“Don’t move, Doc,” she heard Jack whisper. “I have a knife under your throat. We need to talk.”
“Ja…Jack, don’t do this,” Dr. Morrison gasped. “Wh…what’s this all about?”
Jack ran his hand softly up her side. She trembled under the unmoving blade, and tried to press her head further into the pillow. The weight of his hand, holding the knife under her chin, made her breathing difficult. “It’s about survival, Doc, yours in particular. Listen closely to what I say, and then answer my questions quickly and truthfully.”
Jack slowly moved and guided her body so he ended in a position, where she found herself staring directly into his eyes, without the knife moving even minutely. The warm, compassionate gaze Dr. Morrison knew… had disappeared. In its place was a cold, almost inhuman tightness in his eyes. In a split second looking into Jack’s face hovering close over hers, she saw her own death. She saw no hesitation, and no mercy. “I…I’m listening.”
“Very good. We know all about you and Kardel… never mind how. We know your plans, and your aspirations. I know now Kardel’s no Captain. Just how much power does he have?”
“He…he comes from a special ops unit back East. When he arrived, our chain of command changed to go through him, on any field operations, and anything to do with computer and bio warfare. He has worked your group for a long time, and has dossiers on all of you. No one gives him orders here.”
“That explains why I haven’t met any other General Officers. Where did you come from Doc?”
“I told you the truth about that. He recruited me, and trained me to infiltrate your group. I was only to gather and relay information to him. Please Jack… I’m not your enemy I…I was…” she tensed as the knife moved ever so slightly.
“None of that, Doc. I know better. You have one way to live. Do as I say and work with us, or I will cut you up into pieces and stuff you into the air vent. You can go to Kardel, and tell him what’s happened, but you and he will die long before we do. I want you to keep us informed of every item you discuss with Kardel, and I will need all the computer codes you have, and all the ones you can get secretly from him. You can be useful to us Doc. Make a decision.”
Tears began to trickle from the corners of her eyes. “You know I have no choice.”
The knife turned against her neck, and she moaned through her clenched teeth. “Convince me, Doc, or this conversation ends now.”
“Oh my God! Jack, please… I don’t want to die. I will do whatever you say!”
“Good. I like your attitude. I’m going to sit up, and pull this knife back gently. You sit up slowly, and make no quick moves.”
Jack eased his knife hand back, and sat up. Dr. Morrison’s body heaved as she lay still, and gasped for breath. She sat up as ordered, and ran her hand shakily up under her chin. She felt the blood flow, and held her left hand tightly against the wound. She looked into Jack’s face as he watched her emotionlessly.
“You bastard,” she cried, and slapped at him with her right hand. Jack caught it in his left hand, and started to squeeze her wrist slowly, until she began to feel the bones begin to crack.
“And then some Doc, and then some. I’ll chalk that up to momentary stupidity. Don’t ever do that again. Are we clear?”
She nodded, terrified, and the pressure eased on her wrist. He moved closer to her, and gripped her other wrist in his right hand, pressing her down against the bed. She cried out as he forced her legs apart and entered her. The intensity of the last few moments gripped her, and she unwillingly climaxed again.
She opened her eyes to see Jack’s unwavering gaze, as she felt him ejaculate inside of her, without ever showing it in any muscle of his face. He smiled when he saw her watching him: a grim, awful, humorless smile, filled not with joy or release, but only with death.
“Another thing, Doc,” Jack said as he sat up, and traced his fingers down the side of her face. “You’ll need to work on your acting skills.”
He cupped her wounded chin in his hand and tilted her head up. “The way for all of us to leave here alive, depends on all of us maintaining a certain decorum. You and I will meet for dinner every night, and then come back up here. Whatever you have for me, you can pass it to me then.”
“Kardel's no fool. He misses nothing. One slip up, and we will die.”
“You and he will surely be dead. Just relax and do what I tell you, Doc. Sit still, and I’ll get some peroxide, and a Band-Aid for you. Jack got up, and picked up the knife he had used on her. He turned to go into the bathroom as she sat up. He stopped, and looked over at her again admiringly.
“I will say this Doc, you are one fine looking woman. Oh, and don’t bother looking for the 9mm you had in your nightstand. I had Steve and Peter come in, sweep for bugs, and weapons before we got up here.”
Jack returned to the bed with the first aid items, and cleaned the tiny wound under her chin. He put a little antibiotic cream on it, and covered it with the Band-Aid. He felt the tenseness in her body. He finished the first aid, and turned her over on her stomach. She didn’t bother to resist, as he massaged her shoulders and neck, working his way down her back. She said nothing, but Jack felt her relax under his touch. He entered her again from behind, and she started to twist away in protest, but her body betrayed her once again. Jack leaned down until his lips were near her ear.
“You’ll do fine, Doc. Meet us for breakfast at 7AM. We’ll smooth a few of the rough edges over then, okay?”
She nodded, and Jack dressed. He left the room. She cried after he left, in fear and frustration, but also with a longing she had never experienced before.
Jack’s crew met with him in his room when he called. They all sat down, grimly waiting for bad news.
“First off, are we clear here Steve?”
He got a nod from Steve before proceeding. “We’ll meet with the Doc at seven for breakfast. I want us all to get to know each other in a new way, and see where we go from here. She will try and get the codes for us from Kardel’s computer.”
“You told her we know what’s going on,” Mitch asked. “Why don’t we just turn ourselves in and ask for a quick death.”
“She’s with us now,” Jack said simply.
“How in hell do you know that for sure,” Paul asked, as conflicted as Mitch.
“He explained it to her,” Steve said seriously. “What the hell? Use your damn imaginations! Did you think maybe he offered her a tootsie roll pop?”
“Anyway, we need to keep an eye on Kardel and Morrison. How did you all do with escape routes and power locations?”
They spent the next two hours plotting, and agreeing on three separate plans, one primary and two backups. Responsibility for blowing the power centers went to Jack, with Mitch helping when needed. Paul gave him a sketch, with the locations, and what security each of the centers had.
“This sounds great. I hope we end up not needing any of it, but now we at least have it. We will take care of the details, and then practice it. Let’s get some sleep and return to work tomorrow on it,” Jack said. “Keep your weapons and packs close by. If things go south, we’ll need to move quickly. If there’s nothing else, we better call it a night, except for all of those who have other date plans.”
“One thing Dad,” Sarah said. “Does this mean you’ll be staying here tonight?”
“Yeah… why,” Jack said cautiously.
“I was just wondering if Jake and I would have to scratch you up to make you feel at home.”
“Why you… little…" Jack sputtered, “no good rotten…” He caught up his daughter as everyone in the room burst into laughter.
“Now, I know why Tigers eat their young,” Jack said as he shook his squealing daughter upside down off the floor. He looked up between shakes. “The rest of you hyenas get out, and we’ll see you all in the morning.”
__
They were eating breakfast, when Dr. Morrison walked up with her tray. She smiled nervously, and sat down in the empty seat
next to Jack. He reached over and took her hand. Everyone at the table saw her shudder at his touch.
“The Doc has joined our little group. She will be sitting in on a few of our more intimate, meetings.”
“Welcome aboard, Doc,” Mitch said. “You have chosen wisely.”
“I…I’ll do what I can,” she said nervously.
“Don’t force any conversations, or be seen where you shouldn’t be,” Paul advised.
“Don’t worry, Dr. Morrison,” Sarah added, “We’ll watch your back.”
Dr. Morrison dropped her fork, and Mitch picked it up and handed it to her. “Loosen up, Doc. You’ll be fine. Think of it this way. It will be a hell of a lot easier than spying on us.”
“Jack and I will need a distraction when we go into Kardel’s office, Doc, so I can snatch the bug back,” Steve said. “Think you can handle that?”
Dr. Morrison nodded as she looked at her plate. Jack put his arm around her shoulders. “She’ll fit in with us just fine, won’t you honey? Okay, enough of the play. Give Steve and I about ten minutes to present the list, and shoot the bull with Kardel. You come in, and go around to show him something. Do you have anything you can make plausibly important to show him?”
“I can write a note to show him, saying you know he’s setting you up, and he had better kill you both where you sit.”
After the laughter died down, Steve leaned over towards her. “I think I’m beginning to like you, Doc. Now, do you have something else you can show him?”
“I’ll think of something,” she replied. “I have a new lab report based partly on a computer model he hasn’t seen.”
“Good,” Jack said. “Steve and I will take the list to him now. You finish up, and come over with whatever you can think of to either draw his attention, or get him out of the office for a second.”
“Okay,” Dr. Morrison agreed. “Anything else?”
“No. Go back to work as usual, and see what you can dig up at your computer. Are you finished Steve?”
Steve nodded. The two men gathered their trays along with the new list, and headed to the front entrance.
“We’re glad you're with us Dr. Morrison,” Sarah said. “I hope Dad didn’t frighten you too badly.”
Dr. Morrison’s head jerked up with a startled look. “He didn’t tell… I mean you don’t…”
“He didn’t have to tell us anything, Doc,” Paul interjected. “If you weren’t here with us now, you would be in small pieces, shoved in an air vent somewhere, and we’d be running for our lives to get out of here before they noticed.”
“The important thing,” Debbie said, “will be Sarah and I not being the only women.”
“Oh yeah,” Nick cut in. “That’s the important thing.”
“Come on,” Mitch said. “Let’s leave the Doc to finish eating. We’ll hit the range.”
“Cool,” Jake said. “Dad likes you Dr. Morrison, I can tell.”
“How do you know that,” Dr. Morrison asked, as she watched them get up to leave.
Jake turned towards her. “Because you’re still alive, and you only have a Band-Aid on your chin.” Jake saw the tears start from her eyes, and she turned away. He came back to the table, and put his arm around her shoulder.
“I’m sorry. He does like you though. He just cares about us more.”
“He…he would have killed me, just as you said.”
“Yes ma’am, he would have killed you to protect us. My Uncles said he probably killed over forty men the last few days we were out. It looks to him like we’ll be at war forever, even against our own people. Dad wants to get us through it alive. He’s hard, Doc. If he wasn’t, we would all be dead. We were snowed in for three weeks straight in the shelter. Dad kept telling us how lucky we were to be in the mountains, and who wanted to be warm anyway. He never let us get down, or let us freak out, and everyone knew we survived those weeks because of him. You’re alive and so are we. You’re one of us now, and he’ll keep you alive too. You better go now Doc. They’ll need that distraction.”
Dr. Morrison turned and caught Jake’s arm. “He won't ever trust me, Jake. I would have sold you all out. He knows that.”
“My Dad told me it’s never too late to live with honor. When you get a late start, it just takes longer. You better go, Doc.
“Thanks, Jake.”
“Hey, no problem. I like you too Doc. No hard feelings. We’ve been in tight places before. See you later.”
“Bye Jake.” She watched him catch up to the others, wondering if it were possible to gain such simple faith in anything. She finished her coffee, and set out on the first step back.
__
“These lists are very complete Jack, and highly imaginative,” Kardel mused. “Did you come up with this surveillance list, Steve?”
“Yes. I think we may need all of it to gain the intel we need to complete the mission.”
“You may well be right about that. Can we keep the violence to a minimum?”
“How can we know that Tom,” Jack asked reasonably.
“It’s just that you have some heavy ordinance on this list.”
“True. I have the lives of everyone I’ve ever cared about on the line.”
Kardel stared at the list for few more moments. “I trust your instincts, Jack. I will order your list filled. If…”
Dr. Morrison strode into the room purposely. “Captain, I need you to see these lab reports.”
Kardel noticed the seriousness in Dr. Morrison’s tone. He took the report from her hands. “Excuse me for a second gentlemen.”
The second he stepped near Dr. Morrison, and turned slightly away, Steve moved quickly. Within a second he had the bug in his hand, and was again sitting in his seat.
“You can see the problem with implementation of the inoculation program.”
Kardel searched Morrison’s face for some clue, or underlying reason for her reluctance. “I see why you have some reservations Doctor, but if you aren’t prepared to accept the losses which might occur, perhaps you’re not the one to complete this mission.”
“It’s my duty to present the probable losses. They were alarming enough to let you know. I will of course implement the program as ordered.”
“Your concerns are noted,” Kardel replied, “however, the alternative leaves us without an option. Carry it out as planned, with the same dosage Dr. Chen recommended.”
Morrison nodded, and took the report with her. Kardel turned his attention to Jack and Steve. "If there’s nothing else, I will get to work on your list, and you can continue the training. Let me know if you have any further problems." He shook hands with them both, and sat down as they left the room.
Chapter 23
The Bonding
“She cut that a little close,” Jack said.
“Or pretty damn good timing,” Steve replied. “I liked the little zinger she hit us with at breakfast. It shows she can roll with the punches, so to speak.”
“I didn’t punch her.”
“Whatever. Do you have anything planned for tonight?”
“Collect her computer codes, and see if you can make head or tail out of what she can get into. Even if she can get Kardel’s codes, I don’t want you trying to hack in until we get the hell out of here.”
“I agree. We can hide the source out there. You be careful with her, Jack. Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep.”
Jack laughed. “I’ll be careful.”
“I don’t want to see you get a pubic trim, if you know what I mean.”
“Ouch… me either. Let’s get over to the range. I feel like trying one of those rifles out.”
“I want to hit the gym with you guys today, since I won’t be getting into trouble,” Steve said.
“If not for you and Peter, Kardel would have had us playing footsies with the gangs, while he decided when to kiss us off.”
“Do you think we can stay cool until we get out of here?”
“I don’t know, Steve. If we concent
rate on the training, maybe we won’t have time to screw up. The Doc relaxed things a little this morning. No one notices anything around here. They’re so used to the War, a little group of adults and kids flitting around, will only create a stir if Kardel has someone watching us who has some expertise."
“I thought of that,” Steve replied. “I don’t have the hairs on the back of my neck standing up like they do when someone’s watching me.”
“I haven’t noticed anything either. We can’t take anything for granted though.”
“We should back off on setting charges in the power stations, Jack. I know it’s a gamble, but I think it’s more of a gamble setting them.”
“You may be right. I just hate the thought of being trapped,” Jack said.
“If we keep a close eye on the King Rat, we can cut the head off the snake, just like you said last night, before it starts wrapping its tail around our necks.”
“He’s no dummy either. I’ll see if the Doc can find out his daily schedule. We shouldn’t be following him around like a toy wagon tied to his ankles. I’m taking Wolf along with me tonight so he can get used to her.”
“And watch your back.”
“That too,” Jack admitted. “If Kardel finds out we’re onto him, we’ll need to make him disappear for a while.”
“Power does some strange things. I wonder when he turned to the dark side.”
“Probably about the time the more visible enemy was on the run, a new, more sinister picture began forming in Mr. Kardel’s imagination.”
“He was shown the force too soon, Obi Wan?”
“Exactly,” Jack replied, “but I don’t think I’ll be around long enough to turn him back to the light. I have hopes of accomplishing the mission without Darth Kardel finding out about it until it’s too late. He may then only be able to accept it.”
__
They arrived at the range as the kids finished firing. Mitch saw them first, and walked over to meet them with a big smile. “How’d the meeting go?”
“Very well, thank you. I expect to be able to sleep under a roof tonight.”
American Survival (DeLeo's Action Thriller Singles Book 5) Page 24