Chapter Twelve: Down the Rabbit Hole

Lucas woke up. Again, not knowing where he was. He remembered talking to the leader of Machinists. He remembered finding out who Trent was, and how he revived the group. Then they hit him with the sonic sleeper for the second time two days. And his ears were already starting to hurt.

He sat up and looked around. The room was small. One bed was up against the wall and a toilet sat in the opposite corner. It had no doors, no windows.

His heartbeat and his breath quickened. He’d seen plenty of rooms before that had no visible doors. But sitting there in an unknown place with no visible exit was almost too much for the young Alexander.

Lucas was just about to give in to his paranoia when a crack appeared in one of the walls. He started to calm the moment it did. Just knowing it existed was enough.

The crack grew vertically, then hit a corner and turned, creating a long rectangle. The door opened and Trent walked through.

“Hello, son,” he said.

Lucas looked up at him. “If you hit me again with the sleeper, you could damage my eardrums permanently,” he told him.

“As long as I have a choice, I won’t,” Trent said.

“And you didn’t have a choice the last time?”

“That’s a long story,” he said, taking a seat on the bed. “I’ve told your family we have you in custody.”

“In custody?”

“I am your custodian, and I will look after you.”

“You mean you have me held prisoner.”

“We only want to speak with you, Lucas.”

“About what?”

“The Nekuia,” Trent said bluntly.

“What?” Lucas asked. He was shocked that Trent even knew that word, that name. He tried to play off his surprise by acting like he did not know the word either. “The what?”

“We both know they exist,” Trent said. “But, unfortunately, not much more than that. That’s why you’re preparing for war.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It’s Ok. You don’t have to admit anything,” Trent told him. Then he reached out his hand. “Come with me. I’ll show you what I know. Then you will know we’re on the same team.”

“We’ll never be on the same team,” Lucas said coldly. “You’re murderers and we’re not.”

“Just come with me, son.” And he stretched out his hand a bit farther. Lucas hesitated at first, but then reached out and grabbed it.

The two exited the room together and Lucas found himself traveling down another long hallway. At the end was a sealed door. Trent opened it and the two walked through into a large room with windows, lots of windows.

Lucas could just see the light exploding on the other side of the door, but when he walked through he stopped dead in his tracks. He walked straight up to the wall of windows and just stood there, staring.

The vast red desert stretched out before him, and he knew. He finally knew exactly where he was. And which planet he was on.