Winning Choice: “Take Mandeville and flee before the SWAT vans arrive.”
Recap: Brandon tracked down Mandeville, only to find him being arrested by the FBI. Brandon fought the FBI after they tried to arrest him, and was then confronted by Agent Corrales who told Brandon he should let himself be arrested. Brandon wants answers from Mandeville about what is going on.
Agent Corrales seems like a decent guy, doing his duty and probably doing it very well. But Mandeville has slipped through my fingers enough times already, and I can’t let him do it again. It’s past time he and I had some words.
I grab Mandeville by the scruff of his jacket and start to rise into the air. “Agent Corrales, I honestly am not your enemy. I just need some answers, and after I get them you and I can talk.”
He watches me carefully as I rise, but doesn’t fire. “You stealing our prisoner doesn’t look like the act of a friend. The next time we meet, we won’t be having a conversation.” Loud machinery rumbles several blocks away and I figure it’s time to make my exit. I head upwards, flying over buildings to make it tougher for the FBI to see where I’ve gone.
“Are we headed somewhere specific for this talk?” asks Mandeville.
“No, I just didn’t want to stick around for when reinforcements arrive. You owe me some answers, and I don’t care where I get them,” I tell him.
“And I’ll give them to you. Things are a mess, so perhaps I need to change my plans. But this would be much easier if we go to our facility. Also easier to breathe. Hanging by my jacket isn’t the most comfortable way to fly.”
“We can get a position on you through your communicator, so we’ll track you,” Ryan says in my ear. “I’d say go for it. See what he has going on.”
“Fair enough,” I tell Mandeville. “Which way are we headed?”
###
We land on the roof of a beige and brown four story office building, next to the roof access door. It’s doesn’t budge when I tug on it, not even a little. I’d have to put some real effort if I wanted to tear it open.
“Expecting me?” I ask Mandeville, raising an eyebrow.
“Not just you,” he says, pressing his palm to one of the bricks in the door frame.
“Doctor?” a voice asks from out of nowhere, sounding a bit concerned. For the first time I notice a tiny black dot above the door that must be a surveillance camera.
“It’s okay. Let us in. And we don’t need a welcoming committee. We’ve got a lot less time than I thought, so keep loading!”
“But, Doctor, he-“
“Open it!” snaps Mandeville, and the door clicks unlocked. It swings open easily but the heft of this thing is amazing. Mandeville nearly sprints inside, and I follow, not wanting to let him out of my sight.
“Welcome to our lab, or what’s left of it,” he says, striding down a wide stairway into a huge room that looks like a small airplane hangar. “There’s only about two dozen of us now, and that number’s going to get much smaller if we don’t start getting lucky.”
A man in jeans and a scraggly beard meets us at the bottom of the stairs. “We’re about half an hour away from getting everything out,” he says, speaking to Mandeville but glancing repeatedly at me out of the corner of his very, very tired eyes.
Mandeville strides right past him. “We have ten minutes. Maybe fifteen. Anyone not on the road then is lost. Spread the word, and get everyone out of here!”
YOU ARE READING
Power Shift (Book 1)
Science FictionBrandon Stamp is abducted on his way out of a grocery store. He doesn't know who took him or why, and when he finds out what they want him for his confusion turns into terror. Frantically searching for clues to the group behind his abduction, Brand...
