Chapter 13.

THE SYNDICATE RETALIATES

Matt and Bishop looked upon one another in the gloomy light. Matt could see that his friend's mouth was open, and his face distorted in terror, but he couldn't hear any scream. He didn't know if it had been drowned by the infernal noise caused by the free-falling elevator as it bounced from wall to wall on its wild journey down the abyss, but somehow, he still believed that he could hear him.

Matt opened his mouth to say something to Bishop, but the words were lost in the cacophony of creaking metal. It whistled in his ears and his eardrums begun to pop. For his inner eye he saw an image of the elevator crushed beyond recognition at the bottom of the shaft.

Then suddenly the elevator came to a halt. As efficient killer as he was, Alexander Osborne had little knowledge about modern elevators. They are all fitted with brakes that prevent them from free falling to the bottom of the shaft. As the elevator passed the seventh floor, the safety bolt came off and the claw clutch was erected. It fumbled desperately for a hold and finally got a grip of one of the pawls in the conductor. The elevator came to an abrupt halt.

Both men stood at their places for several seconds, holding on to the handrail tightly, still in shock. They needed several seconds just to get their bearings together.

The elevator cage trembled like an aspen leaf under them and the ear-splitting bangs echoed around the shaft. The floor tilted over to the right and every lurch made the cage feel like it would fall again. How long it would remain where it was, unstably hanging in their hooks was impossible to say. But one thing was certain: As long as they kept weighing down the cage, they would have less chances.

"We have to get out of here somehow." Matt told Bishop.

"Through the escape panel." The other suggested. "We should be able to find a ladder or something to climb to another floor."

Agreeing, Matt told Bishop to scoop his hands to give him a foothold. Bishop did so, and Matt pushed the top hatch open and climbed up on the roof of the cage. He could immediately discern the walls of the shaft with their jumble of intermeshing metal beams.

Scaling the walls would not be so difficult. He reached down and extended a hand in order to help Bishop up and they quickly climbed up to a platform where they felt safe enough to catch their breaths. Underneath the hooks finally lost their grip of the pawl and with a deafening thunder the cage fell through the shaft until it crashed to the bottom.

Both men knew that they had escaped with only moments to spare.

"I think I can make a connection on the latch and get the doors open." Bishop informed after studying the wiring behind the door panel.

Matt looked up in the darkness of the shaft, momentarily lost in his thoughts.

"Wait a while longer." He suggested. "I want to make an attempt to catch Bonica on his way down."

"He can't possibly get down via the elevator." Bishop disagreed. "In the case of a fire or another form of accident, the elevators are programmed to head down to the lobby."

Matt looked upwards where an elevator stopped. According to his calculation it stopped at the nineteenth floor.

"Obviously, our enemies have overridden that function."

The elevator begun to come down.

"Get out and see if you can get another elevator down to the basement." Matt ordered, then when the elevator passed them, he leapt out into the void and landed on the roof of the down passing cage.

His landing made such noise that he was certain that Cesar Bonica, if he was indeed inside of the elevator, must have heard him. But as he pried the top hatch open and peered down, he noted to his satisfaction that Cesar, who was alone in the elevator, was listening to music on full volume in his earphones. He had heard nothing.

Matt swung down out of the escape panel, like an athlete on a high bar, with his feet first, kicking Bonica in the face.

Bonica flew backwards from the force of the kick, crashing the mirror. He fell in a heap to the floor, unconscious. Matt searched him, only to find that he was unarmed.

Just moments later, the door opened as the elevator reached its floor.

Expecting Bonica to come out, a perplexed Alexander Osborne entered the elevator. He immediately noticed his colleague lying unconscious on the floor and realized that he could not be alone in the elevator. He looked upwards and noted that the escape panel was open.

Osborne grabbed his gun and strafed the ceiling with bullets.

So certain was he that the attacker had climbed back up through the escape panel, that he never saw Matt Trakker who hid just at the side of the door, not until Matt moved forward and

slammed the hand of his opponent against the wall, forcing him to release the gun.

Osborne looked back at him with eyes full of hatred.

He freed himself from Matt's hold by elbowing him hard in the ribs, causing Matt to drop like a sack of potatoes. Osborne gave him a kick just for good measure, then bent down to retrieve his gun. As he did, Matt's arm shot out and grabbed him around the ankle, pulling it towards him hard so Osborne lost his balance and fell to the floor.

"First blood goes to me." Matt noted.

Angry now, Alexander charged like a raging bull. Twice he threw wild haymakers towards the leader of the Special Mission Force, but they just hit empty air, as Matt danced away from him. But after sidestepping a third roundhouse, he found himself backed into a corner.

Osborne grabbed Matt and threw him across the room. Matt landed hard, his head hit the wall and he fell to the floor semi-conscious.

Seeing this, Osborne once again went for his gun.

"Second, and last blood goes to me!" He said with an ugly sneer.

Another elevator stopped at the floor. The door slid open and Bruce Sato and Bishop rushed out. Seeing Alexander Osborne ready to shoot their friend, Bruce hurled himself toward the dark-skinned man, while Bishop went to check up on Matt.

A wild brawl erupted when Osborne and Bruce traded blows, and despite being considerably smaller than his opponent, Bruce was more than holding his own against Osborne.

In the struggle, Osborne had lost his gun once more. It had fallen near the elevator, where Cesar Bonica had regained consciousness. He snatched the gun and leapt to his feet.

"Freeze!" he commanded.

The fight immediately stopped, and Alexander moved up to his partner, while Bruce moved over to Matt and Bishop.

"Gun them down!" Osborne suggested.

"I would love to." Bonica replied. "But if those two guys have come down here, then the security can't be far behind."

Alexander agreed.

"Let's get out of here." He decided and headed towards the elevator. Cesar stopped him.

"Are you crazy, man?" he asked. "They can stop the elevator from down here, trapping us until security is ready to transport us away. Take the back door!"

The two men begun to back to the door, but before they exited, Cesar quickly stretched his hand inside each of the elevators and pressed a floor at random, making certain that the agents of the Special Missions Force could not intercept them.

"Bruce!" Matt commanded as soon as the door shut behind the two men. "Try to override one of the elevators and get it down here. Then you and Bishop head to the garage level, I bet that they have a car waiting for them!"

Bruce looked at him with surprise.

"And what will you do?"

Matt rushed for the door to the stairs.

"I'll try to keep the party going until you join up!"

Matt knew that it was doubtful that Osborne and Bonica would try to escape via the lobby after the elevator crash. It would be crowded with people and emergency personnel would be rushing to. Their only route of escape would be via the garage.

He took the stairs in quick strides, then threw the door open to the garage level and looked for his prey, his senses tingling with a premonition of danger. He didn't have to search long. A shot was heard, and a bullet impaled itself just a few inches to the side of his head. Matt rushed for the nearest pillar to find shelter.

Carefully he eased his head out from the corner, noting that he had arrived just in time to stop the two men from running up towards the exit-ramp. He triggered of a few shots with his gun to keep them occupied and to remind them that he too carried a gun.

A few shots were returned, forcing Matt back behind the safety of the pillar. He heard footsteps and saw Osborne and Bonica run for new cover behind a concrete column.

Risking running out of ammunition before backup arrived; Matt triggered of more shots and forced his opponents to put their heads down.

Osborne's head appeared above the concrete column. His gun thundered, and Matt was quick to bring his head down as a bullet zinged past. Trying not to wince back from the attack, Matt kept his own fire, knowing full well that he wasn't doing much more than making noise. As soon as Osborne and Bonica stopped laying down random cover fire and started concentrating on their aim, there would be too many shots for him to stand clear of

'PLING'

The elevator doors came open and Bishop and Bruce rushed out and immediately found cover behind a pillar not far away from where Matt stood.

Bruce readied his gun and stepped out from his cover and opened fire, ripping two holes in the column just above Cesar's head. Bonica dove for the deck, allowing Matt to advance forward to another pillar. As he did, Alexander Osborne levelled his own gun at him and sent a deadly ball of lead at him. The shot just missed him as Bishop grabbed hold of his jacket and dragged him back behind cover.

Under the accurate firing from the three members of the Special Missions Force, Alexander and Cesar was fighting a losing battle. They fired their own weapons in response, searching for a way out. Bullets pounded into the walls and into the parked cars, and the sound of each shot reverberated around the garage. Suddenly a bright light momentarily blinded the agents as a car came down the ramp just at the wrong time. Cesar seized the moment and opened fire with his gun. The windscreen and side window on the car exploded inwards and it skidded out of control. The fugitives broke and ran up the exit ramp to the level above.

Matt quickly made a few hand signals to his friends. In reply, Bishop went over to check on the unfortunate driver while Bruce heaved himself up on the next level of the garage.

The garage was built in several levels with one ramp at the end. The next level was mirrored, with the ramp on the other side. It wasn't higher up than breast level, and since the fugitives had to run to the other end to continue upwards, it wouldn't be too difficult to intercept them.

In a few moments Matt could hear the running feet of their prey, those were followed by a few gunshots, then he could see a pair of feet running for cover behind some parked cars. Matt carefully moved towards them; he could tell that they belonged to Alexander Osborne.

Between the legs he could discern Bruce sneaking past, his gun in a ready position, searching for his opponents. Osborne brought his own gun up and prepared to ambush him on his blindside. Matt reached forward, grabbed both ankles and pulled hard, causing Alexander to fall flat on his face.

Seeing his partner fall, Bonica sprinted as an Olympic runner for the exit ramp and disappeared out of reach.

Bruce took up pursuit. When he came up on street level, he spotted Cesar disappearing into a crowd of people standing outside the lobby of the World Consultation building. For a moment he wondered to himself why there was so many standing there, but then it dawned upon him that the building had been evacuated until security personnel had determined that there was no further danger. He saw that Bonica hurried inside of a car that was parked nearby with Cliff Dagger behind the wheel, but there was nothing he could do to stop him. As the car drove off, Bruce put his gun back into his pocket.

Someone grabbed his arm. He spun around looking at Lisa Moore who stood with Hugh Heyman, Helena Bennett and Colonel Wolf.

"What happened?" Lisa inquired.

"Terrorists had gone into the building." Bruce explained. "They sabotaged the elevators in an attempt to kill Matt. I pursued Cesar Bonica up from the garage, but he managed to escape by going into the crowd!"

"What about Matt?" Lisa asked. "Is he and Everett alright?"

"They're fine. They're waiting below, guarding Alexander Osborne who we managed to capture."

"You've captured Alexander Osborne? Then why are we standing here for?"

Lisa took the lead and ran down the exit ramp with several security men in her wake.

Matt and Bishop were waiting for them in the garage; with their guns they kept Osborne pacified. His entire face was covered in blood coming from his nose.

"How did you get into the building?" Was Lisa's first question.

"Save your breath, lady." Osborne snorted scornfully. "You're never going to get me to talk."

"He doesn't need to talk." Matt said. "We found this on him."

He handed Lisa an ID-card.

It was of the same type that was being issued to the security personnel in the World Consultation Building.

"Where did you get this card?"

"Are you deaf? Don't you understand English?" Osborne replied. "I said that you would never get me to talk, and I haven't changed my mind!"

Lisa didn't waste any more time with Osborne, she allowed the security personnel to take him away. At the same time an ambulance took the driver of the car away as well. He had been lucky, only sustaining mild injuries from the shattered windshield.

"Every ID-card has its own unique code," Lisa explained as they made their way back up to the lobby via the exit-ramp. They wouldn't use the elevators until technicians had secured them. "We should be able to trace the owner."

Security personnel were dispersing the crowd outside the lobby, sending them home. Matt spotted Andy and Maurice Billington.

"You didn't think that you would be going home early today, did you, big brother?" Matt called. "We have a task for you and your partner in crime."

A few minutes later they were all seated in the workshop. Maurice was busy with the computers, examining the ID-card they had confiscated from Alexander Osborne.

"This is indeed a Master Key-card," He confirmed. "I need more time to determine if it is genuine or a duplicate."

"One thing we know for certain is that the ID-card must have top level priority," H.H. said. "As one of the buildings nerve centers there are only a selected few who will have access to the service central."

"We should check with Peter Frale, the head of security, and collect all Master Key-cards." Helena suggested. "That will be the easiest way to know if there is one missing."

H.H. agreed, and Helena called up the security officer on the phone.

A few minutes later Peter Frale had joined them.

"It will take me some time to round up all the personnel now that the building is under red alert." He explained. "But there are other questions that need to be solved; the card alone wouldn't allow the terrorists to enter the Service Centre."

"Why not?" Bishop asked.

"For the low priority level areas in this building, you just have to let the door scan your card to unlock it, but in the top priority levels you will also have to enter a security code, or the silent alarm will go off. It will neutralize every code throughout the building."

"Are you saying that Osborne had been provided with a code as well?" Lisa asked.

"If someone fitted him with a duplicate of a Master Key-Card, then there is no reason not to consider the possibility that he was provided with the security code as well." Helena put in.

"What about the computers log files?" Matt suggested. "Shouldn't you be able to tell which codes that was being used to enter the service center?"

"Good thought, old boy." Maurice said approvingly. He tapped in new commands on the computer, accessing the log files.

"This is strange," he said after studying them some time. "The alarm to the service center has been tampered with."

"How?" H.H. asked.

"The service centre has been turned into a low priority level area." Maurice explained. "He didn't need a code to open the door."

"Then we can narrow down the possibilities." Bishop said. "Only the administrator should have the authority to change the codes in the computers. He must be on top of the list of the suspected!"

Maurice exchanged a brief look with Andy, then he extended his hands towards Bishop.

"Then you can take me in for questioning right away." He smiled. "I am the administrator."

"I'm sorry." Bishop said. "I didn't mean to imply…"

"No, it's quite alright." Maurice dismissed. "You were totally right in your assumption. By all means only the administrator should have the authority to make such a change. Unfortunately, no system is ever totally secured from outside tampering."

Lisa leaned her head on her right hand. She looked deeply troubled.

"Do you suspect anyone in particular?" Matt asked. "Maybe Ulysses?"

"It doesn't matter as much who it was as much as that it can be done." She explained. "Two well-known terrorists walk inside a top security building and has full access to anything they desire. It is unacceptable! Suppose next time they have another goal than an assassination attempt on the leaders of the Special Missions Force?"

"We should change all the security codes being used as well as top security ID-Cards." Peter Frale suggested. "We can't let the terrorists have continued access to our building and system."

"This means that we must change our entire organization." H.H. pointed out. "It will take time and cost a lot, and we are still not sure that our enemies will be locked out."

"I think we should follow the initiative suggested by Matt earlier." Helena added. "Handpicking a small group of people that has worked here long and whom we can trust."

"I'll get my senior staff to work on the re-organization first thing tomorrow morning." H.H. concluded.