“This is unbelievable.” Luca paced in Matt’s room, frustration in his voice.
“No more school.” Matt tried unsuccessfully to change his mood.
“No more engineering club, or video games,” Bennet said sourly.
“Or geology club,” Nolan huffed, flopping into a velvet chair near the cold fireplace.
“What are we supposed to do? Wait until the world ends or something?” Luca continued.
Matt threw up his hands. “Maybe that’s what it’s coming to.”
“What? The world ending? Seriously, Matt, you’ve been drinking too much of that conspiracy theory Kool-Aid. Your dad said the end of the U.S., not the world.” Bennet scowled at him.
“But doesn’t the U.S. influence the rest of the world?” Matt pressed.
“Sure, that’s true. But we can’t be so egocentric about everything. Just because our country goes to crap doesn’t mean the rest of the one-hundred-ninety-five countries do too,” Bennet countered.
“Unless the shadow government doesn’t stop here,” Matt said quietly, his friend’s eyes upon him. “Remember, you said not to be egocentric.”
They were silent at his words. Could something like a shadow government extend to the entire world? Could a group exist whose power reaches everywhere?
“I say we focus on smaller problems. Like putting seeds in the ground,” Nolan said finally.
Bennet shook his head. “You and your plants, Pops.”
They heard footsteps down the hall. Nolan stood. “He’s right, we need to get to our chore assignments. Orientation starts in five minutes.”
They filed out of Matt’s room, splitting up as they reached the end of the hall to get to their assigned locations. Nolan headed toward the Solarium, Luca toward the cleaning closet on the back of the kitchen.
Matt and Bennet made their way to the front door of the mansion, where Salim and Zaneta were waiting for them.
“You are late,” Salim said.
“We were just—“ Bennet began, but stopped immediately after a stern glare from his mother.
“Benny, this is not a joke. Your father and I did not raise you to be a fool. You see what is going on around you? I, as well as your father, advise you to take this seriously.”
“You can start by being on time,” Salim continued, “Ensuring security is a timely matter. A moment too soon or too late could mean the difference between life or death. Follow me.”
He turned and lifted the newly installed thick iron bar from the front door. While the old wooden door appeared to have been relatively secure despite its age, apparently after they arrived someone decided it needed even more security.
Salim led them out of the mansion and onto the steps. When all of them were out on the front steps, he turned briefly and held a hand at the open door. “Never leave the doors open or unlocked. Anytime someone passes through, they must make sure it closes behind them. This is the first level of security for the mansion.”
“If—God forbid, we would ever have an attack of some sort, at least they would make noise trying to get in,” Zaneta added.
Salim nodded and pointed above the door, where two well-hidden newly installed security cameras were mounted. “Two cameras above the door, linked with the security room we have set up.”
Salim led them down the front steps of the mansion, the warm sun meeting them halfway down where the shadow stopped behind them.
This was the first time Matt had seen the outside of the mansion in the light of day. Huge sweeping pine forests surrounded the narrow meadow where the mansion was nestled, prominent among its natural surrounding but brilliantly secluded on the mountain.
Matt scanned the horizon, his eyes searching the wide valley far beyond the trees. He saw no other homes, no roads. To the left of the mansion was the glimmer of a river, its rippling waters sparkling like diamonds in the sun. There were two other buildings near the river that Matt could see. Beyond the river, jagged mountain peaks spiked into the sky.
Salim stopped. “Whomever chose this spot to build, they chose well,” he said, his head panning from left to right. Then he gestured toward the thin, snaking driveway that disappeared down into the trees. “The road into the mansion is not easy to find. There is a gate just into the trees that prevents a vehicle from entering without knowing the lock combination. Thick forest on either side of the gate helps to prevent unwanted trespassers.”
Bennet was beginning to look a bit nervous. “Did you put cameras near the gate too?” he asked.
“Four of them. Two on the gate, and two hidden in the trees,” Salim answered his son.
“How many cameras total?” Matt asked. He was certain his guess would be way off.
“Twenty-four, of which you will see in a few moments,” Salim responded. “But I wanted to bring you out here to show you that.” He pointed off into the trees left of the river.
A small wisp of smoke rose lazily from the tops of the pines, where it quickly dissipated into the light breeze. “Mingan and his family live about a quarter mile that way.”
“The Native American guy.” Bennet stared at the wispy smoke rising.
Salim nodded. “A member of the Blackfoot Tribe, and from what I can tell, a good man with good intentions. However, he is still a liability from a security standpoint.”
“Why’s that?” Matt ventured.
Zaneta cleared her throat. “Good question,” she said. “Think about it. Why would you believe he and his family would be a liability?”
Matt didn’t have to think anymore, because the fact that Bennet’s mom reminded him that Mingan also had a family was enough to give him the answer.
“They know we are here,” Matt said quietly.
“Exactly. Bright boy.” Salim patted him on the shoulder. “Mingan is likely not going to tell anyone we are here, but the fact that he and his family know we are still makes him a concern for information leakage.”
“It is unlikely Mingan sees many people. We are in one of the most remote areas of the country, away from civilization. The closest gas station is more than twenty miles away. But what about his family? Do they know anyone? Could perhaps a small child let slip that we are here, and then word gets out?”
“Sounds like someone needs to have a pow-wow with ol’ Mingan to make sure he keeps a lid on it.” Bennet snickered.
Zaneta smacked him on the back of the head. “Bennet Joel Simmons! Did I raise you to speak like that? We respect people, whomever and wherever they are.”
Bennet winced, rubbing his head. “Sorry, Mom. That was insensitive.”
“You’re absolutely right. It was. You best keep a lid on it yourself,” she added with another smack.
Matt did his best to hide a smile. At first, he didn’t even get Bennet’s pun, but it was far funnier seeing his mom smack him, anyway.
“Can’t someone just come up the driveway? Wouldn’t they know we live here even if they can’t get into the gate?” Matt asked.
Salim dug into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. Pressing his thumb to the small biometric key fob, the locks disengaged on a black tinted window SUV. “Get in and I will show you.”
Once in the SUV, Salim called up Tam on the radio and told him his plan to take them out the gate and back in. Once he received confirmation, he eased the SUV around the turnaround and headed down the overgrown driveway.
Entering the tree line, Salim slowed the SUV, the canopy of trees making strange reflections on the windshield. The road roughened gradually, causing the SUV to bounce some as it maneuvered toward the unknown destination. Matt didn’t remember the road being so rough when they first arrived, but then again, he had been asleep.
After a few bumpy minutes, the gate loomed in front of them, the aged iron blending into the cover of the trees. Beyond the gate, the two-track road seemed to end suddenly. Salim stopped the SUV, pressing the display on the dash to turn the vehicle off. Opening the door, he stepped out, urging the rest of them to follow.
Matt, Bennet, and Zaneta followed Salim up to the gate. He pulled out a small medallion from his pocket, and holding it up to the center of both doors, he waited.
Matt was beginning to wonder if it was all a joke when suddenly the gate creaked loudly. Slowly, the great doors groaned as they opened, followed by the mechanical clicking of some nearby gears.
“Where did the road go?” Bennet was incredulous, taking a few steps toward the half-open gate.
Salim smiled. “Keep walking.”
Bennet took a few more steps toward the gate, then looked back toward his father.
“Don’t be afraid. Go.” Salim gestured.
Bennet reached the gate, then ventured a few steps beyond. About the fourth step, the trees seemed to swallow him up, and he was gone.
“Bennet!” Matt rushed forward, then stopped, turning back toward Salim and Zaneta. Both were smiling.
“It’s okay, Matthew. Go on. See for yourself.” Zaneta chuckled.
Matt took several quick steps forward, then stopped at the gate. The dense forest blocked the road directly past the gate. It would be tough for a person to get through, let alone a vehicle. For anything larger than a medium-sized dog, it would be almost impossible.
“Come on, Maps, are you waiting until you grow a spine?” came a taunt from Bennet just inside the trees.
Matt took another step, then another. The scaly bark of the towering pines was so close he could reach out and peel some off. Taking one more step toward the nearest tree, he closed his eyes and braced himself for impact. As he stepped forward, however, he felt nothing.
“Impossible.” Matt opened his eyes. The tree was gone, replaced by a blurred reflection of half a tree on either side of him. Looking around, he noticed other trees had similar blurred reflections.
Bennet appeared suddenly out of the blurred mess of trees surrounding him. “Optical illusion. It’s a trick with the light.” He grinned, proud of his conclusion.
“What light? There isn’t enough of it coming through the trees to create any sort of illusion like that. And wouldn’t there be mirrors, or some tech somewhere to pull this off?” Matt scowled, trying to make out the blurred tree canopy above. It was strange, like the trees were there, but being projected from somewhere else.
Bennet sneered. “Tech? Holo-platforms have come a long way, but nothing like this. This would take some serious engineering to pull this off. Pretty sure this place hasn’t been touched in decades.”
Another figure appeared suddenly from the obscured backdrop. It was Salim. “One of the many mysteries of this place, I’m sure,” he told them. “I cannot find the source. I only know it hides us from the outside world. Come, we must get back.”
Once back at the mansion, Salim and Zaneta led the two boys into a small room that appeared as though it had once been a broom closet. Lining the walls were four holographic monitors, each cycling through high resolution feeds from the various security cameras.
A makeshift desk and workspace had been set up below the monitors, where two laptops, networking modules, and radio base stations were situated. A few other components were scattered around as well, although Matt didn’t know what they were.
“This is the control room, where you will be monitoring the grounds. Thiago, Zaneta and I were able to get the system fully operational early this morning. All entry and exit are recorded through here.”
Matt stared at the silent video feeds. Except for the occasional bird flying past or tree branches swaying in the breeze, nothing moved in the images. It was strangely eerie to watch.
“At night, the cameras are set to report any suspicious movement. The alerts come through communicators. I have set you both up to receive the alerts,” Salim continued.
“We will receive them as well,” Zaneta added. “As well as several of the other adults. But that doesn’t let you off the hook. You are still responsible for answering an alert—“ Zaneta looked directly at her son Bennet, “Even if it’s the middle of the night.”
Bennet rolled his eyes as inconspicuously as he could. Matt was sure his mother caught it, but she said nothing.
“Any questions?” Salim asked them.
Matt forced his eyes away from the images on the feed again. “Do we need weapons of some sort for defense?”
Salim patted him on the shoulder. “Not right now,” he said with a smile. “Besides, this is already a secure place. We are anticipating that our stay here will be a quiet one.”
