Captured (The Prometheus Project Book 2) (6 page)

One of the most time honored strategies for learning how something worked was to take it apart—carefully. If you didn’t know what a television was or how it worked, you could remove a part. If it continued to display
a great picture but you couldn’t change the volume, the part you removed most likely had something to do with volume control. With enough time, care, and patience you could learn quite a lot. Molecular biologists even used this strategy to learn the function of different genes. They knocked out individual genes in mouse embryos and then studied what happened. Did the embryo still grow into a mouse? If it did, were there any changes in the mouse? What were the changes? If a mouse was born without a tail, the gene that had been eliminated might be involved in tail growth in some way. Scientists had made considerable progress over the years using this strategy.

But the nanobots made this impossible. Remove a part from an alien television to see what effect this would have and the nanobots would repair it instantly, ruining the experiment. Soon some of the scientists, no longer terrified of the nanobots, tried to cover artifacts they didn’t want fixed with their bodies so the nanobots couldn’t get to them. Surprisingly, this worked. Not only did the nanobots retreat, they would never attempt to repair the object again, even if additional damage was later done to it.

It didn’t take long for the scientists to discover that the nanobots were learning from experience. Their programming was truly remarkable. Within days, the scientists didn’t have to actively block items they didn’t want repaired, the nanobots could somehow tell if
the damage was done by accident or for experimental purposes—perhaps by reading the scientists’ body language. If done for experimental purposes, the nanobots would completely ignore the item, not even swarming in the first place. If the damage was done accidentally, they were their old reliable selves, making quick and perfect repairs.

But last night this changed. Dr. Matthews had cut a piece from the walkway for experimental purposes, but the nanobots swarmed anyway. Dr. Matthews was forced to actively try to stop them, something that had not been necessary for some time, but even this didn’t work. They politely, but persistently, worked around him until they finished their repairs, undeterred by his actions. Why had this happened? Dr. Matthews wasn’t sure yet, but his working hypothesis was that since the walkway was for public use, the nanobots could not ignore damage done to it, no matter what the reason.

Not for the first time Regan marveled at the wonders of this amazing city. There was no doubt in her mind that she and Ryan were the luckiest kids on Earth.

She glanced over at the digital clock on the small table by her cot. It read 8:17.

That was odd.

She toured the laboratory for a few minutes and returned to the cots, pushing Ryan awake.

“Wha … wha,” he said groggily, opening his eyes just a crack.

Like his sister, he had fallen asleep the night before without bothering to change and was still wearing green cargo pants and a yellow t-shirt. His hair was messy and pointed in several different directions at once.

“Ryan, it’s past eight o’clock.”

“So?”

“So—Mom and Dad were supposed to be here at least an hour ago.”

Ryan rubbed his eyes. “They’re probably in the next room and just wanted to let us sleep.”

Regan shook her head anxiously. “They’re
not
. I checked. No sign that they were here at all this morning.”

Ryan pulled his feet onto the floor and sat up. “That’s strange. They must have been held up. I’m sure they’ll be here any second.”

“Just to be on the safe side, let’s ask the elevator guards if they saw them.”

“Okay,” agreed Ryan. “But I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about.” He grinned mischievously. “And this is our chance to tease Mom and Dad about not being responsible. After all, we were here when we were supposed to be and they weren’t.”

Regan pretended to smile lightheartedly, but she couldn’t shake an uneasy feeling that had settled over her.

After quickly brushing their teeth, they each grabbed a muffin and a small cardboard box filled with orange juice and headed for the golf-cart parked just outside. It
was Regan’s turn to drive. They drove for several minutes without seeing anyone else, which was unusual. At least a few members of security were always present—day and night. And most scientists entered the city at the crack of dawn and were in full stride already by eight o’clock, even on weekends. But today the city was strangely quiet.

They arrived at the entrance a few minutes later.

At least they should have
.

The opening was gone!

Regan gasped, while Ryan’s eyes widened in horror.

The alien force-field was perfectly intact. No kaleidoscope of colors that represented an opening in the field. No doorway out of the city and back into the cavern. There was no question they were in the correct location. But where was the opening? The city’s only exit was gone!

They were trapped! Just like the first time they had entered the city.

“Impossible,” said Ryan, in total disbelief. It was like a very bad dream. How could this be happening
again
. “What’s going on?”

Regan said nothing, continuing to stare straight ahead in shock. The last time this exit had disappeared they had been completely alone. At least this time they wouldn’t be. She was at least thankful for that.

Her brother must have been thinking the same thing. “We need to find the rest of the team,” he said worriedly
after a few long seconds of silence. “Even if the entrance closed down at three in the morning there should be at least fifteen people here. Maybe one of them will know what’s going on.”

They rushed to the nearby building that Carl had selected as his headquarters within the city and went inside.

It was abandoned!

Again, this was
impossible
. There were always at least a few of Carl’s people planning and watching security monitors twenty-four hours a day.

They drove to four additional alien structures that had been converted into labs or were actively being studied by members of the team with the same result.

The city was a ghost town
. Maybe they were alone, after all.

With each new discovery of abandoned quarters that shouldn’t have been abandoned the sick feeling in the pits of their stomachs intensified. Changing their strategy, they drove toward the center of the city, stopping periodically to enter multistory buildings to use as lookouts.

They were each at a different window on the third floor of one such building, silently searching the city below for any signs of life, when Ryan’s voice exploded through the silence. “Regan!” he shouted. “Quick.”

She raced over and joined her brother who was pointing at something through the window. She looked out in plenty of time to see the reason for his alarm. A
chill went down her spine as what she was seeing fully registered. A Hauler was slowly passing the building. They both watched it in shock, their mouths falling open.

Inside the flatbed compartment three men were kneeling, clutching machine guns against their chests expertly with both hands, one hand at the trigger and one hand supporting the butt of the weapon.

The men were dressed from head to toe in black. In addition to black socks, black shoes, and a black jumpsuit, they each wore a thick black nylon belt with a variety of black pouches and gear clipped on, and a black ski cap. They each faced a different direction, carefully scanning the city as the vehicle slowly advanced, their intensity and alertness unmistakable even at a distance. There could be no doubt that these were superbly trained and extremely dangerous men.

Inside the large driving compartment were two more of the black-clad men, one driving and the other pointing a machine gun at a man in civilian clothes, handcuffed to a thick steel pole running across the back of the compartment.

It was Cam Kincaid!

And he was clearly a prisoner.

If there had been any doubt before, there was none now.

Prometheus had been invaded!

C
HAPTER
8
Spies

T
hings had quickly gone from bad to worse.

They watched from the window as the vehicle passed a powerful waterfall that gushed from the top of a nearby building and slammed into a shallow pool far below. The water seemed to appear from nowhere and lead nowhere, but this was because the waterfall didn’t really exist. It was a perfect holographic simulation, utterly realistic, right down to the roar of crashing water. The Hauler came to a gleaming, arch-shaped structure about fifty yards away, just beyond the waterfall, and stopped. The structure was bright gold in color, and the two tapering legs of the arch were joined together by a rectangular building that shimmered, as though its walls had melted and were forever flowing around it like molten metal. All five of the black-clad figures jumped out, with
the one in front prodding Cam roughly forward with the butt of his assault rifle.

Moments later they disappeared inside the rectangular structure, except for two of the men who stationed themselves on either side of the door with their rifles at the ready.

Ryan shook his head violently to break out of his near-paralysis. “How could these guys have made it through security?” he whispered. “It’s just not possible.”

“I don’t know,” said Regan. “But anyone who could do it has to be incredibly dangerous.”

“Thanks. That makes me feel a lot better,” said Ryan wryly, but he knew she was right. “Okay, so they’ve taken Cam prisoner. Where is everyone else?”

As Regan considered his question her eyes went wide and such a horrified expression came over her face that Ryan instantly knew what she was thinking. She was clearly thinking the worst.

“I don’t think they’re dead,” he said softly, trying to reassure her. “We didn’t see blood or any evidence of that anywhere. Cam is handcuffed but other than that they didn’t hurt him.”

Regan considered her brother’s argument, and while still unsettled, brightened visibly. “In that case, since we haven’t been able to find anyone, those soldiers probably already captured everyone else and brought them to that building,” she said, nodding her head in its direction.

“Yeah. That makes sense. Those guys were on a
hunting expedition. Searching for anyone they missed the first time around.”

Regan nodded gloomily.

Ryan paused for a long moment in thought before coming to an inescapable conclusion. “We need to spy on them,” he said finally.

Regan sighed heavily. “I had a feeling you were going to say that,” she said.

“Unless we learn what’s going on as soon as possible, we don’t have a chance.”

“We might not have a chance anyway. And we might get caught while we’re trying to spy.”

“Maybe. But I think we need to risk it. Besides, we’re in luck. I know every inch of the building they’re in.”

“Really?” said Regan, surprised. “I’ve never seen it before.”

“Dad and I practically lived there that weekend you were busy helping Mom study some of the zoo planets. There’s just a single, rectangular room inside, completely surrounded by a narrow corridor. They must have set up headquarters in the main room.”

“What were you and Dad doing in there?”

Ryan raised his eyebrows. “You know the ceramic samples Dad is always studying?”

“The superconductors?”

Ryan nodded. “He got them from inside that building.”

Regan’s eyes widened. Her father considered this to
be among his most important projects. A superconductor was a material through which electricity could flow without losing any energy at all. This was extremely rare. The only superconductors Earth scientists had developed would only work at icy temperatures far below zero. But the material their dad had found would work at room temperature, something that could revolutionize such things as computer technology and the generation of electricity.

“The inner walls of that building are made of a complex ceramic material. Once Dad realized they were superconductors, I couldn’t get him to leave; even to eat. He spent the entire weekend there doing experiments and taking samples from the walls.”

“Okay,” said Regan. “So you do know the building well. But how does that help us?”

“While Dad was working, I did some exploring. Along with the one entrance you can easily see in the front, I found an invisible doorway on the other side of the building. It leads to the hallway surrounding the central room.” His eyes blazed with determination. “Once we’re in the hallway we should be able to hear what’s going on in the other room. Even better, if I’m remembering right, the samples Dad cut from the walls left small holes that we should be able to look through.”

“Great,” said Regan, frowning. The set-up her brother described really was as perfect for spying as they
could possibly hope for, which left them no excuse not to do what he was proposing. “Lucky us,” she mumbled unhappily.

“We can
do
this, Regan,” he said confidently. “All we have to do is make it through the invisible door without being seen.”

Regan peered cautiously out of the window once again. The guards were stationed at the front entrance only. If they snuck up from behind, they really should be able to make it to the hallway.

“Okay,” she said as bravely as possible. “What are we waiting for?”

Keeping out of the guards’ line of sight, they drove back the way they had come for several miles and then circled back so they could approach the structure from behind. They abandoned the golf-cart behind a small cylindrical building about sixty yards from their target and cautiously closed the remaining distance on foot. They crouched low as they approached, keeping out of sight behind exotic vegetation and a few Haulers parked haphazardly behind the structure.

Finally, they were at their destination. A section of the flowing gold wall dutifully vanished as they approached and moments later they were inside the hall surrounding the central building.