He hadn’t spoken a word in fourteen days.
Not one, single, solitary word.
It wasn’t easy. He certainly enjoyed talking and often did too much of it according to some people.
His training kicked in as the investigators questioned him relentlessly on a daily basis about the missing kids. But they already knew what was happening. They just didn’t know who else was involved. At least he hoped that was still the case.
Canary’s home for the last two weeks looked more like a small office than a cell—minus the desk and chair of course. His little abode was furnished with a rather comfortable cot, a toilet, and a window that despite not having any bars was impenetrable. The walls were bright white; the whole thing seemed to glow.
The food wasn’t bad. But he never touched the stuff made with bugs. After all this time, he still couldn’t comprehend how they managed to eat those nasty critters on this planet.
Disgusting.
Not that he hadn’t had his share over the years. As a member of Special Forces, it was required that everyone adapt to the alien diet. Some creepy crawlies actually had more protein than steak. Out in the field, you did what you had to do to survive. Swallowing the bugs whole was the best method. You didn’t need to taste them to get the benefit of the protein. Thank goodness for that.
But eating them by choice? Nope, that part he would never understand.
Different strokes for different folks.
And these people were different. Could he even call them people?
The heavy latch on his cell door cranked open and a guard walked in.
He placed a tray of food on his cot.
“You really should try the grubs,” the tall, stalky man whispered. “I think you’ll really like the way they made them special today.”
Then he quickly left the room.
Canary immediately grabbed the tray and thumbed through the grubs until—yes, there it was—a note.
It said: “CY. 24. Red.”
Even with all his training and experience, it still never failed to impress him how his team could infiltrate any organization.
Beautiful, he thought.
A guard was on their side. The cryptic message meant he was being extracted from the courtyard in twenty-four hours. Now came the hard part of figuring out how he was going to get there.
He walked over to the door and started banging loudly.
“Hey!” he yelled. “I’m ready to talk!”
•••••
Mr. Kull walked the length of the tunnel until he came across the phone.
“What do we have here,” he said aloud.
He picked it up and placed it carefully in his pocket. There was no need to examine it. Kull already knew who it belonged to.
“Let’s get you back to your owner,” he said with a sly smile.
He made his way back to the entrance leading to his home. Climbing the rungs to the cover, it seemed to take more effort than usual to push it aside.
Pulling himself up into his basement, he replaced the cover and locked it in place.
His clothes were covered in dirt. It fit the nickname “Mud Puppy,” given to him and other military police when he was in the service what felt like decades ago.
Another life, he thought to himself.
No time to reminisce about that now, he had to get ready.
Tim would be coming back to the tunnel to look for his phone, and they had to be ready for him.
•••••
If he could have avoided school all together, he would have.
The day passed incredibly slowly. All Tim could think about was the phone, the tunnel, and Rusty. Max wasn’t in school. His parents had decided to keep him home to rest. Emily was absent as well. At lunch, Nina suggested a walk around campus instead of the usual cafeteria seating, and Tim eagerly agreed.
She looked worried.
“What happened to you yesterday?” she said softly. “I was . . . I was really worried.”
They hadn’t had a chance to talk about it yet with all the chaos over Max getting lost.
If there was anyone Tim trusted with all his heart, it was Nina. But he wasn’t sure he should involve her in whatever he had uncovered. However, he felt the strong need to talk to someone about Rusty.
She placed her hand in his as they walked along.
“Nina, how much to you trust Rusty?”
“Trust him?” she looked confused. “Well, a lot I suppose.”
“Yeah, me too, well I mean, I did . . . but,” he trailed off.
“Tim what is it? What happened? Did Rusty say something to you?”
He thought carefully before responding.
“I overheard him on the phone. I think I heard him say something about Earth.”
She dropped his hand and turned to face him.
“You mean the same place that horrible man with the yellow hair talked about?”
“Yes, but there’s more,” he said as he took both her hands in his. “I’m pretty sure he said something about getting the other kids out of here and back on Earth or the plan would be ruined.”
“The plan . . . what plan? And what did he mean back on Earth?” she stammered. “Tim, have you told anyone else about this yet?”
“No, only you.”
She grabbed hold of him and squeezed him tightly. He grabbed back.
They stood there hugging in the middle of the school field for a long time.
He felt good, safe.
When she finally let go, she looked at him with very serious eyes.
“Tim, you can never go near him again, he’s dangerous. We have to tell the authorities right away.”
He reached out and brushed a hair away from her face. Her eyes were filling with tears.
“Nina, I promise we will, but you have to give me a few hours,” he pleaded. “I have something important I have to do first.”
The bell rang out signaling the end of lunch.
On the way back to class, she tried very hard to convince him they had to go tell someone now. When it was clear he wouldn’t budge, she tried to talk him into letting her come along, but there was absolutely no way he would agree to that.
“Come to my house when you’re done, and we’ll go tell the authorities together,” she said just before they had to make their way to separate classes.
Then she hugged him again.
He could definitely get used to this.
After school, he made his way to the beach access where he knew he had left the cover unlocked.
Looking around to make sure no one was nearby, he brushed off the sand and moved the lid aside, replacing it once he was in. Then he lowered himself back into the tunnel.
Reaching the bottom, he tried to figure out which way he had gone before.
It seemed darker in here than usual.
He began to walk, looking on the ground for his phone.
He walked and walked and couldn’t find it. Then he heard a slight noise behind him.
Footsteps?
Spinning around quickly, he saw someone rapidly approaching him.
He wasn’t alone in the tunnel! Someone was coming. He turned to run.
“Tim, don’t run,” a voice called out. “Please don’t be afraid.”
Tim’s mind raced. He knows who I am! He had no choice but to turn and face his pursuer.
The person was beginning to come out of the shadows now and he could just make out his face.
“Tim, it’s me,” the voice said. “It’s Luke.”
Everything went black. The last thing Tim remembered before falling to the ground was seeing a face hovering over him . . . Luke’s face.