Chapter 26

“So this is place?”

“Yes!” Rani grinned, already unbuckling the seat belt and opening the door. Clyde was doing the same. “Thanks for the ride Dad.”

“Yeah, Mr. Chandra, thanks!”

“Do you want me to come pick you up?” Rani looked a little wide eyed right then, but recovered quickly.

“No, no! You don’t have to, Sarah Jane is doing a story in this area. We’ll just catch a ride with her.” Her smiled was a little forced and she seemed impatient with the delay.

“Alright then.” Haresh smiled. “See you at dinner.”

“Yeah…” She started to walk backwards to where Clyde was waiting. “Bye Dad!” she called out and turned around, running along with the boy into to the building. With a smile, Haresh started the engine and sped off.

Once they were at the building’s door, Clyde and Rani slowed down a little and walked in. Just act cool. Clyde sent a text message to Luke, letting him know they just arrived and headed over to the security station by the entrance along with Rani. They plastered big smiles on their faces and greeted the guard cheerfully.

“We’re doing a story about genetic research for our school paper and we’d really like to write about McLeod Enterprises. Is there anyone we can talk to?” Rani lied smoothly to the guard, who considered the request for a second.

“Did you make an appointment?” Rani looked a little panicked, but Clyde took over.

“I knew I was forgetting something!” He glanced apologetically at Rani. “It won’t take long, just a couple of minutes. There must be someone who we could talk to. It’s worth half of our grade.” The guard smiled sympathetically.

“Go to the PR office. Maggie might manage to squeeze you both in. Thirteenth floor,” he said, allowing them passage and handing them lanyards with laminated plastic cards proclaiming 'VISITOR' on them.

“Thank you!” they called out together as they rushed towards the lifts. Clyde pulled out his mobile and called Luke.

“Where should we go?” he asked as soon as his friend picked up while Rani pressed the button to call the lift.

“Well, I can’t find Jack anywhere,” Luke replied a little distractedly. “Mackenzie and Ianto are already heading down to get Mickey and Gwen. Jack was supposed to be going up to meet Martha, but…”

“You need us to find him?”

“Yes…” Luke trailed off hesitantly.

“Buuuut?” Clyde encouraged him to continue.

“But the last image I have of him is outside the General’s office.”

“Which floor?” he demanded.

“Clyde--” Luke started, ready to point out how dangerous it could be.

“Come on Luke, the lift is here, we need the floor number. Don’t worry, we’ll be careful.”

“Fifteenth,” the other boy replied with a sigh of resignation.

“Alright, I’ll call you back once we find Jack,” Clyde said quickly and hung up.

They ride in silence to the top floors where the General’s office was supposed to be. No one else was in the lift with them; everyone who worked here were already supposed to be in their designated offices. Clyde glanced sideways at Rani, wondering what they would do when they arrived. Sometimes, his ability to improvise wasn’t enough. Once they reached the desired floor, it wasn’t too hard to find the General’s office and, much to their chagrin, the man had a secretary sitting at her desk just outside his office, where Jack probably was. Clyde and Rani exchanged quick looks, and the girl moved forward, smiling wide at the woman.

“Sorry…” Rani started, “is this the PR office?” The woman seemed kind enough and smiled back at the girl.

“No, darling. Two floors down.” 

Rani plastered a look of uncertainty on her face.

“Could you show me the way, please? I think I’ve been looking for this office for half an hour already.” Clyde prayed it worked. The woman paused, glancing at the door behind her for a second before turning back to Rani.

“Sure. I have a few papers to deliver in that floor anyway.”

This time Rani’s smile was honest and satisfied.

“Thank you!”

Clyde waited until his friend and the secretary disappeared into the lift to rush forward. He had a limited amount of time. He quickly tried the office door and grinned in relief when it opened easily. His smile fell however when his eyes found Jack’s body, dropped down into a chair, a pool of blood on the floor below him.  Ohgodohgodohgod!  This was...something Clyde never wanted to see in a million years.  Jack was pallid, an almost unearthly gray, and his glassy eyes stared up at nothing while his mouth was slightly open as if he were in mid-inhale. Slowly, Clyde moved forward, needing to make sure his eyes weren’t tricking him. The man’s chest had too many holes for him to count. He pulled out his mobile and dialed Luke’s number.

“I-I-I’ve found Captain Jack.” His voice was shaky and hesitant. “H-He’s...dead.”

“Are you sure??” He heard the way Luke was panicking.

“His chest looks like a strainer, so yeah, I’m pretty…” Before he could finish that sentence however, Jack jerked forward, gasping desperately for air, eyes darting around the room. Clyde jumped back and cursed loudly while the man looked around in confusion and Luke yelled for him to say something. “I’ll call you later.” He disconnected the call, looking at Jack with wide eyes. It took a minute for the immortal man to focus on him.

“Clyde?” Jack asked a little breathless. He just nodded in reply. “What happened?”

“Well, you were dead a minute ago and now...you’re not.” The door busted open suddenly and both boy and man turned around in alarm, but luckily, it was just Rani.

“I locked her up in the loo.” The girl grinned wide until her mind registered Jack’s state. “What happened to you?”

“He died and came back.” Clyde replied before the Captain could.

“Clyde, be serious!” Rani chided annoyed.

“I am!”

“Kids!” Jack cut them off impatiently. “Finish this later; we need to find Sam now. Clyde, check the top drawer for keys.”

“Who’s Sam?” Rani asked with a frown of confusion while Clyde roamed the General’s table for the key that would open Jack’s cuffs.

“The General. Last thing I remember Sam got a phone call and looked too happy about it. That can only mean trouble.”

“Got it!” Clyde exclaimed triumphantly, holding a tiny key between his thumb and forefinger, before moving close to Jack and releasing his hands.

“Thanks,” Jack remarked, rubbing his wrists. “What are you two doing here anyway?”

“We thought you guys might need a hand and we were right.” Clyde grinned smugly and Jack just laughed.

“Can’t really say otherwise…” he commented with a shrug.

Jack quickly buttoned up his greatcoat to cover his bloody and torn shirt, before moving to the General’s table and searching the drawers until he found what he was looking for: a gun.

“Bad guys always have a spare one.” He grinned to the two teens before leading the way out.

“Let’s save the day, kids!” Clyde and Rani exchanged big grins and followed Jack.

---

Martha glanced at her wrist watch and sighed. It was 8:45 a.m. and she was still stuck in Sanders’ lab under the General’s heavy gaze. Her little lie about the ‘Superman Gene’ had bought her some more time, but she wasn’t sure how long the General would wait before putting a bullet through her skull to test the gene. She just hoped she’s have a plan before then.

A soldier bounded through the laboratory door looking slight panicked and frightened. He paused just beside the General, who just arched an eyebrow in silent inquiry.

“We have a security breach, sir,” he spoke hurriedly. “It’s the subject, sir… he-he escaped.”

A scowl passed over the General’s face as he closed the space between himself and the soldier, pinning the younger man with a hard stare.

“How could he have escaped? His restraints were strong enough to contain him--I made sure of it--and there were two soldiers guarding his door!” The man swallowed hard, noticeably shaking.

“H-He had help, sir.”

“Of course he did.” The General told a step back, looking away thoughtful and mumbling. “Jack wouldn't walk in here as prisoner without a half-decent backup plan.”

He had spoken very quietly, but Martha heard him anyway, and her heart skipped a beat. Jack was here! Thank God, things were starting to look up.

“Should I set off the alarm?” the soldier asked timidly. “Miss Waters is missing too.

“No.” The General shook his head. “That won’t be necessary. Call up protocol 18.” The younger man paled considerably as did Dr. Sanders.

“But sir…” Ethan tried to protest, but the General sent him a deadly glare that caused further protest to stop before it started.

“Protocol 18, soldier. Now! And if you happen to find Mr. Jones wandering around, looking for Dr. Jones and her husband, shoot him on sight. He’s reached the limits of his usefulness.”

“Yes, sir!” The guard’s salute was shaky and hesitant, but he left without saying a word of protest, while Martha looked from the General to Dr. Sanders in alarm.

“What’s protocol 18?” 

The General grinned.

“Just an operational cleaning protocol,” he replied easily, storing the test tube Martha had given him in his jacket pocket. “Any other samples of chromosome 24 that I should know about, Ethan?”

“No, sir.” The doctor shook his head, resigned. “That’s the only one.”

“Good. Start packing the equipment.”

“Yes, sir.”

Martha watched as Ethan retrieved the machine he had showed her earlier and stored it in a padded briefcase carefully before securing it. He looked up, meeting Martha’s eyes, fear and regret married his face and the female doctor felt herself panic. She understood what that look meant. As if on cue, the General walked closer until he was well into Martha’s personal space. He smiled a cold, sinister smile and pulled out his gun. He was going to kill her now and the worst thing was, she wouldn’t even have the chance to see Mickey for the last time, to kiss him goodbye and tell him how much she loved him. A tear ran down her cheek.

“It was a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Jones,” the General said, pressing the muzzle of the gun square in the middle of her forehead.

‘This is it.’  Martha took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut.

xxx

Chapter 27