Involuntary Control (Gray Spear Society) (13 page)

He held it up. "I think it's his badge."

"But it only shows his face. Where is the company logo?"

"That's a security feature. If it's lost or stolen, nobody will know what it's for. The information is on a chip inside the plastic." He put the badge in his pocket.

"I think we're done here. Do you have any ideas about what we should do next?"

Smythe pursed his lips. "According to the twins, the mayor is part of this conspiracy. Maybe we should talk to him. We can pretend to be reporters from out of town. Let's see what kind of fuss we can kick up."

"My, aren't we being aggressive." Marina raised her eyebrows.

"I'm pissed off about a huge corporation using a lot of innocent people for deadly scientific research. One way or another, we have to put a stop to this. But maybe talking to the mayor isn't such a great idea. It could get nasty. Aaron wants us to keep a low profile."

"Nasty doesn't scare me." She grinned. "Let's do this."

"Really?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "I'm pissed off, too."

Chapter Eight

Marina examined Smythe's disguise for flaws. He wore a black T-shirt with the logo of a rock band printed on the front in red letters. His blue jeans had holes in the knees. He was chewing on a big wad of gum while holding a video camera. A heavy, nylon satchel hung from his shoulder. He looked just like a cameraman for a professional news crew.

"Am I OK?" she asked.

She glanced down at her own outfit. She wore a blue business suit, tailored to accentuate her narrow waist. Black shoes with low heels were a professional touch. Her scalp itched under a wig made of long, brown hair. She held a microphone wired to a recorder on her belt.

"Except for the wig," Smythe said, "you're the finest looking reporter I've ever seen."

"Careful." She winked. "I already got a man, and he's the jealous type."

They went into a red brick building with a sign that read "Lemonseed Town Offices." There was a receptionist in the foyer, but Marina walked past her without even a glance. At a quick pace Marina continued into a short hallway with several doors. The one at the end was marked "Mayor William Piniella." She headed in that direction, followed closely by Smythe.

"Hey!" the receptionist yelled. "Do you have an appointment? Stop!"

Marina opened the mayor's door and walked in. Piniella was a middle-aged man with a poorly combed mop of gray hair. He had an abundance of jowls and wrinkles. His brown shirt was a size too small, especially around the belly.

He stood up from behind his elegant, antique desk. "Hello?"

Marina walked briskly into the office. "I'm Winter Gale from the Chicago Herald. We're investigating a rash of bizarre suicides in your town. Is there a comment you'd like to make?" She shoved her microphone in his face.

The receptionist rushed in. "Sorry, sir! They walked right by me."

"I understand," the mayor said. "Tell Chuck I have a couple of reporters from Chicago in my office."

"Yes, sir." The receptionist hurried off.

The mayor sat down again. "Please, close the door." He smiled politely.

Marina took a chair facing him. Smythe closed the door and stood behind her with the video camera. His lips smacked together as he chewed his gum.

"Let's start again," the mayor said. "What do you want to know?"

"There have been many suicides in Lemonseed in the last few months," Marina said.

"I honestly don't know what you're talking about."

"We've already verified the facts. The suicide rate here is 200 times the national average."

He shrugged. "That's news to me."

"Stop lying. You can't possibly be that uninformed."

"Where did you get this information?" He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"From reliable sources," she said.

"Do your sources have names?"

"Yes."

They stared at each other.

"This is going to be a huge story," she said, "whether you like it or not. Now is your chance to make an official statement. Just don't deny the truth."

"I'm not denying anything. I'm simply stating I have no knowledge of any suicides. Lemonseed is wonderful town. You can't find friendlier people anywhere. It's a pleasure serving this community every day, and I hope to do it for as long as possible."

She sighed. This conversation was a waste of time.

The office door opened and two police officers entered. They wore tan shirts and light green pants.

"Hey, Chuck," the mayor said. "Take care of this, will you?"

The larger of the two cops nodded. "Yes, sir." He drew his gun and aimed it at Marina. "You're under arrest."

His partner covered Smythe.

Marina stood up. "Hey! You can't arrest me. I'm a reporter!"

"This gun says I can," Chuck said. "Put your hands up, now."

She raised her hands. "What are you arresting us for?"

"I guess it's not really an arrest. More like a temporary detention. We'll let you go in a few days, after you've received treatment."

"Treatment for what?"

He approached her. "For being a nosy reporter. We have a fix for that."

Smythe looked at Marina, and she nodded once.

Time to have some fun,
she thought. She liked fighting dirty cops. She could beat the shit out of them and not feel any remorse.

She kicked the gun out of Chuck's hand. She followed up with a spinning kick to his temple that felled him like a tree, but she wasn't nearly done. She stomped on his face hard enough to crush his nose. He feebly tried to protect himself, so she grabbed his wrist and kicked his elbow, breaking the joint.
That's enough,
she thought. She put him to sleep with an injection of venom.

She looked over at Smythe, who had dispatched his opponent just as effectively. The other cop had a dislocated arm, a broken jaw, and three broken fingers. He was lying on the floor, unconscious.
Smythe's skills are improving,
she thought.

Marina turned back to the mayor. "Where were we?"

He backed away from her until he bumped against the wall.

She walked around the desk on one side, and Smythe went the other way, cutting off the mayor's escape routes.

"You're not reporters!" the mayor said.

"That's true." She nodded. "But we do have questions. Let's start with the 'treatment' Chuck mentioned. What the hell was he talking about?"

His eyes rolled back in his head. His whole body quivered as if he were having a seizure. Then he launched himself at her with his arms outstretched.

She caught his wrist and sent him sailing across the room with a hip toss. He smashed into a bookcase, shattering glass shelves. It didn't seem to bother him though because he hopped up and immediately attacked her again.

Smythe punched the mayor in the chest so hard it sounded like a hammer blow. The mayor was knocked back and he wheezed like an old man, but he recovered in just seconds. He staggered forward again.

Marina ducked down and lashed out with a low kick. She struck the inside of his knee and bent it backwards. Snapping tendons sounded like rubber bands breaking. Hopping on one leg and dragging the other, he attempted to continue his attack.

This is crazy,
she thought.

She drew a knife from a sheath hidden up her sleeve and threw it at his stomach with all her strength. The blade went deep, but there was no reaction on his face. Blood trickled down his shirt and pants.

Smythe grabbed both his arms firmly from behind. The mayor twisted his neck and snapped his teeth like a rabid dog.

Marina approached cautiously. "Mayor?" she said. "William? Can you hear me?"

His eyes showed no recognition. She kicked him in the balls, but he only grunted and growled mindlessly. She injected venom in his neck to put him to sleep. He slid to the floor, quiet at last.

"What the fuck was that?" she said.

Smythe shook his head. "It's like he lost his mind. He couldn't feel pain anymore." He looked around. "We made a lot of noise. We'd better go."

They ran out of the room. The receptionist tried to stop them in the hallway, but Marina shoved her out of the way. A few seconds later they were outside in the afternoon daylight.

They kept running.

* * *

Marina pushed aside a tree branch and got her first look at the White Flame Technology main campus.

"It's huge!" she whispered.

"It should be," Smythe replied. "White Flame is one of the largest military contractors in the world, and perhaps the most sophisticated. They say this is the place where men create miracles that kill."

The campus was at least as large as the entire town of Lemonseed. The many brown buildings had narrow, slotted windows if they had any windows at all. A continuous flow of golf carts moved along concrete paths that cut through grassy fields. There were a few roads, but it seemed most employees travelled on foot or by cart. The White Flame symbol, an abstract flame drawn with white lines, was everywhere.

Marina focused her attention on the security measures. There were two layers of electric fencing with open ground in between. The land outside the fence had been cleared to eliminate any cover. She and Smythe were crouching in the foliage at the edge of this clearing. Armed guards stood in tall towers at regular intervals, and there was no place to hide from their searching gaze. More guards with dogs walked behind the inner fence.

"Getting inside will be hard."

"Damn near impossible," Smythe said. "I'm sure there are motion sensors, heat sensors, vibration sensors, and sensors we've never heard of."

"Then we'll have to walk in through the front gate."

"We'll need a rock solid cover story. The guards will check our credentials very thoroughly before letting us set foot in there. But even if we got past the fence, we wouldn't know where to go. We can't just wander around like a couple of tourists."

"There must be a map or a directory," she said.

He shook his head. "Not one that would tell us anything useful. In a place like this, every project is secret. Every bit of information, no matter how trivial, is on a need to know basis. Look closely. There are no signs anywhere. The buildings don't even have numbers."

"It must be a strange place to work."

"The employees go where they're supposed to go, and they stay there. They talk to their teammates and nobody else. It's a lot like the Gray Spear Society. Do we ever meet the other cells? There are supposedly two thousand people in the Society, and I've only seen a dozen of them. That's good security."

She frowned. "It's time to call Aaron." She moved deeper into the tree cover and made the call.

"Hello?" Aaron said.

She smiled at the sound of his voice. "Where are you?"

"Still taking the twins back to headquarters. We're almost home."

"Is Norbert with you?"

"He's driving the moving van," he said. "I'm driving a car, and the twins are sitting in the back seat. They're still very frightened."

"I guess they passed your test," she said.

"While I was sitting there like a boob, they quietly hacked their way through the Society's computer systems. Ethel actually called to tell me to shut them down." He snorted. "Long story short, they clearly earned their roster spots on the team. Where are you?"

"We're looking at the White Flame campus now."

"Impressive," he said, "isn't it?"

"Intimidating, actually. Normally, finding the enemy is our biggest problem. In this case we know where they are, but we have no idea what to do about it. We've had an interesting day so far." She quickly gave her report.

When she was done, he said, "The mayor's strange behavior is very troubling. I'm having a hard time explaining it. Continue your investigation, but tread lightly. This is turning into a high risk mission, and I'm hours away. I'm officially worried about you now."

She smiled. "Yes, sir. I love you."

"I love you, too. Bye."

She closed her phone and turned to Smythe. "Aaron wants us to keep working. Any ideas?"

"I want to look at a brain." He furrowed his brow.

"Huh?"

"People are going bonkers in Lemonseed. I want to capture one of the victims alive and study his brain. Maybe I can figure out the cause."

She grimaced. "Yuck."

"We'll use a MRI machine or some other noninvasive scanner. We won't cut open the patient's skull. This will be a medical examination, not vivisection. I still try to abide by my Hippocratic Oath when possible."

She was reminded that having a highly skilled doctor on the team could be very useful at times. "OK, but we have to plan this carefully. I presume the nearest MRI machine is in a hospital. We'll need an ambulance to transport the patient, and we'll have to dress as paramedics. Getting ready for this abduction could take the rest of the day."