Endworlds - Nicholas Read [47]
DEEP WITHIN THE COMPLEX one of two guards on duty at the central security node frowned as he stared at one of the numerous monitors that surrounded him and his partner.
“Hey, did you see that?”
His partner looked up from the eReader he had been perusing. “See what?”
The guard who had spoken indicated the monitor screen. “Exterior, Service Lot Twelve. Supply gates just opened.”
His associate frowned, quickly and efficiently checked a series of readouts. “Doesn’t show anyone or anything coming in.” He automatically backed up the recording. “View is blank. Glitch six of the evening. It’s nothing.”
Indeed, the gates under discussion had already closed. A rapid check of the parking area revealed nothing untoward. Puzzled but reassured, the first guard relaxed.
“I guess you’re right. Just a short. Backup resolved the problem.”
Nodding, the other man resumed his reading. “Don’t bother me unless you actually see something, okay?”
“Yeah, right.” The first guard went silent. The brief incident had unsettled him. But not sufficiently to raise an alert.
HIS SHIELDING COAT secure around him, Eastwood led the way to a back dock. This was where supplies for the complex arrived and finished goods departed. How he knew this he did not know, just as he didn’t know how he had successfully bypassed the automated security system at the gate. Later, he would have time to ponder why.
Another handprint panel was set alongside the heavy metal door. Above was another camera that ignored them as he pressed his open palm against the softly glowing panel and activated the door.
They were in.
“What now?” Though he could not see details of the blue shape that had whispered, Eastwood recognized Jax’s curt voice. He also knew her smell, a realization that unnerved him more than he cared to admit.
Wait! Were there any odor scanners in this sector of the building? What about air density sensors? His store of knowledge about the complex seemed endless even if its source continued to elude him. He felt certain they could proceed without concern.
“This way.” He stared down the corridor off to his left.
Protected from notice by their unique attire they raced with impunity past camera after camera until Eastwood finally found the stairwell he had seen in his mind.
“The lab we’re after is three floors down,” he informed his companions. Jax made a face.
“Wait. Three floors down?”
Eastwood nodded. “This place is like an iceberg. Most of it lies below eye level. There are actually four underground layers; three for labs and staging, and the lowest for heating, air scrubbers, off-grid power and engineering.”
“And you know this,” Jax prompted him, “how? Oh, of course.” She keened her head to one side with a mocking smile, visible to his eyes as blue light. “You don’t know.”
Lion was searching their immediate vicinity. “Where’s the lift?”
“On the far wall,” Eastwood pointed his chin, “but if we activate an unauthorized elevator it’ll trigger a dioxide mist that will knock us out until guards arrive. We’ll take the stairs instead.”
Gesturing at a metal door set in the nearby wall, he turned to Castle and said, “Cough up.”
Chewing since their arrival, Castle pulled a gum wrapper from his pocket. Quickly folding the paper into a thin silver tube, he bent it into a U-shape then gingerly slid one long end into the top slit between door and frame, until he felt it catch. He then pulled the plug of white gum from his mouth and pressed it over the short end of the silver strip, fixing it to the doorframe. Carefully he tugged the metal door open with one hand, and as it cleared the silver paper, he stuck that foil directly onto the hidden voltage plate with a second and third glob, then pulled the door open wide.
With continuity of current preserved by the foil wrapper, the alarms