The arrival at the facility was the riskiest part of their mission. They had IDs, and faces to match, but there was never real certainty that there was no internal safety measure undiscovered. Something as simple as a verification call to HQ could blow the whole operation, learning that the two chemists were thousands of miles away in their expected location. Let alone the fear that someone hear would recognize 'them' and ask questions they couldn't answer, or even just pick up the subtle differences in their mannerisms.
Not that such a task could be easy when the imposters were experts of their scale. Fiona and Loid laike had read the full dossier on the identities they were borrowing, everything from the school of graduation to their home towns to how many kids they had. All was memorized like their lives depended on it, more importantly, that international stability and the very fate of the world was at stake.
Security wouldn't get much higher than a secret government bio-weapons research facility. Just a few pictures inside might be enough to disgrace Ostania on the world stage, let alone the risk of foreign adversaries discovering it for their own ends. A chain fence complete with perimeter guards covered the surrounding acre, and armed guards looked over their papers with rigid attention. No reverence or particular respect for the renowned scientists that were here gracing their lab.
Not that either agent cared.
It was more than enough that the mechanical gate groaned open, and their car was waved through. The simple dirt road brought them down between the hills, tucked away out of sight before they even got a glance at the blast doors of their target. Looking more like a nucleur bunker then a research facility.
At least a leak of some sort should be containable, given the air-tight sealing chamber they passed through on their way inside.
Though, despite the decontamination, and the rugged metal doors outside, the interior was grand. A pristine white lab that rivaled or surpassed any that he'd seen before in all his years as a spy. Perhaps just a little cramped on any given floor, but according to the elevator it spanned over ten levels including the maintenance rooms. There weren't even any armed guards dirtying the view.
Though there'd been dozens topside, twenty-seven to be exact, including two on a hidden lookout above the caves entrance. Snipers most likely, and that made escape a fair bit more complicated. Rather, it would have if not for the bulletproof car the agency had prepared in anticipation for this possible eventuality.
If all went well, they wouldn't even need it.
Still, the possibility lingered in their minds as they waited patiently in reception. Fortunately, many of the scientists and lab aids scuttling about seemed busy, sleep deprived even, far too concerned with the work in their various setups to pay them too much mind. The pair of spies remained unmolested and unsuspicious for the entire two hours they waited. Until one of those aids, a young brunette girl with blank eyes, came to retrieve them.
"Doctor Trosker will see you now," was all she said, not even acknowledging their thanks and polite smiles, only leading them silently back to the elevator. The small metal box took them to the bottom of the complex, to the messiest room he'd seen yet in the facility, and probably at least one of the top ten in his life. Almost impressive in way, given the entire floor seemed to belong to the one scientist. Papers and fluids were strown about over every surface, the stale air reeked of dust and who knows what else; while an eerie silence hung in the air. That is, until an equally hairy, frazzled, filthy looking man in a labcoat emerged from some corner to join them.
They both recognized the renowned doctor.
The nation's leading expert in chemical science, the savant scouted and recruited by the government before he even finished his graduate's degree. A degree he was set to earn nearly a full decade early no less. A patriot prodigy that Ostania considered one of their highest assets.
"Huh, yeah yeah right, I got a call what the hell do you want?" he grumbled out, scratching his head and slouching as he looked over the pair that had invaded his workspace. He didn't smile back when Loid greeted him warmly.
"Dr. Trosker, it's an honor, truly, to meet with you sir," he began, pausing briefly but continuing when he earned no response. "Local police in the capital discovered a new chemical compound that our lab examined, and tested. The results are nothing short of incredible, something that could turn the tide of our espionage efforts, maybe even the war itself!"
Now the man's brow raised, albeit skeptically.
Loid produced the test tube.
"In tests, it seemed to push the subjects into a state of thoughtless lust, immediately pursuing sex with anyone around them regardless of any negative consequences, even when explicitly reminded of them. The effect linger for hours or until orgasm, one victim even slept with a room full of strangers while photographed repeatedly, it was actually the incident that lead the law to investigate," he lay out.
"No shit? Wow, yeah, that's a hell of an invention if it works. A genuine love potion," he acknowledged. "I'm sure every rich bastard on the world will want the recipe, not that I think our wise leaders would ever let it into public hands. Definitely useful to them too, blackmail and such, a way to capture people without immediate, obvious violence... Who the hell made this?"
Loid laughed, showing just a hint of his genuine disbelief.
"Just some unafilliated chemist, an independent researcher sponsored by his local organized crime syndicate. He's in custody now,"
"HA! They're probably gonna 'offer' that fucker a job, maybe right here in my lab even. Poor bastard," he added, coughing into his elbow briefly before strolling away from them. "Bring the sample over here, let me examine it, see if I can replicate it with the tools and knowledge we have on hand,"
Loid didn't recognize the bulky-looking device they approached, about the size and shape of a cash register, but with a method of typing rather then a simple set of numbers, plus a printer near the back. The holes on top fit the test tube perfectly at least, so knowing where to set it was no issue.
It didn't take ten minutes.
Ten minutes with nothing but the soft clacker of keys beings pressed and the soft mumbling of the man working it. All of witch climaxed with the laboriously groaning of the printer spitting the paper out. Their expert examined it, hummed and casually tossed it beside him on the floor.
"Yeah, yeah that'll work. I see no reason I, or even the monkeys upstairs, couldn't make this exact formula with the supplies on hand, though it'll probably be on the back burner until the wars won," he seemed to be speaking more to himself, continuing to surprised both spies with his lack of surprise or enthusiasm. It was that final remark he made though that made Loid push his luck.
"You really think so, sir? What could you be studying that shows more promise then this?" he asked, feining enthusiasm in place of his fear, his dread.
""Oh well, I ain't really supposed to tell you but, whatever it's fine. You wouldn't be this deep in the lab is Ostania didn't trust you,"
"Are you sure that's wise, sir?" the dead eyed girl who brought them down asked, speaking for the second time and startling him with her soft words.
"Ahh I might get chewed out, but that's about the height of the risk," he replied. "I'm sure it'll make my little fan's whole year to see what I've been up to,"
"It certainly would!" Loid interjected, the eagerness in his voice drawing his eyes but not lightening his expression. Once again, he simply walked across the lab without comment, and once again they followed him, this time to the far wall of the room. A lightswitch revealed two great boards on the wall to be windows, one way judging by the people inside. The way they maintained their napping or hopless staring at the walls, none of them glancing in the direction of their viewers.
"Now this might not work; we're still testing the lower limit of gas we need per individual, based upon weight and other miscellaneous factors," he explained, reaching for a lever on the wall.
There was a powerful instinct to stop him, but both were professional enough to swallow it.
The guilt of that action would weigh on them for the rest of their lives.
The gas was vibrant and red, obscuring vision, but not so much that they couldn't see the effect it had. First his breathing spead up, though they thought it might just be his own fear and uncertainty. It was unlikely the young prisoner knew what was going to happen after all. Then he gripped his head and screamed, starting a low breath that rose in volume and pitch as he took to his feet and began slamming at the walls and shrieking like not even Loid had ever heard before. Not in all his years of war or espionage.
The man ran from wall to wall, throwing his weight against it like there was half a chance he could escape the thick concrete.
"Yeah, the frenzy's a little more potent then a drink that makes you horny, huh?" he boasted, looking at and noting the wide eyes of his guests. "That man would rip his own infant kids hhead off if he had his hands on'em. He'll kill anyone he sees and he'll sprint like maniac looking for more until the stress puts too much strain on his heart and he pops off. Usually takes three to six hours for that mark to hit, and you know what that means!" the sick bastard was finally smiling, seeming enthusiastic about his work. "A decent payload of this carried by a bomber plane will throw a whole city into chaos, death, destruction, and moreover horror. Everyone forgets that aspect of warfare you know, it you can kill a few thousand people in a horrifying way, it's as good as killing ten times as many with a conventional bomb, once I finish designed the tech to build the stuff at a scale needed for war, that's it! Ostanian supremacy is all but guaranteed,"
Loid stared at the angry animal of a man bouncing around the cell; already he was starting to bleed on the knuckles, his shoulder slouched in some injury. Was his mind already dead? Was he suffering throughout this whole process, not that even an animal in such pain was a crime against nature, to speak nothing of the destruction he'd unleash if this madman had his way.
"What do you think, kid?" he asked, not even having time to register the sight of a pistol in his face. Loid removed it from his hidden pocket and pulled the trigger in less then two seconds. The labs aid had just enough time to such in a shocked breath, and then she died too with the shiper of his silenced gun.
Loid felt just a bit guilty about the second one, but it was necessary. Destroying this project might well be the single most important mission, nay, the most important moment of his life. A good hunk of that was done already, having killed the mastermind in charge, but there was still work to do and not much time to do it.
Wordlessly, Fiona began setting an explosive charge which, with any luck, would end that poor bastard in the cell quickly, and the ensuring fire would destroy any notes or machinery down in the man's personal lab. God willing, the only spec of this weapon that existed would be leaving with them.
That's what Loid was doing, carefully extracting a small portion of gas from the nearby container. In all likelihood, they would die before they escaped. If there actions were discovered before they sat in their car upstairs getting out would be a deadly trial, and even if they were outside the gates when someone next spoke to or visited Dr. Trosker it would be a challenge.
It took less than a minute to get all the pohtos, supplies, and charges ready,. The two rode the elevator up with nothing on their faces to betray their fear or their actions. The walked across the top floor reception, wondering ever time a scientist glanced or raised a brow if that would be the small action that lead to the alarms blaring and signing their death warrant.
It was almost enough to make either experienced, professional espionage agent sigh in relief when the car door finally shut. Loid weighed whether or not to gun it or drive out like everything was fine but as fate would have it, the decision was made for him. Halfway up the hill towards the outer gate the blaring of an alarm rang out.
They didn't even flinch, if anything, it was a surprise how long it took.
Not as surprising as a car blasting at over a hundred miles an hour clean through a chain gate was for the guards he'd wager. Gunfire rang out almost immediately as Loid did everything he could to control the vehicle and evade their fire. Diving around the first turn he could and abandoning the road not five minutes after,
The plan was to make their way to the nearby woodlands, where trees were too thick and the foliage too dense to make vehicle tracking feasible. Neither plane nor car would pursue, meaning it would just be two elites competing with foot soldiers on a seach mission, practically a cakewalk if they made it that far.
They were lucky for the second time that day, as it turned out.
It was enough to make a man believe in fate; that God himself smiled at his actions.
Fiona thanked something else for their success.
X
X
X
Thanks for reading!
Remember if you want me to write you something promptly and personally suited to your tastes, just search my Fivver! This site doesn't allow links unfortunately so just search matilda44 and look for the walrus, or 'ask the skunk' in Fivver's search bar to find my gigs quickly and easily!