by RJ Johnson
He flicked the switch on his PDA, and a countdown clock began running on his display. Fifteen minutes and counting. 14:59, 14:58; each tick on his PDA was a tick closer to death.
“Soon, all this will be just a bad accident, chalked up to a substandard mining crew, that locals will only read about in the paper, only to be forgotten the next time some other Hollywood trollop releases a sex tape.” Kline shook his head. “The media obsession with celebrity in this country is pure banality.”
Kline began walking up the tunnel away from Emily. She screamed and ran after Kline.
“You said you’d let me go!” Emily yelled at him. Kline turned, as if annoyed by an offending fly that had landed on his favorite suit, and brushed her off and away.
With all of Kline’s brute strength however, she was thrown all the way back to the crystal wall where she was knocked unconscious and left for dead.
Chapter Forty
Alex cursed to himself as he approached the mineshaft. Two dead bodies lay at the entrance to greet him.
“Well, that’s not a good sign,” Alex said to himself, poking his head around the corner. He listened for any indication of life.
Hearing none, he eased himself into the tunnel, creeping his way through the darkness. With no flashlight to lead the way, Alex was slowed to a crawl as he let his toes and arms feel out the space ahead.
Stumbling over something, Alex knelt down and felt for what he had tripped over. Whatever it was, Alex wanted to be sure he wouldn’t trip over it again, should he need to escape quickly. Knowing one's path, and the obstacles in it, could sometimes mean the difference between life and death.
Patting the object, Alex quickly realized what he was feeling was clothing. He wrestled the body to a sitting position and used his glow stick to illuminate the face in front of him.
It was the bald man from the Sheriff station, JPL, and the Allen Telescope Array. This was the man that had assisted in Alex’s bad past two days, and he wasn’t moving.
Good, Alex thought to himself. One less scumbag I have to worry about. Looking over the scene in front of him, and the condition of the man’s face, he felt more than a little satisfied at the thought that Emily had gotten a hold of him. Allowing a smile to trickle across his face, he nodded imperceptibly. “Good girl,” he whispered. Emily had expressed interest in taking some self-defense classes. It looked as if they had paid off.
A crash echoed down the tunnel. Alex looked up, seeing a bright light flash several times ahead down the tunnel. Alex dropped Geoffrey Tate’s lapels, leaving him to sit against the cold mountain rock. The flashing lights gave Alex something to aim for. It was further, much further into the freshly dug tunnel than Alex would have anticipated for the short time the crew had been working here.
After walking closer to the light, he hid behind a discarded mound of rocks and earth left over from the massive excavation project. He watched as Emily screamed at Kline, only to be tossed casually aside, like a doll that had outgrown its usefulness to its priggish owner.
Kline pocketed something and began retreating back up the tunnel towards Alex’s safe position. Alex hid in a dark corner, thinking quietly about his options.
His two main advantages were his invulnerability and the element of surprise. Kline would be ready for someone to attack him; he told Alex as much when he kidnapped Emily at the ATA. Kline was spoiling for a fight, and a chance to steal Alex’s stone too while he was at it. Alex decided he wasn’t going to give Kline the chance. He would not make the mistake of underestimating his opponent again.
He had been lucky in his last two encounters; this time would take a bit more finesse. Ducking down, he let Kline pass by. The businessman whistled tunelessly as he walked up the tunnel towards the cool night air, happy as a man could be.
Only after Alex was certain that Kline was gone did he get up and move towards Emily.
She was lying prostrate on the ground, her right arm bent in an unnatural position. Alex gasped, moving quickly to get over to her to heal her. He ran his arms all over her body, hoping he wasn’t too late. He pressed his ears to her chest, hoping to hear something.
There was nothing. Alex began to panic. By now, his touch would have healed anyone else’s wounds.
“Come on Em… Come back to me. It’s Alex,” Alex pleaded. “You can be pissed and give me the silent treatment later. It’s time to come back now.”
Nothing happened. The telltale blue energy was nowhere to be seen. Alex leaned over, hugging his former love tightly. “I’m so sorry, Emily. It was all my fault. I’m so sorry.”
Little by little, a faint blue glow began to shine weakly from his stone. He held her, his tears pouring down his face. “I’m sorry. I left just when things were getting good. I let them ‘kill’ me. I could have protested, lodged a complaint, but I felt like I was dead anyway.”
The healing light had now spread to Emily’s body. It enveloped the two of them, healing their wounds. She started breathing again, and looked up into Alex’s eyes, and for a moment, they were again connected.
“You son of a bitch!” Emily screamed as she slapped Alex across the face. “What the hell did you get us into?”
Smiling somewhat, he rubbed his face, “Jesus! That hurt!”
“Good!” Emily snapped, “Maybe it’ll snap some sense into you. What the hell is goin' on?”
Alex sucked in a breath, intent on explaining everything, but realized it would take a lot longer than the few brief moments they had.
“There’s no time for that now. You gotta tell me: did Kline have a stone on him? Did he take anything from here?” Alex asked urgently.
“There was a stone he had me grab.” Emily replied confused. “It was inside that…” She waved at the crystal wall in front of them. “…crystal vault thing over there. Alex…” Her eyes were as wide as saucers. “I’ve never experienced or seen anything like it.”
Alex frowned. This was bad. If Kline had a second stone, there was no telling how powerful he’d be. Siobhan had warned against letting Kline get to this point. He looked at her, stroking her blood-matted hair.
“Look, I know it’s a crazy world you’ve been a part of for the last 24 hours, but believe me, if we don’t stop Kline right now, it’ll get a whole lot worse.” Alex took out his assault rifle and checked the safety. “Stay here and don’t come out for anything.”
Alex began moving quickly up the tunnel, when Emily, who had been confused by Alex’s rapid barking of orders, began following him up the tunnel.
“Hey, wait!” she cried out, “Kline rigged this whole place to explode.”
Alex looked back at Emily, incredulous. “Yeah, next time, on the list of priorities, mention bombs first!” He grabbed Emily’s hand, and the pair began sprinting out of the tunnel.
Chapter Forty-One
Kline rubbed his new stone between his fingers as it sparked inside his pocket. He was a schoolboy, giddy in his new source of power. He smiled to himself. This was the moment that he ceased to be an extraordinary mortal, and moments away from becoming a God.
Two stones were now in his possession. One granted him incredible strength; the other…well, it would need some testing, but Kline’s mind raced with possibilities. Whatever power this stone granted him, he was sure he would leverage it well in his life.
The mere thought of his newfound power made Kline lightheaded. He had dreamed of this moment for years, spent billions of dollars, wasting resources, men, and time away on dummy corporations, shell companies, everything in its place to weave a web of deceit and fraud. No, none of these activities could be traced to him.
In truth, he had become much more powerful than his allies in Washington had ever thought possible. After his successful collective privatization of mercenaries had gone so well, the influence he wielded through the globe extended even in the hottest of spots, where the CIA feared to tread.
If he could also capture Mr. McCray’s stone, nothing man had ever devised to kill a fellow
human being would be able to stop him. He alone had the tools and knowledge to find the remaining nine stones, and no one would be the wiser.
By the time Kline was ready, he could take over quietly from within, and consolidate his power into a massive organization. That organization would then be a quiet cancer in every country that allied itself to his company.
The ascent would be so rapid that the general populace would have little choice but to accept it. Should anyone fight back (which he fully expected, and even looked forward to the challenge), his remarkable powers should be more than enough to protect him and his interests.
It was a good plan, one that he had gone over night after night repeatedly in his head, ever since the first moment he had held his stone so many years ago. Years of thought and foresight had gone into every detail. It was time for Rupert Kline to take his rightful place amongst history’s greatest rulers.
His mind, entranced with his future plans, was so distracted that he nearly stumbled over something. Looking down, he saw the paralyzed face and body of his number two, Geoffrey Tate. Kline sighed, leaned down, and picked his assistant up off the ground, lifting him up and over his shoulders as easily as a sack of potatoes.
“If I’m going to give you toys to play with, you have to be certain they aren’t turned back on you,” Kline said patronizingly.
Geoffrey could say nothing at all in return; the poison was still working its way through his system. He would not be able to speak for at least a few more hours.
“Women are always taking me by surprise, too. Don't feel so bad,” Kline said, clucking his tongue in sympathy.
Kline continued down the tunnel, smelling the fresh air of the entrance above.
“Smell that, Mr. Tate?” It means we’re only a few yards away from victory.” Kline exited the tunnel triumphantly.
“I wouldn’t move if I were you, Mr. Kline.” The voice called out from the bushes. Kline looked around casually.
“I’m sorry?” Kline called out politely. “I’m not used to having conversations with no face to put to them, so if you wouldn’t mind showing yourself…”
Scott removed himself from the shadows, pointing his MISAMP at Kline. “I told you, don’t move.”
Christina emerged from the bushes on the other side of the trail, a gun in her hand. She pulled the hammer back, cocking it loudly for Kline’s benefit. Siobhan remained in the shadows, observing it all from a safe distance.
“I watched you knock some needles out of the air. How about a bullet? Can you do that?” Christina snarled at him.
Kline sneered back at her. He looked at the two of them. They would be no match at all for his stone.
“I wouldn’t put so much stock in your stone, Mr. Kline.” A third voice from the shadows.
Alex emerged from the tunnel, holding Emily back from rushing Kline. This was their moment. They needed to do this right. Blind rushing a man who could easily turn them into Hamburger Helper was not a wise strategy.
“So, you’re all going to stop me, are you?” Kline asked, amused. He took stock of the situation around him, his body and mind refocusing into the moment. He tossed Geoffrey’s body to the side, away from the miscreants who dared to threaten him.
“Someone has to, and I believe I’m a better man to hold onto that stone there,” Alex shot back. He motioned to Scott, who nodded at Alex and adjusted a knob on the MISAMP.
“I would love an honest debate about that,” Kline said spiritedly. “But, since I simply do not have the time to engage in such fluffery, I’ll instead thank you to give me your stone and be on my merry way.”
Alex smiled. “You’re a little overconfident, don’t you think?” He motioned to his friends. “In case you haven't noticed, you're outnumbered.”
Kline smiled and removed from his pocket the green and glowing stone. “Two stones are better than one.”
“Hey look, I have one of those.” Siobhan finally stepped forward, her earring flashing brilliantly as her shape began to shift.
Siobhan’s entire body shook and expanded. As Scott, Christina, Emily, and Alex watched, the Irishwoman rapidly shifted into a dragon that could have come right out of Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
Alex never got tired of watching Siobhan transform. He smiled as he watched the dragon rear back on its mighty haunches and scream into the night sky, lighting it up with a flame fifty feet long.
Kline smiled and withdrew the green stone he had taken from Emily earlier. As he concentrated, sweat appeared on his brow, and the green stone flashed brilliantly.
Suddenly, the dragon stopped menacing Kline and began turning towards Alex and Christina. Screaming, it blew fire towards Alex, scorching his behind as he quickly jumped into the cave and away from the incoming fire.
“What the…?” Scott cried out, and aimed the MISAMP at Siobhan.
“OK, well that’s not something you see every day,” Alex muttered to himself, moving behind a rock outcropping which concealed him from Siobhan’s mad dragon form.
Kline smiled cruelly, the green stone glowing brightly in his hand as he watched the dragon go after Scott and Christina.
“It’s the stone!” Alex cursed to himself.
Aiming the MP4 at Kline’s hand, he shot several times, catching him in the fist, making him drop the stone for a moment. Kline spat in dismay, and took out his PDA. Turning towards Alex, he smirked, “Boom.”
He clicked the PDA once, and a ton of rock and rubble exploded all over Alex’s body, burying him beneath a landslide of material that now covered the entrance to Kline’s mineshaft.
Scott and Christina were running for their lives. The great flying dragon behind them screamed and began to blow fire right behind them. Suddenly, Scott and Christina ran into a cul-de-sac of rocks.
“Can you climb?” Scott called out to Christina. She shook her head no. Scott turned and faced the oncoming dragon, extending his arm to protect Christina from the onslaught of fiery death. Closing his eyes, Scott waited for the dragon to roast them.
But instead, the dragon stopped, roaring in confusion, and began beating its wings, moving quickly back towards Kline and Alex. Whatever was controlling Siobhan had been stopped just in the nick of time.
Siobhan was furious. She watched Kline withdraw his second stone too late. After changing into her dragon form, she had intended on snapping the billionaire up in her massive teeth and taking him for a tour of the stratosphere. But that second stone he was holding had clouded her thoughts, and suddenly, she had found her body completely under Kline's control. She remembered nothing about the last few minutes of her life but a few hazy green memories. Kline needed to be stopped, now. Her wings beat the night air as she sped towards Alex, hoping she could get there in time.
Kline cried out in pain as he examined the damage his hand had taken from Alex’s bullets. Grasping his bleeding hand, he picked up the mind control stone and placed it back in his pocket. There was no more time for this foolishness; he needed to get out of Joshua Tree and regroup someplace else.
Hearing another terrifying roar behind him, he looked up to see Siobhan still transformed in the intimidating dragon body. The dragon screeched, her claws aimed directly for his head.
Kline grabbed a massive boulder from behind him with great effort. Slowly, he moved it off the ground, grimacing as his red stone shined brightly on his finger.
He turned and threw the boulder like he would a shot put, heaving it towards the menacing dragon at an incredible speed. It flew through the air and exploded violently at the base of the great beast’s skull. Screeching in protest, Siobhan began to lose the shape of her dragon body, returning to normal as she fell to the ground.
As she landed only a few feet away from him, Kline approached the fallen Siobhan with contempt.
“You were never good enough for this stone, anyway.” Kline sneered, reaching down for the small purple stone located in the blonde woman’s ear.
A shot sounded, and Kline was knocked to the ground. Dis
oriented, he looked for the annoyance. Christina stood proudly, holding her loaded assault rifle, aiming it fiercely at the prostrate billionaire.
Smiling, she pulled the trigger again, each shot feeling like a prizefighter landing punch after punch to his battered body.
The bullets themselves were useless against him; over the years, the stone had knit his skin and muscle into something stronger than body armor. While the rounds were unable to pierce his skin, the kinetic energy of the lead moving at supersonic speed into his body still hurt. Kline shut his eyes, taking the beating the best he could in a fetal position.
Unfortunately for Christina, the AK-47 was a powerful weapon, one that tended to jerk upwards when fired, even in the hands of seasoned professionals. Her arms, getting tired as they were, couldn’t control the gun for long. The barrel finally jerked up to the sky, a clicking sound on the action announcing that she was out of ammunition.
“You little…” Kline said, gasping through his teeth. He raised himself up slowly, intent on ripping the small Asian woman in half. He didn’t get more than one step when he felt himself thrown up against the wall. He slumped to the ground, knocked unconscious.
Scott lowered his MISAMP and blew an imaginary puff of smoke off the end of the barrel. “It’s Miller Time, baby.”
Christina turned to Scott, “Oh, wow, that was pretty good. All badass movie style dialogue action!”
“I know, right?” Scott said, smiling broadly. His face fell when he looked at the mine entrance. “Alex!”
Twisting the dial on the MISAMP, he ran over to where the entrance had been and began to cut open a hole. Emily and Christina began helping by removing the excess rock that Scott peeled away carefully, mindful of any further landslides.
