Alien Mind Control From Planet P
Chapter 15
By Gary LM Martin
"So what do you have for us today, Mr. Lytton?" Colonel Anderson asked.
Maurice Lytton was not a member of their resistance group. Indeed, he had contacts with many resistance teams. But he had gradually gained their trust, so much so that he was invited to their base to deliver new information. But some among them were not fully convinced that Lytton wasn't Infected.
Mark Royce, always the skeptic, thought that Lytton played the part of an Infected just a little bit too well. "Just look at his eyes! He must be one of them."
"But he knows where our base is. He hasn't betrayed us," Melissa Sands had said.
"At least, not yet," Royce had replied.
Lytton looked around the table at the gathered operatives. Worth Rogers and Saoirse McKenna sat together, as they always did. Their relationship was no longer a secret. But they weren't the only couple. Mark Royce and Nancy Kingsolver, Melissa Sands and Duncan Clark, Linda Courtney and Paul Thompson--everyone seemed to find someone, if only for mutual comfort in these highly stressful times.
"There is a database of people slated to be turned into biomass for the Air Loves," said Lytton. "They number in the tens of thousands."
"Tens of thousands of people?" said Royce. "Why are they still making Air Loves when they have Infected nearly the entire population? Surely they know the rest of us are immune."
"Not all of you. Not every person has been exposed to the spores," said Lytton. "
We
view human lives as expendable. If
They
can sacrifice a hundred of theirs to get one of yours, they consider it a fair trade."
"They're going to kill all those people?" Saoirse asked, her voice a half whisper. "Are there really that many Uninfected people in their custody?"
"No," said Lytton. "Most of the people on the list are already Infected, but people who don't have skills they have use for. If they have the appropriate muscle mass, they are converted into biomass."
"Muscle mass. They treat human beings like so much meat, like cows," Saoirse said, in horror.
"Yes," said Lytton. "They have taken over the Centers for Disease Control in Bethesda. Now it's called the Bureau of Infection. You need to go there and wipe out their database. It will set back their efforts for months."
"Why can't you wipe it out?" Duncan Clark. "You work there. You could do it."
"Yes, I could," said Lytton. "But I would be discovered shortly thereafter. I would have to go into hiding, and lose access to all the valuable intelligence I have given you from the Bureau. But if you destroy it, I will be blameless."
"Destroy it how?" Colonel Anderson asked.
"You'll need to get the primaries and the backups. I'll tell you what directories they are in," said Lytton. "The rest is up to you."
"You want us to infiltrate the agency responsible for Infecting us?" Paul Thompson asked, thinking how incredibly dangerous that would be.
"Why not?" Lytton shrugged. "I do it every day."
"He has a point. That's the last place they'll be looking for us," said Nancy Kingsolver.
"Captain Rogers, you've been quiet so far. What do you think?" Colonel Anderson asked.
Worth felt Saoirse's eyes on him. He could sense her opinion without asking. "There are a lot of lives at stake. It's worth the risk."
"I'll go too," said Saoirse. Before Worth could protest, she said, "I'm the only computer expert here."
"It doesn't take an expert to delete a few files," said Worth.
She put her hand in his, and those green eyes stared him down. "I'm going."
********
Lytton tried to give them a crash course in acting Infected.
"We've done it before," said Mark Royce.
"Yes, and if you were being hired for a film adaptation, no casting director would ever hire you to play an Infected," said Lytton. "No offense, but acting is not your strength. You over-exaggerate the blank expression on your face. When you give their smile, it looks more like one of ours. When you walk, you need to walk more fluidly, like this." He demonstrated.
"Like this?" Paul Thompson asked, walking forward.
"No, fluidly," said Lytton, demonstrating again.
"I just walked the same exact way you did," said Thompson. "That's what I see."
"And that is precisely the problem," said Lytton.
In the end, only Worth and Saoirse were selected to go. They were the ones whose acting Lytton branded "least worst". Lytton would not be involved at all. Security holocams would record Worth and Saoirse's sabotage, and Lytton couldn't be seen anywhere near them.
********
Lytton had provided them with identification datapads that would get them into the building.
"Here we go, into the lion's den," Worth whispered. He gazed up at the imposing building which used to house the CDC's Bethesda headquarters. Saoirse gave his hand a gentle squeeze as she followed right behind him.
They showed their ID's and were allowed entry. Lytton had said the main computer banks were accessible from terminals on the fifth floor. The fifth floor had a large open space where people worked on terminals, but one area enclosed by a large interior glass wall held their attention. That was the area designated for high security access. They walked across the open space, passing Infected who barely gave them a glance.
When they got there, Saoirse looked at the terminals, and whispered, "This must be it," and started typing on one.
Worth guarded her back, watching for any undue interest in their efforts, as Saoirse typed away. After a minute or two, she whispered, "I'm in."
Worth nodded. He watched the other Infected working at their desks, still looking for any sign of trouble. Something was starting to feel wrong. He didn't know what it was. He looked around the room, and didn't see anything which put him on his guard.
"I have deleted the primary Air Love waiting list," said Saoirse.
Worth nodded fractionally. Something was
definitely
wrong. He could feel it now. Through his ESPer abilities. He couldn't identify it tangibly, but there was some danger, something big, nearby. And it was getting
closer
.
A moment later, Saoirse whispered, "The secondary waiting list is deleted. We're done. Should I try to take a data dump?"
