Chapter 2: Picket’s Place

“Yep, he’s an Alien all right!”

I approached Picket’s house and surveyed it with the flashlight. I noticed that none of his house windows had blown out. Some of the glass was cracked but it was still intact. Maybe he had that strong film on the inside of all his windows? I noted smugly that the window I had repaired with plywood several years before was holding up just fine.

Nearing the front door, a light appeared above the latch and the door opened. Hmm, Picket must have a smart house with some sort of backup power I thought. I snorted. Of course, he would have a ‘smart’ house, I realized. I saw that inside the doorway was a small vestibule area which was lit by a glowing panel on a second door. This door looked much heavier than the first and did not have a knob or latch. The walls and ceiling were an unadorned smooth white material, smoother then painted drywall, and the floor looked like some form of gray sheet vinyl.

I entered the vestibule and the first door closed once I had moved past. I stood there in the dim glow of the second door’s light and wondered how to open it. One of the walls suddenly lit up fairly bright. Pocketing my flashlight, I squinted into the bright light, and said “Hello? Picket? House? Or anyone ... Anyone home?”

“Hello,” the wall announced in a synthesized, feminine sounding voice. “I identify you as John Abrams, the resident of the dwelling approximately 0.16 kilometers to the east. Welcome John.”

“Um ... yes? Picket said I was to come here and take shelter. Who or what are you?” I asked.

“You may refer to me as Agent, John,” said the feminine voice before continuing. “I am an augment of the one you call Picket”

“What’s an augment ... um ... Agent?”

“I am what humans would refer to as an A.I. or artificial intelligence, though I am somewhat limited without the presence of Picket. I currently control this dwelling and the facility below. I have been instructed to remain active and watchful in case you chose to enter and seek shelter,” the voice said.

“Well, I am not sure about the ‘seek shelter’ part yet, but I did come over to snoop around a bit before the big finale. Am I still allowed to enter?”

“You may enter John. Please be aware that the tectonic disruptions and quakes are increasing in both frequency and magnitude. The flooring may become unstable and the upper parts of the dwelling may collapse at any time. I advise you to proceed to the lower sublevel as rapidly as possible,” the synthetic voice stated before continuing, “also, a massive flame front is expected to reach this area from the northwest in approximately seven minutes, thus rendering the exterior areas around the dwelling uninhabitable.”

After a short pause, Agent continued, “The upper floor of this dwelling, if it remains intact at that time, can only withstand the fire front for only an additional few minutes before temperature differentials cause failure. Again, please proceed to the lower sublevel quickly. I will alight a path to the main sublevel descent shaft area now”.

The heavy inner door opened, and lights came on in the room beyond. I left the vestibule and entered Picket’s main dwelling. I’d like to say that Picket’s house was full of alien stuff, crazy stuff, unimaginable furniture, gizmos or other high-tech gadgets, but sadly, it was completely empty. The rooms beyond were bare, with walls and ceilings the same sterile white as the vestibule. The same gray sheet vinyl looking material covered the floors.

I noticed that on the walls there were a few power outlets and data connections although they didn’t seem to be of the normal types. The lighting came from glowing sections in the ceiling, flush and smooth, blending with the unlit portions. I quickly inspected the main room and even investigated a few of the dark rooms beyond and found not only no alien garbage, but no anything. I mentioned this to Agent.

“The upper floor of this dwelling was emptied over the past month and all items, furnishing, instruments and devices. They were taken to the sublevel below and either reduced to base elements or placed in storage. Please proceed to the sublevel quickly John.”

A hallway to the side lit up. If I correctly remembered from the outside appearance Picket’s home, this direction would lead towards his attached garage. At the end of the hall was a door which opened as I approached. Sure enough, beyond was his garage. The garage was empty except for one item, Picket’s white Sprinter cargo van. I glanced inside the van’s side window and it appeared to be a normal Benz Sprinter van both inside and out. The other side of the garage beyond the van lit up at my approach, while at the same time, the lights behind me in the house were extinguished.

I sensed I was being herded and debated upon continuing or trying to exit the dwelling and meet the end on my own terms outside. Just then a heavy tremor hit, causing the floor to shudder. I staggered past the rocking van, almost dropping the shotgun on the way. Unbalanced and feeling nauseous for a moment, I leaned against the back of the van until the quaking subsided. I felt a pressure change in the air and the garage door creaked loudly indicating that another shockwave had passed. This helped me make up my mind about going outside and I decided to continue the tour. I approached the far side of the garage where a patch of flooring was lit up.

“Please stand on the lit section of flooring, John.”

I did as the feminine voice asked and stood in the center of the lit area. Once there, a railing arose from the floor on all sides and the floor started to sink. It was very smooth, but I still grabbed the railing with one hand. Quickly I was carried below the level of the garage floor and sank deeper. The descent continued past normal basement level without slowing. After what I imagined was three basement depths ... or around 30 feet, I spoke up, “Agent? How deep are you taking me?”

The synthetic voice replied loudly from the top of the shaft, “Almost there, John, just a few moments longer!”

I continued to watch the walls sliding past all around me. I noticed that the walls appeared to not be concrete, but instead had the look of compacted gravel or clay. I reached out to touch the wall as it slid upward and it felt not rough or crumbly, but smooth and cool like glass. The descending platform finally slowed and stopped; apparently, I was at the bottom. Over my head, near the top of the shaft I saw a lid or panel slide closed with a loud click. I turned around and noticed a large metallic door behind me. The railing at this side began to drop back into the floor of the platform and with a loud clank, the door began to swing open. It was at least four inches thick and seemed incredibly strong and heavy. The opening was large ... maybe six feet wide and eight feet tall.

Beyond the open door there was a brightly lit tunnel leading to another door, about thirty feet away. The tunnel was circular, with curving walls and ceiling, and looked to be made of the same hardened smooth clay or gravel as the shaft. The apex of the ceiling was over five feet above the top of the door, and it was lit by a continuous glowing strip running the entire length of the tunnel. The floor was a flat and smooth metal walkway of some sort and stopped short of the walls on either side. I looked over the edge and saw the curved tunnel walls continuing down and under the walkway.

I investigated the tunnel wall where I could reach it by the entry door and ran my hand across the surface. It felt hard, cool and was very smooth. Up close, it looked to me like the soil was bound together in a clear resin or filler of some sort. Picket must have a method of hardening the earth into a seamless granite like solid material. Cool! That would sure beat forming and pouring concrete. This tunnel sure was different, in fact, it almost seemed alien! I thought with a snort.

No matter how strong the tunnel looked however, I could still feel the quaking and tremors in the metallic walkway, so it appeared that it was not complete proof against the chaos above. I approached the far door which was another heavy metallic door the same size as the first.

Agent spoke with the synthesized voice coming from above this new door, “John, beyond this door is the main sublevel chamber. It is very strongly constructed and should withstand even the most severe quakes. Please enter quickly.”

The door clanked and swung open.

I looked back the way I’d came and noticed the first door was now closed!

“Agent! What the hell? Are you trapping me down here?”

“John, please remain calm. I am not trapping you in; I am trapping the danger out. Please enter the sublevel and I will then explain.”

I stood there for a long while, my heart thumping, wondering what to do. I caught myself glancing down at my shotgun. Finally, I calmed a bit and decided to follow Agent’s instructions and entered the next room. When I did, the heavy door began to close. I stood there and watched with my teeth clenched, anxious and uncomfortable, as the door shut with a clank. Even worse, I could now hear metallic scrapes and whines as what sounded like strong latches or bolts were being dogged down tight. My ears even popped as the air pressure noticeably increased.

Lights activated on the ceiling and I heard Agent’s voice from deeper in the room.

“John, thank you for trusting me. You are now much safer than you were while in the tunnel.”

I looked around the room. It was big! Larger than I expected at about forty feet or so wide and probably a hundred feet long. The ceiling was curved and at its peak was about twenty feet or so high or about the height of a two-story lobby. This space was much bigger than my whole house! Unlike the entry tunnel, this room’s walls and ceiling were metallic like the massive door. Even the floor was metallic.

The portion of the room nearest the door was mostly empty though I noticed some sort of grating beside the door which appeared to lead down into a large intake hopper below the floor. There were also various hose and cable attachments in the wall next to the door. I noticed there were a few wheeled objects, small trolleys, carts, and other movable devices in the vicinity of the door. Robots or Droids of some kind? Opposite the floor grate was an area filled with large rugged looking crates and drums.

Walking deeper into the room, I noted that the far half was filled with machinery, appliances, strange gadgets, tanks and even what appeared to be a large coffin or chest freezer. Thick cables or hoses led from this coffin to a row of large metallic boxes, each the size of a commercial refrigerator. They were all covered with active lights and displays projecting information of some sort.

Beyond all this, against the high back wall of the room, were a half dozen large cylindrical objects, each about six feet in diameter and extended almost to the ceiling. Were they fuel or water tanks of some sort? Thick, heavy cabling and conduits ran from these cylinders to various other devices around the room and even up and through the metal roof, probably going up to the dwelling above. Each cylinder also had a large colored glowing band near the top. The glowing bands on the five cylinders to the left were a steady, glowing cool blue while the band on the cylinder at the right end was pulsating slowly and glowed a bright red.

Agent spoke. “John. This room is constructed of very strong and durable materials. You should remain safe from the firestorm above which is due to pass by any minute. The room is also isolated somewhat and decoupled from the surrounding soil and bedrock below and so should prove resistant to the continuing tectonic disturbances, quakes, aftershocks, and tremors. Though resistant, I would advise you to take a seat on the padded chair at the console I am now activating.”

A console lit up in the middle of the room among the devices and a large padded chair rose from the floor. I moved to the station and sat in the chair. I cradled my shotgun in my lap, refusing to set it on the console or lay it on the floor.

“Thank you, John. The chair you sit upon has an active base mechanism which will allow me to dampen any large shocks or quakes to a much more tolerable level.”

Looking around the room for a moment, I said, “Are we finally to the point in the tour where you tell me what the hell is going on?”

“Yes John. I have been instructed to provide responses to many possible queries. Some subjects I am not allowed to discuss. Also, be aware that I hope to allow you to directly communicate with the one you refer to as Picket shortly. He has informed me that he would be available to contact you in approximately two hours and twelve minutes.”

“Picket? He’s still here? Last I saw he was shooting off into space or something in his pod or whatever,” I exclaimed.

“The one you refer to as Picket did indeed leave this location in a small, fast, personal escape craft referred to as a Pod a short while ago. It was not ‘into space’ as you put it, but instead, it is headed to another area on your continent. That area is what you would call the ‘main base’, for this continent. Once he arrived there, the one you refer to as Picket was busy coordinating the evacuation of that base, along with other similar bases across the planet.”