Operation M.I.A: Missing in Action (IN NEED OF REVISING)

Chapter XIV

SKYLAR

Music: Underground from Gradius III SNES

During our current flight, Luke (our pilot) pulls up the map and takes a look at it. He's already started a video call with Dr. Scientist, and he asks him, "So, which one of these locations is, like, their main headquarters?"

"I'm not sure," Dr. Scientist replies. "It doesn't specify on the map. However, if my old brain is functioning properly, my friend told me that it should be somewhere in South America."

"There's a mark over Peru," I observe, pointing to where Peru is on the map. A big, red X lies over it. "Maybe we could try there first?"

"Probably just as good as any," Sam nods.

Luke sets our next destination to be where the X was and puts the hovercraft on autopilot. We arrive at the location around five minutes later, and park right in front of a cave opening.

"This must be one of those illegal gold mines," Heath says as we're stepping off.

"Be careful. If one of the captives is in fact hidden here, she will probably be protected by a boss or someone working late. Also, beware of any mercury used for purifying the gold," Dr. Scientist tells us.

"Got it," Sam says. He takes a look at the sky, which has now turned completely black, save for the bright, white glow of the moon. "It seems to be nighttime, so I doubt anybody's still working right now."

"Still, keep a watchful eye out, just in case."

"Will do." With that, Sam closes out of the video call, and we walk inside the cave.

The interior of the cave is even darker than it was outside. Mackenzie pulls out a flashlight from her supplies bag and uses it to give us sight. Although it was a bit chilly outside of the cave, the tightness of the cave itself increases the temperature dramatically. Rocks and other bumps litter the floor, causing some of us to stumble every now and then. We run into two different forks in the path, and for some reason we favor the left side both times.

Not even five minutes after we enter the cave, we hear someone calling out. The voice definitely belongs to a female. Sam, Heath, and Luke step in front of the pack and pulls out their weapons, then raise them steadily. Slowly, we turn a corner in the mine, and once everyone's made it around, Mackenzie shines her flashlight at what's ahead.

The bad news: It's a dead end.

The good news: The only person present is a girl sitting down, her knees curled up to her chest with her arms around them. Her clothes appear to be tattered, but other than that, she looks to be unharmed. Upon closer inspection, we're able to figure out who the person is.

"Eghosa?" Avery asks, surprised.

Eghosa takes a look up at us and gasps. "Avery? What are you all doing here?"

"Rescuing you. Are you alone?" I ask.

Eghosa nods, and Sam and Avery proceed to help her to her feet. "Yeah. I was flown here about two days ago and just left here."

"Were you hurt in any way?" Shanna asks, doing a close examination of Eghosa.

Eghosa shakes her head. "Not really. They were pretty tame with me."

"Hey! Is someone back there?" a voice calls out from afar. All of us freeze in place and go completely silent. Mackenzie shuts her flashlight off, and another one turns on from far away. Whoever the voice belongs to, they're too far away for us to be able to hear footsteps. Thankfully, however, their flashlight does shut off after only a few seconds, which gives us a chance to all breathe a sigh of relief.