Camp Alien (46 page)

J
ANELLE GARDINER
stared at me, as openmouthed as I was. I recovered quickest. “Wow, you're still alive. Up until these past few days I wouldn't have thought I'd say this—but thank God.”

“Who are you?” She sounded exhausted and frightened.

“Um, sorry, though we've met I guess we haven't actually talked a lot and I know we're all hard to see with the gear on. I'm Kitty Katt-Martini.” Figured now wasn't the time to play the FLOTUS Card.

She jerked. “It's really you?”

“Last time I checked.”

“Last time I checked I was watching you lying in wait for the President while my so-called friends were telling me that I should be honored that I was chosen to be one of the three main prototypes of Personal Robotic Anti-Terrorism Units.”

“Yeah, that wasn't me. It's what I like to call the Kitty-Bot. There's a Janelle-Bot, too. I've already tangled with her and ran away so as to live another day and all that jazz. So, you want out of this cell or are you content to hang around until your ‘friends' kill you?”

“I want out. Please.”

“Okay, gang, it's the usual fun. Adriana, please have that fire extinguisher ready.”

We did the same maneuver as we had for Colette. Worked better this time because we'd done it once before and because Adriana was a lot closer to the flaming net and put it out of its misery and ours before it could get through the door.

We all took Gardiner to our impromptu medical area. The A-Cs had found water bottles, and everyone was having some, the prisoners in particular. While Camilla checked Gardiner for injuries and everyone had a water and a smile, we conferred about the rest of our missing team.

“Siler's not here, and neither is Wruck,” Buchanan said. “I did the approach here, because we thought it was a government agency.”

“It is, but it's an illegal one.”

“We'll argue semantics later, Missus Executive Chief. I was literally dragged inside by four guys. I have no idea where Siler and Wruck are, but I'd imagine Siler did his blending thing and ensured the two of them disappeared.”

“Huh. I have no idea where they went, but they sure didn't come over to visit us at the insane asylum.”

Buchanan nodded. “Wruck literally refused to set foot on those grounds. That's why I tried this place to see if you'd come in here. I had no idea the others were here, but I think they got here before we did, because I didn't even get a ‘hey, how are you' out before I was grabbed.”

“We followed Adriana,” Len said. “As well as we could, anyway. I was tracking her on GPS but her signal was going in and out and then disappeared. Manfred and Colette searched all the businesses in this area.”

“We overheard someone talking about the insane asylum,” Manfred said. “So we figured that could be a good hiding place.”

“Right you were. But why didn't you go there first?”

“We thought the newer building was a school or a detention center,” Kyle said. “It seemed like a good spot to go to get help, and we figured we'd need it.” He shrugged. “We got in the door, explained who we worked for, and were knocked out fast. I woke up in the cell.”

“Same story for the rest of you?” Everyone nodded, other than Colette.

“They spent some time with me, Evalyne, and Phoebe, after we woke up. That's how I knew the net was dangerous. Otherwise, I woke up in the room where the cells are and was shoved into one because I chose not to fight after seeing what happened to the others.”

“Lovely. Did they plan to ransom you guys or anything?”

Colette shook her head. “We were told that no one
knows this site is here and they want to keep it that way. They wanted the women as prototypes. That's why we had the nets—it was to prevent us injuring or killing ourselves.” She nodded toward the three dead men.

“Do we know who they all are?” I asked Falk.

“The rest of my team.” He sounded furious. There was a lot of that going around. “They must have been close to getting out.”

Chose not to argue or support this mindset, since I had no idea, and Falk, and Buchanan as well, was already upset enough. The others were, too, but I understood how their chain of command worked, and also how it felt when you lost someone you'd accidentally put into danger.

“So Siler and Wruck are MIA and Evalyne and Phoebe are presumably still in the building?”

Buchanan nodded. “Not that we have any idea of where they are.”

“We do,” Christopher said, indicating the A-Cs. “We also found proof that Monica Strauss was in charge of this.”

“Not a surprise. Anyone else incriminated?”

“Ansom Somerall and Talia Lee,” Gardiner spat. “My colleague and my best friend.”

“Yeah, well, when you side with the bad guys, you get betrayed. That's in all the rulebooks. Why'd they hook up against you?”

“Ansom's sleeping with her.” Gardiner shrugged. “It won't last, his liaisons never do, but Talia thinks she's special. Ansom wants complete control of Gaultier and it doesn't matter that I haven't cramped his style—the moment Quinton died I was no longer protected.”

“Quinton Cross was your guardian and/or benefactor?”

“Yes. He actually had limits. Ansom has none.”

This was a complete reversal of how I'd seen those two men, but it wasn't that big a surprise, really. Different levels of evil were still evil, when you got right down to it.

“Wow. I'll contemplate those ramifications later, and you'll be helping me to do it.” Pondered our options. “Malcolm, are we allowed to treat this site the same way we did the Gaultier black site?”

Noted that Gardiner didn't look surprised at this question, nor did she look chagrined. She looked like that was old news, which it was. But I did have to remember that
she'd most likely been involved in everything Gaultier had done against us since Amy's father was killed and factor that into things.

“No, the P.T.C.U. needs to take control, because this is a homegrown terrorist operation, and while I'm sure the evidence you've found is good, I'm also sure that we'll find more. And you're going to need it. While the former Secretary of State is the easy ‘high-ranking individual' responsible, I'm sure there are others.”

“Monica Strauss' involvement is confirmed,” White said. “And yes, we've found the proof. And a large cache of diamonds.”

“Really? Then why did Strauss and Villanova yank their diamonds from their settings and why did Villanova hide them in her ice cube trays?”

“As you say so frequently, I have no idea who makes these plans up or why, we just have to foil them. And it appears we have the proof to do so.”

“That proof needs to be exposed,” Buchanan said. “If we turn this place to rubble like Missus Chief would like, we lose the proof. And ‘we say so' doesn't hold up in courts of law or public opinion.”

“Good points. Here's the two things I want most right now. One is to find the rest of our missing people. Two is to get whatever cellular dampening and such that this site has running turned off.”

“I can handle the second one,” Camilla said. “Give me a minute to find the source.”

“That source could be anywhere.”

She shook her head. “It'll be down here, in the secured area. I was fairly sure I'd found it when you pulled me onto medic duty.” She zipped off.

Turned to Christopher. “Any ideas for where the others are?”

“No, but I think we found an alternate exit. It took us a while to find it, too.”

“Show me.”

He grabbed my hand and we went back toward where the cells had been. Followed that wall along until it looked like we were reaching the far wall and a dead end. Only it wasn't a dead end. The wall was an optical illusion in this area, with a small L-shaped hall that, due to the white on
white of this entire room, didn't show unless you were right on it.

“Great. Let's get everyone and check this out.”

“Speaking of everyone, we're at our time limit. Should I get Devon or just tell him to continue waiting?”

“Depends on how fast Camilla's working.” Checked my phone. Even this deep underground I had bars. “I think she's worked fast. Do you have Devon's number?”

“Yes.” Christopher pulled out his phone and dialed. “Hey, it's Christopher White. Yeah, we're all alive and we've found most of the missing.” He barked a laugh. “Yeah, I'm amazed, too. Listen, I want you taking command of the facility.”

While Christopher shared the news of what was going on with Devon, I called Jerry. “Commander, it's amazing to hear your voice via this old-fashioned means.”

“I know. Revel in the wonder. Look, I need you to contact my mother, and only my mother. She needs to call Malcolm so that he can give her his thoughts on what the P.T.C.U. should be doing.”

“Roger that. I see your backup team is heading inside.”

“Yeah, they're taking over the upper portions. We're in the secret underground portions.”

“I miss all the fun.”

“Truly.” Filled him in on everything. “I do not want to see any of the men I'm mad at.” Because I needed to stay mad and I wasn't quite ready to forgive them yet. And because, when I got down to it, I didn't want them in danger and right now, who knew how safe any of us outside of an A-C protected facility were? “When you share information and request the backup that Devon's team is going to need to ensure that this facility remains under our control, please make sure that this is extremely clear. None of them will enjoy me right now, and I have a lot of weapons that work really well.”

“Clear, and I'll relay. Should we have Abby and Mahin get the recovered teams into the helicarrier?”

“I don't think they can. We have what appeared to be the only keys for this level, and while Devon's team can definitely breach the front door if they have to because it's normal, I don't think they can breach the ones we had to use to get down here. Everyone's ambulatory, in part because this
is a workplace and the folks down here have water and such for themselves. We'll get everyone out with us.”

“Now that you've gotten the blockage down, we can monitor you from here. Your signal's faint, but we've got it on the ship's system.”

“Great. Lock onto as many of us as you can. We're heading who knows where right now. Also, contact Drax—our goggles stopped being awesome the moment we entered the room we're in right now. I'd like to see if he can determine what might be in this room that would affect the goggles in this way. And while you're at it, just for grins and giggles, see if you can locate Siler or Wruck. I don't think they're in this facility.”

Jerry and I got off at the same time as Christopher's call with Devon ended. We headed back to the others at a human trot. Hoped Christopher was merely reserving energy, because if he was running low, we could be in trouble, especially since he hadn't exerted that much energy so far. That I knew of, at any rate.

“They're in and met no resistance,” he shared. “They picked the lock without issue, by the way. And the security guards we captured are still captured.”

“Amazing.”

“Isn't it, though?”

“Yeah. There were more than four cars in the parking lot.”

He nodded. “Not a lot more, but yeah, I think we're going to find more people wherever the last of our team is being held.”

Camilla was back with the others, looking smug, as everyone enjoyed being able to contact people past their arms' reach. We took stock. Pretty much everyone could walk under their own power, albeit only if they allowed someone to help them. The women didn't argue, but the men only agreed to this after both Christopher and I pulled a wide variety of ranks and Camilla made some cutting remarks about men and their overabundance of stupid pride.

So, Daniel had Buchanan, Joshua had Falk, Lucas had Len, Marcus had Manfred, White had Kyle, and Adriana had Colette. Camilla took Gardiner, which I approved of—Camilla wasn't going to let any form of pity affect her if Gardiner tried something.

Joe and Randy had the unenviable job of taking the dead bodies. The wiser course would have been to leave them, but it was clear that Falk wasn't going to be able to handle that and Buchanan probably wouldn't be good with it, either. The flyboys were strong enough to carry all three bodies.

This left me and Christopher in the lead and Rahmi and Rhee bringing up the rear, while also handling muscle and fighting as might be needed and carrying the two boxes the A-Cs had filled with incriminating evidence. Thusly set up, we set off for the hidden doorway.

The bright white of this area gave way pretty quickly once we were through the illusion doorway. We were back to normal lighting and a reasonably normal corridor, which we walked down cautiously and stayed quiet, just in case. For no need, apparently—if we triggered anything anywhere it was impossible to tell.