The Deep Beneath (31 page)

Jack joined the rest on the small porch. He pounded with his fist, but it produced little more than a muffled knock.

No one answered the door.

“Whoever you’re looking for, either they’re not home or they can’t hear us,” said Erika. “What do you want to do now?” She addressed her comments to Tex.

“You want in there?” Ian asked him.

Tex nodded.

“Then stand back,” Ian said.

Tex, Jack and Erika retreated down the steps. Ian pointed his rifle at the box and pulled the trigger. The small box sparked, and exposed wires buzzed and sputtered. The lock clicked.

“It scares me a little how much you seem to be enjoying using that thing,” said Jack.

“Me too,” said Ian. “Try the door now.”

Tex went up the steps, turned the knob and pushed the door open. It swung slowly, but Tex did not enter. There was no movement inside and no sound. The three stood silently behind Tex and waited for his next move. Finally, Tex walked through the doorway.

“Do you think we should go with him?” asked Jack.

Erika nodded and the three gingerly followed Tex inside. He was already climbing the narrow stairs just inside the small foyer and directly across from the door. Erika slowly began her ascent up the stairs, and Jack and Ian followed closely behind her.

As she climbed, a voice croaked, “H.A.L.F. 9?” Tex didn’t respond. Erika continued to climb but stopped briefly at the landing to take it in. There was a small, empty bedroom off of the landing to the right and another empty room to the left. As she tiptoed down the hall, she passed a bathroom on the left, also empty.

The last room was on the right. Her heart pounded from the adrenaline and fear of the unknown. Tex hadn’t said a word. What had he found in this room? She passed through the doorway and stopped in her tracks.

Inside was Tex, curled into the arms of a man with snowy-grey hair and a straggly-haired beard. His dark, thick-rimmed glasses sat askew on his face. The man’s face was wet with tears. Tex’s body heaved with silent tears that gave way to a strange sort of screechy wail.

Erika was shocked to see and hear Tex cry. He had appeared as stoic as a robot. She had been unsure if he could feel emotion let alone show it.

The grey-haired man held Tex, and both seemed oblivious to the other three in the room. Erika’s nose was assaulted by the room’s dank, musty odor. It smelled like old people.
How long has he been here?

The man was unshaven and unkempt. His clothes hung on him like he’d gotten frail or lost weight. His red-rimmed eyes were smoky grey but shot red. Was it from crying? Or were his eyes red and tired before they got there?

Erika, Jack and Ian remained silent. They were far enough away from the raging battle that inside the house they could not hear the sounds of gunfire.

After what seemed like a small eternity, the old man broke the silence. “Are you going to introduce me to your friends? Did you meet them on the outside?”

“Yes. They helped me, but I do not know if they are friends. Their assistance was … forced.”

The old man frowned. He looked at them all standing behind Tex. “Are you being forced to be here now?”

They shook their heads.

The old man looked back to Tex. “I may be old, but I can tell a friend when I see one. You must excuse my dear boy for his lack of social skills. As you may have learned, he has had little opportunity to socialize with humans.”

“We noticed,” said Ian. Ian stepped forward and held out his hand to shake. “My name is Ian. This is Erika and Jack.”

The man took Ian’s hand and gave it a strong shake. “A pleasure to meet you. I am Dr. Randall. Co-founder of this magnificent and horrible facility, co-creator of the miracle that is called H.A.L.F. 9, and a sorry old sot if ever there was one.”

Erika had assumed that Commander Sturgis had offed Dr. Randall to get him out of the way. And Dr. Dolan had made it sound that way too. It seemed strange that Sturgis would keep him alive.
There must be more to their relationship than we know
.
Or maybe she thinks she may still need him.

Dr. Randall looked as if he would cry again. “I apologize for my state. I’m not exactly here of my own accord, and I wasn’t prepared for guests. So tell me, H.A.L.F. 9, what brings you to my corner of Aphthartos? I assume this is not a social call.”

“I have a name now, Dr. Randall. I am Tex.”

Dr. Randall smiled and shook his head slightly. “Kind of a strange name. How’d you come up with that?”

“I named him,” said Erika. She stepped toward them. “Seemed to fit at the time.” And when Tex had worn the overly large cowboy hat, the moniker fit. But seeing him now, with his wavy, so-blond-it’s-almost-white hair falling in light curls at his neck, his trim figure decked out in what looked like hospital scrubs, he looked nothing like the name he’d adopted.

“Okay then, Tex, to what do I owe the pleasure of your unexpected company?”

“My alien cousins are here, Dr. Randall. They have come to rescue me from this life underground. They showed me that you were here. I would like you to come with me.”

Dr. Randall’s face turned ashen. “Has it finally come to pass?” He rubbed his grizzled chin with his hand. “And you say they’re here? In Aphthartos? I heard commotion earlier, but I had no idea … And they have come for you? Why would they do that? How do they know about you?”

“Because I told them,” Tex said.

“But how?”

“Up there I came to my full power. Up there, I can do things, Dr. Randall. Things you never told me about. Things I had not imagined.” Tex’s voice was higher and more animated than usual. He sounded like a child excitedly telling a story to his parent.

“Tell me. I want to know everything.”

“I hate to interrupt the reunion, but I think the catching up with each other will have to wait,” said Jack. “I’m not sure how long they’ll wait for you, Tex. And that soldier you knocked out may have alerted others to our position.”

“Why would you want me to come with you? After all of the pain that I have caused you. All that I have done?” Fresh tears spilled down Dr. Randall’s cheeks.

“You are the only father – only family – that I have ever known. Of course I came for you.”

Dr. Randall straightened his glasses, stood up to his full height and looked downward to gaze fully into Tex’s eyes. What he thought he’d find in the fathomless black orbs Erika could only guess. Looking into Tex’s eyes was like staring into a bottomless black lake.

“I tried so hard to separate from you emotionally. Lilly was always there to remind me that you were an experiment. But from the start, I did not agree with her. It caused much friction between us, as you may have surmised. From the start, I thought of you as my son. You are my past and my future. Where you go, I shall follow.”

Ian led the group out of Dr. Randall’s prison home and down the street toward the center of Aphthartos. Once out of the house, Erika’s ears were assaulted with the sounds of guns firing, explosions, rocket launchers, the roar of fire and the screams and wails of injured and dying men.

“I think we should hurry,” Ian said. “Dr. Randall, can you run?”

“I’m old, not crippled.” Dr. Randall picked up his legs and jogged.

Erika forced her legs to run as well. The bouncing made her shoulder throb, but she was glad that her legs were not as tired and her lungs not as taxed as they had been when she’d hiked up Bell Rock.

Tex soon overtook them all. Though Erika watched him, she could not explain how he was able to move his short, thin legs so quickly.

“I had not known of his speed and agility,” Dr. Randall said.

“If that surprises you, wait until you see him do his translocation thing,” Jack said.

“Temporal translocation? But how?”

“You’ll have to ask him,” Jack said.

When they got to the end of the street, Tex again hunkered down. The others followed suit. He knelt behind a row of bushes, and Erika stopped beside him. She peered over the hedge at a gruesome scene.

Strewn across the neat brick pavers were about a dozen fallen soldiers. Some were as still as stone. Others were alive but missing a limb or two. Still others moaned and held their abdomens, trying to put their guts back into the holes made by the alien weapon.

The smell of blood was thick in the air. Bile rose in Erika’s throat. She put her hand over her nose and willed her stomach not to retch. Jack and Ian held their hands over the noses as well. Tex did not cover his small nose or show any emotion about the scene.

“Butchers,” said Ian. “I’m not sure we should go with them. Look what they’ve done here.”

“They were provoked,” said Tex. “You saw it. The humans shot first, and the aliens only fired their weapon when I was attacked. They are merely protecting me.”

“Provoked? It was like a tank being shot at with a Nerf gun, Tex. Hardly cause to shoot down everyone here.”

Ian’s arguments and the horrific scene planted seeds of doubt that played at Erika’s mind. The ship appeared to be their only way. But to where? And what if Sturgis had been right after all?

But maybe Tex had the proper perspective on it. The aliens had come on a rescue mission and were fired at. Maybe the battle was Sturgis’ way of fulfilling her own warped prophecy.
Why would they come all this way to pick a fight with beings who are primitives compared to them?
And if they found a way to land their ship inside Aphthartos, surely they can find a way to get us home. Tex will speak to them on our behalf.

“It is just the beginning,” Dr. Randall said.

“So why are you going with them?” Jack asked.

“Because they are the only hope for Tex to live a semi-normal life. And because maybe if I’m with them, I can find a way to broker a peace. To keep the inevitable at bay.”

Erika considered Dr. Randall’s words and what Tex had said as well. “I don’t think war is inevitable. And this attack does not prove otherwise. They are here to rescue Tex. Our guys shot at them, and Tex and the aliens defended themselves. That doesn’t mean they’re going to come kick all our asses.”

“You heard Sturgis. What do you think all this is for?” Ian gestured around them with his arms. “It’s so we have somewhere to hide. To survive.”

“And you’re going to taked the word of that reptilian bitch as gospel truth? Have you forgotten that she’s the one that signed the order to put us to death? The one who tortured Tex? The one who imprisoned Dr. Randall?”

Ian did not answer her. The two locked eyes and exchanged angry stares.

“No sense in fighting about it,” said Jack. “It’s a moot point for us. We’ve only got one chance of getting out of here.” He pointed at the ship to illustrate his point.

Jack was right, but the inevitability of going did not calm Erika’s fear of getting into the silvery orb. Around them lay dead and maimed bodies, pools of blood and the stench of dying wrought by the beings inside that ship.

But what choice did they have? If she didn’t board the alien vessel, she would remain Sturgis’ prisoner and likely count the remainder of her life in minutes, not years.

Erika grabbed for Ian’s hand and took it in hers. His face had lost its anger. He looked more sad than irate.

“I don’t know what we’re stepping into,” Erika said. “But I know that whatever I faced in the past, I got through it because I had you. Let’s not …let’s –”

Ian pulled her into his arms. A tear escaped Erika’s lid and fell onto Ian’s chest. “It’ll be okay,” Ian said as he stroked her hair.

Jack put his hand on Erika’s shoulder. “It will be okay if we stick together,” he said. Jack’s strong voice held conviction, and his words soothed her.

Erika grabbed Jack’s hand and pulled him into a group hug. The strength of their arms around her made Erika feel as though maybe what they said was true. Maybe it would be okay.

“My cousins grow impatient,” Tex said. “Now that we have Dr. Randall with us, they are ready to leave. We must walk to the center of the ship. Just below it. Once there, they will open up the doors and pull us in.”

“I don’t think that’s a sound plan what with all the gunfire,” said Jack. “We’re likely to get mowed down in the crossfire.”

Though the gunfire was less heavy than it had been, there were still a lot of pings and ricochets of bullets and the sound of rocket driven projectiles being launched at the orb.

“We will not,” said Tex. His tone was very self-assured.

“I don’t see how,” said Dr. Randall.

“Trust me,” Tex said.

Trust him.
That’s the rub, isn’t it? Do I trust him?
Given that her choice was between trusting Tex and trusting in the hospitality of Sturgis, she had to go with Tex.

“You must leave your weapons here and follow me,” Tex said.

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Ian said. He held the rifle in his hands and looked prepared to use it.

“Yeah. Why can’t we take these with us?” Jack asked as he held out his rifle.

“You must trust me. They will not pull you into the ship if you hold a weapon. Then you will be left here with Commander Sturgis.”

Tex did not wait to engage in further discussion. He walked swiftly toward the ship, apparently assuming that his human friends would follow.

Tex had reminded them that they did not really have a choice in the matter. Erika laid her rifle on the ground. Jack and Ian grudgingly did the same. They scurried to catch up with Tex and walked in a tight group behind him. As they left the sidewalk and approached the town square, the alien ship ceased its fire. The sudden cessation of the laser weapon caused a hush to fall over the battle scene.

“Follow me closely,” Tex said.

Erika walked as closely as she could to Tex without stepping on his heels. Dr. Randall kept pace beside him while Jack and Ian held her hand on either side.

She’d sounded so sure of herself when she argued with Ian. But the truth was her stomach was in knots and sweat poured from her.
What am I getting myself into?
But her feet walked forward as if pulled by an invisible force.

Erika’s shoulders were bunched up around her ears as she waited to hear guns fire at them. A dozen or so soldiers still stood scattered around the center of Aphthartos, their mouths agape, their eyes riveted to the small group making its way to the alien ship.