Chapter Seven: Personal Hell
Iggy was still in a bad mood when the pair finally reached their arrival point. "About time you got here." Iggy mumbled irritably. Max rolled her eyes in greeting, a lost gesture on his sightless eyes. It was moments such as these that Max could understand why people such as Tiger's Eye could find Iggy so irritable. Of course, Max had grown up with him. She was used to his remarks. Even so, Fang snapped back. "Well, I'd like to see you fly back as fast as we did." He said, motioning to Iggy's no longer quite-as-slim figure.
Before they could really get to bickering, they were really just like a pair of bratty kids when they really got at it, Max broke in and asked, "Did you feel an earth tremor down here too?"
Iggy nodded absentmindedly, not really paying attention. "Yeah, If I had anything even vaguely useful with me I could calculate the strength ratio and possible points of origin, but unfortunately I don't seem to have that luxury." He mumbled irritably.
"Also I'm starving." Iggy added. Fang rolled his eyes and tossed him a power bar from his back pocket, which Iggy somehow managed to catch and devour within three seconds.
"There, now tell us what you've found." Fang said, obviously echoing Iggy's miserable sentiment.
Iggy licked the last of the crumbs from the corner of his lips them motioned to his right. "Look at the wall over there."
They did so, amazingly uninterested all things considered. Max could still feel where Fang's hand had touched her cheek, brushing against her hair.
The two faced a blank wall with absolutely no purpose.
"I don't see anything…" Max muttered.
Iggy smiled. "No of course not,
you have to feel it."
Max frowned. "Iggy…"
"Look at this, Max." Iggy said holding out a small GPA, one he'd modified to alter its underside to protrude dotes in Braille so he could read the screen, Max moved her hands so she wouldn't have to feel the strange sensations it sent through her palms and looked at the pictures and numbers on the device.
"Iggy, this means nothing to me." Max said, frown still in place. But Fang's eyes had widened.
"No. Freaking. Way." Fang said in shock.
"There's no way, Ig." Fang continued " There are cliffs all the way around the lake, we walked right next to some of them. There's no way that…"
"Did you touch them?" Iggy asked, interrupting Fang.
"What? How does that…"
"Did you?" Fang was interrupted again.
Fang frowned, then shook his head slowly. "No… No, I don't think we did."
Iggy smiled. "Touch that wall. And yes, I know there's a wall there. That GPA has a visual description processor.
Fang, still frowning, walked up to the wall and placed his hand against the surface.
It went straight through as if nothing was there but air.
"What in heaven's name.." Max said, eyes widening.
Iggy smirked. "Hologram. See I
told you Fang."
"Actually, you didn't say anything."
Fang muttered, frowning some more.
"Yes, I did. I showed you the…"
"That's not 'saying'
anything."
"Besides the point. Do you realize…"
"Of course. This is… rather ironic really."
"It's big Fang. Like world changing big it's…"
"You don' think the people of Nevada would notice if a military base just up and disappeared?"
"That's just it, Fang. I don't think it's a military base. I think it's a…"
"WHAT IS GOING ON?!" Max yelled, interrupting them.
Iggy smiled, laying a hand on her shoulder and motioning to the wall. "Max," he said. "Welcome, to Area 51."
