Nightstalkers

CHAPTER 18

In the basement of the physics building, Ivar, no longer held by the golden glow, read the list of equipment the man had just handed him. The man had typed something into the keyboard and the golden glow had subsided to a pulsing ball about two feet in diameter just above the computer.

Ivar looked up at the man, about to protest that all this was going to be difficult to get, then saw the eyes, pulsing with the same gold as the ball, and decided not to. Then he realized this was his chance to escape, to get away from whatever the hell was going on in here.

The man still held the gun in one hand, but it wasn’t pointed at Ivar, as if he could sense that Ivar was not a threat.

“What’s your name?” the man asked.

“Ivar.”

The man smiled, and that made some of the scabs covering the scars on his face crack, as if he hadn’t smiled since the wounds had been inflicted. “I’m Burns. That’s what they called me. But I’m more than Burns now. Do you understand?”

“No.”

“Good,” Burns said. “You don’t have to. You’re thinking of running away.” He reached into a pocket and pulled out a gold chain with a large black stone on it. He snapped the gold necklace around Ivar’s neck. “Think of this like a dog collar, except the stone also transmits everything you say or hear. I will be listening to you. Every second. Tell no one about what happened or what’s going on in here or about me. The gold is lined with a very high grade of explosive. You try to tell someone about what’s happening in here, I’ll blow your head off. You try to take the collar off, it explodes. And your head goes pop. So don’t make your head go pop, clear? It’s really messy. You’ll be back here in two hours or I’ll blow your head from your shoulders. Got it?”

Ivar could only nod.

Burns put a comforting hand on Ivar’s shoulder. “Trust me. I work for the government.”