The Forbidden Trilogy(97)

No time for walks down memory lane. She worked fast to hack into the surveillance system, feed a streaming loop into the live broadcast, and give Luke the okay to move forward with the assignment. She set up her screen to show three different images: the camera loop the guards would see, the specific camera Luke showed up on, and the real camera feed throughout the grounds.

"Luke, your ears on?"

"Loud and clear, Lucy Lou."

"Don't call me that. Listen, I'm in the system. Time to get moving. Mr. Black is offline right now. We'll hear if he decides to join us, so be ready."

"You got the scoop on where this super computer is we're supposed to hack?"

"I'm working on it, but first I need you to slip through the walls and spy on that meeting Mr. Black's in."

She could hear Luke fidget with his pack, even as she watched him on the camera. "Luce, that's not the game plan. We don't have much time as it is. You really want to waste precious minutes on something that might be nothing?"

"I hope you can hear my dramatic sigh over here. Nothing is nothing when it comes to these people. Just get in, record some of it, and get out. I need time to find the computer, anyways."

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"Yeah, yeah. Go! I've got work to do."

Lucy's fingers flew over the keyboard as the seconds ticked away. Luke had a point. They had precious little time to complete this mission, and it required all their skill and focus. Playing double agent risked everything, but they had to do it. Knowledge equaled power at this stage in the game, and they needed all the power they could get. What business did Rent-A-Kid have here, and what role did the mutated creatures play? With all the genetic experimenting going on, Lucy believed they were somehow connected.

Images of a whip tearing across Mike's back flashed in her mind.

The Freedom Fighters depended on them for a plan. She wouldn't fail.

When she gave the go-ahead that no one was watching, Luke placed himself inside the wall to spy on the meeting. The special microphone on the recorder should pick up all sounds in the room.

The images on the computer cycled in and out, each a live feed of a different part of the building.

Come on, baby. Where are you?

There you are.

Lucy zoomed in on one live feed—a secure room surrounded by guards and scientists.

"Luke, we have a problem. The room's surrounded. No way I can get you in without creating a distraction."

"That goes against orders, Sis."

"Ask me if I care. I'm not risking your life for some orders."

Luke slipped out of the wall and went back to his original seat. "Meeting's ending early, Sis. They're about to leave. Get me to the computer."

"Head left, then right down the corridor. I'll talk you through it."

Her earpiece buzzed. Mr. Black's frequency stirred to life and his voice boomed in her head, "Have you secured the data?"

Lucy scanned the cameras to find Mr. Black in the bathroom washing his hands. Proper hygiene is important after all, when you're ruining people's lives.

"I'm getting Luke to the computer, but it's surrounded. Permission to create a distraction."

"Denied. They must never know we've been here." Mr. Black's signal shut down. He was gone, for now.

The cameras showed Luke hiding in an empty office, waiting for Lucy to give him his next set of instructions.

"Luke, a guard is passing the office you're in. Don't come out."

"This could be my chance to steal a uniform."

"No. It's too dangerous." Screw Mr. Black and his orders.

Lucy pulled up the emergency systems control panel and found the fire alarm. She clicked a button, and a screech sounded in all the rooms. Personnel throughout the building cleared out of the hallways, including those around the room housing the supercomputer.

Luke wasted no time. He walked through the walls and entered the secure room, then attached a portable wireless server to the computer. "You should be up and running now."

Lucy's laptop filled with encrypted data. She transferred all the information to a disk, and then created a second disk that she intended to keep for herself.

Mr. Black buzzed back in. "Did you get it?"

"Yes, but it's heavily encrypted. I can't even make sense of this mess."

"Shit. Okay, I have to clear out of here with everyone else. That mistake will cost you. Get Luke and kidnap Dr. Koslov. He'll tell us what we need to know. Make your way to the second extraction point past the hill."

"Are you kidding me? We are so not kidnapping someone for you. You've got to be out of your mind."

"Listen to me, you little freak. You'll do this or you and your brother will suffer pain you can't even imagine. Those mutations you saw? That'll be you, only worse. Now get the damn scientist and get to the helicopter."