worldwide than any other nation. Yet, you have the audacity to call us terrorists?”
“Come on, Hashimoto. You’re just a drone, or should I say, a puppet.” Fox then turned to Marx. “Isn’t that right? When you sum it all up, you’re more than a terrorist, you’re just plain sick.”
Those eyes of hers grew cold again. But Fox wouldn’t be intimidated by her this time. He stared right back into them.
“Dr. Marx, we’re ready to proceed,” said one of the scientists. She looked over her shoulder at the man, then back at Fox and walked up to him. When she smacked him, the stinging remained on one cheek for a few seconds before she back-handed him across the other cheek. Her slim figure doesn’t make her much of a combat fighter, but fuck, she hits hard.
“I’ll be right there,” she answered. No sooner had she said so, than the room fell into complete darkness.
“Secure Fox!” yelled a panicked Hashimoto.
Fox was grabbed and forced face-down into the floor. Fox grunted through gritted teeth at the searing pain in his shoulder, ribs, and ankle.
“What’s happening?” yelled Marx, who was a bit calmer than Hashimoto.
“The primary electric generator’s gone out! The secondary one should pick up any second now,” came a reply. Darkness remained for a few more seconds before the lights came back on.
“How long before the full systems are back online?” Marx asked.
“In a few minutes,” said one of the white-coats.
“Make it less,” yelled Marx.
Marx looked at the ninjas. They had pinned Fox to the ground. “Take him to the side and don’t take your eyes off of him.”
The ninjas pulled Fox up and led him away. He had finally gotten to Marx. When he was at the top of the staircase he glanced back. She still had not stopped staring at him. He then limped down the stairs as the ninjas held onto him, wondering how he could stall them until the reinforcements arrived.
Chapter 35
Parris remained in the back of the ninja group. She’d have to break away soon before someone questioned the bullet hole in the chest of her outfit. The blood stains were not as visible when she checked, but she’d have to act fast. So far, no one had mentioned her name. Fox must have convinced them that he was alone. She glanced around briefly, as she passed the first set of pillars, on her way down into the entrance hall.
Something wasn’t right. Where’s Tanaka? This was just great, maybe he noticed me and was about to sneak up on me. Just keep cool, she reminded herself.
She got down on one knee and tightened the laces of her boots. Surreptitiously she watched the crowd split into two. The recruits were led down one hallway while the others walked straight ahead. Fox was among them. She looked around to spot Tanaka. There was still no sign of him. If Tanaka was watching me from someplace, why would he try to jump me on his own? Why not call back the ninjas?
Parris got back up and rushed to the Op-Center doorway where she saw Fox conversing with Marx in front of a window on the upper platform. To her right she saw the top of a staircase that led down into the isolation chamber that housed Pandora’s Box. But no one would go in there ordinarily dressed. They’d need HAZMAT clothing.
She looked to the opposite side and saw the entrance to another room, possibly a changing room. As she walked towards it, no one seemed to give her presence a second thought. So much the better. Matters went smoothly until suddenly the Op-Center plunged into darkness, followed by Hashimoto yelling to secure Fox. She had no clue as to what happened but it was the opportunity she needed, and she used it to run to the room. When she felt a change in the floor’s surface from stone to ceramic, she knew she was in the room.
The lights turned back on and she spotted two men in silver reflecting HAZMAT suits, about to head towards her. She quickly ducked behind a counter before they turned around to walk her way. She heard their footsteps get louder, and she walked in a crouch around the opposite side of the counter as they passed her. She then ran from where they came and arrived at a closet where there were over a dozen HAZMAT suits. She closed the door behind her, removed her mask, and quickly dressed over what she wore. She took out the poison from the pants pocket and put it in an outer pocket of her suit, along with the bayonet and scabbard.
Parris made it to the Op-Center just as she saw the other two men in HAZMAT suits at the top of the staircase that lead to the isolation chamber. She walked fast and caught up with them as she heard Hashimoto’s voice boom out over the loud speaker.
“Everyone is to report to the main control room immediately. Our moment to shine is now.”
The entire group would be here soon. And still no sign of Tanaka.
Naturally, Pandora’s chamber was separated by an airlock which doubled as a decontamination chamber. The scientist closest to the door pressed a button beside it. There was a loud hiss as the air seal was broken, and the door slid to the side. They all walked in, and after Parris stepped inside, it automatically closed behind her. The same scientist pressed another button when they arrived at the second door. The door opened for them and also closed behind Parris as all three of them entered.
Parris saw Pandora’s Box for the first time, exactly as she had seen it in the diagrams she viewed with Fox on the laptop. She looked at the base of the structure and saw exactly where she would pour in the serum. She stole a glance to her upper left, to the window, and saw a few of the white-coats. The other two men went to Pandora’s Box where one of them took out a vial similar to the ones both she and Fox had. Only she knew this one had the nutritional supplement. Neither one of them had looked at her directly-she did what she could to avoid looking at them. But she had to draw them both away from Pandora’s Box long enough to insert the serum. That’s when she reached down and felt the handle of her bayonet.
She walked behind the man with the vial and slowly drew the M-11 so that the metal didn’t even hum as it slid against its scabbard. Pinching the spot above his waist slightly to the left of the middle of the man’s suit, she quickly sliced it and replaced the bayonet into its scabbard. She took out the serum and tapped the man on the shoulder frantically. He turned around while Parris grabbed the other man’s shoulder and pointed to the tear in his colleague’s suit. In the brief moment of hysteria that erupted between the two of them, the man with the torn suit put his vial down on top of the machine while he tried to feel for the tear. While his colleague helped him locate it, Parris poured the serum into the open slot.
The scientist with the tear in his suit immediately ran to the exit when a white-coat from upstairs inquired through the intercom as to what had happened. Parris had nearly emptied the serum when suddenly Pandora’s Box fell silent.
Parris backed away and looked at it in disbelief. A second power failure? No, it can’t be. Not now. She heard the hissing from the airlock and looked over to see five ninjas rush in and surround her. The other HAZMAT scientists backed away towards the wall, puzzled. Parris realized there was no power failure and that Pandora’s Box was turned off from inside the Op-Center. When she looked up, Dr. Marx, Hashimoto and the white-coats looked down at her.
One of the ninjas came up behind Parris and made her face the window where the others watched. Parris saw the surprised look on Hashimoto’s face but there was no change in Marx’s expression. If there was one thing she could say about Marx it was that she was a woman who had learned to mask her emotions.
Parris heard what sounded like a command come from one of the ninjas who shoved her forward towards the airlock. It was all over. Not only had Fox failed, but so had she. There was no decontamination process since no hazardous material had leaked. The ninjas made her remove her HAZMAT gear, leaving her in the ninja garments. Soon she stood beside Fox with two ninja guards behind her. Hashimoto and Marx watched as they stood by the rail on the floor above.
Hashimoto approached her with a stern look. “You would’ve succeeded, Dr. Parris but one of my ninjas noticed that one of their own disappeared on entering the bunker. That’s when I noticed that there were three men inside Pandora’s chamber instead of two.”
Parris glanced at the recruits below before she turned to Hashimoto. “You should’ve done more human trials
