"Can we continue our mission now?" Kim folded her arms. "Or are there some lab rats you want to rescue? Are there some rabbits you want to set free?"
"Oh, I almost forgot." Kat shouted after the techs, "Wait!" She rushed into the hall and to the men. "Take this." She handed Peters her Beretta and magazines. "Do you know how to use one?"
He glanced at the gun and took it. "Yes, and thanks."
Kat started, "To terminate an Un-Man you have to..."
"Hit the automaton brain between their eyes," Peters interrupted her. "Yes, I know. It was me and Maxwell that decided the Un-Men's vulnerability. They're still hard to kill, but not indestructible in case something like this happened."
The three men hastened their steps.
Kat watched till they were out of sight, turned to rush down the hall, and almost ran into the scowling Kim.
Kimberly's view...
"You didn't give that man your only gun, did you?"
"Maybe..." she answers me like a child who isn't sure if she's in trouble or not. "They might run into a T-3; they'll need it."
"And you don't think you will?"
She shrugs as she tells me, "I plan on avoiding the T-3s, and you destroyed my tracking beacon, so they don't know I'm here. Hopefully, I won't run into any."
Feeling a bit responsible for what's going to happen to her, I blink twice. I feel like I've been caught in a lie, but that woman doesn't know I betrayed her stupid trust. I think about how I'm going to hand her over to the Rogue. I frown at my own thoughts; surely I'm not feeling guilty. She's the idiot who gave her gun away, and if she dies, it's her own fault.
I tell her, "Come on, let's get this over with." We hurry through the corridor as I question, "Was that blond guy a friend of yours? I mean the two of you acted..."
"No," she interrupts me. She sounds like she's not sure how she feels about him. "He's my shadow. He's my constant phantom in the darkness."
"O-kay..." I utter.
Even her friends are freaks.
We run through several more halls, and I stop and say, "Here's your room." I slide the green keycard down a reader, unlock the door, and hand the card to that woman. "Be careful, the T-3s might not know you're here, but that doesn't mean you're safe."
"I know." She takes the card, starts in, and pauses. "Good luck. I hope one of us finds the disk."
"Thanks. Ah... See you later."
I rush across the hall, feeling like my whole body's made of lead, and it's dragging me down. I can't be feeling guilty. Closers don't experience guilt. I pause in my tracks. The Rogue did want a fight, so it's only fair that I give it what it wants, so I hurry back to the Research Lab and yell, "Katharine!"
That woman returns to the door. "Yes?" Hopeful, she asks me, "Did you find something?"
"No, I only wanted to..." I hand her a PPK and some magazines. "Here, take my backup."
"Thanks." She takes the gun and starts back in as she tells me, "Stay safe."
"Sure, you too."
I continue through the hall. There, I can say I did help her, and now my mind can rest at ease, not that I ever felt a smidgen of guilt. That strange woman means nothing to me and discovering who murdered my mom is more important than any stupid project's life.
Chapter Thirty-nine
The Two Rooms
7:10 P.M...
Kat entered Research Lab Five and found the room abandoned; cobwebs and dust abounded, and a musty smell lingered. She set her backpack on a chair and stared at the gutted computer workstations then moved on to three rectangular tables, and they contained racks filled with test tubes labeled with numeric codes, beakers containing liquid in a rainbow of hues, and about a dozen binocular microscopes. A poster of the periodic table containing 126 elements hung on the wall. She counted the different colored squares and thought she remembered there being only 118 elements. Kat shrugged. She searched through drawers and cabinets, under tables and chairs, and every crack and crevasse that could possibly hide a disk. She searched twice, but found nothing. Kat saw a door in the back of the room, walked to it, and paused, wondering if she should enter. She glanced above the door to a name plate, The Gallery. Kat wiggled the locked knob and noticed the door had no keycard access only a hand scanner. She could go back and drag one of the employees in here, but she didn't think she wanted to touch any dead bodies. Kat looked at her right palm. She could try her hand; she was part of the Sphinx Corporation. It could work or she could set off an alarm then the T-3s would know they were there. Maybe she should ask Kim or she could just take the chance. The T-3s might not know why an alarm was going off if she set off one. Kat shrugged, placed her hand on the device, and held her breath, not knowing what would happen. She winced and leaned back slightly as if the scanner would explode.
The reader buzzed as a horizontal bar of white light scanned her palm, and the reader stated in a male robotic voice, "Hand print not on record." It scanned her palm a second time with a vertical bar of blue light and stated, "No cipher detected. Access denied."
Kat straightened her stance. It didn't let her in, but at least it didn't sound an alarm. She stepped back from the door. It did mention a cipher. Didn't that mean zero or code? Kat stared at the star on her left palm. Or maybe a mark? She placed that hand on the reader, and the device activated again, scanning first with the horizontal bar of white light.
"Hand print not on record," it stated and scanned her palm a second time with the vertical bar of blue light. "Cipher detected. Activating micro-reader." A diagonal bar of white light scanned her palm. "Access granted."
The door unlocked, and she turned the knob and entered a larger room lit only by accent lights. She left the door open in case Kim came in looking for her, paused just inside the entrance, and scanned the area. The room smelled old, not musty like the other one but old like a museum. No computers or lab equipment were inside only several life size white marble statues, and they were all of the same bearded man in different poses. He was wearing a robe and holding various objects, and all of the statues pointed to a wall in the back. She walked to the wall, and it looked like the others in the room; it was tiled with light brown marble. Kat started to put her hand to the wall when she felt heat and something vibrating against her leg. She reached into her thigh pocket, pulled out the music box, and found a blue square on each end she had never seen before glowing through the metal. She touched them at the same time, and the hologram of Theresa Griffin appeared.
"Katharine, so I see Kimberly gave you the box as instructed." The hologram glanced around the room and stated, "It is safe to talk."
"You look just like her." Kat waved her hand through the 3D image. "Like Kimberly. She told me about you." She paused and asked, "Why did the music box vibrate?"
"My sensors detected an object nearby that you need to retrieve."
Excited, she asked, "The disk Kimberly is looking for?"
"No," the hologram answered, not sure what Kat was talking about. "A Data Crystal."
"A Data Crystal? Like on Star Trek?"
"Star Trek? Is that a space program one of the corporations is working on?"
"No."
"The device I am talking about is especially designed to transfer information to this data storage unit. The Data Crystal is behind you."
Excited, Kat turned and noticed one of the statues held out his hand with a white crystal as if offering it to her. She took hold of the two inch obelisk and lifted it from his marble grasp.
"Now–" the hologram started, "–place the flat part of it on the bottom of the music box."
Kat did, and a glow emanated from the crystal, and the light threw out a spectrum of colors around the dimly lit room.
The hologram closed her eyes as the storage unit downloaded the data. "It is complete." The hologram opened her eyes, looking to her.
Kat placed the crystal in her pocket and glanced at the statues again. "Who
is he?"
"He is Ginn L. Irynkissgthie."
"Why does the Factory have statues of him? And why so..." Kat turned to the entrance.
lub-DUB... lub-DUB...
"What is wrong?" the hologram asked.
"We have company." Kat set the PPK's safety off and took cover behind a statue.
"The Alpha Phase," the hologram spoke then lowered her voice. "The ability to sense bio-mechas; I thought I would never see it fulfilled."
The hologram's statement puzzled Kat, and she asked, "What do you mean by fulfilled?"
"Never mind that now. What is it?" the hologram whispered. "An Un-Man?"
Kat focused her ability, stretched out her senses past the next room and into the hall, and detected it. The bane of her existence had found her again.
"Worse!" she forced out as she stared at the entrance.
Fear seized her like a python, and it wrapped itself around her and squeezed the courage from her, and she could hardly breathe.
The Rogue stepped through the door, searched the room, and noticed the pointing statues. "I think I like it better; yes, it is better we cannot track you anymore. It is more sporting, and as for your question, Pandora..." The Rogue glanced behind the first statue, searching for her. "Why does the Factory have statues of Ginn L. Irynkissgthie some obscure composer from five hundred years ago whose only work was never finished?" It continued searching. "I wondered the same thing, but have yet to find the answer."
Kat backed up, moving into the shadows and dared not engage this Un-Man.
"On a different note, while I was searching I did find something interesting buried deep in the archives of the Factory. Before they developed bio-mechas, the Sphinx Corporation explored a very interesting concept." The Rogue peered behind another statue. "They tried to develop organic-mechas; they were machines with flesh and bone that could pass as human. They can pass more than us and as you know, Un-Men only seem human on the outside. Certain things give us away like wires and circuitry when we are injured or black oil when we bleed, but I am straying from my purpose." The Rogue scraped its blade across a statue's steel base and friction-flashes ignited. "Come out Pandora, let us end our battle here."
She pressed her body against a wall as perspiration speckled her face.
"What are you afraid of?" the hologram whispered. "Disable it. You have the ability."
"I can't," Kat whispered and remembered the countless battles where it nearly killed her. "It's the Rogue, the only Un-Man I'm unable to destroy, and it's fast so very fast."
"Oh," the hologram said with a hint of worry. "I will leave you to your work."
Her image disappeared as Kat considered if her purpose, the reason she existed was to destroy bio-mechas. The thought frightened her more than the thought of facing the Rogue. Maybe she had been created only to destroy. She stared at the PPK for a long time, wanting to run away, but there was no other way out of the room. She'd have to face the Rogue if she wanted to help Kim, so she gripped the music box and gun, took a deep breath, rescued her courage from the fear python, and stepped from the shadows.
"Who were you talking to?" the Rogue asked.
She lifted her hands, motioning to the room. "Do you see anyone?"
"No, are you talking to yourself? Are you near your breaking point?"
"Let's get this over with."
Kat lifted the gun, firing three shots, and the Rogue quickly moved and evaded the projectiles, and then it lunged for her, bringing the knife overhead and struck. She crossed her wrists and blocked its hand, and her arms shook as the blade bore down millimeters from her face. The Rogue toyed with her; it could easily overpower her if it wanted to. It lifted its hand and struck again, hitting her block, and this time, the blow knocked the music box from her hand. It slid across the floor, hit the corner of a statue, opened, and Unfinished Melody played. Kat struggled against the Rogue while fighting the hypnotic effects of the melody.
The music box played several notes, and the Rogue leaped back. It looked to the music box then back to Kat. "Why do you..."
She put a free hand to her head, fighting the sleepiness. If she fell into the Drifting Time now, the Rogue would kill her. She had to fight it! She had to stay awake!
"It cannot be!" It pointed the blade at her. "Puck!" Flabbergasted by its fantastic realization, the Rogue paced the room. "It cannot be!" It paused. "Could this be the reason? Is this why I cannot stop hunting you?" The Rogue pointed the knife at her again, accusing, "You are one of them!" It calmed itself, and its face softened, yearning for the truth. The Rogue gently asked, hoping this was the answer it had been searching for, "Are you one of them?"
Chapter Forty
The Price
7:37 P.M...
Kimberly's view...
A security desk marks the boundary between Green and Yellow Division as I hurry past a dead guard slumped in a chair. I run through several more halls, following the Rogue's directions on the blueprint for Yellow Division, and it'll take me about fifteen minutes to arrive at my destination. There better be a disk, and it better have something of value on it or I'll deal with the Rogue myself. Damaged lights flicker and pop in the last section before Computer Lab Two and darken the hall. Oil mingling with the smell of decaying bodies hits me as I remove my night vision goggles from the knapsack and place them on. I activate the goggles, and the area lights up in a green hue.
A disabled Un-Man and several dead S.C.Ms. line the hall. I grip my gun as I continue, unaffected by the carnage. I use the yellow keycard to unlock Computer Lab Two, remove my goggles, turn on the lights, shut the door, and lock it. The gray room's huge. Workstations form a triangle in the center with one workstation at its tip, facing the front door; ten run down each side, running at a forty-five degree angle, and seventeen form the triangle's base. Each workstation has a white computer desk, a smoke-colored computer chair, and a light gray six foot partition wall behind it. I walk to the workstation at the tip. The desk has a name plate with the number one on it. I start at Workstation One, make my way to the right of it, pass two through eleven, and go around the corner to the base of the triangle to Workstation Thirteen, and there lying on the desk as the Rogue promised is a disk in a clear jewel case covered with dried blood-smeared fingerprints. I set the knapsack in the chair for Workstation Fourteen, sit at thirteen, and lay my gun on the desk. I open the jewel case, insert the disk in the computer, and enter the access word Betrayal.
It's an interesting choice for a password. I glance at the blood. Whoever created the disk, who did they sell out? I only had to double-cross that strange woman, and in the long run, what will it cost me? I turn my attention back to the computer as a folder pops up on the screen with a beep and contains several files. I click on Security Memorandum Theresa Griffin dated October 5, 13 A.D.C.; it was a week before my mom's death.
I read the classified memo with the Sphinx Corporation letterhead, "Mr. President, I regret having to inform you that we have a traitor in our midst. Time after time she has meddled in affairs outside her department, and I have spoken with her about this, but she denies any involvement. I see only one course that can be taken, her termination. The traitor is Theresa Griffin, Project Manager of Research and Development of the Third Branch Office." I pause and wonder if this person meant more than her dismissal with the term termination. The memo ends with, "I can take care of this matter if it is your wish. It will be quick and quiet, Mr. President." It's signed Janus, Head of Security of the Third Branch Office.
Janus? I've never heard of this person. Who is he or she? At least now I have a direction to go in. I'll find out who Janus is, and if this person had my mom killed or if he or she had anything to do with her murder, I'll terminate them. I eject the disk, place it back in the jewel case, and tuck the plastic container in the knapsack. I stand to leave, and the computer flickers like a TV when the reception is interrupted, and I face the screen as word
s in bold red letters scroll across it.
You have the disk as I promised. Hope you enjoy the show. Signed, the Rogue.
The computer flickers again, and video from a security camera plays. The feed's of Kat walking through a room filled with statues. I turn the volume up when I see her hold up the music box and the hologram's image appears. I watch on, and the hologram tells that woman about the Data Crystal. Hades! I whack my palm on the desk. That strange woman has found one of the Data Crystals. I have to retrieve it! I grab my stuff, hurry to the door, reach out my hand to unlock it, and pause. What am I doing? Am I thinking of rescuing that woman? If I am, it will make me an idiot. It will be better if I wait. The Rogue will slay the project, then I can have the music box and the crystal. I can continue the search for my mom's killer alone, but I better not wait here. I try to unlock the door, but it won't open.
I hear the Rogue's voice come over the computer, and it says, "Ms. Griffin, are you trying to leave before the show is over? I think not."
"Hades!" I slam my palm against the door and scream, "That double-crossing Rogue!" I step back, fire at the knob, and try to open it. "Let me out!"
The door won't budge, so I return to Workstation Thirteen as computers fourteen through twenty-nine light up and show the same video of the room filled with statues. The Rogue's there, searching for Kat.
"You!"
I shoot the screen, blowing it. Infuriated over my own stupidity in trusting a robot, I stare at the damaged computer. What is the Rogue trying to pull? I look at the knapsack and remember the blood on the jewel case. I did wonder what the disk would cost me, so this is the price.
Chapter Forty-one
Elsewhere
7:41 P.M...
Blue Division...
Bodies of former associates littered the halls along with S.C.Ms. and two disabled T-3s as Maxwell helped Argus toward the stair exit.
Maxwell stated, "Wait, I've got to rest." Heaving from the effort, he paused at a corner and handed the battered Argus to his thin partner and then told him, "Give me the gun." He took the Beretta and placed a hand on his plump stomach. "I've got to lose some weight."
"I've been telling you that for years," Peters said and asked, "How does it look?"
All Worlds: Fantasy And Science Fiction Series Starters Page 39