“Is he saying anything?” Alex asked.
“He’s saying something in some other language,” the Y voice said. “I don’t recognize it and our software won’t translate it. I’ll patch you in.”
“While these final scans run, I’m going to announce this to CNN,” the X voice said. “I’ll be back in a couple of minutes. But Fey, you acted just in time. This thing was ready to do… I’m not quite sure what, on the entire international intelligence network.”
“Here’s Ben,” the Y voice said.
Ben’s voice came over the phone’s speaker. At first Alex thought he was injured until she realized he wasn’t actually saying anything. In his garbled non-language, he was saying he was there and he believed in her. She smiled at his confidence. Then, she realized what he was actually saying.
F
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“What?” Zack asked. “What is he saying?”
“Nothing,” Alex said. “He’s not saying anything.”
“Why the grimace?” Zack asked.
“He wouldn’t say that if he didn’t think we… I… took on too much. He doesn’t think I can do it,” Alex said. “He’d never go so far as to say I can’t do it, but… he thinks it.”
“We’re taking over JFCOM, sir,” Sergeant Dusty’s voice came on the speaker phone.
“Hey Dusty,” Zack said.
“I have to agree with Y, sir. You do have a nice butt,” Sergeant Dusty laughed. “I shared a photo with the team.”
“Gee thanks,” Zack said. “I’m missing a sock. Can you see it?”
“It’s under the table, Jakker,” the Y voice said.
“I’m going to have to remember ‘Yippee Kai Yea,’” Sergeant Dusty said.
“Hey!” Zack laughed. “Don’t go stealing my best material!”
They laughed.
“How do you see us?” Zack asked.
“Webcam, Jakker,” the Y voice said. “Every computer in the room has one. We turned the computers on when we took over.”
“Did Mauer get a bird?”
“He’s waiting to land on the roof, sir,” Sergeant Dusty said. “He had to use ‘some kid’ – his words – as a co-pilot.”
Zack laughed. He and Alex had called Cliff “that kid” for more than a year before they bothered to learn his name. Zack sat down to put his shoes on.
“You better go,” Sergeant Dusty said. “They just remembered you’re there.”
“How long?” Alex asked.
“You have about three minutes before security gets to you,” Sergeant Dusty said. “Maybe five.”
“I’ll set off the fire alarm in the other areas of the building,” the Y voice said. “That closes the barriers between divisions. You have the run of the computer division.”
“What about the team?” Alex asked.
“They have access to you from the front,” the X voice said. “You will be alone until they reset the fire alarms. Gives you at least thirty minutes.”
They heard the fire alarm blaring in the other areas of the building. Alex took her weapon out of her handbag and nodded to Zack. She opened the door and peeked out.
“Ma’am, you’d do well to return to your room,” an Army Captain running by said.
“I have to pee,” Alex whined. “Can you point me to the potty? I promise to return the moment I’m done. Unless you’d like to party.”
The Captain pointed toward the bathroom and ran down the hallway. Alex nodded to Zack. Grabbing Zack’s jacket to cover her handgun, she walked toward the room where Ben was being held. Zack followed close behind.
When she reached the door, she looked up at the security camera. Y unlocked the door. She glanced at Zack. He took his handgun from his pocket. He nodded to her and they entered the room. Her mentor, biological father, and ex-boss was sitting in a leather office chair with his hands handcuffed in his lap. A US Army Private looked up with surprise when they entered.
“There you are,” Ben said in Parisian French. “Try not to kill this young man. He’s young.”
Ben’s guard fumbled for his handgun and Alex raised hers. With wide terrified eyes, the young man raised his arms.
“Hey Zack,” Ben said in English. “How the hell are you?”
Alex went to the young man and took his weapon.
“Good, sir,” Zack said. “I understand we moved our christening because yours was on the same day.”
“Nice of you,” Ben said. “I was otherwise detained when that was resolved.”
She searched Ben’s young guard with quick efficient moves. She found his ear bud communicator. She held out her hand and he gave her the ear bud. She dropped it on the floor to crush then realized she’d left her cool hooker shoes in the room.
“Zack?” Alex pointed to the ear bud. He stomped on it.
“Didn’t you guys have a baby early in the year?” Zack asked.
“Gerald? End of last summer,” Ben said. “Who knew that my goal of making love to my wife every day would result in another baby?”
“Wonder how that happened?” Zack laughed.
“I can either put you out or you can lay on your stomach on the floor,” Alex said to Ben’s guard. “Your choice.”
The young man dropped to the floor. With his face against the carpet, Alex used a plastic band she’d stowed in the elastic of her cheap thong underwear to bind his wrists behind him.
“We’ve practiced birth control by extensive travel schedule,” Ben said. “After Becky, we had to come up with something more… sincere.”
Ben and Zack laughed. Alex found the handcuff key in the guard’s back pocket and tossed it to Zack. Zack unlocked Ben’s handcuffs.
“Claire loves babies and children and little people, even teenagers. It’s like a disease,” Ben laughed. “She’s in heaven.”
“She’s happy to be done,” Alex said.
“Oh, she’s delighted to be done, but so am I,” Ben said. “Do think you and the gorgeous Bestat will have more, Zack?”
“If Bestat wants another child, I’m happy to oblige,” Zack shrugged.
“Fey, the filth are on their way to you,” the X voice said from the speaker of an office phone. “Should I turn on the overhead water jets?”
“That’s all right,” Alex said. “Where’s the team?”
“At the entrance,” the X voice said. “The Pentagon is freaking out about our announcement of taking over JFCOM.”
“Did you announce why you had to take over?” Alex asked.
“Dire threats to US security, which will cascade into international security,” the X voice said.
“A request for assistance from a friend in the ‘tippy top’ of US intelligence,” the Y voice said. “I love the ‘tippy top.’”
“Points to me without saying it’s me,” Alex said. “Nice.”
“And what did you find?” Ben asked.
“We’re not exactly sure, sir,” the X voice said. “We have three of our best people working on it.”
“How long?” Alex asked.
“Half an hour,” the X voice said.
“If you’re lucky,” the Y voice said.
“Thanks,” Ben said.
“Sergeant?” Alex looked up as if his voice was coming from overhead.
“Yes sir?” Sergeant Dusty asked from the speaker of the phone.
“Can you ask Colonel Gordon to talk to the Pentagon?” Alex asked. “He’s briefed on the entire plan.”
“That objective has been achieved,” Sergeant Dusty said. “It’s my understanding that this is a publicity move. They are anxiously waiting on your report. The entire alphabet soup is on alert and ready to act.”
“Can you inform them it will be a while?” Alex said.
“Yes sir,” Sergeant Dusty said.
With Alex’s help, Ben stood and stretched. Smiling, he hugged and kissed her cheek.
“Did you bring…?” Ben asked.
Alex went to her handbag and threw him a box of North Carolina cigare
ttes. He held the box to his nose.
“Lighter?” Ben asked.
“They took them from us,” Zack said. “Matches too. Alex had little candles for the mood. They weren’t amused.”
“Is Jesse with you?” Ben asked.
Alex gave a brusque nod.
“Jesse?” Ben held the cigarette away from him. “Help an old friend out.”
Jesse threw an energy ball at the cigarette. There was a tiny spark. Ben puffed, looked at the end of the cigarette and started to puff vigorously. The tobacco caught.
There were footsteps in the hallway.
“Oh tobacco,” Ben said. “Good Lord, I’ve missed you.”
“Better finish up,” Alex said. “We have visitors.”
Ben looked at Alex and she nodded. She was ready. She glanced at Zack and he nodded that he was ready too.
“Sir, Captain Mac Clenaghan asked me to remind you that you’re not wearing body armor,” Sergeant Dusty said.
Ben stood at the door. He raised three fingers.
Three.
Two.
One.
He opened the door and stuck the cigarette in his mouth.
“We’re taking over” and a rapping voice blasted over the loud speaker.
“What the hell is that?” Ben asked in a cloud of cigarette smoke.
“D.J. Khaled,” Alex yelled over the loud dance music. She nodded to Zack and stepped into the hallway.
Five men with machine guns ran down the hall toward them. Under the booming music, she heard a scratching, almost scrambling sound. Master Sergeant Bailey ran along the edge of the hallways toward her. Spinning in place, the dog got between her and the approaching men.
And it was not pretty.
Even standing behind him, Alex was terrified. The dog snarled, snapped and lunged at the men. The young Army MPs skidded to a halt. One young man gave an unintelligible screech of horror. Another man raised his machine gun to shoot the dog.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Alex said.
When his finger moved to the trigger, Jesse threw a ball of electricity at him. The man screeched with pain. Jesse touched the machine gun and it became red hot. The MP dropped the it.
“Drop your weapons,” Alex said.
“Put yo hands up,” came over the loud speaker followed by the beginning of a fast techno beat. Master Sergeant Bailey snarled at them. Once the final weapon was on the ground, the dog sat down as if to guard the MPs.
“Arrêt! Arrêt!” Yelling in French, Ben came out of the room with his hands up. “Shut off the crappy Syntho.”
“Techno, monsieur,” the Y voice said. “Le patron a dit…”
The music stopped.
“Sorry sir,” the X voice said.
The team turned the corner to the hallway. Sergeant Beetle gave one short whistle and Master Sergeant Bailey trotted back to him. Raz sprinted to her side. He dropped standard-issue body armor over her shoulders. She smiled her thanks. Instead of hugging her, he patted the Velcro into place. Leena brought Alex’s running shoes. Alex sat down to put on her shoes. Joseph gave her a sacrum holder with the Glock 9mm her father had bought for her when she was a child. When the handgun slid into its holster, she felt more like herself.
“Your attention is needed in the computer center,” the X voice said.
“I’m turned around,” Alex said. “Where is it?”
“I’ll guide you,” the X voice said. He couldn’t resist adding in an echoing voice, “Follow… the… light.”
Leaving Matthew and White Boy to deal with the MPs, Alex and Raz led the team down the hallway. X turned off all the lights except for those in the hallways they were to follow. They ran down one lit hallway to the next. Turning left, they saw a non-descript door in front of them. From the hallway, they heard Craig David’s “Hands up in the Air” blasting from the loud speakers.
“Put them on,” Alex said at the door.
Her team pulled their balaclavas down over their faces. The music came to an abrupt halt and Alex pressed open the door. The room had a five-foot-wide walkway over a sunken work area filled with more than a hundred cubicles and employees. The programmers were standing at the entrances of their cubicles with their hands on their heads. Alex’s team ran along the walkway to surround the programmers.
“X?” Alex yelled.
“Number 78, 83,” the X voice said.
“7,” the Y voice said.
“112,” the X voice said. “Desktops.”
“You heard them,” Alex yelled.
“Programmers for computers 7, 78, 83 and 112, step forward,” Trece yelled.
Three young men moved toward the center aisle. Matthew and White Boy ran into the room. Matthew stood next to Alex and White Boy went into the work area.
“We won’t ask you again!” Joseph said.
“You think you’re being loyal,” Matthew yelled. “You think you’re being citizens. If you don’t do what we ask to the letter, you will be on a plane to Gitmo faster than you can sneeze.”
A young woman jogged to catch up with the other three.
“Jeez,” Zack whispered to Alex. “They’re so young.”
“And stupid,” Margaret said as she passed by. She ran to frisk the programmers. She brought them by gunpoint to the walkway.
“Jesse?” Alex asked.
Four computers sparked and caught fire.
“What the hell!” the woman said.
“Be still,” MJ said. “You’re in enough trouble as it is.”
Vince and Colin ran forward with fire extinguishers.
“Merde,” the Y voice said.
“This is the disconnect order,” the X voice said.
“Copy that,” Sergeant Dusty said. “Alphabet soup has disconnected. You are isolated.”
“Is the General on the line?” Alex asked.
“Sir?” her father, General turned Senator Patrick Hargreaves, asked from the Pentagon.
“Your team,” Alex said.
“Disconnecting,” Patrick said over the intercom.
“Step away from your computers,” Trece yelled and ran into the work area. Vince, Colin, Trece and White Boy shooed the programmers from their cubicles.
The programmers shuffled toward the walk area.
“Vacate!” Leena yelled. “NOW!”
“Done,” Patrick said over the intercom. “Awaiting your orders.”
“Sir?” Sergeant Dusty asked.
“Jakker?” Alex turned to him. “Get to the chopper. You know what to do.”
Zack ran out of the room. Raz nodded to Alex and they ran out of the room. The programmers ran behind them with Margaret and MJ’s machine guns to encourage them. They followed the lit hallways to an interior meeting space. Alex and Raz stood on one side of the door. Margaret and MJ escorted the programmers into chairs in the meeting space. Leena arrived mid-pack to help. Joseph and Colin arrived with the last of the programmers. Ben, Sergeant Beetle and Master Sergeant Bailey stood in the hallway while Ben smoked. They waited almost five minutes before White Boy and Trece ran down the hall.
“Done?” Alex asked.
“Set,” Trece said. “Okay assholes, we want your IDs. Pass them to the north end of your aisle.”
“You might think it’s smart to fail to produce your ID,” White Boy said.
“Just think how sad your momma is going to be when we tell her we had to KILL you because you failed to tell us who the FUCK you were,” Trece said from the north end of the room. “No, this north.”
White Boy went row-by-row collecting IDs.
“We want your phones, USB drives, and any other gadget you have on you,” Joseph said. “If you fail to produce them they will be destroyed.”
“Pass them to the south end of your row,” Leena said. “Yes that’s right. I’m standing at the south end.”
Leena and Joseph began picking up cell phones, pagers, iPods, flash drives, and other computerized objects.
“We are passing around ear plugs,” MJ said.
“They only protect your ears to 65 dB. Put them in and cover your ears.”
“If you fail to put them in,” Margaret said. “You will become at least temporarily deaf.”
“And we cannot ensure you that your hearing will return,” Colin said. “If you need assistance, we will help you.”
“If you decide not to use the ear protection, we will post your picture on every Dungeons and Dragons website in the world,” MJ said.
“With the caption, ‘Deaf due to dumbassness,’” Margaret said.
MJ, Colin and Margaret began passing out soft foam earplugs. When Trece and White Boy had retrieved all the identifications, they began working with their handheld computers to identify each of the programmers. Margaret left MJ and Colin to help Trece and White Boy fill in a seating chart. Leena and Joseph were putting the gadgets into Ziplock bags and into a leaded backpack.
Alex and Raz watched the activity from the edge of the room, near the door. Trece and White Boy had completed the room chart before Matthew and Vince arrived. They nodded to Alex and ran into the room. Taking one last drag from a cigarette, Ben scooted into the room with Sergeant Beetle and Master Sergeant Bailey. MJ and Colin were moving from person to person to ensure their ear protection was in place. Margaret demonstrated how to cover their ears.
When the team was done, Alex moved to the middle of the hallway.
“I expect command in this room in fifteen minutes,” Alex yanked off her wig and balaclava. “You wanted me. You’ve got me.”
“Sir?” Raz held out earplugs to Alex. She jammed them into her ears.
“NOW!” Alex yelled.
F
CHAPTER TWELVE
Covering her ears with her hands, she ran into the room. Raz yanked the door closed. He crouched down beside her on the floor. Master Sergeant Bailey lay on his side while Sergeant Beetle covered him with his body.
There was a muffled explosion followed by a “whoop” sound. The force of the EMP grenade threw them to the floor. The floor shifted an inch to the west. The programmers fell out of their chairs. Trece and White Boy were the only team members able to maintain their crouched position. As if on a sling shot, the building swung back to the east. Food, dishes, and supplies flew out of the break room cabinets. Everything fell out of the refrigerator.
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