Chapter 4

"Well, well, well. Now we know where she has stashed Tom. Look, Sloan, up above Pasadena in the mountains, a place called the narrows. There is a place where the highway just disappears. There are tunnels through the mountain. One of these tunnels opens up into the base. Literally right under the mountain. We never would have found it."

"Now that I have a place, maybe I can get some help. Please excuse me, I have some telephone calls to make. Mark, did you say something the other day about an anesthetic gas?"

Walter disappeared into the other room with Mark.

Ed goes over to Sloan and puts his hands on her shoulders. "Don't worry. We'll get him back. Mark says he's alive. That's got to count for something. Besides I'm probably going to get a real talking to from him. You’ve lost weight. I kept telling you to eat. Maybe I should have sat on you and stuffed pizza down your throat. Anyway you better find your shoes. We're probably not going to be here much longer." He looked down at her feet. "I at least wore shoes."

Sloan giggles. "Somehow I don't consider sandals to be shoes. Besides, what if he is alive but she has done unspeakable things to him? I don't want to rescue him only to have him die in my arms."

"Hey, Walter knows how these things work. If he's sure that we can get Tom, we will. And if he thinks Tom will be all right, he will. Now what you have to do is make sure you are ready for him. He may be changed. He may not be the man you knew. If this has broken him, would you still love him? Or do you only love the strong, confident Tom that came to us months ago."

Sloan looks at him in amazement. "Ed, how could you say such a thing? When he was shot, I didn't care. When I saw the body of his brother I almost died, and I still loved him after he tried to kill me in the lab. How could you say that?"

"Because this time, he could be a mental basket case. He could be weak or indecisive or worse. Sloan, what if he doesn't know you? You read some of the cases that came back from 'Nam. He hasn't been to war like that, but I bet he's been in his own private hell. We don't know what they did to him. I just want you to be prepared. He may need a lot of help. If you really love him as much as you say, you’ve got to be prepared. He'll be able to feel what you feel unless they have damaged that part of him. You can't let any part of you turn away from him. Not physically, not mentally, not emotionally. If Tom is damaged, in any way, forget me, forget Walter, forget everything but getting him better."

'I love him, Ed. I don't need to hear this. I can't believe you would say such a thing."

Ed had always hated violence. Maybe that was why he was wary of Tom, maybe it was just jealousy of Sloan, but this was too important to let her walk away from. He grabs her arm and pulls her to him. "Sloan, listen to me. If Tom can't walk or talk or see or hear or, or… anything, I don't want you to treat him one bit different. Not one iota. He's a human being and deserves dignity and not pity. Do you hear me, no pity!" With that he drops her arm and walks off, leaving Sloan looking at him with surprise. She never would have thought Ed would say such a thing about Tom.

She thinks about what Ed said to her. He had shaken her faith in herself. Did she only love the strong man she had come to know? Or did she love the man himself? She stroked the knife hanging at her side. It comforted her. Could she be the strong one and help Tom in that way? She decided that that she had no choice. She could be, because she had to be. Now to wait and see what Walter was up to.

Ed was angry, with both Sloan and himself. For the first time he realized how really guilty he felt about the Genogenesis serum. Part of the fault of Tom's kidnapping was his. He didn't know how he was going to make it up to him. If Tom were severely injured he would never forgive himself. His oath said 'First do no harm'. He had been so wrapped up in anger and revenge he forgot what he was doing. He forgot Tom was a man, Homo dominant or not. He was a human being, and you don't experiment with a human subject like that. Not even if he volunteered and he wasn't truly a volunteer, not with the way he felt about Sloan. He had treated him worse than a test animal, for that he could never forgive himself, even if Tom could forgive him.

Several hours later Walter entered the living room where Sloan and Ed were sitting pointedly not talking to each other. "Well, it looks like we are one happy family. We're going in, in less than 72 hours. Mark is going to supply an anesthetic gas to the military. But first we are going to give my former boss a headache. If we don't destroy her bases she will try this again. The only reason she was able to pull this off was she was able to conceal it through the network of lies she created."

"First we will destroy most of her bases. We've been planning on this all along so all we must do is implement. Approximately 24 hours before our rescue we will destroy the bases. They will be hit simultaneously. She will have only a single fall back position.

"Then we go in the back door. I have confirmation that the Black Berets will be the attack troops at the front gate. Black Berets are covert ops. They are the very best. They started in Vietnam and will try to take as many alive as possible but they have no compunctions about going against our own troops. It could get very ugly.

We will have the loan of 4 Hueys from the military. They will be our way in and out. Ed, you will be at our temporary base for clean up. We will be getting all the Dominant prisoners out. We don't know what kind of shape they will be in. Our friend Nexus has provided us with a place to work from. The location was on one of the CD's. It is an old warehouse that has been set up as a hospital. It is quite completely equipped. However we won't be moving you, until her bases have been destroyed. If she's busy, the likelihood of your being discovered is minimal.

"Ed, what you have to do after we get him out is key. We don't know what they have done. You will have to do triage, not only on Tom but also on the others. The Dominants expect we may get as many as 20 prisoners out of there. Some will have been there for some time. We don't know what drugs or other things may have been used on them. The gas will stunt their sensing and empathic ability. Because we don't know what they may have had we can't give them any antidotes. Their abilities will return within 24 to 48 hours. They most likely will have to be restrained for that time. Sloan, you will be coming with us."

Ed objects, "Walter, she'll be in a lot of danger. Why?"

"Mark says that Tom has formed an attachment to Sloan. If this is so when he wakes up she must be there. He may become violent in an effort to find her. He will do anything to find her. If she is there she can calm him when no one else can. I objected also but Mark convinced me that it would be for the best. She will not be going inside with us, but she must be close so she can care for him afterwards."

"I've also contacted Ray. He'll be coming with us. His family will be staying with members of the Coexistence Faction. And Ed I really need you to crack that file on the last CD. I don't know what's on it but it must be important."

Ed grins. "I don't know if I can crack it. I've never seen so many layers of security. The only good thing is that it probably can't be accidentally erased. I think it would be easier to hack into the Pentagon than get at that file."

"I expect it was done deliberately. Nexus intended it for someone or something special. The problem is I don't know who or what. When you give up the ghost on it we'll turn it over to Sloan. She might have some insight."

"Well, as to that, I've been trying to help, but my brain has turned to mush about that. I don't know what 'Butterfly' means. Ed, maybe you should translate it into another language to get the key?"

"Maybe, but this is a hard nut to crack."