by Jim Roberts
They had been crawling ever steadier towards the lower part of the fortress when the patter of little feet came wandering down the vent towards them. In the darkness, Joe could see two beady red eyes shining like blood diamonds.
Joe hated rats. With a burning passion. Please turn around and go back, he willed the creature with his mind.
Nope, it kept coming straight towards them.
Danny quietly asked, "What is it Joe?"
"A rat."
"Stay calm. Kill it if you have too."
Joe's heart jackhammered in his chest. I HATE RATS. He didn't want the bastard even coming close to him. How could he kill it? He didn't have a weapon.
The creature made a strange sniffing noise as it pawed towards him in the darkness. All Joe could focus on were those eyes.
It was within a few feet from him. Joe was frozen, staring at it. He began to sweat. Oh God, please go away. It didn't. He tried to shoo it away with his hand. It jerked back, then lunged forward at the threat. Joe swatted at it again, but this time, it managed to bite his hand. Joe swore under his breath, his sore hand throbbing from the bite.
OK you little shit, you don't wanna back down...
He lunged again with his hand and seized the little beast. It twisted and curled in his hand trying to escape. He grabbed it by the head with his other hand and twisted sharply, trying to break its back.
But that's not what happened.
The rat exploded in a sharp flare of sparks.
What...the... Hell?
In his hands, he now held two distinct pieces of what he had thought was a large rat. The two pieces sparked as the exposed machinery of its interior shorted out and ceased functioning.
"Joe, what was that? What's going on?"
"It's a fucking robot!" hissed Joe in disbelief.
"What?" murmured Danny, confused.
Joe could only stare in near darkness at the bizarre sight he held in his hands. It was some sort of...robot rat! It had looked and acted so lifelike, Joe had thought it was completely real. Everything in his mind told him he was insane, that what he held was impossible...but there it was, in his hands. The remains of the rat stopped sparking and the mechanical insides grew dark and dead.
Joe's mind was racing, his heart pounding. This was definitely one for the books. What in the name of everything good was a robotic rat doing wandering a Kazinistani prison air duct? Well, there wasn't much he could do about it sitting in the dark.
"Here take this," he said to Danny, passing one of the halves behind him.
"What do you want me to do with it?" replied Danny, grasping the broken robot in his outstretched hand.
"Just...hold onto it. We'll...I don't know, we'll take it with us."
Danny seemed to think better of further questions and did as he was asked, shoving the dead robot into the pockets of his fatigues. Joe did the same. Hoping that was the last of the robotic-vermin, he continued through the duct.
Chapter 7
The Second Skin
THEY MUST be in the bowels of the fort by now. Joe couldn't tell anymore. The duct no longer had slits every few dozen feet and they were now crawling in pitch black. Joe's heart began to sink. What if there was no end? What if this leads into some locked room or...
Abruptly, the duct gave way under Joe.
His hands fell through empty air; his body weight pulled him forward and before he knew it he plunged perpendicularly down a vertical incline. Joe panicked, pushing his arms out to try and halt his descent. He managed to slow himself but only after he plowed face first into a grate. Light shown through the barred grate and Joe knew they had reached the end of the duct.
Danny called to Joe quietly, his haggard voice reverberating softly in the vent, "Joe, are you all right?"
Joe managed to right himself. He hoped against hope that no one had heard his plummet through the duct. He peered outside the grate to see where he was. All he could see were large crates. Probably another supply room.
He tested the grate, seeing if it would give way, or was attached like the one from their cell. Surprisingly, it was not a steel grate, just the original iron one built whenever the duct was. Joe could tell it was not held in place well and a good kick or two would probably free it.
Danny called down from the top of the incline, "Joe what should I do?"
As quiet as he dared, not knowing what or who was in the room beyond, he called back, "Just hold up a minute Danny."
He listened intently for a few moments, listening for any movement or sound from the room. For a moment he heard nothing, but then several noises within told him someone was there. Joe had to make a call. There was pretty much no way he could take on a Centurion hand-to-hand if that's who was making the noise. But this was their only hope.
Making up his mind, he braced his hands firmly on the grate and pushed. It gave away with almost no effort. He managed to hold the grate tight in his hand and not make more than a small squeal of noise. He exhaled softly, placing the grille to the side. The air from the room was cooler and a welcome change from the stuffy, interminable duct. He waited a short moment, in case he had made more noise than he thought. Satisfied, Joe crept out of the duct as quiet as he could.
He had emerged into a large room, behind a sizable collection of crates with assorted markings on them with phrases like 'CAUTION! CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE, and CONTAINS BIO-MATERIALS. KEEP REFRIGERATED. Joe placed a hand on one of the crates and felt it was rather cold.
Curiouser and curiouser.
The crates were stacked high and did a marvelous job in shielding Joe from anyone that may have been alerted to the noise. He hoped his luck would hold out a bit longer. He knelt down and peered through a gap between the stacks.
The room beyond was much larger than any other Joe had seen so far; about the size of a small gym. If the fortress had little electricity to use, this is where a sizable chunk of it was being rerouted. Unlike the rest of the fort, it was well lit - with several large fluorescent lights scattered along the ceiling. Around the room were about half a dozen work tables covered with an assortment of technical gadgets and gizmos Joe couldn't begin to identify. There were also several air conditioning units set up throughout, keeping the temperature at what felt like ten degrees give or take. Joe had to admit it was refreshing to be in a controlled environment once again.
As for any occupants, he spotted two; a man that looked like a scientist or lab tech, and an Olympus Centurion. Both were discussing something about thirty feet away, on the other side of the room. If they had heard Joe's movements, they did not show it. They were speaking heatedly about something Joe couldn't quite make out above the racket from the air conditioners.
Well, it's safe for the moment.
Joe eased back inside the grate and called up the duct as quietly as he could manage, "Danny, it's clear. Come down here, quiet as you can."
In the vague darkness, he saw Danny move his way down the incline. His friend eased his way forward, almost effortlessly and emerged head first through the grate. Joe helped him to his feet. Placing Danny's hand on his shoulder, he guided his friend around the crates; the large containers were lined all across the wall with enough space to allow the two men to approach cautiously.
After a few seconds, they were in earshot of the two unknowns. Joe eased down onto one knee, listening intently, Danny doing the same.
"...I cannot do as the Commander wishes in the timeframe he has asked," said the scientist with a strong Asian dialect, "You tell him it will take at least another week to make the definite improvement's to the suit's endocrine meshing. If I don't, it could kill whoever tries to use it."
The Centurion replied in a bored, rather cranky tone, "And I am to tell you, Doctor, that the Commander wants the suit completed within the night. You'd better knuckle down and get working if I were you."
The scientist bristled, "I will not be part of this foolishness any longer. I built your company the surveillance drones like they
requested. Now it's Olympus that must make good on its promise to let me go!"
Joe peered around the crates, watching what would unfold, careful not to be seen.
The Centurion was losing patience, "The Commander said you would say that."
"Then you may tell the Commander I refuse to have anything more to do with this insane project."
"The Commander also said you would say that too," replied the Centurion.
The scientist crossed his arms, "Then there is nothing more to talk about."
"Sorry doc, but there's plenty more to talk about."
With that, the trooper smashed the scientist roughly across the face. The Doctor's glasses went flying from his face as he fell to the ground. He tried to reach for them, but the trooper stepped on his hand. The scientist yelped in pain.
"My hand...please..."
The Centurion stood over the doctor, his armored frame making him appear like a fearsome statue, "Finish the job Doc. Otherwise, Commander Dante will be forced to have another chat with you. And I doubt you'll like the results."
Joe watched as the Centurion removed his boot from the scientist's hand. The Doctor cradled it to his body, laying in a fetal position on the floor. The Centurion grabbed the Doctor by the collar of his white lab coat and hoisted him back on his feet.
"There you go Doc, aren't you glad we had this little chat? Now get back to work, or I'll be forced to wake Commander Dante and you can trust me; he won't be as nice to you as I've been." The Centurion chortled under his helmet and left the Doctor standing shakily in front of his workstation. Joe watched as the trooper moved towards the only exit, unlocked it from the inside and stepped out. A loud click sounded as the door was locked again.
Joe saw the Doctor lean down and retrieve his glasses; putting them back on his face. He was definitely Asian, though Joe wasn't the best judge of exactly where he was from. Maybe Japan if he had to guess. The scientist replaced his glasses and pushed them up on the bridge of his nose. The trooper had rattled the man quite a bit. Joe wondered what all the talk about suits and endocrine-stuff meant.
He was going to find out.
He removed Danny's hand and quietly said, "Wait here." The scientist had his back to Joe and he was only ten feet away: if he moved quickly, he'd be able to silence the man before he could call out for help. Joe crept silently forward, gritting his teeth from the soreness in his body. The floor was smooth and his bare feet made no noise as he approached.
The scientist felt the rush of air too late to do anything. Joe caught the man in a deadlock grip; clapping his hand over his mouth before the lab rat could make a sound.
"If you don't want to die, do exactly what I say." Joe hissed.
The scientist nodded frantically.
"Alright, I'm going to let you go and if you do anything I don't like, I'll break you in two before that asshole outside can do anything for 'ya. Got it?" The man nodded again, "Good. Now when I let you go, you're going to sit on that chair over there and answer my questions."
Joe waited for the man to acknowledge and then released him from his grip. The scientist turned to face Joe, giving the Ranger his first good look at the man. He was young, maybe in his late twenties, same as Joe, but seemed younger somehow. His eyes were a heavy brown color and his hair was a spectacular unkempt mess. A pair of octagonal rimmed glasses sat perched on his thin nose. He seemed relatively harmless to Joe at first glance, but he'd already learned that things weren't always as they seemed in this place, so he kept his guard up. Joe watched the man intently as he did as he was told and sat down on the tall chair placed in front of the messy workstation.
Even though the air conditioning was noisy enough to obscure all but the loudest sounds from escaping the room, he nevertheless kept his voice down, "Alright Danny, you can come out."
Danny appeared from behind the crates, staying low as he felt his way over to where Joe stood. The scientist spotted the Canadian and seemed to blanch at the sight of the blind man's injuries.
"Who are you people?"
As Danny approached, Joe took his hand and placed it on his shoulder. The noise of the air conditioners would make it difficult for him to know where to go if they were discovered and Joe wasn't about to let anything happen to his friend.
"I'll ask the questions, Doc. Do you expect that trooper back soon?"
The Asian scientist shook his head, "No, they usually leave me in here for hours at a time. It was a concession I made to work for them, and they know I am no threat."
"Hmm," Joe muttered, showing what he thought of Olympus concessions, "what's your name?"
"My name?" he seemed surprised Joe would even care, "My name is Toshiro Yune. Doctor Yune."
Joe looked around the bizarre room, "Doctor of what?"
"I...I have PH.D.'s in Bio-Engineering, Nano-Technology and Computer Science from the University of Tokyo."
Joe was impressed, "Shit doc, I only managed a degree in community college."
Yune continued as if uninterrupted, "I was working for NATO when these men attacked my convoy. They killed everyone but me."
Joe cocked an ear. For a split second, he thought he heard something from outside the room.
"Just a second Doc. Stay there." Joe set Danny's hand down and rushed over to the large door leading outside of the cold laboratory. He had to lock it with something, just in case some nosy Centurion came back. A small pile of mechanical tools lay on one of the large work tables in the lab. Joe snatched what looked like a Patterson trocar from the table and jammed it into the door's handles. If anyone was going to come checking on them, at least Joe would have a heads-up.
As he walked back towards his companions, Joe remembered something, "You said Bio-engineering huh? Do you know what the hell this is?" He pulled the remains of the mechanical rat from his pocket.
Yune gasped at the sight of the broken robot, "You...what did...you destroyed it!"
Joe was surprised, "Well yeah, it attacked me. What is it?" Danny pulled the rest of the rat from his fatigues and passed it to Joe. He passed on the the remains to the doctor.
"It was something I had been working on in my spare time; a rat cyber sentry," he took the pieces and looked them over carefully, "it is an AI controlled device that would have been used to patrol hard to reach places and act as a spy." The Doctor sighed mournfully, "No longer now."
"Sorry Doc, but the thing attacked us. I have to admit, I've never seen anything like that before."
Yune exhaled sadly, tossing the pieces onto the workbench, "Well, it's no use to me anymore.
"Alright Doc, we don't have a lot of time to waste here. What the hell are they planning to do tomorrow?"
"What do you mean," Yune replied, puzzled.
"We overheard Commander Dante discussing some sort of Code. What was he talking about?"
Yune seemed to hesitate, not sure what to tell these two strange individuals. Joe was certain the Doctor had been left alone with no decent human contact for some time. However, despite that, the Doc seemed like a good enough sort.
"I...I don't actually know what the Code is, I only know what Olympus wanted me to do for them."
"What's that?" asked Joe.
"Well, my specialty is mechanical engineering. I have built several surveillance machines used by NATO for the war in Afghanistan. I helped develop HI-Res cameras for Predator drones, as well as advancements in US Navy radar technology. When I was...kidnapped six months ago, Olympus put me to work developing very specific surveillance equipment."
Danny put a hand out to find the nearest table. Upon feeling the cold metal countertop, he leaned against it, resting his limbs for a moment, "What exactly did Olympus want from you?"
"Well so far, two rather big things. First, they wanted me to augment all of their surveillance drones to be able to process massive amounts of data...data from all parts of a battlefield. They wanted their drones to be capable of assimilating battlefield data for tactical deconstruction on an almost bibl
ical scale."
Joe frowned, "You've lost us Doc."
"I don't really know how to put it more simply, Mr...umm..."
Joe sighed impatiently, "Sorry Doc, I guess we're just in a hurry. I'm Joseph Braddock, Army Rangers and this is Danny Callbeck, Canadian Special Forces."
"Well, I suppose it's nice to meet you."
"You were saying something about Biblical scale?" said Joe.
"The Olympus personnel I have dealt with since my kidnapping have been absolutely obsessed with accumulating data and surveillance from the surrounding countries. Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan; they wanted to know absolutely every minute piece of information of any conflicts nearby. Once I had designed their surveillance drones, I was forced into designing...other things for them."
"What other things?"
The question seemed to brighten Yune's mood somewhat, "I think it would be best if I just show you." Yune gestured to Danny, "Is he..."
"...Blind? How'd you guess?"
"Just a minute," Yune sat up and grabbed a device off the mess of a table. It resembled a pair of old gargoyle sunglasses attached to a small gadget that resembled a hearing aid. He took the item over to Danny.
Joe was mystified, "Doc what is..."
"It's an ocular nerve enhancement device that I have been testing."
Despite the doctor's bruised hand, his attitude was surprisingly upbeat. Joe guessed the man got a kick out of showing off his gizmos.
"It stimulates cortical nerve clusters in the optic center of the brain to perceive electromagnetic impulses sent from these glasses. Here, try them on!"
"Doc, keep it down," hushed Joe.
Yune ignored Joe, too excited to finally have a test subject for his device. Danny reluctantly did as he was asked, placing the glasses on his face. Yune attached the small electrode underneath Danny's ear. He made a small adjustment and then clicked a tiny switch on the glasses.
Joe was about to intervene. This was just too weird, "Wait, I don't know about this Doc..."
"Trust me, Mr. Braddock, it will be fine," he stepped back, "it requires a moment to calibrate. Be patient, Mister Callbeck."
Danny complied. "I don't feel anything."
"Just give it one moment. Trust me!"
Joe was getting impatient. He wasn't sure if this guy was just some quack or what, but he knew that they had to find some sort of weaponry if they were going to escape.