Parallel: United Front

Chapter 10: Once An Army Brat...

A couple of minutes earlier, at the other side of the underground colony, Raines could not help but admire Eli's professionalism and skill. Despite their initial blunder at the control station, they had so far managed to slip through the tunnels undetected. That was due to his expert decision making. Choosing wisely when to move and when to wait. When to ambush, and when to duck behind cover to let patrols pass by.

Like some wizard, Eli seemed to detect the few places where there were cameras long before they approached, which made evasion much easier. Of course she knew it was most likely because of some fancy gadget or another, but the common sense to even get such a gadget was not as common as some would think. That alone showed he was a forward thinker.

Raines shook her head as they approached a metal door. Unlike most others, this one was dirty and old, revealing a long time of disuse. "Where is this?"

Eli examined the map displayed on his gauntlet. "Best guess; used to be used as an old service passageway before they installed those new fancy doors." The door creaked and groaned loudly as he pushed, as if lamenting its disturbed rest.

Like Eli said, it opened to an old, abandoned tunnel. Unlike the rest of the colony, the walls and earth (though caked over with moss and dirt) were smoothed over with concrete. Most likely whatever was brought through here was sensitive to bumps caused by uneven ground. Raines frowned as she realized something odd. The ground they'd been walking on, though not laced with concrete, had been unusually smooth. She had not thought of it until seeing the concrete floor in this 'service tunnel' but it was a significant anomaly.

No animal she knew of would care enough to make the tunnels that smooth. Which meant the Vokians had been down there for quite a while. Long enough to create a temporary tunnel until they smoothed out all the tunnels. Damn, the scale of this operation kept increasing exponentially. Raines realized they might just be severely understaffed for the mission.

But this was Eli's OP. Raines watched the young agent's broad back rise and fall with each step. She wasn't sure whether it was the armour he wore, or it was just natural, but he exuded the type of self-confidence that was contagious. They type that got many agents dead.

"Where does this lead?" Raines asked, breaking the silence.

Eli tapped something on his gauntlet. A 3-D holographic image popped up above his arm. It depicted a massive network of tunnels that left Raines stunned. Sure ,she had seen a rerun of Bugs, and caught a glimpse or two on NatGeo, but she was left speechless by the magnitude and complexity of the entire colony.

"The bugs made these?"

"Most of them, if not all," said Eli. The image zoomed in on one particular sector. "Some areas might have been modified after the Red Army moved in." He pointed at a tunnel. "This is where we are. Sonar picked up this route." His finger traced the tunnel line till it reached a massive enclosure. "It will lead us straight to the chamber we want to reach. Only through the back door."

"What's the plan once we get there?"

Eli turned to face her. "You're the careful type huh?"

Raines shrugged. "I just don't want to enter a room filled with automatic weapons trained at me, saddled with only a sniper rifle and a pistol."

"We should be fine," Eli assured. "Pathway leads to a walkway levels above the ground. Except we're unlucky enough to run into a guard patrolling it, we should be fine."

"That's twice you said that," observed Raines. "Trying to convince me, or yourself?"

Eli shrugged. "In this situation, it might as well be both."