

Corporate Immortality

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2003-2005 by Rodney Mountain

ReEditing © 2017 Rodney Mountain

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Other Titles by Rodney Mountain

Immortal Universe Novels

The Healy Murders

The Accidental Immortal

Undercover

The Killer Strikes

Anoki's Revenge

The Immortal Progression

Not With A Whisper

The Mullinix: Ascension

The Mullinix: Redemption

The Mullinix: Resolution

Other Works

Durell's Insurrection

Night Strike (Short Story Anthology)

The Black Fossil

Dedication

This book is dedicated to Rael, considering without him it would never have been in the first place. The story started out as a side project to help him define some of his characters and turned into a full blown novel.

Then when we found out some of the characters were perilously close to another published work (one we won't advertise cause we're still pissed about that fact) he sat for hours talking to me while we decided to rebuild this story into a true sequel to Anoki's Revenge, despite the fact that it was originally written several years earlier.

Rael has been a good friend for many years and has sat through hours of me talking out plots for virtually every book I have written, a process that likely will continue for years to come. This book is for him, as it is almost as much his as it is mine.
Foreward

It's been a long time since I wrote this book, a good fourteen or fifteen years since I truly started it. This one has an interesting history and more than a little bit of retroactive continuity. I always had a soft spot for it, but it was never one of my technically best works, mainly resulting from the half-assed retcon I did back when we figured out that Rael's original team was too close to someone else's published work.

For better or worse, this one is the definitive version of the book. I've reworked many parts that didn't make sense and having freshly done a re-editing job on Anoki's Revenge I've smoothed many differences between Toshi's character in this and the way she was in the first book. On my initial reread that was what struck me the most, the difference between the 26 year old Toshiko Shiniki from Anoki's Revenge and the 36 year old Toshi in this book. Hopefully, she makes more sense now.

The events in this book make a big difference to the next book in the series, so I wanted to get this one into shape. Hopefully it's become more than just a half-assed amalgamation of short stories that it started life as.
Chapter 1 - Satellite Landing

It was a clear day in the desert, the sky was blue and the vultures were out and looking for a meal. Visibility was good for miles, so it wasn't overly difficult to see the space plane as it careened uncontrollably out of orbit on a trajectory that appeared to be heading directly towards the sole cactus left in the area.

The craft, slightly scorched from its awkward reentry but still showing the US Armed Services insignia on the front, obliterated the cactus in a display that would have any environmentalist up in arms about what people were doing to the planet. It came to a rest in the sand, buried most of the way up the front hatch.

It didn't take long for the sand to start moving with a good deal of it falling into the craft when the half buried hatch opened. The first thing to emerge from the craft was a rather large weapon. It was a self designed hybrid that bore some likeness to an old M74 with a couple portable computers attached.

A head of dirty blonde followed the weapon out and a pair of young eyes scanned the landscape for any possible threats. He pulled his large body out of the craft, spilling even more sand into it. A mischievous smile was on the face as he climbed out and danced around a little on the hot sand.

"We made it!" Greg Kaczmarek exclaimed, "We're back on terra firma!"

Greg Kaczmarek was followed out of the craft by an older man, one that stood a bit shorter than the large man, but held a lot more authority in his practiced eyes. He looked around the desert and shook his head, not particularly thrilled to find that he'd guided their craft into one of the most desolate areas of the country.

"Did we at least hit North America, Major?" Colonel Glen Strader asked his partner.

"The blast messed up our GPS locator, Colonel," Greg informed him, "But I saw Florida as we came in. My guess is that we hit somewhere in the American Southwest."

"NASA was probably tracking our reentry," Strader said, "The Army will probably have someone out here soon."

"I hope so," Greg said as he looked at the sun, "Our gooses will be cooked in this sunshine if nobody shows up soon."

Strader nodded and kept an eye out over the horizon. It didn't take long for him to recognize one of the advanced hover-huey silent personnel carriers heading straight for them. The GPS and most of the communications hardware may have failed, but the homing device was obviously still working.

"There they are," Strader said, "You realize that there's a good chance they're going to hand us our asses over that mess up on the space station?"

"It's not our fault the Tabiri decided to go schizoid on us," Greg protested.

"Somehow I doubt that's going to matter," Glen said, "Because the men in the Huey don't look particularly happy."

And Strader was right, they didn't look happy. In fact, the face of Strader and Kaczmarek's direct superior looked decidedly pissed. Both men gulped when they saw General Stanform on the seat in the Huey.

"Get in here," Stanform ordered them, "You two have a lot of explaining to do. Where is the Tabiri?"

"She blew up with the station," Strader said, "She was half the problem."

"I'm sure," Stanform scowled, "Get in here and we'll do the debriefing. Then, we'll decide whether to court marshal your asses for that stunt you pulled. That explosion damaged eight high dollar communications satellites, two military satellites, and all the GPS locator satellites for North America!"

The color in Strader and Kaczmarek's faces drained almost in unison. They knew now that it wasn't the GPS unit itself that was down but the entire North American GPS system. They knew now that they were in real trouble.

"Fine mess you've gotten us into this time, Major Disaster," Strader said, looking at his partner.

All Kaczmarek could do was shrug.

Chapter 2 - The Trial

Major Gregory Kaczmarek and Colonel Glendon Strader were both in full military dress uniform sitting in front of a tribunal that had been mounted to determine their fates. Both faced serious charges in conjunction with the space disaster and it looked as though they were going to be made the scapegoats for the industrial people that were angered by the loss of the valuable satellites, something it took months to rebuild and millions in lost service fees.

Neither man had the money for a lawyer, so they were being represented by a lowly JAG Private who was handling the defense for both of them. The presentation had been quick, and everyone there knew that this was practically a Kangaroo court. Both Kaczmarek and Strader were likely going to be going away for a long time.

Strader was getting ready to accept being put in prison for a long time when he saw a young woman walk into the courtroom. She was fairly plain and average, her one defining feature was a pair of oddly shaped glasses. She showed very little restraint and headed up towards the front of the room.

"This is a closed court marshal," the presiding officer said, "Who are you?"

"My name is Julia O'Bryon," the woman said, an air of formality pervading her voice, "I've been asked to help with the disposition of the case. I'm here to provide proper representation for Colonel Strader and Major Kaczmarek."

"Who hired you?" the presiding officer asked.

"I work for the A51 Redevelopment Organization," Julia told them, "I'm coming in with Presidential approval to help build a consensus settlement in this matter."

She walked up to the front desk where the officer's panel was sitting. Greg and Glen looked at each other and watched Julia talk for a few minutes. Neither man knew what the strange woman was up to, but at this point they figured they had very little to lose.

"I'm calling a recess while we look at this new information," the presiding officer said, "Take the prisoners to a holding room while we work on this."

Strader and Kaczmarek were walked over to a small room where they were locked to two chairs, as was the practice with any prisoners. Greg looked at Glen and tried to figure out what had just happened.

"What the hell is going on here, Colonel?" Greg said, "Who is the broad?"

"I don't know," Strader said, "But if she can get us out of this I'm all for it. How about you?"

"But why?" Greg said slowly, "I mean we're nobodies, right?"

"All we can do is wait," Strader told the younger man, his stoic tone hiding the fear he was feeling.

A few minutes an older man walked into the room and sat down across the table from the two prisoners. He looked like an executive, but gave the aura of knowing much more than a standard suit. He had two Manila folders, which he placed neatly in front of him as he sat down. The new man was slightly older, but he carried his years well and studied Greg and Glen intently, with the practiced eye of a detective.

"Not what I was expecting," Sam Remordis said as he evaluated the men, "Glendon Strader, Colonel US Army. Started in the air infantry, joined special forces about a decade ago. Seconded to the Area 51 secret strike team six years ago. Sole commander of strike force since Colonel Sonya Barchenko's death about two years ago. Career man, right? Your family has been in the soldier business for a long time."

"My family has been in the armed forces since they followed Grant into Appomattox," Strader said, "Several of my ancestors have died for this country."

"And your record honors them," Remordis said as he glanced over the folder, "And you, Gregory Anthony Kaczmarek. Age 22, you've been on the strike force since you joined the military to avoid an explosives charge when you were 17. Is this right?"

"You make it," Kaczmarek agreed, "I can destroy it in twenty minutes or less."

"I see that," Remordis nodded, "You proved that nicely on the international space station explosion that took out the satellites."

"We didn't exactly have much of a choice on that," Strader said sourly, "That was a complete and total cluster fuck."

"I know that too," Remordis said, "But the Army needs a scapegoat and you two are it because you're the survivors. The last survivors of a covert team that the federal government would like to forget exists."

"I know," Strader agreed, "I heard they're even selling off the Area 51 facility."

"That they are," Remordis said, "And you're looking at a representative of the buyer."

"Just who are you?" Greg asked him, "And how did you get in to talk to us?"

"About time you asked," The man said with a smile on his face, "My name is Sam Remordis. I work for Foundation Robotics, who purchased Area 51 and its contents to turn into a research facility. We're a multinational concern whose main business is technology. We research, we develop, and we adapt. We also have adapted several pieces of alien technology to civilian and military uses."

"So how come we've never heard of you?" Strader asked him.

"The company itself is privately held," Remordis explained, "They own many companies and other fronts. It operates behind the scenes to sell many brands and avoid the very archaic rules on monopolies. I've been with them since I retired from being a cop ten years ago. I've yet to find everyone who runs it. I'm not sure any one person actually does now."

"Very nice and all, but what does any of this have to do with us?" Greg asked the man.

"We deal with technology," Remordis smiled, "So we've had our problems with the southwest rebels and the occasional aliens over the years. The government is trying to get out of the business, so we found it to be a better idea to just take over. We've bought the Area 51 base that your team operated out of, and we're converting it into a modern research and development facility."

"All well and good," Strader said, "But what does this have to do with the mess we're in now and who is the skirt?"

"Julia knows law better than most people twice her age," Remordis told them, "She's also a complete barracuda in the courtroom. She'll have the charges brought down to misdemeanors in no time. She may even be able to get you off with a general discharge."

"Despite the fact that I..." Kaczmarek started, before getting a hand over his mouth from Strader.

"You didn't do this for nothing," Strader said, his eyes boring into his subordinate, "Why are you getting us out of this?"

"I want you to continue your work," Remordis said, "We'll double your pay and give you a whole range of new toys to work with. Instead of being underpaid and badly equipped we'll give you the best of what we have. In return, any technology you pick up during your battles goes straight to Company R&D. You will also be testing our military wares in a way that no one else can. In the field."

"Most of my team was decimated," Strader reminded him, "Greg is the only one left alive in any serviceable condition other than myself."

"I realize that as well," Remordis agreed, "If you agree to this we will be giving you a prototype of the latest in the Anoki line."

"Not another Tabiri," both Kaczmarek and Strader groaned.

"Definitely not," Remordis smiled, "The Tabiri units were simple battle droids, not suited to the close quarter specialty work you do. They're also being decommissioned because of the problems with their AI. This one is an Anoki 9.0 unit, the latest revision of the conscious protocol set that got me into this business."

"So Anoki is a better unit?" Strader asked, intrigued.

"It's like comparing a moped to a Harley," Remordis smiled, "She carries an enhanced titanium battle chassis, half the weight, twice the reflexes. She looks great and she's sentient as well. A full neural net computer system rides in her abdomen. She learns and acts just like a human, only a hell of a lot faster. She is based on the initial Anoki wet brain unit that was the first one to attain consciousness ten years ago."

"So we go from prisoners to double salary?" Greg said, impressed, "I don't know about you Colonel, but I'm in."

"It beats going to the stockade," Strader agreed, "Do we get our old work rooms back?"

"Yes," Remordis nodded, "Since we did away with the old military purpose of the base we also allotted the old barracks unit for your team."

"I get to run the team my way," Strader said, making his own demand, "With minimal interference from the corporation?"

"Within reason," Remordis agreed, "I am heading out to Nevada to take over administration of the facility. Julia will be assigned to cover your legal backside after your missions. We're also subcontracting for the government so your team could be called upon at any time to take care of any threat."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Strader said, "When do we begin?"

"As soon as Julia finishes facilitating your release," Remordis shrugged, "I expect her to come in...."

Before he could even finish the sentence the young woman who had interrupted the court marshal came in and laid out a couple of pieces of paper on the desk, along with pens ready for Kaczmarek and Strader to use. She smiled at Remordis and nodded.

"I got it," Julia told them, "Pled down to willful destruction of government property in performance of duties. Slap on the wrist, really. They agree to an immediate general discharge, still covered by the espionage act. No jail time or fines."

"Impressive, Julia," Remordis nodded, "Better than I expected. I half expected a dishonorable."

"They were scapegoats," Julia shrugged, "The judges knew it and decided that it wouldn't be worth a full court fight. They pled it out and did so happily."

"We're free to go?" Kaczmarek asked, surprised.

"All you need to do is take the job," Remordis agreed.

"Consider it taken," Strader said, actually smiling.

"Absolutely!" Greg agreed.

The MP's came in and unlocked both men and they left under their own power. A car was waiting for them outside the base and whisked them back towards Area 51. Strader looked out at the passing scenery and wondered what his ancestors would say if they knew what he was doing. Considering what the country had done to him, he couldn't find it in him to care.

Chapter 3 - Homecoming

It felt strange to Strader and Kaczmarek to see the same facilities they'd spent so many years living at teeming with civilians. Area 51 had been a secret military base for so long that there were very few civilians there, and what few were there had clearances so high to pretty well ensure that they would be very boring people indeed.

"Welcome home, Colonel," Remordis said, "I'm sure you can find your way around."

"You said my team would be based out of the same area?" Strader asked him.

"Your quarters are the way you left them," Remordis nodded, "The Military sent Adrian Rodriguez's family his stuff after his death on the space station so his quarters were repurposed and have been taken over by Toshiko Shiniki."

"Who's that?" Kaczmarek said, "And what about my quarters?"

"The guard dogs refused to go into your quarters," Remordis said, frowning, "We were hoping you'd be kind enough to disable the explosive devices in there. Toshi is going to be a member of your team. She's 36, brilliant, and one hell of a lady. She also doubles as a maintenance technician for Anoki 9.0."

"Those were still there?" Strader said, surprised about the explosives, "I thought I told you to disable those six months ago!"

"I was just starting the process when we got called for the space mission," Kaczmarek explained, "I'll do it this week if I have time."

"Make time," Strader instructed him.

"Is the explosive bunker still down below the base?" Kaczmarek asked thoughtfully, "I need a place to detonate those."

"We were considering using it for storage," Remordis said, "You called it an explosives bunker?"

"It was an explosive test facility," Greg explained, "I used to use it to test the packages I created. It's designed to withstand anything up to and including a small nuclear weapon. To use that space for storage would be a crime."

"We were wondering why it was made so well," Remordis nodded, "The army didn't bother to give us a map or explanation of the facilities when they turned the place over."

"There are two entrances," Colonel said, deciding to fill things in for his former employer, "One in the building next to us and one in the science quarters."

"We don't need such a large explosives facility," Remordis said, "Do you know who the contractor was?"

"I designed it," Greg said proudly, "What do you want to do to it?"

"Split it in half," Remordis said, "Half for your work and half for the scientific explorations."

"Easy enough," Greg shrugged, "There's already a steel wall that comes up out of the floor designed to contain a blast. It's sectional and works in a figure eight to give two small compartments and one large one. Just put up the middle wall and we're separated."

"The south side is yours then," Remordis said, "I believe that entrance is in the building we allotted for you."

"Greg," Strader told him, "Why don't you just make your quarters down there since you live for the explosives anyway? We can use your current one as a place for one of the replacement team."

"Cool!" Kaczmarek exclaimed, "I'm all about that one!"

"I figured," Strader chuckled, "You've wanted to do that since you created the place."

"Damn right!" Greg agreed, "You'll see me in about a day or so."

"So tell me more about Toshiko Shiniki," Colonel asked Remordis as they walked towards the quarters, "You know her well?"

"She got me into this business," Remordis said, "Aftermath of the accident that created the first Anoki protocol. She's a brilliant scientist in her own right and has been a field agent for the corporation since she was in her early twenties. I'm sure you will be able to work with her."

"Sounds like an interesting addition," Colonel agreed, "Anyone else I need to know about?"

"You'll probably end up with some more people eventually," Remordis said, "Until we figure out exactly where you lie I think the four of you will do though."

"Four?" Colonel said, "You sound like you're considering the bot a member of the team."

"So will you when you meet her," Remordis smiled, "Anoki is quite the lady, the result of a transference experiment gone wrong ten years ago. Toshi tells me that she watches too much television now, so expect the odd catchphrase or two."

"I guess I'm due for a meeting," Colonel told him, "Lead the way."

Remordis and Strader went into the main building, which was now outfitted with a brand-new hand print identification system, something that Strader had been pushing to have installed for over a year. The building itself was nearly unrecognizable to Strader, as it had been completely renovated and brought up to modern building codes.

"Impressive," Strader said as he looked around, "You have a good team here. This place was on the edge of being condemned last time I was here."

"This was a fringe project for the government," Remordis reminded Strader, "It's much more of a high priority for us. We expect to get the latest and greatest of international technology out of your missions. Basically you'll be doing the same stuff you always did, but with better support and more of a mercenary purpose."

"You kept us out of the brig," Strader agreed, "Not to mention the Government quite obviously doesn't want us anymore. Might as well do something useful."

The two men were interrupted by the sound of bladed combat coming from one of the training rooms. Remordis didn't sound overly concerned, so Strader took his cue from his new boss and calmly went over to the training room.

Two women were battling each other with full blade samurai swords under the watchful eye of a young woman of Pacific heritage. The smaller one of the two used a pair of smaller swords while the taller one used a single longer blade. The taller one's blade was obviously tipped and dulled, but the smaller girl's swords were flat out sharp blades with no protection.

Remordis watched impassively at the display in the ring. Strader was a little concerned at the fact that the real swords were being used in a practice combat, but again deferred to Remordis. The fight was actually a pretty good one with neither one landing any particularly good blows.

Finally, the smaller girl managed a perfect forward roll under the larger blade and managed a full stab in the abdomen of the taller girl. Strader flinched when he saw the blood splatter, but again Remordis said nothing. The taller girl fell down and hit the floor, but to Strader's surprise she was up again and smiling.

"Point to Toshi!" the young woman said, "Looks like you need to dial up the power on her next time, Anoki."

"You may be right, Nikki," Anoki 9.0 said as she checked out her abdomen, "Good match, Toshi. Looks like my flesh regenerator has some work this afternoon."

"You can catch it during your TV time," Toshiko Shiniki told her, "If you go upload the match statistics into the machine I'll come over and fix that scratch."

"I'll get the scratch," Nikki told her, "See you in the regen chamber, Anoki."

Nikki left the room quickly, nodding to Remordis and Strader, but Toshi and Anoki took notice of the new entrants into the room. Sam Remordis motioned for them to come over and meet Colonel Strader.

"Toshi," Remordis said, "Before you and Anoki go I have someone for you to meet."

"Who was the girl who ran off?" Strader asked Remordis quietly.

"Her name is Nikki," Remordis said as the two girls approached, "She's a quiet one, snapped her up out of Stanford last year. She's got a doctorate in computer-medical physics. She helps with various projects, a jack of all trades."

Strader nodded and greeted the two approaching women with a smile. Toshi and Anoki looked at each other and shrugged. Strader himself was almost in awe once he realized exactly what Anoki was. He'd heard stories about a conscious wet brain unit, but nothing could prepare him for the reality of seeing Anoki in person.

"What's up, Sam?" Toshi asked him, "Anoki and I were just doing our usual workout."

"I want you to meet your new boss," Remordis said, "This is Colonel Glen Strader. He is the one who was leading the original area 51 strike team."

"You're the one who screwed over the satellites," Toshi said, holding out her hand, "That created a nice mess over in the electronics group. We had three Tabiri units go ape shit during that mess when they lost contact. Thankfully their kill switches actually worked right for once."

"Don't get me started on Tabiri," Strader growled as he shook hands with the young woman, "The Tabiri 8.2 unit we had up there with us damn near got us killed."

"Those things are a disaster," Toshi told him, "We were trying to work out a hybrid on the AI for the Tabiri chassis units when one of the idiot assistants pulled the control spike. She killed four people before Anoki managed to put her down for us. They're the most unreliable droids I've ever seen, and I've dealt with four cases of accidental transference and several cases of wet brain blocks being bypassed."

"I'll be glad to see the Tabiri out of service," Anoki said, "I've got their entire AI in my memory bank and it's almost an embarrassment. How the heck does anything live in something that small?"

"Colonel Strader," Remordis said with a smile, "I present Miss Anoki 9.0. She's a conscious wet brain with a Haldeman Revision 9 protocol interface."

"When I'm good, I'm good," Anoki said, performing a dead on imitation of Mae West, "But when I'm bad, I'm better..."

"Get over to the regen unit," Toshi chuckled, "I'll be over in a few. Tell Nikki to get started without me."

Anoki winked at the boys and sauntered away in a rather exaggerated way. Toshi couldn't help but laugh at the display. Strader, after nearly two years of working with various Tabiri units, found the display of humor from a droid rather refreshing.

"This version of Anoki is coming along fine," Toshi told them, "Though her sense of what is appropriate is still sometimes lacking. A long way from the 1.0 interface Harry cobbled together from the Jedi code a decade ago."

"And you're telling me she's related to a Tabiri?" Strader asked incredulously, "There's no blank stare.. No speech delay. She can crack a joke and act like a human being!"

"In body structure only," Toshi told him, "Anoki is the last vestiges of a human personality that was shoved through a subnet connection ten years ago. She's conscious and running on all cylinders. The most we have to do with her is tweak the protocol interface occasionally. She has good instincts and carries Stacy Anoki's digitized memories, though thankfully none of her remaining personality."

"Why thankfully?" Strader wondered, "Not an agreeable person?"

"The beta level was created as an outlaw project," Sam Remordis told him, "I was running a city police R&D group when Rob Homer converted the goddamn undercover test into a transference project. Twenty-four people died by Anoki's hand, between her own priorities and Rob Homer's assassination protocol. We finally stopped her and wiped the protocol matrix to create 1.0."

"Luckily Anoki 9.0 shows none of those problems," Toshi said, "9.0 has been running on her for about a year now."

Strader nodded. He was suitably impressed, though surprised by the history. He decided he needed to know more about Toshiko Shiniki before he could figure out what to do with her and the new droid.

"What are your specialties?" Strader asked her, "I see you have some skill with the blades there."

"The blades are a hobby," Toshi told him, "Anoki goes to about 1/3 power when fighting me to keep me from getting hurt. My real training is cybernetics and computer science. I also know more about intelligence gathering than most spies do. You name it though and I've probably dabbled in it a little. Sam, Anoki and I have worked Foundation intelligence and droid recovery for the last nine years."

"Needed a new challenge?" Strader told her.

"Of course," Toshi replied with a smile, "I had enough of the lab after watching an early transference attempt try to tear me apart a dozen years ago."

"Ouch," Strader said, "Amazed you still spar with one."

"Anoki is not your average droid," Toshi said, "Not that I'm bad or anything..."

"Don't let her fool you, she's one of the best," Remordis informed the Colonel, "She'll be assigned permanently to your team, so utilize her skills."

"How are you with weapons other than blades?" Strader asked her.

"Fair to middling in firearms," she told him, "I can defend myself. I'm a bit better on the computerized ones. Put me in front of a computer and I'm flying."

"She won't be your front line trooper," Remordis said, "But she'll be a great person to have on your rear."

"I'll settle for that," Strader nodded, "Did he warn you what you were getting in to?"

"I'm looking forward to the challenge," Toshi told him, still smiling, "I've been working droid recovery for years, but this is another step up in challenge. I've needed to taste life again."

"Just be careful," Strader cautioned, "You might find out that you don't like the taste."

"You'll find out soon enough," Remordis said, "We want you four outfitted and ready to work as a team in a week. We've been having problems with the rebel groups that have been popping up all over the place. They've also encroached on A51 a few times. That will be part of your charter."

"It will take that long to get all the equipment in place," Strader explained, and then was cut short.

"Most of the equipment is already here," Remordis smiled, "You're not in the military anymore, Glen. We don't have the piles of red tape that you're used to."

"Probably just as many bean counters," he grinned.

"Maybe more," Remordis allowed, "But your team serves a purpose and it will be a moneymaker. That will keep them happy. Just try not to trash another five billion dollar satellite system."

"If you don't send me into space nothing will get destroyed," Strader grinned.

"I don't expect total cohesiveness in a week," Remordis told him, "But we do need you to have the operation fairly well organized by then. The cohesive action will come in time."

"I guess I'd better get started," Strader told him.

Chapter 4 - First Mission

It took Colonel Strader a lot less time than he thought it would to get his team ready. Greg Kaczmarek and Toshiko Shiniki worked well together, although they had direct opposite viewpoints on life. Anoki 9.0 was a wondrous tool, and it didn't take more than a day for Strader to consider her part of the team.

"It looks as though your people are getting along well, Colonel," Sam Remordis said as he observed the training session, "You'd never know that Shiniki and Kaczmarek just met a few days ago."

"It's been interesting," Strader admitted, "And I like Anoki. She is actually useful, unlike those damned Tabiri units."

"The Tabiri units," Remordis reminded him, "Were never really designed to be anything more than a guided missile. They are fine for dropping into enemy territory, just piss poor for special forces work."

"They don't even make good grunts," Strader told him, "They follow orders so literally as to be near useless unless you're giving them minute directions."

"Don't worry," Remordis assured him, "The only ones we have left on the base were put in storage months ago. I'd rather use the ten year-old police droids for security work. They follow orders better."

"Do we have anything on the threat board?" Strader asked his boss.

"Not yet," Remordis told him, "But we're still concerned about the rebel uprising over near Groom Lake. We might have to send your team in there soon."

"We'll be ready," Strader promised.

"You'd better be," a younger man said, "It looks like one of the rebel groups got frisky and ran a raid over on Groom Lake city proper this morning. Killed fourteen people, razed about eight buildings. Looks like they mean business."

"Anything from intelligence?" Strader asked immediately.

"Nothing direct," the young man told them, "The feds are still debating what to do. SigInt picked up a feed an hour ago but can't decrypt it."

"Give it to Toshi," Strader ordered the young man, "If anyone here can work the decryption it'll be her."

"I think it's time for your team to go to work," Remordis said, pleased that he'd recognized Toshi's talents so quickly, "Find these cretins and take them down. Feds won't argue with us taking them down as long as we share the intel."

"Sound the alarm," Colonel Strader instructed.

Remordis hit the alarm button on his way out, content to let Strader run the group how he wanted to. Strader walked into the main room to see his new team sitting around the table that Strader had long ago designated as a briefing room. Some habits simply died hard for the military man.

"New orders just came down the pike," Strader told the assembled group.

"About time," Kaczmarek growled, "We've been sitting on our asses here all week."

"That's a good thing," Shiniki piped in, sliding into the seat next to Kaczmarek with smile, "Means we haven't had to blow up anything yet."

"And you consider this a good thing?" Greg asked her with a squinted eye.

"What is the mission, Colonel?" Anoki, ever the direct one, asked him.

"Glad one of you cares," he said dryly.

"I care," Greg told them, "Just point the way to what you want destroyed this time and I'll cook up a surprise for them. I've been working on a new set of toys down in the dungeon."

Toshi merely rolled her eyes and slid a little closer to Anoki to get out of Kaczmarek's reach. Strader shook his head and let his team get the pre-mission tension over with before they found out what they were truly in for.

"There shouldn't be too much of that this time," Strader informed them, "We will be going after human targets. The rebels appear to be back in business."

"When will they learn?" Anoki asked, not understanding the never say die spirit, "There's a new sheriff in town!"

They all thought about commenting on that one, but said nothing. Strader made a mental note to review which television programs Toshi was allowing Anoki to watch. She (they all now thought of Anoki as a she, despite the mechanical nature of her insides) was often spitting out mangled television catchphrases, some of them over a half-century old.

"All right," Strader said, getting down to business, "Toshi, put the schematics in classified file one up on the whiteboard, will you?"

"Sure," she agreed as she typed on the keyboard in rapid fire.

"These are the main targets," Strader said as two pictures came up on the board.

"Just show me the way," Greg said with a smile, "I'm sure I can whip up something to level the place. No fuss, no muss, plenty of debris."

"Whatever happened to win their hearts?" Toshi frowned.

"He'd rather break them," Anoki deadpanned, "With a rail gun."

They all looked at the two pictures displayed on the screen. The man on the left was tall and had very black hair. The picture wasn't particularly good, but it showed that he looked rather young. The woman in the middle was magnified better, but her light hair and features made it difficult to tell much about her from the black and white photograph. The third man looked very strange as his hair had obviously not been taken care of in a long time.

"Who are they?" Toshi asked, wondering what they'd done to merit having the team thrown at them.

"That's the strange thing," Strader frowned, "Nobody knows. The Company has no records on them at all. Even the feds have no clue. They came up through the cracks somehow. They are complete nonentities."

"They the leaders?" Kaczmarek asked his boss.

"Intelligence thinks so," Strader shrugged, "Take that for what you will. That's why they want us to go in and get them."

"Wait, wait, wait," Greg Kaczmarek stood up and said, somewhat surprised, "They want us to bring these people in alive?"

"Great first mission for Major Disaster," Toshi laughed, "I think I might like this mission!"

"You'll be alone in that," Greg growled at her.

"They want them alive if possible," Strader qualified, "They won't cry any tears if we can't do it. They want that cell stopped. Prisoners are a bonus. Intel is high priority, so we can't burn the place completely to the ground."

"Innocents in the area?" Anoki asked as she was working up approach probabilities.

"Unknown," Strader told them, "Toshi, I want you to run a satellite scan of the target area before we go in. I want population profiles and cover areas."

"Will do," she said and rushed over to her terminal to start it.

"Kaczmarek," Strader instructed him, "Put together a varied arsenal. Include some stun weapons. Actually, Anoki, you get the stun weapons. Kaczmarek, just do your normal thing."

"I'll come up with something that beats the Mexican we had last night!" he said and went off to the bomb room, now nicknamed the dungeon.

"One and one make three," Anoki said as she left, "Nobody will die from me!"

Colonel Strader shook his head and went back to his desk. He sat down and looked over the pictures and the known information. Toshi was busy punching characters into her keyboard faster than he could see her move. After finishing another quadratic identification variable set, she looked over and saw the Colonel looking at her.

"What are you looking at?" she asked him.

"Wondering how you can do that so quick," Strader shrugged, "Also wondering how I ended up with a robot that spits out inane phrases at me."

"It is part of her learning matrix programming," Toshi reminded him, "She sees Kaczmarek backtalk you and figures it's something normal for humans to do. She's conscious underneath that and that consciousness bends the protocol unit to some extent."

"Great," Strader sighed, shaking his head, "Leaving me with a robotic comedian."

"You won't be laughing out on the field," Toshi promised him, "Her battle instincts are as good as yours are. In practice she tones it back to avoid hurting someone. On the field, she goes full throttle."

"I'll believe that I see it," Strader frowned, still not liking the thought of being replaceable by a computer, "They still can't replace me with a computer yet."

"Me either," she smiled, "I think I've got a hit though. Let me forward this to your terminal."

Strader pressed a button and his screen enlarged on the desk. He used a simple touch interface instead of a keyboard, making it easier for the simple military man than the rapid fire typing required with the complex machines supplied by the company. He would rather have a simple gun any day and leave these monstrosities to someone else.

"I see it," The Colonel said as he looked at it, "But it looks like something one of those damned new phase particle artists would come up with. What is it?"

"Oh," Shiniki said with a blush, "Let me fix it."

She went over to his terminal and hit a few buttons and a fuzzy image with shaky audio came over the screen. They sat there and watched the fuzzy image and audio pass by on the screen. They could tell it was the same woman in the photograph, but couldn't decipher more than a few words of the audio. The only thing of any interest was a name. The woman referred to someone as Colonel Stone.

"Can you get out anymore?" Strader asked her.

"Encryption is too good," she said, shaking her head, "If I had the codes I could get it clear as a bell, but this is the best I can do without them."

"See if you can locate a Colonel Stone," He instructed her, "Maybe he is the key."

"That's just it," Toshi sighed, "There is no Colonel Stone. I already ran a check on every army in the world. A few minor ones that are all present and accounted for. The Federal Armies don't even have a Stone in service right now, haven't had one get to the rank of Colonel since the 1970's."

"That means he's probably their boss," Strader noted, "Looks like we will have to do this the hard way."

They ignored a blast that came out of the back, figuring that it was just Greg having a little fun in the dungeon while trying to figure out just what he needed for the terrain. Explosions coming out of the dungeon were fast becoming considered part of the sonic landscape of the base.

Anoki returned from the munitions area with a satchel of weapons for the upcoming mission. She sat down and adopted a resting pose she had seen a celebrity do on one of the late night shows. Strader and Shiniki took one look at her like that and burst out laughing.

"What did I do?" she asked them.

"Nothing," Strader chuckled, "Have you got everything ready?"

"Super laser stun rifle," Anoki told them, getting back to business, "I picked up a flash mod for your main pistol, Colonel. Only thing I had for you, Toshi, was a flash rifle, good for up to 2.7 kilometers."

"That should be fine for her," Strader nodded approvingly, "For Kaczmarek?"

"Stun grenades," Anoki said, "His standard weapon has a stun mode."

"I'll take those," Toshi told the android, "He'll never use them."

"Got that right," Greg as he walked in to the room, "I've got some specials cooked up. Should take a rebel from 98 to 9800 degrees in 3.2 milliseconds."

"Sounds good," Colonel Strader said dryly, "Just make sure it doesn't do the same to us."

"As long as I can throw, we're fine," Kaczmarek smiled.

"Just don't make me have to come pick you up," Toshi told him, "I have no intention of getting baked by you."

"Sure thing, doll," Kaczmarek grinned.

"All right," Strader said approvingly, "Let's suit up. Toshi, you're driving. Let's go to hill 405 and get some on site surveillance going."

The trip out to the hill was uneventful, though Toshi's driving left quite a bit to be desired. The main reason she got the job was because of the simple fact that she was the least use during a fighting retreat. She pulled the large fighting truck on to the top of the hill.

"Starting to get dark boss," Greg said, "Shall I light up the area a little?"

"Not yet," Strader told him, "Let's keep it quiet until we know better."

"Want me to go out and look around?" Anoki asked.

"Link with Toshi's terminal and let her back check you," Strader ordered, still not completely trusting her logic circuits yet, "She may see something that your programming won't detect as significant."

"Absotively," Anoki said and plugged a wire into the back of the terminal.

"Take it slow," Toshi warned, "I'm quick, but not as quick as you are."

"I won't even say anything on that," Greg said as he kicked back in the seat, receiving a disapproving glare from his boss.

Toshi simply glared at him and went back to her terminal. Anoki climbed through the skylight on the truck, earning a few quick looks from both of the men. They shared a knowing smile, despite knowing that she was little more than a psuedoflesh exoskeleton over a highly improved Tabiri battle chassis.

"Did anyone ever figure out why all the battle bots were made female?" Greg asked his boss.

"Ask her," Strader suggested, pointing at Toshi, "She actually worked for the design group."

"She was created female to give her that psychological edge over male enemies," Toshi told them, "Men find it physically harder to shoot at a woman."

"I've got something I'd like to shoot at her..." Greg started, earning a harsh look from the Colonel.

"Back to work," Strader said harshly, "I'd like to avoid a sexual harassment charge against you the first week."

"If you say so," Greg said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Suit up and go outside," Strader told him, "But kindly don't shoot anything unless I tell you too."

"If I must," he grinned.

Glen Strader pulled up a seat next to Toshi and watched the dual infrared and heat synch scale looking for anything that could be a rebel encampment. They were finding plenty of signatures, but none of them made a hell of a lot of sense.

"Anoki," Strader shouted when he realized what the problem was, "Brush the hair out of your eyes. It's obscuring the image."

The word "Sorry" appeared on the screen and the image shook for a few seconds. Once it came back, it cleared up and Toshi was able to begin with a full humankind scan.

"Good call," Toshi told the boss.

"It made sense," Colonel said, "Any luck?"

"There are two contingents," Toshi told him, "They're trying to mask their signatures, but they are using old wavelength blockers. The Armory fitted Anoki with a new model after the feds got nailed last month. Glad we have her here. This truck is equipped with the old model."

"A useful bot for a change," Strader nodded, "Now if we could just get her to shut off the TV."

"Picky, Picky," appeared in text over the screen.

Strader was surprised for a minute, but he and Toshi looked at this and soon laughed. For a robot she did occasionally have a decent sense of humor. It was the rest of the time that her jokes tended to cause nausea among the rest of the team.

"Might want to look down at 10 o'clock," Kaczmarek said over the radio, "I see motion."

"Look at it, Anoki," Strader instructed, "I'm going to suit up."

Anoki turned to the direction that Greg had called out over the radio circuit. She focused in on it and checked all wavebands that she had available. The crew was invisible on some of them, but completely visible on others. A sure sign of a rebel attack party, one that was rapidly approaching their position.

"They're coming!" Kaczmarek yelled.

"Anoki," Strader shouted as he exited the vehicle, "How many?"

"Eight to sixteen," Anoki said over the com link, "Depends on how good their cloaking is."

"4 to 1," Kaczmarek shrugged as his boss showed up next to him, "I face worse odds than this going to the bathroom."

"I don't even want to know where you've been going to the bathroom," Colonel Strader said as he readied his pistols, "Hold ready until we find out if they have hostile intent."

Both men ducked quickly as a plasma shot rattled into the armor of the truck behind them.

"Is that hostile enough for you?" Greg asked as he pulled out one of his grenades.

"Sure is!" Strader agreed as he started firing in the general direction of the rebels, "Anoki, if you can see the generator guy, take him out!"

"That's my job!" Greg yelled as he threw down one of his newly created bombs.

Strader saw Greg throw the device and hit the dirt quickly. He knew full well what Greg's toys were capable of, and he had no intention of being caught in the backlash, especially if it worked a bit better than Kaczmarek had planned, as his devices often tended to do.

Nobody was particularly disappointed by the results of the blast. A large chunk of the hill was gone and so was the small pack of rebels that had been attacking them. The truck rocked from side to side and both the Colonel and Kaczmarek were pushed up against it. The generator had been taken out all right, not one of them could dispute that one.

"Subtle," Strader said as he stood up, "Really subtle."

Anoki jumped down off the top of the top of the truck and looked at them. She hadn't been suited up for battle and her jumpsuit was shredded by the blast, as was a good chunk of her hair. She'd seen enough movies to know how to give the look of an angry female, something she was doing very well at this time.

"Next time," Toshi shouted from inside the truck, "A little bit of warning would be nice!"

"Sorry!" Greg exclaimed as he looked into the crater, "I was going for 98 to 0800. Guess I miscalculated."

"Looks like about 98000 to me," Strader said, patting Kaczmarek on the back, "Anoki, go inside and suit up before we get hit with another wave. No need to let that pretty flesh get totally shredded."

Anoki, still unconcerned by her superficial injuries, followed orders and went to suit up. Strader removed the hanging piece of cable from her hand and went back inside the truck to see how Toshi and her equipment had weathered the blast.

"Everything ok?" he asked her.

"I've got a fix on the main encampment," Toshi muttered, "Or at least I did before Captain Combustible out there knocked the sensors out of whack."

"Give me a location," Strader instructed her, "As soon as Anoki suits up we're going in. The natives are getting frisky, so we're going to go chase out the rats."

"I'm ready Freddy," Anoki said, "Let's go kick some rebel rear."

"What do you want me to do?" Toshi asked him.

"Get the sensors back," Strader ordered her, "If the rebels start moving, tell us over the com link."

"Can the rebels read this link?" Greg asked.

"They don't have the technology," Toshi informed him, smiling, "They can decrypt it, but it'll sound like one of those planetary church radio services that are popping up all over. The real signal is buried underneath, undetectable unless you know what you're looking for and even then it's encrypted even stronger."

"Double encryption," Strader nodded, remembering a brief he'd read before the space station disaster, "That works. Part psych, part technology. Now let's go before they figure out what really happened here."

"I will move this rig over to hill 403," Toshi told him as she looked at the map, "Yell at me if you need me any closer."

"Good idea," Strader agreed and hopped out the back door.

The three of them went in formation, with Anoki taking the lead. Strader went against his better judgment because she could see better in the dark than either of the humans. Greg followed closely, ready to help blast the hell out of anything that attacked them. Strader took up the rear, covering their back trail as they approached the encampment.

Anoki's scanning circuits continued looking for the rebel encampment. Greg Kaczmarek was still flushed with the short bit of combat and raring to go for more. His eyes and ears were wide open looking for an opportunity to get into battle.

Glen Strader was looking at Anoki, some thirty feet ahead and heard a message through his com link. Anoki used her electronic brain to simulate a voice over the com link without talking. She told both men that there were two packs of rebels, one thirty strong and one with only eight.

"Are there women in either set?" Strader asked quietly through the link.

"The smaller set has a woman that matches the dimensions of the one in the picture," Anoki's synthesized radio voice said, "The men in the photos could be any of the ones in either group."

"Long-range infrared agrees with Anoki," Toshi said over the com, "Your targets are in the smaller group."

"10 to 1 odds," Greg said eagerly, "We can handle that!"

"Not worth the effort," Strader said, shaking his head, "Too much risk for too little gain."

"Would you prefer me to cut down the odds?" Greg asked hopefully.

"No," Strader growled, "I'd like to get out of here without getting shot at again. We go around the main group, grab the leaders and ice anyone who gets in our way."

"Quick, clean, and summer fresh!" Anoki agreed enthusiastically.

"Whatever," Greg said, his voice oozing disappointment.

Chapter 5 - Firefight

Greg Kaczmarek wasn't quite ready to let it go at that yet, however. He pulled out one of his special bombs and pulled out a few components. When he was satisfied at what he had done to it he threw it about halfway between the rebels and himself. When it went off, he jumped in to action.

"Looks like quick and quiet won't cut it!" Greg yelled, "It's time to rock and roll!"

Colonel Strader cursed and readied his pistols. He didn't see where it had come from, but he had his suspicions. Anoki didn't even question, because she could see the rebels picking up weapons and heading their way.

"Split up!" Strader said through com link, "Kaczmarek, one of your specials might come in handy right about now. Crank up the oven as hot as it will go!"

"Right-o!" Greg yelled, happy as a clam, "Time for some rebel pot pie!"

He threw one of his specials, this one powered up with the components of the dummy he'd thrown out earlier. It exploded brilliantly, blinding the rebel troops that weren't caught directly by the blast. Kaczmarek had thrown it far enough this time that the three of them weren't even touched.

"Good shot," Strader mumbled, "Let's finish it."

"Just like on TV!" Anoki said in delight, "Money back guarantee!"

The explosion disjointed the rebel group and it showed. The explosion itself had only taken out about a dozen of them. Another ten fell with Kaczmarek and Anoki's combination attack. When the fight came down to the wire, they were as professional as it got.

The leaders of the group were the only ones who had the sense to get out of the way of the slaughter. They knew their anti-plasma tactics and moved in for close combat. Anoki and Kaczmarek dropped their weapons, knowing that if they fired them this close it would take everyone out.

"Take 'em down the old fashioned way!" Strader ordered them.

"Not a problem!" Greg yelled and jumped into the fray.

Of the remaining rebels, four of them went after Anoki and six of them decided on Greg Kaczmarek. Strader was still in the shadows and circling around to Kaczmarek's side, knowing that Anoki could take care of herself.

Take care of herself she did. The rebels were expecting an easy prize from this apparently diminutive young woman. They were wrong. She planted herself flatfoot on her right leg and simply used kicks to disable them. They tried to knock her over, but kicking a titanium alloy leg with a human leg really doesn't accomplish much.

Greg was holding his own, but didn't have the titanium advantage Anoki did. He took several hits from the surrounding rebels before killing one with a broken nose shoved up into the brain. The rebels were so intent on killing the young explosives expert that they didn't see Strader pull some of them back, one by one, and dispatch them quietly off to the side.

Once he was down to two hand-to-hand opponents, Kaczmarek started pulling a series of moves on them that nearly crippled them. He dropped one of them on to the ground and broke the man's neck with a well-placed heel drop on the chin.

"One down and one to go," Greg growled as he got up, "Just another corpse in the chamber."

"You're telling me," Glen grunted as he finished off Kaczmarek's last opponent with his dual pistols.

"That was fun," Greg smiled, "What's next?"

"No chance that they didn't hear us is there?" Anoki asked.

"Not likely," Strader growled, "Toshi, do a scan on the other site. See if anyone is still there."

"They're scrambling," she said over the com link, "You're going to have to go in quick if you're going to avoid a night chase."

"Works for me," Greg grinned.

"Keep your specials in your pocket," Strader instructed him, "No need for another set of fireworks. We'll go in quick and try to take the leaders alive."

"You're no fun man," Greg said, still giddy and pumped from the combat, "You have to take pride in your work, Colonel."

"I do," Colonel said sternly, "That's why you're still talking and not a grease spot on the pavement here. And if you pull that grenade stunt again, I'll be the cause of you being a grease spot. Got me?"

Colonel Strader put his guns away and walked on, leaving Kaczmarek gaping. Anoki smiled, as her protocol set had long since learned that seeing that expression on Kaczmarek's face was funny to others. Toshi could even be heard giggling over the com link.

"Let's go," Strader said over the com link, "The job isn't finished yet, Kaczmarek. Still have more to do."

Kaczmarek chuckled and shook it off. He should have known that Colonel would have seen right through it. Luckily, Colonel Strader wasn't disappointed at having to remove the rebel camp, as they had murdered innocent people. He picked up his weapon and jogged quickly to catch up to Anoki and Strader.

Chapter 6 - The Leadership

"Status check," Strader asked over the line.

"Four targets still inside," Toshi said over the com link, "Including the woman. One of them is tied up, possibly a hostage of some sort."

"The other three are targets," Strader proclaimed, "Set your weapons on stun."

"Do I have to?" Greg asked with his voice sounding pained.

"Either that or you stay here," Strader said sternly, "I want at least one of them alive."

"Stun it is," Greg nodded sadly, "Let's go."

They approached the area and found that it was a barn, probably nearing on two centuries old. Anoki ran an external scan and found that the people were definitely inside.

"How many entrances, Toshi?" Strader asked.

"Old structure," she said, "Sat scans say there are two that are meant to be entrances. The roof has a few old holes as well."

"Anoki," Strader said, "You take the back one, stun any one that comes your way. Kaczmarek, I want you at my back. You're a good man in a fight, but your skills at subtlety leave much to be desired."

"Whatever you say," he nodded.

Strader put on his enhanced vision gear so he could see into the barn. He could see the images of the people fairly clearly. His set didn't do night vision as much as a computerized image of the surroundings in real time. He rushed in and was promptly shot at for his trouble.

Strader's pistols were set on stun so when he saw the girl climb down from the loft he fired a few shots at her. He hit her cleanly, so he was surprised that she ignored the stun shots as if they weren't even there. Anoki fired a few as well, but the girl ignored them as well.

"What the hell is going on here?" Strader shouted.

"Enough of this bullshit!" Greg yelled, "So much for stun!"

Greg slid the dial on his gun to full plasma, a mode that he usually described as extra crispy. He ran into the room and fired a few shots from it at the girl who was still in plain view. He missed twice, lighting up the room and creating some new holes in the wall. His third shot hit her square in the back, sending her into a forward flip.

"Good shot," Strader noted.

"Not good enough," a voice from behind them said, "Drop it."

Glen and Greg turned around to see a tall man standing there with a plasma rifle. He looked severe, though young, and his jet black hair was cut straight down around his head. His demeanor wasn't overtly threatening, though he was aiming the plasma rifle straight at their heads. They both knew the model and knew that their suits stood little chance at withstanding a direct hit from five feet away.

Anoki switched to her non-plasma weapon as well, but not in time. The girl was back up on her feet after doing a forward flip and running on a collision with Anoki. Anoki fired another shot though the weaker nature of her weapon allowed the girl to shake it off completely. The girl pulled a device out of her pocket and rammed it into her stomach.

Once the device connected with the wet brain connection Anoki keeled over and hit the ground inactive. The others stood and gaped and got ready to redouble the attack, but thought about it again when they looked at the weapon the man was holding.

"Cool out before you get hurt," the tall man said, "The android isn't injured. Karen just disabled her for a bit. Now, we can talk on even terms."

"Who are you?" Strader asked, annoyed at the situation.

"Screw that!" Greg exclaimed, "She took two plasma blasts to the chest and she didn't even blink! What I want to know is what the hell are you?"

"Good questions, both," The tall man said with a smile, "Put your weapons down and have a seat. You might as well, you've seen how useless they are in this instance."

"Toshi," Strader said quietly into the com link, "This may be a good time for an extraction."

"I'm afraid not," she said as she walked into the room at gunpoint, "I think our hosts have other ideas."

"Good work, Jim," The tall man said, "If you'll join your friends over here young lady I think we can call this meeting to order."

"What happened to Anoki?" Toshi whispered to Strader, "She went off the grid."

"The fatal flaw," Karen smiled and tossed the device up in the air, catching it immediately, "If you have to create emergency shutdown device, make sure you keep them keyed to your commanders and soldiers only."

"I should have destroyed those ten years ago," Toshi grumbled, "One of Rob Homer's devices that got through the cracks when the feds took over."

"Now that we're all here," the tall man smiled, "Let me introduce myself. My name is Mason Stone. I believe that I am the reason you are here."

"Goddamned rebels," Greg growled.

"I'm sure that many of them will be," Stone agreed, "I myself already have been, along with Jim and Karen here."

"Wait," Strader asked incredulously, "You're claiming to be gods or demons or something?"

"No," Mason chuckled, "Nothing that mundane, I assure you. I'm still not quite sure how to describe what we are, but we are as human as you are."

"Not with the way she took that plasma blast," Strader said coolly, "No human could have withstood that without some serious protective equipment."

"Unfortunately," Mason nodded, "Someone decided to monkey around a little with the human formula. We are the results."

"Yeah," Jim chuckled, "Christ Mason, it's been nearly thirty years and you still can't let me live that down?"

"Not your fault that your predecessor was an asshole," Mason shrugged, "Anyway, why don't you all have a seat. We have chairs waiting for you."

"You can bring the robot if you like," Karen said, "Don't bother trying her override commands. As Ms. Shiniki well knows, Anoki won't turn on again until I reverse the tool."

Strader and Kaczmarek went over to the chairs under Mason Stone's direction. Toshi, still under Jim Entragian's gunpoint, picked up Anoki and dragged her over to where the others were. Anoki was laid out on the ground while Toshi sat down next to Colonel Strader.

"All right, Stone," Strader said, "Why have you gone to all this trouble? You could have killed us already if you had wanted to."

"We heard about Foundation's new setup at A51," Mason said, "Despite the company's attempts to downplay your existence, you are set to become a first-rate front line crew. Probably better than anything the government can put out nowadays, seeing how congress doesn't want to put any money behind it."

"We try," Strader said dryly.

"Yes," Mason nodded, "I know. The only thing I wasn't sure of was if you knew exactly who you were working for."

"We work for the..." Greg said and received an elbow in the side from Toshi.

"Hush," she hissed at him, "Let the Colonel do the talking."

"Still a smart girl, Toshiko," Karen said, "Maybe one day he'll learn to listen to you."

"It doesn't matter, seeing as you ended up here I know who you work for now," Mason said, "I also know that they've been producing a lot of things that they shouldn't have known how to."

"I wouldn't know about that," Strader told them, "I was just a military man without a home until they picked me up."

"Yes," Mason nodded, "The United States has reduced their army to a pitiful state. It's getting to the point that we need a strong third party."

"Let me guess," Strader said sardonically, "You see yourself as the leader of it?"

"Me?" Mason laughed, "Hell no. I don't want any part of it."

"Then why are you running a rebel cell?" Toshi asked, "You appear to be more intelligent than most of the rebel scum we've dispatched."

"I had to meet you somehow," Mason said, "I knew that if they sought out a heavy rebel cell, they'd have to send you."

"You were responsible for that last attack!" Toshi exclaimed, "That one on downtown Groom Lake!"

"No," Stone said with a shake of his head, "That was the group that you dispatched out there. Led by the man tied up in the corner here. I put this operation together just after the Groom Lake attack."

Karen shined her flashlight on to the man tied up in the corner. He was squirming against his bonds and really scared by what he saw. He couldn't scream because of the gag in his mouth. All three team members recognized him immediately. He'd been known as a rebel leader for months and had squirmed out of several traps. Some of this was beginning to make sense to them finally.

"We were in Groom Lake during the attack," Mason said, "Jim and I followed them out here to make a plan. I sent Karen in to get some information. She came out with a little more than I bargained for."

"How did she breach..." Strader asked and trailed off.

"Your security is good," Karen admitted, "But I've been doing this since your grandfather was chasing us. Once we learned Anoki's history, it wasn't too difficult to track down one of the devices Rob Homer had made. Evidently, he sold a few on the side to shut down the cop droids."

"After that, it was a simple matter of faking the message from this location," Mason shrugged, "We knew you'd find the group and probably take them out."

"I was personally hoping for a little more finesse," Karen smiled, "But you did well against superior numbers."

Greg felt the annoyed stares of both Glen and Toshi upon him and shrunk back into his seat. Mason grinned a little and sat down on a chair across from them. He smiled a little.

"Now for the main reason why I went to all this trouble," Mason said, "I just wanted you to take a little message back with you. Whether you deliver it or not is up to you."

"What message?" Strader asked.

"Tell your scientist buddies to lay off the immortality research," Mason said seriously, "You're getting too close to something that belongs buried. If you get much closer, I will have to make sure that something happens to your research facility."

"Is that a threat?" Strader growled.

"No, Glen," Mason said seriously, "It's a promise, one that you should take to heart after today. If you have any questions as to why I'm saying this, ask your father."

"Why should I listen to you?" Glen asked, "And what does my father have to do with this?"

"I'll leave you the rebel leader as a gift," Mason smiled, pointedly ignoring the question, "He's slime, in it only for the killing. Take him and do with him what you will. A nice public trial will probably do everyone some good if handled right. As for your father, ask him about a night in Seattle right before the turn of the century. He'll remember it well."

"Great," Strader said, "I'm not sure who's worse right now."

"We're not so different, Glen," Mason said, "I just have a wider perspective than you do, that's all."

"I see," Strader said, a bit of realization dawning on him, "You just want to be the only immortal being around."

"No," Mason chuckled, "That's not it at all."

"Then why are you doing this?" Toshi asked him, "Why try to stop the research that could help so many?"

"Help?" Mason said, "That research won't help anyone. Can you imagine what would happen if your bosses got that formula right? If anyone did?"

"We've spent thirty years trying to make sure technology didn't catch up to us," Karen said, "Immortality isn't the gift that everyone thinks it is. It's a curse to outlive your fellow man and to never be able to see your loved ones again, as they are dead and buried in the past."

"Mason. Karen," Jim said, "You're preaching again. Can we just get the hell out of here now?"

"Yes," Mason said and raised his own stun pistol, "Let's go."

"Wait!" Strader said, then went limp from the stun shot fired at close range by Mason.

"Hey!" Greg yelled, though Karen's shot knocked him out just as fast.

Toshi didn't even get a word out as Jim's shot knocked her senseless.

"Can you control the droid without it attacking us?" Mason asked Jim.

"Schematic said so," he nodded, "When we undo the kill switch she'll be in straight order mode. Her consciousness will be dormant until they reactivate her. She'll follow those orders until Strader or Shiniki resets her protocol set."

"Turn her on and order her to guard them," Mason told him.

"How long will they be out?" Karen asked.

"A few hours at least," Mason shrugged, "They'll be fine, especially with the robot protecting them."

Jim spent about ten minutes getting Anoki back up and running while Mason and Karen jogged back to hill 403 to get the their rig out of sight. They parked it in front of the barn and took one last look at the fallen team.

"Think they'll listen?" Karen asked.

"No," Mason sighed, "They're still too young. Maybe Adam will be able to talk some sense into them though."

"I planted the virus in the robot," Jim said, "As soon as she locks in to Area 51's mainframes for a system check the immortality research will be a memory."

"Good," Mason said, "Let's get out of here."

They cleared the hay off their car and pulled it out of the barn. Mason took the driver's seat, as usual, and they left the Groom Lake area, looking on to their next adventure.

Chapter 7 - A Battle not yet won, but not yet lost...

Morning came and Colonel Strader was the first one of the three to wake up. He rubbed his head, which was still sore from the stun shot he'd taken the night before. Greg and Toshi were still laying quietly in the morning sun, not quite as attuned to shaking off stun blasts as Strader was. Anoki was sitting there looking at the three of them holding the large rifle.

"Anoki," Glen asked the droid, "You ok?"

Anoki, still intent on earlier orders didn't answer. Strader growled and then went over to Toshi who was beginning to stir.

"Wake up, Shiniki," Strader said.

"Oh," she said, "Did you get the license number of the truck that hit me?"

"Yeah," Strader chuckled, "I did, though I don't know where it is now."

"Anoki is back up?" she asked, surprised.

"The kill switch is sitting on the ground in front of the rebel," Strader nodded, "He's still out cold and I plan to leave him that way until we get him back."

"She looks odd," She said as she rubbed her head, pushing aside a mop of black hair, "Did you do a verbal reset?"

"No," The Colonel said, "Should I? Won't that screw her consciousness?"

"No," she nodded, "She's in order mode. My guess is that they did not want her to try to stop them so they put her in basic order mode."

"It was a great fight Ma," Greg mumbled as he started to wake up, "But I lost."

"Anoki 9.0," Strader said in a firm voice, "Command verbal override Strader one alpha seven nine twelve. Reset protocol set."

Anoki went rigid for about thirty seconds as her software performed the commands. As soon as it had ended she perked up like her normal self and looked around. Anoki as they knew her was back.

"What happened?" she asked, "There's a gap in my time to memory protocol."

"They used one of Homer's override sticks," Toshi told her, "It wasn't a very good night."

"We lived," Greg shrugged, "That makes it a good night."

"Rebel cell is gone too," Strader agreed, "That's something. Nobody else will be flattened by this bunch."

"How did the truck get here?" Toshi asked, "Entragian walked me down here on foot."

"I don't want to know," Glen sighed, "Let's get back. Stone and his people are long gone by now."

Annoyed by the way they'd been duped they piled back into the truck and went back to the base. Strader spent an hour or so answering questions, but he was able to gloss over their colossal screw-up by delivering the true rebel leader to the authorities. They finally gave him a well done and sent them back to their barracks to rest.

"I can't believe we got out of that one so easy," Toshi grinned as they walked into the room.

"Survived another one, did you?" Nikki asked them as she looked up from her table.

"Hey," Greg boasted, "When you're good, you're good!"

"More like lucky," Strader said solemnly, "We were very lucky."

"What do we do now?" Anoki asked.

"You're going into a checkup," Strader ordered, "Toshi, have her checked out. I also want you to yank all the kill codes other than yours, mine, and Greg's. Recode the kill switch system so the old ones no longer work."

"Nikki," Toshi said to the young assistant, "Can you hook her into the diag system while I get the programs started?"

"With pleasure," she said and helped Anoki into her connection chair.

Toshi started the diagnostics program, which in turn started the worm that Jim Entragian had planted in Anoki's memory matrix. Glen sat down at his desk and pulled out a soft drink from the refrigerator underneath it.

"I can't believe that Stone was trying to mess with the Company," Greg said as he sat down at the table.

"The man certainly has balls," Strader agreed, "Though if I were immune to plasma the way he is, I would too."

"He won't have any balls left if he comes back here," Greg growled.

"What the hell is that?" Nikki exclaimed as she saw something flash on her screen.

At this point screens started flashing wildly and alarms started going off throughout the building. Toshi jumped into her chair and started hitting keys wildly trying to figure out what was going on. It took her a few minutes to find out, by which time the damage was mostly done.

"Looks like he doesn't have to," Toshi said and sighed, "The worm started from Anoki and went through the immortality labs. It's going to take them years to clean up this mess."

"Figures," Strader growled.

Now, an image appeared on the screen that Toshi recognized immediately. She went to her machine and pulled up captured "rebel" signal that had led them out to that area in the first place.

"Good work, Toshi," Karen Stone's voice said over the monitor, "If you're watching this it means you realized what was coming out of the worm. Not bad, kid."

The three of them looked at each other in awe.

"Colonel Stone and I have planned this for a while," she said, "Don't blame yourselves. We're old pros at this. Also, don't worry about Anoki. There will be no permanent damage to her. We had specific targets and those are probably gone by now."

"Son of a..." Greg said.

"Watch your language, Kaczmarek," Karen said and smiled, "Don't ask. I'm just guessing. But, I think this message is long enough to do the trick now. Don't forget us, guys. We may just be back someday. I just hope that it's on friendlier terms next time."

They all went silent and looked at the screen. They knew that they'd been had and they'd been had well. There was nothing left to do but sit there and stare at Karen Stone's smiling imagine on the screen as the worm burned itself out in the computer system.

Chapter 8 - Reckoning

"How the hell was I supposed to know about the virus?" Colonel Strader asked Sam Remordis, "I didn't design Anoki's systems. Why the hell didn't you guys put some security on the internal servers?"

"There is!" Remordis exclaimed, "It shouldn't have been able to get through the security network."

"Why not?" Toshi asked him, "Anoki is inside the system, to some extent a part of it. Nobody thought that she ever posed a risk to it."

"Do you know just how much damage she just caused?" Remordis asked her, still seething, "I don't know if you can understand just how pissed off our bosses are right now."

"The damage is done, Sam," Strader told him, "We had no way of knowing that was going to happen and you know it. If you want to make sure it doesn't happen again, find someone capable of making sure your network is secure."

"I already have," Remordis said, "A computer security man will be in here by the end of the week. The bosses want her shut down until then."

"Anoki isn't simply a robot," Shiniki reminded him, "She's a sentient neural net. Turning her off is inhumane and patently stupid, Sam, and you of all people should know this. She needs to learn and keep learning. You turn her off you lose precious neural data and sentence Anoki to a living hell!"

"I know that!" Remordis told her, "I know Anoki as well as you do. Do you think I want to follow this order?"

"Listen," Strader told his new boss, "You know my history, Boss. I tend to break more bots than I bring back, but this one is different. We need her too much to turn her off just because of a bit of damage."

"A bit of damage!" Remordis exclaimed, "That's like saying that the Sahara is just a bit hot! That virus fried thirty years worth of research!"

"So keep her off the mainframe for the duration," Strader suggested, "Toshi, did the virus originate from her directly?"

"No," Toshi said, glaring at Remordis, who she thought should know better, "Stone's crew loaded it into the ROM module that allows the negotiation. They couldn't have hacked her neural net directly, not without a similar unit. Even then Anoki's consciousness would have noticed it when she was reactivated. Harry and I spent a long time guarding against that sort of meddling after what Rob did to her."

"There," Strader said, "She's not a direct threat. Let this computer expert of yours do what he needs to do when he gets here, but let Anoki stay awake in front of the TV or something."

"Fine, but she stays in the facility until they clear her," Remordis told them, "Is that understood?"

"Fine," Strader nodded.

"Now get out of here!" Remordis exclaimed, "You're lucky that the board still thinks that you're worth the trouble to keep going. Another fuck up of this magnitude and they may reevaluate that assessment."

"Wait a minute..." Toshi started to say before Colonel Strader put a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Let's go, Toshi," he told her, "I want you to finish the detail reports so they'll be ready when the expert gets here."

"Don't worry, Toshi," Sam told her, "I won't let them choose someone who will destroy her."

She was about to start mouthing off again when she saw a familiar look in Sam's eyes. She looked at him and nodded. Remordis turned his attention away from them, a sure sign that they had been dismissed. They walked out the door together and she looked up at him.

"How the hell could you sit and take that?" she asked him, "Sam has a way of boring a hole in you when he chews you out."

"It could have been worse," Strader shrugged, "At least he didn't have us arrested like the Army did when my last big screw up happened. Besides, in a way it was our fault. We fell into Stone's trap. Hook, line and sinker."

"I still want to know how the heck they got that code," Toshi sighed, "It's as though they anally raped us here."

Colonel Strader stopped and looked at his new subordinate for a moment before shaking his head and laughing. Unfortunately, she was right. It was curious that Stone's people had managed to get in and clobber them so easily. He was still wondering about Stone's comment about his father as well.

"What?" Toshi asked him, "Well, we did, didn't we?"

"I guess," Strader admitted, "Just hearing you say it like that is good for a chuckle, Toshi. No offense, but that's not really your usual MO. That's something I'd expect Greg to say."

"Funny," she sighed, "So what do we do now?"

"I want you to do a full workup on Anoki before they get a hold of her," Strader instructed her, "You know that girl better than anyone else does. Stone got us too well, I want to know how."

"Sure," she nodded, "Anything else?"

"Put Nikki with the experts so we have someone familiar with her there the whole time," he ordered her, "Have Greg do a workup on the weaponry recovered from what was left of the rebel encampment. If we can track down the source maybe we can figure out who is behind those sons of bitches."

"Good call, she's not close enough to raise suspicion but will tell me and Anoki what we need," Toshi nodded, "I'll have the report done in a few hours."

"Good," Glen nodded, "Get to work."

"Wait a minute!" Toshi wondered, "What are you going to be doing during all this?"

"I'm going to ask a man about an Immortal," Strader said as he walked out the door, leaving Toshi just as confused as she was before.

Chapter 9 - A Man about an Immortal

Glen Strader pulled the Company issued electric motor cruiser to a stop at the rear edge of the dirt road, about fifty yards from the house. He hadn't set foot in this location for years, not since his former commander Sonya had died on a mission saving his ass several years before.

Glen got out of the cruiser and walked up to the house when he heard a wrench clattering on the ground in the garage. He stopped heading for the front door and walked over to the old garage that was in serious need of a paint job.

The weather out here in this part of the Nevada desert was warm, although it was still the latter part of February. The garage itself was warmer than the outside, because of the bare tin roof that conducted heat like a furnace. Glen walked inside the door and looked at the pair of legs hanging out from under the antique car.

"I see you're keeping the old beast up," Glen said as he leaned against an old electric cruiser, "How's she run nowadays?"

"Not bad," Adam Strader said as he pushed himself out from under the car, "It's been a long time, Glen."

"I didn't see you coming to visit me while I was sitting in a military prison cell these last few months," Glen said, standing his ground, "But then I don't think you've left this place since Sonya died."

"Don't have much to leave for," Adam said as he pulled himself up and used his arms to get himself back up into a wheelchair, "You seemed to have gotten through it fine without my help."

"No thanks to the feds," Glen said, "They were about ready to hang me out to dry. Greg Kaczmarek too."

"The federal government has always been a mite short sighted," Adam said as he looked over his son, "I'd say you were lucky to get out of a nasty jail sentence for that mess."

"The company saved my ass," Glen admitted, "I figured going to work for them beat a ten-year stretch at Leavenworth for something that wasn't even my fault."

"I'd have chosen the same thing," Adam nodded, settling himself into his wheelchair, "Though I still get a good disability pension from them. Paraplegia is good for something, I guess."

"I think I can live without that," Glen said, shaking his head a little, "But it's the life we chose."

"It's in the blood," Adam admitted, "Come on inside the house and have a beer."

Glen nodded and followed his father as he wheeled himself into the house. House was probably a little too kind a word for this place, as it was not far above a hovel. He was sure that when his father died he would have to have the place condemned. It was nothing like the Area 51 base housing that he'd grown up in.

"So Area 51 has gone private, eh?" Adam said as he wheeled over to the fridge, "A bunch of civilian weenies who think they can do things better than the feds?"

"The army isn't what it was 25 years ago," Glen said, "It's a brave new world out there. I'll tell you this though. The company has equipped my people better than the feds had for the last few years."

"It's a crime what they've done to the military," Adam agreed as he tossed a beer to his son, "But that's not why you're here. This isn't a social call. You haven't been here since Sonya died and the feds retired me for good."

"Mason Stone," Glen said, sipping his beer as he watched his father for reaction.

"That's a name I haven't heard in a long time," Adam said, his badly aging face showing the recognition, "So he's showed up again, has he?"

"How else would I know?" Glen said reasonably, "He gave my team a nice hard ass reaming a couple days ago. His team managed to cost the company about a quarter billion dollars in equipment and research."

"Let me guess," Adam said as he rolled his chair into the other room, "Life extension and body invulnerability research."

"He referred to it as immortality research," Glen nodded, "He said to ask you about a night in Seattle."

"Twenty-five some odd years ago," Adam said, "You were a kid then and I was a simple infantry grunt."

"I heard a little of this," Glen said, "This was right around the time that Granddad died."

"Your grandfather was killed as part of this mess," Adam said, "Mason was actually the victim in it."

"What happened?" Glen asked him, "And why the hell did he attack company interests?"

"A couple of insane doctors came up with the secret of immortality," Adam said, "They tested it on two unsuspecting people, a murdered federal agent and a woman dying of cancer."

"Mason and Karen Stone," Glen said, showing he was following.

"That's who they are now," Adam said, "Back then they both had real names, names that I can't remember now. It's been too long and it matters little. They were given no choice in what they became and were horrified by it."

"What's so bad about immortality?" Glen asked him, "Nobody dies, nobody gets hurt. Sounds like a good plan to me."

"That's what I thought at first," Adam sighed, "But I learned better. You see, one of the doctors managed to get away from Mason and use the glop on a really bad man, a criminal. That criminal is the one who killed your grandfather."

"I thought his murder was never solved," Glen said, confused.

"You think I would have let that pass?" Adam asked him with a wry smile, "No, we caught up with him that night in Seattle. The son of a bitch nearly killed me, too. Mason saved my life."

"Then why did he fuck me over this week?" Glen asked, uncomprehending, "And what happened to the bad guy?"

"The criminal was disposed of," Adam chuckled, "I'll let Mason tell you how if he ever wants to. I prefer to forget that piece of information."

"That leaves the why," Glen told his father.

"Because the company was getting too close," Adam said, "He looks at it as his mission in life to make sure that nobody mucks around in those areas anymore. He doesn't want to see anyone else cursed in the same way they were."

"Cursed?" Glen wondered.

"Yes," Adam nodded, "Cursed. Mason Stone is over 80 years old now. Most of his friends are either dead or so old that they have to wear depends and be changed twice daily. He still looks 25. In another fifty years or so there will be nobody left who knew him before he was Mason Stone. He sees that as a full scale curse."

"Jesus," Glen said, finishing his beer and needing it, "I can see where he might be on to something."

"You and I have the luxury of death," Adam said seriously, "Sonya has already passed and one day I'll join her, as you will someday. Mason, Karen and Jim will likely never get a chance to know that relief."

"You loved her, didn't you?" Glen asked his father, changing the subject a little, "More than Mom even."

"Not more than your mother," Adam said, looking hard at his son, "In a different way. It's something you can't explain unless you experience it."

"Mom couldn't understand it," Glen said, "She still can't."

"How is Tracy?" Adam asked him, "Is she doing ok?"

"She is doing well," Glen shrugged, "She hasn't wanted much to do with me since I joined the army either. Don't think she forgave either of us for that choice on my part."

"Sounds like her," Adam admitted, "She was never cut out for being a military wife. Don't get married unless she understands just what it's like out there."

"Have no plans for that anytime soon," Glen admitted, "Still trying to get my bearings at the company."

"I wish you luck," Adam told his son, "I hope you have better luck than I did, in fact."

"I've got a good team," Glen smiled, "Kaczmarek is still impetuous, but fairly reliable, and a genius with explosives. Toshi is smart and will do all right out there. They even gave me a droid that may do more than try to get us killed."

"Heh," Adam said, shaking his head, "I'll believe that when I see it. The only thing that droids are good for are target practice and shielding."

"I'll share my sentiments with Anoki 9.0," Glen grinned, "I'm sure she'll be amused."

"Get a real woman," Adam said, shaking his head, "They're more fun."

"I'll keep that in mind," Glen chuckled, "So you don't think going after Stone will do any good?"

"What are you going to do if you catch him?" Adam asked him, "Kill him?"

"Good point," Glen nodded.

"Let me give you a bit of advice," Adam said honestly, "Mason Stone can be a good friend or a dangerous enemy. He left you alive for a reason. You're not the enemy to him. He was sending a message to your bosses, one that probably was long overdue. Learn from it. He's been playing people like a pro for years. Don't feel too bad. Learn from it and move on."

"Don't let it beat me up," Glen nodded, "You always did say that about a defeat."

"I got it from your grandfather," Adam said, remembering the late Richard Strader, "Dad never got what Mason was telling him. That's part of what got him killed. He didn't understand."

"Mason had nothing to..." Glen said and was stopped.

"No," Adam said, "Mason was almost as pissed as I was. He respected my father, even if he didn't agree with him."

"You respect Stone, don't you?" Glen said, seeing the hint of admiration.

"He is a persistent motherfucker," Adam said, "It's been a long time. You'd think that he would give up that fight, but I don't think he ever will. He'll be fighting his war his way long after both of us are dead."

"War everlasting," Glen sighed, "What a depressing thought."

"As long as there are more than two humans in the world," Adam told his son, "They will find reasons to kill each other."

"Another wholly depressing thought," Glen said, "I think I need to get back to Area 51."

Adam nodded and opened another beer from the fridge. Glen had to look away and started out the door. He couldn't stand to see his father wasting away in that chair, drinking beer, and trying to forget the way things were. He was almost out the door when Adam called out to him.

"Glen," Adam said, "Next time you see your mother tell her something for me."

"What's that?" he asked his father.

"Tell her I'm sorry," Adam said.

Glen nodded and walked out to his electric motor cruiser, not sure if he'd learned anything that actually helped him or not. He couldn't help feeling a little sad about the way his father was ending up and prayed that he didn't have to end up like him.

Chapter 10 - Harry

"Where's the boss?" Greg asked Toshi as he walked up the stairs, "Word is that Remordis laid into him pretty hard."

"They've laid up Anoki for a few days," Toshi told him, "They're supposed to be having a new guy coming in to secure the network."

"I'm sure you're going to be loving that," Kaczmarek said, "Those computers are your baby, right?"

"I can still play," Toshi told him while smiling sweetly, "No worries about that. They're severely limiting Anoki's internal access though. Her architecture is also getting a slight tune-up."

"Just so long as they don't do anything to that fine ass or body," he chuckled, "That would be a crying shame."

The two of them walked into the main barracks area for the Strike Team, finding Nikki sitting there with a book in her hand, looking up at them as they walked in.

"You're a pig, Kaczmarek," Toshi said to him, shaking her head, "You don't care that she's a marvel of technology or that behind that flesh is a billion dollars of research, do you?"

"You really don't want him to answer that," Nikki suggested to Toshi, "He might tell you the truth."

"Hey," Greg shrugged, "As far as I'm concerned progress peaked with the advent of composition four explosive."

"Haven't you ever known the pleasure of building anything?" Toshi asked him, "Is your life completely about explosions and destruction?"

Greg Kaczmarek thought about it for a few seconds and watched the younger girl as he did so. She looked at him and then he finally shrugged.

"Yes," Greg nodded happily, "There's nothing finer than a well timed explosion to bring down a large structure of some sort. Maybe next time we have a party I'll set up a pyrotechnic display that will really move your world."

"I doubt you've got the parts needed to move my world," Toshi told him, smirking all the while, "Now did you find anything on those weapons?"

"Generic crap," Greg shrugged, "Nothing I would have been caught dead on a mission on. Probably came from the federal stocks at one point. I've got a request in to the feds with the serial numbers, but they don't give much of a crap anymore."

"Did they ever?" Nikki said, "The federal investigative forces are a useless waste of money."

"They served a purpose once, little girl," a small overweight man said as he walked into the room, "Used to be very few finer investigative forces on the planet."

"This is a restricted area," Toshi said, looking at the man, "How did you get in... Harry? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Who is he?" Nikki asked, seeing that Toshi knew him.

"Harry Haldeman at your service," the man said, smiling, "Remordis sent me over here to secure your computer network and make sure that Anoki can't fuck it up again."

"I should have figured he'd get you," Toshi smiled, "Harry is the one who wrote the initial Anoki 1.0 protocol set after we wiped the deranged Homer protocol set from Anoki's first body ten years ago."

"Harry huh?" Greg said, walking over and towering over the man, "Nice to meet you. I'm Greg Kaczmarek, resident boom boom tech."

"Oh yes," Haldeman said, looking up at the explosives expert, "I remember hearing about you. You're one of the guys that blew out the satellite grid last year."

"Don't get him started on that one," Nikki suggested, "He'll go on for an hour..."

"Long story man," Greg chuckled as he shook hands, "I was only aiming for one thing. The explosion went a bit harder than we expected."

"I'm sure you remember me," Toshi said, smiling, "So you're going to be locking up the computers? I don't think I left that many holes, but I never claimed your level of expertise in wetbrain science."

"Your area is the cleanest so far," Haldeman admitted, "But you are right, I've got more experience with this than you do. And this is where that killer virus started."

"Who would have expected it from her ROM chips?" Nikki countered, "I've never heard of a virus being transmitted like that."

"Don't sweat it," Harry smiled, "I'm not here to piss in your pool, just to add some chlorine. I worked on the same project Toshi did, the one that did the basic research that Homer bastardized to create Anoki. Thing is, you two are both scientists and don't know security. I do. Its part of what I learned while forced out of the wet brain field."

"You've been around for a while, eh Harry?" Greg said as he pulled two caffeine sodas out of the fridge and tossing one to Haldeman, "You don't look like a standard company weenie."

"Hey," Nikki said, "What about us?"

Greg tossed another can to Nikki, but was declined by Toshi.

"I resent that," Toshi said, looking at Greg, "I'm no lab weenie and I've been with the company for years."

"Maybe so," Greg said, "But then, maybe you need one."

Toshi smirked at Greg, causing Harry and Nikki to start laughing. Anoki then walked into the room and sat down looking at the new man. Haldeman looked over at her and offered a hand, which was taken and shook in a very ladylike manner. She had just finished watching an old Audrey Hepburn movie and was trying out a little of what she learned.

"Ahhh," Harry said, nodding appreciatively, "I take it that you are miss Anoki 9.0. New body suits you, Anoki. Much different than the old Mellisa set you were using the last time I saw you."

"Guilty as charged," Anoki nodded, "I haven't seen you since the 3.0 protocol load. It's been a long time, Harry."

"Man," Harry chuckled, "Your personality hasn't changed much. I see that they've kept my basic core from ten years ago."

"I've just gotten stronger and smarter," Anoki smiled, "So are you still involved with that swinging group in Tampa or is that..."

"Swing! Swing dancing," Harry said, chuckling nervously, "I see you guys found a way to move her away from the old Mellisa chassis to the more modern Tabiri model."

"Tabiri?" Greg asked, "More modern?"

"Compared to the Mellisa series I came to consciousness in," Anoki said, "The Tabiri's problem wasn't so much her body as it was her limited AI. That AI set tried to walk the path between consciousness and capability and failed miserably. So are you still doing calculations on the old slipstick, Harry?"

"Harry?" Greg asked, "Do I want to know what that means?"

"I was too poor in school to get a calculator," Harry grinned, "Slipstick was an old slang term for a slide rule."

"What's a slide rule?" Greg, the youngest human, wondered.

"It's an old engineering tool," Nikki said, "A stick with a lot of numbers and a sliding thing that helped them make sense."

"Dates back before you were born, Greg. I'm surprised you know what one is, Nikki," Harry said, shaking his head at the fact, "The fact that you have to ask that question makes me feel very old all of a sudden."

"I get that feeling with this crew all the time," Glen Strader said as he walked into the room and kicked back in his chair, "How's life treating you, Harry?"

"Harry?" Toshi and Greg said, looking at each other, "You two know each other?"

"Long time, no see, Glen," Haldeman said as he went over, "Remordis didn't tell me you were on this project."

"He is probably still trying to keep it low profile," Glen shrugged and shook hands with him, "I haven't seen you since Dad was running the original teams in this place."

"Long time ago," Haldeman nodded, "How is Adam doing nowadays?"

"He got crippled in a mishap years ago," Glen said, "I just went to see him about this mess. Seems he knew Stone years ago. Getting information out of the man is just as hard now as it was back then."

"Hello," Nikki said, "There are other people here in the room."

"Some of whom are still supposed to be members of your team," Toshi said, "I didn't know you'd worked here before, Harry?"

"I wasn't at liberty to talk about it," Harry shrugged, "It was before Rob Homer's mess."

"Sorry guys," Glen said, "Harry and I knew each other years ago. He did much the same thing for my father back when he was running the team here. He knows computer security better than any man I've ever met."

"Or woman," Harry said, winking at Toshi, who was still not amused, "I'm not here to get in your way. I'm here to make sure the company doesn't get hit like that again. In some ways it'll be a pain, but in some others I'll be freeing you up."

"Great," Greg said, "So what do we do in the meantime? Twiddle our thumbs? I don't know one end of a computer from another. I'm an explosives junkie."

"We've got some R&D to do," Glen told the younger man, "You and I are going to refine some weapons designs so that we won't get fucked over as bad as we did on the rebel mission. This took care of a cell, but there are still a whole bunch of others waiting for us."

"Sounds like it might be fun," Greg acknowledged, "Do I get to blow things up?"

Toshi rolled her eyes and tossed a donut at Greg that bounced off Harry's bald pate before landing on Anoki's lap. Both Greg and Glen had a good chuckle at that as Nikki handed Harry a tissue to wipe the powdered sugar off his head. Anoki picked up the donut and quietly ate it, turning it into the liquid energy fuel that keeps her flesh alive.

"Of course you get to blow things up," Glen said, still laughing, "Toshi, would you kindly brush up on your aim. I think Harry would appreciate it."

"Just so long as she doesn't fire a weapon near me," Harry said, "I think I'm fine."

"Let's get to work, people," Glen told them, "I want us to be ready to go in a few weeks."

Chapter 11 - Alien Ant Farm

Colonel Strader woke up to the sounds of some old songs playing in the background. He rubbed his head as he looked at the smooth walls of the concrete bunker. It had been a long six weeks of regrouping and retraining, so he allowed Kaczmarek to plan a major league party, which most of the base staff had been invited.

"Mental note," Strader said to himself as he stood up to see whether anything remained in the base, "I should know better than to drink that much of any concoction that Kaczmarek brings to a party."

"You seemed to like it when it was going down," Nikki said as she pulled herself up off the floor, "You're also a pretty good dancer when you're drunk."

"Funny," Glen grunted, glaring at Nikki, "I seem to remember you going nuts out there too."

"Only with you, Colonel," Nikki grinned and winked at him, "You know I've been saving myself."

"You might want to go check and see if anyone is still breathing in the barracks," Strader told her, not really ready to deal with a female at the time, "Seems I remember quite a few people drinking way too much last night."

"Spoil sport," Nikki said and stuck her tongue out at him as she departed, "You were more fun when drunk last night."

Toshiko Shiniki was still passed out in her computer chair, a glass of the noxious liquid still sitting perilously close to her keyboard. Colonel walked over to her and moved the glass to the safe table that she usually kept food on. He brushed a few strands of her dark hair out of her eyes and smiled as he decided to check on the rest of them.

Anoki's eyes popped open as her cybernetic brain sensors detected movement in the room. She sat up and hopped out of the recharge unit, turning off the television set with a mere electronic thought.

"That was some party, Boss," Anoki told him.

"Do I even want to know?" he asked and then thought better of it, "No, I don't think I do."

"I can show you on the screen if you like," Anoki told him, "You, Toshi and Kaczmarek seemed to enjoy yourselves."

"I'm sure I'll remember more later," Strader sighed, "Where is Kaczmarek anyway?"

"He's sleeping it off in the dungeon," Anoki shrugged, "He's probably got Excedrin Headache #108."

Strader nodded and went over to the door of the dungeon. It was still ajar and hanging off only one hinge after one of Kaczmarek's experiments last week backfired. The young man was still lacking most of his hair and eyebrows from that little mishap.

Strader walked through and found his explosives expert sleeping off his excessive drinking on the blackened couch of his that he usually slept on instead of the bed in the main chamber. He nudged the younger man with his foot, getting little more than a moan and a slight stirring.

"Wake up, Sleepyhead," Strader chuckled, "I don't get to rest so neither do you."

"Did you get the number of the truck that hit me?" Greg asked.

"That's what I was going to ask you," The Colonel grunted, "What the hell was in that punch?"

"Two parts everclear, two parts vodka, one part fruit punch soda," Greg grinned, "Good, wasn't it?"

"Good lord," Glen laughed, "I hope you didn't kill poor Toshi with that concoction. She's still asleep at her computer."

"The sleep will do her good," Greg shrugged as he pulled himself up, "She probably hasn't slept that well in years. Might even loosen her up a bit."

"True," he admitted, "We all needed the break."

Anoki walked over and looked in to the room with the blackened walls, making sure that her principal humans were still alive and accounted for.

"Why do you ingest that vile liquid if it makes you feel like this?" Anoki asked.

"Because it's fun?" Greg asked, "You gotta let loose sometimes, you know?"

"I was once young and dumb enough to believe that," Glen said as he shook his head, "I guess I was that dumb last night too."

"You looked like you enjoyed it," Anoki agreed and projected an image of her boss jumping around like a maniac to the music with Nikki, "Welcome to Soul Train!"

"My God," Greg laughed, "Mr. Stick in the mud does know how to get down!"

"I thought I told you I didn't want to see that Anoki?" Glen frowned.

"That's ok kid," Greg grinned, "I did. Thanks for making this headache worth it."

At this point, a sound familiar to both Greg and Glen came out of the speakers evenly distributed around the bunker that the team called home. A loud alarm tone, three short blasts, three long blasts repeated for thirty seconds, sending Greg down to his knees in pain. Shiniki woke up and covered her ears at the sound as well, groaning at the intense pain in her head.

"Ok guys," Glen said, "Party time is over. That's the alarm."

"Great," Greg grumbled, "I thought that shit ended when the company took over?"

"We're still the best qualified alien control unit left in the states," Glen said, "I'm amazed it took this long."

"Time for the barbeque to begin?" Anoki asked, "A real alien invasion?"

"Let's find out," he said and they walked back upstairs to Toshi's computer table, "Can you punch up the com system before you pass out again?"

Toshi, uncharacteristically quiet as she was just waking up, punched a few buttons on her console and laid her head back down on the table. Glen was amazed. Usually, she'd have done it in twice the speed with a pithy comment on top of it. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to reflect much more on it before the image of Sam Remordis came up on the screen.

"Nice to see some of you are alive and well," Remordis said, "The damage resulting from that party of yours last night will take a nice chunk of the maintenance department's budget this month."

"The men have to let the demons loose occasionally," Colonel told him, trying to keep a straight face, "Otherwise they don't perform in the field or in the lab."

"Next time," Remordis said, "Kindly have Kaczmarek keep his party favors down to the firecracker level. If he destroys another building this year it will be coming out of your budget."

"Understood," Colonel Strader nodded somberly, "What's with the alarm? I haven't seen one of those in a while."

"I hope your team has recovered enough to go to work," Remordis told him, taking notice of Toshi slumped on her table, "Looks as though we've got an alien ant farm just outside town."

"Not another one," Colonel groaned, "Those idiots are becoming a perennial problem."

"Suckers are getting bolder," Remordis admitted, "Don't worry about specimens this time. Take them out and bring back the remains of the equipment. Just get out there quickly. The feds said that the locals in Groom Lake are starting to go on lynching parties."

"Shit," Strader grunted, "Just what we need right now is to lose more locals."

"Exactly," Remordis agreed, "Get moving. If the feds get involved there won't be anything left of them or the town. Their policy on ant farms is total destruction now."

"Ok people," Colonel Strader said as the image disappeared, "Anoki, get Toshi up and sober her up as much as you can. Kaczmarek, set up the weapons kits."

"Regular or extra crispy?" Greg asked, "I've got some ideas."

"Extra Crispy," Glen smiled, "It's another ant farm. This time we take no prisoners. They're still going over the crap from last time in R&D. No need to add more to the pile."

"All right!" Greg exclaimed and ran off to the dungeon, "Time to put my new babies to work!"

Glen went over to get the intelligence started while Anoki stood Toshi up and started pumping the caffeine drinks into her.

Chapter 12 - Rocket Scientists they are not...

"Let's go!" one of the townspeople shouted.

"We's gonna shoot us some of them there ants!" another shouted as he shoved clips into a pouch, "Let's go get em! They're not getting away with it again!"

A posse of nearly thirty local townspeople had formed on the outskirts of the town and was starting towards the bright area. Alien ant farm landings in the area were always easy to see. They were always lit up like a Christmas tree, the aliens wrongly believing that they weren't close enough to town to be seen.

The locals were led by four low-level former army grunts that had been released from the federal army during the last bout of downsizing. Not one of them had made it over the rank of corporal, but they were the only ones who had a clue of how to run a squad.

They broke up into squads of six or seven people each and approached the area. Aliens had plagued this town for years because of the nuclear testing that occurred there during World War II. That's why the Area 51 base had been built there in the early 1950's, to cover up the problems this caused.

In the past ten years the incidents of alien aggression around Area 51 had increased markedly. Now, the locals were at the point where they didn't want to take it anymore. Unfortunately, living this close to an old nuclear test site didn't do much for their brainpower and usually such attempts backfired.

As the group approached the edge of the lighted area the leaders began to see the rebel craft for the first time. They saw a bunch of alien creatures who were wearing protective suits that rendered them immune to most physical damage. Physically, they looked like five-foot tall ants covered with high tech machinery. They spoke with each other in a language that was incomprehensible to the locals and to most of the world to avoid having their communications cracked.

The alien leader's compound eyes scoured the area as it walked over to the other side of the campground. They wanted to finally build a base to threaten the local supremacy of the Area 51 force and figure out what had happened to the previous dozen or so forward units.

"Have you found anything yet?" the leader asked in a language that sounded somewhere between guttural German and Russian but would have been incomprehensible to either one.

"Nothing," the other alien replied, "Just a group of idiots approaching from the town."

"What do we do now?" another one asked.

"Kill them all," the leader said, "Get the weapons ready. Leave no witnesses."

Chapter 13 - Preparation

"What do you see, Toshi?" Colonel Strader asked as he drove the truck rapidly to the light beam outside town.

"The satellites are showing about a dozen of them," Toshi said, the caffeine drink having brought her back to nearly normal, "Normal alien ant farm it looks like. They've set up a protective dome and are circling their craft, looking at things."

"Idiots," Glen growled, "Why do they do it?"

"We don't know enough of their language to figure it out," Anoki told him after looking at some of the classified information on the subject, "The scientists have been trying to decipher it, but it doesn't make any sense. They can make incredible gadgets, but we've never gotten one that was willing to try to talk. They still have four of them alive over there from when the government people left. The company is still working on them."

"We get to go in full force don't we?" Greg asked.

"Take no prisoners," Colonel Strader said, "They are stupid, but even a stupid critter with a laser gun can give you a bad case of body burn."

"We'd better get moving with this then," Anoki said as she looked out the window, "I see about thirty humanoid heat signatures approaching the zone."

"Probably the locals," Strader said as he continued driving, "Suit up guys. We don't have time for recon. This is going to be a hot landing if we want to prevent the Ants from making French Fried Locals."

Chapter 14 - Approach

Toshi, being the smallest and most limber, suited up in a black protosuit. It enhanced her already agile frame, allowing her to run twice as fast and to stand perfectly still. She would be running point on this game because she was the fastest and they had no intelligence information at all.

Greg and Glen were going to play frontline on this mission. They worked well together, despite very different approaches. Colonel Strader was finesse while Greg was the firepower, often leaving a parking lot in the wake of his activities.

"What do you want me to do, boss?" Anoki asked as she pulled out her suit.

"Head off the locals at the pass," Strader ordered, "Scare the hell out of them any way you can. The plans will change when we go in, I'm sure. Stay on the radio net to back up who needs it. You're fast enough to catch up to where we need you."

"Kaczmarek," Toshi said, "Please try to remember that I'm out there and try not to incinerate me."

"Or Anoki," Glen warned, "If we lose one of Anoki's bodies to one of your toys, the company will have our asses."

"Remember," Anoki chirped as she stripped off her clothes, "It takes a lot of money to make these bodies."

"Oh man," Greg said as he watched the cybernetic woman strip down, "However much it is; it can't be enough."

"Like you'd stand a chance if she were human," Toshi chuckled dryly.

"Still makes you wonder though," Greg continued as he watched Anoki dress in her jump suit, despite his boss's frown, "How can something so expensive be made to look so wonderfully cheap?"

"Come on over and see me some time," Anoki said, mimicking an old Mae West film she'd seen on the TV.

"Later," Strader said as he checked his plasma clips along with his conventional ammunition, "Anoki, get moving. I want you there before Toshi gets to the site."

"Try not to get seen, Toshi," Greg grinned, "I don't want to have to save you."

"No worry about that," she said as she put her mask and gloves, "The ants don't see certain spectrums. This suit can camouflage me to anything but direct vision. They generally rely on UV and Infrared scans."

"Remember that," Glen suggested to his partner, "No laser sighting this time. That band shows up on UV scans. That's how you nearly got us killed last time."

"That's ok," Greg grinned and patted his exceedingly oversized weapon, "My portable ICBM here doesn't need laser sighting."

"That's fine," Glen nodded as he hopped out of the truck, "Don't fry the locals either. Just take care of the problem."

"Right," Greg growled and stepped out of the truck, "Just call me the Orkin man. Ants go in. They quickly check out. Permanently."

Chapter 15 - French Fried Locals

Anoki ran at her highest speed to get to the locals before they got their nerve and started attacking the rebels with their Vietnam-era weaponry, arms that were more than fifty years obsolete. Toshi did one last look around with the binoculars before turning on her neural radio net.

"Testing," she said over the line.

"Welcome to the Demolition Network," Anoki's synthesized net voice said, "You're coming through clearly."

"How close do you want me?" Toshi asked her boss.

"Close enough to measure their dick when they go to the bathroom," Strader told her.

"Righto," she grinned, "You want size in inches or centimeters?"

"Try millimeters," Greg laughed, showing he was on the grid, "The ants are not known for their endowment."

Colonel Strader watched through binoculars as Toshi approached the site. She worked her way around the trees, confident that she couldn't be seen, but unwilling to take chances regardless. He then directed his binoculars over to Anoki's position. Anoki was fast approaching the locals and processing what to do next.

"Hard or soft approach to the locals?" Anoki asked over the neural net after she'd calculated the best plans for either approach.

"Soft," Glen told her, "We want to get them out of here, not depopulate the town."

Anoki shucked off the weapon kit temporarily. She knew from her nightly dose of television that the body the company scientists had created for her was very desirable to most human men and a fair number of human women. She let her hair down from the cap and unzipped her jump suit a little. Having no modesty certainly helped in that regard as well.

"Hello boys," Anoki said as she stepped out into the light.

"What tha hell?" one of the leaders of the local group said, "What are you doing out here, you purty young thang?"

"Yeah!" the other one said, "Don't you know that them ant things are down there?"

"Of course I know," Anoki said with a sultry voice and a bat of an eyelash, "Why do you think I'm out here?"

"Say wha?" the leader said.

"I'm out here to warn you off," Anoki said as she brushed closer to the leader.

"You're here to warn me?" the good old boy asked.

"That's right," Anoki smiled.

"Warn me about what?" he asked.

"You really don't want to mess with those ants down there," Anoki suggested to them, still using that really sexy voice.

"Why not?" one of the leaders asked, "They've been messing with us for years!"

"I lost my grand pappy to one of them things twenty years ago!" someone in the back shouted.

"You might miss the party though," Anoki told them, wondering why they wouldn't listen.

"I'll remember that party, doll," the leader said, "But first we have some extermination work to take care of."

"But what if you get killed?" Anoki asked him.

"Now go on to the back young lady," the leader told her, "I won't get killed by a bunch of stupid ants."

"Plan A is a bust," Anoki silently sent over the neural radio net, "Switching to plan B. Start attack post haste. They won't be deterred long by plan B either."

"Do it," Colonel Strader ordered, "Toshi is nearly in position. As soon as she's in place behind them, Kaczmarek and I will go hunting."

"All right," Anoki told the mass of men, still in the sultry voice, "I warned you about going up there. I guess you'll have to live with the results."

She stepped back and started shaking a little bit. The men thought she was trying to dance until she stood bolt upright. The pretty smile that was on her face before was replaced with a demonic grin. Her eyes lit up with a bright red glow, and she let out a low wail.

"What the hell is happening to her?" one of the locals asked.

"Go back!" Anoki said with a demoniacally altered voice, "Go back now while you still can!"

Anoki then did what looked to be impossible. Her head went around in a complete circle. She let her mechanical internal voice box let off a demonic laugh as she completed the maneuver. The display had its intended effect on most of the locals, as most of them turned tail and ran.

The two leaders had different ideas, however. They fired their very conventional weapons at Anoki; a half dozen bullets hitting her before she could duck down. Disappearing into the trees a lot faster than the locals could run she circled back to her equipment as she reported to Colonel Strader.

"Most of the locals have turned and run," Anoki informed him, "The rest are trying to chase me down."

"Good work," he said, "The shots alerted the ants though. They're moving."

"I'm in position," Toshi said through the net, "If you guys take out the search party I can blind the ones left here long enough to confuse them."

"Do it," Strader agreed and then looked over at Greg who was sitting there chomping at the bit.

"Can we go hunting now?" he asked impatiently.

"Get out your can of raid," Strader said with a smile, "It's time to play exterminator."

The two men started running towards the positions Toshi was reporting for the main force. Greg readied some of his pyrotechnic goodies as he ran. He'd seen it frequently over the past years, but Colonel Strader was still amazed at the way the kid could mix a bomb from dish soap while running at full speed.

Greg's concoction this time was a mite more powerful than something he could whip up with just dish soap. He got a correct location fix from Toshi and threw the ticking device to a location about a hundred feet away from the front line of ants.

"Hit the dirt," Greg suggested as he did the same, "You're about to witness an ant flambé!"

Glen did so and waited a few seconds. He wasn't disappointed by the results when the device exploded just as the group of rebels walked right over it, taking out most of them. Greg smiled when several charred pieces of their exoskeleton landed in front of where they were laying.

"You did request extra crispy, did you not?" Greg asked his boss.

"Not bad kid," Glen chuckled as he sniped another one with a quick plasma shot to the skull, "The rest of them won't be so easy. They'll turn on the shields."

"I'm working on that now," Toshi said quietly as she walked up behind the rebels, "I know enough about their technology to turn it against them. Provided none of them see through the suit, I should be able to do it."

"Go for it," Strader grunted as he ran towards the next rebel, "Anoki, status!"

"I've got my equipment back," Anoki's neural net voice told them, "Still playing cat and mouse with the locals."

"Ditch the dipshits," Greg shouted over the net, "Let them run cannon fodder if they're too dumb to go home."

"Roger," Anoki said and started on a direct course to towards the remaining member of the rebel advance team.

Chapter 16 - Regular or Extra Crispy

Toshi slowly walked over to the ship. She hadn't seen an operative one of these yet as she had never worked with the extra terrestrial study groups, but what she had read before came back to her quickly as she saw the panel. Evidently, someone up there was making improvements on the model because it had a few new buttons than the old one. She started looking at the markings for correlations with the old model.

"There is no word from the others," the second lieutenant said to the leader, "Perhaps we should report back?"

"Not until we have conquered this miserable rock," the leader said in his unintelligible tones, "Put up the full shield array and then send out a couple more soldiers to put down that resistance force that's showing up on the screens."

"Yes sir," the lieutenant sighed and gave the order.

Toshi didn't understand a word that the two ants said five feet from her, but it didn't sound good. She waited until their heads were turned and started punching buttons on the control panel. The leader remained clueless about what was going on, but the second lieutenant next to him heard the control panel.

"Something is clicking on the control panel!" the lieutenant exclaimed.

"What?" the leader scoffed, "A ghost?"

"I don't know," the lieutenant said and walked over.

She saw it approach and punched the last two keys needed before ducking out of the way. She'd remembered enough of the code to be effective and got enough of it in there to make life difficult on the two soldier ants that were fighting against the only enemy they could see, the locals.

"I'm hurt bad!" one of the locals yelled as he took shrapnel from a bounced conventional shot.

"The bullets are just bouncing off!" Another one yelled.

Greg and Glen were laying prone and watching the battle with a sense of humor, waiting for Toshi to finish what she was doing. It was actually rather humorous to see the poorly led and poorly trained locals going against the nearly blind ants.

"Of course, the bullets are bouncing off you idiots," Greg mumbled, "Conventional bullets won't penetrate that exoskeleton. You have to fry them with plasma."

"When their shields don't keep it out that is," Glen reminded him, "Play it by the numbers, Kaczmarek."

"Should we help them?" Greg asked.

"Toshi," Strader asked over the neural net, "Can we save the local's asses yet?"

"Sure," she said, "From what I can tell you toasted six. Of the six remaining there are three of them here. You have three to hit there."

"What about the three I'm seeing going against the locals?" Greg asked, "Did you count them?"

"Oh," She said and pushed another button on the panel when the lieutenant wasn't looking, "There you go."

Suddenly, the three ants that were beating the hell out of the locals vaporized. All the meat inside their exoskeletons was ionized when Toshi reversed the polarity on their shield units, directing the force inside. The locals looked at the display with amazement, wondering what to do next.

"There is a God!" the leader exclaimed.

"And her name is Toshi," Colonel Strader mumbled as he walked out of the brush with Greg, "Go on home guys. You've done your work here. We'll wipe out the nest."

"Who the hell are you?" the leader asked.

"It's best not to ask," Greg said with a smile, "If we told you we'd have to kill you."

"Toshi," Colonel Strader said into the net, "Get out of there. We'll take the rest of them down."

"I'm setting my gun to Hiroshima!" Greg said gleefully, preparing for spontaneous combustion.

"Try not to destroy the craft," Toshi warned as she started her departure, "It's a new model the labs haven't seen yet. Might give us some insight on the buggers."

"Dial that back down to Crispy," The Colonel ordered Greg, "Anoki, meet up with Toshi and get ready for my signal. Kaczmarek, you're on diversion patrol. Try not to destroy the equipment please."

"Damn it!" Greg grunted, but then went to work creating a few diversionary devices from the materials in his pack.

Chapter 17 - Toasty!

Colonel Strader worked his way up to the edge of the equipment area. He spent a half hour reconnoitering the area and letting Greg Kaczmarek set up his toys. He finally saw Anoki and Toshi waiting with weapons ready over to the other side of the area.

"Three left," Toshi told them, "The small one is the leader. He's been barking orders at the other two."

"Copy," Strader nodded, "Kaczmarek, your surprise packages ready?"

"Roger," Greg grinned, "I think you'll like it."

"Do it," he ordered.

Greg pushed a single button that let off a ring of radio transmitters that he set up in a timing sequence. They started small, with explosions rocking each side of the area. The finely tuned pyrotechnic display started getting larger and finally started shaking the ground and throwing trees at the craft site.

"Toshi," Strader said, "They can't see you with that goop on. Take out the leader. Anoki, take the lieutenant closest to you after Toshi fries the leader."

"Extermination imminent," Anoki promised.

"Kaczmarek," He ordered as Toshi began her approach, "Once we fry the last of the ants you take out their healing center. We'll let the scientists come take the ship back, but I want to make sure we don't accidentally leave anyone to attack the town again."

"Consider it pulverized," Greg promised, switching his weapon's power level to maximum.

Another thing they'd learned about the leaders of these ant farms was that they always had a localized shield device that couldn't be broken from the outside. Luckily the leader tended to go down quickly with a plasma blast into the eyes, but only if the blast comes from close range. The shields they have block weapon blasts, but not the weapons themselves from entering the field.

Toshi crept behind the remaining rebels and pulled out a phase three particle plasma pistol. With the aid of her jumpsuit, she did a flip over the leader's head and emptied the plasma pistol into the leader's eye sockets.

Colonel Strader then rushed in and drop kicked the lieutenant closest to him. Anoki's target was the recipient of a similar attack, though her small frame had more power in the kick because of the high power actuators that were in her legs. Toshi hit the ground and got ready to cover either Strader or Anoki if they needed it. Neither one did.

Anoki's plasma pistol went from her waist to her hand in no time, frying her opponent's brain quickly. Glen wasn't quite as fast, but the point came across just the same. The rebel tried to attack him, but wasn't in a position to do anything about the plasma rifle.

"Oh shit!" the lieutenant managed to get out in his native tongue before being vaporized.

"Take out the chamber," Strader yelled into the net, "Quickly!"

"No problem." Kaczmarek said as he pulled the trigger on his oversized weapon, "Say hello to Elvis for me!"

Greg pulled the trigger and let off a full-scale plasma blast into the oversized healing unit. This is often said to be the equivalent of being on the receiving end of a nuclear explosion, but only if that nuclear explosion was heading in one direction, twice as hot, and not radioactive.

Unfortunately, the Ants were not the only ones out there that day. After the pounding the Strike team had given them a couple months earlier the local rebel group had been waiting for an opportunity like this. Despite it being technically a secret, the rebels had enough intelligence to know an Alien Ant Farm would generate a strike team response.

Being a few steps up in intelligence from the locals that Anoki had warded off, the rebel group had held back and hid their troops in hopes that they would be able to catch the Strike team just after dealing with the Ant Farm. They were only half-successful in this, because it only took a few of the rebels to move before Toshi's Augmented Reality visor caught the movement and alerted her. She did a quick area scan and knew they were in trouble.

"Shit!" Toshi yelled, "It's a trap!"

Chapter 18 - RUN!!!

"Run!" Colonel Strader yelled as he saw the rebel troops massing after the Ants defeat, "We're outnumbered."

"Shit!" Greg yelled as they ran, "What did we screw up this time?"

"We didn't do it," Toshi said, "Intelligence didn't catch the Rebel movement into the area. We were too focused on the Ant Farm to look for standard human movement more than the obvious locals."

"Military Intelligence is a contradiction in terms," Anoki said in a fair electronic imitation of Hawkeye Pierce.

Anoki she brought the rear, drawing the fire away from the flesh and blood members of the team. No less than forty pissed off rebels were chasing after the four members of the team, firing a mix of plasma and conventional weapons at them.

"I swear," Strader said, still in full run, "Someone is going to pay dearly for this."

"Yeah!" Greg shouted, "Us!"

"Area 2 is about a half click north of here," Toshi said, checking her handheld while running, "The computers say it should lead into some abandoned parts of Area 51."

"Are these the same computers that said we were going on a simple extermination mission?" Colonel asked her, "Nobody said anything about four dozen rebels!"

"I don't know if we can make it another click," Greg said, "They're gaining on us and their plasma shots are coming closer. Anoki is taking a licking."

"I may take a licking," her voice came through their headsets, "But I keep on ticking."

"You have any of your specials?" Toshi asked Greg.

"Lubricated, Ribbed, or Glow in the dark?" Greg shouted, "Your choice!"

"Don't be a tease," she yelled, "Just blow those clowns up!"

"Yippie ki yay motherfucker!" came an electronic imitation of Bruce Willis, originating from Anoki.

Greg continued running as he unclipped one of the large explosive devices from his belt. He had made this batch a few weeks before, not knowing if they'd be useful. The bombs had a timed proximity trigger. Nothing happens until the timer counts down, but if anyone comes within 30 feet after the timer runs out they won't be around for tomorrow night's dinner.

Greg punched a ridiculously short amount of time on the timer and threw one over his shoulder. He did the same with the second one and prayed that the rebels were dumb enough to fall for the same trick twice.

The rebels ran right over the first bomb just as the timer ran out. The proximity sensor went off and took out over a third of the force. The rest of them weren't as dumb as they looked, however, as they gave the second bomb a very wide berth.

"That bought us some time," Strader said, "Where is the bunker, Toshi?"

"See that concrete structure about 200 yards from here?" she yelled, "That's it!"

"Lay some cover, Anoki," Glen yelled, "Kaczmarek, get another one of those surprises ready to leave hidden by the door. Adjust it so it blows out and doesn't damage the door."

"Roger!" Greg shouted, "It'll be a hot time in the concrete bunker tonight!"

Anoki began jogging backwards, using her internal radar to keep from running into the other members of the team. She used a very large machine gun, one that was almost as tall as she was, to lay covering fire as she ran in reverse.

"Open the door, Toshi!" Glen ordered, "Now."

"Trying!" Toshi grumbled as she worked the palm sized terminal, "There's a problem though. It's on the old US Army system. It was never converted to Company Codes. We still haven't catalogued the whole base yet!"

"That's a pretty big fucking problem!" Greg told her as he got another special ready, "One that I'd suggest fixing in the next thirty seconds unless you fancy becoming a morgue attendant's bitch!"

She didn't respond to him, however, as her brain and body were running at full speed. The old Army codes were easy for her to hack normally, but she didn't have the time or the concentration she usually had for the task. The team was entering the concrete entry area for the bunker, still being actively pursued by the enemy before Toshi managed to crack in to the door codes.

"Piece of cake," she said as the door opened.

"Chocolate, I hope," Anoki said through the com link.

"Just so long as you jump out of it, Anoki," Greg said as he finished punching the numbers into the last proximity bomb's timer, "Charge is set. Let's get inside and close that door!"

"You heard the man," Glen said, "Close it."

Toshi nodded and hit the close button, just as Anoki ducked in. Anoki was a mess, having taken numerous fragment and plasma hits, destroying a large percentage of her outer skin. She was going to spend some time in the tissue regeneration lab after this job.

Chapter 19 - Area 2

"Ok," Greg said as he looked at the injured droid, "You can skip the cake jump."

"What is this place, Toshi?" Glen asked her, "It looks as if it hasn't been used since the 20th century."

"It hasn't," She told him, "I lost my com link to the outside world when we came inside, but the little data I got on it before we closed the door said it was called Area 2, part of the old Groom Lake base complex that's now referred to generally as Area 51. It was called Lake Mead Base in the 1950's. Not sure what they used it for after that."

"With those plasma rifles it'll take them about twenty minutes to melt through that door system," Greg said, "Let's save the history lesson for later and sort of figure a way out of this cluster fuck, ok?"

"Much as it pains me to say this," Glen frowned, "Kaczmarek is right. We need to get out of here."

"Something is not right here," Anoki said, "My radar circuits read functional, but I can't make out anything, even that table that's five feet away from me."

"Interference?" Glen asked her, "What type?"

"Radiation," Anoki said, "Low grade."

"Shit!" Greg exclaimed, fear entering his voice, "No wonder they abandoned this place! Great job, kid. You saved us from the rebels just to lead us to a death from radiation poisoning."

"No worse than an x-ray," Anoki said, "You get more rads from your plasma heated MRE's."

"I want a continuous Geiger reading," Glen instructed, "If the rads start approaching dangerous levels, I want to know."

Suddenly, a loud blast shook the bunker, sending some concrete dust falling off the ceiling. Toshi hit the floor, while both Greg and Glen readied their weapons.

"It looks like someone found your calling card," Glen chuckled, "Good."

"Yeah," Greg nodded, setting his weapon to safe, "Guess we've got some overcooked rebel roast outside now. Anyone hungry?"

Toshi growled at him and tried to avoid retching. Glen looked around the room and wondered what was next. Suddenly, the steel door started glowing with a pale reddish light, a sure sign that they were trying to melt it with plasma.

"I'd say we don't have much choice," Glen said, "Anoki, keep me updated on the radiation. Let's move to the back and see if we can find some decent cover."

The four of them walked in formation to the back of the bunker. Toshi took about thirty seconds to break the internal door codes again. They were slightly more complicated than she was used to getting from the US Army, something that worried her a little.

"Why would they secure these doors better than any other doors on Area 51?" Toshi asked, "This makes no sense."

"It's the US Army," Greg said dismissively, "The same people who paid five hundred dollars for a toilet seat. Who knows?"

Glen had an idea what it was, something he'd heard about as a kid living in base housing in Area 51, but he would withhold comment until he saw for sure. He just hoped that opening the door wouldn't kill them all with radiation. Toshi finished breaking the code and the large double door set opened slowly.

"Radiation, Anoki?" Glen asked her.

"A little higher," Anoki said, "About the same as it would be on a submarine."

"Good," Colonel Strader said and walked into the room, seeing the one thing he was afraid of.

"Holy shit!" Greg yelled, "Those aren't what I think they are, are they?"

"Toshi," Glen sighed, "I hope you can explain this."

"They shouldn't be here," Toshi exclaimed and consulted her handheld, which was now almost useless among the gamma rays, "The US Government dismantled their nuclear program ten years ago to keep it out of Trump's hands. The plasma weapons were cheaper, more stable, and had better protective controls."

"From the looks of the markings, they were put here around the turn of the century," Greg said, "The feds probably forgot they were here when they sold the base to the company. Word is they took the money and ran. Wouldn't be the first major league fuck up they made on the nuclear front."

"Great," Glen said, shaking his head, "Looks as though we opened another whole can of worms. I guess the computer didn't bother to tell you that Lake Mead was a nuclear weapons storage ground?"

"I hate to remind you of this," Toshi said, "But we still have a whole bunch of pissed off rebels trying to kill us. Rebels that I might add will break through that door in a manner of moments. Those nuclear weapons will be the least of our problems when they do that."

"She's annoying," Greg said, "But she does have a pretty good point, Colonel."

"Tell me about it," Glen nodded, "Look around this place for some more weapons. Anoki, stay by the door. If anything comes through, kill them."

"Roger," Anoki said and stood there with plasma rifle ready.

Chapter 20 - Please Don't Shoot the Thermonuclear Weapons

Toshi went straight over to the office and took a look at the ancient computer security systems. The room was better shielded, so her little computer actually worked in there. She linked it to the security system, making a patch cable to cross over the ancient link.

Greg found some high power rifles and a rocket launcher. Both items were useless in this environment. He and his boss looked at each other and at the weapons that were lined up in to the room.

"Any ideas?" Glen asked the younger man.

"Not that I could get away with in a room full of nuclear weapons," Greg told him, "Toshi was working on something."

The two of them went in there and found Toshi happily working on the computers and giving the occasional kick to the base unit, an obsolete military model that had never worked well in the first place.

"What have you got, kid?" Glen asked her, looking at the equipment.

"The proximity weapons whittled them down," Toshi said, "I haven't figured out how to get us out of this, but I did get the surveillance cameras working again."

"How many left?" Greg asked.

"Six," Toshi said, "The rest either left or were taken out by Kaczmarek's weapons."

"Breakthrough!" Anoki yelled and started firing.

Greg was out like a shot, his weapon out. Glen ran behind him and saw the young man take a position behind one of the weapons. Glen remembered from past lessons that this could be bad and nearly had a conniption when Greg started firing. He ran over to Greg and drop kicked the weapon out of his hand. He then went over and pulled the taller man to a standing position.

"What the hell?" Greg asked, looking at his boss

"Please," Colonel Strader said quietly, "Do not shoot from behind the thermonuclear weapons. I'm not interested in becoming a piece of fallout today, eh?"

Anoki fired the last of her rounds into the group of rebels, knocking their number down by one. The other five saw that she was out of ammunition and rushed her, knocking her back with some full blast plasma rounds.

"Incoming!" Anoki yelled.

Two of them took on Anoki, thinking she was a standard human being, another major mistake for a group of idiots. Greg and Glen went into the battle, ducking out of the way as the other three in for shots. Luckily, all their shots went high, away from the nukes.

Greg pulled his weapon and emptied it in the eyes sockets of the first one of the three breakthroughs, causing the others to attempt to take cover. Glen, whose weapon was long since empty, charged one of the others and took him in a flying tackle.

Greg charged at the other one of the two remaining inside while Anoki wiped the floor with the others. He caught up with the rebel and kicked his knee out, causing him to fall and drop the plasma weapon harmlessly to the side. Kaczmarek then jumped on the fallen rebel on the floor and started beating on it, just like an old fashion street beating.

"Please..." Greg yelled, making each word coincide with a hit on the rebel's face, "Do...Not...Shoot...At...The...Thermo...fucking...nuclear...Weapons!"

The lesson was lost on the man, however, as he was unconscious when Kaczmarek got to the word thermo and dead by the word Weapons. Glen stood up and looked around quickly. He then rushed over to the security office where Toshi was still located.

"Are we clear?" He asked her.

"For now," Toshi confirmed, "I managed to get the com units patched into this blasted thing. It's still wired into the Area 51 network, believe it or not. The company is sending a nuclear cleanup crew and some conventional reinforcements to back us up. The base security teams took out the few straggling rebels. Looks like they're down for good, at least this time."

"Good," Colonel Strader said, "When they get here we get out."

"Why so quick?" Toshi asked as they walked back out into the bomb room, "You usually like to look over things more carefully than that."

"Him," He said and jerked his thumb at Greg, "I'll feel much better as soon as we can get Kaczmarek away from here."

"Afraid he might get some ideas?" Anoki asked him.

"I've already got some," Greg said, his eyes glazing with dreams, "I think I can make a neat toaster out of one of these things..."

Glen just shook his head and looked at Anoki. Anoki nodded and took the other side. The two of them each took one of Greg's arms and picked him up off the ground as if he was nothing at all. Toshi couldn't help but laugh as the three of them went out the door.

"Hey!" Greg protested, "I was only kidding... Sorta."

Chapter 21 - Exploding Garbage Cans

"How's Greg taking the fact that you won't let him near the cache of nukes?" Remordis asked Colonel Strader in the briefing room, "I heard you and Anoki had to escort him out."

"He's tough," Strader said, "He's getting over it right quick too. I'm sure you felt the ground rocking from his latest series of experiments."

"I was wondering where that came from," Remordis chuckled, "You guys did good work with that ant farm, despite the quick retreat you had to make at the end."

"I still want to know how the rebel faction found out so quick," he shrugged, "We got the job done though."

"R&D will be going gaga over the new version of that ship," Remordis nodded, "Almost makes up for that building."

"Don't worry," Strader grinned, "He's under strict orders not to blow anything up tonight."

"That's good," Remordis said, "Take it easy tonight. Take that lab assistant you were with last night out or something. You've been on this base for two straight months, Strader. I don't want you burning out on me."

"Don't have anywhere else to go," Strader chuckled, "You know my family. It's all here."

"I know that feeling," Sam told him, "Wife's been dead for years. Toshi was there for that mess. Not much other family than that."

"How many kids do you have?" Glen asked him.

"One," Sam said, "I don't see him near enough either. He's always trotting around the world."

"I've got two kids and a pet robot," Glen told him, "They're my family now."

"That's one way to look at it," he nodded, "I'm taking tomorrow off; you and your team can do the same unless there's an emergency. See you at the meeting with Haldeman on Friday?"

"Sure," Glen nodded, "I'll be there."

"See you then," Remordis said and closed his briefcase, "Ten in the morning, here in my office."

The two men walked out, Sam Remordis out to his car in the parking lot, Glen Strader over to the common area in the Strike Team's building. Nobody on the team had any family left worth talking about, so they tended to spend all their time either in their own rooms or in the common room. This is where Glen found everyone, engaged in a full on debate on the best hacker movie of all time.

"Wargames is the one that started it all," Harry was explaining to Toshi, who was having none of it, "Matthew Broderick was the man. The kid managed to hack into the guts of Norad with a machine that has less horsepower than one of Anoki's thumb actuators. That is what I call real hacking."

"But that was child's play," Toshi told him, "For old school hacker movies you just can't beat Hackers. Jonny Lee Miller was just so cool. That guy could break into anything."

"I say the Matrix Trilogy beats all of them," Nikki smiled, "What good is just breaking into a computer if you don't get to kick some ass in the process?"

"I have to agree with Toshi on this one," Greg said, "If for no other reason than Angelina Jolie was just so damned hot in that one."

"Could be worse," Anoki told Harry, "They could be going for Antitrust."

"Now I'd do the actress in that one too," Greg grinned, "Both of them, preferably together."

"Dude," Nikki said, rolling her eyes, "You'd do any actress who even expressed a little interest."

Greg thought about that for a second, earning giggles from both Toshi and Anoki.

"Well," Greg said after reflection, "Yeah. Why not?"

This reaction caused the whole group to laugh out loud. Glen smiled and pulled one of his favored caffeine drinks out of the fridge before going over and joining the group. Nikki moved a little and let Glen sit down on the couch.

"You don't have the usual post briefing grimace," Greg noticed as his boss sat down, "I take it they didn't chew you a new one this time?"

"No reason to," Toshi said, "We actually did things right this time. It wasn't our intelligence that was wrong, it was the government weenies. We couldn't have anticipated the rebel incursion."

"That never stopped the military people from chewing us out before, Toshi," Greg told her.

"Sad but true," Haldeman said, "I saw too much of that myself. Military culture was much better at discipline than providing a good work environment."

"Can't have an army without discipline," Glen reminded them.

"And just what did we learn about discipline?" Greg asked him, "How to take it up the ass because of a dumb blonde robot that couldn't tell friends from enemies? I'm sorry, Glen, but I'm rather glad to be out of that organization."

"You were glad enough to join a few years back," Glen reminded him.

"Beat jail," Greg chuckled, "In retrospect, taking it up the ass from the Tabiri beat getting it up the ass from a big ugly dude named Bubba every night."

"Jail?" Nikki asked him, "Sounds like a great story. How did you end up in the army, Greg?"

"Oh brother," Glen said, rolling his eyes a little, "Here we go again."

"I've got to hear this one," Toshi said, "Where on earth did they find a social misfit like you, anyway?"

"Well," Greg said, enjoying the attention, "I learned early that I liked making things blow up."

"And a wonderful talent you have for it, son," Harry said cynically, "I spent four months rebuilding computers you and Glen destroyed with the pulse from that space station mess. Great fun and a lot of money, so I owe you one for that."

"Man," Greg said, "I wish I could take credit for that one. That ridiculous Tabiri unit is the one who set that one off."

"I'll vouch for that," Glen said, "We were too busy trying to save our own asses to have time to set something like that off."

"Come on," Anoki said, her eyes still on Greg, "I want to hear this story. It's one of the few I couldn't find in his records."

"See," Greg said, smiling, "At least Anoki likes me."

"Get on with it," Glen said, shaking his head, "You could never pass up a willing audience."

"All right," Greg continued, "Like I said before; I learned early that I liked to blow things up. I used to just make small party favors and prank charges. Things similar in scale as what I did last night."

"No wonder they arrested you," Nikki laughed, "You took down a building with that so called party favor last night."

"Oh," Greg grinned, "That one was nothing. That building has been on the edge of coming down for years."

"Come on," Anoki said, "So what was the final straw?"

"Well," Greg said, "My big party favor was sending dumpsters flying up into the air with a shape charge. It was harmless fun, didn't usually do too much damage to the dumpsters."

"Usually being the operative word," Glen put in, having heard this story many times over the years.

"Let me tell my own story, ok Colonel?" Greg said, throwing a piece of popcorn at him, "Anyway...I was seventeen, a few months away from my eighteenth birthday. I had no plans, no ambitions. The only thing I liked doing was blowing things up. Figured I'd probably end up in demolitions."

"I thought that's where you did end up," Anoki teased him.

"Funny," Greg laughed, "Well, I decided to set up a new year to remember. The school that I went to had four really large dumpsters lined up in a row. So I decided to send them all up and make them land in the teacher's parking lot. The idea was to have one mashed dumpster in each of the administrator's reserved parking spaces."

"Inventive," Harry admitted, "I take it that something went wrong."

"The blasts went off without a hitch," Greg said, continuing, "The four dumpsters went flying, all in a row 100 feet in the air. The sparking streamers I set up on the corners made for one hell of an impressive fireworks display."

"Someone must not have been amused," Toshi said, "Otherwise nobody would have been talking about jail."

"Well..." Greg said, hedging a little, "I didn't look too closely at the parking lot. It seems that they put the natural gas reserve tank under the teacher's parking lot, and four falling dumpsters can do quite a bit of damage."

"Sounds like fun," Nikki grinned, "Wish I could have been there."

"I would probably have been fine if it was just that," Greg continued, "But the sparking streamers set off the gas reserve, which extended under the building. I think the final total was about nine million dollars in damage to the school building, not to mention further five million dollars worth of shattered windows that happened in a two-mile radius."

"No wonder they wanted to put your head on a stick," Anoki said, "Your juvenile record was sealed, but there were no less than 200 lawsuits filed against you during that year."

"That's it?" Greg asked, "Man, I thought sure it was over five hundred."

"One of them was a class action, if that helps," Anoki said, "Probably for everyone who had windows blown out."

"Typical," Toshi said, "And you're proud of your accomplishment, I'm sure."

"Lemme tell you," Greg grinned, "I didn't mean to take the whole place down, but it was a beautiful sight. Even managed to do it without getting anyone hurt. That takes talent, honey."

"You mean a shitload of luck, don't you, boy?" Harry asked him, "You're lucky you didn't kill anyone that night."

"Whatever works," Greg grinned, "Anyway, the army heard about my little stunt and checked out my record. They decided I'd be more use to them than I would inside a jail cell. They offered a deal, and I took it. Thought I'd have to be in for life."

"So when is the last time you saw a paycheck?" Nikki asked him.

"What's a paycheck?" Greg asked her, "My wages are pretty much on permanent garnish from that incident. I think I clear about 200 bucks a month."

"Ouch," she shuddered, "I couldn't even fathom it."

"It's ok," Greg grinned, "I get to blow things up for a living. I eat three times a day. Works for me."

"Figures," Harry said, "So what is going to be going on tonight?"

"We're off tonight and tomorrow unless there's another alarm," Glen said, "So you guys can spread out and even leave the base if you want to. I don't know why you're asking, Harry. You're just a consultant. Why don't you go on home to Ari?"

"Ari had the good sense to leave me years ago," Harry said, "More power to her too. I've been hanging out with you guys cause it beats being alone in a motel room watching bad porn."

"Glad to see you have standards," Greg said, "Hold out for that really good porn, Harry."

"Amen to that," Harry agreed.

"There's a murder mystery evening going on over at the playhouse in downtown Groom Lake," Toshi told them, "I've always wanted to try one of those."

"According to the local news there were still slots open," Anoki said, "Think we can convince them to let me out of here long enough to go?"

"What are the rules on that sort of thing, Toshi?" Glen asked, "Is she allowed off the base?"

"No one has really said anything about it," Toshi shrugged, "It'll be a good learning experience for her. Let her see a bit of real life."

"Be sure you play human," Glen said, deciding to not say anything, "I take it one of you will buy her a ticket."

"Sure," Greg said, "I may not make much, but I can afford a ticket. Especially if she'll agree to hang off my arm. Being seen with her can do little but make me look good."

"Be careful," Anoki teased, "People will think we're in love."

"You two make me sick," Nikki laughed, "Don't forget Greg, one mistake and she'd tear you limb from limb."

"I can think of worse mistakes to make, and I've made plenty," Greg grinned, "Most of them weren't anywhere near as pretty as Anoki, though."

"Ok," Harry said, "I can't pass up this opportunity. I'll go."

"And you have a date, Greg," Anoki said and slid next to him, "My first one, in fact."

"Colonel?" Toshi said as she picked up the phone, "Do you want to go?"

"No thanks," Glen said, shaking his head, "I think that if I have to watch this display all night I'll either be laughing my ass off or retching. Besides, they've been doing that same show yearly for nearly twenty years. I saw it with my dad when I was a teenager. I'll stick around here."

"I'll pass too," Nikki said, looking at Glen, "After last night's party I think I want to relax a bit."

"Nikki?" Toshi asked, "You sure? Your only company will be Mr. Stick in the Mud here..."

"He isn't so bad," Nikki chuckled, "He can even dance a little when he lets his guard down."

"No dancing tonight Nikki," Glen said, "I'm not drunk enough for that."

"Pity," Nikki grinned, "You weren't half bad."

"Ok spoilsports," Toshi said, grinning, "Four tickets it is. I'll order, you guys go round up transportation."

"I've got my car," Harry said, "I'll drive."

Toshi made the call and had the tickets waiting at the box office. The four of them filtered out for a night of adventure, leaving Nikki and Glen sitting in the common room. Nikki looked over at the man, wondering what he would do for the night. He saw the look and smiled.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Nikki," Glen said, "But someone has to do the reports on the ant farm mess."

"This isn't the military, Colonel," Nikki grinned, "Nobody is going to court marshal you for leaving it until tomorrow."

"Why wait?" Strader shrugged, "Don't you have a home to go to?"

"I don't like to commute," Nikki shrugged, "So I took the offer to allow use of base housing. Lets me save up so that when I want to I can put a lot down on a real house."

"Must put a crimp in your social life," Strader said as he went over to his desk.

"I don't have much more of one than you do," Nikki said, "That's ok though. I like my job and the people here aren't bad."

"It's still a bit strange," Glen said, looking around, "Not used to being a civilian."

"It can be fun," Nikki said, "You'll get used to it."

"Time will tell," Glen admitted, "I'm still going to go do those reports though."

"The barracks are usually a mass of noise this time of night," Nikki said, "Mind if I do a little reading here in your common room."

"Mi sitio común es su sitio común," Glen said, motioning to the area, "All yours until the others get back."

"Thanks," Nikki smiled, "Spanish, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "You speak it?"

"Not well," Nikki said, shaking her head, "I speak only English and rudimentary Russian."

"Russian, huh?" Glen asked her, "Why Russian?"

"Figured it would come in useful," Nikki shrugged, "It hasn't yet, but you never know."

"Especially with this group," Glen nodded, "Enjoy your book."

"Enjoy your paperwork," she winked and sat down on the couch, "I'll be around if you want to hang out later."

"I'll remember that," Glen chuckled.

Chapter 22 - Escapism

"How does it feel to be a killer, Harry?" Greg asked him as they walked out of the theatre, "You don't look the part, you know."

"I don't know," Harry shrugged, "Us computer junkies always were a bit strange. You never know what we're capable of."

"I think he looks too distinguished to be a killer," Toshi grinned.

"Thanks kid," Harry chuckled, "You just think I look too old to be a killer."

"I'm not as young as I used to be" Toshi started to protest and earned a laugh.

"You walked into it this time," Anoki told her, "Start sucking up now, Toshi."

"Or sucking on something else," Greg mumbled, earning an elbow in the side from Anoki, "What?"

"Be nice," Anoki told him, "This is my first date, after all. I wouldn't want to tarnish it by having to thump you."

"I can think of worse ways to go, my dear," Greg said, bowing to the android.

"You wish," Toshi told him, "Wouldn't you rather have a full flesh and blood woman, Greg?"

"This isn't silicon, Toshi," Anoki reminded her, "Outside I'm all flesh and blood."

"I know this may be a rather personal question," Harry said to the android as they walked, "But just how fully functional are you now? The Mellisa unit looked great, but didn't have all the parts."

"Harry!" Toshi exclaimed, "You're beginning to sound like Greg!"

"I'd like to know the answer to that too," Greg grinned, "It's a valid scientific question!"

"They didn't make Anoki to be a billion dollar whore, guys," Toshi said indignantly.

"I'm nobody's whore," Anoki told her, "I may be computerized, but I am cognizant and sentient. Feelings come with that, you know."

"That lets out you being a politician," Harry noted, "But still, the question stands. I'm too damn old to take advantage of it anyway, I'm just curious."

"Harry, you should know this after the work for Foundation Robotics ten years ago. The researchers designed the systems to fully mimic a human from the outside," Anoki said, "The first version of the technology was the Mellisa chassis I became sentient in, followed by the more successful Tabiri chassis."

"The Tabiris were considered a success?" Greg asked, "Is this some new form of the word success that I was previously not acquainted with?"

"From a physical standpoint," Toshi told him, filling in for Anoki, "The Tabiris were beautifully constructed machines. They got the flesh generators right and made them look human. First ones without any hint of the Uncanny Valley."

"Right," Anoki nodded, "The only thing that was a dismal failure in those units was the AI system. The Mellisa never had that problem, as it was never designed to be anything more than a shell. Granted, I have fond memories of that body seeing as I wore one for nearly eight years."

"I read about the Tabiri AI," Harry noted as they continued to walk, "They were more dangerous to the troops than they were to the enemy."

"Not to interrupt the conversation," Greg said, "But it's about to rain and I don't want to go home yet. Want to go get a drink over at Martini Cove before we head back?"

"Umm," Toshi said, "How do you expect Anoki to get in? She has no ID."

"She has a base ID," Greg shrugged, "Anoki they won't question anyway, especially if she winks the right way."

"I think I can manage," Anoki smiled, "Let's go."

While the crew was heading over to the Martini Cove, Glen Strader was still buried in paperwork at his desk. He filled out the forms almost automatically by this point, his mind going in to self-protective semi-shutdown. After a few hours, Nikki walked into the room holding a paper bag that she placed down on the desk.

"You didn't eat dinner earlier," Nikki said, "I figured you might want some Chinese."

"How did you get Chinese in here?" Glen wondered, looking at the bag, "Isn't this a security installation?"

"We have a deal with the gate guards," Nikki grinned, "We call them and they'll receive it, in return for a large order of Lo Mein. Been going on for months."

"Where's it from?" Glen asked, "Who delivers out here?"

"We order enough that China Delight in town is willing to come out here," Nikki shrugged as she held the bag in front of him, "We usually order forty or fifty bucks of stuff at once."

"I'm impressed," Glen nodded, getting up from his chair, "That's the best Chinese in Nevada."

"The price is that you have to leave that desk and come sit with me for a while," Nikki told him, "Other than that, it's on me."

"I can think of less pleasant prices to pay," Glen grinned, "What have we got here?"

"You look like a beef eater," Nikki said as she pulled out the containers, "So we have Sesame Beef and Beef Lo Mein."

"A woman after my own heart," Glen grinned, "Hot and Sour soup too. Very good."

"Eat up," Nikki smiled as she bit into an egg roll, "It's going to get cold soon."

"I'm there with you," Glen nodded, opening the sesame beef and cracking open some chopsticks.

Just as Nikki and Glen were beginning to eat Greg, Anoki, Harry and Toshi were sitting down at a back booth at Martini Cove, as far away from the cringe-worthy karaoke machines as they could manage.

Greg and Harry had already gotten their king size mugs of beer while Toshi ordered a Mai Tai, an old favorite. Anoki ordered the cheapest thing on the drink list because she couldn't tell the tastes apart. Not to mention that it wouldn't affect her anyway.

"Nice place," Anoki said, looking around, "My first time in a bar. Other than Stacy Anoki's memories of one anyway."

"Not mine," Toshi said, "I'm not as impressed so far."

"No sense of adventure," Greg grinned as he sipped on his beer, "This place is cool and the beer is good."

"And plentiful," Harry grinned, "And you never answered my earlier question. Just how well did they design you?"

"I can feel everything, thank you very much," Anoki smiled, "Though I still have yet to test out just how well that works."

"Something you've definitely got to fix," Greg said, "If only to give hope to the rest of us."

"You never know," Anoki told him, "I'm sure it would happen someday."

"You'd tear him apart," Toshi laughed, "I don't think he's man enough to handle that."

"I don't know," Harry shrugged, "Greg is a big boy. I'm sure he'd be able to take care of himself."

"Perhaps we'll see someday," Anoki grinned and took a sip of her drink, "You know, doing a chemical analysis on this shows me that it's not fit for human consumption."

"That's the whole point," Greg told her, "To drink stuff that will kill brain cells and have a great time doing it."

"I still don't get that part," Anoki sighed, "It must be a human thing."

"It's a lowering of inhibitions," Harry suggested, "It allows you to say things, get a little courage you wouldn't normally have, maybe get a chance to say hello to the girl that looks like she's way out of your league."

"So why does Greg drink?" Toshi asked, sipping her drink with a smirk, "That boy has a permanent foot to mouth bypass going on."

"Funny," Greg said, "And to think I was going to vote you queen of the prom."

"Uh uh," Anoki said, leaning against Greg, "You're going to vote for me tonight."

"I think you lost the election, Toshi," Harry chuckled, "That's ok though, I'll put you in for Miss Congeniality."

"Oh," she said rolling her eyes, "I'm so excited."

"Don't be a spoil sport," Anoki said, sipping her concoction, "It's all in fun."

"One day you'll be a queen of the prom too," Greg grinned, "Just gotta work on the attitude a bit."

"It's ok," Toshi grinned, "I'll let you keep that attention, Anoki. I'd rather make the jokes."

"Looks like they've finished up with the Karaoke and are starting the dancing," Harry said to change the subject, "Any of you dance?"

"Don't tell me you're a dancer," Anoki asked him.

"Not lately," Harry said, "But I'm feeling the beer enough to be willing to try."

"I want to dance!" Anoki exclaimed, "I've never done it before!"

"Why not," Greg said, "But I dance with Anoki... I'm bad and I know I can't hurt her feet."

"Let's go!" Anoki exclaimed and dragged Greg out onto the floor.

"Care to dance with the old man, Toshi?" Harry asked his old friend, "Shades of the day's with Elias' old group."

"Sounds like a plan, though I'd prefer not to think of Elias right now," she smiled as the old memories came up, "I'll take that offer, Harry. Beats dancing with that big oaf."

"Greg is a bit rambunctious," Harry admitted, "But his heart is in the right place."

"I figured that," Toshi said as she stood up and took his arm, "It's the brain I'm worried about..."

While everyone was beginning the process of dancing and making idiots of themselves, Glen and Nikki were finishing up the food and watching something really bad on the television. The boxes from the Chinese food were laid out mostly empty on the coffee table as they watched.

"My God, this is getting terrible," Glen said, shaking his head, "And to think Anoki is watching this crap for hours a day."

"Its escapism," Nikki shrugged, "It's a lot more fun if you don't take it seriously."

"Pure crap to me," Glen shrugged, "Never been much for television. Not even when I was a kid."

"You must have had a strange childhood," Nikki said, "I loved the TV when I was a kid."

"I grew up around all this military shit," Glen explained, "I know most of what is on TV is bullshit, so I have a low tolerance for it."

"How long have you been here?" Nikki wondered, leaning a little closer.

"I was about five when my father was first transferred here," Glen grinned, "back before the rebel problems became more frequent."

"And here you sit working for another group," Nikki said, shaking her head, "Not the same anymore, is it?"

"Not what I was raised in, that's for sure," Glen agreed, "My family is heavily military. Been in the armed forces since the 1800's. I'm the first one to ever be court marshaled too."

"I heard about that," Nikki smiled, her eyes looking over the ex-military man, "You were the one responsible for that satellite mess last year. I'm amazed the company got you out."

"I'm not going to knock it," Glen admitted, "It's a little strange working for a private concern, but they're letting me run it just like I did before, so I can't argue too much."

"I like it here too," Nikki said, "And you're right. The television really sucks. Mind if I turn it off?"

"Please," Glen told her, "I should really get back..."

"To hell with the paperwork, Glen," Nikki said, "Stay with me for a bit. I swear to you I'm nicer to spend time with than that pile of paperwork."

"Can't really argue with that either," Glen admitted, smiling a little, "The company is really nice."

"You could have done anything in the army," Nikki told him, returning a bright smile, "Why did you choose the strike force?"

"Like father, Like son," Glen shrugged, "I went through basic at Ft. Bragg. I had been a grunt and had just finished Officer Candidate School. I was about to be shifted to a base in South Korea when they needed a replacement for my father. I was all of twenty-three when I came back to Area 51."

"And so the Strader dynasty continues," she said, chucking dryly, "Commander at 23?"

"Nope," Glen said, shaking his head, "I was merely second in command on the field. My father was still around, just in a wheelchair so he couldn't go out into the field anymore."

"Sounds like a rough way to enter the family business," Nikki said and leaned against him, "Not sure I could handle that."

"You know," Glen said and pondered standing up, "I shouldn't even be sitting here like this, getting too familiar..."

Nikki looked up at him and just smiled, shaking her head. Glen was not used to this type of situation. He was not a novice with women, but he hadn't been in a position to be in a relationship in years. It was easily obvious that he was attracted, but being the proper military man he was putting his wants out of his head for the 'greater good'.

"You're not in the military anymore, hon," Nikki reminded him, "There are no rules against getting friendly with someone you work with here. Not to mention you're not my boss anyway. You don't sign my paycheck or give me orders."

"Still," Glen protested, though they both knew she was right, "I work with you. How can I retain leadership if..."

"If you prove you're human and attracted to me?" Nikki asked bluntly, "Your team will be amused by the fact that you're finally acting like a man instead of a robot. There have been times around here we've wondered whether Anoki would surpass you in that department."

"I've been that bad, eh?" Glen asked her, wondering.

"You're a great guy, Glen," Nikki told him, "And I wouldn't mind getting a little closer. You just need to loosen up a bit and relax."

"Relaxation," Glen sighed and sat back down next to her, "Not something I've ever been all that good at."

Nikki bit her lower lip a bit and studied him, finally deciding to move a bit closer and see how far she could go. He watched her and wondered how far he'd go with her. She was right. He was most certainly attracted, and the instincts were beginning to kick in for him as well.

"I'm willing to help if you're willing to loosen up enough to try," Nikki said as she moved so her eyes were even with his, "What do you think?"

"All right," Glen said, "Where shall we begin?"

"Here," Nikki said as she kissed him, "Let's see what you've got..."

Glen kissed her deeply, wrapping his arms around the younger woman. She was obviously willing and he needed it badly. She was pliable in his arms and warmed up to his touches, showing him without words what she wanted. The necking continued and finally moved a bit farther.

"Perhaps we should move this to my room," Glen suggested finally, "It could prove to be an embarrassing experience should the rest of the team walk in."

"Only if you promise me I can stay tonight," Nikki smiled, "I don't want to go back to the barracks at 4am."

"I think I can safely promise that," Glen grinned and picked her up, "You don't even have to walk to the bed."

"Ooh," Nikki grinned evilly, "I think I could come to like this. You're turning into a charmer yet, Colonel Strader..."

"Glen will do for now," he said as he dragged her into the bedroom and closed the door, "I think the Colonel has taken the night off."

Chapter 23 - I'm Ok, Promise

Anoki was handling the driving duties, as none of the others were quite fit for the task. It was nearly four in the morning when she pulled Harry's car into a spot between the barracks and the strike team's building. Greg couldn't help but grin as he saw the crater that had once been the condemned building he took down during the previous party.

"We'll have to do that again someday," Greg chuckled as he looked at that, "That was a good show."

"Just be sure you're sober next time," Harry suggested, "That way you don't make such a large hole."

"But the crater is half the fun!" Greg protested.

"Come on, drunk boy," Anoki said, grabbing Greg by the arm, "Let's get you to bed."

"You coming with me?" Greg asked hopefully.

"You're too drunk for it to do any good," Toshi smirked, "I'm sure Anoki will get more enjoyment out of her nightly television watching."

"Don't worry," Anoki said, patting Greg on the head, "Maybe I'll watch some Cinemax and learn something for later."

Harry chuckled and tried to act as though he wasn't just as drunk as Greg was. He knew for sure he was definitely not as young as Greg was anymore. Toshi was nice enough to lend the older man a shoulder as they started to head to the inside.

"Toshi!" a young woman exclaimed, "Is Nikki with you?"

The surprised group turned towards the barracks to see a young blonde woman jogging out of the building to them. Anoki and Greg looked over at Krista who was pulling back her hair as she approached the group.

"Sorry hon," Toshi said, shaking her head, "Nikki didn't go with us. She was in the common room when we left. Has she not come home?"

"Nope," Krista said, shaking her head, "I figured she went with you, but you know we had that rape a few months ago..."

"Let's go check the common room," Harry suggested, "See if she's still there. If not, those of you who can still walk can go search for her."

"Sounds like a plan," Greg agreed, "Just so long as I can collapse soon."

"Come on," Anoki said, propping the much taller man up, "Let's go find Nikki."

The five of them walked into the common room, with Harry collapsing quickly on the couch. Anoki and Greg sat down on the other couch, Greg curling up a little bit against Anoki and looking at the others.

"So this is the famous common room," Krista said, looking around, "Makes me almost sad I missed the party the other night."

"Did you ask The Colonel about her?" Anoki asked Krista, "They were both here when we left."

"The lights were out," Krista told them, "I figured she was with you."

"I'll go roust him and find out when she left," Toshi offered, "Be right back."

Toshi walked over to Glen's room and knocked lightly on the door. Hearing a little bit of a grunt, she opened the door and walked in to try to roust the boss. She turned on the light and looked over as she saw movement under the blankets.

"Colonel," she said, "When was the last time you saw..."

Toshiko Shiniki had her answer as to Nikki's location when she saw the small mass of brown hair strewn all over Colonel Strader's chest. The look of them told her everything she needed to know about where Nikki had gone off to that night.

"What's going on, Glen?" Nikki asked as she woke up a little, "Who turned on the lights?"

"Another alarm, Toshi?" Strader asked as he looked up.

"Sorry boss," Toshi said, trying to suppress a giggle, "Krista was worried about Nikki. Thought she was with us."

"I'm fine," Nikki said, raising her head up a little and smiling, "Tell her I'll be back tomorrow."

"Riiiiight..." Toshi said, shaking her head and quickly turning off the light and slipping out of the room.

She went back to the common room and busted out laughing, sliding down onto the couch next to Harry. It took several minutes for Toshi to regain enough control to tell the others what she had seen.

"What was that about?" Krista asked her, "Did he know where she was?"

"Oh yeah," Toshi giggled, "She was in there with him, sleeping."

"What?" Greg said, sitting as bolt upright as his inebriated condition would allow, "Glen and Nikki? Sleeping?"

"Well," Toshi said, "They're sleeping now, at least."

"Ok," Krista chuckled, "I guess we don't have to worry about her anymore tonight."

"No," Toshi said, still giggling, "I'd say she's doing just fine."

"I didn't know they were so hard up for space here," Anoki said, "I would have let her use my room..."

Greg, Toshi, Harry and Krista took one look at Anoki and then all started laughing in unison. Anoki was seriously confused by this point, as her neural net wasn't quite sure yet what the joke was.

"Anoki," Greg said, still trying to stop laughing, "Sleeping is just the aftereffect of the exercise that Toshi is implying that Glen and Nikki just got."

"You mean they worked out together..." Anoki said and then the right neural interface kicked in and made the connection, "Oh. They. Yes, I think I see now."

This caused another bout of laughter to ensue, with Anoki joining in this time. She was still a young neural net, but she was learning and getting smarter every day. The fact that she was a computer was a minor detail at this point, as she could easily have been just one slightly naïve human by this point.

"Ok," Toshi chuckled, "Harry, you're welcome to crash here if you like. In fact, I think we'd best insist as you're in no condition to drive anywhere."

"No worries," Harry said, "This couch looks plenty comfy. I don't think I'll notice in this condition."

"I'll see you guys later," Krista said as she got up, "When you see Nikki in the morning kindly tell her to let us know next time."

"Will do," Toshi chuckled as Krista left, "No need to use the couch, Harry. There are open beds here."

"If I were twenty years younger I'd take that as a come on," Harry chuckled, "As it is, I think I'll take you up on it and get a few hours sleep."

"I think I need to sleep off this alcohol," Greg said, "Anoki, can I impose upon you for a hand down to the dungeon?"

"Sure," Anoki said, picking up the large man, "Let's go..."

"Night guys," Toshi said as she watched them, "See you all bright and early."

This was greeted with groans from Greg and Harry, the latter of whom threw a wad of paper at Toshi as he retreated to one of the empty rooms to actually get some sleep.

Chapter 24 - Really Good Encryption

While everyone was sleeping in the early hours of the morning the night crew in the Area 51 base communications center was starting to receive a strange signal. Corporal Ernie Blaze almost missed the beeping encoder, as it came on an old frequency that had not been used in years, even before the company had taken over and made the old radio communications backup center a mere formality.

Corporal Blaze was one of the last active duty members on the base, mainly having been left to conduct any forwarding of military messages that came through. He was joined in the room by his company counterpart; a young man of Japanese descent named Hiro Yokoguchi.

"Which line is that coming over, Hiro?" Ernie asked the younger man, "Is that mine or yours?"

"I've never seen this line go off before," Hiro said as he rolled his swivel chair over, "It's a military line, but not one they told us to look at."

"Strange," Ernie said, "Is the machine rolling?"

"Sure," Hiro nodded, "You've been doing this for years, Ernie. What is that frequency?"

"There's a reason I'm still a corporal, man," Ernie said, looking at it, "'Course fucking the General's wife last year didn't help with that. Still, this is a new one on me too. Is it encrypted?"

"It's not clear text that's for sure," Hiro said, looking at it on the screen, "It's coming off your frequency. Should we forward it?"

"Check the encoding?" Ernie suggested, "If it's not federal, it's probably either scatter or it's yours."

"Definitely not scatter," Hiro said, as he looked some more, "Not random enough for scatter, and it's directed at us. Let me run the encoding."

"Go for it," Ernie agreed, "But if there's a message, let me look at it first to make sure it's not classified military."

"Right," Hiro nodded and then tried the standard company codes, "This is fucking strange. It's decoding, but not fully."

"Let me try," Ernie said, going over to the terminal, "Maybe our codes are similar."

"I don't think so," Hiro said, "The feds use base-240 encoding. We use the new flexible base-1040 system. More secure and easier to fix. This looks like base-1040, but it's not decoding all the way."

"It's definitely not military," Ernie said, looking at it, "My decoder won't even scratch the surface. It's gotta be yours or someone else's entirely."

"Shit," Hiro said, looking closer, "It is ours. It's a high level encode. Way above my level. That's why I can't open it. I can just open the headers."

"So what do we do with it?" Ernie asked him, "Let it sit?"

"Nope," Hiro said and went over to the phone, "I gotta call Remordis. He's the only one who has clearance on that level here."

"This is your problem," Ernie yawned, "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up if something comes in."

"Right," Hiro said and dialed the phone, "Have a good nap, Ernie."

"Good luck," Ernie said and returned to his cot, "I don't envy you having to wake up the boss."

Hiro scowled and flipped Ernie the bird, biting off a comment just before a very tired Sam Remordis answered the phone, demanding to know what the hell Hiro was thinking calling so early in the morning.

Chapter 25 - A Trip in a Plane

"What's so important?" Toshi asked Greg, "I thought we were off until Friday. Another alert?"

"I don't know," Greg said honestly, "But the Colonel doesn't look thrilled. He said we'd find out when he did."

"He's just grumpy because Nikki had to go to work," Anoki said, "She left about an hour or so after we came in."

"If they woke The Colonel up something must be going on," Toshi said, "Odd they didn't call us before."

"We'll find out when we get there," Greg said, "Glen said on his way out that we had to meet him over at Remordis' office within an hour."

"Fully armed?" Anoki asked.

"Not yet," Greg shrugged, "Just a meeting as far as I know."

"This is strange," Toshi said, "Usually the company doesn't call people in without warning."

"There was some activity in the communication's room last night," Anoki told them, "I wasn't let in on what it was about, but that may have had something to do with it."

"No use putting it off," Greg shrugged, "Let's get over there."

The three of them went over to the main administration building and found the conference room where Sam Remordis and Glen Strader were sitting. Strader looked exceedingly annoyed at the documents he was reading. Remordis looked as though he hadn't slept very much, which wasn't far off the mark since he'd been in since the message was received.

"What's up, Colonel?" Greg asked his boss, "I thought we were off another day. I was planning on playing with some new toys down in the dungeon."

"Looks like something new came in," Glen told them, "Sam, this is your show. Let's get things together."

"We just got this in through the communications room last night," Remordis said, passing out copies of the decoded message, "It was sent using high level company encoding, high enough level that Hiro over in communications barely recognized what it was."

"Ok," Greg said as he read, "This makes no sense."

"Cliffie again, huh?" Toshi said, "What no good did he get himself in to this time?"

"Who is that?" Greg asked her, "And the rest of the message still makes no sense."

"It's written in ancient Mayan," Anoki told him, "Probably one of the few languages that wouldn't be easily translatable for anyone but a select few sets of scholars."

"Since when do you read Mayan?" Greg asked her, "And it still doesn't answer my question on who the hell he is."

"I can read pretty much any language there is and speak most of them," Anoki reminded Greg, "I'm not just another pretty face you know."

"To answer your other question," Remordis said, "Cliff Remordis is my son. He's been a freelancer working for the company for years, one of the concessions I won after the Mellisa mess ten years ago. He's been fully funded and globetrotting for eight years now."

"Sounds like a character," Greg said, "What does this have to do with us?"

"I have a suspicion we're about to become a rescue team," Glen said, filling in the blanks, "What no good has the kid gotten in to this time?"

"Cliff is an explorer and researcher," Remordis said, "He's an expert on ancient lore and especially paranormal phenomena. The board can't say he's been useless, because he has found us quite a bit of useful stuff in the past, enough to keep them funding his excursions."

"Sounds almost like fun," Toshi said, "Getting to run all over the world looking at crazy stuff."

"Sounds lonely," Anoki mused, "Probably doesn't get much companionship on the road."

"He's not alone," Remordis said, "He's got a partner. A younger woman he calls Sienna. He found her on the streets a few years back, and she's been with him ever since. Not very bright, but she is considerably better with the weapons than he is and saved his ass a few times."

"So what does the message actually say?" Greg asked them, "And why does it sound like we're going to have to go save his ass?"

"Anoki," Colonel Strader said, "Care to translate, since you can do a better job than the software here."

"Sure," Anoki said, "Do you want it literal or paraphrased?"

"Paraphrasing will do for now," Strader told her, "Cryptography gave us the literal earlier."

"Ok," Anoki said and read it again, "He gives coordinates for his location and says that he's been caught by a rebel advance group. He spells out the name, but it isn't familiar to me. The rest is gibberish, unless my programming is missing some Mayan words."

"Cryptology is working on it," Remordis said, "The coordinates Cliff gives go to this island, six miles south of the Chinese mainland."

"That idiot," Greg grumbled, "That's Chinese territorial waters. We go in there and the damned PRC planes will be all over us."

"PRC?" Toshi asked.

"People's Republic of China," Strader explained, "Greg knows them well. He did a tour in Korea before we got him."

"Assholes the lot," Greg told them, "They catch us there and we'll be branded spies."

"How in the hell did Cliff manage to get himself into this mess?" Toshi asked Remordis, "And why should we risk our necks to get him out?"

"Much as I hate to admit it, Cliff himself isn't that valuable, from a company standpoint" Remordis said, "But the fact that he's being held there could be. If the rebels are using PRC territory as a staging ground it could be a prelude to something nasty. Especially if the PRC knows the rebels are there."

"Just like with dictators," Strader nodded, "It's easier to stop invasions early. Even if Cliff weren't involved, it would be worth going in to find out what the hell they are up to."

"I take it there's no chance of getting the PRC to cooperate," Toshi said dryly, "Or are we going to even try?"

"The PRC still takes the same official stance our government does," Remordis told her, "The rebel factions are not organized. Also, outsiders aren't welcome in their territory. Anything that pisses us off is good for them in the long run."

"Short sighted idiots," Strader grumbled, "I guess it's going to be a covert insertion. What do we have for assets?"

"We purchased several surplus B-52 stealth bombers a few years back," Remordis told him, "They aren't up to modern military standards, but they will do for delivery."

"Halo jump?" Greg asked hopefully, parachuting being one of his favorite things that he didn't get to do often, "I haven't done one of those in a while!"

"What is a halo jump?" Toshi asked, not liking the sound of it, "And why do I think it's a bad idea?"

"High altitude, low opening," Glen explained, "Good long free fall. Bitch to predict though. If we go in that way we need a way out."

"Submarine would be best for that part of the world," Anoki suggested, "Did the company get any of them in the surplus?"

"We don't have any," Remordis said, "But we've been renting one from the feds for deep sea research. They make great platforms for that."

"Can you divert it to pick us up?" Strader asked him, "Would it get there in time?"

"It's working in the trenches by Australia," Remordis said as he consulted a chart, "The top brass wants Cliff back too, so they'll authorize it."

"I guess we're going in," Glen said, "We've got some work to do. Greg, take Toshi with you and go do a practice jump. She needs to be trained in halo before we go."

"Right," Greg nodded, "You ready for your first parajump?"

"I'm thrilled," Toshi said, the sarcasm dripping as they went out the door, "Jumping out of an airplane is really high on my list of to do items."

"Anoki," Strader told her, "I want you to go and do a sat scan on that blasted island. I want to know the ins and outs of it before we get there. If Harry is still around, get him in on the scan. He knows tricks with those spy satellites that we can only dream of. I take it you don't mind if we appropriate him for a while, Sam?"

"Do what you need to," Remordis said, "I'm not going to tell you how to plan a mission. Just do it right and do it fast."

"Make the plans with Guam," Strader told his boss, "We'll be heading that way tonight most likely. Insertion will be some ten hours after that."

"Be sure you leave time to sleep," Remordis warned, "You need to be rested."

"There will be plenty of travel time," Glen reminded him, "We'll get sleep on the plane to Guam."

"Don't let me interrupt you then," Remordis said, "Do what you need to do to get this set up correctly."

"I'm going to get the weapons packs set up," Glen smiled, "Time to go raid R&D."

"Try not to go too nuts, eh?" Remordis asked, "No need to get us all in deep shit for something my son likely did to himself."

"Right," Glen chuckled and left the conference room.

Chapter 26 - A Money Making Opportunity

Del Larock lit a black market cigarette and looked around nervously. He wasn't sure what the hell he was doing in this dark corner of the old part of the Area 51 base. Del's best friend Julius Ybarra was singularly unconcerned. Ybarra had done some under the table deals with this girl before and it had always gone all right.

"You sure about this, J?" Del asked him, "Think she will show up?"

"The girl is cool," Ybarra told him, "Don't worry so much man. We'll find out what she wants and see if we can snag it. Easy money."

"Unless we get caught," Del grumbled, "This shit costs millions, man."

"And it is sitting here in this dump abandoned," Ybarra smiled, "The army sold the company the land and contents. I bet those company weenies don't even know half of what is in here."

"Still man," Del whined, "If we get caught."

"Nobody is going to get caught," another voice said, "Still smoking that death weed, eh Del? The only way we'll get caught is if you get cold feet and talk."

"About time you got here Nikki," Julius said to the small girl as she walked up, "Why did you drag us out to this God forsaken complex?"

"The bio trackers that the base security personnel use to keep track of us don't work well in the storage domes," Nikki told them, "And I don't particularly want to be seen talking to you two right now."

"No love," Julius said, chuckling, "So what do you want this time?"

"How well do you know the Tabiri units?" Nikki asked them, "I've got a buyer looking for some useful drones."

"There are about a dozen of them in the stores," Del said, "But now you're talking some real money. Those little bitches cost about a million a pop."

"My buyer will pay a hundred grand for each one you get running," Nikki told them, "I'll need them with full flesh and module kits, of course."

"Most of the ones here are in need of replacement parts," Julius told her, "We can get the units running, I used to do it all the time when this was still a military facility. They locked up most of the parts because a lot of the ones we need are interchangeable with the new Anoki unit."

"You need flesh generators and instrument packs, right?" Nikki asked them.

"Last I knew they stripped the Tabiri units of those," Julius agreed, "We get replacements for those and we can get all of them running."

"The Anoki series uses the same flesh pack," Nikki told them, "You will have to figure out how to adapt the instrument pack. I'm pretty sure Anoki uses a similar one, but the only ones who can touch Anoki's code now are Toshiko and Harry. Here are the codes to get into the storage room."

"How do we know that this isn't a trap?" Del asked her, getting scared a bit.

"The codes work," Nikki said, "I used them this morning to make sure. Just make sure you use them when the strike team is off the base. Anoki doesn't sleep, so you won't be able to get past her if they're here."

"We're going to need some startup cash," Julius told her, showing his mercenary side, "This is going to be risky. Selling stuff the company doesn't even remember exists is one thing. Stealing parts from an active unit is quite another."

Nikki chuckled and pulled out the envelope. She'd anticipated this request, so she decided to be ready for them. She handed the envelope with the codes and cash over to Ybarra who looked in and smiled.

"I think we can do business," Julius told her and showed the envelope's contents to Del, "How soon do you want them?"

Del looked at the floor and waited for Nikki to answer. He was still nervous as hell about this situation. Nikki flashed a smile as she thought about it and finally decided to answer.

"Soon," Nikki told them, "There's no hard timetable yet, but this would be a good time to start. The strike team is deploying this afternoon. You should be able to get the parts tomorrow."

"We'll see what we can come up with," Julius promised, "Should be an educational experience."

"Right," Nikki nodded and turned to the door, "When you get them ready leave me a mistaken message on my voice mail. I'll find you."

"You got it," Julius said and watched the girl leave, "Now to figure out how to turn one of those things on."

"Dude," Del said when Nikki was gone and he looked into the envelope, "There's fifty grand in this envelope. And since when did you work with those units. You were a washout in the training class!"

"They're easy," Julius told his friend with a wry grin, "I started up quite a few of them in class. With the correct parts we should be able to get them running. Let her figure out how to use them."

"If you say so," Del said, still unconvinced, "I still think we're going to get in trouble."

"The only trouble you and I are going to get into tonight, Delbert my buddy," Julius said, flashing the green, "Is going to be the kind that comes in the bottle over at the bar in Groom Lake, eh?"

"Right," Del laughed, "Let's go."

"Let's party!" Julius exclaimed, "It's gonna be all right!"

Del remained unconvinced, but his mercenary side took over and he went along with it.

Chapter 27 - Drop Zone

"Ten minutes to drop zone, Col. Strader," the pilot said over the intercom, "Get your packs ready. The People's Republic of China is 20 miles north of us."

"Way ahead of you," Strader mumbled, "Everyone got their stuff stowed?"

"I hate parachutes," Toshi grumbled, "I feel as if I will be a sitting duck in this thing."

"I love them," Greg grinned, "I especially love the free fall."

"No fireworks this time," Strader warned him, "And try not to get caught in a tree. We don't have time to find you and cut you down again."

"Right," Greg nodded, "Do you have the sidearm kits?"

"They're over here," Anoki told him, "Your usual multipurpose weapon, Kaczmarek. Colonel Strader's usual Glock .45 is here and R&D sent something special for Toshi."

"What is it?" Toshi asked the droid, "New plasma pistol?"

"It's a prototype of a force sword," Anoki told her, "Break the plastic and grip it tight so it will learn your hand signature."

"Sweet!" Toshi exclaimed as she followed instructions, "I've wanted one of these things for months!"

"What did you get, Anoki?" Glen asked her as he strapped his Glock into the holster.

"I got a new stealth radar kit," Anoki explained, "Allows me to use a frequency that the PRC stations to the north won't detect."

"Five minutes to drop," the pilot droned, "You have three minutes to drop out. Any longer and I'll show up on PRC radar."

"Ok guys," Glen said, "Get ready to rock. Don't open your chutes until your altimeter is under 500 feet, otherwise the Chinese will raid this rock before we can find Cliff and get out."

"Com links are running," Toshi said, "Check one two three..."

"Loud and clear," Glen told her, "You guys ready?"

"Let's rock and roll, I'm ready to free fall!" Greg exclaimed and moved closer to the door.

"Go!" the pilot said over the intercom, "Drop zone open!"

The door opened quickly and the team went out. Anoki and Greg went first, as they were the best armored. Toshi was next, being calmly pushed out the door by Glen who followed with a comfortable free fall. Neither one of them performed any acrobatics, concentrating solely on getting themselves down as fast as possible.

Greg Kaczmarek was performing every acrobatic stunt that he could manage, enjoying the free fall while he could. He didn't get to parachute near as often as he liked, so he made the most of it, despite the large packs he had strapped to him. The one thing he didn't consider when doing his last flip was the fact that Glen and Toshi were right above him. His increased wind resistance sent him flying into Toshi, sending her steering well out of control.

"Kaczmarek!" Glen yelled into his communication unit, "Stop that acrobatic shit and stay on course!"

Greg shook it off quickly and got back into formation. Toshi wasn't as lucky. It took her a good minute to regain her senses and get control of her fall again. By this point, she wasn't anywhere near the track that she'd calculated. She looked at her altimeter and was about to go under 500 feet. She knew that she didn't have time to get on track again, so she got upright and pulled the cord.

"Kaczmarek!" Toshi grumbled when she realized he'd knocked away her communications pack, "You are such a jerk!"

Greg pulled his chute just under time and was directly on the correct path. Colonel Strader was right behind him, looking over and shaking his head. He hoped that Toshi would at least hit the island so that she would have a chance of finding her way back to the team. He was not a happy commander at the moment, seeing as one quarter of his team was seriously off course.

"You had better hope she lands on the island," Glen told Greg over the com link, "If she doesn't make it, you don't either."

Greg gulped audibly over the com link, as he could hear the ice crystals forming in his boss's voice. He'd screwed up big time and he knew it. He hoped that she was ok, because as much as she annoyed him he liked having her around. He was still thinking about what to do when Anoki's voice came over his com link.

"My chutes are failing," Anoki informed them, "Whoever packed mine forgot that I was carrying three times my body weight in supplies."

"Great," Colonel Strader growled, seeing his mission crumble around him, "Try to crash as close to the drop site as you can so we can find you."

"Will do," Anoki said, "I calculate I'll hit approximately a quarter mile south of the drop site. I should be most of the way dug out by the time you get there."

"Right," Strader said, "Kaczmarek, are you on target?"

"Right behind you," he said, "Still can't raise Toshi by radio."

"She likely lost her comm set," Strader told him, "Now get on target so we can figure out where she landed."

Chapter 28 - Phooey!

Toshi glided towards the northern shore much faster than she wanted to, so she flared the chute to try to keep herself on the island. It was a close match, but she managed to win it. She landed roughly in the soft sand on the beach, some three miles north of the drop point. She tumbled a few times and came to a stop face down in the sand.

"Phooey!" she exclaimed as she spit sand out of her mouth, "Kaczmarek is going to pay for this one!"

While Toshi was busy dusting herself off Glen and Greg were jogging to Anoki's crash site. Greg knew he'd fucked up, so he was quiet for once as he followed with his weapon in ready position. They were in harm's way. There was no dispute about that. They also had a mission to complete so they'd fight over what happened in the sky when they were on the sub that was set to pick them up.

"Any sign of her?" Colonel Strader asked, "Any radio contact?"

"None," Greg said, "Her life meter is still beeping away, but nothing over the com link."

"You probably knocked out her radio," Strader growled, "Hopefully Anoki will be able to find her."

"We have to find Anoki first," Greg told him, "I didn't see where she hit."

"She's 200 yards ahead," Glen said, tapping his portable map tool, "She transmitted her coordinates just before she hit."

Sure enough, she was exactly where Glen said she'd be. When they got to the hole where she'd crashed they saw one of her packs fly up out of the hole. They stepped back and waited, watching with satisfaction as Anoki 9.0 stepped out of the hole with her outer skin beat up badly but still otherwise operational.

"You look like hell," Glen said, "Is everything still functioning properly?"

"Neural net undamaged, chassis systems operational," She told them, "Flesh life support is failing from the impact though. I will get rather ripe in the next few hours."

"Especially in this heat," Greg shuddered, "That outer flesh shell of yours is going to rot quickly."

"No need for her to look human," Glen shrugged, "Anoki, can you interface with a geosat and see if you can locate where Toshi went down?"

"Already did," Anoki said, "She's on the north side of the island about five clicks north."

"On the other side of the bloody outpost," Glen said, resisting the urge to kick Greg, "Jesus Christ! Is it possible for you to fuck up any worse on this mission?"

"Don't tempt him," Anoki said dryly.

"Not until she gets a new set of tits, that's for sure," Greg joked, earning a harsh look from The Colonel.

"Is she moving?" The Colonel asked Anoki, his eyes still burning through Kaczmarek.

"Toshi is on the beach," Anoki informed them, "Her monitors are reading fine, though her com unit is floating about two miles south of the island. She's alive and probably exceedingly pissed at Kaczmarek."

"She must have lost it when I hit her," Greg said with a sigh, "Glad she's ok though."

"Excuse me?" Glen exclaimed, veins popping on his neck, "She's not all right. She's alone in hostile territory without a communication unit."

"We've got another problem," Anoki said, "We're down to light arms as well. The heavy equipment I was carrying was destroyed when I hit."

"Beautiful!" Colonel Strader exclaimed and punched Greg in the chest plate, knocking him over, "Just fucking beautiful!"

"Hey!" Greg exclaimed, "It isn't my fault that the jackasses back at Area 51 can't pack a parachute!"

"Don't make him think logically," Anoki suggested to him as she helped him up, "If he did he'd probably shoot you right now."

"Good point," Greg nodded, "I think I'll shut up now."

"All right," Colonel Strader growled, "Salvage what you can, especially any explosives that didn't go off. We'll go scout the target and see whether we can hook up with Toshi before the drop."

"She's moving," Anoki told them, "Probably trying to determine what we'll do."

"Good," Strader said, "Let's hope she has enough sense to stick with her strengths."

Chapter 29 - Of Islands and Handbags...

Toshiko Shiniki was still trying to get the sand out of her teeth as she took stock of what she had left. Her plasma rifle was still in working order, though one of her ammunition cells were beaten up enough that she would not risk it. She left the damaged cell by a rock with the pieces of her kit that were useless without her com link. She figured that stealth and speed were the order of the day if she was going to make it through this one.

"Let's see whether this force sword works," she said to herself and pulled it out, triggering the blade.

She swung it around a few times and listened to the whoosh. She then decided to take a spirited whack at a tree, surprised to find it cut through the wood like a hot knife through butter. She had to dodge out of the way as it fell onto the sand with a thud. She smiled as she looked at it and retracted the blade.

"I like," she cooed and put it in its place on her belt.

Her GPS system had been swept away with her communications unit, but she had a better navigational eye than most and had memorized the maps of the island on the long plane ride from the airfield in Guam. She remembered the beach being on the north side of the island and knew their target was about two clicks south.

"Not going to accomplish anything here Toshi," she told herself, "Now let's go before you lose your guts."

She started slowly and made her way through the thick jungles. This island was too overgrown to be much use, not to mention it was too close to the Chinese mainland to be used as a vacation spot. Toshi quickly realized why nobody had ever really tried to settle here, as there were too many bugs and the jungle was thick and wet.

"Miserable insects," she grumbled as she pushed through the muck, "Why the heck couldn't Cliff Remordis have gotten himself in trouble in a more hospitable place?"

She continued through the thick jungle overgrowth and made her way to the outpost. She saw a clearing up ahead and decided to get out of the slime for a few minutes. She then climbed up the bank on to the clearing and sat down on a log to rest.

"There's a reason I set the landing site where it was," she grumbled to herself, "It was so I wouldn't have to walk through this!"

She pulled a chocolate bar out of one of the pockets of her skin suit, munching the flattened bar down quickly and inwardly cursing her luck as she rubbed her knees, both of which were sore from the poor landing on the beach. She was looking around at her surroundings and trying to get a direction check as best she could.

Suddenly, she heard a loud rustling in the trees. She dropped the wrapper and pulled her plasma rifle out to the front, clicking it into ready position. She tried to follow the motion around, but it was moving faster than she could. She considered firing a shot, but she remembered that she had only the single plasma clip and waited until she had a more direct line of sight on it.

"Come on out," Toshi said, her finger twitchy and nervous on the trigger, "Show yourself!"

Suddenly, a loud screech occurred as the creature dropped down from the trees and stood on its lizard-like hind legs, standing up straight on them to a height of over seven feet tall, two full feet taller than Toshi's small body. It looked like a humanoid lizard, with an angular head and scales. It had four upper limbs, however, two with claws to allow climbing and two with long, straight bone blades that were sharp as swords.

It stood facing her and made a horrendous noise as it performed a graceful acrobatic move with the swords. She stood there looking at the creature, not quite sure what to make of it. If she had known the creature's anatomy better she would have seen the smile on its face.

"Aren't you pretty," she said sarcastically, "And just what do you intend to do with that?"

The creature couldn't understand her language and determined that she was only a minimal threat. It made another acrobatic move and went in for the kill. Toshi was expecting the creature to do just that and was ready for it.

"Time to become plasmatic road kill," she said coldly as she pulled the trigger.

She fired two full strength plasma blasts right into the chest area. This was overkill, but she wanted to make sure that there wasn't anything left to get back up. Much to her surprise, however, all it did was knock the creature back and make it glow green for a few second.

"Holy moly!" the surprised young woman exclaimed as she saw the creature rear back and let out what sounded a lot like a chuckle.

She fired three more quick shots all of which did the same thing, not affecting the creature a whit. It reared back and clicked its sword arms together a few times before renewing the assault on Toshi who tossed the plasma rifle into the muck behind her before diving out of the way of the assault.

While she was somersaulting, she pulled out the force blade and hit the switch. It came out as she regained her footing, getting into a combat stance and trying to determine just how much of a chance she stood with a creature that much taller who was using two natural weapons.

"This is not going to be easy," She sighed as she twirled the blade idly, "Come on..."

The creature was quick, but its size made sure that it had a larger inertial force to move. This gave Toshi a slight edge in the agility department, but this was negated somewhat by the longer reach and strength that the creature had. Looking at the two of them, it looked like a really uneven match. That was until the creature actually attacked Toshi again.

It went in for a quick slice at Toshi's head, which she parried with the force sword. The creature then tried to slice her in half with the other boneblade, something that she could dodge fairly easily. She got a good knock on one of the boneblades, but despite the power of the sword she was wielding it did little but knock the creature back.

This action only pissed the creature off. It did not like being knocked back by this little human with a funny looking sword. The creature wasn't intelligent enough to stop and take stock of what it was facing, so it merely continued attacking in an attempt to remove the impudent creature that dared to rebuff its first attack.

"So that's how you want to be," Toshi panted as she saw the creature advancing again, "Well eat my sword!"

They went at it again, engaging in spirited swordplay. Shiniki's fast feet and faster sword handling kept her alive against the creature. She wasn't really attacking, but mainly parrying and studying the creature's methods. She was looking for a way to go in for a kill, but was hampered by the fact that she didn't even know where the creature's kill spots were.

Finally, the creature went in for another double bladed attack at her head and she realized she could find out very easily where some soft spots were. As it went for the scissor motion towards her neck she used her strong arms, aided by the hard outside shell of her protective suit, to knock the blades back. She then grabbed on to them with gloved hands and did a spin, kicking her right foot into the creature's head and the left foot into its chest, using it as a leap point to send her into a double back flip.

She took notice that the headshot did almost nothing to the creature, but the chest blow pissed it off. She knew she had gotten a good kick in when it reeled back and it probed the area where her heel had dug in to its chest. She smiled wryly and drew back in to a fighting stance to square off with the critter again.

"You were expecting a snack, weren't you?" Toshi said, taunting it even though she figured it couldn't understand, "When I finish with you I think I'll make myself a new pair of boots."

The creature took a quick stock of itself and decided that it had enough of this human. It did the one thing that Toshi was hoping it would do, rush and try to exterminate her quickly. She smiled and let the thing come at her, knowing that it would expect her to do what she did before. She decided to take another tack.

Instead of staying put and waiting to parry she did a forward roll towards the creature, rolling right under the swinging blades. She hit the highest power on the blade as she rolled and stabbed up into the soft spot, driving the force blade into the flesh and causing the creature to scream. She used her continued forward motion to drag the blade down, cutting through the creature's torso as if it were made of paper.

She then rolled right between its hind legs and scrambled up to see whether the creature had any fight left in it. It managed to turn around, but the fight was gone from it. It had a gaping hole in its chest that was spurting out a green sort of blood that looked similar to antifreeze.

Deciding to remain proactive, Toshi attacked the injured creature again, this time taking a decisive whack to the shoulder just above one of the boneblade arms. The creature had no reflexes left and the force blade cut into the flesh easily, severing the boneblade. The blade clattered on the rocky clearing and the creature let out a fierce noise that sounded like a scream.

"Hasta La vista hand bag!" Toshi exclaimed as she brought the blade around and took the seven-foot tall creature's head off at the base, "Good riddance!"

To make sure that it went down for good she also took off the second boneblade at the base, kicking both of them off the rock. She examined the creature closely and made sure that it was, in fact, dead. Convinced that it was she sighed and sat back down on the log, pulling another chocolate bar out of her jumpsuit.

"I think I earned this," she said and munched triumphantly.

Chapter 30 - Point Men

"I think you earned this," Colonel Strader said to Greg Kaczmarek on the other side of the island, "You get to play scout in Toshi's place."

"Me?" Greg said, surprised, "I'm no good at that! Why don't you send Anoki?"

"Because they'll smell me coming a mile off," Anoki reminded him, "I'm getting rather ripe here in this heat."

"All right," Greg acquiesced, "But if I get a shot I'm taking it."

"We're not here to start a war," Strader reminded the younger man, "We're here to find Cliff and his bitch and then to get out. Don't fire unless you have to."

"What are you two going to do?" Greg asked, "Wait for me?"

"You're taking point," Strader reminded him, "I'll follow behind about fifty yards. Anoki will circle around to the east to see whether she can get any better bearings. We have to be smart about this one."

"You got it," Greg nodded, "Do we have any numbers?"

"You know what I do," Strader said, "Which is squat."

"Let's rock and roll," Greg sighed, "Then we can go get Toshi and get out of here."

Strader nodded and watched as Kaczmarek started walking through the jungle towards the outpost. He then looked at Anoki and she shrugged her rotting shoulders. She was beginning to look like a creature out of one of those old movies they showed on television.

"You think he can do this without fucking up?" Glen asked her.

"He's Kaczmarek," Anoki reminded him, "He didn't intend to knock Toshi off course. We should have let him go last so he could perform his acrobatics without hitting anyone."

"Next time I'll remember that," Strader grinned, "Go ahead and make an end run around and see if you can distract them. Greg and I will perform the assault."

"Be careful," Anoki said, "Otherwise I won't be the only one rotting today."

Strader nodded and followed the track that Greg took. His mind was on the alien outpost up ahead, wondering what they would find when they got there. It bothered him that they didn't know very much about this place, just the vague message from Cliff Remordis.

Chapter 31 - A Really Rough Ride

Kaczmarek made his approach slowly and carefully, not wanting to tip off the prey too early. Thing was, he saw nothing to tip off. It didn't take him long to get the building in his visual range. It was a little building made out of some alien metal, probably mass produced on a planet far away d landed here with the ship.

Something didn't feel right for the explosives expert. Usually, they sent a whole pile of creatures in one fell swoop. He wondered why he didn't even see any footprints on the ground. He didn't want to say anything over the com link because he didn't want to alert anything that happened to be hiding around.

"This doesn't feel right," he muttered to himself as he approached the building stealthily, "I'm not a scout, I'm a blaster!"

Colonel Strader noticed much the same things and wondered if Remordis had merely stumbled on an advance camp. There was nothing here to indicate there was much of a presence on this God forsaken jungle infested rock. He moved up closer to Kaczmarek and looked at the building.

"Think it's a rebel training colony?" Glen asked him, "I've never seen one without anyone outside."

"I don't know," Greg said, his eyes darting around the area, "I don't even see a door on that damned thing. How the hell did Remordis even find this place?"

"Anoki," Glen said into the com link, ignoring the question, "Have you seen any signs of life?"

"No," Anoki said, "The shell is actively sending signals, but there's nothing giving off heat outside. The metal on the building is thick enough to hide life signs."

"Defense systems?" Kaczmarek asked, "Or even explosives?"

"Nothing electronic," Anoki said, "If there's something there, it's new."

"You move in first, Anoki," Strader ordered, "Do a geosat rescan before you move in though."

"Right," Anoki said, "I'll start my move in six minutes."

"Kaczmarek," Strader continued, "I want you to circle around the other side from Anoki. Lay some noisemakers out while you go. If Anoki isn't attacked outright we'll consider approaching."

"Right," Greg smiled and pulled one out, "I put range beepers on twenty kilocycles. If you hear anything on that frequency get away cause you're in range of one of my toys."

"Good," Strader nodded, "Get moving."

Strader let his people do their work as he studied the outside of the outpost building. He tried to figure out what Cliff knew that was worth risking the lives of his team. It looked like any one of a dozen alien outposts they'd removed over the years. The only thing that bothered him was the lack of troops. They usually stocked these things with enough troops to make it at least a challenge. It's as if they went out of their way to make it look abandoned.

"I still don't like it," Strader said to himself, then turned on his com link, "Be careful out there Kaczmarek. I don't want this to blow up in our face."

"Only thing that's blowing up on this rock are my charges," Greg said, "just wait for Anoki to do her thing."

"Scan complete," Anoki said, "Beginning my approach now. Wish me luck."

"Go for it," Strader said, "Be careful."

"Will do!" Anoki said cheerfully through the com link.

The robot with the rotting skin began her approach. Despite the rotting flesh, she still moved like the advanced battle droid she was. Colonel Strader watched her approach the metal building and look for signs of life. It boggled his mind that nothing even came close to attacking her.

"Jesus," he said, "Maybe it is abandoned. Cliff could have been having fun with us."

"Good," Greg said, "Let's pick up Toshi and get off this rock then."

"We need to find Cliff and Sienna first," Glen reminded his subordinate, "That means checking the building."

Anoki went right up to the metal building and touched it. Her sensory circuits were still good once she removed the dead flesh from her fingertips. It felt like any other metal that you'd find outside a storage building. The only strange thing about it was the alien design and the composition of the metal.

"No sign of anything," Anoki said through the com as she walked around the place.

Anoki didn't seem to notice the large creature behind her. It being a cold blooded lizard type creature it didn't register on any of their heat sensors, but it certainly set off Anoki's motion sensors. She turned around and looked at the twenty-foot lizard creature standing over her 5'3" frame.

"Oh shit!" Greg yelled as he saw it, "What the hell is that thing?"

The jaws on the creature opened up and it went down quickly, taking Anoki in its oversized mouth and swallowing her whole. Anoki didn't have a chance to react as the creature had reflexes even faster than her robotic body did. It swallowed her whole before she could do anything else.

"I don't what it is," Strader said, "But I suggest that whatever the hell it is, Greg... Shoot it and shoot it now!"

Greg Kaczmarek nodded and pulled his large plasma rifle and fired a few fast shots right at the creature's torso. What surprised both of them was the fact that it didn't do a damn thing to the critter. The Colonel looked over at Kaczmarek and then at his gun. "Stop screwing around Greg," The Colonel instructed him, "Turn the gun up all the way and shoot that thing."

"It was up all the way!" Kaczmarek exclaimed, "Any higher and the gun explodes!"

"Shit!" Strader cursed and raised his weapon, "Multiple shot! Let's go!"

The two soldiers came together and started firing in sequence, trying to time their plasma blasts to make a dent in the humongous creature. The plasma blasts were impressive to watch, but they did little but send the creature sprawling backwards. They considered congratulating themselves, but knew that they didn't win.

"Immune to plasma?" Greg said, "I haven't seen anything like this before."

"Not since we met Mason Stone," Strader agreed, "How are you seated conventionally?"

"This weapon has conventional clips," Greg told him, "Don't know what it'll do to that thing. I don't have as much as I want to, one full set. The pack crashed and burned with Anoki. I figured I probably wouldn't need much conventional and sent most of it down with her."

"You're one up on me," Strader said, "The only conventional weapon I have that works is my .45 Glock. The rest of them crashed with Anoki as well."

The creature was up and pissed off quickly. It was similar in makeup to the one that Toshi had fought earlier, though it was three times the size. Colonel Strader drew his .45 and fired a few rapid fire shots at the creature's head, though it was like firing a pea shooter at an elephant. The shots only pissed the creature off.

"I think you made it mad, Colonel," Greg said, gulping, "Let me take my shots."

"Go for it!" Glen nodded, "Launch a conventional barrage at it and I'll hit it with another plasma blast."

"Do you think it'll work?" Greg asked him.

"Do you have a better idea?" Glen asked him, the exasperation evident in his voice, "Now shut up and shoot the fucking thing already!"

"You got it!" Greg said and let off two of his four grenades at the creature.

The grenades exploded and did some damage to the flesh of the creature, though it mainly pissed it off. The plasma blasts merely made it glow green for a few seconds, but didn't even knock it backward enough to matter. Strader fired a couple more conventional shots, but it didn't do a hell of a lot of good.

"Fall back a bit and ready your machine gun rounds," Strader shouted, "I'll slow it down with a rapid plasma burst."

"Plasma doesn't do shit to that thing!" Greg reminded him needlessly.

"A rapid blast should at least slow it down long enough for you to load!" Strader yelled and began firing.

The pressure helped just long enough to let Kaczmarek shove a drum into the weapon and get it into ready. The creature started rushing to Kaczmarek who started a full stream of .10mm machine gun rounds into its torso. The punishment was nasty, and some of the shots penetrated, but it wasn't enough to stop the thing.

"I'm out of ideas," Strader said, "Just keep shooting!"

Chapter 32 - Toshi to the Rescue

While they were still trying to figure out how to kill the thing, Toshi showed up on top of the metal structure. She saw the creature and decided to charge with her force sword out and ready, knowing exactly what she was looking for.

"What the hell is she doing?" Greg wondered, "She isn't..."

"Charging it with a force sword," Glen nodded, stating the obvious, "I guess she has a death wish."

She actually had anything but. After studying the corpse of the one she killed she realized what the device was. When she approached and saw the much larger version of the lizard she knew that they were in trouble. She also saw the device that was attached to the lizard creature and realized it was similar to what she'd pulled off the corpse.

Avoiding the large blades was easy as she wasn't out for blood. She was simply out to remove the electronic device attached to its side, a similar version of the device she took off the one she'd killed earlier. She knew that the team was screwed if she didn't remove the plasma absorbing device from the large creature.

"Excuse me!" Toshi yelled as she adeptly sliced the device off the soft flesh under the left arms of the creature, "I'll take that!"

She took the device and did a flip using the creature's torso as a springboard, neatly avoiding the flailing blades. She ran across the metal building to the boys and shouted to them.

"Hit it with plasma!" she yelled, "It should work now!"

"You heard the girl!" Strader shouted and aimed his weapon, "Give it all you got!"

The creature continued after Toshi, very angry, but she was faster and jumped off the building over Greg and Glen as they let out a combined fire solution on the creature. They gave it all they had and this time it had the desired effect. Glen's focused shots at the head disintegrated that part of its anatomy. Greg's wider phase array of body shots scrambled the lizard's internal organs and sent it backwards, dead from the heat before it hit the ground.

"What the hell did you do?" Greg asked Toshi after the corpse hit the ground, "We laid into that thing earlier."

"Here," Toshi said as she tossed Greg the device, "Hold on to that."

"Sure," Greg said, looking at the green blood soaked device, "What the hell is..."

Toshi raised her rifle and fired two rapid bursts into Greg's chest, stopping him cold and knocking him on his back. He glowed for a few seconds, as did the device in his hand, but was otherwise all right. Colonel Strader pulled his pistol and looked at Toshi as though she was crazy until he noticed that Greg was all right.

"Jesus!" Greg yelled, "What the hell?"

"Plasma absorber," Toshi grinned, "That's why your weapons didn't work."

"Did you have to do it that way?" Greg asked, "You could have killed me."

"You ever do that to me again," Toshi said sweetly and offered him a hand, "And I won't toss you the absorber first. Got me?"

"Yeah," Greg gulped, taking her hand and gulping as he got up, "I read you."

"Where's Anoki?" Toshi asked, "I thought she'd have taken the front line."

"Inside the critter," Glen told her, "Perhaps we'd best get her out."

"Yeah," Greg nodded and then turned to Toshi, "How did you figure that out anyway?"

"I met up with a smaller one on my way down here," she explained, "Luckily I was able to take it with the force sword. Remind me to kiss whoever decided to give me one of these."

"Right," Glen said, "How did you know it would work on Greg?"

"I didn't," she smiled sweetly and went over to the corpse, "I didn't much care."

Glen laughed and could only watch as she used the force sword to slice through the charred flesh and let Anoki out.

Chapter 33 - Anoki certainly knows how to make an entrance...

Anoki, looking even more like a zombie after the acidic treatment inside the lizard creature, crawled out and looked over at the team. She was wiping at her eyes, trying to clear them out a bit before she said anything.

"Either of you got a combat knife?" Anoki inquired.

"Yeah," Glen said, pulling his knife and handing it handle first to the android, "What's wrong?"

"Acid fouled the eyes," Anoki explained, "With the flesh generator dead I can't get them to the point where I can see again."

She removed the fouled corneas and tossed them onto the ground. The red mechanical eyes behind them readjusted to the new light levels. She was looking like a very demonic creature indeed as she walked around the corpse of the creature that had previously eaten her.

"Do you think there are more of them?" Greg asked.

"Probably," Glen nodded, "Can you track them now, Anoki?"

"Yes," Anoki nodded, "I have a signature on them now. I don't read any more in the vicinity."

"Good," Strader said and then turned to Toshi, "I see you're back in one piece."

"No thanks to him," she said, nodding at Kaczmarek, "Shall we get this over with?"

"Did you see a door anywhere?" The Colonel asked her.

"On the top," she smiled, "There's a tree on the other side that's been knocked over. We can use it to climb."

"Anoki," Colonel Strader said as he approached the building, "Any read on what the insides are like?"

"Geosat images suggest that something was buried," Anoki told them, "Want me to go in first?"

"Let's look inside before we worry about that, eh?" Greg said, "You've taken enough of a beating zombie girl."

Anoki made an obscene gesture, one that looked almost comical considering her flesh's current state of decomposition. Strader couldn't help laugh a little, but mainly because he was glad to have his whole team back together. He looked at the building and wasn't quite sure what to think.

"This doesn't look like any rebel base, or even alien outpost, I've ever seen," Glen said, looking around some more, "Usually they're protected to all hell."

"They were going the other way," Greg said, "We won't know until we go in."

"He has to be inside," Anoki told them, "Either that or dead. According to the heat scans you three are the only humans on the island. That leaves very few places to check."

"This is definitely that weird alloy metal," Greg said as he knocked on the metal wall, "Same stuff we found on the ship last year."

"Anoki," Glen said, "Get up on top. Toshi, since you have the force sword, you follow her. Greg and I will guard in case any more of those lizard creatures show up."

"Let's go," Anoki said and did a double flip from the ground up to the top.

"Show off," Toshi mumbled and climbed the tree again, "You get to open the door."

"With pleasure," Anoki nodded and merely stepped on it, "I'll get it open in a Jiffy....

Before Anoki could finish her sentence the door latch gave out from under her, sending her robotic body falling down into the unknown room. Unlike a human, she didn't scream, but merely recorded distances and righted herself as she hit the floor, some 15 feet below.

"Good job," Toshi called down to Anoki, "Was that planned or just a strategic opening?"

"It was my way of being cool," Anoki said, looking around, "Looks as though this may be a fairly large complex down here."

"Maybe one of us should play sentry, eh?" Greg suggested as he looked down there, "Would be pretty easy to get trapped here."

"You want to face one of those things alone?" Glen asked him, "Toshi, do you have any of those little cameras?"

"Sure," she nodded, "Should be on a low enough frequency that it will work in there."

"Set it up and have Anoki tie into it," he told her, "Greg, I want you to set up one of your toys with it, so that anything disturbing it has a bad day."

"Does it have a thunderbolt connection?" Greg asked Toshi.

"Yep," Toshi nodded as she set it up, "Why?"

"This little baby has a thunderbolt port," Greg said, holding a charge, "I designed it to be remote detonated from any thunderbolt connection that knows the code. Just send a push signal to the camera and it'll set the charge off."

"Handy," she nodded, "Let me set up the camera and get inside before you hook it up, eh?"

"Any threat indicators down there?" Glen asked Anoki.

"The sensors are all screwy," she told them, "There's some elements in the rock that are making my scans go nuts."

"Probably a combination of Iron-Ferrite and Selenium," Toshi told the robot, "Those two resonate to make things difficult on sensors. Might even be some new masking technology we haven't seen."

"I want weapons out and ready," Colonel Strader ordered, "I don't know what's in there, but if it's as nasty as those lizard creatures I want to be ready."

"Right," Greg nodded, "I'm going in."

Greg dropped a rope down into the hole and climbed down quickly, looking around the dark room. Toshi slid down the rope easily, followed by their leader in short sequence. They all put on their night vision glasses, as all the sensory equipment failed completely in this building.

"I don't particularly like this," Strader said as he looked around, "I'm not sure if this is alien or man-made, but it's not a good start."

"The metal is not normal," Greg reiterated, "I'm not so sure about the cavern."

"Think this could be a modified outpost?" Glen asked him, "Sure doesn't give the ring of a recent one."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Toshi shrugged, "There's thought that the ancient Mayans might have modified the carved stone landing sites from the Pitamaliean Alien landings to make those massive pyramids. Possibly same for the Egyptians."

"Lovely," Glen grumbled, "It would be just our luck to have happened upon a PRC research base."

"I doubt it," Greg said, looking closer at the walls, "These walls weren't blasted out. The PRC would have used explosives to make the cavern. Whoever did this was going for quiet."

"Covert too," Anoki told them, "This would have been invisible to PRC radar and satellites. The cavern was cut and the rock dispersed. Probably piped out to the ocean and deposited underwater."

"Someone went to a lot of work to hide this place from the PRC," Glen agreed, "Now we need to figure out why."

"I'll settle for finding Cliff and getting the hell out of here," Toshi said, "This place gives me the creeps."

"I want you in formation," Strader ordered, "We're going in. Anoki, you take the lead. Toshi, you take the rear. Greg, stay by me and don't destroy anything."

"Right," Greg nodded and dialed his weapon down to low, "I'm ready."

"Let's go," Glen said as they started walking.

Chapter 34 - Die Another Day

The tunnel kept going down, a really sharp drop that left the air much warmer and a lot dryer. It would certainly not go on any of their lists for great vacation spots, as it was uncomfortable for everyone but Anoki.

"This place sucks," Greg said simply, "Cliff had better have a good excuse for this."

"We gotta find him first," Toshi reminded him, "He could be anywhere in this damned maze."

"Quiet," Strader said, "You sound like bickering children. We don't know what may hear you in here."

Anoki was scanning as best she could in the resonating walls. The walls gave off enough of an activity to make her vision sensors, already damaged by the fall and the creature's stomach acid, even worse. She was at the level of a half-blind human in this place. It didn't become apparent to the rest of the team that this was the case until she actually hit a low hanging wall.

"Anoki?" Greg asked, "You ok there, robot girl?"

"I can't see a bloody thing," Anoki grumbled, "Whatever is masking the sensors is really screwing my eyes over too. I'm working off sonic sensors and they didn't catch that rock. I think the acid reacted with my flesh to make a strange cover over my eyes."

"Probably needs to be cleaned out," Toshi said, "Come here and I'll see if I can clean it out a bit."

"What a fucking mess," Strader said, "We need to get out of here."

"I see an opening up ahead," Greg told his boss, "Perhaps we should check it out before we rest?"

"I can see," Anoki told them after Toshi worked for a minute, "I can tell where you are by your com links. Just stay out of my way if we have to fight. Anything that moves is going down."

"Greg," Glen told him, "You take the lead. Anoki, Toshi take the rear. We'll check out the room and make a decision on what to do next."

"You got it, boss," Greg said, "Let's find out what we have here."

They all got their weapons ready and started heading towards the opening. Strader knew his crew was seriously undermanned for this type of operation and he cursed himself for not getting the company to fund a good mercenary force to back them up. He slipped his weapon his weapon out of safe mode and prepared for a hot opening.

"I'm going up to the opening," Greg said, "Wish me luck."

Greg went over to the opening and looked out, surprised at what he saw. This part was not a simple excavated tunnel like the area they had been checking out before. This was a deep underground cavern, some one hundred meters high. There was a small version of a Mayan pyramid, one that looked like it had been sculpted from marble that couldn't have been a natural occurrence.

"Jesus H. Christ," Greg said, "Guys, you need to see this!"

Glen, Anoki, and Toshi came out and looked at the small pyramid and then looked at each other. This was the last thing that they'd expected to see underneath this island. It was beautiful enough to be mesmerizing and was something so completely at odds with what they had seen above ground on this rock that they didn't even notice the approach of the armed force until it was almost too late.

"Welcome to my temple of the damned," a tall man with shoulder length blonde hair said to the team, "It isn't really called that, of course, but I still have yet to be able to translate the name the aliens gave it."

"What the hell?" Glen said, his trance broken, "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm the man who owns this facility," he told them, "You four are now my prisoners."

Greg was about to dispute that with a blast from his rifle when he noticed the squad of plasma rifle toting men, all of whom were aiming directly at the three of them. Greg was ready to fight world war three, but he wisely waited for the words from his boss.

"You kill us," Colonel Strader told him, "Anoki kills you all. The plasma won't even faze her."

"I have no intention of killing you now," the man told them, "I have no interest in fighting with an Anoki 9 series prototype."

"How did you know?" Anoki asked them.

"If you were a Tabiri my men would all be dead already," the man told them, "You have a choice. You can drop your weapons and survive for a while or the robot can attack and the team dies."

"Stand down, Anoki," Strader told her, "He won't kill us. If he does that, you can kill them all."

"Intelligent words, Strader," the man said, "Now drop your weapons. All of you."

"Boss?" Greg asked, "What do we do?"

"Obey," Strader growled and put down his rifle, "There's nothing else we can do."

Chapter 35 - Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen...

The four of them were led to a room at the base of the pyramid that served as the prison facility. The guards kept a fair distance away from Anoki, preferring instead to keep their weapons aimed at Strader, Shiniki, and Kaczmarek. The smiling man watched as the door closed on them.

"Fine mess we've gotten into this time," Colonel Strader said, "What do we do now?"

"I guess you're not here to get me out of here, eh?" a young man said from the other side of the room, "So what did you do to get yourself caught in this hell hole?"

"Cliff Remordis I presume," Strader said sourly as he sat down and looked at the man, "So you're the one who's responsible for us being here in this hell hole."

"The company sent you clowns?" he said, shaking his head, "You must have done really well to have gotten caught by that grinning lunatic this quick."

"You could have transmitted a message that was not in a dead language," Greg told him, "Besides. You've been here longer than we have."

"They need me still," Cliff said, "The reason I sent it in Mayan was that the control system would have intercepted anything in a living language."

"That's rather beside the point right now," Toshi said, "Are you alone here?"

"I'm still here," Sienna said quietly, coming out of the corner, "Think they're all right, Cliff?"

"They're ok, hon," Cliff said, touching the girl's shoulder, "They may not look it right now, but this is the strike team that the company put together."

"So what is going on here?" Glen asked them, "Who is that guy out there and what the hell is this place?"

"The grinning blonde guy who looks like he's 25?" Cliff asked, brushing aside his dark hair and showing a nice shiner on his left eye, "He's the jerk off who runs this place. Nobody is willing to say his name, but he's an insane son of a bitch."

"He's not stupid," Anoki said, "He recognized me properly. Nobody outside the company is supposed to know I exist. He even knew my model number."

"He's got a source in the company," Cliff told them, "That's how he knew to grab us."

"Ok," Strader said, looking around the room, "He's kept you alive for some reason, Remordis. I'm guessing it's because of this place."

"You're right," Cliff nodded, "This was an alien mine, probably eons old. Stripped it of the mineral they wanted and left this complex underneath the island."

"That doesn't explain our friend's interest in it," Glen said, "What's in it for him?"

"Technology," Cliff said simply, "The aliens or whoever it was left a whole pile of equipment here. This was a quick in and out mission. They came in with equipment, ripped out the ore, making this place in the process. They left the equipment behind so they had room for the ore."

"Hit and get, huh?" Glen nodded, "And you're here because you know how to work this stuff."

"Right," Cliff nodded, "They grabbed me to translate. They grabbed her to use against me."

"Anything in particular?" Toshi asked, "Or is he just using all of it."

"He seems to be most interested in the biochemical tools," Cliff said, "I tell him about a weapon and he loses interest. The thing he was most pleased with was a bone healer."

"That's odd," Greg said, "I'd go for the weapons myself."

"You always do," Strader said, shaking his head.

"How did you get the message out?" Toshi asked him, "I don't see any communications equipment."

"Their communications set is in the top of the tower," Cliff told them, "I slipped the message in one of their outgoing sat sets. Cost me a good beating once they figured it out."

"Lucky for you they couldn't translate it," Greg said, "So how long have you been here?"

"About a month," Cliff told him, "We were chasing something down in Indonesia when they grabbed us."

"Are your vision systems working better in here, Anoki?" Colonel Strader asked the android, "Same interference?"

"The interference is mostly gone in the chamber," Anoki said, "I still need to remove the gunk from my eyes."

"There are some putty tools in the box," Cliff told them, "They should be good to clean off that shit. I take it the bot had a bad trip through the digestive system of one of those critters up on the surface."

"What the hell are those?" Toshi asked him, "They look like mutated lizards."

"Something nasty," Cliff shrugged, "I don't know where they came from, but I'm betting that Blondie brought them in with their other stuff."

"How do they supply this place?" Greg asked as he continued to wander the cell, "Air drop? Boat?"

"Submarine," Cliff told them, "They basically snuck enough in to widen the tunnel to the surface and then made the sub base."

"Right under the noses of the PRC," Toshi said as she worked on cleaning up the goop on Anoki's eyes, "That's impressive in itself."

"How well do you know the complex?" Glen asked him, "Is there any way we can get out of here?"

"Not without a pickaxe, a few years, and maybe a few pounds of C4," Cliff shrugged, "It's maddening. The equipment room is right on the other side of this wall."

"How thick is the rock?" Greg asked, tapping the wall, "Feet or inches?"

"Probably about six inches," Cliff said, "Why?"

"Let me see what we have to work with," Greg told them, "I might be able to come up with something."

"How dangerous are the artifacts here?" Toshi asked Cliff, "Are we going to be in trouble if we leave this stuff to that lunatic out there?"

"Some of it is dangerous," Cliff nodded, "I've been going slow with it, outright lying when I thought I could get away with it."

"Have you ever been in that room?" Greg asked Cliff as he surveyed the wall.

"What?" Cliff asked, "Oh. Yeah, they brought me in to look at a few things."

"Were the weapons on the wall facing against us?" Greg asked him, "Or was it equipment?"

"The weapons are in a set of cases near the door," Cliff told him, "There were old mining tools behind it."

"How soundproof is this building?" Greg then asked them.

"I don't know," Cliff shrugged, "I'm not a materials expert."

"First off," Glen said, interrupting, "Are we being watched?"

"No video or audio systems," Anoki said, "I did a scan when we came in. Nothing electronic in the room except for me and the devices in Toshi's pocket."

"Which devices?" Glen asked her, "Anything we can use?"

"The plasma absorbers," Toshi said, pulling them out, "Useful for defense, useless for offense."

"Let me see one of those," Greg said, "I might have an idea."

"Just remember," Glen told them, "Keep it small. No need to kill us all."

"I know," Greg nodded, "Just want to get through the wall, not bring the whole pyramid down."

"Exactly," Strader nodded, "Just enough to get yourself through."

"Why him?" Cliff asked the Colonel.

"Because if that big lug can fit, so can the rest of us," Strader explained, "Now will anyone hear it outside?"

"More likely feel it," Anoki said, "This material should hold the sound pretty well. It'll probably take them a few minutes to realize it wasn't an earthquake."

"They've had a few minor quakes here," Cliff said, "Most likely because of the old mine. The original diggers could have given a shit about tectonic stability. They came in to rip off the minerals and get out."

"I've got it," Greg said, picking up a tub of putty, "Anyone got a MRE left on them?"

"MRE?" Cliff asked, "What the hell is that?"

"Meal ready to eat," Sienna told him quietly, "Light, filling meals."

"Yuck," Cliff said, sticking his tongue out, "Disgusting."

"I have mine," Anoki told him, "I didn't bother to use it since the flesh generator is toast."

"Toss it here," Greg said, holding out his hands, "Let's see what we got."

Anoki pulled the pack out of her nearly ruined jumpsuit and tossed it over to Greg. He pulled it open and examined the contents, pleasantly surprised to find a packet of vinegar based dressing to go with the pseudo-salad. He then started to go through the stuff in the room with them.

"What is he doing?" Cliff asked Glen.

"He's an artist," Glen explained, "Some people work with paint, some with marble. Greg works with explosives. That kid can make a fairly decent bomb out of simple dishwasher detergent."

"Too bad we didn't have any," Greg grumbled, "It would be better than this stuff."

That didn't stop him from continuing to work, however. The others simply watched as he worked like a whirlwind and disassembled the absorber pack. Cliff slipped to the back, not wanting to be up front if the mixture went badly. Sienna stood nonchalantly with the rest of the group and watched in wonder as Greg put together a small, compact package, using the mashed potatoes from the MRE to keep it together.

"Not my best work," Greg said, "But it should get us through the wall."

"How about back blast?" Glen asked him.

"Shouldn't be too bad," Greg told him, "Might want to get everyone behind the bed and put Anoki up front."

"How are you going to trigger it?" Toshi asked, "I don't see a trigger?"

"Who's got the best throwing arm?" Greg asked seriously, "I don't have anything to make a timed or electrical trigger. It'll go off when hit with something."

"I can do it," Anoki said, "I can hit accurately and take the brunt of the blast without a problem."

"Good," Glen nodded, "Kaczmarek, go ahead and place it. Everyone else, move the table and the bed into position and get hunkered down."

"Lovely," Toshi sighed, "Good luck Anoki. Sienna, let's hit the dirt."

Sienna nodded and helped move a bed. She and Cliff curled up together behind one, while Glen and Toshi got in crash position behind the other one. Anoki stood in front of the one closest to the blast zone and grabbed a good-sized rock to throw. When Greg finished placing the makeshift explosive he took a spot between the bed and the other two, using his massive body to shield them both.

"Everyone ready?" Anoki asked them.

"Do it," Strader ordered, "As soon as the blast clears, get through the hole and look for the weapons."

"You got it," Anoki said, "On the count of three. One... Two... Three..."

On three Anoki threw the rock and hit the rock square on. Everyone had tensed for the explosion, but they were all surprised when the rock hit and did nothing but clatter down to the floor. Glen looked at Greg and was about to speak when suddenly the charge let go, blasting a hole in the rock wall.

"Gotta love explosives," Greg said, "You ok, Anoki?"

Anoki didn't respond as she ran to the hole and pushed aside debris, letting herself in. Everyone managed to get up and dust off in time for Anoki's return. Her now mostly stripped metal head poked through the hole and showed a rifle.

"They have full plasma sets in here," Anoki said, "Our stuff is here too. Come on!"

"You heard the metal girl," Colonel Strader said, "Let's go and kick Blondie's ass!"

Chapter 36 - Non spari prego le armi termonucleari!

Bolantine, the man that the team had been referring to as Blondie, was sitting in his quarters in a room near the top of the underground pyramid. He hated this island in China, but he had gotten so much stuff out of it that even he had to admit it had been worth it. Being the only one who was sitting above the blast site, he was also the only person in the place to feel the blast.

"What the hell was that?" Bolantine asked himself as he stood up quick and hit his intercom button, "Charlie! Are we having another earthquake out there?"

"No sir," Charlie's voice came over the old intercom, "The spectrometers just registered a slight spike, but it wasn't enough to have been a quake."

"Check the prisoners," Bolantine ordered, "Now!"

"Yes sir!" Charlie replied, "Right away!"

"Not right away!" Bolantine shouted, "Now!"

Bolantine growled and rubbed his temples. He knew that something was out of whack now and he just waited for it. While he waited he went over to the table next to his cot and pulled out his personal plasma pistol out and listened out the door. It didn't take him long to hear the beginning of the battle downstairs.

"I hate it when I'm right," Bolantine growled and got ready to go out into the fray.

"Nothing fancy, Kaczmarek!" Colonel Strader yelled between shots, "See a target, take it down. No prisoners!"

"Just the words I like to hear!" Greg yelled, "Time to die, motherfuckers!"

Bolantine's people were not particularly well trained in combat. Cliff, the least experienced warrior on the company side, was even better trained to handle a rifle than the workers. Greg, Glen and Anoki managed to mow down most of them easily with the high-end weaponry that had been in the storage room.

Bolantine knew that there was no good coming out of the battle in there, so he headed to the artifact room, which was the link between the main pyramidal chamber and the submarine base he'd had built in the facility earlier this year. He figured he could head them off there.

"Where to now?" Toshi asked Cliff, "You two know this place better than we do."

"Sub bay!" Cliff yelled, "It's on the other side of the pyramid. The sub is probably our best way out of this place!"

"Then shut up and lead the way, Remordis!" Colonel Strader yelled, "Kaczmarek! Anoki! I want cover fire! Toshi, you and Sienna keep covered and save your rounds. I don't want more plasma flying around here than I know what to do with. Get moving!"

Anoki and Greg made a sheer wall of plasma, killing off half of the remaining goons from Bolantine's force. The rest of the team scooted behind them and went into the artifact room with Sienna and Colonel Strader doing combat sweeps through the room, looking for the way out.

"How do we get out of here?" Strader asked him, "Which way is the sub bay?"

"I haven't been there in a fucking month, man," Cliff exclaimed, "It's this way somewhere."

"You," Strader said to Cliff, "Have one hell of an attitude problem."

"He does, doesn't he," Bolantine shouted from behind one of the artifacts, "Now why don't you give this insane fight up before you get killed!"

"Come on out and fight us like a man, Blondie!" Cliff yelled, "We'll take you down."

"Shut up," Strader growled, "We didn't ask for this fight. You pushed it on us. Get out of our way and you might live through it."

"Big words," Bolantine said, standing up on top of one of the devices, "Go ahead and try it!"

"With pleasure!" Cliff yelled and let loose a barrage of plasma at Bolantine, "Die!"

Bolantine merely laughed as the plasma hit him and burned through his clothing, leaving his chest completely unharmed. Cliff nearly dropped his weapon in surprise of the display when Colonel Strader and Sienna let off a combined phase attack at Bolantine, this failing just as badly.

"Nice try," Bolantine said, "You didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you?"

Colonel Strader growled and drew his Glock pistol. He looked at the laughing Bolantine, and in one swift motion released the safety and put a three shot grouping in his chest, piercing his heart and sending him careening backwards onto a rather large device, a device that started up as soon as the body hit it.

"Check him!" Strader yelled, "Figure out what that thing is and get the absorber off the body!"

"There isn't one," Toshi said as she looked Bolantine over, "Nothing but the gun."

"That's not our biggest problem," Cliff said, "I think this big ticking thing is going to be a much bigger problem in a few minutes."

"Why?" Strader asked.

"The glyphs," Cliff explained, "If I'm reading them right they read 'Non spari prego le armi termonucleari!'."

"English please," Strader said.

"Please don't shoot the thermonuclear weapons," Cliff said, a seriously worried look on his face, "That's not a good sign."

"Anoki!" Strader shouted, "Get over here and scan this thing!"

"Ionic Plutonium Uranite," Anoki said, "A few other things mixed in. Definitely not normal. Our labs can't get it stable for more than a few minutes still."

"Explosive?" Strader asked.

"About six megatons," Anoki said, "Enough to make this island and anything within four miles become a memory."

"I hope you can translate this clock, Cliff," Sienna told him, surprising the group, "It's ticking rather fast in a language I've never seen."

"It's solar standard time," Cliff said and then looked up at the others, "We've got approximately one hour before this thing explodes."

Chapter 37 - We All Live In A Yellow Submarine

"Can you disarm it, Kaczmarek?" Colonel Strader asked his expert, "We're in for a world of hurt if we don't."

"No way," Greg said, shaking his head, "I'd more likely set it off. It would take hours."

"The sub," Cliff suggested, "Maybe we can get far enough away before it goes off?"

"We're far enough from the Chinese mainland that it will probably read as an Earthquake," Toshi shrugged, "I don't think we have a choice."

"Let's find the sub," Colonel Strader said, "Resistance outside?"

"Scattered from the shield blast," Greg said, "They're probably regrouping. They'll be too late."

"The sub is through here," Sienna told them, "Can we leave now?"

"I think that's a good idea," Cliff said, "Before that damn thing makes us all fallout."

"Let's go," Strader said, "Before they decide to try to rush us for killing their boss."

The six of them went into the sub bay and found the two machines that Bolantine and his crew had brought with them. One of them was a medium size transport submarine, one designed to bring equipment into the place, the other a Jetstream water transport, a one man unit that was capable of above water and underwater transport.

"Man," Greg said as he looked at the Jetstream, "I've always wanted one of those."

"Too bad," Toshi said, "You'd get killed by the crush from here."

"You know," Cliff said, "Other than being dragged here in one blindfolded, I've never actually been in a submersible. How do you get in to the thing?"

"Oh shit," Colonel Strader said, realizing, "Can you link with a sat down here, Anoki?"

"No chance," Anoki said, "There's gotta be 100 feet of rock above us."

"Oh man!" Toshi exclaimed, "Don't tell me nobody knows how to drive this thing?"

"I must admit," Greg told her, "I never took a class in advanced sub driving. You mean you've never read a book on it?"

"Leave me out of this," Cliff told them, "If it isn't centuries old or alien, it's out of my realm."

"Chill out," Colonel Strader growled, "Let's find the door and then fight about how to drive it."

"Maybe there's an instruction manual," Greg suggested, "We just have to get in to find out."

"The door is on the top," Cliff told them, "This is how they brought us to the island."

"I wouldn't worry about the instruction manual," Toshi told Greg as she went over to the sub, "I doubt it would be written in crayon."

After Cliff showed them where the door was on the sub, Toshi figured out the latch mechanism and they all crawled in to it. It was a fairly average size sub, enough room for about twenty people or a couple tons of cargo. The bridge was in the front to allow visual navigation through tight tunnels. It was a tight fit, but all of them managed to fit in there.

"Cute little thing," Colonel Strader said, "Now how the hell do we turn it on?"

"We were blindfolded in the back when we rode in it," Cliff said, "And I know jack shit about electronics."

"I don't have the modules needed," Anoki told them, "If I could link up that would be one thing."

"Well someone had better figure this out quick!" Greg exclaimed, "If we don't, anyone in here not wearing SPF fifteen million sun block is going to have a pretty bad fucking day!"

"How bad is an Ionic Plutonium Uranite explosion?" Sienna asked Anoki, "Radiation? Shockwave?"

"It is a nuclear explosion that pulls in and stabilizes the radioactive atoms when it finishes," Anoki said, "Destructive, but not environmentally devastating."

"Let me in the chair," Sienna said quickly, "I think I can start it."

Toshi, who'd already butted her way to the chair and was trying to start it, simply looked at Sienna. Strader and Kaczmarek had no idea what to make of Sienna, as she had been so quiet through most of the ordeal. They all looked at the small, soft spoken woman.

"I'd let her do it," Cliff suggested, "She's quite good at picking up stuff like this."

Toshi looked over to Strader who shrugged. She got up out of the seat, letting Sienna go in and look around. Within seconds, the small woman with the blonde hair was moving quickly as though a demon possessed. Before anyone else knew what she was doing the sub's power was on and they were about to pull away from the dock.

"Go, Sienna go," Colonel Strader said, impressed, "Let's get out of here. We're running out of time."

While Sienna was beginning to guide the sub away Toshi spotted someone moving on the dock. They were all surprised to see the blonde man that Glen Strader had supposedly shot and killed up and running around on the dock. The look in Bolantine's eyes was pure murder as he watched and shouted.

"What the hell?" Greg said as he looked at Bolantine, "You put a three shot grouping right in that bastard's heart!"

"Maybe he's like Mason and Karen Stone?" Toshi suggested, "An immortal?"

"God I hope not," Strader said, "The thought of someone as evil as that being immortal is not a good thing."

"I doubt even Mason and Karen could survive an Ionic Plutonium Uranite blast," Anoki said, "But I don't know how powerful the stuff is on them."

Just as Sienna started pushing the sub underwater they saw Bolantine heading for the Jetstream craft that Greg had been drooling over earlier. They all looked at each other and just shook their heads.

"That man has got to be crazy," Toshi said, "If the explosion doesn't get him, the tidal wave afterwards should do it."

"The crush may still get us," Colonel Strader warned, "Sienna, get us out of here as fast as you can."

"Aye, Aye, Captain," Sienna said, pushing the sub as fast as it would go, "Exit is just ahead."

"Goodbye island," Cliff said as they pushed the craft away, "May you rot in hell."

Chapter 38 - Damn, What a Rush!

Bolantine went back up to the room as he saw the sub disappear. The remains of his team had just decided they were brave enough to come into the room and find out what happened. They found their boss standing there, his shirt tattered and growling. He looked at the running timer on the alien device and tried to figure out just what had sent the Company people running so fast.

"Where did they go?" Charlie asked his boss, "They were just in here!"

"They just stole my sub," Bolantine growled, "How many of you are left?"

"Six," Charlie said, "They whittled us down pretty good, boss."

"Make it five," Bolantine said as he bared his teeth and shot Charlie point blank in the head.

Bolantine wasn't stupid. He knew that something nasty was about to happen in this island and that he didn't particularly want to be there when it did. He didn't even give a second thought to Charlie's corpse as he went back down to the sub bay and started the Jetstream craft.

"I think it's time to be leaving!" Bolantine exclaimed as he held his breath and sent the machine under the water.

Cliff Remordis was the first one to see Bolantine speed by them on the Jetstream craft. He could have sworn that Bolantine flipped them off as he passed the sub, something that didn't make any sense to him.

"Ok," Cliff said, "Am I seeing things, or did Blondie just zoom by and flip us off?"

"If you're seeing things," Greg said, "Then so am I."

"If it were just you," Toshi said from the co-pilot's chair, "I'd say you were seeing things. I don't know about Cliff yet."

"He's not prone to seeing things," Sienna said as she piloted the sub.

"How much time do we have left?" Strader asked Toshi, as his watch had been broken in the battle, "You seem to always remember that shit."

"We have twelve minutes left," Toshi said nervously, "If the bomb is as powerful as Anoki and Greg think it is, we're not going to get far enough away. The pressure blast is going to crush this little sub like a bug."

Sienna perked up at that and started to look closely at the sonar scans. She didn't know how she knew how to do most of this, but she scanned the readouts and directed the submarine straight down to the bottom, surprising the hell out of everyone.

"What the hell are you doing?" Strader asked Sienna, "We need to put as much distance as we can between us and the island!"

"Shhh," Sienna said, putting a finger to her lip, "Let me work."

"Five minutes," Toshi told them, "Whatever you do, Sienna, do it quick."

Sienna guided the submarine down deeper, heading to the very bottom of the channel. Her eyes didn't leave the sonar readouts the whole time because the darkness didn't exactly lend itself to visual driving. The sub was slow and sluggish compared to Bolantine's jet ski craft, but it was taking the deep dive fairly well.

While the Company team continued going down to the bottom Bolantine raced his craft to the surface where he could breathe easier and travel faster. He wasn't even sure which direction he was heading, mainly just trying to put distance between himself and that island.

The Jetstream was capable of going over 100 miles an hour on the water, so Bolantine was on course to get six or seven miles away from the island when the bomb went off. The company team was not that far away when the clock started winding down.

"Two minutes," Toshi said nervously, "I hope you know what you're doing, Sienna."

Sienna paid her no heed as she worked the controls. She maneuvered the craft down to an outcropping of rocks that she had seen on the scopes. As the one minute mark approached she had nearly scraped bottom getting the sub behind them.

"One minute," Toshi said, "You all might want to get down."

Everyone scrambled for a seat, or an open space to lay down so they wouldn't fall down. Sienna placed the submarine expertly on the sandy floor of the ocean, the back of the submarine facing the island. She finished this maneuver approximately thirty seconds before the timer was due to finish, everyone inside only feeling a slight thud as it hit the ground.

"Ten seconds," Toshi said nervously, "Hold on tight!"

The blast came right on schedule. The device ignited, and a thermonuclear reaction occurred that sent the unstable Ionic Plutonium Uranite into critical mass, first obliterating the four dolts who were looking at the device trying to figure out what it was. The next one to die was the last of Bolantine's cronies, one that was trying to open the safe in Bolantine's old office.

The Blast then vaporized the rock and vegetation of the little island, along with the two remaining lizard creatures that Bolantine had put up on the surface to keep out the intruders. The blast also sent gallons upon gallons of water into vapor, creating a void that when it collapsed in on itself caused a giant tsunami to form from where the island used to be.

"Oh man!" Greg yelled, "We are so dead! We are so dead!"

"Only if you don't shut up," Strader exclaimed, "Hold on!"

The little sub shook from the turbulence, but it didn't move and didn't burst. The rock outcropping that Sienna had parked the sub behind had acted as a shield, blocking the worst of the blast from hitting the sub, redirecting most of it over the fragile craft. Her quick thinking had saved the company team.

"Holy shit," Greg said as he sat up, "Why are we not dead?"

"Don't knock it," Strader said, "It worked."

"Good job, Sienna," Toshi said, offering a hand, "You saved our asses."

"Thanks," Sienna said, "You ok, Cliff?"

"Fine," Cliff nodded, "Be much better when we get out of this sardine can though."

Bolantine would have given anything to have been in the sub at that moment. Being on the surface unprotected on the Jetstream let him get caught in the Tsunami. The powerful wave picked up the craft, and the single man caught on it and sent it southeast, away from China and towards the Philippines.

Once the wave passed over their heads, Sienna started the craft and got it off the floor, bringing it up to a bare 100 feet from the surface, stopping there to find out where everyone wanted to go next.

"We're alive," Sienna said, "What now?"

"Can you sync with the satellite down here, Anoki?" Colonel Strader asked her, "We need to find the sub that was supposed to pick us up."

"How far will this thing take us?" Greg asked, "Maybe we can get out of here without linking up with the sub?"

"This will take us all the way to San Francisco if we wanted it to," Anoki said, examining the power source, "The thing is, I would be the only one around to see it arrive if we did that."

"How so?" Greg asked, "You going to kill us off?"

"I wouldn't have to," Anoki told him, "You'd starve to death before we passed Hawaii."

"She's right," Cliff said, "This is a slow sub, designed to link up with another craft about forty miles to the south. It's not fast enough for a trip across the ocean."

"The question about the satellite still stands, Anoki," Strader told her.

"We're still too deep," Anoki said, "I can't even get a GPS position down here."

"So we have to surface," Strader said, "Not sure I like the sound of that."

"We'd probably best head southeast for a while first," Toshi said, "I don't think we want to come close to the surface until we're well into international waters."

"Good idea," Strader said, "Sienna, would you be kind enough to bring us southeast?"

"Yep," she nodded and pushed the buttons, "We should hit international waters in about a couple hours."

"Kick back and relax guys," Colonel Strader told the team, "We got out alive. We should be home within a day or so."

"I still wish I knew who that lunatic with the Blonde hair was," Greg groused, "I wouldn't mind kicking his ass again."

"He's dead," Cliff shrugged, "That's what he is now. Who he was before that doesn't much matter now."

Chapter 39 - A One way trip to the Corregidor

Bolantine wasn't dead by a long shot. While the Company team was lazing away in the submarine lumbering towards international waters, Bolantine was having the ride from hell in the Tsunami wave. The wave held him and the Jetstream craft he was holding on to, propelling him far to the Southeast.

It felt like an eternity for Bolantine as he tumbled through the wave. He was barely holding on to consciousness, losing it often until he got to a point in the wave that he could breathe a little and regain it. It was a miserable experience for any person to go through, one that would have killed any normal mortal.

The thing was, Bolantine was not your average mortal. He wasn't even mortal at all at this point. The same serum that had created Mason and Karen Stone, resulting in the same medical immortality that wouldn't allow them to die, had afflicted him. His clothing had been badly singed, and his mind was going half-mad when he actually reached the first piece of land.

The Resort Island of Corregidor was on the western side of the Philippine Islands, an opulent place for travelers with beautiful sandy beaches and beautiful sunsets. A young couple was out walking the beach when the remains of the Tsunami wave put Bolantine and the now wrecked Jetstream craft aground some twenty yards away from them.

"What the hell was that?" the young man asked, "That was a big wave!"

"My God," the young woman exclaimed, "There's a man on that craft that washed up!"

Bolantine looked like a wreck by this point. He hurt all over, something that was a real feat for someone like him. The young couple was very surprised when he managed to get sit up and look around. They had thought sure he was dead.

"Where am I?" Bolantine asked the stunned young people.

"Y-y-you're alive!" the young woman stammered, "You can't be!"

"Yeah, yeah," Bolantine said, "Now where am I?"

"Corregidor Island," the young man told him, "The resort is a half mile south from here."

"I'm in the Philippines?" Bolantine said, "Damn that was one hell of a trip."

"Do you need help?" the young man asked him.

"Nope," Bolantine said, shaking his head, "Is there anyone else on the beach tonight?"

"Not that I've seen," the young man told him, "Too cold."

"Thank you," Bolantine said and looked around.

The girl actually smiled at Bolantine. Bolantine wasn't in the mood for a smile at that time. Without either one of the young people expecting it Bolantine reached out and smacked their heads together in a move violently reminiscent of the Three Stooges. When they went down he broke their necks and stripped them of any cash they were carrying.

"Sorry about that, Kids," Bolantine told the corpses, "I need the money right now."

Bolantine was nearly the same size as the kid, so he grabbed the kid's shirt and pants and put them on. He pulled nearly five hundred US dollars from the kid's billfold and tossed the billfold into the surf. He then dragged the bodies into the surf and walked to the resort building he saw in the distance.

The first place he went in the resort was to the bathroom to clean himself up. Then, he went directly to the bar, smiling at a few pretty young things as he walked in. He wasn't all that presentable, but he was presentable enough for a resort bar.

"Whiskey neat," he told the bartender, "Make it a double and bring me a phone please."

Bolantine laid a twenty down on the table and motioned for the Bartender to keep the change. The Bartender quickly poured Bolantine's drink and handed him a cordless phone. Bolantine went over to the end of the bar and downed some whiskey as he dialed a number he had long since committed to memory.

"This is Bolantine," he said when he got an answer, "There was a bit of a snafu on the island."

Bolantine held the phone away from his ear for a moment and sipped his drink before he continued.

"It's ok," Bolantine told the person on the other end, "I got pretty much everything we needed from the operation. I need you to send a courier with some money and a new identity for me. I'm on a resort island in the Philippines."

Bolantine held his glass for a refill, which the bartender obliged with.

"Since the Chinese operation is over," Bolantine said, "I'm going to head to Vladivostok and check out the shipment, possibly even get some of the old data out of our old friends. I'll be back in the states in about a month. See you then."

Bolantine put the phone down and leaned against the bar, rubbing his temples and trying to forget about how bad a day it had been. His only hope was that the company team was at the bottom of the South China Sea where they thought he was.

Chapter 40 - Homeward Bound

Toshi Shiniki did a double flip out of the plane onto the Area 51 tarmac, bending down and giving the ground a quick kiss. Glen and Greg laughed and gladly walked out back into the dry Nevada air that had long since meant home to both of them. Cliff and Sienna walked out last, earning a sneer from him.

"So this is the run down base that the company bought," Cliff said as he looked around, "Looks pretty fucking desolate."

"Don't knock it," Glen Strader told him, "We could have left you there with Blondie."

"I wonder how far he got thrown before he died," Cliff said, grinning, "Hope it was painful."

"If he is what I think he is," Greg told him, "I don't think we'll be that lucky."

"What do you think he is?" Cliff asked as they walked to the main buildings, "Superman?"

"He's an immortal," Glen sighed, "Just like Mason and Karen."

"Not like them," Toshi said, "Mason and company weren't trying to kill us. That lunatic would have killed his own mother if the price was right."

"You sound like you approve of what they did," Greg said as they continued, "They made us look like idiots."

"We probably deserved it," Glen shrugged, "The company shouldn't have been mucking around in that area."

"Whoa," Cliff said, "Immortals? There is no such thing is there?"

"We met two earlier this year," Greg told him, "Mason and Karen Stone. Did a number on the company's immortality research and used us to do it. They reacted to plasma just about the same as blondie did."

"I may need to talk to my father about him," Glen said, "He knew Mason and Karen. He probably knows this one too."

"I don't care right now," Anoki said, "I just want to get this exoskeleton cleaned off and get some flesh again."

"That's priority one," Toshi assured her, "Nikki should be there getting the sulfuric compound ready."

"Sulfuric?" Sienna said, "What for?"

"They need to clean off the remains of the dead flesh," Anoki told them, "I'm looking forward to it, really. I want to feel cute again, not like the walking dead."

"You'll smell better too," Cliff agreed, "So who do we have to check in with to get a ride off of this rock?"

"You need to check in with Sam," Colonel Strader told him, "They want to debrief all of us about what happened there, but he wants to talk to you directly."

"Sam, huh?" Cliff said, "Another mid level no-neck with balls the size of shriveled peas I'd bet."

"Nice way to talk about your father," Strader shrugged, "Lotta love there, I guess."

"Shit," Cliff said, growling a little, "So this is where he got reassigned to. Damn it. Now, I get him chewing me out as well."

"Man," Greg said, changing the subject, "I bet the feds are in an uproar over that nuke."

"Hopefully nobody has figured out that it was us that set it off," Toshi said, "We probably wouldn't have made it home if they had."

"We'll find out in a bit," Strader told them, "We made it out alive and managed to pick up these ragamuffins. I'd say that's good enough. I'm going to go take a long shower."

"Sounds like a plan," Sienna nodded, "Care to join me, Cliff?"

"He needs to see the boss before you relax," Colonel Strader told her, "I have a suspicion that you'll be stuck here for a few days regardless."

"Lovely," Cliff grumbled, "Where's his office. I'm going to go get this over with."

Greg pointed to the main administration building and Cliff took off in a jog. Sienna pondered going off with him, but when she looked at him he gave her a wave off, so she decided to join the rest of the strike team.

"Mind if I borrow a shower?" Sienna asked the Colonel, "I want to get clean before Cliff drags me off again."

"You don't have to go with him," Toshi noted, "You're a free person."

"I like the adventure," Sienna told her, "Besides, he's the only person who believes me when I tell him the stories about the aliens."

"We've got a few stories of our own," Strader told her, "Go ahead and use the shower in the spare barracks room of our place. Toshi, you can show her the way."

"Right," Toshi said, "Come on, Sienna."

"What are you going to do?" Greg asked the boss, "Relax a bit?"

"I'm going to look in on Nikki before I go rest," Glen told him, "You?"

"I'll join you," Greg shrugged, "I want to check on Anoki."

"Greg," Strader started, "You were an idiot on the jump, but I'll make you a deal. I'll forget it if you watch what you're doing next time."

"You got it," Greg nodded, "I didn't mean to hit her."

"I know that," Strader nodded, "And I know you're a hot dog when you jump. Next time I'll send you out last."

"Thanks," Greg said, "I think."

They walked into the building and found both Nikki and Harry Haldeman preparing the acid bath for Anoki. Nikki didn't look overly shocked at Anoki's appearance, but Harry was nearly floored by the metal cadaver look that Anoki was showing.

"Jesus," Harry said, looking at Anoki's form, "What did they do? Shoot you? Blow you up? Burn you?"

"All three," Anoki shrugged, "Please tell me we're ready to strip me of this dead flesh?"

"Come on in, chickie," Nikki told her, "We've got a new generator ready for you with a few improvements."

"Improvements?" Anoki asked, intrigued, "What did they come up with this time?"

"That plasma absorber for one," Haldeman told her, "We got those via air freight yesterday. R&D stayed up all night figuring out how they worked. It works off a similar power source as what your flesh generator does, so they integrated it into your replacement."

"How about us?" Colonel Strader asked, "Do we get them?"

"They're working on integrating them on to the standard armor," Nikki assured them, "I haven't seen one yet, but supposedly they're hot little numbers."

"Very nice," Greg observed, "So how long until Anoki is whole again?"

"I'm whole," Anoki said, attempting to pout her metal mouth and failing miserably, "Just not soft and pretty."

"You're still cool," Greg told her, "And the prettiness will return soon."

Nikki started the acid bath and left Harry and Greg there to watch over her. She and Glen Strader walked out to the hallway to have a moment alone. She smiled at him and noticed how dirty he really was.

"You need a shower, Glen," Nikki said, "Rough trip, eh?"

"I've had better," Strader admitted, "Care to join me in some relaxation time?"

"I'd love to," Nikki cooed, "Just have to take care of some things first. I'll find you in your quarters later?"

"I'll be waiting," Glen grinned, "Wear what you did the other night?"

"What's that?" Nikki asked, smiling back, "You like lab coats?"

"I was thinking of what you were wearing later," Glen chuckled, "Absolutely nothing."

"I think that might be arranged," Nikki said, quickly kissing him before she darted off.

Glen watched her and smiled. When she had made her way around the corner, he turned and walked to his quarters. He whistled and snapped his fingers quickly.

"Still got it, Glen," he said to himself, "Still got it."

Chapter 41 - Beavis and Butthead do Tabiri 8.2

"She won't show man," Delbert Larock said nervously, "We've got our asses hanging out on this one."

"We've got the units," Julius Ybarra told him, "We've even managed to adapt some of the Anoki series parts. The girl is going to show up and she's going to be grateful. We might even get a bonus."

"I'd settle for a romp with one of the bots," Larock chuckled, "Those girls are fine once they get skin on them."

"Tall leggy blonde," Ybarra agreed, "I could go for that too. Maybe when we get the green from the chickie we'll put together another one for fun."

"I wouldn't recommend it," Nikki said dryly as she walked in, "They'd tear you apart. I see you managed to complete the order."

"We've gotten five ready to run," Ybarra told her, "Just need to start them up."

"We've also got eight more chassis," Larock said, putting his voice in, "Most are in various states of disrepair, missing one part or another. I think we can get them all running."

"Mostly a few arms and legs," Ybarra nodded, "Should be easy enough."

"Is that all they are missing?" Nikki asked, checking out the nude women, "How about instrument packages?"

"They're in," Larock told her, "Don't know yet about the connections. We wanted to get the flesh working."

"We also don't have the full AI code," Ybarra told her, "The full featured code is highly classified. The government loaded these models with mobility code."

"Can they do basic tasks?" Nikki asked them, "Basic military missions?"

"We've collected as many open source modules for them as we could find," Ybarra replied, "They won't be as intelligent as the operational versions. If you can get a hold of the full code this will be easier."

"Just get them running with the basics. I don't have the access to that code either. Military pukes probably took it with them," Nikki instructed them, "I'll want to take delivery on Friday. The buyers can hash out the rest."

"That's three days away!" Larock exclaimed, "We can't..."

"They will be ready," Ybarra said firmly, putting his hand over his friend's mouth, "Just have to recalibrate the packs for the slower AI."

"See that you do," Nikki told them, "Send me the test results and I'll let you know when to fire them up."

"How do you intend to get them out of the base?" Larock asked her, "They won't let these girls just walk out of here."

"That's my problem," Nikki told them coldly, "You just get them ready by Friday. Got me?"

"Loud and clear," Larock growled, not liking this at all, "Loud and clear."

"Good," she said, "I'll check my email tonight. There'd best be something in there."

"There will be!" Ybarra exclaimed, "We're almost ready now, just have to..."

"Don't waste time talking to me," Nikki said and turned to the door, "I'll read it myself later."

Nikki walked out the door and earned glares from Larock and Ybarra. Neither one of them particularly liked her at that moment, something that didn't concern Nikki at all. She had other things to do that night, Colonel Strader being high on that list.

"Man," Larock growled, "She really is a bitch!"

"Yeah," Ybarra shrugged, "But that tasty piece of bitch has a lot of money, and a lot of it is coming to us."

"Small comfort," Larock groused, "Especially if we can't get that goddamned instrument pack working right."

"We've got three days," Julius grinned, "It doesn't have to be perfect. We just have to get it good enough so that they don't look like drooling bimbos."

"You think we'll get this over her?" Larock asked him, "We need to make it work."

"The units work," Ybarra said, "The instrument packages might not be up to snuff for this model, but she won't be able to tell too well because they'll test fine."

"If you say so," Larock said, "I just hope you're right."

"Of course I am!" Ybarra said arrogantly, "Trust me!"

Del Larock again remained unconvinced.

Chapter 42 - Pea Sized Nads and the Men Who Have Them

"Cliff Remordis," Remordis said as the younger man entered the room, "You have some explaining to do son."

"Son of a..." Cliff said, shaking his father's hand, "Not exactly the reception I was expecting. How are you, Dad?"

"I'm not really thrilled with you right now," Sam said honestly, "What the hell have you been doing? I can only protect you so far, you know."

"My job," Cliff said, "Same one you got for me years ago."

"Your job? You have to be kidding me, Cliffie," Sam Remordis fumed as he tossed Cliff Remordis's personnel file down on the table, "You have cost this company billions of dollars! Reparations, plane flights, bribes. Is there anything you're not capable of?"

"I don't eat children," Cliff pointed out, grinning.

"No," Sam admitted, "But you do screw them. Need I remind you of that sixteen-year old girl in Colombia?"

"Hey!" Cliff said, "She swore to me she was eighteen!"

"That's beside the point, Cliff!" Remordis yelled, "Need I even go into the billion dollar research project that you compromised completely just on a whim just because you wanted to get laid!"

"You aren't cleared for that, Dad. That was one of Harley's projects," Cliff noted, "How did you find out about it?"

"That doesn't matter right now," Sam smiled, "Because when the board found out about what you did in China they went through the roof."

"I didn't cause that explosion," Cliff pointed out, "Colonel Strader did."

"He wouldn't have been there in the first place if it wasn't for you," Remordis growled, "A whole lot of things wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for you."

"Nice homecoming, Dad. If you don't want me here, that's fine," Cliff said, "Sienna and I will be on the first plane out of this dump."

"Not this time, Cliff," Remordis told him, "I have orders from the board about you."

"What orders?" Cliff wondered.

"You cause too much damage when you go out on your own," Remordis said, "So the board unanimously voted to cut off funding for your adventures. In other words, you are grounded."

"Those bastards," Cliff grumbled, "What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

"I think you could use some military training," Sam said, "Lucky for you the board doesn't want your expertise in unexplained phenomena to go to them, so we've come up with a much more fitting assignment for you."

"What?" Cliff said and then slipped into sarcasm, "Am I to become a space janitor or something? Sorry, but I think Roger Wilco has that job already."

"Even better," Sam told him, leaning back in his chair to better observe the reaction he knew was coming, "You're actually going to become subordinate to someone."

"That will be the day," Cliff said, almost laughing, "Don't lump me in the same category as Colonel Strader and his peons. I can't be controlled anymore than you can, Dad."

"Funny you should mention him, Cliff," Sam Remordis smiled, "Because he will be the one you are working for, at least for the next twelve months."

"You really are out of your mind!" Cliff exclaimed, standing up, "I don't take orders! I am a free agent."

"You've been funded by the Company for nearly five years now, Cliff," Remordis told him, "You've brought in some good stuff, but nowhere near what it has cost to keep you out there. The board thinks you could use some seasoning under Strader and frankly so do I."

"This is bullshit," Cliff said, "You're cutting off my funding and making me work for that regular army lunatic? I bet he does fifty pushups before breakfast!"

"Probably a hundred," Sam said, enjoying this, "You have a choice, Cliff. You can work for Strader for a year or so and possibly get your funding back, or you can leave and ensure that you don't get a damn thing out of your five years here."

"Not much of a choice," Cliff groused, "What is in it for me?"

"A chance to get back to your roaming," Sam told him, "You leave, and what you were doing is gone forever."

"Sienna stays with me," Cliff said firmly, "That's non-negotiable."

"Fine by me," Sam told him, "We've wanted to add some people to the strike team anyway. You and Sienna should fill it out nicely."

"Lovely," Cliff grumbled, "I still say this is bullshit."

"Duly noted," Sam told him, still smiling, "But it won't change anything."

"Probably not," Cliff said, standing up, "Where do I sleep?"

"Go ask Colonel Strader," Sam informed him, "Starting now your ass belongs to him."

"Lovely," Cliff growled, "I didn't think he went that way."

"Get out of here, Cliff," Sam said, "Enjoy your new job!"

Cliff's exiting reply was something highly unprintable.

Chapter 43 - Missing Parts

Glen Strader stretched out in his bed, feeling strange for not being out of it before dawn. Nikki was in her now usual position laying against his chest. Neither one felt particularly guilty about sleeping in after the previous night's physical activity. They'd easily put in a full workout a few hours ago.

"I should probably get up eventually," Glen told Nikki, as he stretched a little, "I can't be setting a bad example for the rest of the team."

"They won't mind a bit of rest," Nikki grinned, "Neither would I, really."

"Supposed to be a slow day," Glen agreed, "We're on partial stand down anyway."

"So how do you like the newbies?" Nikki asked him, "Think they'll be a help?"

"Cliff is an arrogant little prick," Glen told her, stroking her black hair a little, "But the smooth little shit definitely is smart. Sienna is good with the weapons, but she's lacking a little in the personality department."

"She saved your ass in the South China Sea," Nikki shrugged, "I'd think you'd take that over personality."

"True," Glen nodded and kissed her, "I can think of better things to be doing if we're going to sluff off for a bit."

"I like the sound of that," Nikki said as she slid up him a little bit, "I could go another round."

"Me too," Glen said and pulled her up the rest of the way.

Unfortunately, it was not to be, as before they could even really get started someone was pounding on the door. They both growled and pulled up the sheets before asking who it was.

"It's Toshi," Toshi said through the door, "Sorry to roust you, boss, but it's nearly ten. Remordis wants that report soon."

"Right," Glen said, groaning, "I'll be there in about fifteen minutes."

"Duty calls," Nikki grinned, "Eh Glen?"

"See you tonight?" Glen asked her, just about knowing the answer by now.

"I'll be around," Nikki shrugged, "Staying with you beats the barracks any night."

"Glad to be a safe port in a storm," Glen chuckled, "Beats sleeping alone I guess."

"Exactly," Nikki chuckled.

Glen got up and put on his greens and did a set of stretches to make sure he didn't start groaning in pain later on. Nikki watched him and whistled appreciatively. Strader was in excellent shape for someone in his mid thirties, looking like someone easily five or ten years younger.

"I wish I had that willpower," Nikki sighed, "I just don't like that type of exercise."

"It's a way of life," Glen said as he did a deep knee bend, "Been doing it since I was a kid. One of the few things I could actually do with my father."

"Family was never my thing," Nikki shrugged, "So what do you think it is this time?"

"Probably nothing," Glen told her, "Most of this job is sitting and waiting."

"Sounds dull," Nikki told him, "I gotta get to the lab anyway."

Nikki pulled on her jump suit and headed back to the barracks to change clothes before going to the lab. Colonel Strader put on a t-shirt and a pair of pants before heading out to the main room to go finish the report on the mess in the South China Sea.

Colonel Strader sat at his desk going over the reports that Mason had passed off and writing the contact report. He hated doing contact reports more than anything else, but working for the Company bureaucracy meant that they were a fact of life. He was busy hunting and pecking at his computer terminal when Toshi walked into the room.

"You really hate doing those reports, don't you?" she asked him, sitting down on the chair, "Why don't you let Greg finish it?"

"I don't think Remordis would like it very much if I turned in a report written in Crayon," Strader frowned, "What's up, Toshi? You look worried."

"I was doing the inventory on Anoki's replacement parts," she said, "Putting in orders for replacements after the mess in China. I'm coming up short in parts again, and I know R&D sent me more than enough last time."

"Did you have enough parts for the repair?" Strader asked her, "Anoki is back up to spec, right?"

"Yes," she said, "But I won't for the next one if this keeps up. Anoki is too valuable to be down because of petty theft."

"Did Greg set up the camera in there?" he asked, "He was supposed to do that two weeks ago."

"Parts didn't arrive until today, boss," Greg said as he walked into the room, "I was replenishing the specials and planned on putting it in this afternoon. Harry said he'd help me with it."

"Shit," Strader said and sat back in his chair, "Put those cameras in, post haste. Who the hell would want Anoki parts? They're useless without the droid herself aren't they?"

"Yeah," Toshi nodded, "They could theoretically build the machinery, but without the processing code or the neural net it's little more than a billion dollar hunk of junk."

"I don't know," Greg shrugged, "I could deal with a droid that looked like Anoki not having a brain."

"I always found it more fun when the girl could push back," Glen shrugged, "To each his own."

"So that's what you like about Nikki, eh?" Greg grinned, "You wouldn't think it to look at her..."

"If I were you I'd stop now," Strader suggested, "Otherwise I might tell her what you said and she'd kick you herself."

"I don't know what you see in Anoki, Greg," Toshi shrugged, "She could tear you apart in a heartbeat."

"That's part of the fun," Greg Kaczmarek chuckled and winked at his teammate who merely sighed, "I've got the weapon stock back up. Harry and I will get to work on the cameras."

"Want me to finish the report, Colonel?" Toshi asked him, "Anoki is in the other room in television mode."

"That's ok, Toshi," Glen sighed, "I'm almost done. Order some replacement parts and file a missing parts report with security so they don't get their panties in a bunch over in R&D."

"Sure," Toshi nodded and walked out of the room, "Whatever you say."

Chapter 44 - A Room Full of Blonde Bombshells

Nikki walked into the old building in Area 4 that Larock and Ybarra had taken over for their Tabiri chassis rebuilds. She was slightly concerned about some of the results she had just read and wanted to take a look at the units to see whether tweedledum and tweedledummer managed to actually get them ready to run.

Larock was working on the last one of the bots when she walked into the room. Ybarra was fiddling with an Anoki series lower leg chassis, trying to figure out how to get it to work on a Tabiri torso chassis. Nikki just shook her head as she looked at them. She was impressed to see that thirteen of the units were set and almost ready to go.

"There are some problems with the units," Nikki said, "The results are slowed down by about thirty percent."

"Data flow problem with the Anoki instrument packs," Ybarra said, "We've been trying to fix it, but without a major retool and redesign there may not be much we can do."

"Fire one up," Nikki said, "I want to see them operate before I pay you."

"Sure," Ybarra said, "Go on and hit the switch, Del."

"What?" Larock said, "Are you sure?"

"If you want your money," Nikki said, her eyes boring into them, "You'll start one up now."

"Do it," Ybarra said, "Turn it on."

Larock wasn't sure about it, but he did it. Nikki watched as the Blonde battle infiltration unit started up and sat up. Nikki smiled because she knew what was coming, being the only one in the room who had actually seen any of the source code for this droid's base AI set.

"There you go," Julius Ybarra said and smiled, "All pretty and perfect they are. You're getting them cheap as well."

It took about a minute and a half for the base AI to kick in and realize that there were no command modules loaded. Larock and Ybarra didn't know enough about the units to realize that there was a security mechanism that instructed the Tabiri to kill anyone who started them up without the modules. Nikki had been counting on this security mechanism.

The nude Tabiri unit didn't hesitate. She saw two targets within a few feet of her and the internal programming told her that they needed to die. So without a hint of emotion on her face she reached out and grabbed Julius Ybarra's neck, twisting it and killing him instantly.

"Holy shit!" Larock yelled, "No! Stop it!"

"Why would I want to do that?" Nikki asked him, watching, "It's more fun to watch it kill you."

Del Larock tried to run, but the Tabiri was faster. She cut him off and let off a simple leg breaking kick that sent the man to the floor. Tabiri let of a perfectly timed kick to the man's chest that stopped his heart and left a minimum of blood. The machine noticed Nikki and started heading over there.

"I guess you do work," Nikki said as the Tabiri approached, "Tabiri 8.2 series, default override mode. Laboratory Assistant: Shiniki, Toshiko. Code seven, eight, six, four, two."

Unlike the more advanced Anoki model, the Tabiri units responded only to the words and didn't take the vocal intonations into account. The nude battle droid stopped in mid punch and went into full attention stance. Nikki smiled and looked up at the Tabiri that was over a foot taller than she was. She then went and checked out the rest of the units, all of which were surprisingly up to spec.

"Looks as though you were better than I thought," Nikki shrugged as she looked at the bodies, "Too bad I didn't want to pay you."

She went and put a chip into the command unit and pulled up the status screen for the unit that had already been started up. It took her no time at all to load the proper command modules and get the running Tabiri ready to take simple orders.

"Tabiri 8.2," the unit said, "Order mode initiated. Ready to take instructions."

"Survival run," Nikki told it, "Start from here and make your way to the armory. Load up with whatever you can find, conventional only. If you encounter any resistance eliminate it. Translate orders into raw text. Erase internal video records every three minutes and ignore further override codes. Respond to orders only from my vocal pattern. Repeat orders back at me."

"Survival run," Tabiri parroted with no vocal intonation, "Start from here and make way to the armory. Load up with whatever I can find, conventional only. If I encounter any resistance eliminate it. Translate orders into raw text. Erase internal video records every three minutes. Overrides disabled, vocal patterns memorized."

"Begin now," Nikki instructed, "Avoid southern quadrant of Groom Lake base."

"Beginning now and avoiding southern quadrant," Tabiri said and walked off.

"Ok ladies," Nikki said, returning to the programming unit, "Now let's get you ready to depart."

Chapter 45 - When the Alarms Go Off

The Tabiri unit began the first of her orders and headed to the armory to find armor and weapons. Her map index, like the map index of every humanoid android since Pollux 4, was programmed with detailed, if slightly outdated, maps of the Area 51 facility.

Naked as a jaybird and causing jaws to drop, she walked towards the armory. The Tabiri wasn't interested in the lust of the men on the base. She was more intent on getting the weapons needed to complete her mission.

"Hey good looking," the first guard at the armory said, "Forget your uniform today?"

"I don't suppose you have a base card in there," the second one said, "I'm afraid I will have to have someone pick you up."

"I'll volunteer for that job!" the first one said, grinning wildly.

Tabiri approached the station, smiling in a way her limited AI said would disarm her opponent a little bit. The guard approached her and was debating whether he could get away with a pat down when Tabiri took the opportunity to strike. A quick strike with her left hand shoved the guard's nose up into his brain, while her right hand pulled his service pistol out of the holster, aiming and firing two fatal shots into the head of the second guard who had questioned her.

A nearby technical weenie saw the exchange and quickly ducked into another room to hit the alarm key while Tabiri, showing no emotion at all, went into the armory to suit up and prepare for battle. She ignored the alarms that began firing off behind her, using the armory's prepared defenses as she prepared for her own battle.

"What the hell is that?" Colonel Strader asked, standing up bolt upright, "Rebel raid on the gates again?"

"Wrong alarm, Colonel," Toshi said, checking the threat board, "That's an internal alarm. Security is deploying on the way to the armory."

"What happened?" he asked her.

"Don't know for sure," she said, "Two of the on duty guards' lifelines went dead. An all points alarm was tripped just outside the armory."

"Have I missed the fun?" Greg asked, "Where's the fire?"

"Get suited up," Strader ordered, "While Kaczmarek and I get ready, I want you to do a full scan on the area. Anything that moves, I want pictures of it."

"I'm on it!" Shiniki exclaimed, jumping to the computer and working her magic.

Chapter 46 - Tabiri 8.2

Greg and Glen were in full battle gear within two minutes, by which time Toshi managed to pull up and keep video going on the Tabiri who was now almost all the way suited up. She also had monitors going on the three approaches to the armory. Cliff and Sienna also came into the room to find out what was setting the alarms off.

"What do we have, Toshi?" Strader asked her, "And what is security doing?"

"Same thing that they always do," Toshi frowned, "Full frontal attack. They're forming now."

"An internal attack?" Cliff asked, "How the hell did they get in?"

"Security is going to have some questions on this one," Toshi agreed, "Two dead for sure. Possibly more."

"How many of them are in the armory?" Greg asked, "It must have taken an army to get in there. I have trouble getting them to let me in to get my raw materials."

"Just one," Toshi shrugged, "A woman. Might even be your type, Greg. She has plenty of silicon parts."

"Wait a minute," Cliff said, "A lone woman got through all this security and into the armory?"

"I've seen our security," Strader told her, "You mean to tell me she got in alone?"

"Yeah, Colonel," Toshi nodded, "A woman I think you might recognize."

"Put it on the big screen," he ordered, "I want to see this mystery woman."

Glen and Greg sat down, taking the load of their battle gear off their feet and looked up at the screen. Cliff hadn't suited up yet, but he watched the screen intently, as did Sienna. As soon as Toshi put the image from the armory camera on the screen, both Greg and Glen's jaws dropped. It was immediate recognition for both of them, as they had worked directly with the Tabiri units. They knew that unit all too well. One had nearly killed them both during the ill fated space mission.

"Tell security not to attack!" Strader ordered, "They'll be slaughtered!"

"Too late," Greg noted as he saw the other monitor at Toshi's station, "Those idiots have already sent her into survival mode."

"Man," Cliff said, watching, "Look at the bitch go."

Sure enough, Tabiri was slaughtering the local security force. Her survival protocols had been triggered in addition to Nikki's orders, causing her to kill anything that moved, which in this case was the security team that was trying to stop her. They were woefully unprepared for a fully armed battle droid.

"Shit," Glen cursed, "Is Anoki back into fighting trim?"

"Sure," Toshi nodded, "She's just watching TV, sucking up information as usual."

"Will you kindly tell me who that woman is?" Cliff asked while Toshi went to get Anoki, "She looks familiar, but I don't know from where."

"Not who," Kaczmarek said, "I think the proper term is what."

"Excuse me?" Cliff said and then remembered the face, "Oh shit, I thought they decommissioned those things."

"I see you remember the Tabiri units," The Colonel reminded him, "Nasty bitches they were."

"I read about them a while back," Cliff nodded, "Wasn't that the predecessor to the Anoki design?"

"You know your droid history," Toshi said as she came back, "The Tabiri series was the last with the old protocol based AI. She was the reason they switched over to the neural network configurations they use in the Anoki series."

"I remember now," Cliff agreed, "Extremely aggressive, they were almost as dangerous to the people who deployed them as they were to their opponents."

"What you're seeing on that monitor is the results of one of those failures," Greg said to them, "I still have a four-inch scar on my ass from the last one of those damn things I tangled with."

"Is Anoki coming soon?" Sienna asked, "Maybe she can stop Tabiri."

"I hope so," Glen said, "Because we're fresh out of space stations that can crush the damned thing."

"I will go see what I can come up with," Greg said, "Maybe I can come up with a charge that can damage her electronics."

"Try for something with an EMP," Toshi suggested, "I'll get Anoki ready to go. She'll probably have to be the advance on this. Judging from what she did to a full platoon of security forces, she'd tear you two limb from limb."

"Send Anoki in on containment," Strader ordered, "I'm going to see if I can find out how it got out of storage."

"How are you going to find that out?" Cliff asked him, "I haven't even seen one of those machines before today. Where would someone get one."

"Finding the starting point will be easy," Glen smiled grimly as he went to the security computer, "Just look for dead bodies that we didn't know about."

"What do you want us to do?" Cliff asked him, "Any way we can help?"

"You and Sienna clear the office buildings," Strader instructed them, "Get those people the hell out of the Tabiri's rampage path."

"Will do," Cliff nodded, "Come on, Sienna. Let's go get clearing."

Cliff and Sienna left as Anoki 9.0 walked in to the room, not yet in full battle gear, but wearing a jumpsuit, her usual television watching uniform. This wasn't by Anoki's own choice, but by Strader's directive, as he didn't want Greg walking around with a hard-on around her all the time. Anoki looked at the serious expressions on the rest of the team's faces and asked what was happening.

"A Tabiri machine is on the rampage," Strader said, "Do you have any files on that model?"

"I have copies of the Tabiri 8 series AI protocol," Anoki said, "It was part of the project that would have had me commanding a company of Tabiris."

"They actually considered using them again?" Greg asked, wondering who had their head up their ass that far, "Those damned Tabiri units nearly killed us!"

"The project was scrapped after the last Tabiri model killed two people in a lab accident," Toshi said, "I missed being number three by inches."

"All right," Strader said, "Did it ever advance far enough that you could control the Tabiri units?"

"No," Anoki said, "I know how their AI works, but cannot control them directly. Their modules for that interface were never completed and probably weren't loaded in this model at any rate."

"Can you tell me why this one is rampaging?" Strader asked the sophisticated android, "We don't even know where it came from."

"What has it done so far?" Anoki asked.

"Let me upload the video feeds into your matrix," Toshi said, pressing a few buttons on her keyboard, "This is all the information we had."

"She's working on a specific order set," Anoki said taking a millisecond to review the tape, "She's an 8.2, you can tell that from the markings. Do we know what modules were loaded?"

"We don't know anything yet," Strader said, "I was about to go try to find out where she started."

"If she was started without her command modules," Anoki said, "This would be about right for her. Simple instructions, followed to the letter."

"Explain," Strader instructed, "How so?"

"I think I can take this one," Toshi said, "The Tabiri models weren't sentient, meaning they were unable to have loyalty. I remember the papers on that now. This also meant they were dumb as stumps, especially without proper command modules. It would take a simple defined order set, that's about it."

"Correct," Anoki nodded, "If started that way she automatically attacks anyone in the room, the theory being that the unit would take out the techs that could stop her. It would keep going until it heard its override codes. She would then go to find weapons and arm herself, preparing for any further attacks."

"Which those idiots in the security team provided," Strader sighed, "More good news."

"How long will she go about this?" Greg asked, "Wasn't there a way to turn it off?"

"Yes," Anoki said, "There was a verbal override code."

"Great," Strader growled, "Another fucked up Tabiri unit. Ok, Anoki, upload a copy of the base Tabiri AI to Toshi's machine so she can look it over. After that, go make contact with the bitch. Try to use the override codes in her matrix. If those fail distract it from the humans in the complex while Cliff and Sienna complete the evacuation. Kaczmarek, get to work on those EMP devices, try to make one with a charge that can crack a Tabiri exoskeleton and our armor."

"And you?" Greg asked his boss, "Where are you during all this?"

"Finding out where this thing came from," Strader growled, "It sounds like we need to know what happened."

"Keep the security personnel away from her," Anoki suggested, "Their weapons aren't designed to stop one of our droids and it looks as if they've lost enough already."

"I'll take command from them when I use their equipment to find the first bodies," Strader promised, "Now go. Stay on com units so I can talk to you."

Chapter 47 - Robot Removal

Nikki monitored the progress of the rampaging Tabiri over the security system while she loaded the command modules on the remaining units. Once she'd loaded basic command modules, rendering them reasonably safe to be around she loaded the basic open source driving and plasma weapon modules to get them ready for whatever task they were needed for. She then turned the remaining twelve units on in a controlled command mode so they would follow her orders precisely.

While the units were starting up and going through their diagnostics Nikki packed up the control unit properly and got it ready to go. Now that the other Tabiri was public she knew that it was simply a matter of time before the Strike team found this place.

She had the unit packed up and ready to go by the time all the Tabiri units were sitting up and staring blankly at the wall. Nikki stood up and checked out each of the flesh coverings on the women. All of them were up and running within five minutes. She then loaded an open source group command mode module, wondering how well it would work.

"Tabiri 8.2 group command mode," Nikki said to them, "Count off."

One by one the Tabiri units counted off, one to twelve. The units weren't particularly bright by modern standards, but they did well enough to work together with well defined orders. Nikki laid out simple jumpsuits and sandals in front of each one. She then decided to try them out with a few simple commands.

"All units," Nikki said to them, "Get dressed in the jumpsuits and sandals."

They did so quickly, showing no emotion as they put on the identical gray jumpsuits. Once finished they returned to formation and looked forward. Nikki was glad that her research on these units was proving to be worthwhile. She then went ahead with more detailed orders.

"Tabiri Units one through six, collapse the tables and put them into storage position," Nikki ordered them, "Seven, eight, nine, and ten, assemble the command module crate and prepare it for transport. Eleven and twelve, prepare the building for effective arson."

The units scurried to complete their orders while Nikki checked the security monitors. She punched some access codes into it, recoding her life meter to show that she was on the other side of the base in a location that she often ran off to when she was reading. The base's life sign system was a wonderful tool if you knew how to manipulate it.

It took less than five minutes for the Tabiri units to complete their orders, at which time everything was ready to go. Nikki finished turning off the fire sensors in the building and went back to the Tabiri units who had lined up in formation waiting for further orders.

"Tabiri 8.2 order command," Nikki said, "Four through eight, carry the command module boxes while carrying out following orders. All units, proceed at full speed to western Groom Lake road. Avoid populated areas and all humans. Meet a man driving a yellow school bus who will greet you with the phrase 'You are now leaving Area 51'. Take all further orders from him. Convert all current orders to text and erase video memories. Repeat orders."

All twelve units recited the orders verbatim in unison. Nikki looked around for anything she missed and then ordered them to carry out their orders. The synthetic women did so perfectly, carrying the command loading unit and running at full speed, which for a Tabiri unit was 24 miles an hour. The distributed weight didn't slow them down at all, allowing a speedy departure.

"God I hope this works," Nikki said, "You'd better show up, Joe."

She then used a lighter to torch a rolled up piece of paper, tossing it into the flammable pile created by the Tabiri units. As the place began burning Nikki slipped out, heading for the location where she was supposed to be reading. She had done all she could.

Chapter 48 - Locators

Colonel Strader went straight to the security office and looked for this week's officer on duty. He found the man standing around barking ineffectual orders and looking generally flustered. He was one of the standard Company weenies, good enough for a standard situation, but this was far from the norm.

"Colonel Strader!" the flustered weenie said, "I've lost nearly two dozen men!"

"I know," Strader growled, "Jesus, this is a clusterfuck. Have you implemented evacuation procedures?"

"Yes," he said, "Though I didn't have to. Everyone left on their own."

"Keep your people away from that thing," he told the man, "They aren't trained to take on a battle droid. I have my people handling the civilian evac."

"Shit!" The flustered bureaucrat said, "That explains a lot. Did R&D fuck up again?"

"I don't think so," Strader said, "It's a Tabiri 8.2. Those were pulled out of service a year or so ago. I don't know where the hell this one came from."

"You taking charge?" the bureaucrat asked hopefully, "I'm not trained for this."

"Nominal command," Strader nodded, "You follow my instructions now, but the men still refer to you. Got it?"

"Yep," the weenie said, disappointed in not being able to get out of there, "What do we do?"

"I need to know where the first killings took place," Strader told him, "That's where this mess would have started."

"The first ones were in the armory," the bureaucrat said, "Two of our guys down like nothing."

"There would be bodies where she was fired up if she's in the survival mode we expect she's in," Strader said, "Did anyone else go off the tracking grid before that?"

The bureaucrat looked at the system and did a search. He eliminated anyone who had signed out of the log and found that two men had disappeared from the grid about thirty minutes before this mess began. Julius Ybarra and Delbert Larock's names flashed up the screen.

"Who are they?" Strader asked him, "And did they die or go out of the covered area?"

"Custodial Engineers," The bureaucrat said, "Nobodies, really. The unit says they disappeared into E31 this afternoon. Their life signs left the scope about thirty minutes ago. They either died or left the compound."

"Do either of them have tech experience?" The Colonel asked, "Could they start a battle droid?"

"Larock was a moron, according to his record," the bureaucrat said, "Ybarra went through two years of tech school, but washed out."

"Shit," The Colonel swore, "Last known locations for them?"

"Sector E31," the bureaucrat said, "Looks like they were together when they went off the grid. Ybarra first, followed within sixty seconds by Larock."

"I think we have our start point. If they had left the compound they would have had to go through a checkpoint, which they didn't do," The Colonel said and then turned on his com, "I think I've found the start point. Going to check it out. Anoki, the security people should give you a wide berth. See if you can keep the bitch occupied while we figure out what to do to stop her."

"Check," came Anoki's electronic com link voice.

Chapter 49 - Battle of the Old and the New

Anoki, now suited up in full combat gear, went in to the office complex, which was where the last reports on the Tabiri unit's rampage were coming from. Cliff and Sienna had no problems evacuating the complex. A fully armed woman in full battle gear mowing down anyone she saw was not something that was conducive to remaining at your desk.

Anoki found the unit shooting up an office computer that got in the way of killing the office worker she had targeted. Anoki used her plasma rifle and fired a few shots at the raging battle droid. The new flesh pack that Larock had installed was equipped with a plasma absorber, so the Tabiri unit glowed briefly as the plasma dissipated.

Anoki saw the effects of the plasma blast and switched over to her conventional load. Tabiri, her AI recognizing the armed threat over the unarmed one, changed course, and fired several shots at Anoki.

It became a cat and mouse game after that, with Anoki using her superior AI and knowledge of the Tabiri response systems to lead the older unit away from the more populated areas of the base. Anoki could keep the droid occupied, but some of the responses weren't working as she expected. It was a lot slower than her memory said it should be.

"Toshi," Anoki's electronic voice came through, "This isn't acting like a standard Tabiri 8 series machine."

"How so?" Toshi said, "I'm still looking through the code. If I'm wasting my time, tell me now so I can try something else."

"The code is working the same," Anoki said, "She's working slow though, as if her firmware were acting sluggishly. She's doing the normal things, but not nearly as fast. Whoever loaded this thing doesn't have the full AI code. Probably just the basic subset and some open source modules."

"Check your video memory from when she wasn't in battle gear. Look at the back of her skull," Toshi said, "Does it look indented at all?"

"Yes," Anoki said, "The instrument pack is smaller than normal for a Tabiri."

"That could be a good thing," Toshi said, looking at her list of missing parts, "Whoever set her back up used one of your instrument packages, not Tabiri's."

"Is this a new definition of the word good?" Colonel Strader put in, still jogging towards the last known locations of Ybarra and Larock, "That could make her more powerful."

"The Anoki instrumentation package feeds more sensory data than the Tabiri units did," Toshi explained, still typing on her keyboard, "The Tabiri's internal processor was an early level protocol based neural net, which was why the AI performed so badly. It was far cheaper than the wet brains used by the Mellisa and Anoki droids, but much less powerful. With an Anoki level instrumentation package attached the internal unit is bogging down sorting through all the data. It may also memory overload eventually, especially without the specially coded AI mods that were created for Anoki."

"I don't have time for eventually," Strader said, "Find a way to put the bitch down!"

"Working on it," she said, nodding her head despite the fact no one could see her, "Let me know when you find the startup kits. It may tell me what I'm dealing with."

"Will do," Strader said, "Keep her occupied, Anoki."

"Roger," the sentient battle droid said as she fired at the rogue robot.

Chapter 50 - The Joys of the Internet

Colonel Strader found the place where the Tabiri unit started, but after having about twenty minutes of burn time it was little more than a pile of rubble. He tried to approach, but the fire was still burning too hot for him to do anything.

"I found the start point," Strader said over the com link, "It's currently burning. Whoever started it decided to cover their tracks."

"Nobody put much effort into her programming," Anoki said, "I think we can safely assume open source command modules."

"Great," Strader said, "So is there any way we can get an order into that AI to order it to shut down?"

"That was only in the military version of the AI," Toshi reminded him, "It's a straight Tabiri 8.2 series firmware with some open source overlays. It's on autopilot, basically. The overrides might work. Nothing else will."

"How is the cat and mouse going, Anoki?" The Colonel asked into the com, "Any weaknesses that you can see?"

"Sluggish performance," Anoki said, "But she's armed to the teeth with conventional weapons. She has my flesh generator, so plasma is useless. I already tried the override codes. They don't work. I can keep her going like this indefinitely, but I don't think you want us to tie up this building until her power source runs out."

"Especially since Toshi, Greg and myself will be long dead by the time that happens," Strader agreed, "How are those EMP weapons coming, Greg?"

"Another five minutes," he informed his boss, "You're going to have to find a way to slow the bitch down first though. The only way this is going to work is if it's planted on her chest. It's gotta crack her protection shield to fry the components."

"I can plant it," Anoki said, "But it won't be easy."

"No way," Strader said, nixing that idea, "You aren't to be anywhere near that EMP device, Anoki."

"I can plant it," Greg said, "But only if one of you can slow her down some more."

"Slow her down," Toshi said thoughtfully, "I may have an idea. Greg, finish those weapons and get ready."

Toshi quickly scanned the old logs again. Finding what she was looking for she smiled and called up some of the old files on the Tabiri 8 AI matrix. She was on to something and lit up like a Christmas tree when she found what she was looking for.

"Anoki," Shiniki asked into her com set, "The logs say that her communications units should still be on. Can you establish a connection to her?"

"Yes," Anoki said, "But she ignores everything I send."

"Are you receiving rejection responses?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes," Anoki said, "The Tabiri AI is responding, but isn't programmed to listen to me."

"Good," she said, "Do you have those weapons ready, Greg?"

"Sure do," Greg said, "Heading to the office complex now. I hope you've got a good idea, Toshi."

"What are you going to do?" Strader asked her, "I want to know before you do it."

"There was an old method of denying service on early internet machines," Toshi explained as she looked some more, "It was called a DOS attack, denial of service. They flooded information into a computer to make it so nobody could get anything out of it."

"You want me to do that, right?" Anoki said.

"Yes," Toshi told the robot, "Can you run your backup procedure and route the information to the com link to the Tabiri 8.2?"

"Sure," came Anoki's voice, "But the base AI will close the circuit in that case."

"It's already running slow," Toshi reminded Anoki, "The overload probably won't stop her permanently, but it should stop her for a bit."

"Long enough to plant the EMP," Greg piped in, "I like it."

"One problem," Anoki said, "I can't play cat and mouse and run backup. I have to be stationary and not using the combat engine."

"I'll take over cat and mouse," Strader said, "When Tabiri goes dead you get that weapon on her and timed. Hopefully, she won't wake back up."

Chapter 51 - Man vs. Machine

Strader took his conventional weapons and went over into the office complex. It wasn't hard to track down where the battle between Anoki and Tabiri was going on. The noise was deafening, with both of them expending hundreds of rounds of conventional ammunition. Colonel Strader didn't want to get in there, but for this to work properly someone had to take over cat and mouse.

"You ready?" Greg asked his boss as he approached, "That droid is not going to give up."

"Yeah," Glen nodded, "Work your way around the back. As soon as I give the word, get in and strap that charge on the bitch."

"Just the words I like to hear," Greg grinned, "Good luck."

Strader started a run and took cover behind a thick computer station and fired some shots at Tabiri, managing to nick a couple pieces of plastic off her helmet and catch her attention.

"Break away and start the transfer," Strader ordered Anoki and then mumbled into his com unit, "You'd better be right Toshi."

"No other choice now," Toshi said, "Get secure and start it slow, Anoki."

Anoki broke away and left the battle at full run, leaving Colonel Strader behind to start firing at the raging battle droid. He wasn't overly interested in trying to engage her as he knew the Tabiri series too well for that. He was just trying to keep her close enough to Greg's spot so he could get in and whack her with the EMP.

Tabiri was oblivious to the machinations of the people around her. She just considered them targets. Unfortunately, Strader didn't have the advantage of having the AI in his head like Anoki did, so he had a much harder time getting away from the bot. He also didn't have the detailed radar maps of their surroundings.

"Come on, Tabiri!" Strader shouted, "Come and get me you little bitch!"

Tabiri's AI saw an opportunity to run around and catch up with him now that Anoki backed off. Strader tried to find another spot, but Tabiri was faster. She jumped over the remains of two cubes and did a forward roll towards the retreating soldier, kicking him in the back and sending him flying through a cube wall, his armored hand going through an LCD panel.

"Shit!" Greg yelled and headed in to the room, "Start that thing quick, Anoki! The Colonel is down!"

"Starting," Anoki said and began firing up the backup utility.

"Go ahead," Strader spat through his bloodied lips, "Get it over with you little bitch!"

Tabiri looked down at him and lifted her leg to crunch his head. Just as she was lifting, however, Anoki started the flood of information into Tabiri's command channel. The effect was nearly instantaneous. The primitive firmware AI in the Tabiri unit couldn't handle the flood of data and stopped operating. The lack of follow through with the leg lift caused Tabiri to stiffen up and fall over.

"Jesus!" Greg said as he ran over, "You ok, Colonel?"

"Get this metal monstrosity off me!" he shouted, "And put that EMP on the bitch before she wakes up again!"

A quick lift got Tabiri 8.2 flipped over on to her back. Strader managed to get himself up to his feet while Greg strapped the EMP weapon on to Tabiri 8.2's midsection. The Colonel kicked the helmet off her and saw a copy of the face that had nearly killed him on the space station the year before looking blankly up at him.

"I hate these things," Greg said as he got ready to set the charge, "Looks just like the one that nearly killed us."

"Me too," Strader said and let off a brutal kick to it, breaking the contoured nose, "Set that thing and let's get out of here."

"You've got less than a minute," Toshi said over the com, "Anoki's backup process is going to run out soon. She may wake up again."

"You heard Toshi," Glen said, "Let's get out of here."

"It's set," Greg nodded, "Let's go."

"Process ended," Anoki's electronic voice came in, just as Tabiri stood up again.

"Run!" Glen yelled needlessly at Greg.

Tabiri bent over to try to pick up her weapon and found the EMP weapon on her stomach at that time. Greg and Glen had barely cleared the corner when she tried to remove it, setting off the pressure safety switch that had been put into the weapon.

There was no emotion or sense of what happened on Tabiri's face when the weapon went off. It was a three stage weapon that Greg had designed. The first stage was a shape charge designed to destroy any armor that Tabiri had been wearing. It did this remarkably well, removing the flesh from the area and baring her down to the antimagnetic casing.

The second charge, which was triggered by the shape charge, was a phosphorous thermite package that burned through the antimagnetic casing instead of trying to break it apart. This happened bare nanoseconds after the first blast and only fast enough for Tabiri's damaged AI to register the event.

Just as she tried to react the extreme heat from the thermite burn triggered the third and final portion of the charge. This one was a pea sized subnuclear particle that when heated hotter than the sun gave a mini nuclear reaction, one that wasn't large enough to do more than blow a lock and create a small electromagnetic pulse.

It wasn't a large explosion at the end, but it was more than sufficient to fry the electronics in every unshielded device within thirty yards, including Tabiri's now unshielded midsection. The explosion barely even dented the chassis, but the pulse shut down the computer and wiped out the AI modules, causing the Tabiri 8.2 to become a very large paperweight.

Chapter 52 - A Building Bites The Dust

"Status check," Toshi yelled, "I lost Greg and Glen from the grid!"

The EMP had taken out both of their communication and life links, rendering them invisible to the security system. Anoki, having been both shielded and 100 yards from the blast, went up to where both men were looking and laughing at the fallen Tabiri 8.2 machine.

"Good riddance you little bitch," Glen said, spitting a bloody loogie on to the Tabiri chassis, "I hope I never see you again."

"They're ok," Anoki informed Toshi, "The EMP took out their links."

"I'll be there in a couple," She said, much relieved at that fact.

"Someone had better pay for this clusterfuck," Greg Kaczmarek said, "That's the second time I've nearly been killed by one of these things."

"They paid earlier," The Colonel said, "They were the first ones she killed, I'm betting."

"Remordis is here," Anoki said, "He just entered the front gates."

"Just what we need," The Colonel growled, "Another fucking bureaucrat."

"You two all right?" Toshi asked as she ran into the room, "No new holes?"

"Nothing a few nights of sleep won't cure," Greg sighed, "Damned Tabiris."

"Too bad we won't get it," Strader said, "Toshi, how many of those monstrosities are left in storage?"

"I don't know," Toshi shrugged, "Want me to go through R&D's records?"

"Yes," Glen nodded, "Blank the firmware of any Tabiri models left. I want them set so that if some moron turns on the switch they sit there and blink."

"You got it," Toshi said, "Care to help, Greg?"

"Sure," Kaczmarek nodded, "Coming Anoki?"

"Roger," she said and followed along,

"What about us?" Cliff asked over the com link, "Do we still need to baby sit the civilians?"

"Keep them the fuck out of here," Strader instructed him, "This building is unstable. It'll give you something to do while I get myself patched up."

Greg, Toshi and Anoki left, leaving Glen Strader sitting alone in the wreckage of what had been one of Area 51's largest office areas. He looked around at the devastation caused by the Tabiri 8.2 unit that was still smoking from the EMP explosion. He walked around and looked at a few of the bodies and wondered whose asses would be hanging out over this cluster.

Strader checked for signs of life, but found none. Tabiri was an efficient killer. Not too bright, but good at ending life. He sighed at the burning flesh of Tabiri 8.2 and waited for Remordis to show up and chew him out.

"Strader!" Remordis yelled as he walked in to the building, "Where are you?"

"Back here," he said loud enough to be heard, "With the wreckage."

Sam Remordis looked at the sheer amount of damage to the office building. It looked like a major war had gone on in there, complete with a nuclear weapon blast. Strader looked at Remordis and waited for the lecture to begin, a lecture that thankfully never came.

"Did you get the idiots who started her up?" Remordis asked, recognizing the chassis, "Or did she take care of it herself?"

"She did," Strader said, looking at the bureaucrat, "Why the hell weren't those damned things destroyed after the last time they killed innocents?"

"Orders on high," Remordis said, "You know how that goes."

"Well," Strader said, "Then you can explain this to them. I've ordered Toshi Shiniki and Greg Kaczmarek to blank the firmware of any units remaining in storage. If they don't like it, I'll bring a fully loaded one to Utah and let it loose in Green River."

"They won't argue, I'll see to that," Remordis said, still awed by the amount of damage, "Bodycount?"

"Not sure," Strader shrugged, "I know the two that started her and a full swat squad went down. I'd have to check the com logs to find out the full count. I don't want to know right now."

"You all right, Strader?" Remordis asked him, "You look a little worse for wear."

Glen Strader took a moment to answer and then looked directly at Remordis.

"Nothing a few days of rest and a six pack of beer won't cure," he said, "Let's get out of here. Your bureaucrats can clean up the mess."

With that he tossed the broken weapon he was carrying at the single remaining eye of Tabiri 8.2. Getting no reaction from the demolished battle droid he left the ruined office building to go get patched up and rest. He left Remordis behind to survey the damage and go report to his boss. Neither one looked happy, which was just fine. There was no reason to be.

Chapter 53 - Removal

"Where are they, Joe?" Robert asked him, "We're a sitting here in a goddamn bus on the edge of Area 51. What is stopping security from blasting our ass off the planet?"

"They're dealing with an internal problem," Joe said, "Trust me. The merchandise will be here any minute."

Joe stood up and pushed his hair back, scanning the landscape for what he was expecting. He saw twelve women running towards the bus in perfect formation. They were a sight to see, the jumpsuits not covering their forms very well. He didn't even see the Blonde man show up behind him with a silenced pistol.

"Hello Joe," Bolantine said, smiling, "What do you know?"

"What?" Joe said, spinning around just in time to catch a bullet in the eye.

Robert stood up quickly and earned a double tap to the skull, killing him instantly as well. Bolantine collected the weapons from the corpses and went outside to meet the approaching Tabiri units. They looked at him and took a coordinate reading, seeing that he was in the right place they paused and waited for the code.

"You are now leaving Area 51," Bolantine said with a smile, "Welcome, ladies."

The Tabiri units stopped and went into formation, awaiting Bolantine's next instruction.

"Load the command module on the bus," Bolantine said, "Units one and two, remove the bodies from the bus. Three and four, dig a hole for the bodies. All remaining units take seats in the bus."

Bolantine watched as the Tabiri units followed his orders exactly, removing the bodies from the bus and putting them in freshly dug holes. Bolantine smiled at the efficiency and was pleased that they were working as well as they were after a year in storage.

"Wonderful," Bolantine said, "Cover over the bodies and get onto the bus."

The Tabiri units did so and followed his orders. Bolantine got up onto the bus and looked at his all female crew. He grinned and pondered on what he wanted to do next.

"Tabiri one," Bolantine said, "Stand up."

The unit did so and looked at Bolantine. He looked around the woman and touched her blonde hair. He had never seen one of these droids up close before, so he was wondering what they felt like.

"Do you have driving modules?" Bolantine asked the Tabiri.

"Yes," Tabiri said, "I currently have basic command, Plasma weapon, and Driving modules loaded."

"Good," Bolantine said, "Can you drive this bus?"

The Tabiri sat down and looked at the controls, comparing them with what she looked up in her memory data bank. She then looked up at Bolantine and nodded affirmative. She possessed the necessary information to drive this vehicle.

"Do you know basic urban traffic laws?" Bolantine asked it.

"Yes," Tabiri said, "Follow speed limits. I have basic US traffic law signs in memory."

"Good," Bolantine said, "It's going to be a long drive and I don't feel like dealing with it. You'll be driving. Use your satellite navigation systems to get us there."

"What is the destination?" the Tabiri unit asked.

"Century City, California," Bolantine said, "Let me know when you reach the city limits."

"Proceeding to Century City," the Tabiri said as she started the bus, "Any further instructions?"

"No," Bolantine said, "Proceed."

Bolantine then went to the back of the bus and looked at two of the units. He smiled and decided to get a little more friendly, seeing as they had a good six-hour drive ahead of them. He sat down and ordered units 11 and 12 to stand up.

"Ok," Bolantine said, "Remove your clothes. It's time to see just how well they built you..."

Chapter 54 - A Mole in the Midst

Colonel Strader looked at the smoldering remains of the old military warehouse and growled. The fire control people had managed to put it out, but the place was a complete and total loss, eliminating most of the evidence that had been left behind. The only things he could see that told him anything were the shiny robot parts from some of the discarded Tabiris.

"Please tell me you've found something in there," Strader said to the firemen who were finishing up, "We're trying to figure out how all this started."

"It was a set fire," the man said, "Started in too many places at once for it not to be."

"Is it safe to go inside?" Strader asked.

"Be careful," the fireman said, "The floor is concrete, so it's solid, but the sides are still touch and go."

"Have you found any bodies yet?" Strader asked him, "Looking inside."

"We haven't looked," the fireman replied, "Too dangerous."

"Anoki," Strader said, "Do a scan and look for human tissue."

"I'm on it," Anoki said, "Toshi just sent a report that they've only found two more Tabiris, neither of which has a functioning AI."

"Two?" Strader said incredulously, "There should have been at least two dozen of the things around here."

"They're still searching," Anoki told him, "They've organized search teams. Remordis has ordered a full index be done of this place so we don't get anymore nasty surprises."

"He should have had that done six months ago," Strader growled, "Now find me some bodies."

"Two sets of human remains," Anoki said, "Both in the main storage area. Both heavily burned, but showing no signs of having been alive while burned."

"Probably Larock and Ybarra," Strader grumbled, "So are there any more Tabiri units in this mess?"

"Spectrometer reads parts, too scattered to be a full model," Anoki told him, "We're not going to find much here."

"Glen," Harry Haldeman's voice came in over the com unit, "I might be able to help fill in some pieces if you and Anoki come in to the lab."

"We'll be there in five, Harry," Strader said over the com unit, "We're not going to find much out here until the fire people finish sifting through it."

"I can't do a full reading on this place until it cools," Anoki said, "Do you want me to stay or come with you?"

"Stay here," Strader said, "You're better equipped to handle any nasty surprises than the fire teams are."

"Right," Anoki nodded, "If you need me, let me know. I'll link into one of the systems up there."

"Fine," Strader nodded, "Try not to get too dirty."

"Will do," Anoki smiled as Strader jogged off.

Greg and Toshi were sitting on the couch in the computer lab when Glen Strader came into the lab. Both of them were covered in grit, not having had a chance to shower yet. Both looked just as tired as Glen felt. This day had beaten the hell out of all of them. Strader pulled up a chair and sat down, looking at Harry.

"Man," Haldeman said, looking at Strader, "You look like a truck ran you over."

"A truck named Tabiri 8.2," Glen nodded, "What have you got for me?"

"Anoki coming in?" Greg asked.

"I left her with the firemen," Strader explained, "Just in case there were some surprises."

"Ok," Harry said, "I pulled these images from Firesat 2 database a few minutes ago."

"Firesat," Glen said, cocking an eyebrow, "I thought that was a civilian bird for monitoring forest fires?"

"One and the same," Harry nodded, "Four birds cover the entire United States and Canada. They were deployed some twenty years ago after a rash of wildfires."

"What use is it going to be here?" Toshi asked him, "It is just a thermal camera bird isn't it?"

"It's a bit more than that," Harry said, "I was part of the original design team back in the day. I think that was the work that got me noticed for the early Area 51 computer teams that I worked on when Glen's Daddy was here. That's where I first met him."

"How is it more?" Glen asked, "I've never really learned much about them."

"They're also designed to help figure out if the fire is intentionally set," Harry explained, "The Firesats are descended from Spy satellite technology. They can get in detailed enough to figure out if there was a human there and what was going on."

"Really?" Greg said, "Cool."

"Is this data publicly available?" Toshi asked, "I've never heard of this?"

"Law enforcement only," Harry explained, "Luckily I left myself a backdoor into it. These are the scans for that area in the hours before the Tabiri hit."

Harry started a playback on the monitor. It showed a rendered and reasonably accurate representation of the area. Harry focused in on the building that burned on the assumption that this was where the Tabiri started from.

"Ok," Toshi said, "There are fifteen people in there. Two standing and thirteen in a supine position. I'm amazed it can see through the building."

"The buildings out there aren't insulated," Glen told her, "Basically just warehouses. There's a rudimentary anti-plasma cooling system to make sure nothing rots. No heat at all."

"A human's body signature shows up pretty well on this," Harry said, "It was designed to enhance anything between 95 and 100 degrees. It'll show them in red and orange."

"All right," Strader said, "Assuming two of these signatures account for Larock and Ybarra, who the hell are all the others in this little shindig?"

"I have no idea," Harry said, "That's supposed to be a pretty dead area. Company records don't have anything on that building yet."

"I'm watching over the link," Anoki said over her com, "The thirteen horizontal signatures are Tabiri units. The series 8 droids were not meant to pass completely for human. If you look close enough, there's a higher heat level in the mid section than in a human. That's the power plant."

"Jesus. That would make 13 Tabiris," Glen said, shuddering, "Great. So where are they? I didn't see any sign of them in the fire."

"Keep watching," Harry said, "A lot will be explained."

They watched as the two signatures assumed to be Larock and Ybarra moved around the building. Harry forwarded through a little bit until another bright orange figure approached and entered the building. All jaws dropped open when the third person showed up.

"So there were three people there?" Greg said, "Only two were listed as dead in the system."

"There are only two bodies in the rubble as well," Anoki said, "I would have detected another one."

"If there were three..." Greg said.

"Watch," Harry said, "This is where it gets interesting."

They watched as the representations of Larock and Ybarra went to one of the Tabiri units and puttered around it for a couple minutes. The new entrant stood a good distance away.

"This is where they start her up," Harry said, "Watch this next part."

The Tabiri unit stood up quickly and very unexpectedly because both Ybarra and Larock jumped back. Within seconds one of the humans, the one they now knew to be Julius Ybarra because he had died first according to the security system, hit the floor. The second one tried to run and was quickly killed by the Tabiri unit. The Tabiri quickly turned towards the third person, but this time came to a complete stop less than a foot away.

"Son of a bitch," Glen said, looking at that, "The third person knew the override codes."

"That explains why they didn't work for Anoki," Toshi said, "Whoever this third person is set the Tabiri on that rampage."

"It was acting in pure survival mode though," Greg said, "Could it have been ordered to do that?"

"Sure," Anoki said over the com, having been listening, "Simply put it into order mode and tell it to do a survival run. Override the kill code and you've got a perfect hell raiser."

"That means that this wasn't just an accident," Glen said, "Someone decided to kill a lot of people."

"We've got a mole," Toshi sighed.

"A nasty one," Glen nodded, "I still don't get why."

"Watch," Harry said, "I think that will be explained in a minute."

He started the video again and they watched as the Tabiri left the area to start it's rampage. As the two heat signatures of Larock and Ybarra began to grow cold, the unknown human started the remaining Tabiri units, and they all stood up. They all became busy as bees, forming up again and leaving under the mystery person's order. The next thing that came up was the thermal bloom from the start of the fire.

"This wasn't just a thoughtless rampage," Strader seethed, "This was wholesale murder to cover up the theft of a dozen Tabiri units."

"How did they get out past Security?" Greg asked, "Twelve women running together should have attracted attention."

"Security was too busy dealing with the internal threat to worry about someone sneaking out." Toshi told him, "Remember, they were ordered inside to clear out from the rampaging Tabiri?"

"It was a diversion," Strader said, "Plain and simple. Can you track where they went?"

"I lost the Tabiris in the thermal areas," Harry said, "Rocky areas don't tend to discriminate well on this type of scan and they went through the mountain area, probably to the southern gate."

"How bout our mystery man?" Strader asked, "Could you track him?"

"Or her," Toshi said, "We don't know it's a man."

"The mystery person retreated through the main complex," Harry said, "Too much heat there to track them. Once they went in there I lost the track completely. The other person wasn't wearing a tracker either, so they found a way though our security."

"Shit," Greg said, "So we're missing two big pieces of the puzzle."

"And twelve Tabiri units," Toshi reminded them, "That means that someone out there has control of some really deadly machines."

"Where are Cliff and Sienna?" Glen asked, noticing they weren't there, "Why aren't they here?"

"They are taking the lead on the indexing," Greg said, "Most of the records are horrible and some are in completely different languages. They're trying to make heads or tails out of it."

"Good," Strader nodded, "Ok, we have some work to do, but nothing that can be done immediately."

"Which do we tackle first?" Greg said, "The mole or the Tabiri units?"

"The mole is going to be taken care of," Strader promised, "Get Security on board with that. I'll join them in a few."

"You're going to rest first," Harry said, looking at Strader, "I saw the security video. That damned Tabiri unit beat the shit out of you. Find Nikki and get a few hours of relaxation."

"Is that any way to talk to your new boss?" Glen chuckled, "Oh yeah, you're part of the Strike team if you want to be, Harry. No field work, strictly back end support. Toshi is good, but she can't do field and computer support at the same time."

"I'm in," Haldeman chuckled, "But what I said still goes. I want you to go to bed. I don't care if you go alone or if you take Nikki with you, but if I see your ass out here before you've gotten some sleep I'll sic the doctors on you."

"A fate worse than death," Strader chuckled, "Do me a favor though, while I'm resting?"

"What do you need?" Haldeman asked him.

"Start a new round of security checks," Glen said, "You know tricks that the Company security weenies probably don't. Maybe we can break our mole that way."

"Right," Haldeman nodded, "I'm on it."

"I'll assist with that once I shower and stretch," Toshi said, "I didn't take the beating Colonel Strader did and won't be able to sleep for a while anyway."

"I have a feeling I won't tonight," Harry agreed, "I'd welcome the help though."

"Call me if you find anything," Strader said, "Greg, you took a beating out there too. Go get some rest before doing anything else."

"Thanks," Greg nodded, "I think I could use it."

"When Cliff and Sienna come in let them off for the night," Strader told Harry, "We'll have a meeting and decide how to handle this tomorrow."

Chapter 55 - A Restless Night

Cliff and Sienna trudged in to the strike team's common room shortly after eight in the evening. They both looked dead tired and sat down beside each other on the couch as they looked at Toshi and Harry who were pouring over records looking for inconsistencies. Sienna leaned against Cliff and closed her eyes as he wrapped an arm around her.

"Where's everyone else?" Cliff asked, "Is Colonel Strader still out after the beating he took in the fight with the Tabiri?"

"No," Harry said, not looking up, "I sent him to bed an hour ago. Same for Greg. They were beat. He said you two could do what you wanted for the rest of the night."

"Nikki joined him a little while ago," Toshi said, not looking up, "Probably just the relaxation he needs."

"After going through those damned warehouses," Cliff grumbled, "I just want a shower."

"I second that motion," Sienna said, stretching a little, "You guys going to keep at it all night?"

"Until we clear everyone," Toshi said, still not looking up, "I'm used to long nights."

"I will at some point," Harry said, "But I don't look forward to the couch enough to want to stop now."

"You know," Toshi told him, finally looking up, "You are part of the team now. You're welcome to get a real room with a real bed."

"There are no extras in here," Harry explained, "I don't want to bunk in the barracks."

"Sienna," Cliff said, "Didn't Strader issue you a room?"

"Yes," Sienna nodded, "Pretty pointless really. I'll never use it. I've even been doing my reading in yours because it's got a better window."

"Sienna and I have been a team in all manners for several years now," Cliff explained, "You might as well take her room, Harry. All her stuff is in mine anyway."

"Think Glen will mind, Toshi?" Harry asked her, "You know his command style better than I do."

"He was probably following an outdated military regulation in assigning separate rooms to Cliff and Sienna," Toshi shrugged, "Might as well take it over, Harry. Beats sleeping on that couch, I'd imagine."

"You've never slept on it?" Harry asked her, "You used to crash on couches all the time in the old days."

"I don't sleep much anyway, Harry," Toshi shrugged, "And I've had a bed since I've been here, so haven't had the pleasure of the couch. I often work late into the night."

"I don't sleep much either," Sienna said, "Perhaps I'll join you some night while Cliff is sleeping and I'm staring at the ceiling. I often don't sleep well myself."

"Anyone still out?" Cliff asked, "Or are we the last to come in?"

"Anoki was still with the firemen," Toshi said, "She's on her way back in now though."

"I'm here," Anoki said, walking in covered with soot, "That building is a total loss, though I now know where our missing parts for me are."

"My God," Cliff said, "Did you bathe in soot?"

"No," Anoki said, "Just went in to pull out a fireman. Got covered. I'll shower it off in a bit."

"Well, at least that confirms that they probably used your instrument packs," Toshi sighed, "Did any of them look recoverable?"

"Charred," Anoki shrugged, "R&D will probably have to recondition the parts for them to be any use at all. The internal electronic cores were scorched because they were open."

"What a waste," Toshi grumbled, "You might have needed those parts some day."

"Nothing to worry about," Anoki told her, "The expensive part is the outer shell. The electronics can probably be replaced for pocket change."

Cliff shook his head, not caring all that much about the cost of Anoki's parts. He was more concerned about Sienna who was leaning against him still. He stroked her hair and was pondering kissing her neck when a loud noise shook the room a little. Harry, Cliff and Sienna stood up quick and looked around.

"Relax," Toshi said, not even looking up, "It's just Greg playing with his toys down in the dungeon."

"Good lord," Cliff said, "How does he survive this stuff?"

"It's an art with him," Anoki told Cliff, "He loves doing it. He does it all the time, he probably just forgot to close the door."

"Can you go tell him to shut the door before he scares the whole compound?" Toshi asked Anoki, "Once you talk to Greg You're free to watch TV and stand down until the Colonel orders you back online."

"I'll go talk to him," Anoki nodded, "Night guys."

"Shower time?" Sienna asked Cliff hopefully.

"I think so," Cliff nodded, "Enjoy your nitpicking, we're going to get some rest and water."

Toshi waved idly as they left. Harry looked at Toshi's unconcerned look, chuckled a little and sat down to continue his own reading. Harry knew that working with this team would be a crazy ride, but it would be worth it in the long run.

Chapter 56 - Rocket Man

Anoki walked down to the dungeon and found the door open, just as she'd expected. Greg Kaczmarek was sitting on his old blackened couch mixing little bits of explosives in various combinations, one of his favorite pastimes. It was part of how he kept his skills properly honed.

"You're rattling the roof again, Kaczmarek," Anoki said when she walked in, "Scared the hell out of the newbies."

"Not a problem," Greg shrugged, "The shakeup will do them good. How far did Toshi jump?"

"She didn't even look up," Anoki smiled, "Cliff, Sienna, and Harry jumped pretty well though."

"I'll settle for that," Greg grinned, "So are all the fires out?"

"For now," Anoki said, "Glen was still pissed when I saw him last though."

"He would be," Greg nodded, "Massive civilian casualties never sit well with him."

"And they do with you?" Anoki asked, wondering.

"Not really," Greg said, "That sort of thing hits him harder though. I would love to go after the person who set that damned Tabiri off. I don't think Glen will truly rest until they catch him."

"Our boss is certainly an intense man," Anoki agreed, "Too bad he doesn't let anyone in very close."

"Nikki seems to be getting plenty close," Greg grinned, "She's not my type, but I guess the boss is entitled. He hadn't been laid in a while."

"Must be nice," Anoki sighed, "Beats sitting and watching TV all the time."

"I thought you liked the TV," Greg said, looking up at her, "You quote from it so much."

"I do like it," Anoki said, "I've learned a lot from it. Thing is, you can only learn so much by watching."

"Come on and sit down," Greg invited her, moving over on the blackened couch, "You're already dirty, so the soot down here won't make it any worse."

"Don't mind if I do," Anoki said and sat down next to Greg, "How can you live in this place? It really is like a dungeon."

Anoki wasn't kidding. It was little more than a concrete bunker that had been seriously fortified. The far wall was beaten and there were lots of blast marks on the floor. The closest side had a bed that was made entirely of inflammable materials and a metal blast-proof closet that he had obtained a few weeks before. It was bare and badly beaten from the endless blasts. The only thing relatively unscathed was a solid metal workbench where he kept his tools for making more intricate explosive devices.

"It's home to me," Greg smiled, "All my life I've been playing with explosives. Keeps me out of trouble."

"At least you have a place to do it now," Anoki said, smiling a little, "I still have only part of the tech room to myself."

"They were nice enough to give you a TV," Greg told her, "I don't have one of those."

"Of course not," Anoki told him, "It would end up as part of a bomb before the week was out."

"True enough," Greg nodded, "Anyone ever tell you that you're pretty when you're covered with soot?"

"Thanks," Anoki said, "I don't get told that very often anyway. They must figure I don't need to hear it."

"Well," Greg said, "Do you?"

"It's nice," Anoki told him, "I may be metal on the inside, but on the outside I'm all woman. Not to mention my consciousness was spurred from a flesh and blood woman to begin with."

"I have no problem seeing that," Greg chuckled, "A very well-built one too, I'm guessing."

"She was actually crippled and half-insane," Anoki said, "But one hell of a police officer. I still carry her memories."

"Really?" Greg asked, "Any of the more lascivious ones?"

"Sure," Anoki nodded, "I have some interesting memories of Sam Remordis, actually."

"Sam?" Greg said, surprised, "I would never have thought."

"He's a decent guy," Anoki said, "He would have been within his rights to have me terminated ten years ago after the protocol set I carried forced me to kill most of his team."

"Ouch," Greg said, "I'm glad he didn't. You're too pretty for that."

"Different body then," Anoki chuckled, "He knew I didn't want to do it. Rob Homer warped my protocol set. That's one of the reasons Sam flew off the handle when Jim Entragian used me to carry the virus payload."

"I bet," Greg nodded, "Though who could argue with a woman this pretty."

"One of the advantages of getting new skin every few months," Anoki said, "It always looks good."

"You do look good," Greg said as he brushed some of the soot off her face, "I always dug women in black eye makeup."

"So you dig me huh?" Anoki said, her eyes lighting up a little, "I've never had anyone say that before."

"Why wouldn't I?" Greg shrugged, "You may be metal underneath, but you've got more personality than most of the women I've dated over the years. You don't look at me funny when I rig up explosives either."

"I think it's cute," Anoki told him while he set up another charge, "I still am fascinated by the fact that you can do it with stuff you find in any kitchen."

"Everything is a chemical," Greg said, showing her some things he had next to his couch, "The key is finding out what it reacts with to make an explosion."

"So what is in that pile there?" Anoki asked him, "It looks interesting."

"It's a semi-stable compound," Greg showed her, "Vinegar, Petroleum Jelly, and a few other goodies. I've added some Octol 24 to the mix and am trying to figure out the base to make it stable."

"I understood every word you said," Anoki said, "But it simply doesn't quite compute for me."

"Welcome to my world," Greg grinned, "This is the result. I'd suggest covering your ears, but I don't think it would do much good in your case."

"I'll live," Anoki said dryly, "Do your worst."

"Here we go," Greg said and mixed the two compounds, "Come on baby light my fire!"

Greg tossed the concoction a good fifty feet away. It looked like a dud for a few moments and Anoki stopped to look at Greg. Greg smiled and pointed a finger towards the area where the concoction was spread.

"Watch," Greg said and looked out at the spot.

It exploded with a fairly stable fireball, spreading almost evenly for a radius of about five yards all around. Anoki was impressed, but Greg didn't look overly happy with the results. It was over in seconds and Greg grumped when it was over.

"It's still not completely stabilized," Greg said, "I'm trying to get it to blow the same every time. Still not quite there yet."

"Still pretty though," Anoki said, "So how often have you done this for women?"

"Not too often," Greg chuckled, "Most women either get bored or annoyed at the noise."

"I like it," Anoki told him, "It's different. Not like the boring stuff I see on TV."

"Too much TV will rot your brain," Greg told her, "Gotta love the explosives though."

"Can I ask you a question, Greg?" Anoki asked him, "A rather personal one?"

"Sure," Greg said, looking at Anoki, "What's up, my fine cybernetic friend?"

"You've been with a woman before, right?" Anoki asked him, "Close with one?"

"You mean have I pushed my pocket rocket into the target?" Kaczmarek laughed, "Not as much as I would like, but enough to know what it feels like. Why?"

"I just wonder what it's like," Anoki sighed, "I have the facilities, I feel touch like you do, but have never had any chance to know that type of closeness. I have Stacy Anoki's memories of it, but Harry had to recode it so I see them from outside so they didn't drive me insane."

"That's not good, Anoki," Greg said, "It's part of what being alive is all about."

"Sometimes I wonder if I really am," Anoki said, "I mean you've said it yourself. I'm a machine, a bundle of wires that mimics a human."

"You're more than that, Anoki," Greg said, pushing her soot streaked blonde hair back, "I've known natural born humans that didn't have as many feelings as you. Not to mention you were born from a human, at least mentally."

"But they are at least biologically human," Anoki said, "I'm not. I'm programmed. Stacy spurred my consciousness, but she was not my mother. I share no other bond with her."

"Just look at yourself," Greg suggested, "You're thinking about the wires and neural net. Just look in a mirror, kid. Being flesh and blood through and through is not what makes a person. All it makes is a human being. I've known a lot of human beings in my time that have been terrible people."

"So what does make a person?" Anoki asked him, "What makes me like you?"

"The fact that you can ask that question," Greg said, "Means that you're close enough that the differences don't matter."

"But what about being programmed?" Anoki wondered, "Doesn't that make me different?"

"I don't want to go into the psych bullshit," Greg said, "I got into explosives to break down barriers, not figure out what causes them. But let me tell you honey, we're all programmed to some extent. It's called learning. You just got it faster. You can think and you can make judgments. That may not make you human, but it makes you a person in my book."

"Thank you," Anoki said, smiling, "I needed that."

"Anytime," Greg told her, "Anytime at all."

"One more thing," Anoki said, "You always joke about it, but I'd like to know. Would you really... You know... With me?"

"In a heartbeat," Greg grinned, "Even more so now that we've had this talk."

Anoki looked at him and decided to take a chance. She leaned over, much like she'd seen in all the movies she'd seen on television every night and kissed Greg. Greg was slightly surprised, but he was definitely up for new experiences. Especially since this was something he'd been daydreaming about for months.

"So that's what this feels like," Anoki said when she let him come up for air, "I like it."

"I can't say I'm complaining," Greg said, "Now how far do you want to go with it?"

"All the way," Anoki said, a look coming over her eyes like a flesh and blood woman ready to go, "I know I have the capability. If you're willing I think it's time to see how well it works."

"Well," Greg grinned and slid his arm around her, "Just make sure you don't kill me in the process, and I think we can work something out here."

"Just no more talk about being a robot," Anoki asked, "Tonight I'm just a woman."

"And oh what a woman..." Greg said as he leaned in to kiss her some more.

Chapter 57 - A Shower and a Theory

Cliff gargled a little in the falling water of the oversized shower. It was one of the few things he liked about the base at Area 51. The strike team's living area was a converted barracks and one of the wise things that Adam Strader had done when originally overseeing the conversion twenty years earlier was leave the full size shower in place, but make it a multiple headed job that made for a heavy stream in all directions.

"I do like this shower," Sienna said as she wiped away the grime, "Whoever did this knew how to make getting clean fun."

"I can agree with that," Cliff nodded, "It's a good way to relax after a punishing day."

"Could be worse," Sienna told him, "Word is the Tabiri came close to clobbering Colonel Strader."

"Who in the hell would be crazy enough to let something loose like that?" Cliff asked her, "It makes no sense."

"It's the government again," Sienna suggested, splashing Cliff a little and grabbing at his exposed rear, "They realized that they made a mistake and needed the Tabiri units for some mission or other. So they sent someone in to retrieve them and get them out unnoticed."

"Uh huh," Cliff said, chuckling and observing the water dripping down her well formed body, "And why didn't they just sneak the units out?"

"Because they wanted to do some damage to the base first," Sienna told him, "Most likely feel like the Company tricked them into the sale."

"So you think the US Government killed fifty some odd people for revenge?" Cliff asked, "And just how did they get away with it?"

"This is the government," Sienna shrugged, "They probably retained keys and ID's and everything else that pertains to this base. Probably bugged it all before we took over."

"Someone would have to be really friggin bored to bug this place," Cliff reminded her, "It isn't that interesting."

"I still think it was a conspiracy of some sort," Sienna said, "It was too well organized for it not to be."

"That much I agree with you on," Cliff nodded, "it could even be aliens."

"They've been here before, they will be here again," Sienna nodded emphatically, "Maybe they wanted the Tabiri units to figure out how to mimic our flesh. They probably want to make clones of everyone and to take over the world, starting with the wonderful Company here."

"I can think of better things to do than worry about some aliens we can't control," Cliff said, pulling her closer, "It would be a shame to put all this water to waste."

"Does this mean I don't have to sleep in the wet spot tonight?" Sienna asked hopefully.

"You got it, babe," Cliff said and nibbled on her ear.

"Ok," Sienna nodded as she wrapped her arms around him, "I can definitely live with that."

Cliff kissed her deeply, pulling her close to him and sliding inside. Foreplay had never been a real item of contention with them. He wasn't interested in it and she didn't rightly care. The shower made it an interesting experience, with him lasting a bit longer than normal. When they finished with each other he collapsed against the wall. She giggled and curled up next to him, not winded in the slightest.

"You're still the best, doll," Cliff said, giving her high praise indeed, "Makes the day worth it."

"At least until a government agent starts up another errant android and ruins another day," Sienna sighed, "It will be good if that doesn't happen though."

"Don't worry," Cliff said, chuckling as he kissed her cheek, "I don't think that's a factor."

"If you say so," Sienna said, "Should I keep my eyes open just in case?"

"Knock yourself out, kiddo," Cliff said, "But let's go to bed before someone else decides they want to use the shower."

"Good idea," Sienna nodded, slipping on a robe and walking with Cliff back to the room that they now semi-officially shared.

Chapter 58 - A Stretch in Time

Glen Strader stood up and stretched a little bit. He was feeling every one of his years after spending the afternoon being beaten on by a Tabiri 8.2 battle droid and then spending a good part of the last hour vigorously making love to Nikki. He knew that it hurt doing the stretches, but it was better than waking up not having done them at all.

"You are the only man I've ever seen stretch after sex," Nikki told him, watching from a reclined position on his bed, "Didn't I give you a good enough workout?"

"Plenty good," Glen agreed, smiling, "But if I don't do this I'll pay for it in the morning, especially after the beating I took this afternoon."

"You took a good one, I hear," Nikki said, looking at him, "I see the new bruises and cuts. It was close, wasn't it?"

"About ten seconds from having my head squashed," Glen nodded, "Where were you during the attack?"

"I was off reading in one of the outbuildings," Nikki lied, "I heard the explosions, didn't know what they were until I came back and found the office complex nearly flattened."

"I still don't know why someone would have unleashed that thing," Glen sighed, "Surely a dozen outdated battle droids couldn't be worth that much on the open market."

"Depends on who got them," Nikki shrugged, "A dozen of those things could probably make up for a whole platoon of rebels."

"Still not worth it," Glen said and then stood up, "I still want to find the damned mole."

"You probably will," Nikki shrugged, "But not tonight, I can think of more productive things to do with your time right now."

"Nothing more I can do until Toshi and Harry finish the checks anyway," Glen agreed, going back into the bed with Nikki can curling up next to her, "And after today, I deserve a break."

"Security checks?" Nikki asked, "What type?"

"Routine crap," he shrugged, "Rechecking all the personnel files for anything that doesn't belong. If there's anything out of whack, they'll find it."

"Really," Nikki said, "Sounds like fun. They going deep on the checks?"

"I haven't reviewed Toshi's plan yet, to be honest," Glen told her, "I'll do it tomorrow."

"Procrastination is a wonderful thing," Nikki grinned, "But there's one thing I can't procrastinate on anymore."

"What's that?" Glen wondered.

"Bathroom," Nikki said with a chuckle, "I'll be back in a few."

"I'll be waiting," Glen smiled, "Maybe when you get back we'll be ready for round two."

"Don't worry," Nikki told him, "I'll send it into overtime tonight."

"I'm looking forward to it," Glen told her as she slipped out of the room, wearing little more than a robe.

Nikki slipped out and headed to the bathroom, stopping for half a second to pull a cellular phone out of her jacket that was hanging in the hall. She slipped into the bathroom and made sure that she was alone when she closed and locked the door. She unlocked the phone and used a VPN fed VOIP app to securely dial a number she didn't want tied to her own phone.

"This is Nikki," she said when the line was picked up, "I don't have much time. Do a double check on my early life contacts. They are doing a security scan on everyone. We can't afford anything to be out of place."

Nikki listened for a few moments and was told about the interception of the Tabiri units. The man on the other end tried his best to explain, but she interrupted him.

"I don't give a damn about the couriers," Nikki said, "They were expendable and were expended. Just protect my goddamn cover or this information source will be drying up and they will jail me."

Nikki listened for a few more seconds and sighed. She hated calling in on this stuff. She silently wished she could have directed the Tabiri unit into the weasel's office, but it wouldn't have done half as much good there.

"Listen," Nikki said, her mood turning foul, "I don't give a shit about that right now. The Tabiris will get where they need to be. I want you to do two things. First, secure my cover. Second, set up a contingency team to pull me out if they blow my cover. Do it now and do it right. Got me?"

Nikki cut off the phone and growled quietly. She got up and went back into the hall, slipping the phone back into her pocket. She went over to Glen's room and slipped back into the room. He was waiting there and looking up in anticipation. She slid in the bed next to him and kisses him deeply.

"I feel better," Nikki said, "Now it's time for you to show me just how much you've got."

"I think I can manage that," Strader said, looking into her eyes, "Hang on, it's going to be a bumpy ride."

"You can say that again," Nikki mumbled and returned the look, her eyes giving away absolutely nothing.

Chapter 59 - Absolutely Nothing

"There's not a damned thing here, kid," Harry Haldeman said, yawning and rubbing his eyes, "I've worked with the company on and off for a decade now. Think they'd miss anything we could find in these files?"

"This operation was thrown together in a matter of weeks," Toshi said, "I was already here when they took over. The Army wanted out of the paranormal business for good after that satellite mess that resulted on the Colonel's last mission for them. One week we were merely subcontractors working on the droid program. The next the uniforms were gone and our crews had taken over."

"I'd heard it was a quick job," Harry nodded, "I didn't know it was that quick."

"It had been a rotten month," Toshi nodded, "The entire base knew that some serious shit was going to come down after the satellite grid went. They managed to keep the cause out of the papers, but we all knew that it had resulted from the mission that went badly on the space station."

"I'm amazed the Company wanted him after that," Harry said, "Don't get me wrong. I like Colonel Strader. I remember him as a kid when I was doing computer security work for his father here. He was a somber kid, even then. Even before the rift grew between him and his father."

"We didn't have a choice," Toshi shrugged, "There are exactly three living people who have the experience to run a team like this. Adam Strader is now a paraplegic and the other two are Glen and Greg. Everyone else who has done this work in the past is dead."

"Makes me glad I only signed on for a supporting role," Harry grinned, "Not sure you could pay me enough to go into the field on one of these."

"Its fun," Toshi said, "Beats lab work any day. Besides, I have to do something for fun. I haven't enjoyed lab work since that project that failed transfer that killed Elias fourteen years ago. I prefer a good workout to that any day."

"I have a suspicion that Anoki is getting another type of workout now," Harry chuckled, "She never did come out of Greg's room when she went to check on him earlier."

"What?" Toshi said, "You don't think..."

"She wears living flesh," Harry told her, "From what I saw when I was checking out her security she feels things like we do. Wouldn't surprise me if she wanted to test it out occasionally."

"Yuck," Toshi said, wincing visibly, "Oh I seriously hope you're wrong."

"Why?" Harry said, "It won't hurt her and frankly it will probably do both of them some good."

"I'd prefer not to think about that," Toshi shuddered, "I hope you're wrong. Greg may be a prick, but he wouldn't do that would he?"

"I don't know," Harry said, chuckling, "I probably missed her leaving, that's all. I'm tired. Instead of obsessing on that point, tell me more about the switchover."

"Ok," Toshi said, taking another look at the door of the dungeon, "Anoki had only been in this body for a few months when the last straws came down for the Army's involvement in this place."

"Yeah," Harry nodded, "You said something about an accident."

"You know about the satellite mess, right?" Toshi asked, "The one that happened on the last Strike Team mission before the Army decided to sell out lock, stock, and barrel?"

"The one that knocked out pretty much every satellite in the western hemisphere?" Harry asked, "I'd heard that a mission went awry to cause it. Figures that Glen and Greg were in on it."

"That got them thinking about getting out of it," Toshi told him, "The final straw came with the Tabiri mess about a month later. I was actually in the room when that mess happened."

"One of the Tabiri units get out of control?" Harry scoffed.

"Essentially, yes," Toshi nodded, "We were firing up the prototype of the Tabiri 8.3 series AI."

"Good Christ," Harry said, "You were still trying to make that abortion work? Didn't you already have the Pike units running well by then?"

"The Pike 8.5 series were put together a few months after the Tabiri series was unceremoniously abandoned," Toshi told him, "When the 8.3 proved to be even more unstable than the production version of 8.2 those of us who survived the massacre did a hybrid job. The Pike series is basically a Tabiri series chassis with male skin and build, more armor and a neutered neural net processor to give a much more stable AI set."

"Are they capable of sentience?" Harry asked, stepping out of context for a second.

"The Pike is a glorified Tabiri," Toshi said, shaking her head, "We used some of what Anoki learned, stripped out the sentience, and put it in Pike 8.5. They are excellent grunts, if very unimaginative. They can also keep track of who's around them and can make sure they don't accidentally kill friendlies. Something we never got right with the Tabiri series."

"Neat," Harry nodded, "Anyway, so how did this facilitate the switchover?"

"That Tabiri 8.3 unit went on a killing spree until we could do a shutdown," Toshi said, "Luckily that one had all the command modules and responded to a verbal override before it could kill us all."

"Stupid robots," Harry frowned, "What possessed you to start up another goddamned Tabiri?"

"We were trying to modify it into a drone to use in squad formation with the latest incarnation of the Anoki AI," Toshi told him, "It didn't work like we'd planned it."

"So that was the final straw?" Harry said, shaking his head, "That made them decide to get out of the paranormal business?"

"Area 51 was becoming a liability," Toshi said, "It cost too much to run, they were getting no gain out of it. The attacks were negligible compared to the problems they were having with congress. They had a closed auction that was rigged for us to win it. The only caveat to the deal was that we had to support a Strike Team. So here we are."

"I can buy that," Harry nodded, "The one thing I can't buy is that your team turned on one of your own units and got couldn't control it. They don't know shit about security, but you knew how to control the bots."

"I don't know what happened," Toshi shrugged, "I was working with Anoki on the other side of the room when the Tabiri jumped up and started attacking. One of the other doctorates tried to override her directly, but the 8.3 crushed his windpipe before he could. Anoki had to go over and do an override by imitating the doc's voice."

"Nasty," Harry sighed, "Not a nice way to go."

"There is no good way," Toshi said, looking over the file in her hand, "So what's the deal with Glen and his father?"

"Adam and Glen had a turbulent time when he was growing up," Harry told her, "Much of it was caused by of the triangle that developed between Adam, Glen's mother and Adam's partner."

"Sounds dirty," Toshi chuckled, "What kind of Triangle?"

"Nothing bad," Harry said, "Adam and Tracy were married long before he came out here. He and Sonya became partners well after he came out here, back before they even formed a Strike Team. Due to the nature of the job he ended up spending more time with Sonya than he did with his wife and son."

"I can see where that would cause problems," Toshi nodded, "Not from experience though. I don't remember much about my parents. I left Japan young and they were as uninterested in seeing me come back as I was in going back."

"Tracy often accused Adam of having an affair with Sonya," Harry continued, "Glen got to witness more than a few of these fights. The fact that Tracy hated Nevada with every core of her being made things worse over time."

"Was he?" Toshi asked sensibly, "I could see something like that happening."

"Not Adam," Harry said, "He loved Tracy, but they were growing apart. He cared deeply about Sonya, but that wasn't the type of relationship they had."

"So what happened to change things?" Toshi said, "Something had to give otherwise, there would be no story."

"This is where it is sketchy for me," Harry admitted, "I was mostly out of here by that point. But from what I remember the end came for Adam's marriage after he was injured. He saved Sonya's life and lost the use of his legs in the process. This evidently didn't sit well with Tracy, because she disappeared soon after or so I heard."

"How old was Glen then?" Toshi wondered.

"I don't know," Harry answered honestly, "I wasn't there. I heard about it years later. The final rift came with Sonya's death a couple years back. Glen was her second in command then and she was killed saving his ass. Adam couldn't handle it and left the base for good. Glen's been in command ever since."

"Sad story," Toshi sighed, "No wonder he doesn't like talking about it. You know, this is interesting information, but I think we should get back to these files."

"I'm too fried to get back to them," Harry told her, "I'll get back to it in the morning. Unlike you, Toshi, I need more than three hours of sleep."

"No problem," Toshi smiled, "Try out that bed in Sienna's room. She won't be needing it."

"Yes ma'am," Harry chuckled, "Enjoy your reading."

"Will do," Toshi nodded and watched Harry walk down the hall.

Chapter 60 - New Hack Job

"Where's Sienna?" Glen asked as he pulled up a chair to his desk the next morning, "Not in front of a computer like you guys?"

"She hates computers," Cliff told him, "She's in our room reading a book."

"I still don't buy it," Greg said, "This could have come in from anywhere."

"Hold on," Strader said, "Don't buy what? I'm missing the details."

"This message just came in over the secure line," Toshi said, "Whoever sent it knew some tricks, because they got in deep."

"How so?" Glen said, reading it, "Sounds like a bullshit attempt to con us. Nuclear weapons? This makes no sense."

"I'd agree," Toshi said, "But this came in past our firewall setups and was placed on the desktop of my machine. That took some work. They also didn't ask for money."

"These are firewalls that I set up too," Harry said, "I don't claim to be the best in the world, but I'm world class at this. Whoever got around my systems is as good as I am, possibly even better."

"So why didn't they just send us the information," Greg said, "Why the cat and mouse?"

"Sounds like a trap," Cliff said, "I don't like it."

"I don't either," Strader admitted, "What else makes you think it's genuine."

"They put an example," Toshi said, putting the document on the screen, "It looks to be part of a shipping manifest."

"Nuclear weapons brought into the states," Greg said, "Sounds like a fantasy."

"Whoever it was took a lot of trouble to find their way in," Anoki said, "Might be worth a listen."

"Where do they want to do the meeting?" Strader asked Toshi, "Since you're the one who caught it."

"A public street in downtown Groom Lake," Toshi said, "They want to do it in the business district after dark."

"Should be easy enough to secure," Glen agreed, "How many people do they want?"

"They said two," Toshi said, "The spot they chose is out of the way, but as you said, easy to secure. I can get into one of the buildings and watch it."

"I'll be one of the two," Anoki said, "I can take care of myself."

"I'm probably the last one you want out front," Greg said, "So I guess I'm riding in the backup van."

"That leaves you and me," Cliff said, "I still don't like it."

"I'm going up front," Strader decided, "You and Sienna will hold the fort here. I haven't figured out how to work with you two yet, and this mission doesn't require any more than four."

"All right," Cliff shrugged, "I'll stay here and see what I can find out with some digging into the information on the manifest."

"That's when we go," Strader told him, "You can help by taking Sienna with you and going to survey the place while the rest of us prepare."

"I can do that," Cliff said, "Anything in particular?"

"Buildings," Toshi said, "I need to know where to set up to get a field of vision on the meeting area."

"Right," Cliff nodded, "I'll go roust her. Where do I get a vehicle?"

"Sign one out of the motor pool," Strader instructed them, "You all battle ready, Anoki?"

"Fit as a fiddle and ready for love," Anoki assured him, "The new flesh generator is working wonders. Not a glitch in at least two weeks."

"Get moving people," Strader said, "This may be bullshit, but it may turn out to be something. We need to find out. It'll be a good practice run anyway."

"I'll do some tracing," Harry told them, "I may be able to figure out where they came from. If I can, I can tell you more about if it is genuine."

"You know where to find us," Strader nodded, turning to his team, "Let's get to work."

Chapter 61 - A Surprise Informant

Colonel Strader had a bad feeling about this mission. It wasn't the usual slash and bash job that his team was usually sent out on. He also hated intelligence missions with a passion and felt naked carrying only his pistol as a sidearm on this dark city street.

"Where are they?" Strader asked through his communications unit, "This street is deserted."

"We're early, Colonel," Toshiko Shiniki said over the com link, "Relax. You have a sidearm they can't detect and a top of the line battle droid with you. Greg is around the corner in a car with a whole arsenal of weapons should anything go wrong."

"Relax Colonel," Anoki said, "It'll go smooth. These usually do. They want something and if they attack us they won't get it."

"Yeah," Strader nodded, "I just don't like these jobs."

"There is a man coming down the street," Greg Kaczmarek said from his post in the van, "He's wearing a trench coat and is heading straight for The Colonel and Anoki."

"Do a meta scan on him, Kaczmarek," Strader told him, "Is he carrying?"

"He's clean," Kaczmarek said, "Not even a nail file."

"Sounds like he's braver than you are, Colonel," Toshi giggled, "He's also coming up to the corner. Looks like he's your man."

"Any ID on him?" Greg asked Toshi, "I never saw his face."

"No tags," Shiniki said, looking through her scope, "He's never been marked as a criminal. He's got the sides of his overcoat raised, so I can't identify him from here."

"That doesn't mean much," Colonel Strader mumbled, "That tagging system never did work well."

A young blonde woman looked over the edge of the building. She was two floors up from the room where Toshi Shiniki was watching the scene down on the ground. She had some similar equipment, including a new high power scanning scope. The scope told her quickly that The Colonel was carrying.

"The Colonel is carrying his usual Glock Pistol," she said into her unit, "The girl is clean."

"The girl is an Anoki 9.0, remember?" a voice came through her com unit, "She doesn't need a gun."

"They don't look hostile," the girl said, "It's your call guys."

"They need this information," the man on the ground said, "Hopefully they'll be smart enough to look at the information and not at their anger."

"At least Kaczmarek isn't down there," the girl said, "He's the hothead. There's a reason they call him Kaczmarek."

"He's in the van," the man on the ground said, "I walked by him around the corner. I'm betting he has an arsenal there for backup."

"No bet," A second voice said, "That van is practically radiating plasma. It's armed to the teeth. They're not taking any chances."

"That's not good," the girl said, "Should we abort?"

"This is too important," the man on the ground said, "We go in. They're using plasma weapons, so we can bug out if things get hairy."

"Just make sure Strader doesn't hit you in the head with the Glock," the girl said, "That could ruin your whole day."

The man, a fairly young one with dark hair and a very confident stare, walked towards where Glen and Anoki were standing. He smiled as he approached them and held up his hands. The look on Glen Strader's face was priceless when he recognized the man that they were meeting with.

"Well," Colonel Strader said, the look of displeasure evident on his face, "If it isn't the illustrious Colonel Stone."

"I haven't used that title in months," Mason Stone said with a smile as he approached, "Nice to see you haven't forgotten me, Colonel Strader."

There was no way that the Company 51 team would ever forget Mason Stone after the way they made the fledgling team look like idiots on their first mission together, shortly after Strader and Kaczmarek were released from military prison.

"I doubt I ever could forget you, Stone," Strader said, his eyes squinting at the erstwhile immortal, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you right here and now?"

Mason Stone merely laughed at that. Karen Stone, from her position at the top of the building got a good giggle out of it too. They both knew that Glen Strader was carrying only a Glock pistol. Stone's team were all medical immortals, unable to be killed or burned. The Glock would do little but piss Mason off.

"You know better than that," Stone said, "Besides, the Company sent you here to get some information. It would be a shame if you went home without it."

"I remember you too, Stone," Anoki 9.0 said to him, "I spent six weeks having my neural net defenses upgraded because of that hacking stunt you pulled on me."

"It was for a good cause," Mason shrugged, "The company was dabbling into areas that they had no business screwing with. I'd do it again if the circumstances were the same."

"Jesus Christ," Toshi said as she looked down at the scene, "I had no idea that this came from him."

"Be careful," Greg said through his com link as he loaded up some conventional rounds, "If he's there you can be damn sure that Karen Stone and Jim Entragian aren't far away."

"They're talking about us," Karen said through her encrypted communications link, "I think they're jealous."

"So am I," Jim said from his perch behind Greg's van, "I'd like a go around with the bot in a motel room."

"She'd tear you apart Jim," Karen laughed.

"Oh," Entragian grinned, "But what a way to go!"

Mason and Glen stood eye to eye for a few minutes of silent staring. They were trying to size each other up. Mason was by far the more experienced of the two, but that was due only to the fact that Mason Stone was nearly sixty years older than Colonel Strader. Both men realized that the other would probably be a good man to have at the other's back.

"Why are you here, Stone?" Strader said, "You must have a reason."

"The Company has some serious enemies," Mason said, "I ran across some information on some of them that might do some damage."

"Don't tell me you've grown a conscience," Strader said, "I thought you were against the Company."

"I'm not for them," Mason said with a shrug, "But the world is not black and white, good, or bad, right, or wrong."

"It's not, huh?" Strader said, sizing up Stone, "So what is it?"

"Shades of gray, Colonel Strader," Mason smiled, "I've lived over eighty years now. There are no absolutes."

"Ok," Strader shrugged, "I can buy that one."

"I'm here because the people you work for are the lesser of evils right now," Mason told him, "I have information that you and your people can do some good with."

"Let's get on with it, Colonel," Anoki said, "Greg is getting edgy."

"I see that your friend Kaczmarek hasn't changed much," Mason said, "Still the same old hothead."

"So what have you got?" Strader asked, trying to move this along, "You must have gotten us here for a reason."

"Ever the military man, Strader," Mason grinned, "All right, I'm going to pull out a folder from behind my back. Kindly ask Toshiko Shiniki to refrain from shooting me while I do it."

"I thought you couldn't die," Anoki said, noticing the contradiction.

"I can't," Mason said, genuine regret in his voice, "But getting shot does still hurt. I tend to avoid it if possible. Even plasma is annoying, and it will ruin my new coat."

"Bullshit," Jim Entragian said through his com link, "If he wanted to avoid getting shot we'd still be living in that house in Tahiti."

"You'd be bored," Karen said, "Nothing to do but sit there and screw native girls."

"Sounds like paradise to me," Jim grinned, "We should have stayed longer."

"Even you were going nuts after a year," Karen chuckled, "Hush now and watch Kaczmarek, will you?"

Mason pulled a large plastic wrapped Manila envelope from his waistband and handed it to Strader. Glen looked at the envelope and shook it a little to ensure that it was merely paper. The weight was right, but there was another rattling in there. He took a chance and ripped it open to reveal a sheaf of papers and a memory disk.

"What's this?" The Colonel asked Stone who smiled at the question.

"We were running a sting on one of the rebel groups," Mason explained, "Trying to help someone get justice for a murder. We ran across this in the process."

"More shades of gray?" The Colonel asked him.

"This is mass murder, Glen," Mason said, "The company has some serious enemies, one of which is trying to get a nuke into Century City."

"They'd fuck their cause completely," The Colonel said, "This is insane!"

"So is Bolantine," Mason said, "I've been dealing with that lunatic for over 25 years. He's an immortal, physically like us but without any morals and scruples. My guess is he's trying to fuck the company without the KY."

"Why us?" Anoki asked him, "You could have gone to the feds on this."

"The feds are idiots," Mason replied, "They care more about capturing me than they do about the lives of their own citizens. Ask Glen's father about that one too. It was why he ended up at Area 51 in the first place."

"Bolantine, huh?" Strader said, "Is he a moderately tall guy, perpetually smiling with long blonde hair?"

"Yes," Mason said, intrigued, "Where did you meet him?"

"He was the grinning son of a bitch on that island in the South China Sea," Anoki said, "My God. If he's involved in this..."

"That might explain a little about why he's going after the company," Mason nodded, "I'll look into that island deal a bit more. I'd heard rumors, but nothing solid."

"This is too much of a coincidence," Strader said, "Why now. Why us?"

"Bolantine wants power," Mason told them, "He also wants the serum that created us again, something we destroyed years ago. You're the ones who have come closest to reproducing it. That's why we hit you a few months ago."

"I don't like it," Glen said, "It's too pat."

"I don't think Bolantine is working this one directly," Mason said, "And the government wants me too badly in this area. I'm going to go check out his contacts in Russia. If Bolantine is involved then there's something bigger than just domestic terrorism."

"So I should thank you for dropping this into my lap?" Glen asked, "Sounds like a mess."

"Bolantine is a prick," Mason said, "Always has been. My guess is that he's pissed at you for fucking up his Chinese operation. Anything that keeps the feds in confusion works to his advantage."

"Three million people," Glen sighed, "When he holds a grudge, he holds it well."

"That's Bolantine for you," Mason said, "The Government is probably secretly hoping he'll succeed."

"I can understand the government's position," Glen said, though he didn't share it, "So you think we're better than the government?"

"Shades of Gray," Mason reminded him, "You just happen to be the lightest of the gray hats at this point. It may change later. I don't know."

"So why don't you take him on yourself?" Strader asked, "If you're concerned about the greater good."

"You're better funded," Mason said, "The company doesn't spare any expense on you. They also are guided by profit. Their profit margin goes down if that nuclear weapon goes off. The feds don't care about that. If a nuke goes off in Century City then it's one less hell hole for them to have to spend money to police. They get to wall it off, call for more rebel heads and Bolantine gets a good laugh."

"You really are a pragmatic son of a bitch," Strader said, "What do you want in return for this?"

"Keep the company off my back," Mason said, "I know I cost them a pretty penny a few months ago."

"Try about a half a billion bucks," Anoki said, "They don't like hits that big."

"They'll lose that in the first month if that nuke goes off," Mason reminded him, "Check into the Century City area. Your company has enough factories in the area that it couldn't do anything but hurt you."

"So you're coming here with a big fucking white hat, eh?" Strader said, his annoyance coming out, "Why do I not believe that?"

"My hat isn't white," Mason grinned and started to back off, "It's just as red as yours is."

"So what are you going to be doing while we take this out?" Glen asked him, "Taking a vacation?"

"We're off to Russia to look into where Bolantine got the weapon," Mason told him, "There's only so much we can do at once. You're equipped for the job here. We're better equipped for the job in Russia."

"How's that?" Strader asked him.

"Я говорю на Русском," Mason grinned, "My accent is from the St. Petersburg Area. Karen and I can pass for natives. We've got a flight to catch so I have to go. Just get that bomb and dispose of it so it can't hurt anyone. If you have an emergency, send an email to the account listed in the package. We'll respond as soon as we can."

"We will," Strader said, nodding, "If you catch Bolantine, shoot him in the nuts for me."

"I'll take it under advisement," Mason grinned as he turned to walk off, "Take care of yourself, Strader."

"We'll meet again, Stone," Strader said, "Count on it."

"I'm sure we will," Stone said, turning around and smiling, "Hopefully working together instead of against each other."

"Maybe," The Colonel said, "Anything is possible in a world that's made up of shades of gray."

"Remember that," Stone yelled and walked off the same way he came in, "Give my best to Adam, eh?"

"He's leaving," Shiniki said into her com, "Should we try to stop him?"

"No," Strader said into his com link as he looked over the papers, "If half of this shit is accurate we have other work to do."

"You sure, Colonel?" Greg asked in the van, "I have a shot."

"I'm betting that either Karen Stone or Jim Entragian have one on you too," The Colonel said, "Right Toshi?"

"There's a man about thirty yards back from the van," Toshi said, "I think it's Entragian."

"I'm on the roof above you, Toshi," Karen said over the F51 com channel as she packed up her stuff, "Nice to see you guys again."

"Son of a bitch!" Toshi exclaimed as she rushed out, "How the hell did you do that?"

"Practice, kid," Jim Entragian chuckled, walking away from the van and disappearing into the alley, "I wrote the encryption code they're using on the modern sets. It's good, but it has a back door. Look around line 3890 of the source."

"Thanks," Toshi said into her com set, "I think."

The team regrouped and met in the van. Greg took the wheel and drove them away from the meeting zone. The mood in the car was quiet as the pages from the packet Stone had given them were passed around. This was serious shit.

"We should be grateful for the intel," Anoki said, noticing the unhappiness on their faces.

"I am," Strader said, smiling for the first time, "I just don't like the way he makes me feel like an amateur."

"Well," Toshi said, "If we live another hundred years, maybe we'll get that good."

"I'll settle for living into next week," Greg said, grinning, "How about you, Glen?"

"I'd like to live longer," Colonel Strader said to his team, "But I'll settle for living well. I do know this though. I'd love to have someone that good on my team."

"Well," Greg said, "You're stuck with us. Sorry, Colonel."

"That's ok," Glen said, smiling, "I could have done worse."

"Really," Toshi said, surprised, "That's new for you."

"High praise for him, too," Greg agreed, "Did seeing Stone again jar a screw loose or something?"

"Senility is a distinct possibility," Anoki told them, "He is getting older."

"Don't let it go to your head," Strader told his team, "I can still kick all your asses if I need to. Now let's get back to base. We have a nuclear incident to prevent."

"Let's roll!" Greg yelled and floored the gas, "We have work to do!"

Chapter 62 - Intelligent Lunacy

"High price on this information," Remordis said, "Do you think it's solid?"

"Yes," Strader said, "Stone manipulated us a few months ago, but I don't think he'd lie about something like this."

"What the hell would anyone gain from putting a nuke in Century City?" Remordis said, "And why would it hurt us?"

"Aside from the market loss, you mean?" Strader said, cynically.

"We're not cops, Glen," Remordis reminded him, "This is something that should be handed to the feds."

"The feds won't do anything," Strader reminded him, "Century city has been a money pit for them for years. They'd love to see it become a parking lot."

"It would hurt us pretty bad, boss," Anoki said, "We have three major factories in that area."

"We nuke proofed those factories," Remordis said, "They could take a plasma blast without crumbling. Besides, it would take a large scale thermonuclear weapon to do any damage to all of them."

"That covers the facilities," Anoki said, pointing to the map, "Not the workers."

"What?" Remordis said, "What about the workers? What good would that do?"

"Explain," Strader ordered Anoki.

"I checked the personnel records for the three factories within driving distance of Century City," Anoki explained, "87.2 percent of the unskilled workforce lives in Century City and most of the skilled workers and management live in nearby Santa Monica and Beverly Hills nearby. If Bolantine sets off a nuke there, those plants would be essentially be idled. It wouldn't be a killing blow, but it would take a hit on our pocketbook."

"That's if everyone were home," Remordis said, "They'd maybe hit forty percent if they were lucky."

"Unless they did it on a holiday," Anoki said, "Christmas is on Thursday."

"Los Angeles shuts down on Christmas Day," Glen said, nodding a thank you at the bot, "They let that off in Century City on Christmas day, we're in for a world of hurt."

"But wouldn't Bolantine risk a nuclear war doing that?" Remordis wondered, "Bolantine may be a lunatic, but he can't want the whole damn world to be nuked."

"A major thermonuclear weapon would risk that," Strader admitted, "But a low grade nuclear weapon, the sort used on the Japanese in WWII would make hardly a fuss. Probably be written off to terrorists. The government would probably silently thank him for taking out a rather messy problem for them."

"You've convinced me," Remordis nodded, "Do what you have to do, just keep the Company out of it. Last thing we need is an investigation. Especially after that mess you guys started in China."

"Goes to figure," Strader shrugged, "Ok Anoki, let's go get the party started. We need to get our intelligence together."

"Remember what I said," Remordis said, "Stop the nuke and that's it. You're not cops. Don't try to be heroes. Stop Bolantine and let the feds deal with the rest of it."

"We'll remember," Strader smiled, "Let's go, Anoki."

Chapter 63 - Hard Intel

"All right people," Colonel Strader said as he passed out folders, "This is the information that Mason Stone passed off to us a few hours ago."

"Stone huh," Harry said, flipping through the pages, "That son of a bitch really is still running around huh?"

"You know him?" Toshi asked, looking at Haldeman, "Where from?"

"I met him fifteen years ago," Haldeman said, "I didn't hear what he was until later. He screwed up a big project I was working on with the DOD. Seems we were treading into the immortality research he was affected by."

"Same thing he did to get you brought in," Strader nodded, "That seems to be something Stone is annoyingly good at."

"Enough with the Mason Stone love fest," Cliff groused, "I'm ready to do something interesting."

"There will be adventure enough in this one," Strader told Cliff, "Century City is a virtual battleground nowadays. Los Angeles county pretty well gave up and walled it off ten years ago. Since then it has become a factory community rife with crime and gangs."

"So why do we care if it goes up then?" Cliff asked, "Sounds like a place the country would be better off without."

"Because three million people live there," Toshi said, "Don't you give a damn about that?"

"Not really," Cliff shrugged, "People live, people die. If we have the info, release it and let the feds deal with it."

"I wouldn't mind having a good seat to watch it go up," Greg said, earning a swat from Toshi, "It'll be a good show."

"The feds feel like you two do," Anoki said, "I've monitored the television stations in LA for the past 24 hours. Even the LA county authorities wouldn't mind seeing a nuke go off there. It would probably even raise property values in nearby Santa Monica and Berverly hills. It would also bring in national sympathy and federal rebuilding dollars."

"So why are we dealing with it ourselves?" Harry asked, "I'm all for saving lives, but I know the company. They care less than Cliff and Greg. So why did Remordis give the go ahead other than the fact that he's a sentimental old cop?"

"Show the graphic, Anoki," Strader instructed her, "This may well be an attack on the Company as well as on Century City."

Anoki showed the same display she did for Remordis showing the population distribution of the area. The homes of workers for the Company were shown in red. Jaws dropped when everyone realized how big a hit the company would take when the nuke went off.

"Christ," Cliff said, "It wouldn't bankrupt us, but it would drop our bottom line significantly for a few years."

"Also knock off some R&D and probably reduce our funding as well," Strader nodded, "If you want to ever get your funding back, Cliff, I'd suggest you help us."

"I'm in," Cliff said, "Better six than four, right?"

"Especially since Sienna can kick your ass with a weapon," Toshi jibed, "She may be more use on this than you are."

"How do we do this?" Greg asked, "We're not really equipped for urban combat."

"Especially since we're technically civilians," Anoki said, "The feds don't tend to take nicely to armed civilians blowing things up in the middle of a city."

"We will have to go in with civilian clothes," Strader said, "We can't afford to look like soldiers."

"You're kidding," Greg said, "We go in unarmed?"

"Whatever gave you that stupid idea?" Glen asked him, "We just go in with civilian clothes. Preferably loose fitting ones with body armor underneath."

"What do you want us to do?" Cliff asked, "Are we going with you?"

"We're going in force," Strader nodded, "Harry, can you re-task a satellite to look over the Century City area?"

"I might be able to do better than that," Haldeman said, punching a few keys, "The EU lost touch with a radiation detection satellite about ten years ago. It was put up to keep an eye on where our nukes were back when Trump was in office and the Europeans were afraid of his stability."

"Lovely," Toshi said dryly, "I tried to forget we elected him."

"Ugh," Greg said, "I'm not even going to try to say anything nice on that one."

"Ancient history guys," Glen said, "Continue, Harry."

"It's been riding in orbit for a decade, but it didn't die," Harry said, "I established contact with it by bouncing a signal off one of our military birds last year. It was a side project, but I have control of the bird. It shouldn't be too hard to use it to look for a Russian nuke that should be leaking even worse than an American one."

"Get on it," Strader nodded, "Toshi, you work with him. Between the two of you I'm betting we'll get a fix on the stuff."

"What about us?" Sienna asked.

"You and Cliff go to the base library," Glen told them, "Find out everything you can about the Century City area."

"Check," Cliff nodded, "Let's go short stuff."

"I take it we're on weapons detail?" Anoki asked him, "Full compliment?"

"Load up on conventional arms," Strader instructed, "Plasma should be secondary, especially with nukes around."

"Why's that?" Toshi asked, "I'd think Plasma would be lighter."

"You hit a fission device with a plasma blast and it goes up," Greg explained, "It will quite often go through the outer shell as well. Most modern nukes would be armored against bullets, it would take a direct hit through the core to set it off. A plasma blast hitting the shell might be enough to set it off."

"Makes me glad I'm staying here," Harry said, standing up, "Let me refill my coffee and I'll meet you in the lab."

"What are you going to be doing, boss?" Greg asked him.

"Arranging transportation," Glen told him, "We need civilian vehicles, preferably ones that can't be traced to us."

"Probably two," Toshi said, "Especially if we want equipment."

"I'm going to the lot in town," Glen said, "Get everything ready and as compact as possible. We leave in four hours for Century City. Christmas is in 36 hours. Let's see that LA doesn't get a nasty lump of coal in its stocking."

Chapter 64 - Of Russians and Rockets

"God I hate this frozen country," Jim Entragian said as he looked around, "What the hell are we doing back in Russia? Last time we were here we damn near ended up as fallout."

"The nuke is Russian," Mason said, "Bolantine is just as known here as we are, so I'm betting he had to get it from here in the sticks."

"Besides," Karen said, patting Entragian's shoulder, "Siberia is beautiful this time of year."

"You really think we will find him here?" Jim asked them, "We've been searching for this son of a bitch for ten years since the fiasco that killed Claire."

"If he's not here, we get a clue to the next place," Mason shrugged, "Now are you going to play scout from the tree or not?"

"Beats going in there with you," Jim said, sticking his tongue out, "Let's just do it quick."

"You ready kiddo?" Mason asked her, cocking his silenced weapon, "This is going to be a hard insertion."

"You keep promising me that," Karen grinned, "Let's do it and get this place out of circulation."

Jim Entragian scaled an old tree and put on his heat sensing goggles. He fine tuned them and scanned the camp, doing a quick count of the bodies. He was using an advanced system that could detect human body heat through wood and sometimes even concrete and stone. Mason and Karen wore special radiating tags that allowed Jim to identify them through the goggles.

"Twelve people," Jim said into the radio, receiving beeps from both of them in response, "Five are reclining, probably sleeping. Two are pacing outside. You'll need to take them quick before they sound an alarm. Three are warming up by a fire, maybe more if there's one behind the fire. The remaining two are facing each other in a tent in the back. Those are probably the ones you want to talk to."

Mason beeped his earpiece to acknowledge and then looked at Karen. She shrugged and waved for him to take the lead. Mason smiled and jogged to the path. Karen followed closely, watching their backs. Jim kept watching where they were heading and kept his eyes on the closest guard.

"There's a guard on the other side of the tent," Jim told them, "Unless he's walking backwards his back is to you."

Mason clicked his earpiece and scooted around the corner quietly and shot the guard twice in the head with his silenced pistol. The guard was down immediately and Mason pulled him out into the woods quickly so the body wouldn't be found immediately.

"Two points," Jim noted, "Second guard coming up quickly. You might want to get him while Mason is disposing of the body, Karen."

Karen Stone raised her pistol and waited for Jim to direct her. Jim watched where the guard was going and waited for him to turn his back to Karen before directing her.

"To your right," Jim said, "Now!"

Karen stepped around the corner and fired a single shot, removing the cerebral cortex of the guard. Mason came around quickly and helped her pull the body out of the area before they continued.

"So far no one knows you are there," Jim said, "You have a choice at this point. You can go for the two in the tent or the ones by the fire. If you go for the fire, the ones in the hut will go too."

Mason used sign language to tell Karen to take the hut. Karen nodded and decided she didn't want to know what Mason would do about the ones by the fire. She slipped over to the back side of the tent while Mason did his work. Mason looked at the fire area and pulled a flash charge out of his side pack.

"Take it slow, Karen," Jim told her, "One of the people in the tent just sat up. Can't tell direction."

Karen beeped and took it slowly. She peeked in to the tent and beeped twice to say she was ready. Mason and Karen knew that this would only work if they both took it quick and nobody fired a non-silenced shot.

"Now or never, guys," Jim said, wanting to get out of the damned tree.

Mason beeped three times in succession, a signal to hit quick. Mason tossed the flash pack into the fire, which triggered it immediately. The guards didn't have a chance to register what happened, because Mason had turned away from the flash then popped out and shot all three.

Karen iced the one sitting up first and went through and put bullets into the heads of the sleeping people, none of who ever knew that their lives were ending. Karen looked for other signs of life, but only found Mason.

"The only two left are the targets," Jim said, "All yours."

"Either of them raise a gun," Mason whispered, "Hit them in the arm. I don't want either one dead until I know they don't know anything."

"Right," Karen said, "Once we subdue them I'll search for the nukes."

"Let's do it," Mason nodded, "Are they armed?"

"If they are," Jim said, "They're not holding the weapons in ready position."

"You first," Karen told Mason.

Mason approached the tent and went in. The two men in the room were peering over an open device when they saw him. Mason smiled and aimed the weapon at them, barking a warning in Russian not to draw their weapons.

"You can't make it," Mason told them, continuing in Russian, "Hands where I can see them."

"There are two dozen armed guards outside," the first one said, "You're a dead man."

"There were only eleven," Mason said, smiling, "All now dead."

"You have them, Mase?" Karen asked him in English, "I will look for the nukes."

"Be careful how you disable them," Mason reminded her in the same language, "Last thing we need is for them to go off."

"Right," Karen said.

"Nuclear smuggling," Mason said, returning to his perfect Russian, "That's enough for a death sentence, even in 21st Century Russia. Where did the weapons come from?"

"We don't have to tell you anything," The first one told him, "What right..."

"I'm not a cop," Mason snapped, "I'm not a soldier. I am a pissed off man with a gun. I've already killed your guards. Don't think I won't kill you too. Now start talking sense."

The two men knew they were dealing with someone who had meant business. The nuclear weapon that was half open on the table was damning evidence, and they both knew it. They were both trying to figure ways out of this with their lives. One was a taller man, an ex-soldier with years of experience. The other one was a scientist, his main expertise in a type of weapon that had been all but outlawed for over fifteen years.

"Now," Mason said, "I want to know how many weapons you've sold."

The bigger man had no intention of answering Mason's questions. The little man wavered and took Mason's attention for just long enough for the big man to pull out a gun and shoot Mason twice. Mason took the two slugs in the chest and flew backwards, collapsing against the tent.

"Fuck your mother," The big man said as he went over and spit on Mason.

"Fuck yours," Mason said, opening his eyes, raising his hand and firing his weapon into the big man's head.

"You can't be alive!" the little man screamed, "You can't!"

"I am," Mason told him, "He isn't. I'd suggest telling me what I want to know before I kill you."

"We've sold four," the little man said, "Only one has been picked up and taken."

"You're selling nukes on the black market," Mason said, "Bolantine was here, wasn't he?"

"The crazy blonde man," the scientist nodded, "Pushy. He and four men took it out of here six days ago."

"Shit," Mason said, "He went with the bomb? He wanted only one?"

"He only wanted one," the man nodded, "He said he wouldn't use it here, so we didn't care where it went."

"How did he plan to get it out?" Mason asked him, moving a little closer, "Don't lie to me. It would be bad for your health."

"Plane out of Vladivostok," Scientist whimpered, "He took one of our trucks and had a really good set of military papers."

"Son of a bitch," Mason growled, "I would have thought he was in on the smuggling. He was just a buyer?"

"Yes," the scientist said, "I'd never seen him before. Not sure how he managed to get to us."

"Stay put," Mason told the man, "If you try to call for help or pick up a weapon you'll end up like your friends."

The scientist tried to say something else when Mason shut him up with the butt of his gun. The scientist crumpled over unconscious. Mason shook his head and went out to look for Karen.

"She's in the tent about twenty yards to your left," Jim told him, "Can I get out of this tree now?"

"Scan for threats," Mason said, "Bolantine isn't here, left with a weapon nearly a week ago."

"Shit," Jim said, "All this snow for nothing."

"There are five nukes here," Karen told them, "I've broken all the launch triggers, so they won't be fixed easily. Need to get a Russian disposal team out here though."

"We'll make the call on our way out of the country," Mason said, looking at the weapons, "Looks like Strader and company will get to deal with Bolantine in person."

"Think we can get back in time?" Karen asked him.

"No," Mason said, "But we should go back anyway. Bolantine is in the states and up to no good. Whether the nuke goes off or not, my guess is that he's up to something. We need to find out what."

"Come on down, Jim," Karen said, "Time to go home."

"About time," Jim groused, "I'm sick of the snow."

Chapter 65 - Let's Move

Colonel Strader pulled up outside the building in a nondescript SUV, probably about ten years old, followed closely by another one about the same age and a much newer one right close behind. The young man behind the wheel of the second older one got out and waved to Strader before jumping into the passenger seat of the new one and speeding off.

Cliff and Sienna walked out to take a look at the vehicles, with Cliff cocking a seriously questionable eye at Strader as he looked at the old pieces of junk that Glen had just bought for a song. Sienna stood with Cliff and shrugged her shoulders as she looked.

"What is this?" Cliff asked, "Year of the piece of shit?"

"We drive battle cruisers into Century City and we're fucked," Strader told him, "These will blend in and we're not out anything if they don't make it back."

"Why two?" Sienna asked him, "We splitting up?"

"Harry is still fighting with the Satellites," Cliff responded, "He said it's a rotten area and to expect a lot of searching."

"I figure we'll break into two teams for the searching," Strader agreed, "Once we find the nuke, we'll group together for the assault."

"Sounds like a plan," Cliff said, "At least you seem to be willing to include me."

"I need you two for this," Strader said, sitting down on the bumper, "We do need to talk though."

"Right," Cliff nodded, "What about?"

"Alone," Strader said, "Sienna, can you go help Kaczmarek with the weapons setup?"

Sienna didn't like it and looked at Cliff who nodded silently giving her leave to go. The relationship between those two still managed to give Strader the creeps, but he put that aside because he wanted to make sure that Cliff wouldn't get in the way. After her performance on the sub Strader knew that Sienna would be fine, but after several weeks of training he knew that Cliff's skills in weaponry were still sub-par.

"We need to talk about your role in this," Glen said, "You're still having problems with your weapons training."

"I'm not a brain-dead shooter like the rest of you guys," Cliff said, "I think, I dodge, and I don't particularly like guns."

"Guns are a fact of life in this business," Strader said, "The fact that you're not good with them makes you a liability on this mission."

"You need me out there," Cliff said, looking at Strader, "You're short handed to begin with and I know Bolantine's methods. I pretty much lived with the son of a bitch for a month."

"You're a civilian," Strader reminded him, "Two weeks of training doesn't make you a soldier."

"I have other skills," Cliff said, "Your team is good on the attack, but none of you are any good at diplomacy."

"Diplomacy is for politicians," Strader said, "We're soldiers here."

"You were a soldier," Cliff told him, "Greg is a kid who likes to blow things up. Toshi is a scientist that's in excellent shape and likes to play soldier. Anoki is a robot. This isn't a government institution anymore. You're a mercenary now. You work for money."

"That may be so," Strader nodded, "But I keep my team alive by imposing that type of discipline."

"Discipline?" Cliff asked, "You really are baked. I've read your reports. It reads like a cheap dime store novel. Hell, that's part of the reason I'm sticking around. It sounds like fun."

"Fun doesn't describe it," Strader grunted, "And if you think that's what fighting is, you need to have your head examined."

"I can be a help to you," Cliff told him, "I might not be any good on the front lines, but I'm great at other things."

"I know," Strader nodded, "That's why we're having this conversation. You're also lucky that I could have use of your mouth. But there are limits."

"Such as?" Cliff asked him.

"We're splitting into two teams," Strader instructed him, "Greg, Toshi and Anoki will be in one of these units. You and Sienna will be coming in with me."

"Sounds like fun," Cliff said, his tone saying otherwise, "At least you realized that Sienna won't go if I don't."

"I admit," Strader smiled, "That crossed my mind. She's probably even good enough to make up for you."

"So what did you want to say," Cliff said, "Just that we were working together?"

"No," Strader said, "If you fuck with me out there you are a dead man. You risk my life or the mission and I will kill you. Do you understand me? I don't give a shit about whose kid you are. Out there, you're one of the team or you are one of the enemy. There are no shades of gray."

"I'll remember that," Cliff said dryly, "Anything else?"

"Go help with the weapons," Strader instructed him, "We leave in thirty minutes."

"Right," Cliff said as he headed inside, "Glad to be working with you."

"We'll see about that," Strader said, watching him, "Somehow I'm not so sure."

Chapter 66 - Welcome to Century City

"Where are we?" Greg asked as he woke up, "Looks like a war zone out there."

"Welcome to Century City," Anoki said, looking around as she drove, "We're just entering the limits now."

"People live in this hole?" Toshi asked in surprise, "It looks like a nuclear warhead already did go off here."

"Century City is the result of years of bankruptcy and neglect," Anoki said, repeating some of what she learned from the internet, "Once a vital part of Los Angeles, it has quickly become a storehouse for the people that the federal government wants to forget about. Law enforcement is scarce and gangs are rampant."

"Sounds like a lovely vacation spot," Toshi said, "I guess that's why we're driving these pieces of shit."

"Most likely they won't survive the mission anyway," Anoki shrugged, "You'll notice that cars are scarce through here. They get stolen too often."

"So where are we going?" Toshi asked, "How do we find something in a place where you're more likely to get shot at than not."

"Harry has been scanning Century City," Anoki said, "He has four possibles. Unit one will check out two of them. We'll get the others."

"Why weren't we asked about this?" Greg asked her.

"The instructions were relayed to me over the satellite an hour ago," Anoki told him, "I figured I'd let you sleep. Toshi was too involved with her map study to be bothered, so I waited."

"Where are the possibles?" Toshi asked her, "And what type of resistance are we expecting?"

"Probably light," Anoki said, "We won't know until we get there, though."

"Human scans?" Toshi asked, "Or will that work in this area?"

"Too many people," Anoki said, "This area is teeming with people in buildings anywhere from five to thirty stories high. Harry had a hard time just getting possible locations for us. They may all turn out to be useless."

"Let's hope we find it then," Greg said, "I hate Century City. I grew up in the north suburbs of this area."

"You lived in this hellhole?" Toshi asked him, "How did you survive it?"

"I never came into this part of the city," Greg said, "I was a suburban white bread kid. Kids like me avoided this hole if they wanted to live long enough to get laid."

"I'd say you made the grade," Anoki said with a smile, earning a glare from Toshi in the back seat.

"Typical," Toshi muttered, "Let me know when we get closer. I'll set up the radiation scanners."

"We should be at the site in about ten minutes," Anoki told her, "We probably need to make this quick."

"I'll ready the weapons," Greg grinned, "I'm betting we will have to go in hard."

"Keep them hidden," Toshi told him from the back seat in the van, "You go in there with guns drawn and we will be descended upon."

"You should know that," Anoki reminded him, "Weren't there gangs here even when you lived in the area?"

"Nowhere near as bad as they are now," Greg said, "Only ones I ever dealt with were some gun dealers on the edge of Century City that I bought my parts from."

"Most kids look for drug dealers," Toshi sighed, "Figures you were looking for guns."

"I didn't get into guns until I got into the military," Greg said, "Until then I was mostly an explosives artist. The military corrupted me in that regard. Now, I love anything that goes bang."

"No comment," Toshi muttered, "Let's just get this over with."

Anoki said nothing and kept driving, their route taking them by a pair of lookouts standing on a corner. They had been warned to keep their eyes open for anything that didn't belong, and a van being driven by a diminutive female with a rather oversized passenger fit that category for this part of Century City.

"Lookout one to base," the man said, "We've got a van with a small woman driving and a large man in the back. They just passed us and appear to be heading to decoy location number one."

"Good," Bolantine said from his secure location about a half mile away, "That's one of the teams I've been waiting for. Can you follow them?"

"Willie can," the man said, "He's riding a bike, should be able to navigate the alleys faster than that van can go on these ruddy streets."

"Keep your eye out for another similar van," Bolantine told him, "I'm told that some old friends will be in there. It would be rude of me not to give them a proper welcome."

"Roger," the man said, "Any other instructions?"

"Yes," Bolantine said, "Tell your idiot friend to get moving."

"Roger and out," the man said then looked at Willie.

"Man," Willie said, "I don't think I want to know what the man considers a proper welcome."

"Me either," the first man said, "And if you don't want to find out, I suggest you go follow those crackers."

"Right," Willie said and took off on his bike.

Chapter 67 - A Bit of Scanning

"This is the place," Cliff said as he consulted his electronic map, "Looks like Harry might be off his mark though. Place looks like a hospital."

"Might have been one at some point," Glen said, looking out, "It's not one anymore though. LA County cut services here when the tax collectors stopped being able to collect here. Even the for profit places fled the area a decade ago."

"Probably at government request," Sienna said, "They've been trying to shut off this area for years."

"What makes you think that?" Glen asked her, "The government isn't in the business of screwing its citizens."

"Why do you think the police stopped coming here?" Sienna asked him, "This used to be a hotbed of rebellion against the government. Now it's merely a cesspool of crime and drugs. The only thing that actually travels in here is the armored busses that collect workers for the Company Factories."

"Is she always like this?" Glen asked Cliff.

"She absorbs facts like a sponge," Cliff shrugged, "Can we kindly check this place out and get out of here?"

"The highest concentration is inside," Sienna said, "Northeast corner."

"How do you know that?" Cliff asked her, "You psychic now?"

"Harry's sat scan caught it," Sienna said, "How do we do this?"

"Quick in and out," Strader said, "Cliff, you man the Geiger counter. I'll run point. Sienna, you cover our backs."

"Right," Sienna said, "Let's go see what the government hath wrought."

"You need some serious help, kid," Strader said, shaking his head, "Remind me to make you an appointment with the head shrinker when we get back."

"They all work for the CIA," Sienna said, "No sale, Colonel."

"Can we just get this over with?" Cliff asked them, "I feel like a sitting duck in this hole."

Little did the Strike team know their every word was being listened to by Bolantine from a secure position overlooking the entrance to the hospital. A smile crept on to his youthful face as he pushed back his long blonde hair. He looked down at Glen, Cliff and Sienna before commenting.

"As well you should," Bolantine said quietly, "Looks like the information is good. They're falling for the decoys."

"Only half those morons here dude," a young gang leader said, "You think we should take 'em now?"

"They'll be expecting an assault," Bolantine told him, "If you hit them head on your people will die quickly."

"My people..." The gang leader said before getting cut off.

"Your people are untrained thugs," Bolantine reminded him, "Strader alone could probably flatten a whole group of them. Cliff may be incompetent, but the girl isn't. That's not including the other three that are on their way to decoy site two."

"So what do you want us to do?" the leader asked.

"Let them fuck around in the hospital," Bolantine said, "Strip their vehicles. Make sure that when they find the need to retreat it's on foot."

"Yeah," the leader said, nodding, "We'll fuck them up good."

"Of course you will," Bolantine nodded, "I've armed you and gotten your enemies out of your way. Just have your people ready. If my little toys don't kill them, I want you to herd them towards the old train station."

"Sounds like I need some popcorn my man," the gang leader said, "If those bitches you scored are as lethal as you say, this could be fun."

"Don't get cozy," Bolantine said, "There's a lot that can still go wrong. Now go make sure that your idiots are ready."

"My boys are ready to roll," The leader assured Bolantine, "Any last instructions?"

"Keep out of the way," Bolantine said, "Your people are secondary. Let the girls do their job."

"Whatever you say," The leader said, shrugging, "It's your dollar."

Bolantine ignored the gang leader and kept his eyes on the hospital. It was about to get a bit hot in there and Bolantine had every intention of making it hotter. He leaned back and kept an eye on the hospital, wondering when the games would begin. He was hoping it would be soon.

Chapter 68 - Old School, Old Hospital, New Threat

"This place looks like an old high school," Greg said as they looked around, "Guess they gave up on trying to teach people in this hole."

"According to the records, they finally decided to keep the schools in a better area," Anoki said, "This building has been vacant for over ten years."

"Much like Greg's head," Toshi said dryly, "Let's get this over with. This place gives me the creeps. It's too quiet."

"Right," Greg said, "You take point, Toshi. You can do it easier than we can."

"Great," Toshi said, frowning at Greg, "You should do it though. You're the only one of us who has actually set foot in an American high school."

"I spent most of my time either in the chemistry lab or trying to skip school," Greg shrugged, "I blew mine up, remember?"

"I'll take point," Anoki said, "I'm better in the dark and I can run radiation readings."

"Any humans in the building?" Toshi asked Anoki, "Anything on the thermo or electrical scans?"

"Electrical scans are useless here," Anoki said, "Thermo is hazy because of the environment, but there are four people around the radiation source."

"Is the radiation source big enough to be a bomb?" Greg asked her.

"I don't know," Anoki said, "The feds classified those results. The radiation doesn't match a US manufactured weapon, but the one we're looking for is Russian."

"Makes sense," Greg nodded, "No reason you'd have data on a Russian weapon."

"I guess the only way to find out is to go in," Toshi sighed, "We can't go in guns blazing through there. We don't know if they are hostile or just idiots that happen to be near where Bolantine's people hid it."

"That definitely means I go first," Anoki told them, "I can take a few shots easier than you can."

"Let's go slowly," Greg nodded, "Use conventional so the plasma doesn't misfire and set off the nuke."

"Let the boss know before we go in," Toshi said, "That way we might have some backup."

"Talking to him now," Anoki nodded, "He's in much the same boat."

Colonel Strader was walking through the old hospital, which was in about the same condition as the old high school. Strader looked at Cliff and Sienna, both of whom looked around nervously in the dark interior of the old building.

"This is insane," Strader said, "Anoki has pretty much the same readings that we do."

"Great," Cliff said, "So we have two targets, both with four people. I don't like those odds."

"They're probably expecting us to regroup on one or the other," Sienna said, "We can play both ends against the middle and hit both sides at once."

"Four to three on both sides," Cliff said, "We could outnumber them if we hit one at a time."

"And if there are two bombs Bolantine still wins," Strader said, "Let's hit them both at once. I'm giving Anoki the go ahead for team two to hit."

"How do we do this?" Cliff asked, "I'm still not keen on these numbers."

"We go in slow and use mirrors to look ahead of us," Strader said, "Anything with a gun that isn't us gets shot. Get it?"

"Got it," Sienna nodded, "You lead or I lead?"

"I'll lead," Strader told them, "Sienna, you back me up. Cliff, you watch our backside. Anything moves, make it stop moving with a shot to the forehead."

"Or at least something in the vicinity," Sienna smiled, "As close as you can manage, ok Cliff?"

"I'll get you later," Cliff growled, "Let's just get this over with and get out of this hole."

"Right," Strader nodded, "Greg is getting ready to head team two in to their location. Let's get ready to rock and roll."

Bolantine watched both locations through the infrared camera setups that he had placed in both locations the day before, as soon as he heard that the Strike team had been notified about what he'd planned to do. He knew his information was good, a luxury that Bolantine knew his counterpart on the strike team didn't have. It was an advantage that he intended to play to the hilt.

"Are the vehicles disabled?" Bolantine asked the gang leader.

"They're in pieces," The gang leader nodded, "A little bonus for the front line troops."

"Good," Bolantine nodded, "They will be retreating sometime in the next half hour. Don't leave anyone in place for long. Your job is to herd them to where I want them to go. If you hold your ground, they will kill you."

"Where do you want them to go?" the leader asked, puzzled.

"To the train station," Bolantine grinned, "They have a date with oblivion."

Chapter 69 - Identically Deadly

Anoki was the one who noticed who was waiting for them first, but she didn't even see it until she had only one wall separating her and the heat signatures on the other side of the wall. By the time Anoki saw them for what they really were, it was too late to do anything more than shout.

"Tabiris!" Anoki yelled, "Take cover!"

"Welcome to my party," Bolantine said over a speaker, "You had fun with one. Let's see how you do against more of my little pretties."

"Shit," Greg growled, "Hit them with what you can, try not to get hit."

"Thanks for the obvious," Toshi growled at him, "You didn't bring any of those specials, did you?"

"I didn't expect to see them here!" Greg exclaimed as he ducked out of the way of the initial barrage from the Tabiri units, "Those were tailor made for the purpose. Only had two more anyway!"

"Colonel Strader," Anoki said through the com link, "Pull back if you can, we're being hit by Tabiri units!"

Glen Strader heard the warning, but they had already started the attack. Sienna saw the identical women and knew that something was hinky. She fired a few conventional rounds at them, sending the units scrambling. Cliff hit the dirty floor and fired a few shots at the units, their shots going over his head.

"Retreat!" Strader yelled, "We can't take these Frankenstein's monsters head on. One nearly killed me. Four is enough to kill all of us."

"Right you are," Bolantine said through the speaker, "Let's see how you can get out of this one."

Bolantine watched the action and wished he had brought popcorn. The fight was going on fairly well. He was hoping that one or two might be knocked off in the fight with the Tabiris, but he held little hope that it would be the end of the fight. If it was, it would be a disappointing fight card.

Anoki had the edge on fighting with the Tabiris because she knew their base AI, but these Tabiris were acting a bit differently. The problems with the earlier Tabiri unit were nowhere to be found for one, and they weren't following the same protocols. Anoki took a few plasma hits covering Greg and Toshi as they took cover in the old cafeteria kitchen.

"You guys ok?" Anoki said as she joined them, "Whoever worked on these Tabiris knew what they were doing. The AI is adjusted to the new instrument pack and they loaded additional tactical sets."

"We're fine," Greg said, "You're looking a little peaked though."

Greg took a few shots over the counter and looked up quickly, ducking a shot. Toshi threw a grenade over and the Tabiri's backed off, waiting for an opportunity. Anoki did a quick self check to make sure that none of her systems were damaged.

"Could be worse," Anoki said, "That new deflector they put in with my flesh pack has been working wonders."

"Your temperature is high," Toshi said, looking at Anoki through thermos, "Especially near your flesh pack. How is the flesh unit holding up?"

"Much more and flesh is going to start burning," Anoki said, "It's fine for now."

"This is coming from your flesh generator?" Greg asked her, "How hot is it?"

"Enough to burn you," Anoki said, "Much more and it might start becoming enough to burn me."

"Toshi," Greg said, "Did the units that were stolen for the Tabiris have that absorber in it?"

"Yes," Toshi nodded, "Why?"

"I'm still thinking," Greg said, "We need to get out of here."

"This place is a death trap," Anoki nodded, "I'm open to suggestions."

"Out would be nice," Toshi exclaimed, "Home would be better."

"I can get us out," Anoki said, "But that's not going to get the Babysitter's club out there off our backs."

"Keep them off my back for a few minutes," Greg said, looking at the old kitchen implements, "Let me come up with something."

"Yes, yes," Bolantine's voice came through the speakers, "Come up with something."

"God he's getting annoying," Greg said, "Too bad The Colonel didn't blow his head off back on the island."

The sentiments and the situation were much the same for Colonel Strader and the others in the old hospital. They were doing more of a running retreat because they didn't have the good defensive location that the school cafeteria afforded to Greg, Toshi and Anoki.

"They're toying with us," Strader said as they continued, "If they don't know where we are, Bolantine does. This was a fucking trap all the way through."

"I guess now is not the time for me to say I told you so," Cliff said between breaths.

"Not if you want to survive," Strader grunted, "We need to get out of this place."

"What about the bomb?" Sienna said, "We going to let it go?"

"That isn't a bomb," Cliff said, "He wouldn't waste it here."

"Not with just Tabiris," Glen agreed, "My guess is old medical waste that he used to simulate one. I still want to know how the hell he managed all this. This is insane. He knew we were coming and he was ready for us."

"The mole," Sienna said needlessly as she fired a few conventional rounds, "Now we know who they are working for."

"No time for that now," Cliff said, breathing a little hard, "How the hell do we throw those damned things off the scent?"

"I'd prefer to destroy them," Strader said, "Thing is, those things are damn near indestructible."

"They must have an Achilles heel somewhere," Cliff said, "Any ideas?"

"The AI," Sienna said, "Didn't you guys say that their AI had problems?"

"Shit," Strader said, smiling, "That's right. They didn't have the complete AI. Compared to the production models I dealt with these are fucking idiots."

"Not that the Tabiris were brain children to begin with," Cliff nodded, "So what do we do?"

"I wonder how smart Bolantine was," Strader said, "Sienna. You make a decoy run. I will get behind them and see if we can confuse them. They might start fighting each other."

"Doesn't their AI have safeguards against that?" Cliff asked, "You'd think that would be standard."

"They don't have the standard AI," Strader reminded him, "I'm gambling on the fact that Bolantine isn't bright enough to have written new code for that."

"Worth a shot," Cliff nodded, "What do you want me to do?"

"You take the front," Strader told him, "Find a good place for cover fire. Hit them in the eye area. It won't do a bit of good in the long run, but it will blind them long enough for Sienna and I to get into place."

"Do you think this will really work?" Cliff asked him.

"Do you have a better idea?" Strader asked him.

"Nope," Cliff agreed, "Where do we do this?"

"The lobby downstairs," Sienna told them, "The Tabiris are coming down now."

"Get into positions," Strader ordered, "Let's get ready to confuse some Tabiris."

While Strader's team was getting ready in the hospital lobby, Greg was still trying to figure out how to get them out of the cafeteria area in the high school alive. He was looking through the old cooking implements while Toshi and Anoki gave covering fire, trying to keep the Tabiri units at bay.

"Whatever you're going to do, Greg," Toshi spat as she dodged shots from the slowly advancing Tabiris, "I'd suggest you do it and do it quick!"

"How many floors above us, Anoki?" Greg asked her as he looked at some old stuff in the pantry, "And what building materials?"

"Three," Anoki said, "This is old construction, mostly steel and concrete. Well built, but getting old."

"Good," Greg said, not looking over, "Keep them at bay. I can build something that will bring the building down on them, but it's going to take me a little time."

"Time we don't have," Toshi told him, "They're getting bolder!"

"Need to do something to give them caution," Anoki said, "Need some way to stop one of them."

"I've still got my force sword," Toshi smiled, "They won't let me do it more than once, but a forceful hit should be able to cut through their midsection armor."

"Going to have to be a perfect shot," Anoki said, "And you'd take fire from the others."

"You could do it," Toshi suggested, "I can key it into your hand as well as mine."

"I can take the shots," Anoki nodded, "You'll have to fire a blinding sequence at the one I go after."

"Easy enough," Toshi nodded, making the adjustments to allow the sword to work for Anoki, "Here you go, chickie. Don't miss."

"She never misses," Greg said, still going through old kitchen supplies, "Good luck, Anoki."

Anoki took the sword and did a heat scan to figure out where the nearest Tabiri units were. She found one that was close and directly in view of the others. Toshi readied her plasma rifle and nodded at Anoki. Anoki jumped out and did a forward roll towards the Tabiri unit just as Toshi let off a rapid fire blast at the Tabiri unit's head.

Anoki knew the anatomy of a Tabiri as well as she did her own and rammed the force sword into the abdomen, slicing through the thick armor and neatly bisecting the simple neural net processor in half. The remaining Tabiris let off plasma blasts at Anoki, which merely bounced off her. Anoki turned off the force sword and went back behind the wall with Toshi as the dead Tabiri unit fell to the floor.

"One down," Toshi said, "Three to go!"

"I'm working on it," Greg said, "Buy me at least ten minutes."

"You have five," Anoki told him, "And even that may be pushing it."

"You don't rush genius," Greg muttered, "Did they push Picasso, did they rush Michelangelo, Did they hurry Hugh Hefner..."

"Since you're not in their league, you're being pushed," Toshi seethed, "Now hurry up!"

"She just doesn't understand," Greg sighed as he mixed components together.

While Greg was working on his masterpiece of destruction, the team in the hospital had nearly gotten into position. The Tabiris in the hospital were being a bit more cautious, as they hadn't quite figured out the numbers yet. Strader had slipped behind them and was waiting for Sienna and Cliff to get the job started.

These four Tabiri units were moving in formation, two by two, just as one of the open source military game modules loaded in them said they should be. Sienna began her decoy run, dodging shots from the Tabiri units when Cliff took two plasma pistols and managed to aim them at the two in the back. While the front units were shooting at Sienna, the two in the back were blinded. Colonel Strader slipped out and pulled the Tabiri's sidearms out of their holster, firing them at the front units, causing the simplistic AI to go into survival mode.

Strader himself dropped out of view as the Tabiris turned around. He was mostly out of the way when the front units attacked the rear units. Cliff stopped his blinding fire and rolled out of the way to let the fur start flying.

When the ones in front attacked the ones in back who they thought attacked them the group mode was broken. The Tabiri units started fighting each other in a free for all, one that precluded them from noticing the humans around watching them.

"How long do you think this will last?" Cliff asked Strader, "And how long should we watch?"

"We need to get out of here," Strader said, "They'll either figure it out or kill each other. I'd prefer to get out of here either way. Let's go."

"Good riddance," Cliff said, "You ok, Sienna?"

"Just a few nicks," Sienna nodded, "Let's get out and regroup."

Success was nice for Strader's team, but Toshi, Greg and Anoki were having problems of their own. Greg was fighting with the old kitchen ingredients trying to come up with something appropriately explosive. Toshi and Anoki continued firing shots to keep the Tabiri AI's amused and off the hunt.

"Greg," Toshi seethed, "You're running out of time."

"I got it," Greg said, "We just have to figure out a way to trigger the damn thing."

"What is it?" Anoki asked him.

"High explosive," Greg said, "If we can properly place it this whole place is coming down."

"Right on our heads," Toshi said, "I don't know if I like this."

"How high is this off the ground?" Greg asked Anoki.

"Twelve feet," Anoki said, "Why?"

"Give me a minute," Greg said, "We're going out the back while we bring the house down."

"What?" Toshi said, "Start making sense!"

"Thinnest point in the wall!" Greg ordered Anoki, "Now!"

"South side," Anoki said, looking at Greg, "I hope you know what you're doing."

"We'll see," Greg said, "Where's the pressure point in this building?"

"Other side of the Tabiris," Anoki said, "Two support beams. This building is in such bad shape you knock one you probably will knock the whole thing down on our head."

"This is going to be a timing game," Greg said as he worked the last of his thermite paste on the wall, "Anoki, I've managed a pressure switch on this bomb. I need your perfect pitch on it."

"What are you thinking?" Toshi asked him, "To blow the place down on us?"

"This will burn through," Greg said, "I intend to knock out the wall first so we can get out. Once the wall is down Anoki throws and gets out."

"What if she doesn't?" Toshi asked.

"Then you restore my brain from a backup when you get home," Anoki said, "It's not a great plan, but it's the only one we have."

"Let's get it over with," Toshi said, "What do I do?"

"Get ready to jump," Greg told her, "Get in position."

"Do it quick," Anoki said, "When I throw this they won't wait to charge."

"On three," Greg said, getting his clicker ready, "When I let this off, it'll take mere seconds to burn through. When it does, I'll break through. Toshi, you get out as soon as I go out."

"Right," Toshi nodded, "Anoki, don't throw until we are out."

"Start the count," Anoki nodded, "I'll make it out."

"One," Greg said, looking nervous, "Two..."

"Get it over with," Toshi growled.

"Three!" Greg yelled and pressed the clicker on the thermite.

The thermite charge went off and burned through the brick and concrete at temperatures hot enough to almost set the concrete on fire. As soon as it mostly burned through the wall Greg let off a kick that shattered the wall. Toshi did a forward flip through the hole and hit the ground running. Greg wasn't as graceful, but he was out almost as quick, prompting Anoki to throw the bomb at the support.

"Sayonara Yugo wenches!" Anoki yelled as she turned and launched herself towards the hole in the wall.

The bomb that Greg put together clattered against the support right where Anoki wanted it to and fell to the floor. The Tabiri units had just enough time to see the bomb hit the floor and almost determine what it was before it went off, shattering the two concrete supports. The pressure from the blast launched Anoki through the hole just as she reached it.

The loss of those central supports and the shockwave from the blast caused the wing of the old school to implode, causing tons of concrete and metal to fall down on the three remaining Tabiri units. The basic AI they had didn't have the self preservation skills necessary to save them, and when the supports below them gave out from the falling debris from above the Tabiri units were crushed into scrap metal.

"Toshi," Greg said, "Anoki! You guys all right?"

"Proto suit saved my ass," Toshi said, brushing herself off, "You ok?"

"I'll live," Greg shrugged, "Anoki!"

"I'm fine," Anoki said through the com link, "Though I'd appreciate it if you could get me out of here."

Greg and Toshi looked for Anoki and finally located her where she landed, tangled in the upper bars of an old Jungle Gym. Anoki was mostly free when they got there, but she didn't have the leverage to get herself all the way out. Greg went up behind her and gave the push she needed to get untangled form the bars.

"What now?" Anoki asked, standing up and taking stock.

"Let's find the car," Greg said, "We need to meet up with the boss."

"Somehow," Anoki said, pointing at the remains of their vehicle down the way, "I don't think it's going to be that easy."

Greg and Toshi looked at the stripped vehicle and more importantly at the growing crowd that was building behind it. They then looked at each other and gulped. They weren't in Kansas anymore and Toto was missing in action.

Chapter 70 - Gangland Run

"This is not good," Cliff said, looking at the remains of their vehicle, which had been destroyed as thoroughly as the other team's, "What do we do now?"

"I'd suggest running," Sienna said, pointing past, "There are gang members heading our way."

"Greg, Anoki and Toshi are heading south as well," Glen said, "Let's go through the building and make sure that is no bomb, then we'll meet them south of here."

They entered the building and went around the room where the remaining Tabiri units were fighting. The gang stopped at the entrance of the hospital at the instructions of their leader. Bolantine looked at the hospital and nodded with satisfaction.

"Keep your people back," Bolantine grinned, "I want them to keep heading in that direction. I've got a surprise waiting for them."

"Hope it works better than the Tabiris did," the gang leader said.

"The Tabiris did their job," Bolantine shrugged, "And it was fun to watch."

"Whatever," the gang leader said, certain now that Bolantine was crazy, "Still a waste of time."

"We have a few hours yet," Bolantine shrugged, "We want to wait until people are settled down anyway."

"Settled down for what?" the leader said, "Just what are you planning?"

"There's going to be a hot time," Bolantine said, an evil smirk forming, "In the old town tonight."

While Bolantine was gloating over his plans and the success of them so far, Colonel Strader walked into the room where the radiation readings were coming from. He sighed and looked at Cliff and Sienna. Cliff took one look at the thing and broke out laughing.

"Bolantine may be an asshole," Cliff said as he laughed, "But the man does have a sense of humor."

"What is it?" Sienna asked them.

"Looks like X-Ray material," Glen said, "Artfully arranged, to be sure."

Bolantine had put enough radioactive elements from X-Ray machines together to simulate the background radiation count of a nuclear weapon, counting on the fact that Strader's people would look for the signature. He also knew that if they made it in this room then the Tabiris had failed, so Bolantine left a message.

"Congratulations on beating my toys," Strader read, "Now let's see if you can get out of Century City alive!"

"What does he mean by that?" Sienna asked them.

"It means he's probably responsible for the gang activity and the destruction of our vehicle," Strader said, "We shouldn't have split up like this. We need to meet the others and figure out how to getting the bomb."

"I'm more concerned with getting out of this place," Cliff said, "How do we know he even has one?"

"I don't think he'd go through all this trouble just for us," Strader said, "Most likely this was just a way to jerk us off while he planted the weapon where he wanted it."

"He's doing a damn good job," Cliff told him, "Those gang members out there are getting rowdy. We're better equipped, but they may be able to overwhelm us by sheer numbers."

"We'll also be branded mass murderers if we wipe them out," Sienna said, "I've counted at least a hundred."

"Let's get out of here," Strader said, "They're coming from the north. That means we should probably go south and meet up with the others."

"You still in contact with them?" Cliff asked him.

"Anoki said that they're about two clicks south," Strader told them, "If we hurry up we can catch them."

"Let's go," Sienna said, "Anything beats here."

Bolantine watched as they left the security grid. He nodded appreciatively and left the building he had been playing from. The four remaining Tabiri units were waiting for him, standing in a protective formation around the old gasoline powered military truck. Bolantine nodded at the Tabiris and then climbed into the back of the truck to check on its cargo.

"Why are you using one of these?" the gang leader said as he climbed up with Bolantine, "Gasoline is a hard thing to find nowadays."

"Because you don't carry nuclear weapons in electric vehicles," Bolantine said as he made sure the trigger casing was still intact, "The static electricity conductivity has a nasty habit of setting them off."

"Nuclear weapons?" the gang leader said, "What are you planning on doing?"

"Giving this hole a proper sendoff," Bolantine shrugged, "All in all, a high explosive community rebuilding project."

"You're insane!" the gang leader said, "We'll all be killed!"

"Not all," Bolantine said, "You maybe. I'll still be around."

Bolantine pulled his pistol out and shot the gang leader in the head, watching the young man's body fall down in the truck before he could even pull out a weapon. This had been Bolantine's plan the whole time, as he knew the gangs would never sit still and let him nuke their home. Without the leader, the gangs would continue the pursuit for hours, by which time Bolantine will be on his way out and Century City would be a memory.

"Tabiri units," Bolantine ordered, "Unit one, take the driver's seat. Unit two, take the passenger side, shoot anyone that approaches. Units three and four, get in the back and protect the package. Do not shoot at the package and throw yourself in the way to protect it if necessary."

The Tabiri units wordlessly complied with his orders. Bolantine himself sat in the front between the two units, relying on them for protection from anything that happened outside. Once he was in position, he pulled out a satellite telephone unit and started dialing.

"Drive to position three," Bolantine told unit one, "Take it slow and easy and avoid areas with fighting."

"Check," the Tabiri said and started the car.

"This is Bolantine," he said into the phone, "So far your information is good. The Strike team is on the run. I need you to do another thing though."

Bolantine listened to the voice on the other side and smiled. He was getting bitched at, but he was having too good a time to give a rat's ass. Once the bitch fest finished, he paused and shook his head.

"I know you're risking your cover," Bolantine said, shaking his head, "I'm toting a nuclear weapon all over hell and back. This should be easy for you. I need you to feed that communication's virus into the system there. Cut their connection to home so they can't report what I'm up to."

Bolantine moved the phone from his ear for a minute and chuckled as the bitching continued.

"Listen," Bolantine said, "You weren't the one who had to endure a four hundred mile tsunami ride because of that asshole. Just do it. I'll call you when I'm out."

Bolantine put down the phone and sat back, rubbing his temples. Being an evil genius was hard work, but it did have some benefits. He just couldn't wait to see what the end of three million lives looked like.

"Eternity," Bolantine said, smiling, "Here I come!"

Chapter 71 - Losing Contact

"I take it that it's going bad out there," Harry Haldeman said over the com link, "Greg's team is about a half click south of you. The scans are clear. You should be able to make an end run and meet him."

"On our way now," Strader said through the com, "See if you can find the real weapon, will you?"

"Trying," Harry promised, "Damned Satellite is old and there's a lot of crap in that area."

"I know," Strader agreed, "Get security looking double time for that mole. Those damned Tabiri units nearly killed us again. Bolantine knew just where to find us too, he was even gloating. I swear, I'd like another shot at that son of a bitch."

"Save it for later," Harry agreed, "Stopping the bomb is more important."

"Right," Strader agreed, "Once we meet up with Greg we'll call in for..."

Before Glen Strader could finish the sentence the lights on Haldeman's communications panel started going insane. Harry started pressing buttons and hitting keys on his keyboard to try to figure out what was causing the interruption.

"Shit!" Harry said as he saw it, "Security! Close the main scientific computer grids! Someone released a nanovirus into our system! It just ate the goddamned communications grid!"

Harry started programming quickly. Nanoviruses were the latest tools of hackers. They were nasty, almost sentient critters they adapted faster than most administrators could deal with, let alone figure out how to stop them. They were introduced into local systems and were carried into the system via tiny electrical nanites that intercepted data as it moved from processor to processor, changing it to do whatever the virus's designer wanted it to do.

Harry had seen them before, and even designed a few in his off time to learn how they worked. Unfortunately, the only way to clean them out was to completely flush the electrical system with a counter-virus agent, one specially designed to destroy the malignant nanomachines. This was a time-consuming process at best, and whoever had released the virus into this system did it just right. The communications in the base would be down for hours from this.

"Seal the exits," he ordered, "Nano-viruses can't travel over outward networks. The switches kill them. This had to be released locally. I think our mole just struck again."

"Sir," a young security officer said, "The logs are jammed up. The nano-virus wiped them out specifically, along with all the communications codecs. Do you want me to try to open the secondary communications channel to the satellite?"

"No," Harry said, "Shut everything down and run the nanoscans. If you turn on that secondary circuit it is dead too. The only thing we can do is find out what dumb son of a bitch released it and clean the system."

"But Colonel Strader..." the young man said.

"Colonel Strader has just been cut off. We can't even get the security codes out of the system to send to Reno by car," Harry Haldeman growled, "Get started on that scan. I will begin writing the anti-virus code. Let's just hope Glen is still there when we can get this mess running again."

"Yes sir," the security officer said and ran off to follow orders.

"Well," Harry said, "You won another round, Bolantine. You won't win the war though. We're going to take you down you son of a bitch."

With that, Harry Haldeman went back to his monitor and began pounding out code. He had a feeling it would be a long night.

Chapter 72 - The Train Yard

"This is insane," Greg said, "How the hell did Bolantine know we were going to be here."

"The same person who gave him twelve Tabiris," Glen said, "I'm still wondering where the other four are."

"Probably around the real bomb," Toshi said, "One of the other locations must be it."

"All the scans were identical," Anoki said, "Should be the same stuff. We know now that isn't the weapon."

"All that means is that he has it under wraps somewhere," Cliff said as he jogged, "Now that we're all together can we get the hell out of here now?"

"You want to walk all the way out?" Toshi asked him.

"I was thinking more like run," Cliff replied, "Preferably never to return."

"I hate to say it, boss," Greg said, "But Cliff may not have a bad idea. This place is hell and might be better off flattened by a nuke."

"I will forget you said that," Glen told him, "It may be a moot point. We're being herded around by that gang."

"I still want to know what happened to Harry," Toshi said, "It's not like him to go off the grid like this."

"Nothing we can do about it right now," Glen sighed, "We need to get to a more defensible area then try to figure out where the hell Bolantine is going."

"I don't think that's going to be all that big a problem," Anoki said, "I think he's herding us."

"Explain," Greg asked her.

"We've been going away from the gangs," Anoki explained, "Because we can't afford to kill civilians. Bolantine would have known this. The gangs never really approached much, just gave the impression of it."

"Son of a bitch," Strader said, "They're also coming en masse from different directions. Bolantine is trying to herd us in somewhere. The question is where."

"Away from the weapon?" Sienna asked hopefully.

"That's possible," Strader said, "But I doubt it."

"Not in his make up," Cliff said, "I spent a month dealing with that lunatic. He likes games too much. Typical evil genius type."

"I'm thinking trap," Toshi suggested, "He's probably still pissed from what we did to him in China."

"So which way do we go?" Greg asked, "Where he's herding us or do we cut through the gang?"

"Too many corpses if we go through the gang," Glen said, "I'm always up for adventure. Let's go for it. I have a feeling we'll learn more from his trap than we will by breaking out."

"You like to live dangerously," Greg said, "Bolantine has every reason to want our hides."

"All the more reason to go in," Toshi said, "He's pissed. That gives us an advantage."

"He who angers you conquers you," Anoki said, "That will be his downfall."

"You're getting philosophical on us today, kid," Greg chuckled.

"It was said by Elizabeth Kenny," Sienna said, "Don't remember where or why."

"Good memory," Anoki complimented, "Still doesn't help us figure out what to do."

"He's been herding us south," Glen told them, "We didn't have any gang interference until we tried to go west. Do you still have maps loaded, Anoki?"

"The latest satellite scans," Anoki nodded, "What do you want to know?"

"What is still standing south of here," he asked her, "Anything important?"

"Several apartment buildings," Anoki said, consulting her internal memory, "Four abandoned high rise buildings, all condemned and probably home to these gang members. The only other thing that's notable in that part of Century City is the train depot."

"Any activity there?" Glen asked her, "Or anywhere else south of us?"

"The pictures I have are 24 hours old," Anoki said, "When the link to home base went down so did my connections to the satellites."

"Was there any activity on those pictures?" Toshi asked her.

"Yes," Anoki said after a thought, "It looks like someone is preparing a train to roll."

"I thought the trains stopped running in here years ago," Greg said, "Why would a train be prepared?"

"Bolantine?" Cliff asked, "But the question is why."

"Which way is the train pointing?" Sienna asked Anoki.

"West," Anoki said, "Looks like four cars that I can see, maybe more under the roof."

"What the hell is west from here?" Cliff asked, "Christ, we're almost in the Pacific Ocean as it is."

"Holy shit," Toshi said, "Is that the rail line they used..."

"To build the southwest water system," Greg said, his eyes going wide, "Holy Christ..."

"The southwest water system?" Cliff asked, "What is that?"

"A few years back the State of California came up with a novel way to fix their water shortage problems," Glen explained, "They created a massive reservoir. It's filled with water by a desalination plant, rain and inflow from the river. The output of the waste water treatment plants goes in there as well. It took over the whole of Topanga State Park."

"Conservationists had a cow," Toshi nodded, "But it turned out well. That reservoir has been supplying all of southern California with water ever since."

"I must have been out of the country at the time," Cliff said, "But what does that have to do with Bolantine? Topanga is too far away from the factories for it to do any real damage. A bit of fall out maybe, but that's it. Hell, it won't even touch Century City from there if it's under a Kiloton."

"How well guarded is that water system?" Glen asked Anoki, "Do you have any records on that?"

"Very well," Anoki said, "Makes Fort Knox look like an easy target."

"That train line," Greg said, "I lived in the area when the planning and construction began. It was used to bring materials up there. Still is, actually. They just closed off the spur that goes into Century City."

"That's how he plans to do it," Glen said, "Son of a bitch isn't wasting it on a low rent target like Century City proper. He's going after the water supply."

"Set a nuke off there not only is most of the water gone, but what's left is rendered useless," Toshi said, "But how does that hurt us directly?"

"I don't know," Glen admitted, "Let's go to the train yard. That's the only place we're going to find some answers."

"Our orders say not to play police," Cliff said, "The feds will care about this. Let them handle Bolantine."

"Chicken," Toshi said.

"Realist," Cliff shrugged, "We don't belong here."

"Moot point, Cliff," Greg said, "Our communications are cut and our vehicles have been destroyed. We couldn't get out of here before the bomb goes off."

"So into the belly of the lion we go?" Cliff said, "That makes less sense! We should be making tracks away from this place."

"That means going through the gangs," Sienna reminded him, "Not a great alternative."

"We might live longer, but if we did I don't think any of us would enjoy it," Glen said, looking at them, "Let's go to the train yard. Let him spring his trap. We'll shove it up his immortal ass."

"Hear, hear," Greg said, "Let's get them."

The team was in total agreement, though Cliff wasn't quite so sure.

Chapter 73 - Bolantine's Trap

"Are they on the way?" Bolantine asked one of the gang members stationed at the train, "Heading in this direction?"

"Yep," the younger man said, "Where's the boss? I thought he was with you."

"He's back at the hospital," Bolantine lied, covering up the fact that he'd killed the leader, "Now where are the targets?"

"Heading straight this way," he said, "They were going around and trying to determine where to go, but now they're making a bee line here."

"Good," Bolantine said, "Let them come into the station. We're almost ready."

"For what?" the gang member asked, "I still don't get this."

"You don't have to," Bolantine said, "Just get your people ready to press. When Strader's people come into the train station, you guys will make an assault. Push them towards the train. I'll handle the rest."

"What if we start having people killed?" the member asked.

"You won't," Bolantine said, "Strader is a do-gooder. He'll run instead of fighting you. Keep advancing until they go into the train."

"What makes you think they'll go in?"

"Do I have to spell it all out for you?" Bolantine asked them, "That's why your people will be making a push. Your job is to make it so that he has no choice."

"That's a big risk," the gang man said, "Did Chucky actually OK this?"

"He did when I told him that I'd arranged an extra ten million for your people," Bolantine smiled, "It's in the gang account down in Panama."

"Sweet," the gangster nodded, "I guess we're being paid well enough for it. I guess we'd better go get ready."

"Wait a minute," Bolantine said, "You said they were heading directly here?"

"They stopped for a few," the gangster told him, "When they finished talking they started making tracks here."

"Shit," Bolantine said, "I'm running out of time. Get your people ready."

"Yep," the gangster nodded, "They should be here in thirty minutes."

Bolantine went back to the truck and nodded at the Tabiri units. They stood at attention and waited for the orders to come. Bolantine smiled and wished he could get more of these things.

"Units three and four, get the weapon into car two," Bolantine ordered, "Quick. We're running out of time. I want it set up and ready to program."

Bolantine watched as the two Tabiri units took the bomb out of the truck. He then turned his attention to the two remaining Tabiri units. It was time to set them up to do his dirty work for them.

"Unit one," Bolantine said, "Set up the command loader unit. Unit two, help unit one. Double time."

The command loader unit was set up behind the truck within three minutes. Bolantine smiled and turned on the unit, looking to see whether the right module was available. This command unit gave a list of open and freeware modules, many of which are still in use in the Pike series military droid.

"Train Engineer," Bolantine said as he found it in the listing, "Unit one, accept module upload from command unit."

"Ready to accept module," The Tabiri said in her toneless voice.

Bolantine hit a few buttons and the information shot into the Tabiri's little brain. Within seconds, she was ready to drive a train, though she didn't know what for or why. This was a good thing as far as Bolantine was concerned. The less said the better.

"Go complete startup procedures on the train," Bolantine ordered, "Get it ready to run, but await my orders before going anywhere."

"Unit two," Bolantine said, "Follow me to the bomb car."

Bolantine and the Tabiri jogged over to the second car and found that the two Tabiri units had finished setting up the bomb unit. Bolantine went over and turned it on, running through the diagnostic checks. He punched a few buttons and set up the programs he created a few days previous.

"All right," Bolantine told Tabiri two, "Your job is to stay here and make sure this goes off as scheduled. This is the failsafe timer. You will set it off by using the manual switch here either a full fifteen minutes before the timer ends or when you come within 25 yards of the reservoir, whichever comes first."

Bolantine started the timer and gave it an hour. He figured he could be miles away when the Tabiri set off the unit. He loved these little buggers, and the fact that they'd do exactly what he told them, right up to the point where they'd set off a weapon that would completely erase their existence.

Bolantine sat down at the command module punched up the ones for flight modules. He found the correct one for the helicopter that he had parked down the line and loaded up both Tabiri units with the information, just to be on the safe side. He also found a few freeware modules that the scientists had ginned up to make the units more interesting, and to test how realistic they could be in bed.

"All right ladies," Bolantine said, "Take the truck to the helicopter pad and move the command unit to the helicopter. Get the helicopter up and running and ready to go. Be ready to leave as soon as I get in and give the order."

The Tabiri units drove the truck and Bolantine went over to the bomb car one last time to double check on everything. The Tabiri was waiting and keeping her eyes on the timer. Bolantine locked all the doors on the train and closed the main door. He then spent a few more minutes going over the preparations, waiting for one of the gang members to come over.

"They are nearly to the gates," one of the gang members said, "What do you want us to do?"

"Follow the plan," Bolantine said, "Keep pushing until they get to the train and I give the order to stop. If they slow down, push harder."

"Yes sir," the kid said, "See you later."

"Don't bet on it," Bolantine chuckled and headed over to the dispatch office.

Bolantine went over to the dispatch office and turned on his cameras. He'd been planning this for over a week and it was time to reap the rewards. He focused one of the overhead cameras and picked up Strader's team as they ducked the shots from the gang members.

"You passed level one," Bolantine grinned at the monitor, "Now let's see if you can get to level two. I promise you'll have a hot time if you do."

Chapter 74 - Springing the Trap

"They're advancing faster!" Greg yelled, "Sure you don't want me to blow a few up?"

"That'll piss them off even more!" Cliff yelled, still running, "We need a place to hole up."

"Only route we have is in the train yard," Anoki informed them, "They're closing in and forcing us in."

"In the train yard we go!" Colonel Strader yelled, "Look for the train. If they don't stop, we can use it for cover and start shooting back."

"If nothing else this may work to our advantage," Anoki said, "If the hordes stop the train, maybe it'll go off here instead of at the reservoir."

"How is that to our advantage?" Greg asked her, "We'd be toast!"

"Better to be toast in Century City than to let Bolantine toast the water supply for California," Toshi said, shrugging, "Isn't it?"

"I'd rather survive," Cliff quipped, "Thank you."

"We don't have a choice," Strader told them, "Keep moving!"

The group didn't like it, but they kept moving to the train. The horde of gang members continued advancing towards them, shooting and throwing rocks at Strader's team. The gang continued moving, the original orders from Bolantine almost forgotten. It was a true mob mentality, resulting in quite a few dead members, though none of them had been killed directly by the Strike Team.

"This is one of the old transport trains," Greg said, "Solid armor, designed to move troops and equipment."

"Will it deflect bullets?" Cliff asked him hopefully, "I'm sick of getting shot at!"

"Hell, it would probably contain anything short of that nuke," Greg told him, "Probably the best place to hole up."

"Everyone inside!" Strader yelled, making a snap command decision, "We'll set up a defense here. Since they won't let off, we'll shoot enough to make them lose hope. If nothing else, this is a good place to defend."

"Also," Toshi said, "If we're fighting here, Bolantine can't use it to clobber the Topanga Reservoir."

"Let's do it!" Sienna yelled, jumping up into the heavily armored car and firing weak plasma blasts to warn the gang off, "Come on in!"

Toshi didn't have to be told twice, she jumped into the car and got out of the way. Cliff joined Sienna and worked on un-jamming his weapon that had thrown a shell on the last burst. Greg and Anoki laid cover fire as Glen went inside. Greg followed soon after and Anoki did a backwards flip into the box.

"Keep firing," Glen ordered Anoki, "We need to get them off our backs."

"Let me do that for you," Bolantine said through a speaker as he pushed a button, "The least I can do for a friend."

Before the strike team knew it the front sliding door rammed itself closed, catching Anoki's right foot in it. The mechanism that Bolantine had put on the door was very powerful, removing her boot and half of her titanium foot. Strader tried to go for one of the other doors, but every entrance and exit to the car was automatically sealed.

"Thank you for cooperating," Bolantine said, his image appearing on a plasma screen that lit up on the far wall, throwing a pale light illumination on the strike team, "You fell for the bogus bombs like I thought you would, and then my idiotic friends out there directed you right where I wanted you."

"I knew it," Cliff grumbled, "He was herding us."

"Very true, young Mr. Remordis," Bolantine said, "You should have stayed with me on the Island. You and your little bitch might have lived longer."

"We're not dead yet, Bolantine," Strader said, "We'll get out of here in no time."

"You've got thirty minutes," Bolantine said, smiling, "That's a titanium lined car, designed to withstand massive artillery shelling. Your friend is good with explosives, but by the time he can whip up something powerful enough to get though that thing, you'll all be fallout over southern California."

"You're insane, you know that," Toshi said, "Why do you want to kill the reservoir and millions of people?"

"Because it's fun," Bolantine told them, "It will also put you and most of my competition out of business. Century City alone could only help matters. Wiping out LA entirely and dooming the rest of California to eternal drought however, well that changes the economic landscape to my advantage."

"Don't you have enough, Bolantine?" Anoki asked him, "You're a smart man. You can have whatever you want."

"I know that," Bolantine told them, "What I want right now is to see LA go down in a flood of water. It'll be nice to watch."

"You are immortal," Strader said, "But you aren't invulnerable. You will be brought down."

"I'll be back," Bolantine reminded him, "It's taken me a decade to get back up to strength, but time I have in abundance. As for you, time is running out."

Bolantine muted the audio to the train camera and gave the Tabiri the order to start the train and run it full blast towards the reservoir. As the engine rumbled and the Strike team felt the car move Bolantine turned on the microphone to say some parting words to them.

"Your final journey has started," Bolantine said, "I'll be sure to drink a toast to your corpse."

"As we will for you," Strader told him, "Count on it."

"Always the glib words," Bolantine said, "You're just like your father and grandfather. Your Grandfather spoke in the same cryptic tones. At least he did before I killed him. Too bad you're the last of your line. Killing Straders has always been fun."

"You haven't seen the last of me," Strader promised.

"Right," Bolantine said as he turned off the monitor, "Let's see you get out of this one."

Bolantine jumped down from his post and ran over to the helicopter. The gangs were still trying to figure out what to do next, so they didn't even notice as Bolantine jumped into the helicopter next to the Tabiri unit in the pilot's seat.

"Get this bird off the ground," Bolantine said, "Head east. We'll figure out where when the bomb goes off."

The Tabiri didn't say a word, merely turned started the motors all the way and lifted the rotary wing craft off the ground. Bolantine watched out the window as the train picked up speed and headed to the reservoir. It had a date with destiny, one that Bolantine intended to ride for all its worth.

Chapter 74 - Nuclear Train

"If nothing else this will be a good place to defend," Cliff said, mocking Glen, "We just played into his hands."

"Trapped in the dark in a sealed train car," Greg said, "It doesn't look good, boss."

"Anoki," Glen said, "You can see in the dark. Look for doors."

"All sealed," Anoki said, "We need to find a way out other than the doors."

"Greg," Glen said, changing tacks, "Do you have something that will go through titanium?"

"Not without creating a back blast that would kill us all," Greg said, shaking his head, "I used my last thermite charge back in the old school."

"Bolantine really did a number on us this time," Toshi sighed, "We've got approximately thirty minutes before this train gets into the reservoir area, at which time you can bet that bomb will be going off."

"We need to stop the train before then," Glen said, "I will not let myself lose to him like this!"

"We don't have a choice, Colonel," Cliff said, slumping down in a corner, "He beat us. We're locked away, probably one or two cars away from the damned bomb."

Sienna said nothing and went over to Cliff, sliding down and laying her head down in his lap. She wasn't exactly scared, but she didn't like the feeling of not being able to do anything. Toshi looked around nervously and Glen paced the walls.

"Do we have anything at all that could get through any of this?" Glen asked in exasperation, "Just enough to get out?"

"Plasma might do it," Greg said, "If we could find a place thin enough. The backblast would kill us."

"It would kill you," Anoki said, "Wouldn't do anything more than cook my outer skin. The new flesh generator might even prevent that possibility."

"Anoki," Glen said, with a smile on his face, "I think I love you."

"That's Greg's line," Toshi mumbled, going unnoticed in the darkness.

"This is a mark three U.S. Government war train supply car," Sienna told them, barely even looking up, "Created for the CIA to carry their nuclear arsenal back in the 1990's. It's designed to take a 500 pound bomb directly without the nuke going off."

"How the hell did you know that?" Greg asked her, "And does it help?"

"It was a success in most ways," Sienna continued, "But in some of the tests it lost the upper hatch covers. They weren't as strong as the rest of the unit."

"That may be our ticket out," Glen said, "Find one of those hatch covers, Anoki."

Anoki's broken foot made a scratching noise as she dragged it over and found the cover. It may not have been as strong as the rest of the car, but it was still a good two inches of titanium alloy. She looked at it using every mode that she had, and couldn't get a thickness reading.

"I can't get a reading out of it," Anoki said, "But if Sienna is right, that's probably the way to go."

"If we let off that much plasma in here it's going to get hot as hell," Greg warned, "Anoki is going to be scorched."

"That's what she's here for," Cliff said, "Now let's get it moving."

"Use my BFG," Greg suggested, "It puts out a higher level of plasma blast than the one you're carrying."

"Ok," Glen said, "Anoki, do it on the one closest to the front. I want the rest of you in the back so that the back blast doesn't get you too."

Everyone crowded into the back end of the car and shielded their eyes. Anoki turned her vision to a mode that would not be overloaded by the bright light and set her body in a position that wouldn't easily be knocked over by the power of the weapon. Her titanium body was a better match for this than Greg's was, but the weapon was built especially for his frame, a frame some 100 pounds heavier and eighteen inches taller.

"Get ready," Anoki said, "I've dialed it up to maximum. I'm going to empty the cartridge and hopefully get the thing open. It's going to get hot."

"Stop yapping and do it!" Cliff yelled, earning a quick slap from Greg.

"Shut up and she will," Greg told him.

Anoki stopped waiting and pulled the trigger. The oversized weapon let loose its massive stream of plasma at close range on the titanium hatch cover. The deflector kept the worst of it away for a while, but after a bit of time the unit burned itself up and Anoki's flesh began burning. It took two full minutes for the cartridge to exhaust itself and finally burn out both the cartridge and the gun. When she was done there was a hole in the hatch about 20 inches around.

"You can turn around," Anoki said, "We're open!"

"That's all we got out of it?" Glen asked, "Damn, no way Greg is getting out of that."

"Not getting a repeat," Anoki told him, "The gun ate itself at the end."

Greg looked at his beloved BFG and just shook his head. He knew he'd have to redesign it to make sure that this never happened again when or if he got home. Anoki dropped it on the floor and looked up at the hole again.

"I can get through it," Anoki said, "So can Toshi and Sienna."

"It'll take me a bit more work," Cliff said, "I can probably make it through as well."

"No way in hell I'm getting through that," Greg said, "You either, Boss. How are we going to disarm the damn thing?"

"Greg," Anoki said, "If you can free your mind enough you can take control of my arms and eyes through the com link."

"That's dangerous," Glen said, "I've seen people die from screwing that up before."

"That was with a Tabiri," Toshi said, "Anoki is a stable sentience. She may be able to prevent those problems."

"You just have to trust me, Greg," Anoki said to him, "But we don't have much of a choice."

"I'll do it," Greg nodded, "Let's get moving. If you don't find the bomb quickly I won't have time to disarm it."

"Sienna," Glen said as Anoki started to climb, "Do you know how to stop one of these?"

"Yes," Sienna said without hesitation, "Why?"

"Toshi and Anoki will look for the bomb," Glen said, "You and Cliff try to get to the engine. Stop this damned death trap before we kill someone."

"Right," Sienna nodded, "Ready, Cliff?"

"No," Cliff said honestly, "But let's do it."

Toshi was the next one out, helped out by Greg who was tall enough to touch the ceiling. Sienna went out next, crawling out and trying to stay atop the rapidly moving train. Cliff was the last one out, barely squeezing through the hole. Strader sighed and looked at Greg.

"Lie down and start doing the mind exercises," Glen instructed Greg, "This is dangerous enough without the distractions. You need to have your mind clear for this to work."

"Right," Greg said, "Watch over my bones, will you?"

"You know it, guy," Glen nodded, "Do some good work."

"Only if they do theirs first," Greg said, lying down and closing his eyes.

Life was not pleasant on top of the train. The Tabiri unit was pushing the train as fast as the engine would carry it, nearly sixty miles an hour. This made movement difficult at best, dangerous at worst. Anoki was even having trouble, though this was more due to her bad foot than the wind resistance. Toshi and Sienna were crawling on all fours to reduce the wind resistance.

"This is insane!" Cliff yelled, "We're going to get swept off by the wind!"

"We don't have time for that!" Toshi yelled, "Keep moving, Cliff!"

"Keep low," Sienna said, "The lower you stay, the less the wind holds you back."

It was a surreal sight, watching the four of them try to traverse the train. Anoki looked positively ghastly, as the heat had cooked the skin on her head and arms, making her look like a walking fire victim. Cliff was moving very slowly, as he was petrified by what he was doing, Sienna stayed behind him to make sure he didn't fall off. Toshi, being the smallest, was making the best time, being the first one to make it to the hatch cover on the next car.

"Think this is the one?" Toshi yelled over the sound of the rushing air.

"Probably!" Anoki yelled, "Is it locked?"

"Yes!" Toshi nodded, still yelling, "There's a padlock on the outside!"

Anoki went over to the padlock and gave it a solid twist. It gave easily under the pressure, being on the outside made all the difference as far as that was concerned. She then pulled the latch open, revealing another dark car, not unlike the one they had been in before.

"Let's move!" Sienna yelled at Cliff, "We need to get to the engine!"

Cliff scowled as he really didn't like crawling on top of this thing. He looked up and started moving a bit faster, determined to make his way off the top of this rolling death trap. Sienna showed him how to move, leaned forward and letting the wind fly over them. She quickly passed over to the top of the engine. Cliff didn't want to leave her alone, so he pulled up his courage and all but ran on top of the train to catch her.

"Look at him go!" Toshi shouted, "Which one of us goes in first?"

"I do," Anoki told her, "There's probably a Tabiri in there to protect the bomb."

"We need to put it out quick," Toshi said, "Before she can trigger the bomb."

"Right," Anoki nodded, "Let's do it!"

Anoki dropped in first, getting the lay of the land. Toshi dropped in behind her and saw that Anoki was curious as to what she was seeing. There was indeed a Tabiri sitting in a chair next to the bomb, but it wasn't moving. It hadn't even seemed to notice their presence. Anoki and Toshi looked at each other, not knowing what to do next.

"Does she even see us?" Toshi asked Anoki, "This is weird."

"Bolantine probably set her as a trigger," Anoki explained, "They are in basic command mode. They have whatever modules Bolantine bothered to load and verbal commands he put in. My guess is that Bolantine was arrogant enough to believe we wouldn't get out."

"So can we just push her away and shut her down?" Toshi wondered.

"We can try," Anoki said, "Get your force sword ready just in case. Be sure not to hit the bomb with it though."

"Pull her away," Toshi said, "I'll strike her."

Anoki rushed the Tabiri unit, pulling her away from the bomb. The Tabiri unit didn't resist or even appear to notice. Toshi hit the droid a few times with the force sword to make sure she wouldn't get up. Anoki looked at the droid and then over at Toshi.

"That was too easy," Anoki said, "Guess Bolantine didn't set it for defense."

"Probably an alternate trigger," Toshi said, "We'd better get your connection with Greg started."

"Let's hope Cliff and Sienna can stop this damn thing," Anoki said, "This is going to be bad enough as it is."

"Ok Greg," Toshi said through her com link, "Get ready to transfer."

While Greg and Anoki were getting ready to cede some control to each other, Sienna and Cliff made it to the engine and climbed down to the side part of it where the wind was not quite as severe. They were also able to see through the back windows just what they would be facing inside.

"It would be one of those damned things," Cliff said, "What do we do?"

"Take her on," Sienna said, "We can't stop this thing unless we do."

"How do we stop anything if we're dead?" Cliff asked her, "Now let's see if we can get through another way!"

"She's on the controls," Sienna reminded him, "She might not have combat modules loaded."

"I'm not willing to risk my life on that," Cliff said, "You shouldn't be either."

"If this thing crashes we're dead," Sienna said, "If you have a better idea, I'm all ears."

"Actually," Cliff said, "Yes I do. You can do imitations pretty well. Think you can do Bolantine?"

"Let me try," Sienna said and then dropped into a nearly dead perfect imitation of Bolantine's voice, "Is this close?"

"Perfect," Cliff said, "What do you want to bet she'll drop out on Bolantine's orders?"

"Nothing to lose," Sienna agreed, "Worst case we'll still have to fight her."

"Work on the imitation for a minute," Cliff suggested, "I will let the others know what we're going to do."

Cliff spelled out his plan over the com link while Greg and Anoki were busy removing barriers between them. Toshi looked around for possible tools while Glen kept a close eye on Greg. This was going to be most dangerous to him, as these links usually were. That's why they were seldom done.

"Making the link," Anoki said, "I'll be receding and giving control to Greg. Let's hope it works."

"There is no spoon," Greg said quietly as he hyperventilated and closed his eyes to make the control transfer, "There is no fucking spoon..."

Anoki's form went silent as Greg began grabbing the basic controls. Anoki slowly began feeding the senses to him through the com link, starting with sight and touch and continuing with the ability to control her arms and legs. Within two minutes, Greg was controlling her electronic body.

"Ok," Greg said through Anoki, "Let's see what we have."

While Greg and Anoki were examining the bomb, Cliff and Sienna were putting their plan to work. Cliff got his weapon ready to blast the Tabiri in the eyes if she didn't fall for it. Sienna walked in and started talking in Bolantine's tones, hoping that Bolantine didn't encrypt an access code into her.

"Tabiri," Sienna said, "Step away from the control unit."

Cliff tensed up and got ready to fire, but the Tabiri unit did what she was told. The Tabiri wasn't programmed to refuse orders from Bolantine, so she moved to the side. Sienna nodded and instructed the Tabiri to sit down and ignore any movement. The Tabiri did so without incident.

"We've got control of the engine," Cliff said, "We're going to bring it to a stop."

Greg used Anoki's body to poke and prod at the bomb until he came to something that scared the living shit out of him. He knew then that Bolantine had planned this bomb well and intended that nothing would be able to stop it.

"Don't stop the train!" Greg exclaimed in the com, "If this train stops we're fallout!"

Chapter 75 - The Switch

"What is it?" Glen asked over the com, "Why can't we stop it?"

"Fucker put a mercury switch in here," Greg explained, "I have to disarm that before we stop the train."

"What is a mercury switch?" Cliff asked, "I've never heard of one of those."

"It's a drop of mercury in a ball," Greg explained, "There are wires in the ball. The mercury is a conductor, so if the ball is moved enough the Mercury makes the contacts and we become fallout. This one is armed to set off the bomb if the centrifugal force stops, so if you stop this thing before I disarm it, we're gone."

"Jesus," Toshi said, looking over Anoki's shoulder, "Bolantine is insane."

"Can you defuse it?" Glen asked him.

"Do I have a choice?" Greg asked them, "I'm going to attempt it. It'll go off regardless otherwise. When I give the OK, go ahead and slam the brakes on this thing."

"Right," Cliff said, "Do it quick. We're fast approaching Topanga."

Sienna took the Tabiri's place in the cab and was learning the controls so she'd be able to stop the death train when Greg defused the bomb. Cliff paced nervously around the engine compartment, looking for something to do.

"This is insane," he said to Sienna, "We should get out of here."

"We couldn't get far enough in time," Sienna said, "Just hope that Greg can do the trick."

Greg spent the next twenty minutes working underneath the weapon trying to figure out all its systems. The fact that he was using Anoki's body through a com link didn't help matters much. There were three triggering systems on the bomb itself that he could see. There was a manual one that didn't pose much danger. There was the mercury one, which was the worst of the lot at present, then there was the timer. Greg was worried about both of them.

"How much time?" Greg asked as he looked hard at the timer mechanism, "It should be on top."

"Three minutes," Toshi said nervously, "We're running out of time, Greg."

"Ok," Greg said, his body gulping two cars away, "I need something sharp and hot."

"I'm carrying a knife," Anoki's consciousness said through the link, "Plasma should heat it up quick."

"Here," Greg said, pulling the knife out of Anoki's tattered suit and handing it to Toshi, "Heat that up."

While Toshi was heating up the knife the train passed the imaginary line that Bolantine had set for the Tabiri unit. The injuries that had been inflicted were superficial. She just hadn't moved because she hadn't been told to. Bolantine's orders now came into play, and she sat up and tried to go directly for the bomb.

"Shit!" Toshi yelled, "Stop the Tabiri, Anoki!"

Greg looked up and moved Anoki's body. He let off a kick at the Tabiri, but that was not enough to keep the determined droid back. Greg let off a few more punches, but he knew he didn't have time to spend on this.

"Anoki!" Greg exclaimed through the link, "Do what Sienna did! Use Bolantine's voice to order the bitch to stand down!"

"Tabiri," Anoki said, retaking vocal control, "Your job is over. Stand down."

The Tabiri stopped and processed the command, which was enough time for Toshi to whip out her force sword and bury it into the Tabiri's abdomen, this time severing the electrical connection to her primitive neural network brain. The Tabiri stopped abruptly and fell to the floor, a flesh covered paperweight.

"It's down," Toshi said.

"Shit!" Greg exclaimed, "So are we!"

The bomb had just hit the two-minute mark. They were running out of time to defuse the weapon. Greg used Anoki's hands to grab the warm knife from Toshi and use it on the Mercury switch. Toshi watched as Greg pushed the knife into the plastic bubble and cut a hole in it, letting the Mercury drip to the floor.

"One minute left," Toshi said, "How do we stop the timer?"

"I can't cut it," Greg said, looking closely, "We have to stop the trigger itself. I don't have time to figure out which wire is which."

"Where is the trigger?" Toshi asked, more than a little flustered.

"It's this big thing here," Greg said, "This switch flips and makes contact..."

He trailed off as he saw something in the corner. He went over and opened the bag, finding the sand that had been put in the train by workers in the past. It was used during the loading and unloading process for making sure the smooth surfaces didn't get too slippery.

"Thirty seconds..." Toshi said nervously, "Whatever you're planning, I suggest you do it now."

"Here goes nothing," Greg said as the count went down steadily, "We've got nothing to lose."

"Speak for yourself!" Cliff, Sienna and Glen said into the com in unison.

Greg picked up the bag and went over to the bomb. He used one hand as a guide and started pouring the sand into the contact switch department. Toshi just watched as Greg filled the entire device with sand.

"Five seconds," Toshi said nervously, "Are you mad? Sand?"

"Watch," Greg said as the remaining seconds ticked down.

The bomb ticked away its last seconds, going from three to two to one and then to the final zero. Toshi tensed when the timer hit zero because she heard a big thud, a thud that was the sound of the contact switch smacking into the sand that Greg had put in as a non-conductive layer between the switch and contacts.

"Holy shit!" Cliff exclaimed, "We're not dead!"

"We will be if you don't stop this train," Toshi yelled, "We're less than a mile from the reservoir!"

Sienna smoothly began applying the brakes in a way she knew would bring the train slowly to a stop. The police began showing up in forced when the train came to a stop, less than forty feet from the eastern wall of the reservoir. Sienna smiled at her triumph at getting such a large piece of machinery to stop where she wanted it to.

"I think we have some questions to answer," Cliff said, looking out at the police, "What do we do, Colonel?"

"Surrender," Colonel Strader said through the com, "We've done our job and then some. We'll let the lawyers sort out the rest."

"Release me slowly, Greg," Anoki said, "If you jump out all at once it's going to give you one hell of a reaction headache."

Greg slowly released her body back to her, but coming back to his own was still a nasty shock to the system. It was all he could do to stand up as soon as the police released the latch on the door.

"You people have a lot to explain," the police chief said, "What do you have to say for yourselves?"

"We should have taken a left at Albuquerque?" Colonel Strader asked, "The rest you can ask our lawyer, Julia O'Bryon."

Chapter 76 - No Laughing Matter

"Don't you think you could have found a less conspicuous way to stop that weapon?" Julia O'Bryon said as she adjusted the oddly shaped glasses, "The director himself had to use a marker with the President to get your team out of there without charges."

Glen Strader stretched out and rubbed his wrists where the cuffs had been rubbing up until a few minutes earlier. He looked at the inside of the high end travel vehicle that he was being taken to the airport in. He had to admit, the Company people were annoying, but they knew how to live.

"Didn't have much choice," Strader said, "Someone tipped Bolantine that we were coming in. He just didn't expect us to be resourceful enough to get out and stop that damned bomb."

"I still don't know what he stood to gain," Julia said, "I don't pretend to understand any of this."

"Just make sure the rest of my team gets out," Glen said, "And what the hell happened to knock Groom Lake off the grid?"

"I don't know," Julia said honestly, "They went off the grid yesterday. It's still there, but I haven't heard anything about them yet. We'll probably learn more in a bit."

"Where are we heading?" Glen asked her.

"The main LA office," Julia said, shrugging, "I'm just a legal eagle. I don't know most of it. I did my job and got you out. The rest isn't my problem."

"Who are we meeting?" Glen asked her, "And why here instead of back at Area 51?"

"They don't want to wait for a debriefing," Julia shrugged, rubbing her temples, "Something happened and I don't know what. All I know is that I haven't slept in nearly thirty-six hours trying to extract your sorry ass from the legal mess you got into."

"Heh," Strader growled, "We saved this state from having its ass handed to it. Instead of being grateful they decide we're public menaces and put us in jail."

"It doesn't pay to be a hero nowadays," Julia shrugged, suppressing a yawn, "I'm surprised you haven't learned that yet Strader."

"I'm no hero," Strader chuckled, "Just the wrong guy in the wrong place at the right time."

"Right," Julia nodded, "Don't worry about the rest of the team. Greg and Toshi will be arraigned in two hours. I will drop you off and go get them out."

"Cliff and Sienna?" Glen asked her, "And Anoki as well?"

"Cliff and Sienna haven't reported in yet," Julia informed him, "They disappeared once they stopped the train. Probably disappeared into the hills and will show up in a couple days when they figure the heat is off. The feds released Anoki to us quick to get her under wraps. Poor robot is in sorry shape."

"An acid bath will clean her up just fine," Glen nodded, "Let me know when you get the others out."

"I'm sure all of you will be going back to Area 51," Julia promised, "As soon as you explain this mess to Warren MacManus."

"MacManus?" Glen asked, "Who's that? I thought Remordis was our boss."

"He's the Vice President of Special Operation Units, West Coast Division," Julia explained, "To put it simply, he's Remordis' boss. Since nobody has heard a damn thing out of Remordis or Area 51 yet, he wants to talk to you himself. That's why he pulled strings to have your charges dropped first. Since Greg has a record in this state, he will be the hardest."

"Record?" Glen asked, then remembered, "Oh yeah, the school. What a clusterfuck."

"Sounds like you're back up to full speed," Julia said sarcastically as the vehicle stopped, "Your teams have always been good at that."

"Right," Glen said, "I hope MacManus has coffee. I haven't had a decent night's sleep in days."

"Doubtful," Julia said, "MacManus doesn't do caffeine, regular health nut."

"Lovely," Glen sighed, "Where is he?"

"Go inside," Julia told him, "They'll direct you to MacManus."

Glen nodded and walked out of the car. He pulled his pack out and checked it to make sure that everything was still there. There was something about riding with a lawyer that gave him that instinct. Once he was satisfied, he walked in to the building and was directed over to the elevator.

"Forty-first floor," the receptionist said, "Mr. MacManus's secretary will be over to the right. She'll take you from there."

Glen followed instructions and rode the elevator up, finding the secretary with little problem. He received a few strange looks from the civilian personnel in the building, not surprising considering he still looked like a soldier fresh from the battlefield. The secretary didn't like the look of him, but waved him into the office.

"Nice to finally meet you, Colonel Strader," Warren MacManus said extending a hand, "I hear you've had a rough couple of days."

"It could have been worse," Glen shrugged, "We could have lost."

"What went wrong out there?" MacManus asked him, "I listened to the audio from that mission, at least until Area 51 went off the grid. I'm guessing Bolantine herded you to that train."

"We've got a rat at Area 51," Strader nodded, "We knew it before. Now, we know who that rat is working for."

"The Tabiri units," MacManus nodded, "What does Bolantine have against us this time? Is he just crazy or does he hate us because of that mess Cliff was responsible for?"

"I don't know," Strader said, "So far I've been ordered to keep after the one man who could probably tell me."

"Mason Stone," MacManus said, tossing Stone's company file, "That man is one colossal pain in the ass. We've been had problems with him on and off for over twenty years."

"The information he gave us was good," Strader shrugged, "He has as much reason to hate Bolantine as anyone."

"I don't doubt it," MacManus chuckled, sitting back in his chair, "I dealt with him eight years ago. One of our competitors was getting close to the immortality secret. We were hoping to get it first, so I ended up trying to play Stone's team against the middle."

"Didn't work, did it?" Strader asked him, taking a closer look at the man.

Warren MacManus was a larger man, his graying hair betraying his advancing years. He was also in impeccable shape for his age, which Strader put somewhere just under fifty, but he knew could be years older as good a shape as he was in. The man's eyes were hard, but not terribly unfriendly.

"Not even close," MacManus nodded, "Stone sniffed me out long before I could double-cross him. He played us against each other and set both groups' researchers back ten years."

"You sound like you almost respect him," Strader said, surprised by this, "I wasn't expecting this."

"Harry filled me in on what happened," MacManus continued, "He used to work for me years ago. Sam Remordis is a good administrator, and the perfect person to ride herd on people like you and that insane group of scientists we have hidden over at Groom Lake. Stone is outside of his comprehension though."

"I was wondering if Sam would keep up the deal," Glen nodded, "If it hadn't been for Stone's information, you'd be up a dry river bed without a drop of water."

"Sam didn't like it," MacManus nodded, "But I OK'd the deal. Stone gave me a much needed lesson in humility fifteen years ago. It's a waste of resources to keep pushing at him. Besides, he's better at this than we will ever be."

"No joke," Strader nodded, "Any word on what happened at Area 51?"

"Yes," MacManus said, a scowl creeping on his face, "Harry Haldeman finally managed to get a safe communications link up. Someone infected the place with a nanovirus. He had to initiate a full scale systems shutdown to keep it from destroying everything, that's why it took them so long to get in contact. He couldn't afford to turn on a radio until they disinfected the communications areas."

"Had to be an inside job," Strader sighed, "Same mole that screwed us is my guess. Probably did it to cut us off."

"That's your next job," MacManus said and passed another file over to Strader, "This is why I wanted to see you."

"And why you wanted to see me without the rest of the team?" Strader asked him, "What do you suspect?"

"The mole is close to your team," MacManus told him, "Too many personal details for it not to be."

"There are personal details about all of us here," Strader said as he read, "It could be one of the base personnel."

"True," MacManus nodded, "You were military trained. You're also the only one we have records on dating back so far that we know you're clean. I also knew your father."

"You don't think that one of my team..." Strader said, then thought better of it, "Of course you do, otherwise, you wouldn't have said it. I don't think so."

"Cliff and Sienna were held by them for a month," MacManus reminded him, "Greg has a shady past. Anoki and Toshi are probably clean, but we can't be too careful. I'm telling you because you're leading them. Don't just gloss over them because they are part of the team."

"You got it," Strader nodded, not liking it, "I still think you're wrong."

"I hope I am," MacManus admitted, "Your team works well. You did well getting out of that trap."

"Anything else?" Strader asked him, not sure what to do next.

"If you see Stone again tell him I said hello," MacManus grinned, "Use him if you need to, just remember what his priorities are. If you're going to be going in a different direction than he is, then don't call him."

"Bolantine is my target now," Strader said, "He wants me personally for some reason. He wants the Company generally. It would behoove us to take him seriously."

"That's the last reason I wanted to see you," MacManus nodded, "Stone is a pain in the ass, but he's honest. Bolantine is the antichrist incarnate. Put him down anyway you can. I don't care how you do it. I can justify the costs as removing the competition. Just make sure he doesn't come back."

"Why do you hate Bolantine so badly?" Glen asked, "Because he tried to screw your water supply?"

"No," MacManus said, his eyes growing dark, "This is why."

Warren MacManus proceeded to remove something that Glen didn't manage to notice. The older man's right arm was a cybernetic prosthetic that he hid well, using a miniature version of the flesh generator designed originally for the Tabiri units. He laid it on the table and let it move on its own a few minutes.

"Man," Strader said, looking at the arm, "What happened?"

"Bolantine," MacManus said solemnly, "Happened two years before I met Stone. We had a deal with that larcenous son of a bitch for some technology. He tried to double-cross me. He was clean, no weapons on him, but he had a sniper ready to pick me off. Luckily, all the sniper got was the arm."

"You want me to make sure he doesn't do that to anyone else, right?" Strader asked him.

"Exactly," MacManus nodded, "Remordis was a cop once, but he is now a bureaucrat. He's hasn't been in the field recently. If Bolantine is behind this I want him shut down. You have your hunting license, Glen. Enlist Stone if you need to, but put Bolantine's organization down."

"You got it, Boss," Strader said, actually letting himself smile, "We'll do it."

"See that you do," MacManus said as he replaced his arm, "You've got a flight back to Groom Lake in an hour. Get started."

"Yes sir!" Strader said, surprising himself by snapping off a full salute.

Strader left the room and left MacManus sitting there by himself. He picked up a thick cigar, the only vice he allowed himself still, and lit it. He let the thick smoke flow through his lips and opened a folder, flipping to a picture of Bolantine's smiling face, a picture taken from a fake passport from the time that MacManus had lost his arm.

"I can't get you myself," MacManus smiled, "But damn it, you'll pay you son of a bitch."

Colonel Strader was half-asleep in his seat on one of the company jets when Anoki walked in to the cabin, sitting down in a seat across the aisle from him. The plasma blast had badly burned her, leaving her with flesh that looked like it had been baked in the oven. She looked over at her boss and smiled, showing the blackened teeth that remained.

"You look like hell, Anoki," Glen Strader noticed as he stifled a yawn, "They finally let you out, eh?"

"As soon as Julia convinced them that I didn't need medical attention," Anoki nodded, "She got Greg and Toshi out and they're on the way. We should be home in a couple hours. Any word on what happened at Groom Lake?"

"Nanovirus," Glen said, a visible scowl forming, "Let out at the worst possible time. Most likely the work of our mole, though how we'll prove it I'll never know."

"I guess that means it will be a few days before I get fixed," Anoki sighed, "I'm getting sick of looking like an advertisement for fire safety."

"It'll be all right," Strader nodded, "We'll get it all straightened out."

Greg and Toshi walked in to the cabin, taking seats facing Strader. They both looked tired, but not very much worse for wear. They looked more pissed than anything else. Spending more than a day in police custody after saving the entire southwest from a water shortage didn't sit well with them.

"What's next?" Greg asked, "Company pissed too?"

"No," Glen said, shaking his head, "Not at us, at any rate. We just got our hunting orders. Bolantine and his mole are our targets now."

"You think you'll get Remordis to approve that?" Toshi asked, "I think you're dreaming."

"Warren MacManus approved it," Glen smiled, "Get ready. As soon as we get home the hunt starts."

"Right," Greg smiled, "I like it."

Chapter 77 - Investigative Rut

"Three goddamned weeks!" Glen fumed, "We've been searching for this mole since Christmas! What do we have?"

"Not a damn thing," Harry said, "The mole got smart and is playing dead. Damned Nanovirus killed the communications records, so we don't know who talked to who during that time period."

"Remordis is barking up a storm," Toshi said, "He wants us to move on to some more important business. Century City is becoming a memory and so is Bolantine."

"He's still out there," Glen grunted, "He won't give up on us."

"I have to agree," Harry nodded, "The man is a first-class psycho."

Glen was about to start grumbling again when he heard some cheering from the other room. He looked at Harry and Toshi, who both merely shrugged. Glen sat back in his chair and rubbed his temples.

"What is going on out there?" Glen asked, "Cliff and Greg are getting along much too well."

"It's Superbowl Sunday, Glen," Harry chuckled, "They're watching the game. Anoki and Sienna are in there as well."

"Why aren't you watching?" Glen asked him, "No love for football?"

"Can't stand the game," Harry said, "If it doesn't beep, blip or make pretty pictures on the screen I don't have much interest."

"Why don't you go watch for a while, Colonel?" Toshi asked him, "Nikki came in a few minutes ago too. She wanted to see you."

"Go ahead, Glen," Harry chuckled, "You need the break. You've been going nonstop for over three weeks now. You neglect her too much she will find another place to play, guy."

"Yeah," Strader nodded, "Come on, guys. We all need a break. You can laugh at the game and mock the commercials."

"All right," Harry laughed, "I'm going to start a monitoring program. I'm still worried about some of the penetration points in our system."

The three of them walked out into the common area and found the rest of the team sitting there watching the football game on the plasma screen. Greg was holding a beer and shouting when his team made a good play. Cliff was grumbling, as it was beginning to look as though he would lose his bet with Greg.

"I told you that betting football with Greg was folly," Toshi told Cliff as she sat down and idly watched the screen, "He's been predicting the games with uncanny accuracy all season."

"I thought you didn't like football," Anoki asked Toshi.

"I don't," Toshi grinned, "I just wanted to beat Greg at something."

"At least you learned when to quit," Greg told her, "Cliff here made the sucker bet of the century."

"Such stimulating conversation," Nikki sighed as she curled up against Glen, tossing her dark hair back against him, "You through working for tonight?"

"For a while at least," Glen told her as he picked up a beer himself, "Sorry I've been distant."

"It's ok," Nikki smiled, "I've been rather enamored with the research. Putting in 18 hour days sometimes myself."

"What are they doing over there?" Toshi asked her, "There's been a whole slew of activity in the labs. You guys making a breakthrough over in special programs?"

"Once we got back online after the nanovirus I got an inspiration," Nikki smiled, "I convinced Hatfield that I could get it working. We managed to get the validation this week. Animal tests came out great."

"What project are you working on now?" Glen asked her, "You in physical sciences still?"

"I was shuffled over to genome longevity projects," Nikki told him, "They sent me in to help fix things after that son of a bitch used Anoki to fry the research. Turned out to be just what we needed though. We're further along now than we were back then."

"Don't let Stone find out about that," Toshi advised, "Last thing we need is more problems from him."

"Fuck Stone," Nikki growled, "He's a narrow minded son of a bitch for trying to stop this."

"So what's the next step?" Glen asked her, "More animal testing?"

"Inmate tests," Nikki said, "That's why I stopped by tonight, to let you know I will be stuck in the lab for the next few days."

"Inmate tests?" Anoki asked, "What are those?"

"I thought those were illegal, Nikki," Toshi said, "Human testing has been illegal for years."

"Hey guys," Cliff said, "We're trying to watch a football game here, all right?"

"Ignore them," Toshi said, "They know not of what they speak."

"Still," Anoki said, "Inmate tests?"

"It's an old concept that was dredged up again a few years back," Strader explained, "A way of cleaning out the prison population. Capital murderers were sentenced to serve as test subjects. Usually ones who had exhausted their appeals and were set for death row."

"Exactly," Nikki nodded, "We got a shipment of them yesterday. We're going to have a first run of the serum tonight."

"But they're human," Toshi said, not liking the look of it, "You can't use them as guinea pigs."

"Law says otherwise," Nikki shrugged, "Besides. These are real scum. No real loss. Besides, this research will probably be the only useful thing they've ever done in their life."

"What if it works?" Anoki wondered, "Then we're stuck with an immortal lunatic."

"There's plenty of ways to stop them," Nikki said, "Not to worry. This is just a preliminary test tonight. We have an inmate that isn't going to be around long anyway because he's dying of AIDS. We figured we'd use his death to see if this stuff is even on the right track."

"Sounds ghoulish to me," Glen said and then kissed Nikki's cheek, "Be careful with that stuff, all right?"

"You got it," Nikki smiled, "It should prove to be an interesting night."

They didn't know just how right she would prove to be.

Chapter 78 - The Bet

"This game is already over," Cliff grumbled, "Looks like you're going to win your twenty bucks, Kaczmarek."

"Works for me," Greg chuckled, "I'm feeling lucky tonight."

"I still can't believe Nikki can be that callous about lives," Toshi said, ignoring the football talk, "Why on earth would she participate in something that barbaric."

"They may learn a lot," Glen said, "You never know."

"I'll bet they'll screw it up just like every other immortality experiment," Greg said, "I just hope we don't have to clean up the mess."

"I'll bet you that twenty you're going to win on the game that you're wrong," Cliff grinned, "Throw in another twenty for good measure."

"That's a bet I'll get in on," Greg said, "Anyone else want in on that action?"

"I don't share Cliff's optimism," Sienna said, "But I'll join him."

"I'll be glad to take your money, Cliff," Toshi said, shaking her head, "I'm in."

"I'll join," Anoki said, "But they don't pay me, so I have nothing to bet."

"I can think of something," Greg grinned, "If you lose you give me a lap dance."

"You would come up with something like that," Toshi said, her displeasure very much evident, "I'll cover you if you like, Anoki."

"No," Anoki said, smiling, "I'll take his wager, but what am I going to get from him?"

"I can think of something..." Greg grinned, his suggestion very obvious.

"No," Anoki said, "You'd enjoy that too much."

"Ok," Greg shrugged, "Then you come up with something."

"I don't want to know," Glen chuckled, not sure if he liked the idea of a two billion dollar android being reduced to a sex toy, "Whatever you do, do it somewhere that I can't see it."

"It would almost be worth losing if I could see the strip tease," Cliff put in, earning a quick elbow in the ribs from Sienna, "Almost."

"Stop putting us in suspense," Harry told her, "What do you want Greg to do if he loses?"

"I want him to perform a lap dance for Toshi," Anoki said with a wicked smile, "Let her get the thrill of a lifetime."

"Me?" Toshi exclaimed, going bright red, "Why me? What did I do?"

"You're better equipped to enjoy it," Anoki smiled innocently, "I'll just watch."

"You have yourself a bet," Greg laughed, "That is if Toshi agrees."

"Sure," Toshi said, shaking her head as she stood up, "Anything to see you squirm, Captain Combustible."

"Now that that is settled," Harry said, "Can someone please try to explain this blasted game to me a little bit more?"

Greg and Cliff tried to explain a bit more of the rules to Harry while Glen went to the fridge for another beer. He popped the top off the bottle of imported beer and just watched the frivolity of his team while he could.

Chapter 79 - The Explosion

"That's gotta be one of the worst Superbowl games I've ever seen," Cliff complained, "You would think that they'd been playing the boy scouts."

"Boy scouts would have put up more of a fight," Greg grinned, "Time to pay up."

"Don't want to wait to see if you're going to lose the other wager?" Cliff asked him, "No sporting fun?"

"Pay up, Remordis," Glen chuckled, "You're going to lose that one too. Even Nikki thinks that experiment is going to fail."

"I'm not giving up on that one until I have to," Cliff told them, "We'll wait for Nikki to tell us..."

Before he could finish the sentence, a large explosion rocked the compound. Glen was up in a heartbeat, his Glock pistol in his hand before his feet hit the floor. Greg scrambled for a weapon as well as his brain tried to assimilate what happened.

"It wasn't close enough to be here," Anoki said immediately, "At least 1000 feet away from here."

"The labs," Harry said, "I'll get on the computer system."

"Shit," Glen said, "Get suited up. Let's find out what happened."

There was silence as everyone got suited up and ready for battle. Nobody knew for sure what was going on, but getting dressed in their armor suits beat going naked into a situation they knew nothing about.

"Anything out of the security system?" Colonel Strader asked Harry Haldeman, "Especially location?"

"Definitely the lab," Harry said, "There was a big explosion. I'm trying to isolate the area now. I'll give you more information over the com link."

"Right," Glen nodded, "Let's go."

The team started jogging out towards the billowing smoke. The base security personnel were already beginning to respond, but Strader's team was better equipped and in better shape. They all arrived at about the same time.

"You taking this one, Colonel Strader?" the young man said.

"Until I know better what is going on," Strader nodded, "My team will go in first. Set up a perimeter around the building. Nothing comes in or out without my say so."

"Yes sir!" the young man exclaimed, "Let's go boys!"

"Harry," Glen said through the com link, "I need information."

"The explosion played hell with the fiber links," Harry said, "I'm trying to route around. Going to take a few minutes."

"Let's go in," Greg said, "Only way we'll find anything out."

"Toshi, Sienna and Cliff," Colonel Strader ordered, "I want you to take the back entrance. Look for smoke, damage and anyone hurt. Anoki and Greg are with me. We're going in the front."

"Take it easy," Harry warned him, "It's reading hot in there."

"Right," Strader said quietly, "Let's go in."

They went gingerly into the building. The power supply had been cut by the explosion, leaving only the battery backup lighting. It was a surreal scene that they saw in there. There were flames and smoke, along with several bodies.

"All dead boss," Greg said, "No life signs."

"I've got contact with the life meter," Harry said, "There are four life meters left."

"Nikki?" Glen asked, showing where his priority was.

"She's one of them," Harry said, "Head to one of the sub basement levels."

"The other survivors?" Toshi asked through the set.

"Level two," Harry said, "Above ground. Nikki is the only life sign down below."

"We'll go up," Toshi said, "You guys are heavier suited anyway. Be careful."

"Right," Colonel Strader said, "Anoki, you take point. I'll follow you. Greg, cover our asses."

"You're treating this like a battle situation," Greg said, "This isn't one you know."

"I will believe that when we figure out what caused the explosion," Strader told him, "Get moving, Anoki."

They moved carefully down the stairs. It being late in the evening there were mercifully few people in the lab. This was why the test had been scheduled for Superbowl Sunday. There would be few people to get in the way. The flames were light, as the building was mostly made of concrete.

"It's hot," Anoki said, "Not too dangerous. Nothing noxious."

"Let's find Nikki," Glen said, "Then we'll get out of here and let the firemen take it."

"Roger that boss," Greg nodded.

Anoki let off a kick on the door to the laboratory where the inmate experiment had been carried out. There were several bodies in the room; all of them were dead. Greg and Glen followed her in to see the carnage. Several small fires had been created by the explosion.

"Where is she?" Glen asked, "Can you pick up her locator Anoki?"

"I'm down here," Nikki groaned, "Where is he?"

Glen rushed over and pulled Nikki out of the hole. Her clothing was badly burned, but she didn't have a scratch on her. Her dark hair was disheveled and scorched, but she looked in decent shape.

"You ok?" Glen asked her, "Where are you hurt?"

"I fell in the hole," Nikki explained, coughing a little, "Where is the inmate?"

"He's alive?" Greg asked, "What happened?"

"I don't remember," Nikki told them, "One minute....

She was interrupted by a quick motion and a screaming figure that launched itself at the group of them. It was vaguely human, though it had been horribly deformed. It was now nearly seven feet tall and had muscles that were at least five times normal size. It hurtled at them at a high speed and didn't even notice when Glen managed to get a few shots off at it.

"Shit!" Greg yelled, "What is that thing!"

"The inmate!" Anoki exclaimed as she grappled with it.

The inmate had better leverage than Anoki did and managed to throw her off. It then ran out the door and took the steps three at a time in an attempt to get out of the building.

"You guys ok?" Anoki asked them.

"Yeah," Glen said, "Go after that damned thing! Make sure it doesn't get off the base."

"Yes sir," Anoki said and then bounded up the stairs.

"Help me get her out of here," Glen told Greg, "This place is going to come down soon."

"Right," Greg nodded and picked Nikki up, "I've got her. You get the doors."

"Works for me," Glen agreed, "Let's go."

Chapter 80 - The Call

"Did you get the video from the lab yet?" Glen asked Harry as he sat down in the chair in the common room, "I want to know what the hell that thing is."

"Firemen are still drowning it with water," Harry said, "Nikki is our best hope and she's only half-coherent now."

"Security lost control of the creature," Cliff said, "It's heading out into the streets."

"Shit," Glen said, "Last thing I need right now is a fucking invulnerable lunatic to get out on the streets in Groom Lake."

"I don't know how to stop it," Greg said, "The only people who would know are fucking dead."

"Nikki is alive," Toshi said, "But I doubt she can translate it into something we could understand."

"I knew this shit was dangerous," Glen cursed, "We just have to figure out a way to stop it. Did anything the security forces used slow it down?"

"Just pissed it off," Cliff said, shaking his head, "So far it's killed two people. They've pulled back and are just trying to contain it until we figure out what to do."

"Great," Glen said, "I'm at a loss."

"I have an idea," Harry said, "But you won't like it."

"I don't like any of this, Harry," Glen said, "What is it."

"Mason Stone," Harry told him, "He's the only person alive equipped to deal with this. Other than Bolantine, of course."

"You're crazy!" Cliff exclaimed, "Stone would love another chance to fuck us over!"

"I don't think so," Toshi said, "I think he could help."

"He's probably out of the country," Glen said, thinking about it, "But I'll place the call. He may be willing to give us some advice."

"He will want a price," Cliff warned, "You know what he'll want."

"This project is probably going to be killed after this anyway," Anoki said, "Remordis is on his way in. Security called him. He's plenty pissed that this is happening again on his watch."

"This could be worse than Tabiri 8.2," Greg said, "Especially since the motherfucker is trying to escape."

"Nikki is the only one left alive who knows how to use this," Glen said, "The rest were in that lab when the explosion happened. We'll give Stone his price. Get me the contact information from the file."

"Coming right up," Toshi said, "I'll send the initial email."

"If he calls I want to talk to him," Glen said, "I'm going to go check on Nikki."

"Right," Toshi nodded, "Anything else?"

"Greg," Glen said, "Take Cliff, Sienna, and Anoki and go ride herd on mutant boy. Try to steer him away from civilians. Use the security people to help keep a perimeter around the lunatic."

"Right-O," Greg said, "Let's go kick some mutant ass."

"Somehow I think it's more likely to kick ours," Cliff said glumly, "I'm following you."

"Hurry up with it," Glen said, "I'll be out there as soon as I get some answers out of Nikki."

"Come on," Harry told Toshi, "Send that Email and then come help me with the security system. You know the company codes better than I do."

Glen Strader walked into the room where Nikki was lying down. The medics had finished with her and pronounced her fit, though they were as shocked at Glen was that she was in good condition. She was still a bit dazed when he walked in, but she recognized him.

"How are you feeling, Nikki?" Glen asked her, sitting down by her side, "You back with us yet?"

"It go boom," Nikki sighed, "Not sure what the hell caused that to happen."

"You dosed the motherfucker," Glen said, "We know that because he's running wild. How did you survive the explosion?"

"I don't know," Nikki lied, "I don't remember what happened."

"All right," Glen nodded and took her hand, "Just relax. Let it come back."

While Glen was sitting with Nikki, Toshi and Harry began working on the security system, trying to restore data from the damaged areas. Some of these sections were still having problems from the nanovirus attack a few weeks earlier. Harry grumbled at his stupidity for not fixing these conduits sooner.

"Did you send the email?" Harry asked Toshi as he punched keys, "Maybe that will give us more response than this system is."

"I sent Stone a message," Toshi said, "I don't know how long it will be before he gets it, if he even will."

"Something is rotten about this," Harry said, "I will need the video to prove it, but I'm wondering how Nikki survived it."

"You know that ancient security system better than I do," Toshi said, "You'll fight the good fight on it better than I will."

"I need you to do something," Harry said, "I think we lost a fiber link to the place. Can you go fix that?"

"Sure," Toshi said, then heard the phone go off, "As soon as I answer the phone. That may be Stone."

"That's more important," Harry agreed, "I'll rework the decoding programs so that's ready when you can get to the link."

"Works for me," Toshi nodded and went over to pick up the phone, "Strike Team, this is Toshi."

"I got your message," Mason Stone said through the phone, "I'm short of time. What is going on?"

"Let me get Colonel Strader," Toshi said, "He wants to talk to you."

"Make it quick," Mason said tersely, "We're on Bolantine's trail."

"Colonel!" Toshi yelled, "The man you wanted to talk to is on the phone."

"I'll be back in a few," Glen told Nikki then left the room to pick up an extension, "Stone?"

"Yeah," Stone said, "Toshi's message said something about an immortal."

"I don't know if he's immortal," Glen said, "But it's based off the same research. Now, we've got a monster on the loose up here."

"Fucking A!" Stone swore, "This shit is why I've been trying to clobber that type of research! It's your problem!"

"I didn't do it," Glen explained, "But I'm the one who's stuck with cleaning it up. I need help. You're the only one that I even halfway trust."

"Jesus Christ," Mason sighed, "You know what I'm going to require, don't you?"

"After this mess?" Glen said, "If I were you I'd ask for complete destruction of the research. At this point, I'm on your side. I don't care what you do to the research, just so long as you help me stop the monster."

"Did anyone survive out of the research team?" Mason asked, "Or is it a lost cause in that end?"

"We've got one survivor," Glen said, "What do you need?"

"Karen and Jim need to get inside the research building," Mason said, "They'll figure out what was done and try to figure out how to counteract it. Do you care if the test subject lives or dies?"

"He's a criminal that was already dying of AIDS," Glen said, "I'll settle for dead."

"Good," Mason sighed in relief, "You realize, if this were anyone but you I wouldn't believe it."

"So where do we meet?" Glen asked him, "Do you want to come here?"

"I'm not that convinced yet," Mason said, "I'm about forty-five minutes away from you. Can your scientist travel?"

"Yeah," Glen nodded, "I'll bundle her up and take Toshi with me."

"Where is the rest of your team?" Mason asked.

"Trying to slow down the critter," Glen said, "I figure that I can deal with you."

"Bring extra communication sets," Mason instructed him, "You and I will go help your troops. Toshi can escort Karen and Jim."

"Where do you want to meet?" Glen asked him.

"There's an abandoned restaurant on highway eight," Mason said, consulting his maps, "I'll be there in an hour. I see anyone but you, Toshi or your scientist we disappear and you handle this on your own."

"Right, I know where that is," Glen said, "See you then."

Toshi looked at Glen and shook her head. Glen shrugged and sat down in the chair next to the phone. Harry considered saying something, but went back to work on the equipment instead.

"This is the only way we're putting that damn thing down," Glen explained, "Stone was right about the research. If Remordis doesn't like it, he can kiss my ass."

"I'm on your side," Harry said, "Let's just hope it doesn't come to that."

"When do we need to move?" Toshi asked him, "I need to fix some fiber cables before we go."

"I'll get Nikki ready," Glen said, "You have thirty minutes to fix that cable. Meet us in the motor pool by then."

"Glen," Harry said, "We need to talk about the explosion..."

"Get me the tapes first," Glen told him, "We'll deal with that when we have to."

"I just hope it isn't too late," Harry said to himself, returning to his table.

Chapter 81 - The Inmate

"What the hell is this man made of?" Greg exclaimed as he fired a few shots, "Bullets just go through him!"

"Short of nuclear weapons," Cliff said, breathing hard, "I don't know what else to do."

"He's heading to town," Anoki said, "He's walking though. Not surprising, he doesn't have much to be scared of."

"Until we know a bit more give him some space," Greg said, "Two units. Anoki and me, Cliff and Sienna. Don't make more contact than you have to. Did the plasma work on him at all?"

"I fired a full force blast," Sienna told them, "No reaction. It knocked him over, but he got back up and threw a rock at me. I decided to back off."

"I wish I knew where the hell it was going," Greg said, "Maybe we could head it off if we could figure that out."

"It's going public," Cliff said, "I don't think we can keep it in the compound, much as we want to."

"It's a quarter mile from the gate," Anoki said as she checked the cameras, "The security people are keeping their distance."

"Have them move ahead and keep innocents out of its path," Greg instructed, "Come on, everyone. Let's rock."

Chapter 82 - The Red Light

"Come on, Nikki," Glen said, "We need to get moving. You coming or not, Toshi?"

"Yeah," Toshi said, "Just bringing some disks."

Nikki slid into the back seat, playing at still being dazed from the explosion. Toshi tossed the case into the front seat at her feet and waited for Colonel Strader to get in and start driving. He actually managed to get in and start the vehicle when Sam Remordis ran out and waved them down.

"Oh shit," Strader said, "What the hell does he want?"

"He is our boss," Toshi shrugged, "We should probably tell him what we're doing."

"I was hoping to avoid that," Glen said, "I'm treading thin ground as it is."

"Where are we going?" Nikki asked, "Why am I going anywhere?"

"Because you're the only one who can explain it," Toshi said, "Better go talk to him, Colonel."

"Yeah," Glen nodded, "I guess so."

He got out of the vehicle and walked over to his very flustered looking boss."What the hell is going on, Strader?" Remordis asked him, "Who put you in charge of this? This isn't a rebel alert!"

"This is worse," Strader said, "There is a monster running around out there, one that your scientists created, Sam."

"The test?" Remordis said, "That's what all this is about?"

"Your scientists are dead," Strader told him, "Your inmate is running around, probably about to get out of the base. It was making a bee line for Groom Lake last time Greg reported in. You still want to give this to base security? They're the ones who wanted me to take over in the first place."

"I need higher level approval," Remordis blustered, "I can't send you out on a public mission like this..."

"Clear it with MacManus then," Glen growled, "We're running out of time. I have an appointment with the one man who knows how to stop something like this."

Surprisingly, Remordis dialed the numbers just to do that. Glen merely shook his head and growled, waiting. Remordis spent about two minutes explaining the situation when Strader grabbed the phone and started talking.

"I don't have time for this, MacManus," Glen said, "Stone won't wait forever."

"Stone!" Remordis exclaimed, "You can't be serious! You can't! I forbid it!"

"It's either him or it goes public unchecked," Strader said to both of them, "Which is it going to be?"

MacManus thought about it for a second while Remordis blustered some more. Strader smiled and listened to MacManus's simple words and then handed the phone over to Remordis.

"He wants to talk to you," Glen said, smiling still, "I'll see you in a few hours."

Strader got back into the car and pulled away, leaving a very stunned Sam Remordis standing in the driveway talking to his boss as he went. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Strader couldn't help enjoy making his boss squirm.

"Ok," Toshi said, "What happened out there? You've been smiling all the way from Groom Lake. What did you pull on Remordis?"

"He was blustering," Glen explained, "I called his bluff. I told him to call MacManus."

"Warren MacManus?" Toshi asked, "How the hell do you know him?"

"He debriefed me after the Century City mess," Glen said, "Real stand up guy. He dealt with both Stone and Bolantine fifteen years or so ago."

"Really?" Toshi said, "Good things?"

"He likes Stone," Glen shrugged, "Warned me about running against him, but said if our goals coincided he could be a powerful ally."

"I hope you're right," Toshi said, "Let's just hope that Stone doesn't hold a grudge when we see him."

"I don't care about grudges," Glen grunted, "I just hope that we can get Stone to make heads or tails out of this crap that Nikki and her friends created."

That line perked Nikki right up. This was one thing that she had not planned on nor was it something she could allow to happen. Nikki had a past that very few people knew about and Mason Stone was one of the few people who could blow that wide open for her.

"Stone?" Nikki said, trying to sound indignant, "That same son of a bitch who nearly closed us down a few months back?"

"Yeah," Strader nodded, "Mason Stone. He's about the only person I know of that has a chance of undoing what you and your people did."

"But he's the bad guy," Nikki persisted, "We can't give away our research! I won't do it!"

"Nikki!" Glen exclaimed, "Stone isn't the bad guy! That critter you created is running wild right now! Stone is the best chance we have to stop it!"

That tone of voice stopped Nikki cold. She knew then that there would be little she could do to sway him. If she tried to use sex to sway him, Toshi would get in the way. She sat up erect in the back seat and tried to figure out a way out.

"How long out are we?" Toshi asked, "Think he'll still be there?"

"Chill out," Glen ordered, "He'll be there. This is too important for him not to be. We have a mile and a single traffic light to go through."

"I can find a way to stop it," Nikki said hopefully, "We don't have to resort to him."

"I need to talk to him anyway," Glen said, "Now pipe down and let me drive."

Nikki growled and looked around again. It was the last light in Groom Lake and it had just turned red before Glen got there. Nikki took one last look at the back of Glen's and Toshi's heads and knew that she had no choice. It was either do it now or get caught in the lies when Stone saw her. She made her decision.

Nikki popped open the door to the battle vehicle that Glen was driving and bolted while it was stopped at the light. Both Glen and Toshi turned around and watched, neither one of them knew what to do. Nikki bolted as quick as she could, pushing her little frame to make distance.

"What the hell was that about?" Toshi said, "Should we chase her?"

"She's probably still spooked," Glen sighed, "It's only Groom Lake. She'll probably come back on her own when she calms down."

"Let's get to Stone," Toshi agreed, "He won't wait all day."

Glen nodded and started moving forward again. While they continued on, Nikki found a house with a relatively fast car sitting outside. She went over and did a drop kick on it, shattering the safety glass. She opened the glove compartment and took a screwdriver out of the little toolkit, jamming it into the ignition and starting the car.

"Damn it," Nikki growled, "Back into hiding again."

She pulled the vehicle out of the driveway and headed south on highway eight, heading in the opposite direction of both the base and where she surmised that Glen and Mason would be meeting. She knew she had to be out of the county before that conversation took place.

While she ran the car at nearly twice the speed limit she picked up the mobile phone from the carrying case that had been left in the seat and dialed a number she had long since memorized but hoped she would never have to use. The other end rang three times before it was picked up and answered by a very familiar voice, one she had not heard in nearly three years.

"What is it?" the voice said.

"I'm coming in from the cold," Nikki said, "Stone is in town, Strader tried to take me to see him."

"Damn it," the voice said, "Where are you?"

"Going a hundred and twenty away from there," Nikki said, "I'm making tracks to the safe box."

"Don't get pulled," the voice said coldly, "Call the secondary number when you've got your identification straight. We'll meet soon after."

"Right," Nikki said, "Talk to you later, B."

"See you soon," the voice said and clicked off the phone.

Nikki clicked off the phone and leaned back in her seat. She knew it was going to be a long night.

Chapter 83 - Revelations

Strader pulled the vehicle in to the parking lot of the old abandoned restaurant and looked around for Stone, finding nothing. He hit the steering wheel and stepped out of the vehicle to look around. Toshi stepped out with him and tried to look for signs of life, not seeing any.

"Where the hell are they?" Glen grumbled, "They couldn't have left already."

"Knowing Stone they are probably either late or watching us," Toshi shrugged, "Nothing we can do."

"I still want to know what the hell happened with Nikki," Glen said, "Why did she bolt?"

"She's probably scared," Toshi shrugged, "She'll show up. If Stone doesn't show up, we'll look for her."

"Look for whom?" Mason Stone said as he stepped out of the shadows, "Sorry, had to make sure you were alone."

"A friend of ours bolted when she found out we were bringing her to you," Toshi explained, "She was the only survivor of the explosion that happened when that creature was created."

"I wouldn't want to face me over this either," Mason grunted, "You're late, Strader."

"No choice," Strader said, "I have bosses to deal with. Remordis started to give me static."

"Figures," Mason said, shaking his head, "I was surprised to hear from you on this."

"MacManus said you could be trusted if our aims coincided," Glen told him, "This problem is too big to pussyfoot around."

"I take it that the test wasn't successful," Mason growled, "I warned..."

"This isn't the time for that," Karen said, emerging from the restaurant, "What are we up against, Toshi?"

"I don't know," Toshi said honestly, "The only survivor bolted fifteen miles ago."

"Only survivor," Mason said thoughtfully, "What happened as best you know?"

"We were watching the game," Glen told them, "Cliff had just lost his bet and the alarms started going off."

"What about the explosion?" Mason asked him, "Do you have any data for us?"

"Happened just after the alarms went off," Glen said as Toshi tossed a file to Karen, "Harry is still trying to salvage the security tapes. We went in and pulled out the survivors from the building. Two from the second floor and only one from the subbasement that the tests were being run out of."

"Devastating explosion or a small one?" Mason asked as Karen read, "See anything interesting?"

"It's a modified version of what Mishkin's Russians were working on," Karen said, flipping through, "I still need to see the stuff inside to confirm it and figure out what they did differently."

"If it's the same stuff," Glen said, "How did we get it?"

"I'm wondering the same thing," Mason said, thinking, "We closed down that Russian shop ten years ago. Narrowly missed being at the center of a nuclear explosion. Bolantine and his bitch left on skis. They didn't have time to get anything out."

"Bolantine?" Glen said, almost spitting the name, "We've pretty well guessed he had a mole."

"Lovely," Mason sighed, "He probably got some of it out in his head. Don't know how they made sense of it."

"Too bad Nikki bolted," Toshi said, "She could probably explain some of this."

Mason and Karen looked at Toshi and the color drained from their faces. Toshi and Glen looked at each other and wondered what she had said to make them react like this. Mason closed his eyes and clenched a little. He knew immediately and hoped like hell he was wrong.

"Nikki was the only survivor, wasn't she?" Mason said, knowing the answer, "What is Nikki's last name."

"You know," Glen said, slightly ashamed, "I never asked."

"DeSeve," Toshi said, "I read it in her file when we were doing the security checks."

"Son of a bitch," Karen said, "I think we know who your mole is."

"Nikki?" Glen said, "Not possible. She's too young and been with the company for years."

"Nikki DeSeve is about five-foot nothing," Mason recited from memory, "Very small and slight girl with dark hair and a slightly oriental, possibly Pacific heritage. She can pass for anything between fifteen and thirty, depending on what she's wearing. Sound familiar, Strader?"

"Good lord," Glen said, his face going pale as well, "How the hell did you know that?"

"Jim," Mason said into a communication link, "We're safe. Come on in and bring the Bolantine picture file."

Jim Entragian came up and nodded to Glen and Toshi, handing the file over to Mason who pulled out two color images, both of which looked as though they had been taken many years before. They both showed a woman with an older man. Mason handed one shot each to Glen and Toshi.

"Is that your missing scientist?" Mason asked them.

"Hair is different," Toshi said, "Ugly old man with her. That's her though. When were those pictures taken?"

"December 1969," Mason said, letting the words settle in the air, "About five days before Nicole DeSeve received the gunshot wounds that would cause her to spend thirty years a vegetable."

"This isn't possible," Glen, his mind not ready to admit it yet, started stammering, "Nikki can't... She couldn't... not possibly..."

"It would explain why she bolted," Toshi admitted, "Oh crap in a hat..."

Glen couldn't process the information. He took the picture and walked over to the battle cruiser and sat down on the bumper. Mason and Karen looked at him, wondering why it was hitting him harder than it did the girl. Mason decided to ask.

"This is hitting him rather hard," Mason said, "Something we should know?"

"I'm betting that they were sleeping together," Jim Entragian said, looking over at Strader, "Nothing else would hit him like that."

"Jim!" Karen exclaimed and smacked him.

"He's right," Toshi said, "She was just like one of the family though. You mean she's been playing us all along?"

"Her true name is Nikki Bolantine," Mason said, "She and Bolantine have been thick as thieves for years. Hell that's been half our problem lately finding him. We've been searching for two."

"So what do we do now?" Jim asked him, "What's the next step?"

"If Nikki bolted she's probably left the county by now," Mason said, "That critter she created is probably job number one. We can deal with her later."

"But the Colonel..." Toshi said, looking at him.

"I'm fine," Glen said, stiffening up a little and standing up, "We'll deal with Nikki later. We have a critter to clobber."

"We need to figure out what it is," Karen said, "Toshi, can you get us to what is left of that lab?"

"You got it," Toshi nodded, "We'll see what Harry has pulled up from the video."

"You take the van," Mason said, "Colonel Strader and I will meet up with the rest of his team and try to get some more data on its reactions."

"I'll drive," Glen said, his teeth clenched, "Let's go kick some ass."

Chapter 84 - Ramming Speed

"Christ," Greg said, "We've hit that son of a bitch with close to a thousand rounds. He still keeps moving."

"I hope Stone has some ideas," Cliff agreed, "This is going nowhere."

"I've got an idea," Sienna said, looking at the thing as it continued walking, "Take the wheel, Cliff."

"What are you thinking, kiddo?" Cliff asked her, "Nothing dangerous, I hope."

"Ram him," Sienna said, poking out of the top of the battle cruiser with a large weapon, "I'll hit him with concerted blasts as you do it."

"That's dangerous," Greg said, "Considering nothing we've done has helped yet."

"Got a better idea?" Sienna asked him, "Hit it, Cliff."

"We'll circle around," Greg said, "Give us a minute to get in position before you go for ramming."

"I still think we should wait for the Colonel," Cliff said, "You sure about this, Sienna?"

"Colonel Strader is about five minutes away," Anoki said, checking her locators, "He has someone with him in the cruiser, no markers. Probably Mason Stone."

"Great," Greg said, "Let's wait for them."

"They'll be here soon enough," Cliff said, "We need to slow this fucker down. I'm all for Sienna's plan."

"Be sure to get plenty of speed," Anoki said, "Anything less than ninety is going to be like a fly swat to it."

"Let's do it," Sienna said, getting herself instilled in place, "Time's a wasting!"

Cliff didn't like it, but didn't see anything better to try. He drove about a half mile down the road from where the creature was walking. Greg drove to where he could keep the critter in sight and direct them in. While the two units were getting in to position Colonel Strader and Mason Stone approached to see what was going on.

"What the hell are they doing?" Mason asked Glen as they approached, "I hope they aren't trying what I think they are."

"Looks like they're going to try to ram it," Strader said, pulling to a stop, "You don't think that will help, eh?"

"Bad idea!" Mason exclaimed, "Stop them..."

It was too late for that, however, as Cliff was already pushing the battle cruiser to full speed. Sienna was hanging in the top, braving the winds that resulted from going nearly 100 miles an hour and firing a steady blast from her plasma rifle at the critter. Mason watched and cringed, because he knew what was going to happen.

As soon as the battle cruiser made contact with the monster something unexpected happened. The creature went up in a massive explosion, triggered by the plasma attack and the force of the battle cruiser. This explosion managed to topple the battle cruiser, sending it flipping over onto its side.

Sienna went flying out of the unit, her body skipping over the pavement like a rock across a pond. Everyone drove straight for the crash site, seeing that there wasn't a prayer that she got out of this without major injuries.

"What the hell was that?" Greg almost yelled into his com, "The inmate wasn't armed!"

"You take that one," Colonel Strader suggested to Mason, "I'm not sure what happened either, but you seemed to expect it."

"I knew from the explosion you described," Mason explained, "Looks like Nikki used a variation of the Russian formula she and Bolantine were working with about ten or so years ago. It was a rather unstable mess."

"Is Cliff alive in there?" Strader asked, not particularly concerned about the explanation yet, "Anoki?"

"Did you get the plates off the truck that hit me?" Cliff asked, pulling himself out of the window, "Where's Sienna?"

"I'd say he's alive," Anoki said, jogging from her vehicle to the blood smear that indicated Sienna's course, "I don't know about Sienna yet."

Greg went over and helped Cliff out of the vehicle, checking him out and making sure that he was still alive. Colonel Strader and Mason Stone looked at the remains of the inmate, several pieces of which were still wiggling and moving as if they were alive. Stone went over to the inmate's head and gave it a kick, much like he would have a soccer ball. It flew about thirty feet before hitting the side of Cliff's flipped vehicle."

Anoki and Sienna walked back up to the accident site. Everyone was shocked to see that Sienna was alive at all, let alone walking. Mason Stone particularly was not amused at the sight, because it was one he'd seen before.

"How the hell is she still alive?" Greg asked, "I saw her fly down the road."

"I'd like to know that myself," Mason said, looking hard at Sienna, "Have you been playing with more than you said, guys?"

"Not us," Strader said, looking at the way the wounds were healing quickly, "Cliff, you have some explaining to do."

"What's wrong?" Sienna asked, "I'm ok. A bit bloodied, but I rolled well."

"Not here," Cliff said, shaking his head, "I can explain."

"I hope so," Mason scowled, "I don't like being taken for a fool."

"Not here," Cliff hissed, "Come on, Stone. Have a fucking heart!"

"Did I do something wrong?" Sienna asked, sensitive to the change in mood.

"No honey," Cliff said, smiling and going over to him, "We're just worried about you, that's all. Anoki, can you take her back to the base and clean her up?"

"She needs to get to a hospital doesn't she?" Greg asked them, "We can get..."

"Just get her back to base," Cliff said firmly, "Use peroxide and keep the wounds clean. She will be fine. I'll explain later."

"Is this part of the government conspiracy?" Sienna asked, "Are you going to be ok alone, Cliff?"

"I'll be fine, Sienna," Cliff said, smiling, "Anoki and Greg will protect you from the government. Mason is as anti-government as it gets, trust me. It will be all right."

"Only if you didn't lie to me," Mason said under his breath, "Come on, let's go."

"Ok," Sienna said, "Which car?"

"Mine," Anoki said, "Where is your com, Sienna?"

"Lost it in the crash," she shrugged, wiping some blood off her nose, "Let's go get me cleaned up."

"I'm staying here for cleanup," Greg said and then looked at Anoki "Can you take care of her?"

Anoki nodded and led the injured girl over to the surviving battle cruiser. Greg walked over and turned his communications unit to a frequency that Anoki could listen in on. All eyes were on Cliff, some curious and some furious. Mason Stone didn't look happy at this turn of events.

"Talk," Colonel Strader ordered, "Why is she not dead after that accident?"

"It's not what you think," Cliff explained, "This has no relation to the immortality research."

"Could have fooled me!" Mason exclaimed, "No normal human can get up and move after an injury like that!"

"What is she, Cliff?" Greg asked, "There's always been something strange about her, especially with the never ending conspiracy theories."

"Sienna is not human," Cliff explained, "Flesh and blood genetic experiment, able to pass for completely human."

"What the hell?" Mason asked, "How does this not apply. She's healing like one of us."

"I've heard a bit about this series," Greg said, "Toshi gave me a primer on them a few months ago. All flesh and blood, it's a bioelectric computer basically. They grow in tanks, but there's a flaw with them."

"Exactly," Cliff said, "Sienna was a test. She doesn't know exactly what she is yet. They couldn't stabilize her so they were going to terminate her. I co-opted her to be my partner because she is sentient, even if a bit strange."

"Great," Mason said, "How did she not get hurt?"

"They created her from scratch," Cliff explained, "So she's better designed to take damage. They basically kept what was right with the human body and designed it around a biocomputer. Thing is, because she's a biocomputer. the organs don't play as big a role."

"And she'd be better able to regenerate," Mason nodded, "Ok that makes sense."

"One thing that doesn't," Greg said, "How the hell did you get her?"

"I researched her programming and adjusted it a little," Cliff explained, "I convinced her that she was right and that I wanted to work with her. It's a partnership that's been going well for nearly three years now. The lab is why she came up with all the conspiracy theories, so I redirected that thought into what she does now."

"That's the billion dollar project you subverted," Strader nodded, "It makes sense now. You must really have some juice in this corporation. Anyone else did that they'd probably be dead now."

"Nepotism is a good thing," Cliff said, "Enough about Sienna. What the hell do we do with the remains of that critter?"

"Take them back for study?" Greg asked, then caught Mason's glare, "Or not."

"This is too dangerous," Strader said, preempting Stone, "Mason, any ideas on how to dispose of it?"

"Keep the pieces apart," Mason said, "We used a nuclear bomb last time to destroy the crap. Karen and Jim need to check out the lab and the video before we do anything other than get it out of here so we don't screw it up anymore."

"Why did it explode?" Greg asked them, "I still don't get that."

"I don't understand the chemistry either," Mason admitted, "Jim is the only one who even comes close."

"Come on, people," Colonel Strader said, looking at the remains, "Let's get this crap cleaned up and wait for the crew back at Area 51 to give us instructions on how to dispose of this."

"I think I'm going to be sick," Cliff said as he approached the remains, "Sure made a mess, didn't it?"

"Be careful," Mason said, pulling a shovel out of the back of the battle cruiser, "We don't know how stable this is."

"Or how stable our stomachs are," Greg muttered as he grabbed his own shovel.

Chapter 85 - Research Gone Wrong

"Toshi!" Harry exclaimed when he saw the crew enter the room, "You won't believe... Who is this?"

"Karen Stone," Toshi said, "The goofy looking one is Jim Entragian."

"Pleased to meet you," Jim said, "You must be Harry."

"I've heard the stories," Harry said extending a hand to them, "You're prettier than they claimed, Karen."

"Thanks," Karen smiled, "How big a mess are we facing here?"

"How much do they know?" Harry asked Toshi.

"More than we do, evidently," Toshi said, "Let me guess. You got the security video out of the system."

"You got it," Harry nodded, "Looks like Nikki has been lying to us."

"Nikki lies to everyone," Karen said, sliding a photo across, "Her name is Nikki Bolantine. Can we see the video?"

"Whew," Harry whistled, "Bolantine's girl. I had heard of her, didn't put two and two together."

"Her file was solid," Toshi sighed, "I checked it out myself when we were doing the check just after the Tabiris were stolen."

"Neither here nor there," Jim said, "She and Bolantine have made a career of doing this stuff for years now. They're immortal. They have patience that most people can't even fathom. You fell for it because you had no reason not to."

"That explains that," Harry said, cueing the video, "But can you explain this?"

Harry played the recording that came from the laboratory without comment. All four of them watched the shaky color video from the recovered data, all fascinated with the clinical way the scientists were going about the test that was about to cost all their lives.

"She was under our noses the whole time," Toshi said, watching, "No clue anything was out of the ordinary."

"Her coworkers felt the same way," Karen said, leaning back and watching Nikki's latest depravity, "But how could you sit by and watch this?"

"We didn't," Harry said, "We knew they were doing some experiments. We didn't know they were doing this."

The main experiment finally started unfolding in front of them. It was an electrical and chemical process that was really impressive and horrifying to see. Karen and Jim looked at the process with murder in their eyes. They had been through many things, but seeing this type of brutality still pissed them off.

"This is where it really goes wrong," Harry said, turning away from the screen, "Maybe it will make more sense to you than it did to me."

They watched as the inmate started convulsing heavily, losing blood and pushing heavily against the bonds. Nikki was the only one who didn't look concerned, everyone else was running around like a maniac. Within a couple minutes the inmate started glowing heavily. It was at this point when Nikki started moving back, a look of anger appearing on her face. Once the light got almost too bright to watch there was an explosion, at which point the recording ended.

"Russian formula," Karen said, sighing, "You would have thought they would have learned their lesson ten years ago."

"This was less refined," Jim said, "It was a more controlled reaction then. They took days to explode like that before."

"Nikki tried to trade reactivity for stability," Karen said, "It didn't work."

"Can you explain why it exploded when the cruiser hit it?" Toshi asked them, "Or do you not know enough."

"If it is what I think it is," Jim said, "It was a ticking time bomb anyway. The jolt was just good enough to set it off."

"Can we get into the lab yet?" Toshi asked Harry, "Or is there anything left?"

"I don't know," Harry said honestly, "I never could make contact with the computers there. I got these from the central system."

"Let's go look," Toshi said, "You guys up for a little walk?"

"Let's go," Jim said, smiling, "I'll race you."

"Oh brother," Karen sighed as she watched them go.

Karen jogged behind Jim and Toshi until they found the still burning remains of the laboratory. It looked worse than it had when Toshi had been there a few hours before. The firefighters were standing by and idly watching the building burn.

"What's going on?" Toshi asked, "Why are you letting it burn?"

"We tried to go in once," the fire captain said, "Lost two people from the fumes."

"What did it smell like?" Jim asked the captain, "Did you smell it?"

"Almonds," the captain said, "Once we smelled it we moved back, but the two in front didn't make it out."

"You made the right choice," Jim said, shaking his head, "When it cools down hit it with a mix that is three parts water, two parts Chloral Hydrate and one part rubbing alcohol."

"What is it, Jim?" Karen asked him, "Cyanide Sulfate?"

"Yeah," Jim nodded, "They're lucky they didn't lose the whole crew."

"I guess we don't need to get in there," Toshi said, "You know what it is."

"Same thing we clobbered in Russia twelve years ago," Jim confirmed, "Nikki changed the formula some, but it's still as fundamentally goofy in its makeup as it was back then."

"I knew this was a bad idea," Krista Robinson said as she walked up, "I can't believe they are all gone."

"Krista," Toshi said, turning around in surprise, "I thought you were on the immortality team with Nikki?"

Toshi and Krista hugged each other quickly, giving Jim and Karen time to take in the new woman before conversation continued. She was wearing a standard issue set of Company laboratory gear and had one of the blue badges that indicated that she was a resident scientist. Her dirty blonde hair was tied up behind her head, making her thick glasses look even bigger.

"I walked out because of this test," Krista said, the tears showing in her eyes, "Nikki was like a woman possessed on this one. I knew that the science was not clear on it, but she wanted to move on with the test."

"This is Karen Stone and Jim Entragian," Toshi said, introducing the others, "They're here to help deal with what was unleashed."

"Sure," Krista nodded, "I'm Krista Robinson. I was a sub-leader on the team until a few hours ago. When Jack approved this test, I walked out."

"Why did your boss approve it?" Jim asked her, "Surely they could tell it didn't make sense?"

"It did in some ways," Krista continued, "She did come up with some seriously advanced ideas, some things we'd never even thought of before. But she's always been good at that."

"I can imagine," Karen frowned, "It only took a hundred and forty dead Russians to do it."

"Huh?" Krista said, "What do you mean?"

"Nikki was the mole, Kris," Toshi explained, "She's not what we thought she was."

"No way," Krista said, shaking her head, "No way in hell. I've known Nikki since high school. She and I went to college together too. Heck, she's the one who convinced me to take this job!"

"Is this your high school friend?" Karen asked her, passing a picture from her Bolantine file over, "Since you've known her so long."

"I've never seen Nikki with her hair like that," Krista said, looking hard at the photo, "That's her though. Why?"

"It's from a fake Russian passport we managed to get ten years ago," Karen explained and passed the full context picture, "She and Bolantine had managed to get themselves in with a similar research setup there. One hundred and forty people perished in the nuclear explosion that was set off by one of their test subjects."

"Nikki is one of the best biochemical engineers I've ever seen," Krista protested, "She knew what she was doing."

"Now," Toshi said, "But this was ten years ago."

"Ten years ago Nikki would have been fourteen," Krista said, "It's not possible. Her dad was a strange goat, but even he wouldn't have been dragging her all over the world at that age."

"You met her father?" Jim asked and pulled another picture out of the folder Karen was holding, "Was this him?"

"Yeah," Krista said, looking puzzled, "Will you two start making sense?"

"They are immortals," Toshi filled in, "Nikki was the one who set off the Tabiri and was feeding information to the man in the picture, her lover if I'm not mistaken."

"Good so far," Karen nodded and started handing Krista photos, "Nicole DeSeve was born in 1949 to an unwed mother in Seattle Washington. She became the favored lover of the organized crime boss in 1968. Their affair kept on going red hot until she was shot during a robbery the next year."

"Holy shit," Krista said, looking at the old pictures of Nikki, "This isn't possible."

"It's very possible," Jim said, "It's crazy, but it's true. Nikki spent the next thirty years as a vegetable, until a serum I created was used to bring her back. The same thing that made her and her lover immortal."

"Among others," Toshi said under her breath.

"Anyway," Karen said, "She and Bolantine spent a dozen years underground, literally, after we dropped a mountain on their head. Following their escape we had a cat and mouse game while they were doing terror for hire with the reanimated bodies using the first version of this formula. That Russian incident was the last one until now. They disappeared after that and we've been looking for them ever since."

"But we went to school together," Krista said, "Shared secrets, had boyfriends and went to school. It was all a lie?"

"No," Karen said, "It was real. What screwed them in Russia was their scientific ignorance. This must have been Bolantine's grand plan to get her an education and get her into this place."

"Or another government department," Jim suggested, "We don't know how she ended up here yet."

"Gotta admit," Toshi said, "It gave her a background that was completely flawless. We could have kept searching through files for years and never figured it out."

"Where is she now?" Krista asked, "I want to punch her in the face!"

"She disappeared on the way to the meeting with them," Toshi shrugged, "Probably out of the state by now."

"Probably back with Bolantine," Karen said with a knowing look, "Those two have a bond that you can't fathom."

"Peas in a pod," Jim agreed, "Those two have more history than the three of us do."

"Yeah," Karen chuckled, "The one thing on earth either one of them love is each other."

"The only thing I don't get," Krista said, "She's not exactly been faithful to him. I know of several men that she's slept with, Colonel Strader being the latest of them."

"Now that we've gotten this out of our system," Toshi said, "How do they dispose of the pieces of the inmate?"

"Nearest incinerator," Jim said, "Sucker will burn off into the atmosphere."

"I'll let him know," Toshi said, "That easy, huh?"

"Now that he's exploded," Jim shrugged, "Yeah. Just make sure it's hot."

"Let's go back to Harry's lab," Karen suggested, "I want to make sure that nothing is left from that research in the main computer systems here."

"If anyone can help, it's Harry," Toshi nodded, "Let's make sure this can't happen again."

Chapter 86 - Nikki's Run

Nikki pulled her stolen car into a slot in the pay parking lot at LAX, abandoning it as she had her life at Area 51 just eight hours before. It was early morning in Los Angeles and the smog was already showing clearly as she looked around.

Nikki grumbled some more as she hiked her way from the car to the main terminal at LAX. She had been prepared for leaving for years, but it had never been something she particularly wanted to do. Life had been pretty good working for the Company at Area 51. It had been the first time in over twenty years of immortality that she had not been on the run.

Entering the concourse without a problem, she walked to a locker that she had set up earlier in the year and punched in a code. This was a process she practiced four times a year, moving the contents from locker to locker to make sure they weren't removed by airport security. In the locker was an envelope containing five thousand dollars in cash and an updated set of identification, all placed in a rather nondescript pocketbook for easy concealment.

"Nicole Ballintine," Nikki said to herself as she looked at it, "How unoriginal."

She carried the pocketbook and went straight for one of the airport stores. She'd been driving all night and looked like hell because of it. The ugly jumpsuit that Toshi had put her in didn't help matters much, so Nikki's first task was to buy a new set of clothes.

As she didn't want to appear too wealthy or too slovenly she purchased a set of clothes from a store that had been well placed to benefit from people who had lost their luggage. Once she did that she went into a bathroom to change, discarding the Company jumpsuit in the diaper pail. She soon emerged looking like a completely different person than she had before. Her long black hair was still damaged from the explosion, so she knotted it up and hid it under a hat.

The clothing made her look much more adult than she had at any time during her years at the Company, enough so that she could purchase a drink at the bar without even being asked for identification.

While sitting and sipping on her drink, Nikki used the phone in the bar to call the second of two numbers she had long ago memorized. Since Bolantine had been alerted by her earlier call, he picked up the phone on the first ring.

"Nikki?" Bolantine said, "Where are you?"

"LAX," Nikki explained, "Sitting in the bar having a drink, first real one in a while. Where are you?"

"Not over the phone," Bolantine chastised her, "Did you get out all right?"

"Nobody has caught up to me yet," Nikki said, "Just need to know where to go."

"The word has broken on you," Bolantine told her, "The wants on you hit the wire an hour ago."

"Guess flying is out," Nikki shrugged, "Do I need to leave the country?"

"No," Bolantine told her, "It's not a priority want. As far as they know you haven't broken any major laws. It'll take the company days to put everything together."

"Good," Nikki said, getting bored of this, "When can I rejoin you?"

"A white Limo will pick you up in front of the terminal in about twenty minutes," Bolantine told her, "Call this number from the mobile and I'll give you the location."

"Right," Nikki said and finished her drink, "See you later."

Bolantine clicked off the phone and Nikki stood up to walk around. It still amazed her just how much the world had changed around her. She figured she was on her fourth life so far and about to start her fifth one. It was a feeling that she never seemed to get sick of. Regret was an emotion that had yet to occur to her.

She didn't know how much shuffling around Bolantine planned for her, but considering how bad a failure the Century City job turned out to be he couldn't be too careful. To avoid boredom, she bought a biography of Joseph Stalin from the airport bookstore and flipped idly through the pictures while she waited for the limo.

The limo was a good ten minutes late when it pulled up in front of the concourse. Nikki stood up and walked over to it, climbing in and closing the door. She leaned back against the comfortable seat and smiled at the display of luxury. It surely beat the spartan surroundings that she had been living with in the barracks at Area 51.

"Any instructions?" came a voice through the speaker.

"Drive while I make a call," Nikki instructed, "I'll tell you where we are going in a bit."

"As you like, Ma'am," the voice said respectfully.

Nikki picked up the phone and dialed the number, which this time rang repeatedly. It took a moment for her to realize that she was hearing the ring twice. Once through her phone and once from the front seat.

"Welcome home, Nikki," Bolantine said from the front seat, a bit of a smile forming on his face, "Sorry, I have to keep a low profile as well."

"Nice to know you still care," Nikki grinned, "Where are we going?"

"To pick up a driver," Bolantine said, "I'll join you back there then."

Nikki smiled and shook her head while she let her man drive. It was good to see him again, even if she couldn't touch him. They had a rare bond, one created in her youth, solidified through thirty years of unconsciousness and survival and cemented by living through a dozen years of confinement in a collapsed mine.

Bolantine pulled the limousine into a garage and got out, quickly shedding his limo driver gear and slipping into the back seat with Nikki. She saw him, and her eyes lit up, scooting over next to him and kissing him deeply, with a passion that was as heavy as it had been a half century earlier at their first meeting.

While Bolantine and Nikki were kissing in the back seat one of his minions slipped behind the wheel of the limo and started driving the streets of LA, a perfect place to get lost in a limo. With the areas, the driver zipped around in there wasn't even an eye batted at them.

"Damn I've missed you, kid," Bolantine said, slipping back into the Chicago gangster accent he had when he relaxed, "Stone managed to screw us again, eh?"

"Strader decided to believe him over me," Nikki said, sighing, "I thought I had my hooks in him better than that."

"The Strader family has always been a bunch of obstinate sons of bitches," Bolantine shrugged, "You should know that by now. They'd sell their own mother for duty and country, even after their country screwed them up the ass."

"He had his uses," Nikki grinned, "But it's good to be out of that place."

"Thanks for giving me another reason to want to kill him," Bolantine said, frowning at the thought of Nikki and Strader, "What went wrong up there?"

"He was going to Stone about the inmate that escaped," Nikki said, "A variant of the same damn problem we had in Russia a decade ago. Something in the formula caused an explosive reaction. I thought I'd kicked that part of it, but it was a doozie. Even worse than last time."

"You're lucky they didn't think about it long," Bolantine told her, "They should have realized that there was no way you could have survived the explosion."

"That's the other reason I bolted," Nikki confirmed, "I knew my luck in that regard wouldn't last long. I may have had my hooks into Strader, but I'm betting Stone still has his files on us. Besides, Harry Haldeman was only a few minutes away from decoding the video files."

"We need to do something about that son of a bitch as well," Bolantine said, "I got word from Russia a few days ago that our friends with the nukes got shut down. The attacking force consisted of a man and a woman who spoke letter-perfect Russian, yet conversed to each other in English."

"Stone," Nikki said simply, "That pain in the ass gets around. Probably with his little bitch."

"That he does," Bolantine nodded, "He probably passed off the information to Strader's group. I still want to know how the hell they got out of that armored car though."

"I heard about that," Nikki said, smiling evilly, "You really need to stop pulling those James Bond style schemes. They used the battle droid to get out of it. She did a concentrated plasma burst to get a hole open. Kaczmarek managed to disarm the bomb with luck and a bucket of sand."

"Great," Bolantine scowled, "Just what I needed to hear. If it was that easy to disarm, I hope Stone kicked all their Russian asses."

"We can't underestimate them," Nikki reminded him, "How are the other fronts going?"

"Our corporations are now holding a large chunk of the biomedical market," Bolantine smiled triumphantly, "The information you siphoned out made the difference. By getting some of those products to market first we're making some serious headway. We have a winning percentage in that field, with the Company being the only real competition in the market. Their main advantage over us now in genome research is holding on to Area 51."

"That's what you get for getting outbid on Area 51," Nikki smiled, "How did the Company get by you on that?"

"Sneaky bastards paid off more people than I did," Bolantine frowned, "They also killed off my operative. By the time I could get back they had control of the base."

"No matter," Nikki shrugged, "I'm back now. No more slinking around like a respectable person for me. It's time to get back to work."

"I could use you," Bolantine admitted, "A little of your cowboy instinct goes a long way."

"I won't say I'm not glad to be out," Nikki said, "Being good was getting really boring. I just wish I could have found the remains of Jim Entragian's clinic first."

"They never found it in all the cataloging they did?" Bolantine asked, surprised, "They've had Area 51 for over a year now."

"I don't know if you realize how mind-boggling big that damned base is," Nikki grumbled, "Even the US military had no clue what was stored in that maze of buildings. I spent a good chunk of my off time looking around there and never even came close to finding it."

"We know the stuff is there," Bolantine said, "I tracked down one of the soldiers Adam Strader used when cleaning out the clinic. He was in a nursing home in Oklahoma. They carted it to Fort Detrick, from which it was all dispatched to Groom Lake. Probably so Adam himself could keep an eye on it."

"Too bad he didn't give you a better location," Nikki groused, "But Strader probably had it compartmentalized enough that nobody knew the whole story."

"Why the hell didn't you wait until you found it before getting involved in the testing?" Bolantine asked her, "We knew the research we got in Russia was flawed. I don't know what Entragian came up with, but we sure didn't duplicate it there."

"Company bosses were pushing for some successes," Nikki said, "I was just a part of the team. If I'd tried to stall and delay, I would have been pushed out. As it was, I was the star in that department. I thought I'd kicked the explosive issue."

"So you gambled," Bolantine nodded, "Lousy timing, coming on top of that screw-up of mine, but I guess I can't say much."

"Word is that Mason Stone pretty well trashed Entragian's clinic anyway," Nikki told him, "That's the other reason I didn't wait. I didn't think it would make that much difference."

"We need to find out for sure," Bolantine said, shaking his head, "Now that you're out of there we need another way in."

"I might have that," Nikki smiled, "I've been secreting my data away. I have everything I worked on at the company backed up onto a web server in Alabama. Last week I got some interesting co-developed nanodrugs out of one of the Company subsidiaries. We might be able to do something with that."

"We can worry about that tomorrow," Bolantine said, running his fingers through Nikki's dark hair, "You've been with those goody-goody pains in the ass for too long. I've reserved a suite at the Fairmont Miramar. Time to remind you what a real man is like."

"Mmmm," Nikki purred, "About time."

Chapter 87 - Repercussions

"How the hell could Nikki DeSeve be a plant?" Sam Remordis exclaimed, "Why didn't anyone ever catch it?"

"She played the role to the hilt," Toshi told him, passing off one of the photos Karen Stone had provided, "Even went through high school. Her records were clean and everything was good. The security people talked to people who had known her through both high school and college."

"Jesus Christ," Remordis said, "The fire people are telling me that the lab is a total loss."

"So is the program," Strader said, "Stone's price for helping clean up this mess was that we let his people erase the remaining data."

"I didn't approve that!" Remordis exclaimed, "So we ended up with nothing from it?"

"MacManus approved it," Strader seethed, "And you did end up with something. You have eleven dead scientists, one traitor, and two dead firemen. You also get a bill from the crematorium for the cremation chamber that was destroyed when we used it to eliminate the evidence of that colossal fuckup."

"Jesus!" Remordis repeated, "Sometimes I really wish I hadn't left the force."

"No kidding," Strader muttered, "Dealing with rebels and aliens is easier."

"Hey!" Toshi exclaimed, "Stop this! We have bigger problems to deal with now. We need to figure out how much damage Nikki really caused us."

"Toshi," Remordis said, turning away from Strader, "Who did the security review on Nikki DeSeve?"

"Both Harry and I rechecked her," Toshi said, "There was no way to check for what she did. She was the person who she said she was, for the duration she said she was. There were no other records or any reason to think she was sixty some odd years older than she looked."

"She spent most of her free time with your people," Remordis said, "You never saw anything hinky?"

"Nothing," Toshi said, "She was a friend."

"How about you?" Remordis said, looking at Strader, "You were sleeping with the wench. You didn't notice anything?"

"Fuck you, Remordis," Strader said standing up and pondering hitting the bureaucrat, "I had no more reason to think anything was wrong than you did."

"Oh sure," Remordis said, his eyes boring into Strader, "You just happen to be fucking the biggest traitor since Benedict Arnold and you had no reason to think anything was out of line."

"At least I have the ability to fuck someone, Sam," Strader said, standing up, "How do you live with balls that small?"

"Why you!" Remordis exclaimed.

"Blow me," Strader said, walking out of the room muttering, "Fucking bureaucrat."

"He can't!" Remordis yelled, "He's fired!"

"No he isn't," Toshi said, looking at Remordis and standing up, "You were a good cop once, Sam. You've become a bureaucrat. Strader isn't one, never will be. He didn't know anymore about Nikki than you did about Rob Homer ten years ago. Remember that?"

"He's arrogant," Remordis grumbled, "He and the rest of your team do nothing but suck up my operating budget."

"We're not bean counters," Toshi reminded him and stood up, "And the Company is contractually obliged to keep that team running. Nikki wasn't our mistake, Sam. Talk to the screening department that recruited her in the first place."

"Where are you going?" Remordis asked her, "I have more questions."

"I have no more answers," Toshi told him sternly, "We'll make a report in a day or two. I'm going to go check on the rest of the team."

Toshi stood up and left Sam Remordis standing there with his mouth open. He couldn't believe that she had turned on him like that, especially after their past together. She found Glen Strader standing outside stretching a little waiting for her. He didn't look happy, but she could tell he was wondering how Remordis took to his departure.

"Am I fired?" Strader asked her, "Not that I care right now."

"No," Toshi smiled, "He has nobody who could take your place."

"I'm sure you had something to do with that," Strader chuckled, "Thanks."

"Don't beat yourself up over it," Toshi told him, "I will go get the report started on this mess."

"Thanks," Strader nodded, "Mason, Karen and Jim still here?"

"For now," Toshi nodded, "Jim, Karen, and Harry are still going through the records and doing some strategic altering. Mason is still here too, probably has nowhere else to go."

"Where is he?" Strader asked, "I should probably go thank him for coming out."

"That's him standing outside our building, isn't it?" Toshi asked, pointing out a man outside, "Who else would willingly stand outside in this heat?"

Toshi rushed back into the barracks to do her work and Glen walked over to see Mason Stone. Mason was standing next to the barracks, looking up at the morning sunrise. Strader knew that Stone had to be nearly as tired as he was, but the immortal handled the strain better.

"Rest time, Stone?" Strader asked him, sitting down on the bumper of a battle cruiser near where Stone was standing, "Mind if I join you?"

"Sure," Stone chuckled, "How are you holding up, Glen?"

"It was a long fucking night," he sighed, "Not often that you find out that you've been sleeping with the enemy."

"Nikki got her hooks into you hard, eh?" Stone nodded, "Not surprising I guess."

"I'm glad someone doesn't think less of me for it," Strader sighed, "I've gotten more strange looks in the last few hours than I know what to do with."

"You were taken by a master," Stone shrugged, "Toshi showed me the file. If I were you I'd have fallen for it too."

"Still sucks," he said, "Not sure what to do next."

"When is the last time you relaxed," Stone asked him, "Gone out and get drunk?"

"Last time I relaxed was with Nikki," Strader said, lamenting it, "We spent the night together a few days ago..."

"You're letting it eat you alive," Stone said, looking at the younger man, "You do that and the bitch wins."

"What do you know about it?" Strader asked him, "I know you are immortal and all..."

"I've known what it is like to have someone you love screw you over," Stone told him, "Listen. Sitting here grousing won't help. Where is Adam these days?"

"He's retired," Strader said, calming down, "Lost the use of his legs in a mission years ago. He lives on a little place outside Groom Lake. He's been there since mom left him."

"Get in the cruiser," Mason Stone said, an idea forming, "Do you know what he's drinking nowadays?"

"Beer and cheap wine is my guess," Strader said, getting into the cruiser more for curiosity sake than anything else, "Why do you ask?"

"We're going to go pay him a visit," Mason said, smiling, "We'll bring some alcohol and purge some memories. It is a time honored tradition for both military and police people after a nasty day."

"How do you fit in to that category?" Strader wondered, going along for the ride.

"Thirty years as a police officer," Mason told him as he drove, "Six years as a runner for the feds until Bolantine's thugs caught me."

"Sounds interesting," Strader chuckled, "Do I want to know?"

"Long story," Mason told him, "Maybe if we get drunk enough I'll actually tell it."

Strader wasn't sure he wanted to know.

Chapter 87 - Generations

"This should be interesting," Mason said, leaning in the passenger seat with a smile, "I hope I don't cause him to have a heart attack when I walk in."

"He'd enjoy it too much," Glen Strader said as he drove, "He's been miserable and alone since Sonya died."

"All the good ones end up that way," Mason nodded, "I've been there myself."

"What happened to your wife?" Glen asked him, "I take it you were married once."

"Long time ago," Mason nodded, "She went insane when one of our kids was killed during a holdup. Last I heard she died a dozen years ago."

"That sucks," Glen sighed, "Guess that makes my problems seem puny."

"Time makes everything seem puny," Mason shrugged, "My marriage had been over for decades at that point. Kelly spent the last thirty years or so of her life in an institution because our kid did something stupid."

"You said he was killed in a robbery?" Glen asked as he turned off on the dirt road that led to Adam's cabin, "How does that qualify as stupid?"

"He was the one committing it," Mason sighed, "He killed a hostage and a sniper killed him while he was on the phone with Kelly. That's what caused her to snap."

"Lovely," Glen said, parking the cruiser, "Too bad he didn't get your good sense."

"No shit," Mason chuckled, "Must have gotten it from his mother. At least nobody else will have to put up with it. I've been removed from the gene pool."

"No other kids?" Glen asked him, "You and Karen look really close."

"One of the more pleasant effects of the serum," Mason chuckled, "We're sterile. My second son died of cancer six years ago, thankfully childless. Both Jim and I have outlived our lines."

"He's probably in the garage," Glen said as he stood up, "What about Karen?"

"Karen's children are still around," Mason said, "They all think their mother died years ago. It's better that way."

"I can imagine," Glen nodded, "Let's see if he's here."

"Where else would I be, Glen?" a familiar voice said, "I'm tinkering on that damned car again. Might actually get it running again someday."

"Why bother?" Mason asked, walking into the garage, "You can't get gas for it anymore anyway."

"I know that voice," Adam Strader said from underneath the car, "It's been a long time, but I remember it."

"The years bring many changes," Mason told him, "But some things never change."

Adam Strader pulled himself out from under the car, using his powerful arms. Unlike most paralyzed people he didn't require much help moving around, he lived alone and preferred it that way. He settled in to his wheelchair and looked up at Mason Stone, seeing a face that looked to him as if it had walked straight out of his memories.

"Christ," Adam said, "You still look twenty-five."

"You don't," Mason said, "How are you, old man?"

"About as good as ever," Adam admitted, "What brings you out here?"

"Same thing as always," Mason said, "But we came bearing gifts first. Your son here could use a good drink, so I bought a case of German beer."

"More problems, huh?" Adam said, "Bring the beer inside, there should be room in the fridge."

"Thanks," Glen said, dragging the case of beer, "It's been a long couple days."

"I heard you had problems," Adam said, grabbing a beer and popping the top, "Must have been nasty to get this response."

"Nikki Bolantine was in the company," Mason said, "She passed herself off as a young graduate. Years of background."

"That crazy bitch, eh?" Adam nodded, "How the hell did they get out?"

"Why didn't you tell me about Nikki Bolantine, dad?" Glen asked him, getting a beer of his own, "I could have used that information a couple months back."

"Those two are a bad memory," Adam said, "Killed my father and damn near killed me. I thought they were under two hundred thousand tons of rock."

"Some dumb son of a bitch decided to make another try for ore," Mason grumbled, "I found out about it a couple years after it happened. Been playing cat and mouse with them ever since."

"Where were you when it happened?" Adam asked him, "Not that it matters at this point."

"We were on a misadventure in Africa," Mason chuckled, "By the time we checked it out again there was nothing but an empty cavern and the rumors of another massacre. It wasn't long before we figured out he was running a terror for hire plot."

"I can imagine," Adam nodded, "I'd heard the rumors, but it wasn't in my purview anymore. I knew he couldn't recreate the serum, so I left well enough alone and let myself believe they were still underground."

"We've been looking for them for ten years," Mason said, "They disappeared after a mess in Russia and we didn't get any info on any of them until a few months ago. Bolantine's name started popping up again and so did his tactics. We didn't have anything solid until he started targeting the company for some reason."

"I still don't understand that," Glen said, pulling deep on a beer before continuing, "Why did Nikki put so much effort into infiltrating us? The Company isn't that interesting."

"I don't know," Mason admitted, "I don't understand that either. It does seem a bit excessive to me. Especially considering the lengths she went to."

"What do you mean the lengths she went to?" Adam asked, "What did she do?"

"She played the role completely," Mason said, smiling at Glen, "More than just professionally. She inserted herself into society there completely."

"Don't beat around the bush, Mason," Glen sighed, "I was sleeping with her, dad. I didn't even have a hint that she wasn't what she appeared to be."

"Now that's good," Adam laughed, "Girl has chutzpah, I'll give her that. She helps kill one generation, nearly kills another one soon after. Then, she reverses course and ends up fucking a third generation. Now that's class for you!"

"Ok," Mason said, grinning, "Hit me if you will, but I have to ask you one question Glen."

"What?" Glen asked him, sure he wouldn't like it.

"Was she at least any good?" Mason asked him, "I'm still trying to figure out what Bolantine sees in her."

Adam chuckled and watched his son turn beet red at the question. Mason dodged the beer cap that Glen flung at him and started laughing. Glen shook his head and decided that he might as well answer.

"Yeah," Glen agreed, "She was damn good. She had me totally fooled."

"Seriously," Mason said, "Did you have any reason at all to suspect she wasn't what you thought she was?"

"I should have..." Glen started only to be interrupted by Adam.

"Bullshit," Adam Strader said, "You had no reason to suspect her. I'm sure she came up through the ranks like people are supposed to. She had the background to back her up. I'm betting that the Company is probably at least as good at background checks as we were, probably better."

"He's right," Mason agreed, "You're a man with urges, she looked young and was available. You got laid. Look at it this way, she's probably the safest lay you will ever have."

"How do you get that one?" Glen asked him, rather surprised by that, "Considering some of the things she did nearly got me killed."

"You're stepping into it now, Mason," Adam said, "How on earth could she be considered safe?"

"She's sterile," Mason grinned, "She's also unable to contract disease, so you don't have to worry about what she has. She's also got years of experience in a body that doesn't look a day over twenty. Hell, she's probably a great lay."

"You ain't kidding there," Glen laughed, "She was good, I'll give her that."

"The one thing I don't get is why she chose to go with the company," Mason said, "They aren't that big a name in biomedical technology are they?"

"They are pretty high on the list," Glen told him, "Probably enough to make it worth her while."

"Did she come in before or after they took over Area 51?" Adam asked his son.

"Her file said that she started about two months before handover," Glen said, "It was probably under contract by then. Why?"

"I think I know what she was after," Adam said, "Something that dates back a ways."

"What would that be?" Mason wondered, "Was the military doing that type of testing still? I thought they shelved the program after we killed off Elliot Sumner?"

"They did," Adam said, "But there were still the remnants of the research clinic to deal with..."

"Remains of what?" Glen asked, "What clinic?"

"Shit," Mason said, lowering his head, "The Entragian research clinic of Boland Creek, New York. It was the place where Karen and I became immortal. I thought we destroyed everything when we left, didn't we?"

"Most everything," Adam nodded, "But my job initially was to supervise the cleanup. While my father was chasing you we bagged and tagged everything and shipped it down to Fort Detrick. Dad's plan on that was to go through it at some point as a fail safe."

"Shit," Mason growled, "How come I never heard about this?"

"Because it never happened," Adam smiled, "After General Moreland pulled the plug when my father was killed he never stated what to do with the remains. Just before I was transferred to Area 51 they came to me and asked what to do with the junk."

"You should have burned it," Mason grunted.

"What did you do?" Glen asked him.

"Since my name was attached to it I went ahead and made arrangements for it," Adam told them, "I didn't know if they'd come back looking for it, so I couldn't afford to destroy it. It was also my ace in the hole to keep my career alive. So I had them transfer everything to Area 51."

"You mean it still exists?" Mason asked, "Jesus! No wonder Nikki was in there."

"I doubt she found it," Adam said, "You see, I never put it on the main register of Area 51. Nobody had a clue where it was but me."

"How did she figure out it was there?" Glen asked, "Who knew?"

"The soldiers I used to move the stuff knew," Adam shrugged, "But all they knew was that it was brought to Area 51. I hid the trucks myself. Nobody else knows where they are."

"That's not good enough," Mason said, "We need to destroy that stuff."

"I'm retired now," Adam said, "Knock yourself out if you can get the company to do it."

"They probably don't know it is there either," Glen said, finishing off his second beer, "The feds never gave them a list of what was there, merely hauled ass out of there. We still don't know everything. We've found Tabiri units, nuclear warheads, and various other munitions, all left behind by the feds."

"Kooky," Mason said, "We'll get rid of the stuff under their noses. I like it."

"Not now," Adam said, "We're still way too sober. Let's get nice and drunk. That junk has been hidden for nearly thirty years. Another few hours won't make a bit of difference. It's been a long time since I've gotten drunk with anyone."

"I don't get drunk," Mason said, finishing a beer, "But I'll drink with you."

"I gotta ask this," Glen grinned, "But what is it like to be immortal?"

"It's hell," Mason said honestly, "I should be dead by now. I'm eighty-seven now, an age that I figured I'd either be dead by or wearing depends and working on a mean case of senility. Instead I'm spending most of my time chasing that asshole Bolantine."

"Another motherfucker that should be dead," Adam groused, the alcohol taking a bit more of a hold, "Does he still have that goofy grin?"

"Yep," Glen confirmed, "As well as long blonde hair. You called him a criminal. What was that about?"

"He's the last of the 30's style gangsters," Mason chuckled, "Son of a bitch worked for Al Capone as a teenager. When he grew up he went west. He spent nearly a half century as the boss of Seattle. Bolantine is a super centenarian now. 117 years old if I have my math right."

"A real asshole too," Adam confirmed.

"So how did he get the formula?" Glen asked, still not seeing the whole picture.

"The serum was made for him in the first place," Mason explained, "I couldn't stop Eliot Sumner from administering the formula to Bolantine and Nikki, but we were able to stop him from making any more. Bolantine and Nikki have been trying to recreate it ever since."

"Simple goals for simple minds," Adam said, "I've had enough of reminiscing. Let's just drink some more beer."

"Works for me," Glen said, "There's got to be better things to talk about."

"Ok," Mason said, drinking a bit more, "Have you heard the one about the Priest, the Rabbi and Tito Jackson..."

Chapter 87 - Finding Bolantine

"I think we've just about gotten it," Jim Entragian said, rubbing his eyes and pushing back his dark hair, "Provided you're not holding out on us that is."

"After that video we saw?" Harry Haldeman asked, "I don't have any interest in seeing that sort of thing repeated. I'm the only one who knows how the computer systems in this place work. It's gone."

"Good," Karen said, "Hopefully Nikki won't be able to recreate it again."

"She probably has the data secreted out somewhere," Jim said, "They must have gotten more out of the Russian gig than we thought."

"I don't pretend to understand that part," Harry shrugged, "I'm a computer guy. Biology makes no sense to me."

"I don't think I want to know more about that end of it than I do," Toshi said, "I'm still trying to figure out just what the hell they had to gain from this."

"Bolantine's dream for years has been to create an invulnerable army," Karen told them, "I am not so concerned about Nikki's research. I'm more concerned about where Bolantine's funding is coming from nowadays. He has to be getting funds from somewhere, and I doubt he's doing it like we are."

"How do you do it?" Greg asked her, deciding to satisfy his curiosity, "I can't see you working 9 to 5 jobs or anything."

"We take down drug dealers mostly," Karen said, "We also do other worthwhile things. The best way of hitting most people like that is to hit them in the pocketbook. We use the money to fund ourselves to keep our work going."

"Rob the bad to help the good, eh?" Harry chuckled, "Sounds a little like Robin Hood."

"We do what we think is right," Karen shrugged, "We will be around for a long time. Might as well do some good while we're here."

"Too bad Bolantine and his bitch don't take the same attitude," Jim sighed, "Why the hell did the government let someone re-mine that goddamned mountain?"

"Too late for that now," Greg said, "I'm still wondering what to do next."

"We've got access to one of the best computer connections in the country," Harry smiled, "Between Mr. Entragian here and myself we've got two of the best computer snoops in the world. Why can't we figure out what the elusive Bolantine is up to?"

"Remember," Karen said, "Bolantine doesn't leave many tracks. He's probably further shrouded in secrecy than we are."

"I'm willing to try it," Entragian shrugged, "We've got nothing better to do until Mason gets back."

"Where did they go, anyway?" Toshi asked them, "Mason and the Colonel took off in a battle cruiser hours ago."

"Glen is having a hard time dealing with Nikki's defection," Greg said, "It's hitting all of us hard, but the Colonel was actually sleeping with her. I think Mason took him out to get him plenty drunk and talk about it."

"It'll do him some good," Harry agreed, "The only thing I don't know is where to begin on this search."

"I do," Greg said, "Cliff and Sienna."

"Sienna is still unconscious," Toshi told them, "Anoki is overseeing her reconstruction. Cliff put her to sleep so that Anoki could oversee the rebuilding of her flesh without Sienna becoming aware that she was not a regular human."

"Good thinking," Harry said, "Sienna isn't that stable to begin with. Often, when someone like her learns what she is they go insane. That was the biggest problem with the Tabiri units too. It tended to happen at inopportune times."

"Cliff is probably with her," Toshi said, "I'll go get him."

"Let's run an echelon search on Bolantine," Jim suggested, "See if he's been mentioned in email anywhere."

"The feds tied down Echelon pretty good a few years back," Harry said, looking at Jim, "I've been looking for a way back in, but all my backdoors were closed."

"Watch and learn," Jim grinned and started hitting keys on the board, "Sometimes it's best to go in through the front door with style."

Jim pushed the system and managed to get in around the password system. Harry watched the man with an admiring smile, wishing he'd have thought of the method first. It still took Jim about five minutes to get inside and start the search of the massive echelon email database, by which time Toshi had returned with Cliff."

"I see you haven't gotten shit for sleep either," Greg told Cliff, "You look like death warmed over."

"Been a long day," Cliff shrugged, "What do you need?"

"A few questions about Bolantine," Jim said, "You've spent time with him more recently than anyone else."

"An honor I'd like to forget, thanks," Cliff grumbled, "I don't know what I can tell you."

"We're trying to figure out where he gets his funding," Harry said, "Did he say anything about that to you while you were there?"

"He didn't talk to me unless he wanted something," Cliff told them, "He thought of me as a tool, little else."

"How about his people?" Jim asked, "Were they there willingly?"

"They were all there willingly," Cliff nodded, "But they were all scared of him. Nobody referred to him by name. I didn't learn that until a few weeks ago."

"Did he use email much?" Harry wondered.

"Not that I saw," Cliff shook his head, "The man was not the most technically savvy that I've ever seen. He was the only one who was allowed in the communications room, so he might have had it there."

"What about supplies?" Karen asked him, "Did you notice any company logos or anything?"

"Yeah," Cliff said, thinking about it, "Come to think of it all the medical supplies were samples. I thought it odd. Everything had clear labels for Endicott Biomedical Engineering on them, all saying not for resale."

"Endicott," Greg said, "Seems I've heard of them before."

"Let me pull up their SEC record," Harry said and promptly hacked into the SEC computers, "It'll just be a minute."

"Endicott tried to outrun the Company in bidding for this place," Toshi said, "It almost worked too, but Julia O'Bryon managed to find a legal loophole that allowed us in first."

"Did Nikki come into the company before or after that?" Jim asked her.

"Her records indicate she was hired out of college," Toshi said, "That would have been roughly the same time. She applied to us and was accepted easily after the background check."

"Before or after?" Jim asked again.

"Before the switchover," Harry said as he pulled up Nikki's file, "But it was after Endicott lost the bidding."

"She and Bolantine probably changed course to get her in here after they lost," Karen said, "I'd say Endicott is probably Bolantine's front."

"I've got some articles here on them," Jim said, putting some things on the screen, "Serena Endicott started the company from scratch nine years ago. Looks like a massive success story. Nobody says where the startup capital came from."

Jim flipped through a few stories until they came upon a video of Endicott Biomedical's board. It wasn't all that interesting in itself, but there was movement in the background that struck Jim funny. It was Cliff of all people who spotted it first.

"Isn't that Bolantine in the background?" Cliff asked, squinting at the image.

"Bitmap that sucker," Harry said, instructing Jim who was at the controls, "Let's see if we can pull it out."

Jim took a few minutes playing with video controls until he could refocus the image. What remained was a very reluctant Bolantine, trying to hide his face from the camera, something that was second nature to immortals due to the risks of becoming well known.

"That confirms he's been around," Jim said, "He's dressed in a business suit too. Makes me wonder if he's on the board."

"I've got the board members from their SEC filing," Harry said, "All of them have a requisite photo and fingerprint set."

"Ignore the fingerprint set," Karen said, "Bolantine would not have given real fingerprints."

"He couldn't avoid the picture though," Harry smiled, "I've never seen him personally, but this guy looks an awful lot like the one you identified on the videotape."

Harry pushed the SEC file on one of the board members, identifying Bolantine as one Edward Ballantine. He was still young, but had a clean record as far as the SEC was concerned. It gave his age as 32 and showed that he had been a member of the board since he was 22.

"I'll be damned," Karen said, smiling, "We finally have a line on the bastard."

"He's publicly listed because it is the law," Jim said, "Ballantine doesn't appear on much else. According to the news articles he doesn't do much publicly."

"It's a perfect cover," Toshi nodded, "He can perform his genome experiments and try to recreate the serum. What do you want to bet that a lot of his acquisitions came from intimidation and from out and out scams?"

"No bet," Karen said, "Endicott was based in the same place that Nikki went to school. Bolantine probably set this up for something to do while Nikki was getting an education."

"She probably was diverted over to us when Bolantine found out he lost the Area 51 bid," Greg said, "I still don't know why though."

"This is where some of the best Biomedical research in the country is done," Toshi said, "That was true even when the Government had the place. All the supposed alien technology covered strides in human technology. Getting this place totally under our wing probably put us five to ten years ahead of the game."

"Not to mention the Company gets first crack at anything from future strike team jobs," Karen said, nodding approval, "Now we know where he is. Any ideas on what to do about it?"

"That's the type of planning I leave to you and Mason," Jim said, "I'm a tech weenie. I know medical technology and computers. Tactics is your bailiwick."

"I've got an idea," Toshi smiled, "You think that Bolantine is getting his funding through the company?"

"Probably," Karen nodded, "I wouldn't put it past him."

"Let's put a chink in his respectability," Toshi said and pulled out her cell phone, "Hey Siri, dial Julia O'Bryon please."

"Who is that?" Jim asked.

"Company legal eagle," Karen said softly, watching Toshi, "I wonder what is on her mind."

Toshi's phone went through the connection motions when it was answered at the other end. Julia O'Bryon's image appeared on the screen momentarily. She was, as usual, dressed in her usual smart business suit and her very oddly shaped glasses.

"What's going on, Toshi?" Julia said, "Your boys get themselves into trouble again?"

"Not this time," Toshi said, "I just wanted to pick your brain a minute."

"Sure," Julia said, "It's been quiet in acquisitions this month anyway."

"Endicott Biomedical Engineering," Toshi said, "Does that ring any bells for you?"

"They're a really slimy bunch," Julia told them, confirming what they already knew, "I had to pull some legal guns out to keep them from snagging Area 51. What no good are they up to now?"

"The person behind the group was responsible for that mess you pulled us out of in Cali," Toshi said, "Give me an address and we'll email you some details."

Julia did so and Harry sent some of the information they'd found on the company to Julia. She pulled it up from a computer that must have been off to her right. The group went silent for a few minutes until Julia looked up again.

"Ballantine is really an alias, eh?" Julia said, "What do you want to know?"

"You work with Acquisitions," Toshi grinned, "How hard would it be to pull a corporate raid on them?"

"I'd like to know where you got this information," Julia chuckled, "Some of it is damned good. I count at least eight possible SEC violations, and that's just from a casual reading. Used properly we should be able to wrestle the company out of Endicott's hands."

"We're not so worried about Serena Endicott," Toshi told her, "Edward Ballantine is the bad guy. Getting Nikki DeSeve would be a bonus as well."

"We've been looking to shore up the Biomedical end," Julia told her, "This information should give us the ability to take over Endicott lock stock and barrel."

"How quickly?" Karen asked, her voice carrying over even though she was off camera.

"I'll start the inquiries today," Julia said, "If the information looks really good, we'll probably start the takeover tomorrow. Most of the violations are on Ballantine's end, so I'll talk to someone I know at Justice. If they were involved in that nuclear mess in Century City then they will be willing to play ball."

"A warrant on Edward Ballantine would be great," Toshi smiled, "Just let us know what you do so we can put some other pressure on them as well."

"Any pictures you can get of Ballantine would be appreciated as well," Jim said, "We could use updated ones for our file."

"Will do," Julia said, "I'll let you know what we find."

"Thanks, Julia," Toshi smiled as the lawyer hung up, "Will that do the trick you think?"

"Probably so," Karen admitted, "It is an approach I hadn't really thought about before now."

"If that's all you need from me," Cliff said, "I'm going to go get some sleep."

"Might not be a bad idea for us either," Jim said to Karen, "No telling when Mason will get back. Probably should catch up on some sleep before then."

"I'll let you guys know if Julia comes up with anything," Toshi promised, "I will go stay with Anoki and check on Sienna's repair."

"Sounds like a winner," Karen agreed, "Do you have a place for us to crash?"

"There is an extra bunk in my room," Harry said, "You are welcome to it."

"I'd offer space in mine," Greg chuckled, "But I doubt either of you would care for my dungeon."

"The couch in the main room will do for me," Karen said, "I'm not that tired to begin with."

"That works," Harry said, "Come on, Jim. I'll show you where my little room is."

Chapter 88 - Bolantine's Run

Julia O'Bryon's estimates were conservative. She made calls, and it only took her twelve hours to begin the corporate raid on Endicott Medical engineering. A federal judge, one that had been on the Company's payroll for over five years, was woken up to sign several warrants, including arrest warrants for Edward Ballantine and Nicole DeSeve.

Nikki and Bolantine had spent nearly two days together in the penthouse suite that was listed under the name of Edward Ballantine, getting to know each other again after spending the previous two years almost completely apart. Nikki had been in deep cover for longer than that, but when she was in high school they continued to live together, with Bolantine playing her father when necessary.

Bolantine was used to having his instructions heeded so being a high level businessman and hatchet-man for Endicott was a good way to do that. Endicott was structured in a way that the actual business was handled by the legit people, allowing him to pursue his agenda on his own while getting money out of the company.

This was why he was jolted awake by the ringing phone. Phones were something that he hated and had explicitly instructed his secretary not to use. He picked up the phone and considered chewing out the secretary, but stopped when he heard the gulp.

"Mr. Ballantine?" his secretary said, "I know you said not to disturb you..."

"What is it?" Bolantine asked.

"There are federal agents here ransacking your office," she said, "They have warrants and wouldn't wait for the lawyers..."

"Federal agents?" Bolantine said, sitting bolt upright, "How the hell... Never mind. What are they looking for?"

"SEC violations," the secretary said, "They also have a warrant for you."

"Goddamn it!" Bolantine exclaimed, "Thanks, Jill. I owe you one."

"Don't mention it," she said, "What do I do?"

"Get the lawyers in there to fight it," Bolantine told her, "Did they hit others?"

"I don't know," she said honestly, "Be safe, Ed."

"Thanks," Bolantine growled and slammed down the phone.

"What is it, B?" Nikki asked him, sitting up a little, "Warrants?"

"For me," Bolantine said, "Stone must have found me."

"He wouldn't use a warrant," Nikki said, shaking her head, "I'm betting Company."

"Get dressed," Bolantine instructed, "We need to get out of here."

"Right," Nikki nodded, "On the lam again."

"Not sure about that yet," Bolantine said, "But if they have enough for warrants, it may be time to get out and loot the company."

"Leave it to Stone," Nikki grunted, "If he hadn't showed up, I'd still be back there and we'd be closer to getting it."

"We haven't lost yet," Bolantine assured her, "Not by a long shot. Get dressed and we'll take the safe car, just in case. I can call Jake Sams from there."

They both got dressed quickly and got out of the apartment. Bolantine had been prepared to bolt for years, and like Nikki he had kept an escape route open. In "Ballantine"'s garage was a late model Ford car, kept ready to go with a full set of clothing for both him and Nikki in the trunk and new identification for both of them. Nikki fired up the vehicle and took the driver's seat so Bolantine could continue to make calls from the cell phone.

"Jake," Bolantine said into the phone, "This is Ed Ballantine. What the hell is going on there? You were supposed to warn me about stuff like this."

"The feds showed up here ten minutes ago," Jake Sams, one of the board members on Endicott Biomedical, "They just served me with the paperwork. They have a full arrest warrant on you. They are also looking for a woman named Nicole DeSeve, named for corporate espionage and listed as one of your associates."

"Shit," Bolantine said, "Where the hell did this come from?"

"I don't know," Sams said honestly, "I have a contact in justice and he didn't tell me a word about it. However this happened, it was laid on quick."

"Ok," Bolantine said, "How bad are the penalties on those SEC violations?"

"They can be nasty," Sams said, "Especially after the scandals back after the turn of the century. You have a bigger problem though."

"What is that?" Bolantine asked him.

"Someone has been scooping up shares of the company," the lawyer told him, "Someone tipped the press on your impending arrest, which started a downward slide in stock prices."

"That's a violation right there isn't it?" Bolantine asked him.

"They started buying before," Jake told him, "And whoever is doing it is using intermediaries. They've also gotten enough shares to call an emergency board meeting."

"Fuck!" Bolantine exclaimed, "And with that warrant..."

"Your shares will be voided of their voting rights," Sams said, "They may not have a majority, but within hours they will be able to wrestle the control of the company. What the hell did you do to start this type of assault?"

"Don't ask," Bolantine suggested, "It will be easier that way. How much chance does it have of succeeding?"

"I just got off the phone with Serena when you called," Jake told him, "She was served too. She's scared. Frankly so am I. Most of the board is looking for ways to get out of this."

"And I get to be the sacrificial goat," Bolantine groused, "I made that company!"

"Not legally," Jake said, "I'll back you as much as I can, Ed. But I can't go too far with it. The feds are about to name me in this as well."

Bolantine knew that his hold on the company was about to shatter. He had built it well in the beginning, but his hold on it was tenuous. He didn't know who had been pushing the strings, but obviously someone now knew who he was. He wouldn't fight for control of the company, something that would most likely end up with him in jail or worse.

"Don't sweat it," Bolantine said, "Have they raided the assets yet?"

"The feds are on their way to the bank now," Jake said, "What are you going to do?"

"It's better if you don't know," Bolantine said, "Nice knowing you Jake."

Nikki drove towards downtown Los Angeles while Bolantine simmered in his anger. Finally, he opened the window and threw the cell phone that had belonged to Ed Ballantine out into the street, the last physical link with his life as Edward Ballantine shattering along with it.

"Get me to a bank," Bolantine told her, "We have some quick work to do before we disappear."

"Where are we going?" Nikki asked him.

"New Mexico," Bolantine smiled, "I think I might have an idea on what to do with some of that research you smuggled out. I have some property registered under a fake name there. We can put it together there and see how it goes."

Nikki nodded and concentrated on her driving. Bolantine sat back and closed his eyes, plotting their next move. It didn't take him long to hatch a plan, starting with the First National Bank of Los Angeles. Bolantine knew that it was time to move on. He intended to do it in style.

Chapter 89 - Looting

"I'll give you this much," Mason said as he looked over the reports, "Your corporate vultures are nothing if not effective. In one week they've managed to pretty well strip Bolantine's assets completely."

"Too bad he managed to move some of the liquid cash accounts first," Adam Strader said, "You guys know him better than I do now. How formidable are his resources?"

"Probably not very," Jim said, "He let himself get complacent again, worse than he did in Russia. That gave the opening for him to fall."

"I still don't like the fact that he got away," Glen groused, "That means we will need to hit him again."

"We have some additional work to do first," Mason reminded them, "Something that we need to get rid of."

"Where are Cliff, Sienna, and Toshi?" Adam asked them, "No offense, Glen, but I don't think we want the company regulars to know what we're up to."

"I'll stick here and keep security off your ass," Harry grinned, "I've seen enough explosions in my time. I don't need to see another one."

"What's the fun in that?" Greg asked.

"Toshi and Anoki are doing their usual practice session," Glen told his father, "I don't know where Cliff and Sienna are."

"Cliff and Sienna went to a carnival up near Rachel," Harry told them, "There's a conspiracy theory gathering with a lot of displays. That seems to be Sienna's passion. I let them go so we could do what we needed to do here without Cliff being able to report to his father."

"Never heard of Rachel," Mason said, "What type of place is it?"

"Pretty much a wide spot in the road," Glen said, "There's a small inn and a museum. Once a year nearly forty thousand people gather up there in the desert for a carnival. It's a bunch of conspiracy theorists and Alien enthusiasts."

"Ok," Adam nodded, "That makes it the six of us. Have you got the explosives ready, Kaczmarek?"

"I've got a hundred pounds of composition four ready to go," Greg grinned, "How much of it do you want me to use?"

"All of it," Adam and Glen said in unison, showing their relationship better than they ever had before.

"Yeah," Mason nodded, "Let's make sure that this stuff never sees the light of day again."

Glen Strader helped his paralyzed father into the front passenger seat of the battle cruiser that the team used for transport, while Mason, Karen, Jim, and Greg took up the back seats. The cruiser was simply an oversized and armored van, not dissimilar to the one that Mason's group used to live in when they were in newly immortal.

"How far is it?" Glen asked his father.

"Just get on the main north-south road and go north," Adam said, "There are no real landmarks that I can remember, but I do remember where it is."

"Why do I not like the sound of this?" Mason asked, watching the mythical base pass by as they drove, "Did you hide it in plain sight or something?"

"Not quite," Adam chuckled, "But I hid them someplace nobody would have thought to look for them."

They drove for about a mile up the road and took a right just north of the base office complex that was now the company's main secret research facilities. Adam pointed them to take a left on to the road that would take them up parallel to the Groom Lake bed, now a large dustbowl that was used to test planes and alien craft for years before the company takeover.

"What the hell is up here?" Greg asked, "I don't think I've ever driven up this way."

"The test strips are out here," Glen said, looking at his father, "But last I knew there was no storage."

"We're not going out to the test areas," Adam said, "This road goes just outside them."

Sure enough it did. They continued driving on the edge until Adam saw the building he was looking for. It was a large concrete job and smelled really bad. Adam pointed towards the foul smelling area and Glen dutifully turned off the road and went over the desert land until they were within 40 yards of it.

"A sewage center?" Karen asked, her nose wrinkling at the smell, "What do they do? Just pump it here and let it rot?"

"Yep," Adam said, "It's an aerobic system that's been in place since the 1950's. It's far enough away from the base that the smell didn't bother anyone. Doesn't require any real maintenance and as the base population shrank from the 1950's level instead of grew there was no real reason to upgrade it."

"The smell alone is a pretty powerful deterrent," Mason said, "Where is the stuff?"

"There is an aborted hanger in the back," Adam said, "They store the chemicals for the sewage treatment there, or at least they did back then. I don't know if anyone is even maintaining this anymore."

"The stuff is in there?" Greg asked, "How was it never found?"

"It is in eight trucks," Adam grinned, "I never took it out of its packing. Nobody ever thought to question it and as the years went on they just put stuff in front of it and forgot it was there. The smell of the place is such that nobody wants to be here long. I used to check it a few times a year, but sorta got lazy on it after that."

"I can definitely understand that. I wouldn't want to come here either," Jim said as he held his nose, "Let's get this over with and get away from this place."

Greg and Mason pulled out Adam's wheelchair and put it next to his door. Adam used his powerful arms to lower himself in to it and lead the way over to the storage building. Mason and Karen went in first, just because they were less vulnerable to poisons and the like. The building was old, dirty, and smelled horribly, but it was indeed safe for human habitation.

"It's safe!" Mason yelled as he and Karen pushed through the junk to get to the trucks in the back.

"Might as well have been in plain sight," Karen agreed, "But it looks like the junk is still here."

"Think we can get these old trucks started?" Glen asked as he came in.

"No way," Mason said, "Gasoline engines that haven't been started in over twenty years? I'm amazed they haven't rusted out."

"Tires are flat as well," Karen said from behind, "The boxes are still there and labeled as well."

"We can't blast it in here," Greg said, "There's too much gas. We'd blow the whole sewage complex, maybe even some of the buildings back on the base."

"Can we clear a path to pull them out," Jim asked, "That cruiser should be powerful enough to act as a tow truck."

"There are some chains over in the corner," Adam yelled in, "I can see them from here."

"Let's see if we can move this stuff," Glen said, "Greg, stick with us and help."

"Karen," Mason said, "Can you and Jim play with the chains and see what you can come up with?"

"Beats manual labor," Karen grinned, "Let's do it, Jim."

Chapter 90 - Of Nanite Drugs and Green Goo

Bolantine looked much different than he did in his Ed Ballantine identity a few days before. The long hair was shorn, leaving him with a crew cut that made him look years younger. Also gone were the business suits and ties, discarded in favor of the more casual and dirtied look of a carnival huckster.

Nikki Bolantine no longer looked anything like the scientist type she had been back at Area 51 either. Her long hair had been tinted from its natural dark brown to a much lighter shade, with streaks that hinted at blonde. It didn't look natural, but with the tight, revealing and slightly augmented outfit she was wearing most men didn't seem to care.

They worked together on setting up the booth, a drink concession that was painted light green and had pictures of aliens on it. It was a perfect fit with many of the others in the area and the conspiracy theory show in Rachel was a perfect venue for it. They worked quickly and put things together.

"How fast does this stuff work?" Bolantine asked Nikki as he put together the ice machine, "And will it have outside effects."

"The tests that the drug company ran suggested that it would take an hour or more to take hold if ingested through a drink," Nikki said quietly as she smiled at a couple of passersby, "Some people with weak stomachs might have some problem with it, but most will attribute it to the greasy food that is being served all over this place."

"How does it spread?" Bolantine asked her.

"The nanites grow exponentially," Nikki explained, "They take over the brain and body, essentially eliminating the free will. Once someone is infected, they are ours until someone figures out how to disinfect them."

"The truck is ready outside," Bolantine grinned, "Once enough are infected I take it all we have to do is start the noisemaker?"

"Right," Nikki nodded, "From then on the infected people will become part of a horde that will follow instructions. Thing is, they won't be coordinated. It's like a slow freight train, really."

"If it works properly," Bolantine grunted, "How does it expand?"

"The momentum builds and anyone caught in the way gets sucked in," Nikki explained, "The horde will attack and push the nanites into the blood stream of anyone who comes close."

"Area 51 is roughly twenty miles away," Bolantine said, "We're close, but we're not in yet."

"It will be fine," Nikki shrugged, "We'll be moving fairly quickly after a while. We just have to get it started."

"That's why I'm pricing the drinks so low," Bolantine said, "Everyone else is overpricing. I will underprice. Let's just hope it works."

"If it fails we disappear and try again some other time," Nikki shrugged, "I'm more worried about the time it will take. Even if we push them we won't make but five or six miles an hour. That will leave us exposed."

"It will take a while for them to realize something is wrong," Bolantine assured her, "Then they will spend hours trying to figure out who did it and what we did. By that time we'll be overrunning Area 51 and will be able to search for what we want. The feds will probably stay out of it, as the horde is going to be going through the least populated area of the country towards a base they no longer own."

"Let's do it then," Nikki said, setting up the sign and the cash register, "I guess we're open for business."

"Step right up!" Bolantine shouted, turning himself into the ever-present huckster, "Get your genuine Alien Cider right here! Only fifty cents for a large container of the best Alien Cider known to man!"

Nikki stood there and smiled prettily as she served the greenish liquid to the unknowing and eager public. Bolantine stood up and continued his loud huckster antics, attracting the conspiracy theorists and tourists who were always suckered in by a show.

Nikki sold the 32 oz alien head glasses by the boatload, each one filled to the gills with a mixture of neon green food coloring, apple cider and the nanite-based psychotropic drug that had been created by one of the company's subsidiaries.

Cliff Remordis was walking around the displays while Sienna talked about the major league conspiracies the government was involved in with a man who was dressed much like a Star Trek alien. Cliff knew that most of it was bullshit, but Sienna enjoyed it so much he didn't mind letting her roam around for a while. He saw the increasing line over by the Alien Cider booth and decided to ask someone what the big deal was.

"What's going on there?" Cliff asked a tourist holding a big glass of the drink, "You'd think it was the second coming of Elvis."

"They're selling these for only fifty cents," the gleeful tourist said after a gulp, "Everything else in this place costs at least two bucks for much less."

"I can see why," Cliff said dryly, "That stuff looks like nuclear waste."

"It's good!" he said, "And it's cheap. Can't get any better than that."

"I'll pass," Cliff chuckled and walked some more, heading back to Sienna.

Sienna was still talking to the guy with the bad makeup when Cliff walked up. Some people were already beginning to act strangely and Cliff was beginning to notice it. The man she was talking to went off to the drink line, leaving Sienna to take Cliff's arm again and lean against him.

"Having fun?" Cliff asked her.

"Learning a lot," Sienna smiled, "Did you know that the CIA created AIDS in a laboratory in Sierra Leone as a method to combat communist expansion back in the 1970's?"

"Right," Cliff chuckled, "Well the joke is on them, I guess."

"What's going on over there?" Sienna asked, gesturing to the line, "Seems they are getting a lot of customers."

"Alien Cider," Cliff said, "Some disgusting glop that they're selling really cheap."

"I'm thirsty!" Sienna said, giggling a little, "Let's get some!"

"It's probably apple juice with some day glow paint in it," Cliff said, "No thanks, kiddo."

"Come on," Sienna said, pulling him along, "Live a little."

"I would like to," Cliff grumbled, "That's why I don't intend to drink the stuff."

"You can buy me one at least," Sienna smiled demurely, "You are a gentleman, right?"

"Only with you," Cliff said, "Let's go get you your vile liquid."

They got into the line, which was moving fairly quickly despite the high demand. There were people all over the place drinking the green goop and all of them seemed to love it. Cliff still thought it looked disgusting, but Sienna was increasingly insistent. Cliff shook his head and pulled out his wallet just as they approached.

"Two please," Cliff said as he pulled out a dollar.

Cliff was too busy pulling money to notice, but Sienna's bio-computer and perfect memory instantly recognized Nikki Bolantine, despite the impressive change in her appearance. Nikki placed the alien head glasses down on the table when she saw who she was serving.

"Nikki!" Sienna exclaimed, "What the hell do you think you are doing here?"

Cliff looked up at that and realized something really bad was about to happen. Bolantine jumped down from his perch and started running towards a large truck that was parked in the background. Sienna jumped over the counter and attacked Nikki head on, much to the surprise of everyone in the line.

"Don't drink the liquid!" Cliff yelled, "It's poisoned!"

Just after Cliff yelled that he regretted it, because the crowd, already mostly infected by the nanite drugs, began to push in towards the stand. Nikki managed to throw off Sienna's attack and use her small stature and agility to get out of the way. She ran to the truck, where she climbed into a little cabin on the back of it.

"Start the noisemaker!" Bolantine yelled, "Use the crowd to kill them!"

"Well on my way, B!" Nikki growled as she hit some buttons.

Within seconds of Nikki's completion of the commands a loud noise started blaring that stopped hundreds of people in their tracks, mostly the ones with the greatest concentration of nanite drugs in their blood. All of a sudden a lot of high pitched chattering commenced as the method of communication started in earnest. The nanomachines took over the brain functions and the vocal and aural functions, thereby giving Nikki's command center a very loose control over the crowd.

"What the fuck?" one biker said, "What are they doing?"

"I don't like this," Sienna said from her spot in front of Bolantine's truck.

"Not one bit," Cliff agreed.

When the infected people were fully under control they began a feeding frenzy, attacking the uninfected people and intentionally wounding them to pass off a bit of the nanite infection. The nanites quickly took over the new infected bodies, taking over brain function and repairing any wounds. A full fledged rumble broke out as the infected tried to assimilate the uninfected.

"What do we do?" Sienna asked him, looking at the crowd.

"Be glad you didn't drink the bug juice," Cliff said dryly, "We need to get some of that stuff to the base."

Cliff and Sienna made their way back to the remains of the stand and managed to find a thermos. Cliff dumped out the contents and scooped up enough of the "Alien Cider" to analyze properly. Sienna, being better skilled at combat, kept the raging horde at bay while Cliff got the Cider.

"How do we get out of here?" Sienna asked him, "The crowd is getting worse."

"We need to get to the car," Cliff said, "The only hope for these people is to get this stuff analyzed. The nearest scientific team is at the base."

"Let's go!" Sienna said.

Cliff was seriously wishing he'd brought a sidearm. Both he and Sienna had anticipated a simple fun day at the conspiracy theory festival and neither one had thought they'd need weapons, something that security people at festivals tended to frown upon.

"Cliff and Sienna are still alive," Bolantine told Nikki through the com, "Have they been assimilated?"

"Doesn't look like it," Nikki replied, using a camera on the truck, "It's working better than I thought though."

"Have the crowd take them," Bolantine told her, "Even if they escape the crowd will follow them to Area 51."

"Works for me," Nikki said, "I've got them destroying the cars now though."

"Do both," Bolantine suggested, "Find out how many commands at once they take."

"You got it," Nikki said, smiling, "Here goes."

The assimilations continued and over the next few minutes everyone there other that Cliff and Sienna was either dead, assimilated or had escaped into the desert without a working car. Most of the vehicles had been pretty well destroyed by the rampaging and consistently chattering crowd.

"Our car is toasted," Cliff said from his position underneath a table with Sienna, "There's got to be a way out of here."

"The crowd is getting worse," Sienna said, "I think they probably decided to sic them on us."

"There's a dirt bike in the back of that truck," Cliff said, "Think we both can ride on one?"

"Probably," Sienna nodded, "The hard part is going to be getting there."

"I'm ready to run for it if you are," Cliff said, "They will realize we are here soon."

"I'll go first," Sienna said, "Get under the truck. They don't seem to look down very much."

"Right," Cliff nodded, tensing himself, "Let's do it."

The last words of Gary Gilmore were rather appropriate at this point as the crowd was starting to gun for them. Sienna kept low and killed two or three that looked at her. Cliff followed her quickly, keeping low and rolling underneath the truck. The horde started pushing the truck and rocking it a bit. Cliff and Sienna looked at each other and tried to figure out what to do next.

"We're closer," Cliff said, "But they are pissed."

"You're injured," Sienna said, looking at his arm, "Did they infect you?"

"I caught it on the truck," Cliff said, "I'm ok."

"They infected me," Sienna said, revealing a wound on her stomach, "I don't know what it is, but it's starting to do some strange things."

"It can't do that..." Cliff said and then stopped himself.

"It's ok," Sienna said, smiling at him, "I know what I am."

"You what..." Cliff said when she put a finger on his lips.

"I know what I am," Sienna said, "I couldn't help but figure it out, no matter how much you tried to prevent it."

"I'm sorry," Cliff said and she shook her head.

"It's ok," Sienna said, "The nanites are causing damage. They can't take me over so they are trying to destroy me."

"We need to get back," Cliff said, holding up the thermos, "With this they can reverse it."

"Both of us aren't getting back, Cliff," Sienna said, "That bike is only designed for one. We try two and we both are going down."

"So what are you going to do?" Cliff asked, "Stay here? That's insane!"

"No," Sienna said, "I will clear the way for you. While I'm out there fighting up a storm, slip out and get on the bike. Get that thing back to Area 51 so they can stop this. God knows what those two are up to, but it can't be good."

"Sienna..." Cliff said, but he was too late.

Sienna rolled out from under the truck and let off a nasty kick on one of the people in the horde. Soon, the horde moved away from the truck and started working on Sienna. Being a flesh droid she had a lot more to give than anyone expected. Cliff sighed and then did what he knew he had to do. He slipped out from under the truck and got on top of it. He used his pocketknife to cut the ropes holding the bike and got on to it.

"Here's hoping the fuel cell is charged," Cliff said to himself and kicked the starter.

Sienna kept fighting hard, but the dozens of people racing up to her on all sides was making it difficult. Cliff got the engine running, but was having trouble figuring out the controls. By this point, the crowd had remembered he existed and turned towards him. Sienna, still fighting with the horde managed to jump over them and push towards the section where Cliff was.

"Turn the handle and hold on!" Sienna yelled, "The nanites are getting more active. I will do something....

Cliff didn't hear what she said as he figured out how to use the throttle and pushed it full blast. The fuel cell engine on the bike pulled him hard and shot him up into the air just as the nanite concentration in Sienna's body got up to critical mass.

Nanites reproduce from cellular waste and other molecules and follow their instructions exactly. These nanomachines were designed to replicate until control was established over very specific body centers. Sienna, lacking these centers, posed a problem for the nanites. They kept replicating and trying to find the areas they were designed to find.

As the nanite concentrations became higher and higher they kept trying to use each other for fuel as well as using the insides of Sienna's body. It also created a set of chemicals that reacted poorly with tungsten titanium, which was what was inside of Sienna's bones to give her rigidity that standard human bones were incapable of.

When the nanomachines finally ate away some of the bone in Sienna's midsection enough tungsten titanium was exposed to allow a reaction to begin. This reaction was what caused the major explosion that engulfed Sienna and nearly a dozen members of the horde as Cliff flew over them and landed.

"Jesus!" Cliff yelled, "Sienna!"

Sienna could not answer, as her body had been pretty well completely destroyed by the explosion. Cliff knew he had little time and directed the bike towards Area 51, knowing that he had to get there and get there quickly. He still had the thermos tucked tightly under his arm, knowing that it was the only thing that would serve as proof of what happened in the desert outside the little hole in the desert road.

"Damn it," Bolantine said, "One of them got away."

"Let's get this horde on the road," Nikki said, "We have twenty miles to cover and it is going to take at least four hours. Maybe more."

"Send the command," Bolantine said, "On to Area 51!"

"Time to make my farewell appearance," Nikki grinned, "Think they're ready for me?"

"I sincerely hope not," Bolantine said somberly, "Because if they are, we're in trouble."

Chapter 91 - Homecoming

"Ready!" Greg Kaczmarek yelled as he gleefully got ready to press a button, "It's time to blow this joint!"

"Do it," Adam and Glen said in unison, their voices sounding distinctly similar, "Let's get rid of this temptation."

"About time," Mason said, watching impassively with Karen at his side, "I always wondered what happened to this crap."

Greg pushed the button and a hundred pounds of Composition 4 plastic explosive turned the old boxes into nothing more than a pile of ash and debris. Greg was good at his trade and there was not much even to indicate that the pieces had been held in trucks, just a few pieces of scrap and ash.

"Good work," Jim grinned, "The rain will wash the ash away next time it happens."

"In any event," Adam sighed, "I don't have to worry about this anymore."

"It's been a good afternoon," Mason agreed, "Too bad we don't have any idea where Bolantine and the bitch went."

"Enough of this," Karen said, "Let's go back to the barracks. We can decide what to do next after we toast the end of this."

There was a general murmur of agreement as the six of them walked over to the battle cruiser. Greg, the last one in the line as they walked towards it was the first to hear the buzzing. He turned around to see the small spot coming in towards them. Karen and Jim heard it next and turned around to see.

"What is it?" Jim asked.

"Someone coming in from the desert," Greg said, "I'm amazed the perimeter guards haven't gotten him yet."

"Probably has a transponder," Glen said as he looked, "It's someone on a Motorbike heading this way."

"What the hell?" Adam said, wheeling himself around.

Cliff Remordis was tired and sore after thirty minutes of riding the uncomfortable dirt bike across the desert. It was the middle of the day and the fact that he didn't have goggles didn't help him all that much. He did manage to see the group of people and direct the bike towards them in hopes of getting a ride the rest of the way.

"It's Cliff," Greg said as he pulled out some binoculars, "He's on a dirt bike speeding towards us, driving with one arm."

"He doesn't look all that good," Karen said, "Let us go meet him. If he's sick..."

"Let's go, Jim," Mason agreed, "We'll wave you over if we need the cruiser."

Mason, Karen and Jim jogged to Cliff who almost ran straight into them. Mason managed to get him to stop, and the young man fell over onto the sand. Karen and Jim helped him up, hoping that he wasn't sick.

"What happened?" Mason asked him, "Are you ok?"

"You try driving 20 miles on a dirt bike in the desert without goggles," Cliff said, coughing up a little sand, "See how you feel afterwards."

"Why?" Karen asked, taking the thermos, "What's that?"

"The reason I did it," Cliff said, "This is a drink that was served by Bolantine and Nikki to most of the participants in that wretched road show we went to."

This news made the hairs on the back of Mason's neck stand straight up. He looked at Cliff and realized that he didn't like this news. Karen and Jim looked at each other and knew that something very serious was about to happen. It always did when Bolantine and Nikki were involved.

"What did they do?" Mason asked him, "What no good are those two up to now?"

"The juice," Cliff said, "They spiked it with something. When they activated some noise the crowd went nuts. Killed or assimilated everyone."

"Sienna too?" Jim asked, "I didn't think she could go like that..."

"Sienna was infected with it," Cliff explained, "It didn't affect her like them, but it was eating at her. She gave herself up so I could get out with the thermos. She..."

Cliff misted a little when the realization hit him that she was really and truly gone. Not only was she gone, but she had given her life to let him get out. Karen and Jim nodded and helped him up, passing the thermos over to Mason. Adam wheeled over to the cruiser, where Greg helped him inside and then got into the driver's seat. Glen met the four of them as they walked over.

"Where is Sienna?" Glen said as he approached, "You ok, Cliff?"

"Sienna blew up," Cliff sighed, "Bolantine and Nikki are back and in control of a raging horde. We need to get that stuff analyzed."

"Shit..." Glen said and nodded, "Ok. Let's go."

The dirt bike was left in the dust as all seven of them piled into the battle cruiser and raced back to the common area they called home. Greg parked the cruiser outside right by the door. Mason, Glen and Cliff rushed to the building almost before stopping. Jim wasn't far behind. Greg and Karen stayed long enough to help Adam out of the cruiser before going inside.

"What's going on?" Toshi said, suddenly surprised by the entrance, "Where have you guys been?"

"Cleaning up a mess," Glen said hastily, "We may have a problem. Where's the thermos?"

"Here," Mason said, "This needs to be tested, post haste."

"What is it?" Toshi said, looking inside, "It looks disgusting."

"It caused a whole lot of people to suddenly start following Bolantine's orders up in Rachel," Cliff said, "It infected Sienna, but didn't take control of her. She did blow up eventually, though."

"Sienna is dead?" Toshi said, sitting bolt upright, "What the hell..."

"Analyze it quickly," Glen said, "Where's Anoki?"

"Cooling off in the robot room," Toshi said, "Harry is in with her. They planned to do a security check."

"No time for that now," Greg said, jumping over the table, "We need to know what is happening."

Toshi rushed over to the lab and poured some of the green liquid into a flask to begin testing it. Greg rushed in to get Anoki and Harry, both of who came out quickly. Harry went to his oversized desk and started typing on the keyboard. Within a minute, he had pulled up the Firesat imaging system and started a realtime feed. Another minute had him focusing the image over the horde, now numbering nearly thirty thousand people, lumbering towards the base.

"Jesus," Harry said, "What the hell is doing that to these people?"

"Whatever is in that liquid," Adam said, "What do we do?"

"That is enough people to flatten this base," Glen said, "I know the security here. It's tight, but not designed for a mass assault."

"The bigger question is why," Anoki said, "We know Bolantine and Nikki are probably pissed at us but what do they stand to gain by coming here?"

"They're after the lab," Mason said, "More specifically the parts that we blew up a little while ago."

"Maybe if we find a way to tell them then they will leave?" Cliff asked hopefully, "I don't know how we can stop them."

"That's not going to happen," Mason said, "That will just piss them off. They'll level the place anyway just out of spite."

"Short of dropping a full plasma warhead on them," Greg told them, "There may be no way to stop a horde that big. There are less than a thousand people on this base, maybe two hundred of which are security. The rest are scientists, office people, and maintenance."

"We need to evacuate this place," Karen said, "A lot of people will die if that horde hits."

"Greg," Glen said, not liking the idea, "Do you know any way to stop them at all?"

"How long do we have?" Greg asked seriously.

"At the speed they are moving," Harry said, "Probably three or four hours."

"I'm open to suggestions," Glen told them, "There's a lot of experience in this room."

"Plan for the worst and hope for the best," Adam said, "A two pronged approach will probably be a good idea."

"Plan for both the attack and the escape," Mason nodded, "Have Toshi and Jim work on the Biomedical end while the rest of us either work on the evacuation or a battle plan."

"I'll be little use on a battle plan," Anoki said, "Cliff and I can do the evac."

"I'll help with that," Karen said, "I've got some experience with it from the jobs we did in Africa twenty years ago."

"That leaves the rest of us for battle plans," Glen nodded, "Dad, you may not be able to fight, but you know planning better than any of us, with the possible exception of Mason."

"I'll stay and help," Adam nodded, "Worst case I'll man the recon with Harry."

"I'll keep the recon birds on them," Harry promised, "If there are computer issues I'll help with those too."

"Greg," Glen told them, "Take Dad and Mason to the munitions rooms and get started. I will go tell Remordis what is coming down the pike and get him to give me control of the security pukes."

"I'll have some good overheads for you before you get there," Harry promised, punching keys furiously on the keyboard, "Let's get it done."

Chapter 92 - The Preparations Continue

"What the hell did we do to deserve this?" Remordis asked Colonel Strader as he looked at the photos, "What does that madman want?"

"Something he mistakenly thinks we still have," Strader said, looking at his boss, "Something that went up in smoke a few hours ago out in the desert so he couldn't get it."

"Say what?" Remordis said, looking harshly at his strike team leader, "Why wasn't I told?"

"It wasn't your research," Strader said, a thin smile forming, "It was something that dated back from when Bolantine funded the serum that created Mason Stone and the other immortals."

"I don't want to know, do I?" Remordis asked him.

"Probably not," Strader admitted, "I don't understand it much either."

"What the hell do we do?" Remordis asked, "I'm a bit out of practice with this."

"I've already started an evacuation," Strader told him, "Mason Stone is still around and I'm going to use him and his people because they have expertise that I need. With your permission, I will fully take over the security group."

"You know this part better than I do," Remordis admitted, "What do you want me to do?"

"Honestly?" Strader said, "Go with the civilians and organize the evac. You were a cop once, should be up your ally. Let those of us with the military training take care of this problem."

"How are you going to do that with only two hundred half trained civilian security officers?" Remordis wondered, "Or are you?"

"We're hoping to avoid combat," Strader admitted, "Your son got out with some of the glop that caused it. Toshi and Jim Entragian are examining it now to see what it is. We're hoping to figure out how Bolantine is controlling them. We really don't want to kill thirty thousand people who did nothing but go to a festival."

"Do what you need to," Remordis sighed, "Who is running the evacuation?"

"Karen Stone and your son for now," Strader said, "They're loading everyone and everything they can into trucks and sending them south. We'll be keeping a few trucks and a chopper for our use until we get things straightened out here."

"Don't do anything stupid," Remordis nodded, "Stop them and get out alive."

"Yeah," Strader nodded, "Get out of here. We've got a lot to do and probably only about three more hours until they make it here."

"Right," Remordis nodded, "Where is Cliff basing the evacuations?"

"I don't know," Strader said honestly, "Probably over at the scientists quarters."

"I'll get my papers and meet them there," Remordis nodded.

Glen Strader walked out the door and went over to the security building where people were buzzing. They had heard the news and the panic was starting to set in. None of the people there were prepared for a full invasion, and it was showing. The new leader of the group, a young administrator named Liano, was barking orders that made things worse.

"I want a full perimeter!" Liano shouted, "No one is to leave the base!"

"Liano," Strader said, "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm getting my people ready," Liano sneered, "What are you doing here, Strader?"

"I'm taking over," Strader said, "Remordis passed direct command to me."

"You can't take over my troops!" Liano protested, but Strader pushed close.

"Watch me," Strader growled, "New orders! I want a line of scout posts on the northern edge of the base. Start building fortifications just north of the line. They are coming straight at us and the type of force it is can't be maneuvered easily. They will hit us head on."

"This is lunacy!" Liano said, "Ignore him!"

Strader decided he had enough. He went over and let off a forward kick on Liano's right knee that knocked the little man down. Liano yelled as he hit the floor but this wasn't the end. Strader went down and let off three well timed punches, knocking the little would-be dictator out. Strader was greeted with a cheer from the security forces.

"Liano is out of command," Strader said, "Permanently. Who is his second?"

"I guess I am this week," a younger man sighed, "Not by choice though."

"My earlier orders stand," Strader said, "Get the fortifications ready. Make them blast proof because I'm having Greg set up some explosives. Also make sure you can retreat easily."

"Are you asking us to do hand to hand with a force thirty times our size?" one young guard asked, visibly nervous.

"Hell no," Strader said, "Your job will be to slow them down if necessary. You are under no circumstances to come within two hundred yards of that horde. I expect a fighting retreat to slow them down. Nothing more."

"Works for us," the young man said, "Are they armed?"

"No," Strader said, "They're innocents that were drugged somehow and under control of a madman. The strike team is working on that end. I want half of you working on entrenchments. The rest of you will help with the evacuation and to go with the evacuated civilians to protect them."

"And Liano?" the younger man said.

"Tie him up and put him in front of the horde," Strader seethed, "I don't care what you do with him but if that idiot wakes up he's not to have power over a squad of boy scouts."

"With pleasure, sir," the young man said, "Let's get moving people!"

Strader left them alone and walked back over to the Strike team's place. Toshi and Jim were both in the workroom, checking chemical compounds and whistling every few seconds, showing surprise. Harry Haldeman was at his own desk, still playing with Satellites and identifying details about the horde.

"What have you got?" Strader asked them, "Anything good?"

"It's not good," Toshi said without looking up, "I'm still not quite sure what I'm looking at. The chemical compounds make no sense."

"It's not just chemical," Jim said, "I thought this type of drug was still experimental. This liquid is filled with Nanomachines."

"What is a nanomachine?" Strader asked them, a bit puzzled.

"It's a tiny machine, almost as small as a molecule," Jim explained, "They can be made to do many things, including replicate."

"That may explain what happened to Sienna," Toshi said, "They tried integrating nanomachines with the flesh droids at the beginning, but they kept going into uncontrolled expansion. The chemicals most likely caused an explosive reaction."

"Does this make it easier or harder to stop?" Strader asked.

"Harder," Jim said, "Most likely the high pitched noise Cliff heard was a way of communication. Thing is, it's audio. We could try to interrupt it, but without knowing the exact code we can't redirect it."

"Interrupting it is a bad idea," Mason Stone said as he came in the room, "Sorry, heard you here. Knowing Bolantine and Nikki they set it so that if the signal was interrupted the horde would move on its own."

"That would make my information useless," Harry frowned, "There is a truck moving in the middle of the horde. It's probably where they are running it from."

"Hitting it won't help," Jim said, "But it's possible to redirect it with the right tools."

"Assaulting the truck could be an option," Glen Strader admitted, "We'd have to get in and take it over without destroying it."

"It won't be easy," Harry said, focusing the information on the truck some more, "That thing is equipped with some serious firepower. How the hell that escaped the feds, I don't know."

"It's still worth the try," Glen said, "Think any of you can work the equipment?"

"I probably could," Harry said, "But I don't work well under that type of pressure."

"Jim does," Mason smiled, "He also is a bit more bulletproof than you, Harry."

"Do I get a say in this?" Jim asked dejectedly.

"Of course not," Mason grinned, "Karen and I will have your backs though."

"That's comforting," Jim said, flipping Mason the bird, "I hope we have a plan though."

"Do we have any air support?" Harry asked, "The only way you're getting through that crowd is from above."

"We have some helicopters," Toshi said, "But the pilots have been shuttling people out."

"What type of heli?" Mason asked her.

"Sikorski Mach 42," Toshi said, "New ones with jet tail rotors and run off fuel cells. Quiet and stable, but takes a whole lot of new training to fly."

"Is Karen on the com unit?" Mason asked Harry, "I need to talk to her."

"We need Cliff in here as well," Strader said, "Let's call them in."

"How long do we have?" Toshi asked Harry.

"They're moving at a brisk six miles an hour," Harry said, "They're losing some mass, but at current rates there will still be twenty thousand people by the time they get here. I'm guessing probably two more hours at most."

"That speed will slow down when they get here," Mason said, "The horde will start tearing buildings to bits looking for the stuff we blew up."

"That's probably when we should hit then," Glen suggested, "Let them work on the outer buildings. Means they will have something other than us to attend to."

"Let's get Cliff and Karen back in," Toshi said, "Then we'll worry about that part of it."

"You two finish analyzing that garbage," Colonel Strader ordered, "We'll make the battle plans after that."

"You heard the man," Jim said, "Work work work. No rest for the wicked."

"That fits you to a T," Mason grinned, "Now come up with something so we can go to Tahiti and you can get back to your favorite hobby."

"What's that?" Toshi asked, "Or do I want to know?"

"Chasing bare chested native girls, of course," Jim Entragian chuckled as he went back to his test tube.

Chapter 93 - Running the Horde

"They're making better time than I expected," Bolantine said as he reclined in his seat, the armored truck pushing forward on autopilot, "Where are the Tabiris hiding?"

"They are crossing the Chinooks below radar level," Nikki said, "They may not be that bright but they are tireless pilots. They'll come in on the mark when we want them to."

"The key will be finding the stuff," Bolantine said, "We will have a limited window."

"I've checked the main buildings," Nikki said, showing Bolantine the maps, "If that intelligence is solid then Adam Strader didn't put it into general storage."

"Did you physically check the buildings or just the logs?" Bolantine asked her, "Knowing the Straders they probably didn't put them on the manifests."

"Most of the manifests were destroyed when the Company came in," Nikki said, "The first six months I was there I took long walks over the compound. I checked out the different buildings and did an informal log. It isn't in any of the buildings. I didn't get to check any of the underground stuff though. That was my plan for this month."

"Do you have maps of where the underground tunnels are?" Bolantine asked her.

"There are six," Nikki said, "These came from the contractors that built them, two in the 1960's and four in the early part of this century. We can exclude those four because they were built after Adam Strader hid the stuff."

"Too bad those soldiers didn't know what he did with it," Bolantine grunted, "It would make the search much easier."

"Strader did the final hiding himself," Nikki said, "We could always go take him."

"Nobody has seen him," Bolantine said, "He used to work at Area 51, but nobody seems to know where he is."

"I couldn't get it out of his son either," Nikki agreed, "There was word of an accident years ago. He might even be dead."

"I'm sure you were too busy to find out," Bolantine frowned, "Gotta control those urges, kiddo."

"When you start, so will I," Nikki smiled brightly, "Look at it this way. We know the Company had a hand in thwarting our plans. If nothing else this will piss them off."

"I'm still waiting for a full assault," Bolantine said, "This has gone too easily."

"Don't buy trouble," Nikki warned him, "They're probably still trying to figure out how to do this without killing those worthless people out there."

"So how long do you figure?" Bolantine asked her.

"We'll be hitting the base in another two hours," Nikki said, "Probably another hour to get to where the first underground chamber is. It'll be slower going once inside the base, especially if they fight."

"Let them fight," Bolantine grinned, "More meat for the horde."

Chapter 93 - The Plan

"I haven't flown a Sikorski in three years," Karen said, looking at the plan, "But I do have nearly five thousand hours on them."

"Can you get us in there?" Strader asked her, "If you can't, we'll find another way in."

"I can do it," Karen said, "Thing is, we have to figure out how to do it without Bolantine shooting us down."

"Noisemakers," Mason said, "The Sikorski is a stealth chopper. Fire a few noisemakers at him."

"I've got an idea on that," Harry Haldeman said, "Any of you know what Hypersonic Sound is?"

"Yeah," Mason nodded, "Invented by Woody Norris about thirty years ago. It's basically a laser for sound."

"The government put up a HSS generator satellite a few years back," Harry said, "I know the codes to direct it. I could make Bolantine and Nikki think they are being deluged with regular choppers. Your stealth would be lost in the mix."

"I like the sound of that," Karen nodded, "It will give us a chance to get in."

"Who is going in?" Greg asked him.

"I'm going in," Mason said, "It would be foolish to put someone not immortal against them."

"You're going to need help," Glen Strader said, "I'm going in as well. I have a score to settle with these two."

"You will have to be careful," Adam Strader said, "Those two fight dirty."

"Give me a chance to punch Nikki in the nose and I'll be happy," Glen grinned, "I'm going in."

"Jim and I will have to get in to the computer," Toshi said, "So that means we're going in."

"I will need a copilot," Karen said, "Someone to keep an eye on gauges while I'm flying."

"I guess I can handle that," Cliff nodded, "I'm certified on small craft. I've never flown a Sikorski, but I know flight gauges."

"What about us?" Greg asked, "Anoki and I going in with you?"

"No," Colonel Strader said, shaking his head, "Someone has to conduct the defense of this place. The security troops are too green. You're better at mass munitions than I am and Anoki could take the place of a whole regiment. You two will slow down the horde along with the remaining security troops."

"I think I'd rather go with you," Anoki said dryly, "But we'll do it. How hard do we hit?"

"Try to kill as few as possible," Strader ordered, "We are hoping to stop them before then."

"In other words," Greg said, "We're backup. I've been working on a non-lethal version of my plasma mines. This might be a good test for them."

"Do it," Strader said and then turned to his father, "Dad, you might want to go with the civilians."

"Fuck that," Adam Strader scoffed, "I can still handle a gun. I'll stick with Harry and help with the intelligence end."

"Ok," Glen nodded, "But if we fuck up and this place starts to get overrun..."

"We'll be out like a shot," Harry promised, "Leave a van outside. We can tell from the Satellite shot."

"How much time do we have?" Karen asked Harry.

"They are four miles out, approaching the end of the lake bed," Harry said as he looked at the image, "I'd best start programming the HSS Satellite."

"Any last words?" Greg asked his boss.

"Let's roll," Colonel Strader grinned.

Chapter 94 - Flight of Fancy

Karen Stone fudged the usual pre-flight checklist and started the rotors on the powerful Sikorski helicopter. Cliff Remordis clipped himself in the co-pilot's seat, putting the headset on and running a test on it. He also familiarized himself with the various controls around him so he could do things if he needed to.

"Hold on tight guys," Karen said to the people in the back, "This may be a bumpy ride!"

Karen pulled the chopper off the ground, moving around a little to get used to it. Toshi passed out the mini-parachute kits, which were strapped on tightly on to each of them. They all hoped to not need them, but they all knew that it would be a good thing to have.

The sheer horror of what Bolantine unleashed was revealed for them as the chopper flew high and saw the teeming horde of controlled people. It was a horrifying sight as most of the people were injured, and all of them were badly sunburned from walking over the desert.

"We've got to stop them," Toshi said, "This is insane."

"Preferably before they face the troops," Strader nodded, "They'll be cut down."

"Think Greg will do it?" Mason asked Strader, "Think he can pull the trigger?"

"No," Strader said, shaking his head, "When he sees this he will have the troops pull back."

"God I hope so," Mason sighed, "You guys ready for this?"

"No," Jim said honestly.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Toshi said, "What do we do first?"

"We will drop on to the top of the truck," Mason said, "Colonel Strader and I go in first. Follow us and find the damned computer. You won't have much time."

"How long until we go in?" Strader asked Karen.

"Harry needs three more minutes," Karen said through her headset, "That's fine by me. I'm going to do some maneuvers in the desert to get used to the controls again before I have to do precision."

"Three minutes," Strader said, readying his weapon, "That means they will hit the base."

"Good luck," Toshi said to no one in particular, "You'll need it."

Chapter 95 - Attack

"They're coming in!" one of the green troops shouted, "They are nothing but mindless men, women and children!"

"Holy shit," Greg said, watching the approaching horde through the binoculars, "I hope they kick Bolantine's ass."

"You are in charge," Anoki said, "What do we do?"

"We can take them down," one of the security soldiers said, "But it is going to be bloody."

"No shit," Greg said, "How are the perimeter defenses?"

"Shaky at best," they admitted, "We're all armed and ready to go."

Greg watched as the horde rushed towards them, running despite having little energy left. He looked around at the people who were standing at his side, none of whom liked what they were seeing. Anoki looked at him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"We need to know what to do," Anoki said quietly.

Greg watched and said nothing for a few more seconds, simply watching as the pathetic horde continued running towards them. It wasn't until they were within a thousand yards that he actually made a decision. He didn't feel like becoming a murderer that day, and that was exactly what he knew it would feel like.

"Fall back!" Greg yelled, "Fire non-lethal plasma bursts only. We're not going to mow down people who don't have a choice!"

A brief cheer erupted, but was short lived as the horde kept running for them. The troops began firing low level plasma bursts as they fell back. The plasma slowed them down a little, but it didn't have an overwhelming effect. The crowd began tearing buildings apart, which was what gave the security teams the time to get back further.

"You made the right choice," Anoki said as they jogged and fired, "They don't deserve to die."

"I hope you're right," Greg said, "And I hope that the other team is successful. We don't have enough vehicles to keep retreating for long and it's a long stretch of desert to Vegas."

Chapter 96 - Happy Landings

"The HSS attack is starting," Karen said through her headset, "I'm going in. I won't be able to hover over the truck for long. As soon as I get into position get out and on to that damned thing."

"Right," Strader said, "Keep it smooth, Karen."

"Will do," she promised, giving thumbs up, "When I drop you I'll get up into the air to help deal with any problems."

"Give Bolantine my best," Cliff said, "Preferably with a swift kick in the nuts!"

While Karen was approaching with the comparatively quiet Sikorski helicopter Bolantine and Nikki were being assaulted with the sounds of missiles and approaching helicopters from the HSS satellite. They were firing missiles at nothing and at everything. Luckily for Karen they were all aimed well above where she was.

"Looks like it is working," Karen said, "I will come in just above the heads of the crowd. When I get next to the truck I'll quickly go over it. Be ready to go out the left side."

There were general murmurs of agreement. This was a dangerous drop, but it was the best way of doing it without hurting the people on the ground in the process. Karen saw her opportunity and pushed the Sikorski forward and performed the maneuver perfectly, managing to get them right over the back edge of the truck.

"Go!" Cliff yelled, "It's time!"

Colonel Strader and Mason Stone went out first, their heavy boots clanging on the top of the truck. They rushed to the front as Jim and Toshi followed down. Mason and Glen made it to the front of the large vehicle within seconds and climbed down onto the cabin.

Bolantine heard the clanging on roof and left Nikki in control of the missile system. He ran over to the front just in time to get there as Mason came through the front window and kicked him in the nose. Glen Strader slipped in through the other window and rushed for Nikki.

"Hi honey," Glen said as he pulled her out of her chair, "I'm home!"

Nikki pushed away from him and glared, the fire in her eyes destroying any dash of hope that there could be any reconciliation between them. Knowing what she had done, Glen Strader wanted nothing more than to beat her into submission, something he had never wanted to do to any woman before.

"Hello pencil dick," Nikki said, standing up straight, "You think you can handle another go round with me?"

"Don't worry," Glen said as he went in, "You'll feel me!"

Mason went straight for Bolantine, over twenty-five years worth of anger and frustration going into that attack, pushing the smaller man into the wall. Bolantine rammed his knee up into Mason's balls and pushed him back.

"You forgot to say hello, Mason!" Bolantine yelled, "No words for an old friend?"

"I've got two," Mason seethed through clenched teeth, "Fuck and you!"

Mason let into Bolantine again, the two of them fighting up and down the trailer section of the battle truck. Jim and Toshi slipped into the windows that Mason and Glen had entered not too long before and started trying to find the computers that controlled the audio signal being broadcast to the horde outside.

Nikki was giving a pretty good fight, much more than Colonel Strader expected from someone so much smaller than he was. She used her size to her advantage, dodging his punches by going lower to the floor and going for his knees. It was a position that felt oddly familiar to Strader, but the actions were different as he used the knee that was not being attacked to let off a few good kicks to Nikki's ribs.

"Bitch!" Nikki yelled, "You'd beat on a poor, defenseless woman?"

"Show me where I'd find one and I'll be sure not to beat on her," Strader said, rearing back and punching Nikki in the face, "Until then, I'm going to kick your ass."

"You used to like doing something else to my ass," Nikki grinned, blood staining her white teeth.

"Yes," Glen agreed, letting off a right hook that took her off her feet and tore out several of those teeth, "But I find this oddly more therapeutic!"

Bolantine wasn't in the mood to exchange anymore pithy dialog with Mason, he was more concerned with getting out. He and Mason were much better matched, so he put a few good punches into Mason's eyes and pushed him backwards, flipping him over a piece of equipment and landing against the piece of equipment that Jim and Toshi were working on.

"Need help, boss?" Jim asked Mason, grinning wide as he offered a hand.

"Not yet," Mason grunted, taking it and getting up, "Figure out how this shit works!"

Bolantine took the lull in attacks from Mason as an opportunity to get over to the radio and fire off a few instructions. He had just finished when Mason pulled him away and slammed his fist into his face a few times. It dazed Bolantine, but not enough to keep him down.

"Time to be flattened, Bolantine!" Mason yelled at him, "Any last words?"

"Yeah," Bolantine said, "Nikki! Get to the Chinooks!"

Bolantine then let off a side kick at Mason that pushed him back enough for him to run to the front windows. Glen was about to let off another round of attacks against Nikki when she did the unexpected and rushed him, jumping up and using his body as a springboard to get to a hatch in the back. By the time he got his bearings she was up and out and heading up top.

"Strader!" Mason yelled, "You ok?"

"Yeah," Strader agreed, "Where did they go?"

"Bolantine said something about Chinooks," Mason said, "They went outside."

"Two Chinook helicopters are approaching," Karen said through the com, "Transport craft."

"Their escape route," Glen said, "Let's go."

"Keep working on those computers," Mason told Jim and Toshi, "We'll be back!"

Glen was the first one out and saw Bolantine and Nikki climbing into one of the Chinooks. Bolantine flipped Strader the bird and closed the door. Nikki looked out the window and smiled, showing her regenerating teeth as she did so.

Glen Strader had enough of them getting away Scot free. As the Chinook tilted to begin pulling away from the horde he pulled the dumbest stunt he had ever tried before. He ran full steam to the helicopter and jumped full force off the truck. He was in free fall for what seemed like forever and was almost on top of the crowd when his arms managed to catch the bottom rail of the Chinook helicopter.

Mason Stone had made it out by this time and all he could do was watch from the top of the truck as he saw the Chinook pull up and away with his Nemesis and the bitch spawn. He knew that Strader was in for a bad time and hoped that he was lucky. Cause if he wasn't, Glen Strader would make an interesting red spot on the Desert Floor.

Chapter 97 - The Chinooks

Greg and Anoki watched the display from their positions on top of the office complex they'd retreated to. The plan had been to fire off some light plasma from a relatively safe position, but watching the Chinook take off with Bolantine, Nikki and their boss took precedence.

"Did you see who was flying that thing, Anoki?" Greg asked her.

"Yes," Anoki nodded and smiled, "I think I can do something with that."

"Be careful," Greg warned, "The Boss is on the rail."

"Cover me," Anoki said, sitting down and getting ready to make contact with the Tabiri pilots, "I will imitate Bolantine over the Tabiri communication channel. Hopefully I can take control."

"I hope you're right," Greg said as he started firing light plasma blasts, "Because if you aren't the boss is going to be a grease spot in the desert!"

Glen Strader was also wondering what insanity possessed him to jump on to that helicopter. He held on tightly and watched as the Chinook clawed at the desert air and started to pull into the air, bringing them well over five hundred feet from the sand and the raging horde.

Inside the helicopter Bolantine and Nikki looked down and saw the craters from the explosions that had been set off hours earlier. They knew then that their hopes of getting anything out of the base had been an utter failure. Their only consolation was that the horde would most likely destroy the base.

"What do we do now?" Nikki asked Bolantine, standing up and walking around the cabin of the large cargo helicopter, "Looks like we lost this round."

"We need to lay low for a while," Bolantine said, leaning back in the jump seat right behind the Tabiri that was piloting the chopper, "Probably should head out for a while, maybe the middle east or eastern Europe."

"Just so long as I don't have to go under cover again," Nikki said, "I'm sick of playing a goody goody."

"Trust me," Bolantine chuckled, "you won't be doing that again."

They didn't know how right they were. Colonel Strader took some time to do it, but he managed to get himself up on top of the rail and standing upright on it. He wasn't overly worried at this point, knowing that the parachute he'd wisely strapped on would be useful as high up as they were.

The modern Chinook, descended from the old transport helicopters, was one of the new massive and maneuverable types. It also came with many safety features, including one important one. Their doors were equipped with outside safe handles, easy to pull and open. The one defect of this was that they were still operational even when they were eight hundred feet in the air.

Strader got ready to pull the handle just as Anoki managed to take over the first of the two Tabiri units through it's com unit. It was the unit on the other chopper, the one following. Anoki's neural net was so much more advanced than the one on the Tabiri that it took only a fraction of her internal resources to easily control the Tabiri. She was also able to watch what was going on and relay it to Greg.Z

"The Colonel is outside the chopper," Anoki said, "He's about to open it."

"Can you get in position to be able to grab him if he falls?" Greg asked her, not knowing about the parachute.

"It'll be a strange maneuver," Anoki said, checking the physics, "I'll have to turn the Chinook on its side."

"Get into position," Greg said, watching through his binoculars, "I'll warn you if it is needed."

Anoki maneuvered the unoccupied Chinook back around and opened the side door using the automatic controls. While Anoki was doing that, Glen Strader pulled the handle on the Chinook door that triggered the blast locks on the door, essentially blowing the door off it's hinges and sending it flying.

Nikki turned around quickly and was nearly sucked out. Glen pulled himself inside and dodged behind her, kicking her in the behind and pushing her right out the door. Bolantine stood up and rushed Strader, but Strader was ready for him.

Nikki flew through the air and started heading down. Greg saw the form fall from the Chinook through his binoculars, but couldn't tell Nikki from Glen at that distance. He gave Anoki the word and Anoki executed the maneuver that she had simulated in her mind.

She pushed the Chinook over into a sideways pull, which brought her craft right under where Nikki was falling. Nikki fell right through the open door on the Chinook, but had been falling long enough that she smashed into the opposite door headfirst, her head going through the glass and her body landing broken on the inside of the door. She wasn't dead, not by a long shot, but it would take some time before she could even move again.

This left Bolantine and Strader facing off in the open Chinook. They circled around the large cargo area, getting ready to pounce on each other. Strader knew the history of this man and knew that his family had a lot to pay this man back. Bolantine was pissed that Nikki had been thrown out.

"You Straders never learned when to quit!" Bolantine exclaimed, "You're going to learn!"

"Just like Nikki is learning to fly?" Strader quipped.

"Come and get me, asshole," Bolantine yelled, "Here's your big chance. You want to see if you're a better man than your father and grandfather."

"Not really," Strader yelled as he advanced and landed his first blow, "I just want to kick your ass!"

Bolantine and Colonel Strader started to fight, but it wasn't the same type of match that it had been between Bolantine and either Richard Strader or Adam Strader before. Bolantine had learned some actual organized fighting skills, so he was somewhat of a match.

Strader wasn't having any of it, however, as he was thoroughly pissed and ready to win one. Bolantine was out of practice, although his body was in perfect shape. They exchanged blows, but neither one really took any real damage. It was tit for tat, a hit each and it continued while the people on the ground tried to figure out what to do.

"What the hell is going on up there?" Greg asked over the com unit, "And are you any closer to stopping the horde?"

The horde, now without having constant instructions was now degenerating into little more than an angry mob. They were attacking the building that Greg and Anoki were standing on top of, which was starting to worry Greg.

"We can't figure out the damned controls," Jim yelled into the com unit, "How the hell do we get them to stand down?"

"Maybe we don't," Toshi said, looking thoughtfully, "Let's try something."

Toshi started punching buttons on the control unit and came up with a simple command that she hoped the system would take. Knowing that she didn't have anything to lose she hit enter on the keyboard and the noise emanating from the control unit changed in pitch.

When the pitch changed there was a marked difference in the horde. They started slowing down and as the information passed they stopped moving so much. Greg watched with a sigh of relief as the horde stopped moving and fell over, all of them giving in to the fatigue that had built up.

"What did you do?" Jim asked, looking out the window, "They fell asleep?"

"I didn't know how to disable it," Toshi shrugged, "So I issued a sleep instruction."

"I don't care what you did," Greg said, "I just hope that The Colonel survived the fall."

"It wasn't Strader," Anoki said, "I've got control of the Tabiri in the other Chinook. The Colonel is fighting with Bolantine in the cargo area. It must have been Nikki that fell."

"Anoki," Karen said through the communications unit, "Cliff and I are following behind the Chinooks. There are mountains up there. We will go scout for a place to dump them."

"I'll have them follow," Anoki said, "Hurry up."

Bolantine and Strader were still fighting full force. Strader had a black eye and several broken ribs, but he was still not ready to give in to Bolantine's advances. Anoki kept an eye on the fight using the Tabiri unit. Bolantine stood straight up and pushed Strader down on the floor. He was still fresh and perfect.

"You can't win, Strader!" Bolantine yelled over the noise of the chopper, "I just can't get enough of killing your family! Too bad you didn't leave a child for me to rape and kill!"

"There's still time yet," Strader grunted and then let off a kick to Bolantine's knee, "Too bad you'll be spending it underground!"

Bolantine lurched down as his knee broke and started to mend itself. Strader used the strength left in his body to pull himself up and start beating on Bolantine. Bolantine's body could absorb the assault, but it dazed him enough to let Strader have a shot at doing some temporary damage.

While Strader was beating on Bolantine, Karen and Cliff were surveying the nearest mountain. They found what they were looking for quickly, a large opening, just big enough for a Chinook's body to get in, though it would lose its blades in the process.

"That's our storage chamber," Karen said, "Anoki, there is a cave on the eastern side of the nearest mountain. Fly the Chinooks into it and I'll use my missiles to drop the top down on it."

"Colonel Strader is still in there!" Greg exclaimed.

"I'll warn him when he finishes with Bolantine," Anoki said, "I think he's about done."

Glen Strader was indeed nearly finished with Bolantine, having moved from beating on the immortal to getting behind him and squeezing his neck with his arm, almost trying to pull Bolantine's head off by sheer power.

"How does it feel, Bolantine?" Strader yelled, "Huh? How does it feel to be the one dying!"

"I'm immortal!" Bolantine grunted, "I can't die!"

"Maybe not," Strader said, "But I can still break your neck!"

Colonel Strader gave Bolantine's head a violent twist, snapping the bones in the neck and causing the immortal to lose consciousness and fall to the floor. Strader reared up and kicked Bolantine a few times when Anoki gave the Tabiri a command to pass a message to Strader.

"Colonel," the Tabiri said, "We've got a way of disposing of them, but you need to leave the helicopter now."

"What?" Strader said, surprised that the Tabiri was talking.

"This is Anoki," the Tabiri said, "You're at 1000 feet. Jump, fall for two seconds to clear the chopper and then pull your cord. We'll take care of the rest."

Strader took one final kick at Bolantine's lolling head and went over to the door. He saw the mountain approaching and knew instantly what they were planning. He checked his parachute and dived out the door, free falling long enough for the speeding Chinook to get away from him before pulling the cord.

Nikki Bolantine had woken up enough to see where she was as the Chinook helicopter aimed itself at the small cave. Nikki was still stuck in the window, however, and could do little but scream until the chopper made contact, beginning to explode as its momentum carried it down into the reaches of that cave.

Colonel Strader watched as the second chopper took the mercifully unconscious Bolantine to the same place. Anoki expertly piloted the Chinook helicopter into the cave, causing it to explode as well. He smiled as he watched the Sikorski fly over to the mountain and hover for a few moments.

"Bye bye motherfucker," Strader said as the missiles flew out from the Sikorski, knocking down the cave, effectively bringing the entire mountain down on Bolantine and Nikki's heads. He closed his eyes and floated down peacefully in his parachute after that.

Chapter 98 - A Hollow Success

"How long do you think it will hold them?" Adam Strader asked Mason Stone as the latter prepared his van for leaving, "Think it will do better than twelve years this time?"

"I don't know," Mason shrugged, "One can only hope."

"We're the only ones who know where they are," Karen said, "There is nothing even resembling ore in that rock so there shouldn't be a repeat of last time."

"How are the doctors doing with the victims of the horde?" Jim asked from his position in the van, "Do we have a body count?"

"Eleven thousand souls perished in that mess," Toshi sighed, "The rest are recovering nicely. The anti-nanite serum is working."

"I guess this is it," Greg said, standing up and going over to Mason, "You're heading out, huh?"

"My job is done here," Mason grinned, "Bolantine is taken care of and so is your research. Where is The Colonel?"

"He's where he's been since it ended," Adam told him, "Sitting in his room."

"I guess I should go talk to him," Mason said, looking at Karen who was nodding at him, "I'll be back in a minute."

Mason walked inside and earned a wave from Harry who was sitting in front of his computer, a place he'd rather be instead of saying goodbye any day. He walked over to Colonel Strader's room and found the door open and Strader himself sitting on a cot looking at a picture of him and Nikki taken by Toshi a few months before.

"Still obsessing I see," Mason said, "She's gone, Colonel. She can't hurt you anymore."

"She did a thorough enough job while she was here," Strader chuckled, "I guess I should just get over it, eh?"

"Listen," Mason said, "Just remember this much. She is to you what she was in this picture. You didn't know the Nikki that is Bolantine's soul mate. You know the Nikki that was your pal, your friend, your lover. They really were two different people, man. Remember the one in that picture. Conveniently let yourself forget the one that's buried underneath the mountain up north of here."

"That your advice for the day?" Strader asked him.

"Advice for your life," Mason grinned, "We're getting out of here. We've been here too long as it is. Time to move on again."

"We going to see you again?" Strader asked him as he stood up to shake the immortal's hand.

"Anything is possible in a world made of shades of gray," Mason smiled, shaking hands warmly with him, "You did well. Your crazy move put Bolantine back underground where he belongs. That's something we've been trying to do for years now."

"Yeah," Strader nodded, "And we were only working on it a few months."

"You got lucky," Mason chuckled, "Take care of yourself, Glen."

"You too, Stone," Strader said, "Come on. I'll see you out."

They walked together to the front and Mason climbed into the driver's seat of his van where Karen curled up right next to him. Mason tossed an envelope over to Adam Strader and winked as Adam started to open it. They waved and drove away from the base, heading on the roads due south.

"And they say if you've got to go," Toshi said softly, "Well if you must, you must..."

"What is it, dad?" Glen Strader asked his father.

"A chit for the MGM Grand," Adam said, "And a note telling me to take you to Vegas, gamble all night long and to get you drunk and laid."

"All right!" Greg exclaimed, "When do we go!"

"Mason's instructions are just him and me," Adam grinned, "Sorry Greg."

"Sounds like Mason," Glen chuckled, "I guess we both could use it."

"I'm game if you are," Adam grinned, "Especially since Mason is picking up the tab."

"What do we do now?" Greg asked them, "It's going to be quiet around here without Bolantine making trouble."

"I can think of some things," Anoki smiled at him, "I'm sure you won't object to them, especially now that we have plenty of time."

"I guess things are starting to get back to normal around here," Colonel Strader grinned at Toshi, "Want to get a cup of coffee while Greg flirts with the robot?"

"Sure," she smiled, "Gotta be more interesting than watching that."

"C'mon Greg," Adam said as he wheeled himself towards the door, "Can't you get yourself a real woman?"

"I am a real woman, at least on the outside," Anoki smiled and looked at Greg, "Shall we?"

Toshi, Glen and Adam watched as Greg and Anoki disappeared into the bunker. They walked over to Harry Haldeman's desk where he was playing with some code and waiting for the goodbyes to be over with.

"Mason gone?" Harry asked them.

"Yep," Adam said, "In and out like the wind. Nice to know some things never change."

"Where's Cliff?" Toshi asked, "I haven't seen him all day."

"I don't know," Strader said, "I talked to Remordis a few hours ago. Cliff must have parlayed this into his freedom because as of a few hours ago he was no longer assigned to us. We are now officially a quartet again."

"That's weird," Harry said, "Wonder what brought that on."

"Probably couldn't take it now that Sienna is gone," Toshi said, "She may have been a droid, but I think he loved her."

"I guess we'll never know," Glen shrugged, "Right guys?"

"Somehow," Adam shrugged, "I think I can live with that."

There was a general agreement to that fact among the group as they went on to do whatever they wanted to do.

Chapter 99 - Epilogue

Cliff Remordis paced around the room as he waited for Warren MacManus to show up. He didn't like this location, a room deep in the ground below the main Company research center. It was a complex that made Area 51 look small, the result of years of digging and constant expansion.

"Cliff," Warren MacManus said as he walked into the room, "How are you doing?"

"Itching to get back out on the road," Cliff said, "When do I get my travel fundage back?"

"You are back in business," MacManus smiled, "I can't replace Sienna though."

"There is no replacing Sienna," Cliff sighed, his eyes glazing for a second, "She was irreplaceable."

"It all turned out well," MacManus said, "The soldiers are bringing them in now if you want to take a look."

"Sure," Cliff nodded, "Which way?"

"Follow me," Warren said as he walked to a larger chamber where the trucks were unloading.

Two trucks were unloading pieces of Chinook helicopter, both of which had been mangled by falling rock and rubble. The pieces were on their way to the scientific labs to look for any DNA remains.

"Did you find the bodies?" Cliff asked him.

"Oh boy did we," Warren MacManus smiled, "Take a look at this..."

Cliff Remordis could only blink as two stainless steel containers were removed from the truck. Bolantine and Nikki Bolantine were clearly visible through the glass portals on the front of the cryogenic chambers. Cliff's eyes nearly bugged out when he recognized that they were breathing, despite being submerged in near absolute zero temperatures.

"Those are cryogenic chambers," MacManus smiled, "The liquid nitrogen keeps them unconscious, but it won't kill them. That will allow us to study them without them becoming dangerous to us."

"But Mason Stone..." Cliff started.

"Nobody can stop us from progressing," MacManus said, his eyes hardening, "Not the Strike Team. Not Adam Strader. Not Bolantine. Not even Mason Stone. We will crack the genome. It may take years, but we will do it. Now go on your adventures, son. You've done good here."

Cliff turned around and walked away from the chamber. He was free again, that was what mattered. He just hoped the Company was smart enough to keep those two lunatics on ice. If nothing else, he prayed that he would be in some South American jungle out of contact should those two ever rise again, because he knew that the results wouldn't be pretty.

***The End***

##

## Other Titles by Rodney Mountain

Immortal Universe Novels

The Healy Murders

The Accidental Immortal

Undercover

The Killer Strikes

Anoki's Revenge

The Immortal Progression

Not With A Whisper

The Mullinix: Ascension

The Mullinix: Redemption

The Mullinix: Resolution

Other Works

Durell's Insurrection

Night Strike (Short Story Anthology)

The Black Fossil

