Rumors From The Sky - Chapter 11

Dark Times Remembered

Mortamule noticed Monday Eve was present. They exchanged knowing glances and said nothing. They both worked at Area 51 and knew the drama that pervaded the place.

"We can forget the extra space now," Isotophes said. "There would only be room for one ship."
"Weren't you also associated with A-51?" Mortamule asked her as she adjusted her telescope.
“That was a long time ago." Isotophes said.
"What was your rank?" Mortamule asked while grabbing a chair and sitting down close to her.
"Tunnels. I explored the tunnels before they were. . .updated."
“Mortuary is more like it." Monday Eve retorted.

Isotophes looked away and nodded in agreement. Mortamule was intrigued. He pressed on and wondered how many more people at Hell's Basin were present that had once worked at or was in some way affiliated with Area 51.

"I left because of what they were doing out there." Isotophes said with a tone that was unmistakably distressed. "Endless experiments, being followed no matter where I went"

"That's how they run all of 51, remember even the government isn't supposed to know about us!" Mortamule said trying to offer some sort of comfort.

"But you got out, you cleared away, they never followed you." Monday Eve said to Isotophes. There was something that was bothering both of them and Mortamule was starting to see what had went on.

"That's because they didn't think I had anything! I couldn't do their shit anymore." Isotophes said back.

"Yes, but do you know what kind of darkness that place harbors now?" Monday Eve's voice then lowered to almost a whisper as she looked at Isotophes with dark foretelling. "Those beings, those cloth-thin bodies, never being able to maintain any solidity or cell growth. Most of them already dead by the time they'd cart them in to me. They discombobulate and crumble. The most profoundly disturbing, unspeakable thing I've ever witnessed. They're translucent, drained, and their eyes are empty. But there's something in that void of a stare. I'd wondered if there could ever be the faintest spark of life, or, if they've ever been alive and thriving, those underground beings they dug up. Only a rare few could communicate."

Isotophes lowered her head as if to weep. They both had such somber expressions that the others were speechless.

As Monday Eve turned to look at the telescope, Isotophes reached out and rested her hand on Monday's arm as if to say something, causing Monday Eve to drop something that appeared to be some kind of remote control unit.

They both bent down to pick it up and then knelt by each other to speak in hushed voices. With visible tears in her eyes, Isotophes was determined to speak her heart.

"I didn’t leave only because I saw a way out. They didn't trust me anymore than they did you, Eve. For Christ's sake, they had me and my team digging around those tunnels down there for all of them. They wanted every last one. It wasn't what I signed up for. I couldn't do it anymore, I didn't want any part of it because they were alive. And they should have been left alone! I tried to save them! If I found a colony of killer aliens, I'd still never bring harm to them, it's not who I am. Especially when they were so far away from our world, far below the surface."

Monday Eve sat up against the telescope, and put her head in her hands in sorrow. "It's like you said before," Monday Eve said through a raspy voice. "It's all about war. And they'll use whatever means they can, and whoever they can."

"You're not the only one with the memory of their evil. What kinds of things do you think I saw? I got to them before they're even exposed to any solar light. I'd get time frames, which were only hours or days on the surface that their precious equipment couldn't even keep track of. How many years do you supposed passed in those depths? The further you go, the more time is lost. It stands still." Isotophes said as she and Monday Eve choked back tears. "It's hard to come back. Everything is gone or, never the same."

The long duration of isolation under a secret operation that resembled an otherworldly war-zone and trauma they had endured had taken its toll.

"I never knew you were at the base levels. They’re endless aren’t they? Those underground ley lines." Monday said with no more than an anguished whisper.

"How could I have stayed when I finally got back topside?" Isotophes pleaded.

"You couldn't." Monday's voice softened.

Penn and Teller stood nearby with sympathetic expressions. They wondered at whatever reason that allowed these kinds of things that had went on and only ever heard vague rumors about. This was nowhere near what they had expected, this was way out of their league. This was gut-wrenching, and horrible.

As the magicians stood there, it seemed as though they were enveloped with an inner light, like messengers who had come to some final gate, to bring the onlookers out of long carried burden and pain.

Teller's face was the phrasing of long suffering, compassion and careworn. His eyes looked on with an inner warmth that burned away the former ashes of desolation as he extended his hand to help Isotophes up.

Penn's sturdy features marked with understanding and eyes piercing through the shadow of the room, the mood, and the fear like blazing streams of blue fire, wherein there were oceans of forgiveness. He assisted Monday Eve from the floor where she and Isotophes had been sitting.

"I just can't put my finger on where I've seen you before." Isotophes told Teller.

A sense of injustice was stirred within the two magicians and against their better judgment of escaping, they proclaimed their assistance to rid the world of the evil Area 51 and bring it down to its knees, and kick some NASA ass.

"Whatever happens, we'll have to do this together." Penn said as Teller drew in a deep breath and nodded in agreement.