Genesis

Chapter 40

Hey everyone, I'm back with a new chapter! I didn't post a chapter last week because it was Easter. So, I hope everyone had a good Easter and enjoy the chapter!

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I come to with a snort when I hear the quiet patter of footsteps in the hallway. I check my watch. It's about ten minutes after eight o'clock; the dome has just closed. I must have dozed off while I was waiting in my office. I peer around the edge of my desk and look out the small window in my office door. Nothing. I decide to get up to obtain a better view. I shift and slowly stand up, taking care to not make any noise. I am about to tiptoe to the window when the footsteps get louder. It sounds like they're coming towards me. I soundlessly duck back down behind my desk, hoping that I won't be found. The footsteps get closer and closer. My mind races with ideas to make a quick escape if I need to. What if it's a surprise security sweep? All of a sudden, the footsteps stop. I can hear a man's faint exhale right outside my door. I quietly inhale, barely daring to breathe. I hear the jingling of keys and one of the keys being pressed into the door's lock.

    The door clicks open. My heart stops.

    "Kaze, I know you're behind the desk. The coast is clear," says a familiar voice. I stand up, wiping my sweaty palms on my pant leg. Ximon stands over me, looking like he is bursting at the seams with laughter.

    "You couldn't have given me a warning over the earpiece?" I ask, annoyed and relieved at the same time.

    "Nope!" says Ximon cheerfully. "Now come on. Your brother is probably waiting for you." I nod and shakily walk out of the office towards the main entrance to the facility. The facility looks so much different at night. There is so much dark and shadow everywhere and I activate my watch to give me a faint light source. Eventually, I reach the doors. I stand in front of them and hesitate, knowing that if Ximon didn't properly shut down the security systems then the alarms will start blaring as soon as I try to open the door.

    I nudge the door open, bracing myself. Silence. No alarms, no nothing. I sigh in relief. I walk out the doors, being careful not to stray too far from the facility's door. In the distance, I can faintly hear the rev of a buzzbike engine. Eventually, I can not only hear the buzzbike but I can see it as well. My brother zooms across the dunes toward me and then stops when he is about ten feet away from me, effectively spraying sand everywhere.

    "Drayk," I cough, choking on sand. Drayk chuckles to himself as he clambers off his bike. He looks around.

    "Well," he says, "You weren't lying when you said this place was invisible."

    "Yeah, it has cloaking technology. That's why almost no one knows it exists," I say. "Come on, the door is this way." I retrace my steps backwards and open the door. It feels strange to go in without saying the password but all of that system has been disabled as well, leaving the door unlocked. Drayk follows me into the building after making sure his bike is situated outside. As we pass through the entrance, he sharply inhales at the sight of the facility. Even in the dark, it is breathtaking. I activate my watch again and am able to make out Ximon standing by the main desk.

    "Everything's in place and ready to go," he says to me.

    "Cool," I say over the earpiece for the heck of it. I can almost see Ximon roll his eyes.

    "I'm going to check on our position," I say out loud. "Then we can go." I concentrate and focus my thoughts.

    "Harvel, how are things looking in there?" I message him. I can feel Harvel start a little at the sound of my voice.

    "Going well, I got into the gate databases pretty easily. Everyone thinks you, Drayk, and Ximon are safe inside the dome," he says.

    "Great," I say to him. "We're about to go to the drone room and fly the drones out. I'll keep you posted." I feel his mind wander and our connection dies out.

"Come on, let's go," I say to Drayk and Ximon. I take off at a brisk pace to the Outside sector of the facility with Ximon and my brother trailing close behind. Finally, we reach the drone room which, like the rest of the facility, is cloaked in darkness. I motion for Drayk and Ximon to wait for me in the drone aviary. I enter the drone storage quarters and feel along the walls, using my watch again to help me until I reach where I think my drone is stored. I swipe my hands around, trying to find the button to turn the light on inside my drone's box and I eventually get it. The box lights up in a vibrant red and I am able to see clearly to open the box. I pull my drone out along with its controller. I decide to leave the light on so it will be easy to put my drone back. After all, there's no one in the facility but us. I carefully walk out of the room and across the hallway where Drayk and Ximon are waiting. Ximon has a computer open, shedding light on the dimly lit room. That is where we will be able to see the images of my mother via the camera on my drone.

    "All right, now we need to open the doors somehow without making too much noise," I say, communicating with my earpiece again.

    "I can crack the bottom open slightly and for you to get out, but you'll have to be able to maneuver the drone in that small of a space," says Ximon in my head.

    "I can do it," I think to him. Ximon nods. I place my drone in a nearby box to send it out into the airspace. Once the drone and the box are activated I slowly toggle the drone forward so it is hovering in the air. It is so dark I can barely make out its frame. I jam a button on the controller to activate its onboard lights.

    "I'm going to speak out loud," Ximon warns the two of us over our earpieces.

    "Do what you have to do," I say, ready to maneuver my drone under the door.

    "This is Mentor Ximon Xanthos speaking. Begin protocol 17: activate outside doors," Ximon says.

The door rumbles as it opens and I wince at the sudden noise. I don't think anyone will be around to hear it but it still makes me nervous. I clutch the controller in my hands tightly and press another button to turn on the camera system. Ximon's computer lights up to show what the drone is seeing; right now it is just the dark wall of the aviary. The door is now about five feet above the ground. I make my move. Using the drone's camera to guide me I spurn the drone down to the ground and race it to the door.

"I'm going to close the door," says Ximon. "We don't want to keep it open too long." I nod, still concentrating on successfully clearing the gap that is now starting to close. Thankfully I make it through the door easily. It thuds shut behind the drone and I am left with only the drone's cameras to guide me. I fiddle around with a few controls and dim the onboard lights so no one from the dome will be able to see the drone. I rotate around, locate the petrified forest, and zoom off in its direction. Ximon and Drayk pull up chairs and make themselves comfortable behind Ximon's large computer. I continue on towards the forest, mentally preparing myself to speak to my mother. Will she be happy to see me? Will she be mad that I told Drayk? Will she remember Ximon? Questions whirl through my head at what we're about to do.

Finally, the petrified trees whiz past me as I maneuver the drone through the forest. I fight off the feeling of dread that begins to settle on me from being in this place again. Memories of my mother rescuing me from the rabbits fly back as I search for my mother's tree house. Eventually its leafy roof comes into view. I suck in a deep breath and turn to Drayk and Ximon.

"This is it; it's her house," I say to them. Drayk makes eye contact with me, wearing his uncertainty pretty plainly on his face.

"I'm going in," I say. I jolt the drone forward down to where I know the door is. I go through the entrance rotate around. My mother is sitting at the small table in the corner. She is staring intently at the drone, looking perplexed but ready to fight.

"Um, hi mom," I say.