by Bob Blink
"Was anyone killed?" Ray asked.
"The owner of the ranch," Dale confirmed. "A friend of the President, it turns out. That might be our link. His name was Clint Thompson. A second agent, this one on active duty, was also killed."
"It sounds like they were successful," Jessica said. "If the attack took place on this Thompson's property, and he was one of those killed."
"Maybe Walker and his friends weren't expecting the other agents," Rao suggested. "What does the report say happened to the attackers?"
"There was a shootout," Dale reported. "A couple of people were believed to have been shot, but all the attackers managed to escape somehow. So far there are no descriptions of them, so its impossible to be certain this was Walker and his men."
"That's got to be what has them upset," Greg said. "They didn't expect another gun battle, and it sounds like they barely managed to complete the killing. I'll bet they are thinking someone alerted this Thompson to the attack, and he brought in a bunch of agents to support him."
"That's not what happened, according to the report," Dale argued. "It says here they were about to go hunting when the attack occurred."
"I'll bet Walker doesn't know that," Jessica said. "It'll be interesting to see if he lets anything slip later."
"I think we better update our friends in the Sim," Rao suggested. "They need to know that Walker is still at it."
"And we need to formulate our plans to go after that gear," Ray emphasized. "I think this situation shows we need to be prepared."
"When?" Greg asked. He had already indicated he wanted to be part of the midnight acquisition effort.
"Whenever Jessica thinks she can get Walker's vehicle in the late evening. We'll need both if we hope to bring everything we'll want on a single trip, which I believe is the only safe way to do this. I can borrow the one at security almost any time without raising any alarms. I'm on night duty the next two weeks, so that should help. Also, I'll alert our friend Ed Collins in manufacturing. He knows his way around the storage facility better than the rest of us and has offered to participate."
"I am thinking I need to make a list of what we will be needing," Rao said.
"Have our friends inside come up with any suggestions on how we stop these guys?" Jessica asked.
Rao shook his head. "I am thinking they are feeling they need our help. Until we know what Walker is up to, we have nothing to use against him. Even if we could make a move against him, most people in the Facility would question our motives without more proof. Unfortunately, we do not have any videos of them in action inside the Simulation, and simply pointing to the deaths isn't going to be enough."
"Don't forget we are also out numbered, and out gunned," Ray reminded them. "According to Ed they should have functional weapons by now."
On that somber thought, the meeting was adjourned.
Chapter 27
Sequoia Facility
Glenn Walker forced himself out of a deep sleep, one aided by a medical sleeping aid that he'd taken after a couple of days of restless nights. Despite everything that Joe and Zack had learned, he was plagued by the idea that their activities had been discovered and were somehow being interfered with. He found his focus drifting, and had known that unless he got some very much needed rest his ability to make meaningful decision would soon be impaired. He was glad that Jessica wasn't here tonight, and hoped she might find something to do for a couple of days or more. The woman talked too damn much, and was starting to annoy him, which told him it was about time for change.
Now, as his awareness to his surroundings returned, he scowled seeing that it was barely an hour and a half after he'd gotten to bed. Whoever was calling better have a damn good reason for bothering him. He should have turned the damn communicator off.
"Yeah, what?" he barked into the device as he sat up, his legs resting on the worn carpet next to his bed.
"Director, this is Luke Morales. We have a problem."
"I gather it is something that can't wait until morning?" Walker asked, wondering what might have happened. They had nothing in the works at the moment, and even as his sluggish mind worked through the things he could imagine, none seemed that urgent.
"Joe Thomas is dying," Luke said. "He's not going to make it. Pete Coleman as well. He's already dead."
The words didn't have meaning at first. When Walker realized what Luke was saying, the shock of it quickly brought him fully awake.
Joe and Pete were shot? Who could have done it? Where did they get a weapon? The only people in the Facility, and therefore the world as he knew it that were supposed to have guns were himself and the other seven members of his two teams.
Even as the answer came to the Director, Luke said, "Both Joe and Pete's sidearms are missing. It's likely that they were shot with one of their weapons."
"Shit!" Walker cursed silently.
"You say that Joe is still alive?" Walker asked.
"Technically, yes," Luke replied, "but he's been shot twice, once in the head at close range. His heart is still going, but is weak and erratic, and I'm guessing will stop at any moment. It's a wonder he's still alive at all. The security folks that got called are just finishing loading him up to take him to the hospital."
"Who called them?"
"A couple of people in the area heard the shots and came looking. When they found the two bodies, they called it in. When I heard about the shootings and came running, someone said you were called, but didn't answer."
Walker vaguely could recall something from his sleep, but he must have been out enough that he didn't awaken the first time he was called.
"Where are you?" he asked.
"In the storage area," Luke replied.
"What in hell were Joe and Pete doing there?" Walker asked, not expecting the answer. That was about as far from his current location as possible.
"Someone broke into the electronics stores," Luke replied. "It's too soon to say if anything has been taken, but I'm guessing he was following someone and they spotted them watching and felt it necessary to take them out. Was Joe watching anyone?"
"Not anyone particular. At least not that I know about. I know that he is still suspicious of the two programmers I brought in, but I can't see them as masterminding some kind of theft. The problem is, I can't see who else would want to steal anything either."
Their closed society didn't suffer from that kind of crime. Anything that people needed was basically provided free. The loss of valuable gear put everyone at risk, and there simply wasn't an incentive to steal. Whatever was taken would have to be for personal use, as there was simply no market for stolen goods.
"Have someone find out what was taken," Walker directed. "And don't let them take Joe to the hospital. Have him taken to the Cloning Clinic."
"What good will that do? They don't have the kinds of facilities to deal with a gunshot wound."
"You said Joe is dying. We need to save him, at least his mind. I'll alert Dr. Ho that he's coming and she can do a scan, and grab what's left of Joe before he passes. Then we can see about cloning him." Walker was aware that Luke didn't know what they had done with Dr. Ho earlier, and was hoping they could do with Joe. Not only did he want this version of Joe with all of his current memories and involvement with his plans by his side, if they could save his memories, they might be able to find out who had done this to him.
Luke was silent for a moment. He knew that Walker could have Joe's mind scanned, but he also knew that there was no clone waiting for those memories, and that they'd go bad before a clone could be grown. Part of him wondered if there was any point anyway. One of the bullets had been directed at the head, and the chances were great that Joe wasn't there any more. But Walker was the boss, and Luke knew he wanted what he ordered done without question.
"I'll tell them," Luke said. "They are about ready to leave. What do you want done with Pete?"
"If you are certain he's dead, have security take him to the morgue. If there's any chance he's al
ive, have him taken to the Cloning Clinic along with Joe."
"Got it," Luke responded. "I'll call you when we get to the Clinic."
"Not necessary," Walker said. "I'll be there when you arrive."
Walker disconnected, and set the communicator down on the bed. He rubbed his face in the vain hopes the pressure in the back of his head would go away. Then he remembered he had to call Dr. Ho. Slow, he thought of himself. His mind wasn't up to this just now.
Ten minutes later, after awakening the good doctor and telling her what he planned, he was headed out the door. He was pleased to see the electric car right where it was supposed to be. The way things were going, he wouldn't have been surprised that Jessica would have taken it and kept it with her tonight. He had told her she could use it for the next day or so.
"What do you think?" Greg asked, as they waited for a call from Ray to indicate what he had learned. Greg, Jessica, Rao and Ed were gathered together in the closest of the residential safe houses that Ray had selected more than a week earlier. They were waiting to hear whether they needed to go into permanent hiding, or whether they would slip away and go back to their respective apartments. It would all depend on whether Joe survived, and what he and Pete had seen, and maybe communicated back to Walker.
The items they had taken were stacked in the back bedroom, far from where they had intended to take them. When things had gone bad it had quickly become apparent that Ray needed to return to his duty post because he was likely to be called to investigate, and Jessica needed to get Walker's vehicle back to the Director who would be looking for it when he received word of the shooting. They hadn't known how long they had, so they had dumped their loot here, and then Jessica and Ray had headed to the Director's place, dropped off the electric car, then Ray had brought her back to the safe house. Now, he was apparently back at the shooting site, as directed by his office. He'd had time to alert them that somehow Joe was still alive.
It had all gone bad when Ray had spotted the two watchers earlier in the evening. The five of them, Greg, Ed, and Rao were also present at the warehouse helping select and move the items that would be needed for Rao's off-site link into the system.
"We've got trouble," Ray had said when he came quickly back into the warehouse just after they had finished loading the two vehicles. He'd stepped outside to verify that everything was clear, and they'd be able to slip away silently and unobserved.
"What?" Greg had asked.
Ray had told them who he had spotted.
"What are they doing here?" Ed asked.
"They followed somebody, which means even if we could get away, they know at least who some of us are. Perhaps they've had time to identify all of us. When the theft is discovered, they'll be coming with questions."
"What if they've already called what they've seen in to someone?"
"If that's the case, we have big problems," Ray admitted. "We've talked about this. We can't afford to leave witnesses. We'll have to take them, see what they know, and . . ."
"And kill them," Greg said uncomfortably.
"I can't see any other options," Ray said. We all knew it would eventually lead to this kind of confrontation. It's just happening a lot sooner than planned."
Greg nodded. "I've never killed anyone before," he said.
"It's no different than when they're retired," Ed said. "They still exist, so it's not exactly the same."
"Let's get this done," Ray urged. "The longer we wait, the more chance they'll inform someone if they haven't already."
Ray, Greg, and Ed each had one of the stunners.
"You and Rao wait here until we have them under control," Ray directed.
Rao nodded, his eyes wide. Jessica was silent, but knew without any weapon it was foolish for her to simply tag along. She wanted to be there when Joe was taken, because she worried that her taking the vehicle may have been what had given them away.
Although Ray was the only one of them who had any real skill at this kind of thing, they worked it well enough. Using Ed to hold the watcher's attention, his face hidden so he couldn't be identified if their watchers didn't already know him, Greg and Ray had circled around and caught Walker's two men by surprise. At the last moment, Joe had sensed something and had turned with his gun ready. Greg had stunned the man before he could get off a shot, and Ray held his own stunner on the surprised Coleman.
Ed had heard the altercation, and when he glanced their way, Ray signaled him to come help. They needed to get the two bodies inside and out of sight. Ed came running, and Jessica wasn't far behind. Rao stayed inside out of sight as directed.
Pete glared at Jessica when she came to a stop nearby. "I knew Joe should have alerted Walker that you were up to something," Pete muttered, as he stared at her.
"So, Walker doesn't know what you've seen?" Ray asked.
Realizing his mistake, Pete tried to bluff. "We called them a bit ago," Pete said. "They are on the way. You might as well surrender now."
Unfortunately for Pete, he wasn't a skilled liar, and Ray had enough experience to see what the man was attempting.
"I don't think they've called this in," he explained to the others. "Ed, take his gun."
Pete hadn't been as quick as Joe, and hadn't removed the weapon from his holster. Greg had already picked up the gun Joe had dropped when stunned. Coming up behind Pete, Ed reached around and relieved the man of his weapon. Wanting his hands free, Ed passed the weapon to Jessica, who took it and stepped back a couple of paces.
"Let's get them inside and figure out how to proceed," Ray said.
Too much attention was on Pete, who even though he was unarmed, was awake and could try to flee. As he stepped toward the building, and Jessica, she realized that Joe wasn't out any longer, and was making a move toward Greg who held his stunner in his left hand and Joe's weapon in his right. Without thinking about it, she raised the weapon as she simultaneously shouted a warning.
"Look out!" she shouted.
Unfamiliar with the weapon, she didn't realize that her nervousness was causing her to tighten her fingers on the trigger. As she shouted, and pointed the weapon in a threatening manner, she was therefore surprised when it discharged, the sharp 'crack' as the round sped from the short barrel loud in the quiet of the evening. The bullet struck Joe solidly in the center of the chest, and he groaned and collapsed less than a half step from where he'd been a standing short while before.
Everyone was stunned by the suddenness of the shooting, and while they were momentarily frozen, Pete launched himself toward Jessica in hopes of grabbing the weapon. He probably knew they would have little to gain by leaving him alive now that they'd shot Joe. He reached for the gun that Jessica held slackly as she looked in surprise at the downed henchman. He had almost gotten to her when Greg's shot caught him in the center of the back. His eyes went wide, and then dimmed, as the bullet came to a rest against the ribs of his chest. He was dead before he hit the ground.
Ray took the weapon from Jessica's hand as he surveyed the two bodies.
"We better move," he warned. "Someone might have heard the shots."
"Are they both dead?" Ed asked.
Ray checked Pete and nodded. When he checked Joe he was surprised to find the man still breathing. They had no time to deal with the fallout of the situation, and he certainly couldn't risk leaving the man to tell what he knew. Ray stood up, and leveled the gun, firing a shot into Joe's head.
"That should do it," he said. "Now, let's go."
They had fled out the rear of the warehouse, moving away from where the bodies lay. As they drove away they could hear shouts that indicated the shots hadn't gone unnoticed.
"We can't risk going into the Ring with this stuff," Ray had warned. "We'll have to stash it in one of the houses, then get Walker's car back, and I'll need to be ready for a call to investigate. I'm on duty and am supposed to be making my rounds, so anything that is reported will likely become my problem. Maybe that'll work in our favor and I can learn what is
known. Until then, assume you'll all have to go into hiding."
Ray had dropped Jessica off more than an hour earlier. Now they were waiting to see what Ray might have discovered.
"Is he still alive?" Walker asked the attendant when they delivered the unconscious, bleeding form of his friend to the cloning facility. They hadn't brought Pete along, so Walker assumed the man was lost.
"Barely," the attendant said. "I don't think the hospital could help him, so I can't see why you wanted him brought here. There's not much you can do. You could have got your DNA sample for cloning after he passed."
"That's not your concern," Walker said harshly. "Just go with Jake and get him inside. We'll deal with him from that point on."
As the two men hurried away with the body, Walker turned to the security man who'd escorted the group to the labs. Walker recognized the man from years of working with the security people.
"Ray, isn't it?" he asked. "Do you know who did this?"
"I only arrived after being called by dispatch," he said. "It appears the warehouse has been broken into. I'll have to go back and try to see what might have been taken, and maybe we can find some evidence of who was behind this. I can't imagine where they obtained firearms," Ray noted. "Someone must have been manufacturing them illegally. We'll have to check the usage logs in manufacturing to see if we can find how who that might have been behind that activity." He was playing his part, hoping that Walker didn't know the truth, but from the way the Director looked at him, Ray realized that Pete hadn't been telling the truth. They hadn't informed Walker what they were doing. Ray wondered if that was because Joe might have been following the Director's girlfriend, and didn't want to admit it until he had hard, solid proof she was up to something. That might have saved them, this time. That's was assuming Joe didn't somehow manage to tell them before he passed. Ray cursed himself for not checking the man after putting that shot into his head.