THEN
Jack reassured himself he wasn't making as much noise as he thought he was. He didn't believe it. The whole Red House was silent. He opened the door to one of the sleeping rooms. Five men slept like corpses. The idea sent a shiver up his spine. He slipped into the room leaving the door open enough so he could see. He knelt by the closest bed. It was a kid younger than Mac looks. He had a thick bandage wrapped around his shoulder where his arm should be. Jack grimaced as he realized only a stump remained. Jack felt a flame of rage burn through him. The idea of this kid who gave so much in war being squeezed for information-
Jack ducked into the shadows as he heard a squeak coming down the hall. Two men in TAC gear rolled an elderly woman down the hall. Their soft talk seemed to echo like they shouted it from a bull horn.
"The new crew will be here tomorrow."
"Thank heavens, I don't get paid enough to drag these vegetables around."
"No kidding, you ever been to one of the other Reds?"
"I get bounced between the four Ms. Marvella runs."
"She's a looker. That ass goes on forever."
"I'd like to tap that."
"Someone already did." The two men laughed.
"Wait, the door's open." Jack held his breath as a man with a short brush of dark hair peeped in. His eyes did a quick sweep. He backed out of the room and shut the door. Jack crept low and fast to the door. He crouched until he could hear through the bottom of the door.
"-crazy, man. You don't fuck crazy."
"No, you don't take crazy home, fucking? Shit anything's on the table, bro." The two men laughed again then were out of range. Jack leaned back his scowl growing. He glanced around the room one last time. Jack cracked the door. They had vanished around a corner. Jack slipped out into the hall closing the door carefully so it didn't make noise.
"-read me?" Jack jumped and almost yelped, "You guys read me?" Riley. Coms were up. Jack leaned over and took a deep breath.
"You almost killed me." He growled. He didn't appreciate the laughter.
"Have you heard anything?" Desi asked.
"There's a massive spike of electricity somewhere in the building."
"How much?" Mac whispered.
"Four giga watts per hour."
"That sounds like a lot." Jack murmured. He reached the junction of the hall. He listened. He heard the squeak and distant conversation coming from the right but couldn't see the TAC guys. The left hall was empty, and a weird beige. Jack followed the retreating soldiers.
"It is, that could power two empire state buildings."
"They use it for the anti communication field." Riley pointed out.
"And something else. If they used it just for the suppression field, they could black out South Dakota and about a 500 mile area around it."
"Any idea what their powering?" Jack whispered.
"I haven't seen anything out here." Desi replied.
"The generator would have to be huge." Riley pointed out.
"I'm going downstairs to look for it."
"Roger that, I'm on the tail of some very suspicious dudes."
"Be careful." Riley said her worry plain.
"Of course." Jack murmured, "gotta go. If you hear a siren or explosion-"
"Run away?" Desi asked. Jack frowned.
"No, come rescue my ass." Desi laughed.
"Then run away?"
"Like a stallion after a mare in heat."
"Ew." Riley said softly, "They don't have any cameras. Jack-"
"Yeah, yeah...out." Jack clicked off his comm and slowed as he reached another junction. He could still hear voices and they were still retreating in front of him. Jack peaked around the corner. This time the left hall was white, the right a teal. Jack paused, his eyes scanning the ceiling. Above the colored hallway he could see a thick door recessed in the ceiling. Slick. They could drop a wall and no one would know about the maze of white corridors. Jack clicked on his comm and relayed his findings.
"Who built this building?" Mac whispered.
"Private contractors remodelled it."
"Riley-"
"Find out who they were, on it." Jack reached another junction. This time both halls were hospital white. Jack peaked around the corner. The two TAC soldiers were silently standing in front of an elevator. Jack glanced around. Were there stairs? He ducked back when the dark haired guy glanced behind him.
"This guy is creepy." The man said quietly. The other man sighed. Obviously this was a well-worn argument.
"At least we only have 15." Jack frowned. His brain ached.
"Mac, how many beds does this place have?"
"Matty said 25"
"I thought she said 75." Desi said. Jack could picture her brow wrinkling in confusion.
"No, that was Marvella," Mac whispered thoughtfully, "What did you find, Jack?"
"The bad guys say they only have 15 left."
"Their killing them." Desi said. Her voice was slow, quieter and had a hint of disgust. No one would have heard it, except Jack.
"Desi?"
"I just found a pit. It's about a mile west of the main building."
"It's full of bodies." Mac's voice was tight with repressed anger.
"Yeah, about...about three dozen." Jack heard a ding. He glanced around the corner and watched the bad guys roll the woman into the elevator. The doors closed surprisingly quickly. Jack eased to the corner and peeped around. He frowned. The hallway opened into a small square anteroom. The only things in the space was the elevator and a raggedy fake banana tree. Jack frowned. There weren't any other decorations in the white halls, why was one here?
"Say, uh, Mac?" Jack heard faint huffing over the comm. He paused.
"Yeah?"
"What kind of danger could a plant do?"
"Plant?"
"Real or fake?"
"What does that matter?" Jack could almost hear his partner's eyes roll.
"If it's real then it would have to be something that wouldn't be disturbed by upkeep of the plant, if it's fake there are more options." Mac gasped.
"You ok there?" The line was dead for an eternal minute.
"Yeah, sorry, had to avoid Marvella." Jack glanced around the corner again.
"It's a sorry ass plastic banana tree."
"Do you have any powder?"
"Powder? What, you think I carry baby supplies with me? No, I don't have any powder!"
"Easy, Sarge, getting grumpy." Desi murmured. Jack huffed and shook his head wondering if it'd been a mistake to recruit Desi after all.
"Are you in a painted hallway?" Jack glanced behind him. The white walls were smooth metal. Jack opened his mouth, then paused. He looked back the way he came.
"I can get some."
"Ok, make a powder then toss it in front of the plant."
"Wh-? Nevermind, hold on." Jack turned and sprinted back to the teal hallway. He pulled out his combat knife and scraped the paint. Flecks of teal and plaster filled his palm. Walking carefully, he returned to the elevator. He squished the chunks into a fine powder.
"Ok, here goes." He threw the powder into the air. It filled the space, "Nothing happened."
"That means no lazers." Jack knew that tone. Worry and frustration. Mac sighed.
"That leaves surveillance, automatic weapons or bomb." Jack grimaced.
"That's not good."
"No."
"So what do I do next?"
"Where is this tree?"
"In front of an elevator the bad dudes went up."
"What's the security on the elevator?" Jack studied the door.
"I don't see anything, looks like a regular elevator."
"OW, damn." Mac yelped.
"Mac?"
"I just bumped my head, I'm ok."
"Where are you?"
"I think the basement."
"What do you mean you think?"
"That's a long story for another time. Leave the elevator alone."
"Why?" Jack was very aware of the petulant disappointment in his voice. Mac's retort had to much pity for Jack's liking.
"If there's no external protection, whatever is in the plant is designed to go off when the door opened."
"The bad guys didn't have anything-"
"There probably is something about their uniforms." Jack smiled and turned back the way he came.
"Before you go dropping bodies remember we still haven't figured out what's happening here and we need more time." Jack pouted.
"You never let me have any fun."
"I know Big Guy, I'm sorry." Jack chuckled.
"Hmmmm...gotta go." Mac hissed.
"Mac, what-" The beep of the com being turned off ended the conversation.
"Riley?"
"I got nothing."
"Relax, Jack, he'll be fine."
"Yeah, I know, I know," Jack felt unease churn his stomach, "Riley, how do I get down to the basement?"
THEN-up in the attic
Mac had to fight not to fidget. The only thing he could hear was the one-eyed woman tapping on a keyboard. He bit his lip and stared at the curvy ceiling. Feldspar, there was no way that the bricks weren't some kind of concrete. Feldspar would have been dust by now. Mac let out a long slow breath. He flinched when someone from a bed nearby cried out and jerked in his sleep. Anxiety attack. Mac knew the signs. He closed his eyes and forced his body to relax. He turned his head to watch out the crack of his eyelids. It was an elder man across the room in an open cubicle like his. Marvella moved to the man's side. She ran her fingers through his hair and murmured softly. He turned to her and said something Mac wasn't able to make out. She smiled and murmured something back. The man smiled. Ingra patted his check and stood up. She smiled down at him. The man quieted.
Marvella stepped away and pulled out her cell phone.
"Number seven is ready." Mac frowned. Her voice was distant and bored. She sashayed back out of Mac's line of vision, "What? Xander, I told you...the Pentagon guy? Then take them both tonight. Seven has plans for the Fallujah resupply, there's a timeline. What? That's why I don't pay you to think, send TAC up to bring him down! Yes, I will come down...I said yes!" Mac heard her slam her phone down on the desk, "Idiots."
Mac closed his eyes. He heard the tapping of keys on the computer. Five minutes later he heard boots stomp past his bed. He squinted at the activity across the room. Two men in full TAC gear waited as Marvella injected something in the old man's IV. There was a thunk then they rolled the man out of his stall.
"Wait, I got the papers-" Ingra flipped through a handful of papers. She handed them a wad of them.
"Hate the papers." One of the men groused.
"It's the government so-"
"Everything in triplicate!" The two men laughed. Marvella silenced them with a one-eyed glare.
"This will be the last night for Seven." Mac swallowed his eyes were closed, but he felt all of their eyes shift to him.
"What's he got?" Mac could almost hear a cold smile cross Marvella's mouth.
"Not sure yet."
"What about the new staff?"
"What about them?"
"We usually move on with-"
"We aren't going anywhere. We have several new interested customers."
"But the government-"
"Is not a problem, go. Tell Xander I'll be down after I finish logging our last client."
"But Xander said-"
"Go!"
"Yes, Ma'am." The two voices snapped. The gurney's wheel squealed as they rolled it out of the large chamber. Mac fought to remain like he was. The woman's shoes were silent, rubber soled, but Mac could feel her slithering toward him. He twitched when she touched his forehead. Mac turned his head, barely managing not to roll out of bed and run away. Her fingers were dry and cool. No fingernails scraped his skin as she brushed the hair out of his face, but Mac felt like acid burned his skin behind her touch.
"...read me?" Mac jumped. He hid it in a snort, "Can you guys read me?
"Who are you Mack Born?" She murmured. Mac supposed her soft voice could be comforting, loving even, but it felt like nails on a chalkboard. Mac struggled to stay still. Marvella mad shushing sounds. Mac let out a long sigh.
"That's it, Mr. Born, relax. We're gonna fix you, I promise." Mac shuddered. How could such a caring and calm voice be so damn creepy? She turned and strode in the direction the gurney had gone. Mac let out a relieved breath and sat up. Cautiously he peeped around the corner. She was out of sight. Mac pulled releasing him from the restraints. He bent to slide on the slippers he came in with.
"There's a massive surge of electricity in the building." Mac paused. He glanced at the lights. They didn't seem affected, not so much as a flicker. Separate power sources.
"How much?"
"Four gigawatts per hour." Mac raised his eyebrows doing some fast calculation. That was a lot of power.
"That sounds like a lot." Jack whispered.
"It is, that could power two empire state buildings." Mac hissed as he crept through the double doors. All of the beds he passed were full, but not one patient moved. Mac frowned. He slid up to one red headed girl who looked too young to be anywhere near a Redhouse. Mac swallowed a golf ball. Was he like that when he went? Mac shook his head. No, focus. He checked the girl's pulse. It was normal, but very slow. Heavily sedated. Mac glanced at the varied ages, wounds and collective tragedy in the room. Mac felt a stone pit twist in his gut. Were all Red Houses like the one he went to? This one? That idea broke his heart.
"They use it for the anti communication field." Riley's voice broke into his thoughts. Mac stood close to the wall and studied the junction he'd found himself in. He hadn't seen which direction the gurney had gone in. Mentally tossing a coin, Mac went left.
"And something else," Mac said his eyes roving the hall around him as he crept in the shadows, " If they used it just for the suppression field, they could black out South Dakota and about a 500 mile area around it."
"Any idea what their powering?" Jack asked.
"I haven't seen anything out here." Desi replied.
"The generator would have to be huge." Riley pointed out. Map paused. He came to a metal door. Over the door was an array of emergency lights and a lit exit sign. Mac frowned. In a curvy castle attic, why would they have an emergency exit. He pushed it open and let out a breath relieved there wasn't an alarm. It opened onto a dark stone staircase that had a tight curling staircase. Mac scowled. Yep, definitely not emergency stairs.
"I'm going downstairs to look for it." He murmured.
"Roger that, I'm on the tail of some very suspicious dudes." Mac's soft, "Be careful," was buried under Riley's. Mac turned his attention to navigating the dark narrow space. Mac's world became a blur of turns, blackness, and stone. His breathing was loud in the cramped quarters. He was comforted by the voices of his teammates.
The stairs ended on a wide tiled expanse. Mac slid out. Glancing back, he couldn't see the door. The stairs dated from the original construction of the building, but the door upstairs and this wall didn't. Had this building been designed for whatever these guys are doing? The idea was chilling. If the building was rebuilt to specifications than either the government condoned this info gathering factory or-Mac gulped. Could someone at Phoenix be in on it? The funds could have been stolen, Phoenix was good, but not perfect. He'd learned enough about his father's history he could see the man signing a budget for some questionable operations, but he wouldn't do something like this? Would he? If not with the government or someone from Phoenix then who?
"Who built this building?" Mac asked. His voice seemed to echo across the open area. It looked like a cafeteria connected to the TV room. The empty chairs and tables were creepy
"Private contractors remodelled it." Riley said, her voice matching his low whisper. Mac smiled. She was basically a bat in the belfry, there was no chance anyone inside the building could hear her. Mac looked over his shoulder uneasily, at least he didn't think so.
"Riley-"
"Find out who they were, on it." Mac smiled.
"Thanks."
"No problem." Mac could tell she wanted to ask a million questions, Jack interrupted her with a question.
"Mac, how many beds does this place have?"
"Matty said 25"
"I thought she said 75." Desi said. Mac frowned. He saw a wide staircase leading from the large area to another flight of stairs. Creeping down them he came to two metal double doors. Off to the right of the stairs an empty check in desk, off to the left another exit door. It creaked as he opened it. He paused to listen. Nothing. Mac answered Jack.
"No, that was Marvella. What did you find, Jack?"
"The bad guys say they only have 15 left."
"Their killing them." Desi said. Mac felt his arms goose bump
"Desi?"
"I just found a pit. It's about a mile west of the main building."
"It's full of bodies." Mac closed his eyes and ground his teeth together. That's where they were headed? Shit.
"Yeah, about...about three dozen." Mac shook his head. The stairway was straight, but narrow and dark. Mac crept down until he reached a basement. A dim walking light lit up the area. It looked more like a cave. The roof was rough hewn. The walls were tiled as were the floors. Shelves filled most of the area. Supplies. Medical, food, nothing unusual. Mac looked up and smiled. Bingo.
A giant junction of cables spidered across the ceiling. The widest group lead deeper into the chamber. The generator had to be that way. Mac frowned. The turret. Had to be. Mac crept along the shelves. His soft scuffs on the dusty tile sounded like thunder in the dim dark cave.
"Say, uh, Mac?" Mac's heart sank. He knew his tone. It normally followed Jack unexpectedly finding a bomb or having a squad of bad guys aiming very large guns at them.
"Yeah?" Mac knew his dread caused his voice to squeak.
"What kind of danger could a plant do?" Mac stopped and blinked. A what?
"Plant?"
"Yeah." Mac closed his eyes. Maybe he had too much experience or his imagination was wild and a little morbid, but he suddenly thought of a million ways a plant could kill.
"Real or fake?" He asked.
"What does that matter?" Mac rolled his eyes. He took a calming breath and reminded himself that Jack didn't have his imagination. Mac decided that was a good thing.
"If it's real then it would have to be something that wouldn't be disturbed by upkeep of the plant, if it's fake there are more options." Mac gasped and ducked back. The sound of voices drifted from somewhere in front of him. He crouched deeper in the shadows. He recognized two of the voices. Marvella and Xander. What were they doing down here? It would make sense, Mac supposed, that the-whatever they used would be close to the generator. After a long minute, the voices disappeared.
"You ok there?"
"Yeah, sorry, had to avoid Marvella." Mac reached the other side of the room. There was even less light here. He found himself at a rough cut arch.
"It's a sorry ass plastic banana tree." Mac frowned. Crap. He was kind of hoping someone was at least pretending this was a health facility. Love a plant, feel the sanity. Mac rolled his eyes. He knew the dark was getting to him. It's really bad when you're babbling in your own head, he growled to himself. He peeked through the arch. It opened into another room, smaller and full of boxes and stacks of paper. Mac thought he heard a rat squeak. At least he had company. Mac shook his head and closed his eyes focusing on Jack. If the man couldn't be by his side, at least he could hear his partner's voice.
"Do you have any powder?" Mac said softly.
"Powder? What, you think I carry baby supplies with me? No, I don't have any powder!"
"Easy, Sarge, getting grumpy." Desi snarked. Mac smiled.
"Are you in a painted hallway?" Mac could hear Mac's huff of irritation.
"I can get some." Mac heard Jack's breathing echo over the comms. Mac could picture his friend searching wherever he was for a container of baby powder. He shook his head, but the image wouldn't go away. Mac heard the scraping and tapping. Knife against plaster. Good, he could work with that.
"Ok, make a powder then toss it in front of the plant."
"Wh-? Nevermind, hold on. Ok, here goes."
"Nothing happened." Jack sounded a little too disappointed for Mac's taste. Mac rubbed his forehead reminding himself to be patient. It was the dark stone tunnel he was creeping through, not Jack.
"That means no lasers. That leaves surveillance, automatic weapons or bomb." Mac could hear Jack grin. He was surprised at the fear in his partner's voice.
"That's not good."
"No."
"So what do I do next?"
"Where is this tree?"
"In front of an elevator the bad dudes went up." Mac froze. Was that where they took the guy from upstairs?
"What's the security on the elevator?"
"I don't see anything, looks like a regular elevator." Mac thought of the TAC uniforms. No, they definitely would not leave an elevator unguarded.
"OW, damn." Mac yelped as he jerked his head back. He rubbed his forehead as blue sparks burst across his vision. He'd reached another arch but hadn't noticed it was lower than the narrow space he was in. He was definitely going to have a bump.
"Mac?" Mac smiled at the note of panic in his partner's voice. He hated having the man waste his worry on him, but he kinda liked the fact there was someone who worried about him.
"I just bumped my head, I'm ok."
"Where are you?" Mac's hand scraped a series of switches. He flicked one and winced as bright fluorescents exploded the room in crisp white light. After a minute of blinking he found himself in a normal looking room. An air conditioner unit big enough for the whole building hummed in the corner. A boiler stood in the corner beside a floor sink. A counter lined the rest of the wall. There was a plain wooden door across from him. Mac almost tripped over a big yellow bucket and pile of mops.
"I think the basement." He grunted as he fought the mops into some sort of order. Mac looked up. The large bundle of cables ran straight through the room and out the door. Mac bit his lip as he walked under the cables. He opened the door and frowned. It didn't open. Mac tried the handle. It turned. Fake door. Mac ran the castle plans through his head. On the other side was the turret. Mac nodded he was right. The generator was there. Mac heard voices coming near him. He realized they were on the other side of the door. Mac turned and jogged back the way he came. He almost concussed himself on the low arch. He ducked back and frowned. No one was there, but the voices were coming closer. False ceiling?
"That's a long story for another time. Leave the elevator alone."
"Why?" Mac gritted his teeth. Damn it, Jack. Mac turned and started jogging the way he came in as fast as he could
"If there's no external protection, whatever is in the plant is designed to go off when the door opened."
"The bad guys didn't have anything-"
"There probably is something about their uniforms." The silence that followed sent a pang of worry through Mac. He paused halfway up the narrow stairs a thought occurred to him.
"Before you go dropping bodies remember we still haven't figured out what's happening here and we need more time." Mac tried to keep his irritation out of his voice, he really did.
"You never let me have any fun." Jack pouted. Mac smiled.
"I know Big Guy, I'm sorry." Jack and Mac shared a chuckle. Mac skidded across the tile. He had just reached the cafeteria when he heard voices. Mac's eyes darted around him. Crap. There was no way he could reach cover in time.
"Hmmmm...gotta go." Mac said absently as he whirled in a circle. N
"Mac, what-" Nothing. Mac had nothing and nowhere he could go. He clicked off his comm and half closed his eyes. He made a show of staggering as the lights clicked on and a TAC squad surrounded him all pointing semi-automatics at him.
