The island was just that: one of the thousands of isle of the Caribbean. A small (but not to small) island, with cliffs on one side, a white beach with coconut trees on the other, jungle in the middle. There were all the features you need on a typicl caribbean island.
Plus a cave.
The entrance, a narrow crevice in a rocky hill in the middle of the jungle. Phil leaded the other four Vanguardians to it, a map in one hand, one of the aerial photos made the day before by Brianna in the other.
"It should be right here" said Smith, and turning behind an enormous fig tree, they found it. A towering cliff, like a wall of white rock, with a very narrow, vertical crack, that in the map was indicated as being the entrance for a network of caves. The entrance was hidden by a luscious vegetation of dense scrubs, sprouting out of the rocky wall.
"So, are we going?" asked Phil, looking at his friends.
"Mhhh" mumbled Rama. "It's like to entering the womb of Mother Earth... doing in the reverse the path of any human being... I don't like this..."
"It's just a cave, Mason" replied Phil.
"I am going in" said Grissom, as a torch materialised in his right hand. Euro turned to Rama Avatar: "You are not coming?"
Rama shook his head: "I am coming, I am coming. Just, we'll regret this..."
The internal of the cave was obviously dark and cold and wet. Phil had prepared in advance torches and equipment for spelunking, although the cave bottom was flat and horizontal, and there was no need of ropes to move around.
"Mhh... so you would built a new headquarter here?" asked Euro. "How do you think it will be possible to conceal all the necessary stuff to the eyes of Merlin. He will know of the existence of the secret lair even before you'll have completed the wiring..."
"Oh, shut up, Ed. We are here for fun, Ok? Stop acting like mother goose" said Grissom.
Euro frowned, not sure to have understood.
"Actually, Ed, I have though also about it: I will build my villa vertically over the cave, and all the material will be brought into the cave from above while I will have my villa built."
Ed nodded. "Yes, clever" he hissed, and began panning the torch beam over the roof of the cave.
Suddenly, all the torches went off.
"Fuck"
"Merda!"
"Shit"
"Crap!"
"!"
"There is a light down there" observed Brianna, after the initial surprise.
"A light? Impossible. That's the inner part of the cave..." replied Phil.
"I see it too" said Euro.
After a few steps in that direction, the others, too, saw it, but it took ten minuts of walking to reach it.
It was a security light, above a locked door of plastic and metal.
"It look someone had your same idea earlier, Phil" said sarcastically Ed.
Grissom knocked on the door, like to test the resilience of the surface. "Seems heavy".
"Who could have put this thing here, seriously?" asked Phil.
"The question would be: what there his beyond?" added Euro.
Rama touched the door. "It could be an old facility of the PSI-Unit... or it could also be the place from which that robot squirrel is coming..."
"It has Strikeforce written all over it" said Euro, snorting.
"I guess the only way to know is to open it" said Brianna.
"Eh, easy to say. It looks totally indestructible..." observed Grissom.
Brianna smiled, and the door opened.
"How did you that?" asked at unison the four males.
"I pushed the button" giggled Brianna.
On the side of the frame of the door there was a big, green button with the word OPEN written over, with thick, Old English types. Another, red, had the word CLOSE.
Grissom pushed it, and the door closed suddenly.
Euro kneeled, to look at the button. "Maybe it's one of those secret bases of nazi, built after the second war world. The type used was typical of Germany, up to the '45."
"It would be written in German, then" said dryly Grissom.
Euro turned red. "Yes, I guess so".
Phil pushed the OPEN button again. "Only one way to discover what it is. Let's get inside".
The door slid open, and the five Vanguardians got inside.
On the other side there was a small room, not larger than an elevator cabin, lit by a red, low light. There were many buttons, each one corresponding to a big sign: AIR; UV BATH; PRESSURE BALANCING; HELP; OPEN; CLOSE. And there was one other door, on the opposite side.
Phil looked at the others, and took one of his guns in his hand. A small handgun appeared in Grissom hand, Rama usheated Caliburn, Brianna put a dart in her small crossbow and Euro opened the backpack to take out his mace. Phil whispered "One; two ; three", and then pushed the other OPEN button.
One after the other, the five Vanguardians sneaked out of the door. They were in what looked like the corridor of a Victorian house. Wooden floor, wallpaper decorated with small flowers, small wooden little tables lining the corridor, with flowers in vases.
All the Vanguardians frowned a the same time. The look of the place was very odd. because the style was clashing totally with the dimension of the place. The corridor was three meters wide, and there were no ends at both directions.
Phil sight was caught by one of the countless windows, the nearer one. he went there, and gulped. "Guys, come here. It's night!"
"What?" said Euro, looking at his watch. "It's nine in the morning." Going near the ex-special agent, he gulped, too. The others joined them.
Outside, it was really night. The sky was totally black, and the stars were very bright. And they were millions, much more than each of them had ever experienced looking at the sky. The familiar constellations, that Ed and Brianna instinctively looked for, were nearly unnoticeable in the middle of so many stars.
And then the jaws of the five Vanguardians dropped at unison.
Above the horizon was rising... the Earth.
