The Secret War

The Secret War -- Chapter Two

The trees rushed by around me, as the speeding Harrier flew toward the mountain range.

“About another kilometer ahead, there’s a cavern built into the mountain on your left,” Zoe said, leaning into the cockpit. I slowed down, almost to a stop, and edged forward towards the spot she pointed out. When I got there, there was nothing but the rock wall of a mountain.

“Uhh, Zoe! There’s nothing here. It’s just a mountain wall.” I yelled, turning my head slightly so they could hear me better in the back.

A voice rang out from the back, it was Claire. “Just drive into it Sean, “ she said, as though there was nothing abstract about her comment.

“Umm, Claire, don’t you think that’s a bit dangerous?”

“No, it’s fine. Just drive into the wall!” She replied with a sense of carelessness in her voice.

I decided to trust her instincts, and, I slowly nudged the lever forward,  pushing the Harrier towards the mountain.

Just as the nose should have hit the mountain face, it disappeared. I lent a little further on the lever, wanting the entire plane to enter the mountain, to see what’s on the other side.

Just as the cockpit passed through the mountain wall, I braced myself to be engulfed by darkness, but, was shocked when I noticed that the cavern was as bright as day, due to the many LED’s placed conveniently in the walls of the cavern.

“Come on Grandma, let’s go!” A voice called out from in the cargo bay. I lent a little harder on the lever, making the plane go exceedingly faster.

The plane flew up the narrow cavern at speed for nearly a minute, before Zoe called out from the cargo hold for me to stop. I slowed the plane down, almost to a stop, and crept into what seemed to be a drop, deep into the earth. Wow am I glad this plane can hover!

“Sean, I want you to go down now. It’ll take about a minute to get down, just keep the plane level,” Zoe instructed me from behind.

I lowered the plane slowly, but surely, into the dark abyss below me. This part of the cavern was not lit by lights, so, the darkness soon engulfed the entire plane.

“Zoe,” I called. “Can you please tell me when we’re near the bottom? I don’t light flying in this darkness.”

“You’re almost there Sean. Doing great, just keep going.”

Then, I heard a noise--like crumpling paper--followed by some muffled words.

“Baseplate, this is Alpha team, please repeat that last message,” Zoe replied into the walkie-talkie.

Some more static, and talking I couldn’t make out. Then, “We suffered some casualties, so we had to acquire a new pilot. We’re coming through the darkness now, won’t be long.”

The plane went quiet.

Then, “Sean. We’re here. Stop now.”

I brought the plane to a halt. It was dark, darker than anywhere I  had ever been in my life. And, judging by how long we were flying down, the cavern would have to be nearly two kilometres into the Earth.

“Alright Sean, put the landing gear down, then, drop us about another metre and we should hit the bottom,” Claire stated objectively. I was confused, I really thought Zoe was in charge, but, Claire’s giving just as many orders. Well, hopefully I’ll find out what’s going on soon, I thought to myself.

I lowered the landing gear, and dropped the plane another few metres, until it hit some kind of metal base. I hit the ‘Engine Power’ switch, silencing the low hum of the engines. With a flick of a button, the cargo bay door was dropped and I heard the others slowly crawling out of the crowded bay.

Just as I hopped out through the loading ramp, I heard a loud swoosh and then a bang! I looked up, but, again, all I saw was darkness. The darkness was smothering me, soon, it would be the end of me. Just as I thought that thought, thousands of lights blinked to life above and around me.

It took me a few moments for my eyes to re-adjust to the sudden burst of light, but, when I did, I realized we were in what seemed like a large metal box. The only imperfection to the box, was the open wooden door on the eastern side.

I tried to peer through the open door, but, all I saw was another light hallway, before my view was blocked by people entering our room through the door. I raked my eyes up towards the faces of the people walking through the door, and I realized they were in camouflage green American Army uniforms. By the look of their badges, they would have been Army generals. Why the hell were Army generals here, I thought these people weren’t from any nation, I pondered quietly.

The men all stalked slowly over towards where I was standing, looking as though they were trying to intimidate me. My thoughts flicked silently to the gun holstered on my hip. If they were bringing hostility into this room, I’ll pull it out and threaten them, steal their plane and hopefully make a clean getaway, I planned silently in my head.

The men walked forward, until they were standing about a metre in front of me.

The middle man, turned his head slightly more in my direction and asked, “Are you Sean Childs?”

How many times do I have to get asked that? I thought to myself, before answering his question aloud.

“Yes, I am Sean Childs.” I said slowly, but strongly.

“Good, come with us.”

A/N - Please comment you're opinions, it would be greatly aprreciated (: