Gabriel ran through the cold, dark night, the dripping branches from the emerald green pine trees surrounding him slapping into his face as the rain poured down, soaking him to the bone. Looking back, he could see the searchlights sweeping over the grounds, methodically searching for them. Amanda ran beside him, her long blonde hair matted to her face, mud and pine needles streaking the pale skin of her cheeks. He knew they had very little time to navigate the forest before the perimeter of the installation would be locked down. The driving rain would help mask their route but it was also slowing them down, cutting into their already too strict timetable. At least the undergrowth was relatively clear, the forest meticulously maintained to add to security while also preventing devastating fires from destroying the installation. A sharp cry from his right caught his attention. Gabriel looked just in time to see the branch flying at his face and ducked before it struck him.
“Thanks for the warning,” he cried out over the raging storm.
“I figured it was the least I could do since I’m the one that snapped the branch back,” Amanda replied, the wide grin on her face belying the fact that they were literally running for their lives.
As they approached the clearing between the forest and the fence-line, they could see that the trees were thinning out, providing more room to move between them but exposing them to the searchlights. A streak of lightning lit up the sky, bringing the fence into sharp relief as they broke through the trees, quickly leaving the forest behind them. When the fence was within reach, they could almost feel the hum of the electricity racing through the metal weave in front of them. The air, already charged from the storm, seemed to vibrate in time with the power pulsing off the fence. Anxiously they both searched the sky behind them, able to see faint streaks of light touch the sky as the searchlights continued to look for them. They listened carefully through the sounds of the storm, hunting for a sound they dreaded to hear but knew would inevitably come.
“You do realize,” Amanda shouted over the din, “that we’re in deep shit if Dr. Martin doesn’t get the power shut down soon.”
Gabriel, searching the sky over the facility, the mountains behind masking everything in deep shadows, was about to respond when he saw it – the dark outline of what could only be one of the security helicopters hovering over the compound.
“It would appear that we already are. Look over there!” he replied, pointing to the still-hovering helicopter. “It looks like they’re still trying to get a sense for which direction we went in. We’ve got some time but only minutes at this point.”
Just then, the searchlights blinked out, the navigation lights on the helicopter the only visible light in the area save the random arcs of lightning. Gabriel wriggled out of his backpack and knelt on the ground. Unzipping it, he reached in, dug around, and pulled out a wire netting. He turned to the fence, throwing the wire netting at it. No sparks flew from the fence so Gabriel attached a wire from a small electronic device shaped like a garage-door opener to a wire hanging off the end of the net, paying out the line from a small spool. After walking about fifty feet away from the fence, Amanda tight on his heels, he knelt down and turned a dial on the device. A red light flashed on, then turned green. Pressing the button on the device, he stared in awe at the fence as a large hole formed in the middle of it where it had melted down, the edges glowing a reddish-orange before the rain cooled them down.
“That is truly amazing. I have to say that Dr. Martin really came through on these toys he gave us.”
“It helps that he’s got a friend on the security team,” replied Amanda. “I just hope they can’t trace it back to either of them.”
“He’s too important to the project. If he positions it right it will look like he was just lax in his protocols and didn’t have a direct hand in anything. Come on, let’s go!”
They both scrambled through the hole in the fence, knowing that time was running out and soon the power would be back on, the breach in the fence discovered. As if just thinking it made it happen, sparks suddenly jumped from the fence where the hole they created gaped like an open wound. A klaxon alarm blared from a loudspeaker attached to one of the perimeter fence supports, providing direction for anyone pursuing on the ground. Almost immediately the helicopter banked in their direction, the rotors beating at the rain as it shot across the compound.
“Run!” screamed Gabriel, shouldering his pack and tightening the straps.
They raced down the hillside, the slick grass proving a hazard to them as they more slid than ran. Up ahead they could see a dim line in the green of the hill, a dirt road forming up out of the gloom. Though he knew it was supposed to be there, Gabriel was still amazed when the shadow of the vehicle materialized in front of him.
“Hurts the eyes, doesn’t it?” he shouted to Amanda. “Hurry up and get in!”
Amanda stopped briefly as she stared at the vehicle in front of her. Because of the rain she could see it but only just; even as the drops rained down on it and slid off the sides the adaptive camouflage shifted to keep the vehicle nearly invisible.
Amanda ran around the passenger side of the dark vehicle and pressed a recessed button on the side of it. The gull-wing door sprang open, making the interior of the vehicle appear as if it were floating in mid-air. Amanda climbed in to the vehicle as Gabriel knelt down next to the tires and placed a small flat device about the size of a smartphone on the ground. Flipping open a hidden view-screen, he tapped a series of keys and then flipped it shut. Opening his door he jumped into the driver’s seat and started pressing buttons on the LCD touchscreen in the console, closing the door and shutting out the beating noise from the storm.
“Finally we’re out of that rain,” he said. “Amanda, are you alright?”
Closing her door and moving her soaked hair from her eyes, she said, “Fine. Just a couple of scratches from the trees. I’ll survive.”
“Great. We’ve got about thirty seconds before the helicopter gets here. We’re shielded enough that we shouldn’t show up on any of their sensors but they may get a visual on us. Buckle up tight – this is going to be a little rough!”
Gabriel pressed his thumb on a small panel near the steering column and a low hum immediately filled the cabin. Lighted panels started turning on everywhere and a three-dimensional view of the exterior landscape suddenly appeared in front of them. They both strapped into the 5-point racing harnesses attached to the seats. Gabriel engaged the drive motor and the vehicle slowly started rolling forward away from the package he’d left on the ground. After moving about fifty yards he pressed a button on the LCD panel, activating another screen that displayed radar information. They could see two blips on the radar, one the approaching helicopter and another that was the package. As the two blips merged into one, the helicopter drawn to the site by a signal emitting from the package, a bright light erupted from it. Hovering fifty feet off the ground, the helicopter’s rotors immediately stopped spinning and it dropped to the ground, crushing the landing skids but remaining otherwise intact.
“That should buy us some time,” Gabriel said as he pressed a button on the steering column and the vehicle leaped forward into the night.