Part Four

"OK." Seeley scrubbed his hands across his face, looking suddenly tired. "We're in trouble." He sat down at the computer, staring at the aeroplane conversion instructions without reading them. "CCTV caught us on the base, our army records will identify us and we don't live so very far away. How long do you reckon we've got to tell someone about this before the MPs arrive?"

"I'm surprised we can't hear boots in the hallway already." MacGyver glanced at his watch. "They'll certainly join up all the dots tonight." He turned, pacing the length of the room. "We can't tell the police because that means admitting we were trespassing on an army base, and then they'd arrest us."

"Maybe not." Seeley spun his computer chair around to face MacGyver. "If I'm right about the weird security on the file, and if Steve's right about his CO running scared about the project, maybe the last thing Atlas or camp Parks will want is this getting out!"

"You mean if this is an under-the-table deal, and Camp Parks have no idea what's going on." MacGyver nodded. "That fits. Strong-arming someone at Camp Parks to push this through without going through proper channels is just their style, and the army would never want to admit that this had been going on right under their noses!"

"Atlas have plenty of juice if they've got a base CO in their pockets." Seeley frowned. "I don't like any of this."

"What's to like?" MacGyver paced again, stepping over Mozart. "Let's say we're right. Or Camp Parks never report his because only their inside man ever knows about the break in. What happens next?"

"Their inside man reports back, sending our photos to his superiors at Atlas." Seeley shrugged. "It's what I'd do."

"Right. The Atlas send someone to make sure we don't tell anyone else what they're up to." MacGyver sighed. "Seeley, I –"

"Don't." Seeley shook his head. "You were about to apologise for dragging me into this. Don't." he turned back to the computer. "I say we tell Pete. He practically told you he knew what we were going to do, and if it was him, you know he'd have done the same."

"Yeah, I know." MacGyver nodded, his face grim. "Let's make a copy of that, just in case. That way, if something happens to us, at least someone else knows."

They spent the rest of the evening copying the files onto Seeley's computer. MacGyver printed out a copy and mailed it to Hines in San Francisco, with a note explaining that the contents of the envelope were very hot property indeed. Seeley checked through the other files, finding a number of secret projects but nothing else that looked Atlas related. The name 'Carmichael' came up on a few of the files, including the aeroplane schematics, but they were unable to trace it any further.

"We have to find a way to slow Atlas down." Seeley stretched, leaning back in his chair. "We can't tell the police and Pete won't be able to go public with something that can't be associated with Phoenix. What can we do?"

"We need to find a way to name and shame Atlas publicly, but without it getting back to us." MacGyver stared at the ceiling, stretched out on the couch with Mozart asleep on his chest.

"Who'd believe us? It sounds like one of those wild stories you'd read In the National Enquirer. My daughter loves those sleazy tabloids, tells me all manner of far-fetched garbage she reads in those things." Seeley shook his head.

"Supermarket tabloids!" MacGyver sat upright, dislodging the cat. "Actually, that's a really good idea!" He jumped up off the couch, grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.

"Where did you go last night?" Seeley watched MacGyver hang up his jacket and cross to his desk. "I was just starting to think something might have happened to you when you finally called."

"No, I'm fine." MacGyver put a newspaper and the portable drive on the desk. "Sorry if I worried you."

"No problem." Seeley narrowed his eyes. "So, where were you?"

"Calling in a favour." MacGyver grinned, then turned as Helen called his name.

"Mr. Thornton would like you to drop in when you have a moment." Helen smiled. "Morning, Seeley. MacGyver, he said it wasn't urgent, but he looked worried, so…"

"No problem, Helen. Tell him I'm on my way, OK?" MacGyver stood up, picking up the paper and the drive. "Here goes!"

"So, there you have it, Pete." MacGyver placed the newspaper and drive on Pete's desk and held up his hands. "We think we know what Atlas is up to, and we have a name, but we can't use any of it to stop them."

"Because it's tainted evidence, right." Pete drummed his fingers on his desk. "You and Seeley took a big risk, you know." He held up a hand, hearing MacGyver 's intake of breath. "Mac, I know Seeley was in on this too. Have you briefed him on how much he needs to increase his own security measures?"

"I have." MacGyver nodded. "Though I don't know how much good it will do. Potentially we're both in the firing line now, and they have our faces on camera. Seeley's friend has put in for a transfer off the base, and he told us Camp Parks' security doesn't include CCTV, so we have to assume the camera could have been put in by Atlas as extra security for their project."

"Hmm." Pete frowned. "We need to find a way to slow them down long enough to get some evidence we can pass on to the police. Something obtained legally that they can use to arrest this Carmichael character." He paused. "That name sounds familiar, as though I've heard it somewhere before..."

"It could be a company name – Carmichael doesn't have to be a person." MacGyver stood up. "as for slowing Atlas down, I've managed to arrange a little unwanted publicity. They seem to like lurking in the shadows, so I hope this will help." He put the newspaper into Pete's hands." He left, stopping to ask Helen to step in and help Pete with the newspaper.

"I assume you're responsible for this!" Nikki held up the newspaper that she, Seeley and Willis were crowded around. MacGyver grinned, crossing the break room and helping himself to a drink from the water cooler.

"Superbugs In The Sun! Secret Nazi Death Gang Hard At Work In California!" Nikki read the headline, glanced at the diagram printed underneath and then looked at MacGyver over the top of the newspaper. MacGyver shrugged, grinning.

"It seemed like the best way to go public with this. Millions of people read them, and the conspiracy theorists are going to go nuts. Hopefully Atlas will have to lay low for a while, giving us time to find a way to shut them down for good." He took a sip of the water.

"How…?" Seeley shook his head, confused.

"You're not the only one with friends in low places!" MacGyver saluted him with the paper cup and walked back to his office, feeling happier than he had done for a while.

Across town, a shadowy figure stood at the window of a luxurious corner office. Silhouetted against the bright sky, he looked across Los Angeles at a building glittering in the sun. the building was a modern one, glass and steel and mounted on a central column. The figure drew on a cigarette, holding the smoke in before blowing it out to curl against the windowpane.

Behind him, a computer hummed. On the screen was a grainy image – a CCTV photo of two men. One was turning away, his profile blurred as he moved, the other looked full at the camera, his face clear.

The shadowy figure took another drag on his cigarette. As he exhaled, one word hissed out in the cloud of smoke:

"MacGyver."