Mission Orion: The Travel through Time

Chapter 56

We pointed our guns into complete darkness. I could not track a single movement in the corridor. We switched on our lights to find the corridor empty, the doors on both ends of the corridor sealed shut. The only way out was the same tunnel we used to enter the palace. 

I walked over to the place where  the tunnel was supposed to enter. It looked the same as the other parts of the wall, explained by the special hologram which makes the entrance undetectable. I could identify the entrance without any difficulty, as it was directly below the air duct. I walked right into the wall, expecting it to disappear and the tunnel to appear, but all what happened was me hitting the wall. There wasn't anything except the wall, a rock solid wall. A few soldiers who were standing there stared at the wall with panic. One of them stepped forward and touched the wall with his hand, and it had the same result. Either we were wrong about the location of the tunnel, or the Kenjah had found a way to prevent us from entering it. I could feel the panic rising inside me as I tore into the holding rooms calling out for Montwik and Holder. I found them making their way towards the exit. "I can't get through the tunnel!" I exclaimed as I looked at him with a look of fear stuck on my face. "I'm pretty sure you were looking at the wrong place. Let's hurry up." Montwik said, as he led the way to the exit. I saw as Montwik walked over to the place where I was a few moments ago and pressed his hand against the wall. My worst fear came true. I saw Montwik and Holder furiously try to make their way through the wall, but it proved to be unfruitful. 

The Kenjah had outsmarted us on this one. "Hurry up and check if they have it in their body." I said, as Gofr took the device out of his bag and set it out on the ground. Anna and Konrad came and stood beside me. The soldiers positioned themselves near the two doors and at the same time set traps which was capable of taking out the first wave of people who enter through those doors. And before doing this, we took out all the cameras which gave us a bit of relief, knowing that we Kenjah didn't have eyes on us. The both of them put their arms forward, following Gofr's orders and he takes the device towards Anna's wrist and inserts it into her. He looks at the reading, and does the same to Konrad. He turned to me and asked "I have good news, and I have bad news. Which one do you want first?". "Give me the bad news first." I asked him, preparing for the worst. "They have it in them." He replied. Anna and Konrad gasped and tears started rolling down Anna's eyes, but Konrad managed to keep himself together. "Then what the hell is the good news?" I asked him. "Well, the thing in their body is not active yet. It makes no sense that the Kenjah would keep it off if it is working, so the only logical reason for this is that the nano chips needs a few days, or probably weeks before it is active and can take control of the body, which explains the situation. "So that means there is no way for us to know when the chip would go online?" I asked. "Unfortunately, no." Profus replied. "Well, at least we have a bit of time on our hands." I said, trying to be optimistic. "Keep scanning them at regular intervals to make sure the chips aren't online yet. But as a safety precaution, I'm afraid we have to cuff them." Montwik ordered. "No! You cannot cuff..." I protested, but Montwik cut me off before I could complete my sentence. "Please put aside your emotions and think, Rithvik. Those chips in their bodies can go online any second. Trust me, it is better for everyone, Anna and Konrad included." He said, gesturing one of the soldiers to cuff them. Anna and Konrad showed no sign of protest. "You know? I still can't decide on whether I should trust you or not." I said to Montwik, recollecting how the Kenjah accused Montwik of being the spy. But now that clearly Profus is the spy, there is a chance that the Kenjah could have just been bluffing. But still, I wasn't going to take chances. I looked over at Montwik, whose face along with the grave expression looked almost ghostly in the light of his torch. 

Meanwhile, the Kenjah's men made absolutely no attempt to make contact with us. The corridor lights were still off, but the temperature and the humidity inside the corridors started sky rocketing. They probably must have cut off the air supply too. It almost was an hour since we made our escape, and roughly half an hour ago, the door connecting the corridor with the holding room shut, trapping us in the corridor, without lights and air. Any attempts my Montwik to establish contact with the base was unfruitful, but if what the _______ said was true, our forces should be here any moment, of course, unless they suffered a major defeat. Once in a while, Holder would try to get through the wall into the tunnel, but without any success. The wall was rock solid, as if the tunnel never existed.