by David Sloma
There was nothing much Chang and his men could do. If they tried to fire on the men, they would be dead before they could get off a shot, probably.
“Put 'em down,” Chang shouted to his men. He put down his gun and raised his hands, and his men did the same. The firing from the distance stopped.
“Get up, slowly,” the man ordered Chang and his men. They got up and held their hands in the air. “Move. Back to the house,” the man said.
Chang led his men back to the house, all of them holding their hands in the air.
CHAPTER 31
When the intruders gained access to the underground living quarters in the mansion they found it empty.
The men in green camouflage moved through the rooms, and it was obvious they had missed their quarry by only minutes. The leader stood in the middle of the living room and looked over the dinner table.
He touched some of the food, finding it still warm and saw the half-eaten food on the plates. His dark, gaunt eyes in his hard, thin face searched over the room, looking for a means of escape. He was like a predatory animal seeking its prey.
One of his men stopped near him. “Sir, there’s no one here in these rooms. We’ve torn them apart.”
“I can see that,” the leader turned to him. “We must have missed something. There’s got to be another way out of here that we haven't found, yet. Find it.”
“Yes, sir,” the man saluted and ran off to instruct the others who were still looking around the rooms.
Lang had gotten to the living quarters just moments before the intruders had gotten in, but it had been enough time to get the guests and the guards into the elevator and down to the hidden level. Lang was the only one, apart from Chang, who had the access code that would allow the elevator to reach the secret floor—the only others who knew it even existed were the people who had constructed it, and they had been sworn to secrecy.
Lang got them all into the elevator, then entered the code. The code was not the only security measure in place; Lang had to look up at the camera in the elevator so it could perform a facial recognition scan on him and pair it with the proper access code. The elevator chimed, and the computer voice said, “Access granted, Mr. Lang.”
The elevator dropped swiftly, much faster than its normal speed; if the code was ever entered, it was an emergency. It didn’t take long for the elevator to descend to the lowest, hidden level below the surface, about eight floors down. It was terrifying for the guests, especially Wendy who clung to Stan.
The elevator stopped. The doors opened to let in a cool, damp wind. “This is it. Everyone out, quickly!” Lang said, leading them out of the elevator with his gun in front.
They found themselves in a large tunnel, about fifteen feet across, made of concrete. There was a light above them and several more lights on the ceiling running off to the right and around a corner.
“What is this?” the professor asked.
“No time to explain. Follow me.” Lang strode through the tunnel and around the bend. The professor, Charles, and Wendy followed him, looks of surprise and fear on their faces, holding their guns the best they could, even though they were not used to them. The two guards hung back and fell in behind the group, their fingers on the triggers of their guns.
Around the corner was a small grey bus with tinted windows, on regular rubber wheels. Lang touched a button on the outside of the vehicle, and the doors popped open. “All aboard,” he said, standing aside so the others could get in. Once the three had gone in, he hopped in ahead of the guards, who did a final look back.
One of the guards checked a readout screen on his arm, showing the areas the intruders had infiltrated, but they’d not gotten down to the secret level. He nodded to the other guard, and they got aboard the vehicle.
Inside were rows of seats that folded down and an operator’s area at the front. Lang sat in the back while one of the guards got into the driver’s seat. The other guard got into the passenger’s seat and opened up a laptop mounted on the dash, similar to the one Lang had. He called up a view of the cameras of the mansion and the entire property.
“Where are we going?” Charles asked Lang.
“Not far, just out under the property, where we can cross down the road a short distance, for now,” Lang said.
“This is amazing!” the prof said, excited despite the circumstances. His wife held his hand and looked on in mute fear.
“Must have cost a bundle,” Charles said.
“It did, but always leave yourself a way out.”
The engine of the vehicle started up, its headlights shining down the tunnel. The guard put it in gear and it took off with surprising speed. Those in the back had to brace themselves.
“How long is this tunnel?” Charles asked, over the roar of the engine.
“About a mile,” Lang said. He walked up and stood next to the guards, looking at the screen. After conferring with them for a moment, he came back.
“What’s up?” the prof asked.
“Looks like Chang and his men were captured.”
“Oh, shit!” Charles said.
“And the intruders got access to most of the mansion. Seems they had the security codes. I don’t know how this happened.”
They watched through the large windshield as the tunnel sped past them. After about a minute, the driver slowed as they came to a dead end. He pressed a button, and the lights in the tunnel went out, as did the headlights of the vehicle.
“What’s happening?” Charles asked.
“We’re going outside,” Lang said.
The guards put on night vision goggles and waited.
The wall moved aside, as it was mounted on a track, making a new opening, big enough for the bus. The guard drove forward slowly, then gained speed once they were past the wall and their route through the section of forest was clear. The other side of the wall was a rock face covered with moss and small bushes. It moved back into place, and the opening was undetectable again.
The section of forest from the opening to the road was small, and it had been made an easy drive, with any large rocks removed and winding around any large trees. The driver took it carefully, but there was still a lot of overgrowth and the branches scraped and scratched on the bus as they went past, making an awful racket.
Within moments they were out of the woods and about to get onto the paved road. The driver stopped the bus and looked both ways, peering into the darkness with his goggles. The other guard looked at the displays from two small night vision cameras hidden near them, looking both ways down the road. “It’s good,” the guard in the passenger seat said.
The driver said, “Hang on, here we go,” then he gunned the engine. The bus shot out of the woods and onto the road, going away from the mansion. They kept the headlights off until they were miles away.
“Looks like we made it?” Charles said to Lang.
“So far, so good. Good work!” Lang called out to the guards. “Now, about Chang,” he said.
“We have a fix on him and the others,” the guard manning the computer said.
“Microchips?” the prof asked.
Lang nodded. “I’ve called in some help, so we should be able to make our move when we know more.” He pulled out his phone and dialed, to check on the remote viewer, but she didn't pick up. “Moore must be busy. Voice mail,” he said to the guards.
The driver switched on the headlights for the bus, as they were coming out of the road through the forest and were about to get onto another road, with traffic. He removed his night vision goggles and put them away.
“Where are we going?” Charles asked.
“For now, far away from here. We'll stay on the main road until we can determine what's going on,” Lang said. “Once we have a better idea, and that we're not being surveilled, then we can go and stay with some allies.” He looked out the back window, making sure they weren't being followed.
“Stan, I'm scared,” Wendy said.
Stan took her hand. “I know, honey. Me,
too. But we're in the best hands we can be in, I know it.”
The bus drove on, as the road merged with a larger road, and then soon they were on a highway. The guard with the computer kept a watch out with the cameras all around the bus.
“How's it looking?” Lang asked him, coming up to look at the screens.
“Good, sir. We don't appear to have any tails.”
“What about up?”
“Looks good there, too.”
“Good. That's about all we can hope for at this point. Good work.” Lang sat back down.
“How likely is it that we're being watched?” Charles asked.
“I'd put a good bet on it.” Lang rubbed his eyes.
“How? By plane? Satellite?”
“Either of those. Or a small drone. Not sure. We'll have to wait until we get some more intelligence to know.” Lang didn't feel like explaining about the remote viewers right then, so he didn't mention that. Many people had never heard of them, and it tended to be a long conversation to explain such things—if the person he was attempting to explain them to even believed it. But it was not a matter of belief, Lang knew, as the existence of extra sensory perception had long been proven.
Then, there was the possibility that their enemies had access to a plane or a satellite and were tracking their every move. There could also be a tracker or bug on the bus itself, so he didn't want to say more, for fear of being overheard. But that was less likely, as there was no evidence that the tunnel had been entered. So many things to have to worry about...he'd be glad where they got someplace safe.
Lang got up and went to a cupboard. “There's some stored food here and water. Help yourselves.” He took out a plastic container of water and an energy bar. Charles got up to take a look and grabbed a couple of energy bars and some water, handing them out to the prof and his wife.
“Thanks,” the prof said.
The bus continued on down the highway,
CHAPTER 32
Chang and his men had been tied up in the upper garage of the mansion. They sat on the concrete floor, their hands tied to their feet. Hoods had been placed on their heads. The men in the green uniforms watched them, their guns at the ready.
The leader looked at Chang and his men. “I'll ask you again: Where did they go?” He walked over to Chang and lifted the hood over his mouth. “Well?”
“I told you before. We don't know,” Chang said. It was policy for the escape route to be unplanned, just in case of such a situation as this. Chang was only a little afraid. He knew they'd be dead already if the assailants really wanted to kill them. The longer he could stall them out, the better the chances of being rescued.
“I find that hard to believe! Do you want me to get out the drugs? I have no problem pumping you all full of sodium pentothal. How'd you like that?” He kicked Chang in the leg.
“Won't make any difference. There's nothing we can tell you. They left to get away from what's happening here. Where they'll stop, we have no way of—”
“They must be making for a location! They can't just drive and drive.”
Chang thought this over for a moment. “True. But where they end up will depend on many factors.”
“Such as?”
“If they're being followed or not. If anyone is available to help them.”
“That's nothing specific, and nothing I haven't thought of. Give me something I can use.”
“I don't know anything more. I'm not with them now, so I don't know what they're planning.”
The man slapped Chang across the mouth. “Liar! Bring the needles!” He turned to one of his men, who scurried off.
The man came back with a black doctor's bag. The leader opened it up, found the glass bottle of the pentothal and a needle. He uncapped the needle, then filled it up with the “truth serum.”
He walked over to Chang and moved the hood aside from his neck. “You've made this harder on yourself,” he said, then jabbed the needle into Chang's neck.
Chang cried out and tried to move way, but the plunger was depressed in a second, and then the needle was pulled out.
“Ah, shit,” Chang said, slumping down. He had been shot up with that drug before in training, and it had not been fun. In fact, it made him feel quite ill. He started to dry heave.
“What's wrong with him?” one of the soldiers asked their leader.
“He's having a bad reaction to the truth serum. He should have played ball with me before, poor baby. He'd better just hope I don't need to give him some more.”
“Won't that kill him? He's not looking so good, now.”
“If it does, it does. I won't be told no by the likes of him. We'll get to the bottom of this and track down who we came here for, even if they all have to die!” The leader pointed at Chang and his men.
“Yes, boss.”
Chang kept having a bad reaction, retching and coughing. The leader came over and lifted up Chang's drooping head. The rest of Chang's men said nothing, just sat quietly as their training told them to do.
“Now, where did your boss and his guests go?” the leader asked Chang.
“Into the tunnel, to get away from you, I guess. But, I don't know, I was outside, at that diversion...” Chang sputtered.
“Ah, yes,” the leader said. “That worked well.” He looked to the man next to him and smiled.
He turned back to Chang, “You'd better hope you don't know. I may start cutting off fingers and toes, soon. So, you just have a think about things, hmm?” He let Chang's head drop and turned to leave his men. “Give him some more, the others, too. I'll be back.”
“Any more might kill him.”
“I'll take the risk. We need that information.”
***
A call came in for Lang on his cell phone. He stuck an earphone in for privacy. “Lang here.”
It was Barbara Moore, the remote viewer, on the phone, “You weren't sold out, as far as we can tell. The attackers are part of a group we've not encountered before, but that's just a front. They are funded by our old nemesis.”
“I'm not surprised,” Lang said.
“It appears they got to someone who provided security services to you. It was part of a long operation. Someone's been wanting to get into the mansion for some time. And there was something more; a force, moving behind the scenes, became aware of the discoveries of Charles and his communication of them to the professor. I'll need to do further sessions to get to the bottom of this, but I wanted to let you know what I had so far.”
“Yes, thank you. Please continue. Goodbye for now.” Lang put his phone away and sat in contemplation for a few minutes. Things were as he feared and even worse. He made plans to launch an investigation into the contractors who had put in the security system at the mansion and see what had become of them. He feared he would find them all dead. The news about Charles being spied on, and then the professor being spied on did not surprise him.
“More trouble?” the prof asked.
“A little, or rather, I now know more of the sources of the troubles we've faced.” He told them what the remote viewer had found.
“So that stuff really works?” Charles said.
“Oh yes! We've been using it for years. Most of our remote viewers come from secret military programs. Our country is not the only one to have used psychic spies. Russia has been using them for a long time. Some of the most gifted spies came from behind the Iron Curtain. It still goes on, of course, only in black projects. It's not something most leaders want publicly known,” Lang said.
“I guess not. There would be little defense from it.”
“It's not impossible to shield from psychic spies, but most are not trained how to do it. It's a skill few have. I just wish we had employed the services of ours sooner. Of course, it's hard for them to scan without a target, so sometimes things like this slip through,” Lang said. He looked tired.
He got up and went to the driver's area. “How's it going?” Lang asked the guards.
“Goo
d as can be expected. We're down to half a tank, but should be alright until we can refill. Any idea where you want to stop?” the driver said.
“I was hoping we'd make it to our other location...”
“Not in this traffic.” The driver shook his head. They were skirting the edge of a city and had run into heavy early morning traffic.
“I say we keep going if you can mange it. Take a break if you need to, and one of us will drive for a while.”
“Thanks.”
Lang patted him on the shoulder and turned to the other man. “Anything come through?”
“No. They've still got Chang and the rest back at the mansion. It looks like they're interrogating them.” He swung the laptop over so Lang could see the camera views from inside the garage.
“So they are. And right in front of the cameras. I knew they were billed as undetectable cameras, now I can say they were right. Though, the ones that put these cameras in are likely the ones responsible for our security breach.”
“You think so, sir?”
“It's a good bet at this point. I wouldn't be surprised if they were watching this very video feed, too.”
“That gives me the creeps.”
“Me, too. Especially when I can see our men like that.” Lang turned away. “I'll see if I can send anyone to help them, but...this is tough.”
“They're tough, too, sir. If anyone can make it through this, it'll be them.”
“I know it. Isn't there something we can do from here that might help them?”
“Like what, sir? We don't exactly have remote-controlled weapons there.”
“No, I was thinking more like trigger the fire alarm, then call the fire department. All that commotion might be enough of a chance for Chang and the others to break free. It'll at least slow the intruders down.”
“Hmm, that I might be able to do. Let me see if I can patch into the control panel of the house and see what I can find.”
“Very good. But make the call to the fire department regardless.”
“Right away.”
Lang smiled, turning away. It was a small chance, but it was a chance. He just hated to feel helpless, so anything they could do to help the captives was good by him.