Elise blinked rapidly as she awoke from her slumber. She sat up in her seat and looked out into the dark night and the lights below. She assumed they were over Washington.
"I took the liberty of calling ahead; they know to be expecting you." She turned back to regard the pilot. It was a bit pointless as Morgan would have informed them of her imminent arrival anyway. No doubt the troops were running about like mad ants trying to make sure everything was in order before she got there. And she had no doubt that her pilot's communiqué was not for her sake but to give his counterparts a heads up.
"So what is going on underneath the Hoover Building?" Her pilot asked tentatively as they circled in for the landing.
"You know better than to ask questions like that." The truth was that she didn't even know herself.
"Sorry Ma'am." The pilot focussed intently on the controls in front of him, more so than necessary.
They landed in an abandoned lot a few blocks away from the Hoover Building and the chopper took off again as soon as Elise disembarked. She made her way through the dark streets, passing several clusters of street bums huddled around trash fires. Children, women and haggard men, despite the victory over the Grey Death it seemed that life was in no way improved for the lower classes. She could not help but feel that Everett should spend less time with his little schemes and do more to help the people. But how could she make him understand. He barely ever left his apartment, while she spent nearly every night wandering the streets and seeing the true state of the world.
She slipped through the inconspicuous security checks with ease, they were all expecting her. When she had first started working for her father the power of her position had been a thrill, but now she despised it. For she knew that she truly had no power to do anything. She hated watching the guards jump to attention, saluting her and fearing her; undoubtedly complaining about her as soon as she moved out of sight. Elise believed that a leader ought to command respect, not fear. But how could she do this when her orders and wishes were never her own, but Everett's. She was escorted to the Command Centre where Lieutenant Exeley awaited. As she entered he turned to her with a false smile.
"A pleasure as always to see you again." She knew very well that he did not appreciate an outsider coming in and telling him how to command his troops. She wouldn't have liked it either. "What brings you to Washington?"
"The powers that be feel that we are at risk of a security breach." Morgan insisted that she never use his name. He didn't want MJ-12 to know that there was only one man controlling everything. "I'm sure I don't need to stress the importance of our work here."
"Not at all. I can assure you, this building is impenetrable." She stared at him coolly and he turned away nervously to examine some reports on the main table. "I shall double the security though if that is deemed necessary."
"It is."
"And shall you be remaining here then?" The hopeful look in his eyes told her he would be greatly relieved to see her gone.
"Yes." She did not know what else she was to do. Everett had banished her to Washington and until she received further orders she had to assume that she was meant to stay put. Exeley motioned to her escort and they showed her to the barracks that had been arranged inside the building. She was given one of the empty officer's quarters.
"Is there anything you need Ma'am?" The guards asked her as they stood outside the room. She wondered if they had been ordered to escort her everywhere, and to stay outside her room at all times.
"No that's all, thankyou." She mustered as much politeness as she could and closed the door. She supposed she should not be angry with them; they were only following orders, as she had to. Elise looked around the sparse, sterile room taking her heavy coat off and tossing it onto the small bunk. There was a single desk with a terminal and she unhooked her utility belt, placing it next to the terminal before she sat down.
'Time to look into this Denton.' She thought as she logged into the computer. It occurred to her that Morgan could be monitoring her and her snooping, but it was a risk she would just have to take. It was time to start thinking for herself.
'Denton is in Washington.' The infolink buzzed. It was the first time Morgan had made contact with her for a week. She was in the Command Centre inspecting the new security measures that Lieutenant Exeley had installed. 'Have no doubt; he will try to find out what our mission is there.' Elise grumbled mentally, she wouldn't mind knowing herself. She almost wanted to ask Morgan which Denton he was talking about since she now knew there were two of them. But he always used information to his benefit and so now she would also. If he believed she was ignorant then the advantage was hers. She did not know if they were the only nano-augs beside herself, or who had performed the procedure. She hoped she might have the opportunity to ask Denton himself. Lieutenant Exeley was watching her with the same curious expression she always received when she was distracted by her infolink. She turned to him with a wicked grin.
"It seems you will soon have the opportunity to test your security Lieutenant." For a brief moment he looked genuinely concerned, as though he doubted his troops would measure up. One never knew when something might go wrong. But then he pushed his doubts aside.
"I guarantee our security can handle anything that you throw at it." Elise couldn't wait to find out. She was surprised to discover that she was actually excited by the prospect of facing Paul again. That is, if it was Paul that was coming to Washington. She had never been beaten before and she looked forward to the challenge of trying to capture another nano-aug.
'I want you to order the troops to shoot on sight; I want him gone for good.' She grimaced at Morgan's command and had no choice but to relay it to Lieutenant Exeley. He had not ordered her to shoot on sight however and she suppressed a grin. She returned to her quarters, escort in tow, to prepare for his arrival.
Elise was busy cleaning her pistol when there was a knock at her door.
"Enter." She called as she began to reassemble the gun. They had never knocked on her door previously and she knew before the soldier even spoke that there was an intruder.
"Sorry for the interruption ma'am, but we thought you'd like to know that we've found a boy." Elise stared at the man quietly. This was not the intruder she expected. When she made no response the guard continued. "We found him on the second floor, covered in blood. It seemed a bit suspicious."
"Indeed it does. I would like to talk to him." She stood up and holstered her pistol, grabbing her coat and slinging it over her shoulders as she swept past the trooper and out into the corridor.
"Has he said anything about where the blood came from?"
"No Ma'am, he won't talk. He's scared out of his wits." That didn't surprise Elise.
They led her to the Recreation commons on the second floor where they were holding the boy. Elise walked into the room and found the boy, pinned to a chair with two heavily armed MJ-12 troops on either side. He couldn't have been more than twelve and he was quaking in fear as he looked in terror at the guns surrounding him. There was blood spattered all over his shirt and face. This poor kid was going to be traumatised from a long time; all she could do now was try to prevent him from suffering anymore damage.
"Hey there." She said as she crouched down to bring her eyes to the same level as his. He turned to look at her and she smiled at him. He gulped nervously but at least she had drawn his attention from the guns. Hopefully she'd be able to get some sense out of him too.
"What's your name?" Elise asked gently.
"B…Brian…" He stammered, liquid pooling at the corners of his eyes.
"Now don't worry Brian, no-one is going to hurt you." She motioned to the guards on either side of him to take their hands off him and they complied. "But did someone else hurt you?" She gently placed a hand on his knee and she smiled again when he did not flinch at the contact. "Where did all the blood come from?" She pointed to the blood on his clothes. Brian looked down at his shirt and when he looked up to her again there were tears on his cheeks and his lower lip trembled as he tried to speak.
"He…he killed him."
"Who did?"
"The guy downstairs. He looked like a spy." Brian dropped his head ashamed of the tears on his face as he wiped at them.
"Why would you say that Brian?"
"He wanted to know about the building, and the hidden tunnels that ran under it." Brian looked at her sheepishly. "Am I going to get in trouble?" Elise tried not to laugh; the boy was in more serious trouble than he knew.
"You'll be alright Brian, as long as you behave yourself and co-operate."
"I will, I will." He assured her vehemently and he fell silent for a moment, thinking. "I think he said his name was J.C."
Elise straightened up, grabbed a nearby chair and sat down. So it was the younger brother, J.C. Denton. She was lost in thought, staring into space when she caught a flash of movement near the open doorway. She switched her vision to sonar and could clearly see the silhouette of someone crouched next to the door. She turned to the guards next to the boy, while inconspicuously reaching under her coat for her dart-gun.
"Get him something to eat, get him cleaned up and then let him go." The guards hesitated to follow her command.
"But Ma'am," One of them began, "our orders were clear." Elise's eyes flashed angrily.
"I don't have the stomach to shoot a helpless boy, Private. Do you?" The guards avoided her angry gaze but helped the boy to his feet and escorted him out the door on the opposite side of the room. She remained seated, her head turned at an angle from the open doorway, but her eyes rested keenly on the silhouette. She watched him pull something from under his coat and gripped her gun more tightly. She called out to him and invited him into the room. She laughed outright as she observed his stunned reaction, looking around for the cameras. Both of these Denton's seemed a little slow-witted. He seemed to think better of his first choice of weapon as he stood and walked into the Recreation commons. She taunted him again as he cautiously entered the room, rising from her chair, keeping her right arm straight and concealing the dart-gun behind her hip. The minute he was clear of the doorframe she fired the tranquiliser dart, hitting him square in the stomach. He slowly collapsed to the floor and Elise felt somewhat saddened.
"I expected more of a challenge J.C. How disappointing." She grinned at him as his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell into unconsciousness. She stepped over his body and out the door, pulling an EMP grenade from her belt. She moved to a clear distance and tossed the grenade into the room.
"Guards!" She hollered as the grenade flashed.
In minutes there were several men hurrying down the corridor toward her. She walked back to J.C's body and waved at him with her hand.
"Take him to the storage room." She commanded and they hurried to obey her. "Make sure he's bound well." Elise stated as they dragged him away. She decided she would have time to be sure Brian had been properly taken care of before J.C. came to. Then she would get the answers she sought.