The Portal (A Delphi Group Thriller Book 2) (39 page)

He’d noted the direction the figure was moving and tried to put himself on the same general path. But without having the jungle as a landmark, he realized it was going to be almost impossible to stay on a straight line.

As he continued north, Zane’s thoughts turned back to the shadowy figure. He’d originally thought it was a man, but now he couldn’t be so sure. It looked small and thin, almost like a primate.
No self-respecting monkey should be running around out here,
he thought.

A few minutes later, he came to a halt. He should have caught up with the figure by now. He pivoted in several directions, squinting into the fog. Making matters worse, the humming seemed louder now, making it impossible to hear footsteps.

Where are you? Show yourself.

As Zane looked north, he saw movement about thirty or forty yards away. It was the same figure, and from this angle it appeared to be carrying something. Seconds later, it disappeared into a swirling cloud of gray.

Marking the spot, Zane sprinted forward. A minute later, he saw a dark shadow walking just ahead. The figure stopped and spun around. Zane crouched, reducing his profile.

A blanket of fog swirled in front of him. After passing, the figure was gone again.

Zane stood and began to walk, removing his Glock and chambering a round.

Suddenly his surroundings seemed strange. This part of the clearing was darker, much darker. Finally, he stopped and looked up. To his surprise, the sky was no longer visible. All he could see above him was opaque black. No stars, no moon, nothing.

He shifted his gaze slightly to the right, then to the left. The black ceiling extended in every direction.

And then it hit him…

He was standing underneath a giant craft.

“SHOULD WE TURN on our lights?” Jorge asked as he and Brett moved slowly down the path.

“No, let’s keep them off,” Brett said.

“What or who do you think he saw back there?”

“Zane?” Brett looked over at the Brazilian. “I think it was someone from the other team. I mean, who else would be out here?”

Jorge shrugged. “Chinese maybe.”

As the two continued walking in silence, Brett’s mind turned back to Zane. He wished the operative hadn’t gone off on his own. Separating the team never seemed to be a good idea. Each time they did that, trouble arose. If it was only going to take him a couple of minutes, then why not do it together?

“Did you hear that?” Jorge asked.

“Hear what?”

The Brazilian stopped, a frown spreading over his face. Brett remained perfectly still, trying to figure out what he was referring to. A few seconds later, he heard it, the soft sound of voices. There was a group of people just around the next bend in the trail.

“You hear it now?” Jorge asked.

Brett nodded, pulling out his pistol. “Let’s try to get closer.”

As they neared the bend, the voices grew louder. Whoever was speaking wasn’t very far ahead.

Finally, Brett was able to hear what one of them was saying. “We’ve waited long enough. I’m going back to look for her.”

Max.

Brett started walking and gave a low whistle. “Hey, it’s me, Brett.”

The voices grew quiet, then a flashlight clicked on. The beam bounced around before finally coming to rest on Brett’s face. He lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the light.

“Brett?” It was Amanda. “Thank goodness it’s you.”

Brett and Jorge clicked on their flashlights as the two groups walked toward each other.

“You guys were making enough noise to be heard in Sao Paulo,” Jorge said to Artur.

As the others drew near, Brett only counted four people: Amanda, Rebecca, Max, and Artur. Where were Tocchet and Katiya?

Amanda ran up to Brett and gave him a hug then pulled back. “Please tell me you’ve seen Katiya.”

“Katiya?” Brett frowned. “No, why?”

“She went back to the temple to get her radio,” Max explained. “We’ve been waiting here for her. She should’ve been back by now. We were hoping she’d somehow gotten past us.”

“She’d have been better off just leaving it,” Brett said, holding up his radio. “They’re not working anymore.”

Max shook his head.

“So tell me… what’s going on?” Amanda asked. “What was Zane trying to tell us earlier?”

After exchanging a glance with Jorge, Brett said, “We saw a craft over the summit.”

Rebecca visibly stiffened. “What did it look like?”

“It was hard to tell. Lights ran along each side. It flew south over the clearing, sweeping the area with some sort of blue beam.”

“Which way did it go?” Rebecca asked.

“The last we saw, it was moving in this direction.”

Artur frowned. “Did it land?”

“We don’t know,” Brett said. “One minute it was there, and the next it just disappeared.”

Max exhaled loudly. “Just like Katiya. Look, this is all very interesting, but I’m going back to look for her. The rest of you can stay here—”

“Wait,” Brett said, laying a hand on his shoulder. “I think I may know where she is.”

“I thought you just told us you
hadn’t
seen her,” Max said in a raised voice.

“I meant we never saw her pass us on the trail.” Brett nodded back the way they’d come. “Just a few minutes ago, Zane thought he saw someone out in the clearing.”

“Did it look like Katiya?” Max asked.

“It was hard to tell who it was because of the fog. He went to check it out and told us to keep going.”

“That has to be her,” Max said.

“I’d say that’s a good guess, but at this point—”

“Guys.” Amanda suddenly pointed at something in the distance. “I think we have something coming our way.”

Rebecca looked up and let out a little gasp.

Brett turned around. At first he looked back down the trail, then his eyes were drawn upward to something in the sky. It was several miles away but seemed to be growing larger.

As he watched, chill bumps spread across his body.

Another craft was on its way.

ZANE GAZED IN wonder at the imposing size of the craft. No matter which direction he looked, he could only see its dark metal underside. It dwarfed anything he’d ever seen, including military transport planes.

Suddenly he heard a hiss, followed by the sound of hydraulics.

He turned in the direction of the sound. Something moved through the fog. He crept closer. Someone was climbing a ramp, and they appeared to be carrying someone in their arms. And then they were gone.

Zane stood in place, confused by what he had just seen. Was it really a man? It seemed so at the time, and yet there was something odd about his shape.

What if it was someone from the other team? Zane dismissed the thought immediately. The person had left the jungle and made a beeline for the craft, which had been cloaked by the fog. Only someone with an intimate knowledge of the craft’s location could’ve done that.

He clenched his jaw as he considered what to do next. He’d promised Brett and Jorge that he’d return, but only if it turned out to be nothing. This was something. He had also seen someone in the man’s arms. The question of who it might be disturbed him.

Throwing caution to the wind, Zane sprinted forward. Soon the ramp came into view. It was wider than he’d expected. He looked toward the top, but the view was obscured by swirling fog.

He placed a foot on its surface then stopped. A distant sound reached his ears, causing him to turn his head slightly. It sounded like the drone of an engine. The noise grew louder, indicating it was moving in the direction of the summit.
Was it another craft?
If so, then he needed to move quickly. He turned and mounted the ramp. He drew his gun, mindful that someone might be waiting for him above. Who knew, perhaps the whole thing had been staged to draw him here.

He paused near the top. Just a few yards ahead, the ramp entered the craft through something that looked like a pane of glass, and yet he could tell it wasn’t glass. He frowned. The substance didn’t seem real. It was like opaque glass that shimmered, sparkled, and moved.

Zane extended his hand. Just as his fingers neared the strange material, he paused. Would touching it set off an alarm? There was only one way to find out, so he thrust his hand forward. To his utter shock, his hand slipped through easily. It felt like water was sliding down his fingers, then his wrist, and finally his forearm. It was a membrane, some sort of futuristic entry panel.

Sensing it was safe, Zane stepped all the way through and found himself standing in a room that seemed like a bay. It was dimly lit, the only luminescence coming from several circular lights sunken into the floor.

Zane cast his eyes around. The space was not large, but it rose high into the air, perhaps the equivalent of several stories.

Suddenly he sensed movement above. Zane looked up, wondering if he should raise his weapon. A moment later, something descended out of the darkness, sliding down the wall. It had the appearance of a futuristic elevator car. Seconds later, it reached the floor and stopped. Zane raised his pistol, but nothing emerged.

He moved toward it slowly. The capsule was constructed mostly of metal, save for a door facing him that seemed to be made of the same strange substance he had walked through only moments before.

“Let’s see where this baby goes,” Zane said softly, stepping through the pane.

As he’d expected, the interior was empty. As he looked around, a panel slowly lit on the opposite wall. He stepped closer and examined the long, vertical screen. On it were a series of strange characters that ran from top to bottom. The one at the bottom was blinking.

He touched the second button from the bottom, and the capsule moved upward. It took off so fast that Zane almost toppled over. Moments later, it stopped, and the door facing the wall slid open. A dark corridor loomed beyond. Zane leaned forward, but he couldn’t see or hear anything in either direction.

Remembering the car had originally come from one of the upper levels, Zane pulled back inside and hit the fourth character from the bottom. The capsule took off again then stopped a few seconds later. This time Zane stepped out when the door opened.

The corridor he found himself in was mostly dark. Just like the bay, it was dimly lit with small red lights sunken into the floor. For reasons he couldn’t explain, he turned right and began walking. He soon saw a corridor branching off to the left. After glancing down it briefly, he continued straight ahead.

The hallway seemed to go on forever.
This thing is the size of a battleship.

About a minute later, a doorway appeared just ahead. Hearing no sounds, Zane stepped through and stopped. After his eyes adjusted, he could see he was standing at the top of a flight of stairs leading down into a cavernous chamber. At first he saw nothing in the dark interior, then his eyes picked up a faint flicker of light in the distance.

Zane descended the stairs cautiously. When he reached the bottom, he stepped out into the room. Soon more details emerged. He quickly saw that the far wall was not a wall at all; it was a V-shaped pane of dark glass.

A windshield.

Just below it were two strangely contoured seats. A long console ran between them, and just above that was the light he’d seen from above. Strangely, it seemed to hover in midair. Intrigued, he crossed the room and approached the glow. As he drew within a few feet, he realized it was a floating hologram. He also saw that the light was actually an intricate design on the globe’s surface. Zane leaned forward then stopped. His pulse quickened as he found himself staring at a 3D representation of the earth. It was so realistic that it gave the appearance of a real-time video.

Zane bent closer and marveled at the amazing technology. The oceans seemed to shimmer, and a few of the scattered clouds seemed to move ever so slightly.
It must be some sort of navigation system,
he thought. As he reached out to touch it, Zane heard a noise behind him. He turned, and at the same time, he backed away from the light of the hologram. He lifted his Glock and stared toward the back of the bridge, watching for movement. For the first time, he noticed that a doorway stood just behind the base of the stairs. The sound had seemed to come from there.

He slowly crossed over to the entryway. Just beyond was a corridor that looked like the one he’d come down earlier. He wanted to go back and examine the globe, but he knew he needed to investigate the sound. Someone might be in danger.

After passing through the door, Zane walked slowly down the hall. About a minute later, he saw a long window running down the right-hand wall. He stepped up to the edge then eased forward. A large room slid into view beyond the glass. Like the rest of the ship, it was mostly dark, but he could see that it was filled with rows of linen-covered gurneys. Situated next to each one was an instrument tower with a number of futuristic-looking knobs and screens. The whole scene reminded him of a hospital ward.

One of the instrument towers on the far end of the room was giving off ambient light. As Zane turned that way, chill bumps spread over both of his arms. Two figures were moving in and out of the light. They seemed oddly familiar, but the distance was too great to discern any details.

Desiring a better look, Zane squatted and crab-walked down the hall, keeping his head just under the bottom edge of the glass. Moments later, a doorway appeared ahead. Not surprisingly, it was covered by another membrane panel.

Should he enter? Zane knew he had little choice but to go in. It was obvious the creatures were working on someone, likely the same person he’d seen being carried on board. It was also obvious that person had been brought there against their will.

After taking a deep breath, Zane carefully eased through the panel. Once inside, he quickly crawled over to one of the gurneys. As he settled into place, he heard a strange series of monotone clicks, almost like radio static that had been slowed down to the point where the individual bursts of noise could be heard.

Zane bent lower and stared through the tangle of metal legs and wheels. The creatures were to the left in the far corner of the room. Somehow he needed to get closer.