Chapter 11

As soon as Ethan and Benji had vanished through the tall glass doors, Luther came around the corner. He was wearing the dirty beige overalls of a workman, so nobody paid any particular attention to him. No one inside or outside looked at him as he stopped near the tall glass doors, neither as he set down and opened his toolbox, nor as he took out the blue can with the red straw and the yellow writing.

Like Benji had instructed, he shook the can well before he reached up to the door's hinges, using his toolbox as a step. The red straw fit nicely into the gap in the mechanics and for a moment Luther was wondering whether he didn't actually have a can of machine-oil, but there was only one way to find out. Carefully he started to press onto the top of the can, until thick, dirty-yellow liquid started to flow out, immediately starting to solidify. So Benji at least hadn't been wrong about his miracle stuff.

With the calm, professional air of someone who was doing what he was supposed to, Luther went on to the other three hinges of the tall double-doors. Once done, he gave the two wings a good push, but the once movable slabs of glass were now a solid barrier. With a satisfied smile, the technician packed up his toolbox and went on around the corner. "Main entrance sealed. One down, four to go."

"Great for you. At the current rate it will still be one hour and thirty-eight minutes until the data transfer is completed," Brandt replied not without a trace of sarcasm. With a sigh he went back to pacing up and down in the server room. "No word yet from the others."

"So if we lock up everyone in this building, how do we get out?" Skye asked, putting in the ear-piece Ethan had given her. While she had gotten rid of the last traces of duct-tape, the older agent had explained in a few short sentences, what was going on and what they were planning to do, only that the Dane hat gradually formed the idea that their plan was not so much a plan, but a compilation of corner-stones with a lot of gaps in between.

"We'll think of something," Ethan confirmed her suspicion and handed her a gun, which she tucked into her belt, hiding it under her shirt.

"I thought as much," Skye replied with an amused smile. "What about Benji?"

"Don't worry, most of that was paint and acting, and he's got everything he needs to get out," Ethan answered in the most convincing way he could muster, but the other agent was not convinced.

"Most of that?" she asked and couldn't help a bit of concern showing through.

"He'll be fine," Ethan added somewhat more reassuringly.

Not sure what to say, Skye decided to let the matter rest. Also she was distracted by the last item of equipment that the still masked man pulled out of his jacket. It looked like an ordinary oil can, however it could hardly be just that, or he wouldn't have brought it along. Still she gave it a doubtful look. "What is that?"

"It's some sort of new super-glue, Benji thought it might be useful. Just try not to get any of it onto you, we don't have anything to dissolve it yet," Ethan explained and she tucked it away in her pocket.

"So, what do we do now?"

"Now we'll get Brandt out of the server room," he said and took a deep breath before he went on. "And then, we'll see."

Skye raised her eyebrows, but she had already suspected most of this was going to work out in a 'take it as it comes'-scheme.

"You still have the key?" Ethan asked and she nodded. "Alright," he said activating his radio. "We're set. How are things going outside?"

"I've got the main entrance and the back-door sealed. About to start with the emergency exit from the upper levels," Luther reported almost immediately. He couldn't help ironically shaking his head when Brandt chimed in.

"And I'm still stuck in the basement, thanks."

"Any word from Benji yet?" Ethan decided to ignore the last comment.

"I thought he was supposed to be with you?" Luther asked back with only the slightest trace of surprise.

"We had to split up. I'm running with Skye now, but we'll proceed as planned from here," the other agent replied. "So he hasn't called in yet?"

"No, he hasn't," Brandt answered in turn, while calling up the hallway and elevator cameras. "And the basement seems to be clear, as far as I can see."

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

"This is going nowhere!" Although the woman in front of Benji had the same voice as Skye, it wasn't hard to tell that that voice was synthesized, for it was not only lacking the slight foreign quality her Danish upbringing added to her otherwise British accent, Lydia also managed to give it a shrill, high-pitched note, that made the agent's ears hurt. The fact that his ears were still practically drowned only added to the headache that was elicited by the sharp clicking of her heels on the polished linoleum, by now he was sure that his adversary was well aware of that effect and deliberately wore these shoes as a method of torture.

Still, Benjamin Dunn was pleased that so far he was able to disappoint her. He had been afraid that his fake injuries might wash off, when someone threw a bucket load of water over his head, but all that happened was that the most superficial layer of sticky, dark-red theater blood was distributed more evenly over his hair and face, which, after he had somehow managed not to cough, only aided him in playing his role as the unconscious captive. And now it seem his acting was finally paying off.

Another slap of a huge, strong hand hit him right on in the face, yet it was the sound of Lydia stomping, the plastic heel meeting the hard floor in a noise that made his mouth itch, which almost had him flinch. "That's enough!" Ferret's voice sounded dull through the water in his ears, although by now he was almost thankful that they were still flooded, for he had realized that without the distorting effect of the water the experience might well have been worse. "It seems he's not going to wake up any time soon, and I don't have the time to stand around and wait until he comes to. Let's see if Ian has come any further with this annoying little girl."

Benji was relieved when the sharp clicking finally moved away, accompanied by two sets of heavier steps, and ended with the clang of a door. For a moment he waited and listened, but as all stayed silent, he carefully opened his eyes, blinking against the sticky fake blood. He could not see much of the room with thick, wet strands falling into his face, but it was enough to ascertain that he was definitely alone. Swiftly he slipped his hands out of the tie that had been pretending to hold them behind his back and within seconds had managed to untie the rope that had been holding him on the chair.

While he was fetching his radio ear-piece out of his pocket with one hand, he rubbed the other one over his eyes, in an attempt to clear his view and his face, but apart from slicking back the few loose strands all he managed was to redden his sleeve. "Benji here, I'm free," he announced, once he had the small piece of electronics in the right place.

"You sure took your time, man," Luther voice promptly came back. "We were already getting worried."

The British agent snorted sarcastically. "Well, I didn't want to try to take on Lydia and two of her gorillas while being tied to a chair."

"Uhm, Ethan?" Benji's voice that was actually Brandt's still sounded weird in Skye's ears, especially with the American accent and was more than a little concerned. Without waiting for a response the analyst continued: "There's someone in the elevator, and they are coming down here."

"Go back?" Skye asked softly, shooting a glance back at the elevator doors that were by now half a corridor length away, then directing her questioning look at Ethan.

The older agent shook his head. "No time," he explained, breaking into a run. "We'll get to Brandt and hope we're fast enough so they don't see us."

"Only one question," Brandt replied, following their conversation. "If you're all in here with me, who will get us out? And they are almost in the basement, by the way."

"We'll think of something," Ethan replied as Skye threw him the skeleton key, then turned to cover him while he was opening the door, her drawn gun pointed towards the elevator.

"Why do I not find that reassuring?" Brandt muttered sarcastically, then louder and in a voice that was beyond desperation, added: "They are here."

In exactly that moment, the elevator doors opened, letting out Lydia and the two goons who had already been with her earlier. Skye only hesitated for a split second, but it was enough to effectively ruin the moment of surprise, which had been her only advantage.

Cursing, the agent scolded herself, it had been to be expected that their adversaries would be wearing masks, and ducked into the thin cover of the door-frame, as the sound of gunshots echoed through the hallway, accompanied by a shrill version of her own voice shouting orders. She managed to fire a couple of shots herself, and hit one of them twice, enough to take the man down, but by the time she could have adjusted her aim for the other, the goon was already upon her.

Changing her tactic, Skye drew back her weapon-hand, swinging the firearm at her opponent like a sledgehammer. Although the man was surprised by the woman jumping at him like a wild cat, he managed to mostly dodge that first blow, but not the almost as powerful backhand that returned like a boomerang and hit him square in the neck. Before he hit the floor, however, Skye pulled up her right knee, which sent the goon rolling, with a look on his face as if he was about to throw up.

Caught up in her fight, Skye almost missed the soft click that told of the opening door, and was somewhat surprised when she was suddenly pulled backwards. Not a second too late, for a bullet suddenly whizzed through the air exactly where she had been standing. She had completely forgotten about Lydia.

Just as that eerie copy of herself was about to come in, however, the door was thrown shut right in front of Skye, and the last thing she heard of her evil twin, was a soft, yet solid thud on the metal of the door.

"That was weird," a voice said from across the room. Skye tensed at the view of the man with Benji's face that looked somehow lopsided, as if he was wearing a second skin that had somehow lost its place. Which, of course, he was. It took her a moment to realize this was actually Brandt she was looking at.

"You don't say," she replied flatly and took a look around the room. It was dark, save for the dim light from monitors and diodes that illuminated the room in a ghostly electric blue glow. Behind her, Ethan was tearing down the leftovers of his mask, which had obviously been damaged in the fight.

"So, what now?" Brandt asked, also removing his lopsided cover. "Now that all of us are in here, who's going to open that door?"

"Now that all of us are in here, I think we can manage to get one of us out through the vent shaft," Ethan replied, looking up at the grid Brandt had come through earlier. Both of the other agents followed his look rather less enthusiastically.