Trapped (The Prometheus Project Book 1)

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  eBook edition Copyright © 2010 by Douglas E. Richards

  ParagonPressSF@gmail.com

  E-mail the author at doug@san.rr.com, Friend him on Facebook at Douglas E. Richards Author, or visit his website at www.douglaserichards.com

  ISBN: 978-0-9826184-4-8

  All rights reserved. With the exception of excerpts for review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Douglas E. Richards is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of WIRED, its sequel, AMPED, and the new standalone sci-fi/technothriller, THE CURE. He has also written six middle grade/young adult novels widely acclaimed for their appeal to boys, girls, and adults alike. In 2010, in recognition of his work, he was selected to be a “special guest” at San Diego Comic-Con International, along with such icons as Stan Lee, Ray Bradbury, and Rick Riordan. Douglas currently lives in San Diego, California, with his wife, two children, and two dogs.

  ALSO BY DOUGLAS E RICHARDS

  WIRED (Adult science fiction/technothriller)

  AMPED (The WIRED Sequel)

  THE CURE (Standalone sci-fi/technothriller, available in September — the hardcover is available for preordering now on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com)

  Middle Grade/YA

  The Prometheus Project: Trapped (Book 1)

  The Prometheus Project: Captured (Book 2)

  The Prometheus Project: Stranded (Book 3)

  The Devil’s Sword

  Ethan Pritcher, Body Switcher

  Out of This World

  The Prometheus Project

  Book 1

  Trapped

  Douglas E. Richards

  Paragon Press

  Chapter 1

  Top-Secret

  Ryan Resnick sat on the floor of the attic and examined the contents of yet another cardboard storage box in the dim attic light—a magnifying glass, a pair of high-powered binoculars, an old phone, and various picnic supplies. He shook his head and frowned.

  Beside him his sister, Regan, two years younger, was also searching through boxes without success. She had shoulder-length strawberry blond hair, a freckled face, and green eyes that almost always sparkled happily—or at least they had until six weeks before. “Are you sure it’s up here?” she asked her brother for the second time.

  “Yes. Mom had the movers put the boxes with sporting equipment up here until she and Dad could sort it out. Keep looking.”

  Frisbee Golf was a good idea, he thought, but it was a lot harder to play without the Frisbee. He had used it last in San Diego. Back when he had a life. Back when he relished every new day instead of dreading it. Back six weeks before—an eternity ago.

  It was still hard to believe that their lives had been ruined so quickly. And without any warning. Just six weeks earlier school was out, the summer was just beginning, and everything was great. Great, that is, until the day they were told they would be moving three thousand miles away from California to a nowhere place in the middle of the woods called Brewster, Pennsylvania. More like Snooze-ter, Pennsylvania.

  Their parents, both scientists, had decided to leave the university to work at a company named Proact. One minute the Resnick kids were excitedly awaiting a summer filled with friends and fun and the next they were in the middle of a little town with no friends—or even other kids for that matter—and nothing to do all day except climb trees and watch grass grow. And perhaps play Frisbee Golf—if they could ever find the blasted Frisbee.

  How could their parents do this to them! Was it possible to die of boredom? It was clear that they were going to find out.

  A faint voice from below Ryan startled him from his thoughts.

  “Where are the kids?”

  It was their father. He must have just entered his upstairs office, just below where they were sitting in the attic.

  “I called before we left Prometheus Alpha,” answered the equally faint voice of their mother. “They said they were going to find a good spot to create a Frisbee golf course and play. They said they’d be back in an hour or so.” Their mom sighed so heavily they could hear it even through the floor of the attic. “They didn’t sound good. They’re still mad at us. I can’t say I blame them.”

  “I know this move has been rough on them. But they’ll adjust. Really. They just need a little time. And you know we didn’t have a choice.”

  “But they don’t know that. I can’t stand lying to them. If only we could tell them the truth about why we’re here, I’m sure they’d understand.” There was a long pause. “At least my mother will be back in a few days so they won’t have to be home alone anymore.”

  In the attic, the kids hadn’t missed a word of the conversation, staying still as statues and barely breathing. Their grandmother had been staying with them for most of the summer but had left that morning for a three-day trip. Ryan had convinced his mother—barely—that he and his sister could look out for themselves during the day while their grandmother was away. Their parents could go to work as usual. He and Regan were very responsible, he argued. Besides, what kind of trouble could they get into here in Snooze-ter, Pennsylvania anyway—forget to look both ways while crossing the woods and get hit by a speeding tree?

  But the part about being home alone wasn’t the part of their parents’ conversation they were thinking about at the moment. Their mom and dad were lying to them! Why? What were their parents really doing here? What was Prometheus Alpha? Why didn’t they have a choice about moving here? What in the world was going on?

  They were still digesting these startling revelations as their father continued. “We can’t tell them the truth. You know that. If we did, we could all find ourselves in a prison somewhere. And if they told others, the consequences could be far worse even than that—far worse.” He paused and then added gently, “You know I don’t like it any more than you do.”

  There was a long silence in the room. Finally, their father made an obvious attempt to change the subject. “Have you checked the monitors yet?”

  Their mother sighed loudly once again. “Yes,” she said. “No indication of electronic bugs or directional listening devices of any kind. We’re secure.”

  Regan’s eyes grew wide. Was she dreaming all of this? Was she in a bad spy movie? She glanced at Ryan and raised her eyebrows questioningly.

  Ryan put a finger to his lips. When he first heard his parents he had planned on descending from the attic to reveal they were home, but not now. He felt guilty spying on them like this, but something weird was going on and he needed to learn more about it. They could all end up in a prison somewhere? What were his parents involved with?

  “Good,” said their father. “We can head back to Prometheus in a few minutes.”

  “Why did they kick us out now of all times?” said their mother in obvious frustration. “On the day that we finally broke in.”

  “Exactly because it is the day we finally broke in. Months ahead of schedule. Security was caught off-guard. Instead of months to implement massive upgrades they now have days. We won’t be the only ones working around the clock from now on.”

  “Don’t you think we’re covered already? They put in an invisible state-of-the-art laser alarm system, and the only entrance to Prometheus is protected by a building that could withstand a nuc
lear strike. How much more do we need?”

  “Apparently a lot more. Now that we’ve broken in the security chief thinks the current setup is an embarrassment. It won’t be long before they install fingerprint scans, retina scans, voice-print scans—you name it, they’ll be scanning it. Right now security is beginning the installation of video cameras that will monitor the entire perimeter as a supplement to the lasers. Even though it won’t be completed for a few days they had to shut off the laser alarm system for a few minutes to install some cable. Even during this short shutdown policy dictates that all non-security personnel be evacuated. The good news is that they’ve decided to take care of another security matter while everyone is gone. So at least they won’t have to ask us to leave again.”

  “What security matter is that?”

  “A software upgrade. They’ll also do a comprehensive scan of all computer systems and a full reset of all passwords.”

  “So I suppose that means we need to decide on new passwords before we return. Any ideas?” asked Mrs. Resnick.

  “As a matter of fact, yes,” answered their father. “I think you’ll like these. Here, let me write them out for you.”

  There was silence for several long moments before Mrs. Resnick spoke again. “I like the elevator password. We are in the middle of nowhere. Very cleverly done. But why did you choose this particular number as the door password?”

  “It’s in alphabetical order.”

  There was a long pause. “I see what you did. Very clever.”

  “You didn’t know you married such a clever guy, huh.”

  “Well, I guess your success at pulling off the most difficult break-in in history to get to the greatest treasure of all time might just qualify as clever,” she teased. “And,” she added wryly, “you even managed to do it without getting us all killed.”

  “Very true,” he responded playfully. And then, after a long pause and a heavy sigh, he added grimly, “At least not yet.”

  Chapter 2

  Razor-Wire and Laser Beams

  Ryan and Regan waited for five minutes after their parents left the house—just to be sure—and climbed down from the attic to the second floor hallway in silence.

  “What was that all about?” said Regan.

  Ryan shook his head. Good question. His green eyes reflected worry and his short, light-brown hair was in disarray from having run his hand through his hair as he tried to make sense of what he had heard. The high- powered binoculars he had found in the attic were now hanging from a strap around his neck. “I wish I knew,” he said in frustration. “Mom and Dad are involved in something shady. And dangerous.” He held up the binoculars. “I think we need to learn more about Proact,” he said decisively.

  Not waiting for a response, Ryan walked into his father’s office with his sister following and carefully removed a dictionary from the shelf. He quickly flipped through it. “Prometheus,” he mumbled as he turned pages. “Prometheus. Prometheus. Here it is,” he said at last.

  He cleared his throat. “Prometheus,” he read aloud. “A Titan of Greek mythology who stole fire from the Gods and gave it to mankind as a gift.” Stole fire, thought Ryan. So Prometheus was a thief. Just great. He frowned deeply and looked up to see his sister grinning from ear to ear.

  “Why are you smiling?” he asked her.

  “I was just picturing Prometheus trying to gift-wrap fire. You know that couldn’t have been easy.”

  Ryan laughed, but his smile quickly faded as he returned to the problem at hand. “So Mom and Dad are involved in something very secret called the Prometheus Project,” he said in a serious tone. “And Prometheus turns out to be a thief.” He closed the dictionary and placed it back on the shelf. “Dad did mention a treasure and ‘breaking in’ somewhere. I can’t believe Mom and Dad would be involved in something criminal, though.”

  Regan nodded. “Me either.”

  “Somehow, we have to figure out what’s going on.” They discussed the events of the past six weeks to see if this could help them answer any questions raised by their parents’ conversation. It didn’t. All it accomplished was to raise additional questions to add to the puzzle.

  Something had been fishy about the move from the beginning. Their parents were top scientists who frequently received job offers from around the world. They had always refused because they loved their jobs at the university and were not willing to leave San Diego. Until now.

  So what had changed? Why had they felt they had no other choice but to move to Pennsylvania? Why did they have to leave immediately? And why would a company locate in a place as isolated as Snooze-ter? The town was mostly woods and farmland. The roads were not even paved—just dirt or gravel. Their new house was the only one for quite a distance. Proact was hastily clearing trees and building a large housing development about a mile away—the Resnicks were scheduled to move there in three months or so—but nothing was ready now.

  They had no choice but to investigate further. And that meant a trip to the Proact facility. They had never been there before but they knew it was several miles south of them along a dirt road.

  They jumped on their bikes and pedaled like crazy. Before long they spotted a large Proact sign off in the distance. They immediately exited the road and biked into the woods until they were out of sight. They parked by a tall tree and quickly climbed up onto some of its higher branches. Secure in the tree, they turned to get their first view of the now mysterious Proact facility.

  It was surrounded by the most wicked-looking chain-link fence either of them had ever seen. A lethal, two-foot high coil of spiked wire, wound very tightly, ran along the top of the entire length of fence, like a giant steel slinky made almost entirely of knife blades. The fence created a square enclosure about a quarter of a mile on each side.

  Regan shook her head, almost unable to believe her eyes. “I’ve seen barbed-wire fences before, but this is like something out of a horror movie. This makes regular barbed-wire look like a joke.”

  “Yeah,” said her brother, nodding slowly. “I’ve heard about this stuff. I think it’s called razor-wire.”

  Regan studied the fence more closely and realized that the tightly spaced blades were exactly that—razors—with pointed barbs at both ends. “It’s well named,” she noted grimly. Their dad had mentioned a laser alarm system and video monitors soon to come, but the sight of this deadly razor-wire barrier left no room for doubt. Their mom had been correct. This place had some serious security.

  Off to one corner they quickly spotted the main Proact building. It was large, modern and very impressive. It was also unfinished. Unfinished? So why the hurry for their parents to come here?

  Off in the distance they could see what appeared to be large signs attached to the perimeter fence at regular intervals. Ryan lifted the binoculars, put them to his eyes, and focused in on one of the signs.

  WARNING—DO NOT ENTER! INTRUDERS WILL BE SHOT ON SIGHT!

  He swallowed hard. Saying nothing he handed the binoculars to his sister sitting on the branch beside him. He watched a troubled look come over her face as she read one of the signs.

  “Not exactly what I would call a friendly greeting,” she noted wryly.

  Ryan nodded. “I guess they ran out of the signs that say, ‘Welcome To Proact’ with bright yellow happy faces painted on them.”

  Regan smiled as she continued scanning. A few seconds later she pointed and said, “Can you see those men just inside the fence over there?”

  Ryan followed her finger and could make out four men near the fence, looking small in the distance. What were they doing?

  Regan carefully turned a small dial on the front of the binoculars to improve the focus. “They must be the ones who shut down the laser alarm system. It looks to me as if they’re checking to make sure it was reset properly.” She paused. “Take a look.”

  Ryan put the binoculars to his eyes. Two of the men were throwing powder high into the air and watching intently. The falling powder
passed through two previously invisible laser beams, each the thickness of a broom handle, and in so doing turned them both red and easy to see. Ryan had seen a movie about a thief trying to steal a diamond from the middle of a room protected by countless such invisible beams crisscrossing the floor—lasers of the type that only produced light and not searing heat. Anything that blocked one of the beams for even an instant, like part of a thief’s body, triggered an alarm. Particles from a powder mist, however, could make the beams temporarily visible without fully blocking them and setting off the alarms.

  The beams ran parallel to the fence-line—about three feet in from it. One beam was about a foot above the ground and the other was about four feet up. Someone who managed the impossible task of getting through the fence without being cut to ribbons, and without being seen by the cameras, would still have a nasty little surprise waiting for them when they took their first step or two and walked through one or both of the invisible beams.

  Ryan’s brow furrowed in deep concentration. An interesting thought occurred to him.

  He used the binoculars to carefully explore the entire fence perimeter, foot by foot, looking intently for something in particular. After five minutes, he found it.

  He lowered the binoculars. It was time for them to leave. They needed to beat their parents home.

  But it was now crystal clear to him what he had to do the next morning, and despite the warm summer weather the thought of it brought a chill to his spine.

  Chapter 3

  Shot on Sight?

  Ryan and Regan set their alarms for five-thirty the next morning and awoke to find that their parents were already out of the house. Just how early had they left? When their dad had indicated they would be working around the clock he had not been kidding.