Blackstone

Secrets Revealed

David and Nicole turned to leave, but I sat on the couch and folded my arms across my chest.

            "Extra protection. Well, that's great to hear. How about some answers?" I said.

            Nicole grabbed me by the arm. "Information is a privilege not a –"

            "Not a right. Yeah, I've heard that line before," I said, shaking her off. "I'm not going anywhere until I get some answers. Let's start with where the hell we are. Is this even Earth?" I asked Colonel Nash.

            Nicole moved in again but Colonel Nash raised one hand and waved her off. She shared a look with David who shook his head.

            "I warned you she was headstrong, Ma'am," David said.

            "Yes, I do seem to remember the briefing."

            "You know what I think," said Nicole.

            Colonel Nash sat behind her desk. She sat there in silence for a moment, steepled her fingers and looked at me with a serious poker face.

            I matched her gaze. No way was I backing down now. I'd come through too many trials and I had to figure out how to rescue Uncle Paul. I could just picture Nicholas Ross stashing him away in some grim warehouse on the London waterfront. It made my blood boil.

            "All right, Eliza. I suppose you've earned enough of our trust," Colonel Nash said, "Normally the location of Blackstone is revealed at the end of the second year of training, after the successful completion of the Passage, but you're not the average recruit." He motioned to Nicole. "Agent Heidegger would you please."

            Nicole dimmed the lights, while David motioned to his Razor Phone. A small holographic image of the Earth beamed out and revolved in space. David pointed in a spot in the Pacific Ocean. A small orange dot appeared and grew in size. The image zoomed in on the dot.

            I gasped as the orange dot expanded in size to reveal a holographic image of a space the size of small moon inside the Earth. The image revealed a continent surrounded by ocean, all inside the small globe. It was a small version of Earth – a world within a world.

            "All this time we thought we were on another planet," I exclaimed with disbelief.

            "Now what would be the point of that?" Nicole scoffed.

            David shot her a stern look and Nicole backed off.

            "Welcome to The Ark, Eliza," Colonel Nash said with a smile.

            I had to admit it was impressive. The spinning image revealed all sorts of terrain: a lush jungle, a fierce desert, and a mild temperate zone with the Blackstone property at its center.

            "How is this possible? How far down are we inside the Earth?" I said.

            "A great visionary once said, 'To a primitive society any significantly advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.'Don't worry how it's possible. Let us worry about that," said Colonel Nash.

            "But why go to all the trouble and expense of building this top secret hideout. Couldn't you just put Blackstone anywhere on the Earth's surface? It would be far less expensive," I said.

            David deactivated the spinning globe and Nicole turned up the lights. "The surface of the Earth, when you think about it, is a very dangerous place. You've got solar radiation, freak weather patterns, hurricanes, earthquakes, landslides, too say nothing of the great Pole Shifts that come every 13,000 years." Colonel Nash said