A/N: Thanks to readers both new and old for checking out this latest chapter. I've been held up on writing this one since I've been preoccupied with moving into my new place and getting it set up. I'll do my best to avoid a similar long break like this in the future.
Thanks goes to garnetflint for doing beta-reader duties on this one.
Chapter 36
Sarah looked at the woman lying on the gurney, wondering how best to question her. Black knew something that much she could surmise, but she wasn't sure what the ideal approach was here. While Black hadn't outright lied to her or the others nor had she'd been hostile, she still wasn't forthcoming with any intel she was privy to. The fact that she was both here and at the Omaha facility when it was hit strongly pointed to her being more strongly linked to the Intersect project than she'd allude to before. The hostiles must have known it somehow, the same way they knew about this base, and so far they'd not made any major mistakes...aside from underestimating Chuck of course.
Torture was out of the question, both due to time restraints and the fact that Black could easily succumb to the pain in the condition she was in. She didn't have any real leverage to use either, thus leaving her only one option. It went against her training taught her, hell it went against her very instincts, but she saw no choice.
She'd have to ask Black outright about what she knew and trust that she wasn't lying.
"Okay everyone, we can't beat around the bush any longer. There's something I need to know before we plan our next step," Sarah told everyone. She hunkered down beside Black and cleared her throat.
"Agent Black, " Sarah began, hoping the uncertainty wasn't showing in her voice. "We don't have much time so please use listen to me. There's something about this facility, something that links it to the first station hit. You wouldn't be here if these men weren't certain you had clearance to even set foot in this place. If we're going to be able to foil whatever plans they have we're going to have to know what it is. "
Black regarded her words, but stayed silent. Although her body was wracked with pain she still was lucid.
Sarah sighed. "I can understand if you don't want to tell me anything. I don't owe you anything, it's true, but there's no telling what those animals will do if they're allowed to get their way. They've killed already, have incited riots that will claim more lives and were even willing to nuke us all to hell to cover up their heist. "
"That man Anderson... he also said he'd slash my daughter's eyes out. The way he said it, the... casualness of it, like if he said he was going to step out for a smoke," she rasped out. "Okay. I don't like it but I hate someone like that have free reign. The truth of the matter is... there's a Omaha facility on the premises as well as the Juno ones."
"A what?" Anna and Morgan both asked at the same time, while Sarah went quiet with shock. Casey, much to his credit, didn't even flinch.
"It's need to know, and neither of you need to know," he told them flatly.
"Trust me guys, just leave it be," Chuck added. "It really falls in the realm of "I'd have to kill you if I told you". I only know because I've... well let's just say I've been involved in the testing of that project."
"It's probably best you forgot you've ever heard those names, for your families sake if nothing else. Important players have much invested in its development and they'd go to extreme measures to ensure word didn't get out. Murder wouldn't be out of the question," Sarah told them. The stark honesty in her voice gave Morgan the willies and he could feel his knees quake at the possibilities she alluded to. He had a hard time with wedgies, and the thought of suffering something worse... well he'd just have to whip up some redneck champagne later if he'd any hope of ever sleeping again.
"They're not read into the project?" Black asked in shock.
"They were brought in last minute top help with this crisis," Sarah smoothly improvised. "With all of the chaos happening on the island there's no way we could rely on the police or the military to assist us and we were in need as much help as possible. Chuck vouches for them, and their... unique skill set has been an asset to us so far."
"Who know Morgan's aversion to work helped hone his ability to avoid detection?" she wondered to herself.
"An Omaha facility, wonderful," Casey groused. "It's like the eggheads wanted to make it easy to walk off with the Intel. Is it running the new crap your team was working on?"
"No, version 1," Jordan said. "They knew that it worked for certain and the higher ups would rather go with the known risks rather than an unknown and potentially error prone compression method. It was supposed to be a temporary situation though, so they could extract the data later. I was made privy to that process though but I can imagine it being unpleasant."
"Funny, I thought you were in R&D, " Chuck told her. "Why did you have anything to do with this place?"
Jordan shrugged. "We sometimes got sample data from here. There was worry about the network getting disrupted so I was given limited access but so far I never had to set foot in here. Not until now at least," she added.
"So we'll probably need to hit the Omaha facilities and disable them, " Sarah concluded.
"Are you going to blow them up?" Anna asked hungrily. After seeing the C4 in action she hoped to get a chance to help rig some of it up herself.
"If we have to, but that's a worst case scenario. If the facilities isn't in lock down it shouldn't come to that though. All we'd need to do is pop open the workstation and smash the motherboard. You know how sensitive those can be," Sarah said to her.
"Oh, and how, " Anna said smiling as she remembered the time a customer tried to repair one himself with duct tape and Band-Aids.
"Not so fast Walker, we have another situation," Casey spoke up. "Grimes and Wu discovered that some of these guys are carrying plastic explosives and no detonators. That makes me curious. "
"And we wouldn't like you when you're curious?" Chuck guessed. All present eyes turned to bore a hole right through him. "Okay, okay, bad joke. So, why does that make you curious Casey?" he asked.
"These guys are pros, so it wouldn't be simply that they forgot to bring them. That means that they're already in use. Aside from our handiwork there haven't been any signs of anything explosive damage, so the Million Dollar Question here is where they have them planted," Casey pointed out.
"Hmmm..." Sarah thought out loud. "Hey Chuck, is there any way to determine if our "hosts" have made it into the pantry yet?"
"The pantry?" Chuck wondered out loud, before remembering Anna's and Morgan's presence there meant she didn't want to even mention the word "Intersect". "Oh right, the pantry. Yup, it shouldn't be a problem if I can access an Ethernet jack. I don't think I've done anything to alert whoever is in charge of the security now, so I still have access."
"Oooooh, mysterious. Got to love something as ominous as "the pantry" as a codename for something. Simple and yet so vague," Morgan joked.
"I was hoping for something more colorful, like "Platapus Crosswalk". I mean, if you're going non-descriptive you might as well go all out, " Anna pointed out. "Give your guys something entertaining to chew on while they talk about work."
"Hey, can I get some painkillers now that I've answered your questions?" Jordan asked more politely than Chuck expected. "I'm enjoying these subcontractors talking smack about Sarah's ability to mimic the Agency's crappy naming scheme, but I have to admit, I'm in absolute agony here."
"Jeez, I'm sorry, we should have had it out by now," Chuck said apologetically. "Hey, uh Casey, would you mind doing the honors? I don't have any experience dealing with the strong stuff."
"Sure, but only because Black's been helpful as far as most spooks go, " he admitted while he went rustling through the cabinet. "Got to admit, I'm surprised a desk jockey like you is being so nonchalant about your condition. I know Marines that would be in worst straits than you by now."
"Wow, your training must be top notch, " Anna said with just a touch of admiration.
"Can't say it was the training really," she told her. "It's just that I know people, and I just know a crying fit would only make it take longer for me to get the good stuff."
Sarah was searching the infirmary in the meantime, and managed to find a shot up computer in the corner nearby. I looked damaged beyond anything Chuck or Anna could repair, but she did spy an intact Ethernet cable sticking out of it. "Jackpot," she muttered to herself. Out loud she said, "Chuck, I found you a way into the network. Cable's intact over here."
"Thanks pet-name-to-be-determined, " Chuck said in one breath. Plugging the laptop into a socket and into the system, Chuck scoured all of the available feeds. Since he wasn't playing lookout for Morgan or looking for a child now, he paid more attention to the environment. The most defended area had what appeared to be three sets of blast doors and a battalion of bad guys on the alert. When he was in the archives Chuck hadn't spied them there before, suggesting that security had been beefed up. Whether it was due to the submarine or the explosion he couldn't tell, but that could wait. He tried his best but couldn't cue up the camera that pointed to inside. Whoever was inside had damaged it beyond repair, so he gave up and continued the tedious job of cycling through the feeds.
"I'm not seeing anything that looks like a bomb, but then again I didn't take that course on bomb disposal. I knew I should've taken that elective!" Chuck joked with Sarah. "But it's a good thing you're here then Sarah, since that's more of your specialty. You see anything that could be the explosives?"
Sarah frowned. "I'm afraid not, and we've covered all of the feeds down here."
"Hey, are there other floors you can check?" Morgan said joining them. "They could be storing them in the basement or something."
"Well there's the submarine docking bays below us but I doubt they'd want to blow themselves up, " Chuck said. "Other than that there's the nuclear power plant above us
Sarah nodded along with the logic, and upon hearing the word "nuclear" a thought occurred to her. The no good, very bad type of thought at that. "Chuck... can you get a visual on the reactor?" she asked him, the dread almost hidden away.
"Sure, but why would... you know what, I'll ask that later," Chuck said. In a moment, the image of the nuclear reactor appeared. He wasn't a nuclear scientist but he knew those lumpy packaged that were stuck to the walls looked out of place. The various wires sticking out of the packages and the flashing lights cinched as being downright suspicious. "Is that..." he began.
"If you were going to say 'several pounds of C4 armed and ready to explode', I'd say you're right," Sarah told me. "Otherwise you're out of luck."
To Casey she called out, "Casey, we found the detonators! You got to see this pronto!"
The Colonel joined them and gave Casey Grunt© #91, which contained too many curse words to list. "Those sonnabitches are going to trigger a complete nuclear meltdown with all that firepower! With the mess outside there's no way to contain it before most of the island's radioactive!"
"Wha...What?!" Morgan bellowed, before lowering his voice. "Holy moley, that's nuts! Why would they do that?"
Sarah sighed. "It's a diversion Morgan, plain and simple. What they're planing on stealing is incredibly important and normally several agencies would be all over them in a heartbeat. But if they think they're dead, then there'd be no search. The meltdown is probably a cover for their escape by sub. Since it would be a long while before the fallout clears they'd be long gone before anyone could prove otherwise. It's probably why they choose to nuke the island."
"So what, you're saying they were willing to kill everyone on the island to get away with stealing something worth a crazy amount of money?" Morgan asked her before it sank in. "These guys were going to rip off Hans Gruber!"
Chuck rubbed his head. "Now that you mention it... it does sound like the plot to the first Die Hard, except on a much bigger scale. Damn, I wish they ripped off the third one instead. I'd prefer that they were bluffing instead of actually being willing to kill everyone."
"Way of the world nerds," Casey said without malice. "Most scum wouldn't think twice about dropping the hammer on civvies. That's why we can't let them have their way." He glanced over at Black as he finished saying this, satisfied that she was too zonked out on morphine to contradict him. He'd never admit it but he felt terrible about pointing a piece anywhere near that little girl. Trying to convince the others he'd made a bad judgement call back at Black's place was going to be hard enough on neutral ground, and even more-so when they're in enemy territory and the blood's running hot.
"So, what's our next plan of action? I'm a fan of killing time but I think we need to be more productive than my usual green shirt shift," Morgan asked.
Casey snorted. "That shouldn't be difficult. I think you three should stay here with Black and lock the infirmary up. Barricade yourselves in if you have to. Walker and myself will disable the explosives before doubling back to the Omaha section."
Sarah frowned. "Are you sure that's a good idea Casey? Wouldn't it be more prudent to shut down the data transfer first so they'd be unable to extract themselves."
It would be, if these were your garden variety spooks. These worms have more than proven themselves to be without scruples. I wouldn't doubt for a moment they'd blow the core in a heartbeat if they believed their operation was a bust. Would make it harder to track down whoever is responsible if everyone's dead."
"Dead men tell no tales?" Anna offered.
"Nailed it in one, " Casey replied.
"I'm not comfortable just sitting here guys, " Chuck told them. "I mean, what if you run into some security you need cracked out there? There's some security measures that can't be bypassed remotely, like the lock on Casey's cell."
"I think we'll be fine Chuck. These men need to be have free reign to do their job so I doubt they'll have any sections locked off. Besides, we need you on lookout in case they've re-enforced certain sections," Sarah pointed out. "Besides, I think this is going to involve some of the less... pleasant aspects of the job."
Chuck nodded. There were times when they couldn't just roll up the bad guys for the FBI or whoever arrested the men they'd encountered back in L.A., when it was either them or the baddies. He couldn't turn a blind eye to the possibility that Sarah could get hurt but then again he wasn't equipped mentally or literally for firefights.
Eventually he said. "Alright, but at least be careful out there. There's no telling how many goons they've got out there. For all we know it's a real baddie convention out there. "
Sarah smiled at him as she gave him a peck on the cheek. "Don't worry Chuck, I got Casey watching my back. Besides, I'm more interested in checking out that comic convention you're always going on about."
"Going native on us Walker?" Casey asked quizzically.
"What, a girl can't take an interest in what her boyfriend likes?" she answered.
Before he could reply, the sound of static came from his pocket. Casey quickly fished out a walkie-talkie, "Got it off a guard while looking for you two, " he explained as he turned the volume up. Everyone fell silent as the walkie sprung to life.
"Shots fired, shots fired! Do you have a visual?!" came one voice.
"Negative on the hostiles. We got a weapon's misfire," answered another. "Bravo team is down a man."
"Secure the weapon and bring the wounded to the infirmary. The rest of you hold your positions," the first voice ordered. "We must finish the preparations before extraction is complete."
"Roger that, over and out."
"So much for sitting tight, " Anna murmured.
"Most plans don't survive contact anyways, " Casey told her. "Okay, new plan. We take the civvies up top with us to the explosives and dump them somewhere while we finish the mission."
"The offices should be a good place to lie low, " Sarah offered. "Since they've cleared that floor already and they got men outside they wouldn't waste the manpower to guard those rooms."
"Okay, but what about Jordan? Even if she wasn't doped up now she couldn't make it on her own," Chuck brought up.
"That's a cinch, my man. I got bored and was poking around in the closet, when I found a few wheelchairs we can use. They didn't squeak so we ought to be good using one, " Morgan told him.
"Looks like you're good for something Grimes. Load her up and let's get moving," Casey told them.
The group headed down the halls, Casey taking point while Anna and Morgan followed behind, the later pushing a now drooling Jordan while trying to avoid all of the debris strewn along the ground (and mostly succeeding). Chuck was behind them while Sarah took the rear, her machine gun at the ready. Anna, her mind so focused on the hallway in front of her, didn't notice a pool of blood on the ground until it was too late, its slickness sending her toppling into Casey.
"Damn it W..." he growled, right before the sound of gunfire cut him off. The rounds meant for him sailed past his head, thudding into the wall harmlessly as pieces of brick showered Morgan. As Sarah moved forward to give Casey cover fire, a blast door slammed shut right of her, cutting her and Chuck off from the others.
"Damn it!" Sarah cursed to herself. "Casey, can you hear me?"
"It's a Gorram ambush!" he called back, or at least it sounded that way through the thick blast doors. She could hear him firing back in response, letting her know that at least he was alive. "Forget the reactor for now, they've got us boxed in! Hit the other objective!" he shouted before another burst of gunfire.
"Alright, good luck!" she shouted back before grabbing Chuck. "We got to go, " she said to him.
"Wait! I can get this open! I just need to..." he cried as Sarah pulled him away.
"No time for that, we can have company at any moment!" she answered, more loudly than she anticipated. "We have to just have faith that Casey can get them through this. He's been through worse, with VIPs in tow to boot, so the others will be alright." She fell silent, hoping Chuck wouldn't press her on the matter.
She couldn't lie to him, say that everything will turn up rosy when they both knew that there were no guarantees when the bullets started to fly. She never was one for faith, her upbringing having robbed her of any her mother instilled in her, but now more than ever she had no choice but to find some now, if not in a higher power than in the abilities of one Colonel John Casey. If they were going to succeed she couldn't give in to her darker thoughts, the ones that spoke of doom and woe, the ones that drove many an agent to the bottle and eventually an early grave. She couldn't give up, not now, not ever. Not when she had a job to do and promises to keep to her mother, to herself and to Chuck.
Chuck.
She cast a quick glance back at her beloved nerd to see if he was alright, and saw his face locked in a look of determination. He didn't say a word, just giving her a quick nod as she lead them down a corridor. His confidence in her still surprised her even now, his faith in her abilities a stark contrast to the disdain she usually face when she attempted to take the lead in the field. That faith was less and less alien everyday but still a lifetime of distrust would guarantee that distrust always lurked in the corners of her mind. "It's like Carina says, " she thought to herself, "nothing ventured nothing gained, though she'd probably blanch at that being applied to relationship advice."
She gave Chuck's hand a quick squeeze before her left hand returned to her weapon. She'd sort through those feeling later but she knew that she wouldn't face it alone. For now she'd face this like any other mission, and believed, not halfheartedly hoped, that her team would be able to pull through.
A/N: Sorry for the Die Hard 1 and 3 spoilers, but I figured that most folks won't mind having the plot to 20+ year old movies get ruined now.