A Different Landing

Chapter-27

Miller led the forward guard through the cold metal hall till they reached what he realized was a decontamination room. It felt foreign and wrong to be inside metal walls, the air was a mix of the filtered dry air of the mountain and the stench of the tunnels. It reminded him of the ark, of things he tried to forget about, like his father and his friends. It was all gone, but here in this mountain it was like he was seventeen and in the skybox again. The sick stench of the tunnels following them into the dry air of the mountain let him keep his head from getting lost in memories.

There were two doors leading out of the decontamination room, the large block letters CERBERUS above the door on the right was a helpful indicator of where it led. He leads the group to the left hand door after grabbing a warrior's arm and gesturing to the Cerberus door. "Guard it." He ordered quietly. Seeing a camera, he hurled a knife into it. They didn't have long before the mountain realized they'd been breached. Destroying the camera's may alert them earlier, but it kept at least their numbers from being discovered.

Once at the door, he stepped to the side, standing guard as Monty popped the electrical lock off and pulled out wires. He was tense, standing listening for even the barest hint of noise, the first clue they've been discovered. However, all was silent except for the breathing of the warriors around him. Raven broke the uneasy silence as they waited for Monty to break through the electrical locking system without accidentally triggering anything.

"We should be prepared for the alarm to go off once we breach this door." She says seriously.

"What do you mean ice girl?" Indra hisses nervously.

Raven gestures to the door. "This room is designed for having radiation filtered out before they enter the mountain. Once we get through that door, you can bet anything they'll have a way to detect if there is any radiation leaking in with the air that comes in when the door opens."

Miller hissed under his breath, realizing she was right. This was the airlock, if the mountain functioned like the ark had, it would automatically shut itself down as soon as the tainted air made it past this door. Looking at Raven seriously, he asked, "Is there anything we can do?"

She shook her head. "Just move quickly. We need to find a generator, the missile silos, or the oxygen system to blow."

"I've got it." Monty interrupted. He glanced up from where he was crouched. "Ready?"

"Do it." Indra ordered.

Miller felt a swell of pride and fear as he saw Monty turn and connect two wires causing the door to unlock. He grabbed the edge and shoved. The door swung open, he and the advance guard rushed in, prepared to cut down any mountain men in their way. However, there were no mountain men only hundreds of cages with their people in them, stripped down to bandages, dark circles under their eyes. He found himself choking at the horror of this room. Chancing a look at the general's horrified and frozen form, he moved his gaze to Monty. They'd all stopped in pure horror at this room. Of course, that's when the alarms went off, blaring loudly and red lights flashing. The mountain knew they were here.

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Six months ago:

Brady stared in awe as they rode into the capitol. He clung to Klark's back as he sat behind her in the saddle. The people had come out cheering for their returning hero, the people's general. He saw the sea of blue and felt his heart thud in his chest at the sight. He'd never thought he'd be in the presence of greatness, let alone be the second of someone like Klark, but here he was. It had taken weeks of following her around, begging to learn how to heal others the way she had healed him before she had relented and agreed to train him, but he'd succeeded. It hadn't been long after he had become her second, when Klark was called to war and there was nothing else for him to do but follow her. The war had been brutal but he'd watched Klark win victory after victory. What had impressed him the most though was joining her after the battles as she healed the injured. It had been a long bloody war but here he was now accompanying her to announce Azgeda's greatest victory since the forming of the coalition.