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Under a field of lightning-rod trees, she hurried down the slope to where she recalled seeing a little alcove that preceded a small cave she’d intended to explore on her way back anyway. Before she reached her destination, the heavens tore open and dumped the Atlantic Ocean down on her, soaking her clean through. Lightning cracked again and again above her, like a Titan shooting bolts with her name on them. Her heart drummed along with each boom, while her feet kept tempo with the song streaming through her earbuds.
Just a little farther…
Finally, she darted into the safety of the dark-mouthed cave, wiping her dripping hair from her forehead as she leaned against the wall…the solidsteelwall?
Even before her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she realized something was terribly wrong. Unless she had entered an alternate reality, caves did not come equipped with dim overhead lights, smooth aluminum flooring, and wide hatchways.
What the hell?
She popped out her earbuds, and the music instantly cut off, making way for the soft whirring that filled the strange corridor.
“Uh, hello?” she called, instantly wishing she hadn’t. Why did she suddenly feel as though she’d entered the plot of a horror movie? Was she to be the poor curious soul in the first scene who got herself murdered?
What in the hell was a clandestine place like this, wide open, unguarded, doing in the Black River Forest? It looked almost military, reminding her of the many vessels her late father had been stationed on. Was this a military outpost of some kind?
She glanced back the way she came. A few steps in reverse, and she’d be back to reality…none the wiser.
Another snap of lightning lit the sky, the thunder so close and loud she worried it had struck a tree. She faced the peculiar corridor once more.
Well, at least she had an excuse for being here: good ol’ damsel in distress. Although she was the last person to ever consider herself either a damsel or in distress, but she’d play it up if necessary.
Out of precaution, she reached down and unsnapped the sheath that held her Ka-Bar military grade utility knife at her waist—her father’s old knife—but left it sheathed, hoping she would never have to use it on anything bigger than a plump trout. Easy access to her 9mm would have been preferred, but she’d already unloaded it and packed it deep in her pack for the hike.
With light feet, she crept forward and peered around an open hatch, the soft rumble of machinery following her. She debated calling out again, so as not to catch anyone off guard as she surveyed the room. No one was inside what looked like some kind of storage area with a few crates packed around the edges. The next hatch was closed with no way of opening it that she could discern. She listened for sounds of life, hearing none. “Hello?”
No answer.
The next hatch was closed as well, but offered a small window through which she spied rows of green leafy plants, like a miniature hydroponics farm. Maybe this was a botany lab or a bio-dome. However, bio-domes didn’t exactly work as intended when the front door was left wide open.
Unease slithered along her shoulders. She could hear her father’s voice in her head:Curiosity killed the cat, Jessie, but the fox knows better than to lose a life in the first place. Are you a fox or a cat?
She had always answered “fox” because everyone wanted to be the fox in that scenario, but as she entered the farthest room, she mentally meowed.
It appeared to be some kind of state-of-the-art surveillance room. The mounted screens were dark, but the consoles were lit up by colorful buttons marked by strange symbols that would require a manual for her to decipher.
One flashing button was particularly bright, urging her closer. Dust covered the symbol. She reached out to graze her finger along the top—
Apparently, that was all it took.
An ominous whirring sound echoed from the corridor. Was that a hatch closing?
Uh-oh.
Stomach twisting, she darted back into the corridor and rushed for the exit—
Which was now blocked by a set of heavy doors.
Palming the metal, she searched for a way to pry the hatch open when suddenly a deep robotic voice sounded all around her, speaking in tongues. A vibration started in her feet and then snaked up to her spine before enwrapping her whole body. Had she triggered an earthquake?
The floor became unsteady, rocking unnaturally, forcing her to cling to the wall for support. The shrill sound of machines flooded the space, drowning out her yelps of surprise. The air grew pungent, as if ozone was suddenly being pumped through the ducts.
Then, without warning, gravity took on a different weight, almost as if…the entire building was rising!
She raced back to what she had previously thought was a surveillance room, seeing it with new eyes. Her gaze flittered between the center console, like a captain’s post, and the surrounding consoles, all facing a single direction, and she realized what she was looking at. A command center…
Of a ship…
With hieroglyphs not of this world!
