Sophia:II

She followed the path that she’d cleared over the past few days. It had once been an animal trail, so she needed little effort to remove the few newly grown vines and stray branches and she made sure that there was no evidence that a human has passed there. As she neared the research facility she could hear the low rumble and hum of the generators, powered by and underground geothermal station. She knew this from the blue prints she’d seen, acquired at great risk by deep cover agents, she sent a silent prayer to those men and women in the north and continued to slip through the undergrowth. From where she crouched now, she could see the mesh fence that served as a deterrent, its watch towers, one positioned at each corner, strafed their spotlights across the killing zone of scrub grass before them.

She took one last deep breath, let her hands slip to her thighs and gripped the two .9mms.
Now she ran, she covered the fifty or so meters that had separated her from the tower in a heart beat and lay panting her back to the support leg. She hoped that the guards stationed above her had been preoccupied and were not just waiting for her to reappear.

From a pocket on her calf she produced a small pair of wire cutters and cut a hole at the bottom of the fence just big enough for her to slip through. On the other side replaced the cutters and holstered one of her pistols. She could hear the barking of a dog not far off the clink of chain and the heavy breathing of a guard, as he wheezed his way through a cigarette. She looked up at the concrete walls and saw the air vent she ran up the wall kicking out when she reached the correct height then back flipping back to her feet. The physical exertion left her feeling sick but she reached up and scrambled into the little space as she heard the dog round the corner a growl rolling in its throat.

She took another deep breath; that had been the bit she was most dreading, but it had been so easy. Why? She began the slow crawl, through the vents. Thankfully they were blissfully cool due to the humid jungle day. Sophia’s movements were slow and deliberate and she crawled, eve the slightest sound would be heard on the other side of the vent, and who knew who’d here. She reached the correct junction, which way now?

She mouthed an obscenity, she thought it was left but could not be sure, after a few moments deliberation she stuck with her instincts, crawled down the vents and past another two junctions, going straight on each time, and then she reached the grate hoping it was the right one.

The room below was dark, she could see nothing, there should be no one here at this time, the scientists had flown back the day before and the next lot weren’t due for three days. She reached in her pocket and found one of the two flares she’d been given, twisted the top and dropped it through the gate. The red light fizzled to life, and illuminated the huge laboratory.