by Lynsay Sands
Aware that the room was completely silent, Jane felt panic overwhelm her, then Lydia commented, "Well, Father didn't say it would act this quickly, but oh, well. Now, let's see what she has in this suitcase she calls a purse."
Jane heard a rustle, then felt her leather bag shift against her leg. Lydia was presumably opening it.
"Dear God!"
"What is it?" Dirk asked. She felt his pant leg brush against her; then his hand was planted on her knee closest to her purse. Weight was put on it as if he was leaning on her as he bent forward to see what Lydia found.
"Our Jane is some kind of nympho. Look at this, there must be twelve condoms here. You were in for a wild night, Dirk."
She heard him groan. "I told you they weren't feds! Damn it, Lydia! You spoil all my fun."
"Oh, shut up. I told you what I heard in the kitchen. Daniel said Abel was a lucky guy."
"Well, maybe he meant because she was his sister. Although that's gross. Look! All there is in here is makeup and stuff like she said. What's that pink thing under her wallet?"
"Oh, my," Lydia drawled.
"Vibrators?" Dirk sounded shocked. "How many are there? One, two--"
"Six," Lydia answered with a nasty laugh. "Looks like she wasn't sure you were up to the task. Or you were in for some really kinky play."
"Six?" Dirk sounded bewildered. "Where would you put them all?"
Lydia burst out laughing, but her brother didn't join in. He sounded annoyed as he snapped, "You and your bright ideas. 'They're feds or something, Dirk,' " he said in a high-pitched voice, obviously mimicking her. " 'Just look how Abel hasn't tried to touch me yet. And I overheard Daniel--' "
"Oh, cheer up. Maybe you'll still get your chance with our surprising Miss Jane," Lydia interrupted testily. The rustling continued and Jane knew she was still looking through her purse. She wasn't sure what Lydia was seeking, but when she heard the sound of a zipper being undone, she recognized the opening of her wallet/day planner. ID, she realized.
"Like she's going to sleep with me after we gave her a knockout drug," Dirk mourned.
"Yeah, well...maybe Dad can do some of his mind-control magic and turn her into your sex slave," Lydia said. She sighed. "Speaking of which, I suppose we'd better take them below and report. He'll know how to figure out for sure whether they're feds or not, and what to do with that grandmother."
"Oh, come off it," Dirk snapped. "There isn't a gun or anything in there. And you checked her ID. It all checks out."
Lydia didn't respond. She merely stood and moved away, the click of her feet on the hardwood floor growing fainter then stopping.
The swishing sound Jane had heard repeatedly over the tapes sounded, and she slitted her eyes open to chance a peek. Dirk was still leaning over her, poking through her purse and muttering about the vibrators. Over his bent back she could see Lydia standing by the opposite wall. A panel had slid open to reveal what appeared to be an elevator. Four men were stepping out. All of them wore black hard hats and glossy uniforms that looked like coveralls, but were more fitted and had the word ENSECKSI on the left breast pocket.
Jane let her eyes close again, and managed not to give a start when she found herself lifted out of the chair into someone's arms. She was carried, probably to the elevator.
"Just leave the purse, Dirk," Lydia snapped from nearby.
"No." That word sounded sulky. Jane could only think he was bringing it for the sex paraphernalia.
A grunt made her risk another peek, and she saw that while the largest Ensecksi henchman had scooped her up, the other three had taken Abel. One had his legs and the others had each taken an arm. They carted him to the elevator and set him on the floor. Jane let her eyes close again as Lydia pushed a button. She felt the elevator begin downward, and said a silent nyah-nyah to Nurse Nancy. She was right and the B.L.I.S.S. field operative was wrong.
Nancy. And Gran. They'd have kicked into action by now. No doubt an emergency call was already being placed to headquarters. But what would they do? They might try a full assault, but how long would that take to organize? Jane had no idea. And when they did get a team together, how would they get inside? She wasn't at all sure that any of the cameras she'd brought had caught the wall panel Lydia opened. Abel's tie-clip surely hadn't. He'd been flat on his face on the couch. And her necklace camera likely hadn't either, unless it had shot under Dirk's chest as she'd looked over his back. Perhaps the potted plant had caught it. Jane tried to recall how Dirk had set it down on the table.
The elevator stopped moving, disrupting her thoughts, and Jane had to grit her teeth to keep from opening her eyes. She felt the man holding her move forward.
"Put her in this one and him in that." Lydia's voice had a hollow sound, almost an echo. The curiosity was almost killing her, but Jane kept her eyes closed, listening to the surrounding sounds of movement. The sounds stopped, there were several clicks she couldn't identify; then whatever she was in suddenly shot forward. Jane risked peeking under her lashes and saw walls of jagged rock flash past. They weren't in a basement; they were in some kind of tunnel, and riding in some kind of topless shuttle at a nauseating speed. The clanking, of rails beneath them told her they were on some sort of track. Now she knew what Dirk had meant about their father being "in the mountain." He'd been speaking literally.
The tunnel suddenly ended and they emerged into a long, narrow curving room with actual walls painted gray. Lydia stepped out of the shuttle. "Bring them."
Jane was picked up and carried for a distance. Her eyes were closed again, but she heard a door open, then was set down.
"Chain them up," Lydia ordered.
"Is that really necessary?" Dirk asked irritably.
"Yes, it's really necessary. They didn't drink much and might not be out long." Lydia sounded impatient, her voice moving away. Jane peeked through her lashes to see the blonde leave the room, pulling her brother with her.
Lydia paused by a table in the middle of the next chamber and snatched Jane's bag from Dirk. "Give me that damned thing! You can play with that chick and her vibrators later--we have things to do right now. Dad wants to move to the next level at midnight. It's almost eight now. He'll want to check all the systems to be sure they're working." Tossing Jane's bag on the table, she urged Dirk back to the shuttles.
Jane glanced around the dim room she was in as the shuttle with Dirk moved out of sight. Abel was lying at its opposite end. Two men were busy chaining his leg to the wall and cuffing his wrists behind his back. Even as she watched, they finished and turned toward her.
Jane closed her eyes and lay still as they approached. As they bound her she considered struggling or fighting, but she hadn't got enough of a look around to know if these were her only foes so she remained still and patient. When they were done, she heard their footsteps move away then the slam of a door. She cautiously looked around. The room was darker, the only light coming from a six-by-six-inch square glass panel in the exit.
She sat up carefully, wincing as the chain attached to her ankle jingled.
"Jane?" Abel hissed.
She felt relief seep through her. He'd apparently been feigning his faint as she had. That was a plus, she decided, and whispered, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, but I'm handcuffed and my ankle is chained to the wall."
"That's okay. We'll be out of this in a jiffy." I hope, she added silently to herself. She began feeling first at the stiff cuffs around her wrists, then the bracelet she wore underneath. It was a laser bracelet and should slice through the cuffs like a hot knife through butter...if the laser was pointed in the right direction and she didn't give herself some unwanted surgery by accident. She fiddled with the bracelet, trying to figure where it was pointed.
"What are you doing?" Abel asked softly in the darkness.
"Playing with my bracelet. Let me concentrate," she whispered back.
He fell silent, and Jane adjusted the laser so that she thought it was directed at the cuff on her wrist; then she
sent up a silent prayer and activated it. A quiet hiss came as it began burning something. She felt a moment of fear, but then the cuff fell away from her wrist. Jane shut the laser off and pulled her hands around in front of her. She concentrated on the chain holding her to the wall next, quickly using the bracelet to slice through. Jane then scooted across the room to Abel.
"That's my girl," he murmured, and Jane felt pleasure at the pride in his voice.
She pressed a quick kiss to his lips, grateful he was protected from her knockout lipstick, then set to work on his chains. It only took a matter of moments to free him; then they both stood and moved to the door.
"What now?" Abel whispered.
Before them, through a window in the door they saw two men in black coverall uniforms playing cards at a table. Jane could see her purse lying there in plain view and wished she had it. She looked around. The men were in an octagonal room with six other doors, not including the opening to where the shuttle had been. The table was in the center.
Jane turned her attention to the locks on the six other doors: high-tech with a key-card-swiper system, of course.
"Do you think Edie's in one of those rooms?" Abel asked.
"I think it's a good possibility," she whispered, then knelt to examine the inside of the door in front of them. There was nothing on this side, not even a hint of where the lock might be.
"You said you had bomb earrings on. Can you--"
"Too much noise," she interrupted. "We don't want to alert anyone."
"No," he agreed, but didn't sound happy.
"Tell me if they seem to hear anything," she instructed, then took off her bracelet and knelt. She set to work on the door with the laser, slicing out a section where she thought the lock must be.
"You did it!" If there was a whispering version of a whoop, Abel gave it. The part of the door Jane was cutting fell into her hands.
Jane grinned and straightened. Opening the door a couple of inches, she then pressed it silently closed again and braced herself against the wall. She slipped one shoe off.
"What are we going to do?" Abel asked.
"I'm going to shoot them with this shoe."
"Ah." He sounded rather uncertain.
"I wore my dart shoes," she reminded him. Kneeling in front of the door, she eased it open and took aim.
"Are you a good shot?" Abel asked.
Jane didn't answer. She didn't know and didn't want to worry him. They were about to find out, either way. She aimed down the heel of the shoe, pointing it at the chest of the guard on the right, took a deep breath, and fired.
"Uh-oh," Abel muttered. Jane would have echoed it, but there was no time. She'd missed her target. The dart had struck her purse on the table, a good foot to the left of the guard's arm. Both guards gaped at the missile, swiveled to stare at the door, then were on their feet and charging forward.
Jane and Abel leaped out of the way as the door crashed open. Jane rolled, coming up pointing her shoe at the guard rushing her. Not knowing what it was, he continued forward. Jane fired again. This time she hit her target.
The reaction to the drugged dart was almost immediate, and Jane gave a grunt as the man crashed down on top of her. She managed to shove him off herself and sat up to peer wildly across the room, ready to save Abel by shooting the other guard, but Abel didn't need saving. He was thrashing the man with open-hand blows and heel kicks.
He knew some martial arts, she realized and watched with interest as he fought. There was something incredibly sexy about it--the play of his muscles and grace of his movements--and she could have watched forever. Fortunately, though, Abel didn't fight forever. Quickly he put the guard out with a nice flat-fist punch to the side of the neck. Which impressed Jane even more. Such a punch needed a lot of power behind it to knock a target unconscious and not just leave him gasping on the floor.
Abel whirled toward her, looking for the other guard, apparently all wound up and ready to take on another opponent. He relaxed, however, when he saw Jane sitting there, now cross-legged on the floor, grinning at him.
"You were brilliant," she praised.
Abel grinned back. He walked forward to offer her a hand up, and she saw it was an embarrassed grin. "I took a little martial arts for a while when I was younger."
"More than a little," Jane said as he pulled her to her feet. "That's something you forgot to mention the other night."
"It's nothing next to your twenty years of training," he demurred. Glancing at the men on the floor he asked, "What do we do with them?"
Jane snatched the security card off the chest of the nearest guard and walked out of the room. Approaching one of the six available doors, she peered into darkness, then flicked a nearby switch. Light immediately filled the cell. It was empty. She used the guard's card on the swiper. A buzz sounded and the door swung open.
"Let's lock them up in here," she suggested, rejoining Abel.
He nodded.
They dragged the men into the new room, chained them at the ankles as they themselves had been, then locked the door. Next they began checking the other rooms, looking for Edie.
Jane found her in the second cell. "Abel," she called softly and used her card to open the door.
"Jane!" Edie leaped off the bed she'd been seated on and stared with amazement as Jane hurried into the room. She was chained to the wall, but not handcuffed. She also wasn't drugged, or brainwashed, as far as Jane could tell.
"Edie!" Abel rushed in and caught his sister in a hug. "Damn, girl! You scared the loving daylights out of me."
"Oh, Abel!" Edie collapsed against his chest. "I was so scared. I..." She pulled back suddenly. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?"
"Her." Abel beamed and caught Jane's arm, pulling her into a three-way hug.
"Jane?" Edie peered at her, bewildered. "How did you find me, then?"
Jane just shook her head. "It's a long story. Let's just get you out of here."
Edie babbled out what had happened as Jane worked on her bonds. It was all pretty much as they'd thought: Edie had overheard Dirk talking on the phone to Lydia about the mind-control plans. She'd contacted the C.I.S.I.S.; then on Thursday, Dirk had asked her out. She'd convinced herself she might learn something useful for C.I.S.I.S. and went. Dirk had picked her up, explained that business had held him up and he needed to change. They'd gone to his place, he'd offered her a drink and bam--the next thing she knew she was waking up chained to a wall in a dark cell. She was more than a little shocked to learn she was in California.
Jane finished with the manacle, then ushered the Andrettis out of the cell. She pulled its door closed, then closed the one to their own former prison. Maybe no one would notice the cut-out lock or missing guards too soon. Jane then stopped at the table to grab her bag and an automatic rifle that the guards had not used on them.
"They can't have had just one gun," she muttered, and started to search for another.
"I think they did," Edie said. "One always stood by the door with his gun while the other brought my food in and stuff. The one who entered never had one."
"Probably so he could never have it taken away. The last thing the Ensecksis would want is an armed person in here," Abel pointed out.
"I love your logical mind," Jane said with a grin.
"Love?" Edie looked excitedly between them. "Oh, wow! I knew you two were perfect for each other. I just knew it. It was the pickles. Didn't I tell you, Abel? Isn't she perfect?"
"Yes, you did. And yes, she is," he admitted in wry tones.
Jane just laughed. Moving to the entrance of the shuttle tunnel, she peered up the way they'd come, which was now a pit of blackness, then peered the other way. A lit track loomed ahead with doors leading off of it. Digging around in her purse, she found a pen and pulled it out.
"Okay," she said, flicking up the clip. A strong beam of light shot out of the pen tip as she moved back to the others. "You two take the gun and this, and head back the way we came. Be careful, t
hough. Only use the light if absolutely necessary. You might run into guards, and the light will give you away at once."
"Aren't you coming with us?" Edie asked in amazement.
"No." Jane ignored the gathering thundercloud on Abel's brow and concentrated on her friend. "They plan to activate their mike-sat--whatever that is--at midnight. It's going on nine o'clock. I don't know how long it will take for B.L.I.S.S. to get it all together, but we can't risk the Ensecksis succeeding. When you get out, tell them I'm going to try to stop them and how to get in here. They should--"
"Over my dead body," Abel growled.
Jane sighed and turned to him. "Abel, I can't let--"
"Not by yourself," he interrupted again. "I'm coming with you."
"So am I," Edie announced firmly. When Jane glared at her, the young woman lifted her chin. "I'm not sneaking out of here and leaving you two on your own after you came to save my hide. Besides, how far could I really get? I'm not walking up that tunnel alone in the dark--there are probably rats." She gave a shudder. "I hate rats. And if I use a light, I'll be caught before I go ten feet."
Jane glared at both Andrettis but they just glared back. After a moment, she gave up. She didn't have the time or heart to argue with them. She could use their help. "Fine. Edie, you take the gun. Abel..." She hesitated, then reached into her bag and pulled out her belt of vibrators. "These are mini-missile launchers. Twist each top and base in opposite directions, then push the on/off button to fire. They're just prototypes, but they still carry enough explosive to do a lot of damage--so make sure you aim carefully." She handed them over.
"What are you going to use?" Edie asked anxiously as Abel slipped the belt over his head so that it hung across his chest like a bandolier. "You need a weapon too."
Jane hesitated, then slid her shoes off and held them up. "These. Let's go."
She turned to lead the way, but froze at the sight of at least a dozen men standing in the mouth of the shuttle bay. All of them had automatic rifles like the one she'd given to Edie.
"Er, should I use one of the vibrators?" Abel asked out of the corner of his mouth.
"No." Jane sighed. "You might bring the mountain down on us."
"What do we do then?" Edie asked.
Jane considered their options. There really weren't any that seemed likely to see them walk out alive. Not at the moment. Raising her hands, she stepped forward. "We give."
