Deadly Undertaking by Allen Gregory (love books to read txt) 📕
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Stunned by the force of the explosion, Flint vainly tried to focus on his surroundings. “Doc . . .? Doc! Are you okay?” The air was a fog of smoke and sheetrock dust. Overhead, vents noisily sucked the dust-choked air, quickly clearing the room of particulate matter.
He pushed himself up with one arm and surveyed his surroundings. An alarm was blaring, and emergency lights were flashing from the ceiling, indicating an ‘exposure incident.’ Most of the dust was now cleared from the room, and despite a persistent ringing in his ears, Flint was otherwise unhurt.
Malloy was already on his feet, staring in horror at the scene before him.
Just as it was designed to do, the isolation room had protected everyone outside of it. The reinforced structure was the product of superior engineering and construction and had done its job well.
Jason Lee had not been so fortunate.
The ballistic glass was covered with blood and viscera from the two men who’d been in the room when the blast occurred. One had already been dead, and the explosion did nothing to change that. The other was now also dead. Little was left in the room to suggest that two human beings had occupied it prior to the detonation.
Malloy examined the readings on the control panel for the isolation room. Aside from the grisly bits that were left, the room was clear of any contaminants. Any airborne pathogens had been swept instantly from the room and were now stored in secure canisters awaiting evaluation. The hazmat team would secure the residue in the room and ensure it was handled properly.
“Just damn,” Flint mumbled, his voice barely audible.
“My sentiments exactly, Mr. Stryker,” Malloy agreed. “I didn’t anticipate this. I merely suspected Mr. Romero contained some sort of viral compound. I never dreamed he was a time bomb.”
Flint quickly removed his mobile from his suit pocket. “I’m going to call Cinder and give him a heads-up on this.” Stryker’s face was grim as he keyed the code of Linchpin’s explosive expert into his phone. He put the phone to his ear and heard the agent’s cell ringing.
Earl ‘Cinder’ Porterhouse was Linchpin’s expert on all things explosive. If it needed to be blown up, he was your guy. If you needed to stop it from being blown up, he was also your guy.
“I’m on my way,” Cinder’s out-of-breath voice filled Flint’s ear as he picked up. “What the hell was that?”
“Well, a bomb obviously,” Stryker said sarcastically. “You want me to do your job for you?”
“I’m surprised you’re up and about before two o’clock,” Cinder replied good-naturedly. “The last time I saw you, you were passed out under our table at O’Toole’s.”
Exasperated, Flint replied, “Did you see how much I had to drink, you asshole?”
“Lightweight.”
Flint laughed, “Just get here, and don’t be a dick.”
“Just down the hall. Do you want a beer?”
Flint blanched at the thought of another beer and disconnected the call. He was still going strong when I passed out. How is that even possible?
He turned to face Malloy. “He’s almost here, Doc. He’s just down the hall . . .”
Flint’s mobile chirped and he looked at the caller ID.
SHERMAN PEABODY.
What now?
He tabbed the ‘answer’ button. “What’s up, Sherm?”
Sherman Peabody was Linchpin’s Chief IT operative. Quirky and unconventional to say the least, Peabody was perhaps the most brilliant IT mind in the world. He was also the shyest. Flint waited patiently as Peabody remained silent on his end.
“Seriously, Sherm. What’s going on? We have a little bit of a situation here in the isolation room. You may have heard that loud WHOOMF earlier. That happened where I am. I’m damn lucky to be alive. But don’t worry, I kept everybody safe. I . . .”
“Flint . . .” Peabody interrupted, clearing his throat.
Stryker chewed his lip impatiently. Finally, he said, “Yep. That’s me. You need to tell me why you’re calling, Sherm. It’s gonna be crazy down here in a few minutes, and we won’t be able to have this nice chat, so . . .”
Peabody spoke softly, his voice barely above a whisper. “You need to see this, Flint. At my station. I think I know what’s happening.”
As Flint hurried down the hallway toward Peabody’s station, his mind raced through the events of the morning. What had started as a bad day anyway with Hector’s funeral had gotten exponentially worse with the explosion in the isolation lab. Fortunately, it looked like there was no contamination, and aside from the explosion and the death of Jason Lee, the damage had been contained. But what was the purpose of exploding a corpse?
Placing his thumb on the keypad at the entry door to the Communications/IT sector of Linchpin’s operations, Flint paused as the device scanned his thumbprint. When the pad beeped, indicating that his print had been verified, the screen prompted him to proceed with the iris scan on the second screen at shoulder height. He stared into the scanner, and the door clicked as it unlocked.
He hustled inside, scouring the busy room for Sherman Peabody among the many faces all gathered around their computer stations, scanning drone feeds, traffic camera feeds, internet activity, and the Dark Web. Other monitors positioned around the room displayed news feeds from various networks. There was also a monitor specifically for Linchpin intel, which filtered information into short bursts, all coded.
Amid this beehive of activity stood a forlorn figure, his mousy brown hair disheveled and unkempt, looking as if he’d just tumbled out of bed. A grey t-shirt coupled with pajama pants and bedroom slippers only heightened the perception.
Flint clicked his tongue. No matter what he looks like, or how weird he acts, Sherman Peabody is the guy I want in my corner every time.
“Hi, Sherm, what’s up?’ Flint reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a Pez container, this one bearing the likeness of Disney’s Gyro Gearloose character. “Here ya go, buddy. Look what I got for you when I was in California last month. I know you love this guy.”
Peabody reddened and he smiled shyly. “Thanks, Flint. That’s really cool.” He admired the dispenser for a few seconds before tucking it safely away into his t-shirt pocket.
“No problem,” Flint winked and added, “What’s up, my man? You said you think you knew something about the explosion?”
Peabody nodded and tapped the tablet he was holding and swiped its surface. The large screen above them instantly displayed whatever was on the tablet as Peabody went through several windows. With dizzying speed, the IT whiz sped through the various screens until he arrived at his destination.
Flint gave a low whistle. “How do you even know what you’re looking at?”
Peabody didn’t meet Flint’s admiring stare. “I just know what I’m looking for I guess.” He tapped the screen once more to enlarge an area that responded accordingly on the larger screen. “Look at this,” he said as he nodded at the overhead screen.
Flint’s gaze followed Peabody’s, his puzzled expression betraying his confusion.
“What am I looking for?” Flint asked, his eyes narrowing as he surveyed the monitor.
“Look at the section I’ve highlighted in yellow. It’s pretty clear when you see it.”
Flint gasped when he read the entry—GUIDER test_1 successfully detonated at 1200 hours. Xxxxxx He turned to see Peabody biting his fingernails and nervously searching Flint’s face for a reaction.
“When did this message appear?”
Peabody indicated a time stamp on the message with a cursor onscreen. “About thirty seconds after the explosion occurred. Do you see the one large X followed by the three small x’s after the message?” Flint nodded. “Those are responses from six different entities acknowledging receipt of the message. They appeared one by one within seconds of the message being dropped by this GUIDER. It’s like they were waiting for it.”
Flint used his cell phone’s camera to capture the screen image. “Maybe they were . . .” he murmured.
Flint texted Dr. Malloy and alerted him that he was returning to the isolation room. Cinder was now on the scene and was in the process of trying to determine what the cause of the blast was. Lucky him.
Quickly going through the re-entry protocol, Flint barged into the lab just as Cinder entered through the safety door, wearing a bright yellow safety suit and helmet. The “safe area” was a transition chamber before entering the lab. Upon leaving, the individual was bombarded with a complex composite of sterilization procedures.
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