Tunnel Rat

Chapter 275: You must gather your party before moving on

Eric had done what he could to cover all the contingencies but knew it wouldn't go down perfectly. Nothing ever happened perfectly, especially at Manpower. It had been difficult to convince Victor that he was a loyal (and greedy) soldier, and it had taken months to gain the old criminal's trust. The only reason it worked was that Victor couldn't imagine anyone turning down the power and money Eric could have earned working for Victor once he controlled the Seimovich fortune. Victor was getting careless in his old age, seeing what he expected to see, and Eric had counted on that. So what he saw in Eric was an ambitious man who was tired of working for his old friend John and taking the crumbs from his table. Eric projected his willingness to sit at a tarnished table with Victor. He'd schemed with him and argued with him. He drank vodka until he was ruining his health and had to cheat with pills. Ultimately, it was all worth it when Victor left Philadelphia and thought he had Belinda with him. Eric had been relieved and elated that the plan had worked. But he hadn't expected Victor to walk into the arms of Interpol on day 1! He'd barely begun to tighten things up when he got the news and knew that, at the very least, someone would be coming to find him and give him a last message from Victor. It might be in a day, a week, or a month, but it would happen.

It was going to be difficult to deal with what he knew was coming. Victor was an old-school thug, and he would respond by sending violent people to get what he wanted. In this case, it was Belinda and Eric's head on a platter. But a few things made his job easier. The first was that every yammerhead working for John was in Geneva, and no one was left to waste his time. The second was the security set-up Genesis insisted on for the workers sleeping in their pods: The pod levels could be completely locked down, with only two exits on each of the three levels left unlocked but guarded. Anyone not working in the pod area was sent home or away from the habitat. All security and essential personnel were moved to the pod area. He ordered that only one entrance on the top level would be used for anyone to leave or enter, with half the security guards stationed there. The rest of the entrances were only nominally open for emergencies. The pod area was as secure, and he could make it. He couldn't allow whoever Victor sent to take hostages, and they would surely want to search the area for Belinda. Somehow, she was blocking the signal from the transmitter inside of her. This was good...and bad. It meant she was safer, but the people looking for her would turn this habitat upside down to find her. They'd start in Section E, where the last signal originated, and move out from there.

Eric expected to have visitors looking for him as well. Special visitors who would want to give him a short message from Victor and then dump his body down one of the big drops in an abandoned sector. He'd thought of leaving the habitat. But he knew the people Victor would send would be professionals, and hopping on a plane wouldn't protect him. And he needed to be here. If he ran, he had little doubt that most of the security people would as well. And he needed to stay in touch with Belinda and keep John unaware that no one, including him, knew where the hell she was hiding.

The last thing he did was email Belinda, telling her what he had done and what he expected to happen next. He ordered her to keep hidden, no matter what happened or what was reported. Then he kept busy, not knowing how long he had. It might be hours or days, but someone would come looking for him. Victor wasn't patient when he was angry.

"Milo! Eric is in trouble! I just got an email from him. He thinks Victor will try and have him killed."

Milo was working as fast as he could, reprogramming Roomba and creating hologram and sound files for them. Part of him split off to pay attention to Belinda. "He's right. Victor isn't going to let him live after Eric played him for a fool, and he ended up in jail. He doesn't have much left but his pride and his reputation. And with people already coming to look for you, it makes sense."

"How does it make sense? Victor is reacting from emotion, not logic. If Victor were more logical, he wouldn't be in so much trouble. He had a good deal cut with the Justice Department and threw that away."

Milo was about to finish one Roomba when he thought of a better way to route all the power cords and make the design more efficient. He started to rework the models he'd already finished. 2% longer battery life might make a difference. "Well, if he kills Eric, Manpower is leaderless, and it will make the job of finding you easier, based on the information he has. It also means that even if your stepfather returns home, he doesn't have Eric guiding him. Based on the reactions I've seen on security cameras, John isn't the best person in a stressful situation."

"You're right on both counts. Eric holds everything together, and John sort of manages somehow with his help. Eric was good enough to fool both John and Victor, but it made him a target. So, how are we stopping it? He's only in trouble because he's been helping me. Without him, I'd be in a pod and held for ransom by crazy doctors or in one of Victor's hideouts in Eastern Europe. He's tried to get the Hab security involved, and they aren't answering the phone or replying to emails. He can't call Daddy. And there are a lot of people roaming around the habitat."

Milo finished the last of the hologram files and turned to talk to her. "WE aren't going to stop anything. The first priority is getting you to a place where you're safe and can get medical care. After that, I can work on other problems, like finding and stopping an assassin that I know nothing about. But your safety has to come first. We don't know how much worse the withdrawal symptoms might get or what other complications might pop up. You could easily die."

"All you have to do is get me into a pod, hook it up to the data net, and call your buddy. He monitors everything and can take care of me."

"That...well, that poses a problem. There isn't a direct connection to where I'm taking you that's safe. And I can't just leave you alone in a pod."

Belinda had to admit to herself that she wasn't thrilled with the idea, either. "Isn't Rusty going to be there? I won't be alone."

Belinda watched as Milo struggled with the decision. "He is, but I don't think he knows anything about pods or has any medical knowledge. He's still pretty young. I'll feel better with him watching over you, though."

"I thought he sounded young. He's so excited about everything. Fine, we get someone else. What about Butch? Or Big Butch? Or Mama? Think about it; it can't be that safe for them right now, either. Who knows what Victor will do? He'll send people looking for me, and anyone I'm friends with is in danger. Is Rusty's place big enough for all of us? If they go to Rusty's place with me, that solves two of your problems at once, and you can help Eric."

Milo's head spun, adjusting his plans. But..."You're right. They might be in danger. And there is room for them. Ok, it's time to go. We have to go to a storage area nearby, and then we can start the journey to where Rusty is."

Once Milo had decided on the new plan, he was anxious to put things into motion. Doing something, even something dangerous, was more appealing than sitting and waiting. He needed to save Belinda, save his family, and save Eric, and to do that, he needed to cause some chaos in the habitat and throw people off balance. Luckily, he had an enthusiastic army to help him with that.

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Butch was a little surprised to be getting a call from Milo. The ghost had been busy lately and hadn't been by at all. And he hated using the phone. He liked email better. Mama would be happy he was checking in; she was worried about him, especially today. There were people wandering around the habitat, and no one knew why they were there. Some of them were wearing Manpower uniforms, but a lot of them were in basic coveralls. And none of them looked soft. Two of them had been asking questions about Belinda and the last time any of the family had seen her. They got the usual shrugs and dull stares that any outsider got. But it worried everyone that they were asking about her and weren't giving details on why they were looking for her.

"Yo! Ghost. Are you OK? Mama's worried, and people are looking for Belinda. Too many people and the wrong type."

"I know. Her Uncle tried to kidnap her and failed, and he got arrested. He's hired people to find her."

"Yeah, they keep stopping by and asking about her. New people each time, same questions. Mama's keeping people close and Dad's home. The whole section is locked down tight. People are nervous."

"Good! I mean, 'good that people are being cautious.' I need to talk to Mama. Sort of urgent."

"Sure, NP. Explain things sometimes. I get the distinct feeling you might know a little about this."

"I promise I'll be doing just that."

Within a minute, Mama talked to Ghost on the phone, rolling her eyes and laughing, then becoming serious. Finally, she walked back to Butch and handed him his phone back. "If anyone else except that boy asked me to do what he just asked, I'd just laugh at them and lock my door." She shook her head, grabbed Butch by the hand, and walked into the house. "Listen up, we're doing something and doing it now. Questions later, do what I say first. Everyone needs to grab their spare change of clothes and anything they can't live without for a couple of days, just what they can carry. Stuff it into pillowcases or use a sheet to wrap it all up. Papa and Butch will help with the little ones. Butch, call your friends and tell them they need to get over here, same deal, but don't let anyone see them coming over. Once we're ready, we wait for Milo to show up. We're all going to take a walk, go somewhere people aren't asking questions. Think of it as if we're going on a little adventure.

Not for the first time did she remind herself to have a long talk with that boy.