Chapter Twenty.
Wesker stood over the body of a dead researcher. His job had been to grunt work for those who were smarter than him and his loss could easily be spared.
His death hadn't been quick. He was missing an arm and patches of flesh from his face, but in the end he had succumbed to a crushed skull. Wesker was reminded why he wore black much of the time; it didn't show stains.
With his anger dulled, he turned around to face Krauser who was sitting at the conference table with his arms crossed over his chest. He was looking at Wesker with no expression, but Wesker knew the urge to say "I told you so" was great in the other man.
Krauser had enough tact not to say those words. "Well," Wesker said. "Now it seems we have some preparations to make."
"You were right. They'll either come here or they'll try and run. My guess, knowing them, is that they'll be on there way here once they form a plan of attack," Krauser said.
Wesker rubbed his chin, using the hand that didn't have blood on its fingers. Mounting a defense of the facility was a straightforward task. There was the one elevator to the surface and then a long, narrow disposal tunnel that emptied out into a quarry a mile off. The actual facility was made up of long hallways, wide open rooms, elevators and stairwells. There was also the obstacle course Isaacs had created to test Alice clones.
"I've done some added research on our vampire friend," Wesker said. "The nature of her abilities is such that we have no way of keeping her out. Even if I believed in that bunk about holy water, Communion wafers, and crucifixes, we don't have enough, or any of it really, to cover all her possible entry points. She could get down here and open the doors or kill our personnel all too easily."
Krauser was smiling. He drew his long knife and began cleaning his fingernails with the blade. "None of that makes any difference," he said. "Not if we do things my way."
"And that way is?"
"Simple, we don't lock ourselves down here and try to keep them out. We let them in. This is our turf and we have them outnumbered and outgunned. We'll let them come down here, get over-confident, and then we'll crush them."
Nodding, Wesker sat down at the table across from Krauser. He hadn't cared much for the "My way" comment. Krauser needed to be reigned in. "That's a good plan," he said. "But we can improve on it. Victoria, if we allow her down here, can cause quite a bit of damage. In addition to luring them down here into a trap, perhaps it would be best if we went on the offense and thinned their ranks a bit. Don't you agree?"
"We'd be spreading ourselves thin," he said. "And tipping our hand."
"I was thinking we should send you, with some light backup, to harass them. At best, you kill Victoria or at least one of the others, and come back making them think they've seen the limit of our strength. It would take some of the starch out from their assault at any rate."
Sheathing his knife, Krauser crossed his arms again. He had fixed Wesker with a look he didn't like any better than his tone, but finally began laughing. "For a minute there, I thought you were telling me I'm expendable," he said. "I'd love to get some action. I'll do that while you prepare things down here."
He stood up and headed towards the door. "Who should I bring for backup?"
"Try experiment 42B. If Isaacs gives you trouble, loosen some of his teeth," Wesker said.
"Experiment 42B," Wesker said, opening the door. "Ha. Easy on the eyes at least."
***
"By all means, take them," Isaacs said, standing in front of a console beneath a two way mirror. "We're done running trials, as we don't have many more clones to spare. With the original close at hand, there's no need for them."
Krauser looked into the mirror at the white room beyond. It was lit by harsh white bulbs, making the floor, walls, and ceiling ill-defined except for the one at the back with a bench on it. Sitting on the bench were six identical naked women. They were thin, with small breasts and dirty blond hair. They sat upright with blank expressions on their faces and an emptiness of their blue eyes. "They look like drones," Krauser said.
"Their other instincts should kick in once you start giving them orders," Isaacs said. "Although I don't know what will happen if the confront the original. Their psychic abilities are all dulled, but if they come into contact with the Alice then…"
He was shoved by Krauser away from the door. "Yeah, yeah," he said. "They're cannon fodder."
Walking through a small decontamination chamber, Krauser entered the room with the six women. "Atten-SHUN," Krauser said. All six women stood up with their heads straight and arms down to their sides. "Can you understand me?"
"Yes, sir," they said in unison.
"Excellent," Krauser. "Get you asses down to the armory double time and equip yourselves for long range combat. I'll brief you further at thirteen-hundred hours."
The clones filed quickly past Krauser and out of the room. Already they seemed more alert than before and Krauser wondered if their mission might not see a bit of success. He would survive, of course, but he wondered if any of the clones would.
To be continued…