There And Back Again. An Ark Hunter's Holiday

Belle said stoically to Taffer, "Wherever you want me to go, whatever you want me to do, whenever you want me to do it, I'll do it."

"As if I ever doubted", Taffer smiled and quickly gave orders to the team, watching the crowd closing in. "Atticus and Volo, get to the elevator from the front door. Don't forget to lock the door behind you. Everyone else to the trap door. Belle, you go first. You know the place and have enhanced senses so lead the way. Same for you Vo. Follow Belle closely and watch her back. Raizar and Erika, you're the main firepower, so watch for each other and kill everything that gets in the way. Raizar, you'll definitely get your bonus, just make sure there's someone to receive it. I'll be the rear guard."

As the team moved to the entrances, Taffer cloaked and the next moment he appeared in the center of the crowd with the flash grenade in his hand.
"Harlem shake time!" He shouted, dropping the grenade and rolling aside as all people in the radius started shaking in an electric shock. He tossed one more grenade and another to the other group he noticed, winning some precious seconds for the team to enter the Monument. Once he noticed the entrance door locked again he jumped into the hatch and closed the trapdoor, locking id behind him.

Belle's emotionless words were as an ice-cold shower to Vo. He looked at Belle with wide open eyes wondering what happened to her since the last moment he saw her all-smiles. He remembered she had exchanged strange glances with Volodja and had a little bickering with Raizar but did not give it a rush before thinking those minor tensions won't affect Belle too much. There could be something more to it but the problem was they didn't have much time to settle it at the moment. He reached a trap door in a long jump, helping Belle enter but surely knowing she doesn't need it being in a good shape. He just used that moment to look into her eyes and say quickly, "I don't know what it is, but remember I'm always on your side and I want you to be happy first and foremost. But now we must fight our way for all these people and for Lady and be very attentive because we still don't know what's ahead. Once it's over, we can talk about anything. But whatever happens, remember I love you."

When Belle entered the trapdoor, he quickly followed, straining his enhanced senses to detect any danger that they may face below.

Everything went smoothly in beginning. Elevator worked and they begun to descend until something went very wrong and their carrier suddenly started to stutter. After short shaking session it fell down at relatively high speed. Volodja had that strange feeling under his heart, which appears usually during free fall. He didn't liked this part of their ride at all, because if they hit the bottom at high speed, their ride will be over and so will be their mission. Maybe strongly built Giant survives, but Volodja's odds of staying alive were really low. 

Their rush downwards was interrupted with sudden crash and splash, when elevator performed a water landing, knocking Atticus and Volodja off their feet. Doors were forced to open and mighty tide of salty water carried them out from elevator and left them floating in a huge dark room, full of water. At least water was warm. They started to swim, hoping that they will find dry land soon enough. An island would be nice. A raft would be dream come true. Something solid to help them hold on would be great. A way out from this huge underground swimming pool was more than welcomed. But there wasn't any "EXIT" signs blinking or coast guard approaching, so Atticus and Volodja needed a lot of luck to get out. And lot of swimming too. 

"Giant," whispered Volodja moving his limbs slowly in warm and stinky water "I have a feeling that we are not alone." His suspicions were confirmed when he felt something touching his leg and swimming away again. "Lets get closer to the wall. If we meet some aggressive representatives of local fauna, then I would really like to have a sure grip on something solid and use my other hand to hold a gun."

They had more luck than they could hope, because both of them reached to the wall in one piece. Volodja studied wall with his hands and through his night vision goggles. Well, well. There were some cables and pipes, they can use for climbing up and moving forward along the wall, unless Giant decides to take long healthy swim among some local life forms. Speaking of the Devil...Several triangle shaped fins appeared on surface of water and started to approach them with high speed.

"Call me Ishmael, if they are not a damn shark-gators," thought Volodja and yelled: "Get out from water, Giant!" and following his own suggestion swung his body up and down on water, made quick jump upward, grabbed a pipe with both hands, pulled himself up, supported his legs against the wall and grabbed his shottie into one hand. First shark-gator to jump out from water, got Volodja's gun barrel into it's mouth. Shark-gator's jaws closed around it, but Volodja pulled the trigger and sent some hot metal into beast's brain, killing it instantly. 

"I don't like it either", whispered Taffer. He was following the team members relying mostly on sound of their footsteps, his EGO scanning the area behind him. "I'm checking Volodya's and Atticus's conditions, they are okay. Our next stop is Belle's office. Let's see if we can find out what happened here. Raizar and Erika, once we confirm the room is clear, stay on guard outside its door. I don't want us to be ambushed from behind or locked inside the room".

"Dash", he said mentally to his EGO, "When we get into the office, scan the network to see if we can access the transmitters of this mind-control thing. Once you get the signal, try to decode it or at least calculate the frequencies to jam it. The sooner we block the mind control, the better".

Erika Widowmaker was the last to climb into Belle's office from the elevator shaft, carefully using the hand and foot holds indicated by Belle. She thought Belle was often more dramatic than a situation demanded, but admired her sense of style and grace. Erika often thought Belle was more a force of nature than a warrior like Erika was, and in another, more civilized time, she would be protected as an artistic asset of the civilization that produced her. But these were not civilized times, so Belle was protecting innocents herself instead of entertaining them, more's the pity thought Erika. Erika dismissed such thoughts and like a good warrior, she focused her mind on the mission at hand instead of pondering what ifs, waiting for Taffer's next order.

Pulling Giant was not an easy task. Big guy was REALLY heavy, but Volodja had enough strength in his not so well trained body and no way, he will let him fall. Especially after such a battle they had together few moments ago. Never leave team mates behind and Atticus was not an ordinary team mate any more. Volodja cared about the guy and although he was younger than Giant, he saw him as his younger brother, who still has much to learn.

Volodja's mind was older than he ever wished to be. Kids grow up fast when times are tough. And that happened with Volodja too. His childhood and youth passed in chaotic Europe, where different views and visions clashed in most weird and violent way and he was really premature kid anyway. Too many books, too much knowledge, too much....everything. It adds a lot to ones age, but even Volodja had lot to learn about life and world yet. Getting knowledge is like running towards a horizon - you never reach your destination. You move forward, but once you are there, you will discover that horizon is further away. But you will try to reach there over and over again, because you have found yourself a purpose, no matter crazy it seems, and you will gain lot of useful during your endless chase. But you can stumble and fall and hurt yourself pretty bad during that chase. That also happened to Volodja and too many times already. But unlike Giant, who didn't had much choices, Volodja was able to choose his own path, no matter how hard and painful it was.

He remembered Giant's words, said down in shark pool, when they both were busy shooting, cutting and electrocuting shark-gators. Something was wrong with Belle. Volodja KNEW what was wrong and he could not stop her. And he could not be with his friend and.......Better not say it out loud! It will ruin everything. And since she entrusted her secret to him, he could not tell about either. It made Volodja really feel sad.

But he covered his sadness with a smile and said to Atticus: "We make pretty good battle duo, Giant. I never thought that I will say it to you." Their moment of male bonding was interrupted by screeching sound of tired metal and stairs fell slightly downward.

"Stairs won't hold on much longer. We are too heavy for this cheap piece of shtako," said Volodja and moved very carefully upward. He made to the solid ground, Atticus closely behind him, when stairs finally gave up the fight, broke lose and fell down. Volodja grabbed Atticus's giant hand and fell backwards, pulling heavy body of the Giant with him to avoid big guy falling down with stairs. Using his body as counterweight to stop fall of the mighty Giant made Volodja to land on his back, but Giant remained to his feet. He just staggered a bit, but maintained his balance.

"Sorry about that, Giant," said Volodja calmly, still on his back "I have lost a lot of things and people during hard times and I am sure that I will lose someone very special to me soon, so I can't afford losing you too. Just don't ask anything, please. I already failed as a knight-errand and I don't want to fail as a preacher too."

Raizar, two of us can't possibly guard the secret door as it is too small, and I do believe he means the door out of the office and into the reception area, so I'll recon it and guard it," Said Erika, as she barely opened the door into the open area, peeking through the crack.

The reception area was as abandoned and dusty as Belle's office, although it was obvious that the dust had been disturbed from the elevator door out of the reception area and away from Belle's office, so Erika asked Belle, "What is beyond your office and the reception desk, Belle?"

"More offices," Answered Belle, then added, "Oh... and the staircase down to the second floor, and then further down to the third floor as well!"