Problem
John listened to Wes' talk about the origins of the Silver Guardians as a security force and how they related to Biolab with half an ear. It wasn't that he was bored by the subject -- far from it. Under any other circumstances, he'd have been fascinated, but currently, most of his attention was directed to Alice's earlier assessment:
"The way you're acting right now, you are being a kid."
It was so untrue!
Is it? queried the honest part of his mind. After all, how adult is it to sulk like you've been doing? John growled softly, annoyed at the honesty, and at the same time, knowing -- deep down -- that it was true.
He had been acting like a kid. A bad-tempered, spoilt brat who wasn't getting his own way, in point of fact. And it really wasn't as if his father was being all that much harsher on him than the rest of the gang. Field medicine wasn't that bad. Nor, if he was totally honest, was the office management stuff.
As he reached that point in his thoughts, there was a knock on the conference room door. A moment later and his father and Taylor walked in. John frowned. Odd...
"Sorry to interrupt," Eric said.
Wes smiled. "Be my guest."
"Alice, Lexia -- this way, please?"
John's frown deepened. There were a couple of reasons he could think of for Eric calling Alice or Lexia out of this session, but calling both of them -- and Taylor's presence -- suggested only one reason.
"Should I expect them back?" Wes asked quietly as Eric followed Taylor, Lexia and Alice out of the room.
Eric offered a smile and a slight shake of the head.
John felt a surge of annoyance at that. It wasn't fair! Why were the girls going out on patrol? What made them more ready than he was? So much for his father being even handed. How even handed was this? How...
"Well, think we've hit a good place to stop," said Wes, breaking into John's thoughts. "I'll pick up in Wednesday's session."
You mean so the girls don't get behind, John thought bitterly. This sucks.
~*~
Lexia trailed after Alice and Taylor, trying desperately to quell the squadron of butterflies currently looping-the-loop in her stomach. Surely she wasn't ready to go out on patrol.
As they entered the vehicle yard, Taylor called, "JJ, Shawn, Paul?" At her words, the trio of Guardians lurking around one of the SUVs looked up. "I'll do a full briefing en route -- we have two new members of the team: Cadet Alice Myers and Cadet Lexia Collins."
Lexia smiled faintly at the three Guardians as her name was mentioned.
"Cadets," Taylor added, turning slightly to face Lexia and Alice, "this is Guardians JJ Haynes, Shawn Clingleffer and Paul Jones." And she nodded to each of the Guardians in turn.
JJ and Paul both smiled politely when named. Shawn rolled his eyes.
"OK -- let's move out," Taylor finished, shooting Shawn an icy glare.
JJ was obviously the designated driver of the squad as he claimed the driver's seat while Paul took the passenger seat. Taylor and Alice took the next two seats, leaving Lexia to sit next to Shawn in the rumble seat at the back. As he sat down, she clearly heard him mumble,
"Thought this was a security force, not a baby-sitting service."
Lexia hunched up and made herself as small as she could, not wanting to antagonise the grouchy Guardian any further and received a glare for her efforts.
"Where are we going, boss?" JJ asked as they pulled out of the vehicle yard.
"Northland Collective Industrial Park," Taylor answered. "For the uninitiated, that's where Frax and the Cyclobots were based last month. When they were...dealt with, most of the site was blown up..."
"The mad bomber strikes again," Shawn muttered.
Lexia shifted uncomfortably and said nothing.
"...leaving most of the site now abandoned," Taylor concluded, fixing a glare on Shawn for interrupting. He subsided. "Last night," she continued, "one of the remaining warehouses was thought to be broken into and the whole site suffered additional vandalism. Our job is to look into this and see what we can find out, particularly as regards the break in. It's our case for time being -- SPD have officially turned it over to us on account of it being 'weird'."
The stress Taylor placed on the word weird set JJ and Paul snickering. Even Shawn looked slightly less sullen. It took Lexia a few moments before she realised that weird was now an official classification of case within the SPD. Ben had mentioned it in one of the sessions the previous week. Guess I have learned something, then.
"Cadet Collins," Taylor continued, snapping Lexia's attention back to the conversation, "you were responsible for the site's demise."
"Y—yes sir," Lexia answered, uncomfortably aware of the force ten glare she was now getting from Shawn.
"What are the chances of there being any unexploded charges?" Taylor asked, either oblivious to or just simply ignoring Shawn.
Lexia made a mental scramble for her wits. How had she wired Frax's head quarters? "Probably very slim." Shawn snorted and muttered something. Lexia swallowed and continued, "I only wired the building I knew Frax was using. I assumed the rest of the site was in use by other people." She paused for a second. "I will know for sure when I see the site. I know where I planted charges."
"Yeah right," muttered Shawn.
Lexia found her nerves giving way into annoyance, but before she could say a word, Taylor intervened. "Clingleffer, one more noise out of you and you'll be back on report."
Lexia watched as Shawn subsided with visible bad grace.
"Cadet Collins, do you have anything more to add?" Taylor continued.
"No, sir."
"All right then. Once Cadet Collins has confirmed the site's safe we'll break by pairs and check it out. JJ -- I want you to show Cadet Collins the ropes. Paul -- you're with Cadet Myers. Shawn," Taylor paused, a slightly evil expression on her face, "you and I are going to work together."
~*~
Rick shook his head as he looked at John across the canteen table. The expression on his friend's face clearly demonstrated the truth in Alice's earlier assessment. And the last thing I'm going to do is point that out, Rick mused.
"Well don't you think this is unfair?" John asked.
Rick sighed. "No -- I think we don't know what the situation is." John opened his mouth to interrupt but Rich forestalled him. "I mean it's probably some sort of criminal investigation. Lexia and Alice have both got skills that would be useful on that."
"He's picking on me," John decided, apparently ignoring Rick's words.
Rick blinked, not following this new tangent. "Who is?"
"My father," John answered. "That's what it is -- he's picking on me."
"Don't be dumb!" Rick shook his head. "That's the last thing Commander Myers is doing."
"Whose side are you on here?" John retorted.
"My own," Rick answered, his own temper beginning to flare. "It's not about sides, it's about being reasonable."
"Are you saying I'm not?"
Rick winced. The look on John's face promised serious fireworks now. "No -- I..."
"Screw this," John cut in. "You're on his side." And with that, John stormed away from the table.
Great going, Rick -- really good work there. He groaned softly. Now what?
~*~
Lexia was more than a little appalled by the state of the Northland Collective Industrial site when she arrived.
"There is no way what I set could have done this!" she murmured sotto voce. Most of the buildings on the site had been damaged while several -- in addition to the one Lexia knew to have been the seat of the explosion -- were almost completely destroyed. "I only wired one building."
"Cadet Collins?" Taylor prompted. "Anything we need to be wary of?"
"Um..."
"Not reassuring."
Lexia shot Alice a helpless glance and sighed. "This is more damage than I caused, sir."
Shawn snickered. Taylor fixed him with a glare before saying, "Explain?"
"I wired Frax's building. Even allowing for fall out and blast radius... This is more damage than I set up, sir."
"I see." Taylor pursed her lips for a moment. "OK. Assessment, Cadet Collins: Are any of your charges going to be left on site that we need to be careful of?"
"No, sir." That was something Lexia was certain of.
"OK. Theorise on what caused the rest of the damage while we look into this case..."
"Sir?" Alice put in.
Taylor lifted an eyebrow. "Cadet Myers, you have something to add?" she enquired, polite sarcasm underlining her dubiety.
Lexia noted that Alice didn't look abashed. "Yes, sir." Taylor waited, looking expectant. "I was just thinking that, if I'd been Frax, I would have rigged this site with some sort of self destruct, in case Time Force ever got close to finding it."
"Go on." Taylor's tone gave nothing away.
"Depending on what that self destruct was," Alice continued, "when we rigged his base to blow, we could have triggered it."
"Cadet Collins," Taylor enquired, "based on what you know, is that likely and if so, do we need to be wary?"
Lexia frowned for a second or two. "Likely, yes. Do we need to be careful? I don't know what the destruct system was so I have to say yes."
Taylor finally nodded. "Good answers both of you." To the squad as a whole she said, "OK -- break by pairs. Let's get this investigation done."
In short order, Lexia found herself inside the remnants of one of the warehouses with JJ.
"At the risk of springing a line," JJ began as he carefully poked through some of the rubble, "what's a pretty girl like you doing in an outfit like the SGs?"
"It's kinda a long story," Lexia replied, feeling herself blush a little at the compliment. "And...kinda accidental."
JJ grinned. "Well, 'accidental' or not, you sure have Commander Earhardt's attention -- she's impressed with you. So'm I," he added.
Lexia's blush deepened and she was glad that the lighting was dim.
"I mean it," he continued. "Shawn's an... Well, he tries to be the Big Bad, and I've seen him eat more new recruits than..." He grinned again. "His bark's worse than his bite, but you didn't cave against him. He'll respect you for it."
Sparing Lexia from making a response, her headset burst into life.
"JJ, Lexia, how are things looking in your area?" Taylor asked.
"I've got it," JJ said, offering Lexia a smile and reaching for the transmit button on his headset. "All quiet so far, sir -- no signs of anything beyond rubble, and garbage."
"Understood."
There was the faint crackle of static as Taylor closed the comm. connection. Lexia watched as JJ fiddled with his headset, her blush finally receding. He was, she reflected, pretty cute, and he seemed to actually like her. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.
~*~
"So what did you guys do that you landed up with Commander Earhardt?" asked Paul as he led Alice through one of the more intact warehouses on site.
Alice smiled. "Oh, the usual -- blew the hell out of East Hills Training Centre, wrecked Cranston Plaza, tried to kill Commander Myers..." She giggled as Paul stopped dead.
"You're kidding!"
"Nope." She shook her head. "One hundred percent not kidding." She smiled wryly. Paul started walking again. "If it is a joke, it's not my idea of one. Or Dad's, for that matter."
Again Paul came to an instant stop. "Myer...oh God. You're... Com... He..."
Alice sighed. "Breath and try finishing a sentence," she recommended.
Paul took a moment to regain his composure. "You're Commander Myers' daughter?" he finally managed.
"Yep." She hesitated. "Is that going to be a problem?"
Paul shook his head. "Problem, no -- shock, yes."
"Shock?" Alice echoed.
Paul shrugged and started to lead the way once more. "I dunno -- he's always been so...proud of you. So..." He shrugged. "I dunno. I always figured the last thing he'd want you doing was joining the SGs."
Alice smiled faintly. That certainly sounded like Eric. It wasn't that he was somehow ashamed of the Silver Guardians; it was more that he disliked the idea of putting his family in danger. Of course, courtesy of The Master, that had rather got turned on its ear. "Don't think he wants me...us to be SGs now," she admitted. "He's kinda got no choice in the matter."
"Ouch."
Alice opened her mouth to reply when movement up ahead caught her attention and instead she said, "Did you see that?"
Paul nodded. "C'mon -- we're here to investigate. Let's go take a look-see."
~*~
John reached the SGHQ med-centre still stewing over the conversation he'd had with Rick. He had a nasty feeling Rick was right -- which left him feeling guilty and angry and confused. If Rick was right, it meant he was wrong. It probably meant that Alice was also right...which left him with the uncomfortable answer that he really was behaving like a brat.
"Aah, Mini-me."
John cringed at the voice. The SG CMO, Dr Sonny Jackson, had been one of the first people to spot the overwhelming resemblance between him and Eric -- and had the type of personality that just refused to let go of something like that. As a result, it had barely taken ten minutes before John had found himself being called Mini-me by the perpetually cheerful doctor.
"Ignore him and he goes away," had been the less than sympathetic response from Eric.
"Dr Jackson." John managed to reply without sounding as if he desperately wanted to strangle the annoying doctor. "Is B...Guardian Hines here?"
Jackson smiled and shook his head. "Sorry -- afraid she called in sick this morning."
"Oh." There didn't really seem to be a lot else to say.
"She's going to be out all this week," Jackson continued, still smiling. "So Commander Myers asked me to send you down to reception."
Why didn't he say something this morning? John wondered as his temper began to simmer again. Unless he really is picking on me, and this is punishment for something... "Oh -- thank you."
"You're welcome, Mini-me."
John gritted his teeth. Can't kill him. Can't kill him... Fists clenched, he turned on his heel and headed out of the med-centre. Then it dawned on him what exactly Jackson meant. This is so not fair!
~*~
Shawn was sulking, Taylor decided, looking at him as they poked through a pile of rubble. She shook her head. "You were expecting me to congratulate you on your stunning wit and charm?" she enquired, polite scorn lacing her words.
Shawn jumped and said nothing.
Taylor rolled her eyes. "You have a bad attitude and a bad rep, Shawn, and hazing new recruits is only gonna make it worse."
Shawn said nothing.
"You want to go back on report?" Taylor asked.
"No." The reply was surly and monosyllabic.
"So what was with the tough guy act?" No reply. "Know what I think?" No reply. "You think you're a wash-out so you're trying to get yourself kicked out." No reply. "You think that because you missed out on promotion last time round that your chance has gone and what the hey, why not just let the rest of your career go to hell."
There was still no response from Shawn, but the mulish set to his expression suggested to Taylor that she was on the right track.
"Well guess what," she continued. "We all miss out on shit we think we deserve. Only quitters miss out on it period. You wanna be a quitter?" No reply -- but Taylor hadn't really expected one.
They worked on in silence for several moments.
"You're wrong," Shawn finally mumbled.
"Am I?"
"I don't 'think' I'm a wash-out. I know I am."
Taylor opened her mouth to reply but whatever she had in mind to say was lost as a burst of static over the headsets interrupted the conversation.
"Commander?" Alice's voice sounded a little tinny over the headset. "Think we've found something. You might want to take a look at this."
"Understood -- on my way."
~*~
John all but stomped down the stairs into the SGHQ reception area. The order to report there had to mean he was having an extra session with Gina on office management, which was not exactly a salve to his temper. On the other hand, his curiosity was piqued by the order. The fact that he was reporting to reception rather than to the admin office meant that this session was going to be something new.
Probably.
"Ah, John." Gina was sitting at the reception desk. "Something new for you today." In spite of himself, John felt a small thrill of anticipation. "Vanessa, the afternoon receptionist, is out sick..."
"Another one?" John couldn't help but comment.
Gina grinned. "Something like that," she agreed. "So, what I thought was you could cover reception with me this afternoon."
Anticipation turned sour in his stomach at Gina's answer. It might be something new, but John didn't need any clairvoyant skill to know that this particular session was going to be tedious. Oh great...
~*~
"Well, this place looks clear," JJ decided.
"Yeah -- few bits of graffiti, that's it," Lexia agreed, surveying the ruins. "Hardly crime of the century material."
JJ snickered. "True."
"So what now?" Lexia asked.
Before JJ could answer, there was a burst of static and Taylor's voice came over their headsets: "JJ, Lexia -- report to Warehouse Two."
"Understood, sir -- on our way," JJ answered. He headed for the exit of the warehouse they'd been investigating. "C'mon -- this way."
Lexia followed. "Warehouse Two -- that was Alice and Paul, wasn't it?"
"Uh-huh. Means they've found something," JJ replied. "Probably something the Commander wants you to take a look at in case it's wired to explode."
Lexia frowned. "Wouldn't we have heard Alice or Paul notifying the Commander?"
JJ shook his head. "Comm.'s generally set up so that there's a controller and all the voice traffic goes via them rather than everyone hearing everyone else. Makes things less confusing." He held the door of Warehouse Two open. "C'mon."
Lexia followed JJ into the warehouse and found herself confronted by a very strange sight: Eight, full-length mirrors arranged, facing inwards, in a circle.
"Weird set up," JJ murmured.
"Isn't it," Taylor agreed. "Lexia, Alice...either of you know anything like this?"
Alice shook her head. "New one on me, sir."
Lexia frowned. Something about the set up nagged at the back of her mind. "Not sure," she replied.
"Not sure?" Taylor echoed. "Explain."
"Well it's not some sort of futuristic explosive device," Lexia answered. "But there's something..."
"Get down!"
Shawn's yell was the cue for all hell to break loose. Hundreds of Cyclobots materialised out of nowhere, Cyclosabres firing. Lexia found herself being pulled to the ground by JJ as his experience allowed him to react far faster than she did. Her own reactions kicked in as she hit the concrete and she instinctively rolled behind the nearest piece of cover -- a couple of packing crates. JJ followed.
"And this was supposed to be easy," JJ muttered, his voice barely audible over the whine of blaster fire, as he drew his own blaster and started to return fire.
For a second, Lexia hesitated. It wasn't the first time she'd faced live blaster fire, but facing it while morphed and shielded was one thing. Facing it in the flesh with only a wooden crate between her and the lethal energy charges was totally different. For a second, everything seemed to close in around her.
"Son of a..."
JJ's bitten off curse pulled Lexia back from the brink of a panic attack. The shower of wood splinters told her what had happened as she drew her own blaster. Kneeling up, Lexia started to return fire, covering him as he dropped back behind the packing cases. "You OK?" she asked.
"Peachy," JJ answered. "You?"
Snapping off a couple of shots, Lexia joined him behind the crates. "Scared out of my mind."
JJ offered her a lopsided smile. "You're doing fine."
~*~
Gina had produced some copy typing for him to do while he covered reception, but it didn't prevent John from feeling one hundred percent bored to tears. How did Gina and Vanessa and people like that stand the routine?
"I need to see Commander Myers." The voice was cracked and husky but with a thread of urgency in it that seemed strangely out of place. Looking up, John saw its owner was a man in his late twenties or early thirties -- but judging anything more than that about him was rendered impossible by the sheer amount of bruising on the man's face. And from the way he was standing, John guessed it wasn't just his face that was bruised.
"I'll get Dr Jackson," Gina began, starting to get up from her seat.
"No -- no time. I need to see Commander Myers," the man insisted. "It's urgent."
"Who..." John began, reaching for the telephone to buzz Eric.
"Paul Jones...Guardian Paul Jones," the man replied. "They've held me prisoner for the last four weeks...barely managed to escape...I need to see Commander Myers now."
Panic started to rise in John's throat at the name. Currently on his computer screen was a list of Guardians out on patrol. Lexia's name was listed in the same patrol as a P.Jones.
~*~
From her cover behind a stack of empty chemical drums, Taylor took stock of the situation while Shawn covered her. This was a screw up. Only the fact that Shawn had seemed to have some inkling that the attack was going to take place had prevented them from taking casualties there and then. And that in itself begged the question how had Shawn known? And this is no time to ask it.
Lexia and JJ were on the far side of the warehouse, hunkered down behind some packing cases. They seemed to be OK for time being. Taylor's real concerns were Alice and Paul, who'd become pinned down inside the mirror circle. Then there was the side bar that her headset was being jammed on the SGHQ frequency so there was no hope for a rescue squad any time soon.
"Boss," Shawn called, "I figure you don't wanna hear this, but..."
"But?"
"But things just got worse."
~*~
Lexia was back on her feet and firing when she noticed something strange going on within the mirror circle. Alice and Paul had been pinned down within its confines, and, while they had been able to keep the Cyclobots at bay, they hadn't been able to escape its confines.
As Lexia looked on in mounting disbelief as Paul, who had been covering Alice's back, suddenly turned to face Alice and calmly fired a stun blast into her unprotected back. Then, before anyone could react, he had grabbed her by the arms and dragged her unconscious form through one of the mirrors.
Lexia couldn't believe what she'd seen. One second, Alice and Paul had been in the circle of mirrors the next, they'd vanished.
~*~
John watched as Eric greeted the man who was claiming to be the real Paul Jones. There was no reaction. Didn't he care? There was an impostor in a Silver Guardian patrol... John made his mind up.
As Eric led Paul out of the reception area, John excused himself to Gina and headed for the men's room. Eric might not be going to do something about this but John wasn't prepared to sit around and wait.
~*~
At Shawn's words, Taylor had got back to her feet in time to see Alice and Paul vanish. Hot on their heels, the Cyclobots also vanished.
"Did..." JJ began, clearly having seen the same impossible thing that Taylor had seen. "That did just happen?"
"It did," Taylor replied grimly.
Now that they were alone, she and the three other remaining members of the patrol came out from behind their respective areas of cover to inspect the mirrors. To Taylor's eyes they looked like every other full-size mirror she'd ever seen. She moved to step into the circle, only to be grabbed by Shawn, just as a pair of translucent, glassy hands stretched forth from the nearest mirror, clearly trying to grab her.
"OK, that's twice," she murmured, glancing at Shawn a little nonplussed. "How did you know?" Shawn just shrugged. Louder, Taylor said, "Stay out of the circle -- don't want anyone else pulling a Lewis Carroll."
"But we've got to go after them," said Lexia with a firmness that belied her earlier nervousness.
Taylor blinked. For a brief second, it could have been Jen standing there. "And we will -- but ever heard the phrase 'look before you leap'?"
"Sure." Lexia took an exaggerated look around at the warehouse. "I've looked..."
"Cadet Collins, wait!" Taylor commanded, freezing Lexia to the spot. A little too like Jen. Dismissing that thought, Taylor continued, "What makes you think it should be you?"
"Because I've worked out what this set up is," Lexia answered.
"Which is?" prompted Taylor.
"Mirracon," said Lexia.
"Frax's insurance policy," supplied Shawn.
Taylor's gaze swivelled back to Shawn. "You and I are going to definitely be talking later." Shawn sighed. Taylor switched her attention back to Lexia. "Is that right?"
Lexia nodded. "That's why it has to be me."
Taylor frowned. "Why?"
"Because the Cyclobots are coming back," said Lexia, "and you're going to need people who can fight better than I can here."
Taylor opened her mouth to debate that point.
"They're coming!" Shawn warned.
Taylor groaned. "Go for it, Lexia." And God help me if you get hurt...
TO BE CONTINUED...
