Chapter 10- Getting the Power Back
"Here we are." said John,
stopping at a heavy metal door. "This is the teleportation room.
It's not quite as nice as the one on Earth, but it will do."
John typed in a code on a small number pad and the door slid open.
The room beyond was dramatically smaller and the machine was
the same size. It took up more than half of the room. John ran across
the room and climbed a latter up to a catwalk. Adrian and Lorenz
looked around the room to make sure it was clear.
John opened the door to the control room and entered it. They heard
him typing for a minute and he looked out the small window.
"We have a problem. The clones must have shut the power
off. Someone needs to go restart the generator." he said over
the rooms loudspeaker.
"I'll do it." said
Adrian, pulling the hammer on his P90 back. "Kelly, I want you
to go to the elevator and wait for me. Make sure no clones get past
that point." Lorenz nodded his head.
"Lieutenant, I will need to guide you through." said John
climbing down the latter. "There is a security room just down
the hall. From there I can guide you." Adrian turned and walked
toward the door with Lorenz close behind him.
John
stopped at a door and swiped his card. The door opened and revealed a
room with several monitors. "I will talk to you over your radio.
Is it on?"
"Yes."
replied Shephard. The doors to
the elevator slid open and Adrian rushed out of it. He ducked behind
a wall right as three clones walked around and checked the elevator.
"First, your going to take hallway B4. It's
just behind you." said John into his ear from the radio. Adrian
looked around the corner and quietly slipped the silencer onto his
P90. "Be careful, don't leave their bodies where others will
find them." Adrian noticed a camera on the ceiling just above
the clones.
He came around the corner and fired.
The silenced rounds tore into the clones. They slumped to the ground
and blood oozed from their wounds. Adrian stepped over them and
followed the hall.
"Take care of their bodies
sir." Adrian ignored him and came to the end of the long
corridor. It sounded like there was a fight going on down to hall to
the right. "Turn right. Go until you get to the catwalk above
the lake."
"Figures." Adrian muttered
to himself. He leveled his gun and slowly moved down the hall. The
gunfire lessened and stopped by the time he arrived. Clone and alien
bodies were strew across the floor. A couple of the dog-like
creatures and one of the large acid spitting lizards trotted in and
attacked the smaller ones. They charged up their attacks and tried to
fend off the big one. It quickly dispatched them and started munching
on the bodies.
Adrian turned and kept walking
before the alien saw him. He eventually came to a catwalk that
extended across a small bay that was under the palace. At the
opening, Adrian could see the sunlight bouncing off the water. He
remembered that it had been dark before and looked at his watch.
The face was covered in dust and blood. Adrian wiped it off
and pressed the button for the backlight. "Jesus." he said
to himself. It was 2300 hours. Sixteen hours had passed since they
stepped out of the portal to where he was standing now. Sixteen hours
of hell. "I'm here." he said, clicking his radio.
"Okay, be careful, there don't seem to be lights down
there and I can't see you with the cameras. Go across the catwalk and
find a way through the door at the end." Adrian walked toward
the end of the catwalk and just as John said, he stopped at a heavy
steel door. "It's locked and I can't open it from here."
Adrian looked around and spotted a vent in the ceiling. It looked big
enough for him to fit though.
Adrian reached up and
smashed the vent in with the butt of his gun. It collapsed inward and
he pulled it out and tossed it onto the ground. He shouldered his
gun, grabbed the end of the vent and pulled himself up. It was a
narrow fit but he could do it. He came to the end of the vent and
heard a familiar distorted voice.
"This is unit
297, area is secure. No sign of Shephard or Lorenz." said the
clone. He walked across the room and went through a door. Adrian
waited and smashed his way through the vent. He tumbled out of the
hole and fell on the floor. The clone heard him and turned around.
Adrian got to his feet and was met with the clone's gun in his face.
"Drop your weapon." he ordered.
Adrian slowly stood up straight. He let the strap of the P90 slip off
his shoulder and drop to the floor. "Put your hands on your
head." Adrian slowly rose his hands and slapped the gun away
surprising the clone. He spun and landed a powerful kick on the side
of the clones head. He fell to the ground and Adrian tried to bring
his palm down on his face but the clone moved and he hit the floor.
The clone kicked Adrian in the side and sent him flying off and into
a wall. Adrian got to his feet and the clone did the same.
They
both looked at each other, unarmed and wanting to kill the other. The
clone started first and they both ran at each other. The clone threw
at punch and Adrian blocked it. He brought his fist up and smashed
the clone in the stomach. He keeled over and rammed Adrian. He
slammed Adrian into the wall and Adrian reacted by kneeing the clone
in the face.
He stood up and threw another punch
which Adrian blocked and threw one of his own. The clone blocked it
and Adrian head-butted him. The clone staggered back and Adrian took
the chance. He lunged at the clone and grabbed his head. He tried to
struggle free but Adrian snapped his neck with a sickening crack.
The clone's body went limp and Adrian let him go. He got up
and retrieved his P90. He spotted a small white piece of paper in the
clones pocket. He bent down to pick it up and realized it was his
picture of Hanz, Lorenz, Fine, and him. He looked down at the clone's
body and kicked it.
"You bastard." he
muttered. He clicked the radio. "Where now, John?" said
Adrian pocketing the picture.
"Where- oh, I
see you. Go through the door to your right." Adrian did as he
was told and found himself in a small room with a control panel.
"Now, you need to restart the system and un-dam the lake."
"How do I do that?"
"Do you
know how to use a computer?"
"Yes."
"Just look for the system restart program and activate
it. It should do everything automatically." Adrian moved the
mouse and let the computer wake up from his sleep. He clicked various
things and hit the enter button. The lights dimmed and brightened
again. He heard the water from outside start to rush and flow through
the dam. "Good work. Go across the dam and start the generator.
Adrian returned to the room where he had killed the clone and opened
the door. The hatch was on this side of the door so it made it easier
than climbing through the vent.
He could see better
now that the lights where on. The dam was about six feet wide with a
short rail. It was the only thing that stood between the person
walking across and the rushing water. Adrian walked across it and
entered a small room with a large generator.
He
reached up and pulled the string on the light bulb which lit the
room.
"There is a red handle on the side, pump
it up four times and then press the blue button." Adrian pumped
the lever and pressed the button. "Very good. That should get
the machine working. Get back here and we are home free."
Adrian opened the door and walked out onto the dam. He wasn't
prepared for what was waiting for him. Between him and the end of the
dam were three men. Dels, Jaques, and Martin.
