(No "action" in this one, FYI)
"Bad news," C said.
I opened my eyes, squinting at the silhouette of him in the doorway.
"Shit," I finally mumbled.
"Here," and he reached into his shirt pocket.
"I'm tryin' to..." Quit. He knew that. Bad news? If he wanted to toss a pack of cigarettes to me, it must've been pretty damn bad.
I sat up and caught 'em, then his lighter. The first drag got me coughing.
C waited, leaning against the doorframe as if he needed the support to stay upright. When I finally looked over at him, his head moved - breaking eye contact.
"A's gone."
And I knew, immediately, what that meant - but we had to do the dance. "So? He's out chasin' tail. About time, I th-"
"B, they found his trackbug... About a mile from Prairie Truck Stop."
Out in the middle of nowhere.
Yeah, that was some real bad news.
It also meant I was in charge.
All of the other top-level guys decided not to ignore their text-messages, and dragged their weary asses in so we could meet by 0700. We yawned a lot. After G brought three more pots of coffee in, E nudged the vents up, since there was already a thick haze of smoke in there, and turned the jammers back on. We had never found proof of the TETs compromising the building. There had been leaks, of course. Humans had to be responsible. That was our theory, anyway.
"Well, B, we need a plan," H drawled. He was also reminding me, in his sly way, that we didn't have the budget for a plan.
F snorted. "Yeah, like that's gonna help." I had my doubts about him...
I had to take a deep breath, just so I wouldn't snap at him. It had been a couple of years since the last time A had gotten snatched, and I hated being in the hot seat for awhile. With the latest budget cuts, it was the worst possible time to plan and stage a full-scale rescue.
Suspiciously bad. But I stored that thought for later.
"Yeah," I finally said. "A plan. Before that, though, we need to get the facts out. Everything we know."
D waved his hand lazily. He'd investigated the kidnap site. "Lemme go first."
"Talk."
A cleverdoc fanned open on the wall screen, showing pictures of a wheat field...
I paid some attention, getting the main points, but D was a thorough critter and the situation was obvious enough. Recent data from A's trackbug showed it moving from our building to a restaurant, and then a bar or two - all within a two-mile radius. The bug on his cycle led us to the last joint, a sports bar.
But A never made it inside. There were boot-marks on the sidewalk, leading to the alley.
His personal bug was found nineteen miles northeast of his bike.
I stole a few looks around at the guys. There was no need for anyone to come out and say what was happening to A, at that very moment. We knew. Shit, we'd all been there. Too many times.
Two hours had gone by. The guys in the field found nothing. A could be anywhere. Howling...
We talked strategy. I'd reached a fine state of panic twice and battled it back down. We had to call in the agency, get a lot more bodies looking. And there was no money.
This was going to shut us down. I got to sit in the big chair just at the right time to see years of work come to an abrupt stop. And C and E's tech-teams were so damn close, both of 'em.
"Hold on," G snapped. "Satellite data is coming in. Finally."
We looked at the wall screen hopefully -
"Yeah!" C yelled.
Big buildings. The streets were labeled with dull yellow letters. It was the last bar A had gone to...
There was a vehicle in the alley. Long, rectangular roof.
"It times out," F said, with approval in his voice. That probably was the right van, then.
"Minivan," E added. "Probably a Ford. Newer."
"Dark... green, according to the spectro," I said.
"Yup." E's fingers raced around the keyboard in front of him. The image stuttered a few times - and finally showed us a housing development.
"That's our boy," G crowed.
C was already on the phone.
Privately, I had to wonder if we could be that lucky.
The local sheriff gave us ten guys. It was more than I expected.
We had three square miles to seal off. Eight egress roads... and our field agents could only stake out three of them. We had to get more guys down there, just to start the search.
I looked around the room. No one said anything.
"Call the Bureau office -"
"Got it," G said, punching numbers into his wrist-phone. They probably wouldn't send anybody.
"Well," I said hesitantly, "the sooner we wrap this up, ourselves -"
"Yeah." E closed his laptop and stood up.
Right away, C started getting out of his chair too. "One minute," I said to him.
F and D headed for the door, giving me a quick wave. H was right behind them...
G shook his head and got up, smirking at the wallscreen. C took an impatient drag and stared at me. I felt a headache coming on.
"You can't," he finally said. We'd known each other a couple years. Everyone else in the room was on their way to rescue A... and C was probably the best tracker in the bunch.
"Second in command. You know the drill -"
"Aw, screw that!" he shot back. "We get the Agency involved, there won't be anything left to command."
"I know." It was bad policy. According to the rules he shouldn't be out there, exposed. I was definitely stuck, and everyone knew it - briefings, inquiries, all the bullshit A usually handled.
"B," he warned me.
"Call in every half-hour," I sighed.
He flew out of the chair. "You got it."
I watched him go, and rubbed my temples. Ready for retirement - at the ripe old age of twenty-seven...
The TETs has planned well. That was to be expected - but hell, I mean, they really outdid themselves.
First they got at the sheriff's radios, one by one. We'd been trained to deal with that contingency, since it had been done before. The local cops were taken down before they even knew they were off the air, probably. That opened up the roads again.
But my guys smelled a trap.
Only F was taken. I had mixed feelings about that. It could have been a decoy manuever.
They redeployed, tightening the snare, coordinating real well with C. No more fuckups - if F's capture even really counted. They did it just the way we had been trained.
A copter-drone found the right house when two of the deputies were whisked out from under the trees and into the backyard door. My guys surrounded it from a good distance. Playing it safe.
That was when the point-to-point radios failed. Our guys at the relay van must've been attacked, and I hoped they had time to drive off.
Everybody else held their positions. Hell, most of 'em could look over and see each other.
But a big engine started up...
And the garage door exploded.
The fuckin' TETs had a Hummer. It was squealing down the driveway. The copter-drone flew down, zoom lens trying to keep up.
There were four or five guys in the back, trussed up and wiggling. I couldn't make out any of their faces. The computer would do that later. Sheriffs, of course. The younger ones. The rest were probably stashed inside the house.
The Hummer skidded around and climbed up a picture-perfect lawn.
G hurried out to it - with his arms up high, flailing and kicking. It slowed down, popping open the back hatch, and he tumbled inside.
Gunfire. The drone started to climb, wheeling around -
A man trotted out from under a porch, four houses away. The Hummer was approaching, and he calmly shot at its tires. Apparently the sudden swerves it made were intentional, to avoid the bullets. It picked up speed.
No one was at the wheel.
Black dots flew out of the windows. The shooter managed to get off two more shots, and then he started to run. But they were much too fast. Getting his arms, they lifted him well off the ground... and over to the Hummer. It was hard to imagine how much energy must've been required to carry him as fast as they did.
His legs kicked frantically. He whipsawed his body, and his cap fell off.
Red hair.
As he went into the back hatch, his hand gripped the tailgate. The drone moved down, revealing the black dots to be what just what I suspected -
One of the gloves pounded on his fingers, and others pulled on his sleeve. His forearm was bared for a couple seconds, right before the Hummer roared off. Thick black stripes, angling down. A distinctive tattoo.
That confirmed it was D.
The drone suddenly stopped transmitting. A lucky shot, perhaps.
Before they could regroup and get to a phone, the fuckers pounced on E.
That left C in charge, at the site - and one of the state troopers who arrived on scene saw him send H back to check on the radio van.
No more H.
Before they could even follow through with my request and issue a hot warrant for C... he disappeared too.
I broke protocol and left the building.
There was no point in going down to the subdivision. The excitement was all over.
But I had an idea.
Sitting on A's couch, in the darkness, I smoked one after another. Staring at the front door without really seeing it, but that didn't matter. I had two agents watching each door - all the staffers we had left in town.
There was enough time to review events, and think about what I'd done wrong. I felt like blaming myself for everything. Being any more logical than that didn't feel very good.
Finally, the door clicked, and opened. A silencer poked its way in.
And I guessed correctly - it was C's voice, clear and quiet... "Set it down, B. Slowly. Right now."
I set my gun down on the coffee table, and leaned back.
He slipped inside and closed the door.
"What's Rule 1?" I asked him, feeling more tired than I had in a long, long time.
"Shut up."
"What is it, C?"
"You don't get it," he snapped. "I can't go through it again. I'll snap. I mean it, not ever again -"
"Never trust a TET," I interrupted him. "Rule 1."
"Well, I got a plan," C shot back.
"I'm sure you do."
"There's no point in saying I'm sorry, 'cause you won't believe it anyway. Right now, I want you to stand up - real slow. I guess you can figure out why." He pulled handcuffs out of a jacket pocket and held 'em out to me. "Behind your back."
I did it.
He patted my pockets. "Don't run off, B. I don't wanna get blood all over my new boots."
"Can't have that," I murmured.
He opened the door without taking his eyes off me, and we stepped through. I got ready to duck, doing my best not to let it show...
Nothing happened as we walked down the steps. My guys should've intercepted us already.
So they were probably gone. Okay... C hadn't mentioned them - in fact, he would've gloated if he knew they were caught. It wasn't like him to say nothing at all. So he didn't know.
And if his allies didn't grab the agents, then -
Who was the last person in the world I'd suspect? Where was he?
No. No, no, no...
"Oh, shit, I'm so stupid," I sighed.
"Just outclassed," he said smugly.
"Not by you."
"Walk. To the van," C hissed.
He was being played, too. We'd all find out soon enough. Once we were in the van, I guessed...
Though I didn't look around, I was listening hard. No movement nearby. Yeah, the agents I'd brought were already bagged. Quick and silent, probably trussed up, maybe on their way to delirium right now.
So it was over. Almost five years of work.
When the TETs overran everything, I still hoped somebody could piece together the research we'd done... maybe fight 'em off.
It wasn't my battle anymore. I knew I was going away for a long time.
But not because of C -
As soon as he opened the door of the van, I heard a crackling noise. Instinctively, I fell back -
"Gaaaah," C barked, slamming against the door frame. Firm hands grabbed me before he even hit the ground...
Dark gloves flew down and pulled the taser prongs out of C's chest. A roll of black duct tape approached, already unpeeling. More magic.
The driver's door opened a little more, and the gloves propped C in the front of the steering wheel. He just trembled, grunting quietly, as the tape raced around him.
The sliding door rolled open.
"Hop in," a familiar voice said to me, chuckling.
After a few seconds, no better option occurred to me. So I did.
As soon as I'd parked my ass on the padded floor and swung my legs inside, the door slammed shut. Quickly, efficiently, the van's engine turned over - and we were off.
Further back in the dark, somebody took a drag on a cigarette. The coal glowed...
"Where are my agents?" I asked.
"They're in another van," the TET snickered.
"Uh-huh."
The guy chuckled bitterly. "So I guess we're out of business."
"Yeah."
"No more work for us."
"Time for a cigarette." A hand reached into my jacket and got my smokes out. Another one sparked my lighter. A familiar sight - black leather gloves, floating close to me, looking as full as they could be.
As I lit up, A sighed with approval. "I bet you're raking yourself over the coals, aren't you? Feeling responsible for everything."
I felt depressed - or resigned to it. "Comes with the job. Right?"
"The job," he scoffed. "Good try, B. This plan has been in the works for a long time. More backups and contingency plans than we ever guessed." He finished off his smoke. "Their biggest worry was you. Figuring it out."
"About three minutes too late," I said bitterly.
"Then we all lucked out."
I looked out the window and tugged on the cigarette. We were rolling down Eighth Street, and there was a freeway ramp about a mile off. As soon as I edged a little closer to the door, hands clamped down on my collarbones and pushed down.
A yawned. "It's gonna be a long night. For everybody."
"And you could prevent that."
"If I wanted to," he agreed. "But I don't."
"What have they done to you?"
"Oh - are you gonna give me the 'Rule 1' speech?," he said, cackling at me. "C didn't buy it. I heard you. They've got my place bugged. No, buddy, I still don't trust these ruthless fucks. Never did."
"Then -"
"R-six-seven."
I waited, but A didn't elaborate. He was waiting for me. "Okay. What's that mean?"
"A little something we picked up from the commies. One of the bioweapons plants... They were probably working on the ultimate truth serum, but this one version had a delightful side effect. Pleasure gets amplified to a level - well, you'll see. A couple hours from now, you'll be ready to believe anything. They told me how much I love tickling. Made it real clear. Turns out they were right."
"You don't love it," I said calmly. "Not really. It's the drug."
"Naw, that was the old me," and he almost crowed with delight.
"A, look -"
"I can't get enough, now. Hell, I want the whole world to find out."
"No. You hated it all the times before."
"Ancient history. Doesn't matter now."
"No, I guess not."
"R67... It's gonna change the world. They're making it by the kilogram. Amazing stuff. I can't even describe how cool it is, now. When they get intense on my ass."
My cigarette was taken away.
"Oh. Looks like they're gonna gag you now."
As they did, I heard A yawn again. "I suggest you get some sleep, while you can. I'm going to. Major victory party tonight. Every one of us. You can be sure... But they've really got it in for you, B. Straight-shooter. Mister by-the-book."
He chuckled, and paused - as if he was waiting for me to answer him. But the bandanna had already been tied tight between my jaws... Totally unnecessary, since the van was already on the freeway ramp, picking up speed.
"Just wait 'til you see your new home," he taunted.
I closed my eyes, and a quick shiver ran through me.
15nov03