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Alex and Lesley had been driving for quite a while now and it seemed to take ages to find a suitable place to get some food. In the end, Lesley pulled into a petrol station as they needed fuel anyway and with any luck, the garage would have a few sandwiches left as it was getting on for one-thirty in the morning. She was also getting tired and would need to take a break from driving. Lesley looked over to Alex, who still looked fresh, not sleeping she though had its advantages. She though, was feeling the effects of being awake for so long.
“You fill up Alex. I will go and find us something to eat.”
Alex looked at her perplexed. He had never filled a vehicle up with petrol before. As he looked at the pumps, he had worked the process out, so got out and began to take the filler cap off the Land rover while Lesley went over to the garage shop.
As he placed the nozzle into fuel inlet, Alex knew he had to tell her. During the last ten minutes before they had stopped, he had been doing some homework on six-mile Island. The Captain for once had been one step ahead. The satellite feed to the server there had been switched off. Until they were switched back on, there was little that could be done to stop all this going live. He would have to somehow wait until the whole system was working, then intercept the signal and sent his disable program. It was a long-shot and if this did not work, nothing that he could think of would stop this happening. There would be only one other way and that seemed impossible. Stealing a boat and going six miles out to sea was one thing, getting to the other Island would be impossible without help, but who could help them? Alex knew their only real chance of stopping this was at six-mile Island, but not knowing when the satellite feed would be turned back on was going to make it hard. Could they even access the facility? Try as he may, Alex could not find any plans on the place. They would have to go there blind and just hope that a solution presented itself. Would Lesley even go with him? When she comes back, Alex knew he had to lay all his cards on the table. His plan was flimsy at best and luck seemed his only friend right now. He continued to fill the vehicle and watched as the meter kept rising, then he felt something click in the handle, the Land rover was full.
Alex put the filer hose back, then put the cap back in place, then got back in and watched Lesley in the garage shop. She was beautiful. Everything about her attracted him to her. Her smell, her hair, and the way she moved and those eyes. Those deep blue eyes just made him want to dive into them. Alex was falling for her again, but did she feel the same. They did when they first met had a connection, but that seemed a million light years away now, and she had shown no other signs she was interested in him after that one faithful day they had met. He was being silly. What had he to offer a woman like that? No, Alex thought. Stay focused and sort this mess out. This is your priority and not getting romantically involved. It was a stupid idea and would lead to complications and your feelings for Lesley were best kept to yourself. He continued to watch her. It was going to be hard not to show her how he felt, but he had no choice. This would never work under those circumstances, not with everything they had to do, and so far, they had done nothing yet to stop all this.
Lesley came back to the vehicle with a bag of goodies. Alex smiled at her as she got back in. She looked tired but reciprocated and smiled back.
“Are you okay Alex?”
“Yes, I am fine. You though, you look tired. Do you want to find a place to sleep?”
“Well, I am flagging a bit. We should be at the coast in an hour, we could try to find a bed and breakfast there, and a few hours’ sleep would be great.”
“Are you okay to drive? I could have a go if you like?”
“It’s okay, something's take time to learn and I really don’t want any more excitement just yet.”
With a small plan made, Lesley set off again. She had no idea what she was doing and why she was trusting Alex so much with all this. Her instincts were telling her this was crazy, but like Alex had said earlier, what else could they do, but try!
––––––––
Liev had been making good time, although the old banger he was driving was not making the journey easy. Of all the cars that should have stopped at that moment back when the helicopter landed, it had to a clapped-out VW polo. The car had seen better days and making all sorts of clanking and banging noises. The suspension, Liev suspected was shot, but the engine was ticking over nicely, thankfully. He would need to refuel soon and looking at the tracker he had been given, it was clear now that the two people he had to babysit for now, were indeed, heading to the coast. He guessed he was about half an hour behind them and guessed they would drive there and try to find a place to hide out before sunrise. But what had they got planned? Did they plan to get out the country? For now, he was picking at straws. Time was on his side with them not knowing he was following them, so he pulled over at the next service station. If they did have plans to leave, he needed to make sure he was ready, a quick refuel, some food supplies and find where they were going to stay was his next plan. Then the waiting game would begin. A game Liev knew all too well and one he was good at.
––––––––
The chopper the Captain was travelling in had just had an update on the weather. He was not too far from the transporter ship now and was due to land there in thirty minutes. A quick refuel, and then on to the Island with the transmitters was the plan, but the weather reports that he had been kept up to date with looked like he may have to hold off before making that journey out to the Island. The message the Major had sent him made it even more frustrating. He needed to get there before all this work had been for nothing. And worst of all, if he let the Major down on this, he knew where he was going. To the processing plant. One thing did puzzle him though. How had he let himself be poisoned? He was normally so careful. The message was not too clear either, but the words were noticeably clear. Poisoned by prisoners send back up team ASAP. With no answer back from the Majors mobile, he sent a text message as a reply. What was going on there was now a mystery, but what was clear, he needed to get there and fast. Now the weather was closing in, time was against him. At best, it would clear, and the part he was not looking forward to, was the other. Parachuting. The Captain was by no means a fit guy anymore. Years of working at his rank had not enable him to keep up with his fitness, and he was hoping now, that parachuting in was a last resort.
––––––––
After giving Amy all the information and still being sat on her bunk, and Amy giving him an ear bashing for nearly killing her, she had settled down and realised he had done the right thing. She was still feeling the effects of the sleeping pills and Dug left her alone to get some sleep. He would try to get an hour or two’s sleep once he had dragged the Major and the single guard that was left into the mess room. He had plans to interrogate the Major once he had woken up, but in the meantime, he needed to think. His initial plan had worked and was looking like they had the upper hand, but now the next problem they had he had no idea of how he was going to solve. Amy also had no ideas, and he could only hope once she had a good sleep and her head cleared, that she might have a better plan to get them off this Island. The only thing going for them at this moment is that they had control, and the only link to the outside world, the Majors mobile phone.
––––––––
Captain Miller still tried to get through to the Major as they landed on the carrier ship. The satellites over the area must either be down, or the Major’s phone had been switched off, either way, it was not looking good. The weather reports had been just updated and it looked like he may have to parachute in with the four men he had chosen for the mission. All fully train, all lethal special operatives with masses of experience. More than enough to tackle anything that was going on at the Island. The window of opportunity to get to there before the weather had passed over was gone and after advisement from his team aboard the ship, he decided to hang on for twelve hours, then re-access the weather conditions. It would take two hours to get there from their present location, time enough for him to prepare himself for the parachute of a lifetime. Under good weather conditions it was going to be bad for him. Under these severe weather conditions, he must now face, the Captain was not looking forward to it at all, and the advice to wait for twelve hours he did not need a lot of persuading for him to agree. Self-preservation over-riding the need to put himself through the nightmare he must soon face.
––––––––
The last leg of the journey seemed to fly by. Alex felt more at ease with Lesley, and it felt like that first time they had met when she had driven him to his cabin in the woods. They chatted freely and it felt so natural, like they had been a long-time couple talking about their day at work.
“What’s it like?” Lesley asked, feeling as though she might get a glimpse inside Alex’s mind as the conversation had been going so well.
“Not sleeping. Is that what you mean?”
“Yes, is it tiring. It must be tiring, doesn’t it? I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be awake all the time.”
“I get tired, but not in the way I need to sleep. I normally just lay down and rest. My mind still ticks over, I just don’t go to sleep. It’s different, I guess. I mean, how can I miss something I never had!”
“I guess, but aren't you curious?”
“Yes, very. That is one of the reasons I decided to write the Wi-Fi program. It would enable me to see what people dreamt about and get a feel for what it would be like. I guess that didn’t work out so well.”
“Why?”
“Them bastards used that technology to round up all the criminals back then, and that one program started all this mess.”
“But you weren't to know!”
“That doesn’t really make me feel any better. I hate myself for being so stupid. What was I thinking? I should have known they were using me, but I was just so excited to be understood. Professor Bourneski helped me so much, I owe him everything, but look what happened to him! He knew what was going on and was too scared to tell me, and I feel... I owe this to him. I think they used him as well. He knew and I didn’t figure that out until it was too late.”
“I understand Alex. They used me and now we are, I don’t know, together in this. We need each other, and we must truth each other. I promise I will help you in any way I can.”
“Really!”
“Yes, this affects us all. I don’t want someone inside my mind making decisions about my life. I want to be me. Nobody has the right to play God, no one.”
“I didn’t know you felt so strongly about it!”
“I didn’t use to. I guess like many others, we all did the same. Pretended this was not happening. I have seen many friends disappear and one or two distant relatives I never got to see. My parents tried to tell me something was wrong, but I buried my head into my studies and work, and when the job offer came at the military base it made me lose sight of what was important.”
Alex looked at her as she drove. The emotions she was showing was something again new to him and it only made her more adhering to him. At that one moment, he could have held her tight and pretended all this was a dream, and none of this was really happening, but it was happening and if he failed. What then!
“Are they still alive, your parents?”
“I hope so. We had a little falling out when my dad tried to say I was working for the enemy when I got the job offer, and we haven't spoken in a while. I hope they are. I couldn’t bear the thought of never telling my dad he was right. He would love that. He is so opinionated you would not believe. Dad saw all this coming and said time after time. “You will see Lesley, just wait, you will see.” How right was he, hey! What about your parents, are they...”?
“Alive, no. I am sure after I was selected for this project that they were dispatched.”
“Don’t say that word. It’s an awful word Alex.”
“Sorry, it's just, I don’t know. I never really connected with them. Even as a child growing up it felt like there was something missing in my life. Like I was waiting, waiting for something like this to happen. To make me whole. Does that make sense, or am I sounding stupid?”
“What makes sense is what is in there.” Lesley said, as she leant over and touched Alex’s chest. “We are nearly here; we should be able to find a place to stay for the rest of the night. These places normally have plenty of twenty-four-hour bed and breakfasts about.” Lesley said, as she took her hand off his chest and placed it back on the steering wheel, feeling a little embarrassed to have been so candid.
“Oh. Right, okay.” Alex said, as he came back out of the daze Lesley had put him under while he listened, attuned to her every word.
He was falling in love, but he had to resist. This was not going to help him focus, and he still had to write the program that was needed to kill off the ZEN program. Focus Alex. He repeated to himself inside his mind.
“Oh, look Alex, there is the sea.” Lesley said, as the road opened, and they could now see beyond the trees that had been obscuring the view.
“Wow, it looks so black.” Alex said, as the moonlight rippled along the waves with the ocean’s never-ending vista, that seemed to stretch on for ever into the night sky.
They carried on into the main town. Alex had already seen a few suitable places to stay but did not say anything. It had been his first time he had been to a coastal area and wanted to enjoy the scenery while it was so quiet at night. Lesley on the other hand was desperate to find a place to stay. Fatigue and hunger were setting in and sleep was the only thing on her mind.
They came to a T-junction at the end of the road they had been on and there, in front, was a jetty with dozens of boats. Looking left were rows of bed and breakfast, and to the right was a few shops that looked shut for the night. Beyond those, a sea wall stretched on into the distance. Lesley turned left and drove along the quiet street, and she hoped they would find a vacancy sign then finally rest for the night. Two thirty in the morning was way past her bedtime and now her brain was kicking in the sleep drug, she needed rest. Then she could tackle the next problem tomorrow. How on earth were they going to steal a boat, let along sail it, find the Island, and that is without all the other stuff Alex had to do. It was starting to feel overwhelming. Stress and fatigue were kicking in, but she knew it was her brain craving sleep in-order to do what a brain does best, order those irrational thoughts and come out with a solution that does not involve them both getting killed.
Alex was at the other end of the spectrum. All this was new to him and his brain was lapping all this new information up, if anything, he was more excited at seeing all this than he had been in a long time, having spent so much of his life isolated from the real world.
Lesley suddenly pulled into a siding just outside a bed and breakfast that had a flashing sign saying Twenty-four hours, Vacancies. At last, a place to sleep, Lesley thought, and not before time.
––––––––
As Liev entered the small town he began making mental notes of all the features and places that Alex might be looking for. They had come to this specific place for a reason, a reason Liev could only guess was to sneak out of the country somehow. Had they contacted someone, or as he guessed, they had come down on a whim to try to find a way out, away from all the main ports and hoped that this being a small, secluded place they might escape. With fewer people checking, and more importantly noticing who they were it made some sense to come here. Whatever they were doing, Liev wanted to be ready. He had followed the tracker to within a few yards of where they were now staying and as he drove past, clocked their vehicle. The unmistakeable Land rover he too had driven before they stole it from him was here. He drove up and down the streets a couple of times getting to know the area before he settled down for the night. It might come in handy if they spotted him and took off on foot.
Liev had checked out the small jetty with its dozen or so boats of varying sizes. Some he could see were small commercial fishing boats with their nets hanging over the sides, others were leisure yachts, and a few were just small boats. Probably locally owned for renting, judging by the state they were in. It was now three-thirty in the morning, and it was time to get some shut-eye. He parked up near the boats in a short stay lay by. He knew he had some time to go before they could leave as the tide was still out and not due back in until later in the day, then he guessed they would be on the move. For now, Liev had time to rest. He had also had a longer than normal day and after eating the ready-made tuna sandwich and drinking the can of pop he had bought earlier, Liev reclined the driver’s seat and lay back. It would be getting light soon and the streets were deserted, but come first light, places like this became a hive of activity, and he did not want anyone to notice he was asleep, then ask questions. Attracting attention at this stage was not on his agenda. The need to stay hidden for now was the only way he could keep control of how, and when he made the sting on these two, and he could not risk them getting away again. Before closing his eyes, Liev set the alarm on his mobile phone for five-thirty, then placed it on the dashboard. He closed his eyes knowing it would be soon time to begin another day of discovery and perhaps he might find out what was really going on!
––––––––
After paying for the room, Lesley went off to the communal shower. She was beginning to feel more awake now she had got out the vehicle and was moving around again. Alex went into the double room and made some hot drinks. The night manager was just about to call it a night and go to bed himself, and they had been lucky to get a room. Business had suffered badly in this area and as most of the fisherman had left. The small town was becoming another coastal ghost town. The manager Ernie had been very candid with them and looked like he could have told them both the whole town's history, but Lesley had broken the conversation short with the need to get showered and get some much-needed sleep. Alex kept the conversation going a bit longer. His mind was still racing with all this new information. After another five minutes talking, he too went to the room they had been given on the third floor facing the sea front.
With drinks made, Alex stood looking out into the night from the bay window in the room. Under the cover of night, it all looked so beautiful. The moonlight gave it a feel of being in another world as it tickled the waves, and they responded with flashes of light bouncing off. He looked further out to sea and could just make out the skyline where the ocean and sky met. It would not be long before the first signs of daylight would be showing on the horizon. Tomorrow was going to be a defining day in his and everybody’s future and one thing worried Alex. Could he live up to it? Would he be able to do what he was now thinking was impossible? So much was riding on him making this wrong he had done, right. For the first time in his life, Alex felt the first pang of pressure. Everything had always come so easy to him, but now, seeing out into the night, it all did seem beyond his control. Was he losing his focus? Alex turned around as he heard Lesley coming down the hallway outside and enter the room. Alex smiled. She looked so beautiful with her hair laying limp and wet, now with her make-up all washed away. He could see the real Lesley, and to him, she looked just the same. Radiant, an eighth wonder of the world. Had he completely fallen for her?
“Are you okay Alex?” Lesley asked, as she could see the glazed look in his eyes like he was somewhere else.
“Yes, yes I’m fine. I made us coffee.”
Lesley smiled and stared at him. She wished so badly she had gone and seen him that first weekend. She too, has feelings for Alex, and they also had never gone away. But was this the right time? Was there ever a right time to show her feelings for him? Lesley walked round the bed and to the small table where Alex was standing where he had made the coffees. She leant forward to reach for a drink and Alex watched as the moonlight coming from outside bounced off her silky-smooth skin. Lesley could feel his eyes burning into her. She did not need to look at him. Electricity seemed to have entered her entire body, and she felt the hairs all over her begin to stand up and tingle. Excitement is all she felt as the fatigue has suddenly gone. As she lifted the cup, she slowly turned, and Alex took a step closer to her. Lesley’s heart raced with anticipation. Was he about to kiss her? A million lifetimes seemed to pass by before either moved, both frozen in this one moment. Had he stalled? Did Alex not understand the signals she was giving off, or was he scared to make a move? Lesley took the initiative and kissed him. Alex was still frozen, unsure of what to do next. Lesley felt the resistance on his lips. A response she never expected and was sure he wanted her too. Lesley stopped kissing him then turned to walk away. The excitement had now turned to disappointment in an instant. Then Alex responded. He turned her back around and slowly pressed his lips to hers. Lesley knew from that moment what his problem had been from the inexperienced way he was kissing her. Alex was a virgin. But that only made her want him even more. His innocence somehow making him more desirable.
Alex fumbled at her damp blouse, then Lesley pulled his hand away. She began undressing herself for him and Alex in turn seeing her do this, took her lead and began also to undress. After they undressed, Alex marvelled at her body, and she too was impressed by his skinny, but honed physique. Lesley led him onto the bed and began to show him what she wanted him to do. Taking his hand, she moved it slowly over her breasts and then down between her legs. Alex was erect, and raring to go, but Lesley held him back. They had plenty of time, and she was showing him there was no need to rush. Alex began to kiss her breasts and gradually made his way down her body. Lesley knowing this was his first time, was still excited and as he kissed and caressed her between her legs, she was pleased he seemed to instinctively know how she liked to be touched there. Knowing Alex would be keen to know what penetration was like, she gently pulled his head up and drew him along her body, parting her legs further as he rose about her. Alex may have been a virgin, but he had good instincts and was soon penetrating her, and she responded with soft groans. He was particularly good and moved his hips to a rhythm that made Lesley wanted to go wild and grab him inside her more. It was now Alex holding her back, teasing her, but not too much but just enough to bring her to climax. After ten minutes it was all over, and Alex felt amazing. Lesley also lay there, not believing what had just happened, hoping that this would not be the only time they made love. In that instant everything had changed. Neither spoke as they held each other close, both reluctant to let go. For now, in this room, for the next few hours everything seemed like it was going to be okay. If they could have frozen time itself, they both would have, but the clock never stops ticking, and they both knew that tomorrow would come. The first rays of sunlight would break this night very soon and then what? Both had no answers just questions, but they just lay there with arms intertwined. For now, tomorrow could wait.
Lesley was soon asleep. An inner peace helping her mind relax and Alex still held her close. Now more than ever he knew he could not fail. To lose Lesley now would mean everything would be for nothing and once the signal went live, there would be no escaping its grip. All would be lost. Humanity would be a word destined to go down into history books as a thing of the past. A lost culture that had free will, but now bondage, and no liberty ruled and now that Alex had felt for the first-time love, would that also be lost, forever!