The Harvester (20 page)

This is my sex, my orgasm, and I welcome it. Takahashi and two of his crew hurl throwing daggers at the three Underworlders and connect through their necks. Blood sprays out of their necks, and they drop to their knees. Takahashi, Kelly Marie, and I run over to them and separate their heads from their body with our swords. We hide the bodies and heads in the submersible they were working on. Everyone knows what has to be done and a have a minimal amount of knowledge of the facility’s schematics. Also, we have a good idea of where Vega will be if in fact he’s here at all. Just as important as Vega, if not more, is discovering if Vega’s own Master Hole is here. It would make sense that it would be. So when we destroy the facility, we destroy it. Either way, it’s a win-win for us.

From our location, there are only two ways to advance, the east and west hallways. We want to go west, which leads to the nucleus of the facility. I notice right away that this facility is dark and gloomy, and it must not have much of a cleanup crew. Lights dim in and out. There’s a fowl stench of something I can’t quite put my finger on.

We stealthily move down the hallway like a fine-tuned machine, half hugging the right side of the wall and the other half on the left. Our guns are pointed straight ahead with our swords on our backs. We proceed down the hallway.

There’s a room ahead of us with a light that illuminates out of its window and into the hallway. We move toward it.

I signal to everyone to stop as we slowly approach the door. Only I stutter-step toward the room’s window. I quietly peer through the window. Now I know where the stench is coming from. Doctors perform experiments on Underworlders in this room, and blood is everywhere. Dead bodies are on stacked trays, and others are opened up by the surgeons. The same five scientists we captured are already back to work for Vega with the doctors. I have no clue what new abominations they are creating now. And now I definitely know where the stench is coming from. It permeates from the laboratory room like a tornado building in the Midwest of America. Luckily, being a Dead One, I can handle horrible stenches.

I witness the doctors and scientists conducting never before seen experiments on the bodies. Why? The answer: I’m not sure. Out of all my knowledge on the Underworld, what I see is still foreign to me. I’m intrigued, yet concerned as well. If there’s something foreign to me about the Underworld, it worries me. And rightfully so. I don’t know if I should interject or keep watching to see what they’re doing. Sometimes, being the leader of a crew of Harvesters can be a burden. But it’s a burden I welcome with open arms. Since the tracking devices we put in the scientists are also micro explosives, I can eliminate them at any given point. The Agency wants at least one alive for us to capture and learn from him. I’ll do my best for that result, but in this war and the rise of the Necropolis ever so imminent, I can’t promise anything.

I look at Takahashi. “Harvester Takahashi, place a detonator here.” I point to the door, and he activates a detonator and sticks it on the door. I find myself thinking that I’m not invincible or the warrior I could be. I am flawed. I am one who can be defeated, but I try my hardest to believe it can’t be true. It helps feed my false sense of security. All these years of succeeding at what I do and yet I haven’t thought about it, but I know it to be true. I can fail at any time in my line of work. If I was drunk, as usual, I’d think and feel otherwise.

I snap out of my thought process and wave the others over. I hand signal them to look into the laboratory one at a time. They each take turns and look in the room.

Dorian, the last to look, peers up at me. “What’s the plan on this room of horrors?”

Now I know what must be done. “We kill all their creations and all but one scientist.”

“We do it quietly or Vega will know of our presence,” Takahashi adds.

Obviously we, especially I, know that, but I make it seem as though it’s his good point. I don’t want to piss off the Japanese again. Even Takahashi, born Japanese, doesn’t know I was trained by one of Japan’s heroes, Miyamoto Musashi. He’d be incredibly jealous. Miyamoto Musashi was Japan’s most honored hero and I—a foreigner—was trained under him for many years. I’ll keep that fact to myself in order to keep the mission flowing smoothly.

“Everyone, suppressors,” I tell my crew and everyone spins suppressors on their assault rifles, so we don’t blow our cover when we use them. One single mistake and our mission to the deepest place on earth is screwed. It takes a rare, particular breed to be a Harvester. Over the years, many have found out the very hard way that they shouldn’t have tried to become one and should’ve just went on to the After. People who didn’t want to leave this plane of existence, but realize in the Field, they’re not cutout to face a terrifying Section 520 creature bolting at them with the sole intentions of ripping ’em apart in a most horrific, heinous manner. That’s what I liked about Vega.

He’s like me. That’s why we worked so well together.

But he and I are truly a rare breed. And to be honest, I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. Even in our real lives we were a strange breed. No wonder the Agency wanted us on their punch card immediately.

I direct my crew as usual. “On three, guys. One, two, three.”

I quietly open the door, and we move in like Navy SEALs in a stacked position. The last Harvester silently shuts the door and guards it. We fan out and fire upon the scientists’ creations and in a battery of bullets we kill ’em all. The scientists and doctors are caught way off guard. Dorian and I round up the scientists, shocked to see us again, in a line.

“Remember us, boys?” I ask ’em. “Which one of you is the lead scientist?” I continue.

The last scientist raises his shaky hand. Dorian shoots the other four dead without a second thought.

“Your lead position saved your life. You’re coming with us,” I tell him with a smile.

He vigorously nods as he looks down at his dead coworkers. Their blood flows across the tiled floor. A few of the unknown creatures groan in pain and squirm on the floor as they approach their inevitable death. All of a sudden, I find myself unable to move. I’m paralyzed. This must be Vega’s doing. I look around the lab and see my crew scrambling for cover as they dodge a barrage of bullets. I must admit, I’m awfully curious as to why I’m paralyzed.

Out of thin air, Vega appears with a shit-ass grin on his face. He struts over to me and pushes me backward. I land on a stretcher with two Underworlders holding it. Vega squats beside my right ear.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t find Djinn’s tracking devices in my, my scientists? Tsk, tsk, Harv. You must be losing your touch or you’re losing your high evaluation of me.”

The cocky, arrogant tone in his voice is making me feel nauseated. Only because he got one over on me, and I’m in a state of paralysis like some sort of invalid. I haven’t felt this helpless since my wife died in my arms, and I couldn’t do a single thing to help her. I don’t like this feeling.

Vega walks around me. “You found my headquarters because I wanted you to,” he tells me. “What an ideal place to trap my nemesis—at the bottom of the world. And yes, I’ve been planning this for years. The president wasn’t my objective. You were. Although being able to keep him as a hostage would’ve been a bonus.”

I have to hand it to him. He really one upped me this time. The two Underworlders pick the stretcher up and head toward the exit. From what I can barely see out of the corner of my eye is that my crew is trying to save me. But a large Vega force prevent them from accomplishing this.

Vega follows me out of the science lab. Where are we going?

What’s his plan for me? Is this the end of me? I’m truly helpless. I hope my crew makes it to the surface. I’m starting to feel faint. My breathing is now labored. Well, this must be the first act of Vega’s diabolical play with me as the main attraction.

I
regain consciousness to find that I’m bound and hanging upside down from the ceiling in a semi-lit room. A large plastic sheet lies under me. I am definitely in a bad spot. Now my curiosity grows to morbid curiosity. I know what Vega’s capable of and that’s horrific to know let me tell ya. I know Vega all too well, and he’s not the type to just end it quickly and send me to the After. Oh no, that would be too easy, too quick and with very little pain.

He’ll use me as a personal stress reliever, a type of aggression release by torturing me to the brink of death.

Hence, the plastic sheet. I must get out of here and the sooner the better. So I scan the room the best I can for a way to escape. Vega also knows what I’m capable of, so it doesn’t surprise me that there’s nothing of use for me to escape. I’ll just have to bide my time and find the right time to act. I realize there’s a one-way mirror in front of me. Most likely, Vega is behind it watching the whole situation. Maybe even filming everything for his sick amusement.

“Experiment time,” the surviving scientist says as he enters.

Torture is one thing, but experimenting on me?

Shit! I prefer torture over that. And here I thought Vega was a true warrior and wanted to take me on one-on-one. I’m beginning to think that even with Vega’s newest creations, powers, and he nearly bested me in the rose garden atrium, that he may be intimidated to face me. I’d like to think that’s true, but if it is true, well, I’m headed toward a world of hurt in this room. The more time passes, the more I grow concerned for my well being. I hear the echo of footsteps coming my way. So it begins.

“Harv, Harv, Harv,” I hear Vega say.

The footsteps stop directly behind me.

“You know, I gave my plan a 1 percent chance at succeeding,” he adds.

Considering Vega’s the one who just said that, I must take it as a compliment.

“So kidnapping the president and wanting your freaky scientists back, knowing we’d put tracking devices in them, thus allowing us to find your HQ, was all predicted by you?”

“You’re here now, right? What do you think?”

I know Vega must be feeling elated at the idea of his plan working. I would be. He most likely wanted this plan to succeed more than defeating the Agency by ushering in the rise of the Necropolis.

“You know, Vega, with you being the one to usher in the rise of the Necropolis, I have a feeling some might be a little pissed at you since you put a lot of ‘em there when you were a Harvester.”

“Well, I have a good feeling they’ll be happy that I simply brought them back from Hell. Nice try, Harv.”

And with that said, a thought comes to me, a crucial thought. I need to stop thinking about myself, the duel between Vega and myself. The battle for Humanity itself is truly going to be at hand and I’m just realizing what’s more important now. This obviously is much bigger than me.

And the fight for Humanity needs me. I can’t let things end this way.

“I’m going to leave you to my freaky scientist, as you put it, and he’s going to mutate you into, well, let’s just say some sort of monstrosity that’ll give people horrific nightmares just by looking at you. Have fun with it, Harv.”

I must know. “What happened to my crew? At least give me that, Vega.”

“They fought the good fight,” he replies.

I see him exit the room and now I’m alone with the freaky scientist who plans on doing diabolical things to me. How you going to get out of this one, Harvey? No matter what I do, I know Vega will be watching, most likely with at the very least a few Underworlders ready to detain me.

But I don’t know for sure. This place is truly the hardest prison to escape from. Even Alcatraz had a few who escaped.

Will I be the first to do so from here?

The scientist squats down to look at me. “Would you like a blindfold or would you like to witness what it is I’ll be turning you into?”

I spit in his face and laugh. “You’ll be dead before that happens.”

I don’t believe what Vega said about my crew. They’re still here and I’m confident in that. I have to be.

“You’re awfully full of yourself. Don’t you realize your situation, Harvester? You’re thousands of feet under water with Underworlders everywhere, and you’re hanging upside down about to be transformed.”

“I realize that, asshole. You’re a freaky scientist.

I’m a Harvester. I’m supposed to recognize things of this nature, you idiot.”

I try to stall him for as long as I can. “At any point of your life were you a scientist for science or have you always been an evil Underworlder? You’re supposed to be a person for mankind, not one who wants to destroy it! You’re a shame to humanity!”

I think my comments might have gotten to him.

“Shut up. Shut up! I wanted to practice my science at the university, but they cut my funding to nil!”

Yep, I’ve gotten to him. “You can still make amends.

It’s not too late. With your knowledge and skills, any major university would hire you. What university did you work for?”

“Arizona. It has a very strong science department, and I loved having season tickets to basketball.”

“Arizona, huh? We have something in common. I received my doctorate there, and I also love their basketball team.”

He stops what he’s doing and stares at me with an untrusting expression. “Really? Then what’s the phrase Tucsonans say all the time at sports events?”

“Bear down!”

He gets excited and sings the whole university “Bear down” song.

I cater to him more. “That’s right, that’s right. I miss singing that.”

“Me too.”

“And you wouldn’t have to if you didn’t decide to work for the wrong side and not for humanity. I can guarantee you a position back at the university. I have connections, strong connections there.”

I hear him release a sigh of distress. “In five minutes, Vega will be in the viewing room expecting me to do heinous things to you. There’s no way of escape. Besides, how can I trust you?”

“You can trust me because I’m willing to take you with me if you don’t do what you’re expected to do by Vega. You can work for us instead. We can go to games together, I promise. I still have two season tickets. Do science for the right, not the wrong. And there is a way out of here.”

I know that comment has gotten to him because now he rapidly paces back and forth while mumbling to himself. And I will live up to my promise if he does what I requested.

But he needs to make his mind up quick, or Vega will soon know what we are discussing. Maybe he already knows. I wouldn’t put it pass him.

Suddenly, we feel the facility shaking and rumbling.

The scientist is confused, but I have a good idea what’s happening.

“You have about five seconds to release me before it’s too late, scientist.”

“What’s happening?” he worriedly asks me.

“What’s happening is my crew is destroying this facility, and if you don’t release me now, you’ll go down with it.”

Another explosion, closer to us, rocks the facility to the point of making me swing back and forth a bit. Now the scientist is frightened. He grabs a small ladder and brings it over to me. He unlatches my ankle harnesses, and I drop to the floor. Then, he releases my wrist harnesses.

“I could be killed for doing this, Harvester.”

“You could be killed for not doing it. I would’ve gotten free eventually and who do you think would be the first to die from my hands?”

“Good point. What now?”

“I gotta find my crew, and then we get out of here before this whole place takes us into the Mariana Trench for good.”

“I can still go with you?” he asks me with a befuddled tone in his voice.

“Yes, but now you’re working for the Agency. Agreed?”

He extends his hand, and we shake. “Agreed. Get me out alive and we have a deal.”

“You know the layout of this place better than I, so lead the way. Where are my weapons?”

“This way.” He leads me out of the room and down a corridor.

“Keep in mind, if you cross me, I don’t need any weapons to kill you. Stay loyal to me, and I’ll live up to what I promised.”

“There’s no need to threaten me,” he says while trying to feign confidence.

“It’s not a threat, scientist. It’s a promise.”

Another explosion rocks the facility. I can actually smell the devastation. Emergency alarms now blare all around us. Sprinklers overhead trigger. I foresee an altercation very soon, and I don’t have my sword yet. I feel inept without it.

“Get me to my weapons now, scientist!”

“This way,” he says as he leads me to some sort of closet. He unlocks the door, and there she is. My sword hangs on the wall and my guns are on a shelf. I snatch my sword and holster my guns with a warrior’s smile.

“By hearing the proximity of that last explosion, I know where my crew will be. Let’s move, scientist.”

I swiftly move down the south corridor, and the scientist smartly stays behind me for cover.

“Where’s Vega, scientist?”

“He should be in the Creation Chamber, but with these recent explosions, who knows now?”

“Where would he go in such a situation? I know he must have a panic room of some sort.”

Two Underworlders exit a room behind us. They draw their guns at me, and the scientist dives for cover. I know I’ll be shot due to the distance from them, but I don’t allow that to bother me. I don’t mind being shot, except the one time I was shot in the crotch. Now that hurt. I bolt toward them with my sword raised. It’s obvious to me that they know who I am due to their worried, concerned facial expressions. This, no doubt, fills me up with assurance.

“Stop!” I hear from behind them.

Guess who it is. Vega steps out of the adjacent corridor with his sword in hand. The Underworlders stop in their place and await his directions.

“He’s mine. Stand down.” He points his sword at the scientist. “I’ll deal with you later.”

It’s been a long time, but I feel exhilarated to stare down Vega once again. I just never thought it would be this deep under the sea. I have some payback for him, and I want it now. He made me look terribly bad at the rose garden atrium, and I need to prove to everybody I’m the better warrior or lose face again. That won’t help our cause going into the biggest war between the Agency and the Underworld.

This could really help our plight to the point of crippling the Underworld’s advances on us. If I’m the number one Harvester in the world and I can’t win this altercation to some degree, it will definitely send a bad message to all the Agency’s underlings, and I definitely don’t want that. There’s too many who look up to me and expects a lot out of me. I haven’t felt this much pressure since trying to make my father proud of me. And being an eleven-year-old warrior on horseback, I’d like to think I did so. It’s time for me to exercise some of my Master Miyamoto’s elements of training.

Vega finally wants to square off with me with swords.

He waves his sword at me to egg me on to engage him.

Suddenly, from behind the two Underworlders and Vega, my crew makes their presence known and fire upon all three of them, and they are hit numerous times. My chance to finally face off against him and this happens. But I can’t blame ’em; they saw their chance and went for it. If I were them, I’d do the same thing. However, I still want Vega, but he’s nowhere to be found.

Kelly Marie slices off one of the Underworlder’s head and like a champion of war chases down the other one. The others search for Vega as another explosion rocks the facility with a tremendous force. All of us topple over and Kelly Marie uses this to her advantage and jumps on the Underworlder’s back and slices her sword across his neck.

He tosses her off, and she hits the floor, rolls a bit, and hops up as if nothing happened. Blood squirts in between the Underworlder’s fingers as he tightly holds his neck.

She wickedly smirks at him, and I love it. She casually struts over to him and lops off his head. She quickly spins around and sees Vega slip down a corridor. She waves us into action. A woman who takes action into her own hands is a woman after my own heart. As a group, we follow her around a corner and into the corridor. Even Vega can’t be that arrogant to think he can take us all on. We turn another corner, and I guess he is that arrogant because there he is. But much to my astonishment, there’s ten exact versions of him staring us down and ready for battle. What new fresh hell is this that he has somehow created?