[MD2, 5:10PM, the black building]
>Hearing the flames licking at the walls, Kate moved the
>rest of the team towards the center of the building. The
>same thought seemed to pass through the entire team at
>once, "Who knew what would happen if the fire came in,
>with all of these unknown chemicals here?" Unfortunately
>for them, the same thought ran through Docker's mind as
>well as a third canister flew in through a window
>behind them and exploded on the opposite wall, raining fire
>over the interior of the complex.
>
>Kate yelled over the roar of the fire, "There's got to be
>another way out of here! Split up and find it!"
Acrid smoke was already thick in the air, and it was only going to get worse. Kate pulled a corner of her jacket over her mouth and nose. That helped - a little bit, but they had to get out of the building and fast. The rest of the team was examining the walls, looking for what might be a door or window, but the entire surface of the walls was smooth. Kate looked up at the small hole where the canister had come through. If that was a window, then it was too far up the wall to do them any good in escaping. But if it wasn’t, maybe getting out would be easier than she thought.
She pulled her gun, took aim at the wall, and fired off six rounds with no effect except to draw the attention of the rest of the team. "It was just a thought," she shouted to them. "Keep looking!"
"Kate!" Flynn called, "take a look at this."
He was standing halfway between her and the wall, staring at the floor. Kate ran over to him. "Find something, I hope."
He pointed at the marks on the floor. "It looks like something’s been dragged through here, in that direction," he said, and pointed at a flame-free section of the building. "Might be a way out."
Or it might be where something was dragged in, Kate thought, but it beat standing around waiting to be incinerated. They followed the marks to a spot where the wall seemed to bulge. As they approached, a door slid open to reveal a small chamber that appeared to be a communications center. A dozen video screens were built into one wall, all of them active and showing what appeared to be some kind of laboratory where a few people were working.
"What the.. That’s the Richmond boy," Flynn said, pointing at one of the screens in the instant before a small explosion shook the building and all the screens went black.
"Come on," Sharlyn shouted to everyone. "Let’s get out of here."
Emerging from the small room, they saw that a hole had opened in the wall and everyone rushed through it into the somewhat cleaner air outside. Dinah was the first to grab her phone to call in a report of the fire as they were rushing back to the relative safety of the trees.
"That lab has to be around here somewhere," Flynn said to Kate as the group gathered at the edge of the woods and turned to watch the building burn. Seeing the others giving him a curious look, he told them what they’d found.
"They had Logan Richmond there," Newt asked.
Flynn nodded. "I spotted him, but we didn’t have a chance to study the screens too closely."
"There wasn’t any lab in there, unless it was camouflaged somehow," September said.
Kate shook her head. "I don’t think so. A lab would have fire alarms, and they didn’t look too concerned about anything."
A tremendous roar came from the building as the flames suddenly leapt and engulfed the whole structure. A moment later the walls bulged, rumbled and exploded with enough force to almost knock the team off their feet.
*****
[6:00PM, the cabins]
The team finally got back to the cabins, reeking of smoke, exhausted and, since they’d never gotten around to going to lunch, starving. As they emerged from the woods into the clearing where the cabins were located, they were debating the merits of cleaning up before heading into town to get a decent meal. It was finally decided that no one really wanted to wait that long, so they headed for the cars.
As she opened the door, Kate saw the envelope laying on the seat. She picked it up and frowned.
"What’s that," Newt asked.
Kate shook her head, opened the envelope and read the note:
>Docker tried to incinerate your team. Unfortunately for him,
>a small explosion created a new doorway. You have an ally,
>who can help you with valuable information. But, you have
>to trust, just as you trust your boys. And, as you are
starting
>to trust Josh Peters. My sources and information can even the
>playing field.
>
>Alone. 8pm. The children's playground. ALONE!
The blood drained from Kate’s face as she read the line ‘just as you trust your boys.’ Whoever wrote it knew just the right buttons to push. She read the note two more times, searching for an implied threat, or something to tell her what was going on. It sounded like a trap, but she didn’t see where she had much choice.
September came up next to her. "Everything all right?"
"Fine," Kate said. She folded the note and tucked it in her pocket. "Let’s get going."
*****
[7:50PM, the playground]
As soon as they got back from dinner, Kate told the others she was going for a jog and slipped out of the cabins. She’d circled the playground at a distance and found a vantage point where she could survey most of the surrounding area. And waited.
There was no movement in the woods, except for a few birds and a few million flying insects. Finally, she saw some movement on the other side of the playground. She could just make out a male form in the trees. Focusing on him, she saw his face - in particular his eyes. He was looking straight at her.
Kate tightened her grip on her gun, which was already drawn and hidden behind her - no sense taking unnecessary chances - and waited to see what would happen next.
Back to mission logs.