An Unexpected Swim

An Unexpected Swim


Jeff had nearly completed his circuit of the jewelry store's stand-alone building.  He was using a small penlight to carefully follow each wire and cable to its source.  Identifying the various electrical supply, telephone and cable wires had been child's play, but the last two wires had given him a little trouble.  The first one had eventually led to a small dish antenna on the southwest corner of the roof; the other had ended at an alarm box.  He read the box's data plate: "WARNING!  This facility protected by ABC Alarms - Ehrich Weiss Security Systems."  ABC Alarms?  Yes! he exulted, I know those guys!  He wondered about this Weiss company, though.  He didn't think ABC sold franchise rights.  Probably just a subcontractor in charge of system monitoring or something, he decided.

ABC Alarms had a solid reputation in the industry due, in part, to their innovative approach to security systems.  ABC alarms were billed as a "binary system", meaning that you had to defeat two parts to gain access, not just one.  A lot of systems could be beaten simply by cutting a wire or entering a code.  For ABC, you had to do both, and in the correct sequence, or you could count on an increased police presence in fairly short order.

Jeff took another look at the plate and saw that the installation date was the fifteenth of March; okay, an 'odd' month.  Jeff knew a lot about security systems, and he had the factory presets and default values for all the popular alarms memorized.  For example, with ABC systems, an 'even' month meant that the wire had to be cut first; with 'odd' months, you had to enter the code first.  He did just that, then used a glass cutter to cut a hole in the window big enough for his arm.  He disengaged the lock, withdrew his arm and raised the window.  The display cases' contents were as good as his.

Pulling himself up to the windowsill, Jeff swung his legs through the opening, then slowly slid from the opening to the floor.  As soon as his feet touched the floor's surface, there was a metallic click from the office P.A. speaker overhead and a computer-generated voice made an unexpected announcement:  "Intruder - you have initiated a fifteen second countdown.  Evacuate the premises at once."

Jeff was wondering about the voice's message, even as he turned back toward the window, when two more unexpected things happened simultaneously:  a panel slid from the bottom to the top of the window frame, completely sealing it off, and a semicircular barrier rose quickly from the floor to the ceiling.  The barrier was a single piece of what appeared to be clear plexiglass.  The left and right ends were flush with the wall, just as the top was flush against the ceiling.

Jeff cursed and began hammering and pushing at the panel and wall, but got nowhere.  He was trapped.

A man's voice came over the P.A. system.  "You're pretty good, mister, but you should have paid attention to the signs."

"Who're you?" Jeff called out.

"Wilton Baxter, head of Ehrich Weiss Security Systems," came the reply.

"So, I guess the cops are on the way now, huh?"

"Actually, they're not," answered Baxter.  "If things get this far, we're authorized by the store's owner to just deal with the problem.  Observe."

Two ceiling-mounted sprinkler heads sprang to life, each spewing an amazing amount of water.  Jeff was drenched almost at once, and the floor was soon covered.  Then the water level began to rise.

"As you can see," Baxter commented, "the plexiglass is perfectly sealed against the wall.  In a couple of minutes, you'll have your own little wading pool.  About ten minutes after that, it'll be a swimming pool.  In a half an hour, well... you get the picture.  It's my own variation on Houdini's Chinese Water Torture Cell."

Fear seized Jeff, and he renewed his attacks on the panel and walls.

"That's right," Baxter urged, "Be a man!  Go down fighting!  You've got a couple of advantages over Houdini: you're not handcuffed or in a straightjacket, and you're not hanging upside down by your feet.  You do have one big disadvantage, though: you don't have Houdini's training.  It'll be interesting to see how long you last."

Although he managed to keep his voice cool and professional, the thrill of adrenaline coursed through Baxter's veins as he watched Jeff's struggles on the video monitor.  If he hadn't panicked and wasted time with the window panel, Baxter thought, the guy might have made some headway with the building's wall with those shoes of his.  Now, though, there was too much water in the enclosed space and his kicks lacked any real force.  He watched intently as Jeff was forced to sink to the floor and then propel himself upward to where the air was.  All too soon, Jeff was no longer able to reach that steadily retreating capsule of life for more than a few seconds, a victim of his own waterlogged clothing.  Baxter stared at the screen, transfixed by the scene and unwilling to miss his victim's slightest effort.

Jeff had done time with two men, Ted Conrad and Nate Boswell, both of whom had died within the last few months, apparent drowning victims.  Each had been found floating in a nearby lake, not far from a rowboat containing some fishing gear.  The coroner's inquests had ruled both as death by misadventure but, as neither man had been much for fishing or boating, Jeff had had his suspicions.

The last, tiny bubbles of air escaped his lips.  Unable to delay that deadly inhalation any longer, Jeff had one final thought:  I wonder if this is the place they hit?


[963 words]