Keeper of the Truth
Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.
Chapter 12
Damn!
Murdock was halfway asleep when he felt the urgent need to visit the latrine. The bottled water Aaron had given him did its work.
Going to relieve himself meant having to remove the headphones and turn off the recorder until he returned.
As he swung his legs over the side of the bunk, he noticed one of the Brothers looking at him. The man's eyes twinkled with a natural friendliness as he smiled. No one else was in the room with him. He held a needle and thread in one hand. A green robe lay across his lap.
Murdock smiled back and nodded, then stood and strolled to the door. He couldn't be sure but the hairs rising on the back of his neck warned him that he was being watched.
Well, they gotta make sure I ain' runnin' off at the mouth 'n' ruinin' my orientation t' the Keepers.
He shrugged it off. Maybe the Brother was just curious about him. And he seemed to be very busy mending robes. It was probably a boring job. It made Murdock curious as to what jobs he would be selected to do to provide for the needs of the community.
As soon as he thought that, a small voice in his mind said, But you ain' s'posed t' be lookin' t' b'come a workin' member o' this group. B'sides, it don' look like one o' their greatest needs is someone t' fly 'em anywhere.
It was Billy. Now that the headphones were off and the tape recorded message was silenced, he noticed he could hear Billy more clearly.
Stepping out of the bunkhouse, Murdock blinked at the realization that most of the day had gone by. He hadn't gathered any intel for Hannibal and the guys and the sun was low in the sky.
Maybe if I preten' I got lost tryin' t' find the latrine. Yeah . . . they can't fault me for not knowin' my way 'round here . . .
He sauntered toward what he judged was the perimeter of the compound, committing to memory the location of each building and what he assumed its purpose was. Two women working side by side in the community garden paused in their labors to watch him approach. The youngest . . . Murdock judged her to be in her early 20's and not bad-looking . . . smiled as she scanned him from the row of green beans she was weeding.
Her analyzing look made Murdock feel a little uncomfortable . . . like he was being rated on a scale of one to ten as a possible husband. But he had Dani . . . but what if the Keepers didn't allow their members to choose their spouses for themselves? No matter how pretty and nice the young woman might be, he knew he couldn't live without Dani by his side.
"Back to work, Rachel," the older woman hissed.
He noticed how reluctantly Rachel returned her attention to her work after one more lingering gaze at his face.
He decided to skim the outer boundary of the compound along the fence line. After walking several feet alongside the high chain link fence, he noted a place at the bottom where the fencing was pushed outward like someone had tried to squirm underneath to escape. He nudged the chain link with the toe of his shoe. The fencing seemed flexible enough.
This'd be a good place for the guys t' . . .
His thought was interrupted by the sound of a bell clanging somewhere toward the center of the compound. He took one last look at the gap under the fence, noted how steep the climb up the mountain would be at that point and gazed up at the sky to see the sun's position so he could give the guys good intel about the possible entry point.
Rachel and her work partner passed by him as he made his way to the latrine. She smiled at Murdock again and then hurried to catch up to the other woman.
He was glad to see that the latrine seemed unoccupied. Before going in, he glanced around. Brother Amos strode purposefully across the compound, small puffs of dust rising from each footstep. He seemed to have come from a building a few yards from the escape route Murdock found.
For a moment, the pilot wondered if Brother Amos had seen him stray to the chain link fence and examine it.
But if he did, wouldn' he o' got some o' his 'Brothers' t'gether t' question me?
Murdock decided Amos hadn't seen anything. He didn't know what the ringing bell meant . . . some call to assembly, he guessed . . . It didn't seem to have anything to do with him.
Slightly reassured he had not been found out, the pilot unzipped his pants and let them fall around his ankles. Just in case someone entered the building he didn't want them to get suspicious of his reasons for being there.
He was about to remove his glasses so he could mutter into the transmitter and avoid having to speak loud enough to be heard when the door opened. The last of the sun's rays slanted in through the small gap.
His stomach did a flip-flop.
Maybe Brother Amos's gonna have me hauled up in front o' the group for bein' too nosy. Hope they let me pull up my pants first.
"Merle?" Someone whispered his assumed name and slipped in, shutting the door behind him.
The person clicked on a penlight, illuminating his face. The pilot let out a soft sigh of relief.
"Aaron? What're you doin' here? Ain'tcha s'posed t' be at that meetin' . . . whatever it's for?"
"Only the grownups go to the special assemblies. They won't miss me 'til the meeting's over." The kid glanced nervously at the latrine door. "I saw you over at the fence."
For a few seconds Murdock debated whether or not to say he had gotten lost. The kid said he was a friend, hadn't he? And didn't he want to escape this cult as badly as Murdock wanted to communicate his findings to the guys?
"My guys need t' know where the weak spots are t' be able t' get in here." He could see from Aaron's expression he didn't know how the older man was going to pass along that information. "That was a weak spot."
"I know," the kid murmured. "I've been working on that escape route since my Dad disappeared. It's a long ways down from there but I was gonna try it . . . until you came." When he saw the older man frown, he hurriedly added, "I did it late at night when everyone else was sleeping. I was very careful."
"That ain' the only reason ya came t' talk t' me, is it." The pilot waited for the answer while the kid fidgeted.
After a few seconds of squirming and silence, Aaron glared into Murdock's eyes and hissed, "I thought you'd been brainwashed like everyone else around here. I had to make sure you weren't. It took you long enough to decide to go to the bathroom. Then I saw you find that gap under the fence and I . . . " The kid gulped. "I had to know if you were gonna tell Brother Amos."
Murdock nodded absently. The truth was, he knew how close the voice on the tape had come to seducing him into surrendering everything he possessed to the Keepers. Ratting Aaron out was not too far from being possible.
He swallowed heavily, thinking of that, before speaking again. "Look, Aaron. I got a li'l transmitter hidden in my glasses 'n' I can tell my friends where t' aim for when they climb the mountain. It would help if they knew 'xactly where the fence's weak. Is there some way . . . ?"
Even before Murdock finished the question, Aaron answered. "I could put a yellow plastic grocery bag near that spot and make it look like it accidentally blew there. Would that help them?"
The kid seemed so excited to be a part of the plan that Murdock couldn't refuse. "I don' want ya t' take a chance o' bein' caught . . . but yeah, it'd help 'em a lot . . . jus' be careful when ya do it, okay?"
Aaron smiled and walked to the door. "I'll do it now. The grownups are still at the assembly. It'll be a piece of cake."
Murdock grimaced. Anytime Hannibal said those words, the mission turned out to be everything but easy.
"Jus' be really careful. If it looks like anyone's watchin', don' try it. Okay?" When Aaron didn't answer, he repeated, "Okay?"
"I'll be careful. Just tell your friends to look for the yellow marker." With that, the kid slipped out the door and left the pilot alone.
Murdock removed the glasses and held the spot where the transmitter was close to his mouth. He had to be very quiet when he relayed the information.
A sudden thought paralyzed him for a moment. I ain' got no way o' tellin' if the guys're still listenin'. What if they ain'? I took long 'nough t' get the info.
Then he chided himself for thinking that way. Jus' my paranoia workin' overtime. O' course they're waitin' for me t' contact 'em . . . I hope.
"Li'l Lost Sheep t' Big Gray Wolf. Hope ya hear me. Look for a yellow bag wrapped 'round the bottom o' the fence on the southwest side o' the mountain. That's your entry point. I repeat, that's yer target. There's a buildin' a few yards 'way that'll screen you once ya get under the fence."
He couldn't do any more than that. Replacing the glasses on his face and readying himself to go back to the barracks, he thought about the risk Aaron was taking. Had he done the right thing . . . getting the kid involved in the mission?
As he picked his way through the settling darkness, he got the uncomfortable feeling someone watched from the shadows. Dismissing the feeling as his own paranoia . . . everythin' 'bout this group's a li'l off . . . 'nough t' make anyone paranoid . . . he debated what he should do about the recording they had him listening to.
He couldn't stop without a damn good reason. And the Brother who was mending the robes . . . had he gone to the assembly or was he waiting for Murdock to get back to make sure he continued his programming?
When he entered the barracks he groaned silently to himself. The Brother looked up from his sewing and smiled. He watched Murdock lie back down and once again put the headphones over his ears and turn on the recording. Nodding his approval, the other man returned his attention to the robe in his hands.
As the hypnotic message began, Murdock wrestled with his mind, trying to keep it from being controlled.
oooooo
Amos narrowed his eyes at the retreating figure of the one who called himself Merle Somers. Had the man talked to the boy Aaron?
The kid was on his list of people to watch. It wasn't a long list but at the same time not everyone was here willingly. Sure, there were gullible fools like Brother Luke who accepted the tenets of Barger's religion wholeheartedly. They formed a majority.
And then there were those who saw through the property and money grabbing scam Amos and the other three Brothers set up.
Amos grinned. It was perfect. They had only to skim a little of the 'donated' money off the top. Barger didn't concern himself with the financial affairs of his group. He trusted Brother Amos to do that.
But those who questioned whether all of the resources new converts turned over were pooled into caring for the needs of the group . . . you couldn't make them conveniently disappear before there were questions about that as well. Some like Schreiker managed to escape. Not many but some. Others met with serious accidents that silenced them.
Amos continued to watch Murdock as he opened the door of the barracks and entered. This one was another to add to his list.