The humanoid turned to her. "Akmenios-want-you-now."
"He won't tell us unless their leader wants to," said Powell to Heather.
"We should rather be concerned about why he summons us," Daniel suggested, and Heather couldn't disagree.
"We are about to know, it seems." Heather pressed her lips together as she motioned for her crew to follow her. "Hopefully, we like the why."
The humanoids ushered Heather and her team through the network of twisting corridors that seemed endless. Those bastards never get tired, do they? she thought as she contemplated their tall, slim figures. Maybe they were tireless because of their light trunks. She still remembered how Powell managed to knock a humanoid out with one mighty punch.
After like half an hour of marching, Heather realized she had arrived at the same hall Akmenios had received them in. A dozen humanoids or more spread in the room, Akmenios himself in the center waiting for Heather and her crew. The stuttering humanoid herding the team stopped and so did everybody in the train. An eerie silence reigned over the place for a minute.
"I see you all share the same question," Akmenios spoke at last.
"Then, I hope you will answer it," Heather countered nervously.
"It is an expected concern," said Akmenios. "And that is why I gathered you all here."
A prelude that didn't sound promising. Bad news is coming.
"It is logical you want to return home," Akmenios continued in his creaky voice. "But I hope you understand that it is difficult for us to allow this to happen."
"What do you mean by it is difficult for you?" Heather asked, a disapproving humming behind her from her crew.
"I told you before; the Shomrunk is after us," said Akmenios. "And we cannot risk exposing our location to him."
"But I think you are quite sure we have nothing to do with this Shomrunk." Heather looked Akmenios in the eye.
"For the time being," said Akmenios. "But we can never allow a small probability of jeopardizing our safety, which is your safety as well. He might be waiting for your return to extract the information he has been seeking."
"So, we are your prisoners until we die, or what?" Heather snapped.
"This is your choice, homines," Akmenios replied.
Unable to get where the choice lay exactly in this part, Heather glared at the gray-faced humanoid, waiting for more elaboration from him.
"Thousands of years ago, we shared with homines the same lands and established the most civilized nation in Earth's history," he said. "Why don't we do this together once again, where you can be part of this new community with your knowledge and expertise?"
His offer took her off guard. To her, staying on this island forever wasn't a better fate than dying on it.
"Don't just discard the idea," said Akmenios, who was surely reading her mind. "Give it a thought, all of you, and you will realize it is for the best of all of us."
He meant for the best of him, Heather reflected.
"Put your emotions aside, Heather," said Akmenios. "Let your mind digest the facts. Take into consideration our suffering with the Shomrunks and with you as well."
"How do I know if your tale about your people's suffering is not just bullshit?" Heather asked coldly.
"You will never know because you can't read minds as I do." His blunt reply was a bit shocking. Those humanoids knew nothing about diplomatic answers.
"What options do we have other than accepting your generous invitation?" Heather decided to cut this conversation short.
"I never thought of other options."
Again his bluntness shocked her. He never thought of other options? What the hell is that?
"I believe you will not like being tied in your locked chamber for long." Akmenios leaned forward. "You are scientists, and your place is not here." The humanoid glanced at Powell and continued, "I mean most of you."
"What?" Powell growled. "Are you threatening me, you gray freak?"
"Not yet, soldier," Akmenios replied. "It's up to you."
Heather gripped Powell's hand before he might say something foolish. "Easy, Major." She gnashed her teeth, looking Powell in the eye. Despite her expectations, the scowling Major complied and kept his mouth shut.
"A vessel is leaving to our city in one hour," Akmenios announced. "Decide if you want to join us. If you don't feel like being part of this, you still have your chamber here." With slow steps, he circled them. "One more thing you should know; this is a one-time offer. Make up your minds while I check on your friend."
"Burke?" Heather wondered. "What's wrong with him?"
"Nothing bad," Akmenios replied as he walked away. "He's just in a deep sleep."
* * *
His eyes opened at last.
Burke turned his head right and left, his hands and feet tied to the cold metallic chair, the head device still on his head.
"Welcome back, Burke," said Akmenios, whose assistant removed the device from Burke's head.
"When will we start?" Burke wondered.
"We are already done." Akmenios kept his eyes fixed on Burke's face.
"What about the Shomrunk thing you told me about?"
"We didn't find anything this time, Burke. We may try again later."
"I thought the examination would be painful when you tied me to this chair."
"Tell me, how do you feel now?"
"Nothing. Did you hypnotize me or what?"
"I didn't. We just helped you get some sleep."
"Really? For how long?"
"Five hours."
"What? How can this be possible?"
"What is not possible in this, Burke?"
"Sleeping all that time without even knowing."
"This is so different from any time you tried to sleep before. Tell me, do you remember any dreams you had?"
"I don't even know I have slept," Burke sneered. "How can I remember dreams?"
Akmenios leaned forward, looking Burke straight in the eye. "You are lying, Burke. You still remember everything."
Of course, Burke was lying. And yes, he still remembered everything he had seen in the mind-connection session. Unfortunately. Only now did he understand why sometimes ignorance was a blessing.
"We underestimated the Shomrunk's power, it seems," said Akmenios to Burke. "The one you met in particular was stronger than anyone we ever encountered."
Burke closed his eyes. He had done it before and read Akmenios's mind. He could do it again.
"What do you think you are doing?" Akmenios asked. "You think you can really see through my mind, hominum?"
"It happened before," Burke said curtly.
"You will never understand how it is done. It was not you who did it in the first place," said Akmenios. "And anyway, it can't work while I'm awake."
"If it wasn't me, then who did it?"
After exchanging a few words with his assistant in their humanoid language—which was probably Latin—Akmenios turned to Burke. "There is a part of the Shomrunk inside your mind. You may not be aware of it right now, but who knows what else is hidden in your head, hominum."
"So, you will keep me longer until you find what you seek, you ugly monsters," Burke spat.
"Monsters?" Akmenios echoed. "You, homines, are so strange. You do more than we do to most of Earth's creatures, and you dare call us monsters?"
"Stop pretending," Burke grunted. "Whom do you fool with your logical approach? You are savages, all of you."
"You don't differ much from your race. You bear a bigger brain than ours in your head, but you are still less rational. You don't see the stark truth because you are always blinded by your emotions."
"And what's that stark truth?" Burke scoffed nervously. "Other than you are nothing but monsters."
"It's the food chain, hominum. It all depends on who lies where in that chain. No hard feelings."
A repulsive thought crossed Burke's mind. "Is that why nobody survived the Bermuda Triangle?" The humanoid's silence confirmed his fears. "Oh no!" Bu
rke tried to pull his arms, but the ties held him in his seat. "You are nothing but wild animals."
"Then, I guess this is how your cattle see you." Akmenios walked away from Burke, headed to the door of the room.
"What about them?" Burke yelled.
Akmenios stopped and slowly looked over his slender shoulder. "We are not brainless savages as you have just called us, hominum. We know exactly the best role for each one of your friends. Some of them are brilliant and can really contribute to our society."
"Some?" Burke was really terrified. "What about the rest?" he asked more than once, but Akmenios simply ignored him and left him in his cold metallic seat alone with the gray-faced assistant. "I know you understand me, gray ass. Tell me: what are you going to do with the rest?"
The humanoid assistant resumed his work on his control panel and screen, as if he didn't hear Burke. Whether the humanoid knew English or not, it seemed that nobody would answer Burke's question.
Most probably, he would know the answer by himself.
23. Atlanteans
Hands were free now. All it took to remove those bloody wires was a 'yes' to Akmenios for his 'generous' offer. The only one who hadn't voiced his approval was Powell, but Heather spoke on his behalf whether he liked or not.
Following Akmenios, she led her team as they headed to the vessel that was supposed to take them to the humanoids' settlement, her wrists still itchy because of those wires. When they reached the vessel, Akmenios stopped by its hatch and so did she.
"I am not coming with you," said Akmenios. "You go."
"So, you will stay to finish those investigations?" Heather doubted he would answer that, but she would lose nothing if she asked, right?
"That is a matter I must oversee myself," Akmenios replied. "He may join you later."
Heather found it hard to believe the gray humanoid. Leaving someone behind was an idea she loathed.
"No need to blame yourself," said Akmenios. "It's out of your hands."
Daniel shot her an inquisitive look when he passed by her, but she motioned him toward the vessel. "I can't help picturing what's happening to him," she said to Akmenios.
"This is of no use." His answer was straightforward. "My advice to you, in particular, is to give the coming stage of your life your full focus. You have the potential to contribute so much to this community."
"The coming stage of my life?" Heather echoed, her throat suddenly clogged.
"Yes," he confirmed. "Your life here is going to be different from the one you had before. You should be ready for that."
Except for her, her team was now on board.
"Dubos will escort you." He glanced at the other English-speaking humanoid, who stepped inside the vessel.
"Him?" she asked in disapproval. "Don't you have anybody else with a better fluency?"
"I am sure you can communicate with Dubos," said Akmenios. "Your vessel is leaving."
As usual, he was ending their conversation, leaving her with a restless mind. Reluctantly, she dragged her feet and joined her crew inside the vessel. The hatch slid shut behind her, and only a few moments later, the vessel hovered upwards until it reached a huge tunnel at the top of the subterranean dock.
When the sunlight streamed through the vessel window, she heaved a long sigh louder than the quiet engines of the humanoids' craft. After the long day she had spent in the cold humanoids' quarters, the sunlight should soothe her. To her surprise, a shiver ran down her spine. You have the potential to contribute so much to this community. The notion of spending the rest of her life here among gray-faced creatures was hard to swallow. All this had better be a nightmare.
"At last." Daniel let in a deep breath of air, glancing at the silver door isolating the passengers' chamber from the cockpit. "We get a break from their gray faces and creaky voices."
Only now Heather realized that the humanoids had left them on their own in the passengers' chamber. "Why do these humanoids hate seats?" Heather asked, recalling the first ship that took them to the underground headquarters.
"It looks like a soldiers' transporter," said Powell. "Or perhaps those freaks don't need to sit like us."
The chamber grew hushed. Heather knew that her role as the group leader compelled her to say something to boost the morale of her crew, but the words were stuck in her throat. She wasn't less worried than them about their mysterious fate. Her fate.
For the first time, she was able to watch the island in daylight. From above, she could see the dark-green thick forest that covered a vast area of the terrain. At the horizon, a mountainous zone occupied the central part of the island.
"So, their city is constructed between the forest and the mountainous area." Heather was impressed by the view, she had to admit.
"I can't believe this island has never been detected by our satellites," Daniel muttered.
"Those gray freaks have taken their measures to keep themselves invisible," said Santino. "It's obvious they are so scared of the so-called Shomrunk."
"I guess we have to be scared as well." Daniel leaned his head to the smooth surface of the vessel wall. If there was something to scare her for the time being, it should be her destiny, not that Shomrunk they were talking about.
Suddenly, an explosion shook the vessel vigorously. For a moment, Heather couldn't feel her pulse.
"Not again!" Susan screamed.
"Those Atlantean scumbags! It must be them!" Santino blustered. "They will get us—"
A second explosion interrupted Santino. This time, the ship swayed sharply.
"Oh my God!" Linda shrieked. "We are falling!"
"We are crash landing!" Powell corrected. "Get down, everybody!" He bent his knees, putting his hands over his head. Since there was nothing to hang on to, everybody did as Powell did. Waiting for the crash to happen, Heather closed her eyes as she buried her head between her thighs. For the third or fourth time—she was too confused to count right now—she found herself cornered in a deadly situation in her last twenty-four hours.
The ship's hull hit the ground, the shock throwing Heather from her place. After a short while of drifting on the ground, the vessel stopped. Groans replaced screams. Heather bruised her shoulder, and she should be grateful for that. Susan was sobbing as she held her knee. Kenneth seemed to have his shoulder dislocated after being slammed against the vessel wall.
Heather struggled as she rose to her feet to go and check Susan's injury. Before she made one step, a third explosion occurred, but that one was the worst. The vessel hatch was blasted, the fire swallowing Joshua and Kenji who had been leaning to the very hatch before it was totally blown.
"NOOO!" Heather hollered, staring at the flames that had gulped down her colleagues.
The silver door of the cockpit slid open, Dubos and two other humanoids hurrying out. "Down," the humanoid demanded.
Aiming his spheroidal weapon at the destroyed hatch, Dubos repeated his order as he advanced. Suddenly, two human-sized intruders jumped in through the explosion flames. They looked like astronauts with their bright white outfits and helmets that hid their faces. In a blink of an eye, they fired their silver cylindrical weapons, yellow beams cutting through the humanoids' gray heads. No more stuttering for Dubos.
Heather couldn't help screaming. The sight of someone killed was not an easy one to stomach, even if the victim was a gray-faced humanoid. She heard two creaky screams as the two intruders stormed the cockpit. What the hell is going on? Warily, she watched them exit the pilot's room. One of them approached her and said something in a language she couldn't comprehend. Maybe it was Latin, but she couldn't tell without Nathaniel's help. Anyway, what mattered the most was their voices.
They were humans.
"They want us to follow them," Nathaniel yelled. "There is an exit in the cockpit."
"Who are they?" Roused now, Heather blustered, "Those sons of bitches have just killed two of us!"
The same masked man said something else in Latin. "They say we must leave bef
ore more Griseos come here."
"Gris. . . what?" Heather asked nervously.
"Griseos; the Grays in Latin," said Nathaniel, who then exchanged a few words with the masked intruder before he turned back to her. "The Griseos' base is not far from here. We must leave before they catch us."
"As if those are our rescuers." She lunged toward the masked man to slap him on his helmet, but Powell held her by the arm.
"Doctor, wait." Powell's grip was too firm to get rid of. "Look at me. I know you're mad about your friends, but we—"
"You know nothing!" she put in.
"Please, Dr. Heather." Powell's tone was commanding despite his plea. "We have to think rationally in such a critical time. I never liked that Akmenios or his gray people," he gestured to the masked men, "and these two don't seem to be Akmenios's friends. If I am to choose, I will go with them."
"Me too," Kenneth whimpered as he held his injured shoulder. "I don't want to return to those gray humanoids."
"We don't have too many options," Santino pointed out, Linda holding to him.
"We must act fast, Heather." Daniel gently took her by the hand, Powell letting her go. "It sounds crazy. But I believe you don't want to stay here and wait for those gray creatures."
The intruder she wanted to slap removed his helmet, revealing his human face. While she was contemplating his tanned skin and blue eyes, he yelled in Latin.
"He says he is a human like us." Nathaniel came with the translation. "Can we trust him now?"
Well, after Akmenios had messed with her mind with his version of history, there was nothing she could be sure of. Who knew what were those humans exactly doing on this bloody island? Who knew if they were real humans in the first place? What if they were another race, like the Shomrunks, a race that resembled humans in their looks?
"Heather," Daniel snapped. "We must move now." He nodded toward the cockpit. The two strangers were ushering the crew to the exit already. The tan-skinned guy mumbled as he put on his helmet and left Heather and Daniel in the passengers' chamber. Maybe it's time to get out of here, Heather.
Letting Daniel take her by the hand, she skipped through the open sliding door to the cockpit, and from there she exited the craft from another small hatch. Outside the vessel stood a dozen helmeted men, holding what looked like arm cannons. When he hollered in Latin, she was able to recognize the voice of the tan-skinned guy among his fellows. "He is ordering his men to get out of this area immediately," said Nathaniel.
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