On the third day, we guided our weary mounts over glaciers, sand, grass and volcanic rock. A terrain battling for identity, the plains and buttes pushed steam from its pores and blotted the horizon with billows of vapor.
We followed the sound of moving water and when we reached the river, we stood in awe of the powerful surge dropping in towering multi-level waterfalls.
Michio pointed to a charred rock wall near the lowest level. “We’re here. Landmannalaugar.”
Amidst the geologic chaos, a leafy-covered steel door hung from the face of the ridge. My eyes followed the hyaloclastite ledges up, up, up to the ice-capped peak.
“The labs are through there.” Michio pointed at the door and alighted the horse. “Inside Hekla volcano.”
Of course they were. His hands clutched my waist and he slid me down. Then he turned toward the door, fisting his cane. The tip glinted with blades.
A tumult twined my insides, something I hadn’t felt since Reykjavik. We hadn’t seen an aphid since then. Why was that?
I released the carbine from its mount on the horse and Michio tapered his eyes at me. The tingling dimmed. I shook my head.
“Evie.” Roark appeared in front of me. “Wha’ is it?”
“I don’t—”
A giggle bounced along the rocky backdrop and raised the hair on my nape. I’d recognize my daughter’s sweet laugh anywhere. My shoulders bunched to my ears. “Where’s Jesse?”
Roark hovered so close his breath wisped my hair. “Den’ ye get buggered looking for him all the time?” He raised my chin and read my eyes. “Talk to me.”
I swallowed around a lump. The door to the labs blew open and snicked closed. “Something’s wrong. Why didn’t they come out to greet us?”
“The tunnels are deep and there’s no surveillance,” Michio replied. “But I agree. Something feels off.”
Annie’s singsong chant tiptoed across the lava field and carried above the roar of the waterfalls. Her high-pitched vibrato brushed by me. The door swung open again and slammed.
Jesse’s fingers interlaced mine. “Annie wants us to follow her in.”
I flinched. “Would she lead me into danger?”
Roark placed a hand on my elbow. “Good thought. She did lead ye to the Lakota.”
Jesse grinned and waved his hand toward the door. “After you, priest.”
Shoulder to shoulder, Michio, Jesse, Roark and I crept through the icy tunnel. Darwin slinked by, nose to the ground. Tallis and Georges trailed. Ivar and sons guarded the entrance.
We moved deeper into the volcano. Eventually, the frost melted from the walls and the air warmed. The dirt below our feet ended. Metal platforms stretched over the sloping ground to the flickering lights ahead.
Michio raised his voice over the clanking of our boots on the grates. “I haven’t been here for six months, but there were forty scientists when I left. We should’ve run into someone by now.” He nodded at the bend ahead. “We’re approaching the hub.”
Weapons at the ready, we stepped around the corner and onto an expansive balcony overlooking a pit. Scaffolding layered the multiple levels below. Tunnels and rooms branched in every direction.
We approached the railing. Our boots crunched glass. Broken equipment and workbenches were tossed across every level. Bullet holes chipped the rock walls, the metal platforms, and the furniture. I strained my eyes, scouring every nook and shadow. Not a single body, dead or alive.
“Zut alors,” Georges whispered from behind us.
“Let’s split up,” Jesse said. “Tallis, Georges, back here in thirty.”
We dispersed. Artificial light splashed over empty hallways and labs. We tossed bunks and tore out storage rooms. The facility was in shambles, the scientists gone. I leaned against the railing on the bottom level and rubbed my temples.
Jesse perched at my side. “It was the Drone’s army, wasn’t it?”
Michio nodded, lines fanning from the corners of his eyes.
A thrum bloomed in my chest and set my teeth on edge. Annie’s voice drifted from the hallway behind us with eerie clarity.
Connect the dots. La. La. Lala.
Jesse shot his eyes to me. Heat rushed to my ears. Then our heads turned toward the hall. The tail of a skirt whipped around the corner. We darted after her.
“Evie?” Roark called after me.
“It’s Annie,” I shouted over my shoulder.
Hm. Hm. Hmmm.
Connect the dots…
Every bend brought us another empty corridor, but Annie’s rhapsody didn’t falter.
We skidded at a dead end. Tiny pale fingers curled around the frame of the last doorway. The fingers whisked away. We followed with Michio and Roark on our heels.
Inside was another a storage room. Her voice muffled from within a tall cabinet.
La. La. La. La.
I trained the carbine on the cabinet door and swallowed. Jesse opened it. An entrance to another room. We stepped through, Jesse first.
A beaker crashed next to his head. Then a keyboard hit him in the chest. He nocked an arrow.
A spindly man hovered in front of a cage. He held a shaky soup can over his head. “Be gone.” His voice trembled.