Isolation by Kevin Hardman

Author:Kevin Hardman [Hardman, Kevin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 9781937666477
Publisher: I&H Recherche Publishing
Published: 2020-04-30T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 32

It took about an hour before any type of debrief occurred. Electra and I spent the bulk of that time waiting in the conference room, with her playfully admonishing me for leaving her behind once we got to the Vault.

“You could have carried me,” she said on more than one occasion. “Scooped me up in your arms and such.”

My reply was always along the lines of, “Be serious. We both know you’re not the type of girl who likes being scooped up in that scenario. Plus, you were right behind us, and only missed Mouse by, like, fifteen seconds.”

In short, we basically engaged in an hour of playful banter, with Electra – who was sitting next to me – occasionally taking my hand. I was initially surprised by her doing so, but decided to just enjoy the moment rather than quiz her about her actions and what she was thinking.

Eventually, Alpha Prime came in – accompanied by Luna and Buzz – and the serious look on his face immediately set the tone for the discussion that followed.

“Okay, here’s what we’ve got,” my father began, as he, Luna, and Buzz took seats across from us. “The initial attack in the Combat Arena was probably a diversion – something to draw our attention. Then, while we were preoccupied with the aftermath of that, Mouse slipped into the Vault.”

“Makes sense,” Electra said. “We wouldn’t be expecting him back after he’d just put in an appearance.”

“No, it only makes half-sense,” I argued. “I agree that we wouldn’t be expecting him again so soon, but the Vault and Combat Arena are in close proximity. If he wanted a diversion so that he could sneak into the former, he’d have done it at the other end of HQ. Instead, he did it practically next door. I mean, Luna and the others only got there about a minute after the rest of us.”

“You’re right,” Alpha Prime conceded, “but as Electra noted before, Mouse isn’t himself right now. It may not be possible to rationalize his actions.”

“Or maybe we just can’t see the rationale,” I countered.

“Are you kidding?” Luna interjected. “Your buddy attacked us two times today in succession, and you even had a ringside seat for one of them. What’s it going to take for you to pull your head out and accept what the rest of us already know? Mouse has gone off the rails.”

“What I can’t accept is how quickly all of you turn on one of your own,” I shot back. “But not just any other colleague – your leader.”

“Ex-leader,” Buzz corrected. “Especially after what he pulled today in the Vault.”

“That makes for a nice segue,” Alpha Prime chimed in. “Let’s talk about what happened in the Vault.”

“So what do we know?” asked Electra.

“On the surface, it’s pretty straightforward,” my father stated. “Mouse broke in, the guards tried to detain him, and he knocked them out with some kind of concussion grenade.”

“But that’s not the explosion we heard,” I offered, making it more of a statement than a question.

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