Genomorph

Chapter 59

CHAPTER 59

In the main control center of the lab, Reginald Mercer and the Man watched a news report on the incident at the President’s ranch. Their agents on his security detail had reported nothing out of the ordinary, but combined with indications they had received that the Pentagon had gone to a high state of alert, the report was more than a little disturbing.

“Something is wrong; we have to initiate the activation process immediately,” the Man said. “Contact Mitchell and get a status report.”

Mercer nodded and grabbed a phone from one of the consoles, as the technicians began typing commands into the computer.

“I can’t reach the surface,” Mercer said. “All the lines are out.”

“Sir, the entire network is down,” one of the technicians said. “The computer is not accepting any command codes.”

Mercer set the phone down and tried typing his personal code into the computer. A look of unbridled rage crossed his face as he read the words that appeared on the screen.

Sorry, Reg, but that just isn’t doing it for me … I guess you hear that a lot though….

“She’s here,” Mercer growled. “She got inside and into the computer somehow. The whole facility is locked down, and we can’t access the control system for the uplink.”

“Security, what’s the status on the prisoner?” The Man asked, as he keyed the intercom control on another console. Communications within the lab were still functioning at least.

In the security center, one of the guards glanced at the monitor screen and saw the girl still sleeping. He was about to respond when she vanished in the blink of an eye, and the body of the guard from the hall appeared on the floor.

“Sir, I was looking right at the screen, and she disappeared! The guard is down.”

“She didn’t get inside,” the Man said, turning to Mercer. “You brought her in. Go to the security center and coordinate what personnel we have down here into some kind of defense. She’ll be coming here to finish disabling the uplink controls.”

The Man turned to the tech at the uplink controls and said, “How long to align the dish manually?”

“Fifteen minutes minimum,” the tech said.

“Get moving! Mercer, buy me that fifteen minutes; I don’t care if it costs every one of the security personnel down here; slow her down.”

*****

On the surface, Evan Mitchell waited at the gate, watching with unconcealed satisfaction as a vehicle approached. It was a military Hummer, and when it was one hundred meters from the gate, it stopped and the Genomorph climbed out. Mitchell raised a pair of binoculars and inspected the girl; there was no mistaking that it was her. As instructed, she was unarmed, but was she alone?

“Check the Hummer,” Mitchell said, motioning to two of his men. “Bring that bimbo back here, and make sure she knows her girlfriend will get hurt if she resists.”

Mitchell watched the two mercenaries as they approached the girl. They looked inside the Hummer and then motioned for the girl to follow them, but she refused to move. A moment later one of them contacted Mitchell on the radio.

“She wants to talk to you,” the man said.

“Put her on,” Mitchell told him.

“I don’t move an inch until you release Melissa,” the girl’s voice said over the radio. “Bring her to the surface. Once she is in the Hummer and away from here, I’ll come along peacefully.”

“You mean, so she can go and hook up with your SEAL buddies?” Mitchell asked, laughing. “The ones my men are butchering at their LZ at this very moment? That ain’t how it works, bitch. You start moving right now, or I call downstairs and some of the troops will begin using her for entertainment. They’re all dying to show her what she’s been missing.”

Even though she was a football field away, Mitchell could see the defiance drain from the girl as her shoulders slumped and she handed the radio back. The three figures began moving towards the gate.

From their elevated positions, Lewis and Darrow settled the sights of their rifles on the men flanking Melissa.

“Chief, they’re moving her towards the compound,” Lewis whispered into his radio.

“Vasquez and I are setting up now,” Wright said. “Take ‘em down.”

“The LT hasn’t given the signal,” Darrow said.

“We can’t wait,” Wright said. “Don’t let them get Melissa any closer to that gate!”

“Roger that,” both the snipers responded.

As Mitchell watched, the two guards on either side of the girl suddenly pitched forward and fell to the ground. Seconds later, the twin booms of two big bore rifles echoed down from the distant ridge.

Mitchell raised his MP5 and fired, but his rounds fell short. He had expected the girl to go for a weapon and attack, but instead she had turned and run away, and was now taking cover behind the Hummer. It didn't make sense; why would she run away from battle when her girlfriend was prisoner down below?

~ Unless it’s not the girlfriend at all…. ~

Mitchell turned and ran for the main building, screaming into his radio to warn the lab that the Genomorph was already inside. He was rewarded with nothing but dead air. He reached the door to the building just as a propane tank near the barracks erupted in a ball of flame. The shockwave of the explosion raced across the compound, knocking several men off their feet. The fireball destroyed two of the prefabricated structures outright and set a third aflame. Mitchell swiped his key card through the reader and entered the building, the men inside shouting questions when they saw him.

“We’re under attack, morons!” he shouted back, and then pointed at two of the six guards.

“You two, secure the back door; the rest of you stay here. Don’t let them through to the elevator!”

He made his way quickly down the hall and to the elevator and slapped the call button. The LCD screen in the control panel began flashing.

Security lockdown initiated … elevator unavailable…

Mitchell keyed in his personal code, and after a few seconds, the text on the screen changed.

Security code accepted … I’m waiting for you, Mitchell…

“And I’m coming for you, bitch,” Mitchell muttered as he stepped into the elevator.

*****

The security force was thrown into momentary disarray, but they were well trained and recovered quickly. They moved to their prepared positions and began firing. There was no chance they could hit the snipers on the ridge a half mile away, so they concentrated their fire on the girl behind the Humvee.

“Shit!” Melissa screamed as rounds hammered into the vehicle. She did exactly as Brandi had instructed her; she curled up into a ball and made herself as small as possible behind the Hummer.

A group of four mercenaries broke from their positions and began advancing rapidly towards the vehicle. Two of them were down immediately as fifty caliber bullets from the snipers ripped into them. The other two turned to seek cover, but only made it half dozen steps before Lewis and Darrow brought them down too. The lesson was conveyed effectively; leave the girl alone.

It was a standoff; the mercenaries could not reach the snipers or the girl, but neither were they in much danger as long as they stayed behind their fortified positions. The volume of fire directed at the Hummer declined as the men within the fence waited for the SEALs to make the next move.