Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 16:36:16 -0600 (MDT) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: Whale ch 15 Message-ID: Chapter 15 She was safe for the moment in the Control Room. She waited with anticipation of what she knew would come. The moment it came, she grinned with delight and proceeded to pull out the supplies she had gathered. Carefully, she began to create the object which would end Sam Beckett's interference. She smiled in the dim light as she connected one wire with another, acting almost from instinct. It really wasn't her memory she was using to make the device but she used the memory anyway, since it suited her purposes wonderfully. Al and the team proceeded to the tenth level, Al giving orders to his men to separate and search the level. They were approaching the level when the cab suddenly stopped between levels and became dark. All power had just been shut off. "Communications, what happened?" Al demanded over the radio. "Main power to the complex was just shut off at the source, sir." "At the source? How? Why aren't the back-up systems coming on-line?" "Unknown, sir. I'm sending a detail to investigate." "Good," Al replied. "In the meantime, try to get some auxiliary power. We have a stuck elevator here." "Aye, sir." Al thought for a moment. "We're going to try to pry out way through to level ten, so don't start up anything without prior warning." "Aye, sir." Al, with the help of the others in the cab, forced open the elevator doors to find that the elevator had stopped so that only two feet of the tenth level showed. The corridor was completely black. "Admiral Calavicci, sir," a voice spoke over the radio. "Go ahead," Al replied. "We've found the problem with the power, sir. A small bomb was placed at the base of the energy converter. Looks like plastique. Unfortunately, we can't even get auxiliary power." The was a pause. "And we have another dead, sir." Al exhaled in sorrow. After a moment, he raised the radio again. "Any leaks?" Al prayed more than asked. *That would be the last thing we need: a nuclear reactor leak.* "No, sir. The explosion didn't breach the hull's integrity. Looks like the plastique was set up to only cut the power. I'll have a team come to correct the problem right away." "How long will it take to repair it?" "We're not sure, sir. It depends on the extent of the damage." There was a pause. "Right now, we're estimating two to three hours." Al took a deep breath. *Terrific!* he thought sarcastically. *Just what the hell is that bitch doing?* "Inform me prior to restoring power." "Aye, sir." Al put his radio away and addressed the team. "We're going in. I'll go first. Follow and spread out." He slipped through the narrow passage and stepped away to allow the other to come down and spread out. Slowly, the five made their way to the Control Room. As Al moved, his foot grazed passed something. He slowly lowered himself to check what it was. He felt a sticky substance on cotton and realized the substance was blood. It was the body of Lieutenant Jamese. He checked for a pulse and his fears were confirmed; the Lieutenant was dead. Slowly standing up, Al made his way towards the Control Room. The team met at the Control Room door. It was sealed closed because of the lack of power. Al knew that the only way anyone could force the door open was to blow it with explosives, which would be far too dangerous to everyone below level eight. *That is precisely why Zoe placed that bomb on the converter*, Al thought. *To cut the power and thus prevent us from getting into the Control Room.* Al picked up his radio. "Communications, how soon can we have that power?" "As we thought, sir, it will be at least another two hours." "Great," Al muttered. He deployed his men to cover all possible entrances into the Control Room, taking the main door himself. All they could do now was wait. Just as Tina passed the main security checks for the entrance of the complex, the lights went out. "What happened?" she asked a nearby corporal. "We must have lost power," the corporal told her. "I can escort you to your quarters via the stairwell, ma'am." "Quarters? I don't have quarters here and, even if I did, why would I need to be escorted to them?" "Admiral Calavicci has ordered that all civilians be restricted to their quarters, offices, or the cafeteria, ma'am." "And why is that?" Tina questioned. "We've had a break-out from the Waiting Room, ma'am. From what I hear, the guest is extremely dangerous." The corporal took Tina's arm gently and, with a lit flashlight in hand, led her to the cafeteria without resistance. "I can't understand how the power went out," Tina shook her head. "We have a back-up system. Why didn't it come on?" "I do not know, ma'am," the corporal answered as he led her down the stairwell to the fifth level. As they were going down the stairwell, Tina overheard a call on the corporal's radio requesting for any available technicians to be found and brought to the security control center. The corporal replied that he was escorting Tina to level five and that he would bring her immediately, with her permission. Tina waited there for a time while other technicians were located and escorted there. Once they were all assembled, the officer on duty explained the situation and then team of three technicians were escorted to the main power converter. Al smiled when the light came back on an hour and a half later. Raising his radio and drawing his revolver, he order the men to move in. He entered the Control Room carefully but found little sign of Zoe. The radio which she had taken was lying in the middle of the Control Room floor as was a pair of wire cutters and a military issue duffel bag. Al frowned at the sight. He looked at the Waiting Room door and approached it slowly. As he opened the door, he found Zoe sitting calmly on the table. One of his guards followed him in as the others secured the Control Room. "Corporal, I want her strip-searched immediately," Al ordered in a dangerously low voice. "Why don't you do it yourself, Admiral?" Zoe invited with a smile. Al glared at her evilly. "I guess I can restrain myself from the temptation." He looked at the Corporal. "Watch her carefully while I call someone in to search her." He smiled at Zoe, knowing the person he had in mind was not a very gentle person with strip-searches. Still smiling, he left the Waiting Room and walked to a lieutenant who was checking the Control Room. "Lieutenant," Al called him over. "Yes, sir?" Lieutenant Williams saluted smartly to Al. "I need you to strip-search our guest." "Yes, sir," Williams turned to obey. "And, Williams?" Al stopped him. "Yes, sir?" "Make it very thorough." Williams smiled in response. "Yes, sir!" "All clear, sir," Williams informed Al after the search was completed. "Thank you, Lieutenant. Call for back-up. I want two guards at the door and two inside the Waiting Room," Al ordered. "They are to be armed and are to take no chances with this one. Period." "Yes, sir," Williams replied, raising his radio to obey the order. Al entered the Waiting Room once again, a frown on his face. "You gave quite a chase," he told Zoe. "Your man gave quite a strip-search," Zoe replied. "You know, what you just had done could be construed as sexual harassment or even rape." Her eyes indicated that the search was not a pleasant experience. "You're lucky. He's the gentle one," Al smiled. "As for the how it could be construed, I don't give a shit." He became very serious. "Do you mind telling me why you were traipsing around the complex, other than to keep us on out toes?" Zoe merely smiled, not saying a word. "Okay," Al said. "I'll find out myself. Later. Right now, I have a lot of work to do, thanks to you." Zoe grinned with delight. "I can just imagine how utterly bored you must be without me." Al chose to ignore the comment as a guard entered the Waiting Room, armed as ordered. Al left the Waiting Room and checked to see if all was clear. The other two guards were in place and Zoe seemed to be under control. Having satisfied himself with the security on Zoe, Al ordered the collection of their dead and for all levels to be checked and cleared before civilians could be allowed to go about their business. He rubbed his face at the thought of how many Zoe had killed. *Four men dead!* Al thought with despair. *Gawd, that's too four too many!* He took a deep breath, regaining his composure. There had to be a reason to all of this. Why did the security system fail like it did? Why was Zoe able to escape so easily? Why was she able to allude his men and find her way around the complex so easily? He slowly left the Control Room and took the elevator up to level one, where the main power converter was kept. He entered the area cautiously, looking carefully around. Kneeling on the floor with two others was Tina, her face full of intense concentration. "How is it coming?" Al asked. Tina turned to look at him and sighed. "Everything is back on line but only on auxiliary power. It's going to take a while to repair the main power converter." Al exhaled. "Well, at least we have some power," Al commented. "Also, the sudden lack of power may have affected Ziggy. I want to look her over with Gushie, just to be sure." Al nodded. "If he's up to it, sure. He may still be recovering from a tranquilizer dart Zoe gave him." Tina looked at him questioningly. Al shook his head. "It's a long story. What about the security system? Have you figured out why it went down in the first place?" Tina took a slow breath. "Gushie and I think that she may have picked up a very well-hidden virus when she downloaded the information about the Khrushchev going missing in the Devil's Sea." She huffed. "Someone out there has a very sick sense of humor about supernatural events. I think the idea was to make someone think that getting such information was just as bad as being in the region itself." Al frowned. "So, the fact that the security system crashed during this particular leap is purely coincidental." Tina nodded. "I hope so. I'd hate to think that someone KNEW Dr. Beckett would leap into... her." She said the last word with a hint of contempt. "Or that Weitzman would pick this week for a complex-wide systems check," Al added. He huffed. "If you ask me, that's too many damned coincidences." Tina nodded in agreement. "On the other hand, there is good news." Al raised his eyebrows in interest. Tina smiled slightly. "We should have the virus purged and a new system in place before the end of the week." Al's eyes widened with appreciation. "Tina, that's terrific!" His face grew long after a moment. "A week too late, though," he said quietly. No one commented in response.