Devoir

3

3

Monterrey tried to see what the two men were up to with the excavators. “If it’s not a mine, commander. What is it?”

“According to our database, this is ‘Object VM2540’. A tomb created by an unknown, non-human civilization.”

Leeanne Monterrey looked at her commanding officer. In the visor of Xiaobo’s helmet, she saw the reflection of herself. A woman in a spacesuit on a vast, inhospitable terrain. “Alien? So why hasn’t the area been cordoned off?”

Xiaobo pointed to an old, flattened fence. “It used to be. But this object is already old; almost two hundred years. I’m saying that wrong… People discovered this object two hundred years ago. We don’t know how old it really is. All we have learned is based on the signs; the inscription on the doors.”

“What does it say?”

“That it’s a tomb.”

“Whose?” Leeanne asked. “Who’s in there?”

“Um…” Xiaobo tried to read on. “Hey, the database is suddenly unreachable. I’m getting a communication error. Strange. But, if I’ve seen it right, it said, ‘Unknown’.”

“That’s weird, what’s the point of mentioning that it’s a grave, if you don’t mention who’s in it.”

“It’s even crazier. I read that the inscription had similarities to the hieroglyphic script.”

“Yes, sure, that writing of the ancient Egyptians?”

“At the time, that’s how they found out what the inscription means. By comparing it with the hieroglyphic writing.” Xiaobo looked at the excavators. “But according to our data, that was a century and a half ago. Initially, the discovery of this tomb caused quite a stir. But as time passed and no one managed to open the doors of that tomb, all attention has been diluted. The grave has been forgotten. And when I look at the state of the fence, totally neglected. But it looks like, someone has now forced the door with gross force.”

“Laro?”

“With some help, maybe,” Xiaobo said thoughtfully. “But something is not right. If Laro, or anyone else, manages to force the door with a few excavators. Then why didn’t they do that before? Give or take two centuries ago, for example?”

“Good point commander.”

Xiaobo cramped on his helmet; tried to access the FBSI, the Federal Bureau of Space Investigation, office database in every way possible. “Nothing. Damn. The connection is down, Monterrey. It’s you and me from now on.”

“Without backup, there’s not much we can do, commander,” she said. “We’re dealing with two men from the Mafia, and I also saw on my console that there’s a third man lurking around, possibly Laro, and who knows how many men have holed up in there.” Monterrey looked at her supervisor again. “We’re just the two of us commander. I think it would be wiser to wait for the communication to be restored and then ask for reinforcement.”

“I don’t know if we have that much time Monterrey. It’s our mission to take out Laro. And we know he’s in there right now.”

“We suspect that, commander. As long as we haven’t seen and identified him, we’re not sure.”

“Yes. Correct. And I also know that Laro knows everything about our organization, just as well as he knows everything about the Mafia. We have to grab him, Monterrey. Before the Mafia does.”

* * *

“Silvio?” Reggie Trullo carefully walked between the immense excavators. From a distance, the machines already seemed large to him; up close they were even more impressive. Colossal. He looked skittishly up past the massive tires. The giant tires were impressively large, at least twice his length. He had never seen anything like it. If one of those machines starts moving, I’m f****d, he thought. “Damn, where are you?” Trullo’s henchmen had been ahead of the curve, but now they were nowhere to be seen.

“Reg…?” it cracked in his intercom.

“Yes,” he said, almost relieved to hear something. “Where are you?”

All that sounded on the intercom was murmurs.

“Silvio? Ignazio?”

“… Krrr… Inside…,” it suddenly sounded.

Only one excavator stood between Reggie Trullo and the tomb. Behind it was the entrance to the tomb, he knew. A structure that had remained closed for centuries. For hundreds of years its secret had not been revealed. Now it seemed that Djay Laro, the rat, the defector, the undercover agent of the Feds who had inconspicuously managed to infiltrate the otherwise closed Mafia, had found a way to conquer this almost mythical impregnable fortress. Laro had announced that he was making a startling announcement today. He knew the secrets of the Mafia. Knew all about Don Faenza. He was going viral with important information. Thank God Paolo had a chance to disable the communication satellites, which made it no longer possible for Laro to go viral. Now All Reggie had to do was get Laro before the Feds did. He walked past the last excavator. Looked up again past the giant tires, impressed by what he saw. Just before he wanted to go into the open tomb, he changed his mind. Walked back and looked at the tires again. His eyes grew big when he saw the signs on the tires. The same characters as the inscription on the gate doors of the tomb. Suddenly he realized why he had never seen such machines. The doors, the cabin… everything was bigger than people needed. “Silvio?” he asked worriedly. “Are you all right in there?”

Instead of an answer, he suddenly felt a hand being placed on his arm. Startled, he turned around. He hadn’t given himself enough cover. How could he be so stupid? Be so careless? Despite the spacesuit, he immediately recognized the man. “Hello Reggie,” Djay Laro said.

Trullo’s hand automatically reached for his weapon.

“Don’t,” Laro said whispering nervously. “Any sound can be fatal!”

The fear in Laro’s voice caught Reggie off guard. He hesitated. Also knew that his doubts could make him ill-fated. From experience, he knew that any hesitation could be exploited by an opponent. That had saved his life more than once. But now he was the doubter himself. He had to get back on his feet. Take action. But Laro’s hand was already on his g*n.

As good and as bad as it went, Laro gestured with his index finger in front of his helmet that Reggie had to be quiet. “Follow me,” he beckoned. He let go of Reggie’s g*n without taking it. Turned around and walked away.

Reggie’s heart was pounding in his throat. He was confused. Laro could easily have overpowered him. Well, he didn’t even hear him coming. If Laro had wanted, Reggie realized, he would now have been lying lifeless on the moon; his spacesuit would be nothing more than a luxury body bag. Instead, Laro had asked Reggie to follow him. But why? He looked at the entrance of the tomb. Those doors… The high gate doors were damaged by the excavators. But not on the outside. It looked like the excavators had been used to force the doors from the inside.

“This way,” Laro whispered to him forcefully. “We have to get out of here!”

Shit, Reggie thought. Silvio and Ignazio are in there, but the man they’re looking for is here. There was a strange, dull sound from the tomb. The noise was almost unbearable. Reggie was looking at Laro. “What was that?”

“Come,” Laro gestured.

Once again, the strange sound reverberated loudly through the tomb. Immediately followed by a terrifying scream. “f**k! That’s… That sounds like Silvio!” Reggie cried.

“I’m not going to stand here and wait,” Laro said. He fled, as fast as his spacesuit allowed him, to a small rock formation.

“Oh f**k,” Reggie screamed. “We’re never going to make it!” He ran after Laro. Small moonstones came loose from the lunar surface, briefly floated in his slipstream before falling back onto the moon in slow motion. The moment he passed the second-to-last excavator, two lunar scooters came running in.

“Jump on the back,” SSA commander Xiaobo called roaring.

Laro didn’t ask any questions. He went into the back of Monterrey’s scooter as fast as he could. “You have to call for reinforcements. The army!”

“We have no signal,” Xiaobo exclaimed.

“What?” said Laro. “I thought you guys…?” He looked at Trullo angrily. “Damn it, Reggie, did you turn off communications? Make sure it’s fixed!”

Reggie had taken a seat behind Xiaobo and clamped his arms around the commander’s waist. Behind them, the dull noise became increasingly loud. “Drive!” Reggie roared in panic.

The two lunar scooters skimmed over the lunar surface at full speed.

“Reg. You need to restore communication. Now!”

“Yes, so you can make your message go viral. What do you think? I’m not that stupid.”

“Damn Reg, we need help.”

Xiaobo took back the gas. “Monterrey, stop!” he commanded. As soon as the scooters stopped, he looked back. Little seemed to happen at the tomb. “Okay, guys, I’m already sorry I brought you guys here. Why the hell did we run? What’s going on in there in that tomb?”

“I… I don’t know,’ Laro quipped. “Things that I, that we… do not understand.”

“Well, try explaining to me anyway, Laro. What were you doing there? And who else is in there?”

“Except for two of Trullo’s men, there is no one… There are no more people inside.”

Xiaobo looked at Reggie asking. “Is that right?”

“I saw Silvio and Ignazio go in. Couldn’t hear what they said to me. Then that f*****g awful sound came. Man, it went through marrow and bone. Other than that, I know as much as you do.”

“What about those excavators?” said Xiaobo. “You didn’t use them on your own, Laro. You have to have accomplices.”

“Those machines aren’t mine.” Laro pointed to the gate of the tomb. “By the way… there you have the… those things you call my accomplices.”

“Holy s**t,” Monterrey muttered. “What are those?”

“Things I’d rather not be in touch with,” Laro said.

“I can’t believe it,” Reggie said. At the tomb stood five giant, metal humanoid creatures. “These things are as big as those doors. Are they machines? Or is there really someone of that size in it?”

“I haven’t been able to shake hands with them yet, Reg,” Laro replied. “And if I had, I doubt I would have ever got my hand back.”

“f**k,” Monterrey shouted. She watched as the five giant robots boarded two of the excavators. “They get in those excavators. We’ve got to get out of here!” She didn’t wait another second. Started her scooter and got out of there.

“What are they?” Xiaobo cried. He struggled to keep up with Monterrey and her passenger. “Does it have to do with those Egyptian signs? Are they Egyptian gods?”

“What are you talking about?” Laro cried. He clamped his arms even tighter around Leeanne Monterrey’s waist. Afraid of falling off the scooter.

“Well? Those inscriptions? Those are Egyptian signs, aren’t they?”

“Oh, come on, man. Those are urban myths. These inscriptions were not made by humans.”

“No, I already understood that. But it is claimed that Egyptian gods…”

“Yes. Yes, that there are aliens depicted in pyramids,” Laro said. “Just as strange creatures have been found on Mayan temples. That our civilization is the result of a visit by extraterrestrials more than four or five thousand years ago.”

The roaring sound of the excavators came menacingly close.

“Say,” Reggie Trullo snarled. “Personally, I don’t care if those guys were on a friendly visit and drank some coffee a few centuries ago. The only thing that interests me is how we get out of here alive.”

Xiaobo glanced over his shoulder. The bizarre, extremely large excavators with the huge tires were stronger and faster than the small lunar scooters. Hardly one more minute and they’d be overtaken. “Monterrey?”

“Yes, Commander?”

“Where are you driving to? The accommodations are the other way.”

“I know. But we cannot lead these creatures to the residences. We have to distract them; that’s our duty. The people who live there would not stand a chance.”

“But… Monterrey?” Xiaobo asked nervously. He looked forward anxiously. All he saw was a vast, infinite plain. An area he’d never been to before. “What else is out there?”