CHAPTER 38

"Tom."

A knock came through the door.

"Tom, come on, wake up," Skinner said. "We're doin' mission assignments."

Sawyer was out of bed and at the door. He'd fallen asleep in his clothes, which were now somewhat wrinkled, but suitable for a mission. He quickly glanced at a clock, which read that it was almost noon at this point.

"When'd you get back?" Sawyer asked, as the two of them walked back to the meeting room.

"Jus' now. Wotever she'n Nemo were doing, she took 'er sweet time wiff it."

Sawyer entered the room, where everyone was waiting. Nemo still had that cane sitting next to him. Jekyll stared at the table, and seemed nervous, even a bit sick. Skinner took a seat, unreadable in his invisibility. Mina leaned forward to start the meeting.

"We have three goals which we must accomplish," she said. "Kill Bishop, disable his mind-control device, and destroy the factory."

I've had sex with you, Sawyer thought suddenly. So far in the future it was like a different person. But you like talking dirty. You are infertile. You don't mind exhibitionism. And you liked me, even when I was alive. That's now. Are you thinking of me? Sawyer quickly suppressed his train of thoughts and tried to focus on the matter at hand.

"What about Christine?" Jekyll asked.

"What about her?" Mina retorted.

"You're talking about killing her father. She's nine years old."

"It's an unfortunate set of circumstances, to be certain, but it's certainly worse to leave her with that man." Jekyll stared more intently at the table, but didn't respond.

"Why do you care?" Skinner asked. "We'll send her off to an orphanage or somefin.' She'll be okay." Jekyll pressed his lips together, but nodded. Sawyer was pretty sure that Jekyll wasn't okay with that, but had decided to stop talking anyways.

"We have bombs for the factory," Mina continued. "They need to be set up and detonated before the EMP goes off."

"The what?" Skinner asked. "ENP?"

"An EMP," Nemo said, "is an electromagnetic pulse. It will shut off all electricity within a five-mile radius. Including the bombs."

"Well, once the EMP is off, and the mind-control is disabled, it'll be a snap to kill Bishop," Sawyer pointed out.

"Assuming we can find him," Mina said. "And, of course, Mr. Quatermain is still inside there somewhere."

"He'll take care of himself."

"We're not certain of that. He could be in any number of grave situations."

"The EMP runs on electricity," Nemo interjected. "As do the bombs. The bombs must be set off, and then the EMP. Then Bishop must be stopped."

"Do we need flare guns to signal that the factory has been destroyed?" Sawyer asked. "How far apart are the two?"

"Well, Mrs. Harker caught me no more than half a mile away from the fortress," Jekyll said.

"And that was no more than a quarter of a mile from the factory," Mina finished. "The explosions themselves will be enough of a signal."

"And Bishop?" Skinner asked.

"He's never very hard to find," Jekyll said.

"I think we can manage between the four of us," Mina said.

"Five," Sawyer said, confused.

Jekyll cleared his throat. "It's been decided that I would remain here."

"Oh." Awkward.

"Then Mr. Sawyer and I will plant the factory bombs," Mina said. "Nemo can remain a safe distance away to set off the EMP, and Skinner can infiltrate the main fortress to kill Bishop. If no one has found Quatermain by then, then all of us return to the fortress."

"Wait a minute," Skinner said. "They can see me wiff those glasses of theirs. I know they have them."

"They don't have them on all the time," Jekyll said. "In fact, the only time I've seen them with infrared is when they were outside at night."

"Alright, but what if Melissa's transfer thing wears off?" Sawyer asked.

"Transfer thing?" Skinner asked.

"You know. What she did with Hyde."

"So much the better," Mina said. "It seems to me the plan would go better without him."

"But you passed out the first time it happened."

"Which is why you and I are teamed together. Should I pass out, I leave my fate in your hands. But the entire operation should not take long."

"Then so much the better we start right away," Nemo said.