The Death of Jacob Track (Book One of the 33X Series)

Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

November 26, 2014

Three men were sitting inside of a large moving van. They were sitting in the back, which was completely enclosed and full of surveillance equipment. The man in charge, a square-shouldered, muscular man, called "The Boss" was reading over his notes. It was near midnight and he hoped to be out of Kansas before 1:30 am. If everything worked accordingly, as it usually did, they would be on the plane in time.

"Like I said earlier, this is a cut and dry operation. We go in, get all the data on the LZ Virus and 33X, and we get out. Simple as that." The Boss growled at his team. He had a very commanding voice that sounded menacing, even if he wasn't trying for it to.

"Understandable, sir, but why the nicknames?" A slender dark haired man sitting beside him asked.

"We do not know if they are bugs. And that is not a chance I'm willing to take. So you are P3 and he is Q4." The Boss said pointing to an extremely large, dark skinned man.

"Such odd nicknames, sir..." P3 said.

"Two characters will make it hard for a pattern or code to be spotted. It's simple and to no point at all. It means nothing, so they will never suspect anything of it." The Boss said. He had been the leader to these men and quite a few others for many years.

"Q4, get to the front of the truck and take your shot." The Boss commanded.

"Yes, sir!" Q4 walked to the front of the moving truck, ducking as it was not tall enough for his 6'5" frame. He reached the front, grabbing the large rifle lying on the seat. There was a cop car in front of Rumsfield's house, keeping watch for thieves or whatever else might appear. After someone was convicted or arrested for murder, people tended to vandalize or steal their belongings. People were not to be trusted.

Q4 set up the shot carefully, aiming at the officers in the police car. The rifle was filled with special high powered tranquilizer darts. The men would sleep for approximately 12 hours, depending on weight. Since it was such a powerful gun, the tranq-darts would break the car window on impact, so it would hit his target. The second man would be out before he could even pull out a gun. Q4 waited for the right moment and then pulled the trigger. The dart zoomed through the air, flying the 20 yard to the car. The glass of the window shattered, and hit the officer in the driver's seat. He was slumped over the steering wheel almost instantly. Q4 took the next shot before the passenger even realized his partner was unconscious. The men were fast asleep.

"It's done, sir." Q4 said, facing the back of the van.

"Great, let's move and quickly!" The Boss said. The three men pulled down their night vision goggles, and quietly exited the van. Larry lived on the west edge of Larned, and didn't have many neighbors; the furthest was a few blocks away. The men were quick and silent, heading to and entering the house. It wasn't their first break in and it wouldn't be the last. They walked quickly, in a straight line, to the basement. The entrance to the laboratory was open and they headed in.

"West side, look for the loose tile." The Boss ordered.

P3 headed to the west side. The floor was covered in large 2'x2' square tiles. He checked each one that was by the west wall. P3 was never one to question a supervisor, but he wondered if the man's research was worth all the trouble. He knew what 33X did and it made him very nervous. In the wrong hands, too powerful of hands, it could bring more trouble to the world than it could help. If the wrong people had 33X, would anyone not be brainwashed? No person would be safe. It could be added to water supplies across the world. When he pictured it in his mind, he could only see destruction from it. Sure it could be used positively, but most people would rather control than help. He felt a shiver up his spine, wishing it would be destroyed instead of saved and protected. It belonged in the trash can. He would never break an order, though. Plus, there was always a small chance that it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands. He trusted The Boss and who he worked for.

P3 finally found the loose tile, pried it open to find a metal box underneath the floor. He grabbed it, opened it and seen a large manila envelope on top labeled, "LZ Virus Data 2010-2014. CONFIDENTIAL". Inside the envelope were numerous papers and a few memory sticks. Still laying in the box was a small black case, about the size of an eyeglass case. P3 shuddered as he opened it. He had also heard rumors about the LZ Virus, and was glad it wasn't finished yet. He feared 33X and its possibilities, but that was nothing compared to the LZ Virus. He forced himself to focus on the job and not put his opinions into it. Inside the case were two small glass vials of a green liquid and another memory stick.

"I thought it wasn't finished?" P3 asked himself out loud.

"What?" The Boss asked, as he searched a nearby table.

"LZ Virus... I thought it wasn't finished." P3 held up the small green vials.

"It's not supposed to be!" The Boss huffed. "Be very careful with those! Clearly the analysts will have to read the data as soon as we get back!"

P3 gently put the vials back into the case and scooped the envelope out of the metal box. He pulled out a mesh bag from his pocket, placing all of the information inside.

"All done over here, sir." P3 said.

Q4 was in the cooler looking for evidence, but having no luck. He decided to go search in the small side room, which was apparently Larry's office. It had a computer, desk and video camera equipment. The video camera did not have the memory card inside, so that was a bust. He turned on the computer and did a quick search for any files that contained the characters "33X". He found one folder titled "Subject 2" and clicked on it. There were numerous folders inside of it: pictures, video files, and word documents. He pulled out a memory card from his jacket pocket and moved all of the files over. He was surprised the information on Subject 2 was so easily accessible. He searched more and found another folder "Subject 1" that he moved the contents over to the memory card as well. There were not near as many files on Subject 1. He had clearly put more time and effort into his second test subject. Q4 knew that Larry's niece was Subject #1, but he was unsure who the second subject was. He honestly didn't know much about the research, and he wanted to keep it that. It was easier to just do his job with the least amount of information.

He continued to search the computer for any more files, there were a few that he found and moved over to the memory card. He was glad that The Boss gave them 20GB memory cards, as there were a lot of video files that took up a lot of space. To be extra cautious, he searched for any files with "LZ Virus" as well. There were no files on the computer at all, except a video file address to an Elizabeth Track. He figured it was the search picking up the letters "L" and "Z" in her name, but moved it over to the memory card, just in case it was related.

"I think I'm good over here, sir. Plenty of files on 33x subjects." Q4 shouted out.

"Did you find any vials of it?" The Boss asked.

"No, I checked the cooler but with no luck. It must be hidden somewhere else."

"I'll check the cooler again, sir." P3 said as he walked toward it. "What's it supposed to look like?"

"Blue liquid. I've seen one of his test videos." The Boss replied.

"Blue, gotcha." P3 entered the walk-in cooler. It was full of random chemicals that apparently had to be refrigerated. P3 didn't know much about science. He gently moved items around, looking for anything hidden, being careful not to break any of the glass beakers.

After about 10 minutes of searching, The Boss opened the walk-in cooler door. "Leave it. It's 0100 right now and we have to be back at the airport and in the air by 0130."

"The vials though..." P3 said.

 "I'm sure there is a formula on the files that Q4 retrieved. We really must go." The Boss rushed. The men snuck out of the house as quietly as they entered. They were in the air and back to their home destination right on time.