Chapter Two: Recon
Kito moved through the compound like he was on a mission, and he was but it was a self-directed mission. He had served his time on the perimeter patrol and was on a probationary status with Lydecker for an indeterminable amount of time. He knew Lydecker would not give his trust again easily, so it was that Kito was being extremely cautious in his current probe.
Lydecker had specifically assigned Kito not only the worst job on the base but the worst time to stand it. The 2400-0800 watch was dull, no doubt about it. The base was fairly remote and not once since he had been assigned here had he even heard about an incursion into the base. During his month long tour with the gate guards and perimeter watches he had observed Lydecker going into building 241 or departing from it at least eight times. And his curiosity was piqued at what he had hidden there that was of such importance that it needed to remain a secret from the rest of the compound.
It was always very early in the morning probably between two and four that Lydecker went or came from there. Lydecker was always alone, not once had he seen his usual contingent of guards escorting him to the building. That was a curiosity in and of itself, he never went anywhere unprotected, and Kito was bound and determined to find out what was so interesting about building 241.
Kito stopped in his routine to talk to Torri and Kenai, two of the others from Manticore assigned to this post to carry out any black ops that needed to be taken care of in the Sea-Tac area. Torri was a short but very stout lady, her ebony skin almost melting into the pitch color of her infiltration suit. Her eyes were intense and dark, her mood no nonsense. Her tightly curled hair was cropped short and lay tight against her skull. Everything about her was ease of care as it were, nothing got in the way of her objectives not even taking the time to mess with any length of hair. She was an X-8 and about five years his elder, she was the OIC on any ops in the field and reported directly to Lydecker.
Kenai was a sharp contrast to her, he could have been a farm raised country boy in another lifetime. He was tall and thickly built, his skin fair and his red hair blazed from the top of his head like a flag. He was easygoing for the most part. It was not to be confused with weakness however, he was ruthless and vengeful when it came to the mission. Kito knew that first hand, Kenai was another X-10 and had sparred with Kito many times in practices.
Conversing with the two of them was a ploy to divert attention away from him, a way to get close to the building without looking suspicious. He moved through his carefully choreographed plan of stops across the base until he neared the target building. Kito slid into the building up the road from 241. It was the supply building and he had carefully arranged to pick up the requisitions for the week for the next series of Ops that they were to carry out. He spoke briefly with the "Norm" behind the desk telling him that he needed some stuff on his list from the second floor. The man looked disinterested in helping him out, so Kito conveniently offered to get the requisition himself. The "Norm" was more than agreeable to the idea, and trying not to look to pleased with himself Kito climbed the ladder to the second story to get the items. While he was there Kito took the opportunity to apply a small piece of tape to the fire escape for ease of access later. That done he returned thanked the clerk for his "help" and continued on his routine.
"So far so good," Thought Kito. Now all he had to do was come back later and get a better look at what Lydecker had to hide.
Kito snuck back to the Supply Building after Taps that night, unable to sleep from anxiety and anticipation. He slipped through the door he had earlier sabotaged the lock on and straightened. Moving quickly he came to what he was looking for. Sometime in the bases past someone had built underground tunnels for transporting items from one building to another with out satellites being able to pick it up. The corridors ran all over the base, and though Manticore didn't actually make use of them, him and his fellows often had used them as terrorist training areas. There was little or no blockage between him and the rest of the buildings in the area, including building 241. If his guess was right the tunnel he was breaking into was the primary route to the storage unit in building 241. Silently he moved along the darkened corridor seeing everything clearly, but slightly tinged in green.
It still bugged Kito why this was so important. To this point he had been a consummate soldier doing exactly what he was told and carrying his duties out in an extremely expeditious fashion. But since Tima had come into his life and left just as quickly he had been finding himself questioning things that had never occurred to him before. The only thing that he could think of was the moment when Lydecker had drawn a weapon on a fellow Manticore. That had disillusioned him in his purpose somewhat, to know that Lydecker thought them so expendable that he could arbitrarily kill one just because she had been gone for eleven years.
Kito centered his concentration again continuing to head in the direction of Building 241. There were several places where the walls had caved in as he moved along, making his progress slower than he had anticipated, and several times he thought about turning back and returning another time. There was always the time factor, if he did not return before Reveille someone would be dispatched to look for him.
He shook his head, no that would be no good the more times he attempted this the more times he would expose himself to being discovered. He had to at least penetrate the building tonight or not at all. Kito looked at his watch; it was only about midnight, he had plenty of time to do some good recon of the inside of the building before he had to return to the barracks.
Kito continued down the corridor avoiding several more sections of crumbling wall. Before he knew it he was letting himself into the storage room of his objective. He easily pulled himself up and looked around the immediate vicinity. Around him were stacks of crates neatly wrapped in plastic and marked in code he could not make out. There was no dust on anything. It was well lit and he cautiously moved through the room. The cleanliness of the place was contradictory to what he had built in his mind as to what the inside should look like. This place was in use and had been for some time. But what was it being used for? That thought was still foremost in his mind.
He had always assumed that because he was Manticore that Lydecker and his team kept him informed on everything that was going on, he was second in command after Torri, after all, and that was saying something. Evidently that had been a vain thought, this building and whatever secret Lydecker was hiding in here drove that point sharply home.