Chapter 5
"The second Sanctuary is located in the foothills of the Appalachians, not too far from Philadelphia. It's completely underground. So, no windows, just like The Rock. Almost all of if consists of natural caverns or reinforced old mine shafts. And, it's almost exactly the size of Sanctuary. Now, the place is structurally complete, but it's missing its internal structure."
"Just what do you mean by 'internal structure?'"
"Computer terminals, comm. equipment, there is some medical equipment, but not much. Um, internal scaffolding, training equipment, furniture…plus they're some electrical work that needs to be done. Brennan, I'm sure you can handle that part."
"Yeah, no problem. But it sounds like this is just a big hole in the ground. It'll take months to get everything set up. We don't have that kind of time."
Jesse shook his head. "No, no. This, uh, place got put on hold when things started to come to a head with Genomex last year, but Adam made sure he got to a certain point before he stopped. There's a list of contractors and businessmen in the area that we can use. If we use a lot of them, the population in that area is dense enough that it would be impossible to trace them all to us. Plus, there are untraceable identities and accounts that we can use. I checked them. They're all still good. Even with just the four of us, we can be up and running in less than two weeks, probably closer to 10 days."
Lexa noticed that Jesse was once again gesturing with his hands as he spoke. Good. The still, moody Jesse had worried her. But it looked like he was on his way back to his former self. "Given that we can't use the safehouses, this looks like our only option if we want to get up and running anytime soon," she said.
"What about Adam, though? Does he have that kind of time?"
"I thought about that. The Creator said that he had created Adam to help him with his work. They need him to keep the Creator happy, so they won't touch him."
"Yeah, you're right. Then, I think we should go ahead and get started on this project. But with no Helix, we'll either have to drive or take a commercial airliner," Shalimar said wistfully. She had like the Helix. It was fun. She was going to miss it.
Jesse nodded. "I can book us on flights to Philadelphia using the traceless credit cards. We can make some identification with the equipment here at the safehouse – that's what it's there for anyway – to get us through airport security. I'll take care of that, could you guys take care of closing up the safehouse?" He continued at their nods. "Then we'll need to go shopping. I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting tired of wearing these clothes."
Lexa realized that he was still wearing the torn and bloodied striped button up shirt he had first put on three days ago. In fact, they were all still wearing the same clothes they had put on days ago.
"Still fashion-conscious, eh Jess?" Shalimar joked. Brennan snorted.
"Laugh it up, Shal. I know you want to get out of those clothes too. Plus, we'll need jackets. The Dominion took the one I was wearing and we'll need jackets in Philly…it's cold this time of year. We can't exactly go back to Sanctuary and pack a bag."
"Yeah, yeah." Shalimar smiled wistfully again, this time at the reminder that their home was gone, it's location completely revealed, and they couldn't even inspect the damages for another month. She swatted Jesse on the shoulder as she rose from her chair. "I know. I'll go check the perimeter and start locking the place up."
Like a football team after a huddle, the four moved to take care of the necessary tasks. Lexa paused for a moment though. "Hey, Jess?"
He turned. "Yeah?"
"Just curious…where does all the money come from? I know the Dominion funds a lot of Mutant X, but there's a lot of stuff that the Dominion doesn't know about."
Jesse gave a half-smile. He wasn't still, moody Jesse anymore, but he wasn't quite his old self yet. The smile didn't reach his eyes. "Adam is very good at siphoning of a little bit here and a little bit there. Plus, there're a lot of places to make and hide money that the Dominion or the government doesn't know about."
"Are you sure they don't know about it? There's no way they could trace it, end up finding the new Sanctuary?"
"I'm sure, Lexa. Even before Adam disappeared, he had turned the money management aspect over to me. I know every corner. Every single trail, even if someone could find one, either dead ends or just goes in circles. The fact that even I didn't find out about the second Sanctuary, that I need all my passwords and skill to find out about it is a testament to how deeply hidden everything is. We're safe."
Jesse watched as Lexa briefly chewed her bottom lip, gave a slight nod, then left the room. Jesse smiled inside. Lexa's ties to the Dominion were severed now. Mutant X was the closest thing to family that she had now. He was happy to see that she was showing concern for her new family. He turned back to the computer. His family on the other hand, was a little more complicated. And he didn't know if he was ready to tackle it just yet.