Secret Fire

Prologue

        Prelude

Sciles walked the long, white, windowless hallway. His white, rubber shoes squeaking reluctantly on the polished tiles. Trying to ignore the stooped little man at his side, Sciles nodded at the scientists rushing to-and-fro. They all wore white lab coats, with hair shaved to the skull or up in a tight, pinching bun. One scientists, as she rushed by, gave them a searching glance. And no wonder; Sciles was a 6'6, dark skinned man whose lab coat didn't fit right, with his wrists sticking out of the sleeves. He had a stature that only made the man at his side look dwarfed. He was a 4'8, nervous little man, who had to trot to keep up with the long strides of Sciles. His whiny, simpering voice finally touched down in Sciles' conscious. "I don't care what they say Mycroft, Home World is not that unstable." "Oh but it is Sciles!" Cried the man at his side. "It is! In fact, recent studies have shown it thirty percent more unstable then we previously suspected. It simply can't hold the emission levels we charged into its base. It is literally caving in on itself! Already China and parts of Asia have collapsed in on themselves! There is nothing left of them but little swirls of water where they were." "Nothing but propaganda." Sciles sniffed with a flippant wave of his hand that nearly took Mycroft out. ""What they don't tell you is that it took a hundred years for China to collapse, and that it wasn't exactly our fault. They were sending nukes deep into the water below their little continent long before we discharged the Ghost." "But you can't deny the facts Sciles!" Mycroft jabbered, so excited he was practically hopping. "The Ghosts Expulsion was too much for Home Worlds core to handle! America, the middle east and parts of Asia our falling to pieces, literally!" Mycroft scampered in front of Sciles, stopping him in his tracks. "But there is a hope Sciles." Mycroft whispered, a glint in his eyes behind his glasses. ""Professor Moore designed the Ghost. You helped in every step Sciles. He never wanted to set it off when he realized what he had created. He was working on a secret project when he disappeared in his lab that night. You were there minutes before he left this world. He was working on that portal wasn't he? He wasn't sending the kids was he? He was sending something he didn't want us to get our hands on. He made something that could stop the Ghost. And you know it. That's why you suddenly changed your mind about sending the kids! You want them to find it." Mycroft's eyes were dancing in the florescent lights. Sciles glared down at him in annoyance. "Don't be absurd Mycroft" He scoffed as he stepped around the crestfallen man. "Well It was just a theory." He mumbled. Sciles strode down the hall a short ways to his office, but paused in the doorway. "Oh and Mycroft?" "Yes Sciles?" "If I was you, I wouldn't spread rumor. Mad for moral." "Oh yes of course Sciles." Mycroft blinked rapidly under his glasses. The minute Sciles vanished into his office Mycroft straightened and tapped on his glasses. "Sciles knows." He said into them. "I think it's time to start pulling a few loose ends." Mycroft hunched over and pretended to wipe his glasses as someone walked by. "Understood." Came the reply.