33. Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Angela didn't know how long she'd slept, when the vibrations woke her up. The lights were off in the room and she suddenly realized there were no windows for natural light. Air currents brought the sharp smell of chemicals along with the slightly stale scent of recycled air.
They were subtle, at first, something she shouldn't have noticed as a human. But she'd realized that her Bond with Zoric had increased some of her senses. The absolute darkness of the room was broken by the hint of light at the bottom of the door. It was just enough to get a feel for where everything was in the room.
The vibrations that woke her came up the frame of the bed from the floor. With a shaking hand, Angela reached out to touch the wall. It was faint, a mere hint of movement, but she could feel the vibrations in the wall. She wondered, for a brief moment, if they were getting an earthquake. Had any of the other humans felt it? Her spotty memory of what earthquakes looked like on a graph didn't match what she was feeling.
Somebody isn't happy about you being here, the voice in the back of her head warned. Somebody might be willing to do something about it.
It was second nature to reach across her Bond to Zoric and let him feel what she did. His surprise at her reaching out was quickly followed by concern at the vibrations.
Nobody else has mentioned an earthquake , he sent. His voice in her mind sounded strange and far away.
I think we're under attack , Angela sent back.
From who?
I don't know but I think almost this entire compound is underground. There are guards on the doors but there's no way to guard the walls.
Zoric's concern turned to alarm and Angela started pulling on her clothes. What was left of her exhaustion had fled and she was running through scenarios while she got dressed in the dark.
It's not an earthquake, Zoric sent. I'm on my way.
Angela's heart raced. Some of it was fear but more of it was excitement. She wasn't going to be a prisoner much longer. Possible opportunities for escape rolled through her head and she knew she wasn't the one generating all of them.
By the time Zoric burst through her door, she was ready to go. The guards on duty outside were demanding answers but they didn't take the time to answer them. Instead, they followed as Zoric lead them down the corridor.
Scenarios for neutralizing the guards came fast from the voice in her head and she told it firmly to shut up. If the base was under attack because of her, she didn't want her fellow Marines caught in the line of fire. Even if she was disgraced, she was still a Marine. They hadn't kicked her out yet.
"We're meeting with Colonel Schuh," Zoric called to her, loud enough for their guards to hear him. "He agrees that something is not right."
"Has he figured out what's happening yet?" she called back, willing to follow his lead.
"No. And Ae-cha swears she doesn't know anything about it."
"Are the molemen finally attacking?" Angela asked with a laugh.
Zoric shuddered. "I hope not. They're creepy little bastards but they fight like hell. I'd rather not deal with them, too."
Angela had been joking but she suddenly didn't think it was funny. Molemen weren't real, were they? Of course, a few weeks ago, she hadn't thought lizardmen were real. And last year, she'd been absolutely certain there were no aliens. Just went to show what she knew.
They ran to a safe room filled with computers and monitors but Angela only got a glimpse before the Colonel was shoving them out the door.
"We're being extracted," the Colonel said.
Angela knew what that meant and turned to follow the Colonel down the corridor. Still, she couldn’t help but worry about the people she'd just seen in the room he'd come out of.
"What about everybody else?" she asked.
"They have their own orders," he said. "Move, Private!"
They ran through winding, twisting corridors until he stopped at an empty wall. With a wave of his badge over a seemingly random stone, the wall pulled back, and a stairwell lit only by emergency lighting appeared in front of them.
The corridors were a giant ramp, Angela thought. How far down did the base go?
They were hiding you underground. What were they afraid of if you were on the surface? The voice in the back of her head wasn't even breathing hard as it asked the question.
You were a bigger security risk than I realized, Zoric added, his voice across their bond amused.
If she stopped to think about it, Angela was going to have a panic attack. She wasn't important, really. Had never wanted to be important enough to be noticed. So, she didn't think about the security measures they'd used to hide and question her and focused on moving one foot in front of the other, each one landing firmly on the next stair.
Colonel Schuh was ahead of her, Zoric was directly behind her, and their guards were following him up the stairs. If any of them thought the hidden staircase was odd, they didn't say it.
Heat surrounded them as they reached the top of the stairs, and there was a landing before the heavy industrial door out. It was a dry heat, with a hint of desert sand, and a faintly spicy smell that she'd never manage to find anywhere outside of the middle east. She'd always thought of it as baked history, scoured by wind and sand, and solidified by the unrelenting rays of the sun.
They walked out onto the roof of the building, with the landing pad cleared for the helicopter she could hear in the distance. Ae-cha, Dr. Phillips and Dr. Torres were already waiting for them with their own guards.
Angela shielded her eyes from the sun and the wind, taking a look around to try and get an idea of where her latest prison was. The mountains in the distance looked familiar but it was the occasional wave of sand that caught her attention.
"There aren't sandworms here, right?" she asked the Colonel, pointing at the ripples in the sand.
"I hope not," he said. "We don't have time to deal with the ramifications of spice, as well."
The thump of the helicopter blades pulled her attention and she almost missed the vibrations from the building. They were hidden by the wind and everything else, but the rhythmic vibrations that had woken her were getting stronger.
Her eyes strayed to the moving sand and she knew whatever was causing the vibrations was under the sand. When the helicopter landed, she thought she could see something shining within the most recent mound of sand and dirt, then she stepped on the helicopter and she had to focus on everything else.
They were barely down long enough to get everyone on board and straps and buckles were being secured as they lifted back off. The thump of the helicopter blades sent vibrations through Angela's enhanced senses, each beat resonating through her bones. The sharp scent of aviation fuel mixed with metal, oil, and the acrid tang of fear-sweat from multiple bodies crammed into the tight space.
"What's going on?" Dr. Phillips yelled over the noise of the engines.
The soldiers on board were handing around hearing protection for everyone but Colonel Schuh. He had a headset and was listening intently to whatever was coming through it. He gave some instructions nobody else could hear and the helicopter headed out away from the worm sign in the desert.
Angela watched through the open door as the shifting sand turned away from the hidden base. The hot desert air whipped past them, carrying stinging particles of sand that glinted in the harsh sunlight. Each bank and turn of the helicopter sent her stomach lurching, her heightened awareness making every movement feel more extreme. Through their Bond, she could feel Zoric's own discomfort with the confined space, his scales bristling against the webbed seating.
Someone was coming after me, she told Zoric. If she'd said the words out loud, her voice would have shook. As it was, she was trying to avoid the panic attack she could feel coming.
He sent back a wave of comfort and concern that let her fight off the panic attack a little longer. There are people who care about you out there, he sent.
There are also people who want me dead, she returned. And I still don't know why.
We'll have to ask them, he responded and gave her a rueful grin.
Angela looked up to see Ae-cha watching her while Dr. Phillips and Dr. Torres shouted questions at each other over the noise and the ear protection. She could feel the lizardwoman's desire for her to fall into her gaze and she looked away before she did so by accident.
They landed at another base and their entire party was hustled inside before anyone had a chance to look around. This wasn't a top secret base and there had been some obviously hasty arrangements made to accommodate all of them. More than one angry look was turned quickly away when Dr. Phillips announced her desperate need for a shower.
Thankfully, Colonel Schuh quashed her hopes loudly and publicly.
"We don't have the time or the facilities for luxuries, Dr. Phillips," he said. "We're here long enough for a refuel so catch a cat nap if you can but don't expect much of anything else."
"Will I have time to check my email, Colonel?" Dr. Torres asked, as they settled into the room that had been cleared for them.
Chairs and a couple cots gave them just enough surfaces for all of them to sit down but it was cramped and musty with all of them in the same, small place. The recycled air stirred papers on the table as the over-taxed ventilation system kicked in again. Through their bond, Zoric could feel Angela's frustration building like static electricity before a storm. Her pulse had increased slightly, though her exterior remained calm.
The institutional lighting cast harsh shadows across Dr. Phillips' face as she drew herself up. Her scent had taken on an acidic edge that made Zoric's nose wrinkle. The confined space amplified every movement, every breath, every shift of clothing against skin or scales. Even Dr. Torres' unsettling lack of scent seemed more pronounced in the cramped room, creating a void in the tapestry of human and Chelion smells that set Zoric's instincts on edge.
"Time, yes," Colonel Schuh said. "But this base is on a communications black out so I'm afraid you won't be able to. And if your phone or laptop or whatever you're using can get through it, we're going to have to have a talk."
Dr. Torres gave a dry chuckle. "I was hoping for wi-fi," he said. "I'll just be happy to wait and save my battery."
Zoric settled onto a cot and pulled Angela into his arms. She'd been standing and attempting to not inspect the space too closely. A couple of enlisted had been forced to give up their room to keep them away from the rest of the base and they couldn't have been happy about it.
She had a list of questions about where they were, what arrangements were being made, why they were running, and where they were going. However, before she could begin to ask, Colonel Schuh left after giving orders to the guards outside the door.
"This certainly isn't an upgrade from the last base," Dr. Phillips said, claiming one of the chairs. "And I'm still not clear on why we had to leave the last base. Especially when it appears that we're the only ones who were evacuated."
"There was only one high value target on the base," Ae-cha said, her gaze still fixed on Angela. "With her gone, there's no reason to attack."
"But there was no evidence of an attack," Dr. Phillips protested. "We left without any problems and they don't seem to be concerned about dropping us here for however long it's going to take. Hopefully not too long, the conditions here are horrid."
Private McBride couldn't stop the glare she leveled at the psychiatrist. Zoric's arms tightened around her, like he thought she was going to leap up and attack the doctor, and she realized her entire body had tensed.
"You're right," Angela said, her voice poisonously sweet. "I'm certain the powers that be are very concerned about your comfort. And the men who gave up their room so we didn't have to wait out in the sun or the mess hall are just incredibly embarrassed that the accommodations aren't better."
She's the first person you should sacrifice when you run, the voice in the back of her head told her. You'll have a chance to get away soon.
Zoric's arms tightened around her and, somehow, Angela knew he'd heard the voice.