Ensemble [Book 1: SEKTOR V Trilogy]

Chapter 37: The Getaway

Chapter 37: The Getaway

Maddy looked around, expecting more Ministry company to welcome her arrival outside the pavilion. Much to her surprise, all she saw was her fallen combatant at her feet. Knowing agent number three was likely not far behind, Maddy darted into the treeline for cover, roughly 30 meters from the southwest exit. As she waited in vain for her would-be assailant to show, a series of intermittent flashes caught her attention. They came from a sparsely wooded region set back a few hundred meters from the south end of the pavilion.

That had better be Lee. Earlier that morning—it felt like ages ago—she'd talked with Lee Marquel, an Institute intern, and asked him to stand by.

Making sure agents number three and four were still missing in action, Maddy hurried to the area where she saw the flashing light. As she approached, she could make out Lee's partial silhouette tucked behind some brush. The high-speed superbike was on its side, hidden from sight.

"My God, am I so happy to see you." Maddy smiled with relief. "How long have you been here?"

"As soon as I saw the Chancellor go down, I headed back here with the bike. I knew you'd eventually make it out as well. I'm just glad my pocket laser still had some battery left," Lee said with a nervous quiver in his voice.

"You could've taken the bike yourself but you didn't."

"Why, is that what you would have done?" he asked.

"No, of course not." She liked this kid. He was only a sophomore at the Institute but it was already clear to her that he fit the profile they were looking for. However, none of that would matter unless they got the hell out alive.

"Let's go," she said. "Help me pick this up."

Within a minute, Maddy and Lee hoisted the bike upright, mounted it, and donned the helmets.

Ready to roll... Maddy glanced one last time at the Institute that had been such a big part of her life over the past two decades, then scanned their surroundings. No one was onto them. She voice-activated the start sequence, engaged the all-electric engine, looked over her shoulder, and said, "Hang on!"

That first shot of acceleration nearly lost Lee. He grabbed a firm hold onto Maddy and within no time, they were up to 100 mph on one of the service roads primarily used for deliveries to the Underground's Institute. The property had many non-traditional ways to get in and out, and Maddy was vigorously exploiting one such option right now. She also utilized the superbike's autopilot capabilities which allowed her to drive at close to top speed with the lights off. A tremendous help given their current predicament.

The machine they rode was formidable. With a top speed of over 200 mph, it also had a small arsenal of weaponry that would have made 20th-century James Bond drool. Maddy was glad they had a way out, but her primary concern was getting Lee to safety. It was one thing if she died in a high-speed Ministry chase, but she would not be able to deal with losing a 20-year-old as a direct result of her actions. To maximize their chances and minimize risk, she planned to heavily rely on the evasive maneuvers of their incredible machine instead of utilizing its extensive, combat-ready attributes.

So far, so good... Going 170 mph with no one around helped. Maddy let out a huge sigh as all the tension of the past half hour finally began to dissipate. With her attention now on the road, she noticed headlights in the distance, a mile or so behind them. Local police or Ministry sentries looking for people trying to make it out of the Institute compound? She wasn't sure and had no intention to wait and find out. Two hundred on autopilot lights off for five minutes should do it. She could tell Lee wasn't as confident with his nails digging into her side as she accelerated to top speed.

"Don't worry kid, just make sure those hands stay clamped!" she shouted. "This bike will take care of the rest!"

As she said that, the lights behind them quickly became distant, indistinguishable dots. Soon they would be on the outer edges of Philly, where blending in would not be a problem. Maddy wished she could say the same for Astrid and the others...

~~~

Sir Alex Smithson insisted on being the one who'd get them to the Philly safe house but after a mere twenty minutes into the trip, his intestinal fortitude began to waver.

"I'm done. Who's next?" he said as he pulled over onto the shoulder of the nearly pitch-black main road that led directly into and out of the Institute.

"Get back in, Alex," barked Professor Bell. "We simply suggested a less direct route given all that's going on and the fact that this road is likely to get us stopped by Ministry forces."

"Well, maybe it's so obvious," Smithson responded, "they don't think any sane person would use it as an escape route, and as such, it would be our best bet."

Nobody was buying that, including Smithson.

William Bell shook his head in disgust. "Fine, I'll drive you, big baby. Astrid, please find us a safe way to the coordinates that don't use this marked-for-death main road."

"You got it, Bill," she replied, blinking away tears as Bell jumped into the driver seat, unceremoniously bumping Smithson into the shotgun seat of their clunker 2028 Chevrolet. It was one of the last driver-required models ever built and an asset Maddy had held onto since it could be operated in "off-the-grid-mode" if need be. And right now, it needed to be.

"Take the first right on this service entrance. It's not paved but within two miles we'll get to a state road that then leads us to the interstate. Once there, we'll be fine."

"If we get there," interjected Smithson.

"Get over yourself, Alex," the normally reserved Dr. Rugov piped in.

Within five minutes, they'd made it onto the state road and headed towards the interstate that would eventually take them to the safe house in Philly.

"See, that wasn't so bad," said Dr. Bell.

"That's Act One, ladies and gentlemen," Sir Smithson said. "No doubt the easy part. What lies ahead is what concerns me, as it should you as well. This world we once knew is no more. Moreover, it's the world we all conjured up, quite literally. I, for one, am not too proud to say that I'm now beginning to second-guess myself. Is this what we wanted? If so, to what end and where does it all lead? Even we, the arrogant futurists, have no clue where we go from here. No clue whatsoever."

This time, no one told him to shut up. Each of them agreed with his rambling assessment to a varying degree. They were, in fact, quite helpless. All they could do was wait for Director Wilheim to contact them. To what end, no one knew.