<Episode 48>

With Freidman outed as a mole they had to rely on other means to discover what Anderson was doing. One of the first orders of business was discovering where World Inc. was getting their information from. Back when they had a man on the inside it didn’t matter all that much. Now that they were practically blind no one wanted Anderson to have an advantage. The various cells got together and put out some false information. Working in tandem they were able to find, what they hoped at least, a majority of Anderson’s informants. From there they squeezed them for any information they had, which wasn’t much. Which took them to part two of the operation, surveillance. There they discovered one thing right away. People who worked in the building now had run an ID card to get past the main lobby. And more than likely other parts of the building as well.

Which brought Jack to his current situation. A week of wire tapping and watching lead them to one Marcus Van Haden. He looked liked a college professor who would call you a stupid, blundering idiot even if you did everything right to boot. He also carried important information from his company to World Inc. on a regular basis, usually stopping off at home first. Supposedly tonight was one of those nights. He was currently on his way to World Inc., Jack was heading in the opposite direction with him in his sights.

He had the hood pulled over his head as far as it could go. With the rain currently falling nobody was paying him any attention, fortunate for him. At least the foil lining his hood had an extra benefit, his head was staying dryer than what it would have been. Which was also good for the piece in his ear. He didn’t particularly want his ear burning in case it shorted out. “What’s you status Tin Man?”, Jaime said over the piece.

“Thinking of the ways I can kick the butt of the person who gave me that stupid code name,” he answered, low enough so nobody passing by could hear him. “And I’m going to do it too, the moment I can prove this person did it.”

“How are you going to prove it was me?”, Rachel asked him over the line.

“There’s a start,” he quipped.

“Geez Rachel,” Sparky cut in, “Don’t make it obvious or anything.”

“I was trying to throw him off the trail of the person who did it,” she quickly explained.

“Cut the chatter,” Jaime ordered. “Tin Man do you see the target?”

Looking up the street he saw Van Haden bundled up in a trench coat, an umbrella in one hand and his briefcase the other. “I see him.”

“Now that we have that covered,” Sparky said, “do we have any idea how exactly we’re going to get that briefcase away from him?”

“I’m working on it,” was all he said.

“Jack we don’t need any work in progress plans right now,” Rachel told him. “We need an actual plan.”

“We got a problem,” Arron said from his position on the rooftops, “I’m seeing bracelets.” As in handcuffs attaching his wrists to the briefcase. There was something good in there alright.

“I see it,” Jack said as he continued toward him.

“We have abort,” Rachel said.

Jaime spoke next. “I agree. Tin Man turn down an alley. We’ll pick you up on the other side of the block.” Sparky, who watching him from the rear, reported he was still heading for Van Haden.

“Jack, don’t even think about it,” Rachel said. “I don’t care what you’re Uncle showed you, nobody is that good. Do you hear me?”

He kept on walking toward Van Haden. When they were a few yards from each other Jack lowered his head and kept on going, praying this guy wasn’t a Drakan or carrying a scanner. Ignoring Rachel and Jaime yelling in his ear he waited for it. Jack bumped into him and kept on walking, not even attempting to go for the briefcase. “Watch it you stupid punk,” Van Haden snapped. He checked himself for his wallet, only continuing on when he was satisfied it was still there. “Damn punks have no manners what so ever,” he continued grumbling.

Making his way toward the plain blue van, the side door snapped open as Rachel nearly jumped out at him, “Are you out of your mind?!”, she demanded. “What if he recognized you or decided to go after you?”

“Or he had a hand scanner with him?”, Jaime put in.

“Then he would have known it was me before I even got that close,” he said.

“So what was the point of all that any way?”, Rachel asked him.

“I was a little curious about how tight that new rule is,” he pulled Van Haden ID out of his pocket. They stared at him. “Uncle Petey showed me a lot before Mom found out.”

***

Rachel was more than a little nervous. She’d never broken into another person home before. She never did a lot of things before being forced to go on the run. If her parents weren’t disappointed in her before they would have been if they found this out. Despite the darkness she could tell Jack was a little jumpy as well, that made her feel a little better. Him reaching out and giving her hand a quick squeeze went a long way in keeping her calm too. Her nerves started jumping up again when the front door started to unlock. Van Haden came in muttering, “I must be going senile. I was positive I had it with me.”

Jack waited until the door was closed and he walked a few feet into his house before making his move. From where see was Rachel could see him jab the end of the boomstick into the small of his back, “No lights.” Van Haden started to move but he jabbed him again, “You really don’t want to do that.”

“You’re not going to get any money out of me,” he said definitely.

“Then it’s a good thing we don’t want any money.” Sparky and Rachel came out of the shadows. Sparky grabbed the briefcase out of his hand. Before Van Haden could protest Rachel cut the cuff with some wire cutters.

“You can’t take that,” he stated to say. Rachel heard a very faint hum right before Jack squeezed the boomstick. Van Haden jolted for a bit, Arron was there to catch him before he hit the ground.

“Can we go now?”, she whispered despite the fact nobody outside could hear her. God her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. Apparently her nervousness was showing in the darkness because she could feel Sparky smile at her.

“First time jitters?”, he joked as he took the briefcase.

“Only time jitters,” Jack quickly answered for her. They held back a bit as the others headed for the window they came in. “I know, I know I over stepped things when I answered for you. It won’t happen again.”

“I’ll forgive you this one time because I was thinking the same thing.” Giving him a quick kiss on the cheek she added, “Next time you won’t be so lucky.” She went out the window first while Jack looked back to make sure Van Haden was still out. Jumping out the window himself they headed for the van, trying to make sure they didn’t look like they were rushing. “Remind me to thank you later going through this before because I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“I can’t really blame my Uncle here,” he said. “Me and Richie used to get into our fair share of trouble.”

“Knowing you it was probably more than your fair share,” she said with a grin. As soon as they reached the van both of them hurried in and it sped off. “Any luck getting it open.”

“Working on it,” Sparky grunted as he and Arron argued over what number to use for the combination. She glanced over to Jack looking hopeful.

Reading her mind he said, “Mom caught and stopped us before he went over that. Besides I don’t think there are a lot of ways to beat that lock outside a whole lot of patience.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that,” she said while trying not to look like she was leaning against him as they sat there.

***

Anderson sat there at his desk in a very mixed state. On one hand he was furious that the rebels had gotten a hold of World Inc. property. This was exactly why he didn’t want to entrust a human with that type of information. On the other hand he was amazed the rebels were able to pull off that type of operation. They had come a long way since they first started. He would applaud them if they weren’t trying to bring down their way of life. Taylor stood before him looking rather anxious at how he was going to react to the news. “Exactly how much can these documents hurt us?”

“We’re not sure,” he answered hesitantly. “As an extra precaution the document themselves were encoded. This code was created by one of our subsidiaries. So unless they have the key to uncode it should take them awhile to decipher it.”

Touching his fingertips together Anderson went, “Why am I sensing a ‘but’ in this explanation?”

“But,” Taylor continued, “the only information encoded in the documents are things that are considered absolutely vital. Information such as timetables and delivery schedules… it depends on what being delivered and where. While the rebels won’t know what’s being transported…”

“They might be able to figure out where,” Anderson finished for him. Taylor flinched a bit as he nodded, expecting him to blow him up. In any other situation he would have. But right now he needed to remain calm. “Depending on how well their network is they may be able to pinpoint their locations before we know it. I want security increased around the shipments. Not so much that they will attract attention, but enough to provide the appropriate support in case it’s needed.”

“At once sir,” Taylor said. “If I may suggest perhaps we should increase the security around the building Van Haden worked at. If they knew about him…”

“They might know about it as well. An excellent suggestion Mr. Taylor, have Perez get some of his men on it. In fact have him increase security around all of our subsidiaries. We’re a little too far along to leave a back door open for the rebels now.”

“Yes sir.” After Taylor left Anderson slowly spun his chair around so he looked out the window behind him. They were in too crucial a spot to get sloppy now. He was going to have the others breathing down his neck as it is once they found out. He smiled to himself, let them come. Once the project was complete he would finally have the army he needed to finish off this rebellion once and for all.

***

She should have been happy they were able to complete the operation with a minimum of violence. Outside of that little stunt Jack pulled it went just about perfect. Now if only they could use the information they were able to get hold of. Melissa felt her migraine grow when they told her half of those papers was written in gobbily gook. Not their exact words but that’s what it looked like to her when she looked it over. “Now this is just going overboard,” she muttered to herself. Obviously it was a code of some sort so she called the closest thing she had to an expert.

Before her both Jaime and Friedman looked the papers over. Friedman in particular was scratching his head as he tried to read it. “Sorry Melissa,” he said putting it down, “but I can’t make heads or tails of this thing. We didn’t get a whole lot of coded paperwork in the medical wing.”

“I figured as much but it was worth a shot,” Melissa sighed.

“It’s not in any key we know of,” Jaime said rubbing his eyes. “Did you run it by Rachel? She might have an idea at how to decode it.”

“She already looked it over,” she said getting up to stretch a bit. “She was in the same boat as Freidman. I’m halfway tempted to give them to Emily on the slight chance she’d see something.”

“I hate to say it but this is where Drake and his group would have come in handy,” Jaime said. She nodded in agreement. “Hell I might have gone to Trent if he didn’t turn out to be such a bastard.”

“Maybe somebody in what’s left of their cell has an idea how this was coded,” she mused. “Do you know where any of that cell is now?”

“No clue,” he admitted. “Shortly after their cell was attacked they disappeared with the wind. Even the couple we were housing disappeared without a trace. Rumors have it they gave up and went into hiding.”

“I heard that rumor too,” she said sadly. That was a blow they didn’t need. She couldn’t help but think Chris could have kept them together, but there was no use in thinking like that. What done was done and she’d have to make do with what she had.

“Melissa I think I might have something,” Freidman spoke up.

“What is it?”, she asked as he laid down a paper highlighting a schedule of some sort.

“It’s not much but you said this came from the company uptown?”. She nodded. “Do you see this time here, here and here? I’m pretty sure this is the time they deliver things to the main World Inc. building.”

“How positive are you?”, she asked.

“I say about seventy percent,” he admitted.

“That’s not as confident as I’d like it to be,” Jaime said.

“I know,” Freidman said, “but I spent a lot of time in delivery. More than I should of. It might be the thing that finally tipped them off about me.”

“We’ll I’m desperate enough to take it,” Melissa said feeling his pain. “So if this is the World Inc deliveries,” she said studying the paper intently looking at the different symbols. “These must be the deliveries to the other locations. We need to watch the other buildings and see which ones corresponds with the ones listed here. Once we figured that out maybe we can figure out how to use that to decode the rest of this.” Why did that sound easier than it would actually be?

***

The green queen had them on surveillance duty for a couple of weeks. The human’s hunch was correct and they were able to match each coded name to an actual location. Except for one, and that alone made Jason consider this operation a failure. But she continued on anyway with the information they had anyway. In that way she reminded him of her brother, it was sickening. Especially when she decided to focus on a location they already knew about instead of trying to find out where that last location was.

So she went over what she knew with the other cell leaders. Jason still couldn’t believe they would still give her any kind of authority after they discovered she was working with the accursed bug. Oh they were angry at first but like a bunch of sheep they bowed down to the almighty green one. Even after she admitted what they discovered didn’t help decode the rest of the documents. They didn’t even know the exact route the trucks were coming from. God it made his sick to his stomach. But still they were able to use what they had to plan their next target. A small compound on the outskirts of town was receiving a large number of deliveries for some reason.

Naturally they dismissed his idea to blow it up. Again they said they needed to get into it so they could get what they needed. Again he argued they needed to make a statement. One more time they told him they didn’t need to hand Anderson anything else to vilify them even more. Nobody in this rebellion had the guts to do what was necessary. No they rather rely on that damned metal bug, and that made him sicker than bowing down to the green queen. So he wasn’t that surprised when they decided to send him in with his usual bunch of misfits. To make matters worse Jaime, a man he used to respect, said he would go along with some of his people.

Jason couldn’t help but smile at the opportunity they gave him. He and the bug had an agreement to wait and finish their fight until Anderson was taken down. Oh they have come close to breaking that loose agreement on more than one occasion. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t send in another body himself. Above ground he found a secluded spot and made a simple phone call, “Hector, you still want to get another shot at the Killer?”

***

Pulling up beside the van Jack took off his helmet as he surveyed the area. They might have told him outskirts but this looked like the middle of nowhere to him. Rachel and the others came out of the van and joined him. “So what’s the plan of attack?”, he asked Jaime. He kneeled down as he studied the mall area of buildings. Holding out a hand one of his men gave him some binoculars. To Rachel he asked, “Is it bad I’m not seeing hat as a good thing?”

“It could be worse,” she said.

“I’m seeing scanners around the base,” Jaime told them. “Around the perimeter. Looks like they’re about twenty feet apart.”

“And I had to say something,” she said dropping her head.

Jack muttered something in French. Rachel snapped her head toward him in total surprise. He was caught a little off guard by her reaction, “What? I can’t pick anything up?”

“No I’m shocked you used it correctly.”

“I’ve heard you swear enough times I should know by now.”

“It was usually directed at you to begin with,” she shot back. Jamie glanced their way and coughed. “Don’t worry we’re focused on the mission.”

“He’s not mad,” Jack said. “Trust me I’ve seen mad, that’s just mildly irritated by most standards.”

“All of the scanners are in a well lit area,” Jaime continued. “Anderson not taking any chances.”

“Here comes the truck,” Arron announced. “Now what do we do?”

Sparky studied Jack face, “You got that ‘I got an idea’ look again.”

“Trust me,” was all he said as he got back on the bike. Nobody looked like they were going to do anything until he explained what plan was forming in his head. “Me, and maybe a couple of others, will head down there and distract them while Jaime and the rest take the truck.”

“This is stupid,” Jaime said. He looked at the truck coming closer. “But it’s the only plan we have at the moment.” Sparky, Arron and a couple from Jaime’s cell volunteered to come with him. Jack looked over to Rachel, he could tell she wanted to go with him. But fortunately she said she’d stay with Jaime. “Alright people, we don’t have much time so let’s do this.”

Jack took her hand before she entered the van and whispered, “The moment I hear gunshots in your direction I’ll be there as fast as I can.”

“You worry about those new sticks they have,” she told him. “Freidman confirmed it was the same metal that bitch mentioned.” Giving his hand a quick squeeze Rachel let go and got back in the van.

“Showtime,” Jack said. Doing the movements to activate the system he said, “Henshin.” The armor formed around him as he revved the engine. Leading the charge down the hill he got close to the nearest sensor before the alarm went off. By the time he passed it World Inc. security and soldiers started to pour out of the various building. Skidding to a stop he got off the bike and waited for them to circle him a bit. “Alright show of hands. How many of you are dumb enough to actually think I came alone?” About then a green wolf leaped on one of the soldiers back and knocked him to the ground. Sparky and the rest caught some more by surprise while their attention was toward him.

Jack saw a guy come at him with one of those sticks. He charged and decked him before he could do anything with it. Crushing it beneath his foot a couple of more came at him. He kicked one in the chest while grabbing the other by the front of the shirt. With one hand Jack picked him up and slammed him to the ground. He wasn’t aware that someone was behind him and grabbing the back of his armor until a second before it happened. He went flying backwards in the air. Slamming into a wall he tried to keep standing, “I was wondering when the resident Drakan was showing up.”

The trooper who tossed him slowly turned around to face him. About then Arron and another soldier crashed through a door next to him. “I’ll take care of him later,” the trooper grunted. A shell formed on his back and these antenna looking things grew out of his forehead as he turned into a red snail.

“In your dreams,” Jack launched himself at the Drakan. It dodged him easily enough and was attacking faster than he was expecting. “I thought,” he began as it took another swing at him, “you guys”, he ducked, “were supposed to be,” he tried kicking it’s legs out, “slow,” it leaped over the kick. A split second later a knee hit him under the chin. The snail took the moment he was dazed and slammed a fist repeatedly into his head. Jack caught the fist mid punch and twisted, causing it to grunt in pain. A straight right to the face knocked it back. About then he noticed the slime on his fist and tried to shake it off, “Ew.”

The Drakan came at him again after it stopped seeing stars. Jack had a good idea at how it fought now. He was able to keep up with it as they exchanged blows and counters. Jack was able to grab it’s arm and twist making it bend with the pain. “Killer!” Jack looked up and saw a man an extremely ugly man with a tattoo on his face come at him transforming to a blue walrus.

“Ah hell,” he got out right before the walrus punched him. He let go of the snail who promptly pushed the newcomer out of the way. The walrus grabbed the snail, turned it around and punched it. Sparky looked up and pointed in their direction. He was about to say something before a couple of guards tackle the eel to the ground. “Sparky you need a new set of friends,” he said to nobody in particular. Jack got up and jumped on the snail back while the walrus took a couple of free shots. The snail kicked the knee out from under the blue one and reached back throwing him on top of the walrus. Jack popped right back up but the blue Drakan tripped him up. “Oh come on!”, he shouted at the walrus.

“Out of my way lower class filth,” the red one said as it battered the walrus away. Jack grabbed the snail around the waist and threw him to the ground while a couple form Jaime’s cell tried to grab the Walrus and drag him out of there. He got away from them and jumped on Jack while he was pounding on the snail.

He fought him off saying, “This is not the three way I usually go for!” And he was so glad Rachel wasn’t there to hear that one. The snail pushed him off while he was distracted. All three of them started to stand when a plan came to him. Waiting for the right moment he fought off both of them until he was able to get behind the snail and grabbed it’s shell. Looking around it at the walrus he started taunting the Drakan, “Come on ugly, try and get me.” The snail tried to get out of the way of the onslaught but Jack held him place by the shell and let him take the full brunt of it. Finally letting the snail go he reached for the blue Drakan’s head and started throwing knees into it’s face. Hearing the snail get back up he rammed the walrus into it’s gut. The red Drakan bent over from the blow and backed up while Jack did the same thing as the meter flashed. He twisted the pod down and ran foreword, jumping off the walrus’ shoulder with his left foot. Kicking the snail with his right it flew back and exploded. Jack turned to the Walrus and as menacing as he could said one word, “Run.” The walrus didn’t need to hear it again as it ran for the hills.

“Let’s go!” Arron said finally coming out of the building he crashed into. He didn’t need to tell Jack or anybody else twice. Jack ran and jumped on the bike. Spinning it in a few circles to keep the guards back he ran through them as he made a hole for the others. The van pulled up a second later and they leaped in as it sped off with Jack in the lead. After a few miles they pulled into a rest stop after they were sure they weren’t being followed.

“The truck was a bust,” Rachel said after they caught their breaths. “It was just filing equipment and some new computers. Nothing was on them, we checked.”

“This might be worth something,” Arron said pulling a CD case out of his coat. “It looked like it was the same code as the ones on the documents.” They all looked at him. Embarrassed he continued, “I noticed I crashed into a computer room. After I took care of that guard I figured why not take a look around.”

“It’s probably encrypted,” Jaime said taking the case. “Luckily I have a couple of guys who are good at breaking them.”

“Nice going Fido,” Jack said rubbing the top of his head. Arron knocked his hand away, but he looked pleased he made the right choice.

***

“Oh my God,” Rachel moaned. She sat on Jack’s cot as he stood behind her massaging her shoulder. She could feel the tension just melt away under his grip. Hell she felt so relaxed she could have fallen asleep right there. He stopped way too soon as he rubbed her arms and kissed the top of her head. “Why didn’t you tell me you could do that?”

“I figured you think I was trying to cop a feel or something,” he said as she got up. “And I figured since I was the boyfriend now it’d be a little more appropriate.”

“You can do that any time you want as far as I’m concerned,” she told him while stretching out her neck. Speaking of sleep, “I think I’ll get ready for bed.”

“I guess I better leave for a couple of minutes then,” Jack said heading for the door. She stopped him and guided him back on to the cot.

“For doing wonders for my neck and shoulders, just this one time, I’m going to give you a little treat.” She walked backwards unbuttoning her shirt and had Jack’s full attention. As she took her shirt off she took a good look at his face. “Not a word out of you mister.”

Holding up his hands he said, “Of course not. But if I was that word would have to be ‘wow’.” She smiled at him as she took her jeans off. Standing there in her bra and panties for a little longer than necessary, just long enough to give him a good look, she put on the oversized T-shirt she used. It took Jack a moment to stand up and get dressed into his sweats himself as she got her bed ready. She looked back at him and bit her lip.

“Jack I was wondering,” she began as he started to get in his cot. “I mean I was thinking that maybe you’d want to sleep over here tonight.”

He looked at her with slight surprise, “Are you sure?”

“We could just, you know, ‘sleep’ sleep not sleep… you know.”

“I think we can manage that,” he said with a smile. Both of them stared at the bed, “So… which side of it do you want?”

“I need the outside side of the bed. I don’t know why, it’s just something in my head.”

“I got no problem with that.” Jack got into the bed and held the covers open for her. She got in and snuggled next to him as he put an arm around her. “Night Rachel.”

“Good night,” she said and gave him a kiss. She never realized how right this was going to feel as they both drifted off to sleep.