Chapter 5 – Uninvited Guests
Sanctuary...
"Okay, Willow. The screen is gonna show you faces of members of different government groups, including Genomex. If you recognize any of these individuals, just say the word," Adam sat at the monitor with Willow sitting beside him. Shalimar and Emma stood behind them.
Different faces continuously flashed on the screen as Willow watched, determined to find the man responsible. Just then Jesse and Brennen came into the lab.
"Hey! You guys alright?" Shalimar gently rubbed Brennen's shoulder.
"Yeah, we were pretty lucky. Just got out with seconds to spare," Brennen shook his head in relief. "We dropped the other mutants off at the club safe house. They should be alright for now."
Willow turned around to meet Brennen's eyes. Her eyes filled with uncertainty as she stared at both Jesse and Brennen.
"Oh, Willow, this is Brennen and Jesse. They were the ones who rescued you from the GSA." Adam broke the ice for them.
Brennen gave her a gentle smile and extended his hand. She took his hand. "Thank you, both," She said shaking Jesse's hand as well.
"It's not a problem," Brennen smiled.
"Brennen's an elemental and Jesse's a molecular." Adam pointed out.
Willow nodded. "Wow, I see you have all your bases covered. All four groups. Must create a good balance."
"That's right. Each according to their gifts." Adam nodded in agreement.
Just East of Stormking Mountain...
"Well Mr. Carver. Are all the preparations in order?" a very anxious Augustine asked.
"The Sanctuary has a highly sophisticated security system. It will take some time before we can figure a way around it." Scimming through layouts of the Sanctuary's interior on a laptop, Carver quickly started looking for weaknesses.
"Alright. Once Mr. Carver finds a way to penetrate the Sanctuary's defenses, we will wait until nightfall to enter. I want them all alive. Anyone who kills any one of them will answer to me," Augustine turned to his men, anxiously awaiting the opportunity. They nodded in agreement. They craved action and breaking into the impregnable Sanctuary was a challenged they relished.
Back in the Sanctuary...
"So none of those faces ring a bell to you?" Adam was hoping the photos might have helped, but unfortunately they remained at square one.
Willow shook her head, a little bummed she couldn't be more help. She knew that things were serious and anyway she could help to bring down these men, was fine by her. "I'm sorry I couldn't have been more help Adam. What do we do now?"
Adam paused a moment to determine the next possible course of action. "Well, I think the best thing we can do now is wait until these guys make their next move. Unfortunately, their next move could be a more deadly one, but until we have more answers, we don't have a leg to stand on."
"What's gonna happen to me?" Willow shrugged. Shalimar walked up to her.
"Well, we'd like you to stay with us for a while. It's probably the safest place for you right now." Shalimar smiled putting a hand on her shoulder. Willow looked up at her and nodded.
A frantic Jesse interrupted their moment. "Adam! We have a problem! Someone's trying to hack into our security system."
"Can you locate the source?" A concerned Adam looked at Shalimar and Emma.
"No, I can't get a positive trace. They're using a scrambled frequency." Jesse wasn't sure what to do next.
Willow looked at Adam. "Let me try. I think I might be able to help." Willow moved closer to the computer. "Okay, here's the transmission. They're pretty close to shutting down your security system."
"Can you jam the signal?" Adam was intrigued by Willow's knowledge.
"I can try. They're transmitting on an encoded frequency. It may take a few moments."
Several moments passed, when Willow shouted in triumph. "I've got it! Okay, the source of the transmission is 2 miles east of here at this point."
"That's impossible. How did they find the Sanctuary?" Adam was stunned at this revelation. Emma and Shalimar both looked at one another. Both Jesse and Brennen ran into the room. "Okay, Willow's established a source trace. Brennen, Shalimar and Jesse, I want you to go out and find whoever's responsible. Did the jam work?"
"Well, it's only a temporary one. It'll keep them busy for about ten minutes. I disguised it as a minor bug, so they won't suspect that we're onto them. At least, for now."
"Good work." Adam looked over at Shalimar, who nodded back at him in agreement as the three left the room.
East of Stormking Mountain...
"Uhhh, sir. We have a bit of a problem. It appears that we've picked up a bug. I'll have to reboot the system." Carver looked up at a rather impatient Augustine.
"How long will that take?" Augustine looked at him.
"It take about ten minutes to restart the system. Then we'll be back where we started." Augustine was rather annoyed at this news, but in his mind he knew that patience was a virtue.
Augustine turned as if he sensed someone was approaching them. He quietly called over his lieutenant and whispered something into his ear. The lieutenant turned to some of the men waiting and motioned into the woods. Several of them got up quietly and followed him into the bush.
Somewhere Just West...
"It's not far guys. Willow said the source of the signal is over that ridge." Shalimar motioned just ahead of them.
"So what do you think?" Brennen asked curiously awaiting Shalimar's reply.
"Think of what?" Shalimar tried to play dumb.
"Willow. What do you think?" Brennen repeated wanting to see how Shalimar was dealing with the situation.
"She's cute. She seems like a pretty smart kid." Shalimar stopped and looked at both Jesse and Brennen. "She doesn't know."
"That was pretty impressive, what she did back there. The kid certainly knows a thing or two." Jesse was a little bummed at being bested by a 15-year-old, but he was still impressed none the less.
Shalimar looked ahead. A small smirked crept up onto her face. She felt the pride of a big sister. That's my sister, she thought to herself. "Yeah, that was." Shalimar stopped dead in her tracks and her eyes flashed yellow. "Somebody's coming this way."
Brennen and Jesse looked around them. "From which direction Shal?"
"I can't lock in on their scent. It's almost as if they're being protected by something or someone. I can just sense their presence."
"Alright. Stay alert guys." Brennen said as Shalimar led them towards the ridge.
Just then a group jumped out, guns pointed at them. "Don't move or we'll shoot!"
"We gotta stop meeting like this." Brennen fired an energy blast at the soldiers, sending them flying. One of the soldiers fired a shot at Brennen just as Jesse jumped in front of him to deflect it. Shalimar did a forward flip kicking the soldier, disarming him and then punched him. Her eyes flashed yellow as the soldier got up and lunged at her. She grabbed his arm, flipping down onto the ground.
"Stop!" a voice yelled, as Augustine came out from behind the ridge. Brennen fired another energy shot directly at Augustine. He extended his arm and deflected the energy, as if catching it. "That was a very ill-advised move, Mr. Mulwray," he said as he sent the energy blast back at him, knocking him down.
Jesse went running at him. Augustine turned to him and as if his arm became extended, raised Jesse high into the air. He pulled Jesse towards him, lowering him to the ground abruptly. He grabbed Jesse by the neck, choking him. Brennen rose gingerly from the ground and fired another blast at Augustine. He swiftly rose his other hand, catching the energy in his hand and pointed it at Jesse's head.
"I'd advise you to stop. Otherwise, his death will be on your hands." Shalimar was about to make a move on Augustine, but stopped in mid stride. "Good. Now we can get down to business."
"What do you want with us?" Shalimar demanded, her eyes never leaving him.
"Shalimar! Brennen! Jesse! Anyone?! What's happening?" Adam's rang through their com rings.
Augustine registered the voice and smiled. "Adam Kane! Do my ears deceive me? Well, well, it's been a long time."
Adam stood motionless in the Sanctuary, as Emma and Willow looked on. "Samuel Augustine."
Augustine smiled at the reply. "It seems you haven't forgotten me."
"What's your business here? What do you want?" Adam demanded.
"You've mistaken my intentions Adam. I merely want to chat, man to man." Augustine smiled. "As you've probably guessed, I have your team in custody. Let us in and they won't be harmed."
"And if I don't?" Adam knew the answer before it was asked.
"Then I'd say a rebuild will be in order."
End of Chapter 5
Okay, this chapter was a little shorter than I intended, but it just made sense to end the chapter here and go on to chapter 6.