I woke up with a start. Quite disconcerting was the fact that I couldn’t rub my eyes with my tightly tied hands. Oh bother! Now my eyes would leak and be annoying, might as well not even open them. I silently fumed and fussed as I debated whether to open my eyes or not. OK, I give up, I’ll open them. But wait, now all I can see is black nothingness. Am I dead? Is this what it feels like to be dead — tied up hands and weepy eyes that see nothing? No, it couldn’t be. There’s got to be more to the afterlife than this. I must be still alive with my hands tied and something over my head. That must be it.

“Hey, Tony, how’s it going over there with the proceedings?” A husky male voice boomed through my black universe and caused my head to spike with a small headache. “You know we only have so much time before they find out where she is.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m on it, Boss.” another male voice, not as booming this time, traveled through the black breathable cloth on my already aching head. Groaning, I unwillingly got the attention of the two men who immediately stopped their incessant chatter. Silence, blessed silence. I felt a tiny relief in my pounding head, not much, but enough to figure out more where I was and what was happening around me.

“Ah, you’re awake,” the man with the loudest most annoying voice penetrated my peace once again. “How is our little treasure doing?”

Treasure? Why would he call me a treasure?

I decided to stay quiet, just like when I’m spying on someone, that way, I can try to figure out what’s going on without having my voice interfere with my surroundings.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

In the meantime, deep underground beneath Rattlesnake Island, Liam continued to stare at the blank screen. His thoughts were nowhere blank, rather they were swirling like a rapid cyclone, ever increasing, never stopping. His anguish was almost palpable as he stared and thought. Where was his assignment? Where was Olana? Why had she disappeared and how in the world could that even happen?

The technology of the Intrusive Thought Device (ITD) was supposed to be infallible and yet here he was, staring at a blank screen without a clue as to what to do next. The ITD was advanced tech, so advanced, in fact, that it remained secret even while in widespread use. The small as a pinhead device had a purpose. And the purpose was so sinister yet so brilliant that anyone who worked for the Intrusive Thought Corporation (ITC) was flummoxed and so astounded at the idea that not a word was breathed about it anywhere outside of ITC.

Liam scratched his head, looked away for a moment and the cyclone changed direction.

Aha! He’d go to his supervisor and let him know what was happening, maybe Heresh would have an idea what to do next. After all, Big H, as he was called, was a genius. There was usually nothing he couldn’t figure out. As Liam rose from his chair, stretching first his neck, then the small of his back, cracking and popping, pushing the chair back, he strode purposefully out of his spacious office area, and down the hallway to the kingdom of Big H.

“Hey, there Liam! What’s up?” Big H’s booming voice matched his huge frame and the sound echoed off the walls of the huge lavishly decorated office space. Wireless monitors lined every wall, floor to ceiling, trembling at the sound of the friendly and boisterous sound waves coming at them.

“Hi Boss, I’ve got a problem.” Liam walked to the plush chair in front of Big H’s perfectly organized desk and plopped down unceremoniously.

Big H looked up from the laptop that he was working on, shutting the lid and looking across at Liam to give him his full attention.

“I don’t quite know how to say this, Boss, so I’ll just come out and say it.” Liam hesitated for a short moment before going on, “I can’t find Olana.”

“WHAT!” Big H jumped up out of his chair, coming around the solid mahogany slab to sit by Liam in the second plush guest chair.

Liam went on to explain what had happened, the blank screen, the thorough testing of all the equipment, and his swirling thoughts. After just a mere few minutes, Big H put up his huge hand to stop him.

“Wait, Liam, buddy.” Big H was definitely upset at this point and wanted some time to give this new development some serious thought. “Let me just think for a minute. As you know, I think best out loud and talking to myself, so just let me ramble for a sec, OK?” Liam nodded and settled back to listen to Big H.

And so Big H muttered out loud and under his breath for the space of a few minutes. He talked about the ITD, the device that was supposed to be foolproof and how someone had possibly found out about it and developed something to counteract the technology. In his ramblings he also went through the list of employees at ITC and wondered if there was a betrayal. Hmm, not possible, he knew these men and each one was like a brother to him.

He then decided to send a team to find Olana. He came to that conclusion only after a lot of deliberation and as the very last straw. Sending his men out into the world to find someone that didn’t know about them was not only risky but extremely dangerous. If Olana found out what they had done to her and the plans they had for her, their mission and goals would possibly have to be altered. And this wouldn’t be a good thing.

Big H hand-picked two of his best men, one being Liam. The other man was the most brilliant man he knew and worked on the technological aspects of the Intrusive Thoughts Device. In fact, he had drawn up the plans for it in the first place and partnered with one other guy to create this piece of tech that would change the world.

So it was that Liam reversed direction that day. Instead of spending a few days at work this week, he would be back out in the world, looking for Olana. He never thought in a million years that he’d have to go and meet her in person. He’d seen her thoughts, known her desires, but to actually meet her was terrifying.

The elevator took Liam and his partner, up as quickly as it had come down and before they knew it, they were in his luxury car, speeding across the Rattlesnake Island bridge towards Olana’s home and Eagles’ Caves.

TO BE CONTINUED…