Prime (Chess Team Adventure, #0.5)

What just happened?

He knew the answer. The rational part of his brain stodgily refused to embrace the reality of the experience, but what other explanation could there be?

Understanding the Voynich manuscript and securing the Prime had never been his highest priority, but he had been paying attention when Parker and Sasha had told their tale of medieval scientists discovering the secret source of life and using music to change the very nature of the physical world. If even a little bit of what they had told him was true…

I just walked through a solid rock wall!

There was a faint glow directly ahead, and King heard raised voices, conversing heatedly just a few yards in front of him.

“You have to let me do this,” Sasha urged.

“And you can,” Parker said. “Once Jack has secured the area.”

“And what if he can’t? What if Rainer kills him? Kills them all?”

Frowning, King got to his feet, and with his hands extended ahead, probing the darkness, he moved toward them. He could see their silhouettes now, lit by the glow of Sasha’s computer.

He brought his carbine around and switched on the attached light. The high-intensity LED bulb revealed a tunnel, cut and smoothed by the passage of some ancient subterranean river long since diverted, sloping gently downward, and standing partway down the slope were two human shapes.

Parker threw up a hand to shade his eyes, but Sasha seized on the moment to break free of his restraining hand. She charged ahead, deeper into the passage.

“Stop her, Danno!”

Parker was already moving. He caught her by the shoulder and spun her around. King could see the desperation in her eyes. She struggled in his grasp, her efforts becoming more frantic as King drew near.

“It’s right there,” she pleaded. “The Prime. I can fix everything, if you just let me go.”

“Sasha…”

King reached them. “Miss Therion, I’m sorry, but you have to come back with us.”

Sasha looked at him for a second, and then turned the full force of her gaze on Parker. She pointed ahead into the darkness. “The Prime is right there. It’s why we came here.”

King sensed that his friend’s resolve was starting to slip.

“Danny, please let me. My whole life has been leading up to this. Don’t let him stop me.” She reached out and placed her hand over his heart. “You promised to help me.”

Parker’s restraining hand fell away. With a sigh of resignation, he nodded down the tunnel. “Go.”

“Damn it, Danno.” King reached out to restrain her, but Sasha was already forging ahead, deeper into the darkness. He started after her, but then felt a hand pull him back.

“Let her go, Jack.” Parker’s voice sounded weary, defeated. King tried to pull free, but what had at first been only Parker’s token effort to forestall him abruptly became something more resolute. As he tried to wrench himself free, Parker yanked him back hard enough to spin him into the wall.

The impact stunned him, but not as much as the evident betrayal. Parker, too, seemed surprised by what he’d done; he took a step back and raised his hands. He knew he had crossed a line, and now he had to decide whether to retreat and do some damage control, or commit with both feet.

“I don’t have time for this shit, Danno.”

King started forward, but Parker moved to block his way. “Jack, just let her do this. It’s important to her.”

“The last time someone screwed around with this stuff, it killed half the world’s population, remember? You told me that. The Black Death? The Prime is dangerous.”

The flame of Parker’s resolve flickered, but then he shook his head. “That was different. Sasha knows what she’s doing. I have to let her try.”

“Well I don’t.”

King advanced again.

Parker, with arms akimbo, tried to block the passage, but King stepped to one side and lowered his head like a charging linebacker. He plowed into Parker, staggering him back, but even as he fell, Parker closed his arms around King, taking him to the ground in a bear hug.

Parker grunted from the impact, but instead of letting go, he wrapped his legs around King’s, hobbling him, and then he started grappling for a better position. King quickly recognized what was happening, but before he could do anything about it, Parker had rolled him over and slipped an arm around his neck.