Neutralization

Tin-Tin worked feverishly to pick the lock on Brains's handcuffs. Every so often she would look through the one-way plate glass window at Bekkah, sleeping in the next room.

"C'mon. Let loose!" she muttered under her breath. She noticed Brains's watch and the fact that it was not activated. She pressed the emergency signal. At least they'll know Brains is still alive, she thought.

Outside, Scott, Virgil, and John flitted from bush to tree to bush. They were reconnoitering the building before them.

"I've got faint readings with the thermal imager, Scott. They must be below ground a couple of stories." Gordon's face appeared on Scott's watch.

"Position?" Scott asked.

"Grid A/2." was the answer.

"FAB, Gordo."

"John, any entrances we can use?" Scott contacted his astronaut brother.

"Not yet....wait, I think there's a garage door that isn't fully closed. Yeah. There's about 10 inches of clearance."

"Not much, but it will have to do. Give me coordinates and meet me there in 5 minutes."

"Grid position A/12, Scott."

"FAB. Virgil, meet us at grid position A/12 in five."

"FAB, Scott."

Scott ran crouched to the position John had indicated, weapon in hand. They all wore infrared glasses and dark clothes to help them blend into the night. Each carried an infrared torch to guide them.

"Gordon to Scott. I just heard from Alan. Brains's watch just went off. Same coordinates as Tin-Tin. So we can assume he is alive and with her."

"FAB, Gords. And thanks."

John wriggled under the slightly open door first, being the thinnest. "All clear."

Virgil went next and had a bit of trouble getting through. Scott, being the largest, had the most trouble. His brothers had to pull on him to get him through. They shined their torches around. There were several doors in the garage. A taxicab and a black sedan were parked by one particular door.

"I think that our stairwell may be over there." Virgil observed. They moved cautiously to the door. Scott motioned Virgil to take up a position beside the door. He himself stood flattened against the door, reaching for the handle. He opened it in a swift motion, aiming his gun at the nothingness beyond. The stairwell was empty.

Scott went first, climbing down the stairs against the far side of the wall, gun at the ready. As soon as he made it down to the first landing, he motioned Virgil down, then Virgil motioned to John. They congregated at the second level down, and repeated their drill from the first stairwell door. John poked his head into the hall and quickly withdrew it as someone came out of a room at the far end. He pulled back but kept the door opened a crack so he could see and hear. John recognized the aristocratic-looking blond, but not the short, dark-haired woman in a lab coat who stopped in the hall.

"Do you think we can persuade Dr. Mohenu to work for us? She was very convincing on the phone today," the blond asked his companion.

"I doubt it, James. She has too many scruples." The woman put her hand on the knob of the door second down from the end. "Let's go and see how our dear Dr. Barnes is doing."

John sat back. "Bekkah is in the room second from the end," he told his brothers. "Sir James Masters and a dark-haired woman in a lab coat just went in there."

Scott activated his telecomm watch. "Good news, Gordo. Bekkah is alive, too. So all three are here."

"Whew! What a relief!" was Gordon's prompt reply. "Thanks for telling me about Bekkah. Now get her out of there!"

"FAB, Gordon." Scott grinned at his brother.

The threesome discussed strategy. The corridor offered little or no concealment and it was a long way down to the rooms at the end of the hall. In the end, it was decided that Scott would go to the first doorway, and cover Virgil who would go quickly down to the next one. Then Scott would move down, and John would take his place.

"We'll try the rooms at the end first, and then see what is going on with Bekkah." Scott said. They began to move.

The room at the end had a small kitchenette in it. No one was there.

The next room down was locked. It had a small square window. Scott risked a glance inside. He saw Tin-Tin and Brains, with Brains knocking chairs about and shouting. Tin-Tin looked up briefly and saw Scott's eyes. She calmed Brains down and made him look up. Upon seeing Scott, Brains came to the window.

"Help Bekkah! Next door!" he said.

"In a moment. Want to get you out first." Scott opened a small pack on his belt and selected a lockpick. Within minutes, he had the door open.

Tin-Tin embraced Scott, Virgil, and John in turn, smiling widely at her rescuers.

"John, get her and Brains out of here," Scott ordered.

"No, Scott. I'm staying. Give me a gun," Brains demanded. "I am going to shoot that Masters bastard."

"Brains, I don't think there's time for that." Virgil had entered the room and was watching through the glass. "I don't know why they are doing it, but they are taking a blood sample from Bekkah."

"Is she awake?" Brains asked.

"No, I don't think so," Virgil told him.

"Good, they can't do anything more to her until she wakes." Brains turned to Scott. "I am staying, Scott. That machine is the cure for what ails me. I was watching carefully and I know how to work it. I can help myself and Gordon, too, if he's here."

Scott thought for a moment, then decided. "Okay, Brains. John, take Tin-Tin out and send Gordon in. It seems he will be needed."

"FAB, Scott." He took Tin-Tin and they moved quickly down the hall and out the door to the stairwell.

"She's waking up," Virgil told them. "We have to move quickly. But there are four people in there with guns and some innocent-looking bystanders. We'll need a diversion to get those gunsels out of there."

"But don't startle Bekkah. She has a needle in the back of her skull," Brains told them.

Scott thought again. "Okay, this is what we're going to do."

Bekkah's eyes opened slowly. She tried to move her head, but could not.

"Don't move, Dr. Barnes. The needle is still there. A guarantee of your... good behavior," Elise told her.

Bekkah's mind was clear, and racing. How can I get out of this? she thought. I need to get out of this. I can't betray the Tracys. She moved her eyes around, but could not see anything that she had not seen before. She swallowed, her throat dry.

"What are you doing?" she asked Elise.

"Preparing the scanner. Scanning will take some time. I believe it does not hurt. Much." Elise obviously didn't want to be bothered with Bekkah's questions. Bekkah closed her eyes again.

Scott went back up to the garage. He found Gordon slithering under the door.

"Dad is here. John is waiting where I was. Tin-Tin is safe in the jet," Gordon reported. "What's the action?"

"Do you have a gun?" Gordon showed Scott his weapon. "Help me get the alarm system going on this sedan. And the horn on the taxi." Between them they got the loud noisemakers working.

"What's that noise?" Sir James asked, puzzled.

The woman who had been Bekkah's shadow stuck her head out the door, and listened. "The car alarm, I think. And the cab's horn." She disappeared out the door, followed by her two cohorts. The third man moved from guarding Dr. Mohenu to guarding the door.

Virgil and Brains waited in the stairwell for the gunsels.

"Three coming your way, Scott," Virgil whispered into his telecomm.

"FAB," came the whispered reply.

They silently followed the threesome up the stairs.

The three abductors moved cautiously into the garage. They saw the open door. The woman motioned one of the men over to the car. He opened the door and tried to shut the alarm off. The other man opened the hood of the taxi to disconnect the horn. The woman moved over to the door itself, looking out the sizeable crack in the bottom.

Virgil quietly opened the stairwell door. He moved over to the man at the taxi and hit him with his pistol. Scott rose up from behind the sedan and did the same for the man there. Hearing her companions drop, the woman whirled, and Gordon detached himelf from the shadows to hit her. Scott broke open the trunk of the taxi and they put the three inside. He handed each of his brothers one of the guns, and then one to Brains, and they all moved back down the stairs. The noise continued.

"What is keeping them?" Sir James paced the room. "How much longer on Barnes?"

"A few minutes." Elise kept her mind on her work. Sir James strode to Bekkah's side. He cupped her chin in his hand. She did not open her eyes.

"Oh, my old friend, Bekkah. I will miss our verbal sparring. You have such a fine wit. But to have your knowledge and expertise of nanocircuitry, that will be so... lucrative. I do hope you or Miss Kyrano brought your microcomp in the cab. It would be a great loss if it was destroyed when we blew up your hotel room. We wanted people to think you were dead. Of course, you will be, soon. Those poor children. Orphaned at such a young age."

That got Bekkah to open her eyes. They were filled with such rage and hatred that Sir James laughed. "Oh, you wish you could kill me, don't you? You won't have that satisfaction, though."

"We are ready," Elise said. James moved out of her range of vision.

What can I do? How can I foil this? she thought desperately.

"The noise is still there. There is something wrong." Masters was finally fed up. He took a gun from a cabinet, motioned to the other gunman, and left the room.

Elise kept working. She moved the scanner down to the back of Bekkah's head. A purple light began to glow beneath it, shining on Bekkah's brown and silver waves. Bekkah felt a painful tingle in her head. It seemed to stay in one place, but was moving very, very slowly.

Sir James strode down the hallway, pushing the stairwell door open with a bang. He took the stairs two at a time. The other gunman followed more slowly, looking carefully around. He saw the glint of Brains's glasses in the dark and yelled incoherently. Scott shot him in the shoulder and then hit him with the pistol. He dragged him quickly out of sight. Sir James had made it to the top of the stairs when he heard the gunshot. He went back down slowly, cautiously.

Elise Rudd heard the gunshot, too. She was distracted from the console and looked out to see what was happening. She saw Scott dragging one of her gunmen into the hallway. She swore, and grabbed a gun. That was when Ivan Virenov made his move. With three long, limping strides he was across the room, putting his wounded arm around Elise's neck and a hand around the wrist that held the gun. They struggled. Finally, Evodie got up and wrested the gun from Elise's hand.

"Handcuffs?" she asked Ivan. He nodded toward the cabinet. She grabbed a pair, and twisted Elise's arms back, binding her. Then he pushed Elise down into a chair.

Bekkah heard the gunshot and reacted. Just a tiny bit, but it was enough. The needle slipped and she screamed.

Sir James reached the landing. Brains came out of the shadows, holding his gun.

"Hiram, old man! How did you escape?" He held out his hands, showing the gun.

Brains did not answer. He merely raised his gun.

"Come now, there's no reason for you to shoot me. Your old friend." He came closer.

Bekkah's scream echoed through the hall. Brains's head whipped around.

Sir James leapt on him. He pressed his gun to Brains' head. Three other guns were pressed on his.

"Drop it." Gordon growled.

"You have me at a disadvantage."

"No kidding. Drop it."

Sir James dropped his weapon. Scott and Virgil hauled him to his feet, pinning his arms behind his back, slamming him up against the wall..

"Go. See what's wrong." Scott motioned to Brains and Gordon, who both rushed pell-mell down the hallway.

Brains stopped Gordon at the door. He turned the knob slowly and opened the door quietly.

Dr. Mohenu was with Bekkah. "I can't shut this thing down," she cried.

Brains moved to the console and shut it down as if he had done it a hundred times. The light on the scanner went out. Gordon moved it out of the way.

Bekkah was pale and her skin was clammy. Her eyes were closed.

"She reacted to the gunshot," Ivan explained.

Brains moved the needle back out carefully. Gordon began to gently and methodically remove the restraints.

Evodie moved in to check Bekkah's vitals. "Her vitals are strong. I don't know which way the needle slipped. One way, one thing would happen, another way, we can expect another result. Hopefully, the pain that made her scream will be the only thing wrong." She moved Bekkah forward carefully to see the site of the needle's entry. There was a little trickle of blood coming from the wound.

Bekkah's eyes fluttered open. Evodie noticed.

"Dr. Barnes. Can you hear me?"

"Yes."

"Can you wiggle your toes?"

Her toes waved.

"Bend your foot?"

Her foot bent at the ankle.

"Your knees?"

Her knees came up, then went down.

"Wiggle your fingers."

Her fingers wiggled and bent.

"Your hand?"

She waved her hand at the wrist.

"Your elbows?"

She waved them in a "funky chicken", causing Gordon to snort.

"Bring your neck up."

She grimaced with pain as she did it slowly.

"Turn your head."

Again, a grimace as she slowly turned her head from side to side.

"Sit up straight."

She moaned as she sat up.

"What do you feel?"

"A shooting pain down my spine."

"Okay. We need a cervical collar."

Gordon stepped out into the hall. He spoke into his telecomm. "Dad, we need a cervical collar from the jet."

"FAB, Gordon."

He waited in the hall until John came at a run with the medikit.

"Here, just in case you needed the whole thing."

"Thanks." He quietly entered the room again.

Bekkah had color back in her face. Evodie wrapped the collar around Bekkah's neck, then eased her back on the chair.

"I think she will be okay. There seem to be no neurological effects She will be in pain for a few days. If there are any complications, she should see her own doctor." Evodie reassured Brains and Gordon.

Scott knocked on the door quietly. He beckoned Evodie and Ivan into the hall.

"The authorities are coming. Doctor Mohenu, could you be our primary witness here? And you, Doctor Virenov? We would rather not appear in the matter if we can help it. Hiram, Tin-Tin, and Bekkah will make statements, of course."

"Yes, of course. I don't even know who you are." Evodie said.

"Nor do I." Ivan agreed.

"Thank you. Come up and greet the authorities, please." He led them up to the garage.

Gordon lifted Bekkah out of the chair and placed her on a stretcher in the corner.

"Okay, Gordon. You are first." Brains said.

"You don't know how to do that," Elise said with scorn.

"I watched you do it. And all I need to do is inject him with the antidote. Not scan his brain." Brains didn't even look at her.

Virgil came in. He made Elise stand and leave the room, taking her upstairs.

Gordon lay back on the chair. Brains changed out the needle and the dose of antidote. He put the head and neck restraints on him. Then he used the machine to inject Gordon.

"You'll sleep for about a half-hour. Then you should be okay."

By the time the authorities came down to the lab, Brains was sleeping in the chair, Tin-Tin having done the honors in his injection. Gordon was gone. Elise was brought down to see if she could help Rashid Allabadah.

"The scanner only copies engrams, it doesn't restore them," she said with a haughty sniff.

Bekkah spoke. "If it only copies them, then the engrams must still be in his brain. His stupor must have another cause."

Elise refused to speak. Bekkah rose painfully from the stretcher. "I bet that you didn't even give him the antidote. Tin-Tin, ask Dr. Mohenu to come back down. We need a blood sample from Rashid."

Evodie skillfully took a small sample from Rashid's arm. She went into the lab next door. Several minutes later, she returned. "His testosterone is off the scale. He needs the antidote." she confirmed.

"I thought as much. The story about his being sedated was just a bluff to get us to cooperate." Bekkah concluded with disgust. "As soon as Hiram is awake, we can give Rashid the antidote." Bekkah motioned towards Elise, speaking to the policewoman who stood guard. "Please get her out of my sight." The officer complied.

Bekkah looked into all of the cabinets. She found one with a CD rack in it. There was one CD in the rack. It was marked: Ivan Virenov. She opened the CD slot on the machine. The one in there was marked: Rebekkah Barnes. She removed it from the machine, put it on the floor, and stomped on it. It shattered. She cleaned up the pieces and put them in the trash. "I'll give this other one to Ivan. He'll want to take care of it himself."

She sat gingerly in a chair next to Tin-Tin. They both gazed at the sleeping Brains.

"He loves you, you know," Bekkah said to her friend. "I've seen it every day, the way he looks at you."

"He loves you, too," Tin-Tin replied. "It's in every word he speaks."

They looked at each other.

"So, little sister, what are we going to do about it?" Bekkah asked.

"I don't know, big sister. I don't know," Tin-Tin admitted.