Chapter Four
It was 11:47 a.m.
Barbara was sitting at her computer in the Clocktower Com Center, searching all of the files, databases, and assorted networks at her disposal and worked every federal contact she knew from her days working at a defense contractor for any trace of this shadowy organization known as The Factory.
Dinah … Dinah … Dinah, talk to me, Barbara bid silently in her mind. Dinah, where are you?!
A voice -- Helena's -- intruded upon her thoughts. "What are you doing home?"
"I called in sick", Barbara replied.
"Why?"
Barbara turned around to face Helena. "Dinah is out there … SOMEWHERE", she said. "Alone … against The Factory … against the Men In Black. I'm not going to abandon her … not when she needs us most."
"Alfred told me you knocked yourself out last night looking for her. You've done everything you can … and then some. For all we know, she could be drugged … or dead."
"They're not going to drug her … at least not to the point of uselessness. They won't kill her, either … she's too valuable to them alive."
"What else can you do?"
"Wait for her to contact us," said Barbara.
"You sure about this?"
"Helena, you know I'm not meta-human by any stretch of the imagination", said Barbara. "I don't know how I know. I just … know." Barbara paused. "I know HER, for want of a better term to describe it.
"She's not the same person she was three years ago," said Barbara. "She's learned a lot since then … including everything WE'VE taught her."
"You mean…" said Helena as she threw a karate punch at the air. Barbara nodded solemnly in reply.
"Ooh, boy…" said Helena with a laugh. "They don't know who they're dealing with! They won't know what hit em!"
After driving for what seemed like hours, Dinah came upon a city -- Yonkers.
Gotta hide, she thought. Gotta disappear. She pulled over to a gas station and -- using the money from the wallet she had lifted from the guard -- bought a map of the city.
Where can I hide? Where's someplace safe? At least, where can I hide long enough to contact Barbara and Helena? She gave the idea a lot of thought. They wouldn't dare take me in a crowd. Where can I find a crowd? She smiled to herself as the answer hit her -- a mall.
After getting directions from the clerk at the gas station to the nearest major shopping mall, Dinah kept driving. Strange, she thought. The Factory hasn't sent anyone after me. I would think they'd be in hot pursuit right now.
"The bitch stole my car!" a technician named Jorgensen -- the owner of the stolen silver Toyota -- whined to The Director. He and a security guard named McClellan -- specifically, the one that Dinah had beaten to a pulp outside the building -- were standing in The Director's office. McClellan was rubbing his groin (it had yet to fully recover from Dinah's withering assault).
"We're taking care of it, Mr. Jorgensen," said The Director.
"Can't we just call the police?"
"No, we are NOT going to call the police!" The Director replied angrily. "Call the police … and she'll lead them back to this facility … and US. That, Mr. Jorgensen, is not an option." The Director paused. "Besides, it's not necessary."
"How so?" said Jorgensen.
"The cell phone that Ms. Redmond lifted from Mr. McClellan contains a tracking beacon. Operations is tracking her movements as we speak. What's more, we are readying an acquisition unit to pick her up within the hour."
"I'm beginning to wonder if she's even worth the trouble", said McClellan as he massaged his still-aching groin. "I'm STILL hearing bells ring."
"Trust me, Mr. McClellan … she's worth the trouble", said The Director.
Dinah stood in the middle of Whitfield Square Mall -- a cavernous building on the south side of Yonkers. All the while, the hidden tracking beacon inside the cell phone kept surreptitiously transmitting her location. Dinah flipped open the phone and dialed the number for Headquarters.
Please let there be someone home, she prayed silently to herself.
"You're obsessed", said Helena to Barbara.
"I'm not going to abandon her", Barbara replied. As if on cue, the phone rang. Helena and Barbara turned and stared at each other in bewilderment.
This can't be happening, Helena thought. Barbara tapped a couple of keys on her PC and answered the phone.
"Hello?"
"Barbara?" asked Dinah on the other end of the line.
"Dinah!" said Barbara, the worry rising in her voice. "Dinah, where are you? We've been looking all over for you!"
"I don't know. The Factory got me. I got out … but I don't know where I am", said Dinah. "I'm on a cell phone. I'm in a shopping mall someplace."
"Hold on … I'm gonna locate the cell." With that, Barbara made a few more keystrokes. A computer-generated road map of Yonkers appeared on her computer monitor. A glowing red crosshairs highlighted Dinah's location. "Dinah, you're in Yonkers."
"YONKERS?" interjected Helena. "That's little more than fifteen minutes from here!" She then turned to leave. "I'm gonna suit up and head out," she said to Barbara. "Gimme the directions downstairs."
Barbara nodded and waved Helena off as she left to change. "Dinah, I want you to hold your position," said Barbara. "I've got Huntress on her way out." A glowing blue indicator on the screen suddenly caught Barbara's attention. With the click of a mouse, she expanded the message. "I'm detecting the presence of an unknown secondary signal coming from your position."
"Umm … what's that in English?" inquired Dinah on the other end of the line.
"Dinah, the phone is bugged."
"Oh, God!" exclaimed Dinah in horror. This explains why no one has been following me, she thought. They're probably right on my ass!
"Listen to me … don't panic," said Barbara. "In all likelihood, you're being followed. Worst comes to worst, I can track the signal all the way back to The Factory."
Barbara heard Dinah breathe a sigh of relief over the phone. Helena -- now in her guise as The Huntress -- waved to Barbara as she picked up the keys to the van. Barbara waved her off as she sprinted towards the elevator. "Dinah, I've got Huntress on her way", she said.
An ominous-looking black panel truck -- followed by a chauffeur-driven black Chevrolet Monte Carlo carrying The Director -- were slowly threading their way through the Yonkers city streets towards Dinah's position at the mall. Inside the panel truck was a specially trained eight-man SWAT team from The Factory; each man was covered head-to-toe in black -- body armor, helmets, gloves, hoods, boots, jumpsuits, etc. Each man was also armed with an MP5 submachine gun.
"I've gotta go", said Dinah. "I don't know how much more power this thing has."
"Dinah … Dinah, listen to me", said Barbara. "Don't hang up." She made a few keystrokes on her PC. "I've got an ETA of four minutes on Huntress." She made a few more keystrokes and pulled up a computer-generated map of the mall interior; Dinah's position was indicated by a set of glowing red crosshairs. "I want you to stay out of the stores and keep to the main hallway. We don't need you being boxed in."
"Understood", said Dinah, struggling to contain the terror that was rising in her voice.
The black panel truck and the Monte Carlo turned into the mall parking lot and came to a stop in front of Ridgely's Department Store; the rear door of the panel truck slid upwards and armed black stormtroopers came pouring out. A lone shout of "GO! GO! GO!" could be heard in the air. The Director and his aide/chauffeur -- each dressed in the standard-issue Men In Black uniform of black two-piece business suit, white shirt, black tie, black wingtip shoes, and dark sunglasses -- jogged along right behind them.
Dinah shifted her weight nervously from one foot to the other. Huntress, where are you? she thought.
A masculine voice came from Dinah's right. "THERE SHE IS! GET HER!"
Dinah glanced to her right -- the SWAT team from The Factory was charging towards her, leaving a trail of overturned mannequins and jostled shoppers in its wake.
"Dinah to Oracle, I've been spotted!" she said into the cell phone. Following that, she took off and ran down the mall.
"DAMN!" cursed Barbara. Huntress, where ARE you? she thought.
"Huntress to Oracle, I've breached the perimeter", said Huntress over the comm link, interrupting Barbara's thoughts.
Thank God, Barbara thought. She clicked her mouse and zoomed out. The computer-generated image on her monitor now encompassed both the mall and the parking lot. Huntress' position was indicated by a red glowing dot near the bottom of the screen just below the west side of the mall; Dinah's position was now that of a red glowing dot traveling from left to right through the computer-generated map of the mall.
"Huntress, I want you to go straight ahead and insert from the west side of the mall -- don't worry about parking", said Barbara over the comm link. "Dinah's going to be coming your way."
"Roger", said Huntress over the link.
"Watch out … she's got bad guys behind her."
Dinah sprinted through the mall with the SWAT team in tow, shoving aside and knocking over shoppers as she went by. She screamed into the cell phone, "FOOT PURSUIT! FOOT PURSUIT!" The black-clad SWAT team was right on her tail screaming battle cries, waving MP5s, and hurdling over the bodies of fallen shoppers.
As she reached the west end of the mall, she tripped. Great, she thought bitterly. She looked behind her -- the SWAT team was approaching thick and fast. I can't run forever, she thought. Might as well end it here. Two SWAT team members loomed over her. Dinah looked up just in time to see a black streak connect with the jaws of the two SWAT team members, sending them spinning. Following the streak downwards, Dinah found herself staring into the blue eyes and black leather outfit of The Huntress.
"Huntress!" exclaimed Dinah excitedly.
"Looks like I'm just in time for the party", said Huntress with a wicked grin.
Dinah sprung to a standing position. Huntress walked over and stood next to Dinah. The SWAT team had the two surrounded. Huntress and Dinah suddenly found themselves staring down the barrels of six loaded MP5s. The two men that The Huntress had cold-cocked shakily rose to their feet and took their places with the rest of the team. The bald Director -- who had been jogging right behind the unit all the while -- appeared from out of the back and came forward.
"Who's Chrome Dome?" whispered Huntress into Dinah's ear.
"The Director", whispered Dinah in reply.
"Does he have a name?"
"If he does, no one's told me", Dinah replied with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Huntress, report", said Barbara in Huntress's ear. "What's your situation?"
"Dinah's OK", Huntress replied. "Looks like The Factory sent a SWAT team … we're staring down the barrels of about eight MP5 sub-machine guns."
"Who you talking to?" The Director asked Huntress.
"God", Huntress shot back. "I'm talking to God. Shut up." God, I hate it when people eavesdrop, she thought.
"God…" said Barbara in Huntress's ear. "That DOES have a nice ring to it."
"Don't get any ideas", growled Huntress.
The Director turned his attention to Dinah. "Hello, Dinah," he said.
"Hello, yourself," snapped Dinah in reply.
"I'm here to take you home."
"I HAVE a home…" Dinah countered. "…And it's NOT at The Factory."
The Director reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver cylinder -- the same type of silver cylinder with the smoky crystal tip Dinah saw in Principal Martin's office -- and held it in front of him.
Oh no, you don't, thought Dinah. With one swift motion, she grabbed The Director's wrist, kicked him in the groin, and snatched the cylinder out of his hand. The Director then dropped to his knees, grabbed his crotch, and screamed in agony.
"What's going on?" said Barbara in Huntress's ear.
"I think Dinah's just disarmed the Bad-Guy-In-Charge", said Huntress. She then whispered into Dinah's ear, "What is that thing?"
"You don't wanna know," Dinah replied quietly.
The Director was now on his knees and massaging his sore crotch. "Who died and made you Xena: Warrior Princess?" he snapped at Dinah.
"I told you", Dinah replied. "I'm not the scared little girl you picked up three years ago." She put the cylinder in the pocket of her jacket and stared at The Director. "How much am I worth to you?" she continued. "Am I worth all the trouble?"
"In case you haven't noticed by now…" said Dinah as she clapped a hand on Huntress's shoulder. "…I'm not alone. You won't just be dealing with me anymore."
The Director rose to a standing position. He, Huntress, and Dinah each stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, The Director turned towards the SWAT team.
"All units abort … mission is scrubbed", he said to the team. The team turned and left. The Director then turned back to Dinah.
"Until next time, Miss Redmond," he said. He then turned around -- still feeling his sore crotch -- and left with the SWAT team.
"Director?" said Dinah. The Director turned back around to face Dinah.
"Here's your cell phone back", said Dinah, tossing him the cell phone. The Director -- still reeling from her assault on his groin -- caught the phone, silently turned back around, and left with the SWAT team.
"What say we get out of here, huh?" said Huntress to Dinah after the team had left.
"Great plan", said Dinah with a smile.
"Huntress to Oracle … Mission accomplished. Code-4", said Huntress into her transceiver earrings. No further assistance needed.
"Roger, Huntress", said Barbara on the other end of the line. "Both of you, extract and return to base." Huntress and Dinah turned and left the mall. This is gonna to be one HELLUVA debriefing, thought Huntress.