Priscilla was dropped off at her house and she walked in slowly with her head lowered. Her cheek was still burning and her neck hurt. K1 must have used too much pressure to make it look convincing enough.
She sighed and closed the door behind her. It was worth it. The heist had succeeded and no one was caught or implicated. This was what she had to do, what she wanted.
It was her mission. She had to help K9 to fulfil his desires for revenge and in return he will help her and provide her an avenue for her own revenge. It was a win-win situation for them but why didn't she feel happy about it afterwards?
She took a deep breath and exhaled. She knew what was wrong. She had misled Richard, lied to him even. She had betrayed not just the military but him. He was the one. She wasn't worried about the military. She could screw them over as many times as she could if she wanted to however, she had come to know Richard.
She was conflicted with her mission and the urge to make the plan work. She poured herself a cup of water and drank with huge gulps. She wiped her mouth and went to her room. She tugged at her waist and loosened the small bag that was hung around her waist. It was small and only caused a small bulge under her shirt. She opened the bag and brought out a white metallic sphere the size of an apple.
She turned it over and looked at with a smirk as she felt the cold metal against her palm. "The nuclear power core, huh?"
She pulled out a lead box she had prepared in advance and placed the power core inside it. She lifted the box to her face and gritted her teeth as she said. "If you think I will let you put your hands on such a powerful weapon, K9, then you're more than wrong."
She brought the box to another room and pulled the tiles up and revealed a small hole in the floor. She placed it in there and placed the tiles over the hole and it looked normal.
She smiled and sat down with a tired look.
….
Richard watched as General Gordon paced in front of him with an angry expression. His hands were behind his back. He paced a few more times before stopping. He turned to Richard. "I sent you to deliver equipment and that same day thieves broke into the base?"
"You've seen the report, sir!"
Gordon waved him off with a scoff. "And they got away that simply?"
"With respect, sir, those people outsmarted everyone. It took a little bit of effort for me to figure out that something was out of place. And they held Dr Harris hostage!"
"Which is another thing that worries me!" Gordon's angry voice sounded angrier. "The mission was to you as an individual yet you defied protocol and took two of your team members along!"
Richard glanced up at the general but said nothing in return. He watched as he paced again while mumbling to himself. He turned to Richard once again. "What do you think of this?"
Richard paused to arrange his words then he spoke. "The break in was carefully planned and executed. They seem to have understood the base very well and they knew what they were looking for and where to strike.
"Everything was done smoothly and this leads me to one conclusion—I think there is an inside man."
General Gordon snapped his fingers at him. "Just on point! There is a mole. They knew the exact location of the suit, they cut the lights, they came in without being spotted and they opened the emergency exit."
Richard nodded in agreement.
General Gordon then said. "After the identification, the team found two of the soldiers missing from duty. Wilson Jobs and Conrad Ramirez. They were later found tied up in their apartment.
"This is a clear indication that the intruders attacked them and took their uniform and their IDs. They claimed that they didn't see the attacker."
"And this also further raises the suspicion about a mole in the team. Those guys knew exactly who would be on duty today and attacked them." Richard said contemplatively.
"All the cameras had been taken down and even those across the street had been disabled. This leaves us blind."
Richard just sat there with his face straight. He dint know the essence of this interview but he just played along anyway. He had a vague guess that the General might suspect him for being in on the plan.
He observed Gordon as he massaged his jaw while in deep thought. He looked older than he actually was. He turned to Richard after a while and said, "You will help in the further investigations."
Richard nodded solemnly. "I have to ask, sir," he said with a straight face. "Why does Base 52 have an underground facility and why were they secretly building an exoskeleton suit with a nuclear powered reactor?"
General Gordon scoffed at his question before turning his back to Richard. "Secretly built? There isn't any secret in it.
"Base 52 is known for research and development ad this matter was above your clearance level. I'm sure you know about 'classified' information?"
Richard nodded silently.
The General went on. "These are times of war Colonel Brad. We can't' sit on our hands and hope that things will work out for the better. We need to be prepared to take the fight to the enemy in case they attack."
He walked towards the door and only half turned to dismiss Richard who still sitting down nonchalantly. He watched as the General pulled the door open and slammed it shut.
He sighed and wiped his face slowly. Things were going to get much harder now. He sat there and tried to recall the faces of those people and though he had seen their faces, he knew it would be difficult to identify them.
In that chaos he had been more focused on Priscilla and the chopper than the faces of the intruders. He sighed again and stood up.