she took in the full majesty of the display.
‘You’ve never seen a peacock display before?’ Marissa asked as she saw the look on Hebro’s face.
‘I’ve seen something like that before, I can’t place it though.’ Hebro replied as she tried to turn away, for some reason though she couldn’t.
‘Hebbie, are you alright?’ Marissa asked noticing the struggle Hebro was having.
‘I can’t look away.’ Hebro replied softly as the bird began to inch closer to the group.
‘What do you mean can’t?’ Tahir asked as he turned back to the bird, as he did so he realised the feathers in the tail that looked like eyes were shimmering with power ever so slightly.
‘I don’t think that’s a bird.’ Tahir whispered to Marissa who was fighting the urge to look at the bird directly.
‘Yeah I figured that one.’ Marissa growled softly as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. Slowly she slid her finger along the button and turned on the light on the front. As the beam of light caught the bird for a second the form of a large beetle stood there before vanishing in a flash of light. ‘Ok, what the hell was that?’ she asked as she turned to see Hebro holding her head in her hands.
‘That was one of my kind.’ Hebro replied softly as she lowered herself onto her haunches.
‘I reckon the dog’s the same.’ Marissa whispered as she turned off the light.
‘Why?’ Tahir asked as he returned to the screen of his tablet.
‘The dog was looking right at me, it knew I w
as there.’ Marissa replied softly as she looked through the window immediately above their heads. Sure enough, on the ground curled up but ears pricked, the large Doberman lay quietly.
‘We’ve got a serious problem then, I can get us passed the normal security system but getting passed an ascended being is a little out of my ability.’ Tahir whispered hoarsely.
‘Leave the ascended to me.’ Hebro whispered and trotted off up the side of the building.
‘I hate it when she does that.’ Tahir chuckled as he followed Hebro up the actual side of the building to where she stopped just under the edge of the roof.
‘No one can see her, so what’s the problem?’ Marissa asked as she began to chuckle to herself at the sight of an old woman stood perpendicular to the side of the palace.
‘No, but there’s at least two ascended beings protecting this place, one outside which we’ve dealt with for now and that large fur coated razor blade in there.’ Tahir scoffed gently as he replaced the tablet in his bag. Can you see if the one in there’s gone?’ He asked quietly as he reached into the bag pulling out a small knife and a couple of sticks of chewing gum.
‘Yeah it’s gone.’ Marissa whispered as she lowered herself from looking through the window.
‘Got you peppermint, know you don’t like spear.’ Tahir chuckled as he unwrapped the gum popped it into his mouth and began to chew. Carefully he folded the wrapped along its longer edge and indicated for Marissa to do the same. She duly obliged and for a few seconds both stood chewing ferociously until Tahir raised his hand. Carefully flipped out the blade and ran it along the edge of the window until he felt it stop, he then slipped the folded paper along the blade and into the gap he’d created, then taking the gum he pressed it into the frame holding the wrapper in place. Once he’d made sure it was secure he ran the blade along the opposite edge of the window frame until it stopped, he held out his hand and took the wrapper from Marissa and slid it into the crack. Marissa removed the gum from her mouth passing it gently over and watched as Tahir secured this second piece in place.
‘Stef would be so proud of you right now.’ Marissa mumbled as she wiped away a tear.
‘Yeah, I didn’t think it was going to work.’ Tahir chuckled as he took his blade and ran it along the top of the frame and pushed a little harder. With a satisfying breath the window opened upwards and warm scented air seeped out.
‘Lavender, nice.’ Marissa whispered as she raised her head to look into the room to see if the dog had returned.
Tahir knew it was clear when Marissa pushed the window further up and proceeded to climb inside. ‘Here take this and slide it over your phone.’ He whispered as he handed Marissa a small plastic cover with a bulbous lense on the top.
‘What’s this for?’ Marissa asked taking the cover and sliding it over her phone.
‘Poor man’s night vision.’ Tahir chuckled as he flipped his phone over to turn the camera on. ‘Filter on the lense takes the infra-red from the bulb and translates it onto the screen.’ He continued as he turned his phone back around and showed the crystal-clear image of the room they were in.
‘Cool, where’d you get these from?’ Marissa asked as she turned on the camera of her own phone.
‘Made ‘em myself.’ Tahir whispered as he headed towards the door.
‘What’s on the other side of this door?’ Marissa asked as she reached out for the handle.
‘Clear corridor.’ Tahir replied quietly as he looked down at his tablet screen.
‘Where we heading next?’ Marissa asked as she pulled down on the handle and opened the door slowly.
‘Thirty feet to the left, then we’ve gotta make our way to the second floor.’ Tahir replied softly as he followed her out into the darkness.
‘How do we make it to the second floor?’ Marissa asked quietly sticking close to the wall. As she followed the image on her phone she saw a small camera on the wall, the small red dot at its base indicating it was working. She turned slowly towards Tahir and motioned with her hand to the camera.
‘I’ve deactivated them.’ Tahir whispered as he tapped her on the shoulder.
‘Ok.’ Marissa hissed softly as she started to advance down the corridor once more.
At the end of the corridor set into a small alcove a small crucifix stood on a pedestal, Marissa like the design on the plinth and bent down to take a picture. She realised a second too late that her flash was still engaged, for a second the area was filled with white searing light.
‘Clever.’ Tahir growled as he opened and closed his eyes several times to try and get them back used to the lower light levels.
‘Sorry.’ Marissa whispered lowering her head into her shoulders before turning to her right to see a set of stairs leading up and down.
‘Wait.’ Tahir mumbled as he placed a warning hand on Marissa’s shoulder. ‘Just above the overhand there’s another camera.’ He warned as he raced his fingers over the tablet screen.
‘Thought you’d deactivated them?’ Marissa scowled as she dropped back slightly and took up a defensive position.
‘This isn’t connected to the system, I only caught it cos the IR scanner illuminated the beam cutting across the floor.’ Tahir replied as he lowered his camera to a point where a line could be clearly seen running across the tiles.
‘This is a lot of security for an unimportant building.’ Marissa whispered as she looked down the corridor and thought she saw movement. ‘I don’t know how much longer our presence will go unnoticed.’ She hissed as her shoulders tensed.
Tahir noticing this change in Marissa began to work more frantically on his tablet. ‘Ok, this should do it.’ He whispered after about twenty seconds, he ran his finger over the lower part of the screen before turning his phone to the floor where the line began to flicker before vanishing completely.
‘Move.’ Marissa hissed as she raced up the stairs.
Tahir followed impressed Marissa made no sound as she hit the steps.
At the top of the steps Marissa stopped and allowed her view through her phone to take in the whole picture, on the walls several old looking paintings hung, the heavy frames seemed to hide details she couldn’t identify. ‘Something’s wrong here.’ She whispered as Tahir caught his breath.
‘Why?’ Tahir asked as he raised his phone to take in the corridor. As soon as he did he could see the problem, at various intervals along the corridor slender beams of light crisscrossed the room. ‘We’re seriously outgunned here.’ He chuckled softly as he looked back down at his table to see if there was anything he could find on this worrying development. ‘This is almost like Dubai.’ He whispered after checking something else.
‘What?’ Marissa asked her gaze never stopping more than a few seconds.
‘You remember when we found the Eye, Stef had to cover the corridor without breathing etc, this is so like that it’s untrue.’ Tahir replied as he pulled up the schematics of the palace.
‘That building was brand new, this place is centuries old.’ Marissa growled softly shaking her head.
‘Same mind behind it though.’ Tahir observed as he focused his camera on what appeared to be a seated figure at the end of the corridor. ‘We need to get through the door just behind that prayer stand.’ He finished quietly turning to see if anyone was behind them.
‘Hebro didn’t have anything to do with this place though, did she?’ Marissa asked her eyes widening slightly.
‘Before she lost her memories of this who knows what she did, she could’ve done all this, then wiped it from her consciousness.’ Tahir replied as he turned his camera to focus on the nearest emitter.
‘Why did she leave us then?’ Marissa asked as she reached into her pocket.
‘I dunno but something about this isn’t adding up.’ Tahir replied softly before. ‘You got your laser pointer?’
‘Yeah.’ Marissa replied as she pulled a small metal tube from her pocket and handed it to Tahir.
‘No, point it there.’ Tahir whispered
as he pointed to a small round dot on the emitter.
As Marissa pressed the button a small line of green coloured light erupted from the tube and impacted the first of four small flat round devices on the walls, she moved her hand around until Tahir indicated for her to stop. After a second of looking through the screen Tahir nodded his head and Marissa released the button.
‘Now this one.’ Tahir said softly as he pointed to a spot on the wall about ten feet further on.
‘Ok.’ Marissa whispered as she pointed the tube at the second object and once again depressed the button, this time her aim was spot on and within a second the device was inactive. ‘Same again?’ she asked as she trained the pointer at a spot another ten feet down the corridor.
‘Yeah.’ Tahir replied as he looked around to see if there’d been any activity from any of the rooms.
‘Got it.’ Marissa whispered as she lowered the pointer and started to edge down the corridor. They both kept to the edge of the wall so as not to move any loose floorboards. ‘Where’s the last one?’ She asked as they neared the end of the corridor.
‘In the ceiling above us, you can’t see it from where we were.’ Tahir replied quietly as he looked out into the gardens, he wasn’t surprised to see Hebro laying on the grass playing with what looked like a badger, its legs racing in the air as she tickled its tummy. ‘She’s really something.’ He muttered to himself as he raised his arm for Marissa to see.
‘She’s crazy.’ Marissa chuckled quietly.
‘No, not crazy, just lost.’ A deep sinister voice echoed from the darkness.
‘Shit.’ Marissa swore as the whole corridor was swallowed in darkness.
Tahir and Marissa’s eyes were dazzled for a second before they adjusted, it appeared to be a dark room with a single candle burning in the centre of it.
‘Did you honestly think you could just walk in and take this?’ The deep voice asked as a bright light appeared from nowhere illuminating a tall silver coloured spear held off the ground by a blue energy field.
‘If you know who we are, then you know why we need it.’ Tahir growled as he stood in front of Marissa.
Spear of Heaven: The Fallen Page 11
