| |
02:58 Friday 19 January 2091
The extraction of Zafar from HMP1882 was a much more ordered affair than Caitlin’s rescue had been; That time, only Michelle and young Buzz Aldrin were physically involved with Adam providing remote assistance with prison and sewer system schematics. The operation had been hastily planned and had relied upon a lot of improvisation; it was a wonder that Caitlin was rescued at all, so ad hoc was the mission.
This time Adam had adapted the virus he used to locate Zafar to provide him with sole control over the prison’s security system whilst completely covering his tracks. Any official user of the system would see exactly what they expected to see – a peaceful place with nothing out of the ordinary happening within its walls.
Three o’clock in the morning was a good time to mount the rescue operation. They had decided upon the early hours of Friday 19th January as the moon would be entering the first phase of a new cycle and would be scarcely visible. Of course, the extraction force would be fully equipped with VACS technology, but it wouldn’t do any harm to work under the cover of as much darkness as possible.
Major Daniel ‘Danny’ Driver, who had been instrumental in the capture of Marcus Gallagher, ducked into position next to his friend and colleague Corporal Richard Dante. The military ranks were irrelevant now that they were no longer Defenders; they were just two friends fighting against Garcia’s One Life, determined to do something to help the hundreds of thousands of innocent Recarns in the Argentine’s neutralisation camps that had been set up in the UK.
The two men had set up a sophisticated network of escape routes and safe houses and, to date, had managed to spirit away hundreds of harmless Recarns to secure locations. Their lead had been followed all over the world and each country now had its own covert rescue network. Max, with his PLM intact and his World War Two experiences, was invaluable to the establishment of the original network; although the number of ex-Defenders involved in saving these Recarns had grown enormously.
Danny spoke quietly into his communicator. Adam had patched Danny, Richard and a few other members of the rescue mission party into his private satellite link, ensuring that their messages wouldn’t be overheard.
“Adam, it’s Danny. Everything ready your end?”
Adam, hundreds of miles away from the action, in the cottage in the Highlands, made a couple of final checks.
“All set here mate. Just let me know when to drop the virus.”
“Now will be fine. We’re all set here.”
“Okay. Releasing the virus now. Three...two...one...gone. Give me a few seconds to check that it’s taken.”
The rescue party were anxious to get the operation under way but were highly disciplined and wouldn’t make a move until they got the all clear from Adam. After what seemed an age but wasn’t, Adam confirmed that the security of the Yorkshire prison was now completely under his control.
Inside the prison, the sparsely distributed night staff were more interested in playing poker than remaining vigilant and looking out for escapees. Understandably so, considering that the security system was fully automated and they would only be called upon to restrain or repel intruders if the prison’s defences required their intervention. The prisoners were all in stasis – they weren’t going anywhere – and the prison could easily defend itself without having to call for human reinforcements.
Occasionally one of the guards would glance at the bank of monitors that was tucked in the corner of the room. Everything was in order; all the stasis pods were occupied and the inhabitants fully submerged in the placenta. The perimeter was clear, the prisoner registration room was calm, and the prisoner processing room, with its stiff brooms and bars of carbolic soap, were all empty and peaceful.
But everything was not in order. What the guard could see on the screen was not reality, but a video-loop. Where there had once been a thick steel door there was now just an open space; a model VII disruptor grenade had clinically dissolved it. The monitor failed to show the dozen heavily armed men preparing to venture even further into the prison complex. The security microphones were just as useless as the cameras; nobody heard one of the men point out the brooms in the processing room and remark how brutal the treatment of new prisoners must be.
The group entered the main Stasis repository and began to search for pod number 0431-8. With so many people looking for it, it didn’t take long to find. Now for the difficult part; getting Zafar out of the tube and away from the prison. Danny, who had been silent until now, spoke softly into his communicator.
“Target located. Repeat, target located.”
This was Adam’s cue to put the second part of the plan into operation. A few deft keystrokes on his touchscreen back in Scotland and Zafar’s tube began to drain of the obnoxious fluid that had encapsulated him. As the level dropped lower and lower the waste tubes became visible. When it was safe to open the tube, two medics removed the offending hoses and helped lift Zafar from his transparent cage, resting him on the concrete floor. Whilst one of the medics cleaned the gunk off the naked Zafar, the other took an auto-injector from his medical holster.
“Mr Azad, I know you probably can’t hear me but I’m going to inject you with an antidote to the sedative that’s been keeping you unconscious for the last few months.”
Dante passed him some clothes.
“Here. Put these on him first. It’s going to be bad enough for him to be shocked into consciousness without waking up stark bollock naked in a room full of ugly troopers.”
The medic dressed the unconscious man, rolling a jacket sleeve up to leave a clear site to inject the antidote. The solution was highly effective and two seconds later Zafar sat up with a start, eyes and mouth wide open. He spat out some of the placenta that had somehow got itself trapped in his cheek cavity. He looked around him and saw twelve unknown faces staring back at him.
“Where am I? Who are you?”
“You’ve been kept in stasis for the last few months Zafar. But that’s over now. Michelle sent us to rescue you.”
Zafar still felt a little light-headed but when he heard the name Michelle his mind was put at rest. He didn’t know who these men were but, if Michelle had sent them, that was good enough for him. He stood up, shook his legs a few times to wake up his muscles, and walked out of the prison gingerly but unaided, surrounded by his rescuers
His mind was returning to full activity and he wasn’t surprised when he suddenly found himself facing a helicopter, engine running and piloted by Danielle. She put her hand out and helped him into the aircraft.
“You have no idea how glad we are to see you, Zafar. We thought you were dead.”
“I thought I was, Danielle. I thought I was. Thank you for coming to my rescue.”
He turned to thank his rescuers but they had disappeared into the night. He went to rub his eyes to remove a tiny slither of the slimy gel that had been missed by the medic. Danielle handed him a handkerchief.
“So where to now, Danielle?”
“A voice from behind him called out.
“To meet up with friends, In the Scottish Highlands.”
“He looked round and saw Michelle and Caitlin occupying the two seats at the back of the passenger area. Now he knew that he would be alright.
And Michelle, Caitlin, and Danielle felt that the world would now be alright. Maybe not today, but soon.