The black-clad figure pushed aside the silk drapes and eased himself through the first-floor window of the grand country manor. The home office before him was decorated in dark mahogany with bookshelves covering one wall and a fireplace to the right. But it was the antique wooden desk in the middle of the room that caught his attention. A complex computer setup with three monitors was arranged on it leather top and a series of cables wound their way underneath the desk.
The figure placed the small metallic device he was holding into a pocket on his tactical vest, then walked over to the desk where he pushed aside the high-backed leather chair, and crawled underneath.
A series of network cables ran down the left side of the table leg and the figure pulled them apart until he found the one he was after, a grey fibre optic cable.
He removed a thin grey box from his tactical vest and lined it up next to the cable, its colour was a perfect match. The box had a circular opening at either end and when he opened the top, there was a groove that ran through the middle. He placed the cable into the box and closed the lid.
The box clung to the cable while he rolled up his left sleeve to reveal a black Cabot SBS Diver's watch. The circular face had luminous strips on the hands, hour markings and on the top of the bezel where a small dot represented the sixty-second mark. He twisted this outer ring of the bezel to the right and the words 'Camera Sync In Progress' flashed on the glass watch-face. A thin green luminous line expanded clockwise around the bezel. When the line became a full circle the words 'Camera Sync Complete' appeared on the glass.
The figure left the box around the fibre optic cable and pushed it back inside the group of other cables, then climbed out from under the desk. He was about to push the leather chair back into position when the office door was flung open and the lights switched on.
Three heavy-set men in dark suits entered the room. One of them aimed a SIG Sauer P229 handgun at the black-clad figure.
"On your knees," he said.
The black-clad figure lowered himself as instructed and placed his hands behind his back.
"Keep your hands where I can see them," the armed man said.
The figure held his hands out to either side away from his body. One of the other guards came forward and pulled the balaclava off the figure's head.
"Captain Taylor," said a female voice with a southern drawl. "You're supposed to be dead."
Taylor looked over to the doorway to see a woman in her mid-fifties with short grey hair wearing a black skirt suit and high heels. Her black pearl necklace twinkled in the light as she walked towards him. With her right hand she caressed the series of scars that pockmarked his left cheek.
"These are new."
Taylor turned his head away.
"How did you know I was here?" he said.
The woman pointed to the window Taylor had used to enter the room.
"I had motions sensors installed inside the window frames just in case someone was smart enough to bypass the alarms." She looked back at Taylor. "Now tell me Captain, what are you doing here?"
When Taylor refused to answer the woman snickered.
"I hope you're not here to exact revenge for your failed mission in China?"
"Thousands of people lost their lives because of that mission Senator." Taylor turned his head back around and looked her in the eye. "They're dead because of you."
"Now, now Captain, you planned that mission, and it was your team that carried it out. The only person responsible for destroying that dam is you."
Taylor shook his head in disgust.
The Senator walked over to one of her guards and without being prompted the man removed something from inside his jacket. She took the item and concealed it behind her back as she returned to her spot in front of Taylor.
"Now Captain I'm just going to ask you this one more time. What are you doing in my house?"
Taylor raised his head and sneered at the Senator.
"Taylor, Joshua, Captain, 593-298-9—"
"Ok Captain, if that's how you want to play it." She removed her hands from behind her back to reveal a syringe filled with a milky liquid. Before he could react, she plunged the needle into Taylor's neck.
Taylor grimaced as the icy liquid spread from his neck to his chest. Within seconds his vision became blurred.
The Senator leaned closer as darkness enveloped him.
"You should have stayed dead."
YOU ARE READING
The Basement
Short StoryA disgraced soldier is given an opportunity to redeem himself when he's sent to stop a rogue scientist from developing a weapon that has the power to destroy life as we know it.
