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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Part 22
Ashe, New York
"So how did your brother end up in charge of the Centre?" Sydney asked.
Helen smiled, resting back in her chair. "The power structure was different in the early years. The Centre was run by a Board of Directors, of which, unsurprisingly, Mr. Parker was head. One year, he went down to Georgia for a conference at NuGenesis and three members of the Board staged a coup. They had the others 'taken care of' and established themselves as the Triumvirate. When Mr. Parker returned and tried to resume his former position, he was threatened with either murder or being turned over to the police for the murder of my parents. Not liking either option, he agreed that he would continue to work for the Centre, in any post that they chose to put him in, excluding, of course, a seat on the Triumvirate. To keep hold of him they used his signatures on forms detailing some of the worse projects that they were involved in over the years. If he didn't want his name to appear, all he had to do was appoint someone else to the task - which is the reason why it's Jacob's signature on the form about Jarod being brought to the Centre, not his."
"How on earth did you...?"
Helen looked down at Angelo with a smile as Jarod trailed off, staring at her in disbelief. "I’ve got copies of all the files that were in SL-27. I would’ve had the originals, but we felt it was safer for me only to keep copies."
"So your brother earned a place on the Triumvirate?" Sydney queried.
"Exactly. He was employed at NuGenesis for a few years and then transferred to the Centre. He made himself indispensable to one of the Triumvirate members and, when that person died, took his place. It all went on from there."
"So how does he 'own' the Centre?"
"The head of the Triumvirate automatically owns everything to do with the Centre, but there was a lot less to inherit when my brother took over, six years ago. He added substantially to the Centre during his time at the top, including such things as LaGrange airstrip and the Hillman Marine, as well as the Biodome. He's added a total of about a third to the annual profits of the Centre since taking his position as head of the Triumvirate."
"Trying to make himself irreplaceable?"
"Exactly." She nodded in agreement at Jarod's statement. "He isn't, though. Nobody in that place is. Even you. That's why they made a copy."
He grinned. "But is the copy as good as the original?"
"That's a question you have to take up with your brother. I'll eventually be able to tell you if Eddie and Michael are equal, but that's probably thirty years away."
"And how do you know all this?" Sydney's voice was curious. "I've never heard a lot of it, and I've been at the Centre for nearly its entire existence."
"But the Triumvirate was already established when you were employed and they had no desire to acquaint you with their little coup, considering how messy it was and how many people had to be murdered for it to happen. There are memos from that period that I've found scattered throughout the Centre. After my first six or so visits, I sat down one weekend and started sorting. Then I read everything I'd stolen and began to figure out the true history of the Centre. It's interesting the way that even during its seemingly 'innocuous' periods, when it was working on projects like the 'Pope mobile', there were still the dangerous projects running along silently in the background because, of course, they're the ones that earn the most money."
"So projects like Prodigy were intended to enhance the Centre's reputation, by all the things they could produce?"
"Exactly. And by having people like Alex, who inverted the results of the projects that appeared to be outwardly innocent, it was supposed to prevent people becoming suspicious."
"What did Jacob find out?"
"More than is good for any employee to know. He was working late one night when he overheard plans for Mirage and did some research. Raines found out what he was looking into and reported to Mr. Parker, who, in turn reported the fact to the Triumvirate. I assume that they were the ones who gave the order for the 'accident'."
"So you have copies of every memo and letter to be circulated in the Centre?"
"I guess I do by now. The four filing cabinets in my lab are full of them - every single one I found - and they're sorted chronologically, so if you wan to, you can go in and spend several entertaining hours - or days - reading through the history of the place."
Steve looked up. "How many people have died on orders from the Triumvirate?"
"Countless hundreds," Helen responded softly. "I've never even tried to count all of them. It would take too long."
"And yet you never tried to destroy the place?" the older Pretender put in.
"Jarod, I'm one person,” Helen protested. “I couldn't possibly destroy an empire like the Centre. I will agree with you if you say that it's been badly weakened by my actions, but, given time and resources - and they certainly have lots of the second - they’d still be able to recover, even from the blows I've inflicted."
"So we need to destroy them before they have a chance."
"Yes, I suppose so, or at least take those advantages away. If we managed to do that, they would have little or no chance of recovering. If it occurred, their support would fade away, as would their business, and then they may as well be shut down."
Sydney nodded slowly before looking up at her. "And what can they do now, with the blockade in place?"
"Not a lot, particularly with the second mainframe being down," Helen grinned. "And that was one great idea of Broots's. The mainframe is the lifeline to their results, so shutting it down is the best way to hurt them."
"And the second best?"
Helen eyed Steve and Angelo. "Probably stealing their long-term projects."
"No wonder your brother doesn't like you." Jarod rolled his eyes. "I wasn't that far out when I said you were stealing his profits."
"His profits, his projects - anything that will really hurt him." She laughed. "I seem to be very good at that."
"He's good at hurting you, as well," Sydney commented quietly, eyeing the bruise on the woman's face.
"Well, he won't get another chance at that," Helen said firmly.
"He's not dead, is he?" Steve asked.
"No, not yet. But Sam's being very determined."
"He isn't the only one." Jarod eyed the woman. "None of us are willing for you to go anywhere near that place ever again."
"I can't promise I won't go near it again, but..."
"Helen, there is no way..."
"Will you let me finish?" She glared at Jarod, who abruptly shut his mouth before nodding. "Thank you. I was going to say that, although I can't promise not to go near it, I don't plan on doing it until they're neutralized, or at least until the Triumvirate's gone."
"I think that's the most sensible thing you've said all day."
She smiled. "You haven't heard even half of the things I've said today, so how do you know?"
"Hey, I only said I thought it was." Jarod grinned. "But I could always ask Sam."
"I'd rather you didn't. I hope he's still catching up on the sleep he's missed out on over the past few nights."
"It seems Sam isn't the only determined one of the two of you," the psychiatrist proposed.
"Perhaps not." She hid a smile. "Still, despite that, we seem to get on quite well."
"Quite well?" Sydney emphasized the words scornfully. "Would you really say only 'quite well'?"
"We haven't seen each other for fifteen years. People change."
"Not to that extent." The psychiatrist smiled significantly. "I don't think David was that far out in his estimation."
"Does that mean you're going to marry him, Mommy?"
The child's voice from the doorway made four of the room's occupants jump, before they turned to see the boy standing there. Helen held out her arms and he ran over, scrambling up into her lap.
"I don't know yet, David. He hasn't asked me."
"You could ask him."
"No, he wouldn't like that." She smiled at him. "Sam's an old-fashioned man and he’d want to do the asking."
"He's not old," the child protested indignantly and she laughed.
"No, baby, not 'old' but 'old-fashioned'. That means something different."
"What?"
"It means he likes things the way they were a long time ago."
"Like when Sydney was little?"
"Yes, David," Helen responded, trying not to laugh aloud, and knowing that Steve and Jarod were also struggling. "Just like that."
"Can I change the subject?" the older man queried drily.
"I’m not at all surprised at you wanting to, Sydney," Helen laughed. "To which new theme would you like to redirect it?"
"All of us. As I said to Parker before you began to recover, there are a lot of people here now and, with Michelle and Nicholas coming, that increases it. Considering that you used to live here alone, that could draw people's attention here in a bad way."
"I agree," the doctor replied. "The problem is working out where some of the people could go. I know that Jarod, Ethan and Jon could go and join the rest of their family, and, if she didn't want to go with them, Miss Parker could go and visit Ben in Maine, meaning that they'd be far enough away to be safe but not too far away that they couldn't get here quickly if we needed them."
"Broots and Debbie?"
"I don't know, exactly."
"But I do," the technician commented from the doorway. "My sister’s just moved to Vermont, and was urging me to come and see her. Debbie and I could go to visit there and that would put us in the same situation as the others."
Sydney glanced at Jarod. "Did your dad tell you where they were when you rang him?"
"Not directly, but yes, I do know where they are. They're living in the house that Mom was using in Connecticut when Helen went to get her, so all of us would be in the same situation."
"Good." Sydney looked at Helen. "So that, when Michelle and Nicholas get here, will leave ten of us. I know you'll want David and Michael to stay here."
"Of course, and Steve, too." Helen smiled at the man, who looked relieved. "I think Angelo should stay here, too. Little though I like to admit it, he'd be the most easily recognized of any of us if he started to be taken from one place to another. Sam's mother can either stay here or else, if we think it's safe, go home. It's close enough that Sam can go and get her if he thinks it's necessary." She sent a mock-glare in Sydney's direction. "And I suppose you won't even think of leaving until my decoration fades."
"Definitely not," he responded firmly. "If everyone else leaves then there's plenty of room for the three of us to stay. Besides, the Centre won't need to get into the mainframe to find out Michelle's address. I'm sure they have it somewhere."
The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
"And what's our current state?"
"We haven't been able to remove the blockade," admitted the second member of the Triumvirate. "And I'm not sure when we will, if at all."
"So we can't contact anyone outside the Centre, we can't leave the place, we can't bring anyone or anything in…"
"Correct."
"Then do tell me," his boss commented snidely, "exactly what we can do."
"Nothing except sit and wait for it to be lifted, and then hope to scramble into a position that won't result in the downfall of the Centre, and all of us, before they make their next move."
"So you think that they're planning to destroy us?"
"Either that or leave us here to starve." The man leaned back in his seat. "That's some time away for now, though. We had a fair amount of food delivered last week and, fortunately, the blockade doesn't shut off the power."
"And who would you expect to be 'them'?"
"Probably just about everyone – Jarod, his family, Sydney, Miss Parker, Mr. Broots, his daughter, Sam, the three who escaped: everyone."
"Except my sister," the man smirked.
"Unless Jarod managed to find a way around the treatment. The doctor who gave it reported that all the syringes, as well as the paperwork, were gone when he came around."
"Is it likely?"
"No, but with people of Jarod's ability, it's possible."
"And where are they most likely to hit, do you think?"
"I hate to say it, but probably you. Considering all the effort they went to, to save her, she must be very important to them, and I'd think their most probable form of revenge would be personal attacks on you. After all, now Mr. Parker, Raines and Lyle are dead, there really isn't anybody else left."
The man's brow creased into a glare. "And how would you say that they might go about that?"
"It's difficult to say, but all your assets are very vulnerable at the moment and it’d be very easy for them to do anything they wanted. Jarod, to name just one of them, would have the knowledge to do whatever they decided on."
Ashe, New York
"Can I call you tonight, Mommy?" the girl asked eagerly, and Helen smiled.
"Of course you can, Debbie. Your dad will be calling us at least once every day, so we can talk then, all right?"
"Yup." The girl gently hugged the woman before leaving the room with her father. As the door closed behind them, David looked up from his book.
"How come everybody's leaving?"
"They're going to visit friends, sweetie." Helen hugged him. "But we're staying, and so are Steve and Michael."
"Good." He sighed with relief. "And Angelo?"
"Yes, he's staying here, too, and so is Sam."
"Where is he?"
"He's in bed, baby. He's tired."
"He was tired," interrupted a voice from behind her. "He's a lot better now."
"I'm glad to hear it." Helen leaned against him as he sat on the arm of her chair, a hand stroking her hair.
"How much longer were you planning to stay up for?"
"A while. It is only seven. Besides, Michelle and Nicholas are coming soon."
Sam gently turned her face to his, visually examining her. "Do you think you're up to that?"
"If I wasn't, do you think Sydney would be allowing me to sit up, and do you really think I'd do it to myself? I'm not the biggest fan of collapsing insensible, to the floor and I've had it happen once in the past few days." Helen narrowed her eyes as she looked up at him. "Besides, I thought you received strict instructions that you weren't to worry about me anymore."
"I've never been good at obeying instructions."
"Oh, really? I should ask my brother about that."
"Well, I didn't obey his last direction to me, did I? I was supposed to stop your friends getting in, not help them."
She laughed. "Rebel."
"And glad to be so." He kissed her gently. "So why are your aunt and Nicholas on the way?"
"I'm due for a lecture about trying emulate my mother."
"Long overdue, I'd say. If I didn't know how much effective hers will be than mine, I'd give you one myself."
"Oh, I don't know. Yours could be pretty effective too."
"You wouldn't know," he laughed. "I've never given you one."
"If it wouldn't encourage raucous laughter from the person sitting opposite me, I'd say it was because I never did anything to deserve one."
Jarod grinned. "And I suppose you'd rather I didn't comment on that."
"Well, if it's possible for you to make such a great effort, I would appreciate it."
He laughed. "I'll do better than that. I think it's time the four of us left to go back to the loving arms of our family."
"Are you taking Miss Parker with you?"
"For the moment, yes. If we need to, we'll even get Ben from Maine and take him to the house as well."
"Well, keep an eye on our beloved friends in Blue Cove and don't forget to call us this evening."
Ethan laughed. "If they're that beloved, you ought to call your brother so that he's aware of how grateful you were for his generous accommodation."
She smiled. "You never know - I just might."
Helen cuddled the baby close to her and watched as he fell asleep. She gently stroked his cheek before picking up her book. Her reading, however, was disrupted by the sounds of arrival from the back door and she had difficulty keeping a grin away from her face as the door of the living room opened. Her cousin was about to say something, when he saw the child in her arms, and his jaw dropped.
"What on earth...?"
"Could you keep your voice down a little, Nick? I've only just got him to sleep."
Regaining somewhat of his self-possession, he walked into the room and came over to her chair. Kneeling down in front of her, he looked at the baby.
"Is it yours?"
"Nicholas, what happened to me when I was fifteen?"
"Well," he rocked back on his heels, "you could have adopted."
She laughed. "Okay, that's true. No, he's not officially mine, but we'll probably be the people who bring him up."
The sound of her laughter woke the baby, who stared at Nicholas solemnly for a moment before looking at Helen and smiling, wrapping his hand around her index finger before closing his eyes again.
"So when did that momentous decision get made?"
"Not long before this one did." She tapped the area beside the bruise, smiling as Nicholas stared at it.
"Does it hurt?"
Catching the eye of the little boy in Steve's lap, Helen shook her head. "Not very badly."
"Could have fooled me."
"I'm not trying to." She lowered her voice. "But can you stop talking about it?"
"Scared of what my mom's going to say?"
"No, more worried about what affect it might have on him." She nodded at the child and laughed as her cousin spun around.
"Two now?"
"Something like that." She held out her free hand. "Come here, sweetie."
The boy got up out of Steve's lap and ran over, hesitating several feet away, and she smiled. "Do you remember what I promised you, David?"
He nodded solemnly. "Uh huh."
"Well, this is one of the people you can trust. He's my cousin."
She gave him a hand to scramble up into her lap and put him on her knee, where he stared at the man before looking at Helen.
"Mommy, if he's your cousin then what should I call him?"
"You can call him by his name, sweetie. This is Nicholas. Nick, this is David."
"Hi." The boy spoke hesitantly and Helen smiled.
"It's okay, honey. You can act exactly the same around him as you do with Jarod or Steve." She nodded in the direction of the Pretender, who slowly got to his feet. "Steve, this is Nicholas. Nick, this is..."
"Steven?"
The voice from the doorway was incredulous and the man spun around, a light of fear in his eyes, before he broke into a hesitant smile. "Dr. Lucca?"
"What are you doing here?"
"Helen brought us here a few days ago."
"Us?" Michelle looked over at Helen and stared, as her son had done, before she walked into the room. "What's all this?"
"Centre refuge," Helen smiled, "as Sydney told you on the phone."
Coming over, Michelle sat on the sturdy coffee table and stared at her niece. "Are you completely crazy?"
"Oh, thank you." Helen rolled her eyes.
"She's not crazy!" The young voice was indignant and the doctor looked down at him with a smile, tightening her hold around his waist.
"It's all right, sweetheart. She didn't really mean it."
"Want to bet?"
"Now don't go making things worse," Helen warned, "or you'll make an enemy of my son for life."
Michelle looked skeptical, but smiled as she looked down at the baby. "And what method did you use to get two such beautiful children?"
"The same method by which I got Steve - abduction." Helen grinned. "I had a busy night."
"And was that the same night you got that lovely coloring?"
"No, that was a few nights later, when I was trying to get Angelo."
"He's here, too?"
Helen nodded towards the empath, who was playing with some of Michael's toys in the corner. "I'll tell you everything, but not right now, okay?"
The older woman eyed the boy who was still watching her narrowly and nodded. "All right, Helen. And you've still got that lecture coming, remember?"
"Oh, don't worry. I haven't forgotten." The doctor laughed. "But if you can manage to avoid doing it before my children, I'd be a lot happier."
"Mommy?" the child on her lap piped up.
She looked down. "Yes, baby?"
"Who is she?"
"This is my aunt, sweetheart."
"Why was she so mean?"
"She wasn't, David, not really. It was only fun, just like when Jarod and I were teasing each other, remember?"
"So she likes you?"
"Yes, honey, she likes me a lot." She hugged the child. "As much as I like you."
"And Sam?"
"Yes," she laughed. "That much."
"Wow." The boy's eyes widened and he looked up at the woman who was fighting to hide a smile. "She must like you a lot too then."
"I do, David," Michelle admitted laughingly. "I like her an awful lot." She looked suspiciously at her niece. "When he said Sam…"
"He meant me," the man interrupted from the doorway. "And, no, I'm not here as a sweeper, so please don't feel you need to bolt through the doorway like Jarod tried to do when I arrived."
The older woman stood up with a laugh. "Thank you for that, but Sydney’s already warned me about you being here." She eyed the outfit he was wearing. "And I'm usually nervous of sweepers only when I see them wearing that delightfully funereal kit you're all usually attired in."
"And probably holding you at gun-point as well, right?" Sam laughed, coming to sit beside Helen and taking Michael. "Well, although the kit is upstairs, I won't drag it out unless you start feeling nostalgic."
"Your generosity is overwhelming, Sam, but I'm quite happy not to see it all for the moment." She smiled. "Having heard things about you for a few years now, I was actually more interested in seeing you as you."
"Oh, really?" The man glanced at Helen with an eyebrow raised before looking at Michelle again. "Anything bad?"
"No," Michelle commented thoughtfully. "I think 'bad' would be the wrong word."
"Can I interrupt?"
"Of course, Sydney." Helen looked up. "What is it?"
"We arranged for everybody to call in a few hours and, since they left, we haven't had a look at what your brother's up to."
"Actually, Doctor, Steve and I were watching until just before Michelle's arrival."
"And?"
"Not much. They're still moaning about the lack of a mainframe and the fact that they can't get out for a breath of fresh air." The sweeper laughed. "Oh, and Helen's brother is also concerned about what Jarod might do to his assets as they're so unguarded right now."
Helen looked thoughtful. "I wonder just what we could do to them. He’d find it rather frustrating, I'd imagine, to find all the things he so painstakingly added to the Centre account - like LaGrange, or the Hillman Marine and let's not forget the Biodome - had all been sold and he couldn't do a thing about it. And I'm also sure that he’d be a little upset if things like Angel Manor or, say, the Dragon House, had been handed over to one of the Centre's competitors."
"I think you're underestimating your brother," Michelle remarked as she sat down beside Sydney.
"You don't think he'd leave them unprotected?"
"I don't think he'd be just 'rather frustrated' or 'a little upset'." She eyed Helen in amusement. "Bright red hair, as I told you when you were about four, normally denotes an equally fiery temperament."
"Yes, that would explain why I get upset so easily," she laughed, watching as David began to nod drowsily in her arms.
"Your brother never had anyone to teach him how to control his temper."
"According to the DSA I saw, my brother was put up for adoption at eight years old." Helen glanced at her aunt curiously. "Why was that?"
"For the same reason your mother left you to the convent and not to me after her death. Your brother was born just after both of your parents began working at NuGenesis, and they got offers to work at the Centre when Mr. Parker opened it. To ensure they would stay working at NuGenesis, they were both threatened, although not as badly as they would be when you were five. To keep him safe, they put your brother up for adoption. When he was born, your mother had severe complications, and for four days they weren't sure she would live. She did, but the doctors doubted if she could have another child. That fact sent your mother into depression: a depression that only lifted when she became pregnant with you. By the time you were born, the threats were no longer arriving and your parents felt that they could safely bring you up themselves. As you’re aware, that stopped when you turned five."
Sydney looked at Michelle. "So how did your sister find out about Prodigy? I have my doubts that either of the Haring brothers just told her."
"No, they certainly didn't do that, but after large numbers of children appeared at NuGenesis and subsequently disappeared altogether, she began to feel that something bad was happening. She started sneaking into the Centre, going in to people's offices to steal files and memos that could have been relevant.” Michelle smiled at her niece. “Helen's ability at pick pocketing was learned, but her light touch was her mother's."
The psychiatrist choked down his laughter and turned to Helen, whose eyes were firmly fixed on the sleeping child in her lap. "Do you want to tell her or will I?"
"I'm sure she'll take it better from you." The doctor looked up sharply. "But first I want to know why you started to work at the Centre. I mean, you must have got an idea that the place wasn't exactly paradise on Earth or else I'd imagine that you'd have tried to get custody of me, at least until Nick was born."
"Actually, I did think about it, but you're right, I've always had some idea of what kind of place the Centre was. Your mother and I discussed that quite often and I saw a number of the memos she stole, including ones from the early days of the Centre, when there was no Triumvirate and only a Board of Directors."
"So, despite knowing what kind of place it was, you still tried for a job there." The doctor rolled her eyes. "And you called me crazy."
"My primary motive was revenge. I wanted to find out the identity of person who ordered the so-called accident."
"And did you?" Sydney asked gently.
"No." Michelle's voice was tinged with regret. "But I learned a lot of other things, about the children," she looked at Sydney out of the corner of her eye, "and about the people who were caring for them."
"So you continued working there..."
"Until I fell pregnant. When I was threatened, or more precisely when Sydney was, I left Delaware and moved to New York. Several months after Nicholas was born, I met my husband."
"But you've kept an eye on the place," her niece commented.
Michelle glanced at Helen. "Your brother started working for NuGenesis less than a year before I had to leave, and although his bitterness at having been adopted as a child made me decide not to tell him who I was, he’s still my sister's son. I always hoped that one day, if it was necessary, I might be able to protect him from a similar fate to the one that had killed his parents."
"Why didn't they - or you - ever even mention that I had a brother? As you may be able to imagine I was slightly surprised when I found out about it."
"If it's any consolation, he doesn't know about you."
"Didn't," Helen put in with a grin. "He does now."
"How?"
"I told him when he was holding me at gunpoint. I thought, if anything was going to make him treat me better, that would."
"And did it?"
"Does it look like I was an honored guest of the Centre?" She tapped her cheek beside the bruise and grinned. "Or do you think it's only really special people who are clubbed on the side of the head?"
"What else did they do to you?" Michelle asked suspiciously.
"They used me to test one of their pet projects. You were right in what you said on the phone. If it wasn't for Steve, Jarod and Sam, I wouldn't be able to talk to you right now."
"Which project?"
Helen raised an eyebrow. "Does the word 'Regeneration' mean anything to you?"
Michelle stared at her in silence for a moment before she was able to speak. "Are you telling me that, in spite of knowing who you were, your brother still used you as a guinea pig for that?"
"He considers me a slight threat."
The older woman looked down at the boy in her niece's arms. "I might be able to imagine why."
"Oh, that's only half of it, or maybe even only a third. They can't get access to the mainframe now either."
"Did Broots do that?"
"Not exactly."
"So you did it." Michelle raised an eyebrow. "And how?" When the young woman didn’t reply, her aunt leaned forward slightly and spoke firmly. "How, Helen?"
"Let Sydney tell you. As I said, you'll take it better if you hear it from him."
"He doesn't need to. I think I can guess." The woman crossed her arms. "I wasn't so wrong when I said you were emulating your mother, was I?"
"No, not entirely." She looked at the woman opposite. "But I have no intention of my car being wrapped around a tree." Her eyes twinkled at Sydney. "Even if I end up planting a bomb in SL-27 to prevent it."
"But that would require going back there," protested Sam. "And you promised me earlier that you wouldn't."
"Until the place is neutralized or the Triumvirate's gone, if you remember. I added those provisos."
"So if it had already occurred, what’s the point of imitating Sydney's great act of defiance?"
"For the fun of it," Helen laughed, before becoming more serious. "I think there's a few things that still need to be found out, and if we can work out a way to even temporarily impede my sweet brother's actions, it’d be possible for us to get that information."
"You and Eddie have already given us a way to do that," the psychiatrist stated softly. "Surely, by using that, we could take advantage of the resulting time to find all of that sort of information out."
"If we do," Helen mused, "we might only need to go into one room, and it's pretty easy to access, actually."
"And how could you be sure that he wouldn't be there?"
"It wouldn't matter if he was." Helen grinned at her aunt. "I've managed to escape from under his nose before. It's wouldn't be that hard to do it again."
"Will that drug work a second time?" the psychiatrist queried.
"Yes, but I wouldn't take only one with me. I'd ensure that I had several different options with me, just in case."
"And who says you're the one going?" Sam looked at her meaningfully.
"Well you're certainly not going without me!" Her tone was indignant. "I have as much, if not more, reason to be there, particularly as almost all of the information relates to me in some way."
"And what about after that?" Sydney's voice was soft. "We can't simply plant another bomb down in SL-27, or anywhere else, because that would kill or injure a lot of innocent people, as well as other not so innocent ones."
"Actually, Sydney, I don't really want to kill him. No matter what he did to me or anyone else, he’s still my brother. I had a hard enough time watching Lyle die and he was no relation to me at all. I doubt I could live with myself if I was the person directly responsible for his death."
"So what would you do?"
"Discredit him, strip him of his wealth and humiliate him." She gave a smile of satisfaction. "Now that I would happily do."
"And you have the ways to do it."
"Exactly. Sam provided us with one way and Ethan suggested another."
"And discrediting him?"
She smiled. "I think I provided myself with that. There are a large number of large companies who are currently awaiting results from the Centre of various projects that they ordered. I, after all my visits, have the real results - and copies of all the fake details I scattered around people's offices over the past few years. If the big rival companies - by accident, of course - were to get the wrong information then they’d no longer trust the Centre and stop using it to get results and if the Centre lost its customers, it would have no reason to stay open. If we got all the information that we need from it, we can happily watch it close its doors forever without shedding a single tear." She looked around and grinned. "Unless that fact would devastate anyone so much that they couldn't bear to see it happen."
"We’d need to plan this carefully."
"Oh, of course. But we've got all the time we could need and Broots can maintain the blockade for as long as we like. They can only try to get into a position to try and save themselves as soon as it's lifted and we've got several people," she eyed Steve meaningfully and with a grin, "who’d be able to work out all possible ways they might react so that we can prepare for it."
"There was one thing I was thinking about," the Pretender commented quietly.
Helen looked at Steve enquiringly. "And that was?"
"I was wondering why you've never seen him using one of his secret places. You must have seen Mr. Parker and Mr. Raines using theirs for you to know where they were and how to access them, meaning that you’d have been viewing their offices with the security system. I’d have to assume you've done the same with the person in charge of the whole place so why haven't you ever seen him taking files out?"
"Good question." Helen rested her head on Sam's arm, gazing thoughtfully at the floor. "You're right, I've spent hours watching all three of those men - and others like Lyle, Sydney..."
"You did, did you?" The psychiatrist tried to look indignant.
"Well, of course." Helen grinned at him. "How else could I find out about Jarod? Would you like to know how many times I've been in your office?"
"No, not really. I'd never feel safe there again."
"You shouldn’t ever feel safe there anyway, at least not until the Triumvirate's out of the picture." She laughed before becoming serious again. "Steve's right. I haven't ever seen him using those secret places and yet he has to. When we're talking to the others tonight, I'll ask Broots if it would be possible for him to block off the cameras in his office."
"It should be," Sydney interposed. "We've done it before."
"But Broots designed the system. He'd know how to do it. If my brother knows as well, I'd be interested to know how."
"Your father was very good with computers, Helen," Michelle responded. "It might have been him who taught your brother any skills he knows."
"He'd still be less able than Broots," Sam commented. "If he was as able, or even more so, he would already have taken down the blockade."
"Good point." Helen nodded. "We'll also ask Broots tonight if it's possible for him to take it apart, but I think Sam's right."
Sydney picked up a pad of paper from the table and wrote down the two points that had been mentioned before looking up. "Apart from outlining our plan to them, do we need to ask anything else?"
"We should find out who is willing to actually take part. Of course, those like Jon and Debbie won't have any option, but I'm not sure Broots or Margaret should be involved with the real work inside the Centre, nor perhaps even Jarod."
"I doubt you'll be able to stop him," the psychiatrist told her.
"But he's at highest risk, being the one they want back most. In addition to that, he's not back to full fitness yet..."
"And you are?" Sam looked at her scornfully and she laughed.
"Give me twenty-four hours and I'll be fine, but the measles normally takes longer than that, and any weakness could endanger the rest of us."
"Well, you suggest it to him and we'll pick up the pieces when he's finished telling you what he thinks of that little idea," Sydney commented drily.
"You're support is invaluable," she replied in similar tones. "Besides, I’m not saying he shouldn't be involved, only that he shouldn't be among the people who actually go into the Centre. He can be standing by with an escape car or something of that sort."
"Sitting by," Nicholas corrected with a grin. "It's hard to stand in a car."
"Smart ass."
"It's inherited."
"Your father would never make a remark like that." Helen grinned. "At least, I don't think he would anyway."
"No, but my cousin certainly would." He laughed. "Besides, with two small children to take care of, shouldn't you watch your language?"
"I'd rather listen to it. My sign language isn't very good anymore."
Her cousin rolled his eyes. "As I said, inherited."
"Reverting back to your earlier topic," Sydney interrupted, "Nicholas has supplied a good reason for you not to be there either."
Helen looked up at the man. "No one would be able to find my brother’s office without me in that maze. Besides, I'm not going to ask others to do things I won't do myself."
"You've already done so," the psychiatrist stated firmly. "Seventy-three times, if we include the liberation of Steve, David and Michael, and the time when you were carried in by your brother's sweepers."
"Carried?" Michelle looked startled. "You didn't say..."
"I thought you would have realized that, Auntie. They knocked me out before they took me inside. I don't even remember being in there at all."
She turned back to the man sitting beside her aunt.
"Sydney, I'm going and there's no argument you can put forward that will stop me this time. Yes, I agree the children are a strong motivation not to, but unless we do this thing properly they'll either be taken back there or else have to live the same sort of lifestyle that Jarod does, and that isn't a thing I want to contemplate, either for them or for me. Even you would have to agree that the plan has a lot more chance of success if I'm there." She looked down at the small boy who was lying in her arms. "I promised him that he'd never have to go back to that place again and I intend to keep my word. The only way I can ensure that is to help destroy it."
