Subterranean (19 page)

“This is the path to the storage hangars...”

“Yeah.” Flynn checked himself to make sure he had all of his gear; everything was accounted for.

“Why are we going to the storage hangars?” Vale looked at him suspiciously. “Is something useful located there?”

“The ships I told you about are hidden there.” He started towards the area, imagining the flight of a hundred Subterranean spaceships descending upon the Ravagers.

“You are referring to the spaceships that do not exist?” Vale stood still, watching him go.

“They do exist. There’s enough in that hangar to give us a fighting chance.” He suddenly felt Vale’s presence dissipate; she wasn’t following him anymore. “What are you doing? It’s this way.”

Giving a great sigh, she looked back at the city and then to Flynn. “Okay, Flynn.” She moved to him, but stopped halfway. “However, there is something you must know.”

“What?”

“I saw the recording of you breaking into the hangar.” Flynn said nothing in response, only stared at her with a blank expression. “I saw you incapacitate the technician.” He braced himself for what Vale would say next. “I did not, however, see the ships you claim to have seen.”

“Of course you didn’t!” He exclaimed. “Tural wouldn’t show you that part!”

“I have been to the hangar, Flynn.” Her face turned grim. “There are no ships there.”

“Vale,” he pressed a hand against his forehead, “they
are
there.” He approached her and grabbed her shoulders. “Trust me.”

She shook him loose and stepped back. “This is not a matter of trust, Flynn… It is a matter of facts. I have been to the hangar you speak of, and they are
not
there.”

“Maybe they were moved or something, I don’t know, but I swear to you that there were spaceships inside that hangar.” His total recall reassured himself. “Dozens, maybe hundreds of them.”

“Flynn…” She pleaded for him to stop.

“Vale, please… Trust me.”

She turned away, pondering on what to say in the face of such a sensitive matter. “I…”

Speechless, she was saved, somewhat, by an energy blast that zipped past them, barely missing their two bodies. The impact of a second energy blast landed between them, just shy of their feet. They reeled back, grunting at the pain of the sparks singeing their skin.

“FLYNN!” Rolan’s enraged scream pierced the air. “You cannot escape your fate!”

“Run!” Flynn bolted, his feet carrying him all the way to the storage hangars. He looked back only once to see if Vale was still following him, and smiled to see her trailing his every turn. “Inside! Go!”

He ushered her in the elevator with him and slapped the controls repeatedly, willing the lift to activate faster. In the space of the closing doors, he saw Rolan round the corner at the end of the hallway and aim down his rifle. With seconds to spare, the elevator doors shut, sealing them safely inside, and then a forceful bang slammed against the wall.

Chapter 17

Proof and Answers

When the elevator doors parted, Flynn and Vale emptied out into the hangar control room. Computers stretched out from the ground and screens lined the walls, all lit up and beeping as they displayed vital information across various feeds and graphs. At the end of the room there was a window pane that overlooked the contents of the hangar itself. In a move to buy time, Flynn pulled out his energy pistol and fired a blast at the elevator controls, frying the circuitry and rendering it useless.

“That won’t stop him for long.” He concluded, scanning the room to get his bearings.

Vale looked at Flynn with a fateful glance and then shifted her eyes to the window pane. “There.” She pointed, and then began to walk towards it.

Flynn joined her immediately and they both raced up to the glass.

He was speechless at the sight.

Nothing.

The contents of the hangar were clearly empty and it looked as if it’d been that way for a long time.

“No… no, this isn’t right.”

Vale swallowed hard, working against the urge to remain silent. “As I said, Flynn…”

“No, maybe they were moved or something!” He rested his clenching fists on the computer terminal next to him. “They were here! Tural moved them so you wouldn’t know about them!”

“Flynn,” her eyes fell to the ground, “you said there were hundreds of them. How could Tural possibly move so many without anyone else knowing?”

Anyone else…

A thousand mechanisms clicked into place in his mind. “Radovan!” He spun around and shouted, laden with a fresh idea. “He knows!”

“Radovan?” She uttered the name derisively. “He is a madman.”

“What? No, he’s one of the most respected scientists in your society!”

She crossed her arms and furrowed a brow. “Did he tell you that?”

“Well… maybe,” he rubbed his lips, “but I got that feeling right when I met him. He helped me find the ships.”

“He
helped
you?” She approached him and sighed with a shake of her head. “Flynn,” she said, looking up at him, “Radovan is insane.”

“What? No… no, he is
not
insane.” He said with a slight chuckle. “If anything, he is the only
sane
person here!”

“He is the reason you are in this mess!” She held tighter to him. “The reason
we
are in this mess!”

“No,” he pushed her away, “these ships were here.”

“There are not any ships, Flynn!”

“Shut up!” He threw his hands in gesture at the window. “Those ships were sitting right here! Just waiting for someone brave enough to use them against the Ravagers!”

“Stop believing what is not real!” She massaged her temples with two stiff fingers. “You only wanted to believe him because he offered you a way to get home. He is half Ravager, for Lunnak’s sake!”

Flynn drew back, shocked by her words. “Half… Ravager?”

“Yes, Flynn! He is the result of an interbreeding experiment performed by a madman! The only reason he was allowed to live was because his ‘father’ was a close friend of Tural’s.”

Flynn was startled into retreat, hiding behind his thoughts as he considered everything he’d learned. After a few moments of rumination, he took a deep breath and swallowed his ideals. “So?”

“So?” She spat out his words. “So?!”

“So, your people are biological cousins of the Ravagers,” he said the name of his enemy with emphasized distaste, “but I haven’t given up on you, yet.”

Vale shook her head in disbelief. “So, you plan to find Radovan during a Ravager invasion? How do you even know he still lives?”

“Because Lisa is with him.” He answered without delay.

She frowned. “She is no warrior.”

“No, but she has more than skill to keep her alive… she has determination.”

“Are you saying I do not have determination?” Flynn detected a hint of jealousy in her voice.

“You have both,” he snaked his fingers around hers, “which is why I am still alive.”

“I could not let someone like you die…” She traced her hand along the muscles of his arm. “That would be such a waste…”

Flynn found himself following her movements as she brought her lips to his, her titillated breath warming his chin. He tried to speak, to say anything, but nothing came out.

“You are lucky I know this might kill you…” Her words poured out like a supple drink. “Not much else would stop me…”

The elevator doors stopped them, each slab of metal flying across the room and over their heads from the explosion that tore them apart. “Get down!” Flynn pulled Vale to the ground with him behind a computer terminal and drew his weapon.

“Flynn!” Rolan appeared out of the smoke. “You cannot hide!”

Popping out of cover from one side, Flynn shot a stun blast directly at Rolan, the impact knocking him off his feet and dropping him to the ground.

Got him!

He hopped up and expected to see his friend laying on the ground unconscious, but an energy blast flew from the location and grazed his head, striking the wall behind him. “Whoa!” He slid back behind the computer terminal and held his gun tightly. “What happened?! I got him, why is he still awake?!”

“It appears he is more resilient than you previously thought.” Vale said through tense breaths.

“Rolan!” Flynn again tried appealing to him. “You don’t need to do this! I know a way to stop the Ravagers!”

“Solovanek! I will not heed to your bewitching words like this whore!” He stabbed his insult in Vale’s direction, referencing her with clear unpleasantness.

Flynn looked at Vale, a gnawing sympathy gripping him when he saw her head drop. “She’s your friend, Rolan!
I’m
your friend!”

“Silence!” Another energy blast fired from Rolan’s position, but hit the ceiling.

“Why is he still awake?!” He whispered to Vale, looking at his gun in confusion.

“It will take more than one shot to incapacitate him.” She said flatly.

“How many, then?!”

“Three, at least.”

“Three?!” He whimpered with incredulity.

“It does not matter what you plan, human.” His voice began to resonate stronger. “You will know the vengeance of my people! As will you, Vale!”

Flynn peeked over and saw Rolan rising to his feet. He fired off a shot at him, but missed miserably. “Damn it!” A string of blasts were then exchanged between all three of them, a tense firefight in close quarters with sensitive equipment used as cover.

For what seemed like hours, the din of battle echoed around the room, a chaotic testament to the clashing of two forces with fates intertwined. Then, without warning, it ceased, and all was still. Flynn heard only his breathing as he steeled himself to check the room.

Is he down?
Before he could find out, he noticed the window pane had been hit by one of Rolan’s blasts and something peculiar was wrong about it: the lighting was a different color than before.

“Cover me,” he whispered to Vale, creeping up to the glass and peering through the cracked remains.

Whoa!
There they were! The ships! It must have been some sort of hologram deceiving their eyes before, because the hangar looked completely different now, like it was no longer concealing the truth!

“Take a look at this!” He shouted, rising erect with a hopeful smile on his face.

“That is amazing!” Vale stood captivated by the fleet of spaceships sitting idly on raised platforms inside the hangar. “These were the ships you spoke of?”

“Yes, these are the ones!” His muscles tensed in excitement. “This is what we can use to defeat the Ravagers!”

Upon Flynn’s completed sentence, Rolan slowly rose to his feet, thick clouds of suspicion swirling around his head. “Ships, you say?” He kept his weapon aimed at them. “What sort of trickery is this?”

“No trickery, Rolan.” Flynn said without looking back. “These are ships! Subterranean ships!”

“They look amazing!” Vale said, astonished by the sight. “I have never seen one before!” She turned to Flynn. “Well, aside from your ship, but that was somewhat…” she turned away in embarrassment, “um… nevermind.”

Flynn smirked and grabbed her by the hand. “Let’s go!”

“Do not move, human!” Rolan said down the barrel of his weapon. “You, as well, Vale!” He froze them both with his shifting aim. “This changes nothing! …Even with a fleet of these ships,” he gave a quick glance at the ships in the hangar, “we would not stand a chance against the Ravagers. They far outnumber anything we have to use against them.”

“Don’t give up so easily, Rolan.” He waved a hand at the ships. “These could cause some serious damage.”

“No,” he stepped back, gripping his weapon tighter, “you want to destroy them all and use the last one to fly away, off to another world so you can continue your plans.” He raised his voice to a shout. “I will not let that happen. I will not let you escape!”

Before Rolan could shoot, Flynn drew his weapon and fired from the hip. “Come, on!” As Rolan fell to the floor in pain, he grabbed Vale and towed her to the elevator leading down to the hangar with him. A few hurried button-presses later and they were descending to the chrome floors and walls where spaceships stretched as far as the eye could see.

Recovering from the stun blast, Rolan gave chase again, slamming against the doors in frustration when they wouldn’t respond right away.

“Flynn! Vale! You will not escape the destruction of my planet!”

Deception

Inside the hangar, the ships were lined up in rows and columns, each one polished to a shine and displayed proudly upon raised platforms. Every ship was identical, indicating that their existence was from a time when the Subterraneans had enough resources to mass produce such marvels of technology.

Yet, although they were alien to him, he couldn’t help but feel like he’d seen the design before. Failing to remember exactly when and where, he turned his attention to the ceiling, where he saw countless sets of large metal doors marking the rock, no doubt how the ships were supposed to fly out of the caves. Tempted by the untapped reserves of power laid out before him, he fought the urge to start one of them up; Rolan was still a threat and had to be dealt with.

“This is amazing, Flynn!” Vale ran her fingers along the cold hull of one of the ships.

“Yes, I know,” he scanned the hangar, eyeing the elevator doors with a sense of dread, “but we need to deal with Rolan first.”

“Rolan will be fine, Flynn.” She gazed in awe at the majestic ship that she picked out from the group. “He will see the truth.”

“I don’t know, he seems pretty determined to—“, cutting him off was the affirmative beep of the elevator doors opening and out came Rolan, wielding his weapon like an executioner.

“Where are you, Flynn?” He swiveled around the room, swiping every corner with his energy rifle. “There is no use in hiding like a coward!”

Flynn crawled behind the platforms, silently making his way to the safety of the far wall. When his back touched the chrome, he saw a metal panel next to him emblazoned with a symbol of the sun.