Titan Six by Christopher Forrest

spread into a warm smile.  He raised his arm, covered by the sleeve of his burgundy robe, and motioned to the cube.
    * This is an unusual structure.  I continue to sense life all around me. *
    “You’re just a vision.  An hallucination.”
    “Who are you taking to?” asked Touchdown.
    “Just my thoughts,” answered Quiz.
    * I think you should communicate with me in thought as usual.  I’ll still be able to hear you.  We don’t want to reveal our secret to the good people in the Ops Center. *
    But you’re not really standing there.  I may be communicating with someone inside the cube.  That could be dangerous.
    * The cube is allowing you to project me beyond your brain.  I believe that the hallucinations are a result of massive serotonin cascades in the right temporal lobe of the brain.  In your case, however, I am a living entity with distinct energy that the cube has somehow identified.  You have secretly wished for most of your life to speak with my actual form, and the cube has made this possible.  If you desire proof, I shall remind you that you and DJ have been lovers for some time.  Indeed, it was she, a former German operative, who helped train you in the martial arts and other forms of combat. *
    Quiz held up his hand weakly.  I cry uncle, Dante.  I believe you, but what in the hell are we going to do?
    * Hell.  Speaking allegorically, maybe I shall have to reenact a pilgrimage from hell through purgatory and thence to heaven.  Speaking from a literary perspective, it was one of my greatest hits, to use the vernacular of your generation. *
    How are you going to do that?
    * I’m not sure, but I was successful with Virgil and the lovely Beatrice.  Have faith, my friend.  I have an idea. *
    Dante held out his arms, one aimed at the nearest wall, the other at Quiz.  A slender column of pure white light emanated from the wall and entered Dante’s arm.  Seconds later, the light emerged from his other arm, headed for Quiz.
    What’s happening?  I feel . . .
    Quiz passed out.
    * * *
     
    “I’ve lost Quiz’s vital signs,” Touchdown said.
    Caine wheeled around sharply.  “Are you saying that he’s dead?”
    Touchdown paused as he consulted his telemetry.  “No, ma’am.  Some kind of unknown energy is surrounding him.  His body is in the same room, but I’m reading a solid energy field, not any kind of biometric data, such as temperature or blood pressure.”
    Caine sighed.  “I feel helpless.  We have the most sophisticated technology in the world, and we can’t do a damn thing for Quiz.”
    “Excuse me for correcting you,” stated Touchdown, “but that cube — that’s the most sophisticated technology in the world.”
    Caine nodded and walked away.
     

Titan Six
The Cube beneath Mount Elbert
     
    Burmaster, Marshall, and Beemler had left the room.
    “It feels like the wall is starting to firm up,” Hawkeye observed.  “Like this . . . this gel, or whatever it is, is getting harder.”
    “Suppose it starts to morph into its hard metallic structure,” Tank commented.
    “I’d send in Titan Four,” Caine said over the COM.  “I’ll give you fifteen minutes to find a way out of the wall.  After that, the Cavalry is coming.”
    “It’s getting harder to move,” said Aiko.  “I can only move my hand a few inches at a time, and this gummy stuff is offering a lot of resistance.  Maybe we should try to imagine that we’re free.  The power of thought worked before, so why not try again?”
    “Give it a shot, Titan Six,” Hawkeye said.
    Five minutes later, T6 was still encased in the living, gelatinous wall, like mosquitoes caught in amber.  Pulses of bright light raced across the branching neurons that surrounded the team.
    “Twelve minutes before T4 is summoned,” Hawkeye announced.
    “We may not have that long,” said Gator.  “The cube’s nerve fibres are growing around the trunk of my body and limbs.”
    “He’s right,” said Tank.  “Like all