The Kenji Files Dark Garden Part 6 - Parent Conspiracy

The Kenji Files:
Dark Garden Part 6
Parent Conspiracy

Rustling underbrush drew Emi's attention away from the rocky outcropping to glance at where Kenji was moving forward. His blurry vision made the approach less stealthy than she would have preferred, but it never stopped him from trying. The woodsy area had given away to a clearing where a convincing-looking company truck and a small crew of men seemed ready to start cutting down the forest.

Dressed for cold weather, they looked the part of loggers, but that didn't really make any sense. As far as she knew, that area was a protected forest, which meant the trees weren't meant to meet with a saw mill. None of them had yet made use of the equipment, so they were either trying to decide what to do next, or they weren't actually loggers.

Scouting ahead, Emi noted a few other problems with their cover story. There weren't any stubs left in their wake, for one, and the area smelled like flowers rather than sawdust. Also, somehow this rather large group of men had either been hiding, or was in another area during their last visit. Unless her memory had been altered, she didn't recall seeing anyone except Kenji that night, but that seemed impossible.

“Where'd they all come from all of a sudden?” Emi whispered to herself.

Kenji sidled up beside her and peered around the trunk. “Who are they?” he asked, squinting to attempt a better look, “locals?”

Emi shook her head and sighed, “No. They're guarding something. Probably whatever's down in that gully.”

She pointed toward a rocky outcropping where there was a pair of burly, bearded men leaning against the nearby trees. Kenji shook his head and asked, “We can't get across this way—should we circle around?”

Scanning the brush line, Emi started nodding, her eyes locking onto a downed tree that fell parallel to the gully. “Follow me,” she said, grabbing his shirt collar, “stay close.”

Taking the long way around, Emi soon led them to that fallen tree, and crept up over the massive trunk to check their destination. It was still obscured by brush and ferns, and another guard was stalking the opposite end of the wide path, but none of that held her attention for long. Out from behind the brush, it appeared as though a bright amber light was emanating from the bottom of the gully. Despite it being a clear, sunny day, the glow was bright enough to send rays through the leaves.

“The hell is that?” she asked aloud, keeping her eyes on the strange light.

“What?” Kenji prompted, leaning up to look over the trunk, “where are you-”

“There,” she replied, pointing at the light. “Any idea why loggers would have that bright a light on in the middle of the day?”

“That's no normal light,” Kenji presumed, earning a look of disbelief from Emi. “Hey, for once just listen—I've read some stories about something like this, but I thought it was too crazy to mention.”

“I already think you're crazy,” she said flatly, eying him narrowly, “What's the story?”

“If I'm right, it'll explain how we got to Maine, why we were bound, and-”

“Just tell me!” she barked, tired of his evasive stalling.

The story he had didn't settle her mind, but it did seem plausible. Kenji was always one to follow crazy conspiracy theories: illuminati, templars, masons, aliens—all the basics. In among them was a story that seemed so far-fetched that most conspiracy theorists thought the people who claimed its existence were crazy—and that's saying something. Details weren't well-known, and many seemed to conflict, but, according to Kenji, all those conspiracies were part of one big root conspiracy.

The Agartha Initiative.

The name sounded ridiculous, and it was well beyond the typical craziness, even for Kenji, but since she didn't have any way to dispute the idea, Emi didn't bother arguing. She managed to convince her crackpot partner to wait until nightfall, but there was no stopping him once he'd found a tangent for his ranting. Strangely, for once it didn't all sound like lunacy, which either meant it might be true, or Kenji's insanity was rubbing off on her—hopefully it was the former.

Darkness descended soon after a radio check-in with Nurse, who they kept out of the loop just in case it was all just a crazy theory. The addition of floodlights and patrolling guards—all dressed convincingly like lumberjacks—made the approach more difficult, but the amber light made finding their destination in the dark exceedingly simple. If either of the nearby sentries saw their approach, neither moved to intercept, so Emi led her half-blind associate straight into the gully.

The earthen walls steadily rose as they descended toward the amber glow, which seemed to emanate from a cave at the bottom of the glacial valley. Loose dirt gave way to boulders large enough to crush them to death, but there weren't any guards standing in their way—none they could see, anyway. With each tentative step, the amber glow increased in intensity, and the cool night air began to feel warmer, but Emi shrugged that off as geothermal emanations—she wasn't ready to let Kenji be right, at least not about everything.

“What was that?” Kenji blurted suddenly, his volume and tone making Emi slap his shoulder.

“What was what?” she demanded in a raspy whisper, sending her eyes out to search for threats.

Silence seemed like the only answer until Kenji's hand flung upward and he exclaimed, “That! Didn't you hear that?”

At a loss, Emi continued her visual scan and tried to focus on hearing, but couldn't hear anything strange. “I don't hear anything... are you sure?”

“There!” he rasped again, this time pointing toward the rock wall.

Turning to look, Emi frowned, still not finding whatever phantom Kenji was following. “There, what? I don't see-” her words cut off as the creature finally came into view.

“There, you see it?”

Hovering by a vine dangling from the cliff above floated a bee not unlike the one she had seen earlier. Against the darkness, though, it appeared to have an effulgent glow not unlike a firefly, except steadier. As far as she knew, there was no such species of bioluminescent bee, so either she was looking at a new species, or it was some kind of trick—she didn't even want to consider that Kenji might be right.

“What is it?” she asked, pulling Kenji close so he wouldn't be tempted to talk loudly.

“It's a bee,” he said flatly, “A glowing bee...”

“You're helpful...”

“There it goes,” he observed, his eyes managing to follow it despite their handicap. “We should follow it?”

With her eyes locked onto the departing bug, Emi nodded and beckoned Kenji to follow. Although it seemed unnecessary, she shadowed the creature from a distance, letting it guide them through the gully as it approached the amber-lighted cave—it felt almost like that's what it wanted. That thought made no sense, so she shoved it aside in favor of assuming the creature was just another lead in this strange case—this perfectly reasonable, totally insane case.

“It's a mining operation,” Emi whispered, noting a few shovels leaning against the rocky wall.

“Then why dress like woodsmen?” Kenji countered, “And what's with the bee?”

“Maybe they use them like canaries?” she suggested, but that sounded stupid the moment it left her lips.

Their speculation soon came to an end as the path opened up into a pit with a gradual downgrade leading directly into the amber glow. Kenji motioned as though he might dart ahead, but Emi held him back behind a boulder, using her acute vision to scope out any other guards. Reaching up, she lifted the M90-Z out from the holster across her back, pressed the concealed ignition button, and nodded for Kenji to do the same. He shrugged and drew the Beretta from his hip holster, then reached up to tap the side of his glasses.

“Online?” she inquired.

“Scanner ready,” he replied, heaving a sigh, “I'm hoping I don't need it.”

Tapping his shoulder, Emi signaled for silence then pointed toward the opposite end of the pit—she intended to cross while he gave cover. The tactical side of things were her department, and Kenji was fine with that, so she didn't need to make sure he understood before crouching down and strafing over behind another boulder. Once there, she glanced back and held up her hand, palm forward, then flexed her index finger—the signal to move forward.

"Here goes nothing," she breathed, trying to imagine a scenario where things wouldn't end horribly.

At least not for her...