Extensis Vitae

Chapter 7



They spent the rest of the day together, waiting for Reznik’s late afternoon appointment with the administrator. Myrna showed him blueprints and schematics of Colony 13, which she said mirrored those of Colony 12. They ate in the dining hall again, and this time Reznik noticed the looks he drew from the colonists were friendlier than before.

As they were finishing their soup and sandwiches, a man and woman approached them. They looked to be in their mid forties and looked apprehensive, but hopeful.

Myrna greeted them. “Hello, Joan, Fred. How are you doing?”

The woman spoke. “Hello, Myrna. We heard about what’s going to happen.” Joan turned to Reznik. “Sir, we wish you the best of luck down there, and we will say our prayers for you. If you would be so kind as to put a mother’s fears to rest, would you please look for our daughter, June? She is a security officer and was with the group that went down there with Dr. Kane.” She glanced at Myrna for a second and then back at Reznik, nervous but optimistic.

The man spoke up. “My little girl—I told her not to go. It could be dangerous, I told her. But she went anyway—said it was her job to go and help the people at the other Colony. She always had such a strong sense of duty and made us so proud—” The last words were choked off, and he looked on the verge of breaking down.

Reznik’s heart went out to them. “I’ll do whatever I can to find your daughter and bring her back safely if it is at all possible,” he promised. The couple thanked him gratefully and departed.

“I didn’t know there was a female officer with them,” Reznik mused. “How many women are on the force?”

“I think just a couple… June is fairly new, and I think there is one other,” Myrna replied.

After lunch, Reznik and Myrna walked and talked for a while. A couple more people hesitantly approached them and asked if Reznik would look for their loved ones who had been part of the group of missing security officers. Reznik told them he would.



***



That night Reznik tossed and turned, restless and unable to sleep with everything on his mind. In the morning, he would enter the tunnels and set off for Colony 13.

The brief meeting with Swanson had ended more pleasantly than the previous time they had met. The administrator had basically reiterated the deal from before and thanked him for agreeing to take on such a “heroic endeavor,” as if Reznik had had much choice in the matter. Beneath the politician-speak, it had been pretty clear that he would be on his own, regardless of whether he was killed, wounded, or taken hostage down there or not. Returning without successfully dealing with the problem would be frowned upon, and Reznik doubted they would even let him back inside the complex. Not interested in extending the meeting any longer than necessary, Reznik had made the necessary replies in order to satisfy Swanson and be on his way.

As he lay in bed, his mind raced as he reflected on everything he had learned over the past couple of days and thought about what he would encounter in the morning. He pondered what would happen if he returned successful—whether Swanson would honor their deal or not. He also wondered if anyone would care if he died from lead poisoning, on the blade of a machete, or any number of other unpleasant possibilities. Realistically, the colonists would probably be merely disappointed that their best chance at dealing with the problem had failed. That would most likely be the extent of their grief for me, I’d imagine.

His thoughts then turned to a certain lovely scientist who he had become quite fond of in the last several days. He realized that Myrna was the only one that might shed a tear for him if he didn’t return from his mission.

Just prior to his meeting with Swanson, he and Myrna had argued when she had told him she wanted to come with him to help. He had told her it was much too dangerous, and that she was more badly needed in Colony 12 to keep looking after the colonists in her father’s absence. She had argued that it was more important to find her father, and that she could be of more use with Reznik since she knew a great deal more about the colonies than he did. She had made a valid point—having a navigator would help to mitigate his tactical disadvantage. However much she might be able to help though, Myrna had not seen the video, so she didn’t know what he would be dealing with out there. There was no way he could let her put herself in such danger, especially with the vicious killers he would be going up against.

With a sigh, he decided to call Myrna. This might be the last time I ever see her, he thought. He activated his Datalink and called her.

She answered immediately. “Hi. Is everything okay?” By the tone of her voice, he could tell that she was wide-awake as well.

“No, not really… I want to see you.”

There was a pause, and then she said, “Come to my room.”

Reznik hurriedly pulled on his uniform and went down the hall to her room. The door slid open when he stepped up to it, and Myrna was standing there, waiting. She looked very alluring with her tousled hair and skimpy outfit. She was wearing just a tight t-shirt that left her flat belly exposed and shorts that showed off her shapely legs.

She smiled at him and he stepped inside and pulled her against him. She didn’t resist, her arms sliding around his neck as he leaned down and kissed her. Her lips parted and she responded hungrily, her tongue wet and responsive. He ran his hands through her soft hair as they kissed, and she pulled down the zipper of his uniform. She ran her hands over his chest and stomach and he slid his hands down her back until he cupped her buttocks.

He easily lifted her; it seemed like she weighed next to nothing with his enhanced strength. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he slid her t-shirt up and over her head, exposing her full breasts. He pressed her against the wall and they kissed deeply as her hand snaked inside the waistband of his pants.

He carried her into the bedroom, where they shed the rest of their clothes. As they made love, Reznik wasn’t the only one pleased to discover that his new, youthful body provided a great deal of stamina in addition to its other attributes.



***



The next morning, Reznik went to meet Swanson in the portal room for his departure. Myrna led him down a couple flights of stairs and through several long corridors. They finally reached the lower vault door deep in the bowels of the complex

Reznik carried a backpack with some food and water and first aid supplies. He also had a tablet computer that was loaded with maps and access codes in case he found himself unable to gain entry to the Colony. On his belt he carried a riot baton and one of the immobilizers that the guards used. He hoped he’d be able to upgrade his weaponry once he engaged the enemy and took a few of them out.

The lower vault door was in a cavernous room. The portal itself was about twenty feet in diameter and forged from alloy steel. True to Swanson’s claims, it looked solid enough that it would take a small army to blast through it. A small booth manned by two security guards was off to the side. Administrator Swanson stood just outside the booth waiting for them, flanked by six guards.

Swanson stepped forward as they approached. “Good morning!” he boomed, an easy politician’s smile on his face. “I hope you got a good night’s sleep and are ready for your mission?”

Reznik shrugged. “As ready as I’m ever going to be,” he said.

“Well, I think we discussed everything that needed to be discussed last evening. Might as well get on with it, then. Open the vault door!” Swanson commanded.

One of the guards in the booth pushed a few buttons on the control panel. A red light started flashing and a warning klaxon went off. There was a loud whirring of machinery and a hiss as steam escaped from around the vault door.

With a deep rumbling, the door began to rotate and pull back inside the room. It turned like the head of a giant bolt as it rolled back into its track and rose up toward the ceiling. The massive door looked to be about two meters thick. After a minute, it slammed against the end of its track with a loud boom, and steam hissed from the motors that moved the massive steel slab.

The siren shut off, and it was eerily silent for a moment. The flashing red light continued, and Reznik could see a rough-hewn tunnel beyond the portal. Lights flickered to life in the tunnel that led into the unknown.

Myrna slid her arms around him briefly and gave him a hug. “Be safe,” she murmured in his ear.

He returned the hug. “See you soon,” he promised.

“Best of luck, friend,” Swanson offered.

With a mock salute to Swanson, Reznik adjusted the straps on his pack and started down the tunnel. As soon as he was across the threshold, the machinery and siren came to life again and the vault door began moving back into place. One-way ticket from here, he thought as he walked the short distance to the intersection with the main tunnel.

Behind him, the vault door shut with a massive boom that echoed down the tunnel and sent a tremor through the earth around him. So much for stealth if anyone is nearby, he thought as he cinched the pack tighter and entered the main tunnel.