"Cosmo! What the hell do you think you are doing?" Selene yelled, shocked to her core to see her usually passive and kind friend helping the big, burly Atlas to set what looked to be metal sticks into the rocky wall. "Are you crazy? How could you be so stupid?"
Their list of offences was growing longer by the minute. Unauthorised landing on the Moon, intention to protest, disobeying the rules of a government facility, breaking into an active mine and restricted access areas, and now it appeared they were adding the use of restricted materials with intent to cause damage. When would this madness end? This was so unlike the friend she knew that her mind was struggling to make sense of anything that had happened in the past eleven hours since they had taken off from Earth.
Cosmo, seemingly immune to her screaming accusations, turned slowly from his task, his face an emotionless mask, seemingly not even recognising her. "We are doing what we must to protect our mother Moon," he intoned, his voice sounding flat, without feeling.
Selene stumbled back a step, the bleakness of his face so creepy she wondered if she had somehow fallen into the plot of a horror movie.
Yet, no matter how strange the situation, she still felt the need to ask, "How? By blowing a chunk out of her and killing people in the process?" She tsked, unable to believe she was actually asking such a question. "You can't be serious?"
It had to be some kind of joke, an elaborate prank that she hadn't been informed of. Please, please let it be a prank.
"Oh, but we are serious," Cosmo drawled, his tone even, calm… too calm. He reached behind him to a natural ledge in the rock and grabbed what looked to her like a TV remote control, but whatever it was, it couldn't be good.
"No! I won't let you do this!" she declared. "There are people here, good people who-"
"Good people?" Cosmo scoffed, finally showing some emotion, even if it was contempt. "They have ignored every attempt we, and others, have made to dissuade them." He clutched the remote so tightly it bleached the colour from his fingers. "We have to take matters into our own hands. We have no other choice!"
He's gone crazy, Selene realised, the horror of the situation dawning on her. There was a maniacal gleam in his eyes that she had never seen with him before but had been apparent within every extremist who had ever gone too far. He'd gone beyond caring about others, about the damage he might do in his single-minded pursuit of his goal. She had to do something, she couldn't just stand by and let them do this. She had to at least try, her friend had to be in there somewhere, she just had to make him see reason.
"Yes, we do! The workers are just trying to earn a living, they don't make the decisions, they follow orders. Please," she implored, "please think of them. They don't deserve to get hurt because of their jobs. These are human beings, they aren't collateral damage, they aren't disposable!"
"Ah, that is where you are wrong, my beautiful friend," a deep voice said, interrupting them. The sound, and the words themselves, send a shudder of revulsion down her spine, her every instinct screaming at her to move, to get out of there. This was not a regular person, this was something else entirely, someone evil, dark, and very dangerous.
Atlas, speaking up for the first time, emerged from the shadows. She realised then that she knew he'd be there somewhere, Cosmo surely hadn't dreamt this plan up on his own, he wouldn't have had the guts, but now it was like she was seeing Atlas for the first time. Everything about him seemed different somehow. The way he carried himself, an air of menace, of terror, seemed to surround him in an aura of darkness that her highly developed senses wouldn't allow her to ignore any longer. It was as if he had been wearing a cloak of invisibility that masked his true nature and now he'd cast it aside, letting his true intentions show through. His face seemed crueller, his eyes darker, his muscles bigger, his voice deeper and more accented than it had been.
"All people are disposable in the pursuit of my goals," Atlas continued, his voice dripping with evil promise. "And you are going to help me."
"I can assure you I will not," Selene spat, the offence she felt at him assuming he could order her around or that she would help him in such a manner cutting through the fear that his presence created. There was nothing like righteous indignation to fuel a stubborn woman and Selene was nothing if not immovable when it came to her principles and moral beliefs. He could huff and puff all he wanted, he could threaten and attack, but she would not help. She was one person compared to many innocents on this base and she would be damned if she would sacrifice them to save herself.
"I do not believe I offered you a choice in the matter," Atlas sneered with a sinister laugh that chilled her to the bone.
"It doesn't matter I-" she stopped talking as Atlas stepped in front of her, his eyes locking onto hers. Eyes that had lit up with a sickeningly eerie yellow glow from their dark depths.
Selene recoiled in horror, stumbling back a step. "Eww, what's up with your eyes, dude?" Yes, it was stupid to say it out loud. Yes, she knew that that would likely be the thing that got her killed. But she couldn't help herself.
If her words offended him he didn't show it. He simply advanced on her, those glowing eyes seeming to pull her in, focusing her attention on him and him alone.
"You will do as I say. You will call the men of International Rescue to your side and keep them here with your womanly weakness while I take charge of their precious rocket ship," he ordered, his voice even, calm, but with a deadly edge that was impossible to miss.
She could feel his words drilling into her mind, pushing and shoving, bullying her own thoughts into submission. She could see the scene playing out in her head like she was watching a movie, her lying on the ground with a twisted ankle, Scott and John attending to her, her crying and sobbing to make them stay, all the while the evil Atlas was causing trouble.
She tried to resist, tried to dredge up her own thoughts, the ones that told her that his plan was wrong. They were there, hovering in the background. Mentally she reached for one, a memory of earlier that day, John sat in the pilot seat of their freighter ship, promising her that everything would be alright, that he would save her. And he'd done so.
She seized on the memory, dragging it to the forefront of her mind and focused on it, focused on him and the fact that she would do anything to repay the favour. Years of practice with focusing her thoughts, years of meditations and spellwork, years of being an empath who had learned to block out the unwanted feelings and emotions of others, gave her an advantage. If there was anything she knew how to do it was to keep others out of her mind.
"I don't think so," she answered, her voice low but firm.
The man's glowing eyes widened in shock. How was she resisting his power? Without warning he grabbed her, yanking her closer, dragging her towards him until they were nose to nose, his gaze boring into hers. "You will do as I say!"
"No!" she screamed and with every ounce of strength she possessed she forced her eyes closed, freeing her from his hypnotic gaze. Quickly, just as she had been taught, she conjured up a mental image of a steel door which she slammed shut, locking him out of her mind.
"Back away from the lady and put your hands up!" Unable to stand back and allow her to be manhandled and threatened any longer, John leapt out of his hiding spot, his raised gun pointed at the two men. "You heard me, let her go!"
Startled by John's appearance and knowing that Cosmo would be next to useless, the man already cowering back against the wall out of the line of fire, Atlas did the only thing he could think of.
"You want her? Then take her!" Bellowing in rage, Atlas lifted Selene off her feet and threw her bodily at John.
John had a split second to make his decision, let her crash to the ground -out of the question- or try to catch her. He fumbled his gun, trying to slip it back into its holster, knowing it would be too dangerous to keep hold of it and risk hurting her in the process. The gun clattered to the ground as Selene crashed into him.
Unable to do anything but try to protect her, John wrapped his arms around her and turned them, putting his own back against the wall as they slammed into it. They stumbled on impact, collapsing in a tangled heap on the floor.
Taking advantage of the confusion, Atlas snatched the remote detonator from Cosmo and yanked him to his feet, shoving him ahead of him as he propelled them both towards the mine entrance.
Cushioned on a squishy John, it took a moment for Selene to get her bearings by which time John was already trying to extract himself. He shifted her aside as gently as he could and scrambled to his feet, dragging her up with him.
"Are you hurt?" he demanded, his eyes already searching the ground for his dropped gun.
"N-no, I think I'm alright," she stammered, still unable to process just what had happened.
John snatched up his gun, checked the cartridge was still intact, stashed it in its holster, and turned towards the sound of rapidly retreating feet.
"I have to go after them. Stay here."
"No, I'm coming with you."
"No, and I don't have time to argue."
"Then don't bother trying," she retorted.
"Selene, for once can you just listen and-" he paused, holding up a finger to indicate that she needed to stay quiet. He'd heard something, a small beep that could be nothing but then again, maybe not. "I thought I heard…" Something unexplained, some gut instinct made him look over to where Cosmo had been standing.
There, buried in the wall were what he recognised as nutomic charges, small but powerful explosives used in construction, mining and demolition, and there were far too many blinking lights for comfort.
"We have to get out of here!" he yelled, grabbing her hand. "Now!"
He took off at a run, towing her behind him as he raced for the exit, taking the same path that Cosmo and Atlas -alias the Hood- had escaped down. But at that moment he had no other choice, he was simply counting on the logic of them not doing anything that would put themselves at risk despite their willingness to take out himself and Selene.
They had just reached the intersection to the main shaft when they heard the first blast a micro-second before the light exploded in the tunnel behind them.
"This way!" John ordered, turning down the right-hand shaft, dragging her along, desperate to get them as far away from the explosives as possible. The first explosion must have ignited another, for a second, third and then a fourth detonated in quick succession.
The force of the blast, along with the rush of air, had them stumbling into each other, their legs giving out as the floor beneath them shook, sending them tumbling to the ground for the second time in as many minutes.
Up ahead, further down the main shaft up which the Hood and Cosmo had run, they heard a muffled boom. Then, like a chain reaction, explosions went off in quick succession.
"Stay down," John warned her as the walls around them shook, the ground rumbling, the very Moon itself seeming to heave and groan. They were plunged into darkness as the tunnel lost power.
Chunks of rock and dust rained down as John hunkered down on top of her, his forearms bracketing her head, his hands covering his own as he protected her body with his. She was shaking, he could feel the tremors where his arms were pressed against hers, her eyes screwed shut as the walls around them continued to vibrate from the force of the explosions.
Time seemed to stand still as they lay there, their bodies tense with fear and apprehension. What felt like hours seemed to pass before the shaking of the mine subsided, the dust settled, an eerie silence filling the chamber.
With a low humming sound, the safety lights, duller battery-operated self-contained units mounted into the wall, flickered into life one by one. But they did little to ease the gloom.
Cautiously, John lifted his head to look at her. This close he could see that her eyes weren't just blue, they seemed to sparkle with a hidden depth he'd never seen before. The colour seemed to morph as he watched, darkening, deepening, her pupils dilating as she stared back at him, adjusting to the dim light.
She shifted slightly, bringing their bodies into closer contact. They were so close, their lips almost touching, their breathing ragged from adrenaline, fear, and maybe something more. He could feel her chest rising and falling in quick succession, her softly rounded body cushioning his own.
His gaze dropped to her mouth without his permission, drawn by how soft her lips looked. It would be so easy to close the distance, the few scant millimetres that separated them. Her lips parted in blatant offer, her chin lifting, tilting her head back. At that moment he'd never wanted to do something more, his body screaming in urgent demand.
She felt so warm, so welcoming. She smelt like a mix of essential oils and vanilla cookies, the combination making his head spin as his nostrils flared, inhaling deeply. Intoxicating, that was the word, like she was drugging his senses, pushing everything else from his mind but the desire he felt to throw aside all responsibilities, to be selfish, to choose himself above anything else.
It would be so easy, just a smidgen closer…
"John?" she whispered, and like that, the spell was broken. He couldn't do it, no matter how much he might want to.
She might seem like she wanted the same thing, but danger, fear, and adrenaline were a potent mix that could affect your judgement, making people act in ways they never would in a normal situation. Sure, she had seemed calm and with it during most of their interactions, but this was different. She was someone he had come to rescue, she was relying on him to get her out of this safely and taking advantage of the situation was not only inappropriate, it was downright wrong.
Breaking their intense eye contact took a herculean effort and something inside him actually hurt as he turned his head away. It had felt so right, she felt right, everything about her called out to him in a way he couldn't describe. He knew it was crazy, it wasn't logical, he shouldn't be feeling this way. But he was, and he knew that it was dangerous.
He scrambled to his feet, putting some much-needed distance between them. His back twinged in protest, his flesh feeling battered and bruised from the chunks of rock that had hit home, but that was the least of his problems now. He needed to get them out of there, he needed to get his mind back on the job and off of her.
Selene blinked, her brain trying to catch up with everything that had happened in the past few minutes. She'd been attacked, her mind had been prodded and poked, the cave they were in had crumbled down around them and she'd just gotten up close and personal with a man who made her heart race and that same man had just turned away? What the hell was happening to her life? This had to be some kind of fever dream because things like this did not happen to ordinary girls like her. She didn't do dangerous things, she didn't take stupid risks, how had she allowed herself to get in this situation?
John cleared his throat, his eyes scanning the walls as if they were the most fascinating thing in the world, leaving her lying on the floor like an old rug. An awkward silence stretched between them, so many words unspoken. She wanted to scream at him, to demand that he tell her just what he was playing at. He was the one who had been looking at her like she was an icy cold bottle of water in the middle of a desert, and the moment she'd made her move he'd leapt off her like she was repulsive.
Maybe she's been wrong? She'd thought she could feel a mutual attraction between them, but now she wasn't sure. She'd felt something there, like a magnetic force that kept drawing them closer without her realising she was doing it. But she didn't know him, maybe he was just being friendly and here she was acting like it was their first date. I'm so stupid, she scolded herself. He was just being nice, it's his job. Honestly, why am I surprised? My friends just dumped me without a backwards glance, why would he be any different?
Well, she wasn't prepared to stay on the floor looking pathetic. She had far more respect for herself than that, wallowing in self-pity was not in her nature and she wasn't about to start now. Blushing furiously she ordered herself to move, rolling onto her knees and hauling herself up off the dusty ground. After dusting off her jeans and adjusting her backpack on her shoulders, she turned to face him, determined to salvage what little dignity she had left.
He was staring at a wall of rock, a wall that hadn't been there moments before when they had dove into the tunnel for shelter.
"Isn't that the way out?" she asked.
"It was," he answered, his tone the same as ever, calm and friendly, but this time she detected an edge of something else, not fear exactly, but maybe concern.
"Then what do we do now?" She hated how she had apparently landed herself in the role of damsel in distress who was looking to the man for answers, but in this situation, she felt she deserved a pass.
"We have to get out of here somehow and find Scott, he needs to know what happened." He glanced over his shoulder, peering down the length of the tunnel. "This way," he decided.
The tunnel wasn't as long as the others and soon ended in another wall of rock, this time not made up of large chunks of fallen stone. This rock was solid apart from the obvious signs of digging work that had been going on. There were tools scattered around, but not enough to be of much use.
"It looks like they were still excavating," John muttered, stroking the rock. "There are chisel marks and holes drilled ready for the explosives."
"So, in other words, there's no way we're getting through there?"
"That's about the size of it."
"There's no way we can shift those rocks back there, they're far too big."
John nodded. "It's no good, we're trapped in the middle of this tunnel."
"Great," she groaned, leaning against the rocky wall, her eyes closed. This was all she needed, trapped with someone who had rejected her only minutes before. Talk about embarrassing.
"Don't worry," he soothed, trying to reassure her. "I'll call Scott, he's still out there and can get some help. We won't be here long." He reached into his pocket for his radio but came up empty. "Shoot."
"What? What's wrong?" What fresh hell was this? Surely nothing else could have gone wrong?
"I must have lost my radio somewhere along the way," he admitted sheepishly, feeling like a complete idiot. "But thankfully I still have this." He shook back his sleeve to reveal his tele-watch.
"A watch? So we can time how long we're stuck here until we starve or go insane?" Selene said, her voice rising in pitch as fear took over. "Wonderful."
"That's a pleasant thought," he muttered, then raised his voice to answer her. "No, this is a radio too, a little something exclusive to my organisation."
"Good, looks great, can you hurry up and use it, please?" Selene begged, wrapping her arms around herself as if she were giving herself a hug, trying to hold herself together.
He lifted his wrist to eye level and spoke out loud, "Calling International Rescue, this is John, come in." The voice-activated screen on his watch switched to a telescreen as he spoke, but instead of showing Alan in Thunderbird Five as he had expected, there was nothing but static-filled interference. He tried again. "Come in Thunderbird Five."
"Is it supposed to sound like that? Because that doesn't sound good."
"John to Scott, come in Scott," he called. Maybe trying to communicate at a shorter range would work? But once again there was no response.
"It's not working, is it?" she asked quietly, though she already knew the answer.
Slowly, John shook his head. "It must be the mine, we're so far down and surrounded by rock that it's blocking the signal."
"Then what do we do? How will anyone even know where we are?"
"They'll know," he assured her. "We don't give up, Scott will come looking for us. But for now, we're on our own."