Return of the Ancients by Greig Beck Read Free Book Online Page A

at Edward for a moment, his eyebrows shooting up in recognition, as though remembering the students were still in the control room.
    ‘I need everyone cleared from this room – authorised personnel only.’
    An electronic voice intoned from a speaker overhead, the phrase repeated in an emotionless repetition: secure lockdown initiated – secure lockdown initiated . . .
    Harper turned to a small black-and-white screen showing sets of enormous doors sliding shut at several exits to the building, and larger, two-foot-thick blast doors moving into place in the deeper areas of the underground facility. Harper swore again and turned to the group, urgency now in his movements.
    Edward spoke the word again, ‘Look.’
    Harper looked briefly at Edward and made motions to herd the teenagers from the room. ‘Sorry all, but we’re going to have to evacuate you immediately. Looks like we have some sort of, ahh , electronic or magnetic disturbance. Nothing to worry about, no danger. We’ll find your friend. He’s probably just managed to wander off into some section of the tunnel that isn’t under surveillance.’
    The school group started to move backwards towards the door. Edward stood his ground, and pointed to the screen that had once shown his friend. This time he yelled it: ‘Look!’
    Harper studied the screen, and then turned back to face Edward. ‘There’s nothing to see, son.’
    Edward kept on pointing. ‘That’s just it. It’s not what we can see . . . it’s what we can’t .’ He looked from Harper to Beescomb. Many of the technicians had swivelled in their chairs to listen to him. ‘There’s something missing from the room . . . other than Arn, I mean. C’mon, look.’ He pointed at the screen to where his friend had been standing.
    The entire room had fallen silent, and every eye was following the line of his pointing finger. No one heard the pinging, beeps or sirens anymore.
    Edward walked right up to the screen and jabbed his finger at it. ‘Near the collision recording section – see? There’s something missing . . . like a small bite has been taken out of the machinery and background. But if the device was damaged, you’d know about it, right?’
    Harper frowned, and leaned so close to the screen that his nose was almost touching the glass. He spoke over his shoulder. ‘Takada, take a look at this. What do you make of it?’
    Takada leapt to his feet and hurried over. He nodded and spoke softly to his boss. ‘There’s an anomaly there, all right. Might be a fault in the film recording, though.’
    Harper pressed some buttons, causing the screens to switch to a different angle. The same golf-ball-sized section was missing from every angle, like something oily was masking a section of the room or distorting the air.
    Harper rubbed his chin and whispered, ‘I think I know where the boy went . . . and our diamond.’
    *****
     
    Arn stumbled in the sand and fell to his knees. His lips were beginning to crack; when he swallowed, it felt like the dryness in his throat was caught halfway and refused to be pushed down any further unless accompanied by the reward of some water.
    He blinked several times, and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand – they felt gritty and dry. In the distance, he could make out a large boulder sticking up from the sand. He felt somewhat elated – at least there were some features other than an endless, baked earth. He could use it for shelter, or climb it to see if there was anything over the horizon. He plodded on, still feeling the breeze on his face.
    Shielding his eyes, he looked up at the sun; it was no longer directly overhead. It must have been morning when he set out, and he bet it was some time past midday now.
    He wiped his dry face – he had stopped perspiring long ago, and he knew this meant his body was starting to seriously dehydrate. He’d need a drink soon, or his mind would become foggy.
    Foggier , the little voice sneered. It was