The KunlunMountains of West Central China are beautiful and awesome. They look like they stretch to the very roof of the sky. David, Thomas, and I came out of the Jump Door within sight of the peak of Amne Machin. The wind blew sharp across the plain and it was cold. I could feel our Ranger jumpsuits compensating for the drop in temperature.
"I hate the cold," Thomas grumbled.
"Wait until we get a mission that takes us to Antarctica. You don't know cold until you've been at the South Pole," David said and took out his Razor Phone and started scanning.
I looked at the far away peak. It must have been at least twenty miles to the base of the mountain.
David finished his scan and holstered his razor phone. "The Triad's compound where Yin Li is being held is halfway up that mountain. Adebayo, do you have the position of that sewage tunnel."
"Right here, Sir," Thomas said.
Thomas took out his razor phone and consulted it. He pressed a button on his phone and a hologram of the sewer appeared. It looked like it winded for miles through the mountain. I could only imagine what kind of creatures dwelt in that horrible place.
"Looks like fun," I said.
"Hey, this should be easy. After what we went through in the Temple of Trials," David said.
"Don't remind me. I just hope this Yin Li is worth it," I said.
"All right, the sun will be going down soon. It's going to get even colder. We'd better get moving. Can you two keep up with me?" David said.
"The question is can you keep up with us, old man?" I quipped.
David smiled and set off at a brisk jog. Thomas and I ran after him. We ran for hours at a fast pace. We were trained as Rangers to run long distances without stopping. I remembered training at the Forge when we were forced to run multiple marathons in the same day.
David set a brisk pace. I looked back at Thomas to see if he was keeping up. Thomas was thin but he was tough. He kept up with David and me. I was proud of him. There was a reason that Colonel Nash plucked him from the League of Hackers to be in the Rangers.
Finally just as the sun was setting, we reached the base of the mountain. So far we hadn't been detected. David stopped running and looked at Thomas and me.
"Not bad, guys. We just might make Agents out of you, yet," David said.
"Just let us know when the real challenges begin," I said.
Thomas grinned, "If all this mission calls for is running then I'm fine with it."
"I wish it was that simple. Let's find this sewer tunnel and get on with it," David said.
"It should be about one thousand feet up the mountain," Thomas said.
We set out to climb the mountain. It was hard going. We scrambled over rocks and huge boulders sometimes blocked our path, but eventually we made it. In front of us lay the opening to the sewer tunnel. It had large metal bars that closed it off.
David took out his razor phone and activated a cutting laser that sliced through the metal bars so we could squeeze into the tunnel.
"All right, Silence from here on out," David said.
We crawled through the tunnel for what felt like hours. Slime and muck was everywhere and the stench was horrible, but we kept going. Finally David signaled for us to stop. He pointed above us and took out his razor phone. He activated the cutting laser and sliced through the tunnel until a small hole was created. David signaled for us to follow him and we all squeezed through the small opening.
We emerged into the confines of a large basement. Everywhere where large wooden crates that looked like they came from another century. Thomas stopped to look at one of the crates.
"Bloody hell. It looks like Night at the Museum down here," Thomas said.
David stopped and gave Thomas a stern look. "Who knows what the Triads have collected."
"This stuff is probably all stolen anyway," I said.
"All right, focus everyone. We're in the basement of the complex. We can't use our photon belts. We're going to have use stealth and guile to pull this off. Adebayo, let's see the plans for the complex again," David said.
Thomas whipped out his razor phone and a hologram shot out that showed us the plans for the building. Thomas pointed to a section of the complex that was at the top of the building.
"Yin Li should be in this room," Thomas said.
"Indeed she is young Master Adebayo. But first we have some unfinished business to attend to," a smug voice called from out of the darkness.
We spun around and saw the elegant figure of Count Ramses emerge from behind one of the crates.
"Count Ramses. I should have known you were behind all of this," David said coldly.
Count Ramses steepled his fingers in front of him and smiled.
I felt the Wend rushing to the surface. That bastard Count Ramses always showed up at the worst times. I was going to make him pay.
"You can wipe that smug smile off your face, you creep," I said.
"Such a mouth. Ms. Grant, I'm shocked. I must tell you if you're thinking of rescuing the young psionic Yin Li then you're sadly mistaken. She's too valuable to my master's plans to fall into your hands," Count Ramses said.
"I don't know you had a master, count what's your face," Thomas said.
Ramses smiled. It reminded me of a crocodile. I had to hand it to him. He was certainly a charmer. There was a part of me that wanted to listen to him talk.
"We all have someone we must answer to. Life is such a fun game isn't it? I'm surprised at you Mr. Adebayo. I would have thought sure that you would be part of my group of youngsters. I could use someone of your talents in the Brimstone Club. Certainly my master could."
Thomas bristled. "No way. I don't care to hang out with evil losers like yourself."
David stepped forward and whipped out his etheric knife, "All right, Count why don't you just make it easy for us and hand Yin Li over to us right now."
"No, I'm afraid not, young master Ross. Enjoy yourself," Count Ramses said and vanished into a puff of white and black smoke.
"Why don't I like the sound of that," I said to David.
Suddenly, a rumbling sound swept through the floor. The crates shook and the lids flew off them. Leaping out of the crates were clay warriors. There were dozens of them. They brandished sword and shields and advanced on us.
Thomas and I whipped out our etheric knives. Blue white and yellow orange flames showered over our hands as Thomas and I activated them.
"Bloody Hell, here we go again," Thomas said.
"I'll take the front you two take the rear," David said and ran towards the clay warriors.
"Val Sol!" I shouted and sprang into Fast Time.
The clay warriors shifted into Fast Time. Obviously we were dealing with magical beings. Colonel Nash always warned us about dealing with magic. It was something that was tricky to handle. Science and Magic were two parts of the same Coin after all.
A warrior swung his sword at me, aiming to decapitate me right then and there.
I ducked and slashed with my etheric knife at the warriors. They disintegrated under the dragon fire.
Thomas sprang up onto a stack of crates and ran across the room. He dove off the crates and reigned dragon fire down on the clay warriors.
I backed up against the crates just in time to avoid the dragon fire that was raining down on me. Instantly the wooden crates caught on fire.
"Thomas, will you quit it," I shouted.
"Opps, I'm sorry," Thomas said and holstered his etheric knife.
Just then, David ran up. He didn't even look like he broke a sweat. The fire began spreading thoughout the basement.
"We've got to get out of here," David said.
Thomas whipped out his razor phone and started scanning. He pointed down a long aisle. "There's a door right down there, Sir."
The smoke from the fire was becoming suffocating. We coughed and stumbled down the aisle towards the door. David yanked it open and we ran inside.
We were in another large room. Inky blackness surrounded us and it was as quiet as a Pharaoh's tomb. David, Thomas, and I took out our razor phones and activated the light beam function. Light stabbed through the darkness, but nothing was visible.
"Stay close, everyone and follow me," David said and inched forward.
Thomas and I followed David through the darkness. Suddenly, bright florescent lights switched on overhead. We all blinked and shielded our eyes from the glare.
"Oh, my God," David said when we were able to look around.
The room looked like a laboratory. A gleaming marble floor stretched to the dark walls. All around were large tanks that held human beings in various stages of growth. The humans looked like Yin Li. Thomas walked up to one of the tanks and tapped it.
"Careful, Thomas," I said.
"Bloody Hell, what are these things?" Thomas said.
David examined the tanks. "Clones. I'm guessing the Triads are trying to create their own army of Psionic Seers."
"Clones," I said softly and ran my fingers over the glass. The images were so chilling. Mary had always warned me about how Cold and Dark Science could be. Here was the proof.
"I prefer to think of them as my children," a soft voice spoke from behind us.
We spun around and found ourselves regarding an old man dressed in a lab coat. The man walked hunched over and crept towards us. He almost seemed to glide across the marble floor like a wraith.
David whipped out his Razor Phone and aimed it at the old man.
"Stop right there," he said.
The old man paled and held his hands up, "You have nothing to fear from me."
"I've heard that before," David said.
"Who you are?" I said to the old man.
"My name isn't important. What is important is that if you don't hurry then the young psionic will die," the old man said.
"What do you mean she's going to die," David demanded.
"The triads have successfully cloned her DNA. She's only being allowed to live a little bit longer. You have to hurry she's scheduled to be killed at midnight sharp," the old man said.
I stepped forward, "Okay. Listen to me right now. If you're lying I'll rip your tongue out."
David put his hand on my shoulder, "Grant, calm down. Look, Sir, we don't have time to fool around. Just tell us where Ms. Li is and we'll be on our way."
Thomas whipped out his Razor Phone. A hologram of the compound shot out.
The old man walked up and pointed to a series of rooms at the top of the compound.
"She's being kept in this bedroom," the old man said.
"Thank you. Is there anything we can do for you? If the triads know that you helped us..."
The old man gave a rueful smile, "Young master, I died a long time ago. There is a price to be paid and I must pay it. Please...just get Ms. Li to safety. That will be enough."
"All right. Let's go," David said as Thomas holstered his razor phone.
We all rushed out the door.
We found ourselves in a long ornate hallway lined with eight gold statues of the Buddha. The Statues sat on pedestals across from each other. A rich blood red carpet lay across the floor. Thomas walked forward but David grabbed him and yanked him back.
Just as multiple blue lasers shot out from the statues, narrowly missing Thomas's head.
"Bloody Hell, that was close," Thomas said.
"You should have known better, Adebayo," David said.
I punched Thomas in the arm, "You almost got sliced into sushi, dummy."
"Almost," Thomas said with a grin.
David took out his Razor Phone and waved it at the floor which shimmered and danced before us. Nothing but a black void lay before us. The floor was a holographic death trap.
"Bloody Hell, who knows where that thing leads," Thomas said.
Just then, the howls of tormented beasts rose from the black void. David's razor phone projected a holographic picture of horrible looking creatures that looked like monkeys. The monkeys shrieked and began climbing the walls of the pit, coming towards us.
"Whatever they are they certainly don't look friendly," I said.
"There's too many to take down with our razors. We've got to get across this pit somehow," David said.
"Fast Time Jump?" I said.
"Let's do it," David said.
"Wait, a bloody fricking second. What about me? I've never done a Fast Time jump before," Thomas said.
"There's a first time for everything, Adebayo," David said.
"It's not easy but you can do it, Tom," I said and patted him on the back.
The shrieks of the Grimm Monkeys grew even louder. From the pit, dozens of red eyes appeared in the darkness, closing in on us.
"It's now or never," I said.
"All right, everyone. Jump!" David said.
To Be Continued
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