Alone in the Crowd (The Chronicles of Anna Foster Book 3) (11 page)

One of the nearby scientists called out, “Beginning initial scan.”

“No!” She struggled against her restraints. “You need to stop!”

The trooper standing in front of her backhanded her across the jaw. “Silence!”

Another scientist approaching the scene stretched out a hand toward Anna. “Wait a second. Why do we need to stop?”

At that instant, Anna heard all the heavy machinery around her whine down. The lights that shone on the nearby devices ceased to glow. All the technology in the plaza shut down.

Anna panned her gaze to the scientist in front of her and said with an irritated tone, “That’s why.”

The clearing exploded with sudden activity and chatter as the scientists inspected their equipment. The military, apparently possessing cooler heads, quickly formed a defensive perimeter around the camp and attempted to reach the dispatch operator at the colony. Those surrounding Anna and Jason dispersed to assist.

Frustrated, Anna sighed and turned to look at Jason, who stood a couple of meters behind her, a confused expression on his face.

“Jason, do me a favor.”

As he nodded, she continued, “Reach into my right hip pouch, pull out my laser cutter, and cut me free.”

Jason frowned. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. They’re still…”

“Get over here and cut me loose!”

He sighed and moved behind her. “Okay.”

He fished through the tool pouch for a few seconds until the needed device was in his hand. “Watch out.”

Anna moved her hands apart as far as she could, cueing him to fire the cutter. A second later, the plastic strip binding her hands had been cut.

“Whoa!” he yelped. “That was close.”

She turned and rubbed her wrists, letting the cuffs fall to the ground. “Yeah, you have to be careful with those.”

She retrieved the tool from his hands. “Thank you.”

“Hey!” someone cried from behind her. Anna looked to see one of the soldiers pointing their way before rushing toward them.

Rolling her eyes, Anna turned to face the approaching trooper.

“Yes?” she asked, when he reached them a few seconds later.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

She cocked her head and
glared at him. “Trying to help you.”

“You should…”

Anna interrupted, “I should talk to your commanding officer. Take me to him.”

“But…”

“
Now!
”

“Yes, ma’am.” The soldier exhaled before he turned, indicating they were to follow him.

“Captain!” he approached the officer a moment later, who was surrounded by a flock of troops near a bivouac erected several meters behind one of the roofless houses on the north side of the pyramid.

“Try it again, sergeant!” the officer ordered. “We need to get that radio working!”

“Captain!” the trooper shouted again. All of the troops in the vicinity turned their heads. The trooper stopped in front of the officer, saluted, and continued after the captain acknowledged the gesture, “Anna says she can help us.”

“I am familiar with Ms. Foster’s expertise. Thank you, corporal. Carry on!”

The corporal saluted again and departed toward the pyramid.

Without waiting, the captain turned toward Anna. “Ms. Foster, what can you tell me about our current predicament?”

“The pyramid has an automatic defense system.” She pointed at the ancient structure. “It activates an EM field that neutralizes our equipment when a focused scan is directed toward it. You may also find an impenetrable shield now surrounds the area, and we will not appear on any sensors scanning the area from the outside.”

“Impenetrable?”

With Anna’s nod as confirmation, the captain turned to one of the soldiers next to him. “Lieutenant, take a squad and check the site’s perimeter. Let’s see if this shield is in place.”

While the lieutenant nodded and jogged away, another one said, “The EM field she mentioned would certainly explain the equipment failure.”

The captain ignored his subordinate’s comment. “Do you have any idea what the source of this EM field is, Ms. Foster?”

“I suspect that it comes from somewhere inside the pyramid, but I haven’t been able to locate it.”

“Very good. Thank you, Ms. Foster.” He turned to another soldier.

“Cooper!”

A dark-skinned soldier turned to face the captain. “Yes, sir.”

“Assemble a squad of troops and these brainiacs we’re babysitting and take them inside the pyramid. Find the source of this EM field and shut it down by any means necessary.”

“Captain,” Anna interrupted. “I should go with them. I have been inside the pyramid and can help.”

The officer looked her over for a second. “Very well.

“Sergeant, take Ms. Foster with your squad. Do we have an extra set of fatigues here?”

“No, sir.”

“Issue her a weapon and assemble your squad.”

“Sir?” Jason said. “What about me?”

The captain briefly looked over him. “What about you? Do you have something to contribute to the team going inside?”

“Well…” he started, but his voice trailed off.

Anna looked at Jason. She could tell he wanted to go with her, but the officer had a point. The space inside the pyramid was enough to give most people claustrophobia, and sending a group in would make maneuvering difficult at best. She did not think he had any skills that would be useful for the expedition. After some thought, she remembered that he had a good eye for details, and he had noticed many things others would easily miss.

“Actually,” Anna interjected. “He has good eyes. Considering we are looking for something that I haven’t found over the last ten years, he may be able to spot something I couldn’t. We need him inside.”

The captain nodded. “Very well. You’re in.

“Sergeant, issue this man a weapon as well. He’s going in, too.”

Jason turned to Anna with a smile. “Thanks!”

“Don’t thank me yet. You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”

Several minutes later found them at the bottom of the stairs that led up the side of the pyramid along with two scientists and four soldiers armed with rifles. The soldiers were indistinguishable wearing their heavy, camouflaged uniforms and helmets – which would normally have a holographic visor glowing over their face. Anna could only tell them apart from a distance by their nametags. The scientists, on the other hand, were easy to identify. The male sported short, light brown hair and wore a khaki field jacket and cargo pants with a large tool pouch attached to his left hip. The woman, with her black hair tied back in a ponytail, wore a longer white jacket, like a labcoat, over her white blouse and blue jeans.

Jason hefted the rifle requisitioned to him as if testing its weight and looked over the inactive ammunition readout. Anna shook her head in disbelief at his boyish attitude toward the weapon. He looked like he was playing with his new toy on Christmas morning.

A sudden outburst of yells and grunts behind them prompted them all to turn toward the source of the activity. Near the edge of the clearing, a squad of four soldiers pummeled the impenetrable shield with shovels and other implements of manual labor. The strikes bounced harmlessly off the field, creating no apparent disturbance.

“It’s no use,” she mumbled to herself.

Jason stepped toward her. “What?”

“The shield around the plaza. I’ve tried many times to break through it and failed every time. I seriously doubt that they’re going to succeed where I didn’t.”

Jason looked back at the scene. “How long does it stay up?”

She glanced at him. “Only a few hours, but none of our equipment is going to work until that shield is down.”

He turned to face the pyramid and asked out of the corner of his mouth, “Do you think we can shut it off inside that pyramid?”

“Doubt it. I’ve looked through it once before but didn’t find it. But, I do believe that those four metal obelisks near the top are responsible.”

Jason nodded, shouldered the rifle, and breathed in deep. Anna turned her attention to the squad commander, Cooper, a higher-level sergeant from what she could tell of his rank insignia, as he barked in a gruff voice with a hint of a deep Southern accent, “All right! Move out!”

Two soldiers took the lead up the stone staircase, followed by the scientists, Anna, and Jason. The sergeant and the last soldier took up the rear. Jason and the scientists stopped for a brief rest when they reached the top, before moving into the chamber.

One of the two troopers in the lead entered the doorway, and Anna quickly followed him. Seeing the room again, Anna remembered the first time she had entered the room. Nothing had changed. The walls of dense stone, the deep shadow cloaking the room, and the air thick with dust was still the same as the first time a decade ago.

The soldier stopped in front of the lever protruding from the wall and looked it over for a few seconds. His movements brought Anna back to the present.

“It doesn’t work anymore,” Anna said, prompting a quick glance from the soldier. “I’ve tried a number of times. I only got it to work once.”

He continued his examination of the wall. “What did you do to make it work?”

“I pulled down on it.”

“Let’s wait for our egghead friends to come check it out before we start messing around with things we don’t know about,” the sergeant interrupted as he stepped into the chamber.

Anna faced him. “I’m not sure what they can do that we can’t. The lever won’t move.”

“But, you said you pulled the lever before. What makes now different?”

Anna shrugged. “Something happened with it after I pulled it the first time. I don’t know what happened. Maybe it locked after that.”

“Maybe it locked.” Anna did not miss the skepticism in his voice. “If it can lock, then maybe it can unlock, too.”

The male scientist entered and passed Cooper. “Excuse me.”

He stepped up to the wall and, after attempting to turn on his flashlight and remembering that it didn’t work, turned his attention to the lever.

“Hicks!” the sergeant barked. “Move!”

The soldier next to Anna stepped away from the lever, giving the scientist full access to the assembly.

The female scientist walked in, looked around, and scratched her head through her deep black hair. “It’s getting a bit crowded in here.”

“Alright, Hicks,” the sergeant ordered. “Move out.”

The two soldiers left, leaving Anna and the scientists to work. The male scientist examined the lever and the wall for a full minute. “I can barely see in here. Too bad our flashlights don’t work.”

“I know. If we only…wait a second.”

The woman reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a compact. Smiling to herself, she walked out of the chamber, opened the compact, and positioned the mirror to reflect the sunlight inside.

“That’s a little better.” The man dusted his hands off on his pants.

The woman called, “Ms. Foster, could you hold this while Cary and I work?”

Anna nodded and took up the same position, keeping the mirror properly positioned.

Cary cried, “Tomomi, take a look at this!”

As Tomomi dashed back into the chamber, Jason moved next to Anna and leaned toward her. “Did they find anything yet?”

Squinting, Anna peered into the chamber. “Maybe. It’s hard to tell right now.

They and the soldiers, the ones who had taken up the rear earlier, shifted their gazes to look inside the room after Tomomi exclaimed, “Are you kidding me?”

“What did you find?” The sergeant hustled to the doorway.

“Well,” Cary started. “The writing on the wall around the lever… Excuse me, sir. You’re in the light.”

He continued after the sergeant stepped to the side, “The writing on the wall here bears a striking resemblance to Sanskrit!”

The leader shook his head. “So?”

“It means that I can understand some of it.”

“Oh, good!” the lead soldier exclaimed. “I’m glad that we can now have our foreign language lesson for the day.” Clearly not amused, his normal gruffness broke through. “Why don’t you read it and find out what it says?”

Cary narrowed his eyes. “I’m working on it.”

The sergeant turned away. “Fuller, get over here and relieve Miss Queen of the Jungle here on mirror duty!”

“Queen of the Jungle?” Anna muttered before Jason gently took the compact from her hands. Once free, she moved into the chamber to help the scientists.

The light reflected inside did not illuminate the room very much, but enough to let Cary and Tomomi work with little hindrance. While Cary probed the wall around the lever, Tomomi searched through the hole through which the lever extended.

Anna looked at the two scientists for a few seconds. “Any luck?”

Tomomi paused her activity. “I may have found something inside here, but I can’t be too sure without a little more light.”

“On the other hand,” interrupted Cary. “I believe that I have something that might help. This section of stone wall around the lever has a very thin seam around it. If I am correct about this, the mortar between these stones is newer than anywhere else in this room.”

Tomomi leaned closer to the wall and studied the stone, while Anna hustled across the chamber to join in her examination of the stonework.

“Cary,” Tomomi said. “I think you’re right. It does look like the mortar here is a little brighter than…”

“Come to think of it,” Anna interrupted. “I don’t believe there’s any mortar anywhere else in the pyramid, so this should be a dead giveaway.”