RETURNING HOME

Chapter 8

The Break In

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As George, Barbara, and Annie Mack were put into a holding cell the saw the unconscious form of Ray being carried further down the hall. Annie tried to push past the guards to get to Ray, but it proved to be a useless gesture as one of the guars pushed her back into the cell with a nightstick. George rushed over to his daughter to make sure she was alright and in a fit of anger lunged at the guard that had pushed Annie. The guard was faster that George and tazed him before he made contact. Barbara knelt next to her husband and once she was satisfied she glared up at the guard, "What the hell do you people want from us?" she shouted.

Thomson stepped out from behind the larger of the two guards, "At the moment Mrs. Mack I want information, and if you cooperate with us I assure you, you will not be harmed." He looked over at Annie, "Now if you would be so kind Dr. Mack, I could certainly use the decryption protocols for the drives containing the information of the compound GC-161."

"And what exactly do you plan to do with it?" She practically spat at him.

"I'm afraid that's really none of your concern", he replied.

"He's going to turn it into a weapon", George said beginning to regain his faculties from being tazed.

"Now, now George, making assumptions like that can be detrimental to your health."

"But you didn't say he was wrong", Annie replied coldly,"And what do you plan to do with Ray?"

Thomson smiled cordially, "Mr. Alvarado has been volunteered to help us when we get to the critical stage of development."

"You can't be serious", George said struggling to his feet, "You're going to dose him?"

"I thought we had already had a talk about making assumptions", Thomson replied seriously.

"You son of a bitch", Annie snapped.

"Flattery will get you nowhere", Thomson replied sarcastically, "The decryption key on the other hand."

"Go to hell", she seethed back at him.

"There's no need to get upset, just give me the key."

"Didn't you hear me asshole", she began shouting, "I said fuck you!"

Thomson slapped her across the face and when she turned to look at him, he began to speak, "Come young Dr. Mack, it doesn't suite someone of your academic achievements to use such language. I'll make this easy for you, if you don't give me the key; I'll have your precious Ray killed right now."

Annie stepped back and gasped, "You wouldn't."

"Alright", George said, "We'll give you the key."

"Glad you see things from my point of view", Thomson said with a slight smile.

"You hurt him and Alex will kill you", Annie said with venom dripping from her voice.

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Alex sighed as she complete her third round looking for a quiet way into the compound. It seemed that everywhere she looked the entrances seemed to be sealed by airlock. It frustrated her to no end that with all her abilities she couldn't do something as simple as slip quietly inside a building. After a few more minutes she decided that the only way to get in was to hitch a ride with another person. She morphed and quietly slid into a container by the loading dock. Just like she planned within a couple minutes the container with her inside was carried into the facility. When she slid out of the container what she saw could only be described as frightening; there were chemicals of every type and more equipment than she had ever had to use is school. "They're going to make GC-161", she thought to herself trying to slip in-between crates and tables. She saw a door on the far wall that led into the rest of the installation, but it was guarded. She crept up behind the closest person she could find, and with a very controlled jolt to his spine sent him into unconsciousness. She took his ID badge and morphed to assume his form. As casually as she could, she walked to the door leading to the rest of the installation and swiped the badge against the keypad on the door. Obediently the door unlocked and admitted her into the interior. Silently she crept through the corridors hoping she would be able to maintain this shape long enough to find her family.

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Thomson left the Macks in their cell and headed to his own office for some peace and quiet after that stressful encounter with the oldest of the Mack children. He entered his office to find his boss occupying his desk.

"Come in Doctor", he said to Thomson.

"Director, what an unexpected surprise, what can I do for you?"

"Nothing", came the reply,"I'm just here to supervise the final stages of this project."

"Well, we decrypted the drives and are now creating the compound for ourselves."

"I'm aware", The Director replied, "You've done a good job here, but there is still one loose end to tie up."

"Dr. Alexandra Mack", Thomson replied.

"Yes, she is a security risk and secrecy must be maintained."

Thomson sighed as he looked at his employer, "I have reviewed her personality profile and it is actually most likely that she will attempt to rescue her family before going to any authorities."

"And what is your contingency for that?"

Thomson pulled a gun out of his pocket that looked more like a toy than a real weapon. "This gun emits an electro-static charge which will temporarily stun the central nervous system. It won't do any permanent damage and her autonomic function will stay stable, but it will disable her."

"Impressive" The Director told him, "May I see the prisoners?"

"Absolutely sir, right this way."

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Ray groaned as he began to regain consciousness, and tried to sit up only to realize he was strapped down on some sort of medical table. Taking in his surrounding he saw that he was in a small room with one door and a glass observation window. Last thing he remembered was waking up in a van that held the Mack family, minus Alex. He struggled against his restraints for a minute until he was sufficiently sure he couldn't break them. Ray laid his head back as the door to his room opened and two men walked in. He looked up at them and was instantly overcome with anger.

What have you done with Alex? He demanded, "If you hurt her I swear to God I will kill you!"

"Goodnight Mr. Alvarado", Thomson said as he presses a button.

Ray was struggling but soon found his world spinning and he was once again enveloped by darkness.

"Quite a spirit on this one", The Director stated looking down on the now unconscious form of Ray.

"Yes, but he should do quite nicely for the test", Thomson replied satisfied with himself.

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Alex had spent the last thirty minutes looking for her family, with no success. This place was huge and she was unable to get into certain areas with the clearance level on the badge she had stolen. She saw a short man with glasses walk out of one of the restricted areas and head down the hall. Silently she crept up behind him and as soon as he was out of sight of anyone else, she zapped him, took his badge, and changed forms yet again. She knew she was getting tired and had to struggle to keep her shape as she entered the door hoping it would be the right one. After another twenty minutes and several doors, she finally came across the holding cells. She allowed herself to morph back to her normal form and leaned briefly against a wall to recuperate. Once she felt a little better she began making her way to the different cells until she came up to the one wither family in it.

"Mom, Dad, Annie", she said as she saw them.

"Alex", her father said, "You shouldn't be here."

"I know", she replied, "But I had to help you."

"Alex", Annie said looking up, "They took Ray somewhere else, and they're going to dose him with GC-161."

Alex visibly paled at the though and then gasped when he saw that Annie had a black eye, "What did they do to you?"

"That Thomson guy hit me, but I'm fine. Get us out of here so we can find Ray."

Alex was about to try the keycard in the cell locking mechanism when she felt a sharp pain in her back. She tried to turn around, but her head began to swim and she collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"That was easier than I thought", Thomson said.

"Good work", replied his boss.

"And just who the hell are you?" George asked seething with rage over what had just happened to his daughter.

"You can call me", the man seemed to pause and debate his next words, "Smith."

Thomson turned around as a couple of men entered the area. "Take Dr. Mack to exam room three and make sure she's secured.

"Where are you taking here", the entire Mack family demanded at once.

"Observations and tests", Smith answered as he turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

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A/N: I know it's a short chapter but I'm using it to build for the next one. Get ready only two more to go.