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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Part 29
"In the light of his vision, he has found his freedom: his thoughts are peace, his words are peace and his work is peace."
Dhammapada
Renouncing
The darkness made visibility difficult but the headlights of the minibus were very bright and clearly illuminated the road ahead. The other occupants were asleep in the back, or so Jarod thought, until he saw one stand and make their way to the unoccupied seat beside him.
"Are you okay?"
"Fine."
Jarod reached behind him and pulled out a rug which he had stuffed into the pocket behind the seat. "Wrap yourself in this. It's cold."
"Thanks, Jarod."
There was a few moments of silence. The Pretender, knowing that Miss Parker wanted to say something, concentrated on the road to give her a chance to think about it.
"Jarod, Momma told me what you went through. Why do you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Help people. Put your life in danger so that they can be happy. Risk it all for others."
"I don't know. A sense of obligation, I guess. And because I enjoy it." Jarod thought for a moment before he went on. "Before Kyle was killed, we had the chance, working together, to save a woman's life. It gave him the chance to find out how it felt to help someone - and he found out that it felt good. I found that out a long time ago."
"How long until we get there?"
"About two hours. I want to arrive at the Centre a couple of hours before daylight, so that we have a chance to set everything up."
She nodded, a motion just visible in the dim light, before speaking again. "Jarod - why does Sam trust you? He never did before."
"Not that you knew. But Sam and I have been working together for a while."
Parker sat sharply upright in the seat and stared at him. "What?"
"He used to give me some of my information."
"Why?"
"I saved his life."
"What?! How?"
"One of the other sweepers was involved in an embezzlement scam and blamed it on Sam. By doing a little detective work, I was able to trace it back to the proper source, and stopped Raines' sweepers from carrying out the extermination order that he had been given. Ever since then, Sam has done everything he could to help, when it was safe."
"All this time..." Miss Parker started to giggle softly. "And all this time, I thought he was loyal to me."
"He is, Miss Parker. And a divided loyalty is easier when the subjects of his loyalty are working together."
"If you're styling yourself as Hercules, what does that make me?"
Jarod grinned, but knew she couldn't see it in the dark. "Who would you like to be? Hera? Omphale? Hebe? Hesione? Which one seems most appropriate?"
"I thought - Athena."
Jarod took one hand off the steering wheel and took one of hers, squeezing it gently. "I can deal with that. The goddess of wisdom and military victory. And Hercules' half- sister. What could be more appropriate? We'll offer you some prayers on the victory of this mission when we arrive, if you like."
The two smiled briefly at each other before Jarod turned back to the road and Miss Parker made her way back to where her mother sat.
The minibus was barely visible beneath the low-hanging trees and the group slipped, undetected, up to the Centre and, led by Angelo, into the first of the winding maze of ducts within the Centre. Jarod halted the group when they were at the entrance to a darkened room and opened his computer. He connected it to a point within the room and typed a few instructions into the machine. There was a brief dimming of the lights which was only noticeable due to the high level of tension that the group felt.
"Cerenia is a success. The security system is now virtually disabled. Now, we need to get as quietly as we can into the vents."
Once they were in the dark area, Jarod turned to them again, his voice even softer than before. "Split up. Two groups. Myself with Sydney, Angelo, and Cox. Parker, you go with your mother, Broots and Sam. "
"What about me?" a voice interrupted and the Pretender jumped.
"Steve! What are you doing here? " Jarod turned and stared at the man who had appeared out of the darkness.
"Angelo told me where you were. Don't think you're taking on the Centre without me. They owe me too much for that!"
"Great! Okay, you go with Parker and the others. Ten feet along and you know what to do with the canister. "
Miss Parker pulled the silver object out of her pocket and grinned at him meaningfully before disappearing into the darkness, followed by the others. In the vent outside of the large dormitory-style room, Jarod opened his case and took out a large canister.
With a nod, he pulled a small mask out of his pocket and affixed it over his mouth and nose. In the dim light, he watched as others completed the same task. With a tense hand, he reached out and pulled back a tab from the top of the canister, which immediately began to hiss gently, before slightly opened the vent and tossing the silver object onto the only vacant bed in the room, which fortunately was closest to the vent itself. Within only a few seconds, the highly pressured air within the canister had been released and Jarod knew that the occupants of the room had inhaled enough gas to render them unconscious for hours. He opened the vent and, followed by the others, dropped silently into the room.
Moving over, Jarod opened the diving door between the two rooms and handed to each member of the group a handful of syringes. He nodded and the group split up, each taking a part of the room and injecting the sweepers with the mixture that Jarod had created. As they finished, each came to where Jarod was setting up a small projector and watched as he loaded a large reel, which, they all knew, contained images of themselves.
The drug, Jarod had explained to them in the bus, would leave the sweepers with a few moments of knowing nothing about themselves and they would automatically turn to the video as a source of information. This would establish their loyalty to the group, thus destroying the perfect army that Raines imagined he had created. Before leaving, Jarod firmly locked each door and pocketed the keys, leaving on the dividing doors open.
The group returned to the vents as the light began to enter the room and, still wearing the air-filtering masks, they crept along to where the vent divided into several braches. Staying in the groups to which they had earlier been assigned and with one member of each carrying a black case, they split up and approached the various offices to which they had been assigned. Within moments, the groups found themselves looking at the backs and head of the current power-players within the Centre.
'Raines, Lyle, Brigitte - is that it?'
Catherine picked up Jarod's thought and nodded, knowing what would come next and feeling the adrenaline pumping as she looked down on the man she had once loved.
Moving away from the cover slightly, Catherine watched as Sam and Steve opened the vent and silently dropped down into the room. In seconds, Mr Parker was being held in the strong grasp of two sweepers, a firm hand on his mouth. It was too dark for him to tell clearly who his captors were and neither Catherine nor her daughter gave him a chance to realize. A quick injection and the figure lay prone on the floor.
Miss Parker stood up and made mental connection with Jarod, in time to see the gas canister dropped silently into the room. She tried to hide her giggling as she watched the scene unfold.
"So, we are agreed. The first priority is Catherine Parker..."
"...and then Jarod."
Raines’ blue eyes bore into the younger man. "Are you sure that you can manage to do this without stuffing it up completely?"
"Please, Raines. I failed because I had incompetent help." Lyle was so harshly defending himself that he never heard the soft thud of the canister landing on his coat, which had fallen off the back of his chair and was lying on the floor. The indignant man sat back against the chair and took several deep breaths to calm himself down, even as the gas began to leak into the room and Raines turned to Brigitte.
"Woman, you will do whatever you are told. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir." The words were monotonous but with something in them that caused Jarod to raise his eyebrows.
"And, Lyle, you will use any means possible."
"D...definitely. A...any....means..." Lyle brought a shaky hand up to his head as he muttered the words and slipped slightly down in his chair.
"What is it, Lyle? The strain taking its toll? Maybe you need a holiday." Raines voice was as harsh and sarcastic as usual as he looked at the other occupants of the room.
"I...I think...I don't...know..." As Jarod and the others watched, Lyle fell in graceful, slow motion out of his chair and landed in a heap on the floor. Brigitte, forgetting her artificial demeanor, jumped out of her chair and ran across to him.
"Lyle!" She bent over him and spotted the gas canister under the chair. Reaching over, she picked it up and, fatally, inhaled as she straightened. "Raines...I...I think..." Her knees visibly buckled under her and she slipped onto the floor, lying next to Lyle with one arm over him, as though protecting the unconscious man.
Raines reached over and plucked the silver object from her hand. As the group in the vent watched, he brought the canister up to his nose and, disastrously inhaled sharply. His graceful fall to the floor was marred by the oxygen tank, which got caught up in his legs and toppled with a loud thud.
The fugitives spent several more seconds simply staring at the scene, unable to believe their eyes, before Jarod set them off by putting his head against the wall of the vent and breaking into near-hysterical laughter.
