Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The Zyrians Cometh

     Stan Winston walked down the long dark hall which led to the conference room, where the council were waiting for him. And as he entered through the doors, Morane stood up from his seat to greet the android. "So glad you could join us", he smiled as he twiddled a cigar between his chubby fingers. "Please, have a seat".

"I've come just as you requested", Stan replied. "Although I am quite unclear of the reason".
Morane plopped himself back into his chair and held the cigar close to his lips. "Well, the boys and I were just having a nice little discussion about you". -"I see", Stan said.
"Would you mind sharing the details?"

     "Of course", Morane replied. "The discussion was about your current performance so far, and how we feel you could use some improvements".
- "I'm afraid I don't quite understand", Stan replied. "What exactly do you mean by improvements?" "Well that's the gist of it, Stan" Morane said. "You mentioned to me something about a secret the AMF are keeping from us, and well your lack of information isn't helping worth a damn".

     "I've already tried to obtain the information", Stan explained. "But so far none of the humans have been cooperative". Morane let out a low disappointed sigh. "You aren't violent and forceful enough", he exclaimed. "You could so much more, but you choose not to, why is that?"
-"I am afraid I do not have the answer to that", Stan replied. "It's those damn soldiers isn't it? Morane snapped. "You've been around them so long, you've forgotten your god damned purpose".

"I can assure you that, I have not forgotten my purpose", Stan sighed. "I know that I must find a way to obtain that information, and I'll do it just to prove to you and the council, that I'm not useless". -"You're a machine, Stan", Morane smirked. "You can't possibly feel for those humans, as you are incapable of feeling at all."
"They mean nothing to me", Stan replied. "They are only fooled by this human guise, unaware of what I really am, or rather what I am capable of".
"Glad to know", Morane said. "But still, we're going to give you few adjustments."
-"I understand", Stan said.
"Take him to the lab", Morane instructed to his guards. "I've had enough of this bullshit".

--AMF Tech Lab--

     Justin Church had reported to commander Williams as ordered, only he had been a few hours late. When he arrived he noticed that she and a couple others were getting suited up for the mission. "I'm late", he announced as he made an entrance. "And for that, I apologize".
Lynne had finished zipping up her space suit, and gathering important equipment. "Well consider yourself lucky", she replied. "The rest of the team headed out there two hours ago to set up the main equipment and start the tunneling process". -"So, you waited for me?" he asked.
- "Well of course", she nodded. "I knew you'd be late, and besides I had to input some data into the computer which would of been time consuming".

     "Are you sure, it's not because you like me?" he said with a flirtatious smile.
Lynne just shook her head and began testing her helmet's communication system.
"Well", she said. "This appears to be working properly". Then she looked over at Justin. "Make sure yours is in working order before we head out there". Justin zipped up his suit and then began fiddling with his helmets system. "Couldn't we have gotten slimmer suits?" he joked. "These make us look ridiculously fat". -"Sorry", she responded. "Had to stick with something within Atlantech's budget". "Those cheap bastards", Justin remarked. "Are they funding the other equipment as well?" Lynne nodded. "Atlantech and co are secretly behind all operations of this project". "Good thing their technology is reliable then", he added.

     The automated transportation vehicle arrived, and they began loading the rest of the supplies before taking off. "That's the last of the heavy stuff", Justin announced as he climbed into the back to have a seat. "Well, then I guess we're off", Lynne added as she joined him.
As the vehicle started up, and began heading to the destination, Lynne quickly got up and began tying the boxes of supplies down to secure and prevent them from falling out.

"Exactly how long is this ride?" Justin asked her. She took her seat and fastened her seatbelt.
"I'd say five minutes or less", she replied. "Not counting the time it will take to unload and set up all the equipment". Justin let out a bored sigh. "This better be worth it", he said.
"Would you rather be involved in a war?" she joked. "At least you know you'll be safe out there". -"Yeah, that's for sure", he nodded. "Unless your discovery turns out to be a ticking time bomb". -"That's very unlikely", she added. "For all we know, it could even be the remains of an old space fortress". "If we're lucky", Justin replied. "So who do I reach if something were to go wrong?"
Lynne shook her head at him. "Lucy will be taking care of that business", she replied.
"If any of us have any problems, all we have to do is contact her, and she'll send us help".

     Suddenly the vehicle came to a stop right at the gates, and Justin noticed they had been blocked off. "They do know we're part of this right?" Lynne nodded. "Don't let that blockade fool you, it's to keep nosey individuals out". Lynne picked up a small radio and began notifying the rest of the team. "We've arrived", she said. "But I'm afraid we've got a lot of equipment that needs extra assistance". There was a brief moment of silence before someone had finally responded. "Roger that", they replied. "I'm sending a few guys your way right now". Justin got down out of the vehicle and Lynne began to pass him the boxes. "Careful with that one", she pointed out. "There's glass in it, and it will break if you're not careful". -"No need to worry", he assured her. "See?" he said as he set it down. "Nothing broken".

     It hadn't been long when all of sudden, five of the team members entered through the outer entrance. Justin swallowed hard as he watched the large hatch close. He was nervous about being stuck outside with nothing around but the surrounding universe. Worried that something might go wrong with his oxygen tank, and leave him gasping for air. Such an image haunted his mind, and he began to question his reason for being there in the first place. "You ready?" Lynne called over to him.
Justin trembled a bit, but nodded and finally put on his helmet. His hands were shaking as he assembled his oxygen tank and belt, and then he took a deep breath before he started following behind the others. "We've nearly completed the tunneling process", one of the team mates told Lynne. "Good", she nodded while walking along side him. "Any idea how long it will take to reach the object?"

     The man shook his head. "No, it's too early to tell now", he explained. "But we hope to make the tunnel deep enough to allow you to get a good look at it". -"I've got my camera ready", she told him. "I even hope to take samples, if I'm able to". The large door at the end opened, and they were now outside of Atlantis City. There was a large machine before them, drilling down into the ground, chunks of dirt and rock were flung in all directions as it dug deeper into the surface. "How deep has it reached?" Lynne asked the man operating it. He stopped and glanced at the monitor, then looked back at her. "We'll we started her up about two hours ago, and it's already at a hundred and fifty feet". -"Not bad", Lynne replied. "And how deep underground is our mystery object?" He looked at the screen again. -"Three hundred feet", he answered. She sighed and took a seat, and then looked over at Justin. "We're going to be here a while", she told him. He groaned and took a seat as well. "If I would of known this, I would of gone home and taken a nap". -"You'll be fine", Lynne said.

     --AMF Command Center--

     Lucy had been well aware of her responsibility to act as an emergency operator for the AMF team, she even had the folder of instructions on her desk. But waiting around for someone to contact her seemed boring, so she decided to make the most of it and chat with the others. "I can't believe I accepted this duty", she sighed. "Any of you got some mazuma to spare for a hope chest?".
Grace checked her uniform pockets, and shook her head. "Sorry dearie, nothin here". Mipsy also checked her pockets and purse. "I'm broke as well", she said. Lucy then glanced over at Alley, and noticed a cigarette in the corner of her mouth. "You do know we aren't allowed to smoke in the control room, right?" Alley shrugged and held it between her fingers. "Officer Williams ain't here", she scoffed. "Why not take advantage of that? Or would you rather head to the mess hall like always?"
-"Well aren't you quite the bearcat Miss thing, a real rule breaker", Grace remarked as she rolled her eyes. "Hey, I've had my fair share of skirmishes and rebellious acts", Alley grinned.

     Suddenly they all heard the sound of the doors in the back open. Startled, Alley quickly put out her cigarette and closed out of the computer game to make it look like she had been working. They heard the sound of footsteps approaching, but had no idea who it was. "Admiral Grant?" Mipsy asked as she peeked over her chair. "No", a voice answered back, "It's Stan", they said. -"Stan?" Lucy exclaimed. "What on earth are you doing here?" He walked towards her and stopped, his eyes locked on hers. "Where is commander Williams?" he asked. -"She's out at the moment", Grace explained. "Did you need something?" -As a matter of fact, I do", he smiled.
"I've been given instructions by Admiral Grant to retrieve some classified information". -"Oh", Lucy said. "And how can we help?" "I need you to give me access to commander William's office", he smiled again. "Well, if the Captain requested this of you, then I guess it's alright", she smiled back as she stood up. He started following her as she led him down the corridor to the office door, but when she got there she stopped before inputting the access code. "Why did you stop?" he asked her. "You're acting kind of odd", she said. "And you keep staring at me, is something wrong?" -"No", he replied. "I'm just sort of in a hurry". -"Oh, well okay", she nodded.

     He paused for a moment as he stared at her again. "Open it up, please", he spoke.
"I'm working on it", she replied as she entered the access code into the security pad. "Well, there ya go", Lucy said as the doors opened. "If you need anything else, just let me know".
He waited until she had gone, and then closed the door behind him and headed over to Lynne's computer.
He turned it on, and began searching through the files until he found what he was looking for.
He opened up a folder labeled classified, and began looking through the long list of notes.
"Well, well what do we have here", he murmured to himself. "Mystery object underground eh?"
Stan suddenly yanked out the cable connecting to the computer, and plugged it into himself.
He then began copying all the files to his database, watching the door in case someone were to walk in on him.

     He finally finished, and then plugged the cord back into the computer, and started putting everything back the way he had found it. Once that was done, he quietly closed the door and started to leaving. He had, had a feeling the AMF were lying to him and the council, but now he had the proof and would waste no time getting it back to them. "It seems I hadn't been doing enough after all", he said to himself. "I guess that upgrade really did help". On his way out of the building, he ran into William Sterling. "Stan?" he said with a surprised look on his face. "Fancy running into you at this hour". -"I had some business to take care of", Stan replied. "Well pardon me, I've got some business to take care of myself", William chuckled as he entered the men's restroom. "Be seeing you later !"
-"Maybe", Stan uttered as he exited out of the building.

     
     Three hours had passed since Lynne and the rest of the team arrived at the site, and the machine had finally reached the object below. "We've got it", announced one of the scientists.
"Are you ready for the fun part?" he asked Lynne. "Don't joke", she said. "Just lower that rope, and secure it good and tight!" She pulled out her camera and hooked it to her belt and then headed over to the hole and peered down. It was pitch black, she couldn't even see down it with her flashlight.
"It's secure", announced one of the men. -"Okay", Lynne replied in a shaky voice. She had forgotten she was terribly afraid of heights, and the feeling of falling down that dark hole, scared her more than anything. "I'm getting ready to head down", she said to Justin. "Please hold the rope", she handed it to him. "I'd feel safer if you did anyway. He gripped it tightly and nodded. "Just be careful down there", he told her. "I'll try", she replied as she grabbed as hold of it, and carefully started sliding down it.

     As she started to lower herself, she couldn't help but feel terrified as she looked down and saw nothing but the darkness below. She swallowed hard and even closed her eyes at times, but tried to assure herself, that she'd be alight. "I'm okay", she whispered to herself. "I'll just take this slow and easy".
She found herself constantly looking up at Justin, praying that he wouldn't drop the rope or let it snap.
Ten minutes had passed and before she knew it, she had gone down really far, in fact as she looked up she couldn't even see Justin anymore. "I'll be okay", she told herself again. "He won't let me fall". Suddenly she made the mistake of moving too fast and her hand slipped, the weight of her oxygen tank caused her to fall at a rapid pace.
She let out a muffled scream and quickly grabbed hold of the rope, this time tightening her grip.
She could feel her body tremble from the fear, and suddenly she heard Justin calling after her. "Are you alright?" he called down. "I'm fine", she responded in a shaky voice. "In fact, I think I'm almost there!".

     --Zyrian Mother ship--

     Off in the far distance of Atlantis City's location, a wormhole suddenly appeared with the craft emerging from it. And inside the main quarters, three shadowed figures stood around a large circular unit, glaring at the red outlined projection of the city with frustration and curiosity.
Bhor uttered a sigh of disappointment, then glanced over at Zoal who appeared to be furious, as he had been deceived once again. "tjen Zergyx, Bhor?" He snapped. "pen ni'wet? Why must you take me for a fool, Bhor? Is this your idea of trickery?" Just then Arzel interrupted the silence with a loud cackle of laughter. "Well it seems the journey to find your precious zergyx was a failure, yet again!" Zoal turned and glared at her while gritting his teeth. "You're never going to find it", she told him. "We've been searching for all eternity, and still have had no luck". -"I'm afraid, she is right, my lord", Bhor added. "Perhaps, we should give up?"

     Lynne had finally reached the bottom of the deep pit, and was now standing on part of the object below. Just as she had assumed, it was indeed composed of a metallic solid, but she couldn't see it just yet. She grabbed her radio and quickly notified Justin and the others. "I'm standing right on it", she said. "It's still covered in the dirt though, so I'll have to clear a lot of it away in order to have a better look".
-"Congratulations", Justin responded. "I'm glad you're safe, I was a bit worried since it's so deep and all". "Well I only made it down, the fun part's gonna be getting me back up, just take care of yourself alright?", she said. "You got it", he answered. She knelt down and put away the radio, and then began to brush away the dirt with the glove of her suit. "I don't see anything yet", she mumbled to herself.

     It didn't take long before she realized using her hand would take too long, and so she reached into her tool belt and pulled out a brush like object to use instead. "Hopefully this will work faster".
using the brush instrument, she found it easier to remove a lot of the dirt, and it wasn't long before she finally caught sight of something. "What do we have here?" she asked herself as she observed a strange symbol engraved into the surface. She attempted to contact Justin and the team again, but something didn't feel right. It had been dead silent before, but now she began to hear something strange, almost like a rumbling type of noise, but that wasn't the worst part. The rumble had been followed by a large vibration that spread out and was felt by everyone in Atlantis city.

     "What the hell was that?" exclaimed a man in confusion. -"Felt like a tremor to me", said another. "what the hell is going on? What's causing it!?"

     Victoria Thompson had been catching up on some beauty rest when she felt it as well , and quickly sat up in bed, removing her face mask. "Maxwell, what in the world is going on?" she called out. -"I don't know", he answered back. "Felt like a small earthquake to me, but I wouldn't worry too much about it though, it's over now". -"Talk about a rude awakening", she remarked as she got up and draped her robe over her shoulders. "Anyways, I've got some business to take care of", she continued. "Are my glad rags ready?" -"But, of course", Maxwell replied as he walked over to her closet and opened the doors. "Take your pick, your majesty", he remarked. "You're not funny", she sighed.

     Meanwhile, Justin and the rest of team were looking around, trying to figure out what caused the sudden tremors. "You don't suppose that thing down there, generated it?" said one of the scientists. Justin shrugged. "Considering that the origin of those vibrations came from underground, I wouldn't be a bit surprised".
-"Maybe we should get her out of there?" suggested the scientist. "Just to be on the safe side".
Justin nodded. "Yeah, I think we're done for now, I'll go ahead and contact her".

     Lynne received the message from Justin, but refused to come up. "I'm sorry, but this is quite the discovery, and I'm not leaving until I get some photos", she argued. -"We don't think it's safe for you to stay down there", he told her. "You felt that vibration didn't you? That's not a good sign".
"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about", she told him. "Just stay on your toes though".
Justin let out a sigh as he turned off the radio. "Women", he shook his head. "So damned stubborn all the time."

     She pulled out her camera, and began taking pictures of the weird symbol below. She even knelt down, to get a nice clear shot of it for later observation. "I wish I knew what you meant", she said to herself. Just then, out of the corner of eye, she caught sight of a blinking blue light. "This just keeps getting better and better", she smiled to herself as she approached it. She took a quick photo of it and then reached out to brush away the dirt surrounding it, but stopped once she felt another rumble.
This time it was only felt by her and the rest of the team, and it was ten times worse than before. "Oh no", she uttered as she quickly stood up and backed away. "What's going on now?"

     The violent quakes had caused most of the team to fall down, including Justin. It had even managed to damage a lot of their equipment as well, especially the expensive glass instruments. The shaking suddenly stopped, and the team started getting back on their feet, but Justin didn't like the silence that came along with it. "Okay, something's not right here", he said. "I have a bad feeling about this".
"Maybe we'd better get the hell out of here?" one of the team members suggested. Justin had to agree, but just as he started heading towards the pit, he felt the ground shake once again, and heard the sounds of screaming and yelling coming from behind him.

     As he turned around he saw strange metallic objects shooting up from the ground below, and once they emerged, they exploded. "Oh shit", he exclaimed as he reached for the radio. "It's a god damned booby trap!" one of the scientists yelled as he ran for his life. Thousands of those self detonating bombs shot up, and started killing most of the team, some of them were even blown apart upon contact. Justin panicked and tried to contact Lucy at the airbase, but none of his messages seemed to be getting through. "This is just great", he yelled. "Atlantech's equipment reliable? Reliable my ass!" he exclaimed as he threw the radio and started running.

     From down below, Lynne could just barely hear the explosions and the screams, but she knew something was not right. She grabbed the radio and tried to contact Justin, but she heard nothing but static. "Justin?" she shrieked. "Is anyone there? What's happening? Someone please respond!"
-"Someone help me!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

     Meanwhile, Bhor had been working on getting a better look at the city they discovered, but noticed something else too. "There's a great disturbance in one particular area", he announced to the others.
"And I have a good feeling that I know what's causing it as well". Bhor zoomed in on the location, which also showed the outline of something familiar beneath it. "My lord", he exclaimed in excitement. "We've found it at last!" Zoal stepped up closer to the image while staring hard at it.
"And it seems the inhabitants of this city have also activated the trap that was originally set to keep us from obtaining it", he mentioned. "Good", Zoal grinned. "Makes it easier for us".

     "But if it's located underneath this city, how do you expect us to even get to it?" Arzel asked. -"She does make a good point", added Bhor. "And if these aliens have already discovered the zergyx, there's no telling if they may now try retrieving it for themselves". -"I won't have it!", Zoal growled as slammed his fist down. "I'll tear that city apart myself, and murder all who inhabit it! The Zergyx will be mine, make no mistake about that". Bhor let out a disappointed sigh. "But my lord, we've yet to discover who these aliens are, and what they are capable of. Perhaps it would be in our best interest to do some observation first".

     "Who cares who they are", Arzel scoffed. "They're obviously weaklings, so let's just slaughter them all!" As much as Zoal wanted to agree with her , he simply could not, instead he had to agree with his high priest. "ef djed maa'et", he spoke.
"metey", Bhor nodded.
"iew, wekha. We'll move in for closer observation".

     Justin had returned to the city, running as fast as he could, without even bothering to look behind him. He realized he had left the others, including Lynne behind, but he needed to get help and fast. He had just turned the corner, when suddenly he bumped into someone and fell to the ground. "Justin?" They spoke. Justin unhooked his oxygen tank and carefully pulled off his helmet, setting it beside him. He sat there, with his head lowered, and eyes on the ground. Justin was in such shock, he didn't realize he had run right into William Sterling. "What's wrong?" William asked him. "You look like you've seen a ghost". Justin panted, and began to utter some words, but William couldn't make out what he was saying. He grabbed a hold of Justin and shook him to try and snap him out of his shock state. "Justin, tell me what's wrong", he said. -"They're all dead", Justin responded in a low voice.

     -"Who?" William asked. Justin tried to calm down, but he was drenched in sweat and was about to break down and cry. "The team", he said. "We unearthed some type of booby trap".
William's eyes grew wide. "So that's what caused the strange quakes", he said.
-"Yeah", Justin sighed. "And commander Williams is still down in that pit".

     Victoria entered the Card Shack and headed over to have a chat with Enrique the bartender.
As she approached him, she also heard someone else come in behind her, and the expression on Enrique's face told her, it wasn't someone she wanted to see. "Miss Thompson, may I have a word with you", they said. She turned around and nearly had a heart attack when she realized it was a police officer. But just to be on the safe side, she decided to play it cool, although she was unaware of why he was there in the first place. "Good day, officer", she said with a smile. "Miss Thompson, you're in a lot of trouble", the officer informed. "I've been told you've been selling illegal beverages here, is this true?" She froze instantly, and didn't say a word. "Miss Thompson", the officer continued. "Were you or were you not selling Moonshine last night?" -"Not at all, officer", she finally said. "As a matter of fact, whoever told you is obviously full of it. Why, I would never allow such a thing".

     "That's good to know", he said. "But, you've got quite a history of criminal acts on your record, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to have a look in the back". -"I understand", she sighed.
"I'll need to see your identification card as well", he added. "What for?" she exclaimed in disbelief.
"I'm standing right here, can you not see who I am? -"Your card please", he snapped.
"Alright, alright, sheesh", she muttered as she reached into her purse, but what she hadn't realized was she had accidentally pulled out a pistol instead, and it wasn't hers. "Oops", she panicked as she checked and noticed the officer was too busy looking down at his clip board. So she took it and tossed it behind her, hoping it wouldn't go off, but once it hit the ground it made a loud clacking noise.
-"What was that? The officer's head shot up. She quickly checked behind her to see if it were still in sight, but noticed it had slid under one of the tables. "That was just Enrique", she chuckled nervously. "He dropped something, he's such a clutz aint he?, Anyway here's my card". -"Thank you", the officer replied as he took it and started jotting down the information. "Now, show me the back room", he demanded.

     She led him to the back where he began his inspection, but much to her surprise he found nothing. "I told you, there wasn't any Moonshine here", she said. -"Is this the only storage area?" he asked. "Or is there another you don't plan on showing me?" -"Nope", she said. "This is the only storage area right here". He gave her a suspicious look before turning around and heading back out.
"You may have fooled me this time", he said. "But I'm gonna keep a close watch on you and this business".
-"I see", he nodded. "Well, thanks for your time, I'm sorry for bothering you, hope I didn't slow down your business". - "Not at all", she said. "Business is usually dead at this hour anyway".
"I will keep a watch on this place though", he added. "And if there is illegal activity going on, I will find out".

     She waited until the officer finally left, and then went over and picked up the pistol off the floor and looked at it, and noticed the name Maxwell engraved on the side. "Why that sonofabitch!" she yelled as she clutched it tight and stormed off towards the game room and flung the wooden doors open.
Maxwell was sitting at one of the tables playing poker and smoking cigars with a few gentlemen.
"You", she snarled as she threw the pistol onto the table. "Manners, Miss Thompson", he said. "We have guests, show them respect". -"You tried to set me up!" she snapped. He gave her a confused look, and then went back to his game. "That's your pistol", she pointed out. "You called the police on me, and tried to set me up with your gun!" Maxwell shook his head and sighed at her. "Now why in the world would I do such a thing? You know, you shouldn't accuse people of something, without having solid proof first".

     "There's my proof right there", she pointed to the pistol. "I know damn well I didn't put it in my purse, and it obviously didn't sprout legs and hop in". -"Tisk, tisk", Maxwell shook his head. "There you start again, accusing me of something I didn't do". "Stop the act", she snapped. "You're not fooling me! In fact I actually see what you're trying to do". Maxwell sighed and told the other men to excuse him for a moment as he set down his cards and cigar. "Do enlighten me", he smirked.
-"You're trying to get rid of me, since you can't get rid of William", she explained. "You know damn well I'd stand up for him against you and the other bimbos of this city".

-"You don't know what you're even talking about", he said. "Now run along and powder your face like the quif you are", he remarked as he put his foot down and heard a loud shriek. "What the hell?" He exclaimed as he bent over and looked under the table only to see a large rat. "Well you're certainly fit to run your own joint", he told her. "Especially since most of your customers are fond of rodents. Speaking of which you might want to call an exterminator?". -"You've got the pea shooter", she pointed out. "So go nuts and kill the damn thing your self".

     It had been twenty minutes since the massacre of the dig site, and Lynne was beginning to lose hope of ever getting out of there. She had tried to climb back up the rope, but it had snapped and fallen in with her. Now she sat up against the wall of the pit, hugging her knees tight, with her camera in one hand. She didn't know what had happened up above, or if they were still there for that matter.
"They've probably left me behind", she said to herself. "Just left me here to die".
She noticed the radio beside her, and picked it up, but all she heard was loud static. "This is hopeless", she sighed as she threw it against the wall. "I might as well just accept my fate and die with this discovery".
Suddenly she decided to check her air supply, and much to her surprise it was on low. "Figures", she sighed. "I guess, this is how it all ends eh? I'm going to die in this god damned pit, but I only have myself to blame, I wanted this more than anything and I never even considered the possibility that I'd suffer for it. Well, lesson learned, now I'm going to face death".

     "Dead or alive,we've got to get her out of there", William said to Justin as they stood inside the enclosure beside the transport vehicle. "Are there any extra suits? William asked. Justin hopped into the back of the truck and started searching around. "Found one", he announced as he threw it out.
"Thanks", William replied. "Now, we need a plan, and a good one". -"I'm thinking", Justin said.
-"First of all, how did she get down there? William asked him. "We lowered her using a rope", Justin replied. "And in the year four-thousand, we're still using primitive tools", William remarked.
"It was a sturdy rope", Justin shrugged. -"Well first, let's head out there and see what we can do", William said as he put on the helmet and began opening the door.

     Justin began to tremble again as he headed back out, but he stayed close to William, and tried to avoid looking at the mangled bodies of his dead team mates. "Jesus", William exclaimed. "What the hell happened out here?, it looks like the result of a war zone". -"Like I told you", Justin said. "Whatever is down there was rigged with a booby trap, and it claimed everyone but me". William stopped for a moment and looked at him. "Look", he said. "What happened wasn't your fault, nor could you stop it , so don't blame yourself for running away". -"Yeah, I know", Justin sighed. "I just can't forget the sounds of their screams, and it's going to haunt me till the day I die". -"I'm sorry", William told him.

     Lynne had passed out from the lack of oxygen earlier, but found herself wide awake again, only this time gasping for air.
"The pit", William exclaimed as approached it. He saw where the rope had been secured, and noticed that it snapped. "Sturdy rope huh?" William remarked as he yanked it off and threw it. "Oh damn me", Justin exclaimed. "Why didn't I think of this earlier?" -"Think of what?" William asked him. "The transport vehicle", Justin continued. "It's rigged with a steel cable".
"That's good to know", William replied. "But would it be long enough?" Justin thought about that for a moment, and nodded. "Yeah, it's long enough, it can reach up to five hundred feet as far as I know".
-"Okay", William said. "Here's the plan, I'm going to bring the vehicle out here, you're going to take the cable with you and jump down there and get her. And once you're both secured, I'll reel the both of you up, got it?" -"Good idea", Justin nodded. "Except you forgot the part where it's a three hundred foot drop down there!" -"No, I've got that covered", William explained. "It may be three hundred feet, but I plan to lower you far enough, you don't hit rock bottom on your way down".

     "Okay, I trust you, I guess", Justin sighed. William quickly headed back to the exit hatch to get the truck.
But once he got inside, he realized he would have to deactivate the automated system. "sorry buddy, got to put this into manual mode for now", he said as he disconnected the wires and began to fire up the engine. Then he stepped on the gas and drove it through the door and right to the location of the pit. The truck came to a stop, and he got out and began helping Justin unreel the cable. "This might be scary for you", William said. "Because you will be required to jump down there". -"Great", Justin rolled his eyes. "Like I haven't already had the shit scared out of me enough". "I'm going to lower you", William said. "But at a fast pace, so for you, it will be like a little ride". -"Can't wait", Justin remarked.

     
     Wasting no time, Justin fastened the end of the cable to his suit and secured it tightly. "If you get me killed, I'm going to come back and haunt you". "No time for that", William replied. "Get ready for the ride of your life". Justin took a deep breath as he headed over to the pit and looked down. "Tell me when", he called over. William began unwinding the cable carefully, and looked over at Justin. "Remember, when you get her, I want you to tug on the cable as hard as you can, so I know when to start the truck. -"Got it", Justin replied. "You ready? he asked. "Yeah" Justin nodded as he swallowed hard and looked down, and then without hesitating, he closed his eyes and jumped in. William quickly started unwinding the cable as fast as he could, while trying not to harm Justin in the process.

     As Justin was being lowered, he could only imagine what Lynne must of been thinking earlier.
He was pretty sure, she had felt the same combination of excitement and fear of descending into the darkness below. "God, I hope we're not too late", he thought to himself. "I hope she's still okay".

     Lynne's body had finally started giving out, and she stopped breathing. Now she lay against the wall of the pit, her eyes open staring off into the distance. So many thoughts and memories raced through her mind, some of which she didn't even remember all that well. She even heard what sounded like a bunch of voices whispering all around her, almost as if they were trying to communicate.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a puff of light blue mist, and she began watching as it started floating towards her. The whispers seemed to grow louder as the mist moved closer, and she began to wonder if this were nothing more than the heavens coming to claim her spirit. "So this is how it all ends", she thought to herself as he eyes started to close. "I guess it isn't so bad after all".

     Soon enough, William's hard work had paid off, and Justin had landed in the pit and noticed Lynne's lifeless body lying against the wall. "Oh god, commander", he exclaimed in terror as he rushed to lift her up. "It's gonna be alright", he said to her, as he placed her under his arm, and took his belt and began fastening it to her suit. "Okay, all set", he said as he began giving the cable a hard tug.

Up above, William had been sitting beside cable and noticed it moving. "There's the signal", he exclaimed as he got up and headed to truck and started reeling in the cable as fast as he could. Justin held onto Lynne tightly as, the two of them were being pulled up.
"Just hang on", he said to her. "William will get us out of here soon". William broke out into a sweat as he gritted his teeth and continued reeling in the cable. "This would be so easy if those suits didn't weigh a damn ton", he groaned as he struggled to keep his grip on it.
Justin noticed that William seemed to be struggling, and so he decided to do the unthinkable.
He unlatched his and Lynne's oxygen tanks, and let both of them fall down.

     Suddenly William found that both of them became lighter for some reason, and it made his job a lot easier. "Whatever they did, it worked", he thought. "Although I'm hoping it's not because Justin dropped her". He continued to reel them in, still going as fast he could, and it didn't take long before Justin could actually see the light above. "Just a little ways more to go", he said to Lynne as he kept looking up. William continued winding it as fast as he could, and soon he had found that his hard work paid off, because he could see both of them now. "You actually did it", Justin exclaimed with excitement as he placed Lynne's body on the ground, and started pulling himself up.

-"She's unconscious though", William exclaimed as knelt beside Lynne, and cradled her in his arms, as Justin unhooked the cable from his suit. "Let's get the hell out of here", he said. -"Good idea", William nodded as he ran alongside Justin as he carried Lynne. But just as they turned their backs and began heading back into the enclosure, there was a bright red flash of light and the Zyrian craft appeared right after it. William wasted no time, once they were back inside, he quickly pulled off Lynne's helmet and began to resuscitate her. -"Is she going to be alright? Justin asked in a worried voice.
Suddenly, Lynne let out a big gasp as she started to come to. -"Yeah, she's fine", William smiled.
"wha-what happened?" Lynne asked them as she sat up. -"Nothing you need to be worried about right now", William told her. "Right now, we need to get you to intensive care".
-"no", she said. "I'll be fine, I need to know what happened, where are the others?"

     Justin looked back at her with a gloomy expression. "They didn't make it", he said.
"Didn't make it? she exclaimed. "What the hell do you mean?"

     Bhor was now observing the site where the recent massacre took place, and shook his head. "They sure made a mess of things, didn't they? he said in response to the grisly sight of the human bodies.
"Well at least we know what species of alien we'll be dealing with", he continued. "Humans".
-"Humans?" Zoal repeated. "Then I guess the others didn't fail after all, if they've managed to drive humanity from it's own home planet", he smirked. -"Yes, but do they pose as a great threat? Arzel butt in. "That's what I'd like to know". -"It's too soon to tell right now", Bhor replied. "We'll need some sort of arrangement, something we can do which will help us to find out what power they possess, and if they've got special weapons of any kind".

-"Fine then, I'm leaving it up to you", Zoal replied. "kha kheftey, bew mesha!".
"en nekhtew", Bhor nodded. "I do hope you'll be patient with me", Bhor said. "As these things take time, and it's best to think it over before taking any action". "I have little patience", Zoal replied. "So do try to hurry".

     William, Lynne and Justin were still resting inside the enclosure, when all of a sudden, Justin finally noticed the alien ship right over them. "I hate to ruin the moment", he said. "But will you two look up". As they did, both of their jaws dropped in shock and their eyes widened. "What is that?" Lynne asked. "I've never seen anything like it before!" Justin stared at it long and hard, and as he did he could hear Brian's voice. The description he was given as Brian had told him about his nightmares.
"Black with red lights", Justin uttered. -"What?" William turned and asked him. "Black with red lights", Justin repeated. "It's exactly like the one Brian described in his dream".
"Brian dreamed about this craft?" William asked with a raised brow. -"Yeah", Justin replied.
-"What? Can Brian see the future or something?" Lynne remarked. -"I don't know", Justin said.

"I'm only going by what he told me, he never said he could see into the future". -"So maybe Brian has the answers to why it's here then? William added. "If he really saw this exact one in his dream, perhaps he knows who they are and why they've come here".
-"Well, there's a problem with that", Justin sighed. "I had promised I wouldn't tell anyone about it, and now by telling both of you, I've already broken that promise". Lynne placed a hand on his shoulder and looked at him. "I won't say a word about it", she said. William nodded. "Yeah, I won't either, so he'll never have to find out that we know". "Thanks", Justin replied. "But that still doesn't change the fact that I broke my promise to him, but I guess as long as you two keep your mouths shut, everything should be fine".

     "And it still doesn't change the fact that we're probably all screwed", William sighed.
Lynne looked up at the craft again. "We're not even prepared for this", she added. "If they mean war, then we're all going to die because we don't even have enough soldiers as it is, and the ones we do have aren't trained for this sort of thing". -"Maybe they won't attack us?" Justin shrugged. "Maybe just maybe if we don't do anything, they'll go away?" -"No", Lynne said as she lowered her head. "They've come for a reason, or they wouldn't have come at all, now what we've got to do is find out what that reason is". -"And die trying?" William joked. "This isn't something to joke about", Lynne said. "This is serious, we're going to need some kind of plan and fast".

-"No", Lynne uttered as she stared at the alien ship.