Captured (The Prometheus Project Book 2)

by Richards, Douglas E

  Ryan jumped to his feet.

  Brice had caught the full brunt of the blast and was completely disoriented. The cruel mercenary was totally blind and deaf, giving Ryan the advantage, but he knew this wouldn’t last for long. He crouched low behind Brice, who could neither hear nor see him as he readied his assault. With one lightning-quick motion, Ryan reached out, grabbed both of the merc’s ankles, and yanked backwards with all of his might.

  The mercenary was taken completely by surprise and crashed to the ground far too quickly to have time to get his arms out to cushion the fall. His face and forehead smashed into the floor, breaking his nose and knocking him unconscious. Regan arrived an instant later and covered Brice with the stun gun, but this was already unnecessary.

  Ryan let out the breath he had been holding and tried to get his heart to stop racing. Regan said something to him but it was too soft to register through the ringing in his ears.

  “Not hearing great yet,” he explained telepathically. “Use telepathy.”

  “Hold his wrists,” she broadcast.

  Ryan nodded in understanding. Regan pulled a zip-strip from the merc’s belt, and within seconds, like Davidenko before him, Brice’s ankles and wrists were bound with sturdy plasticuffs.

  Ryan found a combat knife strapped to Brice’s leg, almost identical to the one he had taken from Davidenko. He removed it. Both he and Regan now had similar knives. They rushed to the large group of Prometheus scientists sprawled on the floor, whose hearing and vision had thankfully already returned to normal, and removed their gags. When this was completed, they quickly went to work sawing through Dr. Harris’s sturdy plasticuff shackles.

  Dr. Harris was white-haired and grandfatherly, with a pear-shaped body, a beard, and inch-thick glasses. “Great work, kids,” he said from his position on the floor.

  Regan continued to work on his ankle cuffs while Ryan concentrated on freeing his hands. The mercs’ knives were far better than the ones they had used earlier, and they were able to make short work of the tough plasticuffs that had bound Dr. Harris. They helped him to his feet and he stretched his legs gratefully.

  “Thanks,” he said in relief, as the siblings began working to free another scientist.

  “You’re very welcome,” said Regan from the floor, continuing to work the knife. She glanced up at Dr. Harris and added sheepishly, “Sorry about the whole deaf and blindness thing.”

  Ryan nodded his agreement beside her.

  “Well, at least now I know how bright the sun would appear—if I were standing on it,” he quipped. He became serious once more. “Neither of you have anything to be sorry about. Your plan was effective—very effective—and none of us will suffer any permanent ill effects. We couldn’t be more grateful.”

  Ryan shook his head. “Unfortunately, we’re not out of this yet—by a long shot.” He paused. “Where are Carl and his men?”

  “About an hour ago Manning ordered two of his men to drive all the security people, except Carl, to where your father is. He said Tezoc wanted them to have a front-row seat to see his triumph.” Dr. Harris lowered his eyes. “That’s also when they took your mother.”

  Ryan nodded grimly. “You said all of security,” he noted, “except Carl. Why didn’t they take Carl?”

  “According to Major Manning,” replied Dr. Harris, “Tezoc had special plans for Carl.”

  “So where is he now?” said Ryan.

  “Less than a minute before you arrived, Manning dumped Carl in the back of a Hauler and drove off. Before he left, he told Brice that Tezoc had changed his mind, and decided he wanted Carl at your father’s location after all. He left Brice behind to guard us.”

  Ryan thought about this. Manning must have been driving the truck they had seen when they had arrived. And Carl was with him. Only they weren’t heading to join Tezoc and his father. They had been driving in the opposite direction, toward the cavern—or maybe to Carl’s headquarters building, which was right near the main entrance as well.

  The siblings had now freed two other prisoners in addition to Dr. Harris, but quickly agreed telepathically that they couldn’t waste even a second more. They handed their knives to the newly freed scientists. “Use these to free the others,” said Ryan. “We need to go. Find another building to hide in within sight of this one. Have someone watch for us. If we aren’t back here within two hours, assume we were captured and try to come up with a plan to rescue our parents and the security people.”

  “Dr Harris?” said one of the two scientists helplessly, looking for guidance.

  “Do whatever they say,” instructed the white-haired scientist. Ryan and Regan had proven themselves repeatedly and appeared to know far more about what was going on than he did. If anyone had earned the right to be in charge at that instant, it was them.

  They thanked Dr. Harris and rushed off.

  “Wait. I’m coming with you,” he called after them.

  They all loaded into the large passenger compartment of a Hauler and moved out at full speed to Ben Resnick’s location in the city. Ryan drove since Dr. Harris didn’t know the way.

  Regan examined her watch. “We have about twelve minutes,” she said anxiously.

  “Dad won’t make an attempt before then,” said Ryan. “If he did figure out how to create an opening, he’ll want as much time as possible to recheck his calculations.”

  As they drove they hastily brought Dr. Harris up to speed on recent events. His mouth dropped open in astonishment as they told him about their discovery of the nullifier, but the proper gratitude and congratulations they had earned would have to wait. Amazing!

  “We should have enough time to stop the Hauler out of sight of the mercenaries and sneak close to them on foot,” said Ryan. “Let’s wait and see if our father can break through the barrier. If he does—at least if you can believe Tezoc—our mom won’t be in any danger. We can stay hidden and then join the others to work on a rescue plan. If he fails, we’ll be close enough to show ourselves immediately, before anything happens to our mom, and create Tezoc’s exit for him with the nullifier.”

  “I can’t see how even your father could create an exit in this short amount of time,” said Dr. Harris grimly.

  “We agree,” said Regan. “We’ll probably have to tell Tezoc about the nullifier.”

  Ryan frowned bleakly. “But Brice claims Manning ordered him to kill us and destroy anything we found. If these orders really did come from Tezoc, this is a suicide mission. The nullifier won’t buy us a thing. In fact, Regan’s convinced me that Tezoc already knows how to exit this city any time he wants to.”

  “Then why this game with your father and the barrier?”

  “We have no idea,” said Regan. “It doesn’t make sense. But we don’t have a choice. If Dad fails, we have to try to save Mom. Hopefully we’re wrong and Tezoc was telling the truth and really does need an exit.”

  Ryan concentrated for all he was worth. He had to solve the puzzle. They continued to totally miss the big picture. Why had Manning taken Carl in the wrong direction? Was Manning working alone? Was he working against Tezoc? He and Regan had focused on Tezoc before. Maybe focusing on Manning would help. Ryan strained to his limits, trying to recall every encounter they had had with the short major, every observation they had made.

  Ryan fought to process the ever-growing number of unconnected puzzle pieces that were filling his mind. He had to find the connection between them all as they swirled around like a thick soup in his brain. If he could take everything he had learned about Tezoc and Manning and the force-field and the invasion, and hold it in his mind at the same time, maybe he could somehow find the key to solve the puzzle.

  “What a nightmare,” said Dr. Harris miserably. “How could this have happened? Instead of a visit from the president, we get a visit from an alien madman.”

  “Visit from the president?” they both said at once.

  When they had asked Carl to do a security sweep the week before, he had mentioned th
e president would be visiting soon, but he hadn’t mentioned the date and they had forgotten all about it. “Are you saying he was supposed to visit today?” said Regan.

  Dr. Harris nodded. “Yes. He was supposed to be visiting in two or three hours. That obviously won’t be happening now,” he noted.

  Ryan’s mind raced and adrenaline surged through his body. This had to be an important clue. It couldn’t be a coincidence. He added this information to the cauldron in his brain and redoubled his efforts to solve the puzzle.

  They turned a corner and stopped as Tezoc, Ben Resnick, and five mercenaries came into view. Just to Tezoc’s left, Amanda Resnick and seven members of Prometheus security were bound on the ground. Instead of the array of powerful generators their father had used to tear a hole in the barrier before, there were only two small pieces of equipment, each the size of a large toaster. These were connected to a computer that sat between them.

  They approached silently on foot, careful to stay out of sight. This wasn’t difficult because Tezoc and his men had surrounded their father and their attention was riveted on him. He was about to begin his attempt to break through the barrier. He nodded his readiness but then decided to check the settings on the equipment one last time.

  Dr. Harris and the siblings peered from behind a building about fifty yards from the group of invaders and their fellow team members. Ryan’s brain tingled and his head began to ache from the monumental effort he was making to determine what Tezoc was really up to before it was too late. He was lucky his earlier headache had gone away, although he realized he could have cured it instantly with the alien medical device as he had done for his sister.

  Regan’s headache!

  As soon as he thought about her headache as well as his own, he knew this was an important clue. He quickly added it to the others.

  They had both gotten headaches. What did this mean? Think! he ordered himself.

  His mind raced furiously, churning through different possibilities.

  Bingo! His eyes went wide.

  In a flash of inspiration he connected all the dots. Finally.

  But as he looked up, he realized in horror that his father was standing over the equipment again, his right hand reaching down to turn it all on and begin his attempt to create a hole in the city’s shield.

  “No!” screamed Ryan at the top of his lungs.

  He sprinted out from his hiding place and waved his arms in front of him. “Dad, stop!” he screamed as he ran. “Turn that on and you’ll kill us all.”

  CHAPTER 20

  A Startling Assertion

  Ben Resnick had been an instant away from turning on the equipment when he heard his son’s voice in the distance. He was just able to jerk his hand away in time.

  The mercenaries responded rapidly. Fanning out at a run, they seized Ryan and discovered Dr. Harris and Regan moments later, bringing all three to face Tezoc.

  The imposingly tall, lanky alien was seething. He pointed at Ryan. “Captain Hanly,” he barked to the muscular soldier beside him. “Kill him.”

  The captain frowned. “He’s just a kid.”

  “I said kill him,” barked Tezoc. “I have my reasons. Don’t you ever question my orders!”

  The captain pointed his rifle at Ryan but it was clear he was still uncertain. Even so, Ryan knew he had only seconds to make his point. “Don’t do it,” he pleaded. “Think! Why did I come out of hiding just now? To warn you, that’s why.” He pointed to the towering alien. “Tezoc plans to kill you all. Let me save your lives.”

  Ryan blurted this all out in a single breath and as a single sentence, knowing that Hanly could decide to pull the trigger at any time.

  Hanly’s weapon wavered.

  “I will not say this again, Captain,” said Tezoc icily. “Kill him now.”

  “Things aren’t what they seem,” said Ryan hurriedly. “Ask yourself, why does he want me dead? I’m unarmed. He’s afraid of what I have to say, that’s why. You’re placing blind trust in a madman who isn’t even human! Give me five minutes to save your lives.”

  Ryan’s rapid-fire words were spoken almost at the same pace as those of an auctioneer. The situation was tense, and he needed to get his arguments out before anyone decided to follow Tezoc’s orders. “I’m your prisoner. You can shoot me whenever you want. What’s the hurry?”

  As Ryan spoke the mercenaries moved closer to him and Tezoc. Several of them had become intrigued by what he was saying. Why did Tezoc want the boy dead so badly?

  “If this boy still has a pulse in three seconds,” thundered Tezoc, “every last one of you can kiss your three million dollars goodbye.”

  “You can’t spend money when you’re dead, which is what will happen if you listen to Tezoc,” blurted out Ryan breathlessly. “If I’m wrong, you can shoot me five minutes from now. But if I’m right, killing me now is as good as killing yourselves. I don’t have a weapon. All I have are words. Think! Why does he want to shut me up so badly?”

  While Ryan was speaking, Tezoc shuffled a step or two closer to Ben Resnick and the equipment. Noticing this, two mercenaries on that side moved closer together, pointedly blocking his access.

  The tide was beginning to turn! Ryan knew he was reaching the five mercenaries. Several of them raised eyebrows and glanced at each other meaningfully. The boy posed no danger. Why was Tezoc so afraid of what he might say?

  Hanly considered Ryan’s argument and knew his fellow mercenaries were doing the same. Even though Tezoc was acting irrationally, Hanly was very loyal to the alien and found it a struggle to even consider disobeying his orders. But if the boy was right, his life depended on doing so now. Besides, he told himself, he wasn’t really refusing an order as much as he was delaying it for five minutes. Finally having come to a firm decision, Hanly turned his weapon away from the boy and trained it on Tezoc. “I say let’s hear the kid out.”

  There were nods and low murmurs of agreement all around. Hanley now had the full support of the soldiers—at least temporarily.

  “You have five minutes,” said Hanly evenly. “Use them wisely.”

  “The kid’s got nothing!” bellowed Tezoc. “Whatever he says is a lie! If trying to create an exit out of this city will kill us all, why am I still standing here? He has a great imagination and he’s quite clever, but he’s trying to sell you a bill of goods. Just remember you’re listening to nothing but a fantasy story.”

  “Well I, for one, am curious to hear this fantasy story of his,” said Hanly. “None of us are stupid, regardless of what you might think. You can’t get this far in the soldiering business without being able to think for yourself. We’ll decide if what the boy has to say makes sense. So no more interruptions!” he said with finality.

  Hanly knew he had to be forceful with Tezoc, even though he didn’t want to be, because all of his experience told him it was vital that he listen to Ryan. But he had every intention of making it up to the alien later—more than making it up to him. Despite this small hiccup, he was not about to let Tezoc down.

  Tezoc fumed but said nothing further.

  Hanly nodded at Ryan. “Go ahead,” he said, and then, frowning deeply, added, “Oh, and son, Tezoc makes a good point about his still being here when we’re all about to commit—as you describe it—mass suicide. I’ll be quite interested to hear your explanation for this.”

  “The explanation is very simple,” replied Ryan. He pointed to the tall alien. “You see, that man isn’t Tezoc Zoron,” he said with absolute conviction. “The real Tezoc Zoron has no intention of being here when we destroy ourselves.”

  CHAPTER 21

  A Convincing Argument

  Ryan’s bold assertion hit the gathering like a bombshell, stunning mercenaries and members of the Prometheus team alike.

  “Tezoc was right,” snapped Hanly angrily once the commotion this caused had died down. “This is a fantasy story.”

  Ryan quickly raised his right hand, palm outward. “Let me finish,” he said. “
I know it sounds crazy. You said I had five minutes.”

  Hanly thought for a few seconds and then nodded. “This had better be good.”

  Ryan had been holding his breath and exhaled loudly in relief. Beside him, Regan was thinking furiously, assuming he was right and using this as the key to connect the dots for herself.

  “Okay,” began Ryan. “What do we all know about Tezoc?”

  “I thought you said this guy isn’t Tezoc,” interjected one of the mercs.

  “Don’t worry about that for a second,” said Ryan in frustration. He paused and began again. “What do we know about Tezoc? We know he’s an advanced alien. And we can guess he has amazing intelligence and abilities, even among his own kind, because he was able to escape an escape-proof prison and come to this city. And he plans very carefully and doesn’t leave anything to chance.”

  Ryan paused to let the group digest what he had said. “Finally,” he added, “we know he has telepathic abilities.”

  Ryan could tell from the group’s body language they agreed with everything he had said so far. He knew that his very life depended on his ability to make a convincing argument.

  “Tezoc let everyone know that he can use these abilities to sense and detect the minds of adults around him,” he continued. “But what if he can do a lot more with these powers than he’s letting on? What if he can use them to enter people’s thoughts? What if, for one person at a time, he’s able to control them completely? Turn them into his puppets—extensions of himself?”

  “And your evidence?” said Hanly, still attentively holding his weapon on Tezoc.

  “My evidence is that this is the only way that any of this makes sense—so it has to be right. Let me review everything that’s happened here from the beginning and you’ll understand what I mean. Eight days ago Tezoc escaped and arrived in this city.”

  “How do you know this happened exactly eight days ago?” asked a mercenary.

  “I guess I can’t tell them about the telepathic warning,” Ryan broadcast to his sister, “or they’ll think I’m crazy for sure.” Aloud he said, “Because my sister and I saw something funny last Friday that we thought might be an alien. Maybe he was here before last Friday, but I know he was here then.”