Part 15 (1/2)

”So he knew he would have to use the weapon to be able to get it out,” continued Carl. ”And yes, he could have held Prometheus, but if he did, we'd know where he was. Even with his weapon that would give us a big advantage. We could sneak in and mine the entire area without him knowing. We could plant bombs that we could activate with a remote. He'd have a great prize, but he'd trap himself at the same time.”

Ryan's heart sped up as he thought he detected movement on one of the monitors, but it was only some leaves blowing in the wind.

”So his plan is brilliant,” continued Carl. ”He gets out of the city with the Enigma Cube and loses himself. We get Proact and Prometheus back, but now he has all the time in the world to plan how he wants to use the weapon. And we have no idea where he is. He can come at us at any time, from anywhere.” Carl paused. ”If I were in his situation, I'd have played it the same way,” he finished, almost with a hint of admiration.

”I know you screen everyone very carefully before they join the team,” said Ryan. ”To make sure they're stable and ... well, not like Nathaniel. How did he pa.s.s?”

”I wish I knew. We quizzed him hooked up to the best lie detector equipment we have. Like everyone. I supervised the test myself. We asked him what he would do in different situations designed to test his morals and ethics. He pa.s.sed with flying colors.”

”Well, lie detectors aren't perfect,” noted Ryan.

”True, but the people who can fool them are really, really bad. People with no conscience, no sense of good and evil, right and wrong. Since we know the lie detector won't weed out this type of psychopath, we look into everyone's life history very carefully before we ask them to join Prometheus. A true psychopath always has something in their background that is suspicious. But not Nathaniel. Anyone psychotic enough to completely fool our lie detector and smart enough to hide any sign of this behavior in his past is doubly dangerous.”

Alyssa and Kelsey continued to listen to every word. They were able to hear Carl's booming voice almost as well as Ryan could.

”Ryan, I need to go. I have a lot to do before I reach you.”

”One last thing before you do,” said Ryan. ”When you went to Isis the animals ignored people completely. Now every last one of them wants us dead. Any idea why that is?”

”I thought about that when you were briefing us,” said Carl. ”Did your mom tell you what happened on our last trip?”

”Yes. About the animals that look just like lava rocks.”

”Right. There were five of them in all. They only noticed us because I crushed one by accident. So the only thing that I could think of is that they alerted the other animals about us. But they couldn't have. They were all dead. And even if they were alive they couldn't have. After all, none of the species on Isis are intelligent. It's the same for all zoo planets. The Qwervy would never let us visit if this weren't true.”

”I agree,” said Ryan. ”It's impossible. Even if they were alive. Even if they were intelligent. Even if all species were intelligent, they couldn't have spread the word that well. So it has to be something else that triggered it.”

Ryan shook his head in frustration. He would probably never solve this mystery. But as long as they could get the Isis expedition back home, he decided he didn't care.

”It doesn't make sense,” agreed Carl.

Ryan took a deep breath. There was one other point he needed to address. ”How are things between you and, ah ... my mom?” he asked hesitantly.

Carl sighed. ”Not great, Ryan. She lost of a lot of respect for me after what happened on Isis.”

”I know,” said Ryan. ”She thinks you killed two of the animals out of revenge. I told her she was wrong. That you would never do that. That you had saved her life.”

There was a long pause. ”No, Ryan. The truth is that your mom is right.”

”What! How could that be?”

”I don't know,” said Carl miserably. ”After the injury I just lost it. I hated those animals for what they did to me. More than I've ever hated anything. And the thing is ... well, the thing is that it was my own fault. They were minding their own business and I killed one of them. Who could blame them for what they did after that? Not that I still didn't have a right to defend myself-and the others-but those last two animals were backing away. They couldn't have hurt us.”

Ryan couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had been so sure his mom was wrong about Carl.

”I lost my mind for a while,” said Carl. ”I wanted those animals dead,” he admitted. ”I'm not proud of that.”

Ryan still refused to believe Carl could have acted in this way. ”The pain must have been responsible,” he said. ”From what my mom said, your calf was nearly ripped from your leg. I can't even imagine how painful that must have been. When I stub my toe on the couch, I even hate the couch for a while. And that's because of a stubbed toe.”

”I appreciate what you're trying to do, Ryan, but I've seen a lot of combat in my time and I've been in a lot of pain, and I've never lost control like this. But who knows? You could be right. I have to admit, once your mom hit me with the Med-Pen and the pain went away, I realized within five minutes that I had been out of control.” He paused. ”But I won't make excuses. I don't blame your mother for being disappointed in me.”

”Ryan, look!” said Alyssa Cooper urgently, pointing to the monitors.

Ryan was so caught up in his conversation with Carl he had forgotten to look at the monitors for some time now. Good thing Alyssa had stayed alert. All six mercs were converging on the door to the lobby, their automatic weapons drawn.

”Gotta go, Carl,” said Ryan anxiously. ”We've got company.”

CHAPTER 26.

Inspiration

”I'm going to enter Prometheus,” said Ryan. ”The mercs can't follow us there.”

”Hurry!” said Carl. ”My men will be at Proact in eight minutes for the ground a.s.sault. Call me when you resurface. Your cell phone should have recorded my number.”

Ryan was already moving to the door leading into the Prometheus bunker with the Cooper sisters as Carl spoke.

”Got it,” said Ryan, closing the phone.

Ryan wondered how the mercenaries had found them. He guessed they had finally thought to check for cell phone activity in the area and had zeroed in on his signal.

Ryan hit a small b.u.t.ton under the lip of the counter and a retina scanner slid out from a hidden compartment in the wall. He put his head against it and a tiny laser light crossed his right eye. The ma.s.sive vault door opened with a loud click.

”Hurry,” said Ryan, leading the girls inside and closing the door behind them.

They were safe. After a fingerprint scan and another retina scan they were standing in the ma.s.sive Prometheus elevator. Ryan entered a pa.s.sword into a metal keypad in the elevator and it began its rapid descent.

The girls were horrified by the guards they encountered still pinned to the ground like insects in a bug collection. But when they stepped through the cavern and into the city their mouths dropped open and stayed there.

Ryan led them to one of the oversized golf-carts and had them slide in. He began driving as quickly as the cart would go.

”Ryan,” said Kelsey, her eyes still wide. ”This is fantastic! That building over there,” she said pointing. ”It looks like it's floating.”

Ryan nodded. ”That's an optical illusion. It really isn't. But if the builders of this city had wanted to have a floating building for real, I'm sure they could have pulled it off.”

Alyssa pointed to yet another building. ”And that one seems to be ...”