Empire

“And a power station? Lots of transformers? Where?”

“No. Nothing like that,” said Benny. “But definitely power lines. No, wait. They ran along Highway 12. But I never saw them link up with the dams. Sorry.”

“This was officially a hydroelectic project,” said Cole. “There are turbines in the dams.”

“So maybe they use the power right here,” said Cat. “In their vast system of underground factories and training facilities.”

“Cat and I are going back up to the observation tower to check whether there’s any kind of vent up there for an underground system.”

They all switched off their transmitters. It was harder going uphill. But not slower. That’s what all the stairstepping and rock climbing were for.

Now Cole knew what to look for, he climbed a tree well back from the cleared perimeter and scanned for some kind of pipe or vent hidden in the tall grass.

Bingo. There were about two dozen small pipes, sticking up only a few inches above the ground before they bent over to keep water from coming in. At ground level you couldn’t see them for the grass.

Cole pointed his soundcatcher toward them and was able to pick up a difference between the pipes and the surrounding area. They were connected to something that was actively producing noise.

He climbed back down the tree and backed away from the cleared area, heading down the Chinnereth slope this time. Cat was soon near him, though they did not talk and remained fifty feet apart as they made their way down the slope.

Near the cleared edge of the woods, but not close enough to be seen, they stopped and Cole approached Cat. Across the water, the cabin sat on its little island. It had a chimney, which might very well contain vents for more underground structures.

It might also contain something else. An entrance.

“I think I’m going for a swim,” said Cole.

“I was having the same thought,” said Cat.

Cole switched on his transmitter. “We’re on the west shore of Chinnereth, just west of the cabin. Cat and I are going to swim across to see if there’s an entrance there.”

“Water’s gonna be cold, abun,” said Babe. “You two gonna have little tiny dicks when you get there.”

“Least I’ll still have one,” said Cat.

“We won’t go for another half hour,” said Cole. “Drew and Babe, bring the SMAW down near the waterline in case we need some backup. Load and Arty, you get to Chinnereth shoreline nearest to the cabin. Benny and Mingo, you can’t get here in time to be useful. So go north, get to Highway 12, but stay in infra range. If we confirm that this is the place, get to where you can make contact with Torrent so he can send in a strike force.”

“I don’t know what you just figured out,” said Babe.

“That’s because you’re in public relations,” said Mingo, “and I’m an engineer.”

“Thought that meant you drove trains,” said Babe.

“There are standpipes in the tall grass under the observation tower,” said Cole. “There’s machinery operating underground.”

“And the water,” said Mingo. “Only place where it could go is from one lake into the other. Anything else would be too obvious. They must pump it out of Chinnereth, uphill, into Genesseret, using all that electricity they’ve stored up. Genesseret rises, Chinnereth falls. Exposing their doorway. They go in or out, whatever, and when they’re done, they seal the watertight entrance and let the water flood back downhill to fill it back up. Genesseret drops back to normal, Chinnereth rises.”

“You can’t know that,” said Babe.

“No other possibility,” said Mingo. “Word, man.”

“The ultimate moat,” said Drew.

“That’s a lot of water to move,” said Babe.

“The federal government paid for the whole thing,” said Benny. “Your tax dollars at work.”

“So why are you going out to the island?” asked Arty.

“We’re almost sure,” said Cole. “But are we sure enough to call in a strike force yet?”

“They got to have a back door,” said Mingo. “Can’t drain the lake every time somebody’s got to go outside to smoke.”

“Boat,” said Cat.

They switched their transmitters off.

A small motorboat was coming up the lake from the area of the dam. Heading for them or for the island? Had their chatter been detected? Even if they couldn’t decode the scrambled signal, they’d know somebody was there.

But the boat pulled up to the little dock on the island.

And waited.

And waited. The driver of the boat didn’t seem particularly alert. Like a cabdriver waiting for a fare.

The door of the cabin opened. Four men came out.

“Is any of them Verus?” asked Cole.

Cat looked through his binoculars. “No,” he said. “You recognize any of them?”

Cole took the binoculars. The men wore suits. He thought he might have seen one of them on television. The news, probably, since he didn’t look like an actor. But he didn’t remember who or when.

The men got into the boat and it pulled away from the dock. The boat headed on down the lake.

Cole took off his pack. He quickly inflated the floats on it and attached his weapons and boots to the top. The floats were widely spaced enough for it to be stable, at least on smooth water. Top-heavy, but it wouldn’t tip. He attached the towline to it and shrugged on the harness. Cat was doing the same.

“Never much call to use these in Afghanistan or Sudan,” Cat said.

“Nice to get a chance to test out all the equipment,” said Cole.

“Glad you’re so white,” said Cat. “Easier target on the water.”

Cole just grinned at him.

Then he moved swiftly down the slope and into the water. It was cold, but he didn’t hesitate. His body went into that momentary shock and he trembled a little, but as soon as he had laid the miniraft of his pack down on the water, he immersed himself and began swimming in long, steady strokes, dragging the pack behind him. He broke water as gently as possible. But if someone was watching, there’s no way he wouldn’t be visible on the calm surface of the water.

Having their main entrance hidden under water explained why they didn’t have a lot of patrols. Patrols would be seen. Encounters with civilians would leave memories.

Of course, so would letting a civilian see the lakes drain. It was so easy to get here. Hikers might do it at any time.

Easy? Not so easy. They had moved very cautiously. They had made little noise and made sure to stay out of sight. Maybe regular hikers were detected, and either they didn’t drain the lake until they had passed or they’d send somebody out dressed in a ranger uniform to send them on their way.

It was so cold. He could feel his body reacting to it, struggling to stay warm. But they were most of the way to the island now. Not much longer. He glanced around to see Cat was only a little bit behind him.

Cat pointed toward the island and started swimming faster.

The island was rising.

Which meant the water level was falling.

Just a little way below the waterline, the island stopped being a hill. It was a thick pillar, solid concrete. Of course. There wouldn’t be an island here. They had built it.

The dock was now hanging in midair; the pillars of the dock were actually resting on steel beams jutting out from the concrete wall of the island. Under the dock, there was a ladder rising up to the level of the beams. From there, it looked easy enough to get to the short wooden swimmer’s ladder.

What was going to be hard was climbing that ladder without being seen.