"Yeah. I'm just – you know." She’s talked to me about it before and is well adjusted enough to not want to hide it.
"Yeah. I know. It's okay. We'll deal with what happened when we get back."
"All right! I'll stop. So what's the plan?"
"We'll be in Evanston in about thirty minutes, then we can have a late breakfast. I found a local greasy spoon not far from the high tech park our target is located at that has five stars on Yelp. It's about a mile north of Northwestern University and we can eat there. Then, we'll scout around the tech park and make our plan. We need to identify some good observation points for the buildings used by Henderson Robotics. I read about them in Advanced Robotics Monthly as having a new product demonstration tomorrow. It is just the kind of tech a mad scientist like me would want to steal to integrate into their own design for an armored suit. Kind of a coincidence I know,” I admit, smiling, “We also have to plan exit routes in case we need to get out of there fast if the police show up.”
"What's the product?" Carly is stoked to go on patrol, but I'm not sure how convinced she it at my wanting to stake out some technology park.
"It's a revolutionary, direct mind link, neural interface for communicating with just about any advanced electronics. They're mostly promoting it for use with the military, but it could be used for just about any kind of system interface. The versions available for civilian use are nowhere near as capable as the military version, that's why I think someone interested in the technology wants to steal the military versions or designs. The location is their main R&D headquarters, so it will be the most likely target. And, the product demonstration they have scheduled for tomorrow will be with several of the military versions, so there should be some on site. You should know, if I get a chance to get a sample of one of those neural interfaces, I’m going to take it.”
"Oh, really? Planning on go all villain on me?”
“Maybe. But, I’m hoping we will get lucky and someone else will break in to steal it. Then we can put a beat down on them and take it. You know, spoils of war and all. It’s not really stealing then, is it?”
“Kinda, yeah. Still stealing,” is Carly’s laughing reply.
“It’s better than breaking in there myself. By the way, that’s what I am going to do, if I have to. I need that device. It will save me a year of research on my suit.”
Carly takes a second before replying, “Okay. Then let’s hope someone breaks in the place.” She says it matter-of-fact, like she does not have the slightest problem.
“You’re okay with that?” I ask, giving her a chance to put up a protest. Partly because I don’t want her to do something she is uncomfortable with, but more because I don’t want to have this conversation when I’m trying to break into the place.
“Sure.”
That’s all I get for an answer. She’s not worried about it. Well, okay then. “We'll be done scouting by two or three o'clock. The room should be ready by then and we can check in."
"What're we going to do for the rest of the day?" Carly asks with a smile.
I give Carly my biggest smile, lean over, and whisper my plan for the rest of our day.
Chapter 23
The hotel room is great. It has a separate living room and bedroom and the bathroom is huge, with a walk-in shower big enough to have a party, and multiple shower heads — and a Jacuzzi bathtub. The shower is our first stop and also our last in our exploration and breaking in of the room, and it's an incredible afternoon – our first ever where there was no concern of a roommate walking in on us.
Carly is beautiful, and amazing, and we melt into each other in a way that is more than physical. I can feel our minds touching in a way I've never felt before; it's like falling softly into a warm pool of ecstasy. It's almost seven o'clock when we finish our second shower and start pulling ourselves together. We haven't spoken a word since our first kiss.
Still feeling Carly’s soft touch on my mind, I check the clock. It’s time, so I get up from the bed and grab my 'hero' bag to pull out the clothes and equipment I'm going to wear on patrol tonight, "You ready to get going?" I ask Carly, who is still in bed and showing no signs of wanting to do anything else.
I look back to my bag to finish unpacking, still waiting for Carly to give an answer when her naked body slams into me and we wrap around each other into a long kiss where we land on the carpet. Finally breaking the kiss, she says, "Yeah, I'm ready," then breaks free from me and I look up and down her gorgeous body as she bounces in her steps over to her own hero bag.
If we don't get ourselves killed tonight, this may be the best weekend of my life.
The tech park is backed up against a small river running into Wilmette Harbor, north of the bridge we have to take to get back to our hotel just on the other side. The plan is to get on top of an office building next door to the park and use it as our observation point. It has a commanding view of the tech park and the front and back of the long industrial building where Henderson Robotics does most of their prototyping.
We park the car in the lot of a restaurant in a retail center next to the office building we will be using to observe the tech park. It’s a three story, white building, with zero architectural styling that was common for buildings built in the 1970s. In other words, it was an incredibly boring, tall box with windows.
We scale the outside of the building. "Nice job scaling that drain pipe." I grin at Carly after watching her scamper up the drain pipe. She can still see my smile as my makeshift hero mask is still shoved up off my face.
Carly just smiles back at me, and does me a solid by not mentioning how I almost slipped and fell two stories when I broke one of the brackets that holds the pipe to the wall. Carly went first and I was shocked how she went up the pipe like a spider monkey. So naturally, I tried to do the same. I'm faster than her, but also heavier - and, oddly, maybe not quite as coordinated.
It's fully dark and there are no lights on the roof. This office building has a bank on the first floor, so we need to make sure we don't set off any roof alarms, if there are any, so I pull out a broad spectrum energy detector, a little device I made, and sold, for a nice chunk of change that is paying for part of my education. I use the detector to scan the roof for energy sources and don’t find anything. There is nothing on the roof that is monitoring us or that we could trip an alarm on, except by the roof access hatch. It looks like they weren't expecting anyone to scale the outside of the building to get at the bank.
"Here, put one of these on each corner." I'm speaking in a normal voice and feel pretty calm, it's just like patrolling with Bubble-E back home.
Carly looks pretty relaxed herself, which confirms for me she's done this kind of thing before as well. "Are these the detectors?" she asks.
"Yeah. Number one goes there, on the North corner," and I point to one of the corners. "Then go clockwise with two, three, and four. They're just motion detectors. I'll get a signal in my earpiece," I tap my left ear, "The signal will be a different pitch for each…."
Moving off without any further need for my explanation, Carly heads over to put out the detectors while I go over to the side that faces the tech park to set up. I pull out the tripod for the mini recorder and mount the recorder, then plug in the two 3D goggles I brought that will let us both control what we see independently.
"You brought chairs?" I'm looking at two compact folding chairs for camping like you can buy at an Outdoorsman supply store.
"What? Were you planning on standing there all night?"
"No. I…." The practicality of the chairs settles in for me and I realize how much more comfortable I'm going to be if I have a place to sit that's not rock covered composite roof. "That was smart," I say, and hold out a hand for a high-five. I think of myself as a mad scientist and yet I don't even think outside the mission enough to bring a chair to be comfortable on an all-night stake out.
Chapter 24
After five hours of watching we knew three things: first, the police p
atrol the office building every hour, on the hour; second, the only security at the tech park is a big kid who spends most of his time in his beater, a dinged up Fiesta, because he's only wearing a windbreaker and it's forty degrees outside; and third, the entire history of each other's childhood as we've been trading stories to pass the time.
I get the motion detector double beep in my ear of the hourly police patrol car entering the parking lot, and three more pairs of double beeps in differing tones as it drives around the building. Neither of us looks over the edge as we learned the first time it came through the patrol officers are using a spot light on the building, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Nope, nothing unusual here. Nothing but us night owls, I think to myself.
Twenty minutes later, the first patrol of the night enters through the main entrance of the tech park. It's a rent-a-cop, in a car marked to look like a State Trooper's cruiser. Only it's without the blue lights that are restricted for police use. The car drives around the empty-of-life tech park and pulls in next to the security guard who's still sitting in his beater.
The driver of the patrol car gets out and I zoom in with my 3D goggles to get a better look. His head is on a pivot looking in all directions as he moves around the back of the car and over to the driver’s side window where the kid's sitting and I get a chill. Something is not right about the guy. He seems jumpy, and way too alert for a routine patrol.
The big kid is sitting in his Fiesta and isn't moving or looking at the approach of the rent-a-cop and the hairs on the back of my neck prickle even more. The hair on my neck standing up is always a good indicator of something about to happen for me, so I turn on the camera's recorder and pull down my 3D goggles so I can check the monitor to make sure the camera is recording.
Carly touches my arm, "The new guy is a telepath."
I pull off my goggles and look at her. Her heads bent down and she has her hands up, massaging her temples. I can't tell if she's about to pull off her goggles or is just concentrating.
"Can he…."
Holding her hand up, "Wait, I need to concentrate."
I shut up, look around the roof to make sure we're still alone, and put my goggles back on. The kid in the car still hasn't moved, he has his hands on the steering wheel and he's looking straight ahead like he's driving. The rent-a-cop has the driver door open and is leaning in the car, then steps back and closes the door. He looks around again then steps into the driveway of the parking lot behind his car and turns slowly in a complete circle. When he looks toward our building I can feel…something…on my consciousness, like the little pressure I get when I push on my eyes with the palms of my hands after working on the computer for hours. I put my hand out to touch Carly just for the comfort of confirming she's still there and she intercepts my hand.
"Wait," She says, but doesn't release my wrist.
Turning my attention back to the rent-a-cop slash telepath, he has his phone up to his ear and is speaking to someone. I snap several still photos zoomed in all the way on his face. Part of his face is always cast in shadow from the high collar that is flipped up on his jacket, so I can't get a good look at him, but that won't matter if I can get several shots at various angles and run it through my image compiler program back home.
"He's pretty powerful," Carly drops her fingers from her temples and tells me, "I got a trickle of him when he used his power on the kid. I'm guessing by the looks of it, the kid was given a hallucination of driving somewhere. Which is odd, because the guy could have just knocked him out. Anyway, when he walked behind the car he did a full scan in all directions. I could feel his focus move around like a lighthouse beam."
"I saw him turning and wondered if that's what he was doing."
"Yeah, that's another thing, he's got a good bit of power, but his control isn't very good. If he was, he wouldn't have to turn to face the direction he wants to scan or move out in the open like he did. He's undisciplined and has some erroneous preconceived notions about how his power works."
"What does that mean?"
"It means he's still in training and I can hide from him pretty easily — now, anyway.”
The telepath hangs up his phone and leans against the trunk of his patrol vehicle, seemingly to wait.
"What do you mean, 'now?’ ” I ask as I zoom the camera back to wide view so I can see the whole tech park.
"I've been scanning all night while we've been sitting here, but I was watching all around and wasn't projecting nearly as much power as him. When he started his scan, I had to shut off my mind to keep him from detecting me and it's not like turning off a switch after you've been broadcasting for several hours straight." Then Carly adds, "That's why I had to have you wait - so I could focus on closing up my mind."
"Wow," I respond in a moment of high insight. I'm beginning to feel a little inadequate in the mental department, which is new for me.
Carly, now well ahead of me in the mental department, says, "He called someone and he's waiting, let's get ready to move if we need to," and starts stuffing our gear back into the bags.
I join in and we pack up so the only things out are the tripod with camera and goggles and my shield and hammer. The only other thing out is a rope coiled and ready to throw over the side of the building into a shadowy nook on the side where the light from the parking lot is blocked. It's both a quick escape route and our path to advance on the tech park if it's needed.
Chapter 25
A few minutes after we're packed up and we are ready for action. It’s not long before a forty foot semi-tractor trailer, followed by a black SUV, rolls into the park and makes its way to the buildings in the back of the park. It backs up to the loading dock for Henderson Robotics. Three men jump out of the semi's cab and run to the rear of the trailer. They're wearing blue jeans and jackets and, I'm guessing, are the worker bees. The SUV pulls up alongside the semi and three more people step out, one wearing far too much bling on his fingers and around his neck. The other two look like the muscle, in black leather jackets, one a huge guy in jeans, and the other's a tall skinny guy, in black slacks.
I recognize the huge one who got out of the SUV. He's the Welcoming Committee sign holder from Atlas Quad, and I know he's at least a Class 3 body type. "The guy in the jeans. The big one that got out of the SUV. You see him?"
"Yeah, got him," Carly replies after a few seconds, “He looks familiar.”
“He should. He goes to Nova.”
“Really?” she says, looking over to me, “Okay, I recognize him now. He lives in Atlas Quad, doesn’t he? He was at the commons cafeteria there the first night we met.” She's taking it all in and I wonder if she's scanning them, until I see the telepath walk around the building from where he was waiting with the kid.
Eventually, Carly asks, “What do you think?"
"I think they're up to no good. But there's too many for us, and I don't think they've actually committed a crime yet."
"Should we call the police?" She asks and starts pulling her mask down over her face.
I say, "Good idea," and pull out a disposable phone I picked up while we were driving around today and dial 911. It took a lot longer to get through than I thought it would on what looks like a pretty sleepy night, at least that we can see. "Hi, I'd like a report a break-in in progress…." I pass on all of the information, except for giving a fake name for myself, I tell them exactly what we see, and the operator tells me they're sending a "unit." Yeah, good luck with that, I think and pull down my own mask.
We wait and watch Mr. Welcoming Committee go up on the loading platform for the roll-up door next to the one the trailer is backed up to where he shoves his fists through the steel door and rips open a large hole. A skinny guy ducks under and enters the building. A few seconds later the roll-up door where the trailer is parked starts to open.
"Well, that's breaking and entering. We've got our cover if we want to take them down," Carly points out, "But, I think we should wait for the police."
"Agr
ee."
The three men who were riding in the semi are inside the building making a racket with what sounds like power saws, while bling guy and his two goons, and the telepath, stand out on the loading dock. Bling guy keeps looking through the roll-up door and rubbing his ears and it seems he doesn't like the noise. After a couple minutes he throws up his hands, points to the tall muscle guy wearing the slacks, and motions him to follow. They start to get into the SUV and Welcoming Committee shouts something and starts to come over. Bling points at the telepath and says something back and Welcoming Committee stops trying to get in the SUV. By himself, Bling gets in the SUV and they drive off.
We continue to watch and wait. The three that were inside are now making trips back and forth between the warehouse and the semi-trailer. They’re loading boxes and equipment. It’s a full twenty minutes later when the police patrol shows up. Carly notices him first, pointing to the entrance to the tech park and I see a single police patrol car, without lights flashing, enter the tech park. "Oh, that's not good," I say, "I hope they have backup on the way."
Carly stands up, "I think we're the backup. Let's go!" and she's running for the rope. My shield and hammer are strapped to my back, so I grab our bags, then drop them again, remembering we’re not leaving yet, and I follow. We can get them later.
Grabbing the coiled rope up off the roof, Carly throws it over the side and jumps over with it, which shocks the hell out of me, but not enough to stop me jumping right after her. Carly more or less does a controlled fall with one hand on the rope, using it to slow her fall, and lands in a three point superhero landing like a pro. I follow right behind and am about to land on top of her when she rolls away just in time for me to land only slightly better than a toddler jumping off a bed.
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