“The real danger is your
ignorance of the enemy.”—Gertrude Ryland
It
was warm, humid night. A dark-coloured helicopter flew over Sancho, the capital
city of Kusha. Four youngsters dressed in black were seated inside. Harriet
Slaton, a tall, slim, tan-skinned lady studied the bored faces of her fellow
team mates: West Dominic, a dark-haired young man; Dias Orion, a blonde-haired
girl; and Fitch Slaton, Harriet’s brother.
Harriet: (to
all) Attention, people!
The
other three teenagers looked at her.
Harriet: Once we get down there, we’ll find a
place to hide. (to West) West, cut the power to Area 3 to stir up a
distraction.
West:
Yes, Commander.
Harriet: (to
Dias) Dias, go to the central control room and deactivate the CCTV, then
contact me. West’ll back you up.
Dias:
Gotcha, Commander.
Harriet: (to
Fitch) Fitch, you and I will implant the ‘blind’ into the computer system from
the vice-director’s room. (looks out the window and to all) We’re almost there.
Keep your coms on and make sure you have your weapons with you.
The
helicopter stopped slightly above the premise of an enormous telecommunication
company—the POWER wireless. With Harriet in the lead, the four jumped down to
the roof. The helicopter flew away. West and Fitch moved swiftly and opened the
hatch to the air vent. Harriet climbed in and activated her green torch—green
is a less noticeable colour. She led the way and they followed.
The
four of them worked their way quietly deeper into the building. At a junction,
the team split into two—Harriet and Fitch in one, and West and Dias the other.
They went their separate ways.
A
security guard knocked at the door of his captain's office to give a report. He
entered as he was told. Jackson, the captain, was reading the night news on the
computer while biting a cigarette in his mouth.
Guard:
(salutes) Everything's normal, sir.
Jackson:
(puffs impatiently) That's perfect.
The
guard descended. Before he did, he looked at the plasma screens on the wall,
showing the places captured by CCTV cameras located all around the premise,
just to be sure.
Dias
carefully opened a hatch and peeped down. A security camera was clinging onto the
ceiling. It was the size of an almond, but still it caught her eye. She found a
wire on the side of the camera and pulled it loose. She hopped down from the
hatch and landed softly on the floor. West followed. The two crept across the
darkened corridor. They were fast on their feet, but also silent. At a
junction, Dias peeped carefully to check that there was no one and no CCTV
camera. She nodded to West, and left him as she turned into the corridor.
West
walked the other way and stopped in front of a door. He stuck a device to the
door and checked signs of temperature change. No one was inside. Using a
decoder card, he deactivated the lock on the door and removed the device. He
entered and closed the door immediately behind him. He stuck the device back to
the door.
Machines
surrounded the room. The ventilators hummed. He found his way into a smaller
room, guarded by another lock. He slipped the decoder card into the door and
opened it again. There was an expensive minicomputer, which’s screen was blinking.
He put a small disc Fitch prepared into the disc drive and hacked it with a
program. He selected the power supply to area 3 and shut it down. Everything
turned dark.
He
activated a green torch and navigated his way back out of the room unheard.
Dias
saw the light dimmed in area 3. She proceeded down the corridor to a room with
a black door. Before she decoded the door, she used the door device to make
sure no one was inside. She opened the door and entered, she stuck it to the
back of the door afterwards.
She
accessed to the panel of the computer lying at the far end of the room. It was controlling
all cameras in the place. She shut down the security cameras. She adjusted her
intercom microphone hidden in her hair and called Harriet.
Dias:
Commander, Dias speaking. You are clear.
Harriet:
(through intercom) I read you. We’ll start working. Stay there until we’re
finished.
Suddenly,
she heard the device she stuck behind the door hiss. Temperature change was
detected, which indicated someone was coming. She didn’t have enough time to
hide when he stormed in through the door and attacked her. Her hand was on the
gun, but she was not quick enough. Strong arms gripped her, retaining her from
movement.
Jackson
was told that there was something wrong with the power supply. He left his
office, and no one was there to look at the plasma screens. And surely, no one
would notice when they suddenly went blank.
Harriet’s
green torch fell on a door with a golden plate which wrote, ‘Vice Director, Kit
Wan’. They were there. Before they could enter, Harriet raised a hand to halt
Fitch’s action. She turned off her torch and pressed herself against the wall.
They waited in the shadows until four guards walk pass the place on the
corridor perpendicular to that they were standing, without noticing them.
She
turned the torch back on and opened the door with a decoder card. The two
entered and locked the door. It was empty, with only a computer on top of a
desk. Quickly, Fitch sprang into action. He unplugged everything from the
computer on the desk and connected the wires to a handheld computer he brought
with him. He inserted a disc into the disc drive and broke into the system with
ease. He replaced the disc with another one and uploaded a program into the network—‘the
blind’.
When
he was finished, he reconnected the wires to the computer on the desk and put
everything back into place. Harriet checked on her remote indicator. The device
up in the vent showed her it was clear. She nodded to Fitch, and they went
outside.
When
they were back in the vent, Harriet called Dias.
Harriet:
Dias, do you copy?
There
was no reply. She tried again, but still she received no response. The intercom
microphone (com) wasn’t even turned on. Harriet was worried—she knew the
possible dangers. She tried not to show her alarm and contacted West.
Harriet:
West?
West:
(through com) Yeah, Commander?
Harriet:
Your location?
West:
Air vent in area 4.
Harriet: Head
to the control room and see what’s with Dias.
West:
Why?
Harriet:
Lost contact with her. CCTV hasn’t been restored. Look for her.
West:
(hesitates) Right.
Fitch
patted her on the shoulder to warn her that someone was coming. She immediately
shut the intercom and kept silent. They heard footsteps coming down the
corridor. Two guards exchanged a brief conversation when they passed.
Guard1:
Someone must have slipped in here. We must find them.
Guard2:
I wonder what they’re up to.
Guard1:
If they’re trying to steal something, there’s nothing for them.
Dias was dragged outside of the control room and when she struggled, the
small intercom microphone fell from her hair onto the floor and broke. Her
captor sensed her attempting to draw her gun, and he smashed her hopes by
confiscating her weapon. The lights were switched on in the corridor outside,
and her captor could see her face and uniform clearly.
Sumner: A
teenage girl? Whatever you’re up to, you can’t do it alone. Where are the others?
Dias
tried to wrestle free from him, but he was too strong. His hands firmly gripped
her from behind, hurting her wrists. She could not turn, but she knew that her
captor was at least seven feet tall and had long black hair.
Dias:
I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Sumner:
(twists her wrist) Tell me where your friends are, and I’ll let you go.
The
offer was tempting, but she could not betray her fellow agents.
Dias:
Never.
Sumner:
I’ll break your arms.
Dias:
Go ahead.
He
really twisted her arms hard but she refused to say a word. When the pain got
worse, she screamed.
West
heard the noise. He hopped down from a hatch and dashed to her rescue. He
pointed his gun at the man.
West:
Hands off her!
Dias:
West...
Sumner: I
suggest you take care of yourself first.
West
paid no heed to what he was saying. He had to think fast. He already sensed his
enemy making a move.
Dias:
West, get out of here!
Sumner:
(looks at Dias’s gun) You have a nice gun. It’s the latest model, XT-960, very
powerful.
The
man used Dias's laser gun and shot her in her back. He immediately pushed her
to the floor and fired at West. West sidestepped and avoided the laser with
amazing agility. He returned fire but it was no good. The man had reinforcements—an
army of robotic guards came rushing with their weapons.
Suddenly,
someone fired rapidly at the robotic guards, destroying many of them.
Harriet:
(appears from the hatch) West!
Harriet
and Fitch reached the scene just in time. Fitch tossed him a rope.
Harriet:
Climb up. I’ll cover you.
West
scooped Dias up from the floor, and Fitch pulled them up. Harriet shot at the
remaining guards. They managed to escape through the air vent.
Harriet
found an empty conference room on the seventh floor of the premise. She hoped
the guards would not be able to track them down for the time being. Fitch’s
mind was on another thing.
Fitch:
I’ll contact the pilot.
Harriet: Go
ahead.
Fitch
moved to the next room with his handheld computer. Harriet sighed a little. Why
couldn’t he just be a normal person? Well, he was truly a genius at
computers, but somehow, he had trouble interacting with people.
West
laid Dias down on the floor and examined her wound. The shot penetrated through
her body, leaving a black hole. Her face was pale from bleeding excessively.
She was beyond help. Harriet approached.
Harriet:
(whispers) How is she?
West: (shakes his head) I don’t
know.
A sharp pain cut Dias and she grabbed onto West’s arm. She looked up at
him with tearful eyes as she reached for his gun. He hesitated.
West:
Dias…
Dias:
(begs softly) Please do it…
He
could hardly control his rising emotions. He slowly drew his gun. She was in so
much pain, and he knew he could end her suffering, but he thought he could
never bring himself to shoot her.
Dias:
Please…
With
sudden determination, he raised the gun to her head. He closed his eyes and
fired.
Harriet
shuddered.
The
shot took Dias’s life instantly—and it brought injury to his own heart as well.
He held Dias’s lifeless hand in his own.
West:
I’m sorry, Dias.
Harriet
sighed. She wanted to run out of the room, but she didn’t.
Harriet:
(after a moment of silence, to West) We’ll have to leave her. Take her ID and
all her devices. (bites her lower lip) We can’t let them find out anything
about us from her.
West
reluctantly nodded, and searched Dias’s uniform and took everything. He spotted
a ring on her middle finger. Memories of the past haunted him, but it wasn’t
the right time. He slipped it out and took it before rejoining Harriet at the
door.
Harriet:
(avoids looking at him) Let’s move on. Fitchie’s in the next room.
West:
Yes, Commander.
He
followed her. They walked in uncomfortable silence for a while.
West:
Harriet?
Harriet:
(stops and turns) Yeah?
West:
If I ever got hurt like that, do the same for me.
Harriet:
(nods) I will. But I hope I would never have to.