by Darrell Pitt
Chapter Twenty-Eight
By dinner time we’ve had our wounds dressed and received a battery of shots to safeguard us against every infectious disease known to man. And then some, it seems. The burns to Chad’s chest are superficial; the doctors who examine us wonder if the Alpha Project has also increased our capacity to recover from injury.
They’re probably right. The gunshot wound I received when we rescued Chad and Ebony has completely healed. Sometimes it’s great having super powers.
After dinner we’re given a preliminary briefing of our objectives, but the main briefing will be tomorrow morning. We sit around in the entertainment room and talk about the day’s events. Everyone’s relaxed. Maybe part of it is pent up tension thinking about what we’re about to face. Dan can’t get over the shooting gallery of destruction he and Chad created. The way they describe their adventure makes it sound more like a computer game than real life.
Later Brodie and I find ourselves wandering aimlessly through one of the passageways. As we turn a corner we bump into Mr. Brown.
“Ah, recruit,” he says. “I heard you did well on the course today.” He holds out a hand. “Congratulations.”
Amazing. Mr. Brown is operating like a normal human being.
“Th-thanks,” I stammer.
“That doesn’t make us brothers,” he says without a smile.
“No, I wasn’t expecting –”
Then he really freaks me out. He laughs. His face breaks into a wide smile showing a wide set of teeth. Shaking his head, he says, “If you could see your face right now…”
I’m not sure what I look like, but with Brodie watching my every move I’d rather look super cool than super geek.
“So where are you both headed?” he asks.
“We were just wandering around,” Brodie says. “Is there any chance we could go outside?”
“I don’t see why not.”
I’m amazed. Up till now this place has been like Camp X-Ray. Now all of a sudden we can just walk around like civilians. My feeling of astonishment must be reflected on my face because Brown gives me another grin and a slap on the shoulder.
“If you were going to leave you would have done it already,” he says.
Yep, I guess we would have.
He takes us up in an elevator that opens onto one of the bunkers at ground level. A large, dark field of green spreads out before us. The moon is out. The sky is clear. Brown pats my shoulder as we exit the elevator.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” he says.
I don’t know what he means.
Brodie just gives me a smile. We make our way across the field till we reach an embankment of rocks. We sit down and look up at the stars.
“Mr. Brown seems like a nice guy, after all,” I say.
“Didn’t you think so before?”
“Are you kidding? I thought he was a monster.”
Brodie laughs. “It’s their job to train us hard.”
“Well, they’re good at it.”
We sit in silence for a few minutes. I’m suddenly aware that Brodie is sitting right next to me. Very close to me, in fact. Her arm is only a few inches away. I feel my face flushing.
Should I kiss her? Does she want me to? Or would that just be weird? I don’t know what to do.
She looks up at me expectantly. She’s very beautiful in the moonlight. Actually, she’s beautiful any time, night or day. I imagine what could go wrong if I kiss her. She might freak out. Things might get uncomfortable and that’s the last thing we want.
Tomorrow we might be facing overwhelming odds –
She kisses me. Her lips are soft against mine. She presses herself against me and I feel her heart. It seems to be beating a million miles a minute.
“What are you thinking?” she asks.
I’m in love. That’s what I’m thinking, but to say it would be stupid so I just shrug.
“I don’t know,” I say. “Just thinking about tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Her voice goes hard. “What about right now?”
“Well, I was thinking –”
“Sorry,” she says. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you.” She stands and smoothes her outfit.
“Hey, I didn’t mean –”
“I know,” she flashes a quick smile at me. “It’s getting late. We should go back inside.”
I follow her back to the bunker. I feel like I’ve been through a tumble dryer. What did I say that was so wrong? In the elevator going down I make up my mind I’m going to kiss her goodnight. I’ll do it when we reach our dorm rooms.
We walk silently through the passageways until we reach our dorms. She smiles at me like everything’s fine and I try to speak.
“Brodie?”
“Yes?”
“I just wanted to say…well, you’re –”
The door opens behind her. It’s Ebony.
“Oh, I thought I could hear people out here,” she says. “Sorry.”
She shuts the door. Just as it closes I hear the door behind me swing open.
“Oh, it’s you guys,” Dan says. “We’re ready to turn in, Axel.”
“Yeah, sure…”
“Well, are you coming to bed?”
“I’d better go to bed too,” Brodie says.
I nod. She disappears through her door, giving me one last look before she disappears.
“Everything okay?” Dan asks.
“Peachy,” I reply.
The next morning finds us up and about at 3.00am. After a small breakfast we are led to a briefing room in another part of the complex. A man we have never met before – a guy named Hodges – brings up a display on a board. It shows a schedule with our departure time listed as 4.30am.
“I won’t lie to you about this mission,” he begins. “It’s dangerous. We are taking you most of the way by plane to Cayo Placetas. About twenty miles out we’ll drop you into the sea. From there you need to make your way to the island and then to the base.”
A satellite map of the island flashes up on the screen. I realize it looks very familiar.
“It’s the same as the training island,” I say.
“Not exactly the same,” Mr. Hodges says. “But similar. We wanted to run you through a similar scenario before you had to face the real thing.”
“So things might be worse than yesterday?” Chad says.
“Things will be worse than yesterday.” Hodges turns back to the map. “I recommend you adopt the same approach as before – two of you create a diversion. The others make your way to the base.” He points at the map. “This is where the missile’s guidance system is stored.” He points to a cluster of buildings. The computer room is nestled in the center. He indicates another set of buildings. “The barracks are here…and here. Over here is the missile silo.” It is some distance from the main compound. “As has already been explained to you, Pegasus’s weakness is its dependence on its guidance system. That’s what you need to take out.
“If Pegasus becomes airborne it will be almost impossible to bring down. As missiles go, it’s not the fastest ever developed. In fact it’s fairly slow by comparison. Its strength is its sophisticated stealth mechanism. I doubt any fighter craft could bring it down before it reaches its target.”
“Do you know what that is yet?” Brodie asks.
Hodges shakes his head. “It’s impossible to say. We have to remember this is a terrorist attack. They could aim for a smaller city like Miami or they could aim for a strategic target such as DC or New York.
“Since 9/11 New York seems to have become the preferred destination for terrorists.” He looks at each of us in turn. “The important thing is to not let that rocket off the ground. If it takes off it will be virtually impossible to stop.”
We nod. This is all very sobering. I glance over at the others. They all look pretty serious. It’s hard to believe all this responsibility is falling to us. It seems The Agency is very good at scientific research and watc
hing the activities of humanity – but not much else.
It’s almost like Hodges can read my mind. “I imagine your greatest advantage will be the element of surprise.”
I look at the map.
I hope the surprise is not on us.
