The next day
Tuesday evening
Safehouse F
Megan and I made our way down into Safehouse F, and as she always did, she pressed the button and then entered her personal code – nothing happened for a moment, but just as she was about to try again, the doors opened. Megan just shrugged and we stepped into the elevator where she pressed the 'F' button. The doors opened before she could place her hand on the scanner - now that was out of the ordinary and a little strange! Mindy had suggested that I was going to given my own access; I had a swipe card, but it was not fully functional yet. I looked at Megan and she just grinned at me. We walked down the corridor before turning left and as normal Megan pressed her hand against the scanner beside the armoured door, but nothing happened.
"Not funny!" she yelled out, glaring at the camera.
"Sorry, Megan!"
It was Abby's voice. The door lock released and Megan pulled the door open, stepping into the catchment area. The inner door was released as the outer door finished closing, without any intervention - again out of the ordinary. As I watched, Megan stalked over to the Control Centre and placed, more like smacked, her hand on the scanner pad beside the door. Nothing happened – it just flashed red, instead of the usual green.
"Abby!" She yelled angrily and I saw Abby come to the door.
"I can't let you in, Megan – they're waiting in the Galley for you."
"Galley?"
I looked around and I could see nobody. We both headed up the steel staircase on the left.
"I would suggest that you go and wait in the Briefing Room while I sort this shit out!" Megan suggested and I followed her suggestion, but watching her head down the walkway.
As she approached the closed Galley door, it was unlocked remotely and she pushed the door open, letting it close and lock behind her.
There at a table sat Mindy, Marty, Josh and Chloe. None of them smiled at me.
Looking decidedly unhappy was Curtis, sitting in a chair facing them.
"You ready?" Mindy asked with an evil grin.
"Do your worst!" I replied.
I know I should not have been listening, but...
"What's going on – none of the scanners are working for me?" Megan demanded.
"Me too!" Curtis complained.
"You've both been locked out," Marty said simply in answer to my question.
"Should I be worried?" Megan laughed.
..._...
"Yes, you should," I heard Chloe say without any humour.
"Sit!" Mindy ordered, pointing at a chair facing the four of them.
That was when I realised how badly Mindy had fucked up. Seated in front of her, and looking very pissed off, were four of the top five members of Fusion.
"What is this?" Megan pushed.
"Call it an intervention," Chloe stated.
"Or a fucking bollocking!" Josh added.
"Or just your only chance of wearing a combat suit, again, ever..." Mindy finished. "Both of you."
"So," Marty began. "Where do we start? With the malicious wounding, the unnecessary killings, the putting other operatives at risk..."
"... Or maybe the fucking up of Fusion's reputation!" Mindy finished.
Oh, shit! Megan and Curtis were in deep, deep, crap!
..._...
Marty started things off.
"Over the past week or so – things have gone to shit for the both of you. You have both killed when it was not necessary. Fusion is respected for being restrained; we only kill when required. They also need to deserve it. Muggers are worthless shit, but they do not deserve to die – despite what our guts tell us. Curtis – you cut a fucking guy to pieces – Dave counted them; sixteen chunks! I know you like your sword, but that man should have gone to Jail. You gonna explain?"
"I couldn't control myself; it just seemed like the right thing to do. He won't hurt anybody else."
"Where did you both go to when you were supposed to have been guarding Iron Hide?" Josh demanded.
"It was boring – guarding shit sucks!" Megan admitted without a hint of shame.
"Whose idea was that, then?" Chloe asked.
"We talked it over and we both agreed to go hunting," Curtis said.
"Hunting!" Marty exploded.
"Our mandate is to protect the City – not guard SUVs!" Megan pointed out.
"You do what you are told to do!" Mindy said evenly.
I raised an eyebrow, considering Mindy had not sworn, which I had learnt showed how pissed she was.
"What about threatening Shadow on the roof?" Josh continued.
"That was not my fault – she wound me up and I reacted – I never even knew that she had fallen off the damn roof!" Megan exclaimed. "She should have kept her trap shut and not started complaining..."
"I was trying to help you!" Chloe said angrily.
"Like we need your help!"
"We've been around the block – we can look after ourselves. We discuss our ideas and agree between ourselves before acting," Curtis explained. "We are a team!"
"What the...!" Mindy began angrily.
"Who the fuck suggested you use each other as sounding boards?" Marty inquired.
"Stephanie."
Oh crap – busted!
Yes, I had been trying to help, but I never knew...
A few little errors in judgement and they were going to kick Megan and Curtis out! There was movement in the room and then Megan's voice.
"Let me out!"
A second or two later, the door clicked open.
Safehouse F – Level 2
I was looking down at the mat when Megan appeared, followed by Curtis.
Something was definitely wrong. I put an arm around Megan and led her down to the Briefing Room. By the time we had sat down, Megan was sobbing.
"I've lost everything..."
"Me too," Curtis added as he sat down beside Megan.
I never noticed the change, but less than ten minutes later, Megan stopped crying and she stood up, shrugging my arm off her shoulder.
"You thinkin' what I'm thinkin', Curtis?" She asked.
"Could be!" Curtis replied with a smirk.
I did not like their expressions.
"You – stay here," Megan suggested.
"Huh?" I queried.
"I'll call you when we're done."
..._...
I had absolutely no idea what was going on.
Something was off, though.
Their behaviour was concerning and had been for a while; I would admit that. I had considered telling Mindy, but I had not wanted my friends to get into trouble. Instead, I had offered them advice. In hindsight, maybe I should have gone straight to Mindy, probably!
I heard a raised voice, Abby. Then I heard the foul mouth of Megan. There was some scuffling followed by some swearing from Abby and then silence. I peered over the walkway and I could see Abby, she was lying on the floor of the Command Centre, unconscious.
About thirty seconds later, I heard a klaxon.
Safehouse F – Level 2
'Fuck this!' I thought.
I ran along the walkway and tried to open the door to the Galley. It was locked and I could see Mindy inside shaking her head at me. She pointed to her ear and then she mouthed a single word – 'RUN'... With a brief glance at the others in the Galley, I dived down the steel steps and then down again, to the lower level. I rapidly yanked off the cover to an air vent, dived inside and pulled the cover back into position. I took a moment to take stock of the situation.
Megan and Curtis had gone nuts and taken over the Safehouse, imprisoning Mindy, Marty, Chloe and Josh. I was alone and I wanted no part of it. I also had the chance to prove myself to Mindy and to Chloe. I had figured out for myself that Chloe did not fully trust me; I could not blame her really.
Then I thought about Mindy's signal – her ear – then it clicked and I stuck my hand into the pocket of my jeans and removed a small plastic box. Inside was a small headset that fitted neatly into my right ear. I pressed the button on the end and after a brief burst of static, I could hear Mindy, Marty, Chloe and Josh talking.
I listened for a few minutes, without saying anything.
..._...
"... Before one of those urchins, locked out the database. I was also able to copy that user to the backup datacentre next door, before I severed the link. I was able to sever the link just before next door was compromised, so it's safe. Furthermore, I locked out access to all files that pertain to next door."
"You lost me after about the first three words...," Chloe admitted, sounding confused.
"It means that we can use next door to jump start this place once we regain control!" Marty explained excitedly.
"Why the bloody hell, does he keep going on about 'next door'?" Josh asked, sounding just as confused as Chloe.
"This bunker that we call Safehouse F is actually the second bunker on this site. The original, which we call Safehouse E, is located about a couple hundred yards that away!" Mindy explained. "The Navy built this place and then they abandoned the other one."
"If you say so," Josh conceded.
"The entrance is in the back of Tony's engineering store, only the hatch is massive, and it took both Dave and Marty to lug it open the last time," Mindy added with a grimace.
"Err Mindy, do you trust Stephanie?" Marty asked.
"Yeah – well, to an extent – we talked about it last night...," Mindy paused. "Why?"
"Well – the user I had open was Stephanie – she now has all your access rights!" Marty admitted. "I had no choice – hers was the only user open and while it was open it could not be locked out – until they dumped the database!"
"So, Stephanie, assuming that she is not in league with Bonnie and Clyde out there, she could be our only hope," Josh groaned.
"Looks like it," Chloe replied dubiously.
"You guys having fun in there?" I ventured.
Safehouse F – The Command Centre
I had not intended to hurt Abby, but she should not have fought back.
The stupid girl had pulled out a pistol the moment that I had entered the Control Centre. She had seen me swipe the card, that I was not supposed to carrying. Abby had thought the threat of the pistol would be enough, but I had known that she would not shoot me – not sweet Megan Wilson!
Disarming her had been easy, but she had kicked out at Curtis sending him into the glass wall, hurting him. That had made me angry, so I had put her down, hard. We had both then taped her hands and feet with duct tape.
"You will not get away with this – she'll fucking gut you both!"
"Abigail – shut up before we gag you!" I growled. "Curtis, go get our combat suits."
I pressed the keys on the keyboard to release the doors for the armoury and Curtis ran out.
Safehouse F – The Galley
"Finally! Speak of the devil and she shall appear!" Mindy chuckled.
"Sorry – you weren't all that specific with your orders, oh great leader!"
"Cocky bitch!"
"Well – what are we gonna do about Neo and Trinity who seem to be existing in their own virtual world?" I asked.
I laughed at the reference!
"That is where you come in..."
I groaned.
"I feel like I've just been called up!"
"Your mission, should you choose to accept it..."
I think Mindy must have heard my eyes rolling!
"Sorry – you need to take a walk up to my bedroom on Level 2. You will be safe in there; the room is armoured."
"I can do that – I think..."
"You got your swipe card?" I asked.
"It's in my pocket..."
Safehouse F – Level 0
I reluctantly crawled out of the ventilation space and crept towards the steel steps.
There were no sounds; which was ominous. I went up, one-step at a time before peering out onto the next level. I saw nobody, so crept up the steps, but then I froze and ducked down as I saw Curtis appear from the armoury with a combat suit in his arms; he was wearing most of his already. He vanished into the Command Centre, so I jumped up quickly, running towards the other steps that would take me to Level 2.
I heard feet pounding behind me and looked over my shoulder to see Megan running towards me, a yellow Taser in her hand and she triggered it off, but I dived and rolled before running up the steps; the Taser missed. I was able to dive into the bedroom and slam the door before Megan caught up with me – I triggered the deadlock and slid to the floor, out of breath and livid.
I could not believe that my best friend and my fucking partner had just fired on me with a fucking Taser!
Safehouse F – The Galley
"She made it, but Megan is pissed!"
"Don't worry, Megan has no idea about next door, so she will think that Stephanie has trapped herself and she will ignore her; I hope!"
"Okay – our Mini-Brit will need to use the air vents..."
"She should fit; she's skinny and has no tits!" Chloe suggested with a laugh.
"I can still hear you!" I growled.
"Err, I meant that she has a compact body form...," Chloe added quickly.
"You and I are going to explore the famous British self-restraint when we next meet..." I growled to Chloe.
"Get your butt into that air vent, above the bed and think small!" Mindy suggested.
I hoped they all enjoyed my vile swearing that Mindy's comment generated!
Safehouse F – Dave and Mindy's Bedroom
I looked up at the air vent.
It was small and located high up.
"Who the bloody hell do they think I am – Spider Girl?"
"Go spidey!" I heard Mindy laugh.
"If you have nothing better to say Hit Girl then shut the fuck up!"
"Sorry!" A chastened Mindy replied.
Safehouse E/F – Ventilation System
Damn it!
I had had to strip down to my knickers just to fit into the goddamn vent and what that gooey stuff was I just slid over, I had no idea! Great, Stephanie – you are crawling through air ducts, almost naked, dozens of feet underground. Oh well, it could only get better!
"Oh, yeah," Mindy said in my ear. "Almost forgot, you need to watch out for the 'anti-Skinny-Brit traps' in the vents – sorry!"
I paused and glared back in the vague direction of Mindy.
"We are going to have a long talk when I get out of here – just you, me and a very big stick!"
..._...
I crawled further into the ventilation system. I had the access card gripped tightly in my left hand and my mobile in my right, using the torch to see where I was going. The ventilation duct was cold underneath my bare skin, as was the air that ran through the duct; I was starting to shiver. After crawling what felt like miles, I saw something ahead of me and I slowed down. Then I studied the object attached to the side of the duct.
"Fuck you, Mindy!" I yelled.
"You found something, kid?"
I studied the device. There was a box, about six-inches by eight-inches attached to the air duct. Extending from the box were a pair of wires that attached to the opposite side of the duct – trip wires.
"What do I do to get past it?"
"Good question..."
"What?" I exclaimed.
"Marty says there is a keypad, enter the code: four – six – two – nine – seven, and then press the green key..."
I studied the device in vain.
"I don't see no bloody keypad!"
"Oh, that'll be one of the decoy ones!" Mindy exclaimed.
"Thanks a damn bunch, bitch!" I exclaimed with relief, unclipping the trip wires and proceeding onwards.
..._...
There had been two real devices to be disarmed as I had made my steady crawl through the air vents, but they had both had a keypad and I was able to disarm them – I hated explosives.
I was nearing the end when I suddenly stopped as I felt something snagging on my knickers. I reached backwards, but I was unable to sort out the problem. I tried to move backwards, but that just gave me a chronic wedgie, so I reluctantly crawled forwards again allowing them to slide down my legs, leaving them behind in the vent.
Just when I thought my situation could not get any worse!