Paradise Hacked (First Circle Club Book 2) (39 page)

Of course, Knox's biggest fear was the four aliens showing up.

The amusement park had a rectangular shape which occupied ten acres in a residential area. The land was perfectly flat, but buildings and trees offered scattered cover. Most of the rides were in the center of the park, and they were small enough for young children. The photographs showed a kid-size train track, a petting zoo, a food court, and a duck pond.

A screen of bushes and trees separated the Rocket to Heaven ride from the rest of the park. Just a narrow path provided access. The isolation couldn't have been accidental.

The sound of footsteps made Knox look up. His chief of security, Major Weber, was approaching. The big man looked dangerous in forest green Army fatigues. As always, he wore orange safety goggles.

"Did you figure out a plan yet, sir?" Weber said.

"Mostly," Knox said. "We'll show up before the park opens. We'll keep any civilians out by claiming there is a natural gas leak."

"Some of us will have to be disguised as gas workers."

"Yes. We'll all be disguised. The important thing is to be prepared for any kind of trouble. I want every available soldier on site."

"What about the operatives in Chinatown?" Weber said.

"Bring everybody, including technicians. I'm committing every resource to the experiment. If the aliens show up, I want them to get a big reception."

"Which brings up the reason I came here, sir. I heard a rumor that the two we caught have escaped."

Knox frowned. "I'm afraid that's the case. They were rescued. I was keeping that information under wraps because it might discourage the men."

"There was also the trouble at Navy Pier."

"What's your point?"

Weber hesitated. "The project isn't going well, sir. Not well at all."

"Are you suggesting our failures are my fault?" Knox stood up from his desk. "I have done everything in my power to lead this unit to victory! I have not shirked my duty in the slightest. Go before I accuse you of insolence. Get everybody ready to move out. As soon as the spacesuit is ready, we're leaving."

"Yes, sir." Weber turned sharply and marched off.

* * *

Dr. Harlow stood back and admired his new suit. Despite its hurried, stressful construction, it was a thing of beauty. The gleaming plates had a slightly blue tint. All the parts were carefully shaped to fit his body without hampering movement. They locked together to create an impervious skin. The helmet was a polycarbonate sphere reinforced with a metal shell around the top and back. A translucent gold film would protect him from radiation. An integrated backpack supplied oxygen, power, and cooling. Sensors and recording systems decorated the suit like Christmas tree ornaments

"Well done." Harlow looked at the large crowd of scientists and technicians gathered around the suit. "Very well done. If this doesn't work, I don't know what will. Unfortunately, there is no time for a dress rehearsal. Let's pack this thing up and get out of here. We have an alien world to discover!"

* * *

Virgil parked the minivan a block away from the Riverside Cavalry Church of Christ. He got out and looked around.

Riverside was a pleasant suburb west of Chicago. Most of the homes had two stories and were made of brick. Decorative stonework framed windows and doors. Winter had turned the grass yellow and had stripped the leaves from the trees, but somehow, the landscaping still looked good.

Virgil faced east and squinted. The sun had just started to peek over the horizon. He preferred to work under the cloak of darkness, but he couldn't stop the sunrise.

He poked his head back into the minivan. "Lisa and I will check it out. We'll call once we see what we're up against."

"Be careful," Mei said.

He smiled at her. "Sure."

Lisa hopped out on the other side of the minivan.

Both of them were still wearing blue and gray camouflage Air Force fatigues. They opened up the back of the van and retrieved their weapons. Virgil checked for witnesses as he buckled on his gun belt, but the street was quiet.

"Ready to go?" he said.

Lisa nodded. "But I wish I had my swords. I left them behind at the truck stop."

They left the street and ran behind the nearest house. They worked their way towards the church, sneaking from backyard to backyard. Virgil had seen the location by using the map in his phone, so he knew where he was going.

He soon spotted the church between the trees. It was made of rough gray stone and slate. The stained glass windows would've looked nice if they had been clean. The lawn needed mowing and weeding.

"I don't see any security," Virgil said.

"Me neither," Lisa said. "Not even a camera."

"They haven't been here for long. Maybe they haven't had time to install a surveillance system."

"I hope so, or maybe Mei made a mistake. We could be looking at the wrong place."

"Let's get closer," he said.

They crept forward on their bellies. The frozen grass crunched beneath Virgil's hands.

He and Lisa reached the wall of the church and peeked through a window. He expected to see pews, but instead equipment filled the nave of the church. He recognized some laboratory instruments, but he also saw lathes, saws, drill presses, and welding equipment.

"I see stuff," Virgil whispered, "but no people."

* * *

Colonel Knox arrived at Aladdin's Castle in Elmhurst. He stepped out of his car and zipped up his coat. The morning air had a biting chill.

Major Weber got out on the driver's side. Both of them were wearing blue workman's uniforms and gas masks. Knox was also carrying a voltmeter he had borrowed from Dr. Harlow.

They went to the front gate which was closed and locked with a chain. Knox saw rides through the wire screen. One looked like a pirate ship, and it could swing on a giant hinge. A tiny Ferris wheel with just six bench seats reminded him of the Navy Pier fiasco.

"Hey!" Knox yelled. "Anybody here? It's an emergency!"

A night watchman emerged from a small building. He had drooping eyelids and a big, sagging gut. His green uniform looked authoritative, but his only weapon was a nightstick.

"What's wrong?" he said.

"You have a major natural gas leak!" Knox waved his voltmeter in the air and studied the display. "Two thousand giga-radons and rising. We tried to call, but nobody answered."

"Uh, I didn't hear any phone ring."

"Get out of here before you die!"

"But...." The night watchman looked back at the park.

"Seriously," Knox said, "you need to run, or you'll get elephantiasis. Don't worry about this place. We won't let anybody get in. We have an emergency crew coming."

The watchman grimaced. After a moment of thought, he ran to a car parked in the lot, climbed in, and drove off.

Knox shook his head sadly.
Coward didn't even ask to see identification.

He spoke into a microphone concealed under his collar, "All clear. Come in."

A caravan of cars and trucks began to arrive. The entire Crusader Special Unit was coming for the experiment, down to the last man and woman.

* * *

Virgil was climbing the three-story bell tower on the side of the church. The rough stones offered good handholds, but crumbling mortar worried him. He was afraid the stones would come out in his hands.

He finally reached the top of the tower and squeezed in through an opening. Lisa was already standing inside.

"Slowpoke," she whispered.

"You're lighter and therefore quicker," he replied.

"Sure. Whatever you say."

Virgil and Lisa walked down an old wooden staircase which went around the interior of the tower. He tried his best to avoid making the wood creak.

They reached the bottom of the tower and arrived in some kind of control room. Each position had multiple displays and a computer keyboard, but nobody was sitting in the ergonomic chairs. All the screens were turned off.

"They bugged out?" Lisa said.

Virgil shrugged. "I don't know. Seems like we're at the right place though. There aren't a lot of bell towers decorated with computers."

They explored the church, moving more boldly now. It appeared nobody else was around. They stopped in the nave to look at the great variety of equipment.

"They were building something," Virgil said. "Checkout the metal filings and scraps on the floor."

"Sara told us the guy mentioned an armored spacesuit," Lisa said.

He reached down and rubbed the metal filings between his fingers. "Titanium. Does Harlow really plan to live in Heaven? That goes against the entire purpose of the place. It's a paradise for the dead."

"He's obviously very confused."

"Regardless," he said, "an evil, living man wandering around Heaven would be a huge problem. The place would go bonkers."

"We have to stop that from happening. Let's keep looking."

The apse had been converted into an office. Dusty stained glass windows surrounded a desk, chairs, and bookshelves.

Virgil looked at the printed pictures scattered across the desk.

"Oh, no," he said. "They went to Aladdin's Castle."

Lisa's eyes widened. "Let's talk to Barachiel. Maybe the angel can close the passage before it's too late."

They ran around, searching for something they could use to make contact with the angel. They found a hunk of polished, flat titanium plate. They went into a bathroom and poured water onto the plate from a sink.

"Barachiel!" Virgil said. "Can you hear me?"

There was no response.

"Maybe it only works for Alfred or Sara," Lisa said. "Let's try talking to Mammon."

The bathroom had a dusty mirror. Virgil punched the glass, cracking it and cutting his knuckles. He smeared his black blood onto the broken glass.

"Mammon!" he yelled. "Mammon!"

Again, nothing happened.

He frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Lisa said. "It always worked before."

"Damn it! Why are demons never around when you need one? Let's do one more pass through the church and look for evidence. Then we'll go back to the van."

They ran out of the bathroom.

* * *

The broken mirror darkened. The handsome face of Azazel appeared shrouded by smoke.

"Neither Heaven nor Hell will help you this time," the demon whispered.

Chapter Twenty-three

Virgil checked for witnesses but saw none. He was still heavily armed, and he was worried somebody would see him on the street.

"Go," he told Lisa.

The two of them dashed from behind a bush. They ran to the minivan and sat in the front seats. When the doors were safely closed, Virgil relaxed.

"What happened?" Sara said. "You never called. We were starting to worry."

He looked back at his teammates. They had expressions of annoyance.

"Sorry," Virgil said, "but we didn't run into any trouble. We didn't need backup. Nobody was home."

"It wasn't the right place?" Mei said.

"It was right. We found the headquarters. It appears they all went to Aladdin's Castle."

Virgil had collected the photographs off the desk in the church. He handed them back to the rest of the team.

"These look like pictures of kiddie rides," Cat said.

"Aladdin's Castle is an amusement park and also a secret passage to Heaven. We have to stop the military from using it."

Kyle flipped through the pictures with a frown on his face. "If Colonel Knox abandoned his headquarters, it means everybody is helping with the experiment. We can expect to run into plenty of heavily armed opposition, and they'll shoot intruders on sight."

"I reached the same conclusion," Virgil said. "We've whipped him enough times that he won't hold back. We need a plan for getting me and Lisa in there without us getting shot to pieces."

"Getting shot didn't seem to bother you before."

"A couple of bullets isn't a problem. A couple hundred is. There is a limit to how much damage we can tolerate, as you saw with Alfred."

"Hold on," Sara said. "We should talk to my boss. It... she can close the passage."

"Tried that," Virgil said. "Didn't work."

"Alfred and I will try. We just need some water and a clean, shiny plate. Come on."

Sara and Alfred got out of the van. They ran to the front door of the nearest house and knocked. Virgil wished them luck.

"Hmm," Kyle said as he continued to study the photographs. "I think I have an idea. It looks like this place has a duck pond which is near the target."

"How does that help?" Virgil said.

"I'm going to drop you from a helicopter. The water will provide cover after you land."

"Interesting."

"One piece I don't know though," Kyle said. "We'll also need a big distraction to keep the heat off you."

"And we'll have to work around civilians," Virgil said.

"That's not going to be a problem. Colonel Knox will lock down the whole place somehow. The usual stories are a gas leak or a chemical spill. It will just be us, them, and lots of guns. Oh, I think I figured out a good distraction. Do we still have some C-4?"

"I kept half a pound and a few detonators on the way out of the A.D.I.C.S. Facility, just in case."

"Perfect. Now we just need a big tank full of propane."

Virgil started the engine. "I get the idea. Mei, find a source of propane and a helicopter between here and Aladdin's Castle."

Mei opened her laptop.

Virgil watched Alfred and Sara. They had convinced a resident of the home to produce a polished serving platter full of water. No doubt Alfred was using his voice.

With the platter in her hands, Sara walked away so she could have privacy. She talked to the water several times. Her frustrated expression told Virgil it wasn't working.

Eventually, Sara and Alfred returned to the minivan.

"No answer," she said. "What's going on? I couldn't get a response when I was in prison either. I'm starting to feel abandoned."

"I doubt that's the explanation," Virgil said. "Regardless, we have a mission to finish with or without help from management."