Page 132 of Us Defiant Few

“See? No power.” Brock moved to get off, but Khalani held out her hand.

“Wait.”

She noticed something—an odd circular etching on the panel. There was no number on it, but she recognized the thin oval shape.

She pulled Elise’s ring from her pocket, the one her father had feverishly gripped until his death. Khalani placed the stone into the circular divot. It fit perfectly.

But the elevator still didn’t power on.

Furrowing her brow, she pressed harder. Still nothing. But when she twisted the ring, the elevator lit up, and the doors closed.

“You did it, Khalani!” Serene exclaimed, but she stumbled, nearly falling over.

“What the fuck?” Derek’s eyes widened.

The elevator didn’t go up.

It brought them down.

“I don’t like this,” Adan whispered.

She gulped, the small walls of the elevator drawing closer, trapping them in as they sailed countless stories beneath the earth. Her fingers trembled, nausea spilling up the back of her throat.

Just when she thought she might keel over, the elevator doors whirled open.

“Main Terminal,” a robotic female voice announced.

They exchanged tense glances and marched into darkness.

But when Khalani held out her hand and took another step, bright fluorescent lights powered on, revealing a massive room. Long white desks formed a half-circle, with dozens of computers riddled on top. In the back of the room, floor-to-ceiling glass screens spanned the wall.

In the center, a holographic image of the Earth slowly spun, floating in the air.

“What the—” Serene jumped, holding a hand to her chest as the elevator doors closed shut and whirled back up. The silence pressed around them, and she realized they had no choice but to explore the mysterious space.

Khalani slowly moved forward, flinching when one of the lights hanging above them sparked, looking precariously close to falling.

Takeshi stayed close by her side, his black eyes scanning the area. His expression was distant, as if he were far away, thinking a million miles a minute.

She wandered to one of the white desks and unrolled a massive sheet of paper, pinning the corner down with her backpack.

“What is it?” Serene asked.

“I-I don’t know. It’s a list of weird names.”

Triticum aestivum.

Oryza sativa.

Lens culinaris.

Brassica oleracea.

Sesamum indicum.

“Those aren’t just weird names,” Derek said, peering at the paper. “Those are plant species.”

“There’s another one over here!” Adan exclaimed, unraveling a second sheet. But the names were completely different.