The Ancient One and his companions had been taking part in the horrible
battles to the east of his country, almost every night scouting the perimeters
and trying to keep the creatures of Darkness from using their food supplies.
All were amazed that the creatures of Darkness managed to keep fighting, that
they were fighting with a voracity never quite seen before. However,
they could not neglect their other duties. They had errands to perform
in their own country, as well, and each night had to return to deal with them,
as well.
They had been far to the west when The Ancient One noticed a pulsing light
on a rooftop. "Hmmm!" he muttered, "Haven't seen that signal for
awhile! Better go find out what they want."
"Who?" his companion asked.
The Ancient One went "Slurp, slurp!" and his companion grimaced. "Must
we?" he asked.
"It must be important," The Ancient One answered, "or they wouldn't have
put out a beacon. They wouldn't particularly like calling me, either.
We're not their favorite people!"
"Yeah!" his companion agreed. "Considering the tummy ache you
give them!"
The Ancient One grinned. They landed by the beacon.
"Well, fine how do you do!" his companion muttered, "Nobody here!"
The Ancient One noticed some scratches on the roof and went over. "They
left a message," he remarked. "Looks like somebody's been playing with
it, not knowing what it was."
The Ancient One stood, running his hand along the scratches for several
moments, then smiled. "Coordinances!" he grinned to his companion,
"Longitude and latitude, They're telling me where they moved their gathering
place. Come on! I think I can find it."
They flew off and a short while later landed by a barn on a dilapidated
looking farm. "Well, this is the place!" The Ancient ONe remarked.
"But no welcoming committee, not even any muscle around to keep the curious
away; very odd, very, very odd! This is beginning to concern me!"
The Ancient One checked the house. No one was home. He went
out into the barn and paced back and forth. Then he smiled. "Of
course!" he managed. "They built hundreds of these during World
War Two."
"Hundreds of what?" his companion asked.
"Secret storage facilities," The Ancient One answered, "made to look like
ordinary dwellings. Let's see!"
He walked over to a light hanging down from the ceiling. "Mmmm hmmmm!"
he muttered, "Now let's hope they weren't too fancy with the entrance code."
He clicked the light off and on in a rhythmic pattern. The first two
times he did this nothing happened, but the third time there was a click and
the pile of hay in the corner rose up, revealing a stairway. "Good old
Uncle Sam," The Ancient One remarked, "so predictable!"
He and his companion descended the stairs and The Ancient One pressed a
button causing the camouflage above them to again cover the entrance.
They began to pass by lavish rooms with tiers of bunk beds.
"Boy, somebody's keeping themselves comfortable!" his companion muttered.
"But where IS everybody?" The Ancient One snapped. "There should be
a great deal of activity in here. We should not have got this far without
being challenged. Their security is usually very good."
They came around a corner and found themselves in a great chamber.
It seemed to be covered with bodies. "Oh, damn!" The Ancient One's
companion moaned, "Are they dead?"
The Ancient One went over and examined one of the people laying on the floor.
"No," he finally answered, "but closer to it than they have been in a long
time! Most of them are in a catatonic state, hibernating to conserve
their strength. Here's the Queen, over here. Let's see if we can
wake her up and get some answers."
The Ancient One approached a beautiful woman laying on a cot with virtually
nothing on. "Have you ever wondered," he asked, "how they manage to
keep these outfits up?"
"Been too interested in what was in them," his companion answered, "to worry
about what kept them in place!"
The Ancient One grinned at him, then began to pat
the woman's face. "Come on, Queenie!" he encouraged, "Come
on, wake up! Got your message. What's going on?"
The woman's eyes opened. "Sick!" she moaned, "All sick!
Started a few weeks ago. Never sick! One by one we went down,
didn't know what to do so sealed ourselves in and then left a message for
you, hoping you'd remember the favors we'd done you, and help."
"A few weeks ago," The Ancient One remarked, looking at the calendar on
the wall, "about the same time I was deathly sick. I think those damn
bastards didn't listen! I think they used the damned virus and that
it has an effect even on your kind."
"Thought you destroyed it," the woman moaned.