Beyond Eternity Read online

  However, something changed when my brother had returned. I couldn't find my way back to the little cave with Hazel. I kept missing the brief window of opportunity between consciousness and sleep to guide my way back to her. Eventually, life returned to normal, and memories of Hazel drifted into obscurity. I had glimpses of her in my dreams throughout the years, but they were fleeting images, and vanished upon waking.

  The thought that I had always known Hazel was comforting and reminded me that I wasn't in this alone. Somehow, I'd find my way out of here, and together we would set things right.

  Chapter 11

  Regained hope made the indeterminable passage of time more bearable. My hunger became less urgent, and the austere cell felt less confining. I was able to fall into a rhythm of sleeping just long enough to reduce my fatigue, but still wake before the next guard check. After one check, I realized that I was no longer tired. I was listening to the soundtrack of misery when it was once again interrupted by the bells preceding an announcement; however, nothing followed.

  I waited for the speakers to continue blasting, but they remained silent. Then it occurred to me that this could be my chance to escape. My thoughts turned to my room; not the one they assigned to me in this mad world, but the one I grew up in. The image was so vivid that I knew I could make the transition, but a distressing thought stopped me before I let it happen. What if the sudden silence was deliberate? Although Erlik and his Harmony Guards were the ones who threw me in this box, the order surely came from Katrina.

  Nothing that woman did was arbitrary. She had to know I would teleport out of this cell if given the opportunity. If I jumped to the workshop or anywhere else in this world, she would find me eventually. She probably had Harmony Guards stationed at the places I was most familiar with just in case. What did Katrina have to gain if I transitioned back to my world? The answer was clear. The only reason the Family hadn't invaded my world yet was because they didn't have John's holographic memory cube. Without that, the massive army lacked the means to strike my home. I didn't know what equipment was required to record a transition, but surely they had the technology to fit this cell with whatever they needed. I had to be sure I was unmonitored before attempting to teleport home.

  With the speakers still silent, I noticed a faint sound coming from the cell next to me. There had been a pile of clothes on top of it when they shoved me in here, and it stood to reason that someone occupied it. All this time, I was so absorbed with my isolation that I didn't even consider trying to communicate with my neighbor. I tapped the wall three times with my knuckle. After a brief delay, someone replied with several more taps. I cupped my hands against the wall and spoke into them. "Can you hear me?"

  "Yes."

  "Who are you?"

  "I'm—"

  The speakers came back on and drowned out his voice. Although the noise obscured our words, we continued tapping back and forth. He knocked rapidly then stopped. A few moments later, I figured out what he was trying to signal. I felt a Harmony Guard's footsteps approaching. I stood up and had time to spare before the guard slid the hatch open to check on me. Content that I was where I belonged, he closed the panel and walked away.

  A rule that had served me well over the years was that the best way to avoid trouble was not to be there when it arrived. Although I was stuck inside this box, what would happen if I appeared to be gone the next time one of Erlik's thugs came to check on me? There was only one way to find out. The next time trouble came looking for me, I would find a way to not be here.

  I waited patiently for another Harmony Guard to check on me, keenly focused on every vibration and sound coming from outside my cell. Before I could make out anything myself, my neighbor knocked rapidly on the wall. Without hesitating, I climbed up and wedged my body in the very middle of the cell to elevate myself off the floor, but well below the top opening. My back and hands were pressed against the rear wall, and my feet were on the door. I hoped I could stay in a blind spot where I wasn't readily visible through the hatches.

  The Harmony Guard opened the top hatch. A ray of light cut across the box, just above my head. He quickly slid the bottom panel open as well. The guard shoved his baton in and yelled, "No sitting in the box!" It took him a moment to realize that he was waving it around in the open air. I kept my body scrunched up as small as possible to stay out of sight. I figured that as long as the light was off me, he wouldn't be able to see me.

  "What the...." He withdrew the baton and I smiled, wishing I could see the bewildered look on his face. The guard peered in the top and bottom hatch several more times, but I was just out of his line of sight.

  The Harmony Guard called someone on a DigiCom. "Sir, there was a standing order to contact you directly if there was an incident with your special prisoner and.... Well, that's the thing sir; he's not in there."

  The guard stood silent while I assumed he was getting chewed out. Finally, he responded, "I understand that he was still in the cell after we turned the recording back on, but he's gone now. I... yes, sir, I'll wait here until you arrive."

  I relaxed as much as possible while holding my awkward position in the box. I had to remain unseen, and there was no telling how long I would have to wait. My muscles began to burn, so I shifted my weight around while trying to remain silent. I could hear the Harmony Guard pacing back and forth in front of my cell.

  A few minutes later, I heard another set of footsteps storming down the hallway. As they grew near, the guard stood still and said, "Sir, there is no way he could have gotten out. He—"

  "Shut up! Your incompetence is inexcusable. Go pull the surveillance video before I throw your entire squad in one of these empty cells." Erlik was as charming as ever.

  The guard rushed off, and I heard Erlik approach my cell. I compressed my body as small as possible and held my breath when the rays of light coming through the hatches were interrupted. I could almost feel Erlik searching the box and closed my eyes, as if that would somehow help hide me. He took a few steps away. I resumed breathing and barely relaxed. Then my foot slipped off the door. I hurried to get it back out of sight before Erlik noticed. My heart was racing, and I imagined each shallow breath sounded like a hurricane. For the first time, I was glad to have the soundtrack of misery playing, covering up the little noises I made.

  Erlik walked back to my cell, and I was certain he was going to find me. The sweat building up on my skin made it difficult to hold my position. Even though I was slowly sliding down the walls, I fought every urge to adjust my grip and arrested my descent with pure willpower. If I could keep this up just a little longer, something had to give.

  His face must have been right against the top hatch because I could hear each of Erlik's breaths reverberate through my cell. Finally, I heard the lock activate, and I let my legs explode against the door. It hit Erlik hard, and he went tumbling backwards as I fell to the floor. He was slumped against the lockers on the opposite wall, looking dazed. I jumped to my feet and charged Erlik. He was off balance, struggling to get up. I quickly closed the distance and clinched Erlik's head with my hands while throwing a knee into his face. He immediately went limp.

  I mounted his motionless body, ready to strike at the first sign of resistance, but he remained still. I scanned up and down the vacant hallway, but nobody was coming to Erlik's assistance. I looked back down at him and noted that the once handsome face was now a bloody mess. Each time Erlik exhaled, bubbles gurgled out of his pulverized nose. Finally, his outward appearance more closely resembled the beast of a man inside him. I searched Erlik and was about to grab the baton and whip from his utility belt when I noticed the clip of my pocket knife gripping the outside of his pocket. I liberated my knife and snapped it open with a flick of the wrist.

  Holding my precision-crafted companion from countless battles securely in my hand was empowering. My eyes were drawn to the curve of the sinister blade. The matte-black finish subdued unwanted reflection and protected the hard steel, while a sliver o
f light danced off the smooth and serrated portions of the razor-sharp edge. The laser-etched butterfly logo on the side was a distinctive sign of quality for anyone familiar with the preferred tools of a soldier.

  My first instinct was to slit Erlik's throat. He would have done worse to me without a second thought, but I restrained myself. Maybe eliminating this vile man would be doing the world a favor, but I couldn't bring myself to kill someone while they were so pathetic and helpless. I was surprised to find that I didn't hate Erlik. Much like my knife, he was no more than a tool. If there was any hate to be had, it was against the people who controlled him; namely Katrina and Rexxor. I wondered which one held the actual power in this place.

  Erlik's DigiCom was lying on the ground and I remembered my helpful neighbor. I grabbed the device and saw that it was still set to unlock cells. After climbing to my feet, I swiped it across the lock on my neighbor's cell and pulled the door open. As soon as the hallway light hit his body, he curled up into a ball.

  "Feel like getting out of here?"

  He lowered his arms from his face, and I recognized that it was the adolescent boy who was captured while I was with Hazel in the cave.

  "What's your name?"

  "Patrick."

  "Hi, Patrick, would you mind helping me move that pile of trash?" I motioned towards Erlik's flaccid body.

  He smiled and said, "Sure. Where do you want to put him?"

  "Well, there happens to be a vacancy in my old room."

  We each grabbed one of Erlik's thick arms and dragged him to my cell. Any adrenaline that aided me during my abrupt fight had long since faded. Every pound of his limp body was a labor to cram into my recent cage. We pretty much had him inside the cell, but the door wouldn't close. I leaned against the metal enclosure, and Patrick added his shoulder to the effort. We gave it a vigorous shove, and Erlik groaned as the door clicked shut.

  "Damn, we never removed the weapons from his utility belt."

  Patrick asked, "Do you think it's worth it to try and get them now?"

  "Probably not. I was lucky to catch him by surprise and there's no telling how much longer he's going to be out. I'd hate to face him after he wakes up."

  We retrieved our clothes from the top of the lockers and I asked, "Do you have any idea how to get out of here?"

  "We can't be far from the caves, but I have no idea which way to go. There's probably a map on his DigiCom."

  I looked at Erlik's DigiCom, but the device had timed out and locked while we struggled to cram our friend into the box.

  "It doesn't look like this is going to help us anymore." I tossed the DigiCom on the floor and tucked my clothes under my arm. I didn't want to waste time getting dressed when guards could be pursuing us at any moment. Besides, we could walk much quieter without boots thumping on the ground.

  I said, "Let's get moving. This is the first place they're going to look, and we have even odds of picking the right direction down this hallway." I took the lead, and had started moving out when all the lights shut off. I froze in place, and Patrick bumped into my back. Grabbing his shoulder, I held him still and tried to listen for anyone approaching. Somewhere above my head, I heard metal rubbing against metal. I blindly turned to face the sound and saw a red-lens flashlight emerge from above a locker. Suddenly, Finn popped his head out from a large air duct.

  "You and your friend, climb up here quick. I sent a surge through the breaker and knocked out the power on this level, but it won't take them long to throw the manual override."

  I boosted Patrick onto the lockers, then he helped pull me up. Finn was already crawling down the vent to make room for us behind him. I followed Finn with Patrick in tow, and the vent cover dropped into place just before the lights came back on in the hallway.

  Confined spaces had never bothered me before, but the air duct made me miss all the excess room I had inside the box. I found an ungainly rhythm of shoving my clothes ahead of me, then pulling my body forward. It was slow going, moving along a few inches at a time. Finn, on the other hand, was scooting through the narrow space with ease. I was glad he knew where he was going, because I couldn't have turned around if I wanted to.

  Finally, we reached a junction box that was just large enough for me to sit with my head hunched. Finn retrieved a foil bag from his pocket and said, "Give me your DigiCom."

  "What?" It didn't even occur to me that I still had mine.

  "Don't make me waste time explaining. It's probably still in your clothes."

  I squeezed my clump of clothes until I found the rectangular shape in a pocket. I dug it out and dropped it into Finn's bag.

  He looked past me at Patrick. "Do you have yours on you?"

  "No, I wasn't carrying it when they snagged me."

  Finn sealed the foil bag and tucked it away. He said, "This bag will block the signal so they can't track us. I'll hang onto it until I get a chance to make a few upgrades to your DigiCom."

  Getting dressed was challenging in the confined space, but Patrick and I managed to put our clothes on.

  Finn said, "It's not much further now."

  We continued crawling along until we reached another duct cover. Finn peered through the slits and surveyed the room on the other side. Satisfied that it was empty, he pushed the panel open and slid through. I poked my head out of the vent and watched Finn climb down a supply shelf underneath the opening.

  The room appeared to be a maintenance closet with a doorway on either side. Pipes and electrical conduits penetrated the walls, and a large control panel was mounted next to a relay box. I prepared to climb down to Finn when I heard a lock activate. The boy's eyes shot toward the door. Just before it flew open, he dove under one of the cluttered shelves. I quickly retracted my head into the air duct and let the cover drop back into place.

  Two Harmony Guards strode into the room. "I told them there was nothing wrong with the breaker box. Something must have just tripped the master switch."

  "Yeah, but that didn't stop them from making me come with you to double check it, as if I would even know what I'm looking at. Now I'm going to have to hustle to finish my rounds on time."

  "I'll knock this out as quick as I can. Would you grab that toolbox off the bottom shelf for me?"

  "Sure." The guard groaned while reaching for the shelf where Finn had taken cover.

  I drew my knife and silently pushed the blade open with my thumb. Holding the blade in a reverse grip, I prepared to surge out of the duct and pounce on the crouching man if he discovered the boy.

  As he bent over, I focused on the exposed skin just above the collar of his black coveralls. If I could hit the mark and sever his spine, he would drop instantly. Then I'd need to take out his friend before he had a chance to call for help.

  "What the hell is that?"

  My heart raced and I raised the vent cover, prepared to make my move. Before I could leap out, the guard held up a small sphere.

  "Check this out. What's this bearing belong to?"

  When the guard passed the metal sphere to the other man, there was a burst of light and the ball exploded into splinters of electricity. The two men dropped to the ground and spasmed violently before lying motionless. Finn slid out from under the shelf with a self-satisfied grin on his face.

  He looked at me and said, "Are you just going to stay up there gawking, or are you going to climb down so we can get to work?" It was difficult to tell if he was serious or being playful, but the boy's smile told me it was a friendly remark. I quickly climbed down, followed by Patrick.

  I stepped over their motionless bodies and Finn said, "They won't be out for long. Let's get out of here." The boy moved to the door opposite from where the guards entered the room. He used his DigiCom to cycle the lock, and a howling breeze burst in as soon as he tugged the door open. We stepped out onto a narrow platform that formed a ring inside an enormous hollow cylinder. The shaft ascended further than I could see. It was so large that the platforms above and below us seemed to barely protru
de from the wall. Torrents of air made me feel unsteady and I grabbed a pipe to keep my balance. Below me, the tube descended into inky blackness.

  Finn sealed the door behind us and said, "This is the core of the Capitol Building. Power, water, ventilation, and everything else are all routed through this shaft. People rarely come here, but we should put a couple levels between us before those guards come to. They still have their weapons on them so they shouldn't realize we were here, but I don't like leaving things to chance."

  Finn sealed the door and grabbed the pipe I was clinging to. Without another word, he slung his legs over the side and quickly slid down the pole. Not nearly as confident, Patrick and I slowly followed the boy, descending several levels. By the time we reached Finn, he had a door open and we all climbed inside. The room was a duplicate of the one we had just departed, but the shelves were vacant. Finn latched the door and arrested the wind.

  "We should be safe for a while. This level leads into an unused section of the caves."

  Patrick said, "Those bastards aren't ever going to lay a hand on me again."

  "What did they want you for anyhow?"

  "I blew up an Ambrosia dispensary." He wore a broad smile on his face.

  "How did they catch you?"

  "After I set the charge, I stayed close by to admire the explosion. Everyone else scattered like bugs, but I just watched the dust settle. My friends told me I'd probably get caught, but I'm sick of seeing everyone walk around like zombies. They need something to wake them up."

  Finn cut in, "It didn't do any good. They doubled the Ambrosia rations for everyone in your section after they took you in."

  "How do you know that?"

  "I keep track of pretty much everything that goes on around here. If you want to hurt the Family, you need to think much bigger. Blowing up a dispensary was just a minor inconvenience. If you really want to mess them up, you need to go straight for the heart and take out their supply."