Chapter 6

Agent Moore had led them into a large room where the layout of Randall's headquarters was illuminated on a screen.

Zak was distracted at first by glimpses through windows into other rooms where scientists were working, but as he looked back at the map he realised this was a big place they were about to go into – and they were being sent down deeper than they needed to go, purely to avoid detection. It would be a tough journey to even reach the target and he wasn't sure how Earl would handle that climb...

Earl had looked at the map too and listened as the layout was described. But he kept looking away, drawn towards a large tank that looked like a big aquarium.

Something small and grey darted about amongst underwater plants, then it pulled the reeds apart and peered out.

Earl stepped away from the map and went over to the tank. He took off his shades and peered closer at the glass, jumping back a little as a small grey face with black eyes peeked out at him.

Earl smiled and gently tapped on the glass.

"Hi little fella." He said in a friendly voice.

His smile soon faded as the creature's blank expression twisted into a mean, demonic look as it bared teeth, then stuck up a middle finger at him.

Earl repeated the gesture as the creature glared at him.

"Dr Dopler," Said Agent Moore, "Don't tease the Roswell alien!"

And the room fell silent and suddenly Earl felt a little uncomfortable as he realised everyone in the room had paused to stare at him.

"Sorry." He said quietly, "But you didn't tell me how rude the thing was! He just flicked the finger at me!"

And Zak smiled.

"No wonder it gets teased." He remarked, "I never would have guessed it... the alien is obnoxious..."

Earl went back to join Zak and paused to glance back at the alien. It was still giving him an evil look so he gave it one right back.

Then Agent Moore told him to pay attention and as he turned back to the map, Fenmore glanced at him doubtfully.

"We're going in three floors below the target. We're basically looking at climbing up to get through and it's a long way up. I'm not sure you can cope with a workout like that, Dr Dopler."

Earl scanned the map.

"So we go in here," He said, tracing his finger along the route, "And we're in a series of tunnels that are used for the plumbing... and these are maintenance shafts... once we get into the air conditioning system there's a series of crawl spaces... it shouldn't be too difficult for me."

Fenmore was still looking at him doubtfully.

"I can handle it." Earl stated, "Who knows - maybe I'll handle it better than you when things start to get rough..."

Malice shone in Fenmore's eyes.

"I doubt it."

As weaponry was placed on a nearby table, Agent Moore spoke up before another fight broke out between Earl and Fenmore.

"You'll each have a copy of the map" He told them, "And these guns..."

"Wow." Zak said, picking up the gleaming silver weapon in both hands as he felt the weight of it, "These are great, they're like a cross between a paintball gun and... I don't know... something cool out of a sci fi movie! Why is the bullet chamber split in two sections?"

"These guns need to be handled with care." Moore told him, "There's a control switch on the back of the weapon. Level one fires liquid nitrogen bullets to knock your assailants out of hyper time. But level two contains super powered armor piercing bullets that will work in and out of hyper time – you may need to use it because Randall has staff rotated around the clock patrolling in hyper time and out of it too so they'll have the same kind of weaponry."

"So assuming we make it to the main lab," Zak said, "What happens next?"

"There's a device in the main chamber that can be set to auto destruct. That's where Dr Dopler's knowledge comes in. He should be able to crack the code and get the timer going. After that you both get the hell out of there, get back down to the floor above the foundations and precisely forty minutes after we send you in, we pull you out again."

"What if we don't make it in time?" Zak wondered.

"You'll have an implant under your skin at the top of your arm. As long as the implant stays intact we can lock onto you and get you out of there, but you'll be safer to retreat back down to wait for recall. We can trace your signal for up to forty miles away from target, but you won't be able to get out any other way because three of you couldn't fight your way out through the front door and once that timer's set the whole place will go on lock down in fifteen minutes."

"So that's us trapped like rats." Earl murmured.

Zak glanced at him and caught a look in his eyes that made him very sure that once they got into this place, he wouldn't just be looking out for himself – Earl would need all the help he could get...

Then Agent Moore led them over to a door way and opened it and they walked through into the lab space beyond.

"You'll each need to have an implant placed under your skin." He told them, "It doesn't go deep but it has to stay in contact with your skin so we can lock onto your DNA to bring you back. Be careful, don't get it damaged – or you won't be getting out of that place."

And as a woman in a lab coat stepped away from her colleagues and came over to them, she glanced at the three men who were scheduled for teleport.

"If you come with me I can set your implants in place," She said, "Who's first?"

And Fenmore glanced at Earl.

"I'd better go first – it's no big deal. Don't faint when it's your turn Dopler."

And he looked at the woman in the lab coat.

"He's weak." He confided, "I don't think he can handle much pain."

Earl glared at him and took off his jacket.

"I'll go first!" He snapped, and followed the woman into another room.

Zak looked at Fenmore and tried to keep his temper in check, even though his hand was at his side and screwing into a fist as he spoke quietly to him.

"I wish you'd shut your fucking mouth! Leave him alone!"

Fenmore showed no flicker of a reaction as he looked casually at Zak.

"I don't think he should be on this mission" He stated, "He's not physically strong enough. He's a sick man and he's going to slow us down and he's going to get himself killed."

"Maybe you're wrong." Zak told him, "Maybe you'll be the one who gets yourself killed!"

Fenmore smirked at the suggestion.

"I always come back in one piece."

Zak had seen something in his eyes as he said that, something that told him this guy had always been looking out for himself...

"What about your colleagues?" He wondered, "Do they always come back in one piece? Because I'm not sure you're the kind of man to back anyone up in a crisis!"

Fenmore's eyes turned to ice.

"I have my own instructions." He said, "And my role in this mission is none of your business."

Then Earl came back out of the other room. His shirt was open and he pulled it aside and showed Zak a small cut on his upper arm that had been taped closed.

"It doesn't hurt." He told him, "Well...not much. You're next, Zak..."

And as Zak walked off, Earl glanced at Fenmore and then walked off, deciding even five minutes alone in his company would be too much.

He went back over the glass tank and stood there for a moment, watching the grey creature amusing itself toying with the dense reeds that filled the tank.

Then he took a quick glanced around, realised no one was watching him, and remembering how rude the creature had been, tapped on the tank and then went around the other side and tapped again, giving into the urge to tease the Roswell alien one more time.

While Zak and Earl were getting ready for teleport, home was not in their thoughts as they wondered what kind of danger they were about to face - but back at home, Jenny Gibbs was thinking of her son constantly. She was sitting with Francesca on the patio and Maria was playing in the late afternoon sun, she was playing in the garden like she always did because she had no idea how much danger her Daddy had just placed himself in. Francesca was trying hard not to show how upset she was; she knew it mattered that Maria picked up on none of the bad stuff.

"It's not as if he can call me." Francesca said quietly, "This is so difficult, in a crazy kind of way a part of me wishes I could have gone with him. "

Then she turned and watched her daughter on the garden swing and then looked back at Zak's Mom.

"But then I look at her and I wonder what made me think such a crazy thought. It was different years ago; we were little more than kids, when you're young danger means little, it's just a word. We think we're fire proof and then we grow up and we realise we're not, we get other things that come along to remind us about responsibility and where are our priorities lie – and my priority is with Maria. I just wish that Zak felt the same way."

"He does." Jenny told her, "He's doing this for you and Maria. I know it doesn't seem like that but the only reason he's taking this chance is to try and make the future safer for both of you."

Francesca gave a sigh.

"I know that. I do know it for sure deep down inside but I keep thinking it would have been so much easier for him to have refused to go."

Jenny thought about her husband and smiled even though sadness filled her eyes.

"But Zak's like his father. He believes in doing the right thing"

"I know," Francesca replied, "But it still rips my heart out."

Then a chair scraped back and Kellie sat down to join them.

She had stopped crying now but her eyes were red and she quickly pushed her slightly messy hair off her face and looked at her Mom and Francesca.

"Sorry I got so worked up." She said, and her voice still sounded shaky, "I didn't mean to spend half the day crying like I did – I'm just glad I did it upstairs so Maria didn't know about it."

Jenny looked at her daughter.

"Kellie, I know this is difficult but try not to upset yourself over your brother! I believe he knows what he's doing, he's going to get out of there."

"I think so too." Kellie said quietly, "But it's Earl I'm scared for!"

And her eyes filed with tears again. She looked at her Mom and Francesca and decided it was better to share her news, because then they would understand why she was falling apart every five minutes...

"I'm seeing him." She explained, managing a smile as she remembered the way he kissed her, "Me and Earl got together last night."

And Jenny smiled too as she looked at her daughter and saw a light shining in he eyes that said she was definitely in love.

"I'm pleased for you, honey! I know how much you care about him; he was all you wanted for such a long time."

And Jenny got up and went back into the house for a moment.

Francesca leaned a little closer and lowered her voice as she spoke to her across the table.

"Seriously? You got it together with him? I never thought I would see the day when that happened!"

Kellie was smiling now, she had stopped crying and her thoughts were back with the man she loved.

"He's so handsome, don't you think?"

Francesca giggled.

"Um... well I guess I would say I think Zak is handsome, Earl's not really my type, Kellie."

But Kellie hadn't finished.

"He looks great with his clothes off!" She exclaimed, "And he's so good with his hands!"

Francesca giggled again and shook her head as she felt her cheeks growing hot.

"Stop it, Kellie – too much information! I don't want to think about him in that way!"

Kellie was still wrapped up in the memories that were keeping her warm.

"But I can't believe it's finally happened!" She said to her, "I've slept with Earl!"

"Kellie..."

"I've held him, I've kissed him, I've done it with him, Francesca! We did it twice!"

Francesca giggled again and held up her hand as she laughed.

"Stop, Kellie! I don't want to think about anyone doing it with Earl! Just keep it private, okay?"

"Okay." Kellie said.

Then she glanced at Francesca again.

"He has to come back; he has to make it back home. I love him and I need him so much. I don't think I've ever loved anyone the way I love him! I just want to be in his arms. I think about him and I want him inside me-"

Francesca leaned over the table and playfully took hold of Kellie's face.

"Shut up!" She giggled, "I don't want that picture in my head! I don't want to think about Earl Dopler being naked or making love to anyone, okay? Now stop it, you crazy woman!"

And her eyes sparkled as she kissed Kellie's cheek and let go of her.

Then the two women exchanged anther glance and by now all the sorrow had gone from their eyes.

"We've got one thing in common when it comes to men." Kellie said.

Francesca was still blushing.

"No, we haven't! I do not think Earl is remotely sexy! He's just Earl... and Earl Dopler and sexy do not go together in my way of thinking!"

"I wasn't going to say that – I mean, we both love our guys."

"Yes we do." Francesca agreed, and then she looked back at Zak's sister and realised their conversation had raised her out of her sadness at least for a little while and that was a welcome distraction from the ache in her heart, even if she really didn't want to think about Zak's closest friend the way Kellie was describing him... But their conversation had lightened the mood and it stayed that way for a little while, as they sat together and watched Maria playing in the sunshine, having no idea of the danger her father was about to walk into...

Zak and Earl had walked into a narrow metal room where the walls pulsed with red light.

Fenmore joined them and as he stood beside them, Agent Moore paused in the doorway and looked at Fenmore, Zak Gibbs and Earl Dopler, they were ready with their weapons at their sides, Zak and Fenmore coped with the weight easily as the strap had been fastened from shoulder to hip to secure the guns, but Earl looked as if it was weighing him down already.

Agent Moore briefly thought about the first time he had met Zak Gibbs, when he had been little more than a kid playing with a watch that he thought was no more than a cool toy... now he was a man with a wife and a child and he wished he had never been asked to take him away from his family and drag him into this mess. And Dr Dopler looked as if he ought to be any where except on this mission – the guy was sick and it showed. He didn't want to think this could be the last time he saw either of those guys, but it was quite obvious that all three of them probably wouldn't make it back again...

"Good luck guys." He said.

Then he made a move to step out of the chamber.

"Wait!"

Agent Moore paused and looked at Earl, who seemed as if he was on the brink of panic but trying to hold it back; he knew this journey would be easy for Zak and Fenmore, but not so for him given his weakened state.

"Yes, Dr Dopler?"

Earl glanced at the hyper time watch on his wrist.

"How come you were able to give us these watches? I thought you said they were all stolen?"

"Most of them were stolen. But we had five watches secured here at Area 51. You and Zak and Agent Fenmore now have three of them- the other two are locked away just in case we need them at some point for research in the future."

Earl stared at him.

"So they hyper time project isn't completely buried? Are you telling me there could be more work going on with my invention? If there is I want to be told about this, Agent Moore!"

As he heard those words Moore gave a sigh.

"Dr Dopler, this isn't the time or place to be discussing future possibilities about things that have yet to be decided."

Earl stood in the teleport chamber beside Zak and looked hard at Moore.

"Even if I never come back," He stated, "If I die today, I want it down on record that I said this, so you'd better listen, dude – I never wanted hyper time to be used as a weapon! I'll stand by that until there's no breath left in me, I never would have worked at QT if I'd known what they were planning to do! I'm not a believer in making weapons. That's not what I'm about!"

Agent Moore saw the look in Earl Dopler's eyes and he didn't doubt for a moment that he meant every word he had just said.

"I'll be sure to remember that." He promised him, "But I'm sure you'll be back to repeat those sentiments soon enough. I wish you all the luck in the world with this – "

And he glanced at Fenmore.

"Cover them – don't forget they're civilians."

Alchemy Fenmore nodded.

"Of course, Sir. You can trust me."

Zak wondered if Fenmore had just lied or if he had made a promise he intended to keep, but it was too late for conversation as the door slammed shut and the lights that pulsed on the walls began to brighten as they powered up.

Zak took a deep breath.

"This is it."

And he glanced at Earl.

"See you soon."

"Maybe." Earl said quietly, closing his eyes and wondering how his body would deal with his molecules being messed about with by science for one last time. He knew it wouldn't kill him but he knew this was going to hurt and he wanted it over with as soon as possible.

"You'll be fine." He heard Zak say, then the three of them were caught up by the light, pulled into it, became a part of it and the teleport sent the three men out of the sealed room, far away into the unknown.

Zak opened his eyes as the light faded, wincing as he felt his back hit a solid wall sharply. He took in a breath and blinked, taking in his position: he was in a wide, dimly lit tunnel. Pipes ran along the walls and ceiling and the tunnel seemed to stretch on as far as he could see, disappearing into darkness as it took a sudden turn.

"At least we both landed on our feet."

He turned around to see Fenmore standing beside him.

"Zak..."

As he heard Earl's voice he looked past Fenmore.

Earl was on his knees trying to pick himself up from the floor, he was breathless and shaking and breaking out in a sweat.

"Help me up, dude...I feel like I've been just zapped with ten thousand volts!"

As Zak rushed to his side to help him up he glanced at Agent Fenmore, who had casually taken the map from his pocket and started to check it.

"You really don't give a shit, do you?"

His hushed voice echoed as he made his accusation in the hollow tunnel.

"I have a mission to carry out." Fenmore stated, "That's what I'm here to do and I'm not laying my ass on the line for someone who shouldn't be on the team. I have a job to do; it's as simple as that."

Earl leaned against the wall as he got his breath back.

Zak was still beside him, not taking his eyes off him for a second.

"Are you sure you're okay to come with us?" He asked him, "If you're too sick tell me how to set off the timer and you can stay here and wait for us to come back."

Earl looked at him sharply.

"Don't start talking like him!" He said, glancing briefly at Fenmore, who was still studying the map, "I can do this, man! I have to do this! I know this kind of stuff inside out – far better than you do! And I know more about hyper time than Fenmore ever will because I'm the guy who discovered it!"

But Earl was still slightly breathless and one look at him told Zak all he needed to know and it was a realisation that hit him hard: Earl would most likely not make it out of here, even if he covered him, if he dragged him with him every step of the way – he was simply too sick to go into a fight like this, but he had that determined look in his eyes that said he was crazy enough to ignore the odds and the pain he was in and go ahead and do it anyway, no matter what was said to him...

"We've been friends a long time, Zak." Earl stated as he finally got his breath back and stopped leaning against the wall, "Let's not start fighting now. I'm coming with you, I'm okay. Now let's go."

Zak turned to Fenmore.

"It's left, right?"

"Right." Fenmore replied.

Zak turned left and began to walk.

"RIGHT!" Fenmore said angrily, jabbing a finger towards the darkened corridor that sharply turned into an area that was unlit.

"We go this way and-"

"Why don't you let me take the lead?" Earl said wearily without even bothering to look at the map.

He briefly closed his eyes and dragged up a metal copy of the map, then he looked back at Zak and Fenmore.

"We walk down here, all the way down. We turn right and there's a shaft. We climb until we reach the second level. Then we have to cross halfway through it to get to the crawlspace that will take us up to the floor where we need to be."

"There's no patrol down here." Fenmore stated, "Once we get up to the next floor we're going to have company. We have to take them out before they raise the alarm. But we don't go into hyper time until we reach the third level because that's where the real threat lies and we have to use the time wisely."

Then he paused to adjust his weapon.

"Set your guns to level two. Forget about knocking 'em out of hyper time; if you do that they'll just raise the alarm back in real time and they'll send more people after us. Keep the guns on level two and shoot to kill."

Zak stared at him.

"Shoot to kill?"

"You'd be pretty dumb not to." Fenmore told him, "They'll be shooting to kill when they go for us."

Zak's hand hovered over the control panel on his gun.

But Earl had already raised his own gun and powered up to the second level.

"I'm not happy about doing this." He said, "But you've got to fight fire with fire – not fire with ice..."

And their eyes met and Zak knew that he was right; it would be pointless freezing their assailants out of hyper time just so they could go back and fetch reinforcements.

He switched his gun to level two and the weapon powered up.

Then Earl looked into the darkness, where the tunnel turned sharply.

"Come on guys." He said reluctantly, "I'll lead the way, I might as well – I've got my copy of the map in my head..."

And Earl began to walk towards the end of the corridor. Zak ran after him and Fenmore followed on, pausing to look back just to be sure they really were alone on this dimly lit floor.

As they reached the end of the corridor, the lighting grew dimmer and on turning the corner they saw that here the way was barely lit at all; there were bulbs that glowed like distant spotlights dotted here and there but this part of the route was dim and as they walked into the darkness it seemed to swallow them up.

As they walked on Zak glanced back, seeing nothing in the dark as he tried to listen harder, making sure he could only hear the sound of his own footsteps and those of the two men who walked with him.

"Don't do that, dude!" Earl said nervously "I'm trying not to think about us getting ambushed down here...let's just keep moving."

In this dimmer part of the tunnel water dripped from a leak somewhere in the pipe work and the drip drip drip seemed to bounce and it echoed, doing nothing to take away Zak's unease. The lights flickered and Zak stopped, looking around in the eerie half light.

"What the hell was that?" He whispered.

Fenmore looked around, listened and shrugged it off.

"Just a faulty light...there's no one down here with us, we're alone right now."

The light flickered again.

Earl watched as the bulb stuttered on and off, then he looked back down the corridor and watched as another bulb flickered too.

"It's just the electrics." He remarked and he sounded so sure of it that was enough to set Zak's mind at ease.

They walked on once more, at the end of the corridor the light was a little brighter and as they reached the dead end Zak went over to the metal ladder fixed against the wall.

He looked up, all the way up: It was a steep climb to the next level and as he looked at Earl he noticed the scientist was also looking upwards, his gaze flickered nervously back to Zak as he thought about how much that climb would take out of him.

"Want me to go first?" He wondered.

"No chance." Fenmore snapped, shoving past Zak and Earl and reaching for the rungs of the ladder, "I'm going first – I don't want him falling down on me when I'm half way up!"

Earl glared at him but had no time to reply because Fenmore had already begun to climb.

Zak stepped back, having no intention of letting Earl go last because if he fell no one would be there to save him.

"Don't worry about me." Earl told him as he stepped onto the ladder and reached for the first rung, "I'll handle this climb, I'll handle it just to prove Fenmore's wrong about me!"

And he took a deep breath and started to climb.

Zak watched from the bottom and let him go a short distance ahead, then he began to climb too, staying close behind Earl and keeping his eyes on him all the time, hoping he was right about being able to handle this –one slip wouldn't just prove Fenmore was right, one slip from this ladder would mean a fall onto concrete that would kill him for sure...

Maria had gone to bed early – Francesca had made sure of it – and it had made her heart ache as she had said good night to her daughter and promised her Daddy would be back in the morning. As she closed her bedroom door she felt more than a little guilty as she wondered if she should have made such a promise – What if Zak didn't come back, what could she say to their daughter then?

The summer evening was slipping into dusk now and she wished she could just go to bed and sleep as easily as Maria had but she didn't have the luxury of not knowing the truth and that truth was heavy on her mind. She didn't want to go to sleep and wake up to a phone call that might inform her Zak was dead. She was sure she would never sleep again until she knew he was safe once more.

"Is Maria sleeping?"

Kellie had asked the question softly.

Francesca nodded and walked over to Kellie's bedroom doorway.

Kellie was sitting on her bed with a photograph in her hand.

"Come here," She said to her,"I want to show you something."

Francesca sat beside her and smiled as she looked at the picture Kellie held in her hand, it was a photo taken ten years back of Ear when he had been a teenager.

"I always kept this picture." Kellie said, "I often used to look at it and think of him and wonder where he was or what he was doing. I never would have guessed he could have come back into our lives like he did."

And Kellie ran her finger down the picture and then put it on the table beside her bed.

"It's not fair." She said quietly, "I keep thinking how sick he is and how much he has to face – I know he's probably not coming back."

And she blinked away tears as she looked at Francesca. When she spoke again her voice was breaking up.

"If you lost Zak I know it would be terrible for you and I don't want anything to happen to my brother, I don't mean it like that – but if you lost Zak at least you have ten years with him to look back on. You have those memories to hold onto. But all I had with Earl was one night!"

And tears blurred her eyes and she quickly wiped them away because she had cried so much lately and her eyes ached from it all.

"I wanted more than one night with him - I want a lifetime with him, it's just not fair!"

"Don't talk like that." Francesca said quietly, knowing that everything Kellie said was right and it had only served to stir up her own fears.

She reached over and took hold of Kellie's hands.

"Listen to me." She said, remembering Zak had every intention of making it back home and bringing Earl with him too, "Zak will get through this and he will not let anything happen to Earl! And they're not alone in there; they've got back up from Agent Fenmore. It's not like they've gone into this alone, you have to remember that! And they both have everything to live for - they won't take chances, Kellie!"

Then she let go of her hands.

Kellie had stopped weeping and she had taken in everything she had told her.

"I just don't want to lose him." She stated, "I can't lose him- I've only just got together with him and I've loved that guy for years! I just want more than one night, I want him back here, I want him to fix himself with his machine and then we can look forward to the future."

At the mention of the chamber Francesca saw such hope in her eyes and the last thing she wanted to do was make her cry all over again – but she wanted her to be realistic, too.

"We can only hope the chamber will work." She reminded her, "Assuming Zak and Earl get back home and everything goes okay and they come back to us it doesn't change the fact that Earl is sick. He's been sick since the day Gates put him in hyper time for too long, but he just didn't know it back then. I'm not saying he can't cure himself but this machine he's built hasn't even been tested yet! The only way he'll know if it works is when he tries it out. And if it didn't work, you'd still lose him eventually."

Kellie fell silent as she thought about the way the same condition had taken her father's life five years before.

"I know that." She told her quietly, "And if the chamber doesn't work, I'll be there for him, I'll look after him. I'll take care of him for as long as he has left – I just don't want to lose him right now, can you understand that? I just want more time with him - another week, another month – even another hour would be precious to me... I need to hold him in my arms again. If he doesn't come back I'll feel like a part of me has died too."

Francesca reached over and picked up the photo of Earl and placed it in Kellie's hand.

"Look at that guy." She said, "That's Earl, your sexy Dr Dopler who you can't stop talking about! Remember who he is, Kellie. He's not stupid, he knows what he's doing – and so does Zak. They'll come back to us, they both will."

Then she gave Kellie a brief hug.

"Stop crying." She said," Try and be strong because right now I feel like I'm the only one making the effort! Your Mom's sitting out in the garden watching the evening get darker and she's all alone with her thoughts but she's not breaking down. I think we should both go out there and sit with her for a while, I think the three of us should be together at this time."

Then Francesca got up.

"Come on," She said, "Come downstairs with me. Don't sit up here all alone, you'll go crazy!"

Kellie nodded and wiped her eyes again.

"Okay, I'll be down in a minute." She told her.

Then as Francesca left the room, Kellie got up.

She stood there for a moment looking at the picture of Earl, then she spoke to his image quietly:

"You'd better come back to me," She whispered, "Because we have something that's too good to lose. I love you, Earl Dopler."

Then she kissed the photo and put it back on the table next to her bed and went downstairs to join Jenny and Francesca and this time she tried to keep herself together, focussing on the memory of what she had shared with Earl as she told herself Francesca had to be right – they would both be coming home; Zak and Earl would both make it, they had to...

Fenmore was still climbing and had almost reached the walkway that led to the second level. Zak was far behind because Earl had slowed quite early in the climb and as he stopped for a third time and clung to the ladder breathing heavily, Zak climbed a little closer.

"Want me to help you up?"

Earl's palms were sweating as he kept a tight hold of the metal rung.

"No," He said, taking in another breath, "Just give me a minute...I'll be okay. I have to be okay, I won't slow you down..."

Then Earl closed his eyes, remembering he had to get through this because he had to get home and use the chamber before it was too late. And Kellie was waiting for him, too – he had to get through this because he had too much to lose to give up now...

His hands shook as exhaustion pulled at his muscles and holding onto the ladder started to hurt.

"Come on man," He said to himself, "Get moving, you can do this..."

Then he reached for the next rung and his shaking hand slipped, then he lost his footing and as he yelled out and grabbed at the ladder he caught the rung again and swung back against it hard, bumping his upper arm against the steel and giving a gasp of pain as he felt the blow heavy against the teleport implant beneath his flesh. Something warm and wet was running down his arm beneath his jacket; he knew it was blood and by the way his arm was throbbing he guessed the implant had either been snapped in his arm or dislodged in some way. But that was the last thing he wanted Zak to know, because he had climbed up the ladder and reached him now, he was helping him to hold on as he supported him.

"Okay." Zak said, sounding shaken, "I don't care how long this takes...one rung at a time, do it with me! I'm not letting you make the rest of this climb alone, you'll get yourself killed!"

The pain was biting into his arm now.

"I'm ready." Earl said as he broke out in a cold sweat and his arm throbbed.

Zak reached for the next rung and so did Earl and they began to climb again, but this time they did it together.

Earl climbed as quickly as the pain would allow, as he tried to ignore the weakness and pain in his arm, deciding that Zak didn't need to know right now that he would definitely not be coming back - because his arm was hurting, it was bleeding, and that teleport chip was busted for sure...