Deftly, she inserted a single line of code into the IT team’s internal servers, and sent it searching. Another fifteen minutes later, she took over the security system, shut down the surveillance system for all the dorms, the teaching sections of the school, the grounds, and the basement. Not building Z. She couldn’t do that remotely. She needed to be there and plugged into a system to disable the servers there.
Initiating a final line of code, Mable opened all the locks on every dorm room door, and patted her laptop. It wasn’t a pretty purple like hers at home, but it had done good work. She was proud of it. For the moment, she had done all she could from the safety of her room.
She grabbed her bag of electronic goodies and high-tailed it out the unlocked door. In the hallway, she opened Dani’s door, just in case, but as she had expected, the room was empty. Dani was already gone. Her friend was in danger.
Marvin
TriDevi met in the basement utility closet, the same basement Dani had been transported through, unconscious, unable to defend herself. It was the same closet he and Mable had hidden in on the rendezvous that had combined fun and business.
Marvin passed out scrubs to each of them, even Sandra, who was supposed to be staying in her room with eyes on Building Z, to be their backup. Silent, they turned their backs to each other, put on the scrubs, and clipped on fake IDs.
When he was dressed, he turned around to find Sandra, who was staring at her fake ID. “I thought you were staying here to be our backup,” he said.
“I’ve been—” She stopped and looked into the distance in the small room. It was a thousand-yard stare, an expression he had first seen when he was in the service, on the faces of Marines who had seen too much, done too much, or lost too much. He’d learning in the decades since, that trauma didn’t have to be from the battlefield to be life-affecting.
Sandra took a slow breath and said, “I’ve been sitting on my backside too long as it is, waiting on the Lord to fix my life.” She pulled her gaze back to his. “I’m going with you.”
Marvin patted her on the back, a single quick pat, like he might to his grandson. It was part pride and part encouragement. Until today, Sandra had been mostly the mousy, quiet, forensic accountant at TriDevi. This Sandra he was seeing was probably the real Sandra, the Sandra from before. Before magic had ruined her life.
She straightened her shoulders and said, “I overheard two construction workers talking when I slipped past the intersecting hallway. Afternoon classes have been cancelled, and we have a construction company, a window replacement company, and a plumbing company on site to fix the damage we helped cause. The damage to the building is widespread, thoughlittle was structural, except the crack in the wall from whoever set off the earthquake. They had to call in a structural engineer for that and he won’t be here until dark. That means things will be off kilter all afternoon, and the employees are already taking advantage of an extra day off from the inmates to play video games and gossip.” Sandra grinned unexpectedly, and it was a mischievous expression Marvin had never seen on her face. “Playtime won’t last. Not once someone figures out Mable unlocked the doors.”
Mable said, “Good work, Sandra. That information helps a lot.”
Sandra beamed and nodded her head emphatically.
“We also have some big honcho from the IT company on his way here from somewhere,” Mable added. “We have two hours before he gets here.”
“Then what?” Marvin asked.
“And then he’ll spot the patch codes and all hell will break lose,” his ladylove said. “We have to be finished and the authorities alerted by then.”
“Right.” He kissed Mable’s forehead and saw a flash of pain cross Sandra’s face before she lifted her head and firmed her lips. She was technically a widow without a dead spouse. Had to suck. Maybe doing something constructive like saving Dani would help her. “We’ll get into Building Z,” he said, “find a place to park Mable, and then we’ll hunt down Dani.”
“Got it,” Mable said. “Building Z’s employee dining room on the first floor would be perfect. There’s an access panel I can use in the corner, to the left of the door. I’ll be hiding in plain sight, working on my laptop, while y’all hunt Dani and the others. When do we go?”
He peeked out the utility room door into the basement. No one was around, so he held open the door and said, “Now’s as good a time as any.” They scurried out, through the garage andinto the employee parking lot. Then they took the same walkway near the parking lot that the real employees always took from their cars to Z. No one stopped them.
The next test was whether the ID nametags he had stolen in the first week they were here, and that Mable had rigged with photos, would work the locking system at the employee door. As long as no one asked them anything medical they should be fine.Shoulddidn’t count for much in war.
Marvin led the way to the employee door. Mable went first, pulling out her ID badge on its retractable string, and running the card’s ID strip through the security slot. The door opened and they all slipped in.
The door locked securely behind them. Marvin wished it hadn’t sounded so fucking final.
Mable
As the door closed, Mable pointed. “According to the original floor plans on file with the county codes office, the dining room is just ahead. When I’m plugged in, y’all take the first right to the emergency fire stairs to which ever room, or rooms, I find.”
“Fucking stairs,” Marvin grumbled.
“If you had gotten your knees replaced when the ortho told you to, you wouldn’t be having trouble with stairs now,” Mable said, leading the way. Marvin grumbled some more, but Mable was right. She was always right about men. And computer code.
As if they belonged there, the three walked to the dining room, found it nearly empty, and claimed a table near the access panel in the corner.
Sandra said, “I’ll get us some coffee.”
“Remember our cover story,” Mable said. “And keep Dani busy until I get plugged in.”
Sandra
