The Chronicles of Silverwolf: The Dawning of a Hero (13 page)

“We will,” Justin said.

“You don't understand. I believe he extracted some of the nanites from my suit. He's headed to Groom Lake with Sarah,” he warned him.

“Did I hear you right, Jonathan?” Peter asked.

“Yeah,” Jonathan sighed.

“Oh, crap. I was afraid that was going to happen,” said Peter.

When the elevator finally stopped, the doors opened, revealing a huge underground cavern with what looked like a monorail system that just took off like a bullet down a large tunnel. There, standing in front of them, was the Shadowgate Master. He was obviously preventing them from perusing the tram.

“Go. I'll take care of him,” Justin said.

“You two aren't going anywhere,” Shadowgate said in a threatening manner.

Was he in the room with me when I was under sedation?

Then Jonathan took off into the air after the tram but was hit by one of Shadowgate's lightning bolts that sent him flying across the cavern. When he hit the wall he fell to the ground in pain. That's when Justin ran full blast at Shadowgate. When they collided into one another it caused a shock wave that rumbled the cavern. Pieces of rocks and dirt started to fall.

“Go after them Silverwolf! I can hold him off here!” Jonathan heard Justin yell.

Shadowgate and Justin moved fast trying to avoid each others hits at the same time.

“Peter, get me into the tunnel,” Jonathan asked Peter to do who programmed the suit to take off into the tunnel and catch up to the tram. Jonathan was still a little weak and the blast from Shadowgate didn't improve his condition any.

When he was finally in the tunnel the tram was already several miles ahead of Jonathan according to the suit’s calculations. The suit had calculated the tram’s speed when it first took off at 300 mph using what looked like a magnetic propulsion system.

Jonathan began to pick up speed to try and catch the train when another shock wave flew past him followed by a wave of electricity that for some odd reason interfered with the suit’s functions and immediately opened up some kind of artificial portal in front of him.

“What the hell? That wasn’t supposed to happen,” I said, confused by what I saw.

For a brief moment, Jonathan was baffled but he couldn’t slow down in time before he entered the portal that was likely activated accidentally by his suit.

Chapter 24

They were nearly done.

The Shadowgate Society
, along with the help of Admiral Trasken, could finally rejoice after years of preparations for the onslaught invasion of Earth. The only missing element to completing their genetically engineered race of soldiers was a sample of Silverwolf’s suit.

“I’ve just received word that the syringe of nanites retrieved from the suit is on its way here now,” Gibson informed Trasken.

“Good. As soon as I create the suit needed for your army I’m afraid I must return to Rancor,” he replied.

“You won’t be staying to witness this planet’s transformation?” he asked.

“I wish I could but Lord Callosaur has requested my presence in person. I have confidence though that you will succeed. However, I will return with much greater forces as soon as the war we are currently fighting turns in our favor.”

“Good.”

***

As the high speed train continued on down the tunnel Sarah could only pray that Jonathan would catch up to her and rescue her soon. She didn't want to be here any longer than she already had been. As she thought back to the moment where she convinced Justin to find Jonathan and rescue him, she began to realize that, maybe, she had made a mistake.

“Why are you doing this, father?” she asked her father who was holding onto her.

“It's the only way to keep you safe,” he said.

“What are you talking about? From whom?” she asked.

“I'm sorry, sweetheart, but there are people I have to answer to and if I disobey them it could be the end for both of us,” he said.

“I don't understand,” she said. Her father wasn't making any sense. He was starting to scare Sarah.
Is this why he was always so secretive about his work?

“You'll find out soon enough,” he said.

That's when she started to feel the train slow down finally coming to a stop.

“We're here,” he said as the door to the car opened.

He led his daughter outside to what looked similar to the subway station in New York City. Except this station felt darker, looking deserted with benches along the far wall and signs that had a written language on it that she couldn't make out. In the middle was an escalator that ascended to an upper level no doubt.

Her dad led her over to the escalators. When there got there they rode them up to a level with a series of corridors. They made a left and approached the second door on the right that had a retinal scanner along with a digital keypad.

“When we walk in don't say anything,” her father suggested.

When he entered his code and used the scanner, the door opened revealing a room with a long table filled with a bunch of men sitting down around it.

At the far end of the table was a map of the world hanging on the wall.

In corner Sarah saw what looked like a reptilian creature wearing a suit or armor that scared the hell out of her. She tried to focus on the humans in the room without staring at it.

“Good of you to make it General,” said the man sitting at the far end of the table as they walked in.

“Sorry for the delay. There was an incident at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex,” he said.

“Silverwolf?” he asked.

“For those who aren't aware, someone infiltrated the facility just as I was leaving and took out everyone in the base. Luckily Shadowgate was there to stop them,” her father said.

“Who are you people?” Sarah asked.

“You will speak only when spoken to,” the man sitting down told her.

“You'll have to forgive my daughter, Mr. Gibson. She's a bit upset about her boyfriend,” her father told him.

“What did you do to him?” she asked ignoring her fathers warning from earlier.

“Silence!” Gibson yelled.

“I have what you asked for,” her father said taking out a syringe filled with silver liquid from his pocket then walking over to Gibson and handing it to him.

“Was that from Jonathan's suit?” Sarah wondered.

“Good,” Gibson said looking at the syringe
and then handing it to the creature behind him who remained silent. “We'll take it to our lab and start working on it for the super soldier project. I want you there General to oversee the development of it with Admiral Trasken.”

“What about my daughter?” he asked.

“She'll remain here at the base until we're ready for the next phase of our plan,” Gibson said. “Guard!” he yelled out. A moment later a man wearing a military uniform entered the room. “Take Ms. Langston to one of our holding cells on level 4. Keep her there until I instruct otherwise.”

“Yes, sir,” he replied.

“No,” she said with a disheartening look on her face.

The guard then grabbed her and escorted her out of the room.

Chapter 25

It was like God had stepped aside and let the unthinkable happen.
The calendar date was December 21
st
, 2012.

It began when large, black triangular shaped crafts of different sizes started to appear in almost every major city and small town on the planet. Traffic on all major freeways had come to a grinding halt. People who were working in office buildings stepped out into the morning sunlight to look up at the variety of strange craft while mainstream news media outlets immediately began reporting on the phenomenon.

Then without warning, a beam of intense energy was released from each of the craft causing whatever was directly below them and in their immediate vicinity to explode. Buildings tumbled to the ground while catching on fire. Elevated freeways with cars on them collapsed. Mushroom clouds of smoke began rising from the ground. People everywhere began running for their lives.

Some, at first, were fortunate not to be near any of the blast sites. Those that were close not so lucky, they perished almost immediately.

It wasn't long before fighter jets from every available branch of the military showed up to try and take down the unknown invaders, but they didn't last long. Their weapons could not penetrate the invaders shields. Nor were they fast enough to keep their target in sight.

It was utterly hopeless.

The mysterious invaders never gave any warning or announcement to the public. They just showed up and did what they came to do; cause as much destruction and kill as many people as possible. It was a no win situation for anyone who tried to fight back and even those who were merely trying to survive.

When the bombing finally stopped, strange looking beings wearing black metal suits were transported to the surface of the planet from the ships and started rounding up everyone who was still alive. They carried automatic blaster rifles and had some kind of strange breathing apparatus wrapped around their face. Their speech patterns sounded strange but could be understood by any earthling in any language.

Those who resisted were shot on sight and left to die. The rest were taken to the major cities so no stragglers were left unattended. Everyone was injected with a specialized microchip underneath the skin of their arm so they could be monitored and tracked.

It reminded many people of George Orwell's “1984” novel. A planet that had the potential to become a utopia was now a dystopia.

The only question now on everyone's minds was who, if anyone would save them from this nightmarish reality.

***

He was only one man with the power of speed and fire at his disposal. But the overwhelming urge to fight back against the chaos of ships and soldiers Justin Gait was witnessing was more than he could handle. The odds were not his favor.

This was a nightmare he had no desire to face alone without assistance. But who could he call upon? He couldn’t reach any of his friends except for Peter who had left the city to find Jonathan’s ship and
return briefly to Mirach to tell them of what was happening on Earth.

Justin had no choice but to go into hiding and wait until things had settled down before he took action against whoever was responsible while waiting for his friends to show up if they were still alive.

Luckily, with the money he had accumulated over the years, he had more than one place of residence to use as a safe haven for the time being. He had to choose wisely.

The internet and all television broadcasts had been shutdown giving him no access to any news about which cities were currently under attack. He had to assume that the major cities would be attacked first leaving him with several choices about where to go.

Finally, his decision to leave for Northern Canada had been made.

Chapter 26

It had been over a year since Sarah last saw her father. After hauling her away to a detention cell in the confines of Area 51 for a year and having a microchip injected into her arm, those in charge of watching over her finally released her, sending her home to San Francisco.

Only it wasn't the San Francisco she remembered. It looked much different. Many of the buildings were rotting and decaying while others were no longer standing. The streets had the same kind of look to them as well but half the population had somehow disappeared.

At almost every intersection there was a huge barricade that blocked the streets so no one could get through. Guards dressed all in black with black masks carrying some kind of advanced rifle stood watch either behind the barricades or in front of them.

A cold chill ran down Sarah’s spine as two of the guards escorted her into a building that looked deserted. They led her up to the second floor into a room that was nearly empty except for a cot, a sofa and a kitchen table with chairs to sit at.

Yet the only thing that gave her any comfort was thinking about Jonathan.
What happened to him that day in the tunnels? Why couldn't he rescue me?
She missed him terribly as she looked around at the unsettling atmosphere of the apartment.

She walked over to the window and looked outside to see guards patrolling the streets that were in view. The entire city looked like it had been it hit with a bomb.

What happened here?

The entire time she was locked up, she had no access to any news of any kind. The only thing they gave her was bread and water. It was terrible. She truly felt alone.

“Hello?” a kind and gentle voice said from behind her. She turned to see a young woman standing in the door way.

“Hi,” was all she could think to say.

“I hope I'm not bothering you,” she smiled.