October 28
Colorado River Basin near Las Vegas, Nevada
"Tripwire, I swear if you touch that device you're going on KP duty for a month," Flint hissed in the near-darkness of the lab. He pulled his night-vision goggles down as the dim emergency lighting came on.
"But I have to check it, Flint. Cobra may have booby-trapped it." The flickering lights surrounding the machine reflected against Tripwire's helmet as he moved closer to the table. The device itself was about the size of a soccer ball, and appeared to be made of a slick, dark metal.
"Scan it, then. But don't touch it. We still don't know what it does." Flint turned back to the doorway and motioned the rest of his team in. Lady Jaye headed directly for the file cabinets at the side of the room, and Roadblock took up a guard position near the door.
Flint caught Airtight's sleeve as the man entered and silently gestured toward Tripwire. Lowering his voice, he advised, "I'd stay back until he's done. If that thing isn't explosive, you can have a quick look for any other hazards, but we need to head out sooner rather than later."
Airtight smiled. "Aw, Cobra pretty much let us walk right into this facility. We could probably throw a slumber party and they wouldn't notice."
"Yeah, and that worries me," Flint replied. "Why aren't they protecting their so-called 'death device' better?" Something didn't feel right about this. Aside from the single intercepted Cobra message, which was even more melodramatic than usual, the Joe team hadn't heard a peep about the new device Cobra had developed. No missing scientists, no research facilities broken into lately, and no storehouses ransacked for components. It didn't add up.
Flint looked over as Tripwire signaled the all-clear. Airtight exchanged places with him and began his own complicated scans.
"Nothing, Flint," Tripwire reported, packing his gear. "There aren't any explosives around it. We'll have to take it apart later to be sure, but it doesn't look like it's meant to blow up."
"And these research notes don't make sense," Lady Jaye added, walking over with a stack of files. "There are pages here about chlorophytes, radiation, meteorites, calcification, and salt water…but what do you get when you mix those?"
"Giant mutant alien algae?" Tripwire suggested with a shrug.
Flint shook his head, unable to give a better answer. Airtight motioned from across the room and said, "It's all clear. Want me to bring it?"
"Yes, but carefully, please." The team fell in behind Flint as they retraced their steps through the Cobra facility, everything as quiet on the way out as it had been on the way in.