"I'm glad I did."
He smiled, squeezing Bee's foot. "Make it through today – both of you." He glanced at me. "And I could teach her some things."
"Like what? How to singe her fingers?"
He snorted, gave me his usual two-finger salute with hand still wrapped from his last mishap, and disappeared back into the van. I watched long enough for the dust cloud to settle back down on the dirt road, then turned to face the crevice.
I hopped over a short chain running across the entrance, ignoring the sign: 'Caves Closed due to Dangerous Conditions'.
They have no idea, I thought.
Micah had at least been able to get the National Park Service to close Mammoth Cave down for the day.
Now – if only he could manage to call me. Or better yet, show his face.
I took one last look at the sunlit forest surrounding me before disappearing into the dark. No Micah. I sighed and squeezed in between the rocks, my job made exponentially more difficult with Bee on my back.
"Just keep your head down back there." I flipped on my headlamp.
Inside, the three on my team waited for me. One fiddled with his radio, another typed away on her iPad.
"Which way?" the Air asked me.
I widened my eyes; she was the one holding the maps.
She followed my gaze down to the papers she held in her hands. "I know, I know. I'm just – directionally challenged." She looked longingly at the iPad, then over at the radio.
I pressed my lips into a thin line. "Okay – let's head deeper in. We think they set up shop as far as they could get from the tourist areas." I took point, leading the group into the claustrophobic caves. Comparatively, I had little to complain about. Besides their need for an Earth, I chose the group because their route didn't involve any serious spelunking. No more tight crevices for me.
*
Susan and her team approached the lit passageway, pressing their bodies against the wall as heavy footsteps pounded past. Alex had made a good choice with the uniforms. As long as they kept their headlamps off and didn't smile, which wasn’t a problem, they were able to blend in with the cave walls.
The Fire next to her let out a short squeal. Susan clamped her hand over his mouth. When she was sure he would remain quiet, she slowly removed her hand, listening for any telltale signs they had been discovered.
"Sorry," he hissed in her ear. "Cave cricket. I hate it down here. I should be above; helping to thwart the EMP."
"You are strongest with your circle," Susan whispered back. "And our mission is to destroy the intel hub. Once we are done with that we can get out."
"It's just so…claustrophobic down here." The Fire leaned his head back against the cave wall. "Ow."
"Shh!" Susan rolled her eyes. Good thing it was dark. She didn't understand his trepidations – but the Air seemed to be having trouble, too. Besides having to carry that weird jar of dirt around, Zola – the Earth, was doing okay.
Susan loved the caves. Rock and earth carved and sculpted by millions of years of water. It was beautiful; reminded her of scuba diving.
The last of the footsteps were at least five minutes gone.
"Okay, let's go." Susan motioned her team forward with her hand. They stepped into the light, expecting a trap to go off any minute. Tuning into their elements, each readied themselves to call them on a moment's notice. Further into the room, a dozen or so computers and other equipment lined foldout tables. Cords ran into a back-up server and back down the lit tunnel. No telling where else all the files might be backed up.
The four stood in front of the control room, at a loss.
Beside Susan, the Fire formed his element. "Want me to just set it all on fire?"
"Don't you think we need to confiscate the files? Maybe retrieve the information before we destroy it?" Zola asked. She was finally participating in the mission.
A wind tunnel of air followed by screams echoed down the long corridor. They flattened themselves against the wall again. When nothing happened, Susan stepped toward the computers. "No – we don't have that much time."
The Air ran his finger over metal shielding above all the equipment, "They have it set up almost like our library, Susan."
Susan inspected the design a little closer. "It’s the same exact type of material. And the same shape."
"What does that mean?" Zola asked quietly, stepping up next to Susan.
"It means there’s a traitor."
Chapter 61
High Tech
Brandt's team had only been hiking for an hour when Brandt stopped them. "Do you feel that?"
Natasha, his Water, came up alongside him, "What?"
"The shift – in the air. It's loaded with electrons." He turned to the two women. "Just like when we were practicing our own plasma."
The Water and Air exchanged glances.
"Well," said Nina, the Air, "Follow it. That's probably the target."
Brandt nodded and the trio moved forward. Human voices filtered through the leaves. They took cover, only daring to creep forward on hands and knees. Peeking through the bushes, they peered over a rocky ledge. The clearing below held dozens of Fires, distinguishable by the small ball of flame over his or her palm.
Only one man, the one in the center giving orders, was without the element. "Remember what we practiced. Once started, you see it through to the finish – no matter what."
"That must be Shawn," Brandt whispered.
The two women beside him nodded.
The trio watched from their rocky ledge as each Fire planted one foot behind and raised their arms simultaneously. Their element grew, taking the shape of extended tentacles, until the flame merged into one fiery serpent rising into the air.
Brandt snorted, the burns on his hand throbbing in memory of his experiment. "They don't need to make it as hot, especially not with so many working together." He still wasn't convinced mixing elements was the smartest plan. If he had his group of Fires here now, they could easily take everyone out.
What are the three of us going to do? We can't even produce that ball of light without an Earth.
Brandt watched as the element grew. It was a slow and steady burn; not one that could easily be maintained with the most volatile element. They'd been practicing. A blast of energy was pulled in from the forest, rushing into the stream of fire.
"Now they ionize the gas surrounding the flame," he whispered. "But it's different than what we were doing. See – a non-thermal plasma is forming, then being forced back into the flame to gain altitude. The electrons and heavy particles are not in equilibrium."
"So what do we do?" Natasha whispered back.
Brandt shrugged.
The clearing shimmered.
"Look!" His voice raised an octave higher than it should have been. "The entire area is becoming an electromagnetic field."
The sound of the Air beside him, creeping backwards on her hands and knees, couldn't even tear his eyes from the sight.
Natasha leaned to one side, digging in her cargo pocket for the iPad. "We need to at least send our coordinates – hopefully Susan or Kaitlyn has a signal. They'll tell us what to do."
"Does that thing have a camera on it?" Brandt asked.
"I don't know." Natasha sighed, typing away on the touch pad.
"Give it here." Brandt snatched it out of her hand before she could finish the coordinates.
"Hey!"
Before a game of tug of war ensued, the iPad was swept from their hands, landing almost dead center in the clearing of Fires by a pair of black boots. The owner of the boots squatted down and ran his finger over the cracked screen. "The Seven is going high-tech."
From their perch above, Brandt and Natasha watched Shawn pick up the iPad, then they slowly turned to find Nina aiming a cold, black pistol down on them. "Which one wants to be first?"
Chapter 62
MIA
"Come in fire team four, over." Ahi lowered the radio from her mouth and waited thirty seconds
before trying again, "I say again – fire team four, come in – over."
"Give it a rest," Alexia said from her lead position, pushing her way through an overgrown, unmarked path above the caves. "We should be meeting up with them any minute now – if they managed to find the rendezvous point."
Ahi huffed in frustration. Andrés was on that team. Already Jose's team was MIA over the airways. Whatever interference was causing their inability to communicate at least convinced Alexia to merge with a few other teams.
Another branch snapped back and hit Ahi in the face. She wasn't used to so many trees. They reached a small cave, jutting out from the ground. Alexia stopped, and Ahi almost ran straight into her.
"What's wrong?" asked Ahi, peering around her.
"We're here – but no one else is." Alexia removed the heavy pack from her back, and stretched her shoulders. "We'll wait five minutes then we need to move on. Shawn has started the operation. He needs all available Fires."
Ahi rubbed her temples. "I know – I intercepted the call myself."
I just wish I had my friends with me. None of this feels right.
She kept her trepidations to herself.
As the rest of the team sat, recovering from the fast hiking pace Alexia set, Ahi explored the tiny cave. "Which direction were they coming from?"
Alexia stood from adjusting something at her ankle. "Your friend's team was below ground. There is supposed to be a tunnel leading up. The opening is somewhere back there."
Ahi turned her back on Alexia and walked deeper into the shallow cave, running her hands along the back wall. There were no air drafts. "I don't see an opening."
The click of a pistol's safety turning off froze Ahi in place. She slowly turned around, and raised her hands in the air, "Alexia – what are you doing?"
Alexia swallowed hard. "Shawn says he'll add you to the list."
The distinct crack echoed off the cave walls.
Chapter 63
More
More screams shot down the tunnel system. Susan and Zola both looked over their shoulders, then exchanged glances.
"Anything?" Susan turned to the Air, who was typing away on his computer.
He shrugged. "Nothing yet. We don't have a signal this deep. But even before we lost the signal – a lot of teams weren't responding." He sighed and put the iPad back in his pocket. "Do you feel that? The air down here - it feels tainted."
"Everything down here is tainted," Susan said. "It would be difficult to conjure Akasha, I think." She looked over at Zola, coming to a decision. "Okay, you two—" She pointed to the Air and Fire. "Head back the way we came, above ground. Once you have a signal relay our position here, just in case we are unsuccessful. Then hook up with Brandt's team."
They breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief.
"Don't have to tell us twice," the Fire mumbled.
Zola and Susan watched the receding glow of their headlamps.
Zola took a deep breath in. "Good. Makes it easier to concentrate. How are we going to do this?"
"Do you hear that?" Susan asked.
"What?" Zola cocked her ear.
An almost silent roar moved in the passageway directly above them. Susan looked at Zola and smiled. "Water."
Zola followed Susan's gaze up. "Okay," she said, eyes wide. They each took a step back.
"Try to keep it localized – that way we may have a chance out of here," Susan said.
Zola shook her head. "Earth magic doesn't necessarily work like that."
"Just do your best." Susan glanced at her, still slowly backing up. "And give that jar of yours a rub for luck."
"You do the same with your cup," Zola said.
The women clasped each other's hands as Zola hunched her shoulders, using the cave's own energy to break through the limestone ceiling. The cavern rumbled around them and the cave lights flickered.
"More," whispered Susan.
Completely surrounded by her element, Zola found it easy to work. She added more energy. Slowly, the rumbling grew to a dull roar, and cracks crept across the walls and ceiling.
"More," said Susan, louder this time.
Zola's hand squeezed Susan's as she put everything she had into her last attempt. The lights went out completely, plunging the women into darkness. Computer screens and printers crashed to the floor.
Susan's scream, "More!" could be heard above it all.
Chapter 64
Numbness
We entered a large cavern; the floor was completely submerged in still water.
"Do you think this is on the map?" asked the Air.
"I don't know." I shrugged. Like her, I had completely given up on the map. "Come on."
I waded into the pool of water, toward the passage, emerging down the other side. Single beams of light from our headlamps danced around the surface of the water and walls of the cave. In the center most section of the room, we were waist-deep. Bee kicked at the water with her toes.
The water rippled with vibration. We froze.
"What is that?" asked the Fire behind me. He held his iPad over his head, well out of reach of the miniature lake.
"A busy Earth," I said. Whether or not that Earth is on our side…
The cave shook again, harder this time. The rumbling was overtaken by an eerily close, high-pitched scream. Like a starting gunshot, the scream moved us into action. We lurched forward, aiming for the wall on either side of the opening. Panicked shouts and footsteps followed. The sizzling pops of a fireball could be heard before its light flew past in the long corridor.
The cave shook again, groaning around us. I looked up. Stalactites quivered, their thin, pointy forms threatening to plummet down on us. I reached up, pulling the protective hood over Bee's backpack. Would Kevlar stop falling stalactites? I wasn't willing to play rock, Kevlar, stalactite with my baby's life at stake.
"We need to get out of here!" the Air shouted. She took a step deeper into the water, the way we came.
"No!" I stopped her, glancing up. "It's not safe. We go this way." I gestured into the passageway with my chin. Another fireball flew past the entrance.
Yeah, that'll convince her.
Her eyes were wide as she backed away from me. I saw her desperation. I shook my head, willing her to stay with me. She turned and ran back into the deep part of the cavern just as another vicious round of shaking took hold. She might have made it if it weren't for the waist-deep water, or the rocky, uneven floor. She tripped, splashing into the water. Stalactites above followed. The only thing to surface was an inky pool of dark, thick liquid.
More shaking threw me back against the wall. Stalactites continued to fall; our odds of dodging them ever decreasing. I slunk into the passageway of fire, followed by the remaining two on my team.
The pool of water followed us in, forced up and over the containing lip of rock by our Water. It lapped at our ankles, ready to defend. It weighed down my boots and I swallowed hard, wondering if any of the Air’s blood was still with us, too.
We turned off our headlamps, chose a direction, and walked. I silently wished we had waited for the night-vision goggles to come in before we’d left the Chakra. My boot hit something solid blocking the path, and I knelt down. My fingers stumbled over a zipper and buttons. I turned on my headlamp.
"One of ours?" asked the Fire behind me.
I nodded.
A large gash marked the boy’s chest, blood running down the rocks behind his head. His eyes were wide and unblinking, as though he was straining to see through the darkness.
Weren't we all.
"Do we take him with us?" asked the Fire.
"No," I said. "Record his position. Someone can come back for him."
As I ran my hand over his face, closing his lids, I heard, "Here’s another; not one of ours."
I scooted over to the next body.
This one wasn't nearly as pretty.
I covered my mouth, forcing back a dry-heave. "Check his pockets."
A quick
search revealed a pistol, a radio, and a wallet. A trucker from Wyoming, still carrying his commercial driver's license and a picture of his kids. A noise caused me to drop the wallet. The Fire went further down the passage, aiming his newly-acquired pistol where lamplight fell. It landed on another pair of boots; also not ours. One of the boots twitched.
"He's still breathing," whisper-shouted the Fire over his shoulder.
I crept up alongside him. My light fell on the man's dark skin. A long, black braid hung over his shoulder. Recognition tightened my chest. "Andrés? What are you doing here?"
He lifted his head, groaned, and set it back down with a thunk. "Bleeding to death, Chica."
My hands began to shake. I ran them down his shirt, stopping over a sticky, wet spot. I tore open the fabric. "You got shot?"
He nodded, slowly. "Came to find you. Only found trouble."
I nodded, trying to keep the tears from coming. "Yeah – that happens a lot." I pressed on the wound with my bare hands. His skin was so cold. "Is Ahi here?"
He nodded as the cave shook again, giving away to a thunderous crash down the passageway.
My team pulled at my arms. "Come on, Kaitlyn. We have to go!"
"No!" I yanked my hand away. "I can't leave him!"
New sounds reverberated throughout the cave.
"It's flooding!" yelled the Fire. "I'm fucking out of here!"
The pair took off running in the opposite direction of rushing water.
"Go, Chica!"
I saw the words on Andrés' lips, even though I couldn't hear him. It wouldn't have mattered if I did go. The water rounded the bend, crashing toward us before my team was even out of site.
I dove on my side, facing the water with Bee and Andrés both behind me. My shield formed quickly, more condensed than ever before. The sheer force of the water pushed us back. My arm and side scraped along the floor of the cave. Debris hit, and I gritted my teeth.
It stopped just as suddenly as it began, leaving behind only an extra foot of standing water. I released my shield and got to my knees, turning to make sure Bee was okay. I released a breath. Wet and wide-eyed, but she was okay. I reached into the standing water and pulled Andrés' head above it.
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