Coded

by Kayla Bainbridge

  “Is Jennifer getting impatient?” Kennedy asked, worried about Taylor’s tone.

  “You can only do your best. No one can ask for more.”

  “That means yes,” Kennedy interpreted. She didn’t know what more the NSA could ask of her. Every time she got comfortable with her work school balance; something always tipped the scale. She could almost feel the exhaustion at the thought of deciphering more.

  “Alright, but I am only doing ten minutes tonight. I am trying to finish this paper early,” Kennedy said tiredly

  “Great, make it a good ten minutes,” Taylor agreed.

  “No problem,” Kennedy said, already reading the code. “This is very similar to the last coding. Is this from Jordan as well?”

  “You tell us,” Taylor said.

  “So far, Jordan is the only one that uses all this useless information to disguise the real code, so I'm assuming it is him. I think he is getting a little sloppy in that regard, this one wasn’t hidden as well.

  “Sloppy is good,” Dustin prompted.

  “Just like before, there are pages of information with only a few sentences or words telling us anything useful.”

  “Don't let him get the better of you,” Taylor replied.

  “Is it worth it?” Kennedy said looking at Taylor.

  “Jennifer and Brett said to decode it, we do not question their judgment.”

  “You’re right, I will do my best.”

  Kennedy spent the next twenty minutes trying to find the message within the message, despite only committing to ten.

  “Taylor, I don’t think anything is in there,” Kennedy said glancing over the paper for the tenth time. She had already deciphered the code, but it was just random words.

  “Alright, I think I have something,” Kennedy said through a yawn. She had looked and looked and finally found something. It was the key. It told her how to change the letters in the words and how to reorder the words. Quickly she translated the deciphered code. There were several threats against Kennedy inside the code like, “Don't read this to them, we will come and get you, you will be sorry for decoding this one.” Kennedy tried to just ignore those parts and found what the real message meant.

  “What is it?”

  “We've chosen a bomb,” Kennedy said, showing Taylor on the tablet, even though she knew he couldn’t read it.

  “What?”

  “A bomb,” Kennedy said again standing up. “Now I need to go home. I feel like I could sleep on this library table.”

  “Of course, let’s get you home.” Taylor said, getting her bag.

  “Thank you,” Kennedy said, walking to the door.

  By the time they had left campus Taylor had to mostly support Kennedy as she walked.

  ∆∆∆

  Once Taylor had gotten Kennedy safely into her room, he met with Dustin and Penny in Penny’s room. Kelsey and Lacey were both out for the night. They caught Penny up before they called Jennifer and Brett.

  Penny sat by and listened too.

  “A bomb?” Jennifer asked.

  “That is what she said,” Taylor said on the phone.

  “Do we know where? When? What type?”

  “That is all she got. She said that these codes are really hard for her to decode.”

  Jennifer considered this, “Jordan knows her abilities, so that would make sense that he would try and create additional challenges. Keep pushing her. Let me know if you get anything else.”

  “There is something else,” Taylor said hesitantly.

  “What is it?”

  “Kennedy is keeping something from us.”

  “Information?”

  “I think that Jordan is continuing to threaten her in...” he paused aware of Penny’s presence.

  Jennifer paused, “Yes, she sends us everything unfiltered. We are aware and we are monitoring it.”

  “I just see it bothering her.”

  “Try and keep her spirits up.”

  “Ok,” Taylor replied.

  “Very well, have a good night.”

  Taylor hung up the phone.

  “What do we know?” Penny asked.

  “Not much,” Dustin admitted.

  “What are we going to do?”

  “Our job,” Taylor said. “Protect Kennedy.”

  “But what has that to do with the bomb?” Penny asked.

  “Everything,” Dustin said.

  Penny didn’t push it further; she knew her place.

  Taylor went to get ready for bed. He knew that Jennifer was right, but the idea of Kennedy being threatened bothered him. Taylor wanted to shield her from Jordan, but there was nothing he could do about this.

  ∆∆∆

  Chapter 12

  L 01100

  The next morning Taylor could tell that Kennedy wasn't going to make it to her first class on time. Staying up late the previous night had consequences.

  Taylor sat outside Kennedy's door while he waited for her to get ready. How could one person do so much? Somehow Taylor was going to have to scale back on something, but he didn't know what to cut? Taking a deep breath, he heard the door open and tried to put on a good face.

  “Why didn't you wake me?” Kennedy said obviously flustered and in a hurry.

  Taylor walked quickly by her side, “Because you need sleep.”

  “Don't even give me a lecture about it today, I'm not in the mood.”

  Taylor didn't reply. He knew that Kennedy wanted to be a great student, and missing part of a class was going to compromise that in some small regard. Still, Taylor didn't worry too much about it. Missing part of one class wasn't going to kill Kennedy, she could just talk to someone else in the class to help catch up.

  Once they reached the door to her class, Kennedy took a deep breath to try and steady her heart rate, and then opened the door. American studies was a big class, over two hundred students. Taylor and Kennedy slipped in without too many people noticing. Sitting back, Taylor watched Kennedy pull out her laptop and scrambled down some notes. Other students looked interested, while most looked like they could fall asleep any moment. Then there were about five students who were actually asleep.

  The class seemed to drag on for Taylor. He was happy when the professor finally ended. He was erasing things on the board while Kennedy started to pack up her things. Then, as if the professor almost forgot something turned back to the class.

  “Kennedy Billings,” the professor said looking toward Kennedy. “Could I see you for a moment?”

  Shocked that the professor even knew her name, Taylor raised his eyebrows towards Kennedy.

  “What is this about?” Taylor asked as the students began to leave the room.

  “I don't know,” Kennedy said looking a little worried.

  “I guess we'll just have to find out,” Taylor said as the last remaining students left.

  “Yes professor?” Kennedy asked.

  “Alone,” the professor replied.

  Taylor didn't want to leave Kennedy alone, but couldn't think of an excuse for being there. Slowly he got up and went to kiss Kennedy on the cheek, but instead just whispered in her ear.

  “I'll be right out that door,” Taylor said pointing to the one nearest to them.

  “I'll be fine,” Kennedy said as she also got up to walk to the front of the class.

  Taylor lingered as long as he could before he left the classroom. Closing the classroom door, Taylor tried to act casual while he leaned against a wall.

  “What's up?” Dustin asked, leaning next to Taylor.

  “Not sure, the professor wanted to talk to her.”

  “I thought that class was over two hundred students?”

  “It is,” Taylor confirmed.

  “Do you think he has all the students’ names memorized?”

  “It could be something else. Maybe something in her registration, or a faulty assignment submission. There are lots of reasons why he would want to talk to her.”

  Dustin paused a moment, “Don'
t you think this is a little suspicious?”

  Taylor contemplated what Dustin was saying. Could a professor really be a threat? Surely everyone on the staff had passed the background check, or else Taylor wouldn't have picked them for Kennedy's teachers. But you can never be too careful. Looking down at his watch, Taylor saw that there had been a small peak in her heart rate, but that could be just nerves. Now it seemed to be normal.

  Another minute passed, and Taylor decided he better check it out, just to be sure. He turned towards the door and tried the handle.

  “It's locked,” Taylor said to Dustin, suddenly more worried.

  “Not good,” Dustin said, pulling a lock set out of his backpack.

  “I'm kicking it down!” Taylor said not wanting to wait for a lock to be picked.

  “Shhhh, Taylor, calm down. There are dozens of students around, you are going to cause some attention,” Dustin said as he picked the lock.

  Impatiently, Taylor waited another few seconds before Dustin popped the door open. Slipping inside, Taylor looked around and saw the room empty. The room was a large stadium seating classroom, with two aisles leading down to the lecture area. On the front wall there were several white boards and one black board, and then on the far right was a door.

  “She must have gone through there,” Dustin said, coming to the same conclusion. “It must lead to the professor's offices.”

  Dustin and Taylor both ran down the aisle towards the door. Taylor pulled out his gun and motioned for Dustin to open the door. Slowly, Taylor entered the hallway and quickly checked left and right with his gun raised. The hallway was clear. Signaling Dustin, they quickly decided for Taylor to go left and Dustin to go right. They had been right about the hallway leading to professor offices. Tactfully, Taylor kept his weapon ready, but concealed as he walked by the offices. Most of them were empty since they were teaching classes, but a few had professors working on their computers.

  Carefully, Taylor checked each office through the window. None of the offices were very big, and definitely not big enough to conceal two humans without being noticed. As Taylor got to the end of the hallway, he heard something around the corner. Pushing himself against the wall, he braced himself before he turned with his gun raised.

  “Stop!” Taylor said before seeing who he was pointing his gun at.

  Sure enough, there was a man with a hooded jacket helping Kennedy walk down towards the exit door. Another man walked in front of them.

  The hooded man carefully passed Kennedy to the other man, who hoisted Kennedy over his shoulder. Something was wrong with her; Taylor could tell by her lack of reaction.

  “I said stop!” Taylor warned.

  This time, the hooded man turned to meet Taylor, while the other man exited the building.

  “What did you do to her? Who are you?” Taylor said, walking briskly forward. His gun raised to the hooded man. Currently they were about fifty feet apart.

  “Nice to meet you too,” the man said with his hands raised in the air. “Let's not do anything stupid. I'm simply helping his young lady get to her car. She seems to be sick.”

  “Drop the act!” Taylor , now ten feet closer. He carefully pushed a small button on his watch that would notify Dustin he needed backup. This could turn bad very quickly, so Taylor tried to ignore Kennedy for the moment. He focused on the lone man standing in front of him.

  “What are you talking about?” the man replied as three other men came back through the door to join him.

  Taylor was now only twenty feet away.

  The hooded man threw something on the ground and the room exploded with smoke. Taylor heard gunshots and jumped to the ground. He started to crawl through the smoke.

  “Till next time,” the man said, leaving the building.

  The smoke detectors suddenly went off. Taylor started coughing as he crawled faster. He couldn’t see anything in front of him now, and his eyes started to burn. Hearing the panic outside Taylor feared the worst. Where were they taking Kennedy? He focused on getting to the door.

  After two minutes, light appeared in front of him.

  “Taylor?” Dustin called.

  “Here!” Taylor said as he cleared the final distance.

  Dustin met him and dragged him outside. “Come on!”

  “Dustin,” Taylor said through coughs. “I couldn’t…Kennedy.”

  “Don’t worry, we have her. Let’s get you in the car.”

  Taylor looked up unbelieving. He then heard sirens approaching.

  Penny pulled the car around, Dustin got in the back and Taylor grabbed the front.

  “Get us out of here penny!” Dustin said and she sped off.

  “Here,” Dustin offered him a water bottle from the back seat, “drink some water.”

  Kennedy was leaning against the window, she looked glazed over.

  “Taylor?” Kennedy said weakly.

  Taylor was still coughing, so Dustin asked. “Kennedy, what happened?”

  Kennedy took a minute, “Jordan came...and told me he was going to...take me. I... fought back but...he stabbed me with a needle.” Kennedy struggled to keep her head up and acted wasted.

  Taylor looked away for a second, he felt ashamed. How could’ve he been so stupid? Seeing her like this was tearing him apart.

  “Sorry, Kennedy, how do you feel?” Penny asked, as she carefully but quickly drove down the street.

  “I feel...weak, lopsided, and tired.”

  Dustin had pulled another kit out of the backpack and quickly started to fill a syringe.

  “No!” Kennedy said, reacting frantically. The quick transformation of Kennedy’s state of mind was alarming.

  “Kennedy,” Dustin said calmly.

  “I don’t want to go back there!” she screamed.

  Taylor and Dustin didn’t know what she was talking about.

  Dustin nodded, “We need to get the toxins out.”

  “No, no more needles!”

  “We would never hurt you,” Taylor said calmly. “This will help you feel like yourself.”

  “Penny, pull over,” Dustin commanded.

  She quickly pulled over to a side road, “We need to keep moving.”

  “Kennedy first,” Taylor corrected her.

  “No!” Kennedy screamed petrified as she tried to open the door. Her hands struggled to grasp the handle.

  Taylor had already exited the car and walked over to her side. He opened the door and gently held her up, she could barely hold her own weight.

  “Taylor, I need you to hold her down.”

  “No! I said...no...leave me alone,” Kennedy’s speech was slurred.

  Taylor held her arm out, despite her denial.

  “Dustin is going to help you,” he tried to reassure her.

  Dustin quickly injected the syringe into her arm and Taylor then let go of her.

  “I'm leaving!” Kennedy said as she sluggishly tried to back up. She took a step on unsteady legs. Taylor stood at the ready. She wouldn’t last much longer.

  Turning to face Taylor Kennedy said, “I don't need your...”

  Kennedy's eyes were bloodshot. Slowly she took a step away from Taylor, but then leaned into him.

  “I don’t feel so good…” she said, closing her eyes. At first Taylor held her steady, but then her knees buckled, and he instantly swept her in his arms. She was unconscious. It had been months since she had passed out. There was something comforting about her being back in his arms.

  “Rest, Kennedy,” he whispered.

  “Quickly Taylor,” Dustin said, motioning back to the car.

  Taylor set her carefully in a seat. Dustin had already moved to the front passenger seat. Taylor slowly closed the door and ran around to the other side of the car. He then sat next to her and gently laid her head against his shoulder.

  “Go!” Taylor said.

  Penny started up the car again.

  “How long will the drugs last?” Penny asked.

  “Kennedy has some unique c
ircumstances…” Dustin referenced. “It makes anything like this unpredictable. I’m going to guess an hour?”

  “Will we make it to the safe house before then?” Taylor asked.

  “No,” Penny said.

  “I’ll give her another dose in half an hour. That will ensure we make it and give us time to situate her there.”

  “Ok,” Taylor said, agreeing. He also didn’t want to deal with the fallout in the car. Kennedy was going to be furious.

  On the way to the safe house, Dustin called Brett and Jennifer. He caught them up on their situation. Then he called the safe house to inform them they were in route.

  “That was a close one,” Dustin said after finishing his phone calls.

  “Too close,” Taylor said. “What happened?”

  “As soon as I knew something was up, I told Penny to meet me. When you turned down one hallway, I went the other way. It ended after a few doors, so I went outside. I could see a team of five waiting on the other side of the building. Working my way over Penny had caught up with me. Together we were nervous to attack the team, but then they split up. Three members of the team went into the building, that was our chance. We quickly disarmed the remaining two and grabbed Kennedy.

  Penny helped Kennedy get to the car, while I finished off the last of the team and went back for you.

  “We need to find out exactly what that drug was. I can't believe they risked drugging her,” Dustin said as he flipped open his computer.

  “How are we going to do that?” Taylor asked as he turned his attention back to Dustin. “She seems ok now.”

  “I gave her the medicine that will help get the toxin out, but it also had a tiny transmitter that will send me the chemicals that made up the toxin. I will then be able to tell which drug was used.”

  “High tech,” Taylor said simply.

  “Yes, very high tech,” Dustin said,

  Dustin’s phone rang.

  “Yes?” Dustin asked. “Yes, I understand. Of course.”

  “What is it?” Penny asked as Dustin hung up.

  “They are sending the plane.”

  “Where are we going?” Taylor asked.

  “Back to headquarters.”

  “What about Kennedy?” Penny asked.