The lock clicked open and Diego Serrano put his lock pick equipment back into his bag. He opened the safe, and found a stack of cash, a folder filled with papers, and a handgun. He grabbed the cash and the folder, but left the gun as he closed and relocked the safe.
“We’ve got a problem,” Jacques Dupont said over the comm. “The maid is making her way up to the office.”
“That’s not a problem,” Diego said. “I can just leave through the window, I’m not too high up.”
Diego looked out the window as he opened it up. He grabbed his whip from his belt, ran, jumped out the window, flicked his whip towards a streetlamp, which it curled around, and he swung down to the ground. Jacques was waiting in the car, and Diego ran up, got in, and Jacques took off.
“So, you go the folder?” Jacques asked.
“Yep, and a bit of cash too. Looks like about $100,000 so not bad of a bonus.”
“Hopefully our employer doesn’t have a problem with that. She just asked us to get the folder.”
“What she doesn’t know can’t hurt us,” Diego said.
“Here you are,” Diego said as he slid the folder across the table to their employer. They were in a coffee shop.
“Good work,” she said. “The money has been transferred to your accounts.”
“It was a pleasure doing business with you,” Jacques said.
“And I understand you two also got a bit of a bonus on this job,” she said. “Don’t worry, it’s fine that you took that $100,000. Although, if you would like to make a bit more money, I do have another job.”
“What kind?” Diego asked.
Their employer opened up the folder and looked through it. She took out a paper, and put it on the table. “This is a set of blueprints,” she said. “It is quite valuable to us, but the prototype has already been built, and that would be even more valuable.”
“What is it?” Jacques asked as he picked it up and looked at it. “Is this some kind of weapon?”
“Nothing so crude,” their employer said. “But I don’t want to bore you with the technical details. I think you’ll be more interested in the price I’m willing to offer.”
“I can’t believe we accepted that job,” Jacques said as he drove them back to their apartment.
“It’s a lot of money,” Diego said. “We could retire after this job, if we want to.”
“If we wanted to we could have retired years ago. But that’s boring.”
“Which is exactly what stealing from the ESS will not be. Like, we’ve dealt with their security before, but this is the main ESS headquarters. The most secure building on the planet. Just think, we pull this off, we’re legends.”
“Can we pull this off though?” Jacques asked. “Like this feels like it’ll be more than just a two man job.”
“So, we put together a crew then? I mean, it’s been a while since we’ve been part of a larger crew, but we both know a few people we could bring in.”
“Oh yeah, who are you all thinking?”
“This is an FBI building,” Jacques said the following morning. “Why are we outside an FBI building?”
Diego checked his watch. “She should be getting out shortly.”
“Who?”
“Remember Roz?”
“Of course I remember Roz. Why are we here for Roz?”
“She’s the best lock breaker we know, but she got caught a couple years back in Vegas, so decided to work off her sentence with the FBI,” Diego said. “And there she is now.”
Jacques looked over as Roz was coming out of the building. She noticed them almost immediately, and a frown appeared on her face.
“Hey Roz, long time no see,” Diego said. “How’s Sam?”
“We broke up after I got caught,” Roz said. “What are you two assholes doing here?”
“We’re putting together a team,” Diego said.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m on the other side now,” Roz said, pointing her thumb at the building she had just come out of.
“Good point,” Jacques said. “We’ll just be on our way.”
“Wait,” Diego said. “Would it interest you if I told you it would be enough money to disappear and start over?”
Roz pulled up her pant leg a bit to show off an ankle monitor. “I’d need to disappear first. And once that happened, there’d be no going back unless I want to spend my time in prison. How difficult is the job?”
“You ever hear of the ESS?” Diego asked.
“You can’t be serious,” Roz said. “I know you guys think you’re the best of the best, but the ESS are so far out of your league it’s not even funny.”
“If you’re not interested, that’s fine,” Jacques said. “Plenty of other people we can ask.”
Diego took out a piece of paper, wrote something on it, and handed it to Roz. “In case you change your mind.”
“Uh huh.” Roz stuffed the paper into her pocket without even looking at it.
Jacques knocked on the door, and waited.
“Is this really a good idea?” Diego asked.
“You wanted to get help from Roz. You lost your right to criticize my suggestions.”
“Did something happen between you and Roz? Like, that seemed like you had more of a problem than just her being with the FBI now.”
“Just drop it.”
The door opened, and Jacques’ brother Marcel was there.
“Jacques, it’s been too long,” Marcel said. “How are you doing?”
“I’m doing okay,” Jacques said. “You remember Diego?”
“Hey,” Diego said.
“Ah yes, your annoying friend,” Marcel said. “Come in, come in. What are you two doing in town?”
“We’ve got a job, and it’s more than just a two person operation,” Jacques said.
“Who else do you have so far?” Marcel asked.
“It’s just the two of us, so far,” Diego said. “Unless you’re in.”
“Tell me about the job,” Marcel said.
“We’ll be stealing something from the ESS,” Jacques said.
“What was Dad’s number one rule?” Marcel asked.
“Don’t steal from law enforcement,” Jacques said. “But he’s long gone.”
“It was a good rule though,” Marcel said. “Remember when Uncle Jean tried stealing from Interpol? Remember what happened?”
“This is different,” Jacques said.
“You’re right it’s different,” Marcel said. “It’s the ESS, that’s so much worse. And besides, I thought you were done working with family.”
“So you’re not in?” Diego asked. “Not a problem, we can find someone else.”
“Of course I’m in,” Marcel said. “Jacques is my brother, and family is important to me, even if it’s not important to him.”
Diego and Jacques entered the gym, and looked around. There were a handful of people exercising, but not a lot. And most of the equipment looked old, with some of it no longer even looking functional. They went to the manager’s office, and knocked.
“Come in,” someone said.
They went in, and saw the manager, Darren Jefferson, working on the computer.
“Jacques, Diego, good to see you guys,” Darren said. “Please, sit down.”
“Thanks,” Jacques said as he sat down.
“So, how are you doing?” Diego glanced at the computer screen as he sat down.
“Eh, I’m doing okay,” Darren said.
“Business is down though, I see,” Jacques said.
“I’ll figure something out,” Darren said.
“Before bankruptcy?” Diego asked. “I couldn’t help but notice those financial reports you’re looking over.”
“It is what it is,” Darren said.
“We’re putting together a crew for a job,” Jacques said.
“You know I went straight when I married Greg,” Darren said. “I mean, not straight straight, but I stopped being a criminal.”
“We could really use you on this one though,” Diego said. “You’re the best bruiser I’ve ever worked with.”
“What about Ivan?” Darren asked.
“Ivan’s good, but he’s not you,” Diego said. “And last I heard he’s in a Russian prison.”
“Carlos?” Darren asked.
“He’s getting chemo for his cancer,” Jacques said.
“That sucks, I hadn’t even heard about that,” Darren said. “But surely there’s someone else you can go to.”
“With your cut from this job, you could afford to keep this gym open for the rest of your life,” Diego said. “You don’t have to decide right now, but call us if you decide to join.”
“You think he’ll decide to join us?” Jacques asked as they walk through the city.
“Yeah, I think so,” Diego said. “Roz too.”
“I’d be very okay with her not joining us. Besides, even if she did, how would we know she wasn’t just going to turn us over to the FBI.”
“Come on, we know her, we can trust her.”
“The fact that I know her is why I don’t trust her.”
“I know you asked me to drop it, but really, what happened.”
“Well…” Jacques started saying, before a teenage girl bumped into him.
“Sorry,” she said before running off.
“Did she just?” Diego asked.
Jacques checked his pocket, and his wallet was gone. “She did.” He looked up, and she was gone from sight, so he took out his phone. “Looks like she took a left up ahead.”
“I can loop around and get ahead of her,” Diego said.
“No, I have a better idea,” Jacques said.
Carlie looked through the wallet after she had returned to the warehouse attic she was living in. There were a couple twenties in it, a driver’s license, and a few other IDs. No credit cards though, that was interesting, but cash was nicer anyway. Harder to track.
As she was looking through it, she heard someone coming up the stairs. She hid behind some crates, and looked out, to see the guy she had taken the wallet from. And after looking at his phone, he was headed straight for her.
“Could I get my wallet back please?” he asked.
Carlie stayed in her hiding place, as he continued to approach.
“And are you interested in a job?” he asked.
“What kind of job?” she asked, standing up. There was not really any point in hiding anymore. “And how did you find me?”
“I have an app for that. Well, for tracking my wallet that is. And I’m a fellow thief. My partner and I are putting together a team.”
“So we have a pickpocket for our team?” Diego asked, later that day. “No offense, but this might be a bit out of her league.”
“Not much more out of her league than it’s already out of our league really,” Jacques said. “And we need all the help we can get. So far we have a pickpocket and an impersonator. That’s not much.”
“We’ll have a bruiser and a lock breaker as soon as Darren and Roz agree.”
“If they agree. But even still, we’re trying to steal from one of the most secure places on the planet. It’s not going to be easy.”
“We don’t want too big of a team though. After a certain point, adding more people is just going to complicate matters. Especially since we’re apparently already including some pickpocket we just met.”
“How long were you planning on waiting for Roz and Darren?” Jacques asked. “I don’t think our employer wants to wait forever on us doing this job.”
“No worries, we can start on the planning right away, and bring them up to speed when they get back to us.”
“And if they don’t?”
“Don’t worry, they will. Have I ever steered you wrong?”
“Malibu, two years ago. Tokyo, five years ago. Brisbane, six years ago.”
“See, only three times in the decade that we’ve known each other, that’s not bad.”
“Those were just the big ones.”
“So, what exactly is the ESS?” Carlie asked. “And what are we stealing from them?”
It was the following day, and Jacques, Diego, Marcel, and Carlie were beginning to work on the plan.
“The ESS are a secret organization that dates back to World War 2,” Diego said. “Possibly even older.”
“They are an international organization,” Jacques said. “They deal with threats of advanced scientific natures.”
“A secret science police, essentially” Marcel said. “Some of the most advanced technology on the planet.”
“Uh huh,” Carlie said. “Like, I’m just a pickpocket here, what are you expecting from me?”
“You’re a really good pickpocket though,” Jacques said. “You managed to get my wallet, and I almost didn’t notice it. That’s no easy task.”
“You haven’t answered her other question though,” Marcel said. “What are we stealing?”
“Don’t know exactly,” Diego said. “It’s a device of some sort, and we know what it looks like, but we don’t know what it does.”
“Ah yes, this sounds like it’s going to go amazing,” Marcel said as he rolled his eyes. “How much intel do you have on the ESS base? And which one for that matter?”
“We know a fair amount about it,” Diego said. “Probably one of their more well known bases, at least amongst those who know of the organization.”
“Well known also tends to mean better security,” Marcel said. “Wait, please tell me it’s not their London base.”
“It’s not their London base,” Jacques said. “It’s their Winnipeg base.”
“Dammit, that’s almost worse,” Marcel said.
“How is that worse?” Carlie asked. “London is controlled by an evil alien empire.”
“Yeah, but the Winnipeg base is better secured,” Marcel said. “It’ll be easier to get to, but harder to deal with once we’re inside.”
“What we’re thinking is that you’ll be posing as a government official doing an inspection,” Diego said. “The rest of us will be your staff. Roz and I will be your security specialists, Darren will be your bodyguard, and Jacques your driver.”
“And me?” Carlie asked.
“You’ll be an intern or an assistant or something,” Diego said.
“They’re not going to let an intern in, even if they let the rest of you in, even if we’re able to fool them in the first place,” Marcel said.
“Thus why I said ‘or an assistant or something,’” Diego said. “And don’t you have that friend in the Spanish government? He could get you credentials.”
“It might work, but it will take more than just his assistance, and I still can’t promise we’ll be able to get your entire crew in,” Marcel said.
“We’re also still assuming Roz and Darren are going to join said crew,” Jacques said.
“Wait, so not everyone you’re planning on including in this has even agreed to join?” Carlie asked.
“Not yet,” Diego said, before his phone started ringing. He took it out. “Oh, this is Darren right now.” He answered it. “Hello?”
“So, assuming this plan doesn’t totally fail, and we get in, what happens next?” Marcel asked while Diego was on the phone.
“We have a basic layout of the base,” Jacques said. “So we know where the device is, and we just need to work our way in that direction.”
“Okay, Darren is in,” Diego said after he hung up the phone. “So, now we’re just waiting on Roz.”
“Question,” Marcel asked. “Do we have a computer person? Like, I know Roz is good with locks, and I’m sure we all have decent computer skills, but doesn’t this seem like the kind job where we need a dedicated computer person?”
“You have anyone in mind?” Diego asked. “I know a number of hackers, but none that we can reach out to for this.”
“Gregor?” Marcel asked.
“He’s living on Maltork Four these days,” Jacques said.
“Cinda?” Marcel asked.
“She’s working with the Scorpio Syndicate on some project in Antarctica,” Diego said.
“What about that Dalton chick?” Marcel asked.
“Diana?” Diego asked. “Maybe, she’s not really a thief though.”
“Did you hear about that job in San Francisco three months ago?” Marcel asked. “With the cars?”
“That was her?” Diego asked. “Impressive.”
“Do you know her?” Jacques asked.
“I know someone that does,” Marcel said. “I can reach out.”
“With her we might not even need Roz,” Jacques said.
“If they just have computer controlled locks, sure,” Diego said. “But if they have any others, we’re still going to want Roz.”
Diana Dalton checked the status of the program she had running on the computer to her left. It still had another three minutes to go, at least. So she turned to the computer on her right, and made sure the virus was ready for upload. She then turned to her center computer, and checked the floor plans of the building.
“You’re going to want to make a left turn up ahead,” she said over the comm.
“Is the security down yet?” came the reply.
“It’ll be down by the time you get there.” Diana checked the computer on the left. “I hope.”
Her phone started ringing. She did not recognize the number, but the program she had on her phone identified it as Marcel Dupont. She picked it up. “Bonjour?”
“Hello, this is Marcel Dupont, although I assume you already know that. And your accent is atrocious, by the way.”
“You’re Lisette’s cousin, right? I worked with her on the San Fran job.”
“Yeah, and I’m part of a crew looking for a hacker at the moment,” Marcel said.
Diana checked the computer on her left. Still another minute on it. “What kind of job do you need my help with?”
“We’re going up against the ESS.”
“I’m in.”
“What, just like that?”
“It’s the ESS, that’s like, the ultimate challenge. I’ve been developing a few things I’d like to really put through some tests, and this is the perfect opportunity.”
“Oh…okay,” Marcel said. “I was expecting to need to convince you.”
“No worries, but I need to get back to my current job first, so I’ll talk with you later.” Diana hung up the phone, just as the computer on her left finished running its program. She turned to the right, and uploaded the virus. Then over the comm, “Okay, security is down, you have five minutes to get in, get what you need, and get out.”
“So, you never really told me why you decided to ask Carlie to join our crew,” Diego said as he sat down with Jacques for some drinks.
“A teenage pickpocket?” Jacques asked. “Honestly, she reminds me of you at that age, back when we first met.”
“I mean, I can’t deny that there are some similarities, but we don’t really know anything about her.”
“I didn’t know anything about you back then, but I knew you were in a world that had failed you. I didn’t know how back then, but I could sense that was the case, and I sense that with her too.”
“I mean, anytime someone’s living on the streets that is a pretty big indicator right there,” Diego said. “But bringing her into this isn’t necessarily the best idea for her. Like, the rest of us, we’re career criminals, that’s not going to change, but she still has a chance.”
“It changed for Roz and Darren, and you still went to them.”
“That’s different, we know them.”
“You’re taking this job because of the challenge and the money. I’m mostly just taking it because you are. Darren actually needs the money to keep his business afloat, and Carlie is in this because she needs the money to get her life afloat.”
“I just hope we don’t end up sinking them,” Diego said.
“We could always back out, if you’re worried about that.”
“No, no, we’re still going to do this.”
After the crew arrived in Winnipeg, they met up at the hotel they were all staying at. Diana was setting up her computers. Darren was doing pushups in the corner. Carlie was playing with a yo-yo. Diego was writing on a whiteboard. Marcel had fallen asleep on the couch. And Jacques was ordering some pizza.
“Yeah, and extra cheese on that last one,” he said. “Thanks.”
“So, what are the chances we run into one of the local superheroes?” Carlie asked.
“Probably not very likely,” Diego said. “I doubt they’d get involved in ESS business.”
“You’d be surprised what superheroes all involve themselves with,” Diana said. “But even still, they’re probably busy enough with other stuff. It’s a decent sized city.”
“So, how long until we go in?” Darren asked.
“What do you think, Diana?” Diego asked. “How long until your system is up and running?”
“I’ll have everything set up in about an hour or so,” Diana said. “After that, it’s a matter of how long it takes me to get into the ESS computers. That I can’t really predict.”
“If you even can get in,” Jacques said.
“I haven’t met the computer system that was able to keep me out yet,” Diana said. “It’s a matter of when, not if.”
“Okay, let’s go over the plan one more time,” Diego said the next day after Diana had finally gained access to the ESS network. “Just to make sure everyone knows what we’re doing.”
“I’ll be posing as a government inspector from Spain,” Marcel said. “I had to call in so many favors in order to get the right credentials, so we better pull this off.”
“And Roz and I will by your security consultants,” Diego said.
“Despite Roz still not being here or even contacting us,” Jacques said.
“She’ll be here,” Diego said.
“I’m his bodyguard,” Darren said.
“And I’m his personal assistant,” Carlie said.
“I’ll be driving you all in, but I’ll be waiting in the car,” Jacques said. “If I have to do anything else than driving, that means things have gone wrong.”
“Once you’re inside, if you can get ID cards, I can rewrite them,” Diana said. “They have a built-in computer, and I can rewrite the information to fit you guys.”
“Are you sure you can do that?” Jacques asked.
“Yep,” Diana said. “That said, the less I have to change, the less likely I am to be noticed, so preferably go for people that already have the right security clearance. That way I’m just changing personal information, although if you can get people of the same size and hair and eye color and such, that would certainly help as well.”
“And gender, I assume,” Darren said.
“That’s only in the medical data section of the card, which can only be accessed by medical professionals under normal circumstances, so I’m not even going to bother dealing with that section,” Diana said.
“Okay, and once we’re able to pose as ESS agents, we’ll need to get away from any that we’re with,” Diego said.
“I’ll be figuring out security blindspots for that,” Diana said. “Or creating them, if I have to.”
“And then we find our way to the device we’re after,” Diego said. “Which according to the base layout we have, is likely in this area.” Diego pointed to a spot on the printout they had on the wall.
Jacques drove the limo into the parking garage. He stopped before the barrier, and rolled down his window. There was a panel with a button to print out a ticket, but also with a number pad. He typed in the sequence that Diana had got for them, and then hit the button.
The ticket it printed out included a parking spot on it which was located on the lowest level, so he drove down there, and parked in the spot the ticket indicated. As soon as he put the car into park, the parking spot started descending, eventually coming to a stop in a much nicer looking parking garage, even further underground.
“Okay, we’re here,” Jacques said.
Darren got out of the car first, and looked around. There were a few ESS agents in the garage. Most appeared to be arriving or leaving, and did not pay them much attention, but there were a few that looked to be security, and they were eyeing him up.
Darren opened the door for Marcel, who got out, with Carlie and Diego following after him. The four of them walked over to the elevator, where two guards were standing. One of the guards held out a computer pad with an outline of a hand on the screen.
“Good day,” the second guard said. “What is your business here today?”
“My team and I are here on behalf of the Spanish government, to inspect the base security,” Marcel said as he put his hand on the computer pad.
“We weren’t informed of any inspection,” the second guard said.
“Well, it wouldn’t be a very good inspection if you knew it was coming, now would it?” Marcel asked.
“His credentials do check out,” the first guard said. “Now the rest of your team.”
Darren put his hand on the computer, and the guard nodded, then Carlie went next, and the guard nodded again. And finally Diego did so. The guard raised an eyebrow as he looked at the screen.
“Something wrong?” Marcel asked.
“The system says he checks out,” the first guard said. “It just took a moment longer than usual.”
“And this is your whole team?” the second guard asked.
“My driver is in the car, where he’ll be waiting.” Marcel pointed at the car. As he was doing so, they noticed another car come down into the garage, and Roz stepped out of it. “She’s also with us.”
“Sorry, I’m late,” Roz said as she came up to them. “Hit some traffic on my way here.”
The first security guard held out the computer pad to her, and she put her hand down. He nodded. “Okay, you all check out.”
“You’ll have to go to the visitor check-in,” the second guard said. “That’s the only place the elevator will take you until you get an ID card.”
“Thank you,” Marcel said as he entered the elevator, along with the rest of the crew. As soon as the elevator doors closed behind them he turned to Roz. “I’m surprised you actually showed up.”
“I said she’d make it,” Diego said.
“This better not go sideways,” Roz said.
“Guys,” Diana said to them over the comms. “Could you warn me if you’re going to start talking about stuff you don’t want overheard while in places with security cameras. I’ve got footage on loop to cover your conversation, but some warning would’ve been nice. Oh, and unless I say otherwise, assume you are always in a place with security cameras.”
“Right,” Diego said. “Oh, you’ll need this.” He handed Roz a comm which she stuck in her ear.
After going down to the visitor check-in, they were given visitor IDs and an escort to show them around the base. No one seemed exactly pleased at this random inspection, but no one seemed to think it was suspicious either.
“Right this way,” their escort, Agent Evelynn Woods said.
Diego looked around as she led them down a corridor. There were a lot of people around, more than he had expected, and a lot of them seemed to be in a rush, running one way or the other. “Something big going on?” he asked.
“I don’t know all of the details, sir” Evelynn said. “But the UES Unity is back at Earth for some restocking of supplies, and apparently they brought back some sort of intel.”
“What kind of intel?” Roz asked.
“I’m sorry ma’am, but I don’t know myself,” Evelynn said. “It’s for level eight security clearance and above. I’m only a level five. Hopefully this won’t get in the way of your inspection.”
“Quite the contrary,” Marcel said. “It’s when people are at their busiest that security is most likely to be vulnerable, thus making it the perfect time to locate said vulnerabilities.”
“I suppose,” Evelynn said. “Okay, right in here is the main security room,” She led them into a large room. The walls were lined with screens and there were various holographic displays throughout the room. There were about two dozen agents in the room, who looked up at their entrance, before most returned to their work. One came over to them.
“Agent Woods,” she said. “These are the inspectors?”
“Yes,” Evelynn said as she introduced them to Agent Kate Zimmerman, who was in charge of security on the base.
“A pleasure to meet you,” Marcel said.
Uh huh,” Kate said. “Just try not get in the way of my people while you’re working.”
“We’ll do our best to make sure you don’t even notice us,” Marcel said.
“Right,” Kate said. “There’s a computer over there you can use, and if you need anything else, you can have Agent Woods talk to me.”
While most of the crew gathered around the computer, Carlie made her way around the room. She was pretty good at being ignored, so most people did not even take much note of her, with the exception of the few she bumped into, who gave her dirty looks as she apologized.
One, though, actually looked her over as she was apologizing. “You’re here with the inspection team? You look a little young.”
“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Carlie said. “Just the random nature of genetics, I suppose.”
“Uh huh, just try to pay more attention to where you’re walking.”
“Right, yes, I’ll do my best,” Carlie said before going back to the crew.
“How did it go?” Diego asked.
Carlie lifted the sleeve on her left arm to show five ESS ID cards she had nabbed. “All level ten or higher.” She passed them out, just before Evelynn returned to the group with some coffees.
“So, what do you think so far?” Evelynn asked.
“Everything in here certainly looks good,” Marcel said. “But we’ll need to check out a few areas.” He brought up a map on the computer screen. “There, there, there, and there.”
“The first two and the fourth will be no problem,” Evelynn said. “But the third area is restricted. You need special permission from the Director to go there.”
“Don’t ask about the Director,” the crew all heard Diana say over the comms. “There’s a complicated situation with him, and I haven’t figured out how much you would logically know.”
“Then just the three areas for now,” Marcel said. “I’ll take one of my consultants to the first, while my assistant takes the other consultant to the second.”
“Oh, you want to split up?” Evelynn asked. “Umm, right, about that…”
“It would be more efficient,” Marcel said. “And allow us to get out of your way faster.”
“No, yeah, that’s, yeah,” Evelynn said. “I’ll just go grab another agent to escort the second group. Not a problem.” She looked around the room. “Agent Barnes, get over here.” The agent came over as she introduced them. “This is Agent Luke Barnes.”
“Excellent, let’s go Barnes,” Marcel said.
Diego and Carlie followed Evelynn as she lead them into a power station room. There was a generator in the center that took up most of the room, and a few computers on the wall for diagnostic purposes.
“Okay, I’ll walk you through what you need to do,” Diana said to Diego and Carlie over the comm. “Carlie, you might want to distract Agent Woods while Diego is doing this, or else she’s probably going to notice.”
“So, Agent Woods, how long have you been with the ESS?” Carlie asked as Diego started working on the computer.
“Six years,” Evelynn said. “My mom is an agent too, and my dad is an engineer, so I was able to join right out of high school.”
“That’s pretty cool,” Carlie said. “My parents kicked me out when I was fourteen, so I can’t exactly rely on them for job opportunities.”
“That sucks,” Evelynn said. “But you seem to have done pretty well for yourself.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty resourceful, if I do say so myself,” Carlie said.
“Be careful what you say to her,” Diana said over the comm. “Don’t want her learning too much about the real you.”
“But that was years ago,” Carlie said. “I know I look like a teenager, but I am in my twenties.”
“No, don’t bring that up if you don’t have to,” Diana said. “That just sounds more suspicious.”
“I didn’t want to say anything, but yeah, you do look pretty young,” Evelynn said. “I mean, I still get carded myself whenever I try to buy some drinks. And up here the drinking age isn’t even twenty-one, it’s eighteen.”
“Okay, I think she might be flirting with you,” Diana said. “Maybe try asking if she’s interested in going out for drinks later.”
“Do you want to maybe go out for drinks later?” Carlie asked.
“I mean, maybe, it’s pretty busy here, so I’m not sure when I’ll have some free time, but maybe,” Evelynn said.
“Okay, I’m done over here,” Diego said. “We can move on.”
Marcel, Darren, and Roz followed Luke down the corridor. Marcel was about to nod to Darren, when a door opened, and three people came out. They were wearing uniforms that showed them as UES fighter pilots.
“So then, do you know what Pandaherbs said next?” one of them asked.
“What did she say?” the second one asked.
“She said that those Ghotelon ships looked like butts.”
“That wasn’t me,” the third one said. “That was Dino Chick that said that. I mean, I agreed with her, but she was the one that said it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I know what I did and didn’t say.”
As they passed them, Marcel waited until they had turn down a different corridor, and then nodded at Darren, who grabbed Luke in a chokehold and held him until he lost consciousness.
“Over here,” Roz said, checking a door. “This broom closet should be a good place to hide him.”
“Right,” Darren said as he stuffed Luke into the closet.
“How far down to the vault?” Marcel asked.
“It’s three floors down,” Diana said over the comm. “There’s an elevator just ahead you can take down there.”
The three of them went to the elevator and rode it down. There was an automated checkpoint just after they exited it.
“Let’s hope this works,” Marcel said as he swiped his card on it. It asked for a fingerprint and eye scan, so he put down his finger and lined up his eye, and the light turned green. “Green is good, right?”
“Yeah, green is good,” Diana said.
Darren and Roz did the same and got through as well. They went down the hallway, which had multiple doors.
“The next one on your left,” Diana said. “There is a keypad, but I can’t get into that remotely.”
“Don’t worry, this is where I come in,” Roz said. She sprayed a film on the keypad, which revealed fingerprints. “One, four, seven, and zero make up the code.”
“It should be a five digit code,” Diana said. “One wrong attempt will alert security. Two wrong attempts will lock down the door. Three will release a knockout gas both inside the vault, and immediately outside it.”
Roz looked at it. Without touching it she started moving her fingers over the buttons in different orders. “One definitely follows from seven, zero is last. Four is probably the double. I’m thinking it’s four, seven, one, four, zero. Unless it’s the seven that’s the double, in which case it’s four, seven, one, seven, zero or seven, one, seven, four, zero.”
“Just make your best call,” Marcel said. He kept glancing down the hallway.
Roz pressed four, seven, one, four, zero.
“Security alert was just sent,” Diana said. “I can take care of it, but the next attempt needs to be right.”
Roz looked over it a bit more before pressing seven and one. She stopped and looked again, and then pressed four, seven, and zero. There was an electronic sound coming from the door, and after ten seconds it opened up. They went inside, and found the walls lined with safes.
“Okay, it’ll be the one marked KR-052,” Diana said.
“It’s over here,” Darren said.
“Okay, now comes the fun part,” Roz said as she looked it over and frowned. “It’s a hybrid lock on this thing with both a mechanical and an electronic mechanism. I’m going to need some silence here.” She put her ear up against it as she started turning the mechanical lock. “Never mind, it has a silencer on it.”
“Meaning?” Marcel asked.
“Meaning I can still do it, but it’s going to take even longer,” Roz said. “I’m going to guess it’ll be at least an hour.”
“There’ll be security patrols down there multiple times in that hour,” Diana said.
“Then everyone else will just have to keep them distracted,” Roz said.
As Diego and Carlie were being led to their next destination by Evelynn, Diana contacted them over the comm.
“There’s been a slight change of plans,” Diana said. “Apparently the lock on the safe is a bit more complicated than we thought it would be, so we need to keep security from finding them for the next hour or so.”
“So, Agent Woods,” Diego said. “Could you tell us a bit about security patrol schedules.”
“Of course,” Evelynn said. “We can go back to the main security room, and I can show you them.”
Over the comm Diana said, “The next patrol will be in about ten minutes.”
“Actually, first, is there a restroom around somewhere?” Diego asked.
“Yeah,” Evelynn said and pointed. “Just over there. We can wait for you outside.”
Diego entered the bathroom, and did a quick check to see that all of the stalls were empty. “Okay, what happens if Darren just takes out the security patrol?” He asked over the comm.
“When they don’t check in, a much bigger security team will be sent down there,” Diana said.
“What kind of check in?”
“They make an audio report after each floor they look over, and if they are late, their supervisor gets a notification.”
“So, in theory anyone could make the report.”
“Their voices are on record,” Diana said. “The computer will recognize if it’s someone else.”
“Well, then I guess we’re about to figure out who’s better, their voice recognition, or Marcel’s voice imitation.”
Darren stood next to the door, and waited until it opened. Two guards came in, and started pulling out their weapons as they saw Roz and Marcel. Darren punched the one closest to him in the side of the face with his right fist, before pushing the guard with his left arm, causing him to get knocked into the other guard so they both hit the wall.
The guard that Darren had directly attacked had dropped his energy pistol, which Darren kicked towards Marcel. The other guard though still had his as he stood back up and tried to aim it at Darren, who grabbed the first guard in a chokehold, and tried to use him as a shield, while also causing him to pass out.
“Drop your weapon or I drop you,” Marcel said as he pointed the energy pistol at the guard who was still armed.
The guard turned and pointed his pistol at Marcel. “Do you even know how to fire that thing?” he asked.
Darren used the momentary distraction, and threw the now unconscious guard he was holding aside, before kicking the energy pistol out of the other guard’s hand. He then went over and grabbed the guard by the shirt collar, and punched him a few times until he too was knocked out.
“What was that?” Darren asked as he put the guard down. “We’re not trying to kill them.”
“These things have a stun setting,” Marcel said. “And it would have been nice if you had left one of them conscious a bit longer, so I could have heard more than just a single sentence from one of them.” He searched through the pockets of the one who had spoken, and took out their comm and ID. “This is Agent Chandler,” he said, his voice mimicking that of the guard. “Everything on this level seems to be normal.” Then into his own comm. “So, did that work?”
“I think so,” Diana said. “There don’t seem to be any alerts raised, at least not yet, but I’ll keep my eyes on them.”
Diego and Carlie were back in the main security room with Evelynn, who was showing them security patrol schedules. Diego was only half paying attention to them, as he noticed the doors open, and some security rush in, and go to Kate. They whispered something to her, and she said something to them before they came over to Diego, Carlie, and Evelynn.
“Could we have a word?” Kate asked.
“What seems to be the problem?” Diego asked.
“Agent Barnes was just found unconscious in a broom closet, and the rest of your team is unaccounted for,” Kate said.
“That’s odd,” Diego said. “Have their been any breaches in security?”
“Cut the bullshit,” Kate said. “I’m having my people do a closer inspection on your credentials, but you could save yourselves a lot of trouble and just confess now.”
Diego glanced at Carlie, who’s eyes were wide. “There’s nothing to confess to. Whatever’s happened here, it’s not our fault.”
“We’ll just see about that,” Kate said.
Jacques was still waiting in the car, which was parked in the garage. He was increasingly noticing looks from the guards, who were clearly being told something over their comms.
“Did something happen?” he asked over his own comm.
“There has been a complication,” Diana said.
“What happened?”
Diana filled him in on what had been happening.
“That’d explain why those guards keep looking at me funny. Oh great, and now they’re coming over here.”
“The cameras will catch it if you do anything to them, and I can’t put these ones on a loop without someone noticing.”
“What about the elevator?”
“I can loop that before you get on, but someone might still notice you entering the elevator on the garage cameras, and not being in the elevator on the elevator cameras.”
The guards were up to the car. “Please step out of the vehicle, sir,” one of them said.
“Do it,” Jacques said before he opened the door, and slowly got out. “Something wrong, gentlemen?”
“You’re going to have to come with me,” the same guard said.
“Of course,” Jacques said. “That’s not a problem at all.”
He got out of the car, and the guards led him to the elevator, with one of them bringing him in, while the other went back to his post.
“No cheesy elevator music in here?” Jacques asked the guard who was standing behind him in the elevator, who did not respond. “Also, you probably should have brought another couple guards with you, I’m not just a driver.” Jacques backed into the guard, pressing him back against the side of the elevator, grabbed his arm and twisted his wrist, causing the guard to drop his energy pistol. Jacques elbowed the guard in the chest, before picking up the pistol and pointing it at him.
The guard coughed. “What the hell are you…”
“This thing is set to stun, right,” Jacques asked, looking at the setting. “Excellent.” He fired at the guard, knocking him out.
“What are you doing?” Diana asked. “Even without them seeing that on camera, it’s only a matter of time until he’s found.”
“You said Roz needs time to crack the lock, so I’m providing a distraction, I suppose,” Jacques said.
The elevator came to a stop, and the door opened, showing three guards, who quickly reached for their energy pistols, but Jacques managed to shoot all three of them first.
“Okay, that was definitely caught on camera,” Diana said.
“Figured as much,” Jacques said. “Where are Diego and Carlie at?”
Carlie and Diego were being lead down a hall by four guards. Two were in front of them, and two were behind.
“Jacques is on his way to you,” Diana told the two of them over the comms. “But they are also after him, as he’s knocked out a few agents.”
Carlie looked at Diego who was looking at the guards in front of them. “Well, I guess the jig is up,” he said before spinning around, his whip coming out of his sleeve, and he used it to knock the pistols out of the hands of each of the guards behind them. Then he turned back to the front where the other two guards were turning around, and did the same to them.
Carlie backed up to the wall, as Diego kept turning around and around, whipping at the guards hands whenever they tried to pick up their guns. Eventually, two of them charged at him and tackled him to the ground, while the other two were finally able to get at their guns.
Diego got his arm out and flicked his whip at one of the pistols still on the ground, and managed to sent it flying over to Carlie who caught it. She aimed it at one of the guards who was just picking up his, and fired, then aimed it at the other one going for a gun and fired at him too. Then she shot both of the guys on Diego, and he pushed their unconscious bodies off of himself.
“Good shooting,” Diego said.
“I used to play a lot of shooting games on the Wii,” Carlie said.
“Uh, we’ve got a slight problem,” Diana said over the comm. “Remember how earlier we were talking about the local superheroes?”
As she was saying that, the superhero known as Amazing Archer and and his teen sidekick Dark Hawk came around a corner. Amazing Archer had his energy bow drawn, and was aiming straight at Diego.
“Oh shit,” Diego said.
Carlie aimed the energy pistol at Amazing Archer.
“Surrender and we won’t have to hurt you,” Amazing Archer said.
“I could say the same thing to you,” Diego said.
“My costume will diffuse the stunshot from that pistol,” Amazing Archer said. “And I can drop you long before you get close enough to use that whip of yours.”
“Yet you haven’t shot us yet,” Diego said.
“That’s because I’d prefer you just surrender,” Amazing Archer said right before getting tackled from behind by Jacques, who knocked away the bow.
Amazing Archer tossed Jacques over his head, and Diego ran over to help, while Dark Hawk tried running over to Carlie, but she aimed the energy pistol at him.
“Don’t come any closer,” she said.
“Hey yeah, no problem,” Dark Hawk said, as he slowed down but still continued moving forward. “But you know, my suit will disperse the stunshot, same as Amazing Archer’s.”
“You sure about that?” Carlie asked as she fired, and the stunshot was indeed dispersed by Dark Hawk’s suit.
“Pretty sure,” Dark Hawk said. “You know, you’re really cute.”
“What? Are you hitting on me or trying to arrest me?”
“Oh, right, sorry, surrender and we won’t have to fight.”
“I mean, I’m not exactly fond of either of those options,” Carlie said.
“Oh, umm, well those are kind of the options here. I’m not exactly used to criminals not fighting back.”
“Are you making progress here?” Marcel asked as he stood over Roz.
“I’m working on it,” Roz said as she was continuing to turn the lock on the safe. “And could you not hover over me?”
“Sorry,” Marcel said as he backed off. He walked over to Darren who was watching the door. “No more patrols yet?”
“No, according to Diana they’re being kept busy by the rest of our crew,” Darren said.
“Hmm, I hope they aren’t doing anything stupid,” Marcel said.
“You don’t much care for Diego, I’ve noticed.”
“After Jacques started running with him, he stopped running with our family. And family is important.”
“You ever ask Jacques about it?” Darren asked. “Find out what his reasons were?”
“Does it matter?”
“Of course it matters. When I came out to my family, a lot of them stopped acting like family.”
“No one in our family cares that he’s bi, if that’s what you insinuating. And it’s not like him and Diego are a couple anyway, I don’t think.”
“Maybe no one cares, maybe someone does, but either way there could be any number of reasons that he stopped running with family. And it’s not like he cut off contact, did he? I mean, you’re still here.”
“He still talks with a few of us, but not many. He wasn’t even at our father’s funeral.”
“Then you should talk to him about it. Communication is important.”
While Diego and Jacques were still fighting Amazing Archer, Carlie was continuing to talk with Dark Hawk.
“I mean, I suppose it doesn’t matter too much,” Dark Hawk said. “Like, your friends over there are going to lose and be captured.”
“Says you,” Carlie said.
“Come on, I’m sure you’ve heard of Amazing Archer. Have you ever heard of him losing a fight?”
“Well, no, not exactly.”
“Exactly,” Dark Hawk said as he took a pair of handcuffs out of his utility belt.
“Cuffs? Shouldn’t you at least buy me dinner first?”
“Wait, are you flirting with me now?”
“Sorry,” Carlie said. “Although you are probably pretty cute under that mask.”
“Yeah, I’m not falling for that and taking off my mask.”
“Suit yourself. And fine.” Carlie put her hands out in front of herself, and let Dark Hawk come over and cuff her.
“See now, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Dark Hawk asked. He glanced over to see Diego and Jacques were still giving Amazing Archer trouble.
“No, it wasn’t, Bobby,” Carlie said. He looked back to see her drop the cuffs on the ground while looking at his learner’s permit.
“How did you do that?”
“I’m a pickpocket. I’m also half decent at picking locks. So, Bobby Anderson I was right, you are pretty cute under that mask. And I thought driver’s license pictures always looked horrible.”
“That’s…um…just a fake ID for preserving my secret identity.”
“For someone with a secret identity, you’re a pretty bad liar.”
“Aha,” Roz said as she turned the lock, and it clicked into place.
“You got it?” Marcel asked.
“Part of it,” Roz said. “Like I said, it’s a multi-part lock, but I’ve got the mechanical lock figured out, so next is the electronic lock.”
“Hurry up in there, if you can,” Diana said over the comm. “Diego and Jacques are in a fight with Amazing Archer.”
“How are they doing?” Marcel asked.
“They’re still conscious,” Diana said. “Although I’m not sure for how much longer. And there’s more security on it’s way to their position.”
“I can go help,” Darren said. “I don’t think you still need me down here.”
“Yeah, we can handle ourselves,” Marcel said, and Darren took off. Marcel turned back to Roz. “How much longer are you thinking?”
“Could be a few minutes, could be another half hour,” Roz said. “Hard to say for certain.”
“You said it was an electronic lock, so what if we…”
“That might work,” Roz interrupted. “Unless they have a failsafe in place, in which case, we’ll be screwed.”
“Right,” Marcel said.
Darren rode the elevator up to the level that Diego, Jacques and Carlie were on, but it was a short distance away. As the elevator doors opened, he saw a bunch of ESS agents running down the hall. He reached out and grabbed one. “Sorry,” he said before hitting the guys head against the wall, knocking him out.
Darren stepped out into the hall, and there were five agents who had run past but were turning around now that they noticed one of them was missing. One had just passed the elevator, and was within range for Darren to grab his wrist, and twist it, causing the guy to drop his gun. He then punched the agent in the throat, before grabbing him by the shoulder and forcing him to turn around. “Sorry,” he said.
The other agents were trying to get a shot on Darren, but he was doing his best to keep the agent he was fighting between him and them. He then grabbed the agent by the top and bottom of his shirt, and threw him at the others. Darren used the momentary confusion to run up to the rest of them.
He bodychecked one of them into the wall before elbowing the next one in the back of neck, and moved from that motion right into a punch in the back of the head of the third one, and then kneed the fourth one in the side, saying, “Sorry,” after each hit. While the last three were knocked to the ground by the blows, the one he had bodychecked came at him from behind, and tried to grab him.
Darren let him, but then pushed back causing them to both trip over one of the people on the floor. Darren’s head hit the agent in the nose, and Darren was pretty sure that nose was now broken. “Sorry,” he said as he jumped back to his feet. The final one, the one he had kneed in the side, was getting back up at the same time, and Darren used his momentum from the jump to punch the guy in the forehead, knocking him back down.
“Sorry,” Darren said as he made sure each of the agents were knocked out before moving on.
“You could have just taken an energy pistol and shot them with it,” Diana said over the comm.
“I don’t like guns.”
“They have a stun setting, which does a hell of a lot less damage than you beating them into submission.”
“I don’t like guns. And the worst I did was break a nose. ESS medical tech can fix that no problem. Medical tech they chose not to share with the general public, for that matter. How much further to the others?”
“Take the next left, and you’ll see them.”
Darren took the left, and saw Diego and Jacques being beaten pretty soundly by Amazing Archer, while Carlie and Dark Hawk were off to the side talking. Darren ran up to Amazing Archer, who did turn around and catch Darren’s right-handed punch, before Darren kneed him in the stomach. Amazing Archer barely flinched, but Darren did not let up, and punched him in the head with his left hand.
That staggered Amazing Archer for a few moments, enough for Darren to get him into a chokehold. That caused Dark Hawk to run over, but Jacques and Diego started fighting him, while Darren choked Amazing Archer until he seemed to lose consciousness. He then continued for a bit longer, just to be on the safe side, before dropping him to the ground.
In the meantime, Diego and Jacques had managed to restrain Dark Hawk long enough to tie him up. “So, should we check who they are under those masks?” Jacques asked.
“It’s not really our business,” Darren said.
“I already figured out who Dark Hawk is,” Carlie said as she tossed his wallet on him.
“Doesn’t really matter though,” Diego said. “I’d rather not become an arch-nemesis to a superhero.”
“Y’all might want to get out of there,” Diana said over the comm. “There’s more agents on their way.”
Marcel was pacing back and forth as Roz continued to work on the lock. He was trying not to keep asking her how much longer it would be, when he heard something in the hallway outside. He went over to the door and listened. Someone was just getting off the elevator, but it sounded liked it was just one person.
“Who’s down here with us?” he whispered into his comm.
“There shouldn’t be anyone else down there,” Diana said. “Just give me a second.”
Marcel listened as whoever it was got closer and closer.
“Someone else is looping the camera feed,” Diana said. “I mean, besides me. It’ll take me a bit to get past it.”
Marcel sighed, before stepping out into the hallway. Admiral Jon Teleros was there, and Marcel immediately recognized him. He did not have a weapon drawn though.
“Admiral Teleros,” Marcel said. “I wasn’t expecting to see you down here.”
“Yeah, I have a habit of showing up unexpectedly,” Jon said. “And I suppose this explains the distraction the rest of your team is causing upstairs.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Marcel said. He put his hand close to the pocket he had hidden an energy pistol in.
“You can pull that out if you want,” Jon said. “But I should warn you, that I am pretty quick on the draw. I wouldn’t have come down here on my own if I couldn’t handle myself.”
“Look, I’m as confused by all of this as you are,” Marcel said. “I was lead down here as part of my inspection by Agent Barnes, and then I don’t know, he said he was going to use the restroom or something, and he never came back.”
“He was found in a broom closet, and three other members of your team, your driver and your assistant, as well as one of your specialists, have all been seen assaulting agents. Not to mention that we’ve discovered that the video cameras in several sections of the base are running on a loop. I had our technicians put this section on an additional loop, as I assume your team was still getting the actual feed.”
“It’s possible my team was using this as a method of infiltrating the base. My specialists were assigned to me by my government, I did not choose them personally. And my driver was hired from a local company for this trip, recommended by your organization, I might add.”
“You’re a good liar, I’ll give you that,” Jon said. “But I’ve been going over your credentials, and tracing back messages and while some are legitimate, others are not, so I did some digging, Marcel Dupont. Your driver is your brother Jacques, and Diego Serrano is one of your specialists. Our computers almost caught him when you came in, but you apparently have a really good hacker on your hands.”
“You sound pretty sure of yourself there. So, do you think you know who everyone else is?”
“Not yet, but we’ll figure it out,” Jon said. “If you willingly surrender yourself, and give the real identities of the rest of your team, things will go a lot better for you.”
“So, what’s next?” Darren asked as they got into an elevator.
“How’s Roz doing?” Diego asked.
“She’s still working on the safe,” Diana said over the comm.
“How long is that going to take?” Jacques asked. “We should’ve been on our way out by now.”
“She’ll get it,” Diego said.
“I’ve got some bad news though,” Diana said. “Marcel’s comm just shut off, but before that happened he was talking with Admiral Jon Teleros, who knows who he is, and who Jacques and Diego are.”
“That’s bad, that’s very bad,” Jacques said.
“What about the rest of the crew?” Diego asked.
“From what I heard just you three have been identified, but Teleros is trying to get Marcel to turn on the rest of us.”
“That’s bad, that’s very bad,” Diego said.
“He won’t turn on us,” Jacques said. “Family is important to him, and I’m his brother.”
“Teleros already knows about you though, so he wouldn’t be turning on you,” Diego said. “And the rest of us aren’t his family.”
“You’re the only of us he doesn’t like though,” Jacques said. “I don’t even think he’d give away your name, but since that’s not a concern, I think we’ll be okay.”
“Then why did he turn off his comm?” Darren asked. “I don’t want to be insensitive to the idea of you guys getting arrested, but I have a family. And then there’s Carlie. She needs a home, not prison.”
“Definitely don’t need prison,” Carlie said. “Not sure on the home thing though. That didn’t exactly work out for me.”
“Even if he gives you up, which I don’t think he will, Diana should be able to get you a new identity,” Jacques said.
“I like my name,” Carlie said. “Plus, he only knows my first name.”
“Although if you want I could get you set up with Carlie as your legal name when we’re done here,” Diana said.
“Yeah, that would be great,” Carlie said.
“If we get through this,” Darren said. “And I don’t want to have to change my name either, and I have a life that I don’t want to leave behind. And Marcel does know my full name.”
“Then we’ll just have to hope we get down there before he says anything,” Diego said.
“If he says anything,” Jacques said.
“Aha,” Roz said as the safe door unsealed, and she opened it up, revealing the device within. She had no idea what the device was, but it matched the picture she had been shown, so she picked it up and stuffed it in her bag. “Roz to everyone,” she said over the comm. “I have it, let’s get out of here.”
“There’s a slight problem,” Diana said over the comm, and explained about Marcel and Jon.
“Shit,” Roz said, as she stood up and turned around, just as Marcel and Jon came into the vault. Jon was now holding his energy pistol, and had it pointed at Roz.
“Hello Roz Montoya,” Jon said.
“You gave him my name?” Roz asked.
“I had little choice,” Marcel said. “We’ve lost.”
“Put the bag down,” Jon said.
“Right,” Roz said as she slowly lowered it to the floor. “Just out of curiosity, why are the lights so bright in here?”
“What?” Jon asked.
“Now?” Diana asked over the comm.
“Yes, please,” Roz said, and the lights went out, and Roz grabbed her bag again, while trying to silently move from where she was standing. She was trying to circle around to the door without being noticed. She just managed to go through the door as a flashlight was turned on, but it was still pointed inside the vault, and Roz went running down the hallway, in the opposite direction from the elevator.
The elevator that Jacques, Diego, Darren, and Carlie were on, lurched to a stop, as the lights went out.
“What happened?” Jacques asked as he turned on a flashlight. “Did they locate us?”
“No, that was me,” Diana said over the comm. “Had to take out the base power a bit sooner than we would’ve liked, or else Roz would’ve been captured.”
“Of course,” Jacques said. “Well, then let’s get going. Only ten minutes until it comes back on.”
Darren went over to the door and pried it open. They were just passing a floor when it had stopped. “It’ll be a tight fit, but we can get out,” Darren said. “And looks like this corridor is empty.”
They all pulled themselves out, and started walking down the corridor. “What floor are we on anyway?” Jacques asked.
“Let me just bring up the base plans,” Diana said. “Okay, you are on the floor with…the experimental vehicle storage.”
“Experimental vehicles?” Jacques asked. “Give me a rundown on whatever you can find out about what’s stored here.”
Roz turned a corner as she kept up her run. “Where to?” she asked.
“There’s an emergency staircase not too far from you,” Diana said over the comm. “Take the next right, and then a left after that. But be careful, without power in the base I can’t be watching what’s happening through the security cameras.”
“Yeah, no worries, I can take care of myself. Do the stairs lead all the way to the top?”
“No, they only go up a single floor, but that’s where the rest of our crew are at the moment.”
“And where do we go from there?”
“Still working on that, just try and get there in one piece.”
“Right,” Roz said before she heard something behind her. She made the right turn, just before an energy blast went past, and hit where she had just been, a second earlier.
“You’re only making this harder on yourself,” Jon shouted.
“How much distance between the turn I just made, and the next one I have to make?” Roz asked.
“Five hundred feet,” Diana said.
“And then how long to the staircase after that?” Roz asked as she shut off her flashlight and counted in her head as she ran.
“There’ll be a door the staircase on your left after one hundred feet,” Diana said.
A light appeared behind Roz just before she made the left turn, and she increased her pace as she went down the this hall until she stopped and felt along the wall for the door. She opened it and went through to the staircase. For that she turned her flashlight back on, and started running up the stairs.
Jacques looked over the controls of the hovercar as he got in the driver’s seat, and they looked simple enough. It was really more of a hoverbobsled though, as its shape was long and thin. It seated five, and it was the only vehicle they could find that would fit through the doors in this place.
“How do they even get the other vehicles in and out?” Carlie asked as she got in the second seat.
“Teleporters,” Diego said as he got into the third seat. “Unfortunately those aren’t an option for us.”
“This seems like a bad idea,” Darren said as he got into the fourth seat. “Even if this thing fits through the doors, it’s still going to be a tight fit.”
“I can manage it,” Jacques said as he started it up and it lifted a foot off the ground. He turned a dial, and it raised another half foot. He put his hand on a lever and twisted it, and the hovercar started moving forward. He pulled it back a bit to increase speed.
“How’re you figuring this out so quickly?” Carlie asked. “There’s no labels on anything.”
“It’s what he does,” Diego said.
Marcel faked himself tripping as he ran alongside Jon. Jon glanced at him, but continued running, leaving him behind. Marcel turned his comm back on as he got up.
“I’ve got myself away from Admiral Teleros,” he said into the comm.
“Yeah, after giving up the rest of the team,” Diana said. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“I only gave up Roz’s identity, and she’s going to need a new one either way because of the whole FBI thing. It was something I could give him to earn some trust, but it doesn’t change anything.”
“And if she hadn’t got away from him in the vault? You could have at least lead him away from that.”
“How? If I had run, he’d have just shot me, and would have checked the vault anyway. I did what I had to do.”
“Right.”
Roz exited the stairwell, and found herself in a hallway that was being lit by an approaching vehicle, which stopped right before her.
“Get in,” Jacques said.
“Right,” Roz said as she got into the backseat, and Jacques drove off.
“Guys,” Diana said over the comm. “Marcel turned his comm back on, and he’s telling me that he just gave up Roz’s identity, since it won’t matter anyway, and that he didn’t give up any of the rest of us.”
“Screw that,” Roz said. “Like I believe him now.”
“I believe him,” Jacques said, as he came to a stop.
“What are you doing?” Diego asked.
“We need to go back for him,” Jacques said.
“No, we need to get out of here,” Diego said. “And even if we wanted to save him, this thing is full.”
“He’s my brother, I’m not leaving him behind,” Jacques said.
“Fine,” Diego said as he got out of the hovercar. “I’ll go get him, you get the rest of the team out of here.”
“What?” Jacques asked.
“None of the rest of us are going to be able to drive this contraption out of here,” Diego said. “So get the rest of the team out, and I’ll get Marcel, and we’ll figure something out.”
“But…” Jacques started saying.
“Get Carlie and Roz and Darren out of here,” Diego said.
“Right,” Jacques said.
Marcel was going down the hallway. “Is there just the one staircase from this level?” he asked over the comm.
“Yeah, sorry,” Diana said.
Marcel opened the door and listened. He did not hear anyone in the stairwell, and started going up the stairs, when the lights turned back on. The staircase only connected the two levels, so he as he approached the top, he stopped and listened again. He still did not hear anyone, so he went up and out the door. But that is when he heard someone, and saw that someone, Jon, come running down the hallway.
“Finally caught up?” Jon asked. “Your team has escaped, so I’m going to need the names of the rest of them now. If we can get them before they leave the city, that’ll take years off your sentence.”
“Yeah, about that,” Marcel said. “You already know all of the names that I know. I don’t know the names of the bruiser or the kid.”
“And the computer hacker?”
“Sorry.”
“That’s too bad, but…” Jon started saying, before he suddenly turned around, and brought up his energy pistol, right before it was knocked out of his hand by the crack of a whip.
“Sorry, I’m late,” Diego said.
Marcel picked up the fallen energy pistol and pointed it at Jon as he went next to Diego.
“Ah, the famous Diego Serrano,” Jon said. “Although maybe a bit too famous now?”
“Naw, I’m fine with my level of fame,” Diego said.
“Even if you escape, we’ll be able to track you down,” Jon said.
“You’re hardly the first to claim that,” Diego said.
“We’re the ESS,” Jon said. “There’s nowhere you can run to that we won’t find you.”
Darren covered his eyes as the hovercar went down the hallway at ludicrous speeds, but then peeked out through his fingers to watch as Jacques seemed able to turn on a dime every time they came to an intersection in the hallway.
Up ahead now, there was a door that was closed, and Jacques started slowing down, but then it was opened as a bunch of security came through. “Everyone down,” Jacques said as he started speeding up again, and the agents started shooting at them.
The hovercar raised up, and went just above the agents, and through the doorway, with less than an inch of clearance, into a stairwell, where it went up the stairs, in a spiral, at a speed that left Darren wondering how they had not yet crashed and died.
Eventually they made it to the top, after having passed multiple floors, and Jacques slowed to a stop, so he could get out and open the door. He then went back to driving the hovercar, and brought it out onto the roof of the parking garage the ESS used as a cover for their base. He drove off the roof, and a few blocks away, before letting everyone out.
“Now what?” Carlie asked.
“Now the three of you go meet up with Diana, while I go back inside for Diego and Marcel,” Jacques said.
“By yourself?” Darren asked. “Look, I don’t exactly want to have another go in that hovercar, but I think you need me.”
“Maybe,” Jacques said, but then he took off, before Darren could climb back into the hovercar.
“Well, let’s get back to the hotel room then,” Roz said.
“We can’t just abandon them,” Darren said.
“We have the item we were supposed to steal,” Roz said, holding up her bag. “And whatever I may think of Jacques, him and Diego are some of the best. If he doesn’t think he needs us for this, I’m inclined to trust him.”
“Fine, we’ll go back to the hotel, and decide our next move from there,” Darren said.
Diego and Marcel ran down the corridor, in the same direction that the rest of the crew had gone. As the they were approaching the staircase, twelve ESS guards came out, their weapons at the ready. Marcel pointed his stolen energy pistol at them, and Diego had his whip at the ready, but they knew they were outnumbered.
“Put down the weapons,” the lead guard said.
“Dude has a whip, that’s not much of a weapon,” another one of the guards said with a snicker.
Diego briefly considered it, before slowly putting his whip down, as Marcel put down the energy pistol.
“Cuff them,” the lead guard said, and two of the others went forward to do exactly that, when a sound came from the staircase, and suddenly the hovercar came out, and went over the guards, and landed between them, and Diego and Marcel, on its side. The bottom was facing the guards.
“Get in,” Jacques said, and both Marcel and Diego climbed in, while Diego grabbed his whip.
Jacques brought the hovercar back into the air, and as they were going back past the guards, Diego flicked his whip outside the hovercar, and knocked the energy pistol out of the hand of the guard that had laughed at it earlier. The hovercar once again shot up the stairs at a ridiculous speed, but then it started slowing down.
“What are you doing?” Diego asked.
“It’s not me,” Jacques said. “It’s running out of power. We’re going to make it to the roof, but that’s about it.”
And sure enough, the hovercar stopped just after exiting out onto the roof. The three of them got out and went over to the edge of the roof. It was five stories tall.
“Okay, they’ll have the exits guarded, so we’re going to need to climb down.” Diego said. “We should be abled to drop down from level to level without much difficulty.”
“Maybe you can, but I’m not, no, I can’t,” Marcel said.
“Me neither,” Jacques said. “If I try, we’re going to have another situation like in Boston, at best.”
“The hovercar you were using should have a couple jetpacks in it,” Diana said over the comm.
Jacques checked in the storage area. “There’s one.” He handed it to Marcel.
“I’m not leaving you behind,” Marcel said.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got an idea,” Jacques said. “Just go, and then Diego and I will be right behind you.”
“You’re sure?” Marcel asked.
“I’m sure,” Jacques said.
Marcel strapped on the jetpack, turned it on, and tested it. It worked perfectly, and he flew off.
“You don’t have an idea, do you?” Diego asked after Marcel was out of hearing range.
“Not really,” Jacques said.
“I could try and help you down my way.”
“Even then, I don’t know. You should just get out of here.”
“You know I’m not going to leave you behind.”
“Yeah,” Jacques said.
At that moment two dozen ESS guards came out onto the roof. They did not even say anything, just shot Diego and Jacques with their energy pistols, knocking them both out.
“We have to go back for them,” Darren said. He was back in the hotel room, with Carlie, Roz, Diana, and Marcel.
“How?” Marcel asked. “They know all our faces, except for Diana.”
“And I’m not really wanting to go in there,” Diana said. “I’m strictly a voice over the comm for these kind of jobs.”
“They also know who both Marcel and I am, thanks to him,” Roz said. “So that introduces even more problems.”
“I had to give them something,” Marcel said.
“So you say,” Roz said.
“And you’re going to need to change identities anyway,” Marcel said. “That’s why I gave them your name, and not Darren or Carlie’s.”
There was a knock at the door, and everyone looked at each other, before Diana checked the security camera feed in the hotel hallway. “It’s an older woman,” she said.
“Possibly our employer?” Marcel said.
“But how did she find us?” Roz asked.
Marcel walked over to the door, and opened it. “Hello?”
“Can I come in?” she asked. “I believe you have the object you were hired to procure.”
“Diego and Jacques aren’t here, so how do we know that you are our employer?” Marcel asked.
“How else would I know where to find you?” the woman asked as she pushed her way in. “Now let’s see the object.”
Roz took it out of her bag.
“Excellent,” the woman said as she took out her phone. “I’ll transfer the money to your accounts right away.”
“And what about Diego and Jacques?” Darren asked.
“They’re getting paid as well,” the woman said.
“Yeah, but they are in ESS custody at the moment,” Marcel said.
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” the woman said. “I’m sure they’ll be fine.”
Jacques and Diego were in an ESS holding cell. Diego was pacing, while Jacques was leaning against the wall. It was a standard ESS holding cell, with walls on three sides, and a forcefield on the fourth. There were beds and chairs inside, as well as an attached bathroom. There was even a touchscreen computer built into the wall, but it was not on a network.
“This is my fault,” Diego said. “You didn’t even want to take the job.”
“It’s fine, we’ve been arrested before, and at least the rest of the team got out. And thanks to this, Darren will be able to keep his business, Carlie won’t be living on the street anymore, and Roz can start over.”
“Marcel’s going to have to start over too though, and he didn’t need or want to before this. I may not like the guy, but even still.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Whatever problems I have with Roz, I’m still glad she’ll be able to start fresh.”
“You never really told me what happened between you two.”
“You remember how she used to be dating Sam?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you know who Sam was dating before that?”
“Wait, you and Sam?” Diego asked. “Really?”
“It was before we met.”
“I mean, obviously. Pretty sure I know everyone that you’ve dated since we met. But anyway, what’s our next move here?”
At that moment, someone walked in front of their cell. It was the woman that had hired them. “Good day gentlemen,” she said.
“How did you get in here?” Diego asked.
“I work here,” she said. “Quite impressive work you did, even if the two of you did get caught.”
“Wait, what the hell is going on here?” Jacques asked.
“We needed to test for vulnerabilities in our security,” she said. “After finding out that you two broke into a former apartment of Jack Masterson last year, we thought you’d be the perfect candidates, and were we ever right.”
“Wait, this whole thing was a setup?” Diego asked. “Then our crew?”
“They were still paid, and are being let to go their own way,” she said.
“And the two of us?” Jacques asked.
“You’re being transferred to my custody,” she said. “You see, I’m putting together a team of my own.”
