Gar asked, “Is security always this strong?”
“Fort Knox has impeccable security, however, this is well above normal. Not only do we have those strange gem fragments to protect, we still have several representatives from the UN and our own Federal Government visiting.”
“Can we see the gold?” Chromatic asked.
Quark muttered, “That is not why we’re here.”
Chromatic shot back, “So? When do we get the chance to see that kinda loot?”
General Horace said, “Son if you get permission through Director Nova and the Federal government, I would be glad to personally escort you on a tour of our gold storage. However, the point of this visit is to hand those fragments over to BADGE and to assess the threat of this thief. Though, to be honest, I doubt you should have any interest in the thief.”
Quark asked, “Why?”
“I’ve seen some clever infiltrators in my time here. She wasn’t clever. If she hadn’t beaten up one of our guards, we might have handed her over to the local police and left her at that. But her attack on our personnel was enough to warrant heightened attention.”
Gar said, “Since BADGE knows a woman thief has been looking for these shards, it is wise to let us at least find out if this is the one.”
General Horace stopped at a door and paused, “If the reports I got back from the known thefts tell me anything, your thief is a clever, highly skilled person. This woman was nothing but a nuisance. I suspect she is some foolish protester who wanted to get on the news. But we must take all threats seriously. She’s in here.” He reached over and swiped his card.
The door opened, and they all jumped back when a person flopped out of the room. A guard lay on the ground, unconscious. Muffled voices met them as they looked in to find seven security tied up with their own belts, their pants stripped off and partly stuffed into their mouths. Walkie Talkies were smashed all over the place, and the cameras were either destroyed or had gum stuck to the lenses. A pair of cuffs sat on the chair in the middle of the room.
“GOOD LORD! WHAT HAPPENED IN HERE!” General Horace yelled.
Chromatic said, “It looks like you underestimated your protester.”
Quark grabbed the General, “Where are the shards! We have to get to them NOW!”
“Damn!” The General raced down the hall, shoving a few of his men back toward the room, barking orders at them as he blasted by.
***
Moments before:
Chase walked down a corridor, dressed in a Fort Knox officer’s uniform. Another guard gave her a funny look, and she jammed the sleeve up a little more to hide the fact the outfit was two sizes too big. She had strolled a suitable distance since escaping their interrogation room, passing other guards and some UN official security.
Pressing her finger up to her ear, she listened in to the artificial signal Krampus was sending to the security system. It was still giving the all-clear. According to anyone outside of that interrogation room, she was still being held captive there.
Stopping next to an unsuspecting wall, she pressed a hidden switch, and a keypad appeared. She looked at it and then closed it.
“Nope, not here,” She whispered to herself as she looked at one of the special vaults.
The public, and most low-level government officials, were not aware of the secret vaults used to store precious items. By the dust on the keypad, it has been a while since they opened this last.
Chase paused and stood up straight as though she were merely a patrolling guard. Two men and a woman turned a corner. The woman and the older man were wearing dark suits, the other man was in a military uniform. A slight smile crossed her face as she saw the older man, who spoke with a thick French accent. Unbuttoning the top of her baggy shirt, she tugged down on the undershirt and revealed a little more cleavage than was allowed for military dress code.
Waiting for the right moment, she stepped right in the trio's way and ‘accidentally’ bumped into the older man. “Oh, excuse me, sir.”
The man smiled at her, unashamedly staring at her chest first. “My apologies. What a lovely young lady for a security guard.”
“Thank you, sir. I wasn’t paying attention, I’m a little lost finding the shard holding room. First day here.”
“Oh, you don’t say.” He looked at the woman next to him. “Madeline, would you finish the briefing without me.”
The woman had a look about her that said she has seen him do this before. She gave a brief nod and continued with the UN military official.
“I am Ambassador Jean-Luc Rieux of France. I just helped deliver three shards from my country. I know the secure location. Perhaps I could show you. It is a dark and private place.” He bounced his eyebrows, licked his lips, and his hand was going for her backside.
Chase gave him a flirty smile. “I do love the French, such a warm and friendly people.”
“Allonsy.” He took her arm and walked her back down the corridor.
After a short walk, he directed her into a gold storage room. He stopped both of them at the entrance and pointed to the back. “There, that pipe is a fake. It is a clever vault for valuable things. However, why don’t we slip into that dark corner back there and...explore the gold for a bit.” He was rubbing her hip with one hand and leaning in closer.
Suddenly the sirens in the entire building went off and they could hear voices yelling orders to one another.
“What is this?” The Ambassador looked up, his drooling curtained by fear.
Chase smiled, “Nothing. They just realized I escaped their little holding room.”
“You what?” About the time he caught what she said, a fist hit his old face, and then her leg swept under him and sent him down.
She stepped over him, ready to break into their vault. This would be tricky. These secret vaults are probably the most difficult to crack in the world. However, those footsteps grew closer. In no time, an entire team of soldiers would be rounding that corner and coming to protect the shards. She was good, but up against a whole battalion, she might not make it.
“Crud.” She knew better than to leave the Ambassador out where they could see him, it would tell them she was here. Grabbing his feet, she dragged him to that nice, dark, intimate spot. With a chuckle, she shoved his unconscious body into the darkest shadows and said, “You wanted to get laid here, well, there you go.”
Ten soldiers rushed into the room just as she climbed up into a better hiding spot. The first thing she saw was one of the many security cameras staring her in the face. She quickly pulled back her sleeve and checked a small monitor on her wrist comm. She flicked through camera after camera, which showed empty halls, and empty vault. “Good, my override hack is still working. Now, for Plan B.” She typed a command into the communicator. All at once, the lights went dead, a second later the back-up lights all activated.
“Now, to do what I do best.” She crawled across their ceiling, the men below oblivious to her presence.
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