Chapter 23 Wade's Home Alone
As usual, kudos and shouts to the Beta Team/sounding boards of Cajunbear73 and Sentinel103
Wade was scanning through the data coming over the link Ron had set up for him. He came upon a file marked High Priority. Going through it he found the schedule for a flat out assault against Dr. Director's base here in Middleton. It even laid out the fact that there was supposed to be a scouting mission against a base topside to gain entrance to the main base. That way they could open the doors from the inside and not waste time forcing the doors.
He broke into her secure comm channels and within seconds had the one-eyed visage Elizabeth Director glaring at him, "Dr. Load, I assume you have a good reason for hacking my terminal. Before I send Agents to take you into custody and I turn you over to your parents, you have thirty seconds to get my attention. Starting now!" She slapped a small timer on her desk and the second hand started moving.
"I need a couple of warrants against one of Gemini's bases about a hundred and fifty miles to the North of us. Exact coordinates to follow. So far I have two counts of kidnapping: names are Kimberly Ann Possible and Kaname Chidori. You can add in a few dozen counts of cyber-spying on your operations. I also have information that he's planning to hit your base in a few hours."
Slap. "You have my full attention, continue."
Wade laid out what had happened in the last few hours, only leaving out the fact that Sagara had agreed to work with him to change his status on the Team. Betty had a raised eyebrow at the fact the two young Agents had commandeered a hover-jet without informing her, but since she had given them exactly that sort of authority, she couldn't squawk too much.
When he finished, she said, "I'll scramble the base. It'll take a bit for us to secure the facilities for an assault, but I think we can be onsite there in about an hour. Could you pass the word to Sagara and Stoppable?"
"Consider it done, Load out."
Wade changed frequencies and sent the emergency signal to the Kimmunicators. Ron's voice sounded tinny because of the throat mics they were wearing, "Go Wade."
"Guys, I was snooping around the system and I found out some really bad news."
"Aww, man! What now?"
"It seems Gemini is getting ready to launch a major strike against the G.J. base here in town. It's set to go in about 3 hours, right at dusk. Something like 20 plus hover jets loaded with WWEE Troops."
Ding-ding, Ding-ding, Ding-ding, Ding-ding. Wade thought, 'Perimeter alarm?' Wade cycled through the images coming from the security cameras and saw a couple of squads of men in the distinctive magenta uniforms of WWEE. 'Topside base! That was here. They think they can bypass the security of the GJ tubes by sneaking into them here.'
"DAMN, call Dr. B and let her know. We'll see what we can do to throw a wrench in his plans from here."
Wade kept the tension out of his voice because he didn't want the other two to lose focus on what they were supposed to be doing. "I already let her know. She's scrambling Agents as we speak. They should be onsite in about an hour."
"Hopefully we'll have him shut down by then. We'll call you in a bit to let ya know."
"Alright, I'll contact you if anything else comes up. Wade out."
When Wade signed off with Ron, he brought up the audio as well as the visuals from the cameras. He heard them murmuring into some kind of commo headsets. He quickly brought up the sensors to try and intercept the signals. He flipped through the frequencies and found them using only a commercial grade encryption.
He had a quizzical look for a second. As he cracked the encryption he was thinking 'Idiots!'. Suddenly the signal was clear and he heard them talking to each other. "….alright. Now there's only one little geeky computer nerd inside. Gemini wants him captured before we drop through the tubes to the Geee…enemy base…."
Wade was muttering to himself the whole time, "Little geeky computer nerd, huh!" He cracked his knuckles and flexed his fingers. Working quickly, he disabled the exterior defenses. The spider didn't want the prey to escape before they were too deeply trapped in the web. Once the exterior defenses were down, he set the interior defenses to manual and sent the activation signal to the three BK's that remained in the garage.
"Haven't you idiots ever heard the saying, 'Better to disturb the lion in his den, rather than the scholar amongst his books.'. This is my house, Dammit!"
He lowered the lift they were stored on and had them move to the weapons locker and gather the non-lethal ordnance. Including the new additions to the arsenal he had thought up. When they were armed, Wade sent them to different positions in the garage where they could both cover each other and have nearly the entire garage in a crossfire.
"Grumble, grumble, Like Ron would say, it's time for a smack down in my town!"
Once the BK's were in position, Wade had them settle into a high stand-by. They wouldn't be nearly as effective unmanned as they would be with a pilot on board, but they would do just fine as semi mobile firing platforms. While he had the BK's arming themselves, he had Eleanor and the Sloth shifted to the top of the other two lifts to get them out of the lines of fire.
And just in case they got this far, Wade put on the Interceptor body armor Sousuke had fitted to him, pulled the Glock from the attached shoulder holster, checked the magazine and slapped it back home. He jacked a round into the chamber and returned it to the shoulder holster.
"Grumble, grumble, The Athenians were geeks and scholars, too. But they were also Warriors!" Doctor Wade Load hunkered down in front of the terminals and muttered, "Let's Rock!"
The trap was now set and the spider only had to wait for the prey to walk into it.
**********
Ding! An hour and three assault attempts later, the freight elevator doors opened and Doctor Wade Load strode into the garage to survey the carnage. He pulled his pistol out of the shoulder holster of his body armor and pointed it at the ground, finger outside the trigger well.
The enemy had tried to enter through the main ground floor entrances as well as the upper residential sections. But no matter what, since Wade had locked the elevator downstairs, they had been forced to try and secure the stairwell to the basement in order to get to the transport tube. This brought the enemy right into Wade's lines of fire.
Wade looked around and in a clear, ringing voice asked, "Does anybody else wanna play?….No?…..Then as a duly authorized Global Justice Reserve Agent, you're all under arrest for charges ranging from Breaking and Entering and Burglary to Attempted Kidnapping and Espionage, which since you were captured on American Soil, can carry the Death Penalty."
"You have the right to remain silent, You have the right to have an attorney present during questioning, If you can not afford one, one will be provided…." Wade continued reading the Miranda Right's to the prisoners with a very smug, self satisfied grin.
**********
It had taken a lot of fast talking on the part of both Kim and Sagara to calm Ron down before he leveled the rest of the WWEE base. Gemini's escape had him in an almost murderous fury. Kim knew that Sheldon Director had just elevated himself to the 'Top Five' of Ron's smack down countdown, surpassed only by Lord Montgomery Fiske, aka Monkey Fist and whoever was behind the Nazi threats to his family.
The Team had gathered the prisoners together and tied them up in the middle of the hangar. Sagara found the highest ranking individual, who turned out to be 'Agent Delta', and put him in charge of Prisoner Affairs.
Each of the merely bruised was hooked to a more severely injured man. Kim, Kaname and Sousuke had treated the injured as best they could, while Ron was working off his frustration by shredding all but one of the remaining hover-jets in front of the captured WWEE personnel. They clearly got the message that if they tried anything, Ron would stop shredding the hover-jets and start shredding prisoners.
The last, and least damaged of the aircraft, Kim had reserved for them to take home. She knew that it would be hours before G.J. would able to give them a ride. Using his experience with Arm Slaves, Sousuke started repairing the damage to the last hover-jet Ron had caused during his assault. With the help of Agent Delta, Sousuke tracked a couple of the Hangar techs and got them to check the repairs and refuel the craft from the surviving hydrogen stores.
Sousuke ensured their cooperation by telling them, very quietly and deadpan, "My teammate over there," he pointed at Ron hacking away at one of the hover-jets across the hangar, "would most likely survive any crash we would be involved in. And he would also most likely blame you for said crash. He holds a very high clearance within the organization that will be taking you into custody. If you do not wish him to pay you a visit in the holding cells, you should insure this craft is completely airworthy." They fell to it with a will. By the time they took off back to Middleton, they were flying one of the best running hover-jets in the WWEE inventory.
They called Wade when they were airborne and let him know they were on the way. The Team had a few tense moments when Wade took a few minutes answering. Especially since he didn't give them the "All Clear" signal. Instead they got "Everything's under control here, so land on the roof. But be on your guard when you come in." Kim poured on the speed.
**********
"I called G.J., they should have prisoner transport here in an hour or so. Meantime, I'd just leave them like they are."
Sousuke stood there, wide-eyed, looking from the pinioned goons to the smug little, body armor wearing, genius standing beside him, then back at the goons. Wade, goons, Wade, goons. Looking at the goons and shuddering Sousuke finally found his voice, "Load-sensei, you are an evil, evil person! It would have been more merciful to just kill them!"
Ron was looking at the WWEE men with a horrified expression, "I'm kinda with Sagara on this, Dude. We may have to revoke your 'Guy Status', because that's just wrong. I mean there are some things you just don't do to another guy. Like, you don't kick them in the nads! It's just not done. And no guy should have hair with that much body."
Thrashed and bruised bodies littered the garage, pinned to the floor and walls by a gelatinous pink goo: Wade's special mousse. All had their hoods pushed up by their hair. They looked like they had a 70's retro "Fro". The goo had them secured so well they effectively couldn't move fast enough to escape before the BK's standing guard could either fire the beanbag rounds, hit them with Tazers or even worse, more goo!
Kim, having experienced the mousse before, was leery of even going near the stuff. "Well, I don't know about mercy killings, but that's not right. Wade how could you?"
The little genius looked at his friend shrugged and said. "I didn't use the mousse until the third assault. Before that it was Tazers and beanbag rounds and before those, it was only the beanbag rounds. They coulda left at any time. Nobody comes into our house uninvited."
Ron noticed something about then, "Wade!? There's goo on my car, Wade!"
"Uh oh! Uhh, Don't worry, Ron. It's water soluble."
Ron hustled over to the Galaxie and looked into the empty passenger compartment, "Wade! There's goo in my car!"
"Ron, I'm sorry! I swear I'll clean it up. All I need is a hose."
Ron was frantically looking over the three/quarters assembled Ford. The body parts had been returned from the media blasters and Ron had painstakingly filled any place that had corrosion, sanded and formed the fill, reassembled the body, priming everything and carefully applying undercoating to the insides of the fender wells and bottom of the car. He was in the process of wet sanding the rest of the body, in preparation for painting.
He had replaced the solid rear axle with an independent suspension and rebuilt the Dyna-track differential, along with replacing the old drum brakes with new 11 inch antilock discs. Right now the Ford was sitting on the old steel rims and dry-rotted tires. But there was a new set of Crager American SS Classic rims and new tires waiting to be mounted. She even had new glass and rubber gaskets in place.
When he had finished the engine assembly, he set it in place and mounted the hood. Then he carefully marked out where the new super-charger would hit, cut out the opening for it and, with Roger's help, tack welded in a hood scoop. Once the scoop was fitted and ready for final welding, Ron pulled the motor back out and set it back on the engine stand so the sparks from the welding and grinding wouldn't damage it. When the engine was clear, he and Roger finished welding and grinding the hood to a better than factory look.
One of the hardest things he had done was installing a oval tube roll bar. All he had left was the new wiring harness, stereo installation, finish sanding the body, final paint, upholstery work and installation of the interior panels and trim pieces, seats and some dash work. There was also installing the engine, tranny and exhaust system.
Depending on the paint shop and upholstery shop, the car could be finished in two or three days. The exhaust was ready to be mounted from the wastegates back, including the leg pipes. There was only two things left to do before the engine and transmission could be mounted in place. Painting the engine bay, which would happen during final paint.
As for the other……
Ron's head snapped to the back of the bay where Elma Lee rested. "THE ENGINE. Wade, there's goo on the engine! I was about to have the engine dynoed!
"Ron calm down, all I need is a hose and I can fix everything."
Before Ron could say another word, Kim interrupted, "Ron, it was this or Wade getting kidnapped."
"But it was only my car that got gooed!" Ron pointed to the other two vehicles sitting pristinely on top of the lift racks. "The Sloth didn't get gooed! Eleanor didn't get gooed! Only mine!"
"It's no problem, Ron! I swear, all I need is a hose."
"No, you don't. You can't just spray the engine down. And it's not the outside I'm worried about. We have to at least take the carburetors off and make sure nothing went inside the intakes." Ron leaned down, crowding the young genius, "Wade, Roger's coming by in the morning to pick up the engine and take it to the dynamometer. It will be ready! You will help me! Understand?"
"Sure thing, Ron."
Ron turned and pulled the wrenches and sockets to start the process of removing the three Carter 2bbl carburetors while Wade grabbed a trash can and started picking up the muck that was layered on top of the 428 CobraJet.
Two hours later, they were securing the last Carter 2bbl to the intake. It was a good thing Ron insisted they pull the carbs because the mousse had dripped into the bottom of the intake through all six venturis. Wade produced a fiber optic camera that they could use to follow the rest of the intakes and make sure they had gotten all of the gooey mess without having to pull the intake itself, saving them at least an hour.
About halfway through, the G.J. prisoner transport arrived and one by one the prisoners were pulled from the goo and loaded into a transport truck. Kim, Sagara and Kaname helped keep the prisoners from escaping while Ron and Wade continued working on the motor. Kim was glaring at Ron the whole time.
When they finished, Ron was wiping the last of the wrenches and setting them in the tool box when he glanced at the teenager helping him. Sigh, "Wade, I'm sorry I lost my temper. But I swear, it seems like I just start to have things go right and something comes along and smashes it. Frustrating isn't even close to the word."
"I know Ron, and I'm sorry for…"
Ron held up a finger, waving it back and forth, interrupting him, "No! It wasn't your fault. You just did what you had to do. It was Gemini's fault. If he hadn't tried to kidnap Kim and Kaname and tried get his men in here, none of this would have happened. Me and Kim would have had a nice dinner; none of us woulda had to cook. We could've gone to that dance club near campus and maybe gone for a drive afterwards."
"But I don't blame you, Wade, and I'm sorry." Ron's voice turn from apologetic to cold fury. "I blame Sheldon. I'll just add this to the list of reasons to kick his ass the next time I see him."
Ron regained his temper and said, "Come on, I'll make us some snackage!"
**********
In the security alcove, emerald eyes watched the exchange. They were watching to see when the pair would finish with the task they were working on. The eyes lost the anger they held since Ron had freaked on Wade a couple of hours before.
Since Ron had apologized and Wade accepted, she had no reason to let him have it. Which was how she wanted it. She didn't want to be mad at her beau and since he had figured out what he had done wrong and corrected it, she didn't have to. She walked into the living room to find Ron had called Sagara and Kaname there and was in the process of calling her. When they assembled he repeated his apology to them as well.
**********
The next morning, Roger arrived in his beat up Ranger and he and Ron, with Sousuke's help, set the big Y block into the bed of the truck. While Kim was looking at Ron as he finished bracing the motor, she made an off-handed comment to Kaname "…be nice if the car was ready for Ron's birthday on the 24th. But that only gives him two weeks to finish!" She didn't know Roger had just come out of the Dojo bathroom and overheard her.
After the bracing was in place Roger and Ron took off for a speed shop in Boulder. It was the closest place that had a dynamometer. They unloaded the CobraJet and left it there. It would take a day or so before the dynamometer would be open and once the engine was mounted, it would be run for a 24 hour break-in before the HP and Torque tests.
Once the break-in was finished, the shop did a run-up. The engine was putting out a monstrous 432 peak horsepower and close to 435 lb/ft of torque. Before the blower was running!
The only thing the car was waiting on was the paint and upholstery shops before final assembly. Ron had set down with the paint and upholstery shops designers and settled on how he wanted the car to look when finished, but they said it would be at least a month before they could get to the Galaxie. Probably closer to six weeks. Sometime around the Thanksgiving break. It would tank to have to wait that long, but it would give him all of the break to drive it around before school started back up.
**********
A couple of days later…
"SAGARAAAAAAA!!!!" Sousuke was reminded of his old Jindai High nemesis Tsubaki Issei. "Where are you. Get your butt to the lab now."
Every one in the room was looking at him, Kaname in particular, "What have you done Sousuke?" She pointed at him, "We're not having a repeat of the improvised explosives incident are we?" The week before, Kim had disregarded the warning signs and entered the lab, which promptly blew up. Ron and Kaname ran to the lab to see Kim standing there coughing, with a soot covered face. As the ventilation fans kicked in they revealed both Sousuke and Wade with singed hair and blasted clothes, unconscious, but otherwise unharmed.
Come to find out Sousuke had taken Wade to the store and made several purchases. Things like mothballs, corn syrup, dish washing detergent, ammonia and corn starch. He was demonstrating what he called 'Low tech solutions to high tech problems.' Who needed Semtex when you had ammonium nitrate. Wade had become fascinated by corn starch and its ability to thicken diesel fuel or the idea of using dish washing detergent to turn gasoline into jelly-like substance.
But now Wade's voice was cracking throughout the base. "SAGARAAAA!!!"
"Kaname-chan, I swear to you I don't know what's wrong!"
"Just like you didn't know what the principal wanted when you trapped the workers area just before the Full Monty Virus?!?!"
Kim and Ron looked each other thinking the same thing, 'Full Monty Virus?' They both made a mental note to ask about it later.
Sousuke tried to beat a hasty retreat from the twitching eyebrow, "I should go see what Load-sensei wants."
"Lets all go."
When they got there they found Wade in a frenzy. He was muttering about 'amateurs trying to be programmers' and knocking his head against the table. When Sousuke asked what he needed, Wade picked up a large stack of paper, brandished it at Sousuke and screamed, "Do you know what this is Sagara?! Do you have any clue?!"
Sousuke was taken aback by the vehement teen genius, "Uhhhh, no Load-sensei."
"Well it's the readout of the programming to the BK's. For the last few weeks, I've been going through it, trying to find the glitch that's affecting the speech centers. And do you know what I found?!"
"Uhhhh, no Load-sensei."
Wade spun to get some momentum and threw the stack upwards shouting, "NOTHING!" As the stack of paper fluttered down around them, he turned back on the confused NCO, "I've gone over the code line-by-line and there's nothing there! That means that the codes weren't there to start with. The only thing the speech centers had to work with was the original animatronic sounds the amusement park programmed in."
"I wasted weeks looking for something that couldn't be found, because it wasn't there. I have to create one from scratch, which isn't that hard. The hard part is it has to be customized to every active unit. The shorter the time the unit has been active, the easier it'll be. But that means that Unit 1, the machine with the most time on the clock will take the longest."
"Sagara, from now on, don't be doing any programming unless you run it past me first. Now get out of here, I have to write the new speech center codes and get it sent to the manufacturer before the next run of BK's. You better hope it goes fast because you're paying me by the hour now."
As the rest beat a hasty retreat, Wade turned and started hammering at his keyboard. A line of text growing by the second.