Looking at the crude hole that had been cut into the steel door a few feet away, Gertrude realized for the first time just how much effort it had taken for the soldiers to cut through the door. Though she had never considered it before, she now saw that the exterior door was more than four inches thick.
Glancing over her shoulder, she looked at the tower of furniture leading to the gaping hole in the ventilation system along the ceiling in the back corner of the room. She wondered how many of the security team had gone into the ventilation system on the wild goose chase, and how long it would take for them to realize they had been duped.
“Let’s go,” Cyrus whispered.
With those orders, Gertrude watched him duck through the steel door’s crude hole. She followed quickly behind the man who would lead her to safety.
Chapter 20
Mayflower Lab Facility
Hennings, South Carolina
11:22 a.m.
Stepping through the hole, Cyrus noticed a small pool of blood a few paces away and recognized that he must’ve hit one of the guards harder than he thought. Regardless, he had no doubt that both of the downed guards were once more back in the game. It was the down side of his reluctance to kill the Marines on duty. But as much as letting them live flew in the face of his primary instincts, taking their lives was still far more of a violation of his personal beliefs. While he was accustomed to dealing with enemy combatants in situations similar to this, he now faced American soldiers: Men who opposed him through no fault of their own. The fact that they had been stripped of their free will was an inexcusable abuse he wouldn’t compound.
Though he wasn’t sure how many of the guards had followed his false trail into the ventilation system, a quick glance at the camera mounted high on the wall reminded him of two things; First, there would still be one guard left to man the security feeds; second, the men following the false trail wouldn’t be fooled for long. Whoever was monitoring the cameras would soon radio the rest of the team to expose his deception.
Cyrus drew the weapon he had taken from one of the guards he’d disabled prior to taking refuge inside Gertrude’s lab. A carefully fired shot permanently disabled the watchful eye of the camera as they moved down the hall. He did the same with each camera as they moved.
After taking out a total of nine cameras, covering several hundred yards of surrounding adjacent hallways, Cyrus doubled back and stashed Gertrude in one of the many unlabeled utility closets that lined the halls—positioned between massive steel doors leading to labs similar to Gertrude’s. Odds were good that she would be safe there while he took the majority of the security team out of play for the duration of their visit.
Along the way, he stopped at one of the fire suppression stations that were built into the hallway walls at equal intervals. They were simple utility panels that reflected the level of preparation that had gone into the design of the facility. Being secreted so far underground, emergency response efforts were simply not an option. So, like the ventilation systems in each lab, the halls were equipped with stations containing a section of heavy gauge fire hose wound around a thick spool, a pair of oxygen masks, and a massive red headed fire axe.
Shattering the glass panel on one of the fire stations, Cyrus left the rest of gear behind, retrieving only the heavy red axe. Heading down the hall on his own, he stepped into one of the half-dozen labs they had passed that had its security doors wide open. Those labs seemed to be unallocated—prepped and configured with basic laboratory equipment, but not in use.
Just inside the door he flipped the half dozen light switches that were arrayed directly beside the numeric keypad that controlled the heavy rolling security door. While the keypad was recessed into the concrete wall to avoid tampering, the light switches were part of surface mounted electrical boxes that were affixed to the face of the wall. A thick metal conduit ran from the row of light switches up into the darkness beyond the light fixtures above. He was relieved to see that this lab had been wired exactly as Gertrude’s had, and that his plan was still sound. Quickly, he moved deeper into the lab as the overhead lights blinked to life with a flickering buzz.
Near the back wall, Cyrus pulled the few free standing lab tables into a defensive perimeter and upended them, creating a barrier by protecting the back wall from the positions the security team would have when they entered the room. Then, driving the screwdriver into the seam between the wide tiles on the floor, he pulled back the first panel and revealed the recessed space beneath.
Cyrus assumed that his opponents would have realized how he had evaded them in Gertrude’s lab. After all, even though the men were in some way under the control of William Waterford, they were also professionals who retained their high-level tactical awareness and the ability to operate independently. They weren’t mindless drones obeying a single-minded command, so there was a very good chance that they would be on the alert of another deception following the wild goose chase through the ventilation system.
Pulling back another floor tile, Cyrus set it aside with the first. He dropped down into the shallow cubby and stared at the tangled mess of haphazardly placed flexible conduits and loosely run network lines. He kicked the cables and conduit away, creating enough room for him to move around. Once he had the space, he ducked under the floor and crawled beneath the tiles. It took only seconds to fashion a small open area in the thornless briar patch of tangled cables and wires.
The decoy complete, Cyrus quickly rose from the hole in the floor and darted back to the lab’s entry. Using the screwdriver once more, he began prying the conduit tube that ran from the bank of light switches and up into the darkness beyond free hanging light ballasts. He needed to separate the conduit from the wall just enough to fit his fingers behind the pipe without making his modification obvious.
As an extra measure to ensure later efficiency, he slid the bladed tip of the screwdriver under the corner of the metal switch plate and applied just enough pressure to bend back the plate’s corner and create a jagged little barb.
Cyrus pocketed the screwdriver and retrieved the fire axe from where he had left it leaning against the wall. He knew there wasn’t much time left. Whoever was running the cameras would’ve recalled the security team by now, and they would be searching and hungry for blood.
With a single swing of the axe, Cyrus severed the conduit just above the light switches and plunged the lab into darkness. Sparks flashed and several of the overhead bulbs popped, sounding like minor explosions in his silent surroundings. It was for the best; he needed to draw the security team to him sooner rather than later.
With a jump, Cyrus pulled himself up along the wall of the lab using the wiring conduit as an improvised rope. He’d only been able to pry the tube away from the wall as far as he could reach while standing on the floor, so he quickly ran out of hand holds when he reached the next point where the conduit was still anchored.
Planting his feet against the wall, he levered slowly and pulled the tube away from the wall as needed while he moved higher into the darkness of the ceiling beyond. As soon as he began his ascent, he missed the comfort and grip of the hiking boots that he typically wore. His dress shoes not only offered no support in his climb, but their slick soles made finding traction on the smooth surface of the concrete wall almost impossible.
Once he climbed past the height where the light fixtures were suspended from the ceiling, Cyrus reached the maze of ducts and tubes that constituted the elaborate ventilation system.
By the time he reached the appropriate height, his eyes had adjusted to the near total darkness. Grabbing hold of one of the anchoring assemblies that supported the duct work, Cyrus shifted his weight so he was no longer hanging entirely from the conduit. Placing one foot on the small steel flange that supported a major section of the duct, he eased into a comfortable crouch that left him with a bird’s eye view of the room’s entry below.
He didn’t have to wait long. It was likely the popping of the light bulbs that help
ed reveal his position. Cyrus didn’t like the idea of hanging suspended from the ceiling in the awkward position any longer than necessary. Hanging from rigging that wasn’t designed to bear his weight, he was already becoming uncomfortable in his stooped position, and his proximity to the aluminum duct work was precarious at best. Any movement on his part could cause the metal work to flex and, if it did, it would most certainly make a terrible racket.
When the security team arrived, they did so with silence and precision. Cyrus didn’t realize they were there until the shadows of three figures crossed the threshold beneath him. The first moved to one side of the door and took up a kneeling position, his rifle raised and ready. A breath later, two more men swept into the room. The three men fanned out and moved slowly into the darkness. Cyrus watched, nearly afraid to breathe considering any movement might give away his position. He needed to get the men as far into the lab as possible before making his move.
As the trio moved out of his field of view, Cyrus wondered if that was the extent of the force moving in on the lab. An answer to his silent question came a moment later as a pair of additional shadows appeared at the corners of the darkened doorway. They were being cautious, likely more so after what had happened in Gertrude’s lab.
All Cyrus could do was wait. If he had to take out the two men at the door, things would get messy. Worse, his escape would be delayed—likely long enough for the first three men to attack him before he could seal the lab.
Just before he had to make the tough decision, Cyrus noticed a simultaneous change in the posture of both remaining shadows at the door. The last two men quickly swept into the room, each sticking to their respective walls as they moved deeper into the lab and out of Cyrus’s line of sight. A smile spread across his face and he exhaled a slow, silent breath. The first part of the team had found his burrow beneath the floor. In the darkness, they weren’t able to establish the extent of it, and radioed the men at the door to tighten up their perimeter while they took a closer look.
Cyrus knew he didn’t have long before they realized his hidey-hole was only a diversion; so, taking a deep breath, he swung his weight-bearing foot from its balancing point on the ventilation duct platform and placed it against the wall. Finally, the lack of traction his shoes brought to the party actually worked in his favor. Slipping his cloth-wrapped hands around the vertical wiring conduit, he slid silently down to the floor. The short burst of friction quickly passed through the wraps on his hands and he felt the cuts on his palms burn. Still, he didn’t lose a step.
The moment his feet touched the floor, his eyes fell on the lights of the numeric keypad that was mounted into the wall. The tiny display was lit with a message that said simply, READY. Those tiny letters seemed glaringly bright while his eyes attempted to come back from the near pitch-black world in the ceiling.
According to Gertrude, the lab was equipped with dozens of sensors that monitored for any kind of contaminant leak. Even a small issue with a chemical spill could quickly grow catastrophic for a secret lab located so far underground, particularly in a major metropolitan area. While most of the chemical sensors would be impossible to find without knowing where to look, it was a near certainty that one such device would be located in or near the door’s control panel.
Retrieving the pair of inflated sterile gloves, Cyrus simply gashed them both open on the tiny bend of jagged metal he had created at the edge of the light switch plate. The first glove deflated with a muffled pop, followed immediately by the second glove. A heartbeat later, a large red light flashed to life at the center of the lab. It began to spin, mimicking the familiar light on top of a police car, alternating between red and blue, as a blaring klaxon sounded from seemingly every direction.
A large ‘hiss’ burst from the far end of the doorframe beside him, and Cyrus moved without conscious thought, leaping through the entrance just before the massive steel door rocketed across its rails, coming to an explosive halt when it met the frame on the opposite end. A violent noise shrieked and gas vented into the hallway as the perimeter of the door began to glow with some kind of chemical reaction.
The lab was now sealed in a very literal way, Cyrus knew. While he had expected a similar automated response when he sent a healthy dose of natural gas into the chemical sensor near the door keypad, the fact that the doorway was now effectively welded shut was unprecedented.
Five of the six-man security team had been taken out of play without any loss of life. The ventilation system would’ve purged what was thought to be tainted atmosphere from the lab and replaced it with fresh, clean air. But the doors were not likely to open again until some sort of administrative override was used to ensure that the precipitating issue had been properly dealt with. That pleased Cyrus. Now he just needed to locate the last remaining member of the security detail and find out if William Waterford still lurked in the shadows of the Mayflower Laboratory.
Chapter 21
Mayflower Lab Facility
Hennings, South Carolina
11:47 a.m.
With five of the six security guards locked up tight, Cyrus had more freedom to move through the facility. He didn’t have to worry about rounding each corner only to catch a bullet in the face. It took him less than a minute to double back to the supply closet where he’d stashed Gertrude. Unfortunately, when he entered the small room to retrieve her, she was nowhere to be found.
It seemed like a long shot that the roving security patrol had found her, at least until he took a closer look at the strike plate on the door jamb of the supply closet. It was wired with a sensor. He realized that the moment they’d entered the closet, it must’ve tripped a signal back in the facility’s security office, alerting one and all that the room had been compromised.
After all that had happened, it seemed a safe bet that William now had Gertrude in his possession. And if he needed her help to gain access to the central database, thanks to his ability to manipulate the minds of others, it was only a matter of time until he had exactly what he wanted.
Cyrus realized he needed to act fast.
The first order of business was to locate the security office. Since William was now short on manpower, there was a very good chance that the office would be unguarded and would offer Cyrus the same omniscient view of the facility that William had enjoyed while stalking them. Cyrus hoped to locate William and the last remaining guard and gain a tactical advantage by using the cameras prior to making his move.
As he rounded the corner and sprinted down the hall, Cyrus passed Gertrude’s lab. The familiar hole in the lab door caught his eye, but then the pool of blood on the floor outside the door drew his attention. Stopping dead in his tracks, Cyrus stared at the dark patch and realized it had been disturbed. Though he couldn’t tell it by looking at the congealed puddle itself, he found a pale pink semicircle marked on the tile a few feet away. Looking closer, he found another mark a few feet further down. A path…
Cyrus smiled. Studying the markings, he realized that Gertrude had intentionally plunged the base of her cane into the pool of blood while being led past the location on the way to destinations unknown. It was her attempt to leave a trail for him to follow.
Not bad! The trail would certainly come in handy since it would make navigating the warren of hallways that zigzagged the underground structure much, much easier.
Afraid of wasting more time, Cyrus pushed the improvised trail of breadcrumbs from his mind and focused on first locating the security office. He needed to gather intelligence before he could stage a rescue. As luck would have it, finding the security office didn’t prove to be a difficult matter. Each intersection in the wide halls was labeled with a series of highway-like road signs denoting the proper direction to labs, maintenance areas, and offices. The paths to the administrative and security offices were equally well designated. Cyrus took a deep breath, hoping that very soon the hunter and prey in this scenario would be reversed, and William Waterford would meet his fate.
Chapter 22
Mayflower Lab Facility
Hennings, South Carolina
11:52 a.m.
Sitting on the wheeled stool, Gertrude couldn’t help but lean the bulk of her weight on her cane. She was exhausted, and the day had only just begun. Now, more than ever, she was feeling every last hour of her seventy-four years. But all of that paled when compared to what she experienced when she looked into William’s eyes. They contained so much anger and pain that she scarcely remembered the young boy she had once bounced upon her knee.
William stood only a few feet away dressed in a dark t-shirt and jeans. His hair was long and shaggy, more so than she had ever seen it, and she wondered if it had grown that way by his own choice or through the neglect of his previous caretakers. She wanted to voice the concern but feared for her own safety, and the bitter, malicious feelings that were sure to come to the surface. William was her grandson, but she had substantial reasons to fear him.
Not the least of which would come if he gained access to her project archives. If William harbored harsh feelings for her now, he was sure to come unglued if he learned the truth of his birth.
“I’ll ask you one last time,” William said with a patience that was not present in his penetrating stare. “Then I’ll tear into your mind and take what I want.”
Gertrude shook her head sadly. “We both know that isn’t true, William.” She placed her finger on the tiny circular patch behind her left ear to ensure that the small device was still in place. “Even if you take this from me now, it will be days before the compound is clear of my bloodstream. And we both know you can’t wait that long.”
Dangerous Minds: A Cyrus Cooper Thriller: Book One Page 15