2400 AD
5

Gideon and Callum met Kendall and several members of her team outside the infirmary.

“Where are you taking me?” Callum asked eyes wide.

“Ask as many questions as you like afterwards,” Gideon said, beckoning the team to follow him.

They marched across the mezzanine level and into the scenic elevator with a view of most of the facility. Callum was awestruck. Dozens of elevators ran from ground to ceiling.

“What is this place?”

Kendall stood behind him, she said, “The Pyramid. There are several of these underground pyramids scattered around the country and the world. All of them report to this one.”

The elevator moved vertically at a speed twice that of a fast moving vehicle. They were headed towards a solid ceiling. If it didn’t stop, they’d break through it. Callum braced himself. But the elevator stopped suddenly and slowly turned into a horizontal path across the ceiling towards the far end. It stopped again and continued vertically towards a greyish light.

Open air.

The elevator stopped above ground on a hilltop surrounded by sand. The earth barren and brown. The sun obliterated by a thick layer of fine, grey, volcanic dust.

Forbiddingly cold.

In the far distance he could make out what looked like a city with skyscrapers and buildings spread out against the horizon. When he took a closer look, and focused on some of those buildings, he gasped as several tall buildings simply vanished. Like someone had thrown an invisibility cloak over them.

Even more astonishing was the sudden materialization of new buildings. In one instant, in a place where nothing stood, suddenly a new building appeared.

But that was nothing compared to what happened next.

Where there was once golden sand that surrounded them, suddenly there was a forest of tall pine trees.

“It’s just not possible,” he mumbled.

“Have you seen enough?” Gideon asked, standing with his chin resting on a fist.