PROJECT SPARTA

CHAPTER 20

"Freeze, dirt bag!" The dark buzz cut of Duke could be seen over the hammer of the pistol.

"You better watch where your aiming that, Duke, you could really put an eye out with that thing," Duke didn't lower his weapon, as he enjoyed the momentary position of power. Duke eyeballed his infirmary robes, as his frosted bare feet stepped closer to him.

"What are you doing? You are supposed to be in the Infirmary. Why didn't you come in through the front door?"

Xander stopped within an arm's reach of Duke's outstretched 9mm Remington. Duke's interrogating demeanor told Xander that he knew something was amiss. Xander realized that the curiosity of a teenager mixed with the ego of a school bully was a dangerous combination.

Xander's nerves didn't hit because of the gun pointed at him, rather the question that was pointed at him. His mind was working at the speed of light, diagnosing the problem and the consequences of each possible answer. The highways of cognition sped around his head like stock cars. Xander found the best answer and went with it.

"I came here because I've been given a top secret mission by our commanders to set up surveillance on Fiona. So, I snuck out of the Infirmary and through the window to avoid being seen by any of the others because I figured I should make my move while people still had forgotten me." He hadn't taken a breath throughout the whole confession.

Duke thought over what had just been said, he took his time as he eyed Xander up and down, as if Xander had just pushed his chips all-in and Duke was trying to get a read on him. Duke cocked the pistol in his hand releasing a bullet into the chamber. He aimed his sight over the barrel of the gun at Xander, combing him for nerves and relishing the moments of intimidation.

Duke uncocked the gun and released it from its aim. He started laughing.

"I didn't know you orphans had a sense of humor! Play your games, Xander. I thought you were getting too old to play make-believe, but then again you are the youngest here..."

Duke shook his head, laughing to himself, as Xander exited out of the side window.

"What a weird kid..." he muttered to himself.

Xander was exposed outside the Armory but his white hospital gown helped him blend in with the snow that continued to fall. He huddled over a jog, low and fast.

Then he stopped dead.

Chatter approached.

Xander ducked behind one of the many air conditioning units along the side of the Mainframe. He laid flat against the unit, frozen as Jooles and Seamus passed. His bare toes gripped the frost and slowly became numb. He could hear Seamus's impression of Captain Axle, barking orders over the hum of the air conditioner units and Jooles's laughter in response. When clear, Xander bolted for the front door, shaking the blood flow back to his feet as he ran.

Inside the Mainframe, an electronic beat thumped through the speakers - it was "Idioteque" from Radiohead. The lights were off so the only illumination came from the glowing computer monitors suspended from the ceiling. Cusick sat at the head chair, navigating computer language platforms at such a quick speed one could think there was a glitch in the system. He got to a stopping point, cut the music and spun around to see who had just entered.

"Xander? Is that you?" Cusick squinted through his glasses to see the figure take shape in the shadows. His eyes adjusted from the glare of the monitors.

"I believe you have something for me..." Xander materialized through the darkness.

"Yes, yes... I've been expecting you." Cusick waddled over to a corner cabinet and produced a small case of surveillance equipment. With one swipe of his arm, he cleared the hardware clutter from the table and placed the case on it.

"I've got some great cutting edge tech for you, some of which I programmed myself," Cusick explained with an air of pride. He snapped the locks on the case and opened it, revealing the contents to Xander. There before him were seven button-sized cameras, a few coils of connecting wires, a tube shaped device and a monitor with a small antenna, folded to its side. Cusick picked up the camera and displayed it for Xander's view.

"You have here seven mini-cameras all with a high definition lens on one side and cyanoacrylate adhesive on the other. These cameras will relay a feed to this monitor here, it is touch screen enabled so you can view multiple feeds at the same time." Cusick placed the cameras back into their proper place within the case.

"What about that?" Xander asked, pointing to the tube shaped device.

"I call this the 'Launcher'. So you will most likely want these cameras with high vantage points. You can load this light-saber looking device and press this button here to shoot a camera out, upon impact the adhesive will hold."

Cusick demonstrated by pointing the Launcher toward one of the computer monitors in the Mainframe and pressed the button. A camera flew out of it, like it was shot out of cannon, and clung to the monitor at the point of contact.

"Impressive!" Xander smiled. "Thanks Cusick..." but the smile fell as the realization of his mission resurfaced. He paused a moment before closing up the case and exiting.

"You don't think Fiona could be..." Xander led the question. Cusick's lips crumpled at the thought, his empathetic eyes settled upon him.

"I don't know... I'm not a spy, Xander... I'm just a computer nerd. But there is one thing I know, when it comes to Project Sparta... nothing is as it seems." Xander nodded as he picked up the case and hastened for the door, but before leaving he responded over his shoulder.

"Let's hope that's the case"

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