Curious Minds

Chapter 4

Dak's POV

The end of the tunnel was in the side of a basement wall. When we closed the door behind us, it blended seamlessly into the wall. This confused me. Wouldn't they want to be able to easily get to the weapons?

"No going baaack," Caleb said in a mock-creepy voice.

"There is probably a hidden switch somewhere," I decided, ignoring Caleb. "We need to find the twins."

"Fine. Come on," Caleb led the way out of the mostly empty storage space and up a staircase that led to a hallway with doors evenly spaced all down it. This hallway branched out in three directions, to out left and right as well as straight in front of us. We could hear the sirens outside from here.

"Soldier barracks?" Caleb suggested.

"Let's hope not," I responded. I didn't know what soldier barracks looked like, but I was sure it wasn't like this. "Which way?"

"Eenie, meenie, miney, moe?"

"Seriously? Who does that?" I asked.

"You do when choosing between channels," was his response.

Before I could point out that this wasn't like choosing what to watch on TV, the sirens outside got louder for a moment before quieting again.

With a glance at each other, I saw the terrified expression that must be on my face reflected in Caleb's brown eyes. We took off down the hall in front of us.

The hall curved slightly and had many branches, and after a few quickly taken changes in direction, I had no idea where we were. I didn't think Caleb did either, if his pacing and cursing were any indication. Now we stood in front of a door, at the end of our last chosen hall.

"We'll have to head back," I said.

Caleb started to answer, but closed his mouth without saying anything. I figured out why when I turned around to head back.

Voices. From the only direction we had to go.

And they were getting closer and louder.

Caleb acted first, as usual, and pulled me through the door.

.........

On the other side of the door was a kind of organized clutter. Obviously, they hadn't fully moved in, yet. Everything I saw at first was in piles, some covered with sheets, others were boxes and crates.

As we rushed further, tables became visible with what looked on first glance to be scraps of metal and wires. One of the tables seemed to be pushed away from the others and was more organized with some wires and a metal box on it.

The next thing I saw was the underside of one of the cloths as Caleb dragged me under it when the door opened.

The footsteps led towards the lone table. It sounded like two sets of feet.

"Is it done?" A woman's voice said.

"Nearly. There are some diagnostics to be run and tests before trials can begin," a man answered in a nasally voice. "Trials can begin as early as tomorrow afternoon."

"The trials begin in six hours. Hurry with your tests," the woman dictated.

"B-but Lieutenant-General, there are possible issues that could arise. It's not ready," the man wimpered. "It's a prototype."

"Doctor, if we wait for those tests of yours, it will be months before your 'prototype' will move forward in any way. Trials begin today," the Lieutenant General said.

"With all due respect, the Andalite technology is not simple to alter," the doctor replied timidly.

Caleb and I looked at each other. I saw the need to know what they were talking about on Caleb's face. I just wanted to stay away from whatever experiments they were doing.

I mouthed the part that bothered me most: Alter Andalite technology?

Caleb put a finger to his lips to keep me quiet, like I was that stupid.

"I understand that. Trials begin today. This is the best results of any of you scientists have given," the woman said. It sounded like there had been more scientists before the timid one.

We listened as she turned on her heel and left, boots echoing even though this room wasn't that big and full of stuff.

The doctor-scientist guy was now muttering about safety problems and the military's lack of compassion. He complained, banged, and tinkered so long that my legs went numb from the way I was crouched under the sheet long before he left.

Caleb was the first to move when the door closed.

By the time I had crawled out and got my noodle-legs holding me up, he had reached the table and was moving things around.

He wasn't wearing his gloves.

"Caleb!" I shout-whispered, limping over. "Put your gloves back on!"

"I couldn't pick it up with them on," he said, tossing some of the partially loose wires at me. I missed and they landed on the floor.

Ignoring the wires for a moment, I really looked at the table. There were wires everywhere, some connected to peices of machines. Over to one side, there was a box that looked like it was fresh from the junkyard for old toys. Wires stuck out of it.

I reached down to pick up the wires, but couldn't with the gloves on. I only took off the left one, making Caleb snort a laugh as I put the wires on the table.

I glared.

He picked up the box and picked at a few wires. One he touched made a spark, causing him to yelp and toss the box.

"Shit!" I said, catching it before it clattered to the floor and getting zapped as I tossed it onto the table with the rest of the random clutter.

<Why do we have to check the junk room?>

Caleb, always the first to react, pulled me behind a crate as the door opened.

Claws on the concrete floor had us tensing. I scanned the walls I could see, hoping to find a solution to this problem.

The click of claws headed our way.

Edging around the walls, keeping stacks between us and whatever was following, I led Caleb around the walls until finding a door. It was hidden behind a thick stack of boxes.

All I could do was pray it was unlocked as I turned the rather ordinary doorknob.

Caleb locked it once he was through.