The Awakening

by Tony Mazzarella

  “That’s incredible,” said Cait.

  “There’s more, and I’m not sure what to make of it. I had an impression in my mind that someone wanted me to live so I could help you get to Giza. There’s some greater purpose for our journey, and something thinks I can help you get there. I’m sure I was saved for that reason.”

  “Did you get the feeling it was Adrian?”

  “No,” said Drew as he stood up and limped over to the window to look at the rising sun. “It was something much greater and more powerful than Adrian. I don’t know how I know that, but I do.” Cait could see him struggling to look toward the sun, squinting as he turned away.

  “What is it, Drew?”

  “I’m not sure, Cait. Let me think about things for a while. Maybe it’ll become clearer to me in time. Anyway, I’m more interested in what happened with you.”

  “Not much, to be honest. We talked mostly.” Cait knew it was a lie but also knew that Drew wouldn’t understand the connection she had with Adrian.

  “Talked?” he asked suspiciously.

  “Yes, Drew,” said Cait sternly, recognizing the tone of voice she’d heard last time they spoke of Adrian. With things developing between them, she resisted the urge to tell him off for interfering, an approach she would have taken under normal circumstances.

  “About what?”

  “It’s somewhat of a blur, but I think more importantly than what was said, it was the impressions I picked up on. He’s having second thoughts about destroying humanity, Drew. Corrado is angry, and now I understand why. He’s been subservient to Adrian and resents it greatly. Whatever second thoughts Adrian’s having, Corrado’s bent on the awakening happening and will do anything he has to, including getting his brother out of the way. He’s a big problem, and we have to figure out what to do.”

  “We have to get to the pyramid,” said Drew with a newfound conviction. “That’s the only way to stop this. I know that now. I have to admit I wasn’t sure what the hell we were doing before. I thought Kirby and this whole idea was crazy. Now I know it’s what we have to do.”

  “If you thought it was crazy, why were you going to go, and why didn’t you speak up?”

  “You don’t know, even now?” asked Drew as he pulled Cait close.

  “No,” said Cait, shaking her head.

  “I love you, Cait. I always have. I know nothing would have stopped you from going, and I wasn’t going to let you go alone.”

  Cait said nothing as she leaned in and kissed him. As the hours passed, they both discovered the unbridled emotions that had been locked away for so many years. Love would help them solve the mystery that beckoned them to Giza; they were sure of it. It was the one impression that was left solidly in both of their minds. As they lay together, flesh to flesh, they relished their first, and what could possibly be their last, moments together as lovers.

  Chapter 12

  “Where is he, Gino? We’ve been here for over an hour,” said Don impatiently as he paced in front of the seats in the baggage claim area.

  “Relax. He’ll be here. He’s probably tending to our air freight shipment before coming for us.”

  “What the hell are we doing here anyway? Maybe this is all just bullshit. It’s not too late to just go home and fuggetaboutit, you know,” said Don with his favorite slang saying.

  “Look, we just flew eight and a half hours to get here, and you want to turn around and go home?”

  “Why not? I’m just a dumb coal miner. What the hell am I doing here, anyway?” said Don in a voice reminiscent of men Gene had served with. Right before a mission he would always know who was scared and who was kidding himself. He could tell Don was terrified and looking for reasons to pretend the awakening wasn’t real.

  “I’m scared too.”

  Gene’s admission was surprising to Don but made him feel better that he wasn’t alone.

  “Thanks for admitting that, Gino.”

  “Look, we have to do this. If we don’t, you know the alternative. I told you what Drew Cross said on the phone yesterday. There’s no doubt now what we’re dealing with.”

  “I know,” said Don, sitting down beside him.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll watch your ass down there. I promise. After all, it’s huge. How can I miss it?” said Gene, laughing.

  Don shook his head in disgust and punched him in the arm. “Do you always have to be an asshole?”

  They looked up to see a small man approaching.

  “Mr. Luntz? Mr. Brazzo?”

  “Antonio, I presume?” said Gene, shaking his hand.

  “Yes, I’m Antonio. So glad you made it safely. Sorry I am running a bit late, but your special shipments created a lot of questions in customs.”

  “Were you able to get everything through?” asked Gene, concerned they had hit a snag.

  “Yes,” said Antonio. “Fortunately my cousin works in the customs service and took care of things for us. Everything is in the truck outside. We really should be going now. We have much to do.”

  “As you can see, everything is inside. My cousin drives long-haul and agreed to drive us over to the hangar.”

  They left the terminal and walked to the parking area, where a large truck sat idling on the side of the road.

  “Antonio, you must have a big family. You have more cousins than anyone I ever met,” said Don.

  “Yes, Mr. Brazzo, I have many cousins and many people I call my cousins. It’s much easier to have people trust my sources if they think I’m related. Please don’t tell Mr. Cross and Miss Kirby. I get an extra week off every year for my family reunion, you know. They think it takes a week to get us all together.”

  “Your secret is safe with us—no worries,” said Gene, laughing.

  The truck wound around the airport exit and across a highway to a small area with private jet hangars. The driver slid his card through the slot, and a metal fence began to open. They drove past several closed hangars and finally reached one that had the number eleven in giant letters across the front doors. The driver beeped several times, and the doors began to open, exposing a small jet on one side and a large empty area on the other. The truck drove past the jet and into an area that had no lights on.

  “The others are waiting. You two go ahead, and we’ll start unloading,” said Antonio.

  Don and Gene stepped down from the truck and walked over to a door that led into an office area. As they turned the corner, they could see a conference room and Kirby, Cait, and Drew sat around a table.

  “Boys, I’m so glad you are here,” said Kirby.

  “Hello, everyone,” said Don. “I wish I could say we were meeting again under better circumstances.”

  Everyone silently acknowledged his sentiment with a nod.

  “Antonio says everything arrived, so we should be in good shape. We have a long night ahead of us. I hope you’re all rested,” said Gene.

  “Who can rest?” said Drew, smiling at Cait and still feeling the exhilaration of the night before.

  “I know what you mean,” said Don, putting his head down. “I haven’t slept well since Sam’s funeral.”

  “Okay. We don’t have time for introspection on what’s happened. We have to get started,” said Gene. “There’s a lot to do and a lot to learn if we are going to have a shot at this working.”

  They all followed Gene out to the hangar, where several large and many more small crates sat on the floor. He immediately went into military instructor mode as he began to unpack the gear.

  “This equipment is your lifeline. If you don’t understand it, that could be the difference between who makes it out of there and who doesn’t. Everyone is going to get a crash course in the weaponry and the vehicles just in case someone falls and the others have to take over.”

  The bitter truth hit them all hard. The possibility that some or all of t
hem would die was in the back of their minds, but Gene reminded them of the truth they had to face.

  “I’m a bit old for military basic training, Gene,” said Kirby as he picked up an automatic rifle.

  “Look, Kirby, what if you had to use that gun to save your daughter? We have to be a team down there, or this won’t work.”

  “I understand, but I suspect there will be weapons much more powerful that we’ll discover to fight this should we make it to our destination. We’ll, of course, do it your way until we reach Khaheet’s tomb.”

  The next several hours were spent assembling the vehicles, weapons, and equipment Gene had brought with him. The two vehicles sat before them looking like high-tech dune buggies.

  “These, my friends, are the desert Raptors. The fastest, lightest ATV the military has. They’ve saved my ass more than once.”

  He trained each person in the operation of the Raptors but gave Drew extra time as he would be the main person driving the second one.

  “Wow, this isn’t all that different from a go-cart that I had as a kid,” joked Drew as he rounded the perimeter of the hangar for the eighth time.

  “Yeah, but I bet your go-cart didn’t have a top-mounted .50 cal or an RPG in the back,” said Gene with a laugh. “You doing all right back there, Cait?” he asked.

  “Yes, I’m okay. I was looking to see if there were any barf bags back here. Drew isn’t exactly as smooth a driver as you.”

  “Very funny. Is this better?” shouted Drew over the engine’s roar as he pressed the gas pedal to the floor and began to swerve from side to side. Cait grabbed the roll bar above her and looked terrified.

  “C’mon, Drew. Not funny!”

  “I think someone owes me an apology!” shouted Drew, still making the Raptor go faster.

  “Okay, you prick. I’m sorry,” yelled Cait, laughing as the Raptor slowed back down. She looked at Drew, who was laughing triumphantly as he focused on driving the vehicle. She looked at Gene and winked.

  “But not as sorry as he’s going to be,” she whispered.

  “Okay, let’s let Cait have a turn. I think you’ve got the basics down. We can review the weaponry later tonight.”

  “Are you sure I should, Gene? I mean, I’m just a woman, and I wouldn’t want to get anyone hurt,” said Cait sarcastically.

  “Something tells me you can handle it.”

  Cait smiled and winked again at Gene.

  “Okay, Drew. You take the back seat for this one,” said Gene as he helped Cait with her restraints, which she seemed to be fumbling with.

  “Hey, Cait. Just remember the gas is on the right and the brake is on the left,” joked Drew, once again laughing at her expense.

  “Okay, the first thing to remember is…”

  Before Gene could finish his statement, Cait took off at full speed, sending Drew slamming back in his seat and trying desperately to find something to hold on to. She took the Raptor around the hangar at full speed several times flawlessly until finally coming to a sliding stop next to the other Raptor, where her father was in the driver’s seat. Drew was white as a ghost and speechless as she looked back at him confidently.

  “Ah, just like old times. Right, my dear?” said Kirby, smiling proudly.

  “Yes, Father. It feels great.”

  “You boys are looking at the only woman to ever win back-to-back championships in the junior modified stock car circuit. When my Cait was eighteen, she was at the top of her game. Looks like you still have it, sweetheart.”

  “Yes, but I think I need a few more laps to be sure.”

  The tires spun on the Raptor as she pressed the pedal to the floor, slamming Drew violently against the roll cage. He said nothing, knowing she was having one big, long, terrifying last laugh as she rounded the corners sideways at each turn in the hangar.

  “How’s that, Drew? You okay? Just let me know when you’ve had enough!”

  Cait looked at Gene, who was smiling at the payback that was being perpetrated on Drew.

  “Okay, let’s bring her in; I think you’ve got the idea.”

  “All right. If you think so, Gene,” she said, feigning ignorance.

  Cait once again slid the Raptor to a sideways stop and turned off the engine.

  “Well, looks like we have a driver change in Raptor number two. Sorry, Drew, but we need the best skill set, and she’s got it.”

  Drew climbed from the Raptor, still shaky, and raised his hand and nodded in acknowledgment. He would have no argument and was barely able to speak for a few minutes.

  “I’m sorry, but you had that coming,” said Cait as she held his cheeks in her hands and kissed him softly.

  “I guess I did, didn’t I?” replied Drew as he looked for a place to sit and regain his composure.

  “If you’ll all please excuse me for a moment, I have to call my mother. She hasn’t been feeling well lately,” said Antonio, looking nervous.

  “I’m sorry to hear that. You hadn’t mentioned anything about it,” said Kirby.

  “Oh, I’m sure she’ll be fine, but I did want to give her a call.”

  “We’re going to take a break anyway, Antonio. No problem,” said Gene as he tended to each vehicle, making sure everything was perfect.

  As Antonio walked toward the offices, Cait looked at Drew and they were both thinking the same thing.

  “Did he seem a bit nervous to you, Cait?”

  “Yeah, something wasn’t right with him. Maybe it is his mother but…I don’t know.”

  Gene was listening to the others with concern as he stood up.

  “If you two have any doubts about Antonio, now’s the time. We can’t afford to have a problem with him down there.”

  “It’s just I’ve never seen him act that way before. I wasn’t going to say anything, but when Adrian came to my apartment, he mentioned that Antonio told him of—and I quote—“spectacular discoveries” that we’d found. I downplayed it, of course, but he clearly wanted me to know Antonio was the one who told him. I meant to say something about it to him, but I never got the chance.”

  “What!” exclaimed Drew.

  “Well, I wasn’t sure what to make of it before.”

  “He wasn’t supposed to say anything about what we found down there to anyone, especially to Adrian!”

  Don sat down on a Raptor’s hood, looking demoralized as usual.

  “I have a bad feeling about this.”

  “Relax, Don,” said Gene. “There’ll be plenty of supernatural shit to be scared of soon enough. Don’t make stuff up now; you’ll ruin the terror on yourself.”

  “I practically pissed myself in that contraption of yours already!” he shouted. “I don’t need supernatural when I have you around to scare the crap out of me, you jackass.”

  “Don, come with me,” said Gene. “Let’s see where he went. Looks like that ladder leads to the top of the hangar. Let’s see what we can see. You three practice loading the weapons like I showed you. We’ll be right back.”

  Don and Gene climbed the long ladder that led out to the roof of the hangar. The cool night air blew gently as they surveyed their surroundings.

  “You look over the back, and I’ll check the sides,” whispered Gene.

  He got a few feet from the edge and crawled so as not to be seen. He looked back at Don trying to tell him Antonio was below. Out of habit, Gene was trying to communicate with hand signals as he had with his Delta team when they had to keep silent. Don just saw what looked like someone using sign language to a deaf person. Out of frustration, he threw Gene the middle finger and waved him over.

  “He’s down there,” he whispered as Gene got closer.

  They watched as a dark black car pulled up in the alley behind the hangar. Antonio still seemed nervous and looked around to see if he was noticed. The window on the car opened, b
ut the roof of the car blocked their view of the person inside. They watched as Antonio handed an envelope through the window and exchanged a few words with the person inside.

  “What the hell is this?” whispered Gene, knowing it was extremely suspicious.

  “I don’t know, but I have a bad feeling,” said Don.

  “Oh, what else is new? Stay here. I’m going to see if I can get closer and hear what they’re saying.”

  He shimmied down a small pole that led to a lower section of rooftop with the speed of a skilled circus climber. Don was amazed at the ease with which he could maneuver himself without making a sound. He effortlessly made his way to a smaller rooftop off to the left of the car and within earshot of the two men. Gene could now clearly see that the paperwork Antonio handed through the window was the manifest of the equipment they’d smuggled in. He heard the voice of the man inside the car and could make out an accent that he couldn’t quite place.

  “You’re telling me what they had delivered, but you have yet to tell me what they’re planning. This is not the arrangement we’ve made, Antonio. My brother will be displeased, and you will face the same fate as the rest of your pathetic species.”

  “No! You promised to spare me and my family. I’m trying to be as forthcoming as I can. I’m not sure what the plan is yet. I swear to you!” pleaded Antonio.

  “I promise you I will personally make sure you watch your wife and children burned to death slowly if you’re lying to me. And as for you, I’ll remove your flesh so slowly that it may take you a week to die. You’ll beg for death, but I will not grant your wish quickly. Our associates don’t know mercy, and there is no reasoning with them. They will follow their orders to the letter. Do you understand me?”

  Gene saw the man inside wave his finger at Antonio’s chest and could see him wince in excruciating pain. As he lifted his shirt, a wound went from his shoulder diagonally across his torso to his stomach, as if someone had taken a red-hot knife and seared his flesh.

  “That is your first and last warning. I suggest you have more information for me when I return tomorrow. If you don’t, I may make a visit to your home to get a head start.”