Chapter 19: dncing\on\th\rzr
As was often the case, Proxy Blue had a lot to say about almost nothing.
"From what my insiders tell me the confrontation at hillside properties involved a certain government agency and band of renegades both of whom have so far managed to maintain their anonymity," she said. "Until now. It seems the clash was secretly recorded in crystal digital quality. My informant promises to deliver the DVD to the studio shortly so soon loyal viewers you'll finally be able to separate fact from fiction with your very own eyes."
So she didn't yet have the disc, she was simply touting its existence. I got up from my chair and walked over to face the window. "Mr Lanchester, I don't like it when other people know my business, particularly when it comes via the broadband spectrum of the likes of Proxy Blue."
"My men found six of these cameras hidden in the warehouse," Mr Lanchester said.
"I see. Then we can assume the disc indeed exists. And the question is, who is behind this?"
"Genomex is a large facility. Have you considered you might have a leak in your organisation?"
"The stringent internal security I have in place, none of my people can so much as think an impure thought without me knowing about it. No, the tip-off had to come from an outside party."
"We're trying to locate a suspect by tracing the serial numbers off the cameras," Mr Lanchester said.
"You must move quickly, we can't let anyone see what's on that disc. If the world caught a glimpse of the reality of new mutants, we'd soon have a full-fledged panic on our hands. After which, I can all but guarantee that every new mutant including yourself would quickly become a public pariah."
"Not to mention shut down Genomex, and relegate you to the status of a traitor, I'm sure," Mr Lanchester said, as blank faced as if he was reading the financial news.
I suspected he was trying to bait me into getting angry, so I ignored it and sat back down without looking at him. "I want this cancer cut out before it spreads," I said.
"You do understand I'll need the latitude to use extreme measures to restore anonymity."
"Certainly. As long as you understand that anything shy of complete success will meet with consequences just as deadly," I said, shooting a hard look at him.
As promised, Mr Lanchester traced the camera serial numbers to a small shipping company called Maklin Exporters. He took the rather drastic measure of burning everything: the building, the files, the stock, the employees. Loose cannons like him could be difficult to keep in line. Mr Lanchester shared the same underlying anger towards the world that the long-disappeared Mr Thorne had. But Mr Lanchester hid his misanthropy behind an impressively cool surface.
"So far no word on what caused that sudden explosion at Maklin Exporters which left five dead," Proxy Blue reported. It was almost as if she could smell the work of new mutants.
Mr Lanchester was in back my office, completely expressionless as always.
"Is this how you contain the problem? It seems to me you've only succeeded in exacerbating our predicament," I said.
"The situation called for desperate measures."
"Oh and by desperate measures you mean blowing Maklin Exporters sky high? What's next, public executions?"
"I'm telling you sir, at the moment it was the only prudent move to make. I stake my reputation on it."
I played Proxy Blue again. "There appears to be no connection between last night's altercation at Hillside and the explosion at Maklin. However it is a strange coincidence, don't you think?"
This was her way of suggesting there was indeed a connection. If there wasn't one, then why would she mention it?
"Let's hope you're right, Mr Lanchester. At this point what's at stake is far more important than your reputation."
"I understand sir."
There was one surviving employee of Maklin Exporters, so I ordered Mr Lanchester to follow up on him.
"The place is clean, no sign of the disc anywhere," Mr Lanchester told me over the phone from the suspect's appartement. "Maybe this Minhaus character was telling the truth after all."
"Either way, he doesn't get a free ride. He's a witness, which means he's a loose thread which desperately needs to be pulled," I said.
"He's bound to screw up and get in touch with a girlfriend, his mother, somebody who means something to him. We found his address book, we're searching for his next of kin."
"Good. It's time to send him a message."
"Yes. It'll be the last message he'll ever receive," he said.
"Otherwise, Mr Lanchester, it'll be your neck on the line."
I ended the call. I felt my faith in Mr Lanchester waning. There was a limited amount of time to obtain this disc and destroy it. I paced around my office, the implications of Proxy Blue or some other two-bit news anchor getting their hands on this disc. It would ruin all my hard work keeping the new mutant situation under wraps all these years. I wondered whether my superiors would simply withdraw funding for my medical conditions and leave me to die, or keep me alive long enough to put me on trial and pin all of the blame squarely on me. Adam would somehow come off scott-free, naturally. There was a chance he may help me, but only if it suited him, of course. After all, the man had already left me to die once before.
I forced myself to snap out of this downward spiral. Failure was not an option. I sat down at my desk and started to draw up a list of other GS agents who might be deployed should Mr Lanchester disappoint me.
I turned on Proxy Blue to see whether or not our time had run out.
"Sadly, still no word from my insider on the altercation at Hillside, causing me to wonder whether the whole thing was a hoax or foul play is involved," she said.
"You can safely assume the situation is under control. The worst is over," Mr Lanchester said.
"Really?" I said, striding towards him. "What if the disc is still out there? What if Proxy Blue gets a hold of it? I don't like to live in a world full of what ifs."
"I took out the whole building, Mr Eckhart. Dead men tell no tales," he said.
"But live ones do," I said, walking around him. He seemed not at all unnerved by my proximity and challenges.
"We searched Minhaus's apartment up and down. He's clean."
"From what I gather, breathing as well," I said, stopping to stare at him. The man didn't even flinch. Infuriating.
"I've got my men scouring the city for any sign of him, or his relatives."
"I want every available agent out there. Use our informants to sniff out possible safe houses, anywhere Mutant X might frequent."
"We're already on it. I'm confident both Minhaus and Mutant X are within our reach. And my job isn't over until each one of them is silenced."
I glanced towards the door, indicating that our conversation was over and he had outstayed his welcome. He left without argument, a surprisingly uncommon trait among GS agents.
I found myself watching Proxy Blue again, growing increasingly anxious for any news.
"The official word on that blast that left five dead at Maklin Exporters, it seems it was an accident. How disappointing," she quipped.
No mention of the disc. To me, that was equally a disappointment and a relief.
I turned off Proxy Blue and turned on my other screen.
"Mr Lanchester. Nice work in deflecting the blame away from the GSA in that unfortunate accident."
"Uhh, thank you sir?" he said, with the most vocal inflection I had ever heard him use.
"What's wrong?"
"Didn't we just speak a minute ago?"
"Sorry. Am I bothering you?" I said sharply. "I didn't realise there was a limit to our interaction."
"I apologise sir, please continue."
"Intelligence just informed me that Minhaus has activated his cell phone. We're tracing the signal as we speak," I said.
"Excellent. It's about time I finished the job."
I switched off the screen, ending the call. Despite that moment of frankly bizarre insubordination, I was pleased with Mr Lanchester's work. Perhaps I wouldn't need to send another agent to work on this matter after all.
Intelligence tracked the cell phone of Mr Minhaus to an abandoned warehouse. I went along with Mr Lanchester and a full team of agents. Mr Lanchester preceded us into the building, but was unconscious on the ground by the time we followed him inside.
Adam and his team of mutants were still standing, however.
"Adam," I said, striding forward, my agents following.
Jesse Kilmartin charged forwards.
"Not so fast, Mr Kilmartin. You haven't even heard what I have to say," I said. I stopped, and so did he. "Well it appears Mr Minhaus has missed his deadline. For good."
"You have any idea how close he came to exposing us to Proxy Blue?" Adam said, holding up the disc. How like him to imply that I was unaware of or indifferent to the consequences. Of course he assumed he would be the most affected. The world revolved around Adam.
"Yes. How ironic that you and I should find ourselves battling a mutual foe. Although I have to admit things would have gone a lot smoother if we had agreed to work together," I said. I thought of our brief truce to fight the deadly virus. There was a small chance it may have gone better this time.
Adam had nothing to say to that. Of course he didn't.
"Yes well, it seems we can all breathe a little easier now," I continued. "The only question left of course, is where does this leave us?"
Adam shrugged dismissively. "That's up to you," he said.
"I want that disc," I said.
Adam glanced at each of his teammates, then said, "Come and get it."
Behind me, my agents readied their weapons. Behind Adam, his new mutants readied their powers. The moment of stalemate stretched out for what seemed like an eternity.
Eventually, I said, "We're done here," and gestured for my agents to lower their weapons.
Adam and I walked towards each other slowly. His team stood warily behind him.
"Torch the place?" I suggested.
"And Proxy Blue gets an anonymous tip about a serial arsonist?" Adam added.
I nodded, and walked away, smirking to myself. For us, that had been a relatively pleasant conversation. I didn't need to watch to ensure they destroyed the disc. I could trust that they wouldn't risk holding onto something so destructive.
So, once more, we had returned to our state of tenuous safety. There would be something else. There always was. But we had survived this. We'd survive the next one.