Captured (The Prometheus Project Book 2) (19 page)

“You’re being too hard on yourself. You didn’t fail,” insisted Regan. “And Tezoc didn’t catch you off guard. He used his amplified mental abilities to knock you out. There’s no defense against that.”

“She’s absolutely right,” echoed Ryan.

Carl sighed unhappily. “I suppose so,” he muttered, but the frown did not leave his face and he was clearly not convinced.

“What was it like, anyway?” said Ryan. “You know, to have Tezoc … well, you don’t have to answer this if you’d rather not, but to be … to be—”

“Controlled by him,” finished Carl.

Ryan nodded grimly.

“It was the most horrible experience I’ve ever had,” said Carl, shuddering at the memory. “I tried to fight him, to push him from my mind, but my efforts were totally useless. All I could do was watch helplessly as he raided my mind for information and used my body as if it were his own. And while he was in my mind, I got a glimpse into his as well. That might have been the worst part. His mind was so diseased, so poisonous.
There was such evil there; such hatred and cruelty.” He shook his head solemnly. “It was a waking nightmare, and there was nothing I could do about it.”

“How awful,” said Regan, appalled. She paused. “Do you remember any of the other times he controlled you or just this latest one?”

“Only this one. I saw in his mind that he had controlled me before, while breaking out of the city and back into it, but I had no memory of these events. While he was in my mind, just before he exited each time, he must have been able to find and eliminate those memories.”

Ryan opened his mouth to ask another question but Carl raised a hand to cut him off. “Sorry,” said Carl, glancing at this watch. “But we’ll have to finish this conversation later. I have to meet my men in the cavern so I can let them into the city with the nullifier, and I still have a few things I need to do.” He motioned to his cushioned chairs. “Go ahead and make yourselves comfortable and I’ll be with you in about ten minutes or so.”

Carl spent almost five minutes making sure all systems were fully back on line while Ryan and his sister talked, and planned, in private. Finally, he called the Secret Service to let them know he needed to postpone the president’s visit to run down a possible problem. He was in no mood to go into details and he knew he would be up all hours of the night preparing a full report in any case.

While Carl was on the phone with the Secret Service, Ryan and Regan approached the prisoner. He was tightly bound to a chair. Thin steel cable was wrapped several times around him and the chair, and loops on each end of the cable were padlocked together. His hands were bound up tightly behind his back with heavy tape, several zip-strips, and metal handcuffs, and his ankles had received the same treatment.

Tezoc glared at them hatefully. “Leave me alone,” he growled.

“Okay,” said Ryan. “No problem. But first, we need you to reactivate the city’s central computer.”

Tezoc laughed. “You have to be kidding. You’ve just ruined a plan that has taken me seven years working day and night to perfect. What could possibly make you think I would
ever
do anything for you?” he spat.

They had fully expected this response and had planned for it. “Oh, we aren’t asking you to do it for
us
,” said Regan innocently. “We want you to do it for yourself, Tezoc. If you activate the central computer, we promise to try to convince it to send you back to your own world for justice. We can’t be sure it will listen to us, but it has before.”

Tezoc glared but said nothing.

“On the other hand,” continued Ryan. “If you don’t, I know Colonel Sharp will look forward to making sure you’re punished for your crimes here on Earth. The colonel is an extremely fair man. But when someone
invades his mind and body and tries to kill everyone he cares about and take over his planet,
he loses his sense of humor
. I don’t think you’ll enjoy your stay on Earth from now on. You said the prisons on Morca were like luxury resorts. Trust me, you’ll never confuse the tiny, isolated, windowless, concrete cell that Colonel Sharp throws you into for a luxury resort. That is, if you’re lucky enough to even get a cell
that
nice.”

“Then again,” added Regan, “since you’re the only intelligent alien on Earth, biologists will be eager to study you. I’m sure that a few hours each day of having every last inch of your body examined by teams of doctors will at least give you a break from your cold, damp prison cell.”

“Of course you’ve proven your ability to escape prisons,” said Ryan. “So it’s possible the authorities will decide you’re far too dangerous to be kept alive, no matter how good the prison. I don’t think that will happen, but you never know.”

Ryan paused to let his words sink in. “Think it over,” he finished evenly.

Tezoc said nothing for a long while, just continuing to glare at them icily. Finally he spoke. “I would not have believed it possible,” he said in clipped tones, barely controlling his rage. “But I truly believe I’m coming to despise the two of you more than I despise the Qwervy.”

Regan smiled. “Thanks,” she said. “We’re honored.”

Tezoc knew he was beaten. Still scowling, he tilted his head, and they felt his mental energy brush against them as he broadcast reactivation codes.

Almost instantly the Teacher was back!

They could both feel the slight glow in their minds that indicated its presence.

“Children,”
it said telepathically by way of greeting.
“Would it be okay if I entered your minds to learn what is happening?”

They both agreed immediately. The Teacher entered their minds in super-accelerated mode and in less than a second was able to relive their every experience since it had been shut down.

“Kids,”
it broadcast telepathically.
“I can’t thank you enough for what you have done.”
It paused for several seconds.
“I have just been in contact with the Qwervy,”
it broadcast,
“in accelerated mode. I have relayed all that has happened here. You have impressed the Qwervy greatly. And please believe me when I tell you that they don’t impress easily.”

“Does this mean you’ll be able to communicate with us from now on?”
asked Regan eagerly.

“I’m afraid not,”
replied the teacher in disappointment.
“After this brief conversation I will still be unable to communicate with you or help your team in any way. You know I have become very fond of you both, and you are both quite deserving. But the Qwervy still need to see if humanity can be mature with your use of
the technology in this city, without any help or interference. And speaking of interference, the Qwervy express their deepest apologies that you were forced to suffer Tezoc’s interference in your affairs. Let me assure you they won’t let this happen again.”

The Teacher paused.
“Regarding Tezoc, the Qwervy agree that he should be sent to Morca for punishment. Not because Earth doesn’t have the greatest claim to hold him for his crimes against you, but because the Qwervy are worried for your safety. This prisoner is too dangerous and too resourceful. If he were to escape on Earth the consequences would be catastrophic. But rest assured, the Qwervy will take a role in ensuring he receives the punishment he deserves and that he can never escape again
.

“In a moment I will contact Colonel Sharp telepathically. I will keep my identity as the city’s central computer a secret. I will tell him I am contacting him from the Morcan home world and explain my wishes that the prisoner be turned over to us. I will also explain to him why. Then I will instruct him to send Tezoc through a portal in the zoo. I will reprogram it so the portal takes him directly to the Morcan authorities.”

“Before you do, can you stay and talk for a while?”
asked Ryan.

“You don’t know how sorry I am, but I cannot.”
It was easy for the siblings to pick up the deep overtones of disappointment in the Teacher’s telepathic communication.
“Goodbye kids. I will take my leave now. But before I do, I have one last thing I would like to transmit.”

The Teacher paused.
“Well done,”
it broadcast warmly.
“Very well done.”

C
HAPTER
26
An Important Visitor

T
he rest of the weekend had been a whirlwind. The members of the Prometheus team had finally awakened within the city on Saturday after sleeping for hours. The mercs had been removed from Prometheus and transported separately to other locations so they wouldn’t wake up in, or near, the alien city, and they couldn’t compare notes.

The memory erasing inhalant that Carl’s Proact scientists had developed worked beautifully, and the mercs had no memories of their experiences within Prometheus. It wasn’t difficult on an individual basis to convince them they had gone temporarily insane the week before; imagining being contacted by a man of towering height, who claimed to be an alien, ranting and raving about a huge alien city a mile beneath the ground. And while it wasn’t fair to charge them with invading Prometheus
since they had been under Tezoc’s influence at the time, they were all wanted for other crimes—especially Brice.

Carl explained to Dr. Harris and the team that the Morcans had contacted him telepathically and had recommended, for Earth’s safety, that Tezoc be transferred into their custody as quickly as possible. The team unanimously agreed and sent Tezoc through a portal to the Morcan home world within hours of the team’s awakening. To say that everyone was thrilled and greatly relieved to be rid of the ruthless alien was an understatement.

On Sunday the entire Prometheus team and every member of security not on duty gathered together while Ryan and Regan reviewed everything that had happened and answered questions. They were showered with so much praise and gratitude they began to feel awkward, but there was a part of both of them that enjoyed every second of it.

Finally, the longest weekend of their lives ended late Sunday night, and they were asleep before their heads hit their pillows.

When they awoke Monday morning, their parents insisted that they take it easy and not rush to school. They would have a big family breakfast and if they were late to school by an hour or so, so be it.

The entire family was in good spirits as they sat around their rectangular, oak kitchen table for breakfast, looking out of their large picture window at the thick woods just beyond their backyard.

“We’re giving you an extra hour to get to school, but are you two even sure you’re ready to go back at all today after everything that happened this weekend?” asked Mrs. Resnick.

Ryan nodded. “
Definitely
. I’m looking forward to seeing my friends and spending a normal day in class. I’ve had enough adventure for a while.”

“You can say that again,” agreed Regan.

“Well, you two have become quite the celebrities on the team,” said Mr. Resnick. “I just hope you don’t let it go to your head.”

Ryan’s eyes twinkled playfully. “Well
I
won’t, Dad, but I don’t know about Regan. All I did was help save the world. But by finding a nullifier Regan did something really impressive: she proved you wrong about something having to do with science.”

Ben Resnick laughed heartily. “I wish proving me wrong was really that special, Ryan,” he said modestly. “But I must admit that in this case it was impressive, indeed. I couldn’t be prouder, as I’ve already made it very clear to her. And you, Ryan, what can I say: even when you were a little boy you had a talent for smashing things to bits with a hammer. Nice work.”

Ryan laughed.

“Just to get serious for a second,” said Regan, “with school and all, we really don’t have as much chance to explore the city as we want. And it takes forever to get through security. I’m starting to think we should do this
sleepover thing more often. Maybe once a month or so on a Friday or Saturday night.”

Amanda Resnick almost choked on a mouthful of scrambled eggs. “What? After what just happened? You have to be kidding.”

“Okay, Mom,” said Regan. “I’ll admit the sleepover turned out to be just slightly more dangerous than we had thought, but there’s no way something like that could ever happen again.”

“Just
slightly
more dangerous?” said her mom in disbelief. “That’s like saying the Earth is just
slightly
bigger than an ant.”

Ben Resnick raised his eyebrows. “On the other hand, Amanda, if we hadn’t let them have their sleep-over, everyone who was in the city would be dead and Tezoc would be taking over the planet right now.”

“Good point, Dad,” said Ryan. “See, Mom. You made a great decision letting us stay. Heck, you could win that mother-of-the-year award, after all.”

Amanda Resnick smiled and rolled her eyes. She was about to respond when the doorbell rang.

That was odd, thought Regan. There were few people living nearby and they rarely got visitors. But their mother didn’t seem to be surprised at all.

“We’ll have to discuss this sleepover business another time,” said Mrs. Resnick, rising to get the door. She motioned for her children to follow her. She reached the door and threw it open.

Three men stood at the doorway. Two of them were Colonel Carl Sharp, in full dress uniform, and Dr. Harry Harris.

The other was the President of the United States
.

Kevin Quinn.
President
Kevin Quinn. Looking quite comfortable in his loose-fitting gray suit and blue necktie.

Regan shook her head as if to clear a dream. No, that didn’t work. He was still there.
The president
. He looked taller and thinner than he did on TV, but there could be no doubt that it was he. He was a trim, handsome man of fifty-five with a strong chin and dark hair peppered with gray.

About thirty yards behind the president, parked beside a massive tree near the gravel road to their house, were two stretch limousines with dark, bulletproof windows. Six Secret Service agents wearing dark suits and extremely serious expressions had taken up positions around their yard, watching for any possible trouble while they waited for the president to complete his business.