Hacking the Sun [Old Version]

Chapter 12 Sub Terra

Above and behind, ingrained metal vines decorated the walks. They encapsulated all but the front, whose glass revealed nothing but blurs. The three girls may as well have hidden in a refrigerator, cold and insulated as they were, perhaps even immune to nuclear fallout? Jess had enough faith in Valerie to forget fear, yet enough uncertainty to feel anxious. How would the human resistance greet her? The question hit her over the head, again and again.

Answers came when the darkness opened, like a flap, to signs of civilization. Below them, on the other side of the glass, lay a field of concrete surrounded by the rock of an underground cavern. The artificial and natural features encompassed an industrial underworld, one both alien and earthly. Several aircraft stationed below caught Jessica's fascination, a series of parked jets the likes of which she only discovered in fiction and, more recently, footage. Within the crisscross alignment of aluminum flew the sparks of welding tools. But the biggest feature was a two-legged metal beast. 

"Now, how did they get a Gundam in here?" Jessica said studiously. 

"Is this a freaken hangar?" said Shannon.

Jess and Val said "Yes" in unison. A mild resonance vibrated beneath their feet as the elevator touched down. Between them, only Valerie's face kept its color. 

Jessica turned red as soon as the glass door slid open. It was proofed by another door that, presumably, led into the mysterious compound. Total silence fiddled with their anticipation.  A million questions zoomed across her mind, questions superseded by excitement as the second set of doors parted.

"Hands up!"

"Freeze!"

"Show me your hands!"

A bombardment of orders came attached themselves to the barrels and scopes of assault rifles, leveled against their gazes. Seven men and women stood armed to the teeth, some of them with bags under their eyes, and all bulked up by vests. Shannon's hands were the first to shoot up in excited surrender, a move her friends quickly copied.

"I am unarmed!" she announced. "I am not resisting! I am an innocent human civilian who happens to be black!"

"What are you doing?" Jessica whispered.

Shannon whispered back. "In case you haven't noticed, these people are white! They could be American. From the South—California maybe. Bitch, I don't know—I am not resisting!"

"Wildcat!" Valerie cried. She rocked upright,  arms in the air. "Wildcat 217563. Reporting from under the Wizard's banner."

Her friend was speaking in code, Jess realized. Val knew these people, and they were supposed to know her. But it didn't take a keen eye to see paranoia between their gnashed teeth. Fortunately for everyone, a deep and tranquil voice intervened.

"At ease, grunts."

From behind the armed entourage stepped a stalwart physique in a green uniform. His chest bore the same symbol as the other uniforms: earth around a rising fist. Unlike them, he advanced evenly, and his commanding brown eyes looked down from a dark crew-cut.

Shannon glanced at the advancing leader and breathed a sigh of utter relief. "Oh, thank Jackson!" The guards lowered their weapons as their superior halted, back to them. After sizing up the three new arrivals, his sharp brown eyes isolated Valerie. 

"I have your designation, Wildcat, but who are your two guests? Report!"

"Two civilians who I trust with my life, sir!" Valerie exclaimed convincingly. "They helped me get here! Together, we've brought evidence that could mean the world."