Captured (The Prometheus Project Book 2) (16 page)

Dan Walpus was doing well under the circumstances. The mercenaries had allowed Miguel to dress his wound properly and the bleeding had been staunched completely. Regan pulled out her alien medical device and pointed it at Dan’s arm, activating the accelerated wound healing and pain relief functions. If they could find a way to get out of this mess, Dan would be fine.

Amanda and Ben Resnick had joined their children and Dr. Harris in the middle of the crowd, at the very center of attention. The teary hugs the kids had received
from their mother and father had taken almost as long as the removal of the prisoner’s plasticuff restraints. But after only a few minutes, everyone was ready to resume.

Ryan stood. “So Tezoc enters the city and takes control of Colonel Sharp,” he continued. “He definitely has control of him when he leaves Prometheus and probably also on the way back in. He takes from Carl’s mind and computer everything he needs to know about the security setup and how to beat it. He gets back in the city with his army. Then what happens?” Ryan addressed the question to Captain Hanly.

The captain was still the mercenary nearest to him, although he was now seated at the table with his weapon out of sight. “Then Tezoc knocks everyone in the city unconscious,” he answered. “And we are easily able to collect them without a fight.”

“How did he do it?” asked Ryan.

Hanly shrugged. “He told us he used alien technology. We believed him.”

“Again, he had adjusted your minds to believe almost anything he told you. I’ll bet he used another aspect of his mental abilities to do the job. Maybe he can send a telepathic wave that knocks out everyone in its path. Maybe he can affect the sleep centers of the brain.”

“You’re probably right,” said Hanly. “I never did see him use any kind of device.”

Hanly’s lips pursed together in thought. “I understand why he took control of Colonel Sharp—it was the
only way to break out of the city, and then back into it, undetected. But why go to the trouble of controlling someone and pretending to be them the entire time he was on Earth?”

“Tezoc is very smart and very careful,” replied Ryan. “He found a really tall mercenary to be his puppet before he recruited the rest of you. A man so giant people would be more likely to believe he was an alien. That way, the real Tezoc could control everything without anyone knowing his true identity. And if he made any mistakes, this tall human would be everyone’s main target, not him. If Carl and his security people had managed to escape and stop his puppet, thinking they had stopped him, he would still be a step ahead of everyone.”

“So who is Tezoc really?” asked Dr. Harris.

“My sister and I captured Davidenko and Brice. But what other mercenary isn’t here right now?”

Since there were only five mercenaries present, everyone had already noted the absence of Tezoc’s second in command, Major Manning. Several in the group muttered his name at the same time.

Ryan nodded. “That’s right. Manning said he was coming here long ago, but he hasn’t. He’s the true alien. Manning set up a Tezoc character to be in charge and he took the job of second in command. When his tall Tezoc puppet first spoke with the prisoners, Manning never said a word, and was so still most of the time he almost could have been asleep. It must be hard work
to see through the eyes of another person: to use their brain, their mouth, and concentrate on your own activities at the same time. The alien can do it, but it’s probably much easier for him when he and the human he’s controlling aren’t active at the same time.”

Ryan turned again to face Captain Hanly. “Tell me,” he said on a hunch. “What did the man you thought was Tezoc do here for the past six hours?”

“He had bursts of activity during which he would direct the men and give orders, but the majority of the time he just sat perfectly still, staring off into space.”

“And you didn’t find that strange?” asked Ryan.

“No,” replied one of the mercs, frowning. “Obviously more proof that we were conditioned not to ask too many questions.”

“Again, he probably didn’t want to handle himself and another person at the same time very often,” said Ryan. “When his Tezoc character was active, Manning would want to be as inactive as possible. The opposite would also be true. When Manning needed to focus all of his concentration on being himself, he would have his Tezoc puppet here stare off into space.”

Ben Resnick nodded beside his son. “This would explain why Tezoc and Manning immediately separated into two camps, with Tezoc in charge of one and Manning the other. If they were together, there was more of a chance someone would notice this pattern of behavior.”

“Exactly,” said Ryan.

“Is this what led you to your conclusion, Ryan?” asked his mother.

“This was only one of many clues. I’m sure you remember when Manning turned and fired on Captain Walpus.” As he had done with Carl, Ryan felt it was important to use Dan’s military rank rather than his first name in the presence of other soldiers, even mercenaries. “The Tezoc character claimed he had given Manning a signal,” said Ryan. “But I was watching. He didn’t give any signal.”

One of the mercenaries nodded. “I was watching also, and there was no signal. But I didn’t question it. I should have. Tezoc did a nice job of turning us into obedient fools.”

Several of the mercenaries nodded in agreement, scowling bitterly.

“The shooting was another clue,” continued Ryan. “Manning was concentrating on controlling his Tezoc puppet when Captain Walpus regained consciousness. But even while distracted, Manning’s mental radar finally did pick up the captain. That’s how he knew exactly where to shoot, even though his back was completely turned at the time. Manning must have been the alien—the one with mental abilities.”

The mercenaries discussed Manning and Tezoc for almost a minute, bringing up other examples of strange behaviors they had witnessed.

“So what finally helped you put the pieces all together?”
broadcast Regan while the mercs were talking.

“When we were in the mercs’ headquarters, preparing to throw the globes, we felt telepathic energy,”
explained Ryan,
“even though Tezoc wasn’t there. But we never really thought any more about it. Then I remembered you telling me you had gotten a headache there. I never mentioned it, but so had I. What are the chances of both of us getting an instant headache at the exact same time? The last time this happened was when the Teacher was communicating telepathically with us but using an incompatible frequency. This time it happened when we were both standing next to Manning. Again, since Tezoc wasn’t even there, Manning must have been the source of the telepathy.”

“Great thinking, Ryan,”
broadcast his sister admiringly.

“Thanks,”
he replied.
“But I couldn’t have solved it without you. In fact, I wouldn’t have even known there was a puzzle to be solved. You were the one who alerted me that we were missing the big picture.”

The mercs conversation had died out so Ryan continued aloud. “The final clue,” he said, unable to bring up the clues he had just shared with his sister, “was how strangely the nanobots acted. They had never retreated while they were in the middle of a repair before. Never. But they did so, coincidentally, just seconds before my plan was about to work. Several of them even stopped
dead in the middle of the floor, which has never happened either. They must have been given a telepathic command to retreat. Manning was the only one who could have done it. Again, Tezoc wasn’t even in the building at the time, and Manning was the only mercenary not panicking at the sight of the nanobots.”

Dr. Harris nodded. “Your analysis is excellent, Ryan. I’m sure you’re right about Major Manning.”

“So where is he now?” asked Ben Resnick. “And what is he doing?”

“I’m not exactly sure where he is,” said Ryan. “But I think he’s probably in or near the cavern.”

Ryan paused. “But I am sure about what he’s doing,” he said grimly. “He’s about to take a gigantic step closer to ruling the entire planet.”

C
HAPTER
23
A Nightmarish Future

“B
ravo, kids,” said the Tezoc imposter from out of nowhere. He had been as still as a reptile for some time. He smiled and added, “I was right not to underestimate you.”

A chill came over the entire gathering along with an eerie silence. Not even the sound of breathing could be heard. Everyone immediately turned to face the man they had thought was Tezoc.

“Is this Major Manning talking?” asked Dr. Harris.

The man laughed. “Who else? The man in front of you was—and will be again after I’m done with him—Lieutenant Mike Adams. As Ryan guessed, I am in full control of him. You know me as Major Manning, but my real name is, indeed, Tezoc Zoron. Since I’m not human, I couldn’t resist choosing a name with the word “man” in it as an alias. Man-ning. Get it?” He laughed,
very pleased with himself. “Since I am now in complete control of this mercenary’s brain and body, for the time being, refer to him as Tezoc.”

“Why don’t you tell us what’s going on,” invited Dr. Harris.

“No, no. I wouldn’t think of it. The boy is doing a fine job. Why don’t we let him continue. At this point, there’s no reason you shouldn’t know the true extent of my genius.”

“Is everything I’ve said so far right?” asked Ryan.

“Almost,” replied Tezoc. “Almost. Your conclusions about my ability to control people, and alter their emotions and centers of reason to suit my needs, are quite accurate. But you aren’t giving me my full due. In addition to my other talents, I’m among the greatest inventors of my kind. My species has some slight mental abilities, but nothing like I’ve demonstrated here. During my years of preparation, I invented a device that dramatically amplifies my mental abilities, more than a hundredfold. The device is tuned precisely to humans. In fact, I chose your species because you are especially susceptible to my mental energy.”

For just an instant a confused look crossed the tall mercenary’s face. “It still baffles me why I can’t affect you or your sister, though.” He paused for a few seconds in thought, frowning, but finally decided to continue.

“My invention can also direct mental energy to the sleep centers of human brains,” he boasted. “Once I saw
that Dr. Harris was with you, it was obvious you managed to free the Prometheus scientists I left with Captain Brice in the other building. While I suspect that all seventeen of them together couldn’t cause me as much trouble as you and your annoying sister, it wouldn’t do to have them running around the city unguarded. So I took the trouble to locate all of their minds a few minutes ago,” he continued. “You should know that they are all now sleeping like babies a few miles north of you.”

Dr. Harris frowned. He had wondered how the other scientists the kids had freed were faring. Not all that well, it seemed. On the other hand, there were fates far worse than mere sleep.

“But I digress, Ryan,” said Tezoc. “Why don’t you continue with your analysis.”

All eyes turned toward Ryan. He took a moment to gather his thoughts and then said, “It was Regan who first realized something was very, very wrong. She figured the race that built this city as an outpost would’ve made it easy for authorized visitors to leave. And we knew that Tezoc was very smart and very careful. He had even beaten Qwervy portal security somehow. Regan couldn’t believe that he could do all these things that seemed impossible and then do something stupid like trap himself inside the city.”

“The girl is an excellent judge of talent,” boasted Tezoc. “I’ll give her that.”

Ryan ignored him. “Regan was sure he was lying. She was sure he could exit the force-field anytime, and anywhere, he wanted. So by sealing the city everyone else was trapped, but
he
could leave whenever he wanted. He told us that he closed our entrance because he was worried outside security would send the army after him. But by controlling Colonel Sharp, he could have reassured outside security that all was well down here. He could have bought himself plenty of time.”

Ryan stared at Tezoc. “Well?” he said.

Tezoc smiled. “Very good,” he said. “You have a knack for this. This is exactly what I did. Using your Colonel Sharp, I dismissed the outside security people, telling them that the city and cavern were being locked down for twenty-four hours while tests were being conducted on the electronic security systems.”

“You told the Prometheus prisoners that you were worried about the military coming after you,” continued Ryan. “And that you
weren’t
worried about the Qwervy at all. The truth is just the opposite, isn’t it?” he insisted. “You aren’t the least bit worried about the human military. You’re worried about the Qwervy being able to come after you through the portals.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” spat Tezoc. “The almighty Qwervy. While I don’t expect them to discover that Earth is off their grid for some time, it pays to be cautious. There is always a slight chance that I’m wrong about that. And
while I despise them, I have to admit they’re the only ones who can stop me. At least for the moment,” he added defiantly.

“You said you wanted this city as a base of operations,” pressed Ryan. “But this isn’t true either. You can take over Earth without it. You want it destroyed so the Qwervy can’t come through after you. And you planned to trick us into destroying the city, and
ourselves
with it.”

“A brilliant plan, don’t you think,” boasted Tezoc. “The city can only be destroyed from the inside, and I didn’t want to leave behind anyone who knew anything about me. Fooling you into destroying yourselves was just too perfect to pass up, allowing me to kill two birds with one stone. Since I wouldn’t need Lieutenant Adams to play the role of alien anymore, he was also expendable.”

Tezoc paused. “The equipment I gave your father is not set to the frequencies he thinks. If he had tried to create an opening in the shield he would have caused a chain reaction. As you predicted, it would have destroyed the city. About three hours after he turned the equipment on the entire city would have collapsed in on itself and disappeared.”