Chapter 3: A Perfect Execution…?

As soon as the three vehicles were at the Foundation grounds proper, the driver of the van, a man with messy black hair, brown eyes and a rather muscular build, such as the kind you would see in a bodybuilding gym, went over the plan and phases in his mind. After all, they would need to execute this perfectly, or the True Liberty would die before it had a chance to be born.

Now that the three vehicles were on the grounds, he would carry out Phase 1, which was to shut down the security systems inside the complex temporarily and silently. Once that was completed, he would send a signal through his watch to the rest of the van passengers, who would then place and set off special containers in the most opportune places. Phase 2 would then go into the building, bind and carry off all persons in the building. Phase 3 consisted of a quiet exit, taking all their silent operatives with them…including the security guards. They had to then arrive at the rendezvous before anything untoward could happen…and if it did, well…they had extra canisters, just in case.

The man quickly used a computer in the van to tap into the security system. He had been glad that a few of the moles had gotten in deep enough to get a specific code…it would make his job easier.

The job had been timed, and it was expected that he would have 4 minutes at the most to get the security system deactivated.

As he typed, he saw that a user name and password was required for the actual command. This was where he would find out if the information was for real or not.

Password: Marissa.

He held his breath as he waited for the result. What kind of a password was "Marissa" anyway?

Password accepted. Awaiting command.

He typed in, deactivate security system.

For a seemingly long minute, there was nothing on the screen except for Processing… Then, another message came on the screen.

System offline.

He glanced at his watch. 3.30 minutes. That was certainly faster than expected. He then quickly pressed a button that sent out a low-pitched set of three beeps.

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Devon looked up from the afternoon newspaper and checked the time on the clock. It was already 2:00, the time that he usually made tea. He got up and went to go make some himself as he thought about Marissa…and the nightmare that she had the previous night.

A black shadow that takes all the adults and leaves all the children…and puts me into a coma…I wonder where she got that idea from, even subconsciously. The palm reader, Maria, maybe…? She found out yesterday that the woman had died within minutes of reading our fortunes…and it shook her, even though I haven't the foggiest why it did, he thought, that must be what made her have such a nightmare.

It was then that he heard a knock at the door.

"Yes?"

One of the maids, someone that he had known since the first of the year, replied, "Mr. Miles, I have something for you from Dr. Barstow. I think she said it's Earl Grey."

He smiled at this. Somehow, whenever Devon was in a bad mood, Bonnie would surprise him by having some tea ready when the time came…and he certainly was troubled now.

"Bless her. I'll be right there, Caroline," he replied and opened the door.

In front of him, a young woman in her late 20's with red hair and green eyes, as well as a rather shapely build stood in front of him with a tray that had a pot full of Earl Grey tea, as well as a couple of cups and some crumpets on a plate.

"Thank you," he replied and took the tray from the woman. He then set it on the nearby table, poured some tea into a cup and drank some of it.

"If it'd all right, sir, I need to do some cleaning in here. If anything comes up, I'll leave."

He nodded impatiently, "Just don't break anything."

"Oh, I won't sir. I've never broken anything before, and I'm not about to start now."

He nodded and sat down in his chair with the cup and started looking over some papers.

Around her neck was an elaborate necklace that had a snowflake pattern. It had no jewels, except for the very center, where a cluster of cubic zirconium was faceted.

"I got a couple of presents from my boyfriend…or should I say fiancé. Some perfume and this necklace. He proposed to me last night."

"He did…? Well, congratulations," he replied noncommittally.

A couple of minutes later, Devon felt a little tired…and light-headed.

"It seems I'll be…retiring for a little bit. I'm…tired. Not as young…as I used…"

She replied, "I don't doubt it…" As she spoke, her tone changed from quiet and maybe a little flightly…to something a little louder and certainly more serious.

"Caroline…? Something's…wrong…with this…tea…" He trailed off, and a moment later, he slumped on the desk.

The maid walked over to him and felt his wrist for a pulse and checked the pupils in his eyes…then smiled darkly. "Odorless, colorless and almost tasteless…and fast-acting. You outdid yourself this time." She touched the pseudo-diamonds on her necklace and said in a clear voice, "The sedative worked. He's sleeping like a baby. Commence."

She then held her breath and went as fast as she could to find a gas mask.

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RC muttered at himself as he drove from the store to the Foundation headquarters. He was supposed to have gotten the drinks for the picnic while Michael and Rodrigo were picking up the kids (Rodrigo had the food)…and on the way over, he had realized that he had forgotten his wallet in his room.

Unlike most folks, he had two wallets…kind of. One of them held his Foundation ID as well as driver's license…while the other he kept things like his money. It was the latter that he had forgotten as he rushed about.

"First you oversleep, then get rushed…and now you forgot the money wallet and realized it when you almost get to the store! Man, are you out of it or what…!" he muttered at himself, "Can this day get any worse…?"

As he approached the gates in a Foundation car, he grumbled about his beloved motorcycle, the same one that always broke down on him and his pals ragged him about. It had broken down again yesterday when he was testing out a new compartment that he would have used to put the drinks in. He recognized the guard that was on duty.

"Yo, Sammy," he greeted.

"What's up, RC?" the guard replied, "You look upset."

"Yeah, I forgot my wallet and didn't realize it until I was almost to the store. That embarrassing or what?"

"Tell me about it," he said with a laugh, "Sounds like old man Murphy's got it in for ya today. Okay, go on in and I'll keep this quiet. No need for Mr. Miles to get wind of this."

"I owe ya one, dude," he answered with a grin and drove on when the gates opened.

As he approached the parking lot for the headquarters itself, he immediately slowed down. Something a ways off looked wrong, very wrong.

RC parked the car against the curb and got out, walking up one of the hills until he came to one of the many trees and shrubs…and after a couple of moments, what he saw made his eyes go wide and him hiss with anger.

There were people being taken out of the headquarters and placed in a pair of trucks…and he thought he recognized that one of those being carried was Devon.

He hurried back to his car, turned the engine, and headed back the way he came. He mumbled something about having found his wallet under the seat of the car to Sammy, who nodded sympathetically and opened the gates again.

Once he was clear of the grounds, he went as fast as he safely could to the park. Michael and Kitt were not going to like this.

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Over at one of the tables, Marissa was sitting and reading a book when Laura came up to her.

"Reading again, nina? You're here to relax and have fun, not stick your head between the pages," she reproached her as she snatched the book from the younger girl's hands.

"Hey!"

"I'll give it back to you when it's time to go home, no sooner."

"Aww…" she grumbled, then asked, trying to strike up conversation, "You know what…? It seems like the kids here have all kinds of talents, just like the grownups at the Foundation."

"You've seen it too, eh? Becky's good at checking even the smallest details, Chris has quite a few connections, some of which even I don't like…"

"What do you mean?"

"I've heard a rumor that when he's not on the Foundation grounds or with us, he runs around with a street gang."

"I thought listening to gossip was a bad thing. You said so yourself."

"Needless gossip is, yes…but sometimes, it comes in handy. Keep that in mind, too."

The little girl nodded. "I've been reading some different books lately…"

"Like what?"

"Mostly stories about people that wind up having to become leaders in emergencies…and learn what to do along the way. Sometimes, there're even tales of strategy, medieval and modern."

"Aren't you a little young for books like that?"

"Why do you ask? I like them."

"Yeah, but kids your age should be reading kid stories."

"So I'm not a regular kid. I like those kinds of books."

Laura shook her head and murmured, "Considering what you are, I shouldn't be surprised…"

"What do you mean? A lot of people hint that they know some secret about me, but when I ask, they won't say a thing."

"It's not time for you to know yet, and they understand that."

"Aww, you're not gonna tell me either? Maria said that I'm gonna find out very soon, so you may as well tell me!"

Laura peered at her and said in a quiet voice, "Yes, it's a secret, but it's that way for a reason."

Marissa didn't bat an eyelash at the remark.

"I'll talk to papa and if he approves, I'll tell you. All right?"

"Okay." While Laura walked off, the younger girl then turned towards the curb and looked for a familiar vehicle…and when she found it, she grinned and waved at Kitt.

"Some people just don't understand good literature," he said through the comlink that was on her wrist.

"Tell me about it! Kitty, don't you ever play? Aren't you bored just sitting there?"

"I do play, little one…just in a different way…and usually with Michael."

"Like how?"

"You'd be surprised how many times we've gotten dirty by chasing each other and playing a type of 'tag'…as well as water fights. Later, when we get back, how about we do that?"

"Sounds good!"

She then saw another familiar vehicle arrive at the park. The door opened and RC came out, then looked quickly for Michael.

"RC doesn't look well."

"Yeah," she agreed, "And he doesn't have any drinks. Kitty, I'm gonna get closer so we can hear what's going on."

"That isn't a good idea—"

He saw her move towards RC, who was now talking to Michael.

"Rissie! Rissie, no!"

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Marissa wasn't the only one to see that something was wrong: so did Michael. He looked up from talking to Rodrigo and saw RC running towards them…without any drinks and with a rather negative expression on his face.

"Hey, what happened, RC? Bike break down again en route?"

"This's no time to rag my wheels or for jokin'," he replied, "Something big and bad's gone down at the HQ."

"What do you mean? Sit down and take your time."

"There's no time! I forgot my wallet and went back to the Foundation. There were a buncha guys and gals there, carrying people into a pair of semi trucks, and a lot of them. Michael, some group broke into the HQ and took everyone…"

"What! RC, you sure?"

"As sure as I am that I'm black. One of the ppl being taken away, and from the looks of it, drugged, was Devon."

Michael swore in a low voice, angry. "Tell me everything you saw, every detail."

RC nodded, sat down and brought up everything that he could think of…including that the FLAG staff were carried into the trucks, some of the carriers were wearing gas masks.

"We can't afford for these kids to find out what's happened, not yet. There'll be a panic…and I don't want to know how Marissa's going to react."

"We don't have a choice on the last one," RC answered.

"Yes we do. We'll tell them all later, her included."

"Michael, we don't have a choice."

"Why not?"

"Because she already knows." As he said this, RC looked meaningfully off to his left.

Michael turned in the same direction and saw Marissa a short ways off, sitting under a tree…and looking right at them.

He groaned at this. The little girl had heard everything.

RC looked too, then said, "Ya know, the little tyke and Rodrigo's kid are pretty danged responsible…more than kids their age. Her knowin' maybe isn't such a bad thing."

"I agree. Those two can handle the children while the facts are being obtained."

Michael nodded, then said, "Marissa, since you know all about it, go get Laura and come back here. We need to find a place to put everyone, the Foundation's not safe right now."

"I already know where: Chris Sato's place is big enough. It's close to a mansion; I've been there a couple of times."

RC and Michael nodded in agreement. "Sounds good. Now go get Laura."

Marissa nodded, got up and hurried off, keeping her face blank.