Days' End (26 page)

“I thought you could use this.”

“Thanks,” Nysa said as she took a sip from the cup.

“Sit there for a while and finish that. Then you can get up. We don’t want you fainting again, especially if you’re standing. Make sure you’re okay first. The labor isn’t going so fast that you’ll miss anything by taking it slowly.”

“I will. Thank you.” Nysa was so embarrassed she couldn’t make eye contact with the nurse, so she sat on the sofa slowly drinking her juice.

The nurse returned to her tray and took the cup of ice chips over to Jacqueline. “These are for you. Keep an eye on Nysa, don’t let her get up too quick,” the nurse told her, then turned and left the room.

“I turned the movie back on after you passed out. Want to watch the end with me?”

“Sure.” Nysa adjusted herself on the couch so she could see the television and sat back to recover.

December 24, 6:32 PM

Alastair squeezed the trigger more out of surprise than intent. He hadn’t actually been aiming his shot so his placement left a bit to be desired. Still, he managed to hit the guard in the leg, and he collapsed in the elevator. Alastair stood, shocked, in front of the elevator, unsure of what to do. His decision was made for him when the guard grabbed his radio with one hand and, as he called for assistance, reached for his gun with the other. Alastair shot him again, directly in the chest. His lifeless body slumped to the floor.

“Shit,” Alastair whispered to himself. He’d never expected it to come to this. He’d thought about killing Scario, sure, but not this. To make matters worse, the guard had been talking to someone on his radio when Alastair had fired the shot. Undoubtedly whoever was listening had heard the shot and was sounding the alarm. Pulling the body out into the hallway, Alastair scanned his card and hit the button for B-20. He didn’t want to hang around and wait for the other guards to arrive, but couldn’t remember what, exactly, was on most of the other floors. He figured he’d have at least a little bit of a head start if he could get back downstairs into Scario’s office.

When he arrived back at Scario’s room, he logged back onto the computer to check and see what was happening. The security camera in the lobby showed six guards standing at attention and being addressed by Joseph. There was no audio to accompany the image, but there was little doubt in Alastair’s mind about what was being said and what orders were being given. As he watched, the guards turned and hustled to the bank of elevators. Joseph, meanwhile, returned to the control room, no doubt to play quarterback in the apprehension of the unknown assailant. Alastair switched to various cameras and watched as a two-man team made their way through the cafeteria and restaurant to the server room. They exited as quickly as they had entered, one speaking quickly into his radio.

“Now they know it’s me.” Alastair absentmindedly wiped the sweat from his palms on the legs of his pants. “Now what the hell am I supposed to do?” He leaned forward again and flipped through the various security camera images to track the others. Two of them had arrived at the fourteenth floor and had checked on their fallen comrade.

Alastair watched in amazement as they systematically cleared the floor. There was no hesitation in their actions. They were swift and efficient in every movement. Alastair could tell that they were communicating using only hand signals, but even those were few in number. They operated as if part of a single being, one covering the other’s advances and movements. At no time were both men uncovered. Even if Alastair could take out one of them, there was no doubt in his mind that he would be dead before the first man hit the floor. “Guess the option of standing and fighting is out of the question,” Alastair muttered.

Shifting images on the monitor, he tried to track down the other two-man team. He found them in one of the other elevators. What alarmed him was the fact that the button that was lit on the panel was for B-20. They were on their way to him.

December 24, 6:47 PM

Nysa felt steadier. She sat with Jacqueline, sporadically feeding her ice chips.

“Better?” Nysa asked.

“Yes, thank you,” Jacqueline replied. “Are you better?”

“Yeah,” Nysa said guiltily. “Sorry ‘bout that. I don’t know what came over me. One minute I was watching what the doctor was doing, the next I was on the couch. Hope I didn’t cause too much of a fuss.”

“It’s a good thing you were sitting down. That floor doesn’t look real soft. I hate to think what might have happened if you’d been standing. You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah. Really, I’m fine now,” Nysa added when she saw the look of doubt on her younger friend’s face. “Can I get anything for you? I’ve been nursed enough for the evening, thank you. You’re the patient here, not me.”

“Why don’t we turn on another movie while we wait for the baby to be born? I’m tired of cards and I’d like to have something to take my mind off of things. Need to rest up for the big event, you know?”

“Absolutely.” Nysa walked over to the television, popped in a new disc, and settled into the chair next to Jacqueline’s bed. “Now showing…You’ve Got Mail.” As the movie started however, they realized that they’d been given the wrong movie. Stigmata was playing instead.

“Screw it,” Nysa mumbled, “I’m too tired to call them back up to bring us the right movie. I’ve heard this is a pretty good flick. This alright with you?”

Jacqueline shrugged and leaned back into her pillows. “I’m not picky.”

December 24, 6:48 PM

Looking frantically around the room, Alastair could see no means of escape. He didn’t have much time before the guards arrived. He turned back to the computer and did the first thing to enter his mind. He shut down the elevators. After that he deleted all access for all of the key cards in the system. Thankfully, it would still allow him to move throughout the facility freely as his own cards were not logged on the main system.

He then examined the room to try and find a means of escape as the guards attempted to get out of their steel prison. He spotted his only hope, an air intake valve at the base of the wall. He’d have to take a page out of Mission Impossible and try the air ducts. He wasn’t sure he’d fit and didn’t know if it would take him anywhere safe, but for the time being, anywhere was safer than where he was.

It took him only a couple of minutes to remove the screws securing the grate to the wall. Crawling on his stomach backward into the ducts, he found them to be surprisingly large. Alastair reached out, grabbed the grate, and slid it back into place. He wouldn’t be able to actually screw it in, but with luck the guards wouldn’t see that it was slightly askew. Slowly, he wormed his way backward in the duct and into the blackness.

At last he saw light coming from a bend in the ventilation system up ahead. It had taken him quite a bit of time, but he had managed to turn himself around so that he could work his way through the system. Staying as quiet as he could, Alastair slithered his way up to the grate so that he could see out. He guessed he’d been in the ducts for somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty minutes. He was covered in sweat, which had made the task of boosting himself up a floor extraordinarily difficult. He’d used his feet and knees to brace himself, but his hands had been moist and the process of climbing the inside of the duct had been almost more than he was capable of.

He had to get out. There was no way he would be able to make it up another floor. He also needed to get out so that he could hack back into the system and find Nysa. That would require a wall outlet so that he could get a computer signal for his iPOD.

Peeking out of the grate, Alastair found himself looking into a room much like Nysa’s. He was overlooking the bedroom. On the bed he could see a young woman obviously flustered. She was talking on the phone, and based on the conversation, it seemed she was speaking to someone else in the building.

“Me too! They just came barging in here without so much as a knock on the door. I was in the bath, for crying out loud! They acted like I wasn’t even here. I was yelling at them to get out and they just ignored me. I have no idea what they were even looking for. Uh-huh. Exactly.”

Alastair sat listening to her go on and on about the intrusion into her room. He fought back the desire to tell her to shut the fuck up. He needed to get out of the ducts and into the room with as few people knowing about it as possible. He was forced to wait out the conversation—another half hour of pissing and moaning, based on the clock on her nightstand. Finally she said goodbye and hung up the phone.

He was miserable. The cramps in his legs were so bad he didn’t think he’d be able to stand once he got upright again. His shoulders weren’t quite as bad as he’d been able to flex and stretch them occasionally, but his back was a knot from the base of his spine all the way up to the base of his skull.

Cursing her under his breath, Alastair watched as she meandered back into what would be the bathroom, if her setup was the same as Nysa’s room. Now was his chance. Bracing his legs on the inside of the duct, Alastair propelled himself against the vent cover with what little force he could muster. Sharp pains tore at every muscle in his body. Luckily, the drywall gave way immediately, leaving Alastair hanging halfway out of the vent. He heard her cry of alarm as he lowered himself to the floor. As quickly as his stiff body would allow, he ran to the bathroom and grabbed the woman.

“Don’t make another sound. I’m not here to hurt you.” He could see the disbelief in the girl’s eyes. “I’m the guy the guards are looking for. I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’m here to put a stop to it. I’m not here for you. I’m looking for my fiancée, Nysa. If you keep quiet, I’ll just be a minute and then I’ll be on my way. Agreed?”

She nodded her head stiffly.

“Good.” Alastair let her go and moved to the bathroom sink, taking out the Web jack as he went. Placing the gun on the sink to ensure her continued cooperation, Alastair took out his iPOD and began his search.

“What are you doing with that?” the young woman asked.

“Looking for Nysa,” Alastair replied distractedly.

“I know where she is.”

Alastair whipped around and faced her. “Don’t screw with me on this.” He placed his hand on the revolver.

“No. No, really. My name is Mary Alice. I work with her. Right now she’s at the medical facility with Jacqueline.”

“Where?”

“The medical facility. It’s on level B-4.”

Looking back to his iPOD, Alastair accessed the cameras for level B-4. Sure enough, there was Nysa sitting in a chair next to a woman in a hospital bed. He turned back to the girl. “Thank you,” he said as he raced out of the room to the elevators. While he waited he suddenly realized he’d shut the elevators down. As he made his way to the stairwell, the ding of the elevator startled him.

“As long as they’re working again,” Alastair muttered. He stepped quickly inside, scanned his card and hit the button that would take him to his fiancée. The doors closed, but the elevator did not move. He pushed the button again. And again. He pushed the door-open button. Nothing. He was trapped.

There had to be a way out of here. Looking up, Alastair saw the escape hatch. Boosting himself up and using the handrails as a step, he forced the hatch open and made his way to the top of the elevator. From there he could reach the doors to the next floor. There was no way for him to know what stood on the other side. Taking a deep breath and saying a quick prayer, Alastair forced them open and peeked out. The hallway was deserted.

He once again plugged into a wall socket and hacked into the security system. He located the guards in the main lobby. Joseph looked irate. He was pacing back and forth, screaming continuously at his subordinates. Their expressions were blank. They would come back. He had no illusions to the contrary. He would have to act fast. Changing programs, Alastair took control of the elevators and sent them all up to the lobby. Their arrival would undoubtedly occupy the guards’ attention while Alastair carried out his plans.

The guard closest to the elevators took a step back out of line, bringing his assault rifle up into a firing position as he moved quickly into a more advantageous position. The others were alerted by his actions and followed suit. When the doors opened, a brief burst of gunfire swept the inside of the car. There was nobody inside. The arrival of the second car elicited the same amount of caution, minus the gunfire, as did the third and fourth.

In an effort to get an idea of what was going on, Joseph retreated back to the control room. He was out of luck. The entire system was down.

“Fucking techies!” He pulled out his sidearm and shot one of the blank screens. He reholstered his weapon and walked back out into the lobby. “Looks like we’re going to have to do this the old-fashioned way. The guy we’re after programmed the security system and has now shut it down. Prop open those elevator doors so that they stay here. You two cover the lobby—make sure he doesn’t escape. The rest of you, I want you to conduct another floor-by-floor sweep. Leave nothing to chance. Check everything. Start at the bottom and work your way up.”

The four men immediately turned and proceeded to the nearest stairwell. Since the stairs were used only for emergencies, there was no reentry from the stairwell except on the ground floor. They would have to blast open the door when they reached the bottom, but they were in a mood to do some damage anyway. As the door closed behind them Joseph turned to the two remaining. “Nobody leaves. Nobody.” He spun on his heel and returned to the office.

December 24, 8:00 PM

Jacqueline had made a very quick transition into the third and final phase of labor. She was now at a full ten centimeters and her contractions were coming less than two minutes apart. The epidural and Pitocin drips had been turned off and the doctor had been called into the room. He was accompanied by three nurses. Although that kind of staffing was unnecessary for what should be a pretty standard delivery, no one wanted to miss out on witnessing this historic moment.