Balance (4 page)

Lifting her eyes, their
gaze
s
lock on each other
.  Michael says nothing
,
fixated on
her brilliant turquois eyes.  After several moments, e
mbarrassed,
she
turns away
.

Feeling uncomfortable,
Rena
rises
, walks over to
Alexander,
and sits
down in the seat next to him.

Alexander
studies
her
, takes another sip of his drink and sets it down in the holder in the table in front of him.  “Young lady
.
”
H
e addresses her congenially.

“I was wondering if you could be a little more
forthright
as to where you are taking us.
”
re
p
lying
in the same amiable manner as her
host
.

Smiling warmly
, intrigued with her
initiative
, he concedes,
“You two are going to Chicago.
W
e’ll
land
at
a small private
airstrip
where
you’ll be
taken to a secure
military
facility
,
the
‘
Bunker
’
. 
There
you will be
tested and
evaluated.  If
,
after evaluation, they
feel you have talents of
value
, they
’ll
determine where
your skills and strengths will
be
best
utilized
.”

“What if we are determined to lack the skills required for effective use?”

Alexander
smiles,
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that, I am a very good judg
e of
talent.  I’m pret
ty sure you’ll both make the cut.
If for some reason I am wrong
,
well
…
I wouldn’t worry about that.”

Perplexed,
Rena returns to her seat.  Still feeling a little self-co
nscious,
she
tries to relax
,
cross
ing
her arms over
her chest.  She shu
dd
ers, just starting to
notice
the
chill
of
the flight or her nerves starting to kick in.

S
eeing
her
discomfort
,
Michael
stands
and
open
s
one of
the overhead compartments.
R
eturn
ing
with a blanket,
he carefully lays
it
ove
r
her
, never saying a word,
and
then
return
s
to his seat.

She regards him for a momen
t, then whispers, “Thank you.”

He
smiles and nods.  Worried his further appraisal could upset her, he swivels
h
is seat to look out the window.

Time passes,
how much,
Michael
is unaware
, but when he turn
s
back
around
,
Rena
’
s
sound
asleep.
 
Her condition reminds him,
it
’
s been quite some time since he
last slept.
  He leans back in his seat and closes his eyes.

A
woken by
turbulence
,
Michael
realizes the jet is
in its descent
, meaning he
slept through
the remainder of the flight. 
He looks over at Rena.

Now a
wake
, she
hasn’t moved,
still covered by the blanket he placed
over
her, and
stari
ng
absently
at a
n unseen
spot out in space.  Blinking herself back to the
now,
she
turns her gaze
on
him.  She doesn’t
say anything, just looks at him, n
o real expression on her face, save maybe a little
apprehension
, which
he feels
understandable considering
the circumstances
.

Alexander walks back
to
the
rear of the cabin
and sits down.

Removing
the blanket,
Rena
stretches and sits up.  Both
of them
turn their attention to
their host
.

Alexander studies
them
, trying to determine
his course of action.  “In a few min
utes we are going to land,
a small air
strip outside Chicago.  I’m not going to tell you exactly w
here, s
o don’t ask.
”
 
After a brief
pause
for effect,
he
continues.  “Once you
depart
this jet
,
there are protocols,
follow them
…
Understand this; everything is a test
and you are always being evaluated.”
 
Alexander waits for comments.

Rena turns to Michael, a concerned look on her face.  He winks, trying to calm her fears.

Alexander watches,
“Now, when we
land, I will exit
first,
y
ou will
remain
until
agents escort
you off.  The agents will
take you to a waiting
vehicle;
f
rom
t
here taken to
a facility called
the
Bunker
. 
Do not delay the transfer…
in any way.  I need to make this very clear, the moment you walk off this jet you are assets of Chango.  Our rivals are always looking to infiltrate our
business;
an
exposed
asset
is a threat to
our security
.  Do I make myself clear?”
 
He waits a moment for
a
reply. 
“If there are
no
questions, please prepare to land
.” Al
exander turns his seat forward.

Michael and Rena briefly look at each other
before
turn
ing
their seat
s
as well.

Rena
gazes
out the
window
;
the
dense lights of the metropolis visible in the distance.  She guesses they are roughly fifty miles outside metro-Chicago. 
The i
nterior o
f the jet abruptly goes black. 
She notices even the indicator lights on the wings
,
no longer
visible
.

M
inutes
later
the
jet lands on a darkened runway
, taxis
into
a
similarly
darkened hanger
.
T
he
d
oors close immediately upon entrance
as the
jet engines
shutdown
.

No more than a minute after
the craft
comes to a complete stop
and powers down
, the si
de entrance
door
opens
from the outside
and i
nterior black lights illuminate glowing running lines in the floor.

Without comment,
Alexander g
ets up and climbs out
.

Moments
after,
a
n
armed soldier, wearing night vision goggles
,
climbs in
, his form no more than blackness in the front of the compartment.  He points at Michael
,
directing him to the doorway.

As Michael climbs down the steps, a second soldier slips a black hood over his head and guides him
to a waiting
military vehicle.

Rena repeats the
extraction exercise
.

As soon as
the vehicle doors
are closed, it departs the hanger
.  U
nderway
; the hoods are
removed.

After
Michael’s eyes adjust, he
finds he and Rena
seated
next to each other
in the
aft
compartment of some sort of military personnel carrie
r. 
The windows
,
tinted black and impenetrable
, the world outside veiled to them
.  Two soldiers sit
at
the rear of the compartment facing them.  One of the soldier
s
places a finger on his lips indicating
conversation is not advisable.

After what Michael thinks a
twenty-minute
ride, the vehicle stop
s
briefly, then drives forward and down. 
He
feels
confident
they’ve just entered the
Bunker
and it is, as he expected,
an underground
installation.

The vehicle mak
es several turns over
n
early ten-
minutes of driving
,
before coming to a stop.
The sid
e door opens, allowing exterior light to
flood the
inside of the vehicle
.
  Rena blinks from the sudden brightness.
  A soldier leans into the door, without saying a word
,
points at Michael and Rena, indicating
they’
re to follow him.

Michael climbs out first
,
turn
ing
to help Rena
. 
Outside the transport
, they
both scan
their surroundings. 
The massive
underground installation
expands out before them
, forty-foot ceilings, windowless, with bright lighting filling the
almost limitless space with near
daylight illumination.  Military transports, helicopters, and two business jets
, at the far end facing the wall,
reside in
side
the
cavernous
facility.  The operation is alive
with
military personal mov
ing
randomly to all extents of the tunnel-shaped
chamber
, yet no one pays either of them any
interest
.

“Hey!” someone shouts, the abrupt summons
capturing
Michael and Rena’s
attention.  Refocusing, they
reacquire
the
soldier
and follow
him through
the
large
installation
,
along
an outer wall, finally
turning
into a doorway.  The hall on the other side
stretches at least fifty-
feet in front of them
,
only
a single door
, visible
at the end.