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Chapter or Story
Disclaimer: I own none of the original Pretender characters or the basic storyline. They belong to others, so there is no infringement on my part and I’m not making any money from this.
Authors note: Please, I absolutely need some feedback. Let me know how you like this story.
Memory Ronin
Part I
By Callisto
Jarod and the Major were sitting in a cleverly constructed blind just north of the Centre’s biotech labs. The heavy downpour of rain, thick foliage, and generously sized airstrip provided a comfortable barrier between them and the large contingent of Centre sweepers waiting for him to stumble haplessly into their transparently simple trap. The two men continued to watch patiently as some of the more inexperienced sweepers grew bored and restless with the wait. Jarod allowed himself a wry grin as he thought about how much of a wait he planned for them. He would be coffin dust before they had a ghost of a chance to catch him.
The bait Raines dangled in front of him was more cleverly thought out. It was too irresistible even for Jarod to ignore: his own genetic material. Raines had sent an email to the lead scientist in this facility using an old encryption code that Jarod had long ago deciphered. In the email Raines advised the scientist to ready the site for receipt of several potential surrogate mothers who were being sent there specifically to be tested in order to find the one best suited to carry the child slated to be created in the labs from Jarod’s sperm.
The Major, who was lying next to Jarod, noticed his son’s jaw tighten and his features darken in anger. He sympathized with his son completely. The Centre had done a similar thing to him by creating Ethan. For this and other reasons he had insisted on accompanying Jarod on this mission despite his eldest son’s objections. They had been sitting practically motionless for several hours watching the sweepers slowly grow more impatient for their arrival as the minutes slowly crawled by.
***
The rain beat down from the heavens with a relentless ferocity. The steadiness of the deluge was in direct correlation to her mood. They were gathered in a makeshift shelter just inside the tree line that extended from the outer perimeter of the Centre’s sprawling biotech facility. The bait had been set and now they were waiting for the prize lab rat to wander like a country bumpkin rube into their stupid trap. She scoffed inwardly at the arrogance and supposition that Jarod would not only show up but lose his overly abundant cache of marbles and actually fall for this inane ruse.
The expression on Parker’s face hardened as her thoughts turned to the small regiment of sweepers both Raines and Lyle insisted should accompany her.
‘Obviously they think I’ve suddenly grown stupid at the same time as Jarod. These sweepers are all working under Lyle’s orders, the minute I drop my guard they will make a move to kill me. Well, they’re in for a long wait.’
A young and obviously green sweeper walked up to Parker and stood a respectful distance from the woman. He was fully aware of her identity; her last name alone struck a note of awe in the sweeper’s heart. The power she wielded so casually was impressive. She handled the large contingent of highly trained and skilled bodyguards and assassins with authority and an amazing astuteness. Her beauty alone set her apart from the rest of the Centre’s hierarchy but the expression in her eyes, a mixture of toughened sadness and intelligence, made most of the sweepers treat her with wary deference.
The young sweeper named Harry stood at attention for several minutes without any acknowledgement from his superior. She remained silent staring resolutely into the gathering darkness of the windswept airstrip. After standing next to her for almost 15 minutes without moving, the sweeper considered clearing his throat discreetly to catch her attention when Parker unexpectedly decided to speak to him.
“Report?” she asked quietly.
Embarrassed by his few second delay in answering her, he stammered, “Umm, I-It’s, all the alarms are functioning properly and so far none of them have been triggered.”
“Take two other sweepers and conduct a thorough search of the perimeter. Try not to sound like 3 elephants going for a walk in the forest while you’re at it. When you’re done report back to me, I’m giving you 30 minutes to complete this assignment,” she ordered quietly. Her gray gaze was still riveted inexplicably on the steady downpour outside.
“Yes, Miss Parker,” he replied immediately. He turned smoothly on his heel and hurried to recruit two of his more amenable but efficient colleagues to assist him.
Almost immediately after the young sweeper left, another more experienced man replaced him in his vigil by Parker’s side. Feeling the sweeper’s impatience, she remained silent for a few seconds longer before acknowledging him.
“There is a phone call for you from headquarters. I believe Mr. Lyle is waiting on the line to speak with you,” he said impassively.
“Wonderful, little brother has a question. My day is now complete,” she said with dispassionate sarcasm. She took the expensive satellite phone from the sweeper and in a voice heavy with disdain she answered in her usual manner, “What?”
“Hello, Sis. How is the stake-out going, any joy?” Lyle drawled as he took a leisurely sip of whisky.
“What do you think? I told you this would be a waste of time. It’s a trap not even you would have fallen for, Lyle.”
“Our father is keen on this plan and he is sure Jarod will show up. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that if you screw this up both Sydney and Broots will be reassigned permanently and your position in the Centre will be seriously compromised. This time there will be very little I can do to protect you.”
“Well, you can tell your father that I’m still out here in the monsoon waiting for wonder-rat to show up. We’ll give it another few days before we resign ourselves and face the inevitable conclusion: this is nothing more than another boondoggle.” Before another word could be exchanged, she abruptly ended the call.
She stood still for a few more seconds with the satellite phone clutched tightly in her hand. Turning to look at the sweeper she said in a coolly authoritative voice, “Take two sweepers with you and canvass both edges of the airstrip. I want you to check every bush and every tree but I also want you to stay out of sight, as much as possible. We’re here to find the lab-rat not scare him away. If he’s stupid enough to show up, he won’t be stupid enough to stick around once he realizes we’re waiting for him.”
The sweeper listened attentively to her instructions and was on the verge of carrying them out when she recalled him.
“Also, tell those idiots pacing outside to get back inside. If they want something to do then they can patrol the hallways of the induced tolerance labs and enjoy the screams of the test subjects for a while.”
“Yes, Miss Parker”, he replied and hurried off to follow her orders.
Parker returned to looking out at the darkened, rain-harassed airstrip. She was mentally performing a kata she learned when she was a teenager, shortly after her father sent her abroad to boarding school. She was focusing her thoughts on the rhythmic moves required for the martial arts discipline she habitually practiced in secret but rarely, if ever used when her inner sense began to talk to her. She refused to discuss the emergence of her mother’s gift despite Raines’ insistence. Choosing instead to lie, she claimed that she didn’t hear any voices but instead was endowed with a sixth sense—a kind of knowing. This for the most part was true but though the voices still whispered to her, she never shared their messages with anyone.
Relaxing her mind but retaining her vigilance, she attempted to understand the words that were being whispered in her mind. As she did this, she knew that Jarod was near. He had fallen for the bait as Raines predicted. Shaking her head sadly, she walked to the side entrance of the shelter and stepped out so Jarod would be able to see her. She inhaled the humid air deeply and scanned the airstrip in front of her. The quick movements of a rabbit darting for shelter caused her to look in the area just north of the complex. She knew Jarod was hiding there, somewhere in the dense foliage.
Jarod was using his binoculars at that moment to get a better look at the Centre’s complex. He had identified several potential points of surreptitious entry when he felt the light touch of his father’s hand on his arm. Lowering the glasses, Jarod looked at his father questioningly. Wordlessly the Major continued to look through his high-tech field glasses as he monitored the sweepers’ activity. Jarod raised his binoculars once again and followed his father’s line of sight. At first nothing unusual caught his attention, but when he turned the glasses to scan the rear corner of the shelter he was shocked by what he found. Standing just outside the confines of the makeshift building but remaining protected by its overhanging roof was Miss Parker. The fact she was there was alarming in itself. It alluded to the potential efficiency of the Centre’s plan. What startled Jarod and his father was the fact that her gaze had settled in their general vicinity and she gave the impression of staring directly at them.
“Parker. I should have known they would send her,” Jarod said grimly. His body tensed as though he were readying himself for an attack.
“Curious, from what you’ve told me of her, I would have thought she would run a tighter ship. These sweepers are all over the place. This whole operation gives me the impression of being run by an amateur,” the Major replied pensively.
“Don’t underestimate her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had patrols already on this side of the airstrip,” Jarod answered as he repositioned his binoculars to sweep across the forest adjacent to them. “Ah, and there they are looking around and beating the bushes. One thing I definitely give her is an ‘A’ for thoroughness.”
“In that case, we should probably scrub this entire mission. If she is half as good as you say, then she will have every avenue in or out of that place covered.” Silence followed the Major’s suggestion as each man considered the alternatives. “I wonder why she bothered showing herself. If she remained concealed, we would have continued on fat, dumb and happy which would have gotten us both caught,” the Major mused aloud.
Jarod had been ruminating on the same thing, wondering why she would tip him off. “She detests Raines as much as we do and I doubt she agrees with whatever he’s planning. She’s warning me but I’m almost sure she won’t try to stop me,” Jarod concluded as he gathered his equipment together.
“You’re presuming a lot here. What if she just showed herself to taunt you—‘I know you’re out there, now I dare you to try and get pass me’?”
Grinning almost sheepishly at his father, Jarod replied, “I know how she thinks. She won’t do anything to prevent me from going inside and doing what I’ve set out to do. I am almost sure she knows what I’m planning.”
“‘Almost sure’ isn’t very reassuring. Especially where a high ranking Centre operative is concerned,” he said worriedly.
“Isn’t that why you insisted on coming along?” Jarod answered with an amused grin. “If I’m wrong, then you’ll be here to cover my back. I’m sure I can get in undetected, it’s getting out that will be the tricky part. Those sweepers checking this side of the airstrip will make it to this location by the time I’m ready to leave.”
“I’ll be here waiting for you. I think it would be wiser for me to move a few meters back so an errant sweeper won’t accidentally step on me.”
“Okay, give me 30 minutes to find the correct lab and set the charges. I programmed a 15 minute delay for the first charge, enough time for me to get outside before it and the other charges start going off.” Jarod synchronized his watch with his father’s before setting off in the direction of the facility.
The Major picked up a heavy backpack and quickly collapsed the hunter’s blind they had used to conceal themselves. He cautiously and quietly repositioned himself at least a hundred yards deeper in the forest and further from the sweepers hunting around the edges of the airstrip.
When he was settled again, the Major raised his field glasses again, to check on Miss Parker’s position only to find the woman gone. At first he assumed she had returned to the interior of the shelter but recalling his son’s warning not to underestimate her, the Major raised his glasses again and began to scan the surrounding area where he and Jarod originally set up shop.
Upon returning to the interior of the makeshift shelter, Parker noticed a handful of the most experienced sweepers congregating in a tight-knit group. It appeared as though they were discussing something of great importance. Knowing their mental capabilities, she guessed they had made contact with Lyle for further instructions. Relying on her extensive experience in dealing with sweepers, she decided a less subtle approach would be best. Pulling her 9mm from the holster at her back, she conspicuously chambered a round and released the safety. The familiar sound caught each sweeper’s attention and the hive-like group turned in unison to stare at her.
“Feeling chatty today, are we?” she inquired, her voice void of any amusement. “I’m tired of hanging around here waiting for something to happen, I’ll be outside doing a little reconnaissance of my own. Carter, when Harry returns, I want you to send him and his team to the south end of the facility to check the forest on this side of the airstrip. The rest of you stay here in case our fearless supervisors back in Delaware want updates of our progress. I don’t want to see any of you outside this shelter, is that clear?” She gave Carter a hard stare.
“Yes Miss Parker, I understand. We will wait here until you return,” Carter answered dutifully.
She nodded mutely, as she took a few steps backward with her weapon pointed at the floor but clearly ready for action. She abruptly turned on her heel and slipped out of the door before any of them could react. A quick jog later and she found the path she spotted while giving Jarod a chance to see her. The thick foliage immediately swallowed her figure and she knew it would seem as though she suddenly disappeared if Carter or any of the others bothered to look out or come after her. She paused and turned to look back in a squat. Sure enough, Mark, a sweeper she never worked with before was standing in the doorway trying to locate her.
Shaking her head in disgust, Parker waited until he gave up and shut the door to tell the others of her disappearing act. Carter had given the game up with his attitude. He was too calm for his own good with just a touch of cockiness. So Lyle had given the order: it was time for her to die and for them to concede defeat at Jarod’s hand one more time. Hanging around with these sweepers made Parker long for Sam’s reassuring presence but Raines had made sure that her personal sweeper would be unavailable for this little mission.
The torrential rain had suddenly stopped 10 minutes after Parker decided to take her little walk. For once, her habit of over-dressing came in handy. She had on a heavy raincoat that was extremely fashionable but just happened to be equally functional. Her old, fashionable English riding boots were equally functional as she made her way through the thick bush and sprinted across the expanse of the airstrip.
The Major watched as Miss Parker sped her way across the airstrip. She was at least 500 yards from his position and he desperately attempted to keep track of her progress as he started to lose sight of her. When he could no longer see her, he noticed three sweepers follow behind her a minute or two later. The Major had an easier time keeping track of a couple of them and became preoccupied tracking the sweepers who had followed Parker, so much so that it was the wet sound of a heavily booted foot on sodden leaves that alerted the Major to his mistake. Slowly turning his head, while simultaneously lowering the glasses, he came face to face with a sweeper who had an arrogant smile on his face. The Major could see his own death in the cold, soulless eyes of the sweeper who was pointing a Centre-issue 9mm at his chest.
Major Charles froze realizing the sweeper had the drop on him. He wouldn’t go quietly, if there were any chance, he would force the man to shoot him—hopefully the sound would alert and warn Jarod. Before the Major could form another thought he noticed something dark had fallen on the sweeper’s forehead and the familiar huff of a silenced weapon immediately followed as the sweeper crumpled bonelessly to the ground.
Whipping his head around, the Major saw Miss Parker standing 50 yards behind him. Her silenced weapon held down at her side and slightly away from her body. His brows knit together as he thought about what had just happened. The two adversaries stared at each other for about 5 seconds before Miss Parker placed a gloved finger against her lips. Pulling the hood of her jacket over her head again, she dropped effortlessly into a crouch and ran deeper and silently into the forest. After another second of silent consideration, Major Charles picked up his heavy pack and followed the mysterious woman.
The interior of the bio-inception lab was extremely cold. The bite from the air-conditioned room was slowly seeping into his heavy jacket. Jarod was fairly certain that this was the correct lab but wanted to make sure before finally setting the charge. Glancing at his watch he noticed that he still had 20 minutes before he was forced to leave. Staying any longer would invite being caught due to the heightened security.
Taking a quick peek out of the shuttered blinds that covered the window Jarod confirmed the security guard was well out of earshot. Turning towards the interior of the lab he proceeded to a bank of locked file cabinets. It took two seconds to unlock the cabinets and about the same amount of time to locate the cabinet which contained information about him. He quickly scanned the contents until satisfied they were in fact his and on a whim he moved to another cabinet and extracted a second then a third file. When he was finished he moved to a locked refrigeration unit. Unlocking this, he found the raw material he was looking for; samples of his sperm. Jarod carefully removed one of the charges he designed especially for this room and setting it for 15 minutes he placed it inside the refrigeration unit and relocked it. He placed another charge in the middle of the room set for the same time and checking to make sure the coast was clear, left the bio-inception lab.
So much for the decoy now for the real goods, Jarod stealthfully headed down the hall and turned through a maze of corridors before locating the correct office. This door was protected by a far more sophisticated security system. It took Jarod 2 minutes to break through and gain entry. Once inside he was careful not to trigger any of the interior alarms and gained access to the secured file room that was adjacent to this office. He repeated the process he had performed in the other lab extracting 3 thick files. This time he painstakingly tossed almost every remaining file out of the cabinets and onto the floor before setting another charge for 7 minutes and did the same for the explosives in the main office.
Jarod visited two more labs before he was done. Checking his watch he noticed he had run out of time. He had only 2 minutes before the 1st charges detonated. Hurrying down a corridor to get into position, he ignored the security guard who ordered him to stop. Once he was in the hallway he wanted, he waited with baited breath for the first charge to blow. The percussion of the first blast rocked the wing of the building a half second before the noise ripped the lab and walls apart. The sound was deafening but Jarod had taken precautions and protected his ears with industrial earplugs. The dust and smoke made his face itch from under the ski mask he wore to obscure his features. Checking around the corner he saw the security guard who tried to pursue him moving sluggishly from his supine position. Just as the second blast rocked the building, Jarod was sprinting out of an unused maintenance door, quickly crossed the six-foot clearing and plunged headlong into the woods.
Major Charles believed he had finally caught up with Miss Parker. She was moving through the woods quickly and when she finally stopped the Major also skidded to a grateful stop. She turned around and stared at him with an incredulous expression plastered all over her face. Breathing heavily from the all out sprint and carrying the heavy backpack, the Major held up a weary hand in a wordless supplication that she should wait for a few seconds longer. He looked down at his feet and took deep breaths in an effort to control his breathing. When he looked up a few seconds later she had disappeared. Becoming irrationally irritated at her disappearance, the Major looked around first, noticing he was still alone, when he straightened his posture this time the sweeper was standing directly in front of him partially hidden behind a tree for cover.
Barely suppressing a self-disgusted groan, he slowly raised his hands in defeat. The sweeper smiled as he raised his weapon to fire on the unarmed man. The Major stared as the sweeper pitched forward lifeless, with the smile still on his lips. Miss Parker stood at the sweeper’s feet, taking his place behind the tree. She suddenly raised her weapon again, this time directly trained at the Major’s head. Major Charles was surprised to see her weapon buck slightly, as though it was coughing—the surrounding canopy of wet verdure immediately swallowed up the softly muffled sound.
The thud of a body falling behind him caused the Major to turn and see another dead sweeper lying lifeless in the wet. The Major bent down picked up his backpack and ran towards Parker. She stared at the older man, the perplexed expression still on her face.
“Okay, that’s 3 now. It’s enough already, come on let’s go,” he said as he started to move away from her. He got a few yards away before he noticed that she wasn’t following him. Turning he saw her furrow her brow then turn in the direction of the airstrip.
“Wait!!” he demanded in a loud whisper. When she stopped and looked at him, he took a couple steps towards her and motioned with his hand for her to follow him. “This way, the way out is over here.”
Realizing that he wouldn’t allow her to leave without an explanation she replied, “I have to go back, I don’t have a choice.”
“If you go back they will kill you. They’ll know it was your weapon that killed them,” he said nodding at one of the dead sweepers.
“Tell Jarod ‘it’s not original, but it’s my ending.’ He’ll understand and keep him out of these stupid traps, falling for this crap is beneath him.” She hurried off again in the direction of the airstrip.
Without thinking, Major Charles dropped his backpack and ran full bore after her. All it took was a few steps and he was practically on top of her, knocking her down. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to knock---“ Looking down he noticed she wasn’t moving. Gingerly rolling her over he noticed blood on her face and next to her the large rock she had landed on. He quickly felt for a pulse and expelled a lungful of air in relief. Her pulse was strong she was just unconscious.
Just as he was gathering her in his arms, he was almost knocked off his feet by a percussive blast. The first of the C4 charges had gone off. Another idea came to him as he looked down at his unexpected savior. He quickly laid her back down on the wet ground and removing her jacket, he took off her blazer and used it to staunch the considerable blood flow from her head. He repeated the process with her blouse and used the cloth of the shirt to smear blood on one of her gloves. Tying the blouse around her head and bundling the blazer on top of her, he shouldered his backpack once again and returning to her still form, picked her up in his arms and carried her the rest of the way to the waiting truck.
It took the Major a little longer than he expected to reach the agreed upon rendezvous point. Looking around from the safety of some trees, the Major waited a few minutes before emerging and depositing his precious cargo inside the vehicle. Just as he was finishing, Jarod came running up barely out of breath.
“How did it go, son?” the Major inquired.
“Better than I anticipated. I was afraid you might have been caught when I didn’t find you near the blind. Where did you go?”
“It’s a long story. First, do you have any more charges left?”
“Yeah, I have a couple more. I brought six more than I planned on using but I thought the added bang would give them something to think about,” Jarod replied with his trademark smirk.
“Good, we need to go back and set at least one more charge,” the Major instructed. He then pulled out the bloody blazer, blouse and glove for Jarod to see.
“What’s all this?” Jarod asked, suddenly concerned that his father had been hurt.
“The blood isn’t mine but we need to plant this at the facility. These things belong to her and I think it would be a good idea if everyone at the Centre believes she’s dead,” the Major answered as he nodded at the cab of the truck.
Looking inside, Jarod was shocked to find Miss Parker lying unconscious across the front seat, the left side of her face was cut and the bleeding finally stopped but not before it soaked into her hair. A myriad of questions clouded Jarod’s face, but trusting his father’s judgment he took the bloody clothing and again pulling the ski mask down over his face, he ran away with his backpack. Jarod placed another charge at the base of the building and covered it using Miss Parker’s clothing. Taking careful note that no one either saw him or was on this side of the building Jarod set the charge for 1 minute.
Authors note: Please, I absolutely need some feedback. Let me know how you like this story.
Memory Ronin
Part I
By Callisto
Jarod and the Major were sitting in a cleverly constructed blind just north of the Centre’s biotech labs. The heavy downpour of rain, thick foliage, and generously sized airstrip provided a comfortable barrier between them and the large contingent of Centre sweepers waiting for him to stumble haplessly into their transparently simple trap. The two men continued to watch patiently as some of the more inexperienced sweepers grew bored and restless with the wait. Jarod allowed himself a wry grin as he thought about how much of a wait he planned for them. He would be coffin dust before they had a ghost of a chance to catch him.
The bait Raines dangled in front of him was more cleverly thought out. It was too irresistible even for Jarod to ignore: his own genetic material. Raines had sent an email to the lead scientist in this facility using an old encryption code that Jarod had long ago deciphered. In the email Raines advised the scientist to ready the site for receipt of several potential surrogate mothers who were being sent there specifically to be tested in order to find the one best suited to carry the child slated to be created in the labs from Jarod’s sperm.
The Major, who was lying next to Jarod, noticed his son’s jaw tighten and his features darken in anger. He sympathized with his son completely. The Centre had done a similar thing to him by creating Ethan. For this and other reasons he had insisted on accompanying Jarod on this mission despite his eldest son’s objections. They had been sitting practically motionless for several hours watching the sweepers slowly grow more impatient for their arrival as the minutes slowly crawled by.
***
The rain beat down from the heavens with a relentless ferocity. The steadiness of the deluge was in direct correlation to her mood. They were gathered in a makeshift shelter just inside the tree line that extended from the outer perimeter of the Centre’s sprawling biotech facility. The bait had been set and now they were waiting for the prize lab rat to wander like a country bumpkin rube into their stupid trap. She scoffed inwardly at the arrogance and supposition that Jarod would not only show up but lose his overly abundant cache of marbles and actually fall for this inane ruse.
The expression on Parker’s face hardened as her thoughts turned to the small regiment of sweepers both Raines and Lyle insisted should accompany her.
‘Obviously they think I’ve suddenly grown stupid at the same time as Jarod. These sweepers are all working under Lyle’s orders, the minute I drop my guard they will make a move to kill me. Well, they’re in for a long wait.’
A young and obviously green sweeper walked up to Parker and stood a respectful distance from the woman. He was fully aware of her identity; her last name alone struck a note of awe in the sweeper’s heart. The power she wielded so casually was impressive. She handled the large contingent of highly trained and skilled bodyguards and assassins with authority and an amazing astuteness. Her beauty alone set her apart from the rest of the Centre’s hierarchy but the expression in her eyes, a mixture of toughened sadness and intelligence, made most of the sweepers treat her with wary deference.
The young sweeper named Harry stood at attention for several minutes without any acknowledgement from his superior. She remained silent staring resolutely into the gathering darkness of the windswept airstrip. After standing next to her for almost 15 minutes without moving, the sweeper considered clearing his throat discreetly to catch her attention when Parker unexpectedly decided to speak to him.
“Report?” she asked quietly.
Embarrassed by his few second delay in answering her, he stammered, “Umm, I-It’s, all the alarms are functioning properly and so far none of them have been triggered.”
“Take two other sweepers and conduct a thorough search of the perimeter. Try not to sound like 3 elephants going for a walk in the forest while you’re at it. When you’re done report back to me, I’m giving you 30 minutes to complete this assignment,” she ordered quietly. Her gray gaze was still riveted inexplicably on the steady downpour outside.
“Yes, Miss Parker,” he replied immediately. He turned smoothly on his heel and hurried to recruit two of his more amenable but efficient colleagues to assist him.
Almost immediately after the young sweeper left, another more experienced man replaced him in his vigil by Parker’s side. Feeling the sweeper’s impatience, she remained silent for a few seconds longer before acknowledging him.
“There is a phone call for you from headquarters. I believe Mr. Lyle is waiting on the line to speak with you,” he said impassively.
“Wonderful, little brother has a question. My day is now complete,” she said with dispassionate sarcasm. She took the expensive satellite phone from the sweeper and in a voice heavy with disdain she answered in her usual manner, “What?”
“Hello, Sis. How is the stake-out going, any joy?” Lyle drawled as he took a leisurely sip of whisky.
“What do you think? I told you this would be a waste of time. It’s a trap not even you would have fallen for, Lyle.”
“Our father is keen on this plan and he is sure Jarod will show up. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that if you screw this up both Sydney and Broots will be reassigned permanently and your position in the Centre will be seriously compromised. This time there will be very little I can do to protect you.”
“Well, you can tell your father that I’m still out here in the monsoon waiting for wonder-rat to show up. We’ll give it another few days before we resign ourselves and face the inevitable conclusion: this is nothing more than another boondoggle.” Before another word could be exchanged, she abruptly ended the call.
She stood still for a few more seconds with the satellite phone clutched tightly in her hand. Turning to look at the sweeper she said in a coolly authoritative voice, “Take two sweepers with you and canvass both edges of the airstrip. I want you to check every bush and every tree but I also want you to stay out of sight, as much as possible. We’re here to find the lab-rat not scare him away. If he’s stupid enough to show up, he won’t be stupid enough to stick around once he realizes we’re waiting for him.”
The sweeper listened attentively to her instructions and was on the verge of carrying them out when she recalled him.
“Also, tell those idiots pacing outside to get back inside. If they want something to do then they can patrol the hallways of the induced tolerance labs and enjoy the screams of the test subjects for a while.”
“Yes, Miss Parker”, he replied and hurried off to follow her orders.
Parker returned to looking out at the darkened, rain-harassed airstrip. She was mentally performing a kata she learned when she was a teenager, shortly after her father sent her abroad to boarding school. She was focusing her thoughts on the rhythmic moves required for the martial arts discipline she habitually practiced in secret but rarely, if ever used when her inner sense began to talk to her. She refused to discuss the emergence of her mother’s gift despite Raines’ insistence. Choosing instead to lie, she claimed that she didn’t hear any voices but instead was endowed with a sixth sense—a kind of knowing. This for the most part was true but though the voices still whispered to her, she never shared their messages with anyone.
Relaxing her mind but retaining her vigilance, she attempted to understand the words that were being whispered in her mind. As she did this, she knew that Jarod was near. He had fallen for the bait as Raines predicted. Shaking her head sadly, she walked to the side entrance of the shelter and stepped out so Jarod would be able to see her. She inhaled the humid air deeply and scanned the airstrip in front of her. The quick movements of a rabbit darting for shelter caused her to look in the area just north of the complex. She knew Jarod was hiding there, somewhere in the dense foliage.
Jarod was using his binoculars at that moment to get a better look at the Centre’s complex. He had identified several potential points of surreptitious entry when he felt the light touch of his father’s hand on his arm. Lowering the glasses, Jarod looked at his father questioningly. Wordlessly the Major continued to look through his high-tech field glasses as he monitored the sweepers’ activity. Jarod raised his binoculars once again and followed his father’s line of sight. At first nothing unusual caught his attention, but when he turned the glasses to scan the rear corner of the shelter he was shocked by what he found. Standing just outside the confines of the makeshift building but remaining protected by its overhanging roof was Miss Parker. The fact she was there was alarming in itself. It alluded to the potential efficiency of the Centre’s plan. What startled Jarod and his father was the fact that her gaze had settled in their general vicinity and she gave the impression of staring directly at them.
“Parker. I should have known they would send her,” Jarod said grimly. His body tensed as though he were readying himself for an attack.
“Curious, from what you’ve told me of her, I would have thought she would run a tighter ship. These sweepers are all over the place. This whole operation gives me the impression of being run by an amateur,” the Major replied pensively.
“Don’t underestimate her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had patrols already on this side of the airstrip,” Jarod answered as he repositioned his binoculars to sweep across the forest adjacent to them. “Ah, and there they are looking around and beating the bushes. One thing I definitely give her is an ‘A’ for thoroughness.”
“In that case, we should probably scrub this entire mission. If she is half as good as you say, then she will have every avenue in or out of that place covered.” Silence followed the Major’s suggestion as each man considered the alternatives. “I wonder why she bothered showing herself. If she remained concealed, we would have continued on fat, dumb and happy which would have gotten us both caught,” the Major mused aloud.
Jarod had been ruminating on the same thing, wondering why she would tip him off. “She detests Raines as much as we do and I doubt she agrees with whatever he’s planning. She’s warning me but I’m almost sure she won’t try to stop me,” Jarod concluded as he gathered his equipment together.
“You’re presuming a lot here. What if she just showed herself to taunt you—‘I know you’re out there, now I dare you to try and get pass me’?”
Grinning almost sheepishly at his father, Jarod replied, “I know how she thinks. She won’t do anything to prevent me from going inside and doing what I’ve set out to do. I am almost sure she knows what I’m planning.”
“‘Almost sure’ isn’t very reassuring. Especially where a high ranking Centre operative is concerned,” he said worriedly.
“Isn’t that why you insisted on coming along?” Jarod answered with an amused grin. “If I’m wrong, then you’ll be here to cover my back. I’m sure I can get in undetected, it’s getting out that will be the tricky part. Those sweepers checking this side of the airstrip will make it to this location by the time I’m ready to leave.”
“I’ll be here waiting for you. I think it would be wiser for me to move a few meters back so an errant sweeper won’t accidentally step on me.”
“Okay, give me 30 minutes to find the correct lab and set the charges. I programmed a 15 minute delay for the first charge, enough time for me to get outside before it and the other charges start going off.” Jarod synchronized his watch with his father’s before setting off in the direction of the facility.
The Major picked up a heavy backpack and quickly collapsed the hunter’s blind they had used to conceal themselves. He cautiously and quietly repositioned himself at least a hundred yards deeper in the forest and further from the sweepers hunting around the edges of the airstrip.
When he was settled again, the Major raised his field glasses again, to check on Miss Parker’s position only to find the woman gone. At first he assumed she had returned to the interior of the shelter but recalling his son’s warning not to underestimate her, the Major raised his glasses again and began to scan the surrounding area where he and Jarod originally set up shop.
Upon returning to the interior of the makeshift shelter, Parker noticed a handful of the most experienced sweepers congregating in a tight-knit group. It appeared as though they were discussing something of great importance. Knowing their mental capabilities, she guessed they had made contact with Lyle for further instructions. Relying on her extensive experience in dealing with sweepers, she decided a less subtle approach would be best. Pulling her 9mm from the holster at her back, she conspicuously chambered a round and released the safety. The familiar sound caught each sweeper’s attention and the hive-like group turned in unison to stare at her.
“Feeling chatty today, are we?” she inquired, her voice void of any amusement. “I’m tired of hanging around here waiting for something to happen, I’ll be outside doing a little reconnaissance of my own. Carter, when Harry returns, I want you to send him and his team to the south end of the facility to check the forest on this side of the airstrip. The rest of you stay here in case our fearless supervisors back in Delaware want updates of our progress. I don’t want to see any of you outside this shelter, is that clear?” She gave Carter a hard stare.
“Yes Miss Parker, I understand. We will wait here until you return,” Carter answered dutifully.
She nodded mutely, as she took a few steps backward with her weapon pointed at the floor but clearly ready for action. She abruptly turned on her heel and slipped out of the door before any of them could react. A quick jog later and she found the path she spotted while giving Jarod a chance to see her. The thick foliage immediately swallowed her figure and she knew it would seem as though she suddenly disappeared if Carter or any of the others bothered to look out or come after her. She paused and turned to look back in a squat. Sure enough, Mark, a sweeper she never worked with before was standing in the doorway trying to locate her.
Shaking her head in disgust, Parker waited until he gave up and shut the door to tell the others of her disappearing act. Carter had given the game up with his attitude. He was too calm for his own good with just a touch of cockiness. So Lyle had given the order: it was time for her to die and for them to concede defeat at Jarod’s hand one more time. Hanging around with these sweepers made Parker long for Sam’s reassuring presence but Raines had made sure that her personal sweeper would be unavailable for this little mission.
The torrential rain had suddenly stopped 10 minutes after Parker decided to take her little walk. For once, her habit of over-dressing came in handy. She had on a heavy raincoat that was extremely fashionable but just happened to be equally functional. Her old, fashionable English riding boots were equally functional as she made her way through the thick bush and sprinted across the expanse of the airstrip.
The Major watched as Miss Parker sped her way across the airstrip. She was at least 500 yards from his position and he desperately attempted to keep track of her progress as he started to lose sight of her. When he could no longer see her, he noticed three sweepers follow behind her a minute or two later. The Major had an easier time keeping track of a couple of them and became preoccupied tracking the sweepers who had followed Parker, so much so that it was the wet sound of a heavily booted foot on sodden leaves that alerted the Major to his mistake. Slowly turning his head, while simultaneously lowering the glasses, he came face to face with a sweeper who had an arrogant smile on his face. The Major could see his own death in the cold, soulless eyes of the sweeper who was pointing a Centre-issue 9mm at his chest.
Major Charles froze realizing the sweeper had the drop on him. He wouldn’t go quietly, if there were any chance, he would force the man to shoot him—hopefully the sound would alert and warn Jarod. Before the Major could form another thought he noticed something dark had fallen on the sweeper’s forehead and the familiar huff of a silenced weapon immediately followed as the sweeper crumpled bonelessly to the ground.
Whipping his head around, the Major saw Miss Parker standing 50 yards behind him. Her silenced weapon held down at her side and slightly away from her body. His brows knit together as he thought about what had just happened. The two adversaries stared at each other for about 5 seconds before Miss Parker placed a gloved finger against her lips. Pulling the hood of her jacket over her head again, she dropped effortlessly into a crouch and ran deeper and silently into the forest. After another second of silent consideration, Major Charles picked up his heavy pack and followed the mysterious woman.
The interior of the bio-inception lab was extremely cold. The bite from the air-conditioned room was slowly seeping into his heavy jacket. Jarod was fairly certain that this was the correct lab but wanted to make sure before finally setting the charge. Glancing at his watch he noticed that he still had 20 minutes before he was forced to leave. Staying any longer would invite being caught due to the heightened security.
Taking a quick peek out of the shuttered blinds that covered the window Jarod confirmed the security guard was well out of earshot. Turning towards the interior of the lab he proceeded to a bank of locked file cabinets. It took two seconds to unlock the cabinets and about the same amount of time to locate the cabinet which contained information about him. He quickly scanned the contents until satisfied they were in fact his and on a whim he moved to another cabinet and extracted a second then a third file. When he was finished he moved to a locked refrigeration unit. Unlocking this, he found the raw material he was looking for; samples of his sperm. Jarod carefully removed one of the charges he designed especially for this room and setting it for 15 minutes he placed it inside the refrigeration unit and relocked it. He placed another charge in the middle of the room set for the same time and checking to make sure the coast was clear, left the bio-inception lab.
So much for the decoy now for the real goods, Jarod stealthfully headed down the hall and turned through a maze of corridors before locating the correct office. This door was protected by a far more sophisticated security system. It took Jarod 2 minutes to break through and gain entry. Once inside he was careful not to trigger any of the interior alarms and gained access to the secured file room that was adjacent to this office. He repeated the process he had performed in the other lab extracting 3 thick files. This time he painstakingly tossed almost every remaining file out of the cabinets and onto the floor before setting another charge for 7 minutes and did the same for the explosives in the main office.
Jarod visited two more labs before he was done. Checking his watch he noticed he had run out of time. He had only 2 minutes before the 1st charges detonated. Hurrying down a corridor to get into position, he ignored the security guard who ordered him to stop. Once he was in the hallway he wanted, he waited with baited breath for the first charge to blow. The percussion of the first blast rocked the wing of the building a half second before the noise ripped the lab and walls apart. The sound was deafening but Jarod had taken precautions and protected his ears with industrial earplugs. The dust and smoke made his face itch from under the ski mask he wore to obscure his features. Checking around the corner he saw the security guard who tried to pursue him moving sluggishly from his supine position. Just as the second blast rocked the building, Jarod was sprinting out of an unused maintenance door, quickly crossed the six-foot clearing and plunged headlong into the woods.
Major Charles believed he had finally caught up with Miss Parker. She was moving through the woods quickly and when she finally stopped the Major also skidded to a grateful stop. She turned around and stared at him with an incredulous expression plastered all over her face. Breathing heavily from the all out sprint and carrying the heavy backpack, the Major held up a weary hand in a wordless supplication that she should wait for a few seconds longer. He looked down at his feet and took deep breaths in an effort to control his breathing. When he looked up a few seconds later she had disappeared. Becoming irrationally irritated at her disappearance, the Major looked around first, noticing he was still alone, when he straightened his posture this time the sweeper was standing directly in front of him partially hidden behind a tree for cover.
Barely suppressing a self-disgusted groan, he slowly raised his hands in defeat. The sweeper smiled as he raised his weapon to fire on the unarmed man. The Major stared as the sweeper pitched forward lifeless, with the smile still on his lips. Miss Parker stood at the sweeper’s feet, taking his place behind the tree. She suddenly raised her weapon again, this time directly trained at the Major’s head. Major Charles was surprised to see her weapon buck slightly, as though it was coughing—the surrounding canopy of wet verdure immediately swallowed up the softly muffled sound.
The thud of a body falling behind him caused the Major to turn and see another dead sweeper lying lifeless in the wet. The Major bent down picked up his backpack and ran towards Parker. She stared at the older man, the perplexed expression still on her face.
“Okay, that’s 3 now. It’s enough already, come on let’s go,” he said as he started to move away from her. He got a few yards away before he noticed that she wasn’t following him. Turning he saw her furrow her brow then turn in the direction of the airstrip.
“Wait!!” he demanded in a loud whisper. When she stopped and looked at him, he took a couple steps towards her and motioned with his hand for her to follow him. “This way, the way out is over here.”
Realizing that he wouldn’t allow her to leave without an explanation she replied, “I have to go back, I don’t have a choice.”
“If you go back they will kill you. They’ll know it was your weapon that killed them,” he said nodding at one of the dead sweepers.
“Tell Jarod ‘it’s not original, but it’s my ending.’ He’ll understand and keep him out of these stupid traps, falling for this crap is beneath him.” She hurried off again in the direction of the airstrip.
Without thinking, Major Charles dropped his backpack and ran full bore after her. All it took was a few steps and he was practically on top of her, knocking her down. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to knock---“ Looking down he noticed she wasn’t moving. Gingerly rolling her over he noticed blood on her face and next to her the large rock she had landed on. He quickly felt for a pulse and expelled a lungful of air in relief. Her pulse was strong she was just unconscious.
Just as he was gathering her in his arms, he was almost knocked off his feet by a percussive blast. The first of the C4 charges had gone off. Another idea came to him as he looked down at his unexpected savior. He quickly laid her back down on the wet ground and removing her jacket, he took off her blazer and used it to staunch the considerable blood flow from her head. He repeated the process with her blouse and used the cloth of the shirt to smear blood on one of her gloves. Tying the blouse around her head and bundling the blazer on top of her, he shouldered his backpack once again and returning to her still form, picked her up in his arms and carried her the rest of the way to the waiting truck.
It took the Major a little longer than he expected to reach the agreed upon rendezvous point. Looking around from the safety of some trees, the Major waited a few minutes before emerging and depositing his precious cargo inside the vehicle. Just as he was finishing, Jarod came running up barely out of breath.
“How did it go, son?” the Major inquired.
“Better than I anticipated. I was afraid you might have been caught when I didn’t find you near the blind. Where did you go?”
“It’s a long story. First, do you have any more charges left?”
“Yeah, I have a couple more. I brought six more than I planned on using but I thought the added bang would give them something to think about,” Jarod replied with his trademark smirk.
“Good, we need to go back and set at least one more charge,” the Major instructed. He then pulled out the bloody blazer, blouse and glove for Jarod to see.
“What’s all this?” Jarod asked, suddenly concerned that his father had been hurt.
“The blood isn’t mine but we need to plant this at the facility. These things belong to her and I think it would be a good idea if everyone at the Centre believes she’s dead,” the Major answered as he nodded at the cab of the truck.
Looking inside, Jarod was shocked to find Miss Parker lying unconscious across the front seat, the left side of her face was cut and the bleeding finally stopped but not before it soaked into her hair. A myriad of questions clouded Jarod’s face, but trusting his father’s judgment he took the bloody clothing and again pulling the ski mask down over his face, he ran away with his backpack. Jarod placed another charge at the base of the building and covered it using Miss Parker’s clothing. Taking careful note that no one either saw him or was on this side of the building Jarod set the charge for 1 minute.
