Rick Carter's First Big Adventure (Pete's Barbecue Book 1) (41 page)

     
Mel hated to be upstaged.  It irritated him in ways he couldn’t verbalize.  He also hated to be rescued.  This time, it was a combination of both, and to add to the insult it was all done by a newbie in a Crown Vic.  He stood by the burned out car he had been hiding beside and tried to appear like nothing had happened while almost shaking from the sheer frustration of it.   He felt like a volcano about to explode who was too chill, relaxed and composed to let the other volcanoes know how ticked off he was.  “So,” he said with a slight air of disgust. “What took you so long?”

      Rick looked at him sharply and took off his shades.  “Seriously?”

      “How did you manage to port a whole car in here anyway?”  Mel looked around casually and tried to fake a yawn, but it just looked ridiculous.

      “Skill, Mel.  All skill.  I’m a taxi driver, remember?”  Rick shook his head. He turned quickly again and fired a few short burst at another approaching termite.  It scuttled back in terror at his shots.  

       “Well, whatever.  I had things under control.”  Mel responded, wafting away the nasty smell of the acid and paint.       

    
Rick lowered the weapon.  “You know that didn’t work back when we were kids, and it doesn’t work now.”  There was still some heavy firing going on to their right, in front of the building.  He stepped out from behind the door of his taxi and approached his old friend.  Mel instantly noticed that Rick had something strapped to his left wrist that looked suspiciously familiar.

     “Hey, what have you got there?”  He quickly asked, eager to get beyond the glaring spotlight that was on his recent unfortunate rescue.

      Rick had forgotten about the device.  “Uh, nuthin.”  He replied and quickly lowered his arm out of sight.

  
  “Whatever,” Mel muttered.  But the word was cut off by the sound of another loud boom followed by another loud explosion.  Both Rick and Mel nearly dove for cover.   But, the event was over before they could react.   They watched in fascination as the bugs scattered and pulled back, passing them by in a frantic attempt to get beyond the effect of the explosions.  In mere seconds they were alone again on the darkened smoke-filled street, a few lone termites trying to figure out where everyone else went.   Rick looked at Mel apprehensively.  “You think it’s over?”  He asked.

      Mel looked around again.  “Probably not.”  He said.  “But, right now, what they do or don’t do is not nearly as important as finding Roger.”

     Rick looked confused.  “Wasn’t he with you?”

      Mel shook his head slightly.  “Yeah, for a little while.  Then I had that friend of yours Tormodis and his wife bring him back here for safe keeping.”

     “Why’s he my friend?  I never met the guy before.”  Rick sounded alarmed.  “I never met the guy until today.  And why would you send Roger back here to be safe?  Look around.  Does this look safe to you?”

       Mel shrugged his shoulders.  “Well, it’s a long story.  I still have to find him, though.  It’s very important.”

       “Does it have anything to do with that business back in 1968?”  Rick asked.

      Mel paused.  “Yeah, it does.  It also has everything to do with what’s going on now.  To stop this crap I have to get Roger.”  Mel said emphatically.

      “I’m right here,” came a familiar voice just a few feet away to their right.  They both turned simultaneously.  Roger was standing there amid the fallen chunks of concrete with a look of amusement on his face.

     “Roger?”  Mel asked.

   “Where’d you come from?”  Rick followed up.

     Roger smiled a deep, satisfying grin.  “A tank.”  He said very proudly as if he expected a round of hearty congratulations.

      Mel and Rick looked at each other doubtful and confused.  “Whatever.”  Mel finally said.   “Roger, I have to talk to you.”

       Roger slowly walked the few remaining steps that separated them, his countenance fell, and he looked very sad for a change.  “Is it because of the bugs?”

      “Yes,” Mel replied with deep sympathy.  “How did you know?”

     “Because I’ve seen it, Mel.”  Roger slowly replied.

       Mel took a deep breath.  “Then you know what it is we have to do?”

       Roger shook his head.  “Yeah.  I know.”  He looked down at his feet as if the thought was a little more than he wanted to deal with. “Does this mean I get to see my family again?”

      Mel didn’t bother to lie this time.  “Maybe, Rog.  Maybe.  We’ll see.”

      Rick watched this conversation with a sense of dread and anticipation.  “What are you guys talking about?”

    Mel ignored the question and started typing things into his REAL-Pro 9000.  “We’ve got to go, Rick.  Both of us.”

      Rick glanced back and forth between them.  “Go?  Go where?  What are you talking about?”

       Mel looked up from his device.  “Come with me and you’ll find out.”   Then he activated the REAL-Pro and all three of them ported out in another blinding blue light.   The only witnesses were the hundreds of bugs in the deep shadows regrouping for another assault on the building. 

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

One Plus One Equals Zero

       “Let’s get down de hatch den.”  Pete said as he lingered behind to watch each member take their turn in the dark descent of the escape trunk.  It took some time for everyone to get their gear and pull themselves together enough to orchestrate a successful fallback.   But, Pete was happy with the results they had achieved so far.  They succeeded in their objective and no one was hurt or killed, and now they were regrouping.  That was about as close as you could get to a perfect mission.  All except for one thing, the bugs were still out there.   He could hear them in the distance, in the deep shadows.  He knew they were waiting.  As the last man descended he paused and looked around.  The shadows seemed alive.  There was movement everywhere.  Mel, he thought, I hope you got dis, boy.  He quickly squeezed his large body into the manhole and started down, grabbing the cover as he went.   He pulled it into place with a loud clang and descended the ladder.

       The bright blue light faded slowly away and, as usual, the three port occupants were left temporarily blinded.  This time, it was made more intense by the fact that they reappeared in an empty dark hallway.   Rick was confused, disoriented and not altogether happy.  He wasn’t expecting to be porting again so soon.  That was Mel’s fault. 

   “Where are we?”  Rick whispered harshly, making his discomfort apparent.

      Mel spoke up, “There’s no point in whispering.  There’s no one else here.”

    Rick straightened himself slightly.  “Okay.”  He nearly shouted.  “Where are we?”

    Roger brushed against them as he stepped further out into the hallway. “I’m home, again.”

      “Home?  You mean…?”  Rick glanced quickly in both directions.

      Mel was fidgeting with his REAL-Pro.  “Yes.  Home.  You’ve been here before.  Don’t you recognize it?”

      Rick sighed.  “Why are we back here?”

     Mel looked up.  “Business.”  He said with an ominous finality to it.   He reached over and grabbed Rick’s wrist in the dark, the one with the XLT strapped to it and pressed something on the side.  A very powerful little light came to life and instantly threw back the shadows.  It was indeed a hallway Rick recognized.  They were back in the sanitarium.

    “Hey!”  Rick wrested his wrist away from Mel’s clutch. “You said you couldn’t come in here!  What about all that crap about you two canceling each other out?”

     Mel narrowed his eyes and attempted a deep breath.  “Yes, I did say that.  But, that’s only when the shields are up.  They’re calibrated for Roger.  They’re meant to isolate his bio-energy signal.  And they’re not up right now.”

    “You didn’t know that.  How do you know that?” Rick replied.

      Mel lifted Rick’s arm up again and pressed the light back on.  “We’re both still here aren’t we?  The shield is turned off right now.  We won’t cancel each other out now, ok?  Hold your arm back up so I can see.”

     “Hey, my arm is not a flashlight!  So, what is it we’re here to do?”  Rick asked yanking his hand away again.

      Mel didn’t respond immediately.  He had located a bank of light switches on the wall a few feet down from where they were standing.  He made his way over to them in the dark and flipped a few on.  Instead of bright fluorescent lights coming on, the red emergency lights came on.   All the details in the hallway, the few that were there, sprang to life under the eerie glow of the red emergency lights.  “At least, the emergency lights still work.”

    “You didn’t answer me,” Rick persisted, “What are we here to do?”

      Mel put his arm on Roger to lead him down the hallway, “We’re here to start up the shield.”   

     Pete grunted and groaned from the descent back to the lower levels.  He never missed the elevators more than now.  His old limbs were just too tired to take the continued abuse.  When his feet were once again on the firm floor of the sub-level, he stopped for a moment and held onto the iron rung of the escape ladder.   Everyone that had gone down before had gathered around waiting for him.  The lights were dim as the generators tried to crank out enough amps to keep the blowers and chillers moving in addition to the lights, refrigeration and control areas.  He looked at each face.  They were expecting some word from him.

      “It’s alright, boys.  You done good.  Real good.  De ancestors are happy.”  He tried to feign a smile.  It was the best he could do at the moment.  He knew everyone was looking to him for answers.  Most of them were confused, had no idea what was going on and probably thought the world was coming to an end or worse yet an alien invasion was taking place.  He really couldn’t argue with either line of reasoning.

       Dennis clearly understood that his boss needed a moment.  “Alright guys, just hold on to your weapons, we might need them again soon.  Let’s grab something cold.”  He began to escort the group of fighters out into the hallway and down toward the mess hall.   Margaret and Tormodis stayed behind with Pete.

      “You okay, old man?”  Tomodis asked, almost with the sound of actual caring in his voice.

      Pete’s attention perked up.  “Yeah, boy!  Ole Pete’s fine.  He just got some long miles on him.  Now, let’s check de control room, see what going on upstairs after we left.”  He grinned.

      The control room looked much worse than when he left it.  All but three of the drop ceiling tiles had fallen to the floor and on the control consoles, leaving most of the fluorescent lights dangling dangerously from stretched wires.  Dust and debris covered everything.  The spiders and termites were destructive, but the Abrams tank hits probably helped to dislodge things further.  Pete pulled one of the broken ceiling tiles off the main console and looked over all of the active gauges. They didn’t tell him much more than he already knew.  Most of the power was out, the defenses off-line, the shield was gone, and ammunition was gone.  The only thing that did look hopeful was the battery reading was still at full.  It would stay that way so long as the diesel generators held out.  Once they quite, they had just so many hours of battery power left, and then…nothing.

      Margaret stopped and gave Tormodis a strange look.   It was that look that every husband should be able to identify readily as the ‘something’s wrong’ look.  “What is it?”  He asked her.

       She was glancing back down the hallway.  “What happened to Roger? Oh, hon, did we leave him behind?”

       Tormodis threw back his head and sighed.  “Dear God.”  He said in utter despair.

     “You’re going to have to go back for him.”  She pleaded.

      “Me?”  Tormodis said quickly, his eyes and nostrils flaring.  “Why me?  Since when did he become my responsibility?”

     “We promised Mel we would look after him.  We can’t just leave him up there with those things.”  She said in her quiet and controlled voice.

      He knew it was pointless to argue with her.  He sighed again and looked at Pete standing by the monitor, oblivious to their conversation.  “Should we tell him?”

       Margaret considered it for a moment.  “No, just hurry.  See if some of these guys will go with you.  But, be careful.  Port out if you have to.  You can always come back for me.”  She said, grabbing his hand. 

      He looked deeply into her dark eyes.  At that very moment, a tremendous vibration went through the sublevels and shook them violently.  The lights flickered momentarily, and the dust settled down from the ceiling.  They all instinctively looked up, but there was nothing to see.  There was a slight pause and then it happened again, this time, more violently as it rocked hard for several minutes.