"Caught? No, we won't get caught. Someone on the inside is helping me, so don't worry."
Kat said, "I always worry, but that doesn't matter."
"Then it's settled. We'll go later tonight,” Kim said.
She then thought, "It wasn’t hard convincing Katharine. What was I worried about?"
Kim stated, "Great. I’ve acquired an untraceable van for the job. Eat up and rest. I need to pick up some more supplies."
Kat looked to Kim's half eaten plate, licking salt and grease from her lips. "Are you going to finish that?"
A little disgusted, Kim answered, "No, go ahead."
Kat pulled her plate in front of her and chowed down on the eggs as Kim cleaned up the kitchen and headed out.
A few minutes later, Kat put the plates in the sink and grabbed the remote. She went and moved the blanket and pillow to the side of the couch and sat. She put the remote on the coffee table and massaged her left shoulder around the bandages. "The wound’s feeling much better this morning. What about the burn?" Kat unwrapped the gauze from her left hand and examined the palm. The blisters and most of the redness were gone, but the star remained. "That’s odd." She rubbed her fingers across the hand. "I thought I burned the higher part of my palm, but the star is dead center. Must have been my imagination. A lot was going on." She made a fist several times. "Almost as good as new. The ointment works fast."
She picked up the remote and turned on the TV. Kat changed the channel from the news to a show called Cash In! just as it was wrapping up with some final words from its host, Sam Hunt.
"Alright viewers, if you have seen any of these people, call the number you see on the screen to..."
The TV audience shouted with him, "Cash In!"
"That’s right!" Sam Hunt shouted. "Don’t let the Bounty Hunters make all the money. Your call could bring you a percentage of the reward. So keep those peepers open." He pointed at the camera. "Till tomorrow..."
The TV audience shouted the show’s slogan with Sam Hunt, "If your friend, family, or neighbor is wanted by the N.C.P.F. or a Corporation, you could Cash In!"
The credits rolled, and she changed the channel back to the news.
"I’m Linda Harvey with NBS. Welcome to our late morning edition." The anchorwoman turned to a different camera. "The top three stories headlining in the news will start our show. Several Giant Swallowtail Butterflies were discovered in Noir Transgenic National Forest yesterday. The butterflies were thought to be extinct along with most of the Dark Half’s life forms." She paused. "The Corporate Senate meets today to vote on the quarter cent sales tax raise. And the three people believed behind the scam, The Dead Receiving Water Rations, were given a court date."
Linda turned to a second camera. "The Giant Swallowtail Butterflies thought to be extinct were discovered in Noir Transgenic National Forest yesterday. Experts believe the insects were able to survive in the sunless forest by changing their food, which also became extinct after the Dry Clouds appeared. At this point, it is unknown what food source they have switched to. A group of scientists are on their way to the National Forest to begin their study of this resilient species."
Linda paused. "The Corporate Senate meets today to vote on the quarter cent sales tax raise. Many analysts believe..." She put a hand to her earpiece and nodded. "This just in. We now know who is behind the earlier explosions in the Hellenistic Sector. It seems that hundreds of bio-mechas are terrorizing the area. At this time, it is unclear which Corporation is responsible for these robotic men. It is also unknown if they are deliberate attacks or malfunctions. The Corporate Senate is looking into the matter. We go now to one of our reporters in the field."
A man with a mic stood in the middle of a street with several huge buildings in the background. Flames spat from the windows of a tall structure, and people could be heard screaming along with bursts of gunfire.
"Frank Trepit here." The reporter glanced behind himself. "Reports are coming in from all over the Hellenistic Sector of robotic men attacking Sphinx Corporation facilities."
Gunfire erupted. The reporter ducked and ran along with the cameraman to the cover of a building.
Frank spoke out of breath, "The N.C.P.F. are on the scene, but have not been able to stop these... Wait! There’s one now!"
The camera panned to a T-3 as it marched down the street, shooting at everything that moved. Kat clenched her right shoulder as the camera went in for a close-up. She glared at its pale features. It and the other models of Un-Men had haunted her dreams. Kat lifted the remote, turned the TV off, and stared at the blank screen. She removed the Music Box from her pant’s pocket and opened it to listen to it.
Kat thought, "If the T-3s have malfunctioned, the Factory has to be on high alert. It might not be so easy getting in or out. And what if we encounter the T-3s?" Kat stared at the coffee table as her eyes drooped. "They’re different now. I can tell." She grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around herself. "They’re cruel and calculating." She started to fall asleep. "They’re... They’re just like the Rogue."
Chapter Thirty-seven
Entering The Factory
5:49 P.M...
Hellenistic Sector, Business Vicinage...
Sphinx Corporation Third Branch Office...
"This T-3 business." The Chairman studied reports on his desktop computer and leaned back in his chair, wondering, "Who is behind these attacks and why?" The phone rang, interrupting his thoughts.
He picked up the receiver and answered, "Yes, Cathy."
"Mr. Griffin, your 6:00 appointment is here, and Orthos is on line two."
"Hmm... My head of security must have an update for me." The Chairman leaned forward and put his ear piece in. He spoke into the phone receiver, "Thank you, Cathy. Please tell my appointment I will be delayed, while I talk with Orthos."
"Yes, Mr. Griffin." She hung up.
The Chairman placed the receiver back on the phone, activated the ear piece, pressed line two, and stood. He walked from his corner desk to one of the large wall windows and stared at his reflection. "Orthos."
"I have news from my men watching the Factory."
The Chairman questioned, "What is it?"
"A van has been reported approaching the main gate."
"My orders were to let no one in or out. I don’t see why you brought this to my attention."
"Your daughter is driving the van. I wanted to check with you before we..."
"One moment," the Chairman interrupted.
He moved away from the window, wondering, "Why is Kimberly going to the Factory, and how does she know of its location? Who fed her the information, and what is she after?"
The Chairman asked, "Is she alone?"
"No. The Pandora Project is with her," Orthos answered.
"So she still has the stray," the Chairman thought as he looked to the picture of his wife. "Is it worth my daughter’s life to let them proceed?" He then thought, "Whatever she is after could be very valuable."
The Chairman instructed, "Let them through, and I don’t want them to know your men are there."
"Understood." Orthos hung up.
The Chairman removed the ear piece and walked back to the window. "Lights dim." The office darkened, and his reflection vanished.
He looked at Noir’s skyline, thinking, "The Dry Clouds are so close I could touch them, but my daughter eludes me. What is she up to?"
With his office almost half way up the mile high building, the Chairman had an excellent view of the city and could easily see a hover train station six blocks away. "Yes, what are you up to, my daughter? What could you want so badly at the Factory that you would go against the Un-Men?"
* * *
Minutes earlier...
5:41 P.M...
Hellenistic Sector, Trade Vicinage...
A gray van neared one of the Hellenistic Sector’s boundaries on a desolate highway. From the dark road, the occupants saw a lit facility in the distance. The vehicle turned down a side road, and Kim st
opped the van at the Factory’s main entrance.
"Look, they left the front door open for us." Kim motioned to the mangled gate. "That’s an invitation if I’ve ever seen one."
"It looks like the T-3s have attacked their own creators," Kat said.
"Or a rival corporation is staging a hostile takeover," Kim stated. "Can you tell if the T-3s are the ones responsible?"
A little distracted, Kat glanced across the dark fields filled with tall weeds that surrounded the front fence and along the side road. The hunts over the past year developed instincts within her unforeseen by the conditioning. "We’re being watched."
Kim parted her zipped up sweatshirt and went for the PPK in her shoulder holster. "The T-3s?"
"No, just men. Most likely S.C.Ms. There are several of them hiding within the field." Kat made no movement for the Beretta resting on her lap. "I believe they're here to contain the T-3s."
"I don't know if that's good or bad for us." Kim glanced out her window and searched the field. "I don’t see anyone. Whoever they are, they’re good." She turned to Kat. "I bet you were no fun at hide and seek."
She considered Kim's remark and said, "I don’t know." The thought saddened her. "I don’t know if I ever played games."
Kim looked in the distance to the Factory’s dozen or so buildings. "If the S.C.Ms. were going to stop us, they would have done so by now." She stepped on the gas, and the vehicle sped down the long stretch of paved road. After sometime, Kim slowed, turned a corner, and drove past the graveyard of smoldering cars and trucks littered with blackened skeletal remains. "Looks like they had a bang of a party."
lub-DUB... lub-DUB...
"There are several T-3s near." Kat turned, looking out the van’s back windows. "I sense they're behind us, but I don’t see them yet."
"Let’s not wait around." Kim drove on and pulled into the parking garage for Research Building 10. "This is the building we’re looking for." She drove down a level to Basement Level One. "Can you tell if the T-3s know you're here?"
"I can only sense them. I don’t know what they’re thinking."
"So you’re not all-seeing." Kim turned off the ignition. "Let’s get inside. I don’t like being out in the open, not with those walking appliances around." She hopped out of the van, rushed to the rear, and opened the van’s back doors. "Here’s your stuff." She handed Kat her backpack and the Ravlek Vest.
She put on the vest, velcroing the sides. The armor saved her countless times before. Kat wished she had one for Kim and wondered if she should offer the vest to her. Fear of losing her own life won out in the end, and Kat never offered.
"Ready?" Kim asked.
Kat nodded.
"Great. Let’s go."
Together they hurried to a staircase and descended four floors to Basement Level Five.
Kim removed her gun, used the Research Building 10 keycard to unlock the staircase entrance, and turned the knob. The door opened with a squeak. Cautious, she stepped through to the first area that was designated the Blue Division. The floor was deathly quiet as Kim scanned the hall. "Are we clear?"
"Give me a second." Kat closed her eyes and used her ability. It stretched across the level, probing the area. She opened her eyes. "I don’t sense any active Un-Men."
"Come on then." She removed the blueprint as they hurried on, noting the two rooms the Rogue circled. "There are two possible places the disk could be located."
They rushed down a carpeted hall then another.
Kim said, "We’ll split up to save time."
A putrid odor hit them, stopping Kat in her tracks. She covered her nose with her t-shirt. "That smell..." She looked to Kim, who wasn’t bothered by the horrible stench.
Kim's tone and attitude didn’t change. "You should have expected this. We knew the T-3s attacked the Factory. It probably happened days ago. Anyway, you should be used to this smell by now."
"How can you say that? No one should ever get used to this stench."
Kim continued around the corner, passed a security desk, and entered the Green Division. Kat followed. A few dead S.C.Ms. lay in pools of congealed blood, along with more than a dozen bullet riddled techs.
With her mind on the disk, Kim continued the conversation as if they never came across any dead bodies. "You’ll go to Research Lab Five that is located in this division, and I’ll go to Computer Lab Two located in the Yellow Division." She showed Kat the blueprint as they walked hurriedly. "Once you’re done, meet me here." Kim pointed to a security desk that was located at a checkpoint in between the Green and Yellow Divisions.
"Is she always this cold?" Kat wondered and put a hand to her stomach. "I feel sick after seeing all those people, but not her. Doesn’t Kimberly care about anything?" She remembered the spare room at the apartment. "Kimberly cared about her mom, but what about now? Isn’t there anyone? What about her father?" She felt sorry for her. "She seems..."
"Do you understand where we are to meet?" Kim asked and noticed Kat had been staring at her instead of the blueprint.
"What is she looking at?" Kim wondered. "Katharine seems bothered by something."
She repeated, "Do you understand?"
"She seems... Kimberly seems lonely," Kat thought as she peered at the blueprint where Kim pointed and nodded.
"Great, let's do this."
Kim folded the paper, placed it in her knapsack, and thought, "For Ares’ Sake! Why is she looking at me that way? It’s giving me the creeps."
Kat noticed her irritation and turned her focus to the hall. More bodies littered the area. Kat looked at the terror stricken faces of the Factory’s employees as a deep feeling of pity ripped at her gut. She didn’t look at Kim, but knew she regarded the people as debris in her way. Kat wondered, "Is this who Kimberly is? Uncaring... Callous... Is she the kind of person that death is no more than a byproduct?"
Chapter Thirty-eight
Help Us
6:47 P.M...
Hellenistic Sector, Trade Vicinage...
The Factory...
They rushed through the halls of the Green Division till Kat lost count of the dead. She stopped when something caught her eye and then hurried back to a door that had been knocked in. The room was B10-148. Inside, three men were strapped to the examining tables. Kat rushed in.
"Argus?" She moved to his side, finding he had been badly beaten and had a bullet wound in his left leg.
He looked at her with his good eye. His other one was too swollen to open. His throat was dry as he rasped, "Kat? How did you..."
"Shh..." Her eyes showed worry. "Don’t talk." She started on his straps.
"For Ares' sake!" Kim rushed in. "What are you doing?" She noticed the men. "Hades! We don’t have time for this."
"Then help me!" Kat snapped and motioned to the two men. "Release the techs."
"Yeah, release us!" Maxwell and Peters pleaded.
"We don't have time for this," Kim repeated and then when she noticed Kat wasn't listening to her, she went ahead and helped the techs.
Once she released the two men’s hand restraints, Peters and Maxwell started to undo their own leg restraints.
"What happened here?" Kim asked the two techs as Kat helped Argus to his feet.
"The T-3s went rogue." Peters got off the table and went to assist his partner with a leg strap he couldn't undo.
"They killed everyone here except us." Maxwell took his partner's hand and stood. "I was sure they would come back and torture us like they did that man." He motioned to Argus and mumbled, "They still might."
Argus asked, "Who’s behind the attacks?" His face contorted with pain as he leaned against the table, removed his belt, and buckled it tightly on his left leg to slow down the bleeding. He grunted with the effort.
"No one's behind the attacks," Maxwell replied.
"What my partner means is that the T-3s are behind the attacks." Peters rubbed his bruised wrists. "And we don’t know why."
The techs looked to the two women.
/> Maxwell asked, "Who sent you? The Sphinx Corporation?"
Kim shook her head.
Fearful their rescuers might end up being the grim reaper, both techs looked at one another and took a step back.
"Are you here to save us?" Maxwell felt around the table behind him, searching for a weapon.
"Yes," Kat answered before Kim could.
Relieved, Peters questioned, "How can we repay you?"
Kat asked, "Do you have a vehicle?"
"Yes." Maxwell pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "As long as the T-3s haven’t set it on fire."
"Then take this man to a hospital." Kat faced Argus and gently stroked his injured cheek. It was a cheek she had struck days earlier. "And we’ll call it even." All the grief and anger over his involvement with Preacher’s death faded at seeing him injured.
"Kat... I..." Argus' voice cracked as he looked deep into her hazel eyes. He could tell she cared for him, and he was ashamed. All the pain and anguish he caused her, yet here she was saving him. "I..."
"It’s okay," she whispered. "My thanks for rescuing me when I was in the hands of the Factory." Kat took a step back. "Now please, go with these men."
He nodded, not knowing what to say.
She looked to the techs. "What are your names?"
"What? Oh, I'm Peters and this is Maxwell."
"I'll try to remember. I'm bad with names. Now please hurry. Argus needs to get to the hospital."
Maxwell grabbed Argus under his arm and started out the door as Peters led. The three men hurried through the hall toward Research Building 10’s front entrance. It would take them some time to get there.
"Can we continue our mission now?" Kim folded her arms. "Or are there some lab rats you want to rescue? Are there some rabbits you want to set free?"
"Oh, I almost forgot." Kat shouted after the techs, "Wait!" She rushed into the hall and to the men. "Take this." She handed Peters the Beretta and clips. "Do you know how to use one?"
He glanced at the gun and took it. "Yes and thanks."
Noir, City Shrouded By Darkness Page 21
