Chapter Nine
Attacked
Sleep and night shift work in the OpDyke building is suddenly interrupted by a loud insistent wailing emergency alarm. It blasts from computer panels on every level above the Eighteenth Causeway.
All screens flash the word: “Intruder, Intruder, Intruder.” Over all of this noise a deep rumbling harsh night duty voice shouting, "Elevator, Elevator, Elevator . . . !"
Wearing nightclothes, knee-length pink cotton-nylon blend satin-looking loose-fitting nightgowns, Dee and Vee grab stun wands and rush toward the communications panel on bare feet.
In the hallway Zee scoops up her purse from a stand and lifts her floor-length pink nightgown skirt knee high so she can run. Long newly re-dyed brown hair in a frightful tangle and barefooted Zee rushes to her guard duty station in front of the elevator.
On back-up Vee yells into the Com, "Alerted on 26. Zee is guarding elevator door," and pulls her own purse out of a desk drawer.
A sleepy Dee walks into the living room, looks at the clock, and it reads 1:11.
Breen's worried and angry voice, shouts, “In the elevator.”
Views of all elevator doorways pop up on screens on the wall. Each one has someone, an armed guard, waiting. Vee and Dee see Zee is ready. Dee touches Vee's hand and points to the 28th floor screen. It is filled with an old white-haired lady, a mechanical bodyguard. They know its Mary. Harry’s guard stands in front of the elevator door in a long floor-length black sleeveless evening dress, a party dress, wearing a string of imitation pearls around her neck at 1:11 in the morning, and armed with a black purse like Zee's pink one.
Dee laughs, "They'll not get past Mary."
Vee giggles, “Harry forgot again to tell her after supper to change.”
The elevator panel light flashes on their floor Dee’s giggle ceases and Vee’s finger points at the closed doorway. In backup position Vee lifts up her purse. Zee aims her double-ball compressed air wand inside her purse at the elevator and Vee aims her purse at the closed doorway. The elevator door slides open but the brightly lit interior of the car is empty.
"Freeze elevator on 26. Intruder on top of car," Zee yells.
Vee's fingers tap several times on a panel. The blocked elevator doors remain open on the 26th floor.
Breen's voice yells from a panel, "I've locked 27 and 28 elevator doors. Intruder trapped in elevator shaft 26 and up."
Everyone waits. The silence is like a loud noise that takes your hearing away as all ears strain for the tiniest sound. Finally, they hear a faint scratching from inside the elevator shaft over security speakers.
Suddenly a panel-view showing the inside of the elevator shaft pops on a screen, a down from the top view. It shows a hooded man's slender figure dressed in black standing on the emergency handrail trying to open the 27th floor elevator door by pulling the emergency door release. A strong pull and then three hard yanks on the bar do not yield any results.
An obviously frustrated figure in black climbs quickly upward. At the 28th floor the assassin tries again with the same lack of results.
Quickly the intruder scampers downward to the only way out through the top of the 26th floor elevator car. Unable to enter either floor above Bakman’s apartment and force open the doors at the top and bottom of the down stairways there is one choice left. The figure in black knows the building is on alert. While scampering down the assassin takes several glances down at the top of the elevator car knowing that his only way out is through Bakman’s apartment.
Without even a moment's hesitation the figure in black scrambles down. There are only two things he can do. Wait for a building security team to climb up and kill him, or go down through the stalled and by now guarded elevator car on Bakman’s floor, and try to complete his mission—kill Bakman.
His only chance afterward is to escape down an emergency stairway or freight elevator in the confusion. His only chance is a very slim one. A slim chance is better than no chance at all. Realizing that fact, the figure in black quickly jumps down the last six feet. Every second counts now.
Standing and waiting Zee whispers softly into the Com in her purse, "Dim room lights." The lights in the room dim but the lights remain bright inside the elevator car.
After a seemingly long nine second wait, a black figure drops down through the emergency door in the top of the car. Even while the intruder falls Zee’s purse puffs. Just as the intruder’s feet touch the elevator's floor a small explosion sounds inside the car as the double-ball strikes its target.
A muffled crack, the figure in black flops limply down and backward. The weapon in the assassin’s hand puffs. Something thumps and explodes loudly in the ceiling of the elevator car.
"Security . . . Threat neutralized . . . Run elevator down to your level . . . Zee out." Her head turns to look into a small hallway mirror and frowns over messy hair. Quickly, Zee swings her purse under her left arm and her busy fingers move to straighten and bring order to her hair.
"In a second," answers Breen. Eight seconds after his announcement the elevator door closes and front room lighting returns to normal. While Zee walks back to join the others Breen yells.
“Good work Zee. Dee, tell Bakman we need to have a meeting. The intruder knew which floor Bakman lives on. Someone talked. We have a leak. And, we need to talk about it . . . tonight."
At that moment, Bakman joins the group wearing satin-looking baggy cotton blend green pajamas. In a concerned tone he speaks loudly into the intercom, "Any ideas!"
"No, but I've got everyone checking our people. They will check everyone in the building that works for us, including you, Harry, and me.”
“Call everyone to a meeting in Harry’s office as soon as you have something . . . no matter what the time. Okay . . . we don’t wait on this . . . Bakman out.”
With a wave Vee and a yawning Dee head off to their beds.
Smiling warmly Bakman takes Zee in his arms for a hug and passionate kiss. After the others disappear into their bedrooms he escorts a smiling Zee back to his.
The Centauri Conspiracy Page 11