<Episode 29>

Their was some laughter in the air as Jack, Arron, Sparky and a couple of the others walked down the hallways of the underground habitat. Arron kept looking back at Sparky nervously but the others kept him too busy to notice. Jack raised his hand slightly to tell the young Drakan to calm down. This was going to work, they just had to keep Sparky preoccupied for a few more moments. Of course Sparky choose then to look at around. “I don’t think I ever been down this way before.”

“Well it’s a big place,” Jack said casually, “It’d be hard to know everything about it.”

“Yeah,” Arron agreed quickly, “I’m still finding out new things about this place.”

“But I went over this place with a fine tooth comb,” Sparky told them.

Jack chuckled and joked, “What, are you head of security around here or something?”

“Then we’re doomed,” one of the others said. Even Sparky got a good laugh out of that one.

“Nah, I was just picking out the prime make out spots down here.” He shot this wry look over to Jack, “Let me know if you ever want to see that list. I’m sure the two of you are doing ok in your room and all, but sometimes you gotta sneak away in the middle of the day.”

“Get your mind out of the gutter Sparky,” Jack told him flatly. “Me and Rachel are just friends.”

“Hopefully friends with privileges,” he grinned wickedly. Jack just ignored him. “Come on man, you got needs, she got needs. Something gonna blow if something doesn’t get done. Hell, I may decide I got needs.”

“Careful Sparky,” Arron warned him when he saw the look that momentarily crossed Jack’s face.

Sparky quickly backtracked, “Just joking man. I would never do that to a good friend of mine, especially one who could blow me up. I’m just saying you guys are the only humans down here. Something is gonna happen. Unless she’s into older guys and waiting for Freidman to show up.

The other shook their heads. He, on the other hand, was no longer regretting tricking Sparky like this. Jack put an arm around his shoulder and said, “It’s cool, I always appreciate a good joke. Especially when I’m looking at one.”

“Oh ha-ha.” Things were fine until something that sounded like sounded like a waterfall could be heard. Sparky started to back up when realized where they were. “I just remembered something I gotta do.”

Jack moved his arm so it was around his neck and squeezed to keep him in place, “Can’t be that important if you forgot about it.”

“I… I got to see what my mom wanted.”

“All the way down I Florida?”

Realizing he was caught Sparky started to get desperate, “Dude don’t make me shock you.”

“Did you or did you not say,” Jack countered, “anything I wanted no questions asked?”

Sparky quickly said, “That doesn’t sound like anything I’d say.”

“I got witnesses that say you did,” Jack grinned at Arron and the others. Sparky remembered that these were the same guys on that job where Jack saved him.

Sparky shoulders slumped as he was dragged foreword, “I hate you.”

“Oh you love me.” They entered the garden center and saw that it was already busy. A couple of people there saw Sparky as he entered. Then they got attention of the person next to them and pointed. The blue haired Drakan started to slink back but Jack kept him in place. He looked around and called out, “Hey Frank, look who I brought with me.”

“How did you get that goldbrick down here?”, the old Drakan asked as he inspected Sparky. Without warning he grabbed his arm and checked out his hand. He let go in disgust as Sparky pulled away. “Just like I thought, not even a hint of an honest days work.”

He tried to defend himself, “I like to think my talents lay elsewhere.”

“Your ‘talents’ don’t mean anything down here,” Frank told him plainly. “You’re going to work hard, just like everybody else. And every time I hear you whine I’m going to cut off one of those things call hair.”

“You can’t do that!”, Sparky objected.

“Was that a whine?”, Frank asked as he started playing with his pocket knife.

“I’m working, I’m working,” Sparky grabbed a shovel and ran off.

“And I better not catch you slacking off or screwing up what we got done down here either.”

Jack looked over to Arron, “Gonna be an interesting day.”

***

“Mr. Anderson,” his secretary said through the intercom, “you have a call on line four.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “It’s Dr. Parker sir.”

Anderson sighed, “Thank you Terry.” Now what was the problem? He was starting to think Allen had more of his Fathers’ patience then he let on. Taking a cleansing breath he hit the flashing button on the phone. “Dr. Parker,” he said formally, “what can I do for you today?”

An angry voice came over the speaker, “You can fix whatever the hell is wrong in Armstrong bloody head for one.”

He knew this was the reason for the call but still he hoped otherwise. “What did Armstrong apparently do now?”

“He’s keeping parts from me again that’s what,” Parker nearly shouted. “I’m at a very critical junction. With the help of this staff you assigned to me I’m close to activating the system in this one. And I can’t do that if things are missing from inventory every time there’s a delivery.”

“How do you know Dr. Armstrong was behind these missing items?”

“Your delivery boy said Armstrong took a couple of things, saying they were needed.”

“I’ll look into it Dr. Parker,” Anderson said trying to sound calm

“You better do more than look into it. If you want this git done you had better do something about it.”

“I said I look into it Dr. Parker,” he said, “good day.” Anderson ended the call before Parker could say anything else. The rebels could not have this much infighting in their ranks. He picked up the phone and dialed Taylor’s office.

“Yes Mr. Anderson,” he answered.

“I just got off the phone with Dr. Parker. He says Armstrong is taking things he needs from the supply trucks again. I want you to verify this before I talk to Armstrong.”

“I’ll get right on it. Is there anything else you need me to do?”

“Actually there is something I’ve been meaning to inquire about. Does Rhodes know anything about the second mark one?”

Taylor thought it over for a moment, “To my knowledge he doesn’t know about it, and neither does Senator Henning. Are you thinking about bringing them in on it sir?”

“No,” he said while leaning back in his chair, “I feel it would be for the best if we kept them in the dark for now. Particularly the good Senator. I had enough of his saber rattling when Davidson went rouge.” He smiled despite nobody could see it, “And I don’t think anybody wants to hear the noise he would undoubtedly make when he finds out about this.”

There was a slight chuckle on the other end, “I heard about his little outburst with Davidson. It probably would be for the best to keep him dark for as long as possible.” In moments he was back to business, “I’ll head to shipping and let you know what I find out as soon as possible.”

“Excellent, I expect word one way or the other within the hour.” Anderson had a feeling Parker accusations was right. Armstrong was less than pleased about the existence of the second mark one, and the notion that Parker was kept as head of that particular project. And he knew Armstrong well enough to not put it past him. However the big question was what was he going to do after this one was activated. He had to do something with Parker after all. And Armstrong was not going to want him coming in on his territory, so to speak. And he did not want to worry about it when they got there.

***

Jack finally gave in and let Sparky tell him about one of those money making ideas he had about his bike. He kinda had to, he didn’t think Frank would actually cut off one of Sparky’s dreads. Jack almost wished he hadn’t when he heard what the Drakan had in mind. Underground street racing of all things. Jack almost immediately shot it down saying all the things that was wrong with the idea, mainly the fact he was still wanted by the police.

Sparky, surprisingly enough, had a counter to that argument. One of the rebels down here, a nineteen year old with dyed red and purple hair named Angie, was a apparently a very good make up artist. Sparky had her make this heavily scarred prosthetic that would fit over his right eye, seeing how his helmet covered most of his face. Jack was amazed at how real it looked and felt. She even came up with a blond wig that had foil lined on the inside to block the bug’s signal. Sparky even found a pair of contacts that would turn his eyes blue. Still Jack was saying no to the idea. Then Sparky told him, “The money you win could help us out a lot man.”

Angie and a couple of others he asked confirmed what Sparky said. Finally he agreed adding, “That’s hitting below the belt.” Rachel was going to kill him when she found out.

Later that night Sparky lead him and two other others out of the city. Eventually they ended up at an old run down racing strip. Sparky spoke to a dirty, muscular guy at the gate who let them in. Jack kept his helmet on after they parked. The make up Angie came up with may have been good, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Sparky got a big grin on his face as he looked around, “Now this is the life.”

Jack tried to not let the nervousness he was feeling take over as he looked around on his own, “You sure you know these guys Sparky?”

“Never said I did,” he told him. “Nobody knows anybody name. You either address them by their handle or a nickname. It’s to make sure you can’t point out anybody else if you’re dumb enough to get caught.”

“That’s not helping Sparky.” He looked around again, “Especially with the way some of these guys are eyeballing me.”

“Don’t worry about that, they’re always a little wary of a new face. Never know when he going to turn out to be a cop.” He scanned the crowd until he found the guy he was looking for. “Stay here, I got to get you set up for a race.”

“Oh joy,” he deadpanned. Jack hung back with the others and studied the other rider motorcycles. He could only imagine what some of these guys did to their rides. He was actually sitting there hoping World Inc. tech could keep up.

“Yo!”, Sparky said as he ran back. “You’re set up but you have to run the first race, which is like now.”

“Thanks for the warning Sparky.”

“Don’t blame me, it was the only slot they had open.”

After Sparky pointed the way Jack pulled up to what he assumed was the starting line, a faded painted strip in the road. Another guy pulled up beside him. A girl in a micro mini skirt and a very tight black shirt stood in front of them. A guy with a megaphone stood on the hood of a car and shouted, “Alright guys and girls here’s our first race of the night. In lane number one, we have Turbo Lightning!” The guy revved the engines a few times to the crowd approval. “And in lane number two, we have a newbie on the field, the Masked Rider!”

Jack looked back and shot Sparky a look. He just shrugged and tried to look innocent. Jack turned his attention back to the race. Lowering the visor he muttered, “You’re a dead man Sparky.”

***

Rachel walked around the garage waiting for Jack and the others to get return. If the police or World Inc. didn’t catch him she was going to wring his neck. As much as she didn’t approve of the idea she didn’t make that much of a fuss about it. Rachel was positive Jack would come to his senses and get out of it. Then she heard the idiot left with Sparky. What the hell was he thinking?

“I guess they’re not back yet?”, Melissa asked as she walked in with lance right behind her.

“No,” Rachel resisted the urge to pace the floor. “I can’t believe he fell for that whole ‘bring in money for the group crap,” she said to nobody in particular.

“I’m afraid that’s not crap,” Melissa told her.

Rachel watched the doors, “Don’t try to back that up.”

“I’m not,” she said calmly. “Rebellions don’t come cheap Rachel. With all the people down here the money has to come from somewhere. If I had a choice I look at a more legal route. But as it is I can’t be that choosy.”

“So where do you get the income from?”

Melissa sat on a near by crate, “Before all this was dumped into my lap I learned not to ask too many questions. I found my conscious let me sleep a little better at night.” They were quiet for a moment before she said, “You’re worried about him more than anything else.”

Rachel stiffened a bit and turned away, “I would appreciate it if you didn’t try to read me.”

“I wasn’t,” she turned around to see Melissa smiling, “in fact I didn’t have too.”

Rachel felt her face grow warm, “He’s a friend, why wouldn’t I be concerned?”

Before Melissa could answer the guard by the door called out, “One coming in!” Some of the Drakan, including Melissa and Lance, got ready for a fight just in case. The door opened and an old, beat up rusted truck pulled into the garage. Rachel’s mood changed as soon as she saw it.

“Dusty,” she called out as the old Drakan got out of the truck. She ran over and hugged him around the neck.

“Hey there darlin’”, he said as he returned the hug. “Just thought I drop by and see how you two were doing. Wasn’t expecting a welcoming committee.”

“Four coming in!”, the guard shouted. Jack, Sparky and the other rode in.

Jack took off the helmet revealing the grin he had, “What are you doing here Dusty?”

The old Drakan took one look at the scar make up, wig and racing gear he was wearing and said, “What fool thing are you doing now?”

“Fool is the right word,” Sparky frowned. “This idiot lost three races on purpose.”

“I won four and you still came out ahead,” Jack shot back.

“You should have won all of them. I’ve seen you work on that thing, you should have smoked everybody there.”

“It’s the art of the con,” Jack argued. “You can’t let the other guy know you have an edge. You got to build up to the big score. Even my Uncle knew that.”

“Ain’t your Uncle in jail son?”, Dusty asked him.

“For something else entirely different,” Jack quickly corrected him.

“Like I said,” Melissa said to Rachel, “I learned not to ask too many questions.”

“So I’m guessing you missed it then?”, Dusty asked.

“Missed what?”, Jack asked back.

“You guys were profiled on America’s Most Wanted tonight,” Dusty answered with a grin.

“I was on AMW?” Jack backhanded Sparky on the shoulder, “You made me miss it you idiot.”

“I didn’t know you were going to be on,” Sparky told him.

Rachel snorted, “Like we needed a reminder that every law enforcement agency in the country is looking for us.”

“Only the worst of the worst get on that show,” Dusty explained. “It’s kind of a sick badge of honor in a way. That’s why I taped it,” he grinned.

“Please tell me you brought the tape,” Jack said. Dusty reached into Bessie and took out the tape. Jack jumped of the motorcycle and took it from him. “There better be a working VCR around here.”

“There’s one in the television room down the hall,” Melissa told him. “But before you go Lance has something for you too.”

“Did he tape it too?”, Rachel joked.

“No,” he said. “Here,” he pulled out a small metal cylinder. Except for the black ring near the end it looked like his battle staff. “A small thank you for saving my butt the other day.”

“Better than having somebody following you all day,” Jack said. Sparky acted hurt and walked away. “So what does it do?”

“Squeeze it in the middle,” Lance instructed him. Jack did so, by the black ring a small electrode popped out. “My cell lifted the idea from the shock sticks Anderson’s troops carry. We had the plans for the staff for awhile now. It seemed like a natural fit.”

Jack gave it a quick snap, like his with his staff the end extended a couple of feet. He turned the ring slightly and a small humming sound could be heard, “What’s this for?”

“An idea we came up with,” Lance explained. “That dial controls the intensity of the charge. You can either stun a person for a few minutes or do something similar to that punch or kick of yours.”

“They go boom?” Lance answered with a nod. “Oy,” Rachel heard him mutter as he twisted the dial back. A quick twist in the middle retracted to it’s original size, just like his other one. Jack took his old one out of the holder between the handle bars and studied them. He looked at her and handed her his original staff, “Here.”

“Why are you giving it to me?”

“In case we’re surrounded by Anderson shock troops again.”

Rachel took it then smirked, “Or I could use it to keep you in line.” Much to her surprise Jack smirked too. “Go on, I know you want to see yourself on TV.” What she wasn’t expecting was Jack grabbing her by the hand and dragging her to watch it too.

***

Melissa waited until everybody entered the war room. She heard Jack and Arron talk about something. Judging from Rachel’s expression it was probably about his appearance on that program. “If I can have your attention please,” she addressed the room but she was looking at them. After a moment they quieted down. “Alright then, we were able to get word about a supply truck making a late night delivery. Chances are good they might be carrying things we might need.”

“Did we get this from Friedman?”, Arron asked.

“Not this time. Word came from one of the truck drivers, who just happens to be one of us.”

“So the doc not your only mole?”, Jack commented.

“Not any more,” she told him. “We’ve been looking to get somebody else into World Inc. for a while now. Anderson has his people do some extensive background checks, so we got lucky with this one.”

“Does Friedman know who he is?”, Sparky asked her.

“He doesn’t want to know who it is. Friedman doesn’t want that info to slip incase something happens to him. And before anybody asks this person doesn’t know Friedman’s working for us.”

“So the same thing doesn’t happen,” Rachel said. “Any chance this guy might try to get in a little action while he he’s in there?”

“He better not,” Melissa said. “I told him that his mission was to just listen. If anything goes wrong he was to cut and run and not take a hostage. Nobody wants Friedman to get caught up in the crossfire. Now,” she pulled down a map of a mountain range a couple of miles outside of the city with an x marked on it, “we’ll be ambushing the truck here in this wooded area. For those of you who don’t know World Inc. has a testing lab in the area. A small one but it deals with some advanced equipment. This spot should be far enough away that if they called for back up we should be on gone by then. But just in case I’m putting Dusty on stand by.” While she was talking she got a sense of something, but she wasn’t sure what it was.

When she turned around Jack was looking at the ground and rubbing his hands together. Rachel studied him for a couple of moments then looked then glanced at the map. It looked like she put two and two together. “Jack,” she whispered, “is that where it happened?” He nodded, “Do you think you can do this one?”

“I can do this,” he answered.

“If there are no other questions, start getting ready and reach that point before they do.” Rachel and Jack left the room quickly. When she was alone she looked at the map and tried to figure out what happened. She looked at the map of the mountain for a long time. Then it clicked, she asked Rachel about how Jack got rebuilt into what he was now. “Oh Jack,” she said out loud, “I am so sorry.”

***

Luckily the ambush spot wasn’t the exact location of where it happened, but it was close enough that it made him a little uncomfortable. He kept flashing back to the explosion and the landslide that swallowed Richie. As morbid as it was at least it was taking his mind off the ghost he had been seeing, even if it was only for a moment. Rachel rubbed his shoulder lightly, trying to comfort him in a small way. “Remember,” he told her, “stay back here in case the bullets start flying.”

“I know,” she said. “I’ll even move your motorcycle behind a tree, because I don’t want anything to happen to your baby,” she teased. Jack gave that half grin of his.

“Hey Jack,” Arron came up, “Sparky spotted the truck. Quit making out with her and come on.”

Rachel stuck her tongue at him. “Can it Fido,” Jack said sounding irritated. He might as well get ready too. He raised his arm across his to make the belt appear. Swinging his arm to the side and raising his right he said, “Henshin,” and slammed his hand on top of the belt. The armor formed in moments and he joined the other by the roadside. He saw the headlight as soon as he got there. After double checking that it was the target they went according to the plan. Waiting for the signal Jack ran in the middle of the road in front of the truck and jumped on top of the hood. While the driver was still surprised he punched through the window, grabbed the steering and quickly turned it. Jack braced himself as they crashed into a tree.

Arron, Sparky and the other ran in quickly. “You alright buddy?”

“I’ve been in worse,” he said as he jumped off the truck and looked at the mountain. Arron went to open the back of the truck and it exploded.

“Arron!”, Sparky shouted out. Jack went to check on him but something caught his shoulder. He turned to see the driver turn into a red dolphin, two black beady eyes glaring at him.

“It’s a trap,” somebody shouted as World Inc. Shock troops piled out of the back. The dolphin punched him quickly before he could attack first. It spit out a wad of blood, it was hurt too. Good, Jack thought as he kicked it in the gut.

He got to his feet and gave a quick glance back to Arron and the others. The young Drakan was coming to his senses as Sparky and the rest held off the shock troops, good thing it wasn’t that many. The dolphin grabbed him from behind and hurled him in to the truck. Ok, so it wasn’t hurt that bad so he wouldn’t have to worry about the kid gloves. Jack went in quick with a right cross. He grabbed it by the fin on the back of it’s head and started to throw a knee. The Drakan caught the knee and tripped him down to his back. He started to get his arms up to block but the dolphin backed away. Then it ripped a huge limb from a tree, “Ah hell.”

***

Rachel got as close as she dared to see what was happening. The moment she heard the explosion she knew something went wrong. She saw the commotion and quickly located Jack. He was busy with a red dolphin with a club of some sort. Rachel watched as he dodged the blows that he could, but he was nailed with the limb a couple of times. And the others couldn’t help him at the moment. Thinking quickly she ran back to the KR-1000 and grabbed the battle staff. She raced back and was relived when she saw Jack put some distance between the two of them. “Jack!”, she yelled and threw the staff at him, “Catch!”

He jumped and caught it in the air and quickly snapped it to its full length. “Thanks, now get the hell out of here!”

She could see the others had the troops taken car of, but she did as she was told. Then she backed into something and froze. Whatever this was it was breathing, and everybody on her side was in view. She started sweating as she slowly reached into her jacket for the staff Jack gave her. She snapped it and swung at the same time. A guy in a World Inc. troop uniform caught it. She didn’t have time to react or call for help as he clamped a hand around her throat and turned into something red.

***

The new staff was stronger than the limb the dolphin was using. He was hurting from the blows he got so far but he could still fight. Jack sidestepped a downward swing aimed at his head, then jabbed the end of the staff in it’s gut. Then he turned around quickly and smashed the other end into it’s face. Jack gripped the middle and squeezed and the electrode popped out. Twisting the dial all the way a loud buzz filled the air. Not wasting any time he jammed it into the Drakan’s chest. It took a couple steps back before exploding. The meter wasn’t even flashing, something seemed wrong about that. “Jack!”, Arron cried out. He turned and felt his heart stop.

A red jellyfish was standing near the side of the road. It had Rachel in the air by her neck. She was hanging there limp. For a brief moment he couldn’t move, he couldn’t even breath, everything refused to move. Then it half dropped, half tossed her to the ground. Something in his head snapped, “RACHEL!”, he yelled as he ran as fast as the system would let him. Jack slammed into jellyfish, his main concern was to get this bastard as far away from her as possible. He didn’t even realized he dropped the staff as it pounded away at it’s membrane like skin. The Drakan threw him off and kicked him in the head as he tried to get to his feet. Jack tried to fight him off from his back as it got on top of him. Jack reached threw the punches and grabbed it by the neck. His face was twisted in rage behind the helmet. He screamed as he threw it off of him.

The jellyfish never got another opening a Jack unleashed his fury on it. The meter flashed and he didn’t even hesitate, he didn’t even think as he twisted the pod down. The charge ran down his leg, “DIE!”, he yelled as he back up just enough to slam a kick into it’s chest. It crashed into a tree right before it exploded. He ran back to where she was and saw Rachel as still on the ground with Arron at her neck. “What are you doing to her!?”

Sparky needed help in keeping him back. “He’s sucking the toxin out her. He injected her with something.” Arron raised his head, spit out what was in his mouth and went back. Jack fell to his knees and put his hands on his head. How could this have happen? “Dusty on his way,” Sparky said as he knelt beside him. “She’s going to be alright, do you hear me? She’s going to be fine.”

Arron pulled away and he saw the puncture wound on her neck. “I got what I could, I think I got it all,” he put a hand on the wound to stop the bleeding. “Somebody grab me the first aid kit! It’s in the van.”

Jack never felt so helpless before in his life, “Rachel.”

“Don’t worry man,” Arron told him, “she’s going to make it. Dusty parked about ten minutes away and he’s going to fly to get here.”

“You see buddy,” Sparky added patting him on the shoulder, “I told you she’s going to be fine.”

Jack barely herd any of that, again he whispered, “Rachel.”