Losing It
Pete was the most surprised by the fact that the rather large area with the fence had no security at the entrance. In fact, as Steve got out of the car and moved the gate over, there was no sign of locks, cameras or any other thing that might act as a deterrent. He worried that all added up to land mines. He looked back at Mrs. Frederic. She stared out the window, a grimaced look on her face.
"Myka, look I don't know if we should all go ….," Pete tried to say, but was met with bursts of defiance from his passengers. He drove slowly and kept his eyes peeled for anything that might indicate they were in the serious trouble he felt they were doomed to meet. That was his military training. His vibes seemed less clear – almost as if they were as scrambled as the digital readouts were before.
The closer they got to the large structure carved out the side of the mountain, the stronger the effect was on Irene. She felt as if a giant force was pulling her and pushing her at the same time.
"She's in there," the older woman said, certain that this explained it.
Pete let out a loud sigh of relief when the car made it to the large metal door, at the building's entrance.
"I might need to change soon," he said only half kidding. The five friends got out and stood in front of the massive door.
"Well, I don't see a doorbell," Myka said.
"Anything on the security?" Pete asked Claudia.
"Nothing I can't hack," she said confidently and put the opened laptop on the hood of the car and started pressing keys.
"Would you look at that?" Pete said of the flying football coming right down at them. He jumped and caught it, amazed at how it could be there. "I used to be pretty good at tossing the old pigskin," he said taking aim and the sky and hurling it back. The football kept going.
"This is one weird place," Steve said.
Suddenly there was a click …. A very loud click….and the massive front door opened.
"Voila!" Claudia said bowing and allowing her friends to enter first.
"Myka," Mrs. Frederic said pulling her back. "Helena is here, I just know it," and then she stopped.
"What? What is it?" Myka asked concerned.
"She's …. I don't know. I can't feel her like before," Irene said and her concern was written on her face.
"We have to hurry," Myka said to the others and they rushed down the long interior hallway.
"Don't touch anything," Pete said sure that there had to be some security measure somewhere. "That looks like bombs."
"Anybody else find it odd that we haven't encountered any locked doors?" Steve asked.
"Maybe this is where Helena learned it," Irene said and it was the only levity any of them felt.
As they approached the next door, they heard a voice – an older man's voice yelling about his computer being offline again.
"Sounds like Artie," Claudia said. "Sounds like he could use your help," Steve said.
Pete pulled at the door and felt resistance. Claudia went to work and interrupted the signal that kept the lock in place. Pete entered slowly, ready to meet the man whose voice they heard, but as he entered, he saw the door on the opposite side of the room closing. The man had gone that way. The group went into the room and Claudia knew instantly that this was where the electronic brains of the place were. She strolled over to the desk, attached her laptop, pressed some keys, and downloaded what she thought she would need.
Suddenly Myka didn't think they would be meeting Mr. Kosan in a conference room. She walked over to the large windows and looked through the blinds. The room on the other side was huge – the largest structure she had ever seen in fact, and seemed to go on forever. "Uhm guys?" she said and now they all looked through.
"Holy fracking Storage Wars," Claudia said.
"I am definitely going to be late for supper," Eileen said taking in the expanse of the room.
They walked slowly through the door, but didn't see the man who was in the office.
"Where do we go?" Steve asked Claudia. She was checking Helena's body GPS signal. "It's not there. I'm not getting a reading," she said frantically pressing keys.
"Maybe it's the room?" Myka asked.
"No everything's working. The signal …it's not there," Claudia said because she knew what that meant.
"Find her, Myka," Claudia yelled because she couldn't stand it.
Myka thought quickly. "Bronze, Helena said something about being bronzed," she said and asked Claudia to put that in the search box.
"What does that mean?" Steve asked.
"Wait, I remember her asking someone to be rebronzed. Do you think she was talking to these people?" Pete reflected back. (ACH Chapter #28)
"Oh that's not good," Myka said.
Claudia put the word in and when the program beeped, a map appeared. "There!" Myka shouted because the sector was labeled.
"I will wait here," Mrs. Frederic said because she did not want to slow them down. Besides, she had a feeling she might be needed here.
The group descended the long staircase and started down the long aisles. It took them a few minutes of yelling at each other to keep their eyes straight ahead and not gawk at the things on the shelves.
"Mickey Mantle's balls?" Pete yelled out.
"Pete, please don't touch anything," Myka implored him as she gently nudged him to follow Claudia who was following the map.
Irene looked out over the balcony where she stood. "Who the hell are you? How did you get in here?" the middle aged grizzled man barked.
"It's okay, Andrew. I was expecting Mrs. Frederic," Mr. Kosan said.
"Unauthorized guests? What next, we rent the Warehouse out for kids' birthday parties?" Andy said going back into his office.
"You'll have to forgive Agent Nelson. He does not like surprises," the tall man said looking out at the interior room.
"But you are not surprised?" Irene asked.
"To see you, no," he answered truthfully.
"Then you knew we would come …. To get Helena," Irene asked.
"I knew you would try," Mr. Kosan said flatly. "You are in a place unlike anything you have ever imagined," he told her. "The Warehouse does not play by your rules, it has its own," he explained.
In spite of the unusual circumstances he found himself in, he liked the woman standing with him. If he had to pick a person to be Helena's One, this is whom he would have selected.
"The Regents wish to make an example of Ms. Wells for all agents," he said. There was something in his voice that convinced Irene he did not agree with that.
"Then they should have chosen a mere mortal," Irene shot back. "Will they ask the agents to live up to the standard that is HG Wells?" she asked and anger brew in her eyes.
He liked Irene. "Tell me, Mrs. Frederic, what do you smell?"
The middle-aged woman turned to look him in the eye. "Victory," she smiled. She wouldn't tell him she smelled apples. It was none of his business.
"I have no doubt that your team will find Ms. Wells, but that is not the real puzzle is it?" Mr. Kosan said back and gave Irene pause.
"Is she hurt?" the One asked.
"Her ego, perhaps," the Regent said. "I will go get the others," he said and took his leave.
"Did you see what it said?" Pete whispered to Steve.
"What what said?" Steve asked.
"Mickey Mantle's balls," Pete whispered back and Steve cracked up.
"OK, man stop saying that okay? This place is giving me the creeps and you're making me lose focus," Steve said.
"Let's split up and go down these aisles," Myka said. "The Bronze section should be up ahead somewhere."
Pete and Claudia went down one aisle while Myka, Eileen and Steve when down another.
"This is an amazing place. No wonder they want her back," Eileen said looking around.
"What do you mean?" Myka asked curious about her choice of words.
"I don't know - maybe they want to keep HG Wells all for themselves?" Eileen postulated.
A new fear gripped Myka. Could that be true? It wasn't just a punishment? They set her up? Anger filled Myka and she started to lose her concentration.
"What is bronzing exactly?" Steve asked.
"I don't know how they do it, but Helena said you're encased in something that keeps you immobile, but conscious," Myka said.
"Sounds awful," Eileen murmured. As usual, the youth was right.
Helena's mind raced with thoughts. It wasn't just that this time the bronzing was inflicted upon her, this time she was filled with a new dread. She had too much to lose. How could she not see this coming? Was she so blind by love that she let her guard down? Helena tried to quiet the voices in her head, but they were very angry with her. 'You got emotional and let your guard down, Helena and agents waltzed into your home and took you. And now you are back from whence you started,' they tormented her. And then the real terrifying thought occurred to her. How was she going to survive Myka's absence?
When the five friends emerged from the aisles, they all stared straight ahead. Two large doors stood between them and it was marked on the map as Aerea.
"This is it," Myka said putting her hand on the door.
"You feel it?" Pete asked thinking Myka was getting her own vibe.
"No, Aerea is Latin for Bronze," she said and added, " I know a lot of languages, including Latin."
"That must come in handy," Pete said forgetting her profession.
He pulled the door opened and again remarked about the lack of security in this place. There ahead of them were life size statues.
"What the frack?" Claudia said touching one of them. The sensation was that of cold hard metal and yet, the eerie sense of something human.
"Oh my God," Myka cried out and ran to the large vessel that contained the bronzed body of her friend.
"What do we do?" she asked looking at Claudia.
Pete searched the surrounding area, Steve looked at the statues to see if they had any gadgets that could be turned off, and Claudia raised her hacking skills to a new level as she dodged firewalls and security protocol to get into the Warehouse files…..again.
Eileen walked up to the window that separated Helena from them and put her hand on it. To see her beloved boss encased and frozen made tears well up in her eyes. "It's okay, Ms. Wells. They're working on it. They'll figure something out," she whispered.
Inside the casing, Helena became aware of their presence. It wasn't her connection with Irene - which began to slow down she thought once the bronzing started. She also knew the freezing temperature would rupture the internal GPS. She had little hope that her friends would actually make it past the front door, if they could even find the place. Now she felt it – she knew Myka was there.
Helena did the only thing she could – she mentally reached out to Myka. She wasn't sure if it would work, but she had to try - even if only to say goodbye.
Mrs. Frederic watched as Agent Gore descended the stairs after speaking to Mr. Kosan. Irene knew she couldn't stop them from doing what they set out to do, so she continued to keep her friends in good thought. Then it happened. The worst possible feeling Irene could imagine – she was disconnecting from Helena. She could almost feel the tether being cut and she fell back a little from the loss of being linked. Mr. Kosan had warned her that the Warehouse had its own rules and perhaps this was one of them – cutting the agents off from their One. Where did that leave Helena, Irene wondered.
It left her connected to her One.
As quickly as Mrs. Frederic lost the tie with Helena, Myka received it. One minute she was standing there, looking at the large case that held her friend, and the next minute she felt as if lightning shot completely through her. Every nerve ending was set afire. She never felt more alive in her life. She could feel everything, smell everything, and heard ….she could hear Helena calling her. She looked around and realized no one else could hear her.
The process had starter and Myka suddenly understood that she was becoming Helena's One. She walked up to the glass and put her hands on it. "I am here, Helena. You are not alone, do you hear me?" she whispered and closed her eyes to listen. There were no words to describe what Myka felt and she didn't try to say anything. She knew Helena heard her.
"We're going to get you out," she said.
"That might prove harder than you think," Jack Gore said from behind the group.
"Listen pal, I've had just about enough of you," Pete said getting up in his face. "We're in your precious warehouse and we're not leaving until we have our boss."
Myka looked at the agent. He may have been sent on a mission to get information from her in New York, but there was a softness about him that came through. He even asked to go to Helena first before the cavalry appeared at her door. At the same time, Myka was getting desperate. She was still a far way off from getting Helena safely out of there.
Myka threw off the shackles of following the rules and playing by the book because there was so much at stake. And because so far – she didn't think her opponents were playing fair.
"Jack," Myka said approaching him. "I am not leaving Helena here, that's all there is to it. Now you can help or not. The choice is yours. But if you decide not to, you better get out of my way," Myka said firmly.
He went to make a point and raised his finger, but Myka stopped him.
"Don't push me," she added because Myka was at her breaking point. "I am taking Helena with me!"
"Holy Oil of Olay," Claudia cried out and Myka turned to see her friend standing at the control box.
"What?" Steve asked.
"This says …..this says Helena is a hundred and forty-seven years old!" Claudia said wide-eyed.
Suddenly, Myka found their ticket out. Now all she had to do was save Helena.
There are a few different ways Myka could attempt to solve this - I took a shot.
If it does not sit well with y'all then do the only civilized thing and tell me ;-)
Thanks.