Chapters 21-30
Hum of the Angels
chapter 21
Tommy Boy
** ** ** **
Knuckles and Thunder went looking for vines and found several long strands that they tied together.
She looked at Thunder and with shyness she stated. �??There is one thing I hate.�??
Thunder checking his knots on the vine, �??What�??s that?�??
�??Closed spaces. I�??m claustrophobic.�??
Thunder looked up at her and shook his head. �??Guess going down there is not exactly the smart thing to do with you then.�??
Knuckles shook her head.
Returning to the hole They lowered the vine into the hole.
�??With some enlightenment by Knuckles, I�??m going to have Knuckles and Radar stay behind, to keep watch, while we go down and check this out.�??
Radar started to go off about not going but Thunder stopped him, �??We need back up and I expect that from you. Not everyone should or need to go down there.�??
Radar backed off, sensing that Thunder would make a bigger deal if he stated otherwise.
Taking the vine in hand, Thunder started to lower himself into the pit. Psychic and Jersey followed.
** ** **
Tommy Boy rested against the wall. Perfect Tommy struggled occasionally with his bindings.
�??Since when did Lectroids make good knots?�??
�??When did Lectroids use humans to get their way?�??
Perfect Tommy stopped fidgeting and looked over to Ranger. �??Think he�??s okay?�??
�??All I can think is that the magnetic waves they used affecting him more.�??
Looking around the room Perfect Tommy redirected his thinking. �??If this goes into the crust so deep and can send signals...�??
�??What can of worms can this open. Is it a beacon? Is it a portal?�?? Tommy Boy asked. �??If a Lectroid is playing with it, it can�??t be good. But I would hate to destroy this just to keep it out of his hands.�??
�??When was your last Serum shot?�?? Perfect Tommy asked.
�??Two months ago.�??
�??You know I really hate the name John.�?? Perfect Tommy lamented. �??Nothing good comes of them.�??
Tommy Boy sighed, most Lectroids were problematic to humans.
They heard a whine outside the door. �??Oddity.�?? Tommy Boy called out.
A bark came to them and then they heard her leave.
�??What do you think?�??
�??Trouble or help. Guess we wait and see.�??
�??I�??m never good at waiting.�?? Perfect Tommy sulked.
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Hum of the Angels
Chapter 22
BBI_fiero
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Tommyboy hopped over to the rear wall. She place her ear close to the suface. After a moment she smiled. "Oddity! Are you there?"
Some sleight scratching could be heard. Perfect-Tommy noticed it, too.
"Oddity! Get help!Do you hear me??Find Knuckles!"
A muffled woof was her reply.
PT faced the intern, "Think he understood?"
"Yes..I think so?Oddity took off anyway."
Perfect-Tommy noticed something in the corner. Hopping over he saw they were remnants of wire, glass shards and some wooden splinters. He turned to Tommyboy.
"I have an idea?here turn your back to me, I may be able to help."
TB shrugged and rolled over. Turning around she asked. "What say you?
The young Hong Kong Cavalier had fashioned a primitive tool. He was probing the Handcuffs' inner workings.
"A trick I came up with while?um, while I was detained in the Middle East."
Tommyboy quickly deduced his reasoning and didn't inquiry further into the young mans' past for fear of stirring up bad memories.
After a minute or two of struggling and fumbling, the right handcuff released and fell way of TB's wrist.
"Hey, that was cool..Great work there." TB ignored the left handcuff dangling and watched PT show her how to work on the leg shackles. She caught on after a few minutes.
-----------
Thunder, Psychic and Jersey were hiking down the pit. Thunder was using his night vision scope of the rifle to navigate the dark cavern. Psychic was walking behind him as if it were daylight. Jersey was following albeit not as well without a flashlight.
"Do you hear something?" he asked.
"No..just some rumbling." replied Thunder. "Like machinery or something."
"Ooooff! The doctor fell backwards. Something struck him hard knocking him over.
"I'm being ambushed,!! Quick ! -give me a hand guys !!-"
Psychic started laughing.
"Whats so funny?" The doctor jumped back on his feet.
She bent over and started to pat Oddity on the head.
Thunder whipped out a small flashlight and shined it at the couple.
"?oh?" Sid Zweibel put away his pistol and was grateful the dark covered his embarrassment.
Psychic bent down. "What's up boy??.Huh?"
The dog was moving back and forth, whimpering.
"You want us to follow you?"
Thunder whispered. "What's the word?"
"I think Oddity knows where Tommyboy and PT are." she answered.
"Lets rock-n-roll!"
The three Team banzai members ran after the dog. He darted off immediately without barking. Thunder was using his flashlight now since the appearance of the dog suggested they were alone; no longer important was the element of stealth.
After about 200 feet, Oddity entered a cavern with 2 tunnels. He stopped and waited for the group to catch up. When they arrived, he quickly turned and ran inside the tunnel on the left.
Upon entry the group saw something in the distance. There was a pile of boulders and stones strewn around in front of a large door.
Thunder and Jersey just looked up and gawked. It must have been 20 foot high and made of bronze. Psychic was staring as well, but ceased when she noticed Oddity began pawing at something beneath one of the stones.
Bending down she discovered the object of interest; a green strap. She started digging away at the clutter of smaller rocks. Once she cleared away the debris; a BB patch caught her eye. The young lady lifted up the object and faced the men.
"Hey, I think this is Tommyboys' Rucksack!"
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Hum of the Angels
Chapter 23
By Nicki Knight
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Radar paced back and forth angrily. He hated being left behind. He didn't understand why he was being left behind. And he didn't like it not being explained to him in vast detail as to why he was being left behind. And...
His thoughts paused as he glanced at his partner in watch, Knuckles.
The little bounty hunter was crouched beside a tree, her rifle cross her knees, her chicks nested between her feet. With her back to him and the hole, her eyes constantly scanned the jungle around them, searching for any sign of trouble from the locals. For being such a "beat the crap out of anything that vaguely looks like it might move" sort of girl, she was taking this staying behind awfully calmly.
Radar came to a conclusion. "This is because of you, isn't it?"
Knuckles eyes continued to scan the trees. "What is?" she mumbled.
"Bloody well being stuck up here!" Radar answered, though he was more curios now than angry. "What did you say to Thunder?" he wanted to know, though instantly regretted it when he saw her back stiffen. He should of known better.
Knuckles suddenly rose to her feet, spun about, grabbed his shirt front, then dropped to the ground, dragging him down with her.
He opened his mouth to protest, but she stuffed a handful a leaves in, silencing him.
Staying close to the ground, she pointed forward.
Radar's eyes followed the direction indicated.
Three locals, each caring a rifle, were slipping through the trees sixty yards off. They were making their way parrell to the BBs' position, eyes scanning the area for any movement. Apparently they saw neither the sunken pit, nor the two BBs who were plastered against the ground. After what seemed an eternity, they had passed out of sight, continuing their search.
Radar started to rise, but Knuckles placed a hand between his shoulder blades and pushed him down again. Leaning over him, she hissed in his ear "If I said anything to Thunder, I said it to him, and not to you!" Silently, she rose to her feet, stepped back to her chicks, and crouched down, laying her rifle across her knees again, taking up the exact same position she had before.
Radar pushed himself up, spitting leaves and twigs out of his mouth. Thinking it best not to continue the subject, he slowly climbed to his feet and returned to his spot on the other side of the pit. `Note to self: don't rile Knuckles.'
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"So, they went this way, eh, boy?" Thunder asked, crouching down beside Oddity and running a hand down the dog's back.
Oddity wined, pawing at the huge door.
Thunder looked up at Psychic for confirmation. Not that he didn't trust the animal. Oddity had done nothing but lead them straight thus far. He'd just feel a little better knowing what exactly was behind that door.
The girl didn't look at him, but somehow knew what he was asking. She was still holding Tommy Boy's napsack, clutching it to her chest as if she was afraid it would be yanked away. "She's in there." Psychic breathed. "All three of them, but... Ranger..." She shook her head. "He's kinda foggy."
"Foggy?" New Jersey frowned at that. In his book "foggy" in reference to the human condition, was not a good thing. He wanted more details.
Psychic only glanced at him, before turning her attention back to the door, leaving the doctor unanswered. If she knew more details than "foggy" she would of told him. But the mind was not something one could just pick away at, saying "this is that, and that is this, and there is no maybes, ifs, ands, or buts." The mind was a blear of emotions. thoughts, and what-nots. "Foggy" was as precise as it got... when someone was unconscious.
"Alrighty." Thunder rose up again. "Next question: anyone see a door bell?"
"No." Psychic suddenly stepped away from the door. "There's something in there! Something with them!" Her eyes had grown big , her voice rising in pitch.
"Something?" Thunder repeated, exchanging concerned looks with Jersey.
As if they needed further confirmation that things had turn to the worse, Oddity crouched down at the base of the huge door, the fur on his haunches pricking up, his nose wrinkled as a low snarl immenated through sharp, clenched teeth.
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Hum of the Angels
By The Chronicler
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Chapter 24
==========
Once free, Tommy Boy grabbed a chunk of something or other sharp object and began to work on the knots that bound Perfect Tommy.
"Ouch. Hey!" Perfect Tommy protested when he was knicked.
"Oh, don't be such a baby." Tommy Boy huffed, glad he couldn't see the tiny dot of blood that seeped from the nearly microscopic wound. If he had seen that, she would never have heard the last of it, she mused as she wiped the trickle away with her thumb.
"Hey, you have no idea how tough it is to keep this skin just right, just perfect!" PT exclaimed. "You probably think I do it all for my fragile sense of self. But that isn't true. Women need a perfect man to make them feel perfect. I always keep myself perfect 'cause I just want to give the women of the world what they need."
"Yea, yea... on behalf of all women everywhere, I thank you for your effort." she returned sarcastically. As irritating as her friend's speech might have been, she knew it was a reflex action. He was getting nervous. He talked when he was nervous. She'd smack him later for the subject matter. "Ah-ha!" she announced as the last threads of the thick rope unraveled.
"'bout time." Perfect Tommy growled, rubbing his wrists. When TB moved down to work on freeing his feet, he took the sharp chunk of steel. "Don't want ya hacking off my feet." he grumbled, throwing a look at the still unconscious Ranger.
Tommy Boy acknowledged the unvoiced concern with a nod, then moved across the room to Ranger's still form. After dusting her hands on her pant legs, she put two fingers to his throat to check his pulse. Sighing with relief, she looked up at Perfect Tommy. "Still with us, steady and getting stronger." she assured.
Freeing his feet, Perfect Tommy quickly climbed up. "Try to wake him up. I'm gonna see if I can't find a way out of here." He started toward the door which they had heard Oddity through.
Tommy Boy turned back to Ranger. "Hey, buddy. Time to show some sign of life." she called softly to him. She patted his cheek with one hand while running her fingers through his hair with the other, trying to stimulate some sort of response. "Wonder what they used to knock us out. Do you remember anything?"
Perfect Tommy shrugged. "Kinda hard to breath, I think. A gas maybe." He shook his head. "But, they might of knocked him one along side the head, or, like you suggested earlier, the hum thingy might be effecting..." He stopped suddenly, reaching up to feel his ear. "Tommy Boy, are you still wearing your ear piece?" he asked, his voice very calm... too calm.
Tommy Boy glanced back at him. Frowning, she reached up to her own ear. her heart skipped a beat. "Gone." she confirmed.
Swearing, Perfect Tommy slammed his fist against the door. "Damn ugly toad!"
"Smartbomb must have found them and took them." Tommy Boy turned Ranger's head, confirming that his, too, was gone. "We've gotta get back to base camp." she mumbled.
"Preferably before the next little Lectroid induced tremor and we become our very own booby hatch population." Perfect Tommy agreed.
"What a wonderful phrasing." someone else said directly to his left.
Perfect Tommy glanced up. His eyes went wide. "Tommy Boy..." he started, but John Smartbomb backhanded him with such force he was sent flying through the air to hit hard on the floor beside his two companions.
Tommy Boy instantly came to her feet and spun around to face the alien.
"Do you know the problem with humans?" John Smartbomb spoke as if he was chatting with some old friends. "They just never stay in their place."
"This from a former Planet 10 resident." Tommy Boy growled. "In case you haven't noticed this is Earth and `you' happen to be the one out of his place." A quick glance back at Perfect Tommy told her he was down, but not out. Give him just a bit more to catch his breath and it'd be back to two against one. But until then...
John Smartbomb turned back to the door. "What's that?" He smiled. "Your furry companion seems to have returned.
Tommy Boy could just barely hear the soft barking from the other side of the door.
"Oddity?" Perfect Tommy mumbled, slowly, carefully, rising to his feet. With the side of his thumb, he wiped the blood from his split lip. "Smartbomb, eh?" he called to the Lectroid. "Shoulda been dumb bomb."
The John's head snapped around to glare at the human.
"I mean, come on, of all the places you could of hid out, you picked a dingy, old abandon town like this?" Perfect Tommy continued. "What about L.A., huh?"
"Remember our last trip to California?" Tommy Boy whispered to him.
"Paris! Think about the gorgouse girls."
"Anorexia capital of the world." TB grumbled.
"Seattle..."
"Rains a lot."
"Moscow's pretty."
"Too cold."
"London..."
"Might as well stay here."
Perfect Tommy glared at Tommy Boy. "Do you mind?"
"I'd just like to know why you're suggesting that this twit go take a tour of the great cities of the world?!" she snapped back.
"So we could keep him distracted!"
"Distracted?" both Smartbomb and Tommy Boy asked.
Tommy Boy yipped as Perfect Tommy wrapped an arm around her waist and carried them both to the ground beside Ranger.
When a moment passed and nothing happened, Tommy Boy glanced at Perfect Tommy. "Are we down here for a reason?"
Suddenly the door behind John Smartbomb exploded, bursting it inward. It slammed the alien forward and down onto the floor. Dust and stone shards filled the air.
Tommy Boy ducked her head back down under Perfect Tommy's arm, protecting her eyes.
After a second, the dust began to settle. And a framalir voice sounded. "Open sesame!"
Stepping through the dust like movie heroes, was Thunder, and, on either side, new Jersy and Psychic. Thunder glanced at Jersey. "Open sesame?"
The doctor shrugged. "Always wanted to say that."
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Hum of the Angels
By Tommy Boy
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Chapter 25
==========
Tommy Boy recovered slowly from the blast. Perfect Tommy was covering her and slight protecting Ranger by them.
�??Tommy?�?? she shook him and he groaned a moment then lifted his head.
�??Remind me not to be a human shield next time.�??
Tommy Boy smiled at him and touched his face. �??Thank you.�?? she said quietly. Knowing that giving him a true outburst he would down play it.
Perfect Tommy gave her wink.
Behind him they heard the others in commotion.
Thunder and Psychic were looking at the man that was unconscious. Oddity growling at him.
�??Thunder, in my bag, there are alien cuffs. Cuff him, he�??s an lectroid.�??
Thunder looked at the man in a different light of things and searched the pack.
Perfect Tommy scooted back to sit on his knees and helped Tommy Boy to sit up. Jersey dropped by Ranger to see what aid he could give to him.
�??How long has he been out?�??
�??Since we got the sonic boom.�?? Tommy Boy answered. �??Three hours?�?? =
She asked Perfect Tommy. He shrugged.
Thunder cuffed the Lectroid with the special cuffs. They had been designed by the institute to hold anything with Lectroid strength, hence alien cuffs.
Thunder surveyed the room. �??What is this place?�??
�??Seems to be an alien gift.�?? Tommy Boy stood up. �??Seems John here was trying to harness it to make for his own use.�??
�??What was that precisely?�?? New Jersey asked. He rummaged through is pack and found smelling salts. He snapped one open and waved it under Rangers�??s Nose. He gasped and woke to the smell gagging and coughing.
Tommy Boy asked Thunder, �??Where�??s Knuckles and Radar?�??
Perfect Tommy chuckled, �??Knuckles? Down here? She�??d be her worse nightmare.�??
Thunder ignroed the young man, �??Guarding the large hole we came in at.�??
Tommy Boy nodded. �??Let�??s see what we can learn about this place.�??
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Hum of the Angels
Chapter 26
BBI_fiero
==========
Thunder was busy guarding the entrance while Psychic was tending a weary abeit awake Ranger.
She had her canteen out. After the BBI was content, PT knelt down and asked for some water.
Tommyboy and New Jersey walked over to the humming instruments that lay behind them. Old stone inlaid with bronze and ceramic.
"I never heard of this ancient villa?look at this, it's like at least 2000 years old." Perfect Tommy studied the large steel pillar overhead. "Is that thing still?active?"
Tommyboy replied, "I'm not sure." She looked at the doctor.
Jersey stuttered defensively, "Hey, don't look at me! I didn't bring any equipment with me, heck, a few minutes ago I was carrying Knuckles' children !"
"Oh, the birds." TB had to think a second.
Psychic, carrying TBs' Banzai Institute knapsack joined the trio. "I sense an increase in vibration. I fear things are getting worse." She cried.
Perfect Tommy agreed. "The room seems to have a rumble, look at the water from this thermos." PT had placed the canteen on a stone table. The water gave off small rings of waves rippling back and forth.
"Great" muttered TB. She walked up and down the primitive ceramic floor tiles, trying to think.
Perfect-Tommy pointed upwards then waved a hand slowly down. "This steel pillar must be controlled somehow from something in this room."
Zweibel nodded his head. "So you're implying there's a focal point somewhere amongst these?ancient?room objects??"
"Yea?Let me walk around a bit. Try to get a feel for the structural layout of this room architecture."
Tommyboy turned to Zweibel. "You didn't happen to bring your digital camera?"
"That item I have.!" New Jersey reached into his knapsack and quickly retrieved his trusty Kodak 215. He handed it over to TB.
TB took it and commenced taking pictures of the ancient room. She was creating a panoramic view.
BBI_Psychic raced over to the girl. "What are you doing?"
"I'm doing research, maybe I can cross reference some stuff, download these images via the laptop. Might help us figure this place out.
Psychic handed over her laptop on cue. She knelt down and asked. "You going to access the Mauritius Island website?"
"No, Banzai Institute achieves, its faster.," answered TB.
She quickly entered the login and password then was online with the Banzai Institute.
BBI_Thunder ran up to Perfect-Tommy, rifle in hand. "John Smartbomb refuses to talk?I don't think he'll cooperate with us."
"Great", muttered PT. "I can't prove it, but I think he knows how to operate these ancient items around here."
For long minutes TB, Psychic and Perfect Tommy performed their analysis leaving Sid Zweibel alone. Jersey centered his attention from the rock and bronze items to the conic centerpiece. He placed his hand to his chin.
The silence was deafening to TB. She turned to face him, "What do you find so interesting?"
"This adobe cone structure in front of me.."
"That ancient stove? The one we were handcuffed to..What about it?"
"You know, for a furnace, this sure seems rather clean, wouldn't you say?"
TB let Psychic take over the laptop. Walking over to the lanky doctor the Hong Kong Cavalier replied. "Hmmm,?now that you mention it?.That is odd?.There's no charcoal or anything resembling embers."
"Looks are deceiving?." concurred Sid.
The rumbling began to get louder. Soon some dust began falling from the ceiling.
BBI_Thunder spoke out. "Hey, maybe we should get out of here? Worry about Ancient mysteries, you know -later ?"
TB turned around, "No, not yet, we still have agitated villagers outside. Running away won't help their plight?Will it?"
Thunder angrily swung around, returning to his rounds. He muttered to Ranger, "She won't be happy until we're all buried with the rest of this old clutter !!"
BBI_Psychic shouted, "Tommyboy! Come here quickly!"
TB ran over and knelt down. The red haired BBI whispered, "look, the BB activity icon quit spinning...I think the computing ended."
Tommyboy was relieved. The Banzai institute terraflop showed some search results. There was some jpegs of Mauritius Island culture. A bunch of Danish text. Some specific history of the cave dwelling they were at.
"Looks like this Dutch explorer came across this area long before us?" whispered Psychic.
She tried to read some old scripts while Tommyboy studied an old map.
"Guess one of his team members created these sketches?"
Sid Zweibel bent down, looking over both girls' shoulders like some rude passenger on a N.Y. city transit bus. "What do you have-? Hey, isn't that the --.."
"Yes!" TB finished his sentence. "That's the furnace?only, this sketch has something else drawn?can't quite make it out.."
Psychic looked around herself. The rumbling was increasing in volume. carrying out her debrief, she read aloud, "They didn't quite know what they stumbled upon, they more or less just documented their travels. Not finding anything of value to the Dutch East India Company, they moved on?"
"Leave it to the Banzai Institute to have these records." Tommyboy quipped.
A groggy, yet awake BBI_Ranger walked over to join the group. He looked at the rough drawing displayed on the laptop.
"I know what that is?"
TB swung around. "What are you talking about?"
The rumbling was growing much louder, so the BBI spoke up. "I told you to sell it?..remember?"
Tommyboy eyes widened. "The knapsack! I completely forgot about it!"
Psychic pointed behind her on cue while staring at the flat panel monitor.
"Thanks!" shouted TB. The Hong Kong Cavalier ran over to the green backpack. Tearing it open, she pulled out the shiny object she had discovered a day before.
More rock and debris began falling all around Team Banzai. The butcher-block table fell on its side with a clunk. BBI_Thunder was in the background watching in disgust. If it were up to him, they'd be long gone. He followed orders and kept his rifle on the rear entrance ever vigilant against intruders.
The one called Perfect Tommy shouted out. He was very nervous; voice shaky. "I've been shuffling tiles, moving objects here and there..Nothing works on this stone panel !! Any combination of items I try out does nothing!?Whatever Smartbomb has been doing- it isn't working for me !!"
The cave was accumulating a cloudy mist of dust. BBI_Ranger spoke up, "You know- Maybe Thunder has a point about leaving ---"
"NOO! " Tommyboy shouted amidst the loud rumbling. She was running. TB tripped over a newly displaced stone. Regaining her footing, she continued on towards the ancient furnace. Sid Zweibel was covering his ears from the rumbling. He moved aside as Tommyboy shoved the shiny artifact in place.
"IF THIS DOESN'T WORK--NOTHING WILL!!!"
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Hum of the Angels
Chapter 27
By Nicki Knight
======
Thunder glanced back at their Lectroid just as Tommy Boy was moving the artifact in place.
The alien was grinning.
"TommyBoy... Wait!" Thunder spun about and lunged, snatching the girl around the waist and spinning her away from the furnace. Slamming into New Jersey, all three fell to the floor.
The unintentional fall was all that saved their lives.
An static shock snapped out from the artifact, whipping out like a circular blade mere inches over their backs. With another snap and an even louder hum, a glowing column rose straight up, shattering through the ceiling over their heads, through the ground above, and on into the sky beyond.
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Across the world, Big Norse's head snapped up. "Christ!" she snapped, fiddling with her instruments.
Rawhide looked up from where he had been working on some paper work in front of the T.V. "Something wrong?" he wanted to know, setting his work aside.
Billy Travis swore as he too was distracted by his computers in the corner. "What's going on?" he wondered, trying to calm the alarms.
"Every damn computer in the world is throwing a tantrum." Big Norse complained.
Rawhide came to his feet. He wasn't overly sure what effect that would have on the world, but he knew that is would not be good. "What is doing it? Where is it coming from? And how do we shut it down?" was the list he laid out to be answered, coming up from behind Norse to see what she was working on.
She worked frantically to get her instruments working, but every screen still showed static or some nonsense.
A form of an answer came from Billy, and not his computers. "Rawhide, the T.V." he said, turning it up.
Both Rawhide and Norse turned, looking back at the fuzzy picture of the television.
An emergency news report had come on, reporting systems going haywire. Planes were in trouble, hospitals were panicking, this and that were going wrong all over the world.
"Rawhide, I think I've got our problem." Norse mumbled, catching his attention again. She had managed to bring a satellite image.
"Is that where I think it is?" Rawhide growled, already reaching for his go-phone and heading for the door.
"Mauritiues." Norse answered, following.
"Billy, get Mrs Johnson up here, put every BBI on alert. And have a jet ready to go by the time we get to the airport." Rawhide yelled over his shoulder as he left the room.
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"Keep your heads down!" Thunder yelled, though he couldn't even hear his own words over the sound.
But, as suddenly as the beam had appeared, it snapped away, leaving the air over their heads energized, but safe.
"Damn." Perfect Tommy whistled. "You guys still alive?" he asked hurrying over and reaching down. Reaching out for support as he grabbed Thunder by the arm and hauled him to his feet, he leaned a hand on the furnace. "Ouch!" He yanked it back, shaking it as if it was burned.
New Jersey instantly found his feet, grabbing his friend's hand, and dragging him out of the way, leaving Thunder to help TB up. "What did you do?" he demanded, inspecting the injury. Already burn blisters were forming.
"Don't touch that thing!" Perfect Tommy warned when Thunder nearly made the same mistake.
Tommy Boy looked up at it. "The beam... it must be traveling up the chimney now."
"What the hell happened?" Ranger asked.
TB shook her head, but made a guess. "Ever lit a pilot light that has had too much gas build up?"
Thunder nodded, agreeing with her. "Big flash, fry your eyebrows, burn off excess gas, then settles down into its usual, everyday flame."
"Yup." She looked up at Thunder. "How did you know it was going to happen?"
"Didn't." he admitted. "But he did." Thunder nodded back to where he had left Smartbomb.
John Smartbomb's eyes narrowed, but he was smiling. "I have scoured this damn little piece of dirt for that key. And her you waltz on end, my enemy, and do it for me."
Perfect Tommy shrugged, wincing as the move pulled his hand which was still being tended to by the doctor. "At least the earth has stopped shaking."
The Lectroid grinned. "Who needs to shake the world apart when all civilization as you know it is over?"
The Blue Blazes straightened up and looked at each other.
"Gee, isn't this fun." Perfect Tommy offered up.
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Hum of the Angels
Chapter 28
By The Chronicler
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"Shaking stopped." Knuckles mumbled, not sure weather to be relieved or concern.
"You noticed, eh?" Radar grumbled back. He stepped up to the edge of the pit and looked down. "I'd sure like to know what's going on down there."
"Um... Brit, what's that?"
Radar glanced back to see the bounty hunter staring up and across the sky. He followed her gaze to see what had caught her attention.
Through the tree branches he could make out a fuzzy green beam of light that rose straight up into the sky, cut through the whisps of clouds, shading them slightly with its green glow, and disappearing high in the stratosphere. Radar wasn't sure if it ended because it did or if that was simply as far up as he could see.
"What the bloody 'ell is that?" he grumbled.
"I asked first." Knuckles grabbed her rifle and rose to her feet. "It's coming from the mission. Let's go."
"What about Thunder and TommyBoy?"
Knuckles glanced down at the pit. "Well, crap."
Radar glanced down into the pit again. "Agreed."
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Perfect Tommy hissed.
"Well, sit still." Jersey reprimanded, doing his best to wrap his friend's burnt hand with out damaging it further. A task greatly complicated by Perfect Tommy's insistence on waving his arms around and complaining about the new set of circumstances.
"I'm fine." PT grumbled.
"Perfect Tommy, sit down, shut up, and let the doc do his job!" Thunder snapped, before turning his attention back to their prisoner. Questioning him was hard enough without the boys' feuding.
"What is this thing?" Tommy Boy was demanding.
John Smartbomb simply smiled at her.
TommyBoy was losing her temper. After all, she was the one that turned the damn thing on and nearly killed half of them. And now they couldn't touch the key much less yank in out. The static charge had already fried PT's hand. Kid could barely move his fingers (and, even that, was against doctor's orders). She was Team Leader and, thus far, she wasn't doing such a gr...
"He doesn't know."
TB's head snapped up to find the forgotten Psychic standing over her shoulder. The girl was staring at the alien, yet she didn't seem to be seeing him... or rather she was seeing through him.
"Can you feel him?" Thunder asked reaching out to touch her, but TommyBoy grabbed his hand before skin to skin contact could be made.
TommyBoy stepped aside, pulling Thunder with her.
Psychic took her place, dropping down on one knee in front of Smartbomb. She stared with an emotionless, unwavering gaze as she dragged her right glove from her hand. "Your thoughts... different, bizarre... perplexing... yet there." she whispered.
The Lectroid frowned. "What is this?" he demanded, turning his head to look up at TommyBoy.
Suddenly Psychic's bare hand snapped out, grabbing him by the jaw, and yanking his eyes back to her. She stiffened, her eyes narrowing, reaching out with her mind to delve into the very alien mind before her.
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Hum of the Angels
Chapter 29
By Tommy Boy
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Tommy Boy stood back watching Psychic with Smartbomb. Things were getting way out of hand. Looking at Thunder, she saw that he was feeling the same as she was. She opened up a can of worms by putting the artifact in there. Now things seemed to go from bad to worse.
She went to her laptop computer and found it not working, no power fed to it. Closing it she put it back in her backpack. She wanted to get out of there. Tommy Boy looked back at Psychic.
Sydney finsihed with Perfect Tommy and stood by her, putting a hand on her shoulder. She jumped away from him, being a bit edgy with everything going on.
"Easy there." Ner Jersey commented.
"Just stress." TB fluffed off. She started looking around the room again, wondering what they hieroglyphics were trying to say to them.
** **
Knuckles and Radar made a decision, they would go to the mission. Maybe their colleagues made it out that way. Making their way through the forest once more and to camp they found that air around them made the hair on their arms stand on end.
"I'll be a ...." Knuckles started to comment but stopped.
The beam ran up into the atmosphere, with intense readings.
There was no one to be seen around the mission or camp. Radar went to the jeep and found some of his hardware in tact and tried to run it, no power feed. He looked back at the mission.
"This is not good," he thumbed. He looked at his watch and showed no reading of time. He flipped on his go-phone and no response.
Knuckles watched Radar and commented, "We are in big trouble aren't we?"
Radar looked back at her, "It's a damper. A strong damper. It's knocking everything off line."
"How far do you think this is impacting?"
Radar shrugged, "Hemisphere? World? Don't know."
** ** **
Tommy Boy kept looking back at the oven. She kept asking herself why did she do such a stupid thing.
If she started it, surely there was a way to knock it out. Question was, how.
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Hum of the Angels
Chapter 30
BBI_fiero
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Sid Zweibel watched Radar and Thunder head back to the rear entrance. They returned to check on security while Tommyboy and Perfect-Tommy resumed their research on the ancient room.
Psychic slowly joined the lanky doctor. She broke the silence. "Well..at least some good news came out of this."
"What would that be? quizzed New Jersey.
"The vibrations are gone."
"How do you know?"
"I don't need a computer to tell me everything."
Sydney put a hand to his ear. "..now that you mention it?These things quit working."
"The electric arc from the furnace must have cut off the tuning mechanism above us." Psychic elbowed Sid on his right side.
The doctor pulled out his ear filters seeing they weren't needed anymore.
"Actually we are halfway to a solution seeing that the mind altering device is out of action.Thunder and Radar should quit watching for native Mauritians. I imagine they are more confused now than paranoid and angry."
Sid nodded in agreement. Psychic and Zweibel chuckled. Sids' mind strayed from the Ancient catacomb. He envisioned spending an afternoon with the new intern bicycling the country side. Basket of French bread and wine. He decided better walk off before risking his strong emotions to be felt by the girl.
"I`ll inform Thunder, Ranger to change plans?No sense wasting their efforts on security when they could help the team here. Right?"
He quickly departed south.
Psychic, smiling, called out, "I would like that very much Sid!" She wasn't sure the doctor heard her. Been awhile since she oiled the old Schwinn.
Tommyboy stared through the grill of the furnace at the golden object. Perfect-Tommy was standing on her left.
"I guess it is a conductor of some sort. Placing it in the furnace completed some electrical path."
PT nodded, " Maybe it taps into energy from the magma currents below the Earth..and diverts it into this room for some purpose."
"Whatever that is.." replied Tommyboy.
A familer voice broke the air.
"Maybe weather control?"
Tommyboy looked back. "Hey, Sid?...Weather conrol?"
Sid now joined the pair. "Hello guyz". He replied. "Well?It is an Island way out on the Ocean. Monsoons, hurricanes, Moon tides. Yes?"
Perfect-Tommy shrugged. He figured Sid's hypothesis were as good as any and he sure didn't have any to offer.The Doctor continued addressing the two.
"Psychic says the vibrations are kaput, ixnay, we can remove our earpieces."
"Great!", replied Perfect-Tommy. He quickly yanked them out and stuffed them in his jacket.
TB commenced removing her ear devices. As she tilted her head, she glanced at the control panel. Something about it made her think.
"What were you doing earlier PT?"
"Huh,"
"The panel?what were you doing when I was busy reading the laptop?"
"Oh?The panel?.Right?.I was was pushing combinations of tiles, pulling metal levers. But nothing was happening. Only until you ran with that thing and did that thing you do with the furnace."
TB could tell PT was tired from his mumbling. She walked up to the stone table. Placing a hand on the surface the Hard Rocking Hong Kong Cavalier sensed something different about it.
"Perhaps it wasn't working, because?It wasn't activated?"
TB looked sideways at Sid and Perfect-Tommy. The men glanced at each other. Both immediately ran up the steps to join TB.
"Lets try to turn this thing off and get out of here!" yelled Perfect-Tommy as they commenced experimenting.
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Thunder heard some scuttling. He instinctively swung his rifle around. "D@mn, thought Sid said we didn't have to worry about-- oh" His jawed lowered.
It was their friend Oddity. The dog was waving his tail.
"Where have you been during all this excitement?"
The dog stepped back, turned and barked.
"Huh, what's up with you?"
Ranger spoke up, "I think the dog wants us to follow."
"Right?I knew that!" replied Thunder.
20 yards behind a stalking Knuckles and a stumbling Blue-Blaze_Radar were trying to find their way through the dark cavern.
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