*
As Alyx and Darien neared the end of the tunnel she probed ahead to see who, if anyone, was awake. She was surprised to find Chris and Manda conscious. *Hey, kiddies. We're back.*
*With good news I hope,* Manda sent back with only a hint of concern.
*Good enough,* Alyx returned. *Be there momentarily.*
"Do they ever sleep?" Darien asked her when her focus returned to him.
"They're worried. Just like we are," Alyx said to him.
"Some of us are in pain." Darien groaned. Not only was his back killing him, but he had stood up when he shouldn't have a couple of times when his back had decided to cramp, and now had a nifty goose egg on the top of his head.
"We'll give them the info we have, let Chris check that skull of yours, and then get you in a hot bath to loosen up what's left of your back," Alyx said with sympathy. He'd knocked himself to his knees once, he'd whacked his head so hard. Alyx was pretty sure he was okay, but wanted Chris to check him to make certain. Within minutes they were in the main room and trading information. Alyx handed over the computer pad with all the information she had.
Manda looked at it, her eyes widening. "Is this correct?"
"Yes," Alyx answered as she played assistant to Chris as he checked Darien's head. "Think you can work with it and the schematics and come up with something while I get Dare human again?"
"Oh, yes," Manda's voice was filled with the joy of a tech-head being fed the all the info she could ever want. "What's wrong with Darien?"
"Well, no concussion, at least. Though I imagine he has one hell of a headache," Chris said putting away his equipment.
"Thanks, Chris," Darien said, but Chris just waved his hand like it was no big deal. "Now to fix my back."
"Hot water. Go soak for an hour. That's about the best suggestion I can make," Chris stated flatly.
"Your back?" Manda asked, glancing up from the computer.
"Look at the tunnel specs," Alyx said to her. "You guys are just going to love it."
Manda looked over the information and groaned. "Well, it's still better than two to three days overland." She looked over at Darien and Alyx. "Go, we'll want to get moving in a few hours. I'll wake the others."
"Yes, ma'am," Alyx said with a mock salute. "C'mon, old man. Let's get you put back together before we torture you again."
"Old man. I'll show you old man," Darien grouched as he went after Alyx, who burst out laughing.
When they had left the room Manda turned to Chris. "You'd think they were kids."
He laughed. "Yeah. Ain't it great?"
Manda shook her head and laughed. "Wake up Ben and Rose. Mom will expect results when she gets back."
Alyx lifted her hands out of the water. "That should be warm enough." She turned to look at Darien, who groaned as he stripped.
"Maybe I'm getting to old for this?" he asked her as limped over to the bathing pool and lowered himself in with a hiss. "Ah, more than warm enough. Do I want to know how you managed it?"
"Just my version of Manda's talent," Alyx answered, trailing her fingers in the water. "And you'll never be too old."
He brushed a damp hand along her face and she closed her eyes like always. "What are you thinking about?"
"Trying not to," she answered, her eyes still closed. "I need to get upstairs."
"No," he said, and her eyes flew open.
"No?"
"No. You are going to relax , allow those overly-intelligent children of yours to do their jobs, and give yourself a break." He somehow kept her from moving away. She was going to argue so he tried to forestall it. "For an hour, please."
For a moment she debated just getting up and leaving anyway, but instead she nodded. "One hour."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was still yawning and rubbing my eyes when I got to the main room and sat down at the table. Rose didn't look much better. Both Manda and Chris looked way too awake, but I took the cup of tea they offered me and drank it down. I could smell food cooking and my stomach rumbled it's need for sustenance.
"Jeeze, Ben. Train that thing, would you?" Manda commented with a smile. "We've got some info for you to look at." She pushed the computer pad over to me and I perused the information as I drank the tea and then ate the food that was placed in front of me.
"So we can get past the outer perimeter security, but we still have to get in the Lab itself and then out again," I said aloud. "Where's Mom and Dad?" I asked and at the same time I mentally went looking for them.
"Don't," Chris said, and I looked at him in confusion. "Trust me, now is not the time to go eavesdropping on your parents."
"Oh," I said. I'm not a fool. I had a good idea why Chris didn't want me to contact them, but as I've said before, I like my parents the way they are. "Okay. What do you want me to do?"
Rose looked at the information over my shoulder. "Ugly. Do we know where Dani is?"
Manda shook her head. "Not definitely. Mom thinks several levels underground."
"We're not going to walk in the front door are we? I mean, that would be nuts." I looked at each of them. "Wouldn't it?"
"We haven't come up with anything else. We figured Mom would be able to defeat the security system and find Dani's location." Manda answered.
Rose looked over the display again. "There's got to be a back door. There's always a back door."
"Maybe Mom or Darien can find it, 'cause we haven't found it yet," Chris commented, tapping the table with a finger.
"What about the river?" I suddenly asked, without quite knowing why.
"What about it?" Rose said, sitting down next to me.
I shrugged. It seemed like the thing to say even if I wasn't quite sure why.
"Maybe..." Manda made some adjustments to the display. "I wish we had the tri-d rig with us," she muttered in complaint.
I had an idea. Getting up from the table, I went digging through one of the packs and came back with Jase's newest toy. Digging out a connector, I hooked the computer pad to the image generator and, with a little fudging, I was able to project the computer image across the room.
"Does that help?"
They all stared at me.
"What made you think of that?" Chris asked me.
"Zoe asked Jase if it could be used this way. I thought it might be worth trying," I answered truthfully. I was just glad it had worked.
Manda tapped some commands into the computer pad; the image changed, showing the schematics and layout of the building, some of which was based on assumptions, and the blueprints we had garnered of the power plant. The power plant was not directly connected to the installation, was about four levels underground, and was separated by about two hundred yards from the installation itself.
I looked at the images for several minutes while the others began to argue about different options on how to get in. Something tickled the back of my mind. Something that I should be seeing, and yet wasn't.
"Hey, guys. Any luck?" my mom asked as she walked into the room.
"How's Darien feeling?" Chris asked.
"Better on all counts. Some aspirin and hot water took care of the worst of it. He'll be along shortly." She moved to the display hanging in the air, looking distracted. "How do they get the power to the Lab?"
I jumped. "That's what's been bugging me. The power lines. Where are they?"
"Ummm," Manda said as she ran through the images. "Good question."
"We know they kept the power plant and the lab separate for a reason, probably security. Guys working in the power plant may not ever see the inside of the lab," Rose commented as she thought about it. "There has to be a power conduit somewhere, and it's probably fairly large for maintenance and repairs."
"Then that should be our way in," Darien said as he walked into the room. "Hey, Ben." He came over beside me and rested a hand on my shoulder.
"Hey, Dad," I replied. "But how do we get into the power plant?"
"You tell us," he said to me.
I got to my feet and walked over to the display hanging in the air. I could see the main Lab building and I could see the underground layout of the power plant, but there was no obvious entrance for it. I pointed. "Here."
No one questioned me, just tried to figure out what I had discovered. I noticed Mom had that look that meant she was searching through the information she had in her mind. "They had several storage sheds around the area. Well, I thought they were storage sheds...they could very well be entrances. They were heavy duty, permanent structures, if a bit small." She came back to herself. "We'll need to do some recon." She looked at me. "Good work, all of you. Pack up essentials only. This is our fall-back position."
Without complaint, we began to do exactly that, dividing up the work as if we had done this hundreds of times before with this same group of people. Within in an hour we were ready to make our way through that tunnel.
All I can say about that walk was that it was a good thing none of us are claustrophobic. It got exceedingly tight in places, and all of us, except my mom, were miserable with backaches by the time we got to the other end and it opened back out. We spent thirty or so minutes getting the cramps out and prepping what we'd need to do a little scouting. My mom took over, like always. Makes sense -- she's got the most experience, with my dad second, although his experience has a bit more variety to it. Mom may have never planned on being an intelligence agent, but she did it amazingly well. My dad...well, cat-burglar, turned agent, turned security expert for a living. He had an interesting resume.
"Rose, Manda, and Chris, you stay here try and contact Dani. Chris, see if you can come up with something to counteract the effects of the inhibitor and sedative. We need her functional to get her out. See if you can get more than just a general location on her." She turned to look at me. "Ben, Dare, we are going scouting. It's nearly dawn. I want to see what we can see in the daylight. Maybe..." She shook her head. "Let's just see what we can find."
No one argued. I was a bit stunned. She wanted me to scout with them? She must be nuts. My dad must have caught my nervousness.
"Remember capture the flag with Hobbes?" he asked me with a hand on my shoulder.
I nodded. Hobbes had taught me and the twins all sorts of things in the guise of common kids games. You should see our version of 'tag'.
"Same principle. Just remember that now you can go invisible." He handed me a pair of binoculars and one of the computer pads.
I noticed Mom had one as well, I guess so the we could each add our own observations.
"I'll handle communications and cover our tracks," she said as she pressed the release for the door. She turned back to the others. "See if you can get any updated info. It's reasonably secure here, just be careful. No outgoing signals except to sats."
"Mother-hen. We do know what we're doing," Rose said with a smile. "Go. Scout. We'll do our jobs; you do yours."
Mom sighed. "Sorry, habit. I'm used to working with thickheaded dolts."
Manda laughed. "You should hear what they say about you."
"I can imagine," she said dryly. "Come on, boys. Let's go play in the snow."
I followed them out the door and quicksilvered when I saw them do the same. My mom was outlined with a silvery blue glow that shifted and reached out from herself. My dad was a far more contained golden orange halo. I wondered what color I appeared to be.
*You're blue. A bit darker than myself.* my mom said into my head. *Without the weird energy effects I generate. If you watch it'll look like I'm touching everything I walk by.*
She was right. It looked like she was checking everything as she moved past it. Making contact just long enough to identify what was what and then move on. No wonder she always knew where I was in the house. She was constantly checking her environment. I wondered if it was conscious.
Dad had taken point, leading the way around the bowl of the valley, being careful not to disturb anything if it could be helped. The slightest bump would send snow cascading off of a branch, making it obvious that something was passing by. We didn't want to attract any attention if we could help it. Mom warned us of the location of patrolling guards. We were between security perimeters, so although we were cautious we were not overly concerned about booby traps.
We made our way to the far end of the valley where the 'storage sheds' were located. There were four of them, but none of them really caught my interest. Instead, my eyes kept getting drawn back to an odd outcropping of rock.
*Mom?*
*Yeah. Whatcha got?* she sent back.
I sent an image of the outcropping I spotted and she paused. *I just have a feeling about it.*
*Let's check it out. Dare?* I realized she was keeping the three of us in contact. We could each hear what the other two were sending. Saved time.
*On it. I can get us pretty close.* He maneuvered us at an angle down the hillside towards the outcropping. We eventually ended up burying ourselves in a thicket that pretty much hid us from view as we looked the thing over.
*Where's the snow?* my dad asked.
He was right -- it was the only spot on the hillside that wasn't buried in several inches of snow. Beside me my mom let her quicksilver fall off, and then groaned.
*Damn. Can't believe I missed the energy sig on that.* She sounded angry at herself.
*Power plant?* my dad asked, and my mom confirmed it.
*They hid it well.* She glanced across the valley while making notes on the computer pad. *Those sheds are entrances, but for the guards, I think. Maybe living quarters, and kennels for the dogs. The main building is mostly residence, I'm betting. All the real power is underground.* She frowned. *I don't like this. What else could they be doing here?*
*We'll find out once we're inside. You'll raid the computer, like always.* Dad sent to her. *Unless you want to try to get access now?*
*Too risky.* She rolled onto her back and looked up at the sky. I wondered what she was doing. *Storm coming. Big one.*
*Can we use it as cover?* my dad asked her.
*Oh, yeah. Feels like a blizzard,* she answered. She quicksilvered and began to back out of the thicket. *I'll be right back.*
As we watched, she made her way closer to the doorway. I don't know if it was luck or timing, but it suddenly opened. Several people came out of the doorway, walked down the hillside to one of the 'sheds' and went inside. Well, that seemed to confirm they were entrances to something else underground. Mom stood off to one side, watching the door I assumed. The door was huge, reminding me of NORAD, only on a much smaller scale. As it began to close, my mom tried to do something, I'm not sure what, but she got one heck of a surprise.
*Ah, shit!* was shouted in my mind along with a burst of pain.
*Alyx?* my dad's voice was filled with concern.
*I'm okay. I think.* She didn't sound okay to me. She sounded singed.
She made her way back to us without another comment, but instead of joining us she sent, *I have what I need. Let's get back.*
Dad and I made our way out of the thicket and we retraced our path back to the tunnel. As soon as we were inside and safe, we all let the quicksilver flake away. Dad went to Mom, who had fallen to her knees.
"What happened?" Dad asked her, kneeling next to her.
"They know about us, about me. The electronics had a...I don't know...an energy field or something that bit me," she said.
"Bit you?" Chris asked. "What do you mean?"
She shook her head, as if trying to get rid of something. "I got in, was trying to track down the door trigger, when it bit me." She paused. "Gods, my head hurts."
Chris pushed his way past Dad. "Let me see." He rested a hand on her forehead and she showed him. "Youch. It did bite you." He shook his head to try and get it out of his mind. "It must be designed to pick up outsiders trying to gain access, and sends a power surge to overload the intruder. Works fine for a computer. Hurts like hell for one of us."
"Would it stop at the first source, or just keep passing through?" my mom asked, and I had no idea what she was talking about.
Manda answered. "I've heard of these defensive systems. They're effective, but stupid. It will probably not jump systems. You thinking of accessing it through one of the hand comps?"
Mom nodded. "But right now I'm going to collapse and let you guys trade information." She tossed her pad to Manda, who immediately went to work on checking the information we'd gathered.
I couldn't decide whether to be excited or scared. Is this what I wanted to do with my life? Spend it sneaking into places on the say-so of some schmuck I probably wouldn't like? Risking my life for some reason I probably wouldn't understand? I always thought I would join the Agency, just like everyone else had, but now I wasn't so sure.
I was going to have to take some time to actually think about this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alyx lay sprawled on the rock floor with her head in Darien's lap as they went over what little information they had and attempted to come up with a plan that would have at least a chance of success. She kept glancing over at Ben, who was running his hands through his hair as if nervous.
"You okay, Ben?"
He lifted his head and looked at her, as if surprised that she'd noticed. "Good enough. I'm just not sure if I should come along on this."
"You'll do fine, little brother," Rose said to him.
Manda and Chris nodded in agreement.
"Look at how much you've helped already," Darien said to him. "You'll do just fine."
Ben shrugged, still a bit undecided about the whole thing.
Alyx picked up on what was going through his mind, but kept her comments private with him. *Help us with this, and if you decide it's not what you want to do no one will force you into it. I promise.*
He looked at her, knowing what a promise from her meant. *Thank you.*
She nodded and lay her head back down. "Okay, my genius children, what have you got for me?"
"We made contact with Piotr and he downloaded some new information to us. He's been busy, and worried. We assured him we were quite well," Rose began as she hooked up the computer pad to Jase's imaging machine again.
"He also passed on an interesting message. Johnson asked him to refuse to assist us if we contacted him." Manda grinned. "He got the message two days after we left. As usual, Johnson has no idea what is going on."
"He figured out enough to know we might call on Piotr for help," Darien pointed out. "Who knows what else he's figured out."
Alyx groaned. "I just had a horrible thought. Could he have set us up?"
Chris shook his head. "Not his style."
Manda disagreed, however. "Johnson has been very unhappy that Mom keeps overriding his orders. This could be a way to get her tossed out and gain more control over the rest of us, including the I-Men."
"Don't even think that. Johnson is a fool where we're concerned. The only one with a complete understanding of what we can do is Mom. Of course she overrides him. If she didn't, he'd have gotten me killed several times already," Rose added rather vehemently.
"Sorry I brought it up. Back to the mission at hand, please," Alyx said loud enough to cut through the discussion. "We'll deal with boss Johnson later."
"All right." Manda pulled up some information on the computer pad and displayed it. "Piotr's contacts managed to get some updated blueprints for the power plant, and we found the access tunnel. It leads to the fourth sub level of the lab. Dani is on sub level five, near as we can determine."
"Once we go through the access tunnel, we can get into the ventilation system between levels. We thought this might be the best way to get to Dani and get back out." Rose added going to the image hanging in the air and pointing out the tentative route.
"Our biggest concern is the security. It's fairly light at the power plant, but once in the lab it's the tightest we've ever seen," Chris added.
"I've been thinking about that. What if we simply shut down power to the lab? I'm betting their back-ups are mainly for the computer system and maybe minimal security," Alyx said where she still lay with an arm flung over her eyes.
"Just shut down power. You don't think small do you?" Darien said with a laugh.
"Actually, it's what we were thinking. Back-up would go to essential systems and emergency lighting." Manda made some changes to show what she thought would happen if power were cut to the lab.
"So we cut power, get Dani, get out, right?" Ben said, summing up the very basics of the plan.
"Well, almost. I'm not leaving this place intact," Alyx growled.
"Is that wise? We really don't want to create an incident," Darien said in response. He could tell her emotions were more than a bit involved in this matter.
"Ummm. Actually Piotr has asked that we do exactly that. And it's not just him. The intel he sent us is scary." Manda had a touch of anger in her voice. "Grabbing Dani is just the latest of the genetic experiments that have come out of this place." Her voice trailed off as the anger increased, and she had to take several deep breaths to calm down.
Alyx sat up. "What? What have they been doing?"
"According to the data his mole sent him, they've been doing their version of the QSX project for about ten years, with limited success," Chris answered with disgust in his voice.
Ben sat up straighter. This meant something to all of them.
"They've created any number of failures. The mutation rate is horrible, and I'm not talking about animal experiments." Chris shook his head.
"That's why they wanted Dani, or one of us anyway," Ben said with a look of horror.
Chris and Manda nodded. "And I'm beginning to wonder why Johnson was so adamant that Dani be sent, even though Mom volunteered to go," Manda commented out loud.
"Later," Alyx repeated, her voice tight. "Right now we have to rescue Dani and destroy this place."
"How? It's not like we brought a supply of C-4 with us," Darien asked her seriously.
"Oh, I have an idea," Alyx said with a nasty smile. "For now, let's figure out how to get in."
Darien jerked awake when cold air washed across him. He realized Alyx was gone and sat up looking for her. Over near the door she shook off both the snow and the quicksilver that coated her. She was dressed all in black and did not have her heavy coat on, just a heavy black sweater, hat and gloves. "What have you been doing?" he asked her.
"Scouting," she answered quietly as she moved to join him. "The weather is perfect, and I overheard some of the guards. They aren't going to be doing rounds outside tonight. They're expecting visibility to be nil."
"No point in patrolling if they can't see," Darien commented in agreement.
"Can't see? It's going to be white-out conditions. We may be the only ones with the ability to move out there." She sat beside him and he wrapped her coat about her. "Thanks."
"I assume you'll be able to find the place by following the power?" She nodded and leaned back against him. "What about finding your way back here after?"
"I thought about that. If we leave one of the comp pads here and active, I should be able to track it back to here," she said. Even with the quicksilver coating her, she'd gotten blinking cold out there. The temperature had dropped considerably, and the wind had picked up. Quicksilver may act as a thermal insulator, but it only went so far in temperatures this extreme.
"This might work to our advantage. If they hunker down for the night, their response may be slow. They may even think that anything we do is side effect from the storm." He held her close, trying to warm her body. "How long?"
"A few hours yet," Alyx answered. "They can sleep a bit more."
"Then so can you," Darien said, pulling her down to lay beside him.
"Yes, sir," she whispered. "I want this over."
"So do I." He wrapped his arms about her. "Soon. It'll be over soon."
"All right you mooks, everyone ready?" Alyx said with forced cheer at the group standing before her. They were all kit out in black with each of them carrying a variety of small tools or equipment. Alyx had the biggest pack, which included Jase's little image generator. Chris had some basic first aid gear, as well as the tranquilizer gun loaded with the drugs to, hopefully, counteract what Dani had been shot full of. They needed her conscious in order to get her out of there. Darien had his burglar tools with him. Manda and Rose each had several pieces of equipment that they habitually used when on a job. Ben was the only one who felt a bit left out in the gear department, but until he developed his own style, a computer pad for orientation would do for now.
Weapons were the one thing they didn't have with them. They would get what weapons they'd need from the guards they encountered along the way.
They had paired off for this little excursion: Darien with Ben, Manda with Rose, and Alyx with Chris. Those without quicksilver would be handled by those that could. Both Alyx and Rose could find the power sources, and contact would be maintained telepathically at all times. Hopefully no one would get separated in the weather, which, while bad now, was going to get lots worse before everything was said and done. One good thing about the snow: they would not have to worry about covering their tracks.
Alyx pressed the release for the door and snow swirled in, along with a chill breeze. Letting the quicksilver flow over her and Chris, they walked out into the stormy night. Alyx had the majority of the route to the power plant entrance memorized and didn't really need to see it in order to find it. Darn good thing. Quicksilver sight was almost useless. There was not quite enough ambient light to see very well for most of them. Poor Ben, who was not used to this at all, felt almost blind, but Darien was able to lead him with little trouble.
*This sucks,* Manda sent to everyone.
*It's good cover,* Rose argued.
*Agreed, but it still sucks,* Manda sent with a hint of humor.
*Children,* Alyx admonished, even though she had found it amusing as well. She took her time and made sure to stick to the memorized pathway. The snow was already six inches deep, and getting deeper by the moment. It took only a few minutes longer than she planned but they made it to the entrance for the power plant.
*Everybody here?* She queried as she tried to see the glowing outlines of her family.
They mentally sounded off a roll call. Reassured, she turned to try and get them in the door without alerting the whole damn world. With a shiver she dropped the quicksilver on just herself and walked to the electronic lock beside the door. Darien moved next to Chris and took over the quicksilvering for him as planned. Pulling out the sacrificial computer pad, she jacked it into the access port on the lock and used it to try and find the code for the door. She felt the surge as it fried the poor thing and then inserted her mind into the system and searched for the access she needed. The lock was easy, and she was also able to disable the security cameras immediately inside the door.
As the door creaked open, Rose and Manda rushed in while still invisible, intending to take out any human guards that might be there. After a moment Rose sent, *Clear.*
Alyx quicksilvered and followed the others after they went in. She told the door to shut behind them. This was simply a hallway with an unmanned guard station that led to the elevator and stairwell that headed down to the power plant itself.
*Can you shut it down from here?* Darien asked her.
*No point. Wait till we're at the access tunnel.* She took over control of Chris again, and together they took point so that she could disrupt any security that might pick them up. As they walked she also kept a watch on the power systems, trying to find weak points.
*Mom?* Ben sounded nervous.
*Yes?*
*Why are we using the stairs?* he asked her. He wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.
*They might be suspicious if the elevator begins to move with no one here,* Manda answered.
You could feel Ben mentally thwapping himself.
*It's okay Ben. Always ask. It's the only way to learn,* Chris sent to him, easing his mind somewhat.
As they moved lower, the power of the turbines could be felt through the metal floors. Alyx could feel the power as a deep singing through her very being. This was not the first time she'd had to deal with massive amounts of power, and she knew how to shunt the energy her body tried to tap into away from herself. To keep her focus away from the power, the energy that was trying to draw her to it.
Rose was having problems. *Crap.* She was not yet used to her new abilities, and was having trouble concentrating on holding the quicksilver on herself and Manda. The energy was nearly overwhelming her senses. This was a complication no one had considered.
Both Darien and Ben caught on first. Darien took Rose and Ben went to Manda, taking over control of the quicksilver for them.
Alyx moved to Rose. *Damn. Relax for a moment.* Rose tried to argue, she was afraid of losing herself to the flow of energy. *Trust me,* Alyx sent to her. Altering the link so that it was now between only the two of them, she showed her daughter how to let the energy to just pass through. To be aware of it while also keeping from being lost to it. To keep that sense of self that was so important for people like themselves. *Don't fight it. Watch.* Alyx showed her how she'd managed to survive with that ability for all these years.
It took a moment for Rose to catch on. It just didn't seem right that, instead of attempting to shield out the energy trying to force itself upon her, she needed to just let it pass through her and ignore it. *How have you managed all these years?* Rose sent once she caught the trick of it.
*I had a choice?*
Darien's mind voice broke in then. *Company.*
They were deep enough into the power plant that there were some people around to make sure the systems worked correctly. It really annoyed them that, even though these people were just here to keep the system going, they were still armed. Only hand guns, but armed just the same.
*Let's move, people,* Alyx sent to goose them back into movement.
In minutes they had made it to the main floor of the power plant. There were a dozen giant turbines collecting power for the lab. Alyx made her way to a bank of computers used to monitor the system and began to call up information. She could shut down power to the lab fairly easily, but she wanted it to look natural, so she set up a rolling system failure which would trigger a complete shut down, diagnostic and then a restart for the system.
*Why so much power for the Lab? What are they hiding in there?* Chris asked in combined curiosity and concern.
*We'll find out.* Manda commented. *How long will it hold?*
*Diagnostic is one hour. If we're still here then, we're guests of the Chinese government.* Alyx sent back.
*We won't let that happen, will we?* Ben sent nervously.
*No, we won't,* Darien commented. *Do it. Shut it down.*
Alyx did so, and alarms began to go off in the form of flashing lights. Anything with sound would be unheard over the noise of the turbines in the room. Manda had Rose drop the quicksilver on her, then checked the computer pad. They had discovered you couldn't read them while quicksilvered. A pain in the ass, but one they were used to. A moment later she had Rose quicksilver her again and led the way to the access tunnel.
*It looked bigger on the blueprints.* Darien's mind voice was filled with dismay. The access tunnel, which had appeared to be big enough to walk in, was in actuality only three to three and a half feet in diameter. Not even Alyx could stand up in the thing. On top of that, it was pitch dark.
*Remember Nate Richards?* Alyx sent to Darien, reminding him of a similar situation they had dealt with in the past. The same incident that inspiried the "Robin Hood and Maid Marian" nicknames for each other. The access tunnel had been about the same size as this for that break in.
*There are lights. Maybe we can selectively power them,* Rose sent, and Alyx agreed.
*Rose, you take point. I'll take rear. Watch for cameras, but once we're far enough in we should be able to be visible for a bit.* Alyx tossed off the orders like she did it every day.
*Watch for the ventilation access as well. We still need to get down one level,* Manda added.
*Ben, contact Dani. Confirm her location. We need you to lead us to her,* Alyx sent to her still-frightened son.
*Me?* he sent back at almost a squeak.
Alyx tried to soothe him. *Yes, love. You can do it.*
Unable to even mentally send an answer, he just sent a positive feeling and then worked on making a connection with his oldest sister.
They continued into the access shaft, not moving as fast as they had hoped because of the size of it, but making decent time anyway. Once in deep enough, Alyx sent a signal and as one they allowed the quicksilver to flake away.
*Mom. There's something up ahead,* Rose sent with some confusion in her voice.
The others moved aside to allow Alyx to get up next to Rose. Once there, she was able to sense what Rose did. She held up her hand in front of her and there was a sudden energy discharge. Like a static spark, only a hundred times bigger, from her hand to the...whatever...across the tunnel.
"Interesting." Alyx muttered. Then she simply reached out and touched it, sending a burst of energy back to the collar ringing the tunnel from where the energy field was emanating. With a shower of sparks, the thing shorted out. "Not very trusting, are they?" Alyx asked no one in particular. "Go ahead." She waved Rose on and then returned to her rear-guard position.
They moved further down the tunnel with little trouble except for some grumblings of discomfort.
*We may have a problem,* Ben suddenly sent.
*What?* Darien asked him.
*Dani is not below us. She's up one level.* He was sure of it.
As Darien watched, they all got this faraway look in their eyes as they tried to track Dani.
*I still get down,* Manda said. Chris agreed, but Rose was unsure. Alyx checked again, but this time she looked specifically for Dani's energy signature and found herself lost instead.
*Mom?* Ben sent to her, which allowed her to refocus and find her way back.
*One sec,* she muttered mentally. She tried again, and found herself caught in almost a net of energy. It was rather weak in some ways, but it was just enough that it would throw off their abilities. She tried to orient and found herself caught in it even deeper. It was like trying to move her mind through treacle.
This time it was Darien who freed her with a barked, *Alyx!*
"Crap. Ben's probably right. There's a diffusion field that effects our talents. It'll distort our orientation." Rose got this look in her eyes and Alyx whapped her, making her refocus on those in the tunnel. "Don't. If it trapped me..." She trailed off, and Rose swallowed hard and nodded.
"So now what?" Chris asked.
Alyx turned to her youngest son. "We follow Ben. Since it doesn't seem to affect his talent, he can lead us to her."
Ben paled for an instant. He wanted no part of this resting on his way-too-untried shoulders. Then he looked at his family, sensing that they trusted in his ability even if he was still a bit unsure about it. He nodded.
"Good. Rose, you and Ben take point. Watch for more security fields. Ben, find Dani for us." Alyx moved to the rear of the group again and checked behind them. People were taking notice that something odd was happening, but she could only check back towards the power plant. Any checking into the lab and she was struck by that odd field that disoriented her.
"We'll fake it," Darien whispered to her. "It's not like we've never had to alter a plan before."
"True, but what have they got in there that they need a field like that for? It only effects those with telepathic-type abilities." Alyx was more than a touch concerned. The field wasn't specifically for Dani. So what could be here that they were trying to keep in check?
*
As Alyx and Darien neared the end of the tunnel she probed ahead to see who, if anyone, was awake. She was surprised to find Chris and Manda conscious. *Hey, kiddies. We're back.*
*With good news I hope,* Manda sent back with only a hint of concern.
*Good enough,* Alyx returned. *Be there momentarily.*
"Do they ever sleep?" Darien asked her when her focus returned to him.
"They're worried. Just like we are," Alyx said to him.
"Some of us are in pain." Darien groaned. Not only was his back killing him, but he had stood up when he shouldn't have a couple of times when his back had decided to cramp, and now had a nifty goose egg on the top of his head.
"We'll give them the info we have, let Chris check that skull of yours, and then get you in a hot bath to loosen up what's left of your back," Alyx said with sympathy. He'd knocked himself to his knees once, he'd whacked his head so hard. Alyx was pretty sure he was okay, but wanted Chris to check him to make certain. Within minutes they were in the main room and trading information. Alyx handed over the computer pad with all the information she had.
Manda looked at it, her eyes widening. "Is this correct?"
"Yes," Alyx answered as she played assistant to Chris as he checked Darien's head. "Think you can work with it and the schematics and come up with something while I get Dare human again?"
"Oh, yes," Manda's voice was filled with the joy of a tech-head being fed the all the info she could ever want. "What's wrong with Darien?"
"Well, no concussion, at least. Though I imagine he has one hell of a headache," Chris said putting away his equipment.
"Thanks, Chris," Darien said, but Chris just waved his hand like it was no big deal. "Now to fix my back."
"Hot water. Go soak for an hour. That's about the best suggestion I can make," Chris stated flatly.
"Your back?" Manda asked, glancing up from the computer.
"Look at the tunnel specs," Alyx said to her. "You guys are just going to love it."
Manda looked over the information and groaned. "Well, it's still better than two to three days overland." She looked over at Darien and Alyx. "Go, we'll want to get moving in a few hours. I'll wake the others."
"Yes, ma'am," Alyx said with a mock salute. "C'mon, old man. Let's get you put back together before we torture you again."
"Old man. I'll show you old man," Darien grouched as he went after Alyx, who burst out laughing.
When they had left the room Manda turned to Chris. "You'd think they were kids."
He laughed. "Yeah. Ain't it great?"
Manda shook her head and laughed. "Wake up Ben and Rose. Mom will expect results when she gets back."
Alyx lifted her hands out of the water. "That should be warm enough." She turned to look at Darien, who groaned as he stripped.
"Maybe I'm getting to old for this?" he asked her as limped over to the bathing pool and lowered himself in with a hiss. "Ah, more than warm enough. Do I want to know how you managed it?"
"Just my version of Manda's talent," Alyx answered, trailing her fingers in the water. "And you'll never be too old."
He brushed a damp hand along her face and she closed her eyes like always. "What are you thinking about?"
"Trying not to," she answered, her eyes still closed. "I need to get upstairs."
"No," he said, and her eyes flew open.
"No?"
"No. You are going to relax , allow those overly-intelligent children of yours to do their jobs, and give yourself a break." He somehow kept her from moving away. She was going to argue so he tried to forestall it. "For an hour, please."
For a moment she debated just getting up and leaving anyway, but instead she nodded. "One hour."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was still yawning and rubbing my eyes when I got to the main room and sat down at the table. Rose didn't look much better. Both Manda and Chris looked way too awake, but I took the cup of tea they offered me and drank it down. I could smell food cooking and my stomach rumbled it's need for sustenance.
"Jeeze, Ben. Train that thing, would you?" Manda commented with a smile. "We've got some info for you to look at." She pushed the computer pad over to me and I perused the information as I drank the tea and then ate the food that was placed in front of me.
"So we can get past the outer perimeter security, but we still have to get in the Lab itself and then out again," I said aloud. "Where's Mom and Dad?" I asked and at the same time I mentally went looking for them.
"Don't," Chris said, and I looked at him in confusion. "Trust me, now is not the time to go eavesdropping on your parents."
"Oh," I said. I'm not a fool. I had a good idea why Chris didn't want me to contact them, but as I've said before, I like my parents the way they are. "Okay. What do you want me to do?"
Rose looked at the information over my shoulder. "Ugly. Do we know where Dani is?"
Manda shook her head. "Not definitely. Mom thinks several levels underground."
"We're not going to walk in the front door are we? I mean, that would be nuts." I looked at each of them. "Wouldn't it?"
"We haven't come up with anything else. We figured Mom would be able to defeat the security system and find Dani's location." Manda answered.
Rose looked over the display again. "There's got to be a back door. There's always a back door."
"Maybe Mom or Darien can find it, 'cause we haven't found it yet," Chris commented, tapping the table with a finger.
"What about the river?" I suddenly asked, without quite knowing why.
"What about it?" Rose said, sitting down next to me.
I shrugged. It seemed like the thing to say even if I wasn't quite sure why.
"Maybe..." Manda made some adjustments to the display. "I wish we had the tri-d rig with us," she muttered in complaint.
I had an idea. Getting up from the table, I went digging through one of the packs and came back with Jase's newest toy. Digging out a connector, I hooked the computer pad to the image generator and, with a little fudging, I was able to project the computer image across the room.
"Does that help?"
They all stared at me.
"What made you think of that?" Chris asked me.
"Zoe asked Jase if it could be used this way. I thought it might be worth trying," I answered truthfully. I was just glad it had worked.
Manda tapped some commands into the computer pad; the image changed, showing the schematics and layout of the building, some of which was based on assumptions, and the blueprints we had garnered of the power plant. The power plant was not directly connected to the installation, was about four levels underground, and was separated by about two hundred yards from the installation itself.
I looked at the images for several minutes while the others began to argue about different options on how to get in. Something tickled the back of my mind. Something that I should be seeing, and yet wasn't.
"Hey, guys. Any luck?" my mom asked as she walked into the room.
"How's Darien feeling?" Chris asked.
"Better on all counts. Some aspirin and hot water took care of the worst of it. He'll be along shortly." She moved to the display hanging in the air, looking distracted. "How do they get the power to the Lab?"
I jumped. "That's what's been bugging me. The power lines. Where are they?"
"Ummm," Manda said as she ran through the images. "Good question."
"We know they kept the power plant and the lab separate for a reason, probably security. Guys working in the power plant may not ever see the inside of the lab," Rose commented as she thought about it. "There has to be a power conduit somewhere, and it's probably fairly large for maintenance and repairs."
"Then that should be our way in," Darien said as he walked into the room. "Hey, Ben." He came over beside me and rested a hand on my shoulder.
"Hey, Dad," I replied. "But how do we get into the power plant?"
"You tell us," he said to me.
I got to my feet and walked over to the display hanging in the air. I could see the main Lab building and I could see the underground layout of the power plant, but there was no obvious entrance for it. I pointed. "Here."
No one questioned me, just tried to figure out what I had discovered. I noticed Mom had that look that meant she was searching through the information she had in her mind. "They had several storage sheds around the area. Well, I thought they were storage sheds...they could very well be entrances. They were heavy duty, permanent structures, if a bit small." She came back to herself. "We'll need to do some recon." She looked at me. "Good work, all of you. Pack up essentials only. This is our fall-back position."
Without complaint, we began to do exactly that, dividing up the work as if we had done this hundreds of times before with this same group of people. Within in an hour we were ready to make our way through that tunnel.
All I can say about that walk was that it was a good thing none of us are claustrophobic. It got exceedingly tight in places, and all of us, except my mom, were miserable with backaches by the time we got to the other end and it opened back out. We spent thirty or so minutes getting the cramps out and prepping what we'd need to do a little scouting. My mom took over, like always. Makes sense -- she's got the most experience, with my dad second, although his experience has a bit more variety to it. Mom may have never planned on being an intelligence agent, but she did it amazingly well. My dad...well, cat-burglar, turned agent, turned security expert for a living. He had an interesting resume.
"Rose, Manda, and Chris, you stay here try and contact Dani. Chris, see if you can come up with something to counteract the effects of the inhibitor and sedative. We need her functional to get her out. See if you can get more than just a general location on her." She turned to look at me. "Ben, Dare, we are going scouting. It's nearly dawn. I want to see what we can see in the daylight. Maybe..." She shook her head. "Let's just see what we can find."
No one argued. I was a bit stunned. She wanted me to scout with them? She must be nuts. My dad must have caught my nervousness.
"Remember capture the flag with Hobbes?" he asked me with a hand on my shoulder.
I nodded. Hobbes had taught me and the twins all sorts of things in the guise of common kids games. You should see our version of 'tag'.
"Same principle. Just remember that now you can go invisible." He handed me a pair of binoculars and one of the computer pads.
I noticed Mom had one as well, I guess so the we could each add our own observations.
"I'll handle communications and cover our tracks," she said as she pressed the release for the door. She turned back to the others. "See if you can get any updated info. It's reasonably secure here, just be careful. No outgoing signals except to sats."
"Mother-hen. We do know what we're doing," Rose said with a smile. "Go. Scout. We'll do our jobs; you do yours."
Mom sighed. "Sorry, habit. I'm used to working with thickheaded dolts."
Manda laughed. "You should hear what they say about you."
"I can imagine," she said dryly. "Come on, boys. Let's go play in the snow."
I followed them out the door and quicksilvered when I saw them do the same. My mom was outlined with a silvery blue glow that shifted and reached out from herself. My dad was a far more contained golden orange halo. I wondered what color I appeared to be.
*You're blue. A bit darker than myself.* my mom said into my head. *Without the weird energy effects I generate. If you watch it'll look like I'm touching everything I walk by.*
She was right. It looked like she was checking everything as she moved past it. Making contact just long enough to identify what was what and then move on. No wonder she always knew where I was in the house. She was constantly checking her environment. I wondered if it was conscious.
Dad had taken point, leading the way around the bowl of the valley, being careful not to disturb anything if it could be helped. The slightest bump would send snow cascading off of a branch, making it obvious that something was passing by. We didn't want to attract any attention if we could help it. Mom warned us of the location of patrolling guards. We were between security perimeters, so although we were cautious we were not overly concerned about booby traps.
We made our way to the far end of the valley where the 'storage sheds' were located. There were four of them, but none of them really caught my interest. Instead, my eyes kept getting drawn back to an odd outcropping of rock.
*Mom?*
*Yeah. Whatcha got?* she sent back.
I sent an image of the outcropping I spotted and she paused. *I just have a feeling about it.*
*Let's check it out. Dare?* I realized she was keeping the three of us in contact. We could each hear what the other two were sending. Saved time.
*On it. I can get us pretty close.* He maneuvered us at an angle down the hillside towards the outcropping. We eventually ended up burying ourselves in a thicket that pretty much hid us from view as we looked the thing over.
*Where's the snow?* my dad asked.
He was right -- it was the only spot on the hillside that wasn't buried in several inches of snow. Beside me my mom let her quicksilver fall off, and then groaned.
*Damn. Can't believe I missed the energy sig on that.* She sounded angry at herself.
*Power plant?* my dad asked, and my mom confirmed it.
*They hid it well.* She glanced across the valley while making notes on the computer pad. *Those sheds are entrances, but for the guards, I think. Maybe living quarters, and kennels for the dogs. The main building is mostly residence, I'm betting. All the real power is underground.* She frowned. *I don't like this. What else could they be doing here?*
*We'll find out once we're inside. You'll raid the computer, like always.* Dad sent to her. *Unless you want to try to get access now?*
*Too risky.* She rolled onto her back and looked up at the sky. I wondered what she was doing. *Storm coming. Big one.*
*Can we use it as cover?* my dad asked her.
*Oh, yeah. Feels like a blizzard,* she answered. She quicksilvered and began to back out of the thicket. *I'll be right back.*
As we watched, she made her way closer to the doorway. I don't know if it was luck or timing, but it suddenly opened. Several people came out of the doorway, walked down the hillside to one of the 'sheds' and went inside. Well, that seemed to confirm they were entrances to something else underground. Mom stood off to one side, watching the door I assumed. The door was huge, reminding me of NORAD, only on a much smaller scale. As it began to close, my mom tried to do something, I'm not sure what, but she got one heck of a surprise.
*Ah, shit!* was shouted in my mind along with a burst of pain.
*Alyx?* my dad's voice was filled with concern.
*I'm okay. I think.* She didn't sound okay to me. She sounded singed.
She made her way back to us without another comment, but instead of joining us she sent, *I have what I need. Let's get back.*
Dad and I made our way out of the thicket and we retraced our path back to the tunnel. As soon as we were inside and safe, we all let the quicksilver flake away. Dad went to Mom, who had fallen to her knees.
"What happened?" Dad asked her, kneeling next to her.
"They know about us, about me. The electronics had a...I don't know...an energy field or something that bit me," she said.
"Bit you?" Chris asked. "What do you mean?"
She shook her head, as if trying to get rid of something. "I got in, was trying to track down the door trigger, when it bit me." She paused. "Gods, my head hurts."
Chris pushed his way past Dad. "Let me see." He rested a hand on her forehead and she showed him. "Youch. It did bite you." He shook his head to try and get it out of his mind. "It must be designed to pick up outsiders trying to gain access, and sends a power surge to overload the intruder. Works fine for a computer. Hurts like hell for one of us."
"Would it stop at the first source, or just keep passing through?" my mom asked, and I had no idea what she was talking about.
Manda answered. "I've heard of these defensive systems. They're effective, but stupid. It will probably not jump systems. You thinking of accessing it through one of the hand comps?"
Mom nodded. "But right now I'm going to collapse and let you guys trade information." She tossed her pad to Manda, who immediately went to work on checking the information we'd gathered.
I couldn't decide whether to be excited or scared. Is this what I wanted to do with my life? Spend it sneaking into places on the say-so of some schmuck I probably wouldn't like? Risking my life for some reason I probably wouldn't understand? I always thought I would join the Agency, just like everyone else had, but now I wasn't so sure.
I was going to have to take some time to actually think about this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alyx lay sprawled on the rock floor with her head in Darien's lap as they went over what little information they had and attempted to come up with a plan that would have at least a chance of success. She kept glancing over at Ben, who was running his hands through his hair as if nervous.
"You okay, Ben?"
He lifted his head and looked at her, as if surprised that she'd noticed. "Good enough. I'm just not sure if I should come along on this."
"You'll do fine, little brother," Rose said to him.
Manda and Chris nodded in agreement.
"Look at how much you've helped already," Darien said to him. "You'll do just fine."
Ben shrugged, still a bit undecided about the whole thing.
Alyx picked up on what was going through his mind, but kept her comments private with him. *Help us with this, and if you decide it's not what you want to do no one will force you into it. I promise.*
He looked at her, knowing what a promise from her meant. *Thank you.*
She nodded and lay her head back down. "Okay, my genius children, what have you got for me?"
"We made contact with Piotr and he downloaded some new information to us. He's been busy, and worried. We assured him we were quite well," Rose began as she hooked up the computer pad to Jase's imaging machine again.
"He also passed on an interesting message. Johnson asked him to refuse to assist us if we contacted him." Manda grinned. "He got the message two days after we left. As usual, Johnson has no idea what is going on."
"He figured out enough to know we might call on Piotr for help," Darien pointed out. "Who knows what else he's figured out."
Alyx groaned. "I just had a horrible thought. Could he have set us up?"
Chris shook his head. "Not his style."
Manda disagreed, however. "Johnson has been very unhappy that Mom keeps overriding his orders. This could be a way to get her tossed out and gain more control over the rest of us, including the I-Men."
"Don't even think that. Johnson is a fool where we're concerned. The only one with a complete understanding of what we can do is Mom. Of course she overrides him. If she didn't, he'd have gotten me killed several times already," Rose added rather vehemently.
"Sorry I brought it up. Back to the mission at hand, please," Alyx said loud enough to cut through the discussion. "We'll deal with boss Johnson later."
"All right." Manda pulled up some information on the computer pad and displayed it. "Piotr's contacts managed to get some updated blueprints for the power plant, and we found the access tunnel. It leads to the fourth sub level of the lab. Dani is on sub level five, near as we can determine."
"Once we go through the access tunnel, we can get into the ventilation system between levels. We thought this might be the best way to get to Dani and get back out." Rose added going to the image hanging in the air and pointing out the tentative route.
"Our biggest concern is the security. It's fairly light at the power plant, but once in the lab it's the tightest we've ever seen," Chris added.
"I've been thinking about that. What if we simply shut down power to the lab? I'm betting their back-ups are mainly for the computer system and maybe minimal security," Alyx said where she still lay with an arm flung over her eyes.
"Just shut down power. You don't think small do you?" Darien said with a laugh.
"Actually, it's what we were thinking. Back-up would go to essential systems and emergency lighting." Manda made some changes to show what she thought would happen if power were cut to the lab.
"So we cut power, get Dani, get out, right?" Ben said, summing up the very basics of the plan.
"Well, almost. I'm not leaving this place intact," Alyx growled.
"Is that wise? We really don't want to create an incident," Darien said in response. He could tell her emotions were more than a bit involved in this matter.
"Ummm. Actually Piotr has asked that we do exactly that. And it's not just him. The intel he sent us is scary." Manda had a touch of anger in her voice. "Grabbing Dani is just the latest of the genetic experiments that have come out of this place." Her voice trailed off as the anger increased, and she had to take several deep breaths to calm down.
Alyx sat up. "What? What have they been doing?"
"According to the data his mole sent him, they've been doing their version of the QSX project for about ten years, with limited success," Chris answered with disgust in his voice.
Ben sat up straighter. This meant something to all of them.
"They've created any number of failures. The mutation rate is horrible, and I'm not talking about animal experiments." Chris shook his head.
"That's why they wanted Dani, or one of us anyway," Ben said with a look of horror.
Chris and Manda nodded. "And I'm beginning to wonder why Johnson was so adamant that Dani be sent, even though Mom volunteered to go," Manda commented out loud.
"Later," Alyx repeated, her voice tight. "Right now we have to rescue Dani and destroy this place."
"How? It's not like we brought a supply of C-4 with us," Darien asked her seriously.
"Oh, I have an idea," Alyx said with a nasty smile. "For now, let's figure out how to get in."
Darien jerked awake when cold air washed across him. He realized Alyx was gone and sat up looking for her. Over near the door she shook off both the snow and the quicksilver that coated her. She was dressed all in black and did not have her heavy coat on, just a heavy black sweater, hat and gloves. "What have you been doing?" he asked her.
"Scouting," she answered quietly as she moved to join him. "The weather is perfect, and I overheard some of the guards. They aren't going to be doing rounds outside tonight. They're expecting visibility to be nil."
"No point in patrolling if they can't see," Darien commented in agreement.
"Can't see? It's going to be white-out conditions. We may be the only ones with the ability to move out there." She sat beside him and he wrapped her coat about her. "Thanks."
"I assume you'll be able to find the place by following the power?" She nodded and leaned back against him. "What about finding your way back here after?"
"I thought about that. If we leave one of the comp pads here and active, I should be able to track it back to here," she said. Even with the quicksilver coating her, she'd gotten blinking cold out there. The temperature had dropped considerably, and the wind had picked up. Quicksilver may act as a thermal insulator, but it only went so far in temperatures this extreme.
"This might work to our advantage. If they hunker down for the night, their response may be slow. They may even think that anything we do is side effect from the storm." He held her close, trying to warm her body. "How long?"
"A few hours yet," Alyx answered. "They can sleep a bit more."
"Then so can you," Darien said, pulling her down to lay beside him.
"Yes, sir," she whispered. "I want this over."
"So do I." He wrapped his arms about her. "Soon. It'll be over soon."
"All right you mooks, everyone ready?" Alyx said with forced cheer at the group standing before her. They were all kit out in black with each of them carrying a variety of small tools or equipment. Alyx had the biggest pack, which included Jase's little image generator. Chris had some basic first aid gear, as well as the tranquilizer gun loaded with the drugs to, hopefully, counteract what Dani had been shot full of. They needed her conscious in order to get her out of there. Darien had his burglar tools with him. Manda and Rose each had several pieces of equipment that they habitually used when on a job. Ben was the only one who felt a bit left out in the gear department, but until he developed his own style, a computer pad for orientation would do for now.
Weapons were the one thing they didn't have with them. They would get what weapons they'd need from the guards they encountered along the way.
They had paired off for this little excursion: Darien with Ben, Manda with Rose, and Alyx with Chris. Those without quicksilver would be handled by those that could. Both Alyx and Rose could find the power sources, and contact would be maintained telepathically at all times. Hopefully no one would get separated in the weather, which, while bad now, was going to get lots worse before everything was said and done. One good thing about the snow: they would not have to worry about covering their tracks.
Alyx pressed the release for the door and snow swirled in, along with a chill breeze. Letting the quicksilver flow over her and Chris, they walked out into the stormy night. Alyx had the majority of the route to the power plant entrance memorized and didn't really need to see it in order to find it. Darn good thing. Quicksilver sight was almost useless. There was not quite enough ambient light to see very well for most of them. Poor Ben, who was not used to this at all, felt almost blind, but Darien was able to lead him with little trouble.
*This sucks,* Manda sent to everyone.
*It's good cover,* Rose argued.
*Agreed, but it still sucks,* Manda sent with a hint of humor.
*Children,* Alyx admonished, even though she had found it amusing as well. She took her time and made sure to stick to the memorized pathway. The snow was already six inches deep, and getting deeper by the moment. It took only a few minutes longer than she planned but they made it to the entrance for the power plant.
*Everybody here?* She queried as she tried to see the glowing outlines of her family.
They mentally sounded off a roll call. Reassured, she turned to try and get them in the door without alerting the whole damn world. With a shiver she dropped the quicksilver on just herself and walked to the electronic lock beside the door. Darien moved next to Chris and took over the quicksilvering for him as planned. Pulling out the sacrificial computer pad, she jacked it into the access port on the lock and used it to try and find the code for the door. She felt the surge as it fried the poor thing and then inserted her mind into the system and searched for the access she needed. The lock was easy, and she was also able to disable the security cameras immediately inside the door.
As the door creaked open, Rose and Manda rushed in while still invisible, intending to take out any human guards that might be there. After a moment Rose sent, *Clear.*
Alyx quicksilvered and followed the others after they went in. She told the door to shut behind them. This was simply a hallway with an unmanned guard station that led to the elevator and stairwell that headed down to the power plant itself.
*Can you shut it down from here?* Darien asked her.
*No point. Wait till we're at the access tunnel.* She took over control of Chris again, and together they took point so that she could disrupt any security that might pick them up. As they walked she also kept a watch on the power systems, trying to find weak points.
*Mom?* Ben sounded nervous.
*Yes?*
*Why are we using the stairs?* he asked her. He wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.
*They might be suspicious if the elevator begins to move with no one here,* Manda answered.
You could feel Ben mentally thwapping himself.
*It's okay Ben. Always ask. It's the only way to learn,* Chris sent to him, easing his mind somewhat.
As they moved lower, the power of the turbines could be felt through the metal floors. Alyx could feel the power as a deep singing through her very being. This was not the first time she'd had to deal with massive amounts of power, and she knew how to shunt the energy her body tried to tap into away from herself. To keep her focus away from the power, the energy that was trying to draw her to it.
Rose was having problems. *Crap.* She was not yet used to her new abilities, and was having trouble concentrating on holding the quicksilver on herself and Manda. The energy was nearly overwhelming her senses. This was a complication no one had considered.
Both Darien and Ben caught on first. Darien took Rose and Ben went to Manda, taking over control of the quicksilver for them.
Alyx moved to Rose. *Damn. Relax for a moment.* Rose tried to argue, she was afraid of losing herself to the flow of energy. *Trust me,* Alyx sent to her. Altering the link so that it was now between only the two of them, she showed her daughter how to let the energy to just pass through. To be aware of it while also keeping from being lost to it. To keep that sense of self that was so important for people like themselves. *Don't fight it. Watch.* Alyx showed her how she'd managed to survive with that ability for all these years.
It took a moment for Rose to catch on. It just didn't seem right that, instead of attempting to shield out the energy trying to force itself upon her, she needed to just let it pass through her and ignore it. *How have you managed all these years?* Rose sent once she caught the trick of it.
*I had a choice?*
Darien's mind voice broke in then. *Company.*
They were deep enough into the power plant that there were some people around to make sure the systems worked correctly. It really annoyed them that, even though these people were just here to keep the system going, they were still armed. Only hand guns, but armed just the same.
*Let's move, people,* Alyx sent to goose them back into movement.
In minutes they had made it to the main floor of the power plant. There were a dozen giant turbines collecting power for the lab. Alyx made her way to a bank of computers used to monitor the system and began to call up information. She could shut down power to the lab fairly easily, but she wanted it to look natural, so she set up a rolling system failure which would trigger a complete shut down, diagnostic and then a restart for the system.
*Why so much power for the Lab? What are they hiding in there?* Chris asked in combined curiosity and concern.
*We'll find out.* Manda commented. *How long will it hold?*
*Diagnostic is one hour. If we're still here then, we're guests of the Chinese government.* Alyx sent back.
*We won't let that happen, will we?* Ben sent nervously.
*No, we won't,* Darien commented. *Do it. Shut it down.*
Alyx did so, and alarms began to go off in the form of flashing lights. Anything with sound would be unheard over the noise of the turbines in the room. Manda had Rose drop the quicksilver on her, then checked the computer pad. They had discovered you couldn't read them while quicksilvered. A pain in the ass, but one they were used to. A moment later she had Rose quicksilver her again and led the way to the access tunnel.
*It looked bigger on the blueprints.* Darien's mind voice was filled with dismay. The access tunnel, which had appeared to be big enough to walk in, was in actuality only three to three and a half feet in diameter. Not even Alyx could stand up in the thing. On top of that, it was pitch dark.
*Remember Nate Richards?* Alyx sent to Darien, reminding him of a similar situation they had dealt with in the past. The same incident that inspiried the "Robin Hood and Maid Marian" nicknames for each other. The access tunnel had been about the same size as this for that break in.
*There are lights. Maybe we can selectively power them,* Rose sent, and Alyx agreed.
*Rose, you take point. I'll take rear. Watch for cameras, but once we're far enough in we should be able to be visible for a bit.* Alyx tossed off the orders like she did it every day.
*Watch for the ventilation access as well. We still need to get down one level,* Manda added.
*Ben, contact Dani. Confirm her location. We need you to lead us to her,* Alyx sent to her still-frightened son.
*Me?* he sent back at almost a squeak.
Alyx tried to soothe him. *Yes, love. You can do it.*
Unable to even mentally send an answer, he just sent a positive feeling and then worked on making a connection with his oldest sister.
They continued into the access shaft, not moving as fast as they had hoped because of the size of it, but making decent time anyway. Once in deep enough, Alyx sent a signal and as one they allowed the quicksilver to flake away.
*Mom. There's something up ahead,* Rose sent with some confusion in her voice.
The others moved aside to allow Alyx to get up next to Rose. Once there, she was able to sense what Rose did. She held up her hand in front of her and there was a sudden energy discharge. Like a static spark, only a hundred times bigger, from her hand to the...whatever...across the tunnel.
"Interesting." Alyx muttered. Then she simply reached out and touched it, sending a burst of energy back to the collar ringing the tunnel from where the energy field was emanating. With a shower of sparks, the thing shorted out. "Not very trusting, are they?" Alyx asked no one in particular. "Go ahead." She waved Rose on and then returned to her rear-guard position.
They moved further down the tunnel with little trouble except for some grumblings of discomfort.
*We may have a problem,* Ben suddenly sent.
*What?* Darien asked him.
*Dani is not below us. She's up one level.* He was sure of it.
As Darien watched, they all got this faraway look in their eyes as they tried to track Dani.
*I still get down,* Manda said. Chris agreed, but Rose was unsure. Alyx checked again, but this time she looked specifically for Dani's energy signature and found herself lost instead.
*Mom?* Ben sent to her, which allowed her to refocus and find her way back.
*One sec,* she muttered mentally. She tried again, and found herself caught in almost a net of energy. It was rather weak in some ways, but it was just enough that it would throw off their abilities. She tried to orient and found herself caught in it even deeper. It was like trying to move her mind through treacle.
This time it was Darien who freed her with a barked, *Alyx!*
"Crap. Ben's probably right. There's a diffusion field that effects our talents. It'll distort our orientation." Rose got this look in her eyes and Alyx whapped her, making her refocus on those in the tunnel. "Don't. If it trapped me..." She trailed off, and Rose swallowed hard and nodded.
"So now what?" Chris asked.
Alyx turned to her youngest son. "We follow Ben. Since it doesn't seem to affect his talent, he can lead us to her."
Ben paled for an instant. He wanted no part of this resting on his way-too-untried shoulders. Then he looked at his family, sensing that they trusted in his ability even if he was still a bit unsure about it. He nodded.
"Good. Rose, you and Ben take point. Watch for more security fields. Ben, find Dani for us." Alyx moved to the rear of the group again and checked behind them. People were taking notice that something odd was happening, but she could only check back towards the power plant. Any checking into the lab and she was struck by that odd field that disoriented her.
"We'll fake it," Darien whispered to her. "It's not like we've never had to alter a plan before."
"True, but what have they got in there that they need a field like that for? It only effects those with telepathic-type abilities." Alyx was more than a touch concerned. The field wasn't specifically for Dani. So what could be here that they were trying to keep in check?
*