Beneath the Veil Read online

  “What the hell?”

  Silently, a doorway opened within the circle and hovered a few feet in front of him. Inside was the interior of a vessel. A soldier appeared and aimed an odd looking device at him.

  “Jackson?” Doc said, sitting on a cot next to him. The lights had gone out a second time and when they came back on, Jackson was in the cell with him.

  “What happened?” Jackson asked, still groggy.

  “You were out for a few hours. You’ll be alright. It takes a few minutes to shake off.”

  “Where are we?”

  “Underground, in the Rhodes mine. In some type of military base.”

  Doc helped steady him as he climbed to his feet.

  “They snatched me from the overlook. They came right up on me in some kind of craft.”

  “What was it, Jackson?”

  “I’m not sure. It was invisible until they opened the door. Then a soldier shot me with something and I woke up here.”

  C H A P T E R S E V E N T Y - T W O

  “Major Downs, just relax and let the medication take affect,” a medic said.

  The woman puffed what felt like air onto Jimmy’s temples. Within moments, his thoughts realigned and he remembered the crash that brought him to Auraria. He wasn’t flying the old Lockheed turboprop he recalled. It was something different, something highly advanced. Memories and images flashed in his head as he struggled weakly against the restraints holding him to an examination table. The room around him was impossibly modern, but so familiar. A man in a grey suit entered and motioned for the medic to leave. He removed a silver object from his pocket and placed it against Jimmy’s temple. He felt a charge rush through him as the numbness left his body.

  “No use for sedation, Major. We are old friends now, aren’t we?”

  The man waved the object over the restraints holding Jimmy’s arms in place. They uncoupled silently from the smooth metallic surface of the table. He looked at his wrists. Two thin black rings surrounded both of them. He sat up and tried to move his legs, but his ankles were still pinned to the table.

  “What do you want from us?”

  “Us?” the man laughed. “You must remember more than that by now, soldier.”

  The man’s name flashed into his mind. Maxwell. The man’s name was Victor Maxwell.

  “I remember...some things. Where’s Doc?”

  “He’s detained along with the other fellow you left on the overlook. You and your friends have created quite a mess, Major. Your timing is impressive, however. You got out of the way just in time.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “This observation post has been active for close to a hundred years, but its time to wind things down. We are going to destroy it all. Flood the entire valley.”

  “You don’t understand this place,” Jimmy said. “A….thing called Evangeline is after us and she’s very dangerous.”

  “Oh my, I see you really are struggling, Major. You must have been beneath the veil too long. Maybe this will help.”

  Maxwell crossed the room and waved the metal object in front of a block wall which shimmered then transformed into a large screen. An enclosure appeared on the screen and inside was a translucent creature sealed in a cocoon of vaporous material. Jimmy recognized the creature immediately. They called it Eva and she was the last of her kind.

  C H A P T E R S E V E N T Y - T H R E E

  Doc braced himself when the lights went out in the cell. He felt something cool on his face and then lost consciousness. He woke on the ground in front of the cabin with Jackson lying nearby. It was early morning and the ground was covered with an icy dew.

  “Doc, you alright?” Jackson said, helping him to his feet.

  “Thanks,” he answered, dusting himself off. “Where’s Jimmy?”

  “I haven’t seen him since you two left for the mine.”

  Doc walked to the cabin and tried the door, but found it was locked. Before he could knock, the door was unbolted and Willow stood in the doorway staring up at them. Jackson walked inside and found Jen sleeping in front of the crackling remains of a fire. He kissed her forehead, waking her.

  “When did you get back?” she asked.

  “We just arrived,” Jackson answered.

  “I didn’t hear you drive up. I must have been really out of it.”

  He turned and shot a glance at Doc.

  “We didn’t drive back.”

  She saw the look on his face. “Jackson, what happened? Where’s Jimmy?”

  “They took him.”

  “Who took him?”

  “Soldiers...soldiers took him. They held us for a while, too.”

  “Where are these soldiers?” she asked. “Maybe they can help us?”

  “Those men won’t help you,” Willow said, walking across the room.

  “Do you know these men, Willow?” Doc asked.

  “Yes, I know them. They created Evangeline and she created the monsters.”

  “But how? How is this possible?” Doc asked.

  “The limits of possibility would amaze you,” she answered.

  “But how do you know them?” Doc demanded.

  “These men and others like them have been here for a long time, scurrying like vermin in the shadows of the mine. It began when Ezra made a discovery in the valley past Mills Creek.”

  “What did he discover?” Jen asked.

  “He discovered me,” she answered.

  C H A P T E R S E V E N T Y - F O U R

  “Let me see her,” Jimmy demanded.

  “Now that wouldn’t be a good idea would it, Major? Considering what happened last time.” Maxwell’s lips curled in a grin that exposed crooked bottom teeth.

  Jimmy watched the creature displayed on the monitor, it was she who had sent him out to help the others. But Maxwell and his men had been ready. They shot down his craft, used the veil to scramble his mind and then placed him into service as a test subject. Maxwell walked to the monitor, waved the device and the vivid image was replaced by a drab green block wall.

  “Major Downs, luckily for you, the Greyforce Corporation is willing to overlook your digressions. The matter, if turned over to the military courts, will surely result in a court-martial. But we are willing to forget this entire incident and reactivate your contract in good standing.” Maxwell twirled the silver object between his fingers and stared at him.

  “Why would you be willing to do that?”

  “Because you are going to help us.”

  “Help you do what?”

  “Kill Evangeline. We have lost control of her.”

  “Disconnect the mainline feed from Eva,” Jimmy said.

  “We did that already. It had no effect. Evangeline has become autonomous and is drawing her power from the veil itself,” Maxwell answered.

  “Then shut down the veil,” Jimmy said. “It’s the only way.”

  “We intend to as soon as you are in a position to eliminate her. We plan to power down the southern terminus for three minutes, the same procedure used for quarterly shift changes. Using the survivors from the camp, we will lure Evangeline south and ambush her without exposing the outside world to any ill effects.”

  “Leave the others out of it,” Jimmy demanded. “Those are my terms.”

  “Alright, you can face her alone if you please.” Maxwell walked over and released Jimmy’s ankles from the table with a swipe of the silver object which now encased his index finger like a chrome coating. He then raised his hand in a mocking salute. “Good-bye, Major.”

  Jimmy left the room and walked towards the weapons bay. The corridor was empty, but he knew he was being watched. He slowed as he passed the lab where Eva was held and thought for a moment about bursting inside. He knew he’d be stopped immediately, having given up the element of surprise years earlier when he stole a craft and went AWOL. A brief interaction with Eva had forced him to take action when she imparted a view of the future he couldn’t accept.

  He walked
into the weapons bay and slipped a metal tube over his finger. He generated a computer screen on the stone wall and scrolled through a virtual arsenal, creating any device he needed. As the weapons appeared on the screen, he reached in and retrieved them. The technology on the base was unknown to the world at large and only understood by a few within the military elite. These elite included the Greyforce Corporation, an international powerhouse controlling much of the world’s chemicals, minerals, polymers, fibers and fertilizer supplies. When he signed on with the company as a civilian contractor, he was trained on technology a hundred millennia ahead of anything he had ever seen before.

  Initially, he was thrilled to pilot the incredible machines created on the base. The chance to experience such technological magic was exhilarating and he accepted the risks. But he couldn’t accept what Greyforce planned for this technology stolen from the indigenous people of the area, the last of which was Eva.

  C H A P T E R S E V E N T Y - F I V E

  Willow stepped away from the others and looked towards the room where the children slept. She didn’t want to frighten them. A vortex of air and swirling vapor began to form inside the cabin causing Doc to stumble back against the wall. Jackson shielded Jen from points of light sparking within the vapor as Willow took a translucent humanoid form.

  “Do not fear me. This is what I really am,” she said, in a high ringing voice.

  Energy pulsed through the room causing their clothing to pop with a static charge. Doc moved closer to her swirling form.

  “What do you want of us?”

  With a sudden compression of air, she returned to the form of a little girl.

  “I want to set you free,” she said, in a small child’s voice. “Something terrible is coming that will wash this place away and bury it forever.”

  “What do you mean?” Jen asked.

  “Gather everyone together. We need to travel a great distance in a short matter of time,” Willow answered.

  Jen ran to the bedroom to wake Marie and the children. They were huddled together on the tiny bed with their small faces pressed into worn blankets dreaming of people and places lost.

  “Marie, wake up, we need to go,” Jen said, shaking her shoulder.

  Marie woke and gathered the children’s things. Life in the camp had taught her to move quickly without unnecessary questions. In this world, delay could mean the life of her children. They scurried into the living room, pulling on shoes and coats as they went. Doc and Jackson poured the remaining fuel from a five gallon can into the van. Willow waited silently on the porch until Tonya reached out and grabbed her hand.

  “Come, we have to go,” Tonya said. Willow smiled and followed her into the van. Jackson turned and did a headcount, then drove out to the main road and headed south.

  C H A P T E R S E V E N T Y - S I X

  Jimmy entered an underground hanger and walked to a gleaming control console. A dozen soldiers surrounding the room watched as his silver tipped finger hovered over a holographic screen. With a wave, a spot in the room begin to swirl and then a diaphanous craft took shape. He waved his finger again and a doorway appeared, hovering a few feet above the floor. With just a thought and Eva’s machine, he created a craft with unimaginable capabilities. Years before, it was his commanding officer who showed him the technology for the first time.

  “Creates this stuff outta nothing,” Colonel Stevenson said.

  But, that wasn’t true at all. He soon learned the device wouldn’t work with the operator alone in the hanger. With a few men present, the device worked, but took a terrible toll. Some men died instantly, while others suffered brain lesions. The brass realized they needed at least a dozen troops in the room each time the device was activated to spread the effects. The unsuspecting soldiers were told they were on a classified security detail. After a handful of exposures, headaches and memory loss would follow and the men were rotated off the base left with only hazy recollections.

  Jimmy watched the soldiers’ faces as the magic happened and the craft appeared. The men stood at attention staring straight ahead, but later that night the strains of the device would manifest. He tried to avoid eye contact with a young soldier nearest him as he walked to the craft. When he stepped into the craft he stumbled through the floating doorway with his senses twisted. The inside of the ship was visible, but the outside was unseen. Once inside, he waved a hand and closed the opening. Although unnecessary, he was taught to control his thoughts using the hand gestures as an aid. The inside of the ship was plain and somewhat dated, created from images within his own mind. Each pilot experienced the technology differently and the craft could only be operated by one man. Any more, and the flood of conflicting thoughts would cause it to malfunction, crash or simply vanish.

  In the 1950s, a B-52 crew was brought in to attempt to fly a larger craft. The crew managed to generate the machine and take off, but in-flight, the machine disappeared from under them and they fell to their deaths. Undaunted, Greyforce tried again, this time with the men outfitted with parachutes and oxygen. The results were even worse when the craft morphed into a smaller vessel. Only the pilot survived, returning to the ground with the craft full of crushed bodies.

  Jimmy sat behind the controls of the craft, which like the hand gestures, were unneeded. He, like most of the other pilots, preferred to fly in a manner familiar to them. His cockpit resembled the old Cessna he learned to fly on. He engaged the throttle and levitated a few feet above the ground, pulled back on the stick, and the craft passed straight through the stone ceiling.

  In an instant, he was travelling high above blue tinged mountains with green forest stretching in all directions below. The black circle tattooed on the land was far behind. It felt good to fly again, free for a little while. But he knew his wondrous craft could only go as far as the veil would let it. If he attempted to escape, the results would be harsh.

  “Major, head south. The target is on the move,” Maxwell’s voice cracked through the radio. “I repeat the target is on the move.”

  “Affirmative,” he responded. But Jimmy had no intention of following orders. In a flash, he raced to the airspace over the cabin and then landed in a field of yellow grass. He jumped out of the ship and ran into the empty cabin. The only sign of the others was Katie’s doll lying on the porch. He stopped to pick it up and then ran back to the waiting craft.

  C H A P T E R S E V E N T Y - S E V E N

  “Turn here, Jackson,” Willow said.

  The van bounced onto a pitted dirt road with overgrown fields surrounding it. A barren tree was bent over the road with its empty branches reaching skyward. A round symbol was etched into the trunk of the tree.

  “She has come this way,” Willow said.

  “Evangeline?” Jen asked.

  “Yes, she is near,” Willow answered.

  “Then shouldn’t we be going the other way?” Jackson asked.

  Jen spun around to look at Willow sitting in the seat behind her. “Who is she to you?”

  “She is part of me,” Willow answered.

  “I don’t understand,” Jen said.

  “I am the last of a civilization that lived on this planet long before humankind. We left a gift for the future, a time capsule if you will, containing our technology and one of our own. I volunteered to be sealed inside a chamber meant to be discovered by an advanced and enlightened civilization. However, it was discovered quite accidently by Ezra Rhodes who set off an explosion deep in the mine that released the seal on the chamber.”

  Willow stopped for a moment and looked out the window.

  “Willow, please continue,” Doc said.

  “When Ezra first entered the chamber it was his thoughts that drove the device to create many of the things you have seen. The machine was designed to regenerate me as an ambassador to the future in the image of the local people. Instead, I was split into two forms, Evangeline and Willow. Both based on images within Ezra’s conflicted mind. Evangeline projected the greed, despair and
paranoia in his animal brain while I represented the better parts of him.”

  “How do those soldiers factor into this?” Doc asked.

  “Rumors of strange happenings spread and your government became aware of Ezra’s find,” Willow answered. “The military took control of the technology, set up an observation post within the mine and shielded this town from the outside world. Beneath this veil, they have enjoyed the freedom to experiment with the technology using the people of this area. They soon learned that the technology had value beyond its ability to generate matter from thought, it could also be used in other ways.”

  “To turn people into monsters,” Doc said, sadly.

  “Yes,” Willow agreed. “But they did not predict the outcomes and managed to set free a chain of events that they could not control.”

  “Evangeline,” Doc said.

  “And me.”

  She turned her focus back to the road. “Turn here, Jackson.”

  Jackson steered the van onto an uneven gravel drive.

  “I know this place,” Jen said.

  “It’s our place,” Daniel added from the back seat as the cottage came into view.

  Jackson parked the van next to the house where Daniel had hidden his sisters.

  “Why are we here?” Jen asked.

  “Because, this is where it will end.”

  Willow opened the side door of the van and climbed out. “Please take the children and find a place to hide.”

  Jen and Daniel led the group into the cottage. The kitchen was destroyed from the last attack and the door to the basement hung from a single hinge across the opening. Jackson grabbed the door and cleared the path. Daniel found two lanterns on a shelf in the ransacked living room and then led the way down the dark stairway. They reached the basement and found it as they had left it with the heavy door that had once protected them lying on the floor of the storeroom.

  Doc placed a lantern on the floor while Jackson righted an overturned table. They heard footsteps above them and then the creak of the wooden steps that led to the basement. Marie rushed the children into the storeroom. With guns drawn, Jackson and Doc approached the stairs and found Willow descending in the darkness.