Turbulence: Book 7 in The Trapped in the Hollow Earth Novelette Series Read online

  “Don’t you die on me!” Jack cradled her in his arms, whispering comforting words as he rocked her, sobbing. “Oh, my beautiful wife!”

  Casey grinned underneath her visor, confident the others wouldn’t notice. Jack couldn’t have played the part any better if they had planned it all out.

  A soldier inched closer and reached out, as if to touch her, and then pulled back whispering, “Is she dead?”

  “No!” Jack hissed, touching her face. “She…she can’t be.”

  Casey groaned and opened her eyes underneath her helmet so she wouldn’t miss the drama unfolding.

  “Get her to sick bay,” demanded Sergeant Collard. “Quickly!”

  Crap! Her stomach churned as she realized she’d played the part a little too well. Getting separated wasn’t part of the grand plan.

  “No!” roared Jack. “The damage is done. There’s nothing we can do to change that. Please let me spend these last few minutes with this beautiful angel in my arms.”

  “Not acceptable!” said the sergeant. “You can accompany her if you must, but it is my duty to send any injured and ill to sick bay.”

  “She’ll be dead before we get there. Listen, she’s my wife, and that makes this my decision, not yours. Nobody will hold it against you.”

  Going against the sergeant’s authority was a bold and daring move on Jack’s part, and Casey hoped it would pay off. She knew that being carted off to the medical room would reveal her identity, and it would be a one-way ticket to the Deep Sleep Lab for her.

  “Please,” he wailed, arms thrashing.

  “It’s the man’s wife.” Thorn touched the sergeant’s shoulder. “Surely you can show some compassion, sir.”

  Casey bit her lip hard. If the sergeant didn’t side with Jack, they were so screwed. Her breath hitched as she fought the urge to knock the alien over, stun his crew, blow the door down, and chip that weapon. Taking on armed guards singlehandedly? Okay, so maybe that only happens in Hollywood, but I’m so fed up with this that I’m about to go all Lara Croft on these people!

  Finally, the sergeant spoke. “Fine, if that’s your wish.”

  Casey let out a sigh of relief. Had they taken her, she would have been a goner for sure, and it would have likely foiled her friends’ plans and escape as well.

  “Sergeant, do you know how fast this stuff spreads?” Thorn paused, coughing into the back of his hand. “Airlock the room immediately. Our lives depend on it.”

  Nodding, Sergeant Collard said to his team, “Do as he says.”

  “We can’t do it from out here!” yelled a soldier. “Somebody has to go inside and reboot the system.”

  A shadow crossed Sergeant Collard’s face. Casey could tell by the way he was fidgeting with his hands that he was struggling with a decision. They were so close to getting what they wanted; just one tiny word from him, and their mission would be complete. She held her breath, waiting for his reply.

  “No.” Sergeant Collard shook his head. “I have orders not to allow anyone in that room for any reason, and I shall not break those direct orders under any circumstances.”

  “Then open the door and stand guard here while I find the leak,” said Thorn.

  The sergeant shook his head and said vehemently. “I’ll have to get clearance first.”

  Thorn stared at him for a moment, his fists clenched and his eyes fierce. “Commander Tio wants to know what the heck is causing this radiation spike. I’ve found it. Now, do you want to explain why you stopped me, Dr. Hubbard, Chief Nuclear Physicist, from containing it and saving every single life aboard this ship?”

  “No, Doctor, I don’t.” The sergeant nodded at the soldier standing next to him. “Reset the system and lock down the room. Make sure you activate the airtight seal.”

  Thorn touched the rebel’s gloved hand to get his attention. “Be warned. There are uranium, plutonium, and other highly nuclear byproducts lurking around in the room. The combination is lethal. The minute you walk in, you’ll be remembered as a hero.”

  “What?” The soldier stiffened. “You mean the moment I go in there I’m dead?” He shook his head, his voice rising a notch. “No way! I’m not trained for that sort of thing, and I didn’t sign up for that!”

  Jack’s arms wrapped tighter around Casey’s body, pulling her closer. “Quit stalling. Look at her! Do you want the same fate to befall everyone else on this ship? Somebody has to go in there before it’s too late.”

  “Well, that someone won’t be me,” said the soldier. “I’m not doing anything without a radiation suit.”

  Casey let her gaze wander from one face to the other. The mutters and whispers stopped. Some of the soldiers darted away, while others seemed frozen to the spot. She smiled inwardly. In their heads, they were all heroes, but if there was even the slightest hint of a real-live danger, they couldn’t get away fast enough.

  Thorn let out an exaggerated sigh. “All right. I’ll do it.”

  “No, Doctor Hubbard! I can’t let you do that,” said Jack. “I’ll go. My wife’s dying. What else do I have to live for?”

  Thorn gripped his hand as if they’d both die as patriots. “We’ll both go. We shall die and be honored together.”

  Sergeant Collard put in the code and unlocked the door. “People will talk about your bravery for generations to come. I’d do it myself, but I’m engaged to be married next month. I just…I can’t risk exposure.”

  “But every minute you stand here, you are exposed,” said Thorn. “Tasteless, odorless, invisible, radioactive elements are seeping under the doorway. Do you plan on having kids with your new bride?”

  The sergeant nodded, wide-eyed.

  Thorn shook his head. “Don’t.”

  “What, Doctor?” the sergeant asked.

  “If you stay here, you will have to consider adoption, I’m afraid.”

  Sergeant Collard took a step back. “You seem to have this under control, gentlemen. I’m going to put together a hazardous waste team.” He turned on his heel and fled. Seconds later, the rest of the soldiers rushed past Casey in hot pursuit of their cowardly leader. The hall stood suddenly empty, the soldiers’ footsteps thumping down the corridor as they made a mad dash for safety.

  For a few seconds, Casey barely dared to breathe, lest they returned. When she realized they wouldn’t, relief washed over her. They were gone, at least for the time being. All she had to do was get in and out of that room, and no one would ever suspect the weapon had been tampered with. At four a.m., the Greys would point the weapon at Earth, but no mass destruction of life would take place. She wished she could be there to see their faces when the darn thing let them down, but she, Jack, Mike, and her parents would be long gone by then, back on Earth. Commander Tio’s troops would be arrested by The Galactic Federation of Worlds, and Thorn could go home to Zeta Reticuli while she was heading back to sunny California.

  Jack held out his hand, and she pulled herself up. “Casey, that was an Academy Award performance.”

  “I knew drama class would pay off one day.” Grinning, she followed Thorn through the door, then took off her helmet, blinking against the sudden brightness. Towering computer terminals and control panels with hundreds of flashing lights lined the walls, like something out of an eighties sci fi movie before everyone had PCs and laptops. A four-foot, shimmering, black diamond stood in the center, spinning in a glass case as the artificial light made the white symbols etched in the surface shimmer.

  A chill rippled down Casey’s spine, and her breath caught in her throat. The stood facing a piece of machinery designed to destroy every living thing in a matter of seconds. She ripped off her gloves and quickly stuffed them in her pocket. She dried her nervously sweaty hands on the back of her pants, suddenly dizzy at the prospect of fulfilling her mission. She really hadn’t expected to make it that far, but there they were, facing the task assigned to them.

  “Ready? Activate it.” Thorn’s voice jolted her out of her reverie. He moved past her and flung
open the silver box, then handed her the microchip.

  Casey nodded as she set her helmet down, joining Thorn a few feet from the device. She put her thumb on the small electronic chip and glanced at Jack.

  “I’ll tell you when thirty seconds are up,” he said.

  Thorn unsnapped the gold latch and lifted the glass lid. The weapon stopped spinning, making only the slightest click. He entered the code in a keypad at the base of the diamond.

  Casey gripped the chip tight. She flinched as a tiny surge of electricity ran up her arm. “I feel tingling or something.” It was like getting a light shock by a faulty plug.

  Thorn continued to tap on the buttons. “Don’t let go. It’s just reading your DNA to make sure you’re human. Remember, only a human can activate the microchip.”

  The microchip turned gold, burning her skin. She set her jaw against the searing pain, unwilling to let go. They’d come so far that she would have gladly held on to a piece of red, burning coal if she had to fulfill her mission. There was too much at stake if she didn’t.

  “Time’s up,” said Jack.

  Thorn pushed a yellow button, and a panel slid open. “Quick! Put it in the slot at the bottom.”

  Casey knelt and inserted the chip with shaking hands. Her fingers immediately stopped burning, and no red marks or blisters were left behind. The device hummed with power. The diamond turned colors with blinding speed, glowing like a kaleidoscopic light show. Blue, green, red, and yellow colors filtered down around them. Bolts of yellow energy shot up high in the air, sizzling through the streams of blue smoke. When heat singed her brows, she covered her face and lurched back, knowing the no-eyebrows look wasn’t very fashionable; fortunately, when she felt for them, she realized she still had brows. The guys would’ve never let her live that one down, so that was a good thing. Twenty seconds passed before the diamond stopped glowing and turned back to its original black color. The smoke dissipated, but oddly enough, there was no smell.

  Thorn’s gaze remained fixed on the control panel. “The countdown has stopped.”

  “So is it over?” she asked.

  He let out a sigh and turned slowly to face her. “Yes. We did it.”

  Jack pulled her into his arms.

  Laughing, she squeezed him tight. Everything seemed to be falling into place. She turned, and their eyes connected. Her stomach fluttered at the sight of his blue gaze. Must be the nerves, she decided. Too much adrenaline in one’s body tends to do that. “We just saved everyone on Earth,” she whispered.

  “No, you did that.” Jack inched closer.

  She felt his hot breath on her skin, searing almost as deeply as the microchip. Going down this path wasn’t an option. She had messed up one friendship, she wouldn’t tamper with another.

  “As Mike would say, those rebels picked the wrong planet to set up shop,” said Jack.

  She laughed. “Speaking of Mike…” She stared at the device on her wrist and the signal blinking four halls away. “Let’s go find him and my parents.”

  Jack took a step back, smiling. “Yeah, and then we’re hightailing it home.”

  Memories of home swirled in her head. She pictured herself, Mike, Jack, and her parents sipping on fresh-squeezed lemonade while they relaxed in the backyard with those noisy birds they couldn’t get rid of. She decided she would never complain about those birds again; in fact, she longed to hear them. At that moment, nothing would sound more fantastic. Annoying as they were, at least they were a piece of home.

  Thorn gulped. “Wait a minute. We have a problem.”

  Casey noticed a small panel blinking at the bottom of the diamond. Numbers and symbols flashed and bounced around wildly. She gulped. “Why’s it flashing like that, Thorn?”

  “The weapon tried to override the microchip we put in, but it was unable to do so.”

  “And that’s a problem?” asked Jack.

  Thorn hesitated, and then the words slowly came out. “It activated the self-destruct sequence. Earth is now safe, but we aren’t. This ship will explode at the original time it was set to destroy the humans on Earth, at four a.m.”

  “What?” Casey’s pulse raced, and her palms grew sweaty. She breathed deeply, trying to calm herself. It was no time for panic. She glanced down at her radar device: The time read eleven thirty p.m., so they had a little over four hours. Surely, Thorn could do something; after all, he was a genius and knew absolutely everything. He could tinker with it, maybe even fix it. She peered at him, hopeful. “Why don’t you just turn it off then?”

  “Work your magic.” Jack’s face contorted into a grimace. “Disarm it!”

  She held her breath, waiting for Thorn to nod and do his job, but he didn’t budge from the spot. A deep frown crossed his features, and when it did, something dropped in the pit of her stomach. Realization was kicking in, and she didn’t like it one little bit.

  To be continued…