Page 131 of Us Defiant Few

Naval Air Weapons Station.

She gulped as they continued moving toward the spiraling building. Their footsteps broke the eerie silence. Even the wind died down. Beyond the building, Khalani spotted an entire field of translucent mirrors angled toward the sky. Thousands of them.

“What the—”

“Sun panels,” Winnie explained, coming to stand by her. “It’s a giant power source field.”

Khalani frowned. “What are they powering?”

“Winnie’s not sure. But they look recently cleaned.” She rubbed her chin. “Very odd, indeed.”

The heavy pressure clawing through her veins got worse as they approached the building. A large hole gaped in the side, like a bomb had gone off nearby. When the front doors wouldn’t budge, they crouched and carefully maneuvered through the broken windows, their feet crunching on shards of glass.

Khalani shuddered as they made their way inside the tall building and stepped onto smooth flooring, the interior reminding her of the entrance to Doctor Strauss’s lab. Sunlight filtered through the gargantuan hole in the side wall, illuminating a large marble desk in the center of the room.

Etched into the stone desk were two words.

PROMETHEUS INC.

“Where’s the lab?” Serene asked. “I don’t see one.”

She was right. There didn’t appear to be any cold laboratories in sight. In fact, the room they were in seemed small compared to the size of the building.

“There must be stairs. Over here, maybe.”

But when Derek opened the door to a wide staircase, it was completely blocked off by massive rocks.

“Shit.”

But Khalani’s eyes were locked on the open elevator in the back of the room.

“That’s not gonna work, Khalani,” Adan called as she slowly walked toward it. “The building has no power.”

But she was drawn to the elevator like a magnet and marched straight inside. Buttons lined the panel, numbered all the way to one hundred.

“C’mon.” She waved everyone over.

“I’m not getting in that thing,” Brock stated.

“We’re on the first floor,” Khalani argued. “Nothing’s going to happen. But if this works, I don’t want to leave anyone down here.”

Takeshi didn’t hesitate. He stepped onto the platform without argument, and the elevator immediately felt smaller in his presence. Winnie followed right after, with Derek and Adan hesitating for a moment before getting on as well.

Brock shook his head, opening his mouth to argue, but Serene rolled her eyes.

“C’mon, don’t be such a baby.”

She strolled past him and stood beside Khalani.

Brock huffed an annoyed breath, but he begrudgingly joined them.

“If I die, Khalani, it’s your fault,” Brock griped.

“Feel free to haunt me in the afterlife,” she said.

Not waiting for another objection, she pressed number two on the side panel. Khalani took a deep breath, praying for the doors to close and lift upward. But nothing happened. She pressed all the numbers on the panel, waiting for any movement.

But the elevator didn’t budge an inch.