by Tina Chan
“Ugh,” Kristi said. “I didn’t think Tiffany would send someone to knock out these poor people just so we can have a cover.”
They were at the back lot of the Cleandows building. Three Cleandows employees—two guys and one woman—were lying unconscious on the ground. They had arrived at the scene to find a note pinned to the uniform of the largest guy:
Take their uniforms and ID cards. Hide the bodies in the storage shed. They won’t regain conscious for another three hours and when they do, a drug has been administered to ensure they remember nothing of the past five hours. Destroy this note.
“Everything has a price,” Chelsa said, unbuttoning the shirt of the smaller guy.
Everyone quickly stripped off the workers’ uniforms and rolled/dragged them into the storage shed. In the storage shed, Troop found some old, musty smelling coats that he used to cover up the three unconscious employees.
“Picture-wand?” Kristi asked.
He flourished the device and passed it around to everyone. When the picture-wand got passed back to him, he waved the wand over his ID card, watching the original face of the picture on the card transform into his face. Like magic, he thought. Out loud, he said, “Everything all set?”
“I think so, except for the fact the contact-cams are still bothering my eyes,” Kristi answered.
“Did you put in the eye-drops?”
“Yeah. It’s not a big problem.”
“Let’s move then.” Troop stowed away the picture-wand.
Chelsa unlocked the doors to the van belonging to Cleandows. They were going to “borrow” their vehicle to travel to New Genes Lab. She slid into the driver’s seat and backed out of the parking lot without a hitch.
The ride to New Genes Lab went relatively smoothly. Everyone on the road was occupied with getting to work on time and paid no attention to other commuters.
Chelsa maneuvered the van up the driveway and to the front gates of the lab. Gravel crunched beneath the tires. A little intercom box was attached to the metal gate. Someone must’ve been watching the van come up to the front gates because a voice spoke to them through the intercom, “This is New Genes Lab. Please state your business.”
Chelsa rolled down the windows and said, “We’re from Cleandows. We have an appointment at New Genes Lab today to repair and clean thirty-two windows.”
“Please hold on a moment while I verify your appointment.” The voice returned after ten seconds or so. “You may enter.”
There was a buzzing sound, then the gates swung upon on their own accord. Chelsa inched the Cleandows van up the gravel driveway and parked it beneath the shade of a Mongolia tree.
“Here, why don’t we each take some window cleaning supplies to upkeep our disguise.” Kristi handed Troop a black toolbox and Chelsa a bucket of cleaning foam.
Troop grasped the toolbox by the handles and almost dropped it; the box was heavier than it looked. Satisfied everything was going according to plan, He led everyone up to the double doors that automatically slid open when they approached them.
A secretary sitting behind a smart-glass desk greeted Troop. When she spoke, Troop recognized her as the voice from the intercom.
“I am sure that your boss has informed you what goes on in this building stays in this building, am I right?”
They all nodded.
“Good,” she continued on, completely naïve to the fact that the three of them were lying to her face. “Nevertheless, I still need all of you to sign this agreement of confidentiality.”
She pulled out a document from her smart-glass desk and motioned for everyone to sign on the line located at the bottom of a very long block of text.
Troop confidently signed the name Kennedy Shief onto the smart-glass and passed the pen to Chelsa. Kristi nudged him and shot him an “I need help” expression when he glanced her way.
He mouthed back, “Why?”
Kristi patted the pocket that held her Cleandows worker ID card, and then jerked her head towards the agreement of confidentiality she needed to sign.
“Name?” Troop asked her in a quiet voice. If Kristi doesn’t know her cover name, what is she supposed to sign her name as? If someone notices her signature doesn’t match the name on her ID card, they’re going to suspect something is wrong.
Kristi nodded. Chelsa finished signing the contract and gave the pen to Kristi.
“Do you need our ID cards to be scanned?” Troop asked the secretary.
He flaunted his ID card dramatically, successfully securing the secretary’s attention onto him, thus allowing Kristi to have the chance to take a quick peek at her card.
“Yes, I will need to scan your cards,” the secretary answered Troop. “Has everyone signed the confidentiality agreement?”
“Not me,” Kristi said. She quickly scrawled Helen Jes onto the last signature line.
Troop took a moment to read Chelsa’s fake name; it was Dakota Collins. He thanked his lucky stars that Dakota was a unisex name. It would’ve been awkward if someone noticed Kristi and him calling Chelsa by a guy’s name, like Harry, for example.
The three of them scanned their ID cards and the secretary pointed the group in the general direction of the windows they were supposed to clean and/or fix.
“Don’t be shocked by some of the things you see,” the secretary advised them just before they headed off. “As long as you remember to only do what you’re supposed to do and nothing else while you’re in New Genes Lab, you’ll be fine. Don’t go looking for trouble by entering parts of the building you’re not supposed to be in. If you do get lost, locate the nearest staff to direct you to the correct place.”
“Alright. Thanks,” Troop said.
He walked down the hallway until the secretary was out of sight. He studied a map depicting the layout of the lab posted on the wall, then nonchalantly asked, “Which room do you want to hit first?”
chapter thirty-eight
[ Kristi ]
