***** Vol.5 Chap.29 Route B: The locked door ****

Kristin examined the door. Clearly it was locked from within. She would not expect anything otherwise. It was also clear that there was no other way to enter the compound other than the door. She tried picking the lock but to no avail.

She resisted the urge to pound on the door. The last thing she wanted was a group of armed guards rushing out the door. She sat down beside the door and waited.

Frank said to wait. So, I am going to wait. She told herself.

She switched off the flashlight and found herself in total darkness. Somehow the darkness was quite unsettling. Before her imaginations got carried away, she switched on the lights again to remind herself where she was.

Soon she got tired of waiting. It had been fifteen minutes already and still no word from Frank.

She stood up and examined the door again. She thought she saw a small irregularity at the top of the door. She searched for a rock and stood on top of the rock. She took her pocketknife and scraped off a little paint around the irregularity.

Of course, she said to herself.

That was the security switch for the door. She passed her knife blade through and felt a small tinkle in her hand.

So, this must be a contact switch.

An idea popped into her head. She took some sand and used her pocketknife to slip the sand into the contact. She really doesn’t want to break the contact. That would cause a full scale investigation. She just wanted to create an intermittent electrical short as if the short comes from some shoddy wiring.

Then she quickly took the rock away and switched off the flashlight. She could imagine that the red light on the security guard’s panel should be blinking like crazy.

She did not have to wait for long. She heard footsteps. She was counting that they would send someone to investigate. She slid behind the door as much as possible. In the dark, it would be hard to see her. She also ready herself with a thin piece of paper as a shim so that she could stop the plunger from locking. The door swung open. She held her breath. A guard with a walkie-talkie walked halfway out the opening and shone his flashlight around. She hid behind the door. The guard picked up the walkie-talkie and muttered back.

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“There is no one here.”

“Check the contact.”

The guard used his hand to clean the switch.

“Yuck, some sand got into the switch. I’ve wiped the sand off already. It should be OK now.”

“Good job.”

The guard went back in and let the door slapped shut. That was exactly what she had hoped for. As the door closed, she quickly placed the piece of paper in the door preventing the plunger from locking.

She listened till the footsteps were gone. Then she gathered her things. In one swift move, she opened the door and slid in. However before going down the hallway, she made sure that the door was shut all the way. She does not want to alarm the guards unnecessary.

The door was at the end of a long hallway. As stealthily as she could, she walked down the hallway on her tippy toes. She peered around the corner and noticed that there was no one down the hallway. Quickly she went down the hallway.

From her memory, she knew she had to be heading towards the control room for power generation. She was so intent on what she was doing that she failed to notice the surveillance camera installed on each hallway. Silently, the surveillance camera followed her every footstep marking every move that she made.

“Kristin, do you read me?”

“Yes. Where are you?”

“We are in the utility room. I have not been able to disable the security system yet.”

“I am near the control room in the lower level.”

“Be careful of the surveillance camera.”

“Surveillance camera?”

“They have cameras in every room and in every hallway. I am not sure if we have been discovered or not.”

Kristin looked up and saw the camera pointing right at her.

“Oops. I think the camera has just picked me up.”

Suddenly, the alarm in the whole complex sounded.

“I think I have been discovered. I hear the sirens going.”

“Me too. Okay, can you make your way back?”

“May be. I don’t know.”

“Okay, abort the mission and get back to your pick up point.”

“No, we still have the element of surprise on them. I think they have picked me up but I don’t think they know you are here.”

“I think you are right.”

“I will draw the guards away. That should give you and May-Ling some time to accomplish your mission.”

“May-Ling and I will carry on, Kristin. But you should go back to the pick up point and wait for us.”

Kristin heard the guards’ steps coming down the next hallway.

“Hey guys, it has been fun. The guards are coming. I will distract them. You all finish the job.”

“Kristin, don’t. Kristin, take the white pill now.”

“I will draw the guards away. Kristin out.”

Frank looked at May-Ling and she looked back.

“I think we should abort.” Frank said.

“I think Kristin is right. If she can keep the guards busy, may be we can still quickly accomplish our mission.”

“But how?”

“Maybe you can concentrate on foiling their security system. I will try to make my way through the ventilation system to the lab.”

“Kristin, take the white pill now. We will continue our plans on this side.”

But there was no answer.