Reboot

by Larry Buenafe

  -So, the decision is to plan for an extraction after the kid finishes the Brazil mission? Assuming he finishes it without getting killed in the process, I mean.

  -(SRB) Yes, the sense was that we don’t want to act while the mission is underway for a couple of reasons. One, it would divide our energies and attention, and we’re likely to need to be at full strength for an extraction attempt, and two, we may need the kid’s help to pull it off.

  -Make that probably will. How was (IG), our Peruvian strategist?

  -(SRB) Interestingly enough, he was really the only member who was uniformly on board. Gung-ho, even.

  -Hmm. That’s not necessarily a good sign. On the other hand, he’s definitely smart enough not to show his hand by being overly enthusiastic. On the third hand, if he suspects that we suspect him, he would know that we would expect him to act lukewarm, so he might play the enthusiast to… oh, this just got too complicated. Just watch him and report anything that seems even remotely fishy. Speaking of fishy…

  ****

  A s I sprinted, I called, “Ava, do we have anything to worry about?”

  “Based on the info we just got, there’s a whale’s buttload to worry about. Full speed ahead, sonny boy.”

  Oh, boy… if anything happens to Benji… okay, stay calm, panicking will not help… running harder than ever, almost feel like I’m flying…

  I made it from the center of the cavern to our trailer in about twenty seconds and threw the door open; no one in the front room… I sped through the trailer, and in the back bedroom to the right, found Tarni. Tape across her mouth and her hands and feet tied with an extension cord… oh, crap… She struggled to move, and her eyes were bugging out of her head. I ripped the duct tape off her face, and she cried, “It was a bloody set-up! That big monster tied me up and snatched Benji! Another fella came in too… they were so arrogant he actually used the bloody idiot’s name… called ‘im Duncan.”

  “Ask her where they went!”

  “Tarni, do you know where they went?”

  “No, but I reckon they’re headin’ towards the nearest town, and… oh, no, Benji…” up to that point she had been holding it together, but then she sobbed. I grabbed the wires holding her hands and feet tied and snapped them, and as I did Ava said, “Get the jet pack and let’s get after them!”

  “Sorry to leave you, Tarni, but the others will be here quick. I’ve got to find Benji.”

  Her face covered in tears, she roared, “Don’t worry about me. Go get him!”

  I dashed to the front bedroom, grabbed the jet pack out of my duffel bag, and was out the door in two seconds; I jumped up onto the platform leading to the concrete hall and turned right to go to the Bright Hand garage; as I sped through the garage, I found Margaret and Leena both tied up and apparently unconscious, lying on the concrete; oh, man, I can’t take the time to untie them, but I can’t leave them like this… I reached down and snapped their bonds as quickly as I could, and left them in the bed of one of the Bright Hand trucks so they wouldn’t get run over accidentally; then I burst out the hidden exit, pulling off my clothes except my underwear as I bolted around the Bright Hand hill; I headed west across the brush, following the only traveled path leading away from the area. I pulled on my jet pack and extended my arms into wings, and I was running so hard that I literally took off, gliding for a few moments before Ava kicked on the jet pack. I activated my heads-up display as I flew; how did he fool me so easily? I never asked Ava about him… I should have… Ms. Perez thought there was a double-agent, but there were actually two agents… okay, concentrate…

  I had already traveled about ten kilometers away from the Bright Hand hill when I spotted the Bright Hand truck thundering down the dirt path. There they are… about… eight-and-a-half kilometers ahead of me… uh-oh…

  I spotted three vehicles barreling up the path in our direction, and these were not Bright Hand vehicles. They’re about… nineteen kilometers away… “Ava…”

  “We need to deal with the three approaching first. Hang on, sonny boy… we’re going to go quick like a bunny…”

  Okay, I’ve heard that one before… it means fast…

  “We will go past them on the right, and as we do, use the EMP. We’ll take out their electronics, and it’ll strand them. We’ll be there in about thirty seconds, and we’re going to decelerate rapidly and approach close enough for them to shoot at us. They’re not likely to hit us, but be ready to dodge. Got it?”

  “Got it. Let’s go!”

  The acceleration was sudden and violent; I imagine it felt like being one of those old-time human cannonballs as we blasted past the Bright Hand truck with Benji in it on our way to the vehicles coming in our direction. I think at first, they probably thought we were a bird or something, but as we got rapidly larger, they swerved to the right, and just as Ava predicted, arms came out of the windows holding guns of various kinds, aiming in our direction. There were two people in each of the three vehicles, which meant six guns pointed at us; “Ok, sonny boy, we’re going to swerve as we get closer, so hang on. When we’re close enough, I’ll let you know; you fire the EMP, then we swerve hard to the right to get out of range. Their ammo probably wouldn’t hurt us anyway, but no sense in taking unnecessary chances.”

  I felt like I was on the craziest roller coaster of all time as we approached; little flashes were spraying out of the guns, bullets whizzing by; a few passed harmlessly through my arm/wings, and one hit my stomach, bouncing off but hurting a little; “Careful, they’re using high-caliber weapons… okay, close enough. Fire!”

  I made a fist with my left hand, extended out at the end of my arm/wing, and activated the EMP; all three vehicles lurched to a stop, their electronics dead; I veered right, my right hand scraping the ground. We made a complete, careening one hundred-eighty degree turn and were speeding back toward the vehicle carrying Benji, still about seven kilometers away. In the distance were four of the big Bright Hand trucks just pulling around the side of the Bright Hand hill, heading in our direction. “Okay, sonny boy, you’re doing great so far. Are you all right?”

  “The shot to my stomach kind of hurts, but I’ll be okay. What now?”

  “We’re going to cross in front of the truck. You fire the EMP again, then we land.”

  As we drew near, Ernie and Duncan exited the truck; Ernie was holding a big rifle of some kind, and he fired; there was a deafening roar, but we were too far away and traveling too fast for him to hit us; I fired the EMP, and the truck went dead; as we flew past, Ernie fired again, and this time we were close enough that the blast hit us; a dozen or so pellets bounced off my torso, but more of them hit the jet pack, ripping out the side and one of the engines, throwing us into a violent spin; we were close to the ground, but I fought the tumble and regained just enough control to stumble to a running landing fifty meters or so behind the truck; I felt the gravel sliding beneath my feet as I slowed, and the heat of the day sent energy running through me, recharging me. I spun to face them, and Ernie was frantically attempting to reload his rifle while Duncan hid behind the truck.

  “Use the laser. Take out the shotgun so we don’t have to deal with it as we approach,” Ava directed. I held up my right fist, used the heads-up display to aim, and fired a short pulse; the center of the rifle buckled, glowing brightly, and Ernie dropped it, jumping back and blowing on his hand. I sprinted the distance to the truck and skidded to a stop about five meters from Ernie.

  “That was a good trick you pulled. You really had me fooled,” I said, edging forward.

  “It was easy. Know why? Because you’re not the future for humans, I am!” he snarled, holding his hands up as if ready to fight. “I’m a real human, and what are you? Some kind of android hybrid piece of crap. You’re not even a person! I’m the peak of human potential! I…”

  As he spoke, I noticed Duncan creeping along the other side of the truck, crouched down so I couldn’t see him, but the sound of his shuffling was obvious to my extra-sensitiv
e ears.

  “Clever again, but this trick won’t work,” I whispered as I raised my left forearm, pointing it at the spot where Duncan was about to appear at the back edge of the pickup. As his hand poked around the corner holding a pistol, I fired the flechette, and dozens of the tiny needles hit his hand; a second later, he dropped to the ground with a thump, the gun skittering away in the dirt.

  Ernie howled and charged toward me; he was too close for me to avoid him totally, so I turned my body to the side and shoved him as he went past, and he tumbled into the underbrush, rolling over several times. “Be careful, sonny boy… we don’t know what else he may have on him, and even if there’s nothing, he’s got some chemicals flowing through him that makes him dangerous, even to us.”

  I faced him, and he bounced up with stunning speed; he rummaged for something in his pocket and came up with one of the brass-knuckle-like EMP generators. “Had to pay a lot for this, but let’s see how you like it!” he shouted, pointing his fist at me and pressing the side trigger.

  When nothing happened, he looked at the device and tried it again, then threw it into the brush. He rushed at me like a rhino, and again his speed was surprising; I twisted and thrust my palm into his chest, sending both of us tumbling backward. Man, he’s strong… stronger than Mr. Harutyunyan, even… he’s not thinking, though…

  “I’m the future, not you! A few hours ago, my hand was broke, and now look! You can’t beat me! You can’t…” Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! went the three bundles of flechette needles I shot into his chest; even with that much anesthetic in him, he staggered forward a few steps. “You’re… afraid… to fight me…” he mumbled, his eyes drooping.

  “I’m not afraid. I just don’t want to hurt you,” I said as he dropped to the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust. I turned back toward the Bright Hand hill, and the four Bright Hand trucks were still about two kilometers away, but coming fast.

  “Ava, those other cars… those are Americans, right?”

  “Right as rain. They were coming to recover Benji and these two jokers; I picked up their cell signal when they exited the cavern. Snatching Benji would have been a major coup for them, sonny boy. We got here just in the nick of time. We done good.”

  I glanced over at what was left of my jet pack, and then remembered that I was standing in the desert in my underwear, and I felt great.

  The four trucks came barreling up at that moment; the first one had Margaret and Leena in the back seat, and they did not look happy. I leaned in the driver’s side window and said, “There are three cars eight kilometers down the road. I disabled them, but there are six people down there with guns, so be careful.”

  Three of the trucks roared off down the path, while the driver and passenger of the fourth, two of the many massive Bright Hand guards, exited the vehicle to recover Duncan and Ernie. They lifted Duncan into the bed of the pickup, but Ernie was too big for them to hoist, so I picked him up and tossed him into the bed.

  Finally, I had a moment to look in the rear seat of the disabled truck to see how Benji was doing. Like Tarni, Leena, and Margaret, they had tied his hands and feet and a strip of tape covered his mouth. I reached in and removed the bindings and tape and helped Benji to a sitting position. He looked at me and smiled. “Oi, that was a right piss-up, eh? I thought I was a goner for sure, Lukey. That bloody gorilla fooled all of us, I reckon, but here you are, the hero in his knickers. If it wasn’t for you…” and then he got kind of choked up and hugged me. And I let him.

  14

  DIRECTOR’S NOTES

  CONVERSATION WITH SVC

  121451 17:21

  -They did what?

  -You heard right. They had two moles in the Bright Hand cavern and were within a minute or two of absconding with Dr. Walker. They would have made it, too, but the kid apparently sniffed out the plot and caught them in the desert before they made the handoff. And get this: we’ve all heard rumblings about the chemical cocktail the US has been putting together to create super-soldiers. One of the moles was a completely juiced, built-out example. He was the ringleader, and reports are he tried to fight with the kid but the kid put him down.

  Hmm. All of a sudden, your speech became quite streetwise. Have you been bingeing some ‘true detective’ shows or something?

  -…

  -Oh, never mind. I assume they caught the moles?

  -Yes, and six other American agents as well. All safely ensconced in the Bright Hand Incarceration Center. Pardon me, I mean Hoosegow.

  -Excellent. I want you to get to the CIA Chief (DW). It’s cost us enough to get him in our pocket, so he needs to get them to pull back the reins. Tell him to keep their mitts off the Bright Hand until we’re ready. Let him know we’re not too happy with this little stunt, and if he wants to both continue to bathe in money and for us not to out him as a traitor, he needs to get everyone in line. And I don’t want to hear that he didn’t know they had moles in the cavern. In fact, I have a good mind to out him anyway, just for letting this happen on his watch. Got it?

  -Of course.

  -This whole thing will take Lazenbee completely out of the picture. There’s no way they’ll let him anywhere close to her now. We’ll have to figure out a different way to get him over to New Zealand. We will have to burn her, too.

  -Really? Now who’s using the detective show vernacular? Oh, and aren’t you going to say it’s time to eat?

  -Hilarious. And yes, get someone to bring in a little something. What kind of stuff do they eat in Brazil?

  ****

  I t seemed like the whole Bright Hand cavern was in an uproar over Ernie, Duncan, and the four American agents the Bright Hand security team captured. It caused a great deal of anxiety to know that the Americans knew exactly where the Bright Hand cavern was, and at the same time not knowing who they could trust now. If Ernie and Duncan were moles, who else might be? No one was above suspicion, including, or maybe especially, us.

  In a sad twist, two of the Americans killed themselves rather than being taken prisoner, and the remaining four tried to shoot their way out, but the Bright Hand security caught them in the sticky webs of a bunch of spider grenades. They injured two of the Bright Hand guards, including Margaret, who took a bullet to the left calf.

  They were all taken to the Bright Hand jail, the same place where they had held the American soldiers Dave, Margie, Guy, and Petey before we could arrange a swap for the Bright Hand agents Pemelton and Sutterfield. They had to make special reinforcements to Ernie’s cell, because he loosened his door by repeatedly slamming his body into it.

  With all the new information flooding in, Ms. Perez and Jimmie Early determined that what they had originally thought was one person were actually at least three: Ernie and Duncan were the moles for the Americans, or The Meta, as they call them, but they hadn’t yet been able to pin down who the mole or moles for the LFP were.

  Amid all this, we made two momentous decisions. After working out our plan for Brazil, Cheri and I met secretly with Mr. Kane, and talked him into letting us leave for Brazil a day early, which meant we would leave today. There were some pieces of our plan that we thought might take a little extra time, and we also wanted to have the element of surprise on our side if there were people expecting us at a certain time and place. Our success at talking Mr. Kane into letting us leave early meant that we had lots to do in a short amount of time, and we would need to fly to the secret landing strip in order to leave as quickly as possible. That also meant a visit to Dr. Bhat to see if we could get her to let me use another of her jet packs, since mine got destroyed.

  The second big thing: we decided that all the rest of our group: Benji, Ms. Houng, Mr. Harutyunyan, and Tarni, were going back to the nation cavern. Things had just gotten too dangerous for them to remain at the Bright Hand cavern, and we headed again to Mr. Kane’s office to inform him of the decision.

  Willard, one of Mr. Kane’s huge bodyguards, was outside the door as we approached through the concrete hall. “Hey, Wil
ls. We have to see Mr. Kane, it’s important. I know Lucas and I were just here, but this is a different matter. And how you doin’, buddy?” asked Cheri.

  “Very well, Ms. Kim. Just a moment.”

  As he spoke into his wrist, Cheri jerked her thumb at him and rolled her eyes. “SO professional. Acts like he doesn’t know me while he’s on duty, like he’s at the old Buckingham Palace or something.”

  The door swung open, and Mr. Kane appeared, smiling brightly as ever. “Come in, my friends. I assume this is urgent. After all the excitement we’ve had today, I have many fires to extinguish, as you might imagine.”

  We seated ourselves around his imposing office table, and Benji, who had been uncharacteristically quiet since the near-kidnapping earlier in the day, spoke first. “Look, Kane, I wanna say in front of my friends here, that I’ve been a bit of a horse’s arse lately. Runnin’ around gettin’ pissed legless, believin’ flatterers, not watchin’ out for my mates like I should. We were all at risk, not just me, and it was starin’ me right in the face and I ignored it. While Lukey and Chi are out riskin’ their lives, I’m dashin’ around like I’m some kinda rock star. Truth is, we’ve all done a bit a that since comin’ here, but no one’s a bigger offender than me. I know I promised ya I’d help get some proper thorium reactors set up, but I gave your people enough diagrams and info that they can do it on their own now. They’re smart, they just needed the right recipe, and I gave it to ‘em. Bottom line is, we can’t stay here any longer. We’re at risk, and our bein’ here is puttin’ your people at risk too, I reckon. We gotta do everythin’ we can ta help rescue my best mate and Lukey’s daddy, John-o, but we won’t be any good to ‘im if we’re dead or captured. What I’m sayin’ is, we’ve gotta head back to the nation. We’ll be safer there, and you’ll be safer as well.”