Beneath the Veil (17 page)

“Jen, look!” Daniel called out.

She walked over and studied the ground.

“It’s him,” she said, relieved. “We need to find him and get you both back to the cabin before you freeze to death.”

They moved quickly following a path through the woods and ended up at a dirt road.

“I know where we are,” Daniel said. “This road leads back to the cabin.”

Shadows formed between the trees as the sun finished its descent. They reached the cabin and banged on the door. Jen intended to drop Daniel off and continue searching for Max.

“Thank goodness, come in and get out of the cold,” Marie said, opening the door.

Walking into the warm room, they were both relieved to find Max bundled up on the couch in front of the fireplace.

C H A P T E R  S E V E N T Y

“K
ick your weapons over here.” The soldier’s voice was muffled and his face barely visible behind a smoked glass shield in his helmet.

Doc and Jimmy complied by kicking their guns across a polished cement floor. Behind the soldiers was a cavernous room full of equipment with bright lights mounted on steel poles. Two soldiers approached and touched steel covered fingertips to Doc and Jimmy’s throats. Rendered unconscious, they both collapsed to the floor. Jimmy woke first, rubbing his sore shoulder. He sat up on a narrow cot and placed his feet on the ground. He remembered the soldiers and the cavern, but little else. Doc was still out and lying on a cot across from him. The windowless room was dimly lit with concrete block walls. A metal door centered the room with a camera mounted above it.

Jimmy walked over to Doc and shook his shoulder.

“Doc, wake up.”

Doc opened his eyes and looked around the room.

“You alright, Jimmy?”

“I’m fine.”

Doc stood and twisted his lower back and then rubbed a knot on the back of his head where it hit the floor. Jimmy tried to open the door while Doc walked around the room examining the walls.

“It won’t budge,” he said.

“What the hell is this place?” Doc circled the room, trying to make sense of the situation.

“Military is my guess,” Jimmy said, looking at the familiar gray paint covering the walls.

“But how could this be here?” Doc asked.

“Doc, sit down a minute. You don’t look so good.”

He sat on the edge of the cot with his pale face beaded with perspiration. Jimmy waved his arms towards the camera.

“Hello, up there. My name’s Major James Downs. We mean you no harm.”

He lowered his arms and listened for activity outside the door. Hearing nothing, he walked to the door and ran his fingers along the frame.

“This door’s pressurized,” he said. “How you feeling, Doc?

“A little better. Funny thing is I started feeling sick before we even ran into those fellas.”

“They were wearing breathing apparatus. What do you think we’ve been exposed to?”

“No telling,” Doc answered. “Jimmy, tell me something. How long ago was it you crashed your plane here?”

“Oh, I guess it has been a few years now.”

“Yes, a few years,” Doc agreed. “Isn’t it strange neither one of us can remember how many years exactly?”

“What are you getting at?”

“I am not sure. I remember coming to this town a few years before you, but I don’t know exactly how long it was either.”

Jimmy sat on one of the cots, with his arms folded across his chest. He tried to remember the day of his crash, but the details were just out of reach.

“Something feels familiar Doc. I’ll give you that.”

Doc walked over and looked at Jimmy.

“Jimmy, have you ever been down here before?”

“No. You saw the warnings signs. Nobody from the camp ever came up here.” Jimmy stared at the floor.

“I mean before the camp. Before you came to us.”

“No, Doc...I mean, I don’t think so.” His mind raced, confused by the possibilities. It all seemed familiar, but he couldn’t lock in on it.

“Jimmy what was your mission here? When you crashed, I mean.”

“It was.... reconnaissance.” His mind was a clouded jumble of disjointed thoughts and images.

“Yes, that’s what you always said. But of what?”

“Reconnaissance of the camp,” he answered in a distant voice. Small parts of his memory began to return like flashes in the dark.

“What’s this all about?”

“I don’t know.” Jimmy began to stand and suddenly the room went dark. Doc heard the sound of air pressure releasing and was immediately knocked to the ground. The lights came back on and Jimmy was gone.

C H A P T E R  S E V E N T Y - O N E

J
ackson sat on the roof of the Rover watching for Doc and Jimmy. They promised to signal periodically, but hadn’t since reaching the blackened edge of the forest. The sun had set behind the rugged mountain range and the thought of spending the night alone in the truck was not welcoming. A rogue breeze blew across the ground and tall yellow grass in a nearby field flattened. He climbed off the truck, walked into the field and found a circular area of flattened grass, nearly the size of a house. Inside the circle was a large version of the symbol found throughout the area.

“What the hell?”

Silently, a doorway opened within the circle and hovered a few feet in front of him. Inside was the interior of a vessel. A soldier appeared and aimed an odd looking device at him.

“Jackson?” Doc said, sitting on a cot next to him. The lights had gone out a second time and when they came back on, Jackson was in the cell with him.

“What happened?” Jackson asked, still groggy.

“You were out for a few hours. You’ll be alright. It takes a few minutes to shake off.”

“Where are we?”

“Underground, in the Rhodes mine. In some type of military base.”

Doc helped steady him as he climbed to his feet.

“They snatched me from the overlook. They came right up on me in some kind of craft.”

“What was it, Jackson?”

“I’m not sure. It was invisible until they opened the door. Then a soldier shot me with something and I woke up here.”

C H A P T E R  S E V E N T Y - T W O

“M
ajor Downs, just relax and let the medication take affect,” a medic said.

The woman puffed what felt like air onto Jimmy’s temples. Within moments, his thoughts realigned and he remembered the crash that brought him to Auraria. He wasn’t flying the old Lockheed turboprop he recalled. It was something different, something highly advanced. Memories and images flashed in his head as he struggled weakly against the restraints holding him to an examination table. The room around him was impossibly modern, but so familiar. A man in a grey suit entered and motioned for the medic to leave. He removed a silver object from his pocket and placed it against Jimmy’s temple. He felt a charge rush through him as the numbness left his body.

“No use for sedation, Major. We are old friends now, aren’t we?”

The man waved the object over the restraints holding Jimmy’s arms in place. They uncoupled silently from the smooth metallic surface of the table. He looked at his wrists. Two thin black rings surrounded both of them. He sat up and tried to move his legs, but his ankles were still pinned to the table.

“What do you want from us?”

“Us?” the man laughed. “You must remember more than that by now, soldier.”

The man’s name flashed into his mind. Maxwell. The man’s name was Victor Maxwell.

“I remember...some things. Where’s Doc?”

“He’s detained along with the other fellow you left on the overlook. You and your friends have created quite a mess, Major. Your timing is impressive, however. You got out of the way just in time.”

“What are you talking about?”

“This observation post has been active for close to a hundred years, but its time to wind things down. We are going to destroy it all. Flood the entire valley.”

“You don’t understand this place,” Jimmy said. “A….thing called Evangeline is after us and she’s very dangerous.”

“Oh my, I see you really are struggling, Major. You must have been beneath the veil too long. Maybe this will help.”

Maxwell crossed the room and waved the metal object in front of a block wall which shimmered then transformed into a large screen. An enclosure appeared on the screen and inside was a translucent creature sealed in a cocoon of vaporous material. Jimmy recognized the creature immediately. They called it Eva and she was the last of her kind.

C H A P T E R  S E V E N T Y - T H R E E

D
oc braced himself when the lights went out in the cell. He felt something cool on his face and then lost consciousness. He woke on the ground in front of the cabin with Jackson lying nearby. It was early morning and the ground was covered with an icy dew.

“Doc, you alright?” Jackson said, helping him to his feet.

“Thanks,” he answered, dusting himself off. “Where’s Jimmy?”

“I haven’t seen him since you two left for the mine.”

Doc walked to the cabin and tried the door, but found it was locked. Before he could knock, the door was unbolted and Willow stood in the doorway staring up at them. Jackson walked inside and found Jen sleeping in front of the crackling remains of a fire. He kissed her forehead, waking her.

“When did you get back?” she asked.

“We just arrived,” Jackson answered.

“I didn’t hear you drive up. I must have been really out of it.”

He turned and shot a glance at Doc.

“We didn’t drive back.”

She saw the look on his face. “Jackson, what happened? Where’s Jimmy?”

“They took him.”

“Who took him?”

“Soldiers...soldiers took him. They held us for a while, too.”

“Where are these soldiers?” she asked. “Maybe they can help us?”

“Those men won’t help you,” Willow said, walking across the room.

“Do you know these men, Willow?” Doc asked.

“Yes, I know them. They created Evangeline and she created the monsters.”

“But how? How is this possible?” Doc asked.

“The limits of possibility would amaze you,” she answered.

“But how do you know them?” Doc demanded.

“These men and others like them have been here for a long time, scurrying like vermin in the shadows of the mine. It began when Ezra made a discovery in the valley past Mills Creek.”

“What did he discover?” Jen asked.

“He discovered me,” she answered.

C H A P T E R  S E V E N T Y - F O U R

“L
et me see her,” Jimmy demanded.

“Now that wouldn’t be a good idea would it, Major? Considering what happened last time.” Maxwell’s lips curled in a grin that exposed crooked bottom teeth.

Jimmy watched the creature displayed on the monitor, it was she who had sent him out to help the others. But Maxwell and his men had been ready. They shot down his craft, used the veil to scramble his mind and then placed him into service as a test subject. Maxwell walked to the monitor, waved the device and the vivid image was replaced by a drab green block wall.

“Major Downs, luckily for you, the Greyforce Corporation is willing to overlook your digressions. The matter, if turned over to the military courts, will surely result in a court-martial. But we are willing to forget this entire incident and reactivate your contract in good standing.” Maxwell twirled the silver object between his fingers and stared at him.

“Why would you be willing to do that?”

“Because you are going to help us.”

“Help you do what?”

“Kill Evangeline. We have lost control of her.”

“Disconnect the mainline feed from Eva,” Jimmy said.

“We did that already. It had no effect. Evangeline has become autonomous and is drawing her power from the veil itself,” Maxwell answered.

“Then shut down the veil,” Jimmy said. “It’s the only way.”

“We intend to as soon as you are in a position to eliminate her. We plan to power down the southern terminus for three minutes, the same procedure used for quarterly shift changes. Using the survivors from the camp, we will lure Evangeline south and ambush her without exposing the outside world to any ill effects.”

“Leave the others out of it,” Jimmy demanded. “Those are my terms.”

“Alright, you can face her alone if you please.” Maxwell walked over and released Jimmy’s ankles from the table with a swipe of the silver object which now encased his index finger like a chrome coating. He then raised his hand in a mocking salute. “Good-bye, Major.”

Jimmy left the room and walked towards the weapons bay. The corridor was empty, but he knew he was being watched. He slowed as he passed the lab where Eva was held and thought for a moment about bursting inside. He knew he’d be stopped immediately, having given up the element of surprise years earlier when he stole a craft and went AWOL. A brief interaction with Eva had forced him to take action when she imparted a view of the future he couldn’t accept.

He walked into the weapons bay and slipped a metal tube over his finger. He generated a computer screen on the stone wall and scrolled through a virtual arsenal, creating any device he needed. As the weapons appeared on the screen, he reached in and retrieved them. The technology on the base was unknown to the world at large and only understood by a few within the military elite. These elite included the Greyforce Corporation, an international powerhouse controlling much of the world’s chemicals, minerals, polymers, fibers and fertilizer supplies. When he signed on with the company as a civilian contractor, he was trained on technology a hundred millennia ahead of anything he had ever seen before.

Initially, he was thrilled to pilot the incredible machines created on the base. The chance to experience such technological magic was exhilarating and he accepted the risks. But he couldn’t accept what Greyforce planned for this technology stolen from the indigenous people of the area, the last of which was Eva.

C H A P T E R  S E V E N T Y - F I V E

W
illow stepped away from the others and looked towards the room where the children slept. She didn’t want to frighten them. A vortex of air and swirling vapor began to form inside the cabin causing Doc to stumble back against the wall. Jackson shielded Jen from points of light sparking within the vapor as Willow took a translucent humanoid form.