Caesare calmly raised his gun and motioned over his shoulder. “You’re going to have to go through me to get to that Jeep.”
Blanco snarled and pressed his gun harder into DeeAnn’s face. “I’ll take her with me.”
Caesare smiled again, condescendingly. “You’re not taking her anywhere.”
“No?” He got to his feet, pulling her up along with him. “Drop your gun, or I’ll kill her now.”
“What is this, a movie?” Caesare mocked. “I’m sensing you don’t think very far ahead. If you kill her, I’ll kill you. And believe me, you won’t like the way I do it.”
Blanco was growing nervous. He pulled the barrel away from DeeAnn and pointed it at Caesare. “Then you die.”
“I’ll take you with me.” Caesare’s eyes grew cold and hard. “That I promise you.”
Blanco didn’t answer. Instead, he glanced around feverously.
“If you kill her, you die. If you kill me, you die. So, the only way you make it out of here alive is to let her go.”
”I…” Blanco heard a noise and cut himself off. Something was coming toward them. “What is that?”
Caesare listened then smiled. He recognized the faint pitch easily. “That’s the sound of prison.”
Less than a hundred feet away, Dulce remained hidden behind a boulder. She peered carefully around the side of the rock, keeping her eyes on the embankment above. Were the bad men coming? She didn’t know what to do.
She watched the wisps of smoke glide through the air, as she listened and waited. The crying had stopped, but the bad men had her mommy. Then something else. Another voice. A deeper voice. Dulce’s eyes opened excitedly. It was a voice she recognized.
When she heard it again, Dulce jumped out from behind the rock and scurried back up the grassy embankment. When she reached the top, she continued straight through the smoke at Caesare. He here! He here!
Caesare was staring intently at Blanco, waiting for an opportunity, when he noticed something come bounding up the hill. He kept his gun pointed at Blanco and glanced to the side. It was Dulce! His heart softened momentarily until he realized that she was headed for him at full speed. He put out his palm, “DULCE, NO!”
She didn’t stop. Scared out of her wits, she ran for one of the few people she knew could keep her safe.
“NO!” was all Caesare got out before Dulce closed the distance and leapt for him, diving into his arms and knocking him backward.
Caesare had been waiting for an opportunity, but so had Blanco. As soon as the gorilla hit Caesare, Blanco fired.
63
Caesare stumbled back again as the bullet tore through his right side and exited his lower back. Blanco aimed again but didn’t fire. Rather, he froze as the faint sound he had heard moments ago quickly became a roar, and a helicopter suddenly thundered over their heads.
Caesare collapsed onto one knee but still managed to get a shot off, striking Blanco in his exposed shoulder.
Blanco yelled and threw DeeAnn to the ground. He sprinted away at an angle and fired twice more for cover. Neither bullet found their mark, but it was all he needed to make it to the protection of another patch of smoke floating idly past. In an instant, Blanco was gone.
The moment he was hit, Caesare felt Dulce go limp in his arms. She tried to scream but couldn’t. The bullet had gone through her small body before hitting him. He kept her in his arms and rolled her gently onto her back. Her eyes softly staring at him, Dulce tried to talk but nothing came out. The bullet had gone right through her lungs. Her hands tried to grip Caesare but couldn’t. Instead, she fell backward in his arms and cried her final tears.
John Clay made a tight circle and landed the small helicopter as quickly as he could. With a hard thump onto the ground, he powered it down and kicked his door open before jumping out. From the second seat, Alison opened her own door and climbed down followed by Will Borger. Even with the air obscured, they knew exactly where the others were… by following the sound of DeeAnn’s screaming.
When they came into view, Caesare was sitting on the ground, propped up against a large rock, trying to press his hands against both sides of his wound. DeeAnn stood next to him, frantically hugging Dulce and sobbing. Unaware of the others running toward them across the charred field, DeeAnn knelt down and laid Dulce on the dirt. She quickly lifted her tiny chin and blew into her mouth. She then locked her fingers together and began pumping Dulce’s chest.
Caesare’s red eyes looked up at Clay as he approached, then fell back down to Dulce. “Help her, John!” he said, with gritted teeth.
Clay started to kneel but suddenly stopped. “Where’s my bag?!”
Caesare blinked, thinking. “Back there, about thirty yards.”
Bolting past Caesare, Clay ran up the short incline. He spotted the bag on the ground, close to where a vehicle had been parked, judging by the tread marks. He sprinted over and ripped the bag open. When he found the small pocket inside, he pulled out what he was looking for and came back running.
When he returned, Alison was on the ground, next to DeeAnn, blowing air through Dulce’s wide lips while DeeAnn kept pumping. It wasn’t working.
Clay stopped before them and locked eyes with Caesare, who was staring curiously back at him. He opened his hand and studied the square, silver cube in his palm. A year ago, the device had changed history in the blink of an eye.
Clay knelt to the ground at Caesare’s feet, watching his labored breathing. He looked at him one more time before turning to Dulce. Then Clay pressed the cube against her soft, furry chest.
Nothing happened.
He pressed it firmly against Dulce’s body. “Come on. Come on!”
DeeAnn and Alison paused and looked at the object. Beneath Clay’s hand, Dulce’s body merely sagged under the pressure. She was as still as a rag doll. After several attempts, Clay removed his hand and stood up, taking a step backwards.
Both women were looking at Clay, wondering what he was doing. Then it happened. A bright blue flash emanated from the silver cube and rippled outward over Dulce’s small figure.
The elements inside the cube activated. With a bright flash, the cube’s mysterious element created a powerful magnetic circle, which instantaneously began to fuse the deuterium core. The inside of the circle glowed bright blue at first. Then suddenly it turned black as all light was sucked out, and the portal reached out to connect through time and space.
Alison and DeeAnn, along with Borger standing behind them, all gaped in stunned silence as the gateway opened. Clay and Caesare had seen it before.
It took only seconds before a human figure appeared within the glowing portal, which had now stretched itself into the shape of an oval. The figure was shorter than average and peered out at the black ground in front of him with a puzzled expression.
He had a smooth bald head and deep blue eyes. He stepped out of the portal, looking surprisingly calm as his gaze found the women. He then followed their arms down to Dulce.
Palin looked up from the gorilla’s small body and over to Clay, just as two more men came out of the portal behind him. “You’re learning.”
64
While the two other men examined Dulce, Palin turned to Caesare on the ground and examined him curiously. “You appear to get shot frequently.”
Caesare tried to laugh but couldn’t. Instead, he coughed up a small drop of bloody spittle.
A minute later, after quickly bandaging Dulce, one of Palin’s men rose with the small gorilla in his arms and headed for the portal. The second man moved to Caesare and began examining his wound.