Free Ghosts of Ophidian by Scott McElhaney Page B

floor.
    “Uhh… I think I found something,” Conner said, taking hold of the thick cable near the spot where it was badly frayed, “Someone sawed through this cable and it looks like it wasn’t easy work. They struggled with it and realigned the saw more than twice.”
    “Really?” Roberts asked, peering over the edge of the machine, “Could it have been a repair job?”
    “It looks like it was done in an expedited manner,” Conner replied, “Like maybe the person was in a hurry.”
    “Yeah, but what I’m saying is, do you think there might have been an electrical fire or something that caused them to have to do an emergency bypass?” he asked.
    “Well, that could always be the case, but this still appears to be too hasty of a cut and the burn marks on the insulation suggests the cable was still live while it was being cut,” he replied.
    “So you’re suggesting sabotage,” Lentz said through Conner’s earpiece.
    “It looks like that to me,” Conner replied, “I could be wrong, but I don’t think so.”
    “Where does the cable lead?” Lentz asked.
    Conner looked up at the ceiling again, then down at the floor. He turned toward the door and thought for a moment.
    “It comes from the roof with all the other cables, but it doesn’t lead to any of the equipment in this room. It sinks straight into the floor,” he replied, heading to the door, “I’m going to check one of the other computer rooms. Will you be alright for a minute, Roberts?”
    “I’m just fine,” he replied, “I’ve got a connection but I can’t filter this junk for the life of me.”
    Conner slipped out of the room and headed for the computer room of the next building . He was able gain entry into the room with as much ease as he did the previous one. He made his way to the corner of the room and immediately discovered the same cable cut in almost the exact same spot.
    “This one is cut too,” he said, shaking his head, “What purpose would this serve?”
    “It depends on who it was that cut the cable,” Roberts said in his earpiece, “Come back here for a moment, Steele. You might want to see what I’m getting here in this feed.”
    “I’m on my way,” he muttered, leaving the room.
    He turned to look toward the next computer room, then just when he was about to turn away, he noticed something odd. Behind the computer room of the next building were three open alien cells. The glass doors to the cells were actually open outward on their hinges.
    Conner drew the P90 out of his leg holster and chambered a round. He started toward the three cells, studying his surroundings to make sure no one was around.
    “I’ve got some open cells down here. There are three of them and we’re not talking just empty cells here. The doors have been left wide open,” Conner said, “You may want to have a weapon ready.”
    “This is just great,” Lentz said sarcastically, “I thought we were safe.”
    “So did I,” Conner said, approaching the open doors.
    He peered into the first “coffin” and noted that it was indeed empty and the two cables that attached to the alien’s skull were lying limp at the sides. He lifted one of the cables an d saw a half-inch metal plug that jutted out of the end which must have literally inserted into the creature’s brain. He shivered at such a thought.
    “What’s going on down there?” McKenzie asked, “I don’t like this one bit.”
    “These cables actually plug into their heads ,” Conner said, dropping the cable, “That’s disgusting.”
    “Any evidence on how long ago they woke up?” McKenzie asked, “Are we talking minutes? Hours? Days?”
    Conner noticed something unusual in that moment about the cable he had been holding. Hidden behind a small piece of fabric that matched the black tone of the coffin walls was what appeared to be one of those digital stopwatches that his track coach in high school used to carry. This object was yellow and it was wired to the cable in a