The Sixth Level (6 page)

My eyeballs nearly popped out of my skull. "Excuse me? You what? You want me to come with you? You want me to go back there?"

"Yes."

"With you and what army? Who do you even work for?"

"I can’t tell you that."

"Is it a secret branch of the government? Or some multi-national pharmaceutical company?"

"Look, all I can tell you is that we need you. And we need to save Maria."

"You don’t need me. You probably know the city better than I do."

"But you know where they would hide. You know where they would go. You know how they think. But more importantly when we do make contact with them and trust me we will find them and make contact, we need you there with us. We need you to show them they can trust us, to let them know we’re the good guys."

It was clear now. It all made sense. Daniel and his team needed me there to show my friends that they could be trusted. I was their ace in the hole. The military hadn’t even thought of using me like that.

"We’re flying into New Zealand," he explained. "From there we’ll fly into Australia. Once the dust storm clears we’ll be taking a chopper into Sydney. Our employer has a lot of resources. A lot of capital. If we can secure the target, if we can rescue Maria and deliver her safely, not only will we be saving the human race from extinction, but we’ll be rich. Don't get me wrong I'm not just doing this for the money, but I’m also not trying to hide the fact that money is a big motivator. This could set us up for life. All of us."

I suddenly had this image of chilling out on a beach in Hawaii with my friends. It was nice.

It’s funny how only a few days ago, the only thing in the world I wanted was to get back into Sydney and be with my friends. But now, after grieving for them, and trying my hardest to move on and seeing that God forsaken footage. I'm not entirely sure I wanted to go back.

I was too damn scared.

I made eye contact with Daniel. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"You don't. But I'm your only ticket into Australia."

"And you're going in either way? With or without me?"

"Yes. But it would be a huge help if you were there. We can guarantee your safety."

"How? How the hell are you gonna keep me safe? You saw what happened to the Special Forces team."

"We’re the best at what we do."

"What about the infected?"

"We’ll be wearing the latest generation NBC’s."

"NBC’s?"

"Nuclear Biological Chemical suits. You'll be perfectly safe from infection. These suits are designed for operation in the harshest conditions. Plus the latest models run on a type of kinetic energy power system. It increases strength tenfold. You could take on a grizzly bear in one of these bad boys if you had to. Believe me. You’ll be safe."

"Why didn't the rescue team have these suits?"

"Too expensive. Like I said before, our employer has a lot of capital."

I collapsed back in the bed. I wanted to hide under the covers and suffocate myself with the pillows. What good would I be in that kind of environment? Would I just get in the way? I’d be useless wouldn't I?

No. Maybe not. Maybe they did need me. Maybe I really was their ace in the hole. If and when they found my friends, they needed me there. They needed me so my friends didn’t run away.

"OK," I whispered. "I'm in."

"Good," he said as he turned the computer off. "We're leaving in one hour."

Chapter 4

I realized at that moment just how little I actually owned. I had next to no possessions. I reached over to the bedside table and opened the top drawer. Hidden underneath the hotel’s copy of the bible was the letter that Kenji had given to me back in Sydney when we trying to secure the casino building in Darling Harbor. Back when we thought we had a chance of hiding out there for a few days.

I still hadn’t read the letter. I don’t know why. Maybe it was because I was scared. Maybe it was because I was afraid it would be too painful, that it would make everything more real, that it would make it harder to let him go if I needed to.

But I guess it was the only thing that I really owned, my only possession. And now that I thought about it, it was the only actual bit of evidence that Kenji ever existed, the only proof that we knew each other.

I couldn’t leave it here. Where would I even keep it? The penthouse safe? Under the pillow? This wasn’t my home. I guess I didn’t really have home. So I decided to take it with me. Maybe sometime soon I'll work up the courage to read it.

I didn’t know where to put it but I remember Kenji said he carried it in his top pocket so it would be with him all the time, wherever he went, right next to his heart. I didn’t have a top pocket so I shoved it down my bra just as Daniel walked into the room.

"You ready?" he asked.

I looked inside my bag one more time. Toothbrush, undies and socks. Check, check and check. "Yeah, I think so."

"No, I don't mean your bag. I mean you. Are you ready?"

In an instant, the apocalyptic scene of Sydney Harbor flashed through my head: the twisted grey iron of the bridge and its support structures, the water turned red with blood and choked with bodies. "I know what's at stake," I said. "I know what I'm doing."

And this is what I've wanted since I made it back, I thought to myself. Ever since I heard Kenji’s call for help. This is what I’ve wanted. This is what I’ve needed.

We left the luxury of the penthouse and rode the elevator down to the lobby as soothing music played over the speakers. When the doors slid open we quickly realized that we wouldn’t be able to simply walk out the front door. The lobby was chaos. A small army of soldiers were lined up at the entrance keeping back a crowd of reporters trying to push their way in. The soldiers and even some of the hotel staff were trying desperately to barricade the door. Now the paparazzi really did remind me of the infected.

"What the hell’s going on?" I asked.

"Congratulations, Rebecca. You're famous."

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It’s like the photographers had lost their minds. I didn’t know it would get this bad. I hadn’t even considered it would be a possibility. I just wanted to let people know what was happening. I never thought I'd become a celebrity.

There was no way we could leave through the front door. So we made our way to the kitchen, to the back exit but there were reporters out there too. One guy had actually made it in to the kitchen. The chef was yelling at him, pointing a wooden soup spoon at him, telling him to get out. The photographer ignored the threat. He had his camera up to his face and started snapping away. Then another guy came up behind him, pushing his way through. But this guy didn’t have a camera.

He shoulder barged the photographer out of the way. He had a knife in his hand and a crazy, fearful look in his eyes. He pointed the blade at me and shouted something about me being a devil or a demon or an angel of death. I can’t remember exactly what he said because the next thing I knew he lunged at me with the knife.

Luckily he didn’t get very far.

Daniel grabbed the guy’s arm and snapped it backwards. He grabbed his wrist and twisted it. I heard a loud crack, like a tree branch breaking off in a violent storm. The guys jaw dropped, his mouth was wide open in shock. He choked on the pain and fell to his knees.

Daniel reached over to the photographer who had been pushed to the side. He was too stunned to even take photos now. Daniel unbuckled the photographer’s belt and whipped it off. He tied my attacker's hands behind his back. Daniel pushed him to the ground and dug his knee into the guy’s spine. The attacker’s elbows and shoulders were bent way past the normal range of movement. He was screaming in pain. "Stop! Stop! You're hurting me!"

"Good," Daniel replied as he picked up the knife off the ground and handed it to one of the chefs.

He then grabbed the camera from the photographer; he took out the memory stick and snapped it in half. Then he took me by the hand. "Come on. We’re going up to the roof."

We got back in the elevator and took it up to the top floor as Daniel made a call on his phone. "Change of plans," he said to I'm not sure who. "We need a pick up from the roof ASAP."

We got off on the top floor and made our way up the fire escape to the roof. There was a helicopter waiting for us. I guess he was talking to the pilot before. As soon as we were safely inside, the chopper climbed quickly and banked sharply. I could see the bright lights of LAX airport and its runways not far off. But to my surprise we started to fly in the opposite direction.

Daniel handed me some large oversized head phones so I could hear him speak.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Technically, that's classified."

"Don't give me that crap."

"We're going to the Mojave Desert. There’s a jet waiting for us."

"Oh. So I gather we're not flying commercial?"

"No."

"Will we have more leg room?"

"Not really. But we’ll be flying at about sixteen times the speed of sound. So we should arrive in New Zealand in about an hour."

"One hour?" I asked in disbelief. "From here all the way to New Zealand?"

"Yeah."

"All the way across the Pacific Ocean, to the other side of the world in sixty minutes?"

"Yeah. It's a hypersonic jet. What it lacks in leg room and in-flight movies, it makes up for in speed. Ridiculous speed."

"Woah."

"Oh, and you can't tell anyone about it. Technically this jet doesn't exist. There are other ones like it but they're not as fast and they don't have stealth capabilities. Or nuclear payloads."

"OK, you’re kinda scaring me now. Is this thing safe?"

"Depends."

"Depends on what?"

"Whose side you’re on."

Thirty minutes later we landed in the Mojave Desert in the pitch black of night, under a chandelier of stars.

The helicopter pilot shook hands with Daniel. "Good luck, soldier. The X-wing is prepped and ready for takeoff."

Daniel nodded.

"X wing?" I asked. "Like, from Star Wars?"

Daniel laughed. "No. The jet has an experimental wing design. And it’s top secret. It doesn’t really have a name yet so everyone just calls it the X-wing."

Daniel opened the cabin door and stepped out. He motioned for me to follow. I dropped out of the cabin and Daniel caught me and helped me down. I could barely see anything it was so dark. And I could barely hear anything thanks to the roar of the engine and the rotor blades. Daniel led me away from the helicopter and when we were maybe fifty yards away, the chopper took off and disappeared into the night sky.

The hypersonic jet was sitting there in the dark desert, waiting for us. I couldn’t see it clearly but it looked like a giant, black arrow head.

We climbed up, into the cabin area. Daniel sat me down and buckled me in. "I can do this, you know. I'm a big girl."

"Sorry, I’m just making sure everything is secure."

"Relax. Maybe you should worry about your own seat belt."

"I won’t be sitting back here."

"Got a first class ticket do you?"

"No. I'll be in the cockpit. I’ll be your pilot this evening."

"Say what?"

"I’m the pilot."

 
"You can fly?"

"Well no, I can't fly," he said jokingly. "But I can pilot a plane. Or a hypersonic jet, or a helicopter."

"Very funny," I replied completely unamused. "So tell me, how did you find the time to get your pilot’s license?"

"It pays to be multi-skilled in my line of work."

"But is this like, normal procedure?"

"No. Usually I prep the jet myself. I hate having someone else do it. But we're running short on time."

"Seriously though, shouldn't we have a real pilot for a mission like this?"

"I am a real pilot."

"You know what I mean. I mean a full time pilot."

"Just relax. We'll be on the other side of the planet and back on solid ground before you know it. If you need anything just use this phone on the wall here."

Daniel finished adjusting the straps on my safety harness and then he disappeared into the cockpit. A few seconds later the engines roared to life, sending a deep shudder through the cabin.

I began to feel like I was on a roller coaster. I felt like we were at that moment just before the big dip. A few more seconds passed and the jet began to accelerate for takeoff. I was pushed back into my seat. My stomach dropped as the jet pointed its nose towards the dark heavens and took off.

And then we were on our way; flying off into the night for the other side of the world at sixteen times the speed of sound. It was fast. Too fast. But there was no turning back now.

"This is what I want," I whispered to myself as I gripped the armrests of my seat. "This is what I need to do."