Louis and Denise hooked up the buggy to the pulley system to hoist it back into the hidden area above the tunnels. Eugene walked to the entrance to get some fresh air. A few minutes later, Denise drove the buggy out into the open. She parked it at the campsite, and she walked back to Eugene.
‘You have to admit, it was really suffocating down there,’ said Denise as she patted Eugene on the shoulder.
‘I’m glad you’re feeling more upbeat, friend,’ said Eugene. ‘The language you used back there was giving me great concern.’
‘Our exploration may have been cut short,’ said Denise. ‘But the discoveries we have made could change everything for our civilisation.’
‘It’s a pity about your beautiful frozen friend,’ said Eugene with a slight smile.
‘With what we have discovered over the past few days, I’m sure we can convince Orcilla to come out here,’ said Denise. ‘She might be able to defrost him.’
‘Oh, um, aaarrgghh, hhmm, well umm,’ mumbled Eugene.
Denise frowned. ‘Are you okay?’ she asked.
‘He’s legged it,’ said Eugene, sounding a little uncomfortable. ‘I thought you would have noticed when you drove…’
Before Eugene could finish his sentence, Denise rushed into the hidden area. She looked at the glass pod. It was open, and the humanoid-like creature was gone.
Denise screamed loudly. Eugene and Louis approached her.
Denise turned to Louis. ‘Do you know anything about this?’ she demanded as she pointed to the empty glass pod.
‘I was down in the tunnels,’ he replied. ‘I’ve no idea what happened.’
‘He didn’t defrost himself, did he?’ asked Denise angrily.
‘Maybe our activity in the tunnel temporarily interfered with the power to the glass pod,’ said Louis, scratching his head.
Denise took a deep breath. ‘Once we get everyone up, we will form search parties to find him,’ said Denise.
‘He wouldn’t have gotten far,’ said Eugene as he placed his hand on Denise’s shoulder. ‘It’s not like there is a train service around here.’
Denise pushed his hand off her shoulder and walked outside. ‘Get everyone to gather outside as soon as possible,’ she barked at Eugene.
Eugene scratched his head as he gazed thoughtfully at the empty glass pod. As Louis watched Denise leave, a slight smile came over his face.
Around half an hour later, everyone had gathered outside at the campsite.
‘Thank you for gathering here as soon as you could,’ said Denise as she made her way to the front of the group. ‘We have a serious problem. Our frozen friend has escaped.’
The maintenance workers and the enforcers looked at each other. Half of them looked concerned, and half appeared to be excited.
‘We must find him,’ said Denise. ‘I suggest we form three search parties. One party to head west, one party to head east, and one party to go back into the tunnels.’
‘Excuse me,’ said Louis, raising his hand. ‘I feel it pointless searching the tunnels. We have just come out of the tunnels. We would have seen him if he had remained visible. If he has turned invisible, we will not see him if we search again.’
‘The tunnels are dark. We have limited light,’ replied Denise. ‘He could have hidden in the dark without becoming invisible. Considering he’s been frozen for so long, I doubt he would be able to turn invisible. That is assuming it is even possible for him to do so. So, we will just stick with my plan, okay!’
Denise led a group of maintenance workers back into the tunnels. Louis led another group of maintenance workers west. Eugene led his enforcers east. After about an hour of searching, Eugene’s team met Louis’ team on the other side of the rock formation.
‘Did you find or see anything?’ Louis asked Eugene.
‘I can tell you’re not an enforcer,’ replied Eugene as he tilted his head back slightly. ‘You need a keen eye for relevant detail. Footprints, blood splatter, suspicious noises, and shady characters.’
‘Okay, did you find any of that?’ asked Louis, sounding a little frustrated.
‘It’s enforcer protocol not to disclose this type of information during an ongoing investigation,’ replied Eugene sternly. ‘Considering the unusual circumstances, I will be straight up with you. The answer is no.’
Louis sighed as his team passed Eugene’s team. The team members gave each other positive gestures for encouragement.
Eugene turned to his team. ‘We need to be extra vigilant,’ he told them. ‘Those guys are amateurs when it comes to sleuthing.’
Another hour passed. Eugene’s and Louis’ teams met back up at the campsite. Eugene grabbed a few breakfast bagels for his team.
‘Any luck on your final leg?’ asked Louis as he approached Eugene.
Eugene sighed and shook his head in disappointment. ‘We, enforcers, do not rely on luck,’ responded Eugene firmly. ‘We rely on investigative skill and uncanny intuition. There is no final leg until the mystery is solved.’
‘Hopeless, completely hopeless,’ sighed Louis as he helped himself to the food.
‘You might not believe this,’ replied Eugene. ‘I wasn’t always the great detective. Admittedly, I was never as green as you are. It’s about honing your craft. I could help mentor you.’
Eugene rambled on for another twenty minutes about the art of enforcing. Louis wanted desperately to escape him.
Denise emerged from the tunnel. She looked disheartened. ‘No sign of him down there,’ she announced as she sat beside Eugene. ‘Did you guys find any traces of his possible whereabouts?’
‘Bad news,’ replied Eugene, frowning. ‘There is no sign of him up here or any evidence to suggest he just wandered off into the wastelands.’
‘It’s pretty obvious what happened,’ said Louis confidently.
Eugene folded his arms and gazed at Louis intently. Denise looked up to face Louis.
‘He went back into tunnels; he turned invisible. And now he's deep inside and beyond our reach,’ continued Louis smugly. ‘He doesn’t realise how toxic the air down there is. He will either eventually die or make his way out.’
‘Is there any way we can filter the air so that he will be able to survive?’ asked Denise.
‘The tunnels are far too vast to be able to do that,’ scoffed Louis indignantly.
‘So what do you suggest we do then?’ asked Denise as her frustration grew.
‘It’s pretty obvious,’ replied Louis with a half-smile. ‘We seal up the entrance to the tunnels, and we disconnect the generator from their system. This technology is a game changer for our civilisation.’
‘You are willing to let our frozen friend and whoever else is down there die,’ said Denise in disgust.
‘There is no one else down there,’ replied Louis firmly. ‘The air is too toxic to support life for any length of time.’
‘You said it yourself,’ shouted Denise, ‘the generator is powering something down there. I also heard someone down there.’
‘The generator is powering some abandoned machinery,’ replied Louis. ‘What you heard was in your head because of the toxic air. You are also tired because you haven’t slept. I am in a better position to make the decision on this.’
‘We can’t seal the tunnel up,’ interrupted Eugene. ‘Enforcers have a duty of care to all citizens.’
‘He’s Linap,’ shouted Louis. ‘We need not show him any care.’
Denise shook her head. ‘We don’t even know that is definitely true,’ she said in a sad tone. ‘I do know we can’t let you make any strategic decisions. Tell the others we are packing up and heading back to Downs.’
Louis clenched his face for a few seconds. Then he got up to instruct the others to pack everything up.
Denise and Eugene walked back into the hidden area.
‘I know his pain all so well,’ said Denise to Eugene as a tear trickled down her face. ‘They took everything from me. Hating comes too naturally, but it is wrong.’
‘Feeling is never wrong,’ replied Eugene as he ran his hand through Denise’s hair. ‘It is our actions that matter, friend.’
Denise looked up at Eugene with a smile on her face. ‘You are so oddly wise,’ she replied. ‘I’m so glad we have you.’
Eugene looked over at the empty glass pod. He looked at the control panel next to it.
‘Do you have photographs of the glass pod and this control panel?’ asked Eugene.
‘Of course, I diligently document every little thing,’ replied Denise.
Denise pulled out her phone. She opened the folder for Location 6.
‘Here are the photographs,’ she said as she handed Eugene the phone.
Eugene zoomed in on the photograph of the glass pod. He compared it with the glass pod in front of them.
He then scrolled to the photographs of the control panel. He studied them closely. He looked at the control panel in front of them.
Eugene began rubbing his chin.
‘Do you see something odd?’ asked Denise.
‘No,’ replied Eugene. ‘I see something suspicious.’
Denise frowned.
‘There is a small puncture in this button,’ pointed out Eugene. ‘This puncture is not visible in any of the photographs.’
Denise looked at the photographs carefully. She zoomed in. She saw no sign of a puncture mark.
‘Maybe the phone camera did not pick up the puncture. It is quite small,’ said Denise.
‘Let’s test that theory, friend,’ replied Eugene. ‘Try taking another photograph.’
‘Okay,’ replied Denise, sounding a little surprised.
She took several more photographs from similar angles as she did before. She and Eugene inspected the photographs. The puncture was visible.
‘Looks like your beautiful friend had some help,’ said Eugene as his eyes darted suspiciously from side to side.
Sapien Loop: Frozen in Time is the sequel to the book Sapien Loop: End of an Era. Sapien Loop: End of an Era is available on Amazon, in collection series on my 
