The Gifted (18 page)

“Sure,” he said. He handed me his
flashlight.

Just the four of us, plus Hayasa, who was
jogging like any other dog now, walked down the tunnel. We left
everyone else to rest.

Once we got to the place where the rock ended
and the cement began, we stopped. There was a clear division
between the two materials. We looked at the place where the two met
and it was obvious. There was a lever right there at shoulder
height. It was the color of the rock, so it was not easy to see
unless you were looking right at it, but now it was obvious. Tracy
reached for the lever and pulled it.

At once the floor gave way and we fell. There
was no time to think, we just panicked. We screamed and screamed.
And we still fell. Finally, there was a gentle slope that slowed us
down and we finally slid to a stop. We looked at each other and
then Tracy screamed again even though we were stopped. We covered
our ears. Then her scream turned into a laugh. “Can we do that
again?” she said.

“You must like roller coasters,” said
Guido.

“Love them!” said Tracy.

Clearly there was no way back up but the
slide, it had been too steep. Lights ran along the walls ahead of
us and the tunnel kept going on like that for some distance. “Let’s
see where it goes,” said Tracy. She got up, dusted herself off
(there was a lot of dust) and began to walk down the tunnel. We
followed. Here, the tunnel was smooth and kept going on as far as I
could see.

Rather than fluorescents, these lights were
LED’s and they looked much newer. Eventually we came to a door
without a door knob. On the right side was a number pad. “It looks
like we need a code,” Tracy said.

Han stepped to the front “Let’s try the
obvious first.” He typed in 11111. After the fifth 1 the light on
the pad turned green and the door slid open.

I laughed, “So much for high security.”

“How many people do you really think come
down here who don’t belong here?” said Tracy. “This is clearly the
back way.”

Through the door was a large well-lit room.
It was completely empty except for a giant troll. “Troll!” I
yelled.

“How do you know?” yelled Tracy.

I pointed to a large yellow sign on the wall
that said, “Beware of Troll.”

“Oh,” she said. “Ahhh, it’s a troll!” We
jumped back through the door so we were out of reach.

We took another look. It was pink with brown
lumps all over its body like rocks. Its ears were like those of a
bat, it had a large nose, and I couldn’t see any eyes. Oh yeah, and
it was about eighteen feet tall, your regular garden variety
troll.

Tracy and Han yelled. Guido yelled from
somewhere on my right. Then the troll yelled. It’s yell was so loud
it hurt my ears. Something like the roar of a tiger, but deeper and
somehow “rockier.” If a mountain could yell, it would be this
yell.

We all stood still. Since it didn’t have
eyes, maybe it wouldn’t be able to find us. It sniffed the air like
a dog and then moved so its head was near the door.

There was another door across the room, and
for some reason it was slid only partially open between the floor
and ceiling. “Door,” I whispered, pointing. While the troll had
turned its head away from the door for a second, Tracy crept
silently into the room and started moving toward the other door.
“Tracy!” I tried to whisper loudly, “You’re going to get
killed!”

We watched as she walked quietly, making sure
her steps were silent. The troll did not seem to notice. In a few
more seconds she ducked through the other open door. I could see
her jeans and shoes, standing just inside.

Guido tapped my shoulder, “My turn,” he said.
We let him go until we figured he must have made it to the other
side. Next Han went. He was especially quiet and made it without
incident.

Last of all, I went. I took my time, moving
along the edge of the room. As I was halfway across the room, Tracy
said, “Ow!” Then remembering, she said, “oops! Sorry!”

The troll turned toward the door and was
there before I could get through myself. He was blocking my way. I
backed away to the other side. I wasn’t sure what to do. I finally
ended up back where I started.

Hayasa was still there waiting for me, so I
put my hand on his head, feeling his curly fur. “What are we going
to do, boy?” I said. Hayasa wagged his tail while I stroked his
head, and then sped off into the room and began barking at the
troll. The troll turned, trying to reach for the dog, but Hayasa
was far too quick for him. In fact, the troll was quite slow. Once
the troll lunged at Hayasa I saw my chance. The door was completely
unblocked. I ran through the room and toward the other door. As I
reached the other side I yelled back, “Hayasa, come here boy!”
Before I’d taken my next step he was beside me. I almost stepped on
him.

I was immediately met by a man in a white lab
coat. He had a gun and a moustache, only the moustache didn’t
bother me. “You will have to be eliminated. This is a secret
facility. To see it means death.” The others already had their
hands handcuffed behind their backs.

I tried to use my gift, but the man just
laughed. Even with a smile, he said, “No you don’t. I can feel your
influence, but it changes nothing. If you try to use your gifts
against me, I start shooting.”

At gunpoint they marched us to the back of
the room and through another door. This door had a code as well.
Unfortunately I could not see what numbers he punched. He took us
through and moustache man said, “We are a bit busy at the time, but
someone will execute you after lunch, so relax and enjoy yourselves
until then.”

Han was silent, but did not look worried. How
did he do that? Tracy had tears in her eyes. I sat down feeling
nothing, thinking nothing. Maybe I was too tired. I wanted to
scratch my nose, but couldn’t reach it.

We all sat in silence, and I prayed.

After a couple of minutes I called out,
“Guido?” There was no response. “Guido?” I said again.

“Tracy,” I said. “What happened to
Guido?”

“Shhh,” she said. “Act sad.” She said this as
another tear slid down her face. She deserved an Oscar! I continued
to sit and stare, but inwardly I was listening for signs of
Guido.

We heard and saw nothing. “Maybe he’s going
for help,” I said.

That was possible. I tried praying for Guido,
like Han was probably doing.

After about fifteen minutes a short man came
in with a gun. He did not speak and he did not smile. A hat that
looked too big was covering his head and most of his face. As he
came near, he looked up. It was Guido! “Guido, how did you do
it?”

“I had to knock each guy out. I used a big
rock from the troll room. Do you know how hard it is to knock
someone out with a rock? It takes practice, but I’m getting used to
it.”

“But we can see you,” said Tracy.

“New clothes. I got them from one of the men.
A bit big on me though. In a couple of minutes you’ll stop noticing
me again.” He produced a key and unlocked our handcuffs.

Tracy rubbed her wrists, “Those things hurt,”
she said.

As we moved out of the room, all five
scientists were tied up with white strips of cloth and were lying
on the ground. All of them were gagged and unconscious.

“Where’d you get the cloth?” asked Tracy.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t ask,” said Guido.
Then he whispered to me, “I tore up my underwear. It was the only
cloth I could tear easily enough.” I laughed.

“What was that, Guido?” asked Tracy.

“Never mind,” I said aloud. “Guido’s a smart
guy and he just saved our lives. Let’s leave it at that.”

All of us looked at the room we were in. It
was full of computers, but no nuclear warhead. On the largest
screen was a diagram of the bomb and it said, “Armed!” in bold red
letters.

“Not good,” I said. Under that it read, “The
New York Special.”

“What do we do?” I asked.

“Let’s go get ourselves a nuke,” said Guido,
who was no longer wearing underwear.

The room we were in had entirely too many
exits. We checked them all. One, of course, led to the room with
the troll. Now I knew why the door was only halfway open. And then
there was the cell we just came from. There were five storage
closets with equipment we could not identify. Tracy found a
refrigerator in a lunchroom that had cold pizza. I was hungry, but
would feel guilty if I let New York get blown up because I had a
craving for pepperoni.

We had to walk around tied up scientists as
we looked for the right door. We found a janitor’s closet, a
bathroom, which Guido and I used, and a door which led to another
tunnel. This we saved for last. After every door was checked, we
entered the tunnel. It was a large one, maybe thirty feet high and
fifteen feet wide. This might have been so they could move heavy
equipment through it. If that was true, then maybe this was where
the nuclear warhead was.

The tunnel was long and winding. There were
more LED lights along the sides and it looked very well maintained.
Even the stone floor looked swept clean. I could imagine giants in
here, since it was so large. Maybe a three headed hydra or
something.

“If we were not trying to save the world,” I
said, “I would love exploring this place. It’s like the coolest
cave ever!” When I shouted this I heard my voice come back in an
echo.

The cave ended at a door that went almost
from the ceiling to the floor and from one wall to the other. A
number pad was positioned on the right hand side.

“I’ll try my lucky number,” said Han. He
typed in 11111 and nothing happened.

“It was worth a try,” said Tracy.

“Any other obvious numbers?” I asked.

“Well,” said Han. “I could try the others
that follow.” He tried 22222, 33333, 44444, 55555, 66666, 77777,
88888, 99999, and 00000. None of these worked. Then he tried 12345
and that didn’t work. “Maybe we should use letters. Can anyone
think of a good keyword?”

“How about ‘world domination’?” asked Guido.
“Or ‘nuke New York’?”

“Too long,” said Han. “Look, this is the same
make as the keypad from before. The screen has just enough space
for five numbers or letters.”

In my mind, I searched through what I had
seen, using what I had learned back at our training. I tried to
remember everything we had seen back in the computer area,
picturing every detail. There had been no signs on the walls and no
papers posted next to any of the computers. One desk had a picture
of a woman, probably in her 30’s, and she was pretty for someone so
old. She was probably a scientist’s wife, so that could be
important. Underneath the picture was a name, but I couldn’t quite
picture it. I wondered. “I have an idea, I’ll be right back.” I
raced back to the computer area.

Back in the room again, I saw some of the
scientists conscious now and struggling, but without getting free.
I quickly found the desk with the picture of the woman, and under
it was the name Chris. Probably short for Christine.

It occurred to me then that these men had
families. That was an odd thought. They were just people, even if
they were planning to end the lives of everyone on the east coast.
I didn’t know how I felt about that. These men were choosing to
kill millions, but yet some of them probably had kids at home that
they loved. That made me feel weird inside. It felt wrong somehow.
Like their families deserved better. How can someone who’s kind to
their kids, go to work and plan to kill so many families, including
children, who might have played with their own kids?

Chris. Five letters. Maybe that was it!

I raced back to where my friends were and saw
them staring up toward a high spot on the wall. “What are you
doing?” I asked.

“Oh,” said Tracy. “Guido said he saw a small
gap at the top of the door. He said he wanted to try climbing up
the wall. I thought it was a bit crazy, but he really wanted to try
it.”

“But how can you tell where he is?” I
asked.

“Well,” said Tracy. “Remember when he wears
something new you can see him for a couple of minutes? Well,” she
blushed, “I gave him my bracelet.” There had to be something going
on between these two. Did they like each other?

I looked up the wall about twenty feet and
there was the bracelet, and if I looked closely enough, I could see
an arm attached. “Be careful, Guido,” said Tracy.

At that moment Guido missed his next handhold
and he fell. This was quite a fall. Guido tried to land on his
feet, but only one leg got under him. When he fell, all his weight
was on that leg. He hit the ground hard. “Argh!” he yelled.

“No, no-no-no!” said Tracy.

“You okay?” I asked. A dumb question, it was
obvious he wasn’t okay.

“My leg!” shouted Guido. He rolled up his
pant leg and it was turning black all over. There was also a bloody
scrape on the shin.

“What do we do?” asked Tracy.

“Got the code?” Guido said. “Go without me.
Too important.”

“Okay,” I said.

“All right,” said Han.

“Ooohhh!” said Tracy. “We’ll come back for
you!”

She was such a girl. I guess I hadn’t noticed
it before.

I went back to the keypad and I told Han my
guess. He used the letters and spelled the name “Chris.” The light
turned green and the huge door slowly creaked open from the side.
It worked! It sounded like it weighed a thousand pounds.

“We’re in!” I said.

“Good guess,” said Han.

We looked up into blinding lights. For a
moment we couldn’t see anything because they were so bright. But
then we stared up, up, up to the tallest cavern yet.

And there was the nuke.

You know when you watch a movie and there is
a bomb about to go off. There is always a scene when somebody has
to choose between cutting the red wire or the blue wire and if he
cuts one it means the bomb will go off and if he cuts the other it
means it will be disarmed. Well that does not come in anywhere
here, in case you wanted to know. We knew nothing of wires and we
had nothing on us for cutting.