Chapter 10:

Into The Deep

The road was wet, and the rain came down hard on the windshield. The wipers, going back and forth, made screeching noises every time they crossed. It was beginning to drive Raz crazy.

He was still wearing the sunglasses to shield his eyes even from the fragmented light that came through the heavy clouds, along with them; he had the black hood of his raincoat pulled up over his hat and the divider down on the roof of the truck. His head was pounding and it alarmed him how the road floated in and out of his vision.

Every time he saw a car on the near abandoned side road he tensed up. He had never officially gotten his license. His only training, in fact came mostly from his younger days in the circus, and his first year of being a cerebral soldier. He wasn't a bad driver…not any worse then many other sixteen year olds anyway…but when he was as spaced out as he was now and he had no license, it made him feel uneasy.

The radio was going in and out…mostly static, and after a while it became more annoying then comforting. Raz turned it off and looked at the map lying on the passenger seat. There was a red dot that represented The Chitt Learning Center, which was actually an abandoned college out by ROOT blvd. The only reason no one had checked it was that it fell in an area that had became one giant ghost town in the last ten or fifteen years. Kellen had actually bought up the area and paid off most of the local authorities to keep things silent.

Diagonal to it, only twenty-five miles away was Psychonauts HQ, also represented with a small dot. Kellen had broadcasted not long before what he planned to do to the Psychonauts, and with the information from him, and several angry parents, it was enough to make the Psychonauts anxious. Raz, personally, was becoming very impatient with the organization with which he once belonged. He would have thought a group full of specialists like them would be able to seek out someone like Kellen by now. But it looked as though, at least for the moment, Kellen was very much ahead in the game.

Raz's eyes then fell to the third location, more away from both Psychonauts HQ and CLC. It was about thirty-seven miles away from both…but still close enough so that it could serve it's purpose to each.

I wonder if they know how close we are? He thought, and shivered. No, he thought not. He imagined that they didn't have a very good idea of where Kellen was. He thought they would though…in time they would…after things started happening. But by then it might be too late.

Lord, how he hoped that they would find Kellen soon.

The road swam in front of Raz's eyes again, causing him to nearly cut off the path of an oncoming Avenger. The man behind the wheel honked the horn twice as Raz turned quickly to the right to keep from having a head on collision. He watched the car through his rear view mirror as it disappeared over a hill. He sighed a little shakily and slowly turned to the nearest exit, deciding to stop at the next service station for a cup of coffee to keep him alert.

A half battered sign above the exit signal read;

Route 34; Rickety Hill.

Underneath that, almost an inch from the ground and half covered in spray paint and the dust and earth of fifty years of neglect, another sign read;

This Way To Shaky Claim: Warning! Civilians Enter Under No Circumstances: High Radiation.

XXX

"Hey…do you mind if I have that bed, it's farther from the window…so that my eyes wont get irritated by the sunlight in the morning."

Stephen's eyes tightened a little as a voice cut through his sleep. As he came out of the darkness of the dream world, he was aware of daylight on his face and the sound of someone speaking.

"Only, it's because of the sunlight, see…when I see it when I'm half asleep sometimes I get nervous…and bad things happen." Stephen opened his eyes a little and waited until they adjusted to the light. He blinked and looked in the direction of who was speaking to him. Standing an inch away from his bed was a slightly bulky child of about fifteen or sixteen years old. He had an unhealthy complexion and a strange hulking cap on his head which looked to be made mostly from various kitchen supplies and several layers of aluminum foil.

"Uhh…" Stephen said, while sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of his bed. "…Sure…I guess. I um…need to get some of my stuff out though." He felt slightly uneasy as he thought of the explosives in the mattress.

"Kay." The boy said and seemed to suddenly be distracted in his own unpacking. Stephen swept off the jacket he had been wearing when he had fallen asleep the night before and carefully slid the explosives from under his mattress into it, making sure the boy wasn't watching when he did. The journal he left alone, simply pulling it out and assuming that carrying it around wouldn't look very suspicious…slightly wimpy, maybe, but not suspicious.

He moved his stuff over to the other bed, stuffing the book and jacket under that mattress and moving the rest of his things to the wall. The washed-out light from the window was faded now because of the storm, but he thought that from his bed, the sun would probably be pretty unbearable when it was out, and he imagined that he wouldn't sleep very far past sunrise from now on.

"Thanks." The other boy said, moving his own things by Stephen's previous bed and making himself comfortable. After he seemed situated and unpacked, he glanced toward Stephen and gave him what could have been a smile.

"Hi, I'm Dogan." He said kindly. Stephen smiled weakly in return, while eyeing the strange hat out of the corner of his perception. It looked like something out of a science fiction movie from the 50's. Some giant cheesy helmet that people wore so the aliens couldn't suck out their brains or something.

"I'm Stephen." He said after a moment. "Are you testing to be a Psycadet?"

"Yeah. I've been testing for a long time now. I passed last time…but then I accidentally set one of the testers on fire…so they sent me back here." Stephen shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh." He said.

"I didn't really mean to…but he was yelling at me and it just happened. They added more stuff to my hat cause of it." He said, pointing to the hulking thing on his head. Stephen nodded a little uneasily.

"What's it suppose to do." He asked, staring at the hat with apprehension.

"It's suppose to keep me from blowing people up and stuff." He looked a little timid for a moment. "Sometimes it happens…when people make me mad." Stephen swallowed, and nodded slightly. He looked out the window, where his view consisted of a section of the roof and a parking lot. Across from him, Dogan was watching his feet apparently in thought.

"You know…" Stephen said after a moment, almost feeling compelled to do so. "I accidentally set my dad on fire once." Out of the corner of his eye he saw the older boy smile a little, not unkindly and with no trace of malice or iniquitous intent.

"Yeah…I used to do that a lot."

XXX

Raz finished off his coffee just as he was pulling into a heavily forested area. All around him signs warned of High Radiation and Dangerous Chemicals. They weren't exactly lying…but they were at the same time telling a half-truth. It was dangerous for normal people…and even psychic people in some situations to go beyond the fence if they got too near the 'dangerous chemicals'… which Raz intended to do, but it certainly wasn't because of high radiation.

After he checked the path, to make sure it was empty, Raz pulled off of the main road and into the forest. There was a place where the trees were hacked and severed, as if a crude trail had been fashioned just for the large pickup truck. He drove a mile into the thick forest, his vehicle becoming less and less visible by anyone on any hiking trails or dirt roads. Then, just before reaching another warning sign, he stopped and got out of the drivers side door.

He walked around the large bulking truck and pulled a worn sack out of the back, which he flung over his shoulder. He then grabbed a handful of branches that had been conveniently sitting by the sign and draped as many of them over the automobile so that it would be even less observable. He frowned and looked up at the sky, wishing desperately that the rain would stop. It wasn't bad now because of the trees and the grayness. Still, the thought of being soaked, tired, sick and in pain did not thrill him much.

He started walking, knowing it was another half-mile to Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp. This also didn't thrill him, but he supposed he should just be happy that he was making this trip while it was still spring. In the spring the camp would still be empty.

Well, He thought to himself. It will be mostly empty. He frowned and kept walking.

XXX

In the last 24 hours, Ford had been working feverishly to set up as many alarms and surveillance equipment around the entrance to the camp and by the lake as he possibly could. After a long morning he had tiredly drifted off to sleep, and was still dozing when one of his alarms went off.

Ford sat forward, jerking out of his dream as a screen popped up in front of him, showing him the entrance of the camp. For a moment he thought that somehow a squirrel or something had set the alarm off...again and he was about to turn it off when he saw a flash of black and a figure momentarily visible on the monitor. He blinked and sat closer, observing as with his mind, he switched screens to try to follow the intruder's progress. It was difficult and all he ever got was brief images.

"Hmm…"

XXX

Once he reached the camp entrance, Raz moved carefully, to avoid setting off any alarms that may have been set up since the end of the previous summer. He assumed that this was an unnecessary caution, for every trip made by the Cerebral soldiers to the camp had been outside of summer months and there didn't appear to be any detection of them as of yet, and Raz couldn't picture General Cadmus being too careful when entering the camp. In fact, he considered it an immense demonstration of the man's self control that he hadn't blown a hole on the outside of the fence yet. Still, it didn't hurt to be careful.

It was this thought that was circling Raz's mind when he crept over the wall, partially by levitation and partially by natural acrobatic talent, managing to miss many of the easy alarms, and most of the cameras, for many cameras in Psychic based facilities measured Psychic energy rather the visual sight. Otherwise it would be only too easy for an intruder to go invisible and sneak in without a problem. Unfortunately, his luck ended there when he touched the ground lightly, sending off a large number of alarms that were silent to him, but quite loud to the elderly man sleeping somewhere underneath. When they went off, the visual cameras went into action too, but were only able to capture about as much as the Psychic cameras.

As Raz walked across the grounds, which squished under his shoes because of the rain, he kept his eyes sharp for any figures walking about. Inwardly, he wished that he could stop and look around a bit more, but his head, still pounding and the weight of the sack on his back told him that that wasn't a good idea.

Nearby a hollow stump gaped at him. Slightly disappointed, Raz avoided it and kept on foot. There was a chance that Ford would know when his cars were in operation. It was best to just keep above ground, as far away from the older Psychonaut as possible.

He reached the dock and descended it carefully, heading, with trepidation toward the beach.

XXX

Ford watched the monitor as long as he could, following the intruder's progress until it was evident that he or she was headed towards the beach. Then, when he was sure of the trespasser's destination, he hurried towards the stump on the far side of the open room.

"Gotcha." He said to himself as he disappeared into the darkness.

XXX

While still on the dock, Raz unshouldered his bag and began to search through it. He had purposefully packed a few things that Kellen had not arranged in case he needed them. He kept them in a small bag ordained with various patches decorated with tiny and simple images.

With one gloved hand Raz grabbed a small woven patch from the bottom of the bag and slipped it in his pocket, before shoving the smaller bag back into his sack and pulling it back over his shoulder. He then stepped forward, sighing as his boot touched the sand.

Ahead of him, a vast body of water, Lake Oblongata, stretched to the horizon. Raz swallowed as his eyes fell over the green misty translucence and inwardly, a part of him cringed back from it as he imagined hands reaching out from the shadows and pulling him into the darkness. The water, making continuous rings because of the drizzle of rain breaking the surface, seemed to whisper a secret curse to the wind as a gust of it blew through his raincoat, sending it flapping crazily about his torso.

Raz shook his head, and turned away from the water, knowing with a sinking feeling that he would be descending into it soon. Now, however, he headed towards the tiny shack on the edge of the lake, which was slightly illuminated by a poor lantern hanging from the ceiling. Inside, an elderly man was inspecting a canoe. Raz reached into his pocket and stood at the door, waiting for the figure to notice him.

XXX

The man, who seemed absorbed in the canoe as if it were some astounding piece of artwork, turned slowly at the sound of footsteps. When he saw the tall figure of a man silhouetted against the doorway he readjusted his hat and squinted at him.

"Hey!" He said after it became apparent that he was not one of the regulars. "Who are you and what are you doing in MY boat house. This area is restricted." The indistinguishable man took a step forward and reached into his pocket. Admiral Cruller flinched back a little, but drew nearer himself when it was obvious that it was not some concealed weapon, but a tiny merit badge.

"I know sir." The voice was young. "I'm a certified oarsman, sir. See, here's my badge." Admiral Cruller took another small step forward and looked at the badge, then, he nodded.

"Well alright then, as long as you're certified. But be careful out there, there's a squall comin you know. Wouldn't want you putting holes in my canoes!"

The young man smiled.

"I'll be careful, sir." He said and walked through the tiny shack and onto the deck that headed to the Aqua Tank. Behind him, Admiral Cruller went back to his canoe for a moment, before, looking up, as though confused, and then apparently disintegrating into nothing.

XXX

Raz undid the chain connected to the tank and opened the metal door nervously. He found, that with six years of age he had grown quite a deal, and the space in the tank had become severely limited. Still, he tucked himself in as best as he could and closed the door behind him. Before he started to lower the thing into the depths he removed a full faced gas mask from his bag and a pair of thick gloves, which he pulled over his own.

He began the descent clumsily; he had not gotten the hang of using the tank during his last venture into the deep. He was able, however to keep it from simply tumbling down. This precaution was mostly due to his concerns at possibly not having the air bubble under him in case he was cast out of the Aqua Tank as he had been on the previous occasion.

After about ten minutes Raz was relieved to find that this wasn't the case, when the Tank seemed to sit down on something that was only partially solid. He sighed and let it sink through the mucus shield before lowering himself, as carefully as he could, the rest way down.

When the Aqua tank hit the lake bottom, Raz kicked open the door and stepped out. In front of him the murky water seemed to extend for miles.

Raz set his bag down again and pulled out a third item that resembled the dousing rod he had used to collect deep arrowheads when he had been at camp. With this, his gloves and the gas mask he began to slowly walk across Lake Oblongata, swinging the detector slowly from side to side and fighting off the claustrophobic feeling of being closed in underneath twelve to twenty feet of what Raz considered to be immediate death.

XXX

Once Ford set foot on the Camp Ground, his projected personalities faded back into his own mind. He knew that the part of his mind that was still him would remain in control for a little while before the other personalities began to overrun him, how long he had though, was another matter.

As he stepped out towards the dock, he noticed grimly that the Aqua Tank was gone. He also noticed that the chain connected to it was still moving. He frowned and hurried towards the machine, meaning to reel back in whom ever had invaded his camp and had started playing with his things. He reached the machine just after it stopped.

Still, he rapped the chain around a lever and began to pull, finding much to his disappointment that it was lighter then it would have been if someone were still inside. Still, he pulled until the machine became visible again. When he had it back on it's stand he tied it up PROPERLY and stood back to watch the water.

He supposed he could have gone after the intruder himself, but he'd rather face him or her…him…almost certainly a him…in an open area, rather then under the Lake in that crummy air pocket. This way, the figure would either have to swim back to the surface, or he would have to stay down there until the Psychonauts came after him.

Ford stood up straight and waited.

XXX

I'd like to apologize for taking so long to upload this. It would have been up much sooner, but my Internet's been down over the pastfew daysbecause my cable has been out. (My family's poor.) I should have Always the Same up soon too, considering I already have a great deal of the next chapter completed for it as well.

I LOVE YOU ALL.