Free Captured (The Prometheus Project Book 2) by Douglas E. Richards

Dan finally. “What gave me away?”
    “ I gave you away,” boasted Tezoc before the merc could reply. “I signaled your position to Major Manning here,” he said, gesturing to Dan’s attacker, “my second in command. He took care of the grunt work of shooting you.” He leaned forward. “You see, Captain Walpus, I could sense your brainwaves.”
    Dan raised his eyebrows. “My brainwaves?”
    “I’m sorry, Captain, did I forget to tell your Colonel Sharp that I can sense brainwaves? I’m a bit telepathic as a matter of fact. I would have sensed you earlier but I was preoccupied. That is how I know there are no other humans remaining in the city. If there were, I would sense their minds, no matter how far away.”
    “How is he missing us?” asked Regan telepathically.
    “When the Teacher changed the frequency of our minds so we could communicate with it better, it must have put us on the wrong frequency for this guy to pick up.”
    “So it wasn’t the Teacher we’ve been feeling against our minds,” broadcast Regan in disappointment. “It was Tezoc.”
    “I guess so. That must be why we only felt it when we entered the building.”
    While the siblings had been communicating, two of the mercs had bound and gagged Dan and had shoved him on the ground with the other prisoners.
    “Now where was I?” said Tezoc, turning back to Carl. “Too many interruptions.” He paused in thought. “Oh yes, I was saying I suspected you were trying to stall me for some reason. Do you remember?”
    Carl nodded. “Yes. And I still have no idea what you’re talking about.”
    “Oh, I think you do,” said Tezoc. “Let me help you out. You’re waiting for the cavalry to storm in here and rescue you.”
    Carl said nothing.
    “Go on, admit it. As I told you, I know all there is to know about your security. Unless your men upstairs get the proper signal from down here every few hours, they’ll check up on things. When they find they can’t reach anyone in security down here, they’ll investigate further. In no time at all they’ll learn what happened and sound the alarm. Within hours they’ll have the entire military might of your nation converging on Pennsylvania to storm this city, secret or no secret. Is that about right?”
    Rage flashed across Carl’s face, but only for an instant. While his eyes still burned like twin lasers, he forced the muscles in his face to relax. He would not let Tezoc know he was scoring points. Once again, Carl chose to remain silent.
    “Well I hate to disappoint you,” continued Tezoc smugly, “but they won’t be coming. I’ve been planning this for a long time. I’ll admit, I had to adjust my plans recently when I discovered that humans had found a way into the city here, but that just made things more interesting. You see, Colonel Sharp, once my men were all inside this city, I closed down your entrance. I fried the equipment you were using to keep the doorway open with a timed, electronic pulse.”
    Tezoc smiled, quite pleased with himself. “I think we both know what that means. No cavalry will be comingto the rescue, Colonel. All the tanks and jet fighters in the world, even if you could get them this far underground, won’t even scratch that force-field. No military heroics will get you out of this. Which means that I can use this city as a base of operations for as long as I like. And unlike you, I know how to make use of the technology here.”
    “Congratulations, Tezoc,” said Carl. “You’ve won yourself a base of operations. But consider this—you’ve just traded in your prison on Morca for a larger prison here. Even if you brought the technology to reopen the entrance, the military will be waiting for you in the cavern whenever you decide to leave.”
    “Good point,” said Tezoc smoothly. “That’s why I’m not exiting through your cavern.”
    “Where else?” said Carl.
    “Since, as you say, all of your forces will be concentrated at the cavern, I plan