Red Centre (11 page)

Pav scooted across the room on his chair. He
reached the monitor with the weather map and pointed at it. “We
track reported sighting and send message directly to source, inside
atmosphere.”

Chris shot a look back at
Frank with a... “are-you-serious!
”
expression on his face.
This shit is getting crazier by the minute
, he thought.

“
We knew we’d get them to
come back eventually—and we were right,” Frank said, overjoyed.
“This is your chance to get your boy back; and my Emma.”

Roy and Pav nodded their heads in agreement.
Chris looked around the room at the three men. He shook his head.
This didn’t make any sense at all. “You’re wasting my time.”

Chris turned to walk out. Roy stood up
straight and moved to block Chris’ exit.

Chris rubbed his bruised cheek. Clenched his
fists by his side. “Get outta my way, Roy, before I roll your fat
ass down those steps, so help me God,” he said through clenched
teeth.

Roy raised his chin, very smug, ready for a
fight.

“
We found one,” Frank
spoke up, “and this ...”

Chris spun around to see what Frank was
talking about. In his hand he held up a small item, wrapped in a
cloth. Chris inched forward to investigate. Frank slowly unwrapped
it, revealing a small, oval item, about the size of an avocado: jet
black, very smooth, like a water-washed creek stone. Faint symbols
decorated the outside: squiggly lines, circles, triangles. Maybe
alien words.

“
We found it this
morning.” Frank held it out closer toward Chris. “It was where ya
encountered them last night. We figured it must have dropped it
when ya hit it with the truck.”

“
How do you know all
that?” Chris asked.

“
Cop scanner,” Roy
interjected.

Chris reached out his fingers to touch the
item. Frank quickly covered it again. “We’re not sure what it does.
Pav is gonna take a look.”

Chris looked up into Frank’s eyes. “You said
you found one?”

Piled-up, large rocks blocked the cave
entrance. No one was going in or out, without some heavy lifting.
Frank, Roy and Chris stood in front of the crude, rock wall. They
made Chris carry all the climbing gear and supplies in a backpack.
It reminded him when he was back in the National Guard boot
camp—carrying backpacks and taking orders. But he had to do
whatever it took to find Shawn. If he didn’t, how would he live
with himself? How would he face Kate?

Frank and Roy were ready for a fight,
shotguns loaded. The sun was getting low in the sky. In a few short
hours, night would be upon them.

Chris dropped the backpack to the ground.
“How do you know it’s in there?”

“
We tracked it all
mornin’.” Frank moved over to the rock wall to examine it. “We
think it’s wounded, and—”

“
It took Rancid,” Roy
interjected, in an almost sad/angry tone. He raised his shotgun in
front of him. Ready for revenge.

“
He sent his dog in”—Frank
looked back at Roy—”and it never came back.”

“
What if it just got
lost?” Chris said with a smirk.

***

Chris tossed the last heavy rock away from
the entrance, slapping his hands together to remove dirt and
dust.

He squatted down in front of the looming
entrance. The smell of moist earth and the feel of humid air
touched his face. The unknown territory and enemy was
disconcerting. What kind of danger lay in front of them?

He was hesitant, giving a final look to
Frank and Roy who stood over him, before entering.

A beam of light from
Chris’ small, tactical flashlight shone down the small, rocky cave
tunnel, illuminating never-ending red dirt and rocks.
Does the red, powdered dirt ever end?
Chris led the way, followed by Frank and then
Roy—who could barely fit through the snug opening.

Roy’s wide hips scraped the rough tunnel
sides as he dragged himself forward on his large stomach, the
pressure on his gut restricting his breathing. The taste of
stirring dust clung to their dry throats like thick paste. The
bulky backpack full of gear Chris had to drag with him wasn’t
helping either.

The men slowly inched forward in the dark,
dragging themselves face down, in single file. The entrance behind
them slowly became a distant, dim light. The thought of losing
sight of that glimpse of light drove a degree of fear into all
three men. Chris thought about cave divers who explored underwater
caves, lost their way, ran out of oxygen and were never seen again.
Except they would run out of food and water. But the end result
would be the same. It would be a friggin’ miracle if any of them
were ever seen again.

The cave gradually descended into the earth,
the passageway so long their lights couldn’t see the end. They
pressed on, through the darkness.

All the movement kicked up
dust, getting into Chris’ lungs. Stopping to take a breather, he
wiped his brow. The rock walls were close. He had never been
claustrophobic, but this was a new level of confinement. Chris
grabbed a handful of red dirt and tossed it over his shoulder
towards Roy. “Aren’t you an asthmatic?”
Fat bastard.

A barrage of profanity splattered under
Roy’s breath. He wheezed, struggling to keep up.

Chris’ mind suddenly switched to tactical
thinking—if something came at him from the front, he would be
pretty helpless. Getting that fat ass Roy to back up would be
almost impossible and the opening was getting further and further
away. Tactically speaking, this was a position of disadvantage.
They would be better off waiting it out, or even smoking it out. At
the very least, come in with tactical gear: night vision, assault
rifles, tear gas.

Too late now.

If anything happened to him, Kate and his
two girls would lose another man of the family and not have a clue
what happened. It would break Kate. It would be the end of her.

Right now this wild-goose chase didn’t seem
to be getting him any closer to finding his son, but he was out of
options. These two crazy bastards and the Russian were his only
lead right now. He would have to put up with the craziness for a
little longer. After all, what if they were actually right?

“
Are you sure about this?”
Chris tried to turn back to look at Frank, but the small opening
restricted him. “If this collapses, we’re all dead men.”

Chris felt a nudge on his foot. That was the
only answer he was going to get. He started to move again, dragging
himself along the cave floor.

After what seemed like
hours, but was probably only about thirty minutes, the cave started
to widen. It opened up to a large cavern. Water seeped through the
rough, rock walls, forming small puddles of water amongst
the
stalagmites, protruding from the rocky
ground. Stalactites lined the cave ceiling. The fresh smell of wet
earth filled their noses. The light from their flashlights moved
around the space. Bits of rock sparkled in the light. It was awe
inspiring.

The three men stopped to
admire their surroundings.

All of a sudden, movement
caught the corner of Chris’ eye. He spun, shining the little
light.

A large snake, at least
eight feet long, slithered up the side of the cave wall. He was
startled by the massive reptile. Its massive, pale-cream body,
reddish-brown stripes and piercing, yellow eyes would be enough to
make most men run for their lives.

“
Relax,
fancy boy, it’s just a tree snake,” Frank said in a demeaning
manner.

Chris backed up a little,
even more on edge now. The snake’s scaly, slimy-looking skin gave
him a shiver. He didn’t like snakes and this was the biggest one he
had ever seen. “If it’s just a tree snake, what the hell is it
doing down here?”

Frank chuckled at Chris’
concern and pressed on, pushing past.

After a short pause, and
realizing the harmlessness of the snake, he followed the two
men.

At the other end of the
cavern, the cave split in two directions.

“
Has
anyone thought about what we should do if we actually find this
thing?” Chris questioned.

“
We take
it alive.” Frank gripped his double barrel a little tighter. His
mouth said one thing, but his body language said another. He was
fighting within himself; whether to just put a cap in its ass or
bring it home.

Frank waved his hand
forward. “Roy, go left.” He looked over to Roy. “Take the Yank.
I’ll go right.” Roy numbly obeyed.

***

Roy’s boots splashed water
up on his jeans as he walked through the small puddles. He held his
gun by one arm, pointed out in front of him. The flashlight moved
side to side down the tunnel. Chris followed behind, keeping his
distance. He didn’t want to be too close to the untrained fool with
a gun.

Every so often Chris
checked his six, making sure nothing was coming up the rear; this
was a bad situation: no recon. Blindly going into unknown
territory, against an unknown opponent.

“
Rancid?” Roy called for his dog in a subdued
voice.

Let the enemy know we’re
here, stupid. So much for a surprise attack
, Chris thought.

“
Rancid?” Roy called again.

“
Hey!
Asshole,” Chris called in a raised whisper. “Shut up! Your dog
isn’t coming back.”

Roy spun around. He didn’t
want to hear that, especially from a Yankee. He raised his gun,
pointing it at Chris’ face. “I do what I want”—real smug—”when I
want.”

Chris slid one of the
backpack straps off his shoulder, ready for a fight. Roy was more
of a liability than an asset. Something had to be done.

Roy chuckled. “What?
Whatta you gonna do about it?”

Chris slipped off the
other strap, and without warning tossed the backpack at Roy’s
face.

Distracted, Roy tried to
knock the pack aside with his arm. Chris seized the opportunity and
lunged at him, grabbing the barrel of the gun and reefing it from
Roy’s sweaty grip.

It happened so quickly and
smoothly, Roy, for a split second, was left stunned.

Chris’ left followed
quickly, striking Roy in the throat with an open hand jab, knocking
the fat bastard on his ass. Water soaked through Roy’s jeans as he
sat on the cold rocks. He gasped and coughed at the same time,
grabbing at his throat with both hands. Cold water pricked his skin
through soaked jeans.

“
Were
you teased a lot as a kid?” Chris smirked. “Jelly belly. Rolly
polly. Fat bastard.”

Roy rolled over to his
hands and knees, half waterlogged. It was the only way he could get
up. Cold water ripples licked at his sagging stomach as he
struggled to stand. He took a deep breath, trying to
recover.

“
Did you
cry yourself to sleep?” Chris continued the taunt. “Wet the bed as
a teen?”

“
Son of
a bitch wants to play rough, eh?” Roy gritted his teeth together
and got to his feet.

Stumbling a little in the
shallow water and almost completely losing his balance, he spun to
face Chris. He breathed as though he had just sprinted two hundred
meters. He shone the flashlight in Chris’ eyes. That was all he had
left.

Chris did a quick once
over of the gun, ignoring Roy. He knew guns. Not only did the
National Guard training prepare him for combat, but he hunted as a
kid with his father, eating what they caught, and he carried on
that tradition with his son. The son he may never see again.
Hopefully he would find a way to bring him home. He closed one eye,
looking down the iron sights. “Can you shine that light here for
me?”

Roy wasn’t sure what to
do. He had lost his gun in a matter of seconds. He didn’t know what
this guy was cable of.

“
Your
sights are out of alignment,” Chris continued.

Roy clenched his fingers,
making a tight first. He was pissed and this guy was toying with
him. He quickly searched the shallow water for a loose
rock
—
one he could
use to smash Chris’ face in.

While Roy looked down,
Chris moved in
,
kicking Roy in the chest with a front push kick. Water from
Chris’ boot sprayed on impact.

Roy stumbled back, arms
flapping, trying to keep balance. He landed—hard—on his back. The
cold water soaked his shirt as he lay in the pool of water.
Completely soaked and fuming.

Chris rested the gun on
the cave wall, ready for what was going to be a school-boy
brawl.

Roy slowly got back to his
feet. He wasn’t ready to give up. He was too dumb for that. He
rushed toward Chris. A wild bull. No skill. “Charge in and hope for
the best” was his motto. If he could, he would drown this American
prick and leave him down here.

As he closed in, Chris
shot forward
,
wrapping his arms around Roy’s waist. He put Roy down hard in
the pool of water, landing on top of the fat man. Chris was going
full contact, mixed martial arts style on his ass.