Part XVI
The sound of voices raised in argument echoed off the cheap plaster walls as the six of them wrestled with the problem at hand. Bobby watched as Fawkes slouched down in one of the chairs, sipping at a cup of coffee. The Keep was looking her perky best for such a disgustingly early hour. She'd already given Fawkes a booster shot and checked over Alyx, pronouncing her condition unchanged. The drug was still in her system, was still making her cycle through its different effects, still leaving her without her powers far more often than not. The poor kid was actually still in the sleepy mode of her cycle, her eyes that funny blue color that the drugs caused.
He'd shaken his head at what she was wearing. Good thing she wasn't going out on this job; purple striped pajama pants and a crappy T-shirt just wouldn't cut it. It must have been the only thing Fawkes could get her into. He'd mentioned she'd still been mostly asleep when she'd dressed and had simply put on clothes that were comfortable and only slightly irritating. Heck, she had even forgotten shoes. She was the one pacing back and forth trying to convince her body to stay conscious until the next part of the cycle kicked in.
Claire watched her with a sharp eye but said nothing, which surprised Bobby. He'd thought sending her home was an insane idea, but it looked like it had worked, much as it had for Fawkes. He knew one night would not fix her problem, but it was a start.
Fawkes had this hint of a smile on his lips as he watched Alyx pace back and forth; Bobby would bet a year's pay that the two of them had finally worked things out. Once again they would be damn near inseparable when work was slow and they had the time. Much like himself and Claire these days.
Bobby came back from his musing in time to hear Drake make some comment about hacking into the SWRB's computer system. Alyx turned on him. "Listen Drake, use the damn program. It'll work." She had the two laptops talking to one another, loading her Destiny program onto his machine for this little adventure.
"I know it will, but it won't do any good. They'll discover it and it will just warn them that Fawkes and Hobbes are coming." Drake sounded way too smug for his own good.
Alyx rounded on him slamming her hands into the tabletop. "Idiot! I want them to spot you. I'll be piggybacking my signal on yours. Think you can learn to listen?"
Drake's mouth gaped like a fish's out of water.
"What?" she snapped.
Drake blinked and pointed at her. "Your eyes...they glowed."
Alyx stood back up and did... something. A moment later she sighed.
"Kid?" Bobby asked her with at touch of concern.
"Systems up and running, Hobbesy." She stretched her arms over her head and then turned to face the Official, who had remained behind his desk through the arguing. "I'm ready, boss."
The Official nodded. "Drake, you go with Fawkes and Hobbes and run the program from the van. You will coordinate between her and them." When Drake looked like he was going to protest, the Official glared at him and shut him up for the time being.
Drake grumbled and left the room to get the communications gear they'd need to do this.
"Boss, can't we take the kid? Let her run it from the van?" Bobby had a bad feeling about working with Drake. He wasn't as bad as Ms. Prickly, who refused to work with them at all, but he was a cocky know-it-all and was going to get himself flattened if he didn't change that attitude soon.
"Hobbes." It was Darien who spoke. "We can't let her near the place. It would be kind of obvious if we parked a van with a dozen agents around it to protect her, and if something went wrong you know she'd come in after us." He looked over at Alyx, who shrugged. It was true enough.
"Miss Silver stays here," the Official stated flatly, to end the discussion. "You will be supplied one dose of the counteragent as a precaution. It is not to be used unless necessary. Is that understood?"
"We know the routine," Darien commented, trying to ignore the callousness of the 'Fish's tone. The fact that he was allowing even one dose of counteragent along was somewhat surprising. A lot of times he'd made Darien wait until getting back to the Keep to receive a much-needed shot. Though since Alyx had put herself back together he'd become more lenient about the counteragent going out on jobs.
"Fawkes, this will be anything but routine. If you get caught there is nothing I will be able to do for you." The Official was more than serious.
"Not true, boss. You simply turn me over to them, in exchange," Alyx said brightly.
"That is not an option," Bobby snapped. There was no way in hell he'd let the kid trade her life for his, even with Fawkes in the mix.
"When I'm like this, it is. Another dose of the original drug won't really affect me." Alyx turned to the Keeper, who nodded in agreement. "And it's quite apparent they have no idea what I can really do."
"Miss Silver..." The Official's voice was soft and she turned to face him. "I appreciate your willingness to help, but I would prefer pulling this off without having to send you in. Just because this drug won't work again doesn't mean others won't."
"Alyx, we don't really want them to know what you can do." Darien's voice was tight with worry. It hadn't been that many hours ago that she'd been paralyzed with fear, and now she wanted to go trotting right into the hands of the very people who were trying to steal her away.
"Yeah, kid. It might be nice if we kept your 'abilities' a secret from someone." Bobby added, shaking his head. It seemed like every day someone new found out about her, it was a shame that most of them were bad guys.
"Well, Bobby I could always take out an ad, tell the entire world, and solve this whole secrecy thing." She was smiling at him, so he knew she was joking, but Drake, who had just walked in the room and had only heard the last part of the conversation, thought otherwise.
"Miss Silver, that would get you arrested. Do not even think about something like that." Drake was carrying several pieces of gear and moved to the table to set them down.
In perfect unison Bobby and Darien said, "Shut up, Drake."
"What is it with you people?" Drake snapped back. "Do you really think I'm a trained dog or something?"
"Not very well trained, that's for sure," Alyx commented dryly.
Drake stood up straight and took in a deep breath in preparation to respond, when the Official barked, "Drake, drop it."
Drake surprised everyone by turning to glare at the Official.
"Drake, I wouldn't if I were you. You don't want to repeat the Polantski incident do you?" Bobby had done a little checking up on their newest member. After Eberts, he wasn't going to trust anyone he hadn't checked thoroughly, and even then they would have to earn his trust. Though he had to give Drake credit for standing up to the Official. It wasn't looking like he was going to be the subservient type, no matter how the Official tried to intimidate him.
Drake rounded on Hobbes with to look of shock on his face. "You... You...."
"Enough!" Claire, the ever-levelheaded one, shouted. Silencing everyone. "Could you possibly stop bickering like children?"
"Thank you, doctor. Drake, set up the equipment. You have fifteen minutes." The Official attempted to take control back and, for a change, they allowed it to happen. "Fawkes, Hobbes, I expect Drake to be returned undamaged."
Alyx slid Drake's laptop, that she'd finished working on, over to him. "Destiny is up and running. The van's power is configured for the compy. If you have problems, talk to Bobby. He knows it pretty well."
Drake just stared at her for a moment and then looked over at Bobby. "Him?"
"Yeah, me. Who do you think is usually sitting in the van while the wonder twins do their schtick?" The jerk was beginning to irritate Bobby.
"Can we get this done? I would like to do this before the sun comes up." Darien got to his feet, swallowed the last of his coffee and headed towards the door. He detoured slightly and stopped next to Alyx, who smiled up at him.
"Is it my turn to say 'I've got your backs.'?" Alyx looked from one man to the other and patted Darien on the arm. "Get going, I'm on a time limit here." She turned to Drake. "I'll need five minutes once you're in; don't screw up the connection."
Drake snorted. "And just how long have you been doing this?"
Alyx looked at the Official. "He has read my file, right?"
The Official nodded. "So he said."
Alyx shook her head. "Get going, guys."
Both Bobby and Darien gave her meaningful looks, intending to reassure her that things would work out just fine, but neither succeeded very well. "Let's go, Fawkes, the kid ain't the only one on a time limit. And refilling your meter is expensive."
Drake had the program up and running, had the connection back to the office established, though he didn't like the fact that Miss Silver could override the program at any time. He'd made sure to complain about it, loudly, several times, but considering she was the one who had written it, he was coping.
"Drake, are we ready yet?" Bobby snapped at him. Dawn would be along soon, and they wanted to be out before then.
"Is he still being a jerk?" Alyx whispered in Bobby's ear.
Both Bobby and Darien were forced to hide snickers. Somehow Alyx had figured out how to talk to the two of them while bypassing Drake. They however could not comment without Drake hearing them and the man kept giving them odd looks every time they reacted to Alyx's colorful commentary.
"Drake, I'm ready to go." Alyx said at a normal volume and to all of them.
"Are you sure?" Drake was questioning her again.
"Just one little shock, please?" she muttered in Darien's ear.
"Drake, if she says she's in, she's in." Bobby turned to Fawkes. "All right Fawkes, time to show 'im your stuff."
With a sigh Darien moved to stand next to Hobbes and set a hand on his shoulder. With a little wave at Drake, he set the quicksilver to flowing over the both of them, leaving Drake staring at nothing. Together they moved off into the pre-dawn darkness. Bobby had parked in the neighborhood that backed up to the rear of the property the SWRB building sat on. They proceeded to cut through one of the yards, heading for the back where the ten-foot-high wall separating the two properties stood.
The first challenge, once in the back yard, wasn't climbing the almost-perfectly-smooth wall. A small dog came hurtling through the doggie door, a snarling, yipping bundle of fur and flying legs that apparently had no trouble at all spotting them. It danced around them, yipping and yapping in a high pitched tone that had to be one of the most annoying sounds ever created. When the beast latched onto Hobbes' ankle, it let go quickly with a yelp at the cold. It took a moment to stare at them in confusion before doubling its volume and efforts to wake the entire neighborhood.
"Maybe I should step on it and put it out of our misery," Bobby commented as they continued to the wall. The thing couldn't weigh more than ten pounds, including the fur.
"Is there a problem, Agent Hobbes?" Drake asked in a smug tone.
"No, Drake. Just a small re-enactment of the 'Hound of the Baskerville's'," Darien filled in, as he grabbed a lawn chair and carried it with them over to the wall.
The poor dog just about swallowed its tongue in surprise. It stood there staring at the object as it floated in mid air. The mystery mutt sat down and whined to express its total confusion.
"You think the beast can see us?" Hobbes asked in curiosity.
"Possibly," Drake answered. "Dogs see differently than humans, though at the very least he may be able to smell you..."
Alyx's voice interrupted. "He can definitely hear you. Could you maybe get over the wall before the owner comes out to see what the hell has his dog pitching a fit?"
Darien chuckled. Only Alyx could sum up the reality of the situation in such a dry tone. Darien set the chair down next to the wall and Hobbes stepped up. With a slight assist from Darien, he got to the top of the wall with relative ease. Setting one leg on either side he waited while Darien boosted himself up using far more upper body than lower body, only managing a small leap. Reminding Bobby that if trouble happened, Fawkes would not be running away from it. Both men hopped off the wall to land quietly in the grass on the other side. There were a couple hundred yards of ground to cover between the wall and the perimeter fence for the building. Once inside the fence it was another quarter mile to the building itself through several different types of security. It would actually have been easier to come in the front, but they wanted to avoid having the van being spotted by security, so had chosen this longer and more heavily guarded route.
"Okay, Drake we're over. Which way?" Hobbes said as they moved slowly towards the fence.
"Ummm, straight ahead, I guess. I have perimeter camera control. Let me know when you get to the fence." Drake sounded more than a bit unsure at the moment.
Hobbes stopped and set a hand on Fawkes' chest to get him to do the same. The quicksilver flaked away leaving the men standing there, not sure if the guy watching their asses had any idea what he was doing. "Drake, you did add Fawkes' tracker signal to the program, right?"
Drake muttered something that was more than a little derogatory, then Alyx's voice cut in. "It's on his screen. Move. Time's awasting."
"You do your job and I'll do mine," Drake snapped.
"As soon as he figures out how to do his," Alyx said, exclusively to Bobby and Darien. "Go ahead guys, I'll keep an eye on the situation."
They looked at each other and then together they headed for the fence. They trusted Alyx to do exactly that, even if she was also off doing other things. She had some specific things she intended to accomplish while in the SWRB system.
The worst part of the entire walk was the 'mine field' that ran through one section of the grass -- a ten-yard-wide swath that ran around the entire perimeter of the building. They couldn't jump over it and couldn't get around it. It contained a variety of different security measures, including pressure points, motion detectors, explosives, and electric shocks. Drake missed it, so Alyx had talked them through it step-by-step. By the end, Alyx was sounding more than a little strained and, when asked, explained she was simply multitasking. Getting past the heavily armed guards with dogs was far less nerve-wracking, even if it did require using more quicksilver than either of them liked.
Drake successfully overrode the security on the door and got them inside. Then he talked them deeper into the building, dealing with the security as they went until they finally arrived at the secondary computer room.
"You got the disks, Fawkes?" Bobby looked at his partner expectantly.
Darien reached into the interior pocket of his jacket and pulled up the case containing several disks and handed them to Bobby. "Alyx, we're in place," he informed her, probably needlessly.
A computer monitor blinked to life just a couple steps away and Bobby moved over to it. After a quick look-see he slid the first disk into the burner. "Ready, kid."
"Okay, Bobby, there should a password request on the screen." Alyx kept her voice very steady.
"Yeah."
"Type Alpha, Tango, Charlie 335643silver slash slash 554 Tango. You got that?" She seemed to find something amusing, but Bobby had no idea what.
"Got it kid." He was busy typing ATC33564silver///554T. "This is a new one. Where is this password from?" He watched the computer think about it for a long worrying moment and then blink, giving him more access than he thought possible.
"Hobbesy, if I told you that I would have to kill you," Alyx said in a dry tone. "Now, type in, under file request, Alpha Charlie 888970. That should pull up the file we want. Once you finish copying the data, you want to do a full wipe using code Roger 23 X-ray Foxtrot Zulu. Got that?"
He had already started transferring the data to disk. "Got it, kid. Looks like fifteen minutes for the download. Can you keep them distracted that long, Drake?"
"No promises, Agent Hobbes. They've already tried to purge the program twice, but no alarms have been sounded...yet." Drake answered honestly.
"Wonderful. We'll just sit here like bait and hope you can do your job, Drake." Darien couldn't help but needle the man; he'd been being such an ass since they'd arrived here.
"If something happens, I'll give you all the warning I can. You can always just quicksilver yourself and Agent Hobbes." Drake sounded way too confident for his own good.
Darien checked his wrist noting the tattoo was already half full, again. Having to do the two of them to get in here had used it up damn quick. Covering the mic with one hand he leaned over to talk softly to Bobby. "We made need another option to get out."
Bobby nodded. "I figured. If they catch on, being saran wrap won't make a bit of difference anyway. I'm betting these guys have thermals." He switched disks at the computers prompt and hit the enter key for the download to continue. "Quality stuff and not the pieces of crap we get."
The Director strode into the security room with a black look on his face. "This had better be good. I was supposed to be overseeing an experiment in facility II this morning."
"I think you'll be very interested, sir." The man pointed to the screen where agents Hobbes and Fawkes could both be seen. Fawkes was leaning casually against one of the desks while Hobbes was switching disks. "We let them in, just like you ordered, though that program has kept them hidden rather well."
"What files are they after?" The Director had a feeling he knew the answer and wasn't disappointed.
"AC888970. They used an override command that I've never seen before; it erased itself once it gained access." The security guy almost sounded impressed.
"Damn IAD overrides," the Director complained. "Where's their back-up?"
"Tracing their comm signal, we found him in the neighborhood behind the facility. I have a unit standing by to secure him." The man turned to look at the Director, who nodded.
"Do it. Discreetly. No need to upset our neighbors." The Director waited while the orders were given and watched as Fawkes and Hobbes continued stealing data out of the computer system. When Hobbes handed the case of disks to his taller partner, the Director knew they were done. "Let them think they are going to make it out and then grab them."
On the screen, Hobbes proceeded to key in something and the Director became instantly suspicious. Tapping a few keys on the machine before him, he called up what was going on with the computer in that room. When he realized what that particular code would do, he swore.
"Forget my last orders. Take them now."
Bobby finished keying in the code that should wipe the data they had downloaded, not only from this machine, but any source the SWRB had, and turned to Fawkes. "Done. Let's get the hell out of Dodge."
"Yeah, maybe pick up something to eat on the way back. I'm starved," Darien commented, heading for the door.
"Fawkes, do you ever stop eating?" Bobby queried with a laugh. "Drake, we're on our way out."
"It's the quicksilver, according to the Keeper. Speeds up my metabolism. All the adrenaline, you know." Darien swung open the door and moved down the hall while Bobby tried to contact Drake again.
"Drake, now is not the time to be screwing around. Respond. What's your sit-rep?" Bobby remained calm. It might be nothing more than the geek hit the wrong key and the radio was out.
"Hobbes? Problem?" Darien pushed at the door at the end of the hall looking at Bobby.
"Yeah, just a small one, I'd say." Bobby's hands had come up in the universal sign of surrender.
Darien turned his head to see not one, but several automatic weapons pointed at the two of them. "Aw, crap."
"An accurate summation of your situation," the Director said as he pushed his way through the armed men to stand before the two captured agents. "Oh, and we have your back-up. He fights like a girl apparently."
Bobby and Darien said nothing.
"After all this trouble, I'm not going to even bother offering to trade your worthless carcasses for the girl. Hand over the disks and this will go much faster." He made a hand gesture, and several of the armed men lowered their weapons, preparing to approach and take them into custody.
"Worthless? Did he just call me worthless?" Darien sounded offended. "Since when is seventeen million worthless?"
"Got me, Fawkes, though I'm sure the Fat Man would argue the point," Bobby tossed back. "Of course, this guy surely knows that he doesn't dare hurt us, not after the failure of his last two stunts."
"The 'Fat Man' knows that I can do anything I want. Toss the short one in a cage. Take him," he pointed at Darien, "to exam room three and secure him. I'm sure we can figure out how to remove that gland without too much effort."
Darien felt the blood drain from his face as the armed men moved to secure them. He really hated this part. Then an angel spoke from out of thin air.
"Dare, tell him if he does not release you, a program code-named 'Jehrico' will be activated," Alyx whispered in his ear.
Darien, ever one for the dramatic effect, raised a hand and wagged a finger at the Director. "Does the code name 'Jehrico' mean anything at all to you?"
The Director stiffened.
"Fawkes, what the hell are you doing?" Bobby hissed, not in the mood for one of his partner's smartassed and oft-failing ideas.
"Just listening to the little voices in my head, Hobbesy." He turned slightly so Bobby could see his face and lowered his voice. "Trust me."
For a second, Bobby thought Fawkes had gotten back on the gland train to madness, but then realized it might be the kid chattering in his ear. Fawkes still had the headset in place. So Bobby played along. "You really didn't think we'd come in here without a plan B, did you?"
"Yes, since it's usually Miss Silver who covers the contingencies. How is she doing by the way? Deep in a coma yet?" The Director covered his surprise at them knowing about 'Jehrico' at all. It was most likely just a lucky guess.
Darien managed to keep on his poker face when the Director admitted that he didn't know Alyx was up and about. He didn't know if it was a breakdown in communications or what, and didn't really care. They had an ace in the hole and were going to use it for all it was worth. "And what would Miss Silver have to do with any of this?"
"Well, you are trying to steal the files with the information on the drug I gave her. That kind of gives it away." The Director was anything but impressed with their attempts at distracting him. It was pitiful, to say the least. It was amazing that the Official had kept the Agency functioning with the two of them.
Alyx spoke up then. "Tell him the preliminary countdown has begun. Five minutes till it cannot be reversed."
"Not that the files will do you much good. Joshua's at the door and you have five minutes to bribe him to leave." It was Darien's turn to sound a bit smug. He wanted to chant 'I know something you don't know' at the bastard just for the reaction, but refrained.
"Fawkes, you know something we don't?" Bobby asked, and wondered why Fawkes suddenly looked at him and rolled his eyes.
The Director's eyes narrowed. "Bring them." He led the way back down the hall to the computer room Fawkes and Hobbes had been messing with. What was revealed on the monitors made him realize they were not bluffing. "How? We have your Destiny program off-line."
Darien shrugged. "We have our ways."
"Yeah, it's amazing what you can do with just a few lines of code," Bobby supplied, to confuse the issue even more. He was betting it was the kid who was messing with the computer system, as only she could.
The Director began typing, intending to shut down the self-destruct sequence. It would wipe the entire computer system with a controlled EMP blast whose effects would be felt only within the building. Every piece of electronics, including the computer system and dozens of R&D projects, would be fried. Somehow they had locked him out. Turning on the two men, he snapped, "Deactivate it."
Darien shook his head. "It's out of my hands."
Bobby glanced at the screen, noting the remaining time was only a little over two minutes. "Guess you better decide quick. Time is not on your side."
The Director glared at the two men for a long moment, then pulled out his cell phone and dialed. "Fat Man, I want to deal."