فصل 35

Chapter 35: The Compound

“He understands a little bit of English,” Ostin said.

“Can you help us get in?” I asked.

Raúl nodded.

“If you help us, we’ll let you come back and free the others. Do you understand?” He nodded again.

I looked at Taylor, and she nodded. “All right.” I pulsed and melted through Raúl’s ropes, which seemed to both intrigue and frighten him. Ostin gave him back his clothes and waited for him to dress. “Let’s go,” I said.

“Vámonos,” Ostin said.

The four of us walked back over to the others. They were surprised to see the rancher with us. “Raúl knows the way, so he’s going to drive the first truck. Jack, you follow us.” Jack looked at Raúl suspiciously. “You sure you can trust him?” “Taylor read his mind. She trusts him.”

“Ostin,” Jack said. “Translate this.” He pointed at Raúl. “You betray us, I’ll make sure you go down with us. Understand?” Ostin translated. Raúl frowned.

Zeus added to the threat. “Tell him that if he turns us in, I’ll electrocute him first. Make sure he understands that.” Ostin nodded and translated that as well.

Raúl looked as indignant as he was afraid. “Los odio también,” he said.

“He says he hates the Elgen too,” Ostin said.

“We’ll see,” Jack said.

“Raúl will drive the first truck,” I said to Jack. “You, Zeus, Ian, Abi, and McKenna follow us. Stay close.” The warning lights on the electric fence still hadn’t come on, so I checked it once more, then we all climbed through and walked to the trucks.

Raúl said something to Ostin, who seemed to be nodding his head in agreement.

“What did he say?” I asked.

“He says we should bring back the bull. Otherwise it will look suspicious.” I looked over at the dead animal. “Good idea.” Raúl got in the truck and finished hoisting the bull into the truck bed.

The ranch was nearly five miles in diameter and was composed of hilly terrain. We drove for several minutes before we could even see the compound. The sight of it filled us all with dread.

We drove on, crossing diagonally across the main road to avoid other cars and trucks.

As Raúl had explained, the compound was surrounded by two large fences with guard towers perched high on the corners, the silver barrels of their mounted machine guns glistening in the sun. The place reminded me of the pictures I’d seen in my history book of World War II German prison camps, though this place was clearly much more high-tech.

The compound’s checkpoint was a hive of activity, with trucks, cars, and buses backed up for more than a hundred yards and dozens of guards, many with leashed dogs, checking the vehicles that awaited entry. The dogs were large and muscular, and I wondered what breed they were.

“Rottweilers,” Ostin said, as if reading my mind.

“What?”

“That’s what type of dogs those are. Very powerful. I wonder if they’re electric.” The guards were wearing the same Elgen uniforms as the guards who had attacked our safe house.

As we got closer to the compound my tics increased and I began to gulp, something I didn’t notice until Taylor started gently rubbing my back. The compound was bigger than I expected and reminded me a little of the Boise State University campus, without the football stadium.

The Starxource plant, at the east end of the compound, was by far the largest of the buildings. I guessed it had to be nearly a hundred yards in diameter. Above it were three large exhaust pipes from which white smoke billowed into the air.

“Look at all that pollution,” Taylor said. “I thought this was supposed to be clean energy.” “It is,” Ostin said. “Those are cooling towers. That’s steam emission. I’d bet my frontal lobe that’s where the rats are.” Raúl pointed to a small gate near the plant and said, “There.” “There’s the entrance,” I said. “Be alert.”

“Todo el tiempo esta allá,” Raúl said.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“He said the guard’s there,” Ostin said.

“Should we turn back?” I asked.

Ostin asked Raúl, then said, “He says no. That would be too suspicious looking.” “I’ll take care of him,” Zeus said.

“No,” Taylor said. “Let me try first.”

Raúl pulled the truck slowly up to the gate. The man at the gate, a stocky Peruvian man nearly as wide as he was tall, looked at us sternly. He said to Raúl, “Quiénes son estos gringos? Dónde están Cesar y Alvaro?” Suddenly the man bent over, grimacing and holding his head.

Taylor said to Ostin, “Tell him that he’s been expecting us, and we’ve just brought the bull back that was causing the problems.” Ostin translated.

The man blinked a few times, then waved us on. “Sí. Adelante.” I turned to Taylor. “That was cool.”

“Thanks,” she said.

Raúl pulled through the gate. I motioned to Jack to follow us.

“Whoa,” Ian said. “You won’t believe what I’m seeing.” “The bowl?” Ostin said.

“Yeah, it’s full of rats. Millions of them. And they’re glowing like us. Only brighter and sort of an orange-red.” Raúl drove the truck up to the first of three metal doors. Even though we couldn’t see anyone, the door slowly began to rise. Raúl said something to Ostin.

“This is where they take the meat to be processed,” Ostin said. “We have to pull in here. It’s their procedure, and it would look suspicious not to.” I looked into the dark entrance. Five men in ranchers’ uniforms were waiting on the side of the concrete slip. Raúl slowly backed up into the space until a light came on. Jack pulled the second truck up to the side of the door.

“No,” Raúl said. He began saying something very quickly to Ostin.

“He can’t park there,” Ostin said. “He needs to pull up next to the other trucks.” I hopped out of the truck, squeezing between the concrete wall and the vehicle until I was outside the building and close to Jack. “Raúl says to park there,” I said, pointing. “But back in, just in case we need to make a run for it. Then meet us inside the building.” “Got it,” Jack said.

When I returned, everyone was out of the truck and Raúl was talking to some of the ranchers who were inspecting the bull.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“They’re trying to decide whether to use the bull to feed the guards or the rats. If it’s the guards they’ll send it to the butcher. If it’s the rats it goes to the grid.” “What’s the grid?”

Ostin pointed up. Half of the room’s ceiling looked like the underside of a steel bowl. “The grid is where they make electricity from rats,” he said.

The men appeared to have made a decision because an electric forklift drove up to the back of the truck and lifted the bull, then carried it over to a metallic cage connected to a hydraulic lift. The bull was carefully lowered onto the platform.

After the forklift had backed away, a yellow light began flashing, accompanied by a shrill beeping sound. The lift began to rise. When the platform was halfway to the ceiling, a hole opened above it and the platform moved perfectly into place, sealing the gap.

“That’s cool,” Ostin said. “I wonder what’s up there.” I turned to him. “Has anyone asked about us?” He nodded. “The older guy with the mega-mustache is in charge. He asked Raúl where the other ranchers are, and Raúl told him they’re still out repairing the fence. He said they sent him back with the bull so a jaguar wouldn’t get it.” “How’d he explain us?”

“He said one of the Elgen guards flagged him down near the checkpoint and made him bring us over to the ranch square. He said we’re ranchers from an American Starxource plant and we’ve been brought here to observe their operations.” “Raúl’s pretty clever,” I said. “I almost believe his story.” “Let’s hope mega-mustache does too.”

Jack and the others came inside, and we gathered together in the corner of the room, trying to keep out of sight, though not successfully. The ranch hands kept glancing over at us, though they were just interested in the girls.

“There are cameras everywhere,” Ostin said. “Not good. Not good.” “I’d like to blow a few of them out,” Zeus said. “Just for fun.” “What do you see, Ian?” I asked. “What is this building?” “It’s their power plant. This corner is where they feed the rats. There’s a butchery to the right, with a refrigeration room. In front of us there’s a series of tunnels and a lot of water pipes and conveyor belts. Directly under the bowl is a huge funnel.” “For the rat droppings,” Ostin said. “If there’s really a million rats up there, they’re going to be moving several tons of droppings a day. That’s why there’s a manure processing plant outside.” He shook his head. “Man, I’d die for a look inside that bowl.” “I’m sure Hatch would be happy to arrange both,” Taylor said.

“There are water pipes everywhere,” Ian said. “Like hundreds of them.” “Cooling pipes,” Ostin said. “The bowl is like a nuclear reactor. With that much heat it would need a giant cooling system to keep it from melting down. Kind of like a car’s radiator.” Ian turned a little to the west. Looking up, he said, “There’s an observatory up there, so they can see inside the bowl. On this level on the other side of the building it looks nearly identical to the laboratories back at the academy. Except in one of the rooms there are rows of cages filled with rats.” “Probably where they breed and electrify them,” Ostin said.

Ian continued panning the room. “Over there are more offices.” He turned to his left. “Hmm. They aren’t offices. It’s a jail. Along this wall are five cells. The three closest are empty, the fourth one has an older man in it, and there’s someone in the fifth, but I can’t tell what they look like.” “Is it my mother?”

Ian shook his head. “No. It’s a guy. And whoever it is, he’s glowing. He’s one of us.” “Maybe it’s Bryan,” Zeus said. “He was always getting in trouble. But he’d just cut through the door. Does he have any of those wires on him?” “He’s wired,” Ian said.

“That explains it,” Zeus said. “Gotta be Bryan.” “Maybe he’ll join us,” Taylor said. “We could use him.” Zeus shook his head. “No. He won’t join us. Those guys are loyal to Hatch.” “Maybe he’ll change his mind like you did,” Taylor said.

Zeus looked at her. “Maybe. But I doubt it.” “I want to know who it is,” I said. “If Hatch is losing control of his kids, I want to know why. What type of locks are on the doors?” “Old-fashioned kind,” Ian said.

“So we need a key.”

“Or explosives,” Ostin said.

“Or Bryan,” Zeus said.

“What do you see outside the building?” I asked.

“More buildings. The building closest to us looks like a prison or jail. A lot of bars.” “The Reeducation facility,” Ostin said. “It’s next to the assembly hall. Is there a bigger building next to it?” Ian nodded. “Yeah. The guards are eating lunch in there. There’s got to be more than a thousand guards in there right now.” “That’s the assembly hall, all right,” Ostin said. “North of it should be the dormitories.” “Yep. Bunk rooms. A lot of them. There’re guards in there, too. How do you know this?” “I studied the plans. What else do you see?” “Past it, on the other side, there are maybe forty or fifty tents. There are guards in all of them.” “Temporary shelter for the visiting guards,” Ostin said.

“This place is crawling with guards,” Ian said. “They’re everywhere.” “Good,” I said. “Once we find some guard outfits, we can move freely around the complex.” Raúl walked back to Ostin and started speaking. Ostin listened intently and asked a few questions before turning to us. “Raúl says that his boss told him to give us a tour of their operations. He also says we need to be careful because there are three Elgen guards assigned to the ranch house. Two of them are new here, so they’ll be easy to fool, but it’s best if we don’t talk to the guards at all.” “Will the other ranchers tell the guards about us?” I asked.

Ostin asked Raúl, then said, “He doesn’t think so. They don’t like the guards.” “Where are the guards now?” I asked.

“He said they’re at lunch.”

“We can jump them for their uniforms when they get back,” Jack said.

“With all these cameras around, that’s risky,” Ostin said.

“Being here is risky,” Taylor said.

“Maybe we don’t have to jump them,” I said. “Ostin, ask Raúl if he knows if the guards have a uniform locker around here.” Ostin translated. Raúl’s answer was surprisingly long, and Ostin looked very interested in what he had to say. When Raúl finished speaking, Ostin said, “He says they have a guard room over there by the door, but the ranchers are not allowed near it. But he knows where there are some Elgen guard uniforms no one will miss.” I couldn’t believe our good fortune. “Really?” “He said that when they built the compound they put in emergency drainage pipes. The pipes are always empty and large enough for a man to crawl through. They run underground below the compound and fence and empty about a hundred yards out into the jungle.

“The guards aren’t allowed into town alone, but some of them have Peruvian girlfriends, so they uncapped one of the pipes, and every night a few of them sneak out. They secretly call it the Weekend Express. The guards don’t wear their uniforms in town because the other guards might report them and the townspeople sometimes attack them if they’re alone, so they change their clothes and leave their uniforms inside. A few of the guards have left and never come back, so their uniforms are still there.” “How many?”

“He remembers seeing three.”

“Where are these pipes?”

“In a mechanical room behind the butchery and refrigeration.” “Can he take us to them?”

Raúl understood the question and said, “Sí. Más adelante.” “Later,” Ostin said.

Raúl led us to the southeast corner of the room, stopping again near the cage lift, which had lowered back down without the bull. Raúl put on a show, giving us a demonstration of how the lift worked, while mega-mustache watched us from his corner. Afterward, Raúl led us to the butchery and the refrigeration room, where large slabs of meat hung from overhead hooks. It was so cold we could see our breath.

Ostin said, “Raúl says on really hot days the guards hang out in here.” Jack began pummeling a hanging beef like a punching bag. “Look, I’m Rocky.” Taylor shook her head.

At the back of the refrigeration room were green metal doors. Raúl said something to Ostin.

“He says it’s best that we don’t all go back to the mechanical room. There are three uniforms there, so we should decide who is changing into them.” “I need to decide who’s coming with me to find my mother,” I said. I turned to Ian. “I’m going to need you.” “I’m there,” he said.

“Who else wants to come with me?”

Jack, Zeus, and Taylor raised their hands.

“You know they’ll spot you a mile away,” I said to Taylor.

“I know. I just want to help.”

“You can help back here.” I looked at Jack and Zeus. “Jack, you come.” Zeus started to protest, but I cut him off. “Look, if things turn bad, we’re going to need you to get everyone out. Besides, I don’t want you anywhere near Hatch. I think you’re the only one Hatch hates more than me.” He nodded. “You’re right.” He looked at Jack, and I braced myself for another argument. Instead Zeus raised his hand. “Bring them back.” Jack hit it. “I’ll do my best.”

I breathed out in relief. “Let’s go.”

Jack, Ostin, Ian, and I followed Raúl into the mechanical room. The room was dim enough that my and Ian’s glow could be seen.

Raúl looked at us in wonder. “Ustedes extraterrestres?” Ostin grinned. “He wants to know if you and Ian are aliens.” “Tell him yes,” I said.

Near the back of the room were four massive conduits that rose from the ground up to the ceiling. Raúl pointed to a pipe with a horizontal plug. It was capped with a metal lid and a locking latch.

“Is that the one?” I asked.

Raúl nodded, then gestured to another door just past the pipes. He opened the door to reveal piles of civilian clothing.

“How many guys are sneaking out of this place?” Jack asked.

“Muchos,” Raúl said.

We found four uniforms in the closet instead of the expected three.

Raúl looked concerned and pulled one of the uniforms to him. “Sudor,” he said.

Ostin touched the uniform. “It’s sweaty. The guy is still out there.” “Not for long,” Ian said, pointing to the ground. “He’s coming back up.” Suddenly we heard the sound of someone in the pipe.

“I guess our guard’s coming home,” I said.

“We could lock him out,” Jack said. “Or knock him out. Either works for me.” “No,” I said. “Let’s see if he knows anything about my mother.” The lid suddenly opened, pushed up with one hand, and a machete fell out to the concrete floor. Then a head appeared. The man was starting to climb out when he saw us and froze. I could tell he was considering fleeing back into the pipe.

Ian waved his hand, “No worries, bro. We’re doing the same thing you are. Weekend Express. Our man Raúl here is hooking us up with his cousins.” The man’s expression relaxed. “Oh, right.”

Jack pulled the lid back for the guard, and he climbed out. He was a big man, at least an inch taller than Jack, and he picked up his machete, then walked past us to the closet, where he stripped off his street clothing. “You guys look young. What are they doing, recruiting at high schools now?” “Better early than late,” Ostin said. “We’re part of the Elgen Empowering Youth program.” The man shook his head. “Never heard of it.” He pulled up his pants and fastened his utility belt. “You done the tunnel before?” “No,” I said. “First time.”

“Watch for snakes. Condensation forms on the pipe and the snakes like it. They hang out near the mouth. Last night I killed an eyelash pit viper on the way out.” “Bothriechis schlegelii,” Ostin said. “About eighteen inches long?” He held up his stained machete. “Not anymore.” “Thanks for the warning,” I said.

He sat down on a crate to pull on his boots. “No problem. But I’ve gotta hurry, my shift is in ten.” “Where are you stationed?” I asked.

He laced up his boots. “At the gate until a week ago. That’s where I met my darlin’ milkmaid,” he said with a grin. “She was bringing in leche for the troops. Now they got me over at the Re-Ed.” “Re-Ed,” Ostin said. He looked at me. “Reeducation. The prison.” “Yeah,” he said, standing. “Not bad duty. At least it’s air-conditioned.” He pulled off his shirt and donned a black Elgen one.

I took a step toward the guard. “I hear there’s an American woman in there.” He looked up as he buttoned his shirt, his mouth wide in a dark grin. “Yeah, and she’s all that you’ve heard.” “Is she?” I asked. I could feel my face turning red.

Ostin shook his head at me in warning.

“Oh yeah. But we’re not allowed to go near her. She’s Hatch’s pet. But I keep my eye on her if you know what I mean. I’ve had some fun with her.” He laughed. “A couple days ago I made her do a belly dance for a glass of water.” I looked at him dully, steeling my anger behind my eyes. “Sharon,” I said.

“Yeah. That’s her name. How’d you know that?” I put my hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. “She’s my mother.” His scream never made it past his lips. I had never shocked anyone that hard before, and I could feel his skin blister beneath my fingers. I didn’t stop, even after he dropped to the ground and I had crouched down next to him. I was so electric that sparks were shooting at him from my knees and thighs.

“Michael,” Jack said. “Bro!”

Ostin shouted, “Michael, stop it! You’ll kill him!” I stepped back, blue-white sparks still zigzagging between my fingers.

Raúl was looking at me in terror. Everyone was silent.

Ostin cautiously stepped toward me. “You okay?” I was panting heavily. “Get his key. We just found our way in.” Ian took his key. Jack and Ian pulled off his uniform and carried him back to the pipe, dropped him in, then locked it. We dressed in the uniforms and helmets, choosing the ones that were closest to our sizes. I took a knife and cut four inches off my pants’ length. Raúl took a grenade and baton from the fourth uniform.

“What’s he doing?” I asked.

Ostin spoke to him. “He says he’s helping us.” “He doesn’t want to get mixed up in this,” I said.

“He already is,” Ostin said.

I looked at him, then nodded. “Gracias.”

He nodded back.

Ostin took the fourth uniform and rolled it up.

“What’s that for?” I asked.

“How else are you going to get your mother out of a prison surrounded by two thousand guards?” Ostin said.

“You are a genius, my friend.”

Ostin smiled. “Tell me something I don’t know. Oh, wait, you can’t.” I put my arm on his shoulder. “All right. Let’s get my mother.”