Behind them, the light circles continued to hurtle down the tunnel, strobing faster in a sickening illusion of acceleration. Pulaski was not just being a drama queen; he was obviously sick and disoriented. Shawn gripped his shoulders, tried to steady the man. He called to Adonia. “These lights are giving him severe vertigo, and his twisted ankle isn’t helping.”
She waited for them to catch up, while the incoming light circles flared past, brighter and faster, as if angry that the two had slowed. Shawn supported the Senator, who convulsed with dry heaves, and then, as another disorienting flare of light streaked past, he vomited onto the granite wall.
Cowed into silence, Garibaldi, Doyle, and van Dyckman waited among the construction materials, plastic panels, rolls of fiberglass insulation, and wooden boards. Just ahead, the tunnel angled steeply down, toward the lower level.
“Sit tight,” Adonia called as she turned back to help Shawn and Pulaski. “We’ll be safe once we make it to the guard station.”
As she turned around and headed the other direction, Garibaldi motioned urgently down the incline. “Better not reverse course, Ms. Rojas. Sensors are tracking us, and they might react. We don’t want the optical and IR deterrents to conclude we’re trying to retreat.”
Finished retching, the Senator panted for breath. Shawn supported him as he stood shaking. “He needs a few minutes.”
“I don’t think we have a few minutes,” Garibaldi warned. Beside him, van Dyckman looked pale and nervous. He didn’t contradict the older scientist.
As before, the light rings began changing color from white, cycling down through deep violet, to light blue, through green and yellow. The rings seemed to be growing angrier as the colors shifted to deep red, then beyond visibility. “We’ve got to move!” Adonia shouted.
Pulaski favored his ankle and took stutter steps as he stumbled down the tunnel as if zapped by lightning. Shawn hissed in unexpected pain as the pulses descended into infrared. The temperature spiraled and he manhandled the Senator, hurrying him along back toward the rest of the group.
Adonia met up with them as a sudden flare of overwhelming heat washed over the front of her body. Her back still felt cool, but her face, neck, and exposed arms felt as if they were in a hot oven. This was far more intense than the flash of infrared heat she’d felt earlier. Barely able to think, she only wanted to turn and run in the direction the countermeasures wanted them to go. She couldn’t control herself.
Shawn hauled Pulaski along, both of them running, paying no heed to the Senator’s injured ankle. Unable to stand the intense heat, Adonia reached the others, who remained huddled among the construction materials. She yelled at the unresponsive walls, as if the systems could hear her, “All right! We’re moving the direction you want us to go!”
But the searing heat did not abate even as they retreated. The punitive waves slapped at them, driving them away relentlessly. “But we’re going downhill! What more are we supposed to do?” They could not outrun the penetrating, fiery sensation.
“This isn’t heat!” Shawn yelled. “It’s millimeter waves. Got to cover ourselves or we’ll be cooked!”
“Cover ourselves with what?” Barely able to think, Adonia looked around.
“The insulation!” Garibaldi grabbed at the scattered debris. “The fiberglass insulation! It has foil backing, and that’ll deflect the millimeter waves. Wrap yourself in it. Hurry!”
The others also experienced the overwhelming pulses. Following Garibaldi’s shout, they grabbed the dusty blankets of pink insulation, yanking and unrolling them so they could wrap the fiberglass close to their bodies, with the foil backing facing outward.
Adonia didn’t have time to think through the physics. The pain was too intense, like hot coals on her back. She scrabbled for an armful of the pink wooly mats that had been extracted from the old tunnels. The fiberglass prickled like sharp hairs all around her, against her stinging skin, but she needed to protect herself now from the intensifying millimeter bombardment.
Shawn let the Senator slide off his hip against the granite wall, and he and Adonia piled the fiberglass mats on him before snatching more of the material for themselves. They moved frantically, wincing from the pain. Somehow, she and Shawn managed to help cover each other. “Hunker down… until the pulses stop!” he said.
She hoped the countermeasures would stop, but she feared the intensity would increase until it reached lethal levels. “This place is trying to kill us!” Victoria Doyle shouted from beneath her makeshift protection.
Adonia lay buried under the thick mats, feeling blessed relief as the sensation dissipated. She could hear Pulaski moaning on the concrete floor, and Shawn yelled at the Senator, “Stay covered up, sir. It’s for your own protection.”
Nearby, van Dyckman groaned, not knowing what to do, but they had all followed Garibaldi’s urgent instructions. “If we’re wrapped in this tinfoil, won’t we be cooked alive?”
Garibaldi responded, “Not heat! It’s millimeter waves.”
“It’s called active denial,” Shawn said, his voice muffled. “Our embassies use it as a nonlethal defense against rioters.”
In her makeshift cocoon, Adonia felt protected from the searing heat, though she imagined she must look like a fast-food burrito wrapped in foil. The pink fibers reminded her incongruously of cotton candy.
Pulaski’s faint voice came from nearby. “I… I’m not burning up anymore!”
“I’ll explain the technical details later, Senator.” Garibaldi somehow managed to sound superior even through the layers of insulation.
Shawn’s voice cut through the background. “Everyone, remain as motionless as you can. The millimeter waves should stop as soon as the sensors can’t pick up any movement. They’ll think they’ve defeated the intruders.”
Before long, a tense silence filled the tunnel, and Adonia began to hope the countermeasures had really stopped. She heard the sound of foil rustling next to her as Shawn moved, calling out, “Everyone keep still. I’ll make sure it’s safe.” After a moment of silence, he spoke with greater urgency. “Okay, let’s get moving. This is our chance. The sensors will detect us, and I expect they’ll cycle through the defenses again, starting out with visible light rather than a blast of millimeter waves, but if we hurry we may have enough time to get to the guard portal.”
Adonia clawed her way out of the fiberglass wrapping. She felt sticky and itchy. “No time to lose. Cover as much ground as we can.” She shouted at the walls. “We’re going! All right, we’re going.”
The others peeled themselves out of the fiberglass, plucking at their clothes. Garibaldi’s hair was even wilder than before; Undersecretary Doyle tore herself free. Shawn helped Pulaski up while Adonia freed van Dyckman, who shucked his ruined jacket and dumped it on the floor, leaving it with the pile of insulation. “Come on, let’s go! Down the incline before the countermeasures cycle up again.”
Garibaldi showed an unexpected respect for Adonia. “I’ll help where I can, Ms. Rojas. I may not have much in common with all of you politically, but there’s plenty of blame to spread around. For now, we all need to work together to get out of here.”
Together, the group hurried along. Adonia hoped the sensors would determine they were good little intruders, following directions. The next time the millimeter waves hit, they might not have piles of construction material nearby to protect them.
Nonplussed but determined, Doyle pushed ahead, while van Dyckman was pale and shaken. “I still can’t understand why the systems are reacting this way. We should have been able to exit up above! Rob Harris should have been able to let us out of here.”