Chapter 12- A Stab In The Dark...
"If no one moves then nobody's going to get hurt
Don't move, 'cause nobody wants to get hurt"
"Nobody Moves, nobody gets hurt" by We Are Scientists.
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Tea and Mokuba moved silently into the pantry, submitted to having their hands bound (while the other sat on the floor, with their legs straight out and spread, and their hands on their head). When the gunman moved to gag them and duct tape their legs together (in two places, to be sure), Tea looked at him, silently protesting, but was ignored. This, she decided, was more than professional. It was personal. Kaiba was going to have a fit! And just when she'd talked him out of his security paranoia. It looked like they weren't to be killed. Just abandoned in a airtight stone/steel small space which didn't open from the inside. Oh yeah. Damn.
She had never been so scared. It was nothing like any of the shadow-games, where at least she had a fighting chance on her own, or with her friends- this was down to one person. Mokuba's and her life was all dependant on the will of one man and his mood. Any second he could come in, pull the trigger twice, and that was it. Two promising lives over in a couple of seconds. It was a frightening thought. As the door closed, and the light receded, so, for a moment, did hope.
She shuffled over to where she remembered Mokuba to be, hitting his legs halfway. They sat for a moment, legs touching in the dark, before Mokuba mm'd quietly at her. She made an instantaneous decision. She mm'd back softly, and pushed at Mokuba, hinting with her movements that she wanted him to lie down facing her. Her hands bound behind her, she wiggled until her fingertips felt the scratchy surface of the duct tape, and she started to pick one side of it away from his mouth.
It felt like hours had passed, instead of minutes, and Tea's fingers got colder, as the tape cut down on her circulation. She had to take periodic breaks and do finger-stretches to keep them going, and she could feel Mokuba's fear and despair for his chance to warn his brother. Eventually, though, it began to give, and, as part of his lips came free, she felt that little flame of hope flare again. A while later, she had three-quarters of his mouth free, and Mokuba was telling her to roll over so he could help her.
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The gunmen moved silently through the house, having disabled the automatic lighting, the outside security, the cameras, the motion sensors, and the alarms, as well as numerous other technological devices installed by Kaiba Corp. Rubber soled shoes, mixed with thick carpet allowed them to move noiselessly into positions already predetermined by the Coordinator. Guns drawn, and ready for immediate use, they crouched at key positions around the mansion, immobilizing Staff via Gas canisters, chloroform pads, or other, less pleasant methods. Speaking quietly into radios attached to their collars, each affirmed their movements with terse code words.
However, Kaiba, famed for his ability to think two moves before an opponent, was not going to choose this moment to be lax in his security. So when a small light began to flash on his computer screen indicating shutdown of a small but extremely crucial switch in the security system, and a faint beeping issued from the secure-com-link he carried everywhere with him in his Rolex, he moved into action within seconds, one thought in his head- Mokuba.
Moving onto emergency channels, he radioed a 911 ahead to his personal Special Weapons And Tactics force. Hanging his coat carefully away, his dark clothing was appropriate for a covert operation (oh, the irony- his mind suggested dryly). Getting out his Emergency Personal Computer, Kaiba quickly checked the schematics of his home. Tracking the hacker blocking his connection to the security systems was going to be a challenge- and doing it without him noticing, was going to take even more time…Time when Mokuba could be hurt or worse. That was not acceptable.
Shifting slightly, Kaiba pushed a book named 'War and Peace' by Dostoyevsky downwards, and stepped into the darkness beyond. It slid noiselessly shut behind him. Sometimes, the old ways were the best, Kaiba thought to himself, then, as he was voice checked, retina scanned, DNA tested and palm proofed, he moved in the 3 step shuffle that told the computer it was not a trap and confirmed his identity via motion sensors, he rethought the idea- you aren't paranoid, when there really are people out to get you…
Sat in the secret central control room, which he had built with Mokuba, just the two of them, shortly after Gozaburo's death, Seto read heat signatures, assessed positioning, and scanned for weapons. From three minutes ago, reading the latest fax from America, to seeing who the hell had dared invade his house, and registering Mokuba and Tea's predicament, he knew time was running out. Once they couldn't find him, they would return to his little brother for answers. Plus, they had shut Ariadne in a tiny airtight drawer, the demons, and she must be running out of air. Kaiba, his handsome face and eyes frozen over with a chilled glaze which he usually reserved for headhunted employees coming to hand in resignations, thought harder than he had ever before, knowing every neuron connecting meant a higher percentage pro life for his little brother, and their friend.
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Tea and Mokuba had managed to remove enough of their gags that they could whisper, while reapplying pressure would indicate no sign they had every been off. Currently, Mokuba was activating a secret panel with a toe- moving his slippers had been the easiest part of the whole operation so far.
"How's it going?" Whispered Tea anxiously. Mokuba murmured his hopeful attitude back. They were working on opening a tiny cupboard concealing a small set of repair tools- including a small saw.
"I've got it!" Mokuba lowered his voice even further, so Tea could barely make out the words.
"Are you sure you want to do this," Tea queried, "You know Kaiba may have his own plans set up for this kind of situation that involve us staying still..?"
"No- I know where he'll be. As long as he was in his office still, which is likely, as he is rarely anywhere else, he will have had a couple of minutes warning. He will be in a safe place…If we escape, I can contact him, and tell him to send in our SWAT team to round them up. Don't worry, Tea- Seto's security interests really pays off at times like this. We have to get to one of the bolt-holes. Each one is separate from the others, but I think I can let him know we're ok from there. Are you sure?"
Mokuba was looking at Tea directly, and she recognized the fear of being alone reflected in her own eyes. There was only one thing to do in this case.
"Sure. I'm in. But be careful."
Mokuba set about sawing them loose. The air was definitely becoming stale, and less oxygenated, and coughing was a complete no-no. Tea and Mokuba grew increasingly nervous as they sawed thorough multiple layers of tape. The noise had to be kept to a minimum, and in the near dark, they both almost cut themselves several times. But in what seemed like too long, Mokuba stood up, and stretched, Tea following. A moment of uncertainty, then they both scanned the pantry for useful weapons…A surprising amount of items revealed themselves, even in complete blackness. Mokuba, holding a couple of tins, and Tea, armed with two large, papery bags, moved quietly to the door.
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Terry, or 'Gamma', to his colleages, was prowling his perimeter. Admittedly, his area wasn't large- hell, there was no two ways about it. It was a kitchen. On the other hand, he had to control the two captives, or Alpha would be angry. Then his life wasn't worth a bean. What was it Alpha had stressed? Oh yeah! Constant…Uh…Oh yeah, Constant Vigilance. That's right. Which mean't staying fully alert, Terry knew. Nodding proudly to himself his own cleverness, Terry stepped around the corner to be met by two powdery explosive blows to the ears and a can of Beanz which killed his vision.
"Hmph. One down, a whole houseful to go, eh Mokuba?" Tea, feeling a surge of courage and bravado take hold, posed as Action-man for a moment, making Mokuba grin back as he murmured- 'where's Ariadne?'
They began a fast but thorough search of the kitchen, finally finding her sealed in a kitchen drawer. Glancing at the clock- a whole seven minutes had passed- Tea picked her up, shoved the first aid kit in her pocket, and followed Mokuba (who had some water and biscuits) out of the kitchen.
Mokuba led Tea commando-style through the house, both of them feeling like rejects from MI:5. As Mokuba dive-rolled perfectly into the living room, Tea scurried in behind him, and over to the armchair she'd been asleep in earlier. If Tea hadn't been keeping an eye out for bad guys, she'd have seen Mokuba push it a metre to the left, and press a button underneath. But she heard the slight ssh-ing noise the floor made as it slid back to reveal a trapdoor.
"Tea- come on, we have to find Seto! What're you waiting for?"
Mokuba whispered, as she stared at him. Handing him the kitten, she followed him down into the dark tunnel, muttering to herself-
"James Bond, actually. Or possibly Tom Cruise dangling from the ceiling on a wire, since you asked."
The door slid closed behind them, and the lights went out, making the darkness complete.
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Tea and Mokuba moved through damp tunnels, breathing in moldy air, their way lit by a torch Mokuba had retrieved from a niche as they came in.
"Mokuba- where are we?" Tea asked, a little scared. The dark was one of her worst things, and darkness combined with cold-hearted killers above their heads and possibly behind or in front of them at any second, had her a little jumpy. To put it mildly. However, she had a hold on it, and her voice only trembled an unnoticable smidgeon.
"Uh…Under the ballroom right now, I think. These are the foundations of the Mansion- Seto had tunnels built in so we could expand…We also have a nuclear bunker, which is where we're headed. There are some computers in there I can use to access the coms, and we can try to find Seto…I hope he's ok."
Tea could feel the anxiety in the air, and moved to try and reassure Mokuba.
"I'm sure he's just fine- wouldn't he be focusing on trying to make the house safe for us? Maybe he got out, and is coming back with the police? Or perhaps we can find him via the computer at the bunker. I'm sure he's ok."
She knew she was babbling, and wasn't really saying anything useful, but a kind of numbness was descending on her- claustrophobia, she recognized. Mokuba moved away from her hand on his shoulder, and mumbled something thoughtfully.
"Come on- let's keep going." She managed brightly. Mokuba looked back briefly at her, but his face was in shadow, and she couldn't read his expression.
In the bunker, five minutes later, Mokuba was thumping the computer in frustration. Tea, feeding Ariadne some biscuit, looked up in surprise.
"I can't get in touch with him! There's someone in the mainframe, and he's blocking our coms. Plus, he's uploaded software that breaks through firewalls and rebuilds them under his instruction, so I can't get to Seto! Also, Seto's not answering any of our codes, and hasn't left me any…Why….You don't even seem to care!"
Tea didn't know what to say- the thought of Seto being hurt or unable to reach him had panicked Mokuba completely, and accusation after accusation poured out. Tea felt each imprecation like a knife in her chest, as he implied she was after their money, had hurt Ari and abandoned her on purpose to get Kaiba to come to her….She knew rationally that he didn't mean any of it, that this was what kids do when they can't handle something, that he was just afraid…But at the same time, it almost broke her heart.
"You've got to be in league with them!" Mokuba, furious and terrified, threw back the door, and vanished into the dark with their only torch. Tea did the only thing she could. She followed the light.
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Seto, meanwhile, was up against a computer genius. Luckily for our heroes, Seto Kaiba counted 'primary computer super genius in Japan', amongst his many and varied titles. Sat in a tiny unlit compartment (he'd been forced to relocate four times now by approaching goons), he was on the verge of cracking the codes that would allow him to realign the security software and take control of the situation, which facilitated his only goal. Find Mokuba.
Now, as he typed furiously, his mind closed off in fear for his little brothers safety. A gentle nerve at the back of his brain reminded him of Gardner too, hopefully they were together, and she would look after him. He had recognized several of the men who had trashed his office, as he watched unflinchingly, as belonging to some new competitors to Kaiba Corporation. He hated new companies- although they were only ever stupid enough to try this option once. His scare tactics obviously needed polish. Well, plenty of time for that later. He had no time to waste on crushing fools right now. He could play later- now it was time for Work.
Typing even faster, he gave a hiss of triumph. The mainframe was online and back under his grasp. Quickly he accessed the trackers, looking for Mokuba's heat signature. He scanned the house, swearing as he saw two shapes hurtling upwards through the tunnels. Quickly approximating their exit into the main house, he noted the four men posted down that corridor. Something must have gone horribly wrong, he noted, closing the EPC, and disappearing into a co-joining passage. What else would cause them to race so quickly towards four men with semi-automatics?
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Mokuba raced up the sloping passage, desperate to escape Tea, who was calling frantically in whispers for him to wait for her, that she could explain. He flung himself around corners, pushed open doors and jumped over trip cords, amazed she was still behind him. Not for long, though. A mocking smile caught his lips as he slipped out the doorway into the upstairs corridor, vanishing as he saw the gun lifted to point straight at him…
Tea, pushing a final sprint, heard a sound behind her, and sped out after Mokuba. She had a second to assess the situation, and then she dived into action…
Just as a shot rang out.
Kaiba emerged into the hallway like Divine Wrath, and took on the nearest goons, knocking them out, and taking advantage of their confusion and unwillingness to shoot, in case they hit each other. Not pausing for a second, soon four bodies slumped on the floor, barely breathing.
Turning, his heart stopped, as he saw Gardner holding his brother tight and close, covered in too much bright, fresh blood.
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R&R! It's good to be back- and I have written up to chapter 15! I'll update soon...
Es
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