Gradually, Oscar felt his body returning to him. At least, he could tell where his hands and feet were, although he still couldn't move them. A security guard from the facility staggered through the doorway above and looked down at the helpless MI9 agents and the opened storage container. He swore and staggered back out. After a minute, Edward and the others managed to pull themselves into a seated position. "So, that went well," said Edward.
"Edward ! Are you alright ?" asked Rose, obviously very relieved to hear their voices.
"Yes Rose. I'm sorry, we were knocked out. Well, not exactly knocked out, just sort of immobilised," explained Edward. "I wish I knew how. Rose, you've got work to do," he said grimly. "We're bringing you some gas samples to analyse." He nodded to Oscar and Illya who started trying to scrape up any residue of the gas with sticky tape.
As soon as Edward's team had left the base, Rose had begun researching the old mine tunnels, trying to find some access point for the rest of the team. She directed them to an area on the other side of a small hill from where the main entrance was. "There's an old mine entrance marked although it's shown as 'disused'," she told the team. "It may have been closed off to stop people going in."
"It's worth a shot," said Frank. Frank, Aneisha, Carrie and Tom met up at the coordinates given to them by Rose. Carrie had arrived first. Frank decided she must have run there to arrive so quickly. Carrie had never liked hanging around. There was a depression in the ground ahead of them. Carrie had been scanning with her spy-pod.
"All I'm getting is rock," she complained.
"Oh, let me try," said Tom. He pulled a bulky piece of kit out of his pocket. "I've brought some ground penetrating radar," he said.
"Of course you have," said Aneisha. "You must take it with you everywhere !"
"No !" said Tom, trying to retain some dignity as Carrie giggled. "I brought it because I knew we were going to be investigating tunnels. Would you like me to use it or not ?" he asked.
"Yes please Tom. Only joking," said Aneisha, patting him on the shoulder. Tom like the feeling of Aneisha's hand on his shoulder, and this made him blush slightly. Carrie noticed and took note, but didn't say anything. Clearly there was more than one budding romance going on in this team. She thought back to her days in MI High, but remembered her relationship with Oscar more as a friendship type of thing. It was a shame, because he was pretty hot. Now it was Frank's turn to notice Carrie's blushes and wonder what on earth was getting into her.
"OK," said Tom, after he had waved his odd looking box at the pile of stones in front of them. "There appears to be a cavity behind those rocks. If we are able to move the rocks, we should be able to get access to a tunnel. How are we going to move them Frank ?" he asked.
Frank was rubbing his chin. "Well, we can't blast them out without attracting attention. We'd need heavy lifting equipment to move them manually and I can't see us getting that into the area without attracting attention either. The honest answer Tom, is I don't know," said Frank, sounding frustrated. "Rose, have you got any ideas ?" Frank asked.
"What type of rock is it ?" asked Rose.
"Hm, granite, quartz and some mineral ore I think," said Frank.
"You could try sulphuric acid," suggested Rose. "That would corrode the granite."
"It combines with the metal elements in the rock and makes it disintegrate," added Tom. "I'm not sure how much we would need though."
"Where are we going to get it from ?" asked Frank.
"We could parachute it in," suggested Rose.
"Are you seriously suggesting dropping drums of sulphuric acid from a plane ?" asked Tom.
"Hm. Maybe not," said Rose. "You could make some. You could get some car battery acid and concentrate it."
"It might be quicker to drive some up here," said Tom. "We'd have to find some car batteries and the kit to heat it safely and then some glass containers. It could take all day to do that and from where I'm standing I can't see a single house let alone a car garage."
"Good point," said Rose. "I'll see what I can arrange at this end. Hang on a minute," she said before falling silent.
Some time later Rose came back on line. "OK, here's what we're going to do. MI9 are sourcing some concentrated sulphuric acid for you. They are also getting the necessary breathing apparatus and other safety equipment and tools to handle the rocks once they are weakened. The stuff is all going to be shipped up the coast in a mini-submarine. It should be with you in about six hours."
"Six hours !" complained Frank. "It's going to be dark by the time it arrives."
"I know. Stella is suggesting that it might be easier to break in under the cover of darkness anyway," said Rose. "I'm sorry Frank, but getting sulphuric acid to you safely isn't going to be easy. You could try blasting your way in," she suggested.
"That could just collapse the tunnel and we'd attract so much attention that Dan and Zoe could just be killed or moved," said Frank, sounding defeated. "All right Rose. I think it's the only option open to us at the moment. Have you heard anything from Edward and the others ?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm afraid it hasn't gone well," reported Rose. "KORPS managed to send everyone at the missile storage base into some kind of paralysis and they were able to steal a warhead. Zoe was with them."
"Are the team OK ?" asked Frank, alarmed.
"Yes, they've all recovered now," Rose assured him. "Edward's hopping mad though. They're on their way back with some samples of the latest gas and a prisoner. I'll let you know what we find out. Oscar may be back in time to drive the mini-sub up there. You may as well get some rest while you can," she added. "Oh and Stella's on the case now. Since KORPS now have the nuclear warhead this has become MI9's top priority mission. She's going to interrogate the captured KORPS agent."
When Rose had signed off, Frank looked round at the others. Tom and Aneisha were looking frustrated. "Is there really nothing we can do ?" asked Aneisha.
"Not without getting someone killed," said Carrie. "That's not what we're here for is it ?"
Frank was surprise to hear Carrie talk like this. When she worked for MI High she was always the first to want action. She had obviously matured a lot since working in the adult division of MI9. Carrie noticed him looking at her and she gave him a small smile.
"Never thought you'd hear me say that Frank ?" she said teasingly.
Frank smile back at her. "You've all changed a lot," he said. "Not in any of the important things of course," he added. "Come on. Let's get to our base and get something to eat. We're not going to save anyone on an empty stomach."
Reluctantly Tom and Aneisha followed him back over the heather and scrub covering the local landscape. Carrie talked quietly to them, trying to keep their spirits up.
Back a base, Rose was dealing with a deeply frustrated Edward and some rather tacky gas samples. "I don't know how it got through the gas masks," huffed Edward. "We were all wearing standard issue masks. It shouldn't have got through."
"OK, why don't you help Oscar and Ilya with the sulphuric acid and equipment for Frank while I get on with the gas analysis," suggested Rose, hoping to get Edward out of her hair so she could concentrate. Edward wasn't fooled for a minute, but understood the logic behind her suggestion.
"OK, I'll go and help the boys. I think Frank is going to need a lot more hands to the job up at the KORPS base anyway. You OK here on your own ?" Edward asked Rose. Rose just nodded absentmindedly from her analysis bench. He left her to get on with it in peace.