G.U.A.R.D. Book #3: Recusant

-14-

    August the eleventh. Sunday. I would've put my plan into action sooner, but I didn't want Commander Barnes becoming suspicious of my dramatic turn-around of being open to seeing a shrink. So I waited two days and perfected my plan. Dr. Eve and Leslie continued making adjustments to the boots, and I continued sitting on the metal table. I hung out with the science nerds, who still called me tyro. Unlike Leslie, they were actually fun to hang out with.

In the night of the tenth, I lay awake in bed, dressed in skinny cargo pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Leslie worked at her desk, the lamp above it shining down. That and the rustlings of her papers were the only things keeping me awake. When she finally switched her lamp off, I waited until I heard her get in bed... and waited some more. James and Jackie were already both asleep. And soon, I heard Leslie's light breathing.

As quietly as I could, I descended from my bunk and snuck over to Leslie's desk. Every night, she hung her keycard from her corkboard, and I smirked upon seeing it there in the dark. Grabbing it, I exited the room and made my way quickly to the elevators. They transported me up to level twenty-one, a floor I had only been to once before. The air boots were a project Dr. Eve and Leslie were working on together, but apparently in her downtime (which I actually didn't know she had any of), the great inventor created other gadgets. One was recently tested and certified. That was when Leslie took me to the gadget room.

The gadget room was—as its name indicated—the place where all the cool inventions that helped on missions went. As scientists developed more gadgets, if they were good, those gadgets came up here in waiting of being used by agents.

The elevator doors opened up to a hallway. Doors lined the sides, all with keycards by their sides. The gadgets were grouped by size, and considering I wanted one that looked exactly like a pen, it would be in one of the very first rooms. Luckily, I knew exactly where it was.

Walking to a door on the right, I put in the keycard. A green light beeped, and a keypad appeared. Now for the moment of truth. Taking a deep breath, I put my thumbs over the numbers and flashed back to when Leslie had used it. It was a five-sequence, just like the ones down on floor sixteen. Four, five, nine, one, zero.

It beeped red. Sweat began gathering on my palms. If I got it wrong again, it would signal Base 12 Control. Biting my lip, I tried again.

Four, five, one, nine, zero.

A green light flashed, and I breathed in relief, a momentary smile spreading across my face. Walking into the dark room, I let my eyes adjust. Then I looked to the left wall. It contained several layers of shelving. These shelves held boxes filled with "pens." Pens that could unlock doors, pens that could take videos and pictures, pens that turned into USB drivers, and—most importantly—pens that could knock someone unconscious. Leslie called them stun pens. The effect only lasted around two hours, and the pen could only be used once, but it would do the trick.

Navigating to the shelves through the darkness, I picked up one of the pens. I deposited it in my pant pockets. On second thought, I picked up a few more, putting them all in different pockets. Then I fluidly moved back to the door. One peak of the outside showed the hallway empty.

Where is everyone? I wondered. I knew that unlike the other agents, the scientists had a more normal sleeping schedule, but still. You'd think there'd be a guard or something to protect these gadgets.

Shrugging off the uncertainty, I closed the door behind me and walked onto the elevator. I had the sun pens. Phase one complete.

  ----  

On the morning of the ninth, I sat with Leslie, chewing on pancakes created with only bananas and eggs—and a smidge of peanut butter. We never said anything during our breakfasts together. I ate and so did she, but she also studied at the same time. After her ten-minute meal, she folded her stuff up, then seemed to notice me still chewing.