Charlotte woke with a pounding headache.

Ugh.

She sat up and opened her eyes, slowly. Somehow, she had fallen asleep while vividly remembering Cairo. A place and an experience that was both unforgettable and regrettable. It was undoubtably the scariest of all her research trips, making it easy to understand why it kept popping up in dreams and thoughts. One of the main drivers for leaving her old world behind was to escape Egypt. Escape what happened there.

No matter. I need to get going and get back to the airport.

Refocusing on the task at hand, she got up and showered. There was much to do.

Encased in the steamy glass enclosure, Charlotte let her thoughts linger on the barista from the café. 

Josh. 

He was an attractive man, dark haired, which was her typical type. His demeanor was that of a wise soul. She knew people like that in her past. They were witty and brilliant. She couldn't place why but she didn't think the café was his only job. Certainly not the one he was destined for.

While she lathered up, a key was busy fobbing into the room door. In stepped a tall man, shrouded by a dark jacket that was pulled up to cover his lower face. A black baseball hat on his head along with sunglasses, he was unrecognizable. Without a sound, he shut the door and strode into the room. He quickly riffled through her desk and notes. Taking out a phone, he took pictures of everything.

Charlotte turned off the water and wrung the water from her hair before stepping out into the chilled bathroom air. She grabbed a towel but before she could pull it open the hair on her arms stood on end.

Someone is here.

She froze. Something wasn't right. Her instincts always knew when an imbalance was occurring, even subtly. It was what made her such a talented film researcher. Water dripped in the shower. Time seemed to stand suspended. She breathed in, then out. The faintest of sounds came from behind the bathroom door, then dissipated.

Her mind felt as if it were expanding. She took another breath in and exhaled. Her headache was suddenly gone. Wrapping the towel securely around herself, she opened the bathroom door. She looked carefully. No one was there. She was alone.

"I'm losing it." She announced to the empty room.

Whatever had just transpired, Charlotte felt refreshed and healthy. As if she had just eaten and drank water, not like she had upon waking. She shrugged it off as an anomaly and got dressed. Today was far too important, she needed to be sharp and on it to catch the signs under the airport. She was convinced that there would be hidden areas below but Zach would try to deflect her from noticing.

Satisfied with her choice of clothing, she gave another look at her hair and face in the mirror. Zach would be distracted alright. Just as she planned. She grabbed her bag and notebook and left her room, ensuring the door locked fully. If anyone else came looking they wouldn't find anything. Her laptop was password and genetically encrypted. What mattered most was securely on her person.

"Good morning Ms. Locke."

The front desk clerk smiled and gave a customary greeting.

"Morning!" She replied, feeling enthusiastic.

It was as if she'd been given the tips to the secret ongoings of the airport all over again.

"Have a nice day!"

She waved and exited outside to her car. A man in dark clothing waited in a sedan within eyeshot of Charlotte. He started his car as she pulled out onto the street. Resolved to follow her at least to the airport, he texted someone.

With her now.

Not stopping a beat, Charlotte drove to DIA in record time. Thoughts ran wild in her mind. Was her tour guide one of 'them' on a higher level? Or was he a low hanging fruit, assigned to keep people like her at bay? Whoever Zach was, she knew she needed to circumvent his attempts at shielding her eyes from what was there.

I'm so close. I can feel it.

As if on cue, Zach came into view by the elevator in the parking garage. Charlotte's heart twinged at what she saw. He held a big bundle of wildflowers, a white ribbon fluttering from the stems at the bottom. She parked gingerly and grabbed her belongings.

"Good morning, Charlotte. Thought you could use something nice for a prop in your podcast. I know hotel rooms are sterile and void of warmth."

Smooth, she thought. She would play along.

"Thank you! How beautiful."

She took the flowers and inhaled, making sure to close her eyes. She had applied more eye makeup than she had needed for just such a reason. Zach swallowed the lump forming in his throat as he watched Charlotte. She was stunning. Her features popped this morning, more so than yesterday. His eyes roamed over her hair, which had waves reminiscent of a woman who just got out of bed.

Jarring himself out of the thoughts she induced, he cleared his throat. The dance they were doing was going to be complicated. He had to focus, and not on Charlotte Locke's beautiful frame.

"I have a vase with water in my office. They can stay there while we do our tour if you'd like."

She smiled sweetly, "Sure, lead the way."

They rode in comfortable silence up to Zach's office. Neither tipping their hand to what the other was thinking. Once inside, he deposited the flowers as promised into a vase.

"I have a tour guide ready and waiting to take us down to the lower levels." He gestured for her to follow him outside to the terminal.

"Levels? Exactly how many are there?" She asked.

"Well, we have the main one right below us, then two more that cascade down from there. All a part of the maze if you will, of used and unused space. The vast majority of it was supposed to be used for an underground baggage area that I am sure as you know, is the crux of the conspiracy theories surrounding the airport."

He wasn't lying. The unused or 'dead space' had been what first garnered Charlotte's attention about DIA. No other airport in the whole of the United States had such a space. It was unprecedented.

"This is Mr. Holmes; he is head of security and our guide for today."

The man was big, reminding Charlotte of a bouncer at a nightclub. She shook his meaty hand and settled onto the cart he was driving. Zach had wanted to sit on the back, so they could talk while the tour was conducted. He had to keep very close tabs on her. And Charlotte wanted just the opposite.

"How many people get to see this side of the airport?"

She asked with wide eyes, taking care to scoot closer to her tour guide as they began to speed through the entrance doors to the underbelly. Zach reacted as she'd expected. His pulse quickened at her thigh lightly touching his. He cleared his throat with an arched eyebrow.

"Not many. I've yet to escort anyone down here."

"Wonderful. I feel special then."

She turned to watch the walls as they rocketed along a narrow hallway. It was wrapped in concrete, smooth and almost shiny. Lines were painted in long white strips close to the wall. Driving guides most likely, for the carts she knew were down here. Walking would simply take too long. Her eyes caught something though, an irregular seam in the concrete. It was only a flash, but it was there. The cart sped onwards towards a set of double doors.

"Now we're about to enter the main under area. It's where as I said previously, the old baggage area would've been."

What opened to them left Charlotte stunned. It was massive.

"Wow. . . this is incredible." She breathed.

Zach glanced at her face. She was being sincere. He still couldn't picture her being able to sense the stones in Abydos. She was so young, and seemed too. . fresh faced. He likened it to the younger women he'd worked with in his past. They had to gain more experience and real-world knowledge. But who was he to say? The group had homed in on her.

"It's such a massive area that's not being used. How is it not costing the airport money to leave it this way?"

"What do you mean?" He retorted back.

She was smart, he had to give that to her.

"Econ 101. A business that has this much unused space, is a business that is wasting resources. The heating and cooling alone. . ."

As she spoke, the cart took a turn around a corner, and they were met with loaded carts whizzing by with trailers of luggage. It was a shocking sight.

"We use a large portion of the space. This is our baggage network, which shuttles all the flights bags to the appropriate carriage system above."

A sense of restlessness hit Charlotte suddenly, for no apparent reason. She focused her attention on the walls behind the busy carts. A frantic feeling settled in. Zach continued to speak but she wasn't paying attention. Her eyes searched, as they were drawn to something. Then she spotted it. Mr. Holmes slowed the cart to an idle as traffic began to get backed up in front of them. A faint symbol high on the wall called to her. It was a light blue drawing of a multi pointed star.