-(Unknown speaker) *Unintelligible* antenna array has been *Unintelligible* Down to dodgy cell line contact *Unintelligible*…
-(SVC) Sorry, communications completely down. I’ll try to establish contact through individual cell phone.
-How about Lazenbee? Can you reach her?
-(SVC) She left with the Aboriginal and the rest of the boy’s group, remember? She won’t be of any help now.
-Holy crap, (SVC)!
-(SVC) Stand by, Director… establishing contact…
-… Yeah, James Early here. *Unintelligible*
-(SVC) Early, can barely hear you.
-Yeah, hello, sis. *Unintelligible* bread’s in the kitchen.
-(SVC) Code. He’s being observed and can’t speak directly right now. Early, can you reestablish the communications quickly?
-Nahh, you don’t need butter for the bread, *Unintelligible* fridgie, I reckon.
-(SVC) It appears that they have destroyed the communications array, and it will take some time for a secondary array to come on line, Director. Early, we will need you to call us back as soon as you have any further information, and get that secondary array up and running immediately. Do you understand?
-Yeah, no worries, mate. Ahh, sis, *Unintelligible* at the moment. I’ll call ya back in a bit, eh?
-(SVC) We must rely on him and his cell phone for the next few minutes, at least. They should have been able to switch over the secondary array, so that might have been damaged as well.
-Well, what else could go wrong? Maybe you could arrange for a killer asteroid to fall on us and put us all out of our misery. If we let (WK) get away it could cause major havoc, you know. Despite what you think, I’m becoming convinced that he plans to go along with the boy to the US. Contact our pilot at the Bright Hand air strip and have him hightail it out of there if (WK) shows up. Without a pilot, they’re not going anywhere. And get a contingent of our security assets there ASA F’n P to take (WK) down, then get the pilot back and get the kid on the plane. Holy crap, (SVC). How did this go bad so fast?
-(SVC) (WK) is exceedingly clever, and we know what the boy can do. And the girl might be the craftiest of all of them. If they got wind of our scheme early enough, they will be difficult to stop.
-Okay, lock that place down. I want no one in or out until we find them. And get me something to eat!
****
“ What the… what happened?”
“It seems that the Bright Hand security personnel have two masters, and they have received orders to take me into custody, then convince you they have done so because I am an American agent and am arranging for them to spring some kind of trap on you. You see that small sensor array right at the center of the ceiling to the cavern?”
High above, exactly in the peak, was a small cluster of electronics I had never noticed before, probably because it was tiny enough and camouflaged enough to be hard to see. “Yeah, I see it.”
“My, your eyes are advanced, aren’t they? Anyone with normal vision would be highly unlikely to see it from this distance. I’m assuming your aim would be better than mine as well. Would you use your laser to knock out that array, please? And quickly, we must be leaving.”
“But, why….”
“That will disable most of the Bright Hand communications, which may give us enough of an advantage to get out of here with our lives intact. Quickly, please.”
“But…”
Cheri stomped her foot. “Lucas, just do it! We have to go!”
Ava…
“It’s legit. Hurry up! Security forces are on their way, we need to move quickly!”
I raised my right fist, pressed the raised mole on my right forearm, and most of the little camouflaged array vaporized, the rest tinkling down to land on the roofs of some lab trailers.
“Okay, now what about Bernie? Why is Ernie standing on his neck?”
“We’ll have to fill you in on the run, I’m afraid. And, on second thought…”
Bill spun the cart around, aiming back toward the North Hall. He stepped out of the cart and tossed the bags full of gear to Cheri, Ernie and me, then he did something I couldn’t see, but in a few seconds the cart trundled off on its own. “These carts have tracking devices installed, so we must go on foot from here. Oh, don’t worry about Bernard, he’ll wake up with a headache but nothing more. Lucas, you’re the fastest of us, and I know you have run with Ms. Kim on your back before, so that’s our quickest way out. I suspect most of the security forces will mass at the entrance to my office, and the rest will probably come here, as this was our last known location. If they don’t find us here, they’ll split up and go row by row, so we need to move quickly and quietly. Have your flechette guns out and ready, just in case. Luckily, there is an exit none of them are aware of. I had it installed for just such an instance as this. Ernesto, you and I will carry the bags. Ms. Kim, perhaps you could explain to Lucas what has happened as we go, eh? Oh, quickly, now, between these trailers. They’re coming.”
He was right; I heard the footsteps coming from one row over and about a hundred meters away. We crouched in the shadows between two of the modular buildings, and soon heard the shouts of some security personnel, some of the voices familiar.
The first that I recognized was Luther, the Bright Hand jail guard, his voice low and booming. “If you are with Mr. Kane, please turn him over to us immediately. He is an American spy! He’s planning on turning you over to them!”
Cheri leaned close and whispered in my ear. “That’s almost exactly what Bernie said, right before he tried to shoot Bill. I got my new arm in front of his flechette gun just in time, or they probably would have gotten him. Ernie punched him and he fell out of the cart, then put his foot on his neck just to make sure he didn’t get up, but he was out cold.”
Then came another voice I recognized… who is that… oh, it’s Willard! “Hey, look, it’s Bernie! They coldcocked him and made a run for it, and… the cart is pinging… it’s entering the North Hall! After them!”
A chorus of booted footfalls thundered away, the men roaring about turning Mr. Kane over to them as they ran.
Bill lowered his voice to a hiss. “That went well. We’re headed for the West Hall. Stay low, and we’ll stop between the rows to check the next through-way before running across. Any questions?”
Ava…
“Just do what he says for now. I’m fairly convinced that he’s not an American spy.”
Fairly convinced?
“Well, anything’s possible, you know that. Still highly unlikely. Pay attention, sonny boy.”
Bill gazed at the three of us and smiled. Not his usual Hollywood twinkling grin, though; this one seemed, I don’t know… more real, I guess. “Is everyone okay? Anyone want to back out?”
We looked at one another, and all shook our heads emphatically. “Very well. Keep your heads down. Remember, quick and quiet, to the next row of trailers. Here, take one of the bags and strap it to my back, another to Ernesto, and the last to Ms. Kim. There, are we ready? Here we go…”
We dashed across the twenty meter gap between rows of modular buildings, me carrying Cheri, and Bill and Ernie toting the bags of gear. As before, when we got there we crouched down in the space between two of the buildings, and Bill motioned for us to come in close. “It’s obvious that the Bright Hand security forces, at least those here in the cavern, have been under orders from the LFP. My guess is that they suspected that I would do something to disrupt their plans once I learned of their intent to leave me out, and they decided that things would be easier for them if I were out of the picture. So, they concocted this story about me being an American spy to convince you not to intervene. I’ll tell you more later, but Lucas, please use your enhanced hearing to see if there are any security in the next through-way.”
I got as close to the end of the trailer as I could without being seen and listened intently. I don’t hear anything, or smell anything for that matter… Ava, what do you think?
&nb
sp; “It’s clear, but we need to hurry.”
Hey, what if we just stopped and tried to tell them they’re wrong?
“Money talks, sonny boy. The LFP are probably paying them a huge bonus to do this, and you won’t be able to talk them into turning that down.”
Okay, what if we stopped and just fought with them? We could take them.
“Every once in a while you have ideas you have not thought through. In other words, dumb ideas. There are too many of them. Yes, you could beat them, but they would have plenty of chances to take shots, either with the flechettes or even conventional weapons, and you might come out of it okay, but the rest of your group, not so much. You don’t want to get them killed, or kill any of the guards either, am I right?”
Oh, yeah. I should have thought of that.
“Well, that’s one of the near-infinite number of reasons you have me. Let’s get moving.”
I scuttled back to where the others were waiting. “It’s clear, but we should hurry.”
“Excellent. We are going into a trailer in the next row, three units to the left of where we are now. We’ll stop at this end of the trailer and shelter there while I gain entry for us. We’re going there to get Ms. Kim her promised ‘treatment’, which will simply be an injection, and then on to the West Hall.”
Cheri put her hand over her mouth to cover her ear to ear grin. “Yes! I didn’t think we’d be able to get to it, but thanks for remembering.”
Now Bill’s stunning smile returned. “I couldn’t forget a promise. Let’s go quickly, now. They’re coming up the row behind us.”
Holding his hand aside his mouth, Ernie whispered, “Should we go straight across and then up one by one, or just go catty-corner up to the back of the third one?”
Bill almost laughed, but held it to a brief chuckle. “I’m not sure what you mean by ‘catty-corner’, but we’re fast. Our best bet is to go diagonally to our destination, rather than hop-scotch our way up the through-way.”
“Okay, so catty-corner then. Ready?” hissed Ernie, standing.
“Remember, we’re heading for this side of the third trailer to the left. Lucas, you and Miss Kim go first since you are the fastest, then Ernesto, then me. Right, on the count of three. One, two, three!” and I was off; I was so hyped up it may not have even taken a second for me to slide in to the near side of the third trailer, and we kneeled in the darkness; a moment later, Ernie came barreling in, with Bill just behind him.
“Did any of you see anyone?” Bill whispered, and we all shook our heads. “Good. They’ll have all the exits blocked by now, and when they’re done checking all the rows, they’ll search trailer by trailer, and I would guess that they have enough people with them to do four or five rows at a time. They’ll likely start in the middle, since that was our last known location, so they will probably come up this row very soon. Something few people know is that each of these trailers has a pass-through entrance in the floor, and that’s where we’re going. The pass-through comes up in a closet on this side of the trailer, so we’re close. Wait… do I hear something?”
We all froze in place, and then I clearly heard the heavy footfalls of about ten people, walking down the through-way in our direction, and Bill turned to us again with a grimace. “They’ll be searching the trailers in twos, which means we have just a couple of minutes before they get to this one. Quickly, under we go.”
Bill shimmied under the trailer, and we followed one by one, Ernie going last, and he could barely fit his bulk in the narrow gap. Bill found the spot he was looking for, pushed up, and in a few seconds we were all standing in an open closet, five techs staring at us. Their mouths may have been open wide, but I couldn’t tell because they were wearing surgical masks and head covers.
“Mr. Kane, what are you doing in there?” came a voice from behind one of the masks.
Mr. Kane smiled as if he was running for governor. “Hello, Dr. Lyles. Please, we haven’t much time. In a minute or two you’ll have security at your door, and you must let them in to search. I need you to tell them you have not seen us and have no idea where we are. That goes for all of you. Is that clear?”
A short man in the group's front raised his hands, and said, “Of course, but…”
“Sorry, no time for questions, I’m afraid. Quickly, prepare a dose of the new serum for Ms. Kim, here.”
Dr. Lyles stared for a second, then turned and clapped his hands. “You heard Mr. Kane. Janet, go to the freezer. Get a dose of serum Eighteen-D. Clarice, you prepare a syringe; we must do this old-school, we don’t have time to get the patient sedated. Sorry, Miss… wait, is that you, Chi?”
Oh, here we go again… she knows everyone…
“Hi, Danny. Yeah, no disguise this time. I guess you’re going to turn me into Supergirl, right?”
He chuckled, and despite his mask and head coverings, I noticed that he probably would be considered a handsome man. Dark, but with grey, twinkling eyes, and like everyone else he seemed to have a bit of a crush on Cheri.
He put his hand on her shoulder and sort of stared at her, and I’m not sure, but she seemed to blush a little. “Tell you what, we’ll get you as close as we can. This will only be good for roughly two weeks, but for that time you’ll be about three times as strong, three times as fast… pretty much triple everything. With repeated treatments, we could probably get you to quintuple or maybe a little more, but… I suppose we’ll worry about that later, eh? Oh, I heard about the arm, so sorry. Let’s get a look at that prosthetic.”
“Umm, Danny, sorry but we’re in a bit of trouble and need to hurry. Can you check it out another time?”
He backed up a step, seeming a little embarrassed. “Oh, of course. Ah, here we go, thank you Janet, Clarice. This goes in the back of the neck, and sorry, but it will hurt.”
“It’s okay, I can take it. I can’t make too much noise, though… I might need something to bite on. Wait, I’ll just use one of my new fingers. Come on, Danny, let’s get going.”
He held up the syringe, and Ernie made a loud, gulping sound; the needle was about eight centimeters long, and seemed as big around as… I can’t think of an excellent example, but the point is it was big. “Are you ready with the scanner, Clarice? Ah, good. We will go in between C-two and C-three, through the ligamental tissue and directly into the spinal column. You’ll feel an almost immediate sensation of strength. Once you get past the pain, that is.”
“Danny, please save the explanations. Just do it!” said Cheri, her voice garbled by the synthetic finger between her teeth.
“Oh, man, I can’t watch. I’m feeling kinda woozy,” said Ernie, slumping against the wall of the trailer.
“Okay, here we go… Clarice, tilt the screen this way a bit, thank you. Ah, there it is. We need to be careful, as you can imagine… one centimeter this way or that, and we’ll paralyze you.”
He pushed the needle in, and Cheri’s eyes immediately filled with tears; she made a small, sustained grunting sound, and reached out with her real hand and grabbed mine, squeezing with all her strength, shuddering as if she was freezing. At the same time, Dr. Lyles stared at the screen showing the interior of Cheri’s neck, humming tunelessly, “Right, just a bit more in the spinal column, and…”
There was a frightful pounding at the door of the lab, and a shout of, “Bright Hand security! Dr. Lyles, please open the door immediately, or we will have to use force to enter! We are looking for Mr. Kane!”
20
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
MEETING WITH SVC
121952 16:22
-They’ve blocked the exits, and they’re searching row by row. If they’re still there, we’ll find them.
-bring up that schematic of the interior of the cavern. How many do we have searching?
-Thirty eight total. Here is the image of the schematic.
-Holy crap, it’s easy to forget how big this place is. Let’s see, that’s… thirty rows, and thirty buildings in each row, and we only have thirty-eigh
t people? If it takes five minutes to search each building, that’s… three hours!
-We actually don’t have thirty-eight searching; we have to leave some at the exits to stop (WK) from leaving. There are three exits, but two of them go through the hall to (WK)’s office, which you can see highlighted in red on the image. The third exit goes out through what they call the East Hall, where the armory is.
-So they can get the weapons out quickly. Makes sense. But only three exits out of this monstrous place? Are we sure?
-That’s all that is in the schematic. It would have been rather difficult to dig an additional exit without us knowing it.
-But if anyone could do it, (WK) could, right?
-I suppose so. Still, we can’t send our people on a snipe hunt looking for what is probably an imaginary fourth exit. It’s much more likely that they are hiding in one of the labs, and that we will find them.
-How many do we have at each known exit?
-Two at the Entrance to (WK)’s office, and two at the East Hall. Their instructions are to shoot on sight and keep shooting until (WK) is down.
-By shoot, you mean…
-Yes, flechettes, of course. We may be dishonest and manipulative, but we are not killers.
-Hey, that’s a particularly negative spin, (SVC). Feeling guilty? I prefer to think of us as brutally pragmatic.
-And no one could argue with that.
-Okay, and as they are searching, they’re instituting protocol forty one P, informing the scientists we’re planning on moving that the Americans are coming, we have to move them for their safety, yadda yadda?
Reassemble (Singular Book 4) Page 12