Part
6
Waade had been working in Clayton’s personal security
unit for weeks now. He never caught a glimpse of the man as he patrolled the
private offices and living quarters of Clayton’s personal Staff. No Surprise though being that the man rarely
left the upper two floors, which were his living Quarters. There were three other floors.
The first was all security. The lifts stopped
here, you were scanned and if all was well you got on another lift. No one went
any further without clearance.
The second floor had all machinery and
maintenance personnel. They had their own power generation, water and food
storage, all here also.
The third floor is where Clayton’s offices
were located, along with housekeeping and kitchen staff. There was a small medical facility fully
equipped for major surgery, and staffed by the finest money can buy. These
three floors are where Waade had been thus far.
The upper floors had
only a handful of seasoned and highly trusted guards. But today Mr. Clayton was
going out on a rare excursion to tour a new facility and do a uniwebb
conference after. Waade was chosen to be part of the escort, and he had to
admit he was excited to get out of the building. Some challenge and possible
danger sounded appealing after so long without it.
Waade’s
role today was minimal, crowd control only. He was told to mingle with the
crowd and report anything suspicious. While Clayton’s seasoned staff took the responsibility
over him themselves. In his supervisor and coworkers eyes he was still green
and needed to prove himself to them. Waade didn’t care, he was out under the
morning sky enjoying every minute away from the office. So far things were
uneventful.
Clayton
toured the newly acquired Deep Tech. facility, which specialized in deep space
sensor probes and other similar devices. It was a secure compound and the staff
and few visitors were cleared, so little to worry about. It was the Uniwebb
conference taking place outside the building in the landing zone that was going
to be the real challenge.
Waade
was finishing a walk around the perimeter when he was told over the comm that
Mr. Clayton was on the way. Waade searched the crowd, looking for anything out
of the ordinary. After he was satisfied, he gave the all clear along with
several other guards watching from different locations around the zone. Just
then a door opened and several guards stepped out with purpose. They were
dressed in dark, fine cut suites which covered sleek body armor and the
standard multi- phase pistol. Black polarized lenses staring down the crowd,
daring someone to step out of line. After a minute of scanning the crowd
visually and with weapon energy scan devices, one of the guards went back
inside. He reemerged followed closely by a man who looked to be in his middle
years. He was average height and build, with hair that was almost white in
color. Waade moved closer to get a better look at the man while watching the
crowd of onlookers.
The former owner and C.E.O. of Deep tech. stepped up and told how excited and
happy he and his staff were to be working with such a prestigious man and
company. He then introduced his new business partner who moved to the front of
the small covered entryway to deliver his statements to the crowd and the
Uniwebb transceiver.
As
Mr. Clayton spouted the usual rhetoric, Waade half listened and watched the
crowd. The surrounding area seemed clear but he was getting a feeling something
wasn’t right. It was a feeling he hadn’t had since his service days, and
usually he was right. Waade worked his way forward through the crowd, looking
for anything suspicious. Waades pulse
sped up; his senses became sharper the closer he came forward.
“Where are you?” thought Waade as he
looked everyone over closely. He found himself among the press just feet from
Clayton. Anytime now it was going to happen and Waade was ready. Hand in jacket
resting comfortably on the pistol grip Waade concentrated and waited.
Only
minutes passed when a man wearing a press pass was noticed moving forward
slowly. There was something in his hand Waade couldn’t make out. It could be
nothing but the more he watched, body language and nervous sweating said
otherwise. Closer and closer the man moved toward Clayton, no one seemed to
notice. Waade moved with him until he was in arms reach, ready to spring at a
wrong move. The man was glaring at Clayton and shaking visibly. He was gripping
so tightly to something his knuckles were white.
Waade moved closer to the man, he could feel the
threat from him like heat from an oven. Until the man did something, Waade could only
watch. After several minutes of psyching himself up, the man made his move. He
pulled a spring loaded gun from his pocket and tried to aim, but his arm was
locked in Waades iron grip before he got it past his hip. With a primal scream
of anguish and rage the man ripped free of Waades grip and turned on him just
long enough to fire. Waade felt a sharp pain in his ribs but chose to ignore it
and charged forward.
“Die
you murdering bastard!” the man yelled, eyes blazing with hate at Clayton. He
was climbing the few steps between him and his target. Weapons were drawn and
sighting in on both sides. The air grew thick and time seemed to slow as Waade ran
reaching out for the man. He could have shot the man but no guarantee he would
go down before getting a lucky shot off first.
“Get
down!” Yelled Waade as he crashed into the man simultaneously pulling his gun
hand downward.
The
two landed in a heap on the steps. Waade saw the red rimmed eyes, the fevered
look in them. He knew this man didn’t have anything to lose and would die
finishing his task.
“You
killed her Clayton!” the man snarled. “You
killed herrr!” With desperate strength
the man threw Waade off and stood. Before the others could get there, gripping
his pistol Waade spun the man around and hit him across the jaw. The man was
out cold when security descended on him.
Waade
looking around saw nothing amiss and Clayton was safely away in his shuttle.
Now he could take a breath and relax and enjoy the high the action brought.
Except for the two inch sharpened spike in his ribs, it was a good day.
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