"It is said that the ideas and knowledge of the present stem from a subconscious, and perhaps spiritual, attachment to the past. Now there is another theory: what of a connection in the present that is elsewhere?" -Alyona Kuznetsov, The Twelfth Cave
Chapter 26- Reveal
Seattle, Washington
United States
May 27, 2020
Real World Time- 2:30 AM
"This is the place."
Terrance fell to the side in his seat as the SUV came to an abrupt halt. A dizzy spell hovered over him as he leaned forward to counter the momentum. His one working eye took in the front of the bar where he and Paul had met just a day before. His damaged eye itched underneath the newly applied bandage as he recalled the car wreck.
He focused on the men sitting in the front of the vehicle as a distraction. They were in a separate unit from Emily Tanner's group; a younger squad assembled during one of Black Water's many transitions.
Sitting in the passenger seat was one of the men who saved him back at the storage facility on the outskirts of Seattle. They hadn't been properly introduced during all the commotion, but he could pick out bits of conversation with the man in the driver seat. The driver would prod the man next to him jokingly about his nickname to a well-known female Disney character.
The man in the passenger seat muttered under his breath until discussion about the task at hand was brought up again.
"We clear?" The man in the driver seat keyed the radio hidden under his sports coat. It wouldn't do well to be in his camaflouge combat uniform accompanied with assault weapons on a city street, even if most of the bars had closed for the evening.
"Hostiles sleeping," someone answered over the radio.
The driver nodded to the man beside him with the nickname, Tinker.
"Got our sixes, Rick?" Tinker asked after opening a flip phone installed with one secure line and number.
A voice answered, "I'm in. Fifteen minutes minimum."
"Plenty." The driver swung open his door and made his way to the bar. Tinker eased Terrance out onto the sidewalk. He gave him an appreciative nod but waved off any further assistance. He patted his lower back out of habit where the grip of his handgun stuck from his pants.
There was debate as to whether Terrance could possibly be in any condition to finish the job. Especially so soon after his torture. Some immense will lurked within him.
He winced as a throbbing spasm pulsated on his fingertips where his nails had been torn off. It was as if his veins were pumping all of his blood straight into the joints. He made sure to hide his pain from the two men.
If being held captive had given him one thing, it was time to think. Perhaps it couldn't be considered thinking from his thoughts being muddled as a result of his body succumbing to fists and tweezers, but the time in between left moments for at least some consideration.
The bar was the secret place Takamura spoke of. It had to be. It explained why Paul chose it for their meeting. There hadn't been time to consider the possibility.
Carmen's death resulted from the enemy uncovering Takamura's letter. Carmen managed to get to Paul first before everything went to hell. Paul just hadn't known it or, at least, it'd been tucked away in his subconscious. In some way, he had left the trail of bread crumbs to this place.
It was then that Terrance's eyes were drawn to the small neon sign in a side window. Normally, the name of the bar would be presented in bold letters atop the entrance. Or perhaps hanging from a pair of linked chains or lengthy metal pole. But no, it was tucked away in a side window, almost as if it wanted to remain inconspicuous. Even the location on the corner and overhang of an adjacent brick building was enough to conceal it from a road running perpendicular.
The faded letters of the dead neon sign read: Secret Window Brewery.
Sneaky bastard, Terrance thought. It was based off that old, underrated thriller starring a disturbed author with writer's block. A man who was a creator of stories. Cameron, for some reason, loved that movie. This was what he passed on to Paul.
The image of his friend's death was still freshly seared into his mind. The bent metal skewering his side, the unnatural bend of the arm, and those lifeless eyes drowning in blood from a gaping wound on his forehead.
Terrance clamped a hand over his mouth as a sudden surge of bile built in his throat. Such a gruesome death was not uncommon in his line of work. He'd seen far worse in his time off in many god-forsaken countries. But for it to be Paul…
A hand rested on his shoulder and the bile receded back down his throat, leaving an unsettling aftertaste as a constant reminder. He didn't even turn to see which one of the men stood there to support him.
"Let's just get this done," he grunted.
The three men approached the bar and quickened their pace just short of a brisk jog. Tinker raised his fist to knock on the door but took a step back cautiously as it opened inward. The chain lock on the inside of the door remained slack as it opened, only enough to allow the voice from inside to be heard.
"We've been expecting you. Terrance was it?"
Terrance's eyes widened as he recognized the female voice. It was the kind female waitress in the referee uniform. He then recalled when she had dropped the glasses next to the bikers. Now it made sense. Her signal to Paul came just a little too late. The men in black had arrived on the scene and ruined everything.
"And Paul?" the young girl pressed.
"He didn't make it." Terrance swallowed hard on the nasty taste that still lingered in his mouth as they latched to his words.
"That is unfortunate. What about the other two?"
"They're good."
"I'm afraid they will have to wait outside."
The man next to Tinker stepped forward so the female inside could get a look at him. "It wouldn't be wise to have us standing out here on the street. It would look plenty suspicious."
"Then please wait in the vehicle," the female said without hesitation.
The man looked to Tinker and shrugged.
"We don't have time for this," Terrance said. "You guys head to the car."
Tinker and the other man nodded after a brief hesitation. They adjusted to the shifted situation without a word. Time was short. They paid the unseen female in the darkness one last uncertain glance before making their way across the road. Their pace was deliberately slowed as they confirmed the positions of their men hidden in the windows of the adjacent buildings on various floors.
The door didn't open enough for Terrance to squeeze inside until the SUV's doors closed. His eyes adjusted to the darkness just in time to see the pale white, gold of the girl's hair round a corner into the back near the kitchen. The kitchen led to a long hallway with two doors on either side. One was the manager's office, the other what appeared to be a storage closet. The girl exited the manager's office, seemingly finished with whatever business she attended to, and then entered the closet. A muffled, metallic click sounded from the end of the hall. A whirring mechanism shook the walls slightly. Silence settled in for a few seconds and then a panel opened in the wall to reveal a small orb of glass. The girl crouched in front of it and a cone of light scanned over her eyes. The retinal scanner beeped and glowed a bright green as it confirmed her identity. The wall shifted a few inches as metal arms and gears went to work and lowered it into the ground to reveal a set of stairs that led below.
The girl wiped her eye with the back of her hand and beckoned for Terrance to follow.
Terrance felt the questions bubbling up inside him. He wanted to ask who she was, how she knew Takamura, why she knew Paul. So many questions. This girl was a complete mystery. He felt she would be keeping it that way.
They halted at a metal door etched with strange symbols Terrance wasn't familiar with.
Before he could inquire about the shapes, the girl rapped on the door in a specific pattern. A few seconds later a sliver of the metal in the door disappeared and was replaced by a pair of eyes, brilliant like sapphires.
A booming voice met them in the halls with a simple phrase, "The word."
"Dragoncaller," the girl answered.
The eye-slot slid closed and the door opened inward with a clank. A massive man with tanned skin stood to the side to allow them entry. His long, dirty blonde hair was wrapped in a ponytail that hung to his waist. Terrance noted that the button-down shirt he wore barely fit around his absurdly muscular body. He looked like a man fit more for medieval armor than formal attire from the twenty-first century.
He allowed them to pass before following them into an adjacent room. He didn't speak another word.
There was a voice in this room, but it wasn't from a man who was still alive. The voice came in crystal clear over a pair of speakers propped on the floor. A desktop computer with a widescreen monitor played a video of a man sitting in front of a webcam. Terrance knew this man.
Takamura. Terrance took a few steps toward the computer but was halted by the outstretched hand of the big man who now stood beside him.
"If you are watching this, then you did not disappoint. You are at the secret place." Takamura jolted in his seat as a metallic force rang in his ears. He stared for a moment at the dented door to his lab.
"No more time. I have spoken with the monsters. I have guided them on the path to see through their false pasts. It is up to them to stay the course," Takamura said. He rubbed under his bloodshot eyes where his tears dried.
The girl crouched in front of the computer tower. Her finger hovered in front of it uncertainly for a short time before she ejected a flashdrive.
She approached Terrance and handed him the small storage device.
The girl nodded to the big man. "Our work here is done. Time to go."
His response was no more than the slight twitch of the mouth. He walked to the opposite side of the room and planted both hands against the wall. A section of the wall submitted to his strength and revealed a glowing tunnel that extended beyond Terrance's sight.
"We are compromised. Our informant has already instructed your comrades of the situation," the girl said. "We will escort you to the surface where another rendezvous is secured."
"Who the hell are you people?" The words tumbled out of his mouth before Terrance had a chance to catch them.
"I am not at liberty to answer that. We are friends. That is all." The girl pushed past Terrance before he had a chance to say anything more. Her shoulder commanded him to silence.
The aura from this girl was completely different from the sweet persona he experienced when she was a simple waitress. This girl wasn't a girl at all. She was a warrior. Terrance's sixth sense told him this. It is something molded in the presence of those who had the mindset to kill.
A stream of muffled thumps from the surface reached their ears in quick succession. The girl and her male comrade closed their eyes as they took in several other sounds that were familiar. The assonance of two disputing factions. The dangerous, yet harmonious, tones of combat. For the two strangers and Terrance, it was their song and calling.
"Let's be off." The big man led them into the tunnel.
Terrance was shocked by Rick having been so far off in his estimation. The window should have provided at least fifteen minutes. Maybe half the time passed. Something went wrong. Some unforeseen variable inserted itself at the last possible second of the plan. The men fighting his allies on the surface must be part of the group that once held him captive. Or perhaps someone else in league with them? He couldn't dismiss the possibility, considering how fast this enemy moved in. It may be a reserve force planted somewhere away from city cameras and concealed from overhead infrared.
This enemy was formidable.
Terrance fell in line with the two strangers who didn't even bother to turn and see if he was following.
The tunnel descended and angled outward into a large shaft that could fit at least five normal-sized individuals abreast of each other. Steel pipes protruded from the cement and distended to match the growing width of the walls. The splash of water from scattered puddles under their feet echoed an even cadence as the three individuals walked in a contrasting silent unison. It made Terrance think that the traveling sound could pierce the earth above them from its deafening chorus with the interconnected pipes that now consumed the ceiling. Terrance couldn't help noticing how natural it was with them.
They were halted by a dead end. The big man reached into the water that was now up to their ankles and retrieved a crowbar. The shaft was rounded and encased by a rugged length of rubber with a flattened, V-shaped claw. A barely discernible crevice in the wall was the keyhole. It only took a few seconds for the big man to insert the claw into the small space and force the wall open, even with the pressure of the water straining against his feet's purchase on the slick cement.
The wall revealed a metal ladder melded into the tube of concrete that reached for the surface.
"We go first," the girl said.
Terrance obeyed. He was in no condition for a fight, and he was plenty aware of his vulnerability as he grinded the tips of his fingers together in a pitiful attempt to numb the throbbing pain.
They made it to the steel covering near the surface in short time. The other two were merciless as they urged Terrance forward with their pace. The sudden silence above pressed an even more apprehensive weight than the cacophony of just a few seconds ago.
What the hell happened? Terrance strained his ears, but the repetition of sounds from his feet still faintly bounced off the hollow walls.
The big man looked down at the female. She nodded in response. No words were needed between them.
He braced his back against the curved wall and planted a foot with its weight distributed forward. All the strength came from his legs, and the square steel lid lifted underneath his hunched shoulders. A brief pause with a few instinctive glances in all directions was all that stopped his fluid motion.
They emerged from the confines of the tunnel and took in the silent openness of the cool night air. A strong breeze carried the mild sounds of the snoring city as it was funneled down the alley.
Terrance drew the handgun tucked into the back of his pants and confirmed that it was cocked. It was then that he realized the big man and small female were not carrying any notable weapons.
The girl tilted her head to the side and they followed. The wind bombarded their backs as they moved further through the alley
A rapid pop of gunfire trailed behind them. It was impossible to discern where it originated. The city would soon wake from its restless slumber.
The mass media would have a field day tomorrow. Terrance could picture the headlines in bold letters and dramatic words. Something along the lines of: Downtown Seattle Warzone. Or something of the like, but a little more creative in the hands of an editor. Terrance solved problems with bullets, not words. Emily Tanner could handle both battlefields competently though.
He soon realized that his straying thoughts were to distract from his aching body. A part of him wished he had taken the advice of staying behind, but clearly that wouldn't have worked with the young girl that now led them into an abandoned courtyard.
The girl jerked back and her movement forced Terrance and the other man to do the same. Just as they retreated back into the alley, the familiar pop of gunfire threatened them nearby and small bursts of dirt exploded from the ground.
After a slight pause a voice pierced the silence. Terrance's eye stung with familiarity.
"Terrance, buddy, that you?" The voice shouted from one of the buildings bordering the courtyard.
No. No way. Terrance supported himself on a brick wall. The voice belonged to the sick bastard in the mask. The man from the warehouse. The man who had him tortured.
"I mean, I knew you weren't a bitch," the voice continued. "But damn man, you really are a genuine tough guy. Suck on your fingers and put on a band aid, am I right? Good for you."
Leaning next to Terrance, the young female drew an unseen blade from her pants. The big man simply cracked his knuckles as he prepared for a fight.
"You need to go back," the girl whispered. "We passed some steel stairs built into the wall. Take them up the building and find another way."
"Like hell."
"Smother your pride," the big man growled and wheeled about faster than Terrance could have anticipated from a man of his size.
Terrance swallowed hard. The two strange people with him were planning on fighting against men armed to the teeth with guns and whatever the hell else they could get their hands on that tore through flesh. The girl had a knife and the man had his fists. What would that do against this kind of firepower? How could they be so ill-prepared?
But the truth was he didn't stand a chance of survival. They were on low ground and outnumbered. Perhaps these two could at least buy him the opportunity he needed. The men in the courtyard may be short on time. Gunfire could still be heard down the way they'd arrived through the alley. Police sirens melded with the chaos to join the ground war. Which side of the fight had its alarm set earliest on the stopwatch?
"Go with him." The big man nodded to the girl. "Take him through the buildings. The roof won't be safe."
The girl didn't even hesitate. She pushed on Terrance's shoulder and guided him away from the courtyard. She spared one last look over her shoulder as they departed.
They hunkered down in an abandoned apartment on the fourth floor. Just as anticipated, the roof was patrolled by men toting automatic weapons and night vision strapped to their heads. A sniper crouched in a corner. His only movement was the recoil from the Mk-13 that picked out targets below. Some of the shots were more to deter enemies from entering certain areas of the city.
Terrance wished he had brought along his SCAR, at least five mags of ammo, and a few frag grenades. A quick pickup turned into a skirmish. Never had Terrance in all his years as a soldier experienced such a blunder. And it was all happening in Seattle. If things got too out of hand…
He moved to adjust his uncomfortable position but froze when the girl next to him rested a hand on his shoulder and placed a finger to her lips. A few seconds later, Terrance heard the creak of old floorboards under heavy combat boots. It was impossible for the men in the hallway to conceal their presence in the decrepit building.
Terrance adjusted the grip on the handgun and closed his eyes. He read the uneven steps and differentiated between the disparate weights of each individual. A few pauses admitted the silence, only to be interrupted by the resistant groan of doors leading to other apartments.
He lifted a hand and spread his fingers. Five.
The girl narrowed her eyes at this unexpected perceptiveness. It was only for a second and her eyes spoke in agreement.
Then the boots drew closer and covered the moonlight in the hallway with their shadows. The light shifted under the sill of the door as the men positioned themselves.
Terrance sucked in one swift breath of air as the doorknob turned. He held his breath when the door jerked inward to minimize the squeak of its hinges. One heavy boot cautiously crossed the threshold. The shape of an assault rifle crawled along the floor in fuzzy black with a humanoid shape following.
The head of the shadow passed to the side of Terrance's cover. He locked his arms in place preparing to fire. The shadow was leading its master by a few feet as it collapsed in on itself.
Goddammit. Terrance braced himself. The young girl next to him levelled her blade.
The faint crackle of static from an earpiece radio stilled the shadows. "All units, operation revert to orange. Tryst D confirmed green. PADW project at risk of expulsion with further interference."
One of the men scoffed at the order. The shadows shifted in irritation and the men reluctantly backed into the hallway.
Terrance and the girl remained still for another solid ten minutes before they decided it was safe to move from their hiding place. They positioned themselves around the door just to be safe. More time passed without an exchange.
Silence. And then the blaring sound of sirens carried on wind trapped among the crowd of city buildings.
The girl rose and eased the door open a sliver. She glanced both ways down the hall and signaled the all-clear.
They advanced down the decrepit halls of the abandoned apartment building. They held their breath as they came upon the thresholds leading to more rooms and stairways, just in case the order over the radio had been a ruse to give them a false sense of security and draw them from hiding.
A group of police cars gave themselves away as their flashing lights bounced off the shadows into an adjacent alley. The turmoil covered more than a dozen blocks. In such a short time there was no way the boys in blue had a chance of covering every means of escape. An open window on the second floor of the neighboring building promised a path to sanctuary. Terrance stifled a groan as his fingers protested against the iron rungs of the ladder that led below.
A few minutes later they came upon a road bordered by London Plane trees. Terrance knew this because they had stumbled upon Occidental Square, the heart of the Pioneer Square district and also home to Occidental Park. It explained why the brick buildings, which had once been historical landmarks turned into apartments, were so run down. History had no place in the age of corporate rule.
The square was home to much of Seattle's night life. But with all the chaos, Terrance would have been surprised to see anyone out having a good time at the clubs. It was unfortunate since all the people would have provided solid cover. As cruel as that may have sounded.
As Terrance hugged the buildings, he felt an insistent tug on his shirt. He didn't take the time to question it and followed the pull until he crouched below the overhang of an old art gallery. The young girl lowered herself next to him and pointed at a lone gazebo in the park across the road. On one of the wooden railings hung a piece of what appeared to be torn cloth with a barely discernible marking.
The girl seemed to understand what it was as she said, "It's one of ours."
Swell, Terrance thought as he took in the surrounding area. It's wide open. Not good.
There weren't enough trees in the park to provide adequate cover. The streetlamps also snuffed out the shadows, making the trip seem even more suicidal. But it appeared the enemy really had retreated. Down the road would most likely take them too close to the police perimeter being established. And the longer they waited, the bigger the blockade's radius grew. It was now or never.
They bolted from the shadows in unison. Terrance felt himself lagging behind as his screaming joints relived the pain of a few hours ago. The thumping of the grass under his shoes was alone. He made a silent prayer of thanks.
Terrance was about to throw himself against the lower wall of the gazebo but stopped himself when he noticed the girl simply make her way straight for the entrance.
Terrance wondered if she was certain of whether the person inside had not been compromised. He decided to trust her and closed the screened door.
Inside the gazebo was a hulking figure sitting on the wood floor applying pressure to a gaping wound in his side. It was the big man. Terrance couldn't believe the crazy man was still alive. Terrance also noted that there was still no trace of a weapon on his person.
Who the hell are these people?
The girl frowned. It was the most expression Terrance had seen out of her the whole night. She rested her hands on the big man's side and was about to speak when he gently removed her aid.
"Not here," he said simply.
The girl moved to protest, but thought better of it when the man's face hardened. She nodded and backed away.
"Hate to rush you," Terrance said. "But we are out in the open. Anymore escape routes?"
The big man braced his weight against the center beam of the arbor and removed his hand from the bubbling gash in his side. He flexed his massive arms and cracked a neck that was almost as thick as his head.
"One last push," he proclaimed. "I run decoy."
Terrance sighed and bent the joints of his fingers to forget the throbbing at their tips.
"I got nothing better. Let's go."
The young girl smirked at the big man and Terrance before throwing open the door. Into the night they ran. They ran until their legs went numb.
When dawn arrived, Terrance suddenly found himself alone.
