Mind Trace (38 page)

The man's voice quavered as he answered, "I was
instructed to pick up the new parts for the satellite system…"

It was not possible for Eric to keep track of every aspect
of his company, but this was no time for a parts run. He should be going to the
security station, or staying at his post. No one informed him of any upgrades
or improvements on the satellite system, either.

"Who told you this? What is your job here?"

"I l-l-look after the s-satellites, sir…and I don't
know her name…"

Eric froze where he stood. "HER? What did she look
like? Were you the only one with the satellites?"

The man haltingly recalled her appearance, stuttering quite
frequently, but Eric already knew it was Alice. She had somehow found her way
into the satellite control room and was now alone with EngineerCorp's worldwide
broadcast system.

Oh, Alice, what have you done?

He had no idea why she was there, only that she had to be
stopped, at once.

The things she could do with that equipment…

The thought made his complexion grow a few shades paler.

"Reverse this elevator now! Get us down to the
satellite control room, and have Alpha team meet us there immediately!"

Grant acted instantly and overrode the elevator switch to force
it to descend to the lower level. As he contacted his men, Eric could hardly
make out the words he was saying. He hardly dared to breathe.

***

Her head was throbbing with the effort of concentrating.
Her last meal had been her lunch the day before, and Alice felt herself growing
weak. She steeled herself against the hovering feeling of weariness and nausea,
and focused on the task before her.

She finished assembling the files and had prepared them to
be sent. The only thing that remained to do was to override the satellite
programming, so that she would be able to broadcast her message.  Alice would
be interrupting all of the current broadcasts, and it would require an executive
override to stop that data and send her own.

It had been a total of twelve minutes since she left her
room. The security camera network was surely up again by now, but that couldn't
be helped. She had to finish what she came there to do.

Alice had not seen any trace of the virus yet. Either
EngineerCorp had managed to contain the damage, or it had not gotten far enough
inside the mainframe to affect the satellite network.

While her mind had plenty of resources, it was still
challenging to create the right commands and send them to the control panel.
She was tired and perspiring with the effort. When she knew she could
concentrate no longer, everything mercifully clicked into place. The last
command was sent to the computer and all that remained was to transmit the
files to the satellite.

Almost there!

She stopped short of sending the files as she heard someone
yell angrily and felt the equivalent of a brick wall collide with her shoulder,
throwing her onto the ground.

The breath was knocked from her lungs, and she was left
gasping on the floor near the side of the main control panel. The brick wall
got up and stood over her, panting. She realized it was Grant, and he was
pointing a tranquilizer gun at her. Eric had run straight for the controls,
rapidly trying to discover what she had done.

After a few moments, Eric stood back, amazed.

"Alice, you have been busy! I shouldn't be surprised
at your abilities, but I am surprised that you got this far. It seems we got
here not a moment too soon."

Eric gestured for Grant to fall back, although he still had
his weapon aimed at her. Eric moved in front of Alice, shaking his head.

"What I am wondering is...why did you even bother? Garrett
certainly doesn't deserve the loyalty you've shown him. You could have almost
escaped instead of miserably failing to save your friend…"

"I guess you wouldn't know anything about friends,
would you, Eric?" Alice replied, still trying to catch her breath.

Eric paused for a moment, as if considering. Then, he
laughed. It was a cold, harsh noise that echoed in the room.

He gestured around her. "You can see for yourself
where your 'friends' get you. Surely you understand why someone in my position
can't afford to take those risks."

Alice tried to seem calm and composed, while everything
inside her was panicking.

How did Eric get here so soon? It's as if he knew I was
going to be here. I have to find a way out.

She was trying to desperately think of something as she
looked up to notice the outline of several men filing into the room. Each one
was armed and appeared to be more than capable of handling any challenge she offered.
The outcome looked unfavorable for Alice. She hadn't even finished the last
step to transmit the information to the satellites…

Waves of defeat and shame threatened to take over. Would
she never be free of this man and the evil he represented?

She was sitting on the ground, with her arms awkwardly
propping her up from behind. Alice couldn't even find a way to get out of that
position to do anything useful. Someone would surely shoot her long before she
could act.

She moved her hand slightly to ease the cramp she was
beginning to feel. Her hand brushed against something, and she felt a small
buzz inside her head.

Can it be?

Had she landed so strategically that she was practically on
top of the data line going to the main control?

She didn't waste any time questioning her fortune, minutely
adjusting her right hand until it was just over the wire. No one had seemed to
notice what she was doing, as the focus of the room was mainly on Eric.

He had taken out his phone and was calling the rest of the
satellite team back so that they could repair the damage she had done. Alice
took the opportunity for all it was worth.

She didn't close her eyes, for fear that someone would
catch on, but instead just stared ahead, eyes unfocused, while her mind worked
harder and faster than it ever had before. Eric hadn't done anything to halt
her progress when he checked on the console before, so she sent the final
command.

After that, it seemed like everything moved in slow
motion.  There was a rapid beeping from the console, and a message appeared
stating, "TRANSMISSION SENT."

Eric's jaw dropped, and Alice saw the dawn of understanding
appear in his eyes as the phone slipped from his hand and clattered to the
ground. He turned immediately to stare at her, and saw where her hand was.

He screamed for his men to remove her from the wires. At
the same time, he lunged for the console trying everything he could to stop the
transmission.

It was too late. He was completely and utterly helpless,
watching as his once untouchable empire suddenly started to unravel. 
Immeasurable rage and fury flared in his eyes.  He roared as he watched what
was being seen on billions of screens across the world. 

Sorry, Eric.

It was every piece of information that exonerated Garrett
from his so-called "crimes," all the while showing who was truly
responsible for his downfall. It wasn't much, and it wasn't even a dent in the
crimes that had been committed under Eric's reign…but it was enough for people
to start to see the truth about EngineerCorp, and to understand that the giant
corporation was not as benevolent as it seemed.

It definitely made sure of one thing. Eric could never
touch Garrett again. If any harm whatsoever befell him, the suspicion would
fall immediately to EngineerCorp.

Alice had been ripped from the wires and was being held by
two men in the center of the room. As she looked around at the chaos ensuing,
she thought dispassionately that there was no way she would be able to make a
clean exit now, or any exit for that matter.

Alice did her best to stay alert, but she was exhausted.
Her mind was drained from her exertions and her body was weak from hunger. The
men holding her might as well have been made of steel. She could hardly move on
her own, much less maneuver out of their grip.

The air in the room was thick with tension. Eric's eyes
were alert and taking everything in around him, trying to formulate the best
plan for damage control. Though his expression was unreadable, it was evident
that he never expected something like this to happen.

Eric started barking orders to the remaining men in the
room, dispatching them to various places to try to minimize his losses. When he
was done, all that remained in the room were the two men holding Alice, along
with Grant and Eric.

Slowly and malevolently, Eric turned his gaze on her. His
voice shook with anger as he informed her of the horrible position in which she
now found herself.

He didn't get very far when another voice sounded in the
room. It was high-strung, anxious, and oddly familiar.

Alice turned her head to the speaker and saw…Garrett? No.

It was Gabriel. It had to be. And he was holding a gun,
pointed at Eric.

Where did he come from? And I thought one crazy man was
bad. What on earth is going on here?

Gabriel spoke first, his hysteria apparent in his voice.

"You thought you could just get rid of me, did you?
Well, you were
wrong
!"

Alice was still confused, but part of her question was
answered. Eric had apparently decided to do away with him.  She guessed that
Gabriel had somehow escaped his guard during the chaos from his brother's
virus. How he had gotten a gun and found his way there, she would never know.
Gabriel was not without his resources, apparently.

"Gabriel, what are you doing? Put the gun down, now,"
Eric commanded fiercely, but Alice could see the unmistakable twinge of fear in
his eyes.

Gabriel seemed as if he had completely gone over the edge.
His eyes were bloodshot and she noticed that his hands were shaking violently.
Sweat had broken out across his forehead, and he was out of breath.

Alice found her own heart pounding in anticipation. Eric
had never been this close to his own mortality before and he was doing his best
to keep his emotions in check.  Grant seemed torn about what to do. His
tranquilizer gun was useless against Gabriel's weapon. Even if he fired it,
Gabriel would have more than enough time to shoot Eric before it took effect.

"Sorry, Eric. You messed with the wrong guy. And now
you'll never mess with anyone else again."

Alice saw Gabriel's finger quiver over the trigger.

He's really going to shoot him?

Grant suddenly flew across her field of vision, apparently
seeing the same thing. He collided with Gabriel just as the sound of gunfire
echoed inside the room. 

Grant sat up and punched Gabriel in the face, knocking him
unconscious. Alice wasn't paying attention to that scene, however. Her eyes
were glued the figure lying still on the floor in front of her.

The men at her sides dropped her arms and rushed to him.
His eyes were wide with surprise and Alice heard shouts as voices yelled for a
medic.

Alice was horrified at the sight before her. Eric had
seemed immortal. To see him lying wounded, blood beginning to soak through his
clothing, did not seem possible. 

However, the rest of her knew she would never get another chance
like this one. She didn't wait another second to see what happened. Instead,
she ran for the exit and no one tried to stop her. 

***

When Alice thought about what happened
later, it all seemed like pieces of an elaborate dream: strange and impossible.

After she escaped EngineerCorp, she had gone straight to
Garrett. He was the safest person to be with now. He had constant media attention
and could not be touched by EngineerCorp.

She knocked on his door and it opened to reveal a
sleep-deprived man with dark circles beneath his eyes. The moment he saw her,
however, his entire countenance was transformed.  He reached for her and swept
her into his arms for what seemed like an eternity, but Alice didn't care. She
was beyond caring. She was free. The warmth of his arms around her made her
feel safe and secure.

When he finally let her go, he paused long enough only to
pull her into a passionate kiss. It caught her off-guard, but pleasantly so. It
made the events of the past month seem somehow insignificant, though that
hardly seemed possible.

Alice felt like a completely different person. Her life had
been turned upside down from her quiet life of writing code for a small,
no-name company in Asheville. Now her future seemed without bounds, open to
whatever she chose.

She survived being chased, drugged, kidnapped, and held
prisoner by EngineerCorp and the evil Eric Martin. Even though Garrett had
partially gotten her into this mess, he was the only person who understood what
she had gone through.  He was also the first person she had truly connected
with since her parents' death. The combination of all of those things made her
kiss him passionately back…and enjoy it.

For the next few days, Alice stayed with Garrett, both of
them keeping close to the TV to watch newscast after newscast about what
happened with EngineerCorp. The media was fervently covering the story, trying
again and again to interview Eric, to no avail. He refused to be seen by
anyone.

Shortly after the broadcast, EngineerCorp released a
statement:

It has come to
our attention that certain employees, acting on their own accord, without
knowledge or permission from EngineerCorp, have committed criminal acts in
attempts to ruin certain individuals. EngineerCorp was completely unaware of
the existence of such acts until the unprecedented broadcast earlier this
morning. 

Our president
and CEO, Eric Martin, was injured today during a confrontation between himself
and the guilty parties.  Mr. Martin put his life on the line trying to prevent
the criminal perpetrators from erasing proof of their wrongdoings. In the end,
the only way Mr. Martin was able to prevail was to broadcast the information
across the satellite network, even though it portrayed his own company in an
unfavorable light. We apologize for the inconvenience and interruption that it
caused, but it was the only way to ensure that the victims would be vindicated.
Mr. Martin sustained a gunshot wound to his thigh and is recovering in our
medical facilities.