Rogues of Overwatch

by Dustin Martin

A couple of hours past midnight, Mark and the group arrived back at the base via helicopters. The wounded were swept up by doctors and nurses to the infirmary, including Oliver. The able-bodied mercenaries retired for the evening at Emeryl’s permission. The BEPs who were relatively unscathed and Emeryl reported to Whyte’s new lounge. The office had yet to arrive, but the door for it was already in place. Mark tried opening it but it stayed shut. “Heard Whyte sent the office back. Wanted a few things changed,” Roy said. “Only metal on the other side anyway.”

  The lounge was on the same floor as the previous one, and it even had the same design, right down to the furniture placement and choice of carpeting. Nobody batted an eye except Mark, who saw and heard Frieda by the door, screaming at the top of her lungs as water filled the room. He shook his head and took a seat on the sofa next to Roy.

  Whyte entered and greeted everyone. “Let’s dive right in. I’m sure you’re all wondering why I had let Heather go.”

  “You got that right,” Valerie said. “We bust our humps getting up there and finding her, only to turn around and leave?” She punched the sofa arm. “What gives?”

  He nodded. “Heather has offered us something great. A chance to complete a concoction that Rooke had been creating for me by getting a key component we need. And, even better, a way to bring down the BEP Division.”

  Everyone murmured to one another, interested in the prospect of no more BEP Division agents hounding them or ruining their missions. Only Mark stayed silent, already in the know about what happened. He yawned and wished Whyte would finish so he could sleep. “She plans to find out where they are located,” Whyte continued. He opened up a cabinet underneath the television and pushed some buttons on what looked like a DVD player. “My inside person left a little present for Heather. And since she should’ve found it by now, we can contact her.”

  Mark sat up straighter along with the rest. The television switched on and stayed blank while a dial tone hummed. A series of beeps interrupted the hum, followed by a ringing. Once, twice, and on the third ring, the screen clicked and Heather’s face appeared in a darkened, padded cell. “Hello?” Mark had the urge to sit right in front of the screen.

  “I see you received the note from my person?” Whyte said.

  “Yeah, found it in my dinner. And I checked my mattress. What is this thing? A bathroom tile?” She flipped the device she held, and the screen changed to a view of the floor.

  “It’s a little gizmo of ours,” Whyte said. “It can only call and receive from this number by tapping the phone icon on the front screen there.” Heather turned the video back to herself and peered more closely at the tile. “We had to sacrifice a lot of functionality to make it small enough to hide, while still being able to penetrate the walls of their underground. It only does video calls, showing you, but not us.”

  “So you can see if I’m being coerced while talking to you and so no one can see you?” she asked. “I trusted you. How about trusting me?”

  “You broke mine. You’ll have to earn it back. What can you tell us so far?”

  She clucked her tongue “The headquarters is located underground somewhere.”

  “Yes, we knew as much.”

  “What about the camera?” she asked, showing the security camera in the corner of the cell. “Won’t they see?”

  “No. Sheila wrote a program to set the cameras on a loop at two in the morning for an hour every day.” He looked back at her. “We sent the loop to our person, and they assured me it was uploaded tonight. They’ll do the same every night and remove the program in the morning, leaving no trace behind. So you’re safe for now.”

  “Is that how you also managed to slip me the phone without anyone knowing?”

  “Yes. Maybe you’ll earn a better one if you do well. That’s enough questions. Tell me what you’ve found out.”

  “I think we’re somewhere in Michigan or close to it,” she said. “That’s about the best I can pinpoint given how long we drove.”

  “Yes, based on the transfer route, that was my assumption as well.” Whyte jerked his head at Roy, who left with Lionel. “Anything else?”

  “It’s really big,” she said. “Very expansive place they’ve got here. They call it the Cave.”

  He waved his hand. “Skip the stuff we already know. It’s the Cave, it’s likely in a mountain. Any other discoveries you want to share? No? Did you happen to tell them anything about our operation here?”

  “No,” she said. “But they are on high alert. They believe there’s an information leak, so tell your person to be careful. They may be onto him or her.”

  “I will. Thank you. I’ll get you out of there once things have calmed down a little and you can lead us to this Cave. Until then, be sure to call us at two on the dot each night,” he said, ending the transmission. He faced Sheila, Mark, Valerie, and Emeryl, the only people left. “I think this went pretty well.” However, one glance at Sheila’s unimpressed pout and he cleared his throat. “All things considered, that is. We lost some people, but they didn’t die in vain.” She stormed off from the room and Whyte followed her. “Excuse me. Good night,” he said.

  Valerie left after them, grumbling about sleeping in very late tomorrow. Emeryl received a call about one of the new recruit’s paperwork and quickly left the room as well. Mark was all alone. He checked the hall outside for anyone else coming by. Nobody. Then he locked the door and dialed Heather. Please be there still, he prayed as it rang. Please be there.

  The click and then Heather showed up. “Hey,” he said.

  “Mark? Is it just you?”

  “Yes,” he said.

  She relaxed and said, “What happened? You were supposed to run.”

  “I couldn’t get away in time,” he said. “Sorry. Glad you made it back safely.”

  She smiled and they sat there for a while, neither really sure what to say, but completely content with that. “Oh, I’ve done some exploring while I’ve been here,” he said finally. “Found out Whyte’s base is in the Pacific. And it looks like an oil rig.”

  “I know,” she said. “I’ve been there, too.”

  He tapped his legs. “I’ll try to find something more concrete tomorrow then.”

  “Look, if they catch you nosing around, they will kill you,” she said. “Stay out of it and try to find a way off the base. By the way, where’s Frieda? I didn’t see her today.” Mark relayed the situation about her demise. Heather wasn’t taken aback by it. “To be honest, Whyte showed more patience than I expected. Figured he would off her sooner.”

  Mark shivered as he remembered that this room was likely equipped with the same detachment design. A slow death at the bottom of the ocean floor or drowning. The options were so wonderful. He forced himself to stay calm and collected in front of Heather and not leave the room. “Probably will do the same to me. You said it after all. I’m not the best fighter.”

  “No, but you make up for it with resilience,” she said. “Don’t worry. Frieda was a real screw-up. As long as you do what you’re told, you’ll be fine. And nothing else.”

  “Look,” he said, scooting closer, “until I find a way off, I’m stuck here with lunatics anyway. I may as well dig up what I can. And you need all the help you can get. This isn’t up for discussion.” He cut her off. “I’m helping you. I’ll leave when I can, all right?” He crossed his arms and kept a straight, determined face, forgetting she couldn’t see him.

  She sighed and shook her head. “Resilient to a fault. Stubborn, too.” She sucked in a deep breath. “All right. But be careful. Got it?”

  “Will do.” Outside, a set of footsteps echoed down the hall. “I need to go. Talk to you later.”

  “Bye.”

  Mark unlocked the door, poked his head out, and gulped as Whyte neared the room. He shut the door and strolled through the hall at a casual pace. “Watching a little TV?” Whyte asked.

  “Y-Yeah,” Mark said. “How’s Sheila?”

  “Oh, she’ll b
e fine,” he said. “Just needs some time. See you tomorrow.” He watched Mark until the boy turned the corner. Mark calmed down once he was alone again.

  Did Whyte know about the call? Were there records of calls placed? They had had to sacrifice functionality for the device, but how much? He hit his forehead. Stupid! Should’ve thought of that! He would look into it tomorrow. Also, he planned to search the other floors and find some indication of where they were and who Whyte’s inside person was. Satisfied with his list of goals, he yawned and wandered off to bed.