Behind the Mask

Chapter 7

Dennis took them around the base, pointing to various different military agents. As they entered an empty hall, he lowered his voice to a whisper. "Not everyone here likes your type. I will gather a trustworthy squad, but it may take some amount of time."

Dislike Quad's Agency? Helix thought. Why? He voiced his question out to Dennis.

"They view it as a rival agency. Some even think that you are gathering secret intelligence about us and passing it back to Quad."

"That's ridiculous!" Helix blurted out. Dennis smiled.

"To you, maybe. But to other people here, well they think that it the most reasonable assumption one could possibly make. Think about this: if a bunch of BND from Germany came to your base, would you trust them?"

Helix started to answer yes, but realized that he wouldn't trust them, and shut his mouth. The corridor passages slowly turned from old military to high tech. Screens seemingly placed in the randomest positions. The eerie silence that filled the hall made Helix uncomfortable. They soon emerged into a grand sitting room. It had red armchairs and dark wooden tables. On the side, a small snack table was laid out with coffee, tea, and of course snacks.

At the sight of the snacks, Helix's stomach grumbled. "go ahead," Dennis said. "Make yourselves comfortable. I'll be gathering a good group of men to rescue Quad." Helix darted to the table like a cheetah, and took a few cookies, gobbling them all down faster than the eye could blink. He then turned away from the others in embarrassment.

Helix yawned suddenly. his eyes drooped,. His senses started to wane. Sleepiness getting the better of him. Walking over to the nearest chair, he sank down. He was soon unconscious, dozing off again.

"Ugh!" Adenine said. "When he is not sleeping, he is either being annoying or eating." Quinn smiled. It was his first since his father was caught. The weight still pressed on him tightly. It may have been lifted a little, but it was a long way from gone. What he hadn't told the others was the slim chance of rescuing Quad. He would have went to their HQ, but he knew there was a traitor. Someone was passing information to the hooded figure.

Helix woke to the rapid shaking of his shoulder. His blurry vision showed a blob of a face hanging above him. Why did you wake me? up turned into, "Warrawaga?"

"Huh?" Adenine said over him. His eyes adjusted to the sudden light, and the blob turned into his sister.

"Why did you wake me up?" he asked.

"Dennis is ready, we can go rescue Quad now!" The weariness immediately left Helix's body. He leaped out of the chair, fully energized, ready to go. He turned toward Quinn who was leaning on the wall, deep in conversation with Dennis. Helix strained to hear, but got nothing. What was so secret the Quinn wouldn't share it with him? He kept the thought to himself as Quinn turned to them.

"Ready to go then!" he said, excitement evident in his voice."Let's go!" The trio eagerly followed Dennis through the base. They were soon met by a large group of men and women.

"This is what you got?" Helix asked. He was amazed at the numbers presented before him. It was not everyday that you marched out with a group of 50 people to storm a base.

"What?" Dennis asked. "Do you think it is too little?"

"No, no," Helix replied hurriedly. "I thought that it was too much!"

"I assure you that this is the perfect amount," Dennis said. Helix nodded his head, but still didn't believe it. The men and women each walked up on an aircraft. Helix followed Dennis and Quinn up into an aircraft, Adenine walking silently behind them.

The engine started. The shuddering plane lifted off into the sky. The screen popped up with a red dot. That red dot was where Quinn's plane had marked the Shadow's base. The plane rapidly moved toward the dot. The island closed in, turning from a dot on a map into an island. They stopped half a mile away from the building. They cautiously got off the planes.

"Our scanners don't detect any mines, but the Shadow could've made hidden some," Dennis said. Quinn nodded his head, then rolled a few balls across the field. After some time, a few blew up.

"Quinn," Helix asked, "I've been bothered about something."

"Yes, Helix?"

"What is the Shadow after?" Quinn's face darkened.

"We think that it is trying to corrupt and take over America."

"But what could it possible gain by doing that!"

"For a small, period of time, we had some inside men. The Shadow was talking about using it to control the A1-54B"

"And what is that?" Helix asked, puzzled.

"It is an advanced war station in space, capable of destruction that makes nuclear weapons look small." Helix nodded understandingly. It made sense now.

Dennis walked back to them, Adenine by his side. "We deactivated or destroyed the mines," she said. "It's safe to go through now." The group walked forward into the field. The smell of smoke filled the area. Rubble strewn across random places. The old building grew closer. Helix desperately wanted to go back. The tower sent dark memories into his brain. Only the thought of Quad kept him going. The group stopped outside the building.

"Our sensors don't pick up any heat signatures," Dennis told them. Helix still had hope though. The Shadow probably put something in the walls to block out sensors. After all, it did hide the mines.

The building was as menacing as ever, but this time, there were no traps. They searched every spot in the building, but found nothing. The building was empty.

"One more check," Adenine said through gritted teeth. She was not yet willing to give up. She cared about Quad very much. He had taken care of her ever since her parents had died. Helix nodded his head in two sharp movements, his relationship with Quad was similar. Quinn followed them up the hall. Helix could tell that he was hoping to find Quad, but didn't have that much faith. The halls seemed even darker than before. They came across a door with a strange lock. Quinn turned the doorknob, but found that it was locked. He pulled out a few small tools and started picking the lock.

A jolt went through his body and he fell to the floor. "Quinn!" Adenine yelled, rushing to him. There was a thin trail of smoke climbing off of him. Helix turned to the door knob. It has to be some sort of trap, he thought , perhaps electricity. Helix reached into his backpack, moving his hand around until he felt the soft leather gloves. He pulled them out and slipped them on. He took one of the tools that Quinn had dropped on the floor and stuck it into the lock. A jolt of electricity snapped through him. Helix gasped and recoiled.

"It's electricity. If you stick metal in, it will press something that will release electricity." He looked back at Quinn, "Let's take him to one of the rooms." Adenine nodded and started to lift Quinn's arms and head up. Helix took his legs. Together they started down the hall. Even the few steps they had taken were starting to tire them. Finally, they turned into a corridor and walked into a small room. There was a wooden table to the side. It was decorated with pictures of the Amazon Forest. Many plant pots covered the table and the room. It was as if the person who had made this had wanted to recreate a forest. The Amazon Forest. They set Quinn down on a couch and studied their surroundings for clues.

"Let's go!", Quinn said, anger clear in his eyes. He turned and started to walk out. Helix turned to follow, pulling out a metal detector and scanning around the room's walls and floors. The machine beeped as it crossed a painting of the Amazon on the wall. Helix pulled the painting aside, revealing a vault. He pulled out another device and stuck it onto the vault. Soon, the vault was whirring, opening itself. Inside, lay a key. The key was fashioned very unusually with lights on various places.

"This must be the key to the room we saw earlier," Adenine realized. 

With a nod, Helix led them back to the room.