Chapter 12

PARVEEN

Parveen’s sleeping arrangements were far less comfortable than Mimi’s or Hamish X’s. An African beach or an Atlantean bedchamber would have seemed like heaven to him. He woke from his fitful slumber and looked up at the aluminum sheeting gleaming dully overhead. The shadow of the giant exhaust fan swung across the ceiling of his little bolt-hole in the junction of a ventilation shaft deep in the bowels of the fortress that was ODA Headquarters. He had discovered the ventilation system quite by accident yesterday after reeling away from the horrible sight he had witnessed in the room where Noor had been taken. He had wanted only to hide himself away from the world. Staggering back along the corridors, he had happened on a loose vent cover and pulled it aside, crawling in as far as he could go.

After he had recovered from his shock, he realized what a boon the vents were. The shafts were warm and allowed him access to almost every corner of the facility. From his central location he explored the complex, looking for a way to help his sister and the others.

Parveen had very nearly been caught by Mr. Sweet while trailing the two Grey Agents along the catwalk. When Mr. Sweet had stopped and turned towards him, the agent’s goggled eyes had been staring straight at where Parveen pressed himself against the catwalk wall. Fortunately, the sneaky suit had concealed him, but he resolved that in future he would be more careful to avoid coming so close to any Grey Agent.

At first, food was a problem. He’d had a few protein bars in his knapsack, but they were hardly enough. The Grey Agents didn’t seem to need food in the traditional sense: there was no central food storage to pilfer. In the end, Parveen found a source of nourishment that was slightly gruesome but efficient. He would go to the room the Grey Agents called the Hall of Batteries. When no one was looking, he went to the nearest child, pulled the tube that provided the comatose sleeper with nutrients, and sucked on the tube until he had his fill. The nutrient syrup was bland and tasteless, but it provided all the essentials he needed to survive.

Parveen was hungry, but he continued to lie on his back wrapped in the thermal blanket from his knapsack. He knew he should eat to keep up his strength, but he still postponed the effort. Going to the Hall of Batteries was a depressing affair. Looking up at all the captured children, their energy sapped to power the infernal machines of the ODA, was very sad and also frustrating. Here he was, at large in the enemy’s home base, and he couldn’t find a way to free all these children from their horrible fate, just like Aidan, Noor, and all the other children from the Hollow Mountain. He felt helpless.

He had always enjoyed spending time on his own without anyone to bother him. He had resigned himself to never having a family and friends. Then came Mimi and Hamish X and now Noor, his only surviving sister. He felt terribly alone and would gladly give up all the solitude he was enjoying now to see Hamish X or Mimi again.

His mind returned to the horrible sight yesterday that had sent him scrabbling into the ventilation shafts, his sanity fraying. A whisper of panic swept through his mind. He trembled and forced himself to think.

In the glass chamber beyond the Hall of Batteries, the Grey Agents performed their most fiendish work. The chamber was a surgical laboratory where the ODA perpetrated the most horrible corruption imaginable on the children they felt were eligible.

Parveen had almost shrieked out loud when he saw at least a hundred steel operating tables surrounded by clusters of Grey Agents in surgical gowns and masks and glistening medical instruments poised to invade the bodies of the unconscious children. He watched, powerless, as Noor was taken to a table. Her inert body was laid under a bright white light. Hanging above the table, a clutch of robotic instruments, a curl of metal claws like a sleeping spider, twitched to life. A red dot of light crawled across Noor’s calm face, tracing the future path of horrible, cold steel instruments.

Parveen’s heart hammered. He had to do something! He had to stop them. His sister. He reached into the pouch at his hip, his fingers grasping the furry lump of a hamster bomb, readying himself to attack the Grey Agents as they gathered like scavengers around the helpless children.

Parveen was distracted by Grey Agent activity at a nearby table. He stepped closer to investigate, letting Noor out of his sight for the moment.

What were they doing? Parveen’s horrified mind shrieked. As if in answer to his silent question, the Grey Agents stepped back from the table, pulling rubber gloves from their pallid hands. On the table lay Aidan, his skin now a sickly grey, his eyes closed. His head was shaved, making him appear even more vulnerable with his bald skull pressed against the cold metal of the table. At the top of his head, where his blond hair had been, a nest of multi-coloured cables sprouted, snaking up into a thicker cable that ran into the ceiling out of sight. The wires pulsed with a nauseating bluish glow.

“He is ready for the download,” one Grey Agent said, the flat voice muffled by a surgical mask fitted over the lower part of her face.

“Open the micro gate,” another agent commanded.

“Opening,” the first agent intoned, turning a dial on a sleek black box. There was a flash of sickening lightning that sped down the cable into Aidan’s skull. The boy writhed in agony, but his limbs were secured to the table with straps. Aidan’s eyes flew open, staring wide in terror. As Parveen watched, the irises flickered and changed from pale brown to a weird metallic golden hue. Parveen almost cried out. He’d seen that colour before. Hamish X had eyes like that.

The female agent turned the dial down and the light diminished. The other Grey Agents moved closer to the table. They deftly removed the restraints, and Aidan sat up and gazed curiously around him.

Aidan raised a hand to his face. The colour of his eyes wasn’t the only physical change he exhibited. His fingers were longer and thinner: he’d grown another knuckle.

“Interesting sensation,” Aidan said, but his voice no longer had any life; rather, he sounded as flat and emotionless as all the Grey Agents. He held out a pale hand and turned it over, looking at the appendage as if he’d never seen anything like it before. “These bodies are quite loathsome. Moist and stinking.”

“Indeed. Very inefficient, too. It is a trial,” the female agent agreed. “One gets used to it.”

The other agent handed Aidan a grey bundle of clothing with a grey fedora placed neatly on top. “It’s only temporary. When the great portal opens, things will be much more amenable to us in this world. You shall be called Mr. Crisp.”

“Mr. Crisp,” Aidan repeated. All trace of the Aidan that Parveen knew was gone. An alien intelligence inhabited his friend’s body now.

Parveen bit back a choking sob. He tried to understand what he had just witnessed. This is what happens to the older ones, Parveen thought. They make them into Grey Agents! What had the agent called the device? A micro gate! A gate to where? Parveen’s thoughts flew back to the weird device he had seen hanging in the huge chamber with the banks of machines. Was that a larger version of the machine he’d just seen in operation? It must be. He vowed to take a closer look at the horrid device as soon as possible.

Noor! Frantically, he searched the room for his sister. Parveen moved as quickly as he could without being detected, weaving in and out of Grey Agents, robots, and banks of equipment, checking every table.

At last he found her. She lay cold and inert under a stark blue light. An agent held an electric razor poised above her skull. Another gazed at a small screen.

He wasn’t too late! Parveen clenched his fists. He had never felt such rage before. He had never understood Mimi and her blazing temper, her fits of fury, and her lack of control. Finally, he knew what it felt like to want to tear something apart.

He was about to throw himself at the unsuspecting Grey Agents and sell his life dearly when the agent tapped the screen and said, “No. This one’s cerebellum is not developed enough to accept a host yet.”

“Oh.” The agent lowered the shears. “What shall we do with her then? Destroy her, I suppose.”

Parveen tensed, ready to spring to his sister’s aid.

“Wasteful.” The second agent shook its head. “Send her to the Hall of Batteries.”

“Fine.”

The relief that flooded through Parveen was enough to bathe his body with sweat. Noor had been spared the horrible psychic invasion that Aidan had experienced. At least in the Hall of Batteries, Parveen could keep an eye on her while he made his plans. He felt an urge just to grab her now and try to make a run for it, but Parveen was intelligent. He always weighed the positive and negative results of his actions. Even though attacking the Grey Agents now and attempting to free his sister would feel good, he knew that, ultimately, it was a foolish thing to do. He couldn’t hope to overpower so many enemies and get away with Noor. For one thing, he didn’t know how to get out of the complex.

No. He shrank against the wall, careful not to brush up against any of the Grey Agents as he backed away, heading for the entrance. I have to make a plan. I have to use my brain. He had limited resources, very few remaining weapons, and no allies. The one thing he did have in his favour was that the ODA didn’t know he was there. He had to remain hidden until he could make his move. He would find a place to hide, learn the layout of the complex, and find out everything he could about the ODA’s operations. Armed with that knowledge, he might be able to strike a blow that would free all the children.

And who knew? Maybe Hamish X and Mimi were on their way here right now. He hadn’t told anyone where he was going when he stowed away in the cargo carrier, but Mimi would have noticed he was missing. She would try to find him. Of course, she might not have made it out herself …

No. Parveen shut out that possibility. She will come. Hamish X will come. They won’t abandon me. I have to be ready. I have to have everything in place to help them when they arrive.

He watched and waited while Noor was transferred from the surgical table back onto her pallet. He trailed after the robot that carried her into the Hall of Batteries. He stood in the shadows as Noor was hooked up to a feeding tube and the strange harness. He waited until she was left alone, one of many inert children dangling in space. She hung on the lowest tier, at the height of Parveen’s shoulder.

After the robot had trundled away, Parveen crept to his sister’s side. He laid a hand on her cool forehead and said, “I’m watching over you. Rest now. I’ll come and get you soon.” He smoothed a strand of dark hair away from her face and padded away.

An hour later, after dodging many Grey Agents and searching several corridors, he had discovered the loose grille. Using the multitool from his pack, he quickly tugged on the grille until one side swung out from the wall. Ducking inside, he discovered a warren of tunnels carrying warm air throughout the complex. The shafts were a perfect height for him to walk upright and gave him access to everywhere he might need to explore. Settling on one central junction as a headquarters, he hunkered down and, wrapping himself in a thermal blanket, fell deeply asleep.

That had been yesterday. He sat up and looked at his watch. It read 6:00 a.m. He had slept for twelve hours. He didn’t know what time zone he was currently in, but it didn’t matter: he always kept his watch set to Greenwich Mean Time,⁵² or Zulu Time as the military called it.⁵³ No doubt he had needed sleep. He stretched his arms and legs, wincing as his muscles protested the hard metal floor.

“Time to explore.” He packed his knapsack, pulled his hood up, and trotted off down the tunnel in search of a shaft that would lead him to the ODA’s evil gateway.