WARNING: Death in this chapter and some detail descriptions.
Leonard put the phone on loudspeaker after briefly speaking with the pale-faced man whose's name was Neil. Another voice jumped into the conversation. "Is Penny there, I have been trying to contact her."
Penny jumped in. "is that you agent Brennan."
"Yes, ma'am. We have the farm surrounded. If Sheldon is in there, he can't break out. Do we move in and get him?. How should we proceed, we are waiting for your orders. Brennan said.
"How did you find him?" Penny asked Brennan.
"We picked up his time stamp from an unknown source which was strange as Sheldon is good at hiding his tracks. We are not sure who sent it, but Neil thinks it might have been sent by Sheldon."
"Why would Sheldon not mask his time stamp, he knows he could be captured, it's strange, something is not right? Do you think it's a trap?'" Penny asked Leonard.
"It could be, but it makes sense to follow the lead though," Leonard replied.
Penny was convinced and spoke into the handset. "Brennan, make sure you take enough men to surround the farm. And send in the Special Forces, we are not taking any chances." Penny ordered.
"Yes, ma'am. I'm on it." Brennan replied.
"Who is in charge there, we don't want the local police sniffing around." Penny barked.
"I am. The police received a call about a break-in from the farmer at one of his barns. We've taken jurisdiction and send the police away. We got there just before them and taken control of the situation."
"Good job Brennan. Any visual of Sheldon." Penny asked.
"No sign of him yet, but he is definitely in the barn with three others. ma'am."
"You wait for me," Penny said. "Kill him if he tries to break out, but otherwise, keep out of sight and wait for me. I'll be with you in under half an hour." Penny ended the call.
Leonard and Penny climbed out of one of the vans. A big, rubbery-faced man greeted them. "He hasn't broken cover yet," Brennan said. "We've got them trapped. The whole farm is surrounded. This is Joe; he is in charge of the Special Forces."
"Nice to me you. Just where is he holed up?" Penny asked.
"This way," Joe said. The four of them walked across the field to the farmhouse. Penny noted with approval the circle of armed Special Forces men, well hidden, lying, automatic rifles in hand around the perimeter of the farm
"Careful how you go here, guys," Joe said, pausing at the corner of the house. He edged around the side of the house until they could see the farmyard. He pointed to the big barn some fifty yards away. "They are in there." Leonard studied the ground. The first thirty yards offered excellent cover, but the last twenty yards were bare and open. "Any idea if they are armed?" Leonard asked.
"No, sir." Joe replied, "But we are not taking any chances."
"They could do a hell of a lot of damage if they are. Still no sight of the Sheldon?" Leonard asked.
"No, sir." Joe returned.
"Can you get some of your men behind those two tractors and the truck, Brennan?" Penny asked.
"Sure, I would have got them there before, but Joe said to wait." He turned to the team leader of the special force and issued orders. "Did you get that." Joe nodded. "Tell your men only to use force if necessary," Brennan said. "If Sheldon is in there we can't take any chances; we want him dead or alive."
"I understand," Joe said.
Sheldon stirs, and he raised himself up on his arm muttering nothing to himself as he slowly came awake. He could tell it was morning from the ray of the sun penetrating through tiny cracks in the barn. Sheldon estimated it was probably around 11.00am. His Vulcan hearing picking up a distant sound came to him only half-consciously. Sheldon watched the armed men who were guiding him they looked at each other and then at him. Sheldon's eyes widen, and he shrank back.
"Don't make a noise!" Hector snarled. "This is what happens when you play games with Larry. Tell us where you hid the time machine and we will let you live. You've taken us on a wild goose chase for the last time. You are lucky I didn't kill you last night when we found this dump empty." Hector angrily said.
Sheldon remained motionless, staring at him. Out of the three men that were guarding him, Hector scarred him the most. He was built like a tank and had a long scar across his face. No doubt he had been in many squabbles. As the noise of the sound grew louder and louder, the man heart suddenly gave a lurch. They realized the significance of the sound.
Hector scrambled to his feet, pulled aside the truss of straw and lifted the trap door. He alerted the other two who joined him. Hector paused to motion to the Sheldon to stay where he was, then he slid down the ladder, ran across to the door and peered out. He was in time to see four vans settling down in the field at the back of the farmhouse. He knew immediately their hiding place had been discovered and his gun jumped into his hand. He closed the barn door and dropped the heavy bar into its slot. Through a chink in the door, he peered out into the farmyard. It wasn't a well-kept farm, and there was much litter, two old tractors, a farm car and a big truck cluttering up the place: all of which afforded good cover for anyone approaching the barn. Suddenly he saw a man made a quick, silent dash from the truck to one of the tractors. He moved so fast Hector had no time to get his gun up, there was nothing else he could do. This was the end of his road.
From behind the shelter of the farmhouse, four Special Forces crept out of the cover of the farmhouse. They dropped flat and began to crawl towards the tractors and the truck.
Shaking and sweating, Hector saw them as they crawled out into the open. The automatic rifles and sheer number of men turned him sick with panic. He lifted his gun and tried to get one of the men in his sights, but the gun seemed to be jumping in his hands
Snarling with frustrated, fear and fury, he fired blindly. He saw the dust kick up about a yard from the nearest man who jumped up, and with two quick strides was behind the truck and out of sight. The other men, also moving with speed, reached their objectives and vanished. There was now silence outside. Hector and the other two men were, standing by the door, sweating and shaking. Hector saw two men coming towards them behind a cart. He staggered to his feet, grabbed his gun. In a frenzy of panic and despair, Hector opened up the bar holding the door in place and ran out. Firing blindly at the advancing cart, standing in the hot sunshine, his face ghastly with terror. Two machine guns opened up. Blood suddenly appeared on his dirty shirt. His gun fell from his hand. The guns stopped as abruptly as they had started. Leonard and Penny watched him slowly collapse. His legs thrashed for a long moment, jerkily and convulsively. His clawed at the dry dust, then he stiffened and went limp. The two accomplice dropped their guns and came out of the barn with raised hands in the air, and surrendered. They were quickly appended. Leonard knew before he reached Hector that he was dead. He stopped by him for a brief moment. The yellow eyes looked sightlessly up at him. The fat, white, upturned face seemed defenceless and bewildered. The loose mouth hung open. Leonard turned away with a grunt of disgust. "That's the end of him," Penny said, "and good riddance." Leonard and Penny recognized him as the shooter on the roof from his distinctive jacket.
"Yeah," Leonard added. He drew in a deep breath, then walked towards the barn.
Sheldon had come down from the loft. The two short bursts of machine-gun fire had told him that Hector might be dead. Now, hopelessly, he moved into the darkest part of the barn and sat down on an upturned barrel. He could hear men's voices outside, and he flinched from the sound. He dreaded the fast approaching moment when he would have to go out into the hot sunlight and face the curious, staring eyes of the task force.
For some moments Leonard gun raised, he didn't see Sheldon. Leonard stood in the barn doorway, looking around, and it wasn't until his eyes became accustomed to the shadowy dimness that he did see him. He quickly realized by the tense way he was sitting, how bad this moment must be for him. He put his gun away. Leonard moved into the barn and paused when he was some yards from Sheldon. "Hello," Leonard said casually and quietly, "You need to come with me."