Bubblegum Crisis Fan Fiction ❯ Bubblegum Avatar #1 -- "Tin-Sell City" ❯ Chapter 13 - "Monkeywrench In The Works" ( Chapter 13 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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Chapter 13 - "Monkeywrench In The Works"

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The apartment was quiet, even though the sun had been up for a couple of hours. The only audible sound was a soft snoring coming from the bed at the far end of the room, the source of the sound coming from a large lump under a blanket on the bed.

A phone on the table next to the bed rang, the low buzz sounding loud in the still apartment. A hand reached out from under the blanket and tried to hit the 'answer' button on the phone. After about the third attempt, the hand managed to hit the right button. "Who is it?" a voice moaned from under the blanket.

Sylia's face appeared on the vidphone's screen. "Craig?"

"Craig has temporarily died," the voice said. "Leave a message and as soon as life has seeped back into his body, he will be more then happy to call you back."

Sylia sighed. "That's not very funny."

A face peered out for beneath the blanket. "Sylia?"

"Who else would be calling you?"

"Er...."

"You sound like you had a bad night."

Craig threw back the covers and sat up. Parts of the false beard was still clinging to his face and his eyes were bloodshot. With the exception of the bomber jacket, which had been tossed over a chair next to the bed, he was still wearing the clothes from last night He groaned as several muscles complained about the sudden movement. "You could say that."

Sylia frowned. "What happened?"

"A small disagreement with Newton's Laws last night, namely the one about objects remaining in motion."

"Don't give me the smart remark. What happened?"

Craig sighed. "I went into a skid when the bike hit a pothole. Priss said she gave me a 9.5 for the tumbling routine I did, but took off points for the landing."

"Are you all right?"

"Nothing hurt seriously but my pride."

"You'd better come over and let me make sure."

"No, I'm fine, I'm just - ugh!" Craig winced as pain flashed though several parts of his body.

"You will come over and see me today," Sylia's voice held no room for argument.

Craig waved a hand in her direction. "Okay Boss. I'll be over there today."

"You'll be over here today anyway, because we've got a meeting."

Memories clicked into place. "The USSD put the ad in the paper?"

"They did," Sylia replied. "I wanted you over here early anyway, because you and I have some things to discuss."

"What things?"

"When you get here. Is an hour enough time for you to get ready and come over?"

"I'll be there, but I'll drive over today, if that's all right with you."

"How's the bike?"

"The bike's fine. It's in fine shape." Craig turned away from the vid-phone, but Sylia thought she heard him mutter, "Probably in better shape then I am."

"I'll talk to you in an hour then."

******

Sylia frowned as she gazed at the bruises on Craig's arms and chest. "You look like Hell," she said flatly.

"Is that a professional opinion?" Craig asked, rotating his right arm slowly to keep it limber. He was sitting on a table in the Saber's small, but well furnished, infirmary. His shirt was off and he shivered slightly in the coolness. He had removed all signs of the 'Johansson' disguise, and looked very much as he usually did, only slightly more battered.

Sylia was standing in front of him, looking at some papers on a clipboard. "The good news is that the body scans didn't find any broken bones or other serious damage," she said in a distracted voice. "I've some ointment to put on those bruises that will reduce the swelling and discoloration. It'll also take care of that stiffness you've been trying to hide from me. If the anime is right, we're going to need everyone tonight."

"Is that what you wanted to discuss with me? The anime?"

She nodded and went over to a small table near the door. Putting down the clipboard, she picked out a flatten can about the size of her palm. "After last night, any real doubts I had about your story vanished. Certain events might have been arranged, but not our reactions to those events." Sylia turned to look at Craig. "But your presence has already altered events. I don't know if the recon boomer was there in the anime, but your presence alerted us to its presence." She hesitated for a moment. "How did the meeting with Inspector McNichol go?"

Craig raised an eyebrow. "How did you know about that?"

"I take it that the meeting did occur?" Sylia asked, walking back to the table.

"Yep, just about the same way as in the anime, only with me supplying a running commentary which I think irritated the heck out of both of them."

"I see." She opened the can and rubbed some of the ointment on her fingers. "From the way you looked this morning, you were out in disguise last night?"

Craig nodded. "I thought I'd give one of my identities some experience. Largo is going to try and connect me to all of you, and the less visible I am, the harder it's going to be to make that connection."

Sylia moved behind Craig and began rubbing some of the ointment into a nasty bruise running from the top of his shoulder to the middle of his back. "Why all the disguises?"

He shrugged. "I've always been an actor of some sort, only with this face and voice, I knew I wasn't going to make a living at it. That doesn't mean I stopped wanting to be one. This setup allows me to indulge in that aspect of my character in a meaningful way."

"It can be dangerous. This isn't a game."

"I know, but I have to show you I have some value to this team besides skulking around in the shadows on missions."

Sylia sighed, a common occurrence when dealing with this member of her team. "Remember rule number seven of the Knight Sabers?"

"'Don't go gathering intelligence by yourself'?" Craig shook his head. "I'm not looking for intel, I want intel to come looking for me. Tonight is the first step in setting up a network with no direct links to the Knight Sabers."

"You don't trust Fargo?"

Craig took a deep breath. "I don't want to replace Fargo, or even compete with him. I will have different sources, different intel. Most of the time, it'll be useless for our purposes, but a word here, a whisper there, who knows?"

"What about the data that is useful, but not to us?"

"I'll sell it to people who can use it." At Sylia's disapproving stare, Craig added, "Hey, if I, as Johansson, didn't at least look like I was making an attempt at making a living at what I'm suppose to be doing, that will raise suspicions. Besides, I can expand my pool of contacts quicker that way."

Sylia moved onto another bruise. "All right. I will allow passive intelligence gathering by you, and selling certain pieces of information, but no active gathering unless I say so. Understood?"

"Clear Boss. It's going to take time to set up things anyway. Build contacts, establish myself as a reliable person to deal with, and establish myself in a couple of places where I can be found or where someone can drop off stuff. McNichol is liable to end up getting more info then giving -- the ADP will need all the help it can get."

"As long as I know what you're passing onto him beforehand."

"No problem."

"Now that we've managed to drift off topic, lets get back to what I wanted to discuss with you - the events from the anime."

Craig nodded glumly. "How are you going to handle things?"

Sylia took a deep breath and started putting salve on Craig's arm. "The problem is, that the appearance of both you and Largo have already altered events depicted in the story. I don't know how reliable the rest of the episode is going to be in regards to what actually happens tonight." She motioned to Craig. "Lie face down on the table, please."

Craig did so, and Sylia started working in ointment into a couple of bruises on the lower back. "May I make some suggestions?" Craig asked.

"Go ahead."

"First, plant tracers on all of us who go out tonight, just in case. Second, Largo and Mason don't know if I, as an Avatar, exist, or, if they do know of my existence, don't know how much I know about events. If I was them, I would keep to the same time and place, only add a few more boomers to supply a surprise when you show up."

"Why not send a couple of dozen boomers?" Sylia asked.

"How does Mason justify it to the chairman? This is suppose to be a low profile operation, and the safety of the black box is more important than removing the Knight Sabers. Remember, Mason's the one obsessed with destroying the Sabers. To Quincy, we're a minor irritant who's beneath notice. Having two dozen boomers running around guarding the black box is about as subtle as a World War Two Stuka dive bomber in a full dive. How likely are you going to walk into a situation like that?"

"Not likely," Sylia admitted. "Also, something like that will alert USSD."

"Quincy wants the black box with having anyone tracing it to GENOM. A few boomers can be shrugged off as 'stolen', but a couple of dozen?"

"But Mason could easily order the boomers to kill Priss and not take her to Aqua City."

"I know." Craig sighed. "Personally, I think Mason's running the show right now. I doubt he trusts Largo and Largo trusts Mason as far as he can throw GENOM Tower. I don't see Mason rearranging everything on the say-so of Largo. Aqua City is the best bet for the meeting place, and the boomers will want to talk to Priss to find out how much she actually knows."

He put his head down. "Of course, I could be one hundred percent wrong, and Mason is going have a couple of hundred Boomer waiting for us tonight at Aqua City and have the meet somewhere else. But, the decision is yours."

"I know," Sylia said softly. "I need to think some more on this. Now pull down your pants."

"Excuse me?" asked Craig in a choked voice.

"I need to put ointment on the bruises on your legs."

Craig pushed himself up into a sitting position quickly. "There's no need."

"There's no bruises on your legs?"

"Nope. I'm fine down there."

"I see." Sylia jabbed a finger in Craig's thigh and Craig winced. "You were saying?"

"It's just a small bruise," Craig said weakly.

Sylia arched an eyebrow. "This isn't a time to be modest."

"I can't think of a better time."

"Fine." Sylia handed Craig the ointment. "I will let you take care of those bruises yourself, while I check on some other matters before the meeting. After you finish up here, I want you to get a couple of hours rest. You can use the guest room."

"Okay, Boss."

Sylia walked towards the door. At the last minute, she turned and said, "There's one other thing."

"Yes?"

"I want you to refrain from telling the others too much about the events that are coming up."

"Will you tell me why?" asked Craig. "Why don't you want the others to know about the black box, Aqua City, Mason, the fusion boomer, the particle beam strike, and all of the rest of it?"

"Because I don't want them to react differently." Sylia walked over to a stool and perched on it. "If you knew that something would turn out all right, would you try as hard to complete the task?"

"Probably not," Craig replied.

"I need all of them, including you, to react to the events as if they're new and unexpected."

"But-"

"For now, for this mission, I need to let events happen as if we didn't know what was going to happen."

"Why?"

"In part, so I can gauge the actions of Mason and our other opponents. I want to see how much they change their actions to account for us."

"You said, 'for now, for this mission.' What about the other events?"

"In the future, I don't intend to stand by and watch these events unfold without comment. In fact, I want to start actively changing those events, but I first need to see how much your presence and Largo's affect circumstances."

Craig closed his eyes. "I think I'm getting a headache, or a urge to start the 'Who's on First' routine."

Sylia felt herself smile. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

The look of horror on Craig's face was worth it.

*****

The meeting took place later in the afternoon in Sylia's room. Both Nene and Priss were sitting on the bed, while Sylia and Linna had found chairs close by. Mackie was downstairs, keeping an eye on the store.

Craig was the last one to walk in. He walked slowly and slightly stiffly, looking slightly less battered then he had when talking to Sylia in the infirmary.

"If it ain't the daredevil himself," said Priss with a smirk. "Find any more potholes the hard way?"

Craig carefully flopped onto a couch. "Keep it up," he growled, "and I'll sell Leon a data package on you that includes your measurements, address and vid-phone number, assuming he doesn't have them already."

"Ooh, are we not in a good mood today?"

"We are not."

"Seriously, how are you feeling?"

"Like I bounced down fifty meters of highway at one hundred kilometers an hour."

"It was more like twenty meters at fifty kilometers an hour, but I know what you mean."

"What happened last night?" Linna asked.

"I found out that physics still has an impact on my life, and sometimes, a painful one."

"Huh?"

"He fell off his bike," Priss replied.

"Oh. Craig, are you all right?"

"He's fine. He's complaining, so he's fine."

"Thank you, Doctor Asagiri," Craig muttered.

"If you three are done," said Sylia dryly, "we can start the meeting."

"Have you finished investigating the client?" asked Nene

"It's USSD," Sylia said.

"USSD, the space defense force?"

""USSD, with the two hundred or so particle beam satellites above our head?" asked Craig. "The ones who could turn the entire surface of the Earth into a wasteland and say, 'Whoops! Sorry about that Chief'?""

"Is there another USSD out there?" asked Priss. "This is so uncool. There's got to be a catch somewhere."

"You're right," said Nene.

Linna said, "But I think that since we have an offer, we should take it. It's work, after all."

"On the other hand," Priss countered, "It might be a trap."

"That's true," Linna conceded. "What do you say, Craig?"

"They're offering a lot of money up front," Craig replied. "So we can assume that it's dangerous, and its something that USSD wants to be able to plausibly deny if the shit hits the fan."

Priss snorted. "So what else is new?"

Nene turned to look at the Knight Saber's leader. "What do we do, Sylia?"

"I think there's merit in all three of your points," Sylia replied. "We need to know the details of the job and what they're really after."

"Besides the hardsuit designs," Craig muttered.

Sylia looked over at Craig. "Besides that," she said, her voice carrying a note of warning. "Anyway, let's contact them."

The three other women agreed, while the only male field component shrugged. "It beats hanging around, waiting for Largo to show up."

"Nene?" asked Sylia.

"Hmm?"

"You're through with work for the day, aren't you? Come with me."

"Oh, okay."

"Craig?"

"Yo, boss?"

"I have something for you to do while Nene and I go visit the General."

Craig sat up, looking puzzled. "What?"

"I'll explain later." Sylia glanced at her watch. "We don't have a lot of time to waste. Craig, Nene?"

The two named stood and followed Sylia out of the room.

**************

Brian Mason leaned back in his chair and gazed at the four people in front of his desk. Three of them were large muscular men, while the fourth was a smaller, but still burly, woman. All four were dressed in suits and wore dark sunglasses, and looked neatly groomed. They were silent, waiting for their superior to speak.

All four were boomers.

After several minutes of looking at the four in front of him, Mason said, "You will immediately leave here and go to the location know as Aqua City. Another group of boomers will join you at Aqua City at 2000 hours tonight. You will consider yourself under the command of the boomer designated as Frederic, who will be leading the second group and follow his orders fully and completely. He will fill you in what the mission is, and you stay under his orders until the mission is completed. Any questions?"

"No, sir." the four replied.

"At about 2100 hours. You will be joined by three BU-12 combat boomers. They are not under Frederic's direct command, but they have orders to work with you. That is all."

He watched the four walk out of his office through half closed eyes. Things were going the way Largo had predicted, but he still felt unease at the superboomer's uncanny predictions. He didn't know how much longer he could use Largo before the boomer became a danger to him.

But Largo was only one of his problems. The man calling himself Bert Van Vliet was still out there somewhere, even though the harassment had dropped to almost nothing. He was still getting the occasional magazine in his mail and the sporadic porn Email, but nothing of real irritation.

Still, Mason reflected, the persecution had caused him to be distracted from his search for the identities of the Knight Sabers. The corruption of the search files had set his search back at least two months, while the search for this Van Vliet had added another two weeks to that.

No matter. For now, Van Vliet and the Sabers were not the primary focus of his attentions. If the Sabers happened to cross his path, as Largo say they would tonight, they would be destroyed. His own personal plans were back on track and he would be ready to move, although later than he wanted to. The first step in those plans was the securement of the particle beam trigger from USSD.

The trigger. Mason smiled to himself. Either way, the technology would be his. He hadn't informed Quincy of the second infiltrator, and if things went well, the old man would never know. It would take longer to build the black box from the plans, but it wouldn't matter in the end. The technology would be his....

**************

By the time Leon walked into the ADP building, it was afternoon. The headquarters was busy as always, but the tall officer barely noticed the bustle around him.

His meeting Priss had been the highlight of a busy night, but the singer's riding partner was preying on his mind more then Priss was. There was something in Johansson's quick smile and smart mouth that disturbed him. He needed to do some checking on this character.

Daley looked up from the paperwork on his desk as Leon strode into the squad room. "What's up?" the redheaded Inspector asked his partner.

"Is Nene around?"

Daley shook his head. "Nope. She had the overnight shift and she's been gone for a couple or three hours."

Leon frowned. "Damn."

"What's up, Leon-chan?"

"I was hoping she'd run down a couple of things for me." Leon pulled his chair out from his desk and sat.

"What sort of things?" asked Daley.

"I ran into someone last night that I wanted her to check him out."

"Oh?" Daley looked interested. "Anyone I know?"

"I don't think so. He called himself Viking Johansson, and left me his business card." He pulled out the business card and passed it over to Daley. "He offered his services."

"I don't know," Daley said, looking over the card. "I think there's laws still on the books about those type of services."

Leon sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Not that type of services, you Henti," he said easily. "He offered to pass along information."

"Voluntary?"

"Yep. And that makes me suspicious."

"What's he asking for in return?"

"A favor at a latter date."

"You're right," said Daley with a grin. "That sounds really suspicious. A citizen offers to help us. Next, you'll want the boomers to stand still and let us destroy them."

Leon shook his head. "Not that. He said that the ADP been handed the pointed end of the stick and the boomer rampages were going to get worse."

"Is your new friend psychic?"

"He said it was the word out on the street."

"I haven't heard anything."

"Neither have I."

"You thinks he knows something we don't?" asked Daley.

"That's why I wanted Nene to check out the name and see if there was anything on him."

"You mention you had something else to check."

Leon waved a hand. "Just an old case of mine I need to review."

"Any one in particular?"

"A murder case about two or three years back. A drive-by hit on a gang leader."

"I think I remember that case. Wasn't the guy's girlfriend the only witness?"

"Yea."

"You turn up something?"

"It was just something Johansson said."

"Well, don't get too involved in the archive. The chief wants a full report on the boomer rampage, and he wants it this afternoon."

"All right." Leon leaned forward and booted up his computer. He hated paperwork, but it was a necessary evil in a job that had more then its share of evils. As he waited for his computer to connect to the network, his thoughts slowly went from a wise guy named Johansson to a angry singer with red eyes....

**************

A couple of hours after the meeting, Craig drove the dark colored sedan towards the USSD complex . He was dressed in a somber suit and tie, and had dipped into the make-up kit again for this task, following Sylia's directions for the disguise. He mind drifted back to the conversation that lead him to this point.

"What are you up to?" he had asked her. Sylia had asked Nene to help Mackie with the suits, so the two of them were alone.

"Several months back, I took the precaution of having Nene hack into the personnel database USSD uses," Sylia had replied. "I had her place a cover identity in place for you, for something like this." She handed him a picture. "I also had Nene alter a picture of you to match."

Craig looked at the picture, then back at Sylia. "What am I going to be doing?"

"While Nene and myself attract all the attention, I want you to enter the USSD complex, look around and find out as much as possible about the black box project. Nene will give you several programs I want you to upload into their system."

"Are you serious?"

"Very," Sylia replied calmly.

"You realize that sounds stupid," Craig said slowly. "I mean, you want me to walk into a high security post, flash an ID and hope they don't arrest me on the spot. That is what you're asking me to do, right?"

"It does sound stupid, but I'm counting on confusion at the base to make your mission easier. The files Nene put into the system will stand up under anything short of a detailed investigation, and you won't be in there long enough to start one."

"What do you want me to do while I'm violating more espionage laws then I care to think about?"

Sylia took a deep breath. "GENOM must have done more then steal the prototype for this technology, or else USSD would just change the particle satellite's access codes, and lock GENOM out of the system. I want to know how much damage the raid did."

Craig frowned. "What raid? For all we know, Frederick walked out of the base with Cynthia tucked under his arm."

"And how long will it take USSD to replicate the research? GENOM would want this technology for itself, and that would mean destroying the project's research."

"Frederick could have planted a virus in the computer network to do the same thing, and quietly."

"And also kill the researchers? I don't think so. Asking one person to do all that, even a boomer, would make the job difficult. By letting the destruction of the data and elimination of the scientists to another team, that allows Frederick to worry only about getting Cynthia out of the lab. I have no doubt that Frederick was far away from the base when the lab was attacked. It also divides up USSD's efforts in having to track down several people. There's no evidence that Frederick is under active suspicion until we're called in."

"That actually makes sense," Craig conceded.

"Don't take any chances. The cover identity has a lot of built-in authority that will keep people from asking too many awkward questions, but keep it simple." She gave him a folder. "These are the basics on your cover. If you have any questions, ask them now...."

Craig glanced in the rear-view mirror. His hair was dark and combed differently then he usually had it. His skin was the deep tan of a person of Mediterranean ancestry, and he wore a pencil-thin mustache. He had 'aged' his face so he looked like a man in his thirties. The glasses on his face had clear lenses in them. The only thing out of place was the small microphone/receiver he wore to stay in contact with Sylia and Nene.

Over the radio, he heard Nene say, "Was getting on the bus dressed like this really a good idea?"

"We'll save time and trouble this way," Sylia replied.

Craig saw their bus in the distance, about five minutes ahead of him, moving in the same direction as he was. "I still say you should have use something a little less...obvious," he muttered.

"Will you please stop complaining?" Sylia replied over the radio. "We're the ones riding the bus, not you."

"It lacks style."

He heard Sylia sigh. "It's less risky then coming here by one of our vehicles."

"But I can imagine that right now that you're sitting in the back all by yourselves, and everyone's looking at you."

"How did you know that?" Nene asked, surprised.

"Well, if there were two women wearing hardsuits on the bus I was on, I'd be staring at them too."

"Oh."

"One of my own rules is 'be nice to people who are carrying more firepower than you are.'"

"That's only the third or fourth time you've told us that today," Sylia said.

"I can't help it that I'm nervous.," Craig replied. "Infiltrating USSD HQ wasn't high on my list of things to do today."

"All you have to do is stick with the plan as it was outlined."

"Easy for you to say. I don't have a hardsuit and weapons. Nene, are you sure these programs will work?"

He heard the redhead sigh. "They will work. I guarantee it."

"Can I have that in writing?"

"Will you stop it?" Sylia said coldly. "Just do what you suppose to, and let me worry about what could go wrong."

"Sorry."

"We're about three minutes away from the USSD gate," said Nene.

"Craig, don't get too far behind us," Sylia warned. "I don't plan to spend a lot of time here, so don't dawdle."

"Yes, Boss." Craig replied. "But I think you really need to stop reading some certain stories. What ever possessed you to give me the identity of 'Major Douglas Sangnoir' for this mission?"

"Would you have preferred using the name 'Ethan Hollister'?"

Craig winced. "Er....You've made your point. I'll shut up now."

Nene giggled, and for the next couple of minutes, the channel was silent. The were within sight of the USSD complex now, a sprawling complex outside of the city proper. A tall, grey wall hid most of the compound from the view of the highway, but several buildings could be seen looming over the wall.

Craig saw the bus slow at the same time he heard Sylia said, "Get ready. We're about to start."

"Right," Craig replied. "I'm switching over to the ear receiver now. This will be my last voice transmission until I'm out of the complex. Good luck you two."

"The same to you, Craig," Nene replied.

The bus stopped, and Craig could just make out Sylia and Nene getting off the bus. He slowed the car slightly, to give himself some time. He removed the compact transmitter/receiver from his head and replaced it with a small flesh colored earpiece which he placed in his ear. It would allow him to keep track of the progress of Sylia's and Nene's meeting while he completed his own mission.

The bus pulled away and he saw the pair walk up to the gatehouse. The receiver crackled to life. "Here we go," Nene breathed.

As he got closer, he listened to the sounds being transmitted over the receiver. The sounds of footfalls, the traffic, and other everyday sounds come through muffled but clear enough to be recognized. As he listened, he started talking to himself, keeping a running commentary on what he was hearing.

The footfalls stopped and he heard Sylia say, "Good Afternoon."

A male voice, obviously the gate guard, stammered out a reply. "Who...who are you?"

"We're little green men from Mars, " Craig muttered. "Here to take you on a one way trip to the red planet."

"Good Afternoon!" Nene said brightly.

"Co...combat suits?" the guard stumbled out "What...what do you want?"

Craig shook his head. "I hope the rest of the USSD people at this base are this dense...."

If Sylia had any other reaction but amusement at the guard's reaction, she didn't show it. "We're the Knight Sabers," she replied, as if showing up at a military base in a hardsuit was something she did every day. "We're here at the commander's invitation."

"What?! All right, hang on a second." There was the sound of a receiver being picked up, followed by the guard saying, "Hello, this is Gate 2. I've got people here claiming to be the Knight Sabers.... Yes.... Yes, that's right.... Yes.... Huh? Yes, Sir!"

"The guys at the bottom of the ladder are always the last to know."

There a scuffling noise, then the guard said, "My...my apologies! The commander is waiting for you!"

"Surprise, surprise. They want to see the Knight Sabers."

"See?" Sylia said.

"Yep," Nene replied.

"Captain Aramaki will be here in a minute to escort you to the commander! Please wait!"

"Please wait? Oh Shit!" Meeting Nene and Sylia at the gate was not in the plans!

Sylia must have thought the same thing. "Is there somewhere we can wait that's no so out in the open? I don't think you want it to get around that USSD has the Knight Sabers in the complex."

"Of.... Of course!" The gate guard sounded like he was sweating bullets. "But I don't know -"

"Is that Captain Aramaki heading towards us?" Nene asked. "The one in the USSD vehicle?"

The guard sounded like he'd been given a reprieve from a death sentence. "It is! As soon as he gets here, I'll turn you over to him!"

"Thank you for your help," said Sylia politely. "I will mention you to the commander when I speak to him."

"You will? Er...There's no need. I was just doing my job."

The sounds of brakes being applied suddenly made their announcement. Footfalls could be heard getting closer, then a new voice saying, "I am Captain Aramaki. If you will please accompany me, I will take you directly to the commander - Huh?"

"Something wrong, Captain?" Sylia asked politely.

"Yo-you're women!"

"I'm glad you noticed. I suggest we go and see the commander now, hm?"

Craig shook his head, trying to hide a smile and failing. "Sylia, you are an evil, evil woman...."

He was coming up on the gate now. He slowed and turned on his turn signal. From the sounds of things, Nene and Sylia had gotten into the USSD vehicle and the low roar of an engine told him that the other Sabers were being driven away from the gate. Now it was his turn.

He made his expression stern as he slowed to a stop next to the guard station. The guard, still looking a little shocked, managed to ask, 'Can I help you sir?"

Craig pulled out a ID case and opened it, displaying the card inside to the guard. "I am Major Douglas Sangnoir, USSD Internal Security," he said in a flat, clipped tone. "I want to see Major Stern right now."

The guard blinked at him. "I'll see if he's here." He stepped pack and picked up the phone again. "Hello, this is Gate 2 again. I have a Major Sangnoir from Internal Security to see Major Stern.... Yes.... Are you sure?" He cupped his hand over the mouthpiece and said, "Major Stern isn't here right now, sir."

"Then I will speak to Captain Ohbari," said Craig in the same tone he used when introducing himself. "And if he is not there, then I will speak to Lieutenant Marsh, and if she is not here, then I will speak to Sargent Mayama." Now, he injected some anger into his words. "And if he is not here, then I am going to arrest every single member of the base's security command structure about the rank of corporal! Is that understood?" He turned his head and stared at the guard.

The guard gulped nervously. "I-I believe Captain Ohbari is on the base," he said.

"Then get him."

It took thirty seconds for the guard to get the captain on the line. "Captain Ohbari? This is Gate 2. There's a Major Sangnoir from Internal Security who wishes to speak to you.... I already tried the Major's office and they told me he wasn't in.... Major Sangnoir is most insistent.... I don't think that's a good idea, sir...." The guard looked at Craig. "He's threatening to arrest every single member of the security command about the rank of corporal."

Craig played his final card. "Tell him I am here on the personal orders of General Cantrick himself." As Sylia explained it to Craig and Nene when he was getting ready, Cantrick was a holy terror inside the USSD. The head of USSD internal security, the General was feared throughout the organization for his absolute ruthlessness in uncovering security problems and punishing those who allowed it to happen. Those who worked for Cantrick directly had authority that out paced their rank. It was a mark of the fear the general imposed that it would be very unlikely anyone would call USSD's world headquarters and confirm that a Major Sangnoir did work for Internal Security.

The guard's face went pale and he duly repeated Craig's statement to the Captain. "He just told me that he's here on the personal orders of General Cantrick himself.... Yes Sir! I understand Sir!.... Yes Sir!" He hung up the phone and saluted Craig. "Sir! Captain Ohbari will be here in less then five minutes, and he informed me that you can drive on through the gate and wait for him in the parking lot!"

"Very well," The Guard stepped into the booth and flipped a switch to open the gate. Once through, Craig pulled into the parking lot and parked. He parked the car and got out, carrying a briefcase. To further his disguise, his shoes were built to add several centimeters to his height. As he stood next to the car, he reached into his shirt pocket and found the small transmitter disguised as a pen. He clicked the button on the pen, sending a non-verbal message to Sylia that he was in. Now he had to wait.

He didn't wait long. After two minutes, a jeep-like vehicle came flying into the parking lot and skidded to a stop near him. A puffy-face Asian man wearing a USSD uniform leapt out and saluted. "Captain Toshimichi Ohbari, sir!"

Craig just glared at him. "Take me to the location of the incident right this minute," he said cooly. "You can give me the details on the way."

"May I see your identification first, sir?"

"Of course." Craig presented his ID card to the captain.

"We were not warned of your arrival, sir," Ohbari said, taking the ID case and opening it.

"General Cantrick doesn't usually make it a habit of informing anyone of his plans." replied Craig cooly. "But after last night, you should have expected someone."

"Yes Sir." The captain looked the ID over, then nodded. "It looks to be in order sir. If you will please come with me?"

Craig got in next to the driver, while Ohbari got in the back seat. The car shot by the headquarters building and drove deeper into the complex.

"What happened last night?" Craig asked loudly, his eyes sweeping around as the drove on.

"At 0110 this morning, several suspects somehow managed to enter the complex and enter laboratory building number three. Once inside, they managed to get down to sub-level six."

"The black box project?"

Ohbari nodded. "They killed most of the duty force and several of the researchers. Doctor Takahari is among the critically injured. They got the boomer we installed the black box in."

What is the casualty count?"

"We have twelve dead, and another eighteen wounded. Five of those dead were researchers."

"How close was the black box to being completed?"

"We think they got the system operational just before the attack."

"Who isn't accounted for on the development team?"

"Just one. A man named F. G. Frederick. We sent a team around to his apartment, but there was no trace of him. Major Stern is out leading the search for Frederick himself."

"Instead of remain here at his post?" Craig snarled. The link between him and the pair of Sabers on their way to the interview with the general was silent of any vocal sounds, so he was fully listening to the captain's report.

"Yes Sir."

"When was the last time Frederick was seen?"

"About 1230 hours that night."

"Was he carrying anything?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"Was his car searched when he left?"

"I don't believe so."

"What do you know, Captain?" Craig asked, letting the anger flow again. "How much farther is it to the building?"

Ohbari pointed at the building looking in front of them. There were several APCs parked near the entrance and there was security troopers standing around in small groups. If there was a sign that something had happened here recently, this was it.

Craig nodded, then asked, "Is there any chance this fiasco has been leaked to the press?"

"Doubtful, Sir. The General thinks we have another forty-eight hours before people start asking questions."

"Assuming the terrorists haven't managed to learn how to use that device before then."

The vehicle pulled up in front of the building and both Craig and Ohbari got out. The were starting up the stairs when the receiver in Craig's ear started receiving transmissions.

"Please wait here," he heard Aramaki say, then the closing of a door.

"Not very personal decor in here," Sylia said. "Just a plain old office."

"With at least three listening devices," Nene added. "I wonder what's going on over at that building?"

"Which one?"

"Look out this window." Nene replied. "See the building with all the security around it? The one with the two figures going up the steps?"

Craig stopped and turned around to look at the headquarters building. As he looked at the building, he head Sylia say, "The two standing on the stairs there. I wonder who they are."

"I could use my -" Nene started.

"Let's not reveal anything to our hosts. Let's leave them alone and wait for the general."

"Is there anything wrong, Sir?" Ohbari asked.

"No, there's nothing wrong," Craig replied sourly. "Let's see the damage." They continued up the stairs and entered the building. Inside, there was more USSD troopers standing around. There was an air of unease and uncertainty that hung around like a vulture waiting for something to die

Ohbari led Craig over to a desk that had a flat box with a translucent face sitting on it. Next to the box, a monitor sat, currently showing nothing bu a blank screen. "I need you to place your right hand on this, palm down please," the captain said respectfully.

Craig looked at the device, and felt some unease that he managed to hide. "A palm reader?" he asked, trying to look amused.

"Yes sir. Do you have a problem with that?"

Over the receiver, Craig herd someone open the door and the voice of Captain Aramaki. "The General will see you now."

"Thank you," Sylia replied.

"If you will follow me." There was the sounds of foot steps that Craig tuned out and returned to his own problem.

"Sir?" Captain Ohbari asked.

Craig gave him a small smile. "No problem. I see now why you waited until I was here to check up on me. I thought I had gotten in too easily. I'm glad someone is finally taking this seriously." He placed his hand on the reader and silently prayed that the files Nene had put into the USSD systems included palm matches.

The scanner work its way down his hand, displaying the result on one half of the monitor's screen. When the entire palm was displayed, the other half of the screen began flashing through a large number of palm prints in an unseen computer's data base. After about twenty seconds, it found a match. The two palm prints disappeared, replaced by a picture of Craig in his current disguise appeared, with several lines of data running next to it:

Name: Sangnoir, Douglas Q.
ID Number: S - 71691- 82795 - Q
Rank: Major, USSD
Current Posting: USSD World Headquarters, New York City, USA
Current Position: Special Investigator, Internal Security
Security Clearance: Alpha 3

"Satisfied?" Craig asked, mentally grabbing the relief he felt and stuffing it into a dark hole in his mind. He turned and looked at the USSD captain

Ohbari looked uncomfortable. "I apologize sir but --"

"Don't apologize for doing your job," Craig said gruffly. "Especially to a superior officer you don't know personally. Are there any other security measure you want to take before I see the damage?"

"No sir." The captain motioned to a pair of elevators near the desk. "If you will follow me?"

The two of them got into the elevator and started down. In the silence, Craig listened to the conversation that had just started in the General's office.

"Do...Do you always dress like that?" asked a man's voice that Craig knew was the aide.

"Of course," replied Sylia, as if she had been expecting the question, which she was. "After all, the world isn't a very safe place."

"A...A woman?"

"The idiot needs glasses," Craig muttered.

"What did you say, Sir?" asked Ohbari.

"I said I need to check my glasses," Craig replied in a normal voice. He took off his glasses and cleaned them with a handkerchief he pulled out a pocket. As he cleaned them, he listened to the conversation.

"Well," Nene was saying perkily. "Not even wearing armor can hide these measurements!" The was a startled cry from the aide as Nene posed. "See what I mean?"

"Ah, but they perform wonderfully, don't they?" said a older, deeper male voice. Schwarz was joining the conversation. "Oh, pardon me."

"Captain, where is General Schwarz?" Craig asked Ohbari.

"He's in his office, sir."

"Is he doing anything about this incident?"

"I don't know sir."

"Since we are tentatively offer you a job, we did a little research first," Schwarz was saying. "Frankly, your suits are superior to our own K-12 armored troopers."

"Which are not really more then semi-mobile tin cans," Craig muttered again.

"Are you all right sir?"

Craig felt his jaw tighten. "No captain, I am not," he said firmly. "I was yanked out of bed early and given this assignment at the last bloody second. I was ordered to keep a low profile and report back to my superior ASAP. I am tired, sore and not in a happy mood." He replaced the glasses on his nose and pocketed the handkerchief. "And my mood is not improved by what I'm seeing so far."

The doors opened before the captain could answer. Craig stalked out and scowled at the damage he saw. As he looked around, his attention drifted back to the conversation going on in his ear.

"Now," the general was saying, "What guarantee do we have that you'll keep the job confidential?"

"We work under the table, as you know...."

Craig spun to face Ohbari. "What were the terrorists using down here? Laser cannons?"

"We don't know sir."

Out of the corner of his eye, Craig saw a camera mounted on the wall above the elevators. "What about the security footage? Have you analyzed what the cameras recorded yet?"

"We couldn't recover any of the data."

"You could not recover any of...." Craig closed his eyes and began swearing. "Take me to the computer room."

Ohbari lead 'Major Sangnoir' through the wreckage of the laboratories Whoever had hit the place had done it fast and with an eye to causing a lot of damage. They traveled in silence passing the occasional USSD solider or technician trying to straighten up some of the mess caused by the attack.

"F.G. Frederick, age 25. A computer technician with USSD...."

There was a smell in the air, a mix of smoke, burnt material and the sickly tang of burnt meat. Craig was glad he'd skipped breakfast today and that he hadn't been here right after the attack. Even then, he found it difficult to swallow. To take his mind off the smell, he looked around, taking in all the sights and sounds.

"Name: Cynthia. Age: Six...."

There was a haze of smoke flitting near the ceiling, but there was enough to make the entire sub-level seem disjointed and unreal. Several doors along the hall had been smashed in two, the contents of the rooms themselves not much better then the doors that had failed to withstand the attack

"I want you to find these two...."

There was an almost complete silence, a still broken only by the pair's footsteps and the other people now and then moving something. The air was cool and dry, with nothing to disturb the oppressive aura that linger there.

"Tracking down missing persons?" Nene was saying "What's so special about this girl?"

The Computer room was located at the far end of the central hallway. The steel doors had been caved in, as if they had been hit by a truck after being worked over by several blowtorches. They stopped outside and looked in. There was only three people in the room, all USSD soldiers and all working on getting the system back on-line.

"How badly is the computer system damaged?" Craig asked, listened as the conversation in the general's office continued.

"Well, right now, I would be a little -"

"Captain Rowley thinks we can recover about forty percent of the data, Sir," Ohbari said.

"OK. Fine," Sylia said sharply, "but I cannot believe this is a mere missing-person search."

A tall, lean woman walked over to the them. Blonde and blue-eyed, she looked tired and angry. "Who's this?" she asked Ohbari bruskly.

"Major Sangnoir, Internal Security."

"The fact is," Schwarz replied, "We believe that she was abducted yesterday by a group of boomers whose leader had infiltrated USSD."

The blonde eyed Craig with distaste. "So, Cantrick has already sent one of his stormtroopers to pin the blame?"

"Is there blame to be pinned?" asked Craig softly. "I'm here only to give my superior a personal, on the spot report of what happen here. There'll be others to determined what exactly happened."

"Abducted by boomers?"

"Major," said Ohbari, "this is Captain Amanda Rowley, liaison officer for Project Hikigane."

"Captain," said Craig gravely, "Can you give me an estimate on how long it will take to recreate the work that was lost?"

"We think Frederick infiltrated us on some unknown person's orders...."

Rowley gave him a hard stare. "A minimum of six months, if we're lucky, but it'll be more likely a year, year and a half. The bastards manage to trash the main and secondary storage networks pretty good. We're trying to reclaim data and trying to access the off-line servers, but we're short handed, and the General is more concerned with finding the black box then figuring out how much of the project is salvageable."

"...and as a member of our staff, he was able to mastermind the operation."

"I see." The two different conversations were beginning to become difficult to keep straight. He needed some time alone. "May I look around on my own for a while?"

"I don't have any objection. After all, there's nothing left to steal." She looked over at Ohbari. "Do you have any problems with the Major looking around?"

"I don't have any."

"Then, you think this Frederick is a boomer too?"

Rowley glanced at her watch. "It's time for a break anyway. Schildt, Sanchez, let's get something to eat." She gazed at Craig, her expression unreadable. "Have fun, Major, but don't try and destroy too much evidence in your zeal to string somebody up for this."

"I don't do that," replied Craig cooly. "And that isn't my job here, so stop acting like I'm the one responsible for this mess."

"That is something we cannot confirm."

"Fair enough," the woman replied. "Permission to take myself and my men to get something to eat?"

"You don't need my permission to do anything."

"Fine." She passed by Craig and Ohbari and stalked out of the followed by a short, powerful looking man with the air and presence of a senior NCO and a young, lanky Hispanic. Craig watched them leave, his face hiding the relief he felt. The expression Rowley had given him was one of suspicion and contempt. He needed to move fast.

"So, what are they after?"

"Stay here," Craig told Ohbari and walked out of the room. He turned left and started down the hall. He glanced over his shoulder, but there was no one in the hall. Good.

The General's aide cut in. "They demand to know the secrets of an exotic weapon which holds the key to our nation's defense."

Sylia's voice was hard. "The orbital particle beam Satellites?"

"You know of them?" Schwarz asked with surprise in his tone.

"Range-verus-target alignment error: 10-10 or less. Capable of destroying up to a thousand kilometer radius area."

"You ARE good!"

Craig turned down another hall and checked several of the rooms as he passed them. Halfway down the hall, he found an empty office and went in. He closed the door, locked it and went over to the desk. He pulled out a pair of thin rubber gloves, put them on, then sat down and looked at the computer sitting on the desk. He reached into an inside pocket, pulled out a small flat case, and opened it. The minidisk sat there, ready to use.

"It disgusts me to think that there are over two hundred of those things floating over my head."

Craig inserted the disk into the right drive, then booted up the computer. As the computer booted up, the disk began whirling inside the drive. Nene told Craig that it would take less than a minute for all the programs on the disk to be uploaded into the system. All he could do was wait.

Schwarz's aide jumped back into the conversation. "But they insure the safety of our country...." Craig tuned out the rest of his answer and waited for Nene's next words.

Just then, he heard Nene say, "Sylia, that's no ordinary camera pointed at us." There sound of a shot, followed by something exploding told Craig that Sylia had taken out the so-called 'camera'.

The computer beeped. Craig leaned forward and looked at the screen. He remove the disk and replaced it with another disk from the case. Depending on the network, it could take as long as ten minutes to finish downloading the data. He couldn't stay here for the entire time. Ohbari might decide to come looking for him, and he didn't want to be caught just sitting here.

There were sounds of footsteps over the receiver, then the General's aide saying frantically, "Please, please wait! We apologize for the discourtesy! But we really do want to hire you!"

"In fact," Schwarz said, "Well pay for you an additional twenty million if you can expose their organization."

Craig stood, switched off the monitor and slipped out of the office. He went down the hall, took a right, and went towards the labs. The closer he got to the labs, the worse the damage and smell became, and the haze was now slightly thicker.

"I see," said Sylia. "But what happens if the organization is not some home-grown bunch of terrorists, but a well-financed group with ties to....powerful people?"

"Do you have such evidence?" Schwarz asked.

"I have suspicions," Sylia replied. "Ones that include a certain pet project of yours."

"I-I don't have any idea of what you're talking about!" the General sputtered.

"Really? Cynthia isn't related to you - I checked your background before I came here. The fact that you think that someone who worked here took Cynthia means she must have a connection to work here. What type of work would a six-year-old have with USSD? The only answer I can come up with is that she is not a real six-year-old."

"That's preposterous!" The General's aide said hurriedly.

"Is it? What is Cynthia's last name?"

"Er...."

"My point exactly. The fact that you haven't bothered to give me her last name leads me to believe that she isn't a human. She's a boomer, isn't she?"

By the time Craig reached the labs, he could see the area was heavily mangled. The walls had been gouged with both bullets and laser fire, and in several places, something heavy had struck the walls, leaving dents and craters behind. The tile floor was marred with spent shells, bits of broken wall, scratches and gouges, while several ceiling panels were hanging or had fallen from their place. Several of the overhead lights were shattered, casting area of shadow that added to the eerie effect. "This was the target," he muttered.

"You are good," Schwarz muttered. "Yes, Cynthia is a boomer."

"With a connection to the orbital particle beam satellites?"

"Yes." Schwarz's voice was low and hard.

"Would I be too remiss if I asked if Cynthia had a triggering device built into her?"

"That's -" the aide began.

"Yes!" Schwarz snarled.

Craig spotted something out of the corner of his eye near a smashed door. He stepped over and knelt, carefully reaching out to touch the yellow-orange fluid. He rubbed between his fingers, feeling the slight oiliness, then sniffed it, detecting the faint pungent odor of iron and sulphur. Boomer cooling fluid, he thought.. Moving quickly, he took out a small vial with a lid and placed some of the fluid into it. He sealed the top and pocketed the vial. He glanced at his watch. He still had a couple of minutes before he had to start back to pick up the data disk.

"Thank you for your candor," Sylia said. "Here are our terms to take this mission: Ten million, up front. If we recover Cynthia, you will pay us another ten million. If we are forced to destroy Cynthia to prevent her from being used, there will be no additional payment made to us. If we fail in our mission, we will return the entire up-front money. If we uncover enough evidence to point to the people behind this, we will receive an additional twenty million. Fair enough?"

There was a moment of silence, then Schwarz said, "Very well. I agree to your terms."

"We will contact you in an hour to arrange the transfer of the money into a neutral account. Good day, General."

A search of the area turned up nothing, so Craig started back. He slipped back into the office and turned the monitor on again. The screen indicated that the download was complete, so he removed the disk and place it back into the case. He pocketed the case and turned off the computer. Before he left the office, he took out the disguised pen and clicked the button three times, a signal that he'd done his job. Slipping back out into the hall, he strode back to the computer room.

Ohbari was still standing there, looking tense. "Finished Sir?" he asked.

"Yes," Craig growled. "Let's get out of here." All he had to do now was hold together until he got off the base, then he could find somewhere nice and quiet and try to throw up....