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Episode
051
“Damn, Smokey. You got knocked the f*ck out!”
Everett opened the door to his apartment with hesitancy. He
wasn’t prepared to find Morgan waiting for him. “Hey.” Everett said,
leaning his ninjato against the wall, his eyes closed almost completely
against the light of the late afternoon.
“These yours?” Morgan said bitterly, stepping to the side,
motioning to the lump of three unconscious bodies that were piled on the
walkway to Everett’s apartment. When Morgan turned back around, Everett
hadn’t moved, but his eyes burned.
“Your boys assaulted me.” Morgan said clearly.
“And why the hell would they want to do something like that?”
Everett said, standing up aggressively.
“Maybe because I saved Armand’s life when I kicked his ass.”
Morgan said, taking a powerful step towards Everett. “And let me make
this very clear, to you and to anyone else. The next time anyone,
anyone,” He repeated slowly. “Comes at me with a sword or a gun, I
will kill them.”
Morgan turned and left.
“Here we are.” Errol said, lifting up violently on the metal
shard that was wedged into the door jam. The door popped open with a metal
creak. Errol and Uriel both looked around cautiously in the dark hallway
of the building. But neither sound nor sight changed around them.
“Alright.” Errol said, pushing the door slightly. “You’re
sure the alarms won’t go off?” He asked, almost rhetorically.
“If they do,” Uriel said. “We’ll probably be dead before we
can really regret it.”
“That brings me no comfort.” Errol said, closing his eyes. He
took a deep breath and held it for a moment. He pushed gently on the door,
letting it swing open. The metal door swung completely open, revealing to
the two of them a giant laboratory larger than many factories.
“Well well well.” Uriel said, entering first, leaving Errol
behind to close the door properly. “It would appear that our Mr. Assanti
has been a busy little dictator.”
“Why?” Errol asked as he joined his counterpart. But as he did,
he saw. A giant, three-dimensional map was the centerpiece of the
laboratory. The two agents looked at each other, then moved towards the
laboratory.
It was an elaborate map, one that clearly depicted a mountain
fortress building deep into stone mountains. “It’s Norad.” Errol
said, joking.
“It’s shaped like the Sircle.” Uriel said, lowering down to
the level of the table, to get a better gauge of the thing’s
orientation. “If these little trees are to scale . . .” He started.
“Then this thing’s huge.” Errol finished, looking up. The
ceiling was the usual metal chrome, one that showed no mark, only the
casual reflection from the largely lightless room. “I’d say it’s the
fortress that the Miracle Worker Clan’s been working on.”
“Obviously.” Uriel said. “But I didn’t think it was this
big.”
“Neither did Aaron.” Errol said, still staring up at the
ceiling.
Now Uriel looked up from his crouching position. He stared at the
ceiling, then looked to Errol. “Something bothering you?”
“The ceiling.” Errol said, staring at the chrome. He looked to
Uriel, sighing sadly. “I think we just walked into a trap.”
“Very good.” Phillip said, staring at Errol and Uriel as they
stood next to the table. Standing on the industrial glass ceiling, he
looked down through the one-way mirror, looking directly at the two
infiltrators who stared back up at him. “Oh, Errol. You are truly
astute.”
“Shall we send in our team?” Asked one of Phillip’s aids who
stood with a bowed head a few steps behind the leader of the Hand.
“No.” Phillip said. “They’re scared. They’re going to
make a mistake and that’s all I need to start this little ‘chain
reaction’. Don’t do anything, so long as they run away. If they prove
to be Aaron’s undoing, so much the better.”
“Yes sir.” Said the aid.
Phillip turned back to the two who stood in the laboratory, staring
up at the seemingly innocent ceiling. “Well played, gentlemen.” He
said with a grin. “Now, tell me. How do you plan to escape?”
“There it is.” Ian said, as he sat with Orson, the two leaning
on the side of a grassy hill right before a large pond. Across the pond
from the two, a host of corporate buildings stood silently in the late
night. The giant buildings stood tall against the starry sky, some even
encroaching onto the surface of the water itself, while the reflection
from the still water shown the buildings back up against their own
arrogance.
“That’s the one?” Orson asked, holding a camera still. He
kept motionless for a moment, then his finger started to snap quickly as
he ran threw the film.
“That’s the one.” Ian said. “That’s the one where the
components are.”
“Components.” Orson said, shaking his head. “What is it with
you and Errol? You guys can’t talk straight. You can’t call it
‘Uranium’.”
“It’s plutonium.” Ian corrected.
“You can’t even call it what it is.” Orson continued.
“You’ve got to call it a ‘component’.”
“Well, it is.” Ian said. “Besides, at the moment, unless we
get it out from underneath there, we may not be able to even call it
ours.”
“True enough.” Orson said, finishing up the roll of film. He
looked over to the lounging Ian. “How about Thai?”
“I hate Thai.” Ian said, his eyes closed. “Mongolian?”
“Gives me gas.” Orson said.
“And Thai doesn’t?”
“How about just good ole Chinese?” Orson asked, with some
thought.
“Anywhere near by that you know doesn’t suck?” Ian responded,
opening his eyes to stare up at the stars.
“Point taken.” Orson nodded. He looked back at the corporate
building. “So, how do you think we’re going to get that thing out?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea.” Ian said, sitting up. “The
thing’s lodged up under there pretty good. Explosives might damage the
container, and even if they didn’t, they’d destabilize the building
for sure. And half it’s weight is distributed over the water. It’s a
stupid design if you ask me.”
“Equipment’s too complicated.” Ian discounted. “And
what’s small enough to go unnoticed is probably too small to make a
difference.”
“Then how are we going to do this?” Orson asked.
“I don’t . . .” Ian’s eyes opened up wide. He suddenly
started to smile. “Oh my god.” He said, looking around in amazement.
“Of course.” He looked at Orson. “My god, that’s brilliant. Why
didn’t I think of that sooner?”
“Think of what?” Orson asked, with mild concern in his voice.
“We won’t.” Ian declared proudly.
“We won’t what?” Orson asked with uncertainty.
“We won’t get it out.” Ian said, gesturing to the building.
“We won’t?”
“Nope.” Ian said with a grin. “We won’t.”
“The reason we’re not going to get it out is simple.” Ian
said, grabbing his cell phone out of his pocket. He flipped the small
device open and hit a few buttons. The phone began to ring. “Somebody
else is going to get it out of there for us.”
The phones stopped ringing. “Aaron.” Came a voice over the
phone.
“Aaron.” Ian said, still grinning. “Have I got some good news
for you.”
“Good.” Aaron said. “Right now, I could really use some good
news.”
“Shhh.” Ian said, silencing him. He turned his attention back
to the phone. “You know our little problem with the component?” Ian
asked.
“Yeah?” Came Aaron’s voice.
“Well, I know how we’re going to get it out.” Ian said, with
a proud grin.
“Okay.” Aaron said with reservation. “How are we going to get
it out?” He repeated for his own personal clarity.
“We’re not.” Ian said, his grin getting bigger. “We’re
not going to get it out, not exactly.”
“Okay.” Aaron said. “I’ll bite.”
“I’ve got the perfect plan, Aaron.” Ian said, his grin just
getting bigger. “We’re not going to get it out. The World Alliance
is.” |