Chapter Sixteen.

"So how are we going to do this?"

Andy looked at his wife and wished he had a clear-cut answer to give to her. They were still sitting at the conference table and had been discussing the plan of getting Lucas and the batling together for the past hour. "I'm not sure," he said. "I think the best man to ask would be Rimmer."

Sun nodded. "Let's get him in here, then."

Andy leant forward and examined the intercom in the center of the table. There was a small LCD display and some buttons. After a couple of seconds, Andy worked out how to use the device and put a call through to the security office.

"Rimmer. Who's this?"

"Andy and Sun. We're still in the conference room. Would you be able to come meet with us?"

A sigh came from the speakers, but Rimmer said, "I'll be there in five."

Andy leant back in his chair and folded his hands on his lap. He spent a couple minute's thought on the logistics of what he wanted to achieve.

"Maybe if we can divide one of the cells in two, it would work."

"How will we move one of them to the other's cell? We know the batling is dangerous, but Lucas could be too."

"There has to be some way of moving the occupants. I mean, how do they get them in here in the first place? You heard it yourself that they move specimens between facilities from time to time."

"We blitz the cell with sleeping gas," Rimmer said, entering the room. "Then we head in as quickly as we can and secure the prisoner inside a titanium cargo crate. In this case we may be able to use simple handcuffs and drag the inmate down the corridor."

Andy frowned at Rimmer. "You heard what we were talking about?"

Rimmer pointed to the intercom. "I was listening on the intercom. I can access it remotely."

"You should be working for the NSA," Andy said. "You're wasted here."

Rimmer deadpanned. "The NSA can't afford me."

"So," Sun said. "You think it can be done? Moving Lucas and the batling together?"

Rimmer pulled at his raggedy beard. "Seems like a stupid idea to me, but you're the eggheads. I'm obliged to facilitate whatever you think is best-within reason."

"Is there a way to divide one of the cells?" Andy asked.

"Maybe. They aren't very big on this level, but we may be able to rig something up. Give me a few hours and I'll work something out. One thing I've learned, being down here, is that these creatures will take any chance they can to escape. You better clear things with Dr. Gornman. She'll make a fuss if you don't."

Andy rolled his eyes. "Great. I've been looking forward to working with her. She seems like such a charmer."

Rimmer deadpanned again, but the corners of his mouth twitched as if fighting a smile. "Dr. Gornman is a brilliant scientist. I imagine having her level of intellect can be a burden at times."

Andy nodded. He was aware that being a genius could be at the detriment to other mental functions-most notably, social skills. He himself had struggled to maintain relationships in his formative years due to his intelligence, and had seen first-hand, with the likes of his former colleague, Dr. Belgium, that the smartest people were usually the most awkward.

"I'll meet up with you folks later," Rimmer said, and then left the room.

Andy looked at Sun and gave her a forlorn smile. "Shall we go deal with Gornman now or later?"

"Let's get it over with."

They headed away from the conference table towards the back of the room, over to the door that read: LABS 1-4. Andy pushed open the door and held it for his wife. Sun stepped through and looked around.

"Sure puts Samhain to shame," she said.

Andy stepped inside and took it all in. They were standing in a clinical white corridor that had several glass cubicles on either side: small examination rooms and offices mostly. Up ahead was a vast laboratory. All four of its walls were glass and the equipment inside was cutting-edge. Andy could not even imagine what most of it was for. Standing inside the lab, wearing her lab coat was Dr. Gornman. When she saw them approaching, the aggravation was clear on her face.

But then she smiled and waved at them.

Andy and Sun exchanged confused glances. "Perhaps she's accepted us being here," Sun suggested.

Gornman gave them a hand signal that suggested she would be 'two minutes' and then started to pull off her latex gloves, depositing them in a waste-disposal tub. Thirty seconds later she was opening the door to the lab and stepping out.

"Mr. and Ms, Dennison-Jones. Welcome to the labs. This is our level-1 lab. You can perform the more benign experiments here such as cultures and DNA sequencing. The other labs are more secure. That's where we do our more sensitive experiments."

"I'd be lost in any of them," Andy said. "I'm not science-savvy."

Gornman smiled. "I could say the same about myself and foreign languages, Mr. Dennison-Jones."

"So what are you doing?" Sun asked.

Gornman frowned. "As you no doubt found with Bub, the batling seems to share DNA with just about every other species on earth. I performed an x-ray on a tissue sample we got from the batling and observed degradation under even the mildest doses of radiation, so that seems to be a weakness. In other words, I haven't yet discovered anything that you didn't already know when you got here."

"Well, I'm sure you'll find something," Sun said. "Let us know if we can help."

Dr. Gornman looked down at her shoes like a scolded child. "I'm afraid I was a little brusque before. You must understand that, working down here, so far from civilization, one tends to become stuck in their ways."

"It's okay," Sun said. "I was once in the same environment. I understand cabin fever all too well."

"Well, I apologize sincerely. Anything you need, just let me know."

"Now that you mention it," Andy said. "We were hoping to get your help with something."

"Yes?"

"We want to move Lucas and the batling into the same cell."

Gornman's eyes went unnaturally wide. "You want to place two different creatures in the same space? Are you insane?"

Andy sighed. Didn't take long for the brusque to return.

"We think it's the best way to find out if Lucas is here because of the batling or vice-versa. We need to know if they are here for related reasons."

Gornman rubbed at her forehead and let out a long breath. When she looked at them again, she was calmer, but it seemed forced. "Okay, okay. I hope you can excuse my surprise. It's just that we've never attempted such a thing down here before-least of all with the guests of subbasement 5. But if that's what you want to do, then it is my duty to accommodate you. Now, when were you hoping to achieve this feat of insane peril?"

"We were hoping to get it done this afternoon," said Andy. "Sooner the better."

"Of course, why wait and plan when you can rush right in. Let us get started then."

"So you approve?" Andy asked, somewhat suspiciously.

Gornman stared at him and raised both her eyebrows. "Of course. I'm happy to help, Mr. Dennison-Jones."

Dr. Gornman walked between Sun and Andy and left the labs. Sun was frowning at Andy and he asked her what was wrong.

"You know I'm not superstitious, right?"

"You're the opposite of superstitious, hon. You're a skeptic."

"I know." Sun hugged herself and shivered. "So why do I feel like someone just walked over my grave?"

Chapter Seventeen.

"They want to do what?" Kane wasn't sure that he had heard correctly.

Rimmer folded his arms across his wide chest and checked his watch. "It's not necessarily a bad idea. Neither the Manx man or the batling are talking. But if we put them together, maybe we can figure out what's going on."

"Of all people, I wouldn't expect you to agree with this. It's an unnecessary risk to security."

Rimmer chewed the side of his cheek, appeared to think about it, and then said, "Sometimes a risk is the only option left. In Iraq we would have been dead in the water without eavesdropping on prisoners for Intel. I remember shoving a couple of Iraqi soldiers in a cell together once and watching them go at it. They were long-time enemies, but both loyally served Saddam. As one spat accusations and insults at the other, the other one would spit them right back. By the end of the day we had gotten enough information to know the names of their entire families and half their friends. We also knew that one of the men was responsible for a botched attack on a US base. His enemy straight-out insulted him for his incompetence in failing in his mission."

Kane ran his palms over the surface of his desk, enjoying the feel of the wood grain against his calloused hands. "You think this is what this is? Putting two enemies together to see what we can overhear?"

"Among other benefits," Rimmer added.

"Such as?"

"They might tear each other apart. Two less monsters for us to deal with."

Kane's frown became a tight smirk. He appreciated Rimmer's straight forward approach to things. "It's our job to house these creatures safely, Sergeant. While I don't disagree with your sentiment, I swore an oath to do them no harm."

Rimmer nodded, he unfolded his arms and put them at his sides. "All I'm saying, sir, is that if we go into things with the best of intentions-to gain Intel-and something unforeseen happens, well, then nobody has anything to feel guilty about. Shit happens, as they say."

Kane leaned back in his chair and nodded. "You know that there are more of those things? The faustlings, I mean. We have over a dozen of them at our other facilities."

Rimmer nodded. "I know."

"You do? How?"

"I have my sources. It pays to know people working at other facilities. It can give a heads up on any potential issues that may arise."

Kane was getting a little irritated by his staff knowing things above their pay grade, but he supposed in Rimmer's case it was acceptable. It was the man's job to know things. "Then you understand that we need to learn more about these things. They're planning something."

"With all due respect, sir. I think the most important thing to learn about the faustling things is how to kill them. Perhaps putting the Manx man in with our own faustling will shine some light on how to achieve said termination."

Kane thought about it and nodded his head at Rimmer. "Get it done. But get it done safely."

"Of course."

"And keep an eye on the Dennison-Joneses, and that English pest."

"I'm on top of it, General. When was the last time we had a problem?"

General Kane frowned. "We haven't had one in a long time. That's what concerns me. I think we're overdue."

Chapter Eighteen.

Andy was standing with Sun and Dr. Gornman as two of Rimmer's men appeared in the hallway of subbasement 5 with a thick roll of steel mesh. Rimmer was with them, and broke away to talk to Andy.

"This is the best I could come up with at short notice. We'll get the mesh secured through the center of the cell, but if either of them has more strength than they're letting on, they may get through."

Andy looked in at Lucas in his cell. The man didn't seem particularly strong, but it was impossible to know for certain. "Okay, we'll just have to hope for the best."

"This cannot go wrong," Dr. Gornman said. "General Kane won't tolerate us making a mess of this. More to the point, neither will I."

"Doing a wee spot of decorating, are we?" Lucas said, sitting inside his cell. "I wouldn't mind a splash of cerise on these walls. Breathes a bit of life to a room, so it does."

Andy went up to the glass. "You're going to get a roommate. Can we trust you to behave while we get things ready?"

Lucas glanced around his tiny cell and huffed. "Hope this new fella isn't going to take up a lot of room. Can nay swing a cat as it is."

"The space you have is perfectly sufficient," Gornman said. "And let me remind you that you placed yourself in there."