Jhondie

I was well aware that Justin wasn't exactly thrilled that I was in Seattle. I knew he was worried about me getting between him and a bullet to save his life, but he should have known me better by then. I would just prevent the first shot from being fired at all. And there was something else too. I wasn't sure what it was exactly, but there was something else that Justin was worried about with me. It was hard to explain, but I just felt like there was something that he flat out was not telling me. There wasn't enough time to get it out of him though. It couldn't be anything that would be dangerous to us though, I knew that. We had been partners for too long for either of us to hide something that serious from the other.

I wasn't too worried about BioTech security. Justin and I had done these things enough that I wasn't worried about him. Unknown security systems were always a risk factor, but I had yet to find one that was designed to keep the likes of me out of it. Dealing with Seattle sector cops when we were out past curfew was more of a worry. We would manage. There were a lot of things that were wild variables in this, but we were just going to have to deal with them. I didn't like going into this with so many uncertainties, but I wasn't about to let Justin go on his own.

We waited until it was past midnight before heading off into the night. It turned out that Justin might not have needed that nap after all. There was a little restaurant near the motel, and it served coffee so strong that it almost jumped out of the cup and slapped me around. I had two cups. We were young, strong, and wired up on enough caffeine to power a small town for a week. BioTech security didn't stand a chance.

Getting there wasn't the problem that I thought it might be. There were still clubs open and bars and people were out drinking and having a good time. Once we got into the business sector there weren't that many people around. Less chance of being noticed, but cops might want to talk to someone lurking about here more than someone stumbling out of a club. There was still the make-out thing that worked. You just grabbed each other and acted like you wanted a quiet place for an al fresco quickie, and cops just told you to take it to a motel.

The office was on the second floor of an office building. I was so glad to see it wasn't a high rise. Those were much more of a pain to break into. Small offices like this had windows that opened. You still had to be careful though, and not get fooled that the rent-a-cop sitting behind the desk eating a doughnut was the security there. If BioTech had an inkling about how bad MedGen was going to get to protect themselves, then they were definitely going to have some top-notch security in here.

From a distance, I could tell that there weren't any cameras on the outside, but I was willing to bet there were plenty indoors. This had to be kept quiet. If Justin got caught and had to explain to BioTech why he was there, they would use it ruthlessly to their own goals, and not the more important one of Justin not dying. It didn't matter to them who owned the patents. If MedGen got them by default, then they would win anyways when they took over the company. It was better to get what we needed quietly for now.

We had done a little research and found out another company that was in the building, and who owned it. There was a payphone across the street, and Justin called the security guard at the front desk. "This is Mike Hartman from Stellar Ideas on the fourth floor," he said. "I just got a page from my security system that said there was a problem, but I haven't heard anything from you. Is everything okay?" He waited a moment, listening. "Hmm…that's odd. Actually, this did happen once before because the door wasn't shut all the way, and the air from the air conditioning moved it. Would you mind double checking?" Another pause. "Yes, but it's on sensitive. A tiny move is enough."

I could hear the guard over the phone getting belligerent. He said something about being able to see the door on the cameras and it was closed. I was willing to bet there was some nudie show coming on TV next and he didn't want to miss a minute of it. "Exactly what are you getting paid for?" Justin snapped arrogantly. "As a matter of fact, I am going to head down there myself right now. If I so much as see a magazine open, then I'm reporting you, and you'll get to join the unemployment lines." There was another pause and Justin grinned. "That will do. As a matter of fact, I'll hold while you go check. And is that a TV I hear in the background?"

From where I was, I could see the guard get up and go to the elevator. He stepped in, and I darted across the street, and to the front door. The lock was picked in a matter of seconds, and I was at the front security desk. All I wanted to do was loop the video feeds so that they showed everything being quiet. Since BioTech was on the side of the building, it would be much easier to go through a window rather than the door. Window security on higher floors was weaker. In a matter of a couple of minutes, I had gotten the video to loop, made sure the clock would continue to show proper time, and erased the footage of me coming into the building. I darted back out, making sure to relock the doors, and was across the street as the guard came back to his desk.

"Why, thank you," Justin practically sneered. "I suppose I will have to call the alarm company in the morning." He hung up the phone. "All clear?"

"You know it." Like he had to ask.

We slid around the side of the building, directly under BioTech's windows. There was a ledge about twelve feet up, right under the window. There was a dumpster in the alley, and we went to the side of it. It was better that only one of us get on it since that kind of noise might be noticed. Justin and I had developed the technique since we had started to work together, and it was pretty good if I do say so myself. He laced his fingers together to make a foot hold for me, and I used it to springboard myself up, his added push and height easily giving me the clearance to the ledge. Justin then climbed up on the dumpster as quietly as one can climb up on one of those things, and then jumped up, his arm outstretched. I caught him easily and then we were both on the ledge. I think it annoyed him a bit that I could move so confidently on a narrow outcropping of brick, but he never said anything about it.

I moved to the window, and worked the security system. It didn't take long. I hadn't noticed until later that I had packed all of my essentials, and right then I was glad I had them. I probably wouldn't have been able to get in easily without them. As a matter of fact, we would have had to use the more direct method of leaving the guard tied up and unconscious in a closet. I didn't like the fact that I had run on a total Manticore- inspired form of autopilot, but it had helped out just a little. I slid open the window. All quiet. I shot Justin a grin and we slipped inside of the building.

We went straight to Brink's office. For something like this, even Justin had to agree that the secretary wouldn't know a thing about it. His door was locked, but that took a matter of four seconds after I double-checked and made sure there wasn't a secondary alarm there. Sometimes I wonder if a lack of security was just a sign of total arrogance that they think they are that invulnerable, but then I have to stop and remind myself that nobody is expecting the likes of me to break into a place. To even BioTech and MedGen, transgenics were still science fiction.

Justin had learned quite a bit about picking locks since we had hooked up, and he went after the filing cabinet and Brink's desk. I started looking around for a safe that might have more sensitive documents in it. If both of those avenues failed, then we were going to have to go to his computer. I hoped he would have hard copies of documents in here somewhere. Computers were more of a pain than picking locks. Actually, we probably would have just snatched the hard drive out of the PC and taken it back to pick apart at our leisure. That was worse case scenario. First things were first. There were a couple of pictures on the wall, but nothing was behind them. I blew out a breath of annoyance. I was going to find one if it was there. Why make it more difficult for me?

I might not have noticed had a cop not driven by, lights and sirens blazing. Justin and I both hit the floor simultaneously, both of us absolutely shocked. In all this time, the police had never once nailed us. I went to go make for the window, but Justin grabbed my arm. 'Listen' he mouthed, and then I realized what he was saying. The sound was changing pitch; Doppler effect showing that the car was moving away from the building. We both breathed a sigh of relief, and that's when I noticed.

There was a large mirror inset into the wall. The flashing lights were getting more distant, but they winked off of the mirror several times. But it wasn't right. The flash off of the glass was angled slightly as if it wasn't level. The naked eye wouldn't have noticed probably, but my vision was more than up to the task. I scanned the side of the glass, the enhanced vision suddenly picking up tiny hinges in the side. I grinned. Justin was back at the filing cabinet, poking through paperwork, and I went to work on finding the spring for the mirror.

The sound of the cabinet drawer opening and closing caught my attention. I looked up, annoyed at being interrupted. It sort of ruined the moment of triumph as the mirror swung open, revealing a safe behind it. Justin noticed me staring at him, and waved me over. This had so better be good. It was. Should have guessed. He wouldn't be the one getting caught doing something dumb.

"The drawers are too short," he whispered. He opened one again all the way, and I caught what he was saying. They should be longer for the length of the cabinet. Noiselessly, we worked together and turned it a little so that we could get to the back. Justin wiggled behind it and started to work on finding out where the missing space was. I would have done it, probably more efficiently at that, but sometimes he was so impossible to reason with. Of course, he didn't bother to mention to me right then that this was something he had seen once before. Denise's mother had something similar, and Denise had shown Justin how it worked once. Maybe it was smart of him not to mention that just then. I still had a hard time hearing that name and not immediately start yelling and cursing.

I went back to work on the safe. It was a tricky one, but not too terribly difficult. I'd cracked tougher babies than this before. The door opened, and I smirked. There was a rack of files in there all nice and neat, just waiting for me. I slid them out, and started flipping through them rapidly, looking for anything that might be pertinent to our situation. I glanced over at Justin, and did a double take when I saw him flipping slowly through a handful of folders. Overachiever.

A file caught my attention, and I slowed down to look at it. Most of the other files had the names of companies on it, and I had caught a glimpse of a few things on the inside. It had nothing to do with stock prices in there. One was a picture of an older man with a girl that could not be a day over thirteen. I had a feeling that I was seeing how BioTech convinced people to sell so easily. MedGen must have been a shock to their system. But, the file that interested me simply said JAC on the tab.

I opened it, and there was a copy of the contract right there. Bingo. Being brilliant was nothing short of a gift. It was thick, and I flipped through the pages. There was nothing highlighted or underlined to state that there was a way out early. The only thing that had any form of notation was the death clause and the twenty-five year ending date. I flipped past the contract to the other things in the file. There was a picture of Justin's uncle there, and a paper with several chemical formulas on it. I looked over the formulas and felt the blood drain out of my head.

I don't sleep. That gives me hours to do things extra. I used to study languages. Once I got into college and decided to go pre-med, I started studying things that would be needed for my future career. Chemistry, physiology, how to look good in white, I absorbed it all. Lately, I had been studying different drugs and their interactions. What I was reading on this sheet made my blood turn cold.

It was chemical formulas for different drugs. Some I wasn't sure about. But I easily recognized the one that stood out the most. It was something I had recently read in a medical journal about drugs that were in development. It was to be used as a more natural way to stop the heart during open-heart surgery. The theory is that if the body doesn't have to deal with a foreign chemical to overcome before the heart would begin beating again, then it would do so more easily and keep beating. Good theory. As a matter of fact, in clinical tests, it actually produced the symptoms of a heart attack.

They were about to take over MedGen, but the fight might extend out a couple more years.

Justin's uncle could take the patents away, negating the whole investment and cost of the fight just as they get control over MedGen.

The death clause was underlined.

He died of a heart attack.

"Oh my God." I didn't say that. I looked up quickly, trying to figure out how to tell Justin what was going on. He was wide-eyed, staring at the papers in front of him. He looked at me sharply. "Does the name Jim McGinnis ring a bell to you? Think way back."

A single flash of memory.

A tall, distinguished-looking black man walking beside Lydecker while we were all standing in formation. They walk off a bit, but I'm at the end and can still hear their conversation. He smiles at Lydecker. "The committee is going to be pleased with their progress." Lydecker doesn't smile, but seems pleased. "Three years, tops, Jim" Lydecker says. "Then they'll be ready for field work. That's two years sooner than projected. How does that sound for funding for stage three?" Jim sounds thoughtful. "If the X-6 are ready that fast as well, then you can count on full funding then."

"Jhon?" Justin's voice snapped me back to the present. I blinked, trying to absorb it all. How did he know that name, unless…

"He's with Manticore," I whisper. Our next words both came out together in a rush.

"We've got a big problem here."