“Welcome Captain Braxton,” a high-pitched female voice announces from hidden speakers. “What can we assist you with today?”
“Our communications with Acheron have been lost and we desperately need to contact the High Ruler.”
“Only five of you may enter the Intake Facility. Please advise the remainder of your party to stay with their vehicles. Remove all weapons from your persons before entering the building.”
Braxton walks over to Keller and Rey who’ve exited the trucks, and speaks quietly with them. I place my Levin gun and knife on the front seat of the last vehicle. The two Morrigan who’ve been riding with us are divided between the other two vehicles, which leaves Jagger, Quin, Rabaan, Lehen, Braxton, and I. Jagger elects to stay behind with the others as we line up in front of the door, which hisses open and then quickly closes behind us.
No one is there to meet us.
The entryway is flanked on both sides by glass inlayed doors. The glass is clouded over by a white film. I step out of the group, walk to the far side of the room, to a large window, which allows me to see into several rooms on the other side of the building. There are a couple of women sitting in chairs, their legs elevated as they’re being examined. I look away, my eyes drifting down through the whole in the center of the structure to the rust colored rocks below where massive sturdy columns extend out from the cliff face, holding the building into place.
I return to the group just as the door to the right opens. A tall woman wearing dark red slacks with a matching blazer walks out. Her red hair is pulled tightly back into a ponytail at the nape of her neck. She doesn’t extend her hand as she introduces herself, but rather keeps her hands firmly clasped together behind her back.
“Captain Braxton, I’m Superior Hersher. What can I assist you with?”
“Hersher?” I question, making sure I’d heard her clearly.
“Yes, Diana Hersher, and you are?”
“You wouldn’t happen to be related to Dr. Hersher?” My voice raises an octave. I can tell I’m startling this woman, which makes me smile inside.
“He’s my father. Why…has something happened to him?”
“No, Superior Hersher,” Braxton begins, as he gestures for me to keep quiet. “I’m sure your father is quite fine. We’re in need of your security and communications room. We’ve not been able to contact Acheron for a few days and we need to radio for assistance.”
“I’m sorry, Captain, but our link to Acheron seems to have failed as of this morning. I was in the middle of a video conference with the High Ruler when our system went into emergency shutdown. I haven’t been able to raise them since.”
“That means it’s begun,” Rabaan says from the back.
“Superior, please excuse me for being so abrupt, but it’s imperative that you take me to your security and communications room.”
She hesitates briefly, but upon hearing the urgency in his voice she nods and signals for us to follow her back through the door she’d entered through.
The corridor is brightly lit from the windows that line the wall on our left. We turn the corner, rushing down the passage at a quickened pace. A few pictures hang between closed doors, which slowly begin to open as we go past. Half-way down the hall we turn left and begin descending a flight of stairs. We pass two additional floors before coming to the bottom level. The Superior makes an immediate right, opening the door after she inputs a code on the keypad embedded in the handle.
Several of the monitors hanging on the wall are black, but a faint humming noise filtering through the speakers indicates the screens are still on. The remaining monitors show changing scenes of the complex from outside, including the front entrance. A couple of workers in gray uniforms are busy working the controls, probably attempting to reestablish the connection with Acheron.
“Security footage from the Centurion satellite is usually displayed on these screens,” the Superior states, as she gestures to the blackened monitors. “We also control all Acheron broadcasts through those monitors to the other buildings in the complex.”
“What does the satellite take pictures of?” Rabaan asks.
I image he’s probably curious about whether it was ever directed over Nuceira.
“It sweeps about one hundred miles around the hatchery checking for any people from the Wasteland or Nuceira who might be trying to enter restricted territory. The satellite is controlled from Acheron’s main security building.”
“Is there any way to get the satellite back online?” I inquire, trying to make myself useful.
“It’ll take us a while to reroute the connections between here and Acheron,” Braxton answers, voice tense with fear.
The two workers look up, finally noticing our presence. Superior Hersher introduces them as Duren and Hera, the security officers of Hatchery Nine. Hera is the voice we heard at the entrance. They, along with Braxton and Rabaan, try to work on reconnecting the complex with Acheron.
“Should I be concerned?” Superior Hersher pipes in from the doorway.
“What kind of defenses does this facility have, other than the gates?” Lehen asks, as he begins to assist Braxton who has now crawled under the main console.
“We have an armory in our emergency bunker.”
“Where’s that?”
“It’s off the connecting bridge between the housing unit and the Predestination Center.”
“Superior, we’ll need you to allow those other men into the complex,” Braxton demands, as he slides out from his corner.
“Is that really necessary? Having so many guards inside this facility could be worrisome to the children.”
Braxton doesn’t back down in his persistence, and indicates they may be crucial to helping the children.
She purses her thin red lips at him, but concedes to
