The Price of Disrespect (Gray Spear Society Book 6) (39 page)

Norbert shrugged. "I guess they don't want you handling high explosives. Makes sense."

The grenades went off. The pipe contained the explosion, but the force visibly stretched the metal. Hot gases blew out the open doorway. The entire structure rang like a gong.

Norbert led the way. Smoky haze made it hard to see as he labored slowly up the ladder. He held a gun in his right hand.

The steel door was bent open at the bottom. Red light was leaking out of the gap, and as soon as he saw it, he knew he was in trouble. He squeezed his eyes shut, but it was too late. Crushing depression hammered his mind. He wanted to stick his gun in his mouth and pull the trigger.

"What's wrong?" Wesley said.

"The light..." Norbert was feeling so bad he could barely speak.

"Stay calm. Climb back down, one step at a time."

It took all of Norbert's willpower to come down safely. He finally reached the floor.

Wesley stood before him. "Now look at my eyes."

"No." Norbert shook his head. "I'll fight this myself."

"You're sure?"

"The enemy's tricks won't beat me a second time."

Norbert fought with the depression. He knew it wasn't real, and he had no good reason to kill himself. He was young and healthy. He had loyal friends. He was in a relationship with two beautiful, amazing women who loved him dearly. He served a truly great commander. Best of all, he was a
legionnaire
in the Gray Spear Society. There was no better job anywhere. A stupid red light wasn't going to take all that away from him.

Norbert nodded. "I think I'm all right now."

"That was impressive." Wesley raised his eyebrows. "You've gotten a lot stronger, and not just your body."

"Thank you, but I don't know if I can do it again."

"Then I'll go up by myself."

"What about the light?" Norbert said.

"It can't do anything to me. I only see the truth."

Norbert didn't like the idea, but he had no alternative suggestion. Wesley was the only person who could get into that room safely.

The boy went up the ladder. Norbert paced anxiously as he waited. The lingering effects of the red light were still bothering him, and it would be days before he felt completely normal again.

After what seemed like an hour, Wesley yelled down the pipe, "You can come up now. I turned off the light."

Norbert went up. He had to squeeze through the gap under the door, which didn't make his broken rib feel any better.

He stood up in the control room and looked around. There were about a dozen dead security guards and technicians. It appeared they had shot themselves with their own guns.

"I bet none of these guys are Dr. Rascher," Norbert said.

Wesley pointed at a dark, square hole in the wall. "He went that way. I found the switch for the red light in that tunnel."

Norbert touched the blood on one of the bodies. "Cold. He must be long gone. Find a way to turn off the phone jammer."

There were a number of consoles with lots of buttons on them. As he examined the complex controls, he kept an eye on the many surveillance feeds. The room was full of monitors. He started to see familiar faces on the screens.

"Aaron and Tawni are here," Norbert announced. "I also see Atalanta. And Yvonne. Oh, good Lord, she's eating." He shuddered in revulsion.

"She gets hungry," Wesley said.

"How often?"

"To stay at peak strength, she must digest a live adult at least once every three days."

Norbert grimaced. "How does she find victims?"

"She goes out at night alone. She walks around in a bad neighborhood until somebody messes with her. Her meals choose themselves."

"That's horrible."

Wesley shrugged.

After a little more searching, Norbert found a set of controls labeled "radio interference system." He turned off the entire panel.

Seconds later, his phone rang.

With a smile, he answered the call. "I'm alive."

"Thank God!" Bethany cried. "We were so afraid!"

"I know. I'm sorry you had to suffer. I need you to get an urgent message out to everybody. I'm with Wesley in the northeast corner of the building. We're inside a room disguised as a big water tank. The whole team should meet us here ASAP."

"I got it. Can you plug in the network tap? We want to start downloading all the data."

"Sure." Norbert closed his phone.

"You didn't talk about the injury," Wesley said.

"They have enough to worry about. Help me look for a place where I can plug in a network cable."

Norbert had a gray device which would create a wireless link back to headquarters. He found an appropriate outlet near the floor and plugged it in.

After a short time, his phone rang again.

He put it against his ear. "Yes?"

"The tap is working," Bethany said. "We're in the system now. We tried to call everybody on the team and deliver your message."

"Tried?"

"Aaron, Tawni, Charles, Atalanta, and Yvonne responded. Carlos, Smythe, and Odelia did not."

Norbert had a sick feeling. He pressed buttons to switch between surveillance feeds in an effort to find his missing teammates. He saw dead bodies all over the building. Some rooms were littered with them. He couldn't find any wearing black and gray body armor though.

Finally, he discovered Smythe and Odelia in a long hallway. They seemed to be running for their lives with desperate expressions. A moment later, Carlos came into view, chasing after them.

"Oh, no," Wesley said. "The bad light is in Carlos. He's going to kill them."

Norbert's throat tightened. His best friends were about to die right in front of his eyes.

"Give me the phone!" Wesley said.

Norbert handed him the phone.

"Bethany," the boy said, "we need my light right now! Use the equation I wrote. Send that signal through every television in this building. Hurry!"

"What are you talking about?" Norbert said.

"No time to explain. You need to guide our friends to a place with lots of televisions."

Norbert found a paper map of the facility on a table. The surveillance feeds were numbered and corresponded to marks on the map. He pinpointed Smythe and Odelia's location.

Norbert grabbed a microphone labeled "general announcements."

* * *

Smythe's lungs were burning, but he didn't dare slow down. He had no more grenades to throw, and Carlos was getting closer every second. Smythe pulled on Odelia's hand to help her keep up. If they were going to die tonight, at least they would be together at the end.

They entered a big room full of pipes and stainless steel tanks. It looked like the guts of a refinery or a brewery. Solid ice covered some of the pipes which gave Smythe an idea. He identified one of the tanks as containing something extremely cold.

He fired several rounds into the tank. Clear liquid poured out, and it immediately began to vaporize.
Liquid nitrogen,
he thought.
Exactly what I need.

He and Odelia jumped over the spreading pool on the floor. An instant later, Carlos' feet splashed in the liquid, and he let out a bellow of rage.

Smythe glanced over his shoulder. Carlos' frozen feet had broken off, but he was proceeding forward on the stumps of his legs. The liquid nitrogen had slowed him down though.

"Smythe," a voice boomed from above, "this is Norbert. Wave your arm so I know you can hear me." Echoes of Norbert's voice bounced around inside the vast building.

Smythe waved his arm.

"I'll lead you to safety," Norbert said. "When you leave that room, turn right."

Smythe nodded. He wondered what Norbert had in mind. As far as Smythe knew, there was nothing in the world that could stop Carlos.

Smythe looked over his shoulder again. Carlos had left chunks of frozen skin on the floor, but he had escaped from the liquid nitrogen. It wouldn't take him long to heal and return to full strength.

Smythe and Odelia took the next right. They entered a room that was cold enough to be a refrigerator. Dead bodies were stacked against the walls like piles of wood. Some of the victims had died of horrific injuries. He also saw signs of badly botched surgeries and amputations. He swore the doctor who had committed these atrocities would pay dearly.

"Keep going!" Odelia said. "Don't look."

Smythe nodded.

Norbert's voice thundered again, "There is a long, straight hallway ahead. Follow it."

Smythe left the refrigerator room. He found himself in a confusing intersection with several choices, but only one was long and straight. He pulled Odelia's hand in that direction. Their feet pounded on the concrete as they ran.

They went through a doorway and entered a wide circular area with television sets placed all around. It was similar to the place where all this trouble had started. The televisions were showing a test pattern.

"Wait there," Norbert said. "The twins are still working."

Working on what?
Smythe said.

He and Odelia leaned on each other as they caught their breath. Running in body armor and carrying a full load of weapons was hard work.

Two men and two women entered the arena through another door. Smythe knew immediately they were insane. Their naked bodies were marked with injuries, some old and some still bleeding. They carried chunks of wood and pipes as primitive weapons.

Smythe drew his gun.

"Don't kill them!" Wesley yelled through the announcement system. "They're innocent."

Smythe and Odelia assumed defensive postures, and within seconds, fists and feet were flying. Smythe had difficulty adjusting his technique to match his opponents. They had minimal skills, but their attacks were completely reckless. They didn't seem to care how much pain they suffered.

Carlos limped into the arena. One of his feet had grown back, but the other was still in the process of regenerating.

"Still working," Norbert said. "Don't go anywhere."

Smythe shook his head in disbelief.

He and Odelia sprinted around the arena as they tried to avoid Carlos while also fighting off the four lunatics. It was a ridiculous situation. Smythe hoped he would live long enough to remember this moment and smile.

Odelia got her feet tangled and fell. Carlos immediately rushed towards her. Smythe threw himself at Carlos in an attempt to knock him away from her. Carlos turned, and for an instant Smythe felt his deadly touch. The pain was extraordinary.

All the televisions turned bright white at once. The unearthly glow coming from every direction was the most amazing thing Smythe had ever experienced. It was like floating on heavenly clouds. The light seeped into his mind and filled him with total peace. All his thoughts came into crisp focus, and he began to remember things from his childhood.

Carlos staggered backwards. He took off his sunglasses, revealing bony eye sockets. All the lunatics collapsed to the ground and twitched as if they were having a seizure.

Smythe still felt pain in his chest, and he realized his heart wasn't beating properly. Carlos had come very close to killing him.

"Odelia!" Smythe gasped. "Help me."

Odelia crawled over with eyes glowing like burning coals. She kissed him passionately. It wasn't her normal technique, but it worked. The pain in his chest quickly faded.

Breaks began to form in Carlos' skin and clothes. The white light streamed through the cracks, prying them open. He slowly shattered into thousands of pieces. They shrunk and evaporated like morning dew in the sunlight until nothing was left. Carlos was finally gone.

The white light turned off.

"We have to help these people," Odelia said.

Smythe realized the four lunatics were no longer lunatics. Now they were just confused, scared, and injured victims. They didn't seem to remember what had happened to them. The healers went to work without answering any questions. These people didn't need to know the truth. It would be safest if they just went on with their lives in ignorance.

Norbert's voice boomed from above, "Come to the control room. It looks like a big water tank. Everybody else is meeting here including Aaron. I'll give you directions."

Smythe smiled grimly. He was looking forward to the conversation between Aaron and Wesley. It promised to be very entertaining.

Chapter Sixteen

Aaron stood in front of the fake water tank with his arms crossed. He was waiting for everybody else to show up. He wanted to be the last person to enter the room so everybody would hear what he had to say.

Smythe and Odelia finally arrived. They looked tired and a little disoriented, but they had no obvious injuries.

"You're limping," Aaron said. "Are you hurt?"

"There is a story behind that, sir," Smythe said.

"Save it for now. Just tell me if you're hurt."

"Both of us are fine."

"Good." Aaron said. "Go up the ladder. Now we're just waiting for Carlos."

"He won't be coming. I think he's dead, really dead."

"How is that possible?"

"Another story, sir," Smythe said.

Aaron sighed. "Tell me later. To be honest, I'm not sorry to hear about Carlos. He didn't belong in this world, and he knew it."

Smythe and Odelia went up the ladder to the hidden control room.

Aaron was the last to enter. The room was crowded. Wesley, Yvonne, Atalanta, Charles, Norbert, and Tawni were already there. A number of dead men who had obviously killed themselves were also in attendance. Their blood and brains had splattered the walls.

Aaron pointed at Wesley and said, "I'm done with you."

"No, please." Wesley shook his head.

"It's one thing to be a stubborn, whiny pain in the ass. It's another to be a pain in the ass that disobeys orders, interferes with a mission, and puts his teammates at risk. Words like childish, irresponsible, and unacceptable come to mind. There are other words, too, but I'll keep those to myself. If I were really your commander, I'd kill you here and now."

"I was just trying to do my job."

"You're not a
legionnaire
!" Aaron roared. "That's not your job."